in this letter of Paul to the Corinthians. And as we've seen, Paul is dealing with a church that is markedly a carnal church. It is a church that hasn't grown beyond being babes in Christ and cannot grow beyond that because they are still thinking as worldlings. They are still acting as worldlings in many ways. They are still doing those things that should not be found amongst Christians, and behaving in a way in which they used to as they were unbelievers, like being those who were seeking to have a party and spirit with a choosing men to follow and putting them on pedestals as though they were above other men of God. And I mean men of God, I don't mean that they were choosing them over and above people who weren't or who were heretics or liberals or whatever else. These were men of God, faithful men of the word, but they were taking sides and trying to get the preeminence by doing that, trying to make themselves out to be something special. something above their other brothers in Christ, something that has to be respected by their brothers and sisters and looked upon more highly. They were puffed up in themselves. Now this is permeating through every aspect of the life of the church. And we've seen that because of this attitude, they are allowing a man in their church who is taking his father's wife to be his wife, they're allowing that sin in the church. and that they are tolerating it, they're not dealing with it. Even though they may not like it, they're just accepting it, that it's happened and they're not disciplining this man as they should do. And this is just a diabolical thing that they should be dealing with straight away. But they're so concerned about their party and spirit, they're so concerned about about proving themselves to be somebody, that they're neglecting the life of the church. They're neglecting what's happening in the church. And maybe some of them are accepting it and trying to justify it because they like this person or because he's a very prominent person or because he's a very wealthy person and contributes a lot to the church. Whatever reason it is, they should not be tolerating it. And if they were a godly church, if they were a spiritual church, then they would be dealing with this immediately. Now Paul goes on in chapter 6 to deal with another aspect of their carnality. And that is that they run, as soon as they have a problem with a brother in the church, they run straight to the magistrates and deal with it in a civil court or criminal court, whatever the case may be. And Paul says this should not be happening in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life. Now we'll just end there. Now what Paul is dealing with here is a situation where these Christians are just thinking as worldlings again, aren't they? They're not thinking about how a church, how a family of God's people should deal with problems and difficulties amongst themselves. They're not thinking about the church itself and what that looks like to the world. They're willing to hang their dirty linen out before the world and show the world what's going on and bring derision upon the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the eyes of the world, the world looks upon us, doesn't it? It examines us. You must remember this, friends. In everything, you must remember that you're being watched. You're being watched not only by the people out there in the street, and they do watch us, they know about us, they know where we are, they know who we are to a great extent. They watch, they wait for us to fall, they wait for us to make mistakes, but you're also being watched by your family and by your friends who are unbelievers. They are judging you on what you do. You say you're a Christian, but do you act like a Christian? You say you love Christ, but is your life given over to Christ? Are you committed to Christ? Are you living like Christ? You say you love the Lord and you worship the Lord, but do you commit yourself to the Sabbath day to keep it holy unto him? Or do you go about doing the things that they do? Having parties on the Sabbath day, watching sport on the Sabbath day, whatever else it might be on the Sabbath day. It's important, friends, because this is part of your witness to them. They watch. and it undermines our witness. It undermines what we say to them or want to say to them or what we stand for before them if we are not consistent, if we are not true to the Lord. And one of the ways that we can undermine our ministry before them is by hanging out our dirty washing before them. It's by telling them all the problems and difficulties that we have in the church and we have to deal with in the church. By telling them the person that we like or that we don't like in the church and why it is and why certain people get under our skin and annoy us. They don't understand as a Christian. They're unbelievers. They don't have the mind of Christ. They don't have the heart of Christ to forgive and to deal with these things in a spiritual way. When we do these things, we are bringing shame upon the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are undermining the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and undermining our ministry to them. If you want to reach your loved ones and if you want to reach the world out there you must be consistent and you must be faithful to your Lord because that's what the world looks to. They may say that they don't respect us for it but there is a grudging respect for those who are faithful and true to the Lord. as they respected the Lord. When he came up before them for trial, what did it say? They couldn't find anything against him, could they? They couldn't find anything. They knew he was a righteous man. And so, with us, we must be righteous before them in every respect. And we must not bring our problems and difficulties before them. or else because they will not understand and they will use it against us in their hearts and in their minds or when we come to witness to them, they will throw it up in our faces. So that's what Paul is dealing with there. He's saying, dare any of you. He's daring them. Dare any of you, he says. having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints. We shouldn't be doing it. We should be bringing these matters and dealing with them in the church as the Lord has taught us. We'll come to look at that in just a few moments. We should be dealing with them in house, shouldn't we? Now, What does that mean? How far can we go in this matter? Should we be dealing with criminal matters in-house? Supposing somebody in our church has committed murder, do we then go and say, well, you know, we've got to deal with that in-house. We shouldn't take it before the magistrates. We've got to deal with this person in the church. We've got to reprimand them. We've got to make sure that they are repentant. And that is the matter closed. Should we be dealing with paedophiles in the same way? Now you may think these are excessive. But I'm going to give you an example now. I'm not going to tell you the church that this happened in, but it is a reformed Baptist church that this happened in, okay? And that's as far as I'm going to say. It's not a church within our fraternal, so don't start thinking about our fraternal churches and wondering which one it is. But this happened, and I know it happened. I wasn't involved in it because it wasn't a church that I was a member in, but it's a church that I knew well, it's a church that I preached in. A young couple in the church, they were, the man was the son of a very prominent family in the church. And the young woman had been brought up in the church. She'd come to know the Christ, I believe, in the Sunday school when she was quite young. And she was loved and they were both well respected in the church. They had a young family. I think they had two children. And everything seemed to be well. Except that this young wife once found her husband watching the most gross child pornography on his laptop. I mean, any child pornography is gross, isn't it? But, you know, the mind boggles, doesn't it? And she warned him, she told him that this must not be, or she's going to bring it before the church and tell the elders. And he promised he wouldn't do it again. And lo and behold, a few months later, she finds him on his laptop again looking at this material. So she took it to the elders of the church. The elders of the church didn't want to bring shame upon the family by bringing it to the whole church and explaining exactly what was happening before the whole church. So they tried to deal with it between themselves. And one of the elders was sent round to speak to this young man. I think that was unwise. I think there should have been more elders as time went on. But it was left in this one elder's hands. The pastor wasn't involved in this, except knowing about it and advising this elder. But anyway, what happened was this elder went round and spoke to the man. He promised he would never do it again. He repented and it was something that they felt they dealt with. But again, he was found looking at this pornography. Now they had a problem, didn't they? Because this is a criminal act that this man is committing. It's criminal. It's not just a civil matter. He is doing something that is against the law. And he's doing something that he needs help over. And they had a choice. They told the church what they were going to do and they disciplined this man and they told the police. Was that the right thing to do? Well, as far as half the church was concerned, it wasn't. Half the church sided with this man. Half the church actually called his wife a liar. Even though an elder was party to this and knew what was going on. And they would rather see the elder stand down or be forced to stand down than actually deal with this man. The other half saw it for what it was. something that was criminal and had to be reported to the police. If this man was not going to repent and not reform his ways, then it had to. Because if it came, for one thing, it was a criminal thing he was doing. For another thing, if it ever came out, if he went further, if somebody else found him looking at this pornography, or doing even worse, what would that do to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? It would utterly destroy them, wouldn't it? Their whole credibility would go. So they saw it, that something had to be done, and that he had to be reported to the police. What would you do, friends? How would you think about this matter? What is Paul saying to us? Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Because that is the exact quote that was used by those who were in support of this man. It should have been dealt with in-house. But where do we draw the line, friends? Where is it? It's a very serious matter, isn't it? What do we do? Paul seems to be suggesting here that we should deal with everything in-house, but there are certain matters that we can see have to be dealt with in the criminal courts, don't they? Well, Paul gives us the answer here. There are those matters, those criminal matters, that have to be dealt with in the criminal courts. They have to be, because they are against not only God's laws, but man's law as well. And in that case, they have to be dealt with there, don't they? if they are of a nature where somebody has to be punished for what they are doing, or have to be treated for what they are doing, whatever the case may be. There are those cases. Like, again, if somebody in our community in our group did commit murder, then what would we do? Of course we would have to take that to court, have to take them to the police, wouldn't we? Of course we would. And as I said, if we didn't, then, well, we're seeing what's happening now, aren't we? With the Roman Catholic Church and all the paedophiles that they have hidden up within their church, how it's coming back to bite them now, isn't it? and how they have lost their credibility in so many people's eyes. Well, in our eyes, because they're Roman Catholics, but also because they're condoning and hiding up this immorality and this wicked sin that has been going on amongst their priests for so very long. So it has to be dealt with. So what does Paul teach us here? What is he saying here? That's what we want to know, don't we? Well, Paul clearly is not telling us that we should hide up these matters and we should deal with these matters in-house. What he is dealing with here is personal matters, brother upon brother. Brother has a problem with a brother. That's what he's talking about. Look, dare any of you having a matter against another. You see, it's your brother, you have a problem with a brother. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to run to the courts? Maybe your brother owes you money. Are you going to run to the courts to reclaim your money? What are you going to do? He says, dare you go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints would judge the world? And if the world would be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? You see, Paul is not dealing with the big matters. He's not dealing with the criminal matters here. He's dealing with what he calls here, what he's classing here as those small matters. as those civil matters as those ones are you know you have a personal problem with somebody and you have to deal with it and it has to be dealt with but it is a personal problem Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life. So it's obviously things that are a problem, that are a problem in just the daily life that we have, living with one another and dealing with one another. If then you have judged concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man amongst you, not even one who will be able to judge between brethren? There again, you see, Paul is spitting it out for us. What he's talking about is this problem between brethren that must be dealt with between the brethren. and not going to court. But brother goes to law against brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now, therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? You see, it's that. It's when somebody has wronged you. Why do you not rather let yourself be cheated? It's when somebody, you feel cheated, you feel let down, you feel that somebody is owing you. Do you see that? Someone's phone is ringing. So that's the problem here. That's what Paul is dealing with. He is dealing with those who have a problem against another brother. He is not dealing with those who have committed a criminal act and need to be dealt with by the law. We know what happens to them, don't we? Because Paul says in chapter five, In verse five, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus. In other words, they are now committed such an act that they are given over to the world, to be dealt with by the world. You see? By Satan, who is the ruler of the world. and by those who deal with these matters in the world. So that's what Paul is teaching here. That's what Paul is showing us here, that we must deal with matters that we are capable of dealing with, that we are qualified to deal with in house. We mustn't be running to the law, and we mustn't be hanging our dirty washing out before the world. We must, in effect, be willing to bear the loss ourselves. And are we willing to do that, friends, for the sake of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we willing to bear loss? Are we willing to be wronged? Are we willing to be cheated? Are we willing, friends, to just draw a line under it and for Jesus Christ and for his church to say, enough is enough. I'll take it no further. The matter is dealt with. Because that's what Paul is saying that we should do rather than go to the law. Okay, so that's what Paul is dealing with. He's dealing with these civil matters. He's dealing with those brother upon brother problems and difficulties that should be dealt with within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So how should we deal with these matters? Well, Paul tells us first, doesn't he? Firstly, we don't go to the magistrates. We might feel very wronged. We may be suffering a great loss. But we've got to think of Christ, and we've got to think of his church. What is more important to us, money, the loss of our egos, or whatever else it might be, what is more important to us? The church, his people, how it reflects upon his people, or getting justice? Getting our money back? What's more important to us? We are equipped to deal with these matters. That's what Paul tells us. Look what he says here. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? We are the ones who are given the responsibility of judging the world. Now that Paul is talking obviously mostly about when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again and we will stand with him and we will judge the world in righteousness. Now we will not be judging the world because we are more righteous than anybody else in the world. We will be judging the world as those witnesses against the world and what the world has done. and how the world has responded to our witness and to our gospel and whatever else. You see, we will be judging the world. We will be judging on the most important matters with the greatest consequences, won't we? Because it will mean salvation or eternal damnation for these souls. Therefore, aren't we qualified to deal with these small matters? Of course we are. Of course we are, friends. And we should be dealing with these matters ourselves. Do you not know that we shall judge angels, angels who are far above us, aren't they, in might and glory? Yet we will judge them, and we will stand against them as a witness against them also. How much more things that pertain to this life. We have the spirit of Christ within us, and therefore we have the mind of Christ, don't we? Who knows the mind of Christ? Do you know the mind of Christ? I don't, friends. But the spirit does. He knows the mind of Christ, and he dwells within us. And therefore, if we are spiritual people, we deal with these things with the mind of Christ. Paul tells us this, doesn't he? He says that we should be wise people. He complains, doesn't he? In verse four he says, if then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? You see, we have these judgments. We have these capabilities. because we are spiritual people, if indeed we are spiritual people. That's the problem with this church, isn't it? They're not thinking like spiritual people. They're not acting like spiritual people. I say this to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? There should be, shouldn't there? There should be spiritual people, spiritually discerning people who are able to deal with these matters and able to take these things in hand and to deal with them justly and rightly between the brethren and be seen to be doing that. We have the word of God also, friends, don't we? To lead us and guide us in what is right and what is wrong. And if we apply the word of God, if we understand that's what wisdom is about, isn't it? A Christian wisdom is understanding his word, his teaching, and being able to rightly apply it to that situation. so that there is the right and just outcome according to God, not according to this world, not according to our favoritism. We favor one side or the other. That shouldn't be the case. In spiritual matters, we should be dealing with them justly and rightly, not based upon our likes and not based upon our dislikes. That was one of the problems with this church that I've told you about. This young man came from a well-respected family, and all the church people knew him, they'd loved him since he was a babe in arms, and they couldn't contemplate him ever doing this wickedness. And when he stood up before them and he lied and he said he hadn't done it, and his wife had been making it up, it didn't matter what the elders said then, they took his side. Oh no, that should never come into it. Never come into it, friends. We should always be thinking of Christ and his word and what is right by his word. And we should always weigh up matters wisely and justly according to his word and according to the mind of Christ. and if the matter cannot be resolved, then we just have to accept the wrong. Why do we have to accept the wrong? Look at verse eight. No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat and you do these things to your brethren. Well, can any of us say that we haven't done wrong and that we haven't wronged our brethren? Can any of us say that? in some way or another, that we haven't upset somebody, that we haven't said unkind things to people, that we haven't gossiped behind their backs, that we haven't done other things that may have offended and wronged others. No, we have to accept that we do do things wrong. And how would we want to be dealt with, friends? How would we want these matters to be resolved? Would we want them to be resolved before the world or before our church, our brothers and sisters who love us and who care for us and will be dealing with us according to God's word and not according to the world's understanding of what is right and what is good? No friends, we have to remember that we all have faults, don't we? And we would all want to be dealt with under God's judgments. Look at verse 9, he says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, we have to be content with this sometimes, don't we? that judgment is in God's hands, and that God will deal with everybody according to what they deserve. He will do that. So in a matter where, in a very severe case, and obviously, hopefully this will never be a matter in a church, but somebody like Jimmy Savile, who committed those terrible crimes, he's not gonna wait with it, has he? People think it's so unfair that he was never dealt with while he was in this world. And in a sense it is, isn't it? Of course it is. We would like to have seen him put in prison. We would like to have seen him suffer in this world and be punished in this world for the crimes that he did and the people's lives that he wrecked by his terrible acts. But he hasn't got away with it. Now he's suffering for eternity. As long, we don't know for an exact fact, do we? But if he hasn't repented, and there's no indication that he did, we assume that he is now in hell, don't we? And he's suffering for all eternity for what he has done. God is the final judge, isn't he? Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. and we just have to bring it to him sometimes. If it cannot be resolved, if somebody will not repent, if someone will not make good what they have done, then we just have to leave it with the Lord who deals with all his people to chastise them and deals with all those outside the church to punish them. And there is a reckoning for all, isn't there, friends? One way or the other, either chastisement or punishment for what they do. We just have to be content. The judgment is in his hands. And thirdly, look at verse 11. And such were some of you but you were watched, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of our God. In other words, we have to remember two things. One is that we were like them, or we could have been like them. You don't know what you would be like if Christ hadn't come into your life and changed you and brought you to a saving knowledge of himself, do you? You do not know what you will be capable of doing. You really do not know how your life could have turned out. Things can change in a moment in people's lives. They can find themselves doing the most awful things that they could not have dreamed in a million years, a year ago, that they would be doing. Because of circumstances, because how things worked out. There's no justification for what they do, of course. They are responsible for what they do. But sometimes things just conspire, don't they? You don't know what you'd be capable of. And therefore we should have pity, shouldn't we? And we should be willing to forgive. But the second thing is this, that we deal with these things spiritually and with the mind of Christ because we care about their souls. We were like them. We're not like them now because we're saved and we're redeemed. We're not going to hell, but we could have been. We could have been, and they are. Shouldn't we show pity, have compassion, even though these people have wronged us? and done these things against us? Isn't that how the Lord dealt with those who persecuted him and crucified him? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Do we have the same heart, friends, as our Lord and our Savior? Well, what should we do then? When brother has a problem with the brother, how do we deal with it? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ has told us that, hasn't he? Look at Matthew 18. Now there's four things, four steps here that the Lord gives us. Four steps in dealing with wrongs against brothers. Verse 15, he says, moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Now the Lord is not dealing with petty little problems and difficulties, little niggles that we might have that we can deal with ourselves and say, oh, You know, it's just, just forgive them, you know. You understand that you're like them, you just forgive them. We must be willing to do that, mustn't we? So many of the problems in our church occur because we're not willing to forgive. Little things, little niggles, little problems. We let them get on top of us, we let them, get at us so that we blow things out of proportion. And then we start to despise one another and act against one another and talk against one another and gossip against one another. And that's not how we should be dealing with it. Can you for a moment picture our Lord acting in that way? No, of course not. And how many times do you think the disciples upset him? How many times did the disciples do things wrong? How many times did the disciples really spoil what they were doing or should be doing? Yet the Lord forgave, didn't he? Of course he did. But if there's a problem and it needs dealing with, this is how we should deal with it. We should first of all, first step, we should go and tell our brother. We should explain to them what it is. And we should try not just to blame them. That's not what Paul is saying. Go and tell your brother. Blame them for what they're doing. Tell them how they've wronged you. Demand retribution. No, no, no, no, no. This is to be reconciled to your brother. This is so that you can come together again and be at one again and in harmony again. That's the aim of this, to go and talk to your brother when you've calmed down, when the heat's gone, and when you feel calm enough to be, and you've prayed about it, and you've sought the Lord's help and the Spirit's help, to go and deal with your brother in a calm and godly way, seeking to be reconciled to your brother, or your sister, just in case you think it's just brothers. That's the first step that the Lord gives us here, isn't it? But if that fails, if your brother will not be reconciled to you, the Lord goes on. He says, if then, first of all, if you've done it, you've gained your brother. You see, that's the aim here, isn't it? It's to gain your brother back, not necessarily your money back, not necessarily your honor back, whatever it may be, but to gain your brother back. So you can walk together again in harmony. But if he will not hear, verse 16, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. Now, this is where I think that church went wrong. With such a matter, they should have said that the pastor and the elder should have gone and spoken to that brother. It was such an important and serious matter that they needed to have those two witnesses, didn't they? Not just the wife, but the two witnesses, so that there will be collaboration. And so that there will be, not collaboration, but Cooperation, sorry, yes, cooperation of what was going on and what was being said. So the man could not say, I didn't say that. There's cooperation. Thank you. So that's what they should have done. And that's what the Lord is telling us. If it's not such a serious matter, one brother might do. But if it's a serious matter, then you need the elders involved. And you need to have that cooperation. You need to have that witness, don't you? so that the church will be fully aware and fully backing what is going on. So that by the mouth of two, you see, two or three witnesses, every word may be established. Now, they may still refuse. They may still not want to repent. So what happens next? If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. So the elders and deacons now are involved. They take it to the church and they explain the matter to the church. They don't necessarily have to go into every detail. Now here again, churches fail. Sometimes they want everything. They want all the dirt. on the matter and they shouldn't have it. They should be given, the church should be given what they need to know to understand the situation and understand what needs to be done. Now that's for two reasons. One is we're not in the business of wanting to know all the dirt and having it all displayed out in front of us. We are not the judge of that man's soul, are we? Christ is. We are dealing with this matter as those who Christ has appointed to judge in these matters of life. But really, Christ is the one who deals with that man's soul. But the second reason is this. And I've just forgotten it. Let's come back to that, shall we? No, it's gone completely. If I can remember, I will tell you. But anyway, the point is, ah yes, it's this. If you were in that person's shoes, how would you be able to face your church again if it had all been brought out into the open and all the dirt had been spilt? You couldn't be able to do it, would you? What would happen then would be the tendency for the person who had committed the act not to repent, but to stand on his on his claim that he was not guilty and trying to defend himself. And you don't want that situation. What you want is to claim back your brother, don't you? So you only say what is necessary. You bring it to the church. Yes, but the church shouldn't want to know every detail. They should only want to know what is necessary. This is a shameful thing, isn't it? Anything should have to be brought to this extent before the church. Shameful thing. We shouldn't want to know everything that is going on. Now if that brother then refuses to repent, what should we do? Verse 17. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen or a tax collector. In other words, he should be excommunicated. He should be, he should be, He should be put out of membership and he should be denied the Lord's table as though he were an unbeliever. Not that he is an unbeliever necessarily, but that he does not now have the favor and the privileges of being a church member, of being part of the church and the life of the church. He can come to services, he must come to services to hear the word of God and when he repents he can be brought back into church membership. But this is the last thing that we can do. We put them out of membership so that they learn not to sin and not to do these things and so that the church knows that these things aren't acceptable and so that the world knows, those who are watching us, knows that we do not tolerate these things. Christ does not tolerate these things in his church and that we have dealt with it as far as we can. You see friends, there is an order that Christ has given us and we must follow this order to maintain the church, to win our brethrens, to walk together, to be one together so that we can live together as a family of the Lord's people and serve together as a family of the Lord's people and honor the Lord Jesus Christ in the eyes of the world and before the throne of Christ. Let's pray. Our gracious God and our loving heavenly Father we come into your presence and we do praise and thank you Lord that you in your word have given us all that we need to know. You have given us such clear instruction. Lord, we only go astray when we fail to obey your word and fail to be willing to fulfill your word. Lord, help us. Be with us. Instruct us, Lord, in your ways. and help us ever to have a willing heart to be obedient to you and to all that you have given us. Make us wise, Lord. Teach us your truth that we may walk in it. We ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.