Judging Men and Angels
Practical Church (1 Corinthians) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
[LAUNCH ANNIE ARMSTRONG VIDEO]
Announcements
Good morning. Welcome to Southern Hills Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.
If you are a first-time guest with us, you will find a Connection Card in the pew rack in front of you. We would appreciate it if you would fill that out and place it in the offering plate. That gives us a record of your visit and allows us the opportunity of reaching out to you this week to answer any questions that you might have.
Online giving is available at our website, southernhillsbc.com. By clicking on GIVE, it will take you to our giving page where you can easily give by electronic check or credit card. You can also give during our offertory time or in the box at the info table. If you are a guest, please know that we do not expect you to give. Our members and regular attenders provide for the ministry of the church
This week, we launch our annual Annie Armstrong Easter offering. The Annie Armstrong offering supports our North American Mission Board, or NAMB. The North American Mission Board is focused on planting churches in cities throughout the United States and Canada. Each year, we plant between 800-1000 new churches in North America. This offering goes directly to that work.
The national goal for Southern Baptists this year is $80 Million. As one of 48,000 local churches in the SBC, our goal this year is $10,000. So I hope that you will be prayerful about how God would have you give toward this mission of church planting during the month of March and up until Easter Sunday.
Each week until Easter, you will see a video like the one we started our service with. Churches are being planted in college communities, downtown areas, poverty-stricken areas, affluent areas, and even rural areas. National polls estimate that only approximately 20% of Iowans attend church. That means that we have a lot of work to do in our own backyard. Siouxland needs more faithful churches.
In your bulletin, you should find a giving envelope for Annie Armstrong. Please note that this is a special offering, separate from your normal giving. If you put a gift in this envelope, none of that will support our local church. 100% will all go to NAMB. You should have received an Annie Armstrong envelope in your bulletin this morning. There are more envelopes on the Missions table as well as Prayer Guides to give you some prayer prompts each week throughout the month of March. I would encourage you to grab a prayer guide on your way out later this morning.
See bulletin for Calendar Updates
If you are a guest with us, know that this is our weekly Family Worship service. Our children will remain with us for the entire service. We do have a nursery available for children under 4 just down the hall if you would like to use it.
Please stand as I read our Call to Worship.
Call To Worship
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Opening Hymn
Scripture & Prayer: Dave Kincaid Psalm 146
Song #1
Missions Minute: Corridor Church- Milford
[Go to slide]
Corridor Church planted on Easter 2024 by Daniel Clement and a small team in Milford, IA just south of Lake Okoboji. As is the intention of our North American Mission Board, Corridor launched with the intention of reaching un-churched and de-churched people.
Out of 48,000 Southern Baptist Churches in North America, more than 1/3 of them have been planted within the last 20 years. One of the reasons for that is that many of our older churches forget how to reach the unreached and settle for stagnancy or transfer growth.
Daniel and his team are beginning to make inroads in the community. This has been difficult because the community is highly transient—and by transient, I don’t mean homeless, but that much of the community is seasonal. But Corridor is there as a steady rock, meeting weekly in a local Middle School and making a difference in peoples lives.
Please be praying for Daniel and his family. He is working full-time in the School District in addition to leading this church plant. His wife, Dawn, also works as a counselor in town. Pray that their church would keep drawing in new people who are unfamiliar with the gospel and that they would make a difference in the lake area. Daniel specifically asks that we pray for their ability to hear the Holy Spirit and follow Him as He moves forward in their community.
Offering & Prayer
Song #2 (What a Beautiful Name It Is)
Lord’s Supper
Please be seated.
(beat)
“The Name” is an important concept in the Bible. In Hebrew, it is ha shem, and it refers to the person of Yahweh God. We first learn in Genesis 4 that people began to call on “the name of Yahweh.” Soon thereafter in Scripture, “the Name” often stands in the place of God’s name.
In the Writings and the Prophets, “the Name” stands as a personification of God. It is “the Name” that will bring divine judgment and protection. So, for Jesus to be the one “who comes in the name of the Lord” is significant. It is at this point in New Testament where the “name of Jesus” becomes synonymous with “the name of the Lord, ” or Yahweh God Himself.
For Hebrews to “bear the name” of God was a serious task. They were to live and act as His ambassador on earth, carrying His name among the nations. For followers “bearing the name” of Jesus, the symbolism is just as strong. His disciples carry His name to the nations, proclaiming Him as king, and calling all people to repent and to follow Him.
In Acts 5, after the apostles were arrested and beaten, the apostles rejoiced to be counted worthy of suffering for “the name.”
You see, when you understand who Jesus is—that He is God in the flesh, that He created you for a purpose, that He loves you and wants you to dwell in His presence forever—you won’t ever take privilege of bearing “the name” for granted. And it is that “name” that we carry out of these walls each week to a perverse and dying world.
We’re going to continue our reading about Jesus from the book of John. Today we will continue in chapter 3 with Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus:
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
At this time, I am going to have our ushers come forward. If you are a follower of Jesus, in that you have accepted Him as Savior, bowed to Him as King, and been baptized in obedience to His commandment, we invite you to participate with us. In just a moment, we will pass the plates. Please take a piece of bread and a cup and hold it until we take together.
Pass
Instruction from Jesus: Read Matthew 26:26-29
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Prayer of Blessing on bread and cup
Song #3
Pastoral Prayer
World - War Pakistan and Afganistan, Iranian people
Country-
State-
City-
SHBC- sickness, travel
Introduction
Today is March 1, which means that we only have 3 weeks of Winter left.
But, as you know, the weather doesn’t pay attention to the calendar—especially here in the Midwest, where it is so unpredictable that we have fired all of our meteorologists and outsourced our weather predictions to a groundhog.
(Beat)
If you have your bible with you this morning, please turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians.
We are a couple months into our series called Practical Church. Paul began writing this letter to the church in Corinth with several major concerns in mind. After encouraging the church, he began to speak against their divisiveness. He called out their wrong-headed desire to continue chasing after human wisdom and status.
That thinking led him to chapter 5, where last week he pointed out how backwards their thinking had become. They had allowed a man within the church to engage in an incestual relationship with his step-mother, and instead of rebuking the individual and using church discipline, they had began boasting about the sin and the freedom that is available in the church of Jesus Christ.
Regardless of their motivations, their conclusions were clearly wrong and misaligned with the gospel. If these men were so wise, then why would they disregard the Holy Spirit and ignore blatant sin. And further, if they can’t seem to make simple judgments like this black and white moral matter in chapter 5, how will they ever address more trivial matters that threaten church unity?
That is what Paul will begin addressing today in chapter 6. Failure to address sin issues will continue to splinter the church into factions. Someone with moral character will need to stand up and call them to unity in the Spirit of Jesus. And yet, no one in Corinth seems willing to do so. Each appears to be so hung up on ego that their division seems to be a virtue for them rather than the cracks that will lead to structural failure.
How can the Corinthians continue to boast that they are so wise when the church is falling apart?
Won’t they remember the call to die to oneself?
Won’t they remember the true wisdom available to them only through the Holy Spirit?
Their hearts will need to be reshaped into the image of Jesus if they are ever to be the men and women that God has designed them to be.
[TITLE SLIDE]
When God formed Adam—our first father and the representative of all humankind, He did so for a purpose. The One who spoke all things into being and crafted the cosmos by the hands of the Son had no need for human imagers to help Him. And yet, He desired the companionship of these beings.
He created them into His own image, bestowing upon them His characteristics.
They were given rationality so that they could think and make choices like Him.
They were given creativity so that they could craft and take enjoyment in working with their hands and minds.
And they were given free will so that they could use their own desire to respond to their Creator in worship and enjoy Him forever.
And even though God knew that our first parents would misuse that free will to choose something other than obedience to Him, He created them anyway. Why? Because before He even created them, He loved them and wanted a human family.
Sin ravaged the first family. Not only did they receive the consequences of their disobedience in the garden, but it wasn’t long before the enemy of God came to them to cause more chaos. Cain and Abel were separated from God, but still had a relationship with Him.
But God saw plainly the desire for sin in Cain’s heart. Out of His Fatherly love for Cain and His desire to see a change in his heart, God warned him that “sin is crouching at the door. It’s desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”
You see, God had something better planned for His human family.
But if we desire to experience the purpose and plan of God, we first have to learn to rule over sin.
With that thought, let us turn to our passage this morning. 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, starting in verse 1:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x5]
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, then, 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 a dispute between the brothers, (/) but brother goes to law against 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.
Paul makes it clear, that although the Corinthian believers have come to Jesus and been made part of His local church body, these church members—like Cain—still haven’t learned to rule over sin.
How can they ever expect make wise decisions without accessing the wisdom of God?
And how will they ever be the hands and feet of Jesus—delivering justice to the world—if they can’t even judge rightly within the body?
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
Judges (vv 1-4)
In the story of the exodus, Moses is an overworked guy trying to faithfully lead the people of God. In Exodus chapter 18, we are told that Moses sat from “morning till evening,” rendering judgments for God’s people as they had disputes. They did this because the people recognized the authority and heavenly wisdom that God had given to Moses.
His father-in-law Jethro, also a servant of Yahweh, gives him counsel to share his authority to govern God’s people with elders full of wisdom. This will allow him to lead the people well without having to play referee for every dispute.
I know there are times when we feel like this as parents—like we are Moses sitting and settling disputes between toddlers all day. As they grow, our goal as parents is to help them work through their disagreements by coaching them to figure out a positive solution on their own.
But here—in Corinth—the church members are not seeking out even one church leader full of wisdom. Instead, they are running outside of the church to the Roman court system.
How embarrassing would it be if every time your kids got into a fight, they ran to your neighbor’s home to get a judgment? On one hand, you may enjoy the break, but on the other, your neighbor would wonder who is in charge at your house…
This is how Paul feels, and he is dealing with fully formed and autonomous adults… He’s not only embarrassed for the sake of the Name, but he is frustrated by their failure to even try and seek the wisdom of God within the church. Look back with me at verse 1:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
Like modern Americans, Romans were quick to enter into litigation. The courts were big business in these cities of high philosophy, and they were most always in session.
In the 1990’s cult classic film Suburban Commando, Hulk Hogan plays an interstellar hero who gets stuck on earth. At one point, while trying to help a friend park in his own driveway, he lifts a hot rod out of the way and is immediately accosted by a dangerous looking gang of hot-rodders. They threaten the monstrous hero, but he cuts them off before they can finish threatening him, helping to fill in the gaps with exquisite detail about how they are going to beat him to a pulp and feed him to a bunch of hogs.
With looks of disgust, they respond, “What are you nuts? This is the 90’s. We’re gonna sue you.”
(Beat)
Wealthy Roman citizens were just as quick to litigate civil matters. Their pride and their need to be vindicated trumped most matters of decency. And Greco-Roman courts were renowned for favoring those with higher societal status.
Their judges were chosen in the way that we choose our politicians today. Ideally, we would desire to choose the wisest and most able for the role of politician or judge. But, in practicality, we tend to choose the most powerful and influential—the person with the most money to spend on marketing. In the same way, Roman citizens would choose judges based off of their wealth and influence, taking their philosophical wisdom into account only after their influence.
Litigation in the Roman world rarely had anything to do with pursuing justice.
The Roman novelist Petronius once described these courts as “nothing more than a public auction.”
Maybe this is why the church members are taking each other to court. It is highly likely that it was those entitled members of the church who are preferential to using a pagan civil court, because they know the judges will rule in their favor.
This was obviously a problem throughout the Empire, as James felt the need to address it in his letter to the corporate church.
In James 2:5-6, he says:
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?
Paul is outraged at this report that he has heard. “How dare you Corinthians, as members of the assembly—parts of the body, united to Christ Himself—take your grievances up before the unrighteous!”
Dare you take your grievance to a judge that does not understand love in the way that God designed it?
Dare you go to someone without access to the wisdom of the Creator God?
Instead, he says, you should be taking your issues before the saints. Now—quickly—let’s clarify what Paul means by saints. He does not mean saints in the way that the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches use it. These are not men and women who are well-known for their unsurpassable devotion to Christ and for the miracles that they have worked by their own hands.
The word for saints here in Greek is hagioi. It simply means “holy ones.” These are men and women who have been made holy by the covering of the blood of Jesus. There is nothing particularly righteous in saints, except for the fact that in their submission to Christ, they are covered by His holiness. Simply said, by the use of saints, Paul is referring to faithful members of the church.
It is to the faithful followers of Christ—the imagers of God—who you should be taking your case to.
Not only do they have access to the wisdom of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit, but they were created with God’s shared authority to govern creation and rule over sin.
Paul continues:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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, then, 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?
Okay. Here is where we will need to take a moment to build out some solid theology. Paul has said, “How dare you take your dispute to anyone outside of the church. The saints have access to the full mind of God. Besides, don’t you know that they will judge the world?”
What does he mean by saying that the members of the church will judge the world?
Well, first we need to understand what Paul means by judge. The word for judge can also mean to rule or govern. So, Paul is not saying necessarily that believer will send unbelievers to their final judgment. In fact, he has just said that God is the One that judges those outside the church.
In context—then—it seems as if Paul is referring to the original intent of God to have His human family rule over creation. And while that purpose had been distorted in being separated from God in a cursed world, it had been re-established through the sacrifice of Jesus. The opportunity for restoration to God’s original design had come through His sanctifying blood.
And one day, our call to rule creation will come again in its fullness. Look with me to the prophecy in Daniel 7:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
And again in Revelation 3:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
God’s human imagers will once again fulfill their destiny as co-heirs and co-rulers with Christ over creation. As adopted Sons of God, the saints will judge, or rule over, the world.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
So, if the Corinthians—as God’s imagers being re-formed into the image of Christ—are destined for ruling the world, why are they so hesitant to rule within the microcosm of the church? Paul wants to know why they are hanging so tightly to human wisdom and running outside the church to resolve the most trivial of matters.
If they cannot even judge rightly on simple matters of God’s law using the wisdom that God has provided them through His Spirit, how will they ever expect to fulfill their call to judge the world—and even angels?
(Beat)
Now, this is the place where many of you might call a timeout…
What does Paul mean by this? Where does Scripture say that we will judge angels? And how are we supposed to understand this?
To understand this, we have to engage in what is known as “Biblical Theology.” As opposed to “Systematic Theology,” biblical theology focuses on the meta-story of the Bible. That is—we look at the arc of the whole biblical canon as one complete story and begin to follow the themes and threads that run throughout the story of God—from beginning to end.
To quickly overview the story in relation to what Paul has said, the story goes like this. Try to keep up with me, because it will be important:
(Deep breath)
In the beginning, God created both supernatural imagers and human imagers of Himself.
Each group was important to God, but they were designed for different purposes.
The human imagers were designed to dwell within God’s creation and to help Him govern it by ruling it justly.
The supernatural imagers—what we often refer to as angels—were to dwell outside of creation and to help God govern it by ruling His people justly and pointing them to worship God as the Almighty and Unique Creator God.
Both human and supernatural imagers were made to reflect God’s goodness and His care for creation. But, in sharing His image, both groups were given free will.
God made a mountain garden in the East, a place called Eden—where both of God’s families of imagers dwelt in His presence and near His throne.
One of His supernatural imagers became jealous of Him. In his free will, he became prideful and greedy. Like God, he wanted to have imagers of his own. So, by misleading God’s human imagers, he thought that he could destroy them through the death that was promised to them in disobedience to God.
As Adam and Eve sinned, they became sons of disobedience—they became imagers of the serpent. The disobedient human imagers were removed from God’s presence—bound to die, separated from their loving Creator God.
But God offered them hope through sacrifice.
The serpent could not abide that hope. It seems that he rallied other supernatural imagers to his cause to destroy humankind. Genesis 6 details a group of rebellious supernatural imagers who came specifically to bring further corruption to God’s human imagers.
Jude comments on this in his letter to the church when he mentions that “the angels did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling.”
God responded by flooding the earth and starting over with Noah’s family. But as the human project restarted, it was clear that the desire for sin was deeply entrenched in the hearts of God’s human imagers.
God would have to give them new hearts.
In Genesis 11, we see another incident where humankind comes together—seeking after the father of disobedience—elevating their pride and seeking after self. There, at Babel, God divides the people by territories and languages. Moses details this fallout in Deuteronomy 32:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
When God separated and disinherited the nations, he took some of his supernatural imagers and gave them authority over these territories. Then God called Abram out of the nations to make a new people for Himself.
Like the serpent, these supernatural sons of God rebelled and garnered worship for themselves. Like the angels from Genesis 6, these supernatural imagers that God put in charge of the nations, left the counsel of the wisdom of God in disobedience to their Creator.
And so, the serpent, the angels who sinned, and these territorial spirits each abandoned their posts. They refused the image of God and gave up their inheritance as His sons.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Which makes the Abraham plan all the more interesting. Through one man, God built a nation to gather all nations to Himself once again.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the covenant expanded from Israel to all humankind who would come and bow to the king. This was the revealing of God’s plan for the restoration of the human imagers that He loved so much.
Paul tells us this plainly in Ephesians 1:5 that:
Ephesians 1:5 “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”
The use of “sons” here is inheritance language. Through Jesus, all of those who follow Him are adopted as sons of God, men and women alike. In this way, they are restored to God’s family and enter once for all into the counsel of God’s wisdom by His Spirit.
Effectively, they fill the seats at God’s table that were abandoned by the disobedient supernatural sons of God.
At the end of time, God’s human family will sit in judgment and rule of all of the sons of disobedience, including the angels who sinned.
Jesus explains this to the church of Thyatira in Revelation 2 when he says “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.”
(Beat)
Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers that they have been adopted as sons of God.
They will rule and reign alongside King Jesus.
And the fact that they divide themselves and seek human wisdom tells Paul that they have not begun tapping into the Holy Spirit at all…
They need godly wisdom that comes by the Spirit and through the Word.
Saints must know the Word, for by the Word God shapes their hearts and gives them the wisdom to rule justly.
Even the lowliest of believers should be wiser than the wisest of pagans.
If the church is to be known by their love, bickering over trivial matters in front of unbelievers destroys the witness of the church. It renders them ineffective and reveals them for what they are—sons of disobedience; refusers of the image.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Pride (vv 5-8)
You know, it’s easy for us—sitting here with physical bibles in our hands—to look at the church members in Corinth and shake our heads.
But, if we look inside, we’re also stubborn at times. We have our own pride that we have to wrestle with. And sometimes we let that pride win. Sometimes we value our wisdom over God’s.
Are we ready to sit as Moses and judge rightly?
(Beat)
Paul continues writing to them in verse 5:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?
Paul now uses the Greek word for shame. But he doesn’t use this word in Greek to manipulate them as the enemy of God would. Remember that he has said in chapter 4 that he is trying to correct them gently. What he means then, by using this word, is that they have dishonored themselves.
The Corinthians were boasting in their wisdom. Is there not—then—someone wise enough to judge between brothers?
Is God’s wisdom completely absent?
Is there no one loyal to God in the assembly?
In Roman society, it was scandalous to take a literal bother to court. Why should these believers look at their brothers any differently? Why would they use these courts, berating each other in front of unbelievers, simply to win an argument?
No matter who wins the lawsuit, it is the church that loses.
Paul goes on:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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!
Paul says that simply by showing up in court, litigating against a brother, they have already lost.
It doesn’t matter who is right in the argument. It doesn’t matter who wins the lawsuit. The only thing that matters is that by even serving papers to a brother, they have given the church a black eye within the community.
How can the church maintain their testimony if they quibble in front of the world?
Paul says, “why not suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? Your pride is such that you would rather destroy the effective witness of the church than lose an argument.”
But this is not the way of the king. Jesus says:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
The way of the king is suffering.
Suffering injustice and mistreatment for the sake of the Name. Paul learned this the hard way. Jesus told Ananias that he would show Paul “how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Paul would later write to the Corinthians that we, as Christians, “share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings,” and he would tell the Philippians that “it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”
But the wisdom of the world is backwards. Instead of turning their cheek and seeking unity within the body, these litigious men glory in their pride.
But pride is the glory of worldly wisdom; it is incompatible with the wisdom of God.
Unlike Jesus, these men are busy inflicting suffering instead of receiving it.
But, church, let me tell you something. We should welcome suffering for the sake of the Name because joyfully receiving injustice is the nature of forgiveness and the ultimate test of love.
(Repeat)
The Elders and Deacons leading the church in Corinth should have been peacemakers, but it appears that they were instrumental in multiplying division.
[POINT 3 SLIDE]
True Justice (vv 9-11)
Paul is searching for someone faithful enough to Jesus to deliver just a taste of the righteous justice to come in the new kingdom. Sure, we will never see true justice until Jesus returns, but restored human imagers—made righteous by the blood of Jesus and tapped into the wisdom of God—can approximate the justness of God.
Paul continues in verse 9:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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.
Paul asks them why they want to bring their business in front of the unrighteous. He says, “have you forgotten that they have no part in the kingdom of God?”
Have the Corinthians completely forgotten the gospel since Paul’s last visit?
He reminds them that unrepentant sinners will not inherit the kingdom. He goes on to name 9 types of sinners who will not be adopted as sons. Now I want you to notice that it is not because of the type of sin that it is. It is that, by the persistence of these sins, these individuals are proving themselves to be unrepentant.
In listing these 9 types of sinners, it seems that they fall into two categories. The first four describe infidelity of the heart. Sexually immoral behavior covers most any deviant sexual act, while the practices of adultery and homosexuality are pretty straightforward. And, while idolatry is not described as sexual behavior, it is often described as spiritual adultery in the Old Testament.
And all 4 of these issues with infidelity share one common issue: they subvert God’s design for proper relationships.
In the continual practice of these sins, individuals refusal to submit to God’s original design—they refuse the wisdom of God and choose to continue walking the way of the serpent.
The last 5 are all issues of self-control. Thieves take what they want. The greedy over-consume. Drunkards over-indulge. Revilers refuse to harness their tongues. And swindlers manipulate to achieve their desired ends.
Those who continue to engage in these 9 behaviors should be warned that their eternal soul is in jeopardy for they have not fully submitted themselves to the lord.
Each of these types of sinners may be reconciled to God and His kingdom, but they cannot do so unless they repent and submit themselves to King Jesus.
It is impossible to follow Jesus and continue in habitual sin. True, regenerate believers will be both faithful and learning self-control through the practice of leaning on the wisdom of the Spirit in their decision-making.
Next week, Paul will remind these church members that they no longer belong to themselves, for Jesus has purchased them by His blood. But for now, he will close this topic with verse 11:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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.
Paul reminds them of where they came from.
Many of them used to fit into those nine categories of sin. But they were washed. They have repented and have been obedient in baptism.
They can no longer continue to act in human wisdom. It must be put to death once and for all. If they persist in disobedience and sin, it reveals a major heart deficiency.
Upon their repentance and submission to Jesus, they have been justified—that is that they have been moved into a position of righteousness before God because of the holiness of Jesus. And they are sanctified, or made holy, by their proximity to the Holy Spirit.
Like a ring on the finger of a prince, the Holy Spirit has sealed these believers for the kingdom. It is a seal of Sonship, granting them access to the wisdom of the King and the authority to rule in the kingdom.
And so, Paul is calling these believers to stop trying to draw from both the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. They have believed that Jesus is the king and have voluntarily left the world. Failure to submit to the king that they claim to follow won’t do. They cannot serve two masters.
They must make a choice.
Will they follow the self and the wisdom of the world?
Or will the follow the true and just King of heaven?
[PREVIEW SLIDE]
Application
Followers of Christ, you have been washed, justified, and sanctified by the Spirit. And God has adopted you as His son or daughter. One day you will rule and reign alongside King Jesus.
Live that way now.
Love your neighbor.
Give justice to the poor and the needy, to the abused and the broken.
The supernatural enemies of God have no power over you anymore, for you are a royal heir to the throne. And one day, you will sit in judgment of their rebellion.
Invitation
If you have not decided to follow Jesus, He calls you to come to Him today. God created you for a purpose. Repent of your sin and submit your life to King Jesus, and He will make something beautiful out of your life, even in the midst of your suffering.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN
CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
