Tonight, we turn in the Scriptures to 1 Corinthians 6. We move into chapter 6 tonight of 1 Corinthians. That's found on page 1213 in your pew Bible. I'm going to, following the reading of Scripture, read one article out of the Belgic in the back on page 84. You're welcome to follow along if you would like. This is 1 Corinthians 6. Tonight, we'll be considering the first 11 verses. Let's give our attention tonight to the word of the Lord. When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more than matters pertaining to this life? So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle dispute between brothers, the brothers? But brother goes to law against brothers, brother and that before unbelievers. To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud even your own brothers. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and by the spirit of our god may the lord bless the hearing of his word and the short article there article 30 the government of the church and its officers notice there this is what we believe about the government of the church and especially as we're anticipating soon electing new office bears we believe that this true church must be governed by that spiritual polity which our lord has taught us in his word namely that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the word of god and to administer the sacraments also elders and deacons who together with the pastors form the council of the church that by these means the true religion may be preserved and that true doctrine everywhere propagated likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means also that the poor and distressed may be relieved and comforted according to their necessities by these means everything will be carried on in the church with good order and decency when faithful men are chosen according to the rule prescribed by saint paul in his epistle to timothy i told you i had two weeks to catch up with everything that happened in the news so i've got one more thing to talk about tonight. Let's start this morning. You know that in the past week, serious conflict has been playing out of hatred between people in Ferguson, between neighbors, and it's been intense, hasn't it? If you have any access to watching the news, you've been amazed at what again was resurrected in this country in terms of rioting. You know, things like that that have happened again and you see how real the tensions are and that they really haven't gone away. I mean, one of the new phrases in this whole thing that people have been wearing on t-shirts and printing on t-shirts is, no justice, no peace. I'm sure you've seen that. It's sad to watch these events unfold, isn't it? It's a tragedy to watch these events unfold in society. Why is it so sad? Well, yes life was lost that's sad there's hatred between neighbors that's sad but as a christian i'm looking at this thing and you should be looking at this thing with spiritual eyes different eyes we see differently than the world don't we we look at it differently than the world we can't we're not even on the same wavelength when it comes to evaluating this as the world We know that enmity between neighbors will never be solved by litigation. It just won't. It'll never be handled in the court. You can't fix that. Whatever is decided in the courts may bring some kind of temporary peace to the situation. But we all know the courts, and even most people say it, the courts can't ultimately solve this great problem. A problem that brings about racism is not fixed by Spike Lee's to-do list. And he had one. Killings won't stop. Struggles won't be over. Hatred will not end in this life. It won't. What do we know? We know that ultimately, we as Christians, when we look at all of this, what we're seeing play out in society is a human heart issue. It's a human heart issue. we read tonight from the heidelberg but uh or from the belgic but in the heidelberg it says when it asked the question are we able to keep god's law and the answer you'll remember says well no we have a natural a natural tendency to hate god and our neighbors that's what fills us that's what we're born with that's what we come out of the womb with the issue is much deeper courts can't solve that and we know we know as christians that The only real antidote, the only real fix to this whole thing is Christ. It's there. It's in His person and work that barriers are tore down. It's in His person and work that walls come down. It's in Him that we know and believe, Galatians 3, that there is now therefore not any longer Jew nor Greek. We don't look that way because of Him. There's no longer slave nor free. male nor female we're one in christ when it comes to salvation so the christian looks at at ferguson and he's he's pained over the whole thing hoping for justice even though earthly justice in this particular life won't ultimately be solved there may be a temporary justice ultimately the enmity between neighbors will not be fixed without our lord and that leads to what i want to emphasize tonight from first corinthians chapter six that that the the kingdom of god operates on entirely different principles the kingdom of god operates on entirely different principles um it's not aren't you glad tonight that it's not strict justice in how god deals with you well for jesus it was sure it was he had to come here and he had to be place himself under the law and become the curse and keep the law perfectly. If God, though, were to leave us in that kind of arrangement where we had to do that, there would never be peace. We know, we understand that in the kingdom of Christ, we've known the principle of grace. We've known how grace operates. We've been taught grace. We've learned Christ. We know what it means. So that ultimately, we can say when we see Ferguson that if you don't have gospel, you won't ultimately have peace. The greatest peace being with God, which is sad that so many people of our world have no peace with God. What does this mean for us tonight? Well, you know the love of Christ and the love of Christ, as Paul says, compels us. The Son of God came here. He took upon our flesh. And what did he do for us he he loved us while enemies forgave us sacrificed his own life for us continually intercedes for us that kind of love was demonstrated when we did this is why this morning is such a nice tie to this tonight while we spit on him while we treated him spitefully while we left him dead in the streets of ferguson that kind of behavior and a return from him of this kind of love that's what we celebrate tonight today and tonight that's what we gather to worship that's why we come to praise him that's what we've known all of that changes what we do how we think how we move forward how we deal with one another because this is what we've been taught this is what we know grace and love and gospel in Jesus Christ. Why do I raise all of this? Well, let me tell you what happened in Corinth. Let me describe something that happened in the church in Corinth. A dispute broke out between two brothers. And it got onto the evening news. The two brothers got in a scuffle out in the street. One was a Roman soldier and the other a shop owner. And during the process, the shop got burned down, the scuffle got physical, and Al Sharpton jumped in. And Al Sharpton started taking his moment and commenting on the whole thing. It got so ugly, a grand jury was called in Corinth. And these brothers went to law before the world. Everyone was talking about it. Hey, did you see, did you hear about this new cave? That happened. What was really behind it? Well, tonight we see that Paul is really agitated. I mean, chapter 4, 5, and 6, have you noticed how agitated the apostle is? He's seriously agitated. These brothers were suing one another. And tonight you could summarize the point by saying the real problem in Corinth was that the church, the people, had no idea, And this has been the thread throughout the whole study so far. The people had no idea who they were. They had no understanding of who they were in Christ. And it translated to the sad reality that it made absolutely no separation between them and the world. That's what happened. There was no separation. It was gone. Lines were removed. And here's what happened. It produced a terribly low view of the church. And because of the terribly low view of the church and lines removed, their witness was destroyed. And I believe the text is leading us tonight to the greater question the Spirit is indirectly asking us through this, is do you understand what you're a part of? Do we understand what we're a part of and what that means for how we act towards those on the inside? You operate different from the world. You don't act like the world. You don't do what the world does. And when you do that, not only do you attack what you belong to, but we attack the very thing we should be and the king who reigns over us. And I believe it's one of the most important things tonight to consider this case that is before us. We're here in this study and an important part in the book that really what we have is Paul now breaking into dealing with a series of problems that were happening in Corinth. A series of problems, again, all because of the main problem that the church had become like the world or fallen into the world. And when you fall into the world, you bring the world into the church. So lo and behold, you've got a church full of worldly problems. That's what I've consistently tried to say, that when a church has problem after problem after problem, worldly problem after worldly problem after worldly problem, look at its philosophy of ministry. Look at what's happened. Look at what they're valuing. Look at what they're wanting. Look at priorities. last time we saw the church wasn't disciplining it just wasn't doing it it saw no value in it it bought into the whole culture a cultural idea that's unloving and all of the pressures to avoid church discipline they weren't doing it they refused to excommunicate and the lord is telling us listen you don't have that option you're a holy congregation of christ and don't don't you understand that a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump do you understand that this very much affects you a little bit of sin in the life of the church very much affects you and to let somebody continue in that and this is the great tragedy today when when churches just invite everyone in and they don't have membership and they just say come on in and they don't care how the members live bad bad sign because clearly you could bring down god's wrath on the whole congregation remember a church can go on with the lampstand removed christ says i'm done i'm done walks away from it and the church has its meetings and they still do the potlucks and they do everything this is very important to our lord this matters a lot to our lord and so in the middle of this teaching on discipline though he made this distinction a very important distinction to help us understand that when it comes to discipline, you don't do it in the world. I understand that. The church does not have the authority to run around in the world and excommunicate people. It doesn't have that kind of ecclesiastical power to control lives in the world, if you will. And control is the bad word. You know what I mean. It doesn't have the responsibility to go out and affect the world by disciplining it when its behavior is wrong. Surely we speak out against false behavior. Surely we speak out against bad behavior in the world and things that are against God's law. The psalmist ran a tear, you know, an ocean of tears because men didn't love God's law. But Paul is making a distinction for us. And he's saying it is our responsibility on the inside in the kingdom. it is our responsibility in the church and so he launches into something now that greatly troubled him that this really troubled him he says in verse one when one of you has a grievance against another does he dare to go to law before the unrighteous instead of saints. Paul begins in chapter 6 with a strong rebuke. What was happening? Well, it was reported by those of closed household, remember chapter 1, that the members were taking each other to court. So remember, with discipline, true love is to be willing to go after them. Well, now we're seeing here that there was no true love among the members at all. You're seeing that there's enmity among the members. and most likely he's thinking of a specific circumstance. He doesn't really tell us what it is. You probably had a brother who had been defrauded by another in the life of the church, probably a business practice. Many comment on a shady business practice, and one brother was abused, and so he ended up taking the other brother to civil court. Here's what would happen in Corinth. In Corinth, you would have a public hearing, and there would be what was known as a legal porch, out on the road and so this legal porch they would have all of these disputes in these ports and so courts would be in session and it was a real show people came to listen people gathered around to listen to the court hearings and here it is and here's here's the the thread that's woven through all of this when it comes to oratory eloquence and power of speaking and all of this They came to listen to the wisdom of the judge. I mean, you just imagine Solomon sitting out there when they brought the case, and he says, well, divide the baby in half and figured it out. Everyone would have said, wow! Look at the wisdom of that judge. And men made great names for themselves doing this. Large audiences would gather. Any of that sound familiar? Judge Wapner used to be my guy, by the way. I loved watching Judge Wapner. That was all until Judge Judy came around. Judge Judy was it for me. I'd grab the popcorn and I'd watch her take people to town. Paul's appalled. Christians are doing this. How dare you do this? And I'm thinking, well, maybe we're a little taken by the righteous anger here. He's strong, which says something important to us, doesn't it? his fervency, his zeal, his passion on this matter, which you kind of say, well, it seems pretty clear. You just don't do that. Point is, here, very clear principle taken, all matters like this in the church are to be settled in the church when two brothers are in dispute. You are never to take your conflict with another brother out there, ever. You're never to take it to the civil realm. And he's not just talking about an injustice that happens between believer and unbeliever. That may happen where you end up in court if you're sued. He's talking about two brothers. He's talking about two Christians in the kingdom. Paul has a thorough understanding, and he's working from two realms here. This is what he's been doing in chapter 5 and 6. There are two realms. He's very conscious of, and there's a glaring separation between these two realms. Here, there are those on the inside, and then there are those on the outside. And he said that. So the principle is clear. You can't sue another Christian. You can't sue a brother in Christ. You can never go to the courts to do that. Now, I say that tonight, and I realize that we could probably all go through the course of our lives and realize, well, you know, I do remember so-and-so doing that. I do remember this happening. And there are actually probably more cases that have happened than standing back from it all that we're rather surprised. This has probably happened a lot more than we realize in the life of the church. I mean, I was just talking with a brother who said that, you know, he was involved, somebody was involved with another brother, they took each other to court, and they sued one another, one of them sued the other, and the excuse was, well, it's just the insurance. just the insurance money. And it wasn't. It created a terrible tension between those brothers for years. I'm not having a hard time tonight saying what's obvious. Don't do that. Amen? Everyone has to agree tonight this is clear. I'm not having a hard time with the principle of it. If someone chooses to ignore it, it seems to me, that's disciplinary. And they have to answer to the Lord. I'm not having a hard time with the principle. I'm having a hard time with this. Why was it not obvious to them and to us? That's what I don't get. How could this ever get to a point where that is not obvious? And that that would be okay. he's ticked the church is letting this go on how dare you guys do this so my question is what kind of situation among believers would ever allow them to get to the place where they are okay to take this stuff on the outside i'm concerned about what leads to this what caused this and why it even matters so much that i can't get away from why was this acceptable Why did they do nothing and think nothing of this? As I've been studying this, one thing has been painfully clear in our study of Corinthians. What has it been in 1 Corinthians that's been woven all the way through in our study? And it is this. They had no understanding of who they were. That's what I get. In chapter 5, when Paul was making the case for church discipline, what this man was doing, he says, Listen, not even the Gentiles would allow it. And you guys tolerate it. And you're puffed up. And now they're suing one another and no one seems to care. What you find is the great problem revealed here is this. I'm building it a little bit. They had a terribly low view of the church. A terribly low view of the church. And that's why it was appalling to Paul. They had a low view of what they are a part of. They had a low view of Christ's kingdom, His church. This is so important. One of the things we've lost today is this. A high view of the church. And I used to hear people say, I just don't hear it much anymore, so-and-so is such a good churchman. So-and-so is such a good churchman. The thought to the church today is what? Not much. We can take it, we can leave it. We can go for whatever best suits me. We can pick and choose on whatever I like best. And so we see people come and we go. We see people come and they go. And there's no real sense of what it even means anymore to enter into the kingdom, to enter into and why church membership even matters. I mean, what's the one thing everyone attacks today in church life? Membership. Don't commit me to anything. Try that down at LA Fitness, by the way. I've always thought there's no sort of holy fear anymore. When Ananias and Sapphira were struck down in the first century, remember the effect that it had on everyone? No one dared to join them, but the people esteemed them highly. Imagine if we had that. that back in other words there was such high esteem for this that everyone thought really carefully about what it is to be a part of it and everybody really cared about what it meant to be a part of it and this is what paul is doing in this book paul is really helping them to take their view of the church and raise it out of the roof. In chapter 2, what did he say? Do you not know that you, he's talking about the church, are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in you? We all want to individualize that, but that's not how Paul was ultimately speaking. You, the church, the body. And Paul kept saying it. In fact, if you go through Corinthians, the themes that you keep coming up with are, I want you to start thinking like your Old Testament Israel in the way that God relates to you. Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread. Not that we're going back to those shadows and types. What he's saying is in fulfillment now in Christ, I want you to think of yourselves as separated, like Israel was separated. And he's using all the same language to make that point. Remember Exodus 19. God had set apart Israel from all the nations in the earth. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Exodus 33. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth? Paul keeps saying this to Corinthians over and over in the second book. Be separate. Be separate. Be holy. There has to be a spiritual excitement to what we're a part of. There has to be a confidence to what you're a part of. When you stepped into this, you didn't join the Lions Club. Your King is Jesus. Do you know that His church is the apple of His eye? Let me come back just for a moment. You'll see where I'm going with this, I hope. The flagellants this morning, I mentioned them. Strange name, I know. They would hit themselves. And they would walk through the streets of London during the days of the plague and whip themselves trying to abate the plague and cry out to God for mercy. You know what the Pope did with that? The Pope wanted that stopped as fast as possible. Do you know why? Because they were going, in his eyes, They were going directly to God. Wrecking the system of the priesthood. Now why do I raise that? Well, they were doing it wrongly. And many of them in my reading observed that that paved the way for the Reformation, all these groups popping up. But it's fascinating that we're very medieval still in how we view the church. Why do I say that? Do you know you're directly under your king? Do you know you're directly under the lordship and the kingship of Christ? He communes with you. Listen to the Westminster Confession on this. This is just a beautiful definition of Christ's office of a king. Listen to this. Christ executes the office of a king. What does he do? He calls out of the world a people to himself. He gives them officers. laws and censures by which He visibly governs them in bestowing saving grace on the elect. He rewards their obedience, correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for His own glory and their good, taking vengeance on the rest who do not know God nor obey the gospel. When you professed, When you professed it, you said, I'm going to live under that reign, that gracious reign, a gracious reign. You made an entrance into another kingdom. He says he conveyed you out of the kingdom of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of his son in love. That's the kind of kingdom now you're in. You're directly under that kingship in a very special way. You're a chosen race, a holy priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Now, do you understand why Paul's mad? Does that build it up a little bit? They're running away from him to the world to solve their disputes. They're running away from the true king to unbelievers to solve their problems. And there's no appreciation at all that they belong to a holy community and that Jesus brought them in and directly governs them with that kind of care. When there's no appreciation for the church and there's no formal commitment and there's no valuing of it and we just kind of gripe against it and really don't even know why we're a part of it, how do you think that affects church life? It's easy. When we can no longer appreciate or just take or leave church, here's the fruit. You're depending on another king in another kingdom to solve all your problems. You can get justice from the world, the Lord sets up justice systems. That's not a denial of this. There's government for that purpose. But we never in the church run to the unrighteous to solve our problems. Never. It's a rejection of what we belong to. And that's Paul's point. You don't know what you belong to and what that means for the future. He says in verse 2, do you not know that the saints are going to judge the world? You're going to sit and stand over this world and judge it with Christ when he takes his seat because you're his subjects and you're in his kingdom and you are going to judge this world and if the world is to be judged by you are you incompetent to try trivial cases do you not know that we are to judge angels you're going to stand in judgment and exercise judgment over satan what a day that'll be how much more than matters pertaining to this life So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? And then Paul says the sad reality in verse 7. Brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers. To have lawsuits at all with one another, he says, it's a defeat. Listen to this. Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud even your own brothers. You could rephrase it this way. God's kingdom and church operates on this principle of grace that you've known. This is what you've been taught. This is how Christ has redeemed you and set you apart and loved you and treated you even when you spit on him. He didn't deal with you in terms of strict justice or you would be in hell. The kingdom of God then is not operating on a matter of eating and drinking. It's operating on the principles of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's what he said in Romans 14. When the world fights, what happens? Well, God gives a civil realm to try to quell it. That's what we're seeing happen, to try to take it down and bring justice and truth. But you know, you know, the world's justice system is filled with people full of cheating and swindling and stealing and doing wrong. And all of it is for greed. All of it is for more and more money. All of it is for honor and these sort of things. But you were brought into this kingdom with an entirely different kind of king who became a slave for you and loved you and laid down his life, who graciously sought you when your debt was off the charts, forgave it all, brought you in, robed you, clothed you, and gave you a place to sit at his table in the feast of his kingdom to come, judging the world with him. Guess what? You know what that means? There's a holy recognizance. You have. What does that mean? You have a solemn obligation to that same kind of love to your brethren. That's what he's saying. That's what grieves him so much. In the world, they bite and devour. In the world, you get a charlatan-like Sharpton standing up and doing what he's doing. Have you listened to the thirst for blood in the world? Have you seen the dog-eat-dog mentality in the world? You've got a different interest. You've got a different path. Since you're part of the body of Christ, who taught you this? Who taught you gospel? Who taught you love? You've learned Christ. You've learned what it is. So then, guess what? If that's the case, you just let yourself be cheated. If your brother, as that happens, wouldn't you rather just let yourself be cheated? Wouldn't you rather just accept wrong than to drag Christ's name through the mud? out there? Wouldn't that be the answer? In other words, what is money? What are homes? What does all of this honor when it's all thrown into the fire tomorrow? We thought like that. We really do see how worldly this is. This is what's really exposed here tonight. This is so worldly and the question that comes out to the church in Corinth and to us is how much do you value the honor in the name of Jesus Christ your king you're dragging his name through the mud for the world and that's the import that's the the effect of this text tonight what would it look like tonight well it would look like this two brothers get into dispute both of them without going off the handle and hating one another and fighting and taking it out there, they'd come to their elders and we would be overjoyed if two brothers handled it this way and said, listen, we're in a dispute. Whatever you decide, since you are the officers directly accountable to Christ, whatever you decide, we'll listen to. And so they sit and they listen objectively and they render the judgment. It's accepted. Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing if that's how we handled disputes? Relied on our elders the way that we should. That's why God appointed them. Well, Paul gives them one last reminder of how solemn a responsibility this is and we close with this. Verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, listen, will inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, they're on the outside. They're not inheriting it if they're practicing those things. And such were some of you. But here's what God did for you. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. He did that for you. He washed you, he sanctified you, and he put it in that order to emphasize the washing, ultimately saying, you're completely pardoned by justification in christ but you see dear christians the world's going to be judged for those behaviors those practicing and living in those sins are not going to enter the kingdom so do you see how inappropriate it is for you to do those things in the kingdom when you've been called out of that we don't do that because we're free and where the spirit is there's liberties. Just don't use that liberty as a cloak for vice. You are washed. You're sanctified. You're justified. I close with a statement. John Owen said, store in your heart a sense of the love of God in Christ with the eternal design of His grace. Taste the blood of Christ and His love and his shedding of it. And all the privileges that come to you, adoption, justification, acceptance with God, fill the heart with thoughts of the beauty of holiness. And in your walk with God, you will have great peace and security when you are disturbed by temptations. I can't think of any better way to end this. His love constrains and compels us. And that means that we, as we live, will live and recognize the great blessing we have to be called sons of the living God brought into a kingdom that cannot be shaken and now demonstrated in how we love one another. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this text tonight. A text that on the surface seems so easy, but yet when we probe really what it exposes, we need to ask for forgiveness for how much we grumble and complain and have such a low view of your church. thank you for bringing us into your kingdom. Thank you for giving us a place. And Lord Jesus, we're so thankful that we can come directly to you tonight. And that you promised to govern us and help us in disputes and to punish those who are against us. We have everything. We have all confidence. And then you've promised us and one day we will sit in glory with You. We will judge the world and we will forever enter into that eternal kingdom sharing in the great banquet feast of the Lamb. Until that time, may we love the way that we've been loved. Until we're able to gaze upon You with our eyes and see You, O Lord Jesus, face to face. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.