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and just, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more are things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, you do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuse of themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. As such are some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and we also raise up us by his own power, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What, know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body, for two, sayeth he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that comitteth fornication sinneth against his own body. What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for every soul here at this church right now. Lord, I just pray for this service, Lord. I pray that you bless Pastor Mejia, that you fill him with your Holy Spirit, Lord, as he preaches unto us your word, Lord. So just bless every aspect of the service, Lord, and we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, amen, we're in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 this evening, and the title of my sermon tonight is The Least Esteemed in the Church. And although that's the title, I'm just gonna actually give some lessons from 1 Corinthians Chapter 6. It's a great chapter to give some practicality to the Christian life when dealing with church members or people even outside of church and how we're supposed to live among them. Now, Chapter 6 is a continuation, or should I say the thought that we see in Chapter 6 is a continuation from Chapter 5. And in Chapter 5, if you've read the book of 1 Corinthians, you see that it's dealing with this matter of church discipline over a person committing fornication in the church. And what's really interesting about the Corinthians is that apparently they're just a church that doesn't like to judge anything, okay? They not only wanna carry out church discipline within the church for particular sins that according to the Bible merits excommunication, but they don't even wanna resolve conflict among brethren, and in fact, they wanna relinquish that responsibility to the unrighteous of this world and actually go to law and sue their brother and go to an unjust judge to carry out the sentencing to resolve their conflict. So this is a major problem at the church at Corinth. The fact that they're unwilling to discipline their members when necessary, and then also the fact that apparently they don't even have enough discernment to just resolve conflict amongst themselves. They have to go to some unjust judge to do so. So that's what Chapter 5 is talking about there. And of course, the solution to dealing with a person who's involved in unrepentant sin, the sins that we see in Chapter 5, verse 11, referring to fornication, covetousness, idolatry, railing, drunkenness, extortion, the solution is to cast that person out of the church. And a lot of people, churches specifically, have a problem with that. They find that cultish to remove people from a congregation for particular sins. But here's the thing is that you have to explain to me what is 1 Corinthians 5 talking about then. And according to the Bible, in order for sins not to permeate a church and to really defile a church, you have to make sure you stand on top of these things. And of course, we're not referring to kicking people out of the church just because they're committing these sins but rather because of the fact that they're unwilling to stop committing these sins. So if you have a person as a brand new visitor, they're committing fornication, and you hear about it, it's not like you have the right to just tell that person, well, you can't step foot in this church. You're not even allowed to be here. You're a fornicator, get out heathen. Obviously, we need to give that person a grace period where they can hear preaching about that particular topic, recognize the repercussions that they're gonna face if they don't repent from it, and then eventually confront that individual and say, hey, here are your options. And at that point, if you have an individual that says, well, I'm gonna continue in this relationship, I don't wanna stop, then at that point, they merit excommunication. We take it before the church, and we announce it to them that this person is being removed from the membership. But let me just be honest with you, that doesn't happen very often. Most of the time when someone's involved in this type of sin and they're confronted with it, they get it right. Most people who come to church are not coming to church to stir up problems and to just be involved in open sin. Most people come to church because they wanna clean up their lives. They want the truth, they wanna clean up their lives, they wanna get right with God. But this is giving us the solution of what we're supposed to do when this does take place, because it will happen. And so what we don't wanna be is these passive churches where people are involved in this open, adulterous relationship. They're an open extortion. They're hardcore idolaters. And then we're just on the sideline saying, well, we don't wanna judge people. We wanna love them and we wanna be kind to them. According to the Bible, that person is proud, arrogant, they're glorying in the fact that they think that they're nicer than the Lord. And so it's important for a church to judge its members in that regard. And obviously there are guidelines. There are borders that a pastor and members should not cross. And my job is not to police the church. I'm not a private investigator of the church, trying to look to see who's involved in sin and hey, make sure you're looking to this person. No, for me, it's just like I pastor the church and as the information comes to me, I deal with it. And so I don't think we should be on a witch hunt to look for people if they're involved in sin. In my experience, I've seen that if someone is in church and they're involved in a particular sin, God will bring it to light. They'll slip up by letting someone know, or maybe we'll see them in public or something like that. Something will happen where we're forced to kind of confront that individual and deal with it. So aside from the fact that they didn't want to deal with the guy who's sleeping with his father's wife, not his mom, but more so his stepmom, which is an extremely grievous sin. It's disgusting, but it's very grievous. In chapter six, apparently you also had this issue coming up where you had Christians within the church at Corinth who were suing each other. They're bringing each other before the law. In other words, they have some sort of maybe financial dispute, some sort of conflict, and they're so spiritually immature that they can't deal with it in-house, okay? Now let me make myself very clear is that there are certain problems in a church that according to the Bible should be dealt with in-house, like the things that we see in 1 Corinthians chapter five. And even smaller matters, dealing with finances or dealing with some sort of conflict between brethren, if it's not something where the law is being broken, it can be dealt with in-house. You understand what I'm saying? And God has sanctioned us to do so. But when it surpasses the boundaries and goes into the realm of crime, where you're breaking the law and you're involved in criminal activity, at that point it's outside of our hands and we put you into the hands of the criminal justice system whether we agree with what kind of punishment they distribute or not, okay? It's our responsibility to bring them before the authorities and yes, to rat them out, okay? And in this church, we don't believe in snitches get stitches snitches actually get riches because it means you're being honest, okay? And you're not withholding information regarding some sort of criminal activity like unfortunately a lot of churches do. Well, they'll house pedophiles and people who have taken advantage of the innocent and they wanna sweep it under the carpet and not do anything about it. They don't wanna contact the authorities until months later. I mean, that's ridiculous, okay? And so we have the issue here with the church at Corinth that they're suing each other and the Apostle Paul is reprimanding them severely basically telling them like, what's wrong with you guys? Don't you know that the least spiritual person in your church, because when he says the least esteemed, he's referring to the person that maybe still a babe in Christ, someone who's newly saved, someone who may not even know the Bible that well. He says the results that you get from asking that person what you should do is actually far better than the results you're gonna get going before an unsaved judge, believe it or not. Because here's the thing, let's say you have conflict with someone and by the way, this is not a commandment to go to the least esteemed in the church either. Let me just make myself very clear. It's just like, oh, let's just ask the babes in Christ. Don't even ask the pastor or the spiritual leaders of the church. Let's just go to the least esteemed because the Bible says, this is just telling you the comparison that it's making that you would have a higher success rate going to a babe in Christ than going to some unsaved judge, okay? Because if you think about it, let's say hypothetically speaking, you go before the least esteemed in the church, a babe in Christ, someone who doesn't know the Bible that well and let's say you present before them some conflict that you have. You know, probably the worst thing they'll say is actually the best, which is, that person will probably say, well, maybe you guys should just like shake hands and forgive each other, right? You know, to the best of his knowledge, his or her knowledge, that's probably what they'll say. Now to an immature person, be like, oh, it's not that simple. Oh, actually, no, it is that simple. Because you would actually, you know, you would benefit far more from shaking hands, forgiving each other and just going on with your life than bringing it before some unjust judge who doesn't like the Bible. And let me just say that in my experience with the court systems, I'm not a criminal, I'm just saying like, you know, in my experience with them, they're not necessary people, judges aren't necessary people who love the Bible, nor do they love Christians. Because I've been summoned to be, you know, to do jury duty in times past. And when I got summoned to do jury duty, I don't know how long it was, maybe it was like 10 years ago or something like that, they were given instructions, this is in Long Beach, and they're given instructions of what's gonna take place. And they asked, before we even started the case, they asked the jurors, or the potential jurors, they said, you know, is there anything that we should know that would cause you to be biased against this case in any way, shape, or form? And I raised my hand and I said, well, I just wanna let you know that I'm a Christian, and so the judgment that I'm gonna make is gonna be based upon the Bible. Because I believe the Bible. And they said, all right, well, you are free to go home. And I was just like, sweet, you know, because I don't wanna waste my time doing that. But that taught me that, obviously, the court systems are not interested in having a righteous judgment, right? Which is a really weird answer that they gave. And I'm not saying all of them are like that, you might have experienced something different if you done jury duty, you might have experienced some righteous judge who just loved the Lord and loved the Bible, and you know. But let me just say this, it's probably an anomaly. It probably, if you've had that experience, you know, you are the exception to the rule, because as we're gonna see later on in 1 Corinthians chapter six, the reason the Apostle Paul is saying, don't go before the unjust is because the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And he's basically implying that a lot of people in the criminal justice system, the courts, the lawyers, these people are not righteous people, they don't have the mind of Christ, they don't have proper judgment. And so how are they able to make the right decision and resolve any form of Christian conflict when they don't esteem the word of God, okay? Whereas if you were to go to the babe in Christ, they'll probably give you just the most basic of Christian virtue that you can obey and benefit from. You understand what I'm saying? So look what it says in verse number one, it says, Dare any of you, having a matter, against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints. Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? So let me make a couple comments regarding these verses here. So the Apostle Paul, he's reprimanding them and he's saying, do you not understand that there's gonna come a time where the majority of believers are going to be the judges of this world? And what is he referring to? Well, when you study end times prophecy and that which comes after the seven year period known as Daniel's 70th week, you have a period of time known as the millennial reign. And the millennial reign is when Jesus Christ physically comes to this earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem and he appoints particular properties or areas of this world where his servants, Christians, are going to rule over. You understand? And according to the Bible, we shall rule them with a rod of iron. What does that mean? It means that we are gonna enforce biblical strict laws in the millennial reign. When it says we'll rule them with a rod of iron, it's not a rubber rod, it's just like zero tolerance type thing, right? And we're gonna be over nations. So we'll be over cities and nations and essentially you, depending upon the work that you put in this side of eternity, you will be ruling a particular area in this world and you're gonna be resolving conflicts. And one of the best ways to kind of imagine this is basically the way it was with Moses, if you remember. You know, people were bringing conflicts to Moses. Jethro came to Moses and said hey, you're gonna wear away. You need to appoint men that can kind of help you with this and he appointed a certain amount of individuals that can be over 100, over 50, over 10 and so basically what took place in Israel is that when there was a conflict in that nation, they would go to that particular ruler, the ruler of 10. And if the conflict could not be resolved there, they would take it to the one of 50, it couldn't be resolved there, they would take it to the 100 and if it couldn't be resolved there, they would ultimately take it to the big man, which is Moses, who would eventually just ask God, okay? And obviously, you know, in those days, they had the laws of God so these men had to know what the Bible said, they had to have proper judgment, they weren't men who were easily persuaded or their judgments were perverted by resources and finances and gifts. These were men who were honest and loved the Lord, they feared God and so they were able to make those judgments. So that's kind of how the millennial reign is gonna work. Okay? And so this is why I believe that every Christian would go into the millennial reign knowing whatever Bible they know now. We're not just given perfect knowledge in the millennial reign. It's not like you've made it, all right, let me just buy osmosis, give you the knowledge of the Bible and now you know the Bible perfectly. I personally think, based upon the scriptures, that you go into the millennial reign knowing whatever Bible you knew here, okay? And so, you know, the Bible's telling us here is that, or the apostle Paul is basically making that comparison and saying, you know, how is it that you're gonna judge the world and you can't even judge little matters in church? You expect to like judge a nation? You expect to judge a city? You expect to rule a people with a rod of iron? You can't even rule yourself with a rod of iron. You can't even resolve small offenses in the church. How do you expect to take on that responsibility later on? And he says there in verse three, knowing not that we shall judge angels. Now I know most of you want me to know, want to know what the interpretation is to that, but let me just tell you that there really isn't any. You can make all types of conjectures and, you know, make all kinds of assumptions, but really we don't know what that really means, okay? And I've never really heard a legitimate interpretation where I'm just 100% convinced like, oh yeah, that's for sure it right there. We just don't know, okay? Obviously this could be referring to angels as in just messengers period, where you have, you know, a ruler who's ruling in the millennial reign and is in charge of messengers in that millennial reign, could be referring to celestial beings possibly, but at the end of the day we don't know. And I'm sure I'm gonna have a group of guys come to me after church tonight and just say, hey, maybe have you thought about this? And I probably have thought about that. I probably have heard it a million times, but at the end of the day, there is no legitimate interpretation as of yet, because the Bible doesn't say much about that, okay? He says how much more things that pertain to this life? Verse four says, if then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. It is so that there is not a wise man among you. No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brother, his brethren, but brother goeth to law with brother and that before the unbelievers. Now, let me explain some things regarding taking a brother to law or just being involved in lawsuits period, okay? Because you have an issue here where brothers are Christians are suing each other, and we can definitely make the case that it's not right for Christians to sue any Christian whatsoever, okay? It's never right. Why? Because we have 1 Corinthians 6 telling us that it's not right to do, okay? Even if you're in the right and they are in the wrong, according to the Bible, you should exercise the virtue of allowing yourself to be defrauded if that's the case. Now, I'll be honest with you, I don't like that. I mean, who here says, you know what? I like being defrauded. I think it's a good deal, you know? Nobody does. Because being defrauded means you're being wronged. You're taking the L on purpose, allowing yourself to take the L because you don't want further conflict, okay? And so, according to the Bible, it's wrong for Christians to sue another Christian even if they are in the wrong. And I think it's important to say that because of the fact that as the years go by, you might find yourself in a situation where you may have made a deal with a person in our church and they wronged you and, you know, they just wronged you financially, whatever it may be, and you might be tempted to take it to the courts. But just keep in mind, you gotta keep a couple variables in mind if you're considering that, okay? Number one is the fact that you're risking getting a really wicked judge or wicked lawyers or wicked whatever because later on in the chapter, he talks about the unrighteous, okay? And so, you might come out losing even more over the fact that you are allowing some unsaved person who knows if they even believe in God or even esteem the principles of the Bible and might not even like you, okay? Because that's definitely a real case. That can happen where, you know, you're suing a brother and maybe that brother is not necessarily announcing that he's a Christian. Maybe he's being real carnal about it. The judge finds out you're a Christian and may, you know, judge you because they just don't like you. You just never know. And so obviously, that's not the best case scenario. And to avoid all that, the Bible says that the next variable you gotta take into consideration is the fact that Jesus Christ left us an example to be defrauded, okay? Now look, here's another thing regarding lawsuits and that is if you're being sued by a Christian brother, obviously it would not be right for someone to do that to you if they're a Christian, right? And that person should be confronted, especially if it's in a church setting, you know? And let's say for example, you know, let's say Geo sues Hike, right? Because you know Hike. You know, he's just up to no good and insurance fraud or whatever, you know? Nah, I'm just kidding. You know, let's say, let's say, park it. Let's say, you know, that's the case, okay? And Hike comes to me and says, man, this is so unrighteous. I would definitely agree with that and we would confront Giovanni over it and in fact, if he is unwilling to call up the lawsuit, he would get church discipline for that, okay? Because that's an extreme offense against a brother that merits excommunication from the church. You understand what I'm saying? It would be wrong, but here's the thing, we can't stop him from doing that. And let's say, wait, did I give the right example? Who's suing who here? You would be suing him, right? Yeah, okay. But let's say, for example, let's say, you know, he's suing Hike and then, you know, Hike is wrong, you know? He actually did some shady stuff and he's wrong for it. Well, first of all, he's wrong for suing his brother because it's not right to do, but he's also wrong for defrauding his brother and being dishonest and, you know, doing something shady, some shady business with Gio. They're both in the wrong, but go to Matthew chapter five, if you would, hold your place there. Look at Matthew chapter five and look at verse 25. Matthew 5, 25, verse 25. It says, agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou are in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into prison. Barely, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence to Dallas paid the uttermost farthing the Bible says. So even though it's wrong for Gio to do that, and this is an example, you know, what does the Bible instruct Hike to do if he was in that situation? Well, number one, he needs to take it before the church because it would be wrong for Gio to do that, but secondly, what would be the initial thing that he should do is agree with his adversary quickly and make sure he pays what is owed to Gio because he's in the wrong, you understand what I'm saying? So as Christians, we do have the responsibility to make things right, and if there's some sort of financial dispute between the two, you know, he has the right to bring it before the church, but you know what, he also has the responsibility to make it right with his brother, okay? And if Gio chooses not to repent and still sue his brother, well then we have every right to essentially excommunicate him for suing his brother because it's in violation of 1 Corinthians chapter six. You understand what I'm saying? But we would definitely understand, you know, we would definitely understand, and he has the right to actually go to law if that's what he wants to do. It's not right, but he has the right to go to law because all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. And at the end of the day, who comes out winning? No one does, because now Gio's at a church, this guy's flat broke now, and now they're no longer brothers. I mean, they're brothers in Christ, but they're not fellowshiping, they're not getting along. It creates a wedge. So you say, what's the best option? The best option, pay the guy, shake hands, and or, or forgive him. You know, both should be fighting for benefiting each other. Gio's just like, you know what, let me just forgive you, and then Hayek's like, no, no, no, let me just pay you. He's like, no, I want it to be forgiven. Well, I want to pay because they should be fighting for doing the right thing. Now in a perfect world, that would work. In a perfect world, that would happen, but we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where Christians are so carnal, they can't move beyond that. Now look what it says in verse number 40. It says, if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. So this isn't saying, this isn't necessarily telling us who's in the wrong here. We can make the assumption that the previous verse that we were looking at, potentially the person who was in the wrong is the person who's being sued because of the fact that maybe they're not, you know, paying a certain amount, you know, they're not agreeing with their adversary, the judge is going to come down on them hard, but here we don't really know exactly what's taking place and who's in the wrong and who's not. But what we do know is that if you find yourself in a situation where yeah, you're being sued, according to the Bible, you should allow yourself to be defrauded. Now let me just say this because obviously, lawsuits today are definitely a lot different than lawsuits back then. In the sense that there's far more logistics, legalities, there's loopholes, there's all types of things that you have to take into consideration. And you know, you can make the argument of well, you know, if I'm in the right, I should fight this, but sometimes being in the right and fighting it will cost you more in the long term than to actually get the amount of money that you're trying to get back or that you're trying to win. It can often cost you more in the long term because lawyer fees are crazy. The time that you spend on that stuff is just, it's ridiculous. And so what the Bible's teaching at a baseline and saying, you know what, if they take your coat, if they're asking for your coat, just give it to them and in fact, let them have your cloak also. Just allow yourself to be defrauded. Because what the Bible ultimately teaches when we're wrong is that vengeance is mine, say the Lord, I will repay. And that you'll be rewarded for that defrauding nature of that individual. And again, people have the right to, you know, go to law before the unsaved for an unsaved person, not before a Christian, but if you're in some sort of legality with an unsaved individual, you have every right to do so based upon the laws, that's your right. But hold on a second, all things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient. So the Bible's teaching us that, yeah, we do that, we definitely need to take into consideration what is lawful, but we also need to take into consideration what is expedient, meaning what is profitable, okay? What is the best case scenario? What should we invest our resources into and whatnot? And again, obviously the cases in the Bible are a lot different than what we have today, okay? And sometimes it is worth, you know, if you're being sued for some stupid reason, you know, like, you know, oh, they got mad because, you know, you preached against them. You know, I think I know a little something about that. You know, they sue you because of that. And they're trying to just like drain the church dry. And, you know, it would seem as though it would be cheaper or less expensive to actually get a lawyer and fight it than to just opt out, then maybe that's the route you need to take, okay? Because sometimes that's the case. Sometimes it's actually cheaper or less expensive to get a lawyer to fight it. You're gonna come out losing no matter what. But sometimes it's like you won't come out losing as much if you actually fight it and defend yourself with the lawyer than if you were to be a person who's just like, well, I'm just gonna opt out. And then they can just take whatever they want from you. Because according to the law, if you just opt out of a case like that, you basically are saying that you're guilty. And so obviously the court systems now are very complicated, it's very stupid. And so the best thing to do, obviously, number one when dealing with brethren, is to forgive, defraud yourself, allow yourself to be defrauded, not pursue that. But another thing is that when you're dealing with unsafe people, you know, agree with your adversary quickly, especially if you're in the wrong. And if it's an amount that you can afford, and maybe you're still in the wrong, then just give it to them. Because it's just not worth it sometimes. And it goes back to the whole subject of like, you know, you need to make sure that you invest your fighting spirit in the right places. You know, because a lot of that stuff can drain you. You know, lawsuits are draining, my friend. They're extremely draining, and in fact, if you're not careful, they can tap into your spiritual reserves and affect your spiritual life, because you can become consumed with, you know, those cases. So sometimes, that's why Jesus is just like, just let them have it, you know, just give it to them. Give them the cloak, give them the coat, you know. And if you think about, for example, you know, you have Paul, the apostle Paul, who was arrested unjustly. He was a Roman, and he used that legal system to kind of let them know, hey, I'm a Roman. But you know, how did it work out for him in the long term? I mean, was he really delivered because of the law system? No, he was delivered because of God, understand? And the prime example that we have in the Bible is Jesus, who was persecuted unjustly, he was wronged unjustly, and as a sheep before shearers is dumb, he opened out his mouth. Even though they falsely accused him, they lied about him, he allowed himself to just be reviled, and he reviled not again. Go to First Peter, chapter two, if you would, First Peter chapter two, we'll come back to First Corinthians six in just a bit. Look at First Peter chapter two, and look down at your Bibles at verse number 18. It says, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fraud. So according to the Bible, you don't need a Christian boss. You guys got that? You know, some people are like, well, I don't even wanna work at a place if there's a Christian boss. Well, here it says that some people just have a fraud boss. You know, what is a fraud boss? Well, maybe we could assume that they're not saved, but in either case, they're just like jerks. They're fraud, they're perverse, right? They cuss you out a little bit. Maybe they're wrong towards you a little bit. And the Bible says to be subject to them with all fear. So just because they dropped the F bomb on you, and MF this, and S this, and that's not a good enough reason for you to quit. Just take it. You know, it builds a little character. You know, it helps you to realize that you're not all that in a bag of chips. And, you know, it could be worse. Back in the Bible days, they'd just whoop you. So I'd rather cuss Ulysses out than whoop him. Should I say, that's what he would rather me to do. Because what if Ulysses messes up the podcast and I'm just whooping, I'm like, I told you. You know, maybe that would be more effective actually. But it says here, you know, he's telling you, he's telling us to subject ourselves into our masters, referring to bosses, okay, with all fear, whether they're gentle, and thank God if you have a gentle boss. But it says also to the forward. And then it goes on to say, for this is thank worthy. Meaning God will thank you for this. He will honor you for this. If a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully. So even if you're in the right, the Bible says that if you're allowing yourself to be wronged in the eyes of God, that's a very honorable thing because of the fact that it's likened unto Christ suffering wrongfully. You are expressing a Christian virtue. You are exemplifying what Jesus did, okay. It says in verse 20, for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently, but if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. It's like, oh man, I'm being persecuted at my job. Yeah, because you're being an idiot though. That's not persecution. It's because you're a terrible worker, okay. But let's say you're not a terrible worker and you're being falsely accused, your boss is getting on you. The Bible says that's acceptable with God. Verse 21 says, for even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps, who did no sin, neither was God found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, the Bible says. So it's clearly showing us that Jesus Christ, he had the right, he could win the case if he wanted to, because he's righteous, but yet he allowed himself to be defrauded, why? Because he's exemplifying what we should do when we find ourselves in that position as well, okay. And obviously he's referring to, in its context, you know, a job, vocation, but this is definitely applicable to First Corinthians chapter six, because that's a situation where you find yourself in conflict with another brother, and you know, you have to choose to be defrauded. And you know what, if someone chooses, if you choose not to be defrauded, you just want to pursue that, then that's on you. You know, if you want to suffer the repercussions of that, but you know what, let me just remind everybody here that the Christian virtue is forgiveness, right? I mean, that is like peak Christianity right there, is forgiveness, forgiving one another, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. And I'm not saying that everyone's gonna perfectly do that, but before it gets out of hand, why don't you exercise that virtue first, and then you can squash it, and move on. Instead of going to some unjust judge who doesn't love the Bible, probably doesn't love you, and is just trying to get you, you know, judges today, they're crazy, they can hand out sentences like it's candy. You know, who saw that video of that lady who's a judge, and she sentences this guy to like, I don't know, decades in prison, and the guy rushes her, and he like leaps over the desk. Now, let me just say a couple things about that. Number one is, he just basically confirming that her judgment was right. So it was like, well, this is why you're going away, because you can't even control yourself in a court of law. Firstly, but secondly, you know what, that judge might think a little bit beforehand, before just handing out a judgment like that, judges don't care, they can hand out life sentences, decades without parole, and go to sleep at night, and not be bothered by it. There's plenty of people in the prison industrial complex filled with individuals who are there unrighteously, it's because they're a smoking pot, or they're found with pot, and I'm not saying pot is good or not, obviously it's wrong, but to be sentenced to prison, or to have a blotch in your record because of that, is ridiculous, but you know what, that's what judges do, they just hand them out like it's whatever. That's an unrighteous thing to do. It's ungodly, it's unrighteous, so ask yourself, is that the type of authority you want to be judging your conflict? Absolutely not. If God has deputized us as Christians to handle those matters in-house, we should do it to the best of our ability, and if you feel like you lack wisdom in a certain area, come to me, go to a spiritual leader to ask for counsel of what you can do, okay? And again, in the day and age in which we live, this is a sin-filled world, sometimes there's not a good option, right? It's one of those things where every option is bad, and you just have to choose the best out of all the bad options. And so the best thing to do is just make sure it doesn't get to that point. But the main thing that he's trying to get across here is the fact that it's just never a good idea to go to a court system to an unjust judge to resolve some sort of conflict before brothers, okay? He says in verse seven, now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. And he says in verse number nine, knowing not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So this is not a new thought per se, it's a continuation from when he's talking about the court systems and the judges. Because he's saying, you know, if you go to the court systems, these unrighteous people, just to let you know, most of them are not going to heaven. They're not saved, they don't know the gospel, they don't know the Bible. You have more judgment in your little pinky than they do in their whole body. You have more righteous judgment in the fingernail of your pinky, toe, than they do in their entire body. So he reminds them here, even though this is a thought that is a continuation from the previous subject of taking a brother before law, he does use it, excuse me, he uses it to segue into a new topic here. He says in verse nine, knowing not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. So let me make a couple comments regarding these verses here. Now he gives a list of these sins, and verse nine of chapter six is often a verse that people who believe you can lose your salvation will often use to try to prove that eternal security is not a real thing, that you can, you know, you can go to hell if you're an adulterer, if you're effeminate, if you're an idolater, and they'll often couple this with Galatians chapter six, and Galatians chapter six has similar wording to this, where it talks about that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But let me say this is that Galatians chapter six should be read in conjunction with first Corinthians chapter six verse nine, all the way to verse 11, because they're the same thought, the same doctrine. The difference is is that first Corinthians six 11 clarifies what Galatians chapter six is talking about. Look at verse 11 again, because he talks about all these sins, but then he says, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God. So he's not saying here that they're not fornicators anymore. He's not saying they're not, you know, thieves or covetous, because of the fact that there's a possibility that some of them might be doing those things. And in fact, according to the previous chapter, there were some people, right, that are committing fornication. What this is telling us here is that, you know, such were some of you who are not gonna enter into the kingdom of God, but now ye are washed, now ye are sanctified, now ye are justified. Because the only thing that will impede you from entering into the kingdom of God is if you're not saved. And the only thing that would render you not being saved is if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's faith in Christ that washes you, right, from your sins. It sanctifies you to be a saint of the Lord, and it justifies you, just as if I'd never said it. Ignore these guys here, they're doing their own thing over there, and I'm just kidding, the water's coming down from... They're like the main characters right now. I'm trying to be the main characters over here. It's not all about you guys, okay, I'm just kidding. You know, defraud yourself, allow that rain to just pour upon you, okay? Just sit there and take it, I'm just kidding. I'm joking. You understand what I'm saying? So when people quote Galatians chapter six and say, you know, I'm sorry, it's not Galatians six, it's actually Galatians chapter five, and it says that they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, because we find that similar wording here in First Corinthians six verse nine, you know, we need to take them both into context and realize that the reason they shall not inherit the kingdom of God, first and foremost, is because of the fact that they're not saved, right? Because he's referring to the fact he's highlighting these particular sins, but the reason he's highlighting those sins is because the previous passage is indicating that maybe some of the court systems are filled with these types of people. So, you know, are you really gonna have that much success being judged by a judge who's involved in idolatry? They're involved in adultery, which, you know, yeah, a lot of them are. They're involved in fornication, they're thieves, they're covetous, they're extortioners. You understand what I'm saying? So this is why it's highlighting this, and then he says, such were some of you, meaning, you know, you are not gonna inherit the kingdom of God, but because you're washed, you're justified, you're sanctified through Jesus Christ, obviously you're saved now, so you will inherit the kingdom of God, okay? And then we can give the secondary interpretation that goes along with that, and that is that, according to Galatians chapter five, when it says they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, in its context it says that the works of the flesh are made manifest, which are these, and he goes through that list, implying that the only aspect of your being that commits these kinds of sins, or any kind of sins, is your flesh, and your flesh is not gonna go to heaven. Your spirit will go to heaven, because it's saved. You say, well, what about my body? I thought you said something about the resurrection. Well, the resurrection changes your body so that it becomes sinless, it becomes transfigured, or as the Bible also says, it becomes glorified, and now it can go to heaven. It can be, it's redeemable, you understand? But like, if you were to die at this moment, your flesh goes into the ground and it stays in the ground. You know, your spirit goes to heaven to be with the Lord, and when the rapture takes place, God comes back for your physical body, and he transfigures it, he gives it, he makes it sinless. Don't ask me if you get a six-pack, I don't know. Do I get a full set of hair again, or, you know, I don't know, you know, I just know that you're no longer, your body's no longer corruptible, and in fact, the Bible says that you're sown in corruption, you're raised in corruption. And so, when it says that you shall not inherit the kingdom of God, he's not lying, because of the fact that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That's what 1 Corinthians 15 teaches. So what's God's solution? Well, let's change it. Right? Because we don't just believe in a spiritual resurrection, we believe in the bodily resurrection. You know, when Jesus Christ resurrected, it wasn't just his spirit, he physically arose from the grave. And so, because he's the first fruits of the resurrection, it means that when we resurrect, we will resurrect like unto him. Meaning, it's not just gonna be a spiritual one, it's gonna be a physical resurrection, a physical rapture, whereby our bodies are completely changed, and it's absent of sin, and it's no longer tempted by sin, okay? So just keep that in mind. You know, Galatians 5, the entire chapter, really, needs to be interpreted in light of 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 through 11, because they're basically saying the same thing. The only thing is, is that 1 Corinthians 6, 9 is giving us, 6, 11 is giving us more information that the reason we are gonna inherit the kingdom of God is not because we've stopped doing these sins, per se, because we're still corruptible, but rather because we're sanctified, we're washed, we're saved, is what it's saying there, okay? So that's the first thing I wanna mention regarding this verse. The second thing that I wanna mention is that verse 9 is not talking about faggots, because this is a very common verse that people will try to use, you know, when they wanna claim that sodomites can be saved, and, you know, they're redeemable, and here's the thing, folks, is that we have to learn how to interpret the Bible properly to rightly divide the word of truth, and you know what, if the Bible taught that sodomites could be saved, I'd be preaching that from the housetops, too, because we should preach whatever it is that the Bible says, okay, and if it said, if the Bible said that homos could be saved, that they could be redeemed, and they could be forgiven, and it's not too late for them, we would be preaching that for sure, but you know what, it doesn't say that one bit. There's not a single verse in the Bible that says that. And in fact, it says the exact opposite, and there's so much evidence in the Old and New Testament to indicate that sodomites cannot be saved. They're irredeemable. They are permanently damned. They cannot be redeemed, not because they're committing the acts of sodomy, but rather the acts of sodomy confirm that they have a reprobate mind that is given to a person who has permanently rejected Jesus Christ, and therefore God removes their ability to believe. Don't ask me to repeat that. Just listen to it again. But it sounds pretty simple, right? Because some people think, you're like, oh, you're just saved because, what if they stop committing that sin? Well, first of all, you obviously believe in the wrong gospel if that's what you think someone has to do to be saved. But secondly, no one is saying here that the act of sodomy makes them irredeemable, because there are people in this world who have been subjected against their will to sodomy, and they can still be saved. You know, it's called being molested and being raped, okay? So there's individuals who have participated, and even there's people who have participated willingly in those acts because of a perverse spouse or a perverse boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever it may be, and they're still disgusted by it. It doesn't mean they become a reprobate. Those acts, when someone burns in their lusts one toward another, is an indicator that that person's moral compass has been removed, which is the equivalent to being given over to a reprobate mind. And a reprobate mind is simply a mind who does not want to retain God in their knowledge, so just God removes their ability to believe the gospel permanently, you understand? Now, you can give them Romans 1. You show them everything the Bible says from Genesis 19, Judges 19, throughout the kings and how they're reviewed in the land. You can show them the New Testament about this. You can show them 2 Peter chapter 2. You can show them Romans 1. You can show them Jude, and it's just like, yeah, but 1 Corinthians 6, 9 says. Well, what does it say? Tell me. Tell me what does it say that just contradicts all this other evidence in the Bible. Well, it says, nor abuses themselves of mankind. Well, you know, I miss the F-A-G-G-O-T. I didn't know F-A-G-G-O-T was spelled that way. Now, where are they getting this from? Well, you know, first of all, I don't know why any Christian would want to defend that. You know what I mean? Like, that's just weird, okay? But, you know, King James only is, they're not getting it from the King James Bible. You cannot say you believe that because you got it from the King James Bible. Okay, where are you getting it from? They're getting it from the modern versions of the Bible. Because the modern versions are the ones that use sodomite, homosexual, and some that are even more explicit and perverse than those, okay? They'll actually use perverse language in this particular verse, the latter end of verse nine, to communicate that it's referring to sodomites. So they take advantage of the obscurity of the phrase abuses themselves of mankind. Because it is an obscure phrase. And in fact, it's so obscure, it's only used twice in the King James Bible. Once here in First Corinthians 6-9, and then another place in First Timothy chapter one in verse number 10, where it's worded a little differently. It's like defiled themselves with mankind. But the underlying Greek word that's used there is exactly the same in both parts, okay? Now, what's the point of that? Why am I saying this? Well, because of the fact that, you know, in order for people to prove false doctrine, they need to point to something really obscure, where it's almost like open for interpretation. Because it's a word that the Apostle Paul, I'm not saying he came up with it, but when it comes to the Bible, it's only used in the Bible, in these two particular verses. And it could be that that particular phrase that he's using was common in those days, okay? To describe what I'm gonna talk about in just a bit. But it's no longer common, it was lost in, you know, the collective memory of people throughout the centuries, they just didn't use it very often. But you know what, it didn't really pose a problem back then, because everyone knew that sodomites couldn't be saved, and no one would think that this verse is talking about sodomites. Now let me just give you the, let me just, before I get into what it actually is referring to here, let's get scholarly for a minute, okay? I'm not into that stuff, but this, it's necessary when it comes to this particular text. Because the previous word is the word effeminate, right? And effeminate, if you're to just, off the top of your head, give me a synonym for effeminate. Soft, there you go, right? You know, we would say that person is soft. It's not referring to someone who is a homo, it's just a person who is a little light on his toes, you know, they're just a little soft, they grew up with sisters, or they only had their mama growing up, they're just like, they put lotion on their hand, I don't know, whatever. They're effeminate, they have girly attributes, okay? But I want you to notice it says effeminate, comma, abuses themselves with mankind. So these are two different groups here, okay? Well in the modern versions, it removes the comma, and it lumps in effeminate with abuses themselves with mankind, and they just put homosexuals. And, you know, when you look at the footnote though, it'll tell you that the original word means effeminate. But they'll commentate on it and say, well this is the passive member of a homosexual relationship. You're disgusting. Who the heck comes up with that? You're the passive, you must be the passive, that must be you. Whoever wrote that, they were the passive ones. But they completely removed the comma, and just lumped this all together with effeminate being the passive member in a sodomite relationship, and then the aggressor as being abuses themselves with mankind. But you know what? Sorry, no, you're wrong, you're wicked, you're a heretic for trying to change the word of God. Because if we were to get scholarly about it, and if you were to look up that Greek word that's being used for the term effeminate, and if you were to compare it to other instances in the Bible where that word is used, you'll find it in another area in the gospels where Jesus Christ is talking about John the Baptist, and he talks about how those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses, and the word that he uses for soft, the same word that's being used for effeminate here. So should we interpret what Jesus said about John the Baptist and about those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses as homos? No, because guess what, Solomon wore soft clothing, and so did David, and so did all the manly kings of the Old Testament, and none of them were homos. They were just, you know, they're kings, and so they're probably wearing silk because, you know, they just got an ego or whatever, I don't know, maybe silk feels nice or something. But it doesn't mean effeminate, or excuse me, it doesn't mean homo, it just means soft, okay? You say, then what does abusers of themselves with mankind mean? Based upon the context of the chapter, I believe it's just referring to, if we were to just be not vulgar about it, but just put it in modern terms, just a whore. Someone who's just, a woman who's just whoring around. That's what it's referring to, okay? And you said based upon the context, well if you look at later on in the chapter, he says in verse 15, knowing not that your bodies are the members of Christ, shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot, God forbid. What know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body, for to sayeth he shall be one flesh, but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit, flee fornication, every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that comitted fornication sinneth against his own body. You're like, well that's a stretch, you're just choosing it because it comes right after. But you know, isn't it interesting that the topic that's being covered right before chapter six in chapter five is fornication? And then he carries it over with chapter seven in order to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. So obviously, you know, he's sprinkling different practical teachings in chapter six, but it's all carried on the thread of fornication in the church, you understand what I'm saying? And so when it says abuses themselves with mankind, she's referring to a woman who sleeps around, okay? This isn't, if this is your text verse to prove that sodomites can be saved, you're an embarrassment, okay? And you know, years ago, Ray Comfort came out with this really stupid movie, and it was a movie about sodomites getting saved. You know, and it was just like some dykes that get saved or something, and then like, you know, it's because she read that verse, and the NKG version, the New King James version, or one of those modern versions, and she had it highlighted there, and that's how she got right with God. That guy is, you know, he is promoting heresy, and he should be ashamed of himself, and he's a false prophet, aside from the fact that he teaches a false gospel. You know, if you believe that sodomites can be saved, you're not a wicked person, but just realize that you can't really use the Bible to prove that. And here's the thing, you know, let me just make myself very clear, is that if you're in our church, it doesn't mean you have to fall in line perfectly lockstep with these beliefs, okay? Like, for example, if you're in our church, and you think, well, I don't agree with you on that, I think they can be saved, you could actually believe that if you want. I don't have a problem with them. People in our church may have a problem with it, I don't as the pastor, and in fact, you will be treated exactly the same as everyone else, and I think that is how we should treat people, even if they believe that, okay? However, don't be bringing them here, though. So you can believe that they can be saved, but don't be bringing your faggot cousin here, though. I want nothing to do with, you know, you have every right to believe that, but I have every right to say, you can believe that, but don't be bringing your dyke aunt to our church, though. Okay, you send that person to the Pentecostal church down the street or something, where that belongs! But here's the thing, you know, there might be people who actually believe they can't be saved, and you know what? If that's what you believe, then so be it, but here's the thing, you cannot go toe-to-toe scripturally and prove that. But if it's your preference, if you're like, well, I think they can, I'm not gonna go out of my way to get them saved, I'm just saying that it's a possibility that they can be saved, okay, you have every right to believe that, and I don't even think you're an idiot, I don't think you're stupid, you know, because if that's what you believe, then so be it, that's okay, but as a church, though, and as the pastor of this church, we don't allow them in our church at all, okay? So just because I'm giving you the liberty to believe that, doesn't mean you can go beyond that liberty and start bringing them to church, because we do not accept them in our church, and you and I are friends, up until the point you start bringing them in! At that point, you know, we might have a 1 Corinthians 6 going on here, and I'll resolve the conflict, and I'll claim that I'm the least esteemed in the church. And so, you know, this verse is not teaching that, and you have to jump through some major loops to be able to prove that, because of the fact that it contradicts all of the Bible, and what the Bible teaches about that, okay? And often, one of the reasons why people, you know, have this stance, and they wanna believe that, is probably because, you know, their brother's a homo, or they have a sister who's a dyke, or they have some sort of relative that they grew up with, and they love, and they just, they have a hard time believing that, you know, that person's gonna go to hell, or whatever, I get it, but you know what? At the end of the day, we need to side with what the Bible says, okay? And, you know, I'll have more to say about this later in the coming months, you know, as we approach summer, you know, but this comes up every once in a while. I mean, we, what do you call it? El Mani just came up with that post, and kudos to all of you who joined that post, by the way. You frustrated a lot of homos on that, okay? I mean, they're upset, they're just like, there can't be that many homophobic people on El Mani, and according to these comments, and you know, hey, kudos to all you guys, you too, brother Phil. Yeah, I see you, I saw you on there, I think that's great. You know, just getting on there, and you know what? We need to voice our opinion far more often to let these perverts know that a bunch of us think that. It's not just this crazy pastor, it's, everyone believes that. Even the most worldly, like, godless person doesn't like sodomites. You actually don't have to be a good Christian. You just have to be a human being, okay? And so, I just wanted to cover that. Look at verse 12, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. And he's basically saying, you know, it's important for us to know what is permissible for us to do, but Christian maturity teaches us that we should not only do that which is permissible, but what is expedient, what is profitable? What is in the best interest of those who are around us? What will profit others? Because in the other passages in chapter 10, it says all things do not profit. And so it's important for us, yeah, we could just say, well, it's my right to do this, okay, we've established that, but what is your Christian duty to do, right? Is it expedient for you, for those around you? This is the attitude that we should have. And so I'm gonna finish there. What is the lesson of chapter six? Well, the lesson is that we should obviously grow in our wisdom of judgment and never esteem people outside of Christianity and outside the Bible as knowing more about how to resolve conflict than we do. You know, you don't need a therapist. You don't. You don't need a, like, for a Christian to go to a therapist is wild. Because a therapist doesn't know the Bible. Because most problems that people face are spiritual problems. So how, you know, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can you know him, for they're spiritually discerned. So going to an unsafe therapist, some psychologist, is only gonna take you so far. Because at the end of the day, the issues are spiritual problems. And luckily, you have the greatest therapist on the face of the planet, it's called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth that dwells within you, and often many conflicts, listen to this, many conflicts can be resolved and improved upon, relationships can be improved if you just do this one thing. Listen to this, walk in the Spirit. Because walking in the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit that's attractive to anybody who wants to resolve conflict. Because love supersedes conflict. Gentleness supersedes conflict. You know, meekness supersedes conflict. So when you're in the Spirit, you're producing the fruit of the Spirit, you don't even have to be that wise. This is why it says the least esteemed could judge matters better than the unsafe, because if they're walking in the Spirit, the Spirit that dwells within them will do a better job than that unclean spirit that that judge has. You see what I'm saying? And so never think that those outside of these walls, and I'm not just saying that it's subject to our church, those outside of the walls of Christianity and the Bible can do a better job resolving conflicts in here better than you. You have the mind of Christ. You know, who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? No, we have the mind of Christ. We have the Bible, and if you don't know what to do, guess what, you have an instruction manual right here. And you can streamline your understanding of it by just asking someone who does know the Bible. Plain and simple, amen? Let's pray. Thank you so much for your word, and thank you for 1 Corinthians 6. Help us as your people, Lord, to embrace and accept this truth, and it's a difficult one that sometimes we have to allow ourselves to be defrauded. And it hurts, but we know that when we do that, we are partaking in the fellowship of your suffering, because you allowed yourself to be defrauded in cases where you were in the right. And of course, we know that you were always right, but when you were falsely accused, you didn't fight back, you didn't revile, and help us to follow that example as well, Lord, as we go on our way. May you bless our week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.