The 3^rd problem ~ Suing each other in secular court (4 things)

• 1^st – The problem… vs. 1
  • Apparently legal disputes came up between the members of the church in Corinth…
    • Rather than dealing with these problems – they were suing each other…
    • They were going to the secular courts – ungodly judges – rather than to the saints!
  • These were not necessarily issues of sin – Paul dealt with that in I Corinthians 5…
    • More likely they involved business disputes – property – civil matters…
    • If a Christian ‘brother’ was hired to work on your house – did not do a good job…
    • If you bought a property – and found out there were problem with the title…
    • If you had a disagreement over a property lines – and so on…
  • The problem was not that the people were having disagreements…
    • Any time you get a bunch of sinner together (even godly ones) there will be problems
    • There is no such thing as a perfect church – they do not exist…
    • If we ever did find one – and joined – it would not longer be a perfect church!
    • As believers in Jesus – the church – we are still sinners / we still make mistakes…
    • The problem was with how the church in Corinth was handling these disputes…
      
• 2^nd – The perspective… vs. 2-4
  • Do you not know you will judge the world / angels…
    • By going to the secular courts – ungodly judges – they were in effect saying…
      • They were incapable of taking care of the problems within the church…
      • Paul challenges them – with something he expected them to know…
      • One day they would judge the whole world – and even the angels!
    • One day we – believers in Jesus (the church) – will judge the world!
      • * Revelation 2:26-27 – “He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations…  He shall rule them with a rod of iron…”
      • * Revelation 5:10 – “And we shall reign on the earth.”
      • Apparently when Jesus returns after the 7 years of tribulation…
      • He will set up His Kingdom – reign for 1000 years on earth – Revelation 20:1-7…
      • We – the church – will come with Him out of heaven (there since the rapture)…
      • To rule and judge the nations with Jesus for those 1000 years…
      • * Revelation 20:4 – “I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.”
      • I am not sure if we can put in requests now – but I am preferential to New Zealand
    • One day we – believers in Jesus (the church) – will even judge the angels!
      • Revelation 12:4 – 1/3 of all the angels rebelled along with satan against God…
      • We know that there is a judgment that awaits these fallen angels…
      • * II Peter 2:4 – “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to [Tartarus] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.”
      • * Jude 1:6 – “I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment.”
      • Already Jesus has given us complete power over fallen angel…
      •  Luke 10:19 – “Behold, I give you the authority… over all the power of the enemy.”
      • But it appears one day we will also take part in helping judge the fallen angels!
      • We will look at satan in amazement – this is the guy who caused all that trouble!
      • * Isaiah 14:16 – “Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world?”
  • Paul’s point is simple – if we will one day help rule the whole world with Christ…
    • If we are ‘qualified’ to stand in judgment of satan and his angels…
    • How much more should we be able to handle simple problems in the life!
    • If I trusted you with a million pesos – I would also trust you with 10P…
    • God has given us the wisdom/ability to be able to judge right from wrong…
    • We are more than qualified to address any problem that might arise in the church!
  • So why do you look to those LEAST qualified…
    • But in Corinth – instead of judging the matters within the God’s church…
    • They were trusting in the secular judges – courts – that did not even believe in God!
    • It would be like going to a prison – getting a convicted criminal – to judge your case…
    • When we come up against problems in life – whom do we look to for answers…
    • Do we run to friends/family – our barkada – who may not even know the Lord…
    • They might mean well – but they are not going to have the right answers…
    • Or do we turn to the Lord – turn to the wisdom of God’s Word!

We should be giving the world the only answer they need – Jesus!

3^rd – The solution… vs. 5-8

Rather than ‘announce’ the sin of the church for the world to see…

The result of suing believers before secular judges…

Was a VERY poor witness to a world that needed to hear about Jesus…

If you walked into a church – and the ‘members’ were all badmouthing each other…

If there was backbiting – talk of ongoing court cases – angry looks…

It is a not a place where you would want to stay – or learn about Jesus!

Matthew 12:25 – “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”

If the church is always fighting itself – it is not fighting for the lost…

A church divided is a church that will not last!

Instead find a wise man among you – to judge between you…

Paul points out that there must be at least one wise man there in the church…

Someone who could be impartial – and render fair judgment…

A pastor/elder who is not involved in the dispute / an older wiser saint in the church…

* James 3:13-18 – find someone who is full of Godly wisdom… 

Those who without partiality plant seeds of peace – and reap a harvest of goodness!

Or just accept being wronged…

If someone wrongs you – and there is no believer who can judge between you…

Take it – don’t fight back – don’t try and get revenge – just be wrong…

Matthew 5:39-40 – “I say, don’t resist an evil person! If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too.  If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.”

Better to suffer the loss – money / land / hurt feelings / respect / pride…

Than to defame the name of Christ by brining the person to a secular court!

You might argue – but you don’t know what they did…

You might think – but I am in the right – what they did was REALLY wrong…

That may be true – but that is not the point…

Matthew 18:23-35 – the parable of the unforgiving servant…

There was a servant who owed the Master 10,000 talents (8 billion pesos)…

Which makes the next statement obvious – he was not able to pay…

But the master wiped away the debt – he was completely forgiven…

But the man went out and would not forgive a fellow servant who owed 100P…

If we focus on what others have done to us – then we want ‘justice’…

We want them to pay back every centavo they have cost us…

Our problem is we are looking in the wrong direction…

We are looking at what they have done to us – rather than what we have done…

The Master found out – should you not have had mercy as I had mercy on you!

How could you not forgive so little seeing how much you have been forgiven…

When we consider all that Jesus has forgiven us – everything

The enormous debt we owed (8 billion pesos)…

How could we not forgive our brother what little debt they may owe us…

When we really understand from our heart how much we are forgiven

How can we not from the heart gladly for give others!

4^th – Don’t take their advice – give them Jesus… vs. 9-11

Do not be deceived…

The unrighteous the church in Corinth went to judge their cases – will not inherit heaven…

How does deception come – planao – where we get the word planet – the world…

If we are listening to – hanging out with – looking to the world…

Then we will receive ungodly counsel – and are going to follow bad advice…

We will be encouraged to go and ‘pick a fight’ / take them to the Barangay hall…

Sue the pants off of them – they deserve it – they asked for it…

Paul points out – these people we are going to for advice – are not even going to heaven…

Idolaters/Fornicators/adulterers/homosexuals – those who practice sexual immorality

Thieves/covetous – those who are always looking for more money – more stuff…

Drunkards/abusers/swindlers – those whose lives are out of control…

These people need to receive the wisdom of Christ from us – not us from them!

We used to do these things…

But we were washed (Aorist/Middle/Indicative) – we choose to clean up…

When we choose to believe in Jesus – when we accepted His gift of salvation…

We got a good bath – all of our sin was scrubbed off – II Corinthians 5:17…

We were sanctified (Aorist/Passive/Indicative)…

Sanctified – hagiazo – conformed into the character of Jesus…

This is not something we do – we are sanctified by Jesus – Hebrews 2:11

The moment we believed in Jesus we were set apart for God…

Our lives and actions no longer defined by sin – motivated by selfish desires…

Instead we are now led by the Spirit of God – dedicated to living for the Lord!

We were justified – in the name of Jesus – by the Spirit of God…

Justified – means – ‘just as if we had never sinned!’

Jesus did what no one else could – fulfilled the righteous requirement of God’s Law

Then Jesus – the only perfect man – paid the price for our sin – Romans 6:23

In that moment Jesus condemned sin – defeated the flesh once and for all!

Then came one of the great mysteries of the ages – God gave us Jesus’ righteousness!

II Corinthians 5:21 – “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

In Jesus – we have lived a perfect life – we have fulfilled the requirement of the Law

Now when God looks down on us – He does not see our sinful mistakes/flaws

He instead sees the perfect life of His Son Jesus – He sees us as perfect/flawless!

Therefore deal with the problems in the church – and tell the ungodly about Jesus…

We have the Holy Spirit within us – we are able to deal with any situation…

Rather than going to the world to solve problems (they don’t have the answers)…