1 Corinthians chapter number 6. We are continuing our study in the division in the body. I found it interesting in looking over the report that we received from sermons. This must be a theme that is found in a lot of areas because about a hundred of the sermons that were downloaded were the 1 Corinthians series that we've been preaching. I was amazed by that, that that great a number of sermons were downloaded. But we are considering what Paul shares through inspiration with this body of believers at Corinth. Now, as we continue to look at the situation in the church at Corinth, we learn the extent to which the believers can go in following their own ideas and their own opinions instead of following the Word of God. Chapter six deals with two areas that have become very distorted because of the division of the believers and that which they have allowed in the church by following men instead of God. Today, we're going to look at one of those topics, verses one through 11. To follow along with me as I read the verses, and then we'll look at our outline. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to the law before the unjust and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things then pertaining to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. But brother, goeth the law with brother and that before the unbelievers. Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you because ye go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but ye are washed. but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Point number one, we find, first of all, the perversion of justice. In verse one, we see point A, the severity of the charge against the believers. Paul says, dare any of you, point one, or you could put it this way, and it'd be an all bold, how dare you? How dare you having a matter against another or a dispute or a disagreement with another believer, how dare you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust or take the dispute or disagreement to the world's judicial system and not before the saints instead of taking the matter to the body of believers to make the decision about the dispute. Paul says this is a very severe matter and a severe charge that is being brought against you. that you will go to this extreme, or we could say this perversion. So the severity of the charge be the sinful practice. Verse six through eight, but brother goeth to law with brother and that before the unbelievers. For there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong and defraud and that your brethren." So we see, be the sinful practice. Christians suing Christians in the courts of the world. Isn't it amazing that this is going on in our world today? You see commercials on TV. We were watching a channel yesterday and some old cowboy movies and the one commercial after another. I didn't realize how much my case was worth until I went in certain Cerny and they sued. Now I understand there are justifiable causes for that, but it seems to be the practice. The words out of an unhappy person's mouth is, well, I'll just sue you. And the tragedy is it's dwindled over into the church. And Paul says the practice here that you have is sinful and that Christians are suing other Christians in the courts of the world. Two, he said this is sinful behavior. You're suing each other. Point B, why are you not willing to suffer wrong treatment to avoid a scandal? The news media loves it when a Christian fails. The news media loves it when a Christian does something stupid because then they can make a big to do about it. They don't do it about the unsaved of the world and certain political people. They never do that. But they will do it when it comes to Christians. Why? Because the courts of the world, the news media of the world is pretty much under the domination and control of Satan. And judicial system is corrupt in many cases. I'm not suggesting across the board. There are many good lawyers. There are many good judges. But unfortunately, there seems to be more that are not good. And so we find here, he says, this is a sinful practice that you're doing. Why don't you suffer the wrong to avoid a scandal? Why don't you one under B take wrong or accept being treated wrongfully? Two, why don't you take being defrauded? Proverbs 21, 22 says, say you not, I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord. He shall save thee. There's some kind of a dispute and disagreement going on in this church. And those people that are being defrauded, if you please, or being treated wrong, at least they think they are, they're taking it to the courts. Well, I'll sue you. I'll take you to the courts and we'll let the courts decide this matter. And Paul says, this is absolutely contrary to the testimony of Christianity. And it's absolutely contrary to the teachings of God's word and it's wrong for believers who are supposed to love one another to treat each other with such ungodly behavior. So Paul says, nay, point C, ye do wrong and defraud and you're defrauding your brethren. The whole problem is with the initial action of sinning against your brother. That's the root of the problem. You are sinning against your brother by your behavior and by your taking matters into the public courts. You're sinning against your brother. If that had not occurred to begin with, there would be no one taking someone to court. So we see the severity of the charge, the sinful practice, see the stupidity of such logic. Verse 2, Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? So he says here, I want you to see the stupidity of this whole concept. One, the believers would judge the world and spiritual beings in the end of time. There would be great authority given to Christians to pass judgment and be part of the government of Jesus Christ in the millennium. Two, since believers would judge the world, can they not now decide the disputes and disagreements among the fellow brothers? If they're going to be capable of judging angels, if they're going to be capable of judging the world, are they not capable now of judging such trivial matters? Whatever they may have been. We're not talking about something here of a scriptural disobedience. We're not talking here of something where someone violated a biblical principle. We're talking where two believers can't get along over something stupid. And so instead of settling it or letting someone make a decision in the body, taking it to a believer or a group of believers say, this is our problem here. We laid out before you, you tell us how to handle it and we'll do what you tell us. No, they're taking it to the courts. And Paul says, this is absolutely insane. the stupidity of such logic that you're experiencing and practicing. And D, the simple solution, verse 4, If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. Paul says there's a simple solution here to this complicated problem that you have created. And the simple solution is let the believers who are not highly esteemed for their wisdom be the judges over the disputes and disagreements. Now, why would you pick people that are not highly esteemed They're not known for their wisdom and knowledge and discernment. Surely you'd want to get somebody that shows some good common sense and some good wisdom in the world and settling disputes or whatever the case may be. Paul says, listen, go find the least recognized person in the church and let them make the decision because that same person is going to perform greater judgments in the end of the world. If God's going to give them the responsibility of making such major decisions in the end of the world, they can handle your little problem. This is what he's talking about. You've made this such a big issue, you've blown it so far out of proportion, but it's a little matter. and you need to let these people settle it for you. We see also point two, the satire of Paul's is evident. He says, I speak this to your shame. Is there not a wise man among you? You see, the problem was, if you go back and read in previous chapters, which we'll make note of in a moment, these people were puffed up because of their wisdom. They had arrived at such a spiritual and intellectual level that they were prideful. They were puffed up, Paul says. Now, Paul says you're so puffed up because you have reached such a level spiritually, but you're not even smart enough to make a decision about such a little petty issue. But instead you take this little petty issue and you raise it to an elevation that has just overtaken the church and you've sinned by doing this. You've sinned. Now again, I tell you, I don't know what it was. We may learn as we go along. I'm kind of like you. I'm taking this chapter by chapter. But we find here, Paul says, this is a matter that is way, way out of proportion. The perplexity or the perversion of the justice, point one. Point two, the perplexity of willful ignorance. Paul's scratching his head and he's just thinking, what in the world is going on here? This just doesn't make any sense to me. Verse two. Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? Verse nine. No, you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Do you not know? He's saying, come on, people. These are things you ought to know. But by your behavior and by your actions, you're showing that it has the lights on, but there's nobody home. The elevator has not gone to the top floor yet. You have chosen to ignore simple truth. You have chosen to violate the word of God and you violate your fellow brother and sister by your willful ignorance. That means making a decision to not know. Hey, are you willfully ignorant of what the scripture states about the future of the believer? Obviously he had told them this. This is not like he's saying, I'm going to show you a mystery here. You see, I didn't tell you this when I was there, but you need to know this in the end, believers are going to judge the world. So you need to pick somebody out of the church and stop going. No, he didn't say that. He said, do you not know in verse two? Do you not know in verse three? Do you not know in verse nine? So first of all, are you willfully ignorant of what the scripture states about the future of the believer? B, are you willfully ignorant to the authority that will be given to believers in the future? And C, are you willfully ignorant to the fact that the unsaved will not go to heaven? So why should they be deciding spiritual matters? You see, there might be a dispute between two believers. But because it's between two believers, it's a spiritual matter. It's not a world matter. You can't separate the carnal or the world from the spiritual. Not if you're a believer. If you're a believer, everything is spiritually associated. Everything has spiritual value. And every sin has spiritual impact. And so Paul says, are you so blinded to the fact that the ungodly are not going to go to heaven and yet you let them decide spiritual matters? D, the perplexity is that they as believers would choose to be willfully ignorant of spiritual truths. Let me ask you this, what spiritual truth have you chosen to be willfully ignorant of? You say, what do you mean by that? Well, you know what the Bible says, you know what the scripture teaches, but you have decided to say, I don't really care what the Bible says. This is what I want to do. This is what I want to be. This is the way I want it to happen. Therefore you have willfully ignored the scripture and the teaching of scripture to have it your way. That's what Paul's talking about here. These people have willfully ignored truth so that they could get their dispute settled in their favor. So the perplexity of willful ignorance. Three, the presumption of being fooled. Verse 9, know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuser of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, the presumption of being full. Point A, be not deceived. Don't willingly allow yourself to be blinded to the facts. And by the way, these are spiritual facts. These are not man-made facts. We had a good Sunday school lesson in the adult class. I keep promoting the adult class. I don't know why everybody doesn't come to the adult class. We have such good teachers in the adult class. But no, I understand you want to be in your own group, and I want you to be there. So we have a diversity of classes, and I'm sure your classes are just as good and your teachers are just as good. It's just I'm not in your class. I'm in the adult class. I may come visit your class. I may go visit the little kids class when I feel like I'm going through my second childhood that Sunday. I may go visit the college and career class when I feel like I'm wanting to be young again. I may go visit the teen class when I feel like I want to act like a teenager. I do, sometimes I ask my wife, yes, but anyhow. Anyhow, the class this morning was very good in talking about the opinions of people and the ideas and taking and perverting truth and teaching what somebody wants to hear, what somebody wants taught, instead of sticking to the truth of God's word. Now Paul says here to this point, he says, I don't want you to be blinded to spiritual truth, spiritual facts. And he elaborates on that. He says, be the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now that's a spiritual fact. And by the fact that these people have gone to this kind of person, somewhere along the way there had to have been someone in the judicial system that was living the lifestyle we're about to look at somewhere. And Paul says, you go to that kind of person that's living that kind of lifestyle and you let them make the decisions about things that ought to be decided among the body of Christ. He says, don't be deceived. Don't think because this judge has the government behind him or her, or because this judge was appointed as the Supreme judge of the land. Don't be deceived to believe that they're always right because they can be very wrong. And every decision that is made, every decision they handed down to someone or hand down has to be looked at in light of what the word of God teaches. The Bible is always the guide and the precedent for every decision that's made. And we make our decisions on, thus saith the Lord. Not on how we feel, what we think or what somebody else wrote or said. We go on what the Bible teaches. And Paul says, don't you know that the unrighteous are not going to inherit the kingdom of God? That's the fact. And then he goes into the lifestyle of the unrighteous. First of all, he says, be not deceived, neither fornicators. A fornicator is someone with a lifestyle of immoral relationship with the opposite sex outside of the marriage bond. They're having immoral relationship with someone and they're not married. Do you not know that fornicators? Do you not know that idolaters? An idolater is someone with a lifestyle of placing anything or anyone as a God in their life and not the one true God. It could be anything or anyone. Do you not know that adulterers, adulterers are those who have a lifestyle of immoral relationship with someone other than their marriage partner. They're having an immoral relationship with someone other than their husband or their wife. Do you not know that the effeminate, the effeminate are those who have a lifestyle of homosexuality and lesbianism. I don't care what the court says. I don't care what our president says. I don't care what one of the candidates that's running for president says. God calls lesbianism and homosexuality sin. And if those people don't get saved, they will die and go to hell, but they won't go to hell because they were lesbians or homosexuals. They'll go to hell because they rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior. You cannot be a lesbian or a homosexual and be a Christian. Not as a lifestyle. You may fall into that sin, but if you choose to stay there, God will deal with you. And if the chastening doesn't work, God will take you. We saw that previously, this guy living with his stepmother. I've turned him over to the devil already. Now you do that so that Satan can destroy his body, that his soul might be saved. I know it goes contrary to what we're told to believe and what's being forced on us as Americans with morals. But the scripture is clear and those who are effeminate, who have a lifestyle of homosexuality or lesbianism will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do you not know that point five abusers of themselves with mankind? It's a lifestyle of prostitution with another person of the same sex. Do you not know that thieves point six, it's a lifestyle of stealing property that belongs to someone else. Do you not know that the covetous, it's a lifestyle of jealousy of another person's property or position and thus attempting one upmanship. Now, if you don't know what one upmanship means, you can look it up because it is a word and it does have a definition. But what it basically means is it's all about me and you shouldn't have that position. I should have it. You shouldn't be making that kind of money, I should be making it. You shouldn't be driving that kind of car, I should be driving it. You shouldn't be living in that kind of home, I should be living in it. You shouldn't have that kind of recognition, I should have it. And so I do what I have to do to get what I think you shouldn't have and I ought to have. A lifestyle. Remember the word here is lifestyle. It does not mean that a believer cannot fall into these sins, but they will not have a lifestyle of it because you're a new creature in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. And God will deal with you if you're his child and you choose to live this way. Do you not know that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God? A drunkard is a lifestyle of being controlled by alcohol. Do you not know that revilers shall not inherit the kingdom of God? It's a lifestyle of verbal abuse toward other people. Do you not know that extortioners shall not inherit the kingdom of God? It's a lifestyle of getting money from others by use of force or threats. Paul says. I'm defining for you the lifestyle of those that shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And obviously some of the people they were going to for judgment in the courts were living a lifestyle like this. Maybe not in every category, maybe one, maybe two, maybe several, but they were not believers and their lifestyle made it clear that they were not believers. Paul says, this is wrong. This is absolutely wrong. And then he comes to the eye-opening reminder, point D. The eye-opening reminder that the believers at Corinth seem to have forgotten. He gives this list and he ends it with saying, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And then he says, and such were some of you. That's past tense. You're not like that anymore. Why aren't they like that anymore? Because they've been changed. They've been changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been changed by God. And Paul says, I want you to have this reminder. This is something you ought to be knowing. This is something you ought to be practicing. This is something you ought to be keeping in front of your face all the time, at every moment of every day, who you are, what God saved you from, what God has saved you to, And I want to give you this eye-opening reminder that I hope will shake you in your shoes to start behaving the way you ought to be behaving, ought to be behaving as a believer. The eye-opening reminder, he says, and such were some of you. You see, point one, had they remembered what God had done for them, they would be so humbled that offenses would not have been controlling their behavior as it was. What are some of the offenses? In chapter 1 and 3, we have division, point A, division in the body. B, we have pride being puffed up and a sense of spiritual superiority. In chapter 2, 3, and 4, these are just things that we've dealt with thus far. We're just getting into the book well. See, unaddressed sin in the local church, chapter five. And here in this chapter, misuse of power in chapter six. He says, if you were reminding yourself of where you came from and what God has done for you, these things wouldn't be going on. But notice he says, and such were some of you, point two, but you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. A, such were some of you. Some of you were living the lifestyle that I've described in verse nine and 10. B, but God, but God has miraculously changed you. He says, one, you're washed. The word wash means to be bathed, to be washed off, to be washed clean. You are washed. You are sanctified. Point two, you're clean in a moral sense. You have been brought into purity by God. You are living these kind of lifestyles, anything but purity. But God did a miraculous work in you and changed you and made you into what you are now. And he has washed you. He has cleansed you completely of the filth of the sin that you were practicing. He's washed away the guilt of the sin, and he has now purified you. You're washed. You're sanctified. And three, you're justified. Justified means the act of God in bringing sinners into a new covenant relationship with himself through the forgiveness of sins. It is a declarative act of God by which he establishes persons as righteous, that is in right and true relationship with him. The definition from Tyndall Bible Dictionary. He says you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified. For in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're washed, sanctified and justified in any other name or any other way, then you're not born again. If you're washed, sanctified or justified in any other name or by any other way, you're not born again. You're unsaved. So what you need to do right now, you need to go back and look at when you became a child of God, or when you say you became a child of God, and ask yourself, in what did I really put my trust? Did I put my trust in some prayer that I prayed? Did I put my trust that I went forward in imitation? Is my trust in saying right words? Is my trust in having a certain mindset? If my trust is in anyone or anything else than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm not born again. I'm not saved. Because you see, in the name of the Lord Jesus is the basis of such actions. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved than the Lord Jesus Christ. So you have been washed. You have been sanctified. You've been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. So why are you so concerned about your name and your reputation? Why aren't you that concerned about Jesus reputation and the slam that you're bringing to his name by your behavior? He says you've been washed, you've been sanctified, you've been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and then by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the agent, and that's a capital A by the way, the agent of such action. It's the Spirit of God that brings conviction to the heart. It's the Spirit of God that turns the spiritual lights on in a person's mind that they see they're lost and undone without God and in need of a Savior. It's the Holy Spirit that shows that unsaved person that their only hope is Jesus Christ and what He did at Calvary. His death, His burial, His resurrection. It's the Spirit of God that convinces the unsaved person that if they don't get saved, they're going to die and go to hell. The Spirit of God is the agent. And if the Spirit of God doesn't move on a heart, it doesn't matter how convincing your argument may be, it's not going to work. You may get a confession, you may get a prayer, but that person walks away a lost person because the Spirit of God did not do it. So we see, he says, You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God. Six sinners are washed, sanctified, and justified. And it could not take place had Christ not given his life as a payment for the sin of mankind and the working of God the Holy Spirit in the heart of the unsaved. But turn with me, turn over a few pages to Ephesians chapter two, verse one. And you have God made alive who were dead in your trespasses and sin. Word in time past, you walked according, you walk past tense. According to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our lifestyle in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and whereby nature, the children of wrath, even as others. That's the way we're living, just going on through life, sinning, enjoying it and sinning and enjoying it and thinking that's the thing to do, man. That's the way to live. But God, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love were with he loved us. We didn't love him. He loved us. He decided to love us. There wasn't anything about us worth loving. And when he looked at us, we were repulsive to him because we are sinners. But he said, I'm going to love them. I'm going to love that person. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you're saved and have raised us up together and made us set in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast. These people at Corinth were boasting about who they were and what they were doing and that they were following this guy over here, this guy over there. They were boasting about how spiritual enriched they were and they were proud of their spirituality. They were boasting about how well the church was doing and all the time. There's open, blatant sin in the church that should have been addressed and they're ignoring it. Paul says, I want to remind you of something. You are what you are because of what God has done. And your allegiance is to him. Your loyalty is to him. Your credit needs to go to him. He is the one that you should be exalting, not your own self and your own opinions. And you're being defrauded. So Paul addresses this first problem. You see, the carnal behavior of believers at Corinth was due in part to forgetting who they were in Christ and because of Christ. Had they not taken their eyes off of Christ and placed them on themselves and what they wanted, more than likely none of the sinful behavior patterns discussed in this book and the division in the local body would have ever occurred. God help us to learn from the church at Corinth. Our Father, your word is very clear and very plain, very obvious to us. We have no excuses. We cannot be willfully ignorant. We don't want you to come to us in the day of reward and say, did you not know? And because you were willfully ignorant, I cannot reward you where I wanted to help us, Lord, to be obedient to the Word of God, to be obedient to the teaching of Scripture, To the leading of the Holy Spirit, help us to desire to lift high the Lord Jesus Christ and not ourselves. Help us, Lord, to be willing to do what's right, no matter what the cost. Help us to be faithful to you, Lord, and to your word.