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So grab your Bibles again, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And I hope you've been enjoying the study through Corinthians, and just seeing how unique each chapter is, and different topics that are discussed. You know, every now and again there's a bit of overlap in topics and stuff, but usually they do speak very uniquely in their own sense each chapter. And I'm enjoying it myself, I'm hoping you guys are. But the title of the message this morning, so last week it was Church Discipline, this week the title is Church Judgment. Church Judgment. And if you wanted to, you could call this Church Discipline part 2. Because it kind of carries the same kind of thought, right? Last week was about, you know, kicking certain sinners out of the church, and yet we still see a sort of a process that takes place with other things. Not necessarily a sinner in and of themselves. Not someone doing some great wicked sin, but we do see how believers ought to treat one another should one have offended the other. So look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1. And again, you know the Corinthian church really gets a whooping out of it from Paul in this chapter. Because again, they are so messed up. But look at verse number 1. So here's another problem that the Corinthian church was having. Another problem. They were having contentions amongst themselves. And instead of sorting out those contentions between themselves or within the church, they were going to the unjust. They were going to the civil government. They were going to the authorities. They were suing one another instead of bringing those things between themselves. Now, some people have read this chapter, okay? There's a misunderstanding with this chapter. Some people have read this chapter thinking that there's never a time to go to the authorities. Okay? Thinking that there's never a time where believers cannot go to the authorities over a certain matter. And I'm going to help explain this to you because we can't just take this chapter alone when it comes to judgment within the church. But there are two other important passages in the Bible that we need to reconcile with this chapter as well. Okay? To make sense of all these passages as far as what do we do when one believer has offended or trespassed against another believer. But, you know, Paul is rebuking this church for going to the government, for going to the authorities over trivial matters, over small matters. And I'll show you that later on. But to properly understand this passage, please keep a finger in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and go to Matthew 18. Matthew chapter 18. Please go there because we obviously need to understand what Jesus said about having an offense between believers to better understand then what is going on here in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. So Matthew 18, Matthew chapter 18, verse 15. Matthew 18, verse 15. Actually, Isabel, can you get me my water? I left it back there. Thanks, Isabel. Matthew 18, verse 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee. Now what does it mean to trespass? If you've gone to someone's land, sometimes you might see it says no trespassing. You're not allowed to cross that fence or cross that boundary. It means you've committed a crime against somebody else if you've trespassed against them. It's offending somebody. It's committing a sin against someone. So moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his faults between thee and him alone. This is important. If someone in the church has offended you, a brother or a sister in the church has offended you, what are you to do? Are you to come to me and tell me about how much they offended you? Are you to go to your friends that you've got in the church and tell them how much they've offended you and what they've done wrong to you? Is that the first thing you do? And yet, I'm seeing heads being shaken there, and yet how many times do we see that happen? I've been in church pretty much my whole life, and I see this time and time again. Someone gets offended. They go and tell all their friends. They go and tell their clique. They all get angry at the offender, and the offender probably doesn't even know what's going on. But look at the instruction. If someone has offended you, go and tell his fault between thee and him alone. And who goes to tell the offender? The offended party. Now again, this is what happens because we have the flesh. The flesh of pride gets in the way, and we live in generation snowflake. We live in a generation that is so easily offended. You can say something, and you don't even mean it by... You don't even know. You're not even trying to offend someone, and they get offended. But it's the offended party that goes to the offender because this is what happens. Many times they think, well, why should I go to them and sort it out? Why? Why? They're the ones that offended me. That's the person that should come to me and apologise. But there's a few problems with that. Number one, they may not even know they offended you. They may not even have a clue that they've offended you. And I'm just going to give you a personal example where I've offended someone. Now some of you guys have gotten to know me a little bit and know that I'm pretty sarcastic. Now one of my old pastors was very sarcastic as well before he became a pastor. And I remember him preaching and saying, look, when I became a pastor, I had to really control my sarcasm because I kept offending people. Because people think, well, you're the pastor. You're meant to be the serious one. And then he tries to make a joke or something, and they get offended. Well, hold on. You haven't got me. But he's just trying to keep... And I am that way. Me and my brother, growing up with my brother, we always did jokes on each other. We always were laughing and things like that. And it's just part of my nature. I'm trying to control it. Because I have noticed that when I'm sarcastic and I'm just trying to keep the conversation light and friendly, people get offended. And this is even before I was a pastor. And I'll just give you one example where I said something and I was just trying to be funny. I was being stupid, I guess. I was trying to be funny. And I didn't know someone got offended. I had no idea. No idea whatsoever. And Christina came up to me later on and goes, do you know you offended such and such? I'm like, oh, what? I didn't know what she was talking about for a while. And then she explained to me what happened. I'm like, oh, no, really? And Christina was like, yeah, maybe you better talk to him and make sure that it's all right. Now, obviously, if you know you've offended somebody, then you should. Obviously, you should go to the offender party and apologise and make things right. But I'm saying to you that the instruction Jesus Christ has given us is for the offender to go to the offender because many times the offender doesn't even know. Doesn't even realise that you've done that. And then you're getting bitter about it. You're going, why hasn't this person come to me? Why haven't they sorted out? And you grow in bitterness. You grow in anger. Your pride gets in the way and you're even less likely to go to that person and sort it out. And it only hurts you. The offender doesn't even know what's going on. He's just going about his day-to-day business, as per usual, and you're the one getting bitter and angry about it. And you're the person that needs to go and sort this out with that one individual and take it to them privately. Now, if you ever come to me and say, you know, Kevin, I've been offended by someone in the church. I don't want the details, first thing. If you just come for counsel, I'll say, yeah, look, I'll take it to this passage. You're meant to go to them and take it to them alone. I don't want the details at this point in time. Okay? Go and sort it out. And, you know, again, I go back to my workplace sometimes, because these are things where I've actually put these things into practice. Many times, you know, in a workplace, especially in a call centre environment, when you have a lot of ladies, you know, there's the cat fights, they get, you know, they fight with one another. And then someone comes to my office, this such and such happened. You know, I just took the Bible's advice on board. I was like, you know what? Why don't you take it to them alone? Let them know what happened. And, you know, nine out of ten times, it gets sorted, and it doesn't need to progress from there. Okay? Because look what it says there. Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone, and he shall he thee, so if he shall he thee, thou hast gained thy brother. So you gain a friend, you gain a brother. You know, when you go through a difficulty with somebody, and yet you're able to pull through that, you're able to resolve problems, that actually helps develop that friendship. That actually helps develop that relationship between yourselves. So don't think of it always as a negative thing. I've been offended. I'm going to go and sort this out. Because out of it may come a good friendship. You may gain a brother, okay? You may gain that friendship, or just gain that relationship you used to have before this offence took place. Now, if you're offended, if you get offended, I want you to think about a few things. My recommendation, first of all, is give it time. Give it a little time, okay? Because, did you just have thin skin at that point in time? Was it really, is it anything really that important? Okay? Because here's the thing. Obviously, if someone has trespassed against you, they've sinned against you, they've done something wrong to you, right? They've sinned against you. Maybe they've taken something from you and didn't return it, or maybe they said something harsh about you to someone else, whatever. But sometimes, people get offended for no reason whatsoever, okay? Have you ever come across somebody that gets offended simply by asking you a question, you answering the question, and they get offended by it? Alright? Now, has that person trespassed against you, or have you just answered someone's question? Let me give you an example, and I've seen this with doctrine, with Bible doctrine, or just with life in general, okay? So, for example, someone might come up to me and say, you know, what do you think about this doctrine? What do you think about this topic in the Bible? And I, you know, you're interested in what I have to say, I'll give you my thoughts, I'll give you my ideas, and then the other person's like, but you can't believe that, and they get offended. It's like, oh, you've got to believe this. It's like, well, hold on, you're asking me. You're asking me the question, and you're getting offended. I mean, why did you ask me in the first place? Now, if that's the case, if you've just asked someone a question, and you don't like what they said, I'm not going to take this through the church discipline process, because you've just got thin skin, alright? It surprises me. Look, it's happened my whole life. People ask me things, you tell them. It's happened with Christina. We homeschool the kids. I remember one time where someone was talking to Christina, asked about how the kids were. Christina mentioned, oh, you know, just homeschooling the kids. Just chat. We're homeschooling the kids. And because the other mother didn't homeschool her kids, she got offended. What, do you think homeschooling is the only way to raise your kids? It's like, well, hold on, what's happening? We're just having a discussion. Why are you getting offended just because of the way someone believes something or the way someone does something in their life? That's not being trespassed against, okay? If anything, you may be very well trespassing against them for reacting that way, just asking that kind of question. So just be mindful. Give it time. Just because you get a little hot and bothered and offended, just give it a bit of time. Is it really worth dealing with in that sense, or can you just blow it off? And you know what? Most of the times, you can probably just blow it off. It's no big deal, okay? But obviously, if someone has trespassed against you, if someone has sinned against you, you are to take it to them alone. And you know what? If I find out, because this is a process, you'll see later on, this is a process of actually kicking someone out of the church eventually. But if I find out that you didn't take the matter to the offender alone to begin with, you're going to have a lot less mercy from me, okay? Because you haven't followed through the process that we have in the Scriptures. I mean, if you've gone around and told all your friends, you've gone around and told the pastors, or you've gone around and told other people about how this person has offended you, you may very well be dragging that person's name through the mud, destroying their reputation amongst many other people, and the sin you're doing may very well be much worse than what they've done against you. And so, you know what? The tables may even turn, and this might be church discipline process upon you, okay? So be very mindful, okay? Be very careful. Probably, if you're married, a good way to approach this is talk to your spouse. Talk to your spouse. Such-and-such happened. And usually, the one that's not emotional is a little bit more rational at that point in time, so look, you can blow that. It's not a big deal. I don't think they even meant that by it, you know what I mean? So just be mindful. If you're married, two become one. That's a good person to talk to, especially if they're not involved emotionally in that sense. But take it to him and the alone. So, yeah, think it through. Give it time. Have you overreacted? Think about that. Have I overreacted? Is the matter insignificant? And just sort of go away. It's not a big deal. But, you know, if he has genuinely trespassed against you, then obviously, yes, please go and bring it to that person alone. Now, if you say to me, Kevin, you know what? I'm actually someone that gets easily offended. I am kind of like this generation snowflake. I'm always getting offended. Every conversation I have, I get upset and I get angry all the time. There's always something that offends me and I always have to retaliate and come back with something. If that's you, let me give you the advice in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 165. You don't need to turn there. I'll just read it to you. Psalm 119 verse 165 says this, What's the opposite of being offended? Being peaceful. I'll tell you one way to just get past being offended all the time is to get into the Word of God. To love the Word of God. To know the righteousness of God. To know the judgment of God. To know God more deeply. To know him and walk with him and fellowship with him. That will actually prevent you from being offended by man as often as you may do in your day-to-day life. Why? Because you're steadfast in the Lord. Because you know the path that the Lord has you to walk. You're more likely to be courageous and bold and stand for the truths that are in God's Word. And when someone in the Word gets offended, what, you believe that? You believe that's a sin? You believe in the death penalty? You believe that a de facto relationship is fornication and is not marriage? You're against gay marriage? You won't get offended by that. Because you're like, yeah, that's what I believe. That's what the Bible teaches. I stand where God stands and I'm not going to be offended because you're offended by what I believe in the Bible. So the more you love the law of God, the less likely you are going to be offended by this world. And if you do find yourself getting offended all the time, then that means you're not loving the Word of God as much as you ought to. Now again, you know what really helps? Soul winning. When you go soul winning and you're given the Gospel and someone's aggressive, swears at you, threatens you, you're not going to get offended. You're not going to get offended because you're doing God's work. You're preaching God's Word. It gives you the boldness. You've got the Holy Spirit in you that's giving you the strength to get through it. And when someone's threatening you, swearing at you, telling you to get lost and get off their property, you know what? You just think, hey, all right. Rewards in heaven. Thank God. Thank God I've got rewards in heaven. And you're not going to be easily offended. And if you are easily offended and you retaliate, then that person may very well have less of an opportunity to get saved by the way you behave. Now, Matthew 18 verse 16. Let's move on. Matthew 18 verse 16. So you go to the party alone. Now, it says in verse 16, but if he will not hear thee, so if he doesn't listen to your issue, you know, they don't apologise, they don't think it's a big deal, they don't hear you, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So you get two or three other people to come and listen to this matter between you and the offender. And let me say to you very quickly, if you're someone that wants to get this sorted, you're not going to get your best friends in this. Because obviously your best friends, you know, are probably more likely to side with you and not really listen, because every word has to be established. Okay? You're better off getting impartial people, you're better off getting people that you see as, you know, spiritually mature, people that love the Lord, people that aren't going to decide just between personalities, but are going to listen to the word, are going to listen to what's happened and establish that and make a decision, make a judgement call. Okay? Now that may very well be me, or it might be someone else that you believe, you know, is adequate to listen to the matter, but if you're the offender party and you're bringing two other people, don't expect those two other people, three other people to necessarily agree with you. They may decide, hey, you know what, no, you've actually, this is not, this is not worth, you know, this wasn't a trespass against you. You know, you've overreacted to this. Don't be surprised if that's the case. Because that's why you're bringing these two other people, so they can be impartial and decide. But again, they may very well agree with you, yes, and say this person, yes, has offended you. And if they have offended you, then it's up to those individuals to make a decision of how this needs to be sorted. Okay? Let's say it's a financial issue. Someone's taken money and not returned it, then it's up to those people to decide how that money should be returned, should it be returned with interest, or should it be paid in some other way. Okay? It's between those individuals. Again, the whole church doesn't need to know about this. Your best friends don't need to know about this. It's just those two or three witnesses that will establish the Word. And again, if you've skipped this step, again, no mercy from me. Okay? We have God's clear instructions of how to do this. Alright, verse number 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, so if the offender, sorry, the offender neglects to hear the two or three witnesses, tell it unto the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. So look, if I have an issue with a brother in the church, I'm going to be super embarrassed if the matter has to get brought before the church. I mean, wouldn't you? The whole church has to hear about this matter. I'd be super embarrassed. Just the embarrassment of potentially just going to the church will drive me to want to just sort it out. Just sort it out. Okay? But here's the thing. If you don't hear the two or three witnesses, it gets brought before the whole church. And the whole church is to make a judgement call on that. And obviously myself as the pastor, as the leader, will pretty much drive that decision as well. But it is a matter that needs to be heard by the whole church. And doesn't that reinforce to you that if someone is going to get kicked out of the church, that the whole church needs to know about that matter? Doesn't that reinforce to you because the matter needs to be brought to the whole church, this isn't something you be quiet about and you're hushed and you don't talk about and then you let rumours fly. No, the whole church needs to be aware that this situation has taken place and potentially somebody's going to get kicked out of the church. But here's the thing. The church is to make a decision. This is how this needs to be sorted. If it gets to this point. And at that point, if that person still does not repent, does not fix the situation and is full of pride and says, no, the whole church is wrong, then the Bible says, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. What's a heathen man? An unbeliever. Okay? What's a publican? A tax collector. No one likes tax collectors. It's kind of like that. You're an outsider. You're an outsider. You're not a believer. Actually, it's not saying that he's not a believer. It's not saying this person's not saved. Obviously, it's talking about a brother. It's talking about someone that is saved. But as to the church, because this person doesn't want to reconcile, he is to be treated as a heathen and no longer permitted in the church. He's no longer to be amongst the brethren. He is to be seen as an outsider, as a heathen, as an unbeliever. Now that might sound a bit harsh, but again, remember, why do we kick people out of the church? Why is that a necessary step? So they can get right with God, they can get right with the church, ideally come back, apologise and be back in fellowship. And when someone comes back to apologise, it's not just, I'm sorry. You've got to carry out the reconciliation that the church had recommended. That's when you really apologise. It's when you take the punishment on board, you take your medicine and you deal with it. Now I just want to show you, that's the process. You take it to the person alone first. He doesn't hear you. You take it to two or three witnesses. If they don't hear you, you take it to the church. Go back to 1 Corinthians 6. Because I want you to understand why this Corinthian church had really messed things up. Because that's the instruction God had left us. Yet, are they taking their problems to the church? No. Are they taking it alone and to two or three witnesses in the church? No. They're going to court. They're suing one another in the legal system. They're going to the authorities and dealing with those matters outside of the church. That's why this church was in so much problems. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 2. Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Now when it says there the saints shall judge the world, I believe that's referring to Christ's millennial kingdom. When we rule and reign with him with that rod of iron. That's the saints judging the world. And we're going to be given such a great responsibility. Paul is saying, look, why don't you take these matters to the church? Why don't you allow yourselves to judge between yourselves? If you're already going to have such great responsibility in the future. The best people to judge a matter between brethren are your brethren. Are believers. Why? Because we have the Spirit of God. We've got the Word of God. We've got his judgments and we've got his righteous word before us. So we can easily make a judgment call. A lot of the things that we decide doesn't have to be our opinion. A lot of it can just come straight from the Word of God. If it comes straight from the Word of God, we know it's right. We know it's pure. So we're going to be judging the whole world. And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? And by the way, notice that. The smallest matters. So these problems that they were going to court about were small matters. Was it trespassers? Was someone sinning greatly upon to someone else? Yep, there may be some level of sin, but they were small matters. They were making mountains out of molehills. So when it comes to small matters, it is to be judged within the church. Now, we must understand that chapter 6 is not about criminal acts. It's not about crime. And I'm going to go into that later on. Because this is where some churches make a big mistake, is when a crime takes place in the church. And then they think, well, they look at 1 Corinthians 6 and go, well, we need to sort this out within ourselves. And they keep it within themselves. And then somehow the information gets leaked. It's all over the media. And you find out that the pastors of the church were hiding some major crime in the church. That's not what this verse is. This is not what that passage is saying. This is about smallest matters, the smallest matters. We'll go into that in a minute. Look at verse number 3. Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? Whenever I see angels there, I'm always kind of perplexed. But I'm trying to think about the context of this book. So what I think this is saying, these are the angels that I think we're judging. I think it's talking about the heavenly angels. The heavenly angels. Because remember, prior to this chapter, we read about how all the saints are going to be judged at the judgment seat of Christ. Remember that? Now, judgment isn't always negative. Judgment is also a positive thing, right? When Christ judges us for our works, for the works that we've done for the Lord, for the things that are gold, silver, and precious stones, God's going to give us a reward for those things. And so what I believe here is yes, the Lord Jesus Christ judges us, but then we're going to get the opportunity then to judge the heavenly angels for the service they've done to man and the service they've done to God, and they're going to be rewarded for the things they've done in their life. That's what I think it's referring to here. I don't think that's talking about fallen angels or anything like that. So how much more things that pertain to this life? And that's why I actually believe it's about heavenly angels. It's because know ye not that we shall judge angels? That's one thing. How much more the things that pertain to this life? So we talk about this life and then the angels. That's something that's not part of necessarily this life. That's why I think it's referring to the heavenly angels. So if we're going to be judging angels, how much more then can we judge the things that are in this life, in this world, the Bible is saying here? Verse number 4. If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. What is the least esteemed in the church? What is that talking about? It's talking about the person that's the least in the church. Let's say someone that's a relatively new believer. They're newly saved. They don't know much about the Word of God. They could be considered the least esteemed. You might even think about little children, little children who haven't really matured in life just yet, but the believers, hey, they're also the least esteemed. Or someone that just hasn't grown spiritually, someone that's just carnal, but they're a believer. They're saved, but they're just carnal in life. They might be considered the least esteemed in the church. What Paul is saying here is that it is better to bring these smallest matters before the least esteemed, before you go and take matters to the court. You understand? It's better to go to a believer that's least esteemed than go to the unbeliever who are unjust. That's what Paul is saying. Now is that what we should do? Should we really be taking the least esteemed to make these judgment calls? No, not really, because when we read Matthew 18, talking about taking one or two witnesses that every word may be established, I said to you, it's better to take someone that's mature in Christ, someone that you respect as far as their spirituality, someone that's going to be impartial, things like that. But look at verse number five, because number five makes it clear that Paul is actually being sarcastic again. He's having a go at the church again and being sarcastic to them. Look at verse number five. I speak to your shame. I'm saying to you, don't you have someone... Take this to the least esteemed in your church. I speak to your shame. Why is he saying that? Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? Do you not have someone wise in your church? Do you not have someone mature in your church that you can bring these things to? So he's not saying you should take it to the least esteemed, but he's saying it's a shame that I'm even saying that to you, because where are the wise men? Where are the people that should be standing up and saying, hey, no, you bring these allegations and these issues before one another, before the church, let us be the judge. There was no one like that in the church saying, and they were allowing these things to just be being taken to court before the unjust. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. So he's saying, look, it's as though there's no one wise in your church. It's as though there's no one that's able to judge the smallest matters between yourselves. Do you understand what he's saying? That's why it's better just to take it to the least esteemed. That's what he's saying, but if you undo his sarcasm, he's saying, hey, it's better to take it to the wise men. It's better to take it to those that are wise in your church that can judge a matter between their brethren. So he's reaffirming that judgement should be done by mature believers. This is the mistake you're doing. You're taking it to the unbelievers. Verse 7. So again, let me just break this down for you. It's better to take this matter to people that are wise. But if you don't have someone that's wise, to your shame, take it to the one that's least esteemed. But even then, it's better to just be defrauded. Even then, it's just better to be suffered wrong. It's just better to allow yourself to be taken wrong, to be defrauded by your brother instead of taking it to the authorities. Do you understand that step? So they're taking it to the authorities. Paul is saying it's better if you just suffer wrong. Just put up with it. You've been defrauded. You've been done wrong. Just deal with it. It's better for that. But then it's also better that the least esteemed is the judge. But even better than that, the wise men make judgement among you. So Paul has a funny way of writing, but you've just got to break it down and work out what he's trying to say. But again, some churches have taken this to mean we can never take a matter before the authorities. We should never take a criminal before the authorities. And you guys know what I'm talking about. I mean, how many sexual acts, how many paedophiles have been protected by churches? Because they think, oh, well, we can judge this matter between ourselves. Is that really what we're meant to be doing? Is that a small matter? Is that a smallest matter? Of course not. Please turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 verse 19. Oh, sorry. Yeah, actually, go to Romans 13. Sorry, Romans 13. Romans 13. Got the wrong reference there. Romans 13 verse 1. Because there is a time to take matters to the authorities. And we have the Word of God as our authority to do that. Romans chapter 13 verse 1. The Bible reads, So this is a reference to government. And the Bible says here that government is ordained by God. It is God's plan to have government in place to the nations. Now, I understand that governments today abuse their powers. I understand that. That is not God's plan. That is not God's plan. But it is God's plan for government to be in place so it's not just anarchy and people are just doing whatever they want. Look at verse 2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. So if you're someone that says, you know what? We should have anarchy. We shouldn't have any government in place. You're actually resisting the ordinance of God that God's put in place. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. Verse number 3. For the rulers or for the authorities are not a terror to good works. Now, are they a terror to good works? Yeah, a lot of the time they are. A lot of the time you just want to do good and the government is going to calm down on you. I'm just thinking about things I've seen on YouTube where little kids are selling lemonade put a little lemonade stand, 50 cents lemonade and the police turn up. Have you got a license to sell lemonade? That's a terror to good works. They're just doing something good. They're just doing something. They're learning about business. They're learning about money. Police, where's the license? Where's your license to do this? That's a terror to good works. Obviously we see abuse of power as well. But it's God's plan that government is not a terror to good works. That's actually God's plan. But to evil. It's meant to be a terror to evil. For those that are evil, you're meant to be terrified by being caught by the authorities and being punished by the authorities. And again, is that what people think? Are people afraid of the authorities? Not really. It just seems like you can do the most heinous crimes and you get away with a slap on the wrist. And then people do the smallest mistakes and yet they're in jail for how many years? You know? Will thou then be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shall have praise of the same. So God has ordained government not to terrorize good people. Unfortunately, like I said, many times as governments move away from the word of God, they move away from the commands and the judgments of God, they do become a terror to good works. They cross the line. But they're meant to be. They're meant to be a terror to evil. Verse number 4. In Romans 13, verse number 4. For he is a minister of God to thee for good. What's a minister? A servant. The government is meant to be a servant of God. Which is why it's important for churches to preach the word of God. It's important for churches to preach the laws of God, the judgments of God, so that way hopefully the government somehow hears the truth of God's word and implements the fear of God and implements the laws of God in society. But they're meant to be a minister of God, a servant of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. Now notice the next words. For he beareth not the sword in vain. What is a sword? What's a sword used for? The sword is a weapon of warfare. Right? The sword is to kill. Now some people think in the New Testament God's against the death penalty. A lot of people think that. A lot of Christians think God is against the death penalty. Here we are well into the New Testament and the government is someone that is not to bear the sword in vain. Meaning they bear the sword. Right? They've got the sword. They are to come down and punish with capital punishment if the need be. If the crime requires that. Okay? For he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Okay. So with that said, how can we reconcile 1 Corinthians chapter 6 with what we read in Romans 13? Is the government in place to punish evildoers? Yes. Is it in place to punish criminals? Yes. So if you've been offended, if you've been trespassed against someone in the church and it's a criminal act, a criminal act, then they should be brought before the authorities. You understand? It's not the smallest matters anymore. Does that make sense? That's how we reconcile these things. This is the truth of God's word. We need to reconcile these things together. So if you come up to me, alright, you've gone to, you've gone, look, let's just take pedophiles because that's what we see. And in fact, hold on, I've got something here. Let me read this to you. I don't know if you guys have seen this. Just in recent days, I'm going to read to you an article that says this. An inquiry in Sydney has uncovered evidence that Pope Francis has forgiven and covered up the crimes of 4,444 pedophile priests in Australia. Australia! 4,444 pedophile priests in Australia. Pope Francis has forgiven them. The Australian Commission reported that not only were the priests forgiven by the Vatican for their crimes, allegations were swept under the carpet and never reported to law enforcement. Now is that God's plan? Is that God's plan? Is that what we're talking about? Now first of all, these people are reprobates. Alright, I mean, first of all, this is fornication. They should be kicked out of the church, first of all. Then they also should be brought before the authorities because God has ordained government to punish evildoers. This is a capital crime. And they ought to be put to death for the crime that they've done. Okay? That's the law of God. And so listen to me. If there's anything like this that goes on in this church, don't think for a second that I'm going to try to cover it up. You know? Don't think for a second I'm going to go, you know what, you need to take this to two or three witnesses and then it's brought before... No. It's going to get reported to the authorities. Okay? Now, because we need to reconcile these passages. Okay? We don't allow criminal acts to go and we deal with that. That's not the church's responsibility. The government has been ordained by God to deal with those kind of things. Okay? So if that hasn't made sense to you, please ask me after the service. I just want you to understand how we reconcile these passages. Why is 1 Corinthians chapter 6 saying don't go to law? Because they're small matters. Okay? These are things that should be dealt with the way Jesus taught us in the book of Matthew. But if it's a crime, and the crimes I'm going to... I'm not going to go over the crimes of men. I'm going to go over the crimes that are listed in the Old Testament. I'm going to go with God's way of deciding what is planned and then reporting that to the authorities if that's what we need to do. Okay? Okay. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians, actually, I think I might have skipped a little bit here. Maybe the Holy Ghost is telling me to move on. So we'll just listen to the Holy Ghost there. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9. 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 abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now, I've heard many times, much preaching, taking these passages alone and saying, see, and making this about salvation, making this about salvation, and saying, see, if you want to be saved, it's not just believing the Lord Jesus Christ, but you need to turn from fornication. You need to turn from, well, we know you need to turn from idolatry because that's another God, but you need to turn from idolatry, you need to turn from being effeminate, you need to turn from being an abuser of mankind, but is that the context that we've been reading about? What have we been reading about this whole time? Taking a brother before unbelievers for the smallest matters. What is he comparing here? He's saying, look, when you go to the unjust, when you go to the nonbelievers over small matters between brethren, you are taking things before fornicators. You're taking things before idolaters, you're taking things before adulterers, etc. What's effeminate? Do you guys know? Effeminate is a man who is feminine. It's not a homosexual, but it's a man that has feminine qualities. We live in a society today where people don't want men to be men and don't want women to be women anymore. There's gender fluid stuff that's going on, and you see more women becoming more manly, and you see men becoming more girly. It's not just in the world. I've seen this in churches as well. But being effeminate is a positive thing for a woman because it means you're womanly. It means you're feminine. It's a good thing. It's good for a woman to be like a woman, but it's not good for a woman to be like a man. Especially disgusts me when I see a man behave like a woman. They may not be a homosexual. I'm just saying that's just the way they are. Maybe they didn't have a good role model as a father to see what a man ought to be like. I've actually seen the opposite as well. I've actually seen where a father is so like the man's man. Totally just rough as anything else. And then the son grows up in that family, can't relate to his father, and then becomes like mommy's boy. And so he becomes feminine. Even though he had a pretty good role model, but that's why fathers, you need to train your sons to be men. And to work with them and encourage them. That they would be like, hey, I want to be like dad. I want to grow up and be like dad. I want to be like a man like my dad. But don't be such a man's man that you're so far away from your son that they don't even know how to relate to you and don't know what it is like to be a man. And then it says here, and I'm not going to go into it, but Abuses of Themselves with Mankind. This is a controversial title. What I believe this is talking about is prostitution. That's what I believe. And at some point I'm going to go into that. Probably when I preach about homosexuals. Because a lot of people think this is talking about homosexuality. So one day when I preach about homosexuals I'm probably going to cover this passage as well. Just that phrase there. Not abusers of themselves with mankind. But no thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now this list is very similar to Galatians chapter 5. Please turn to Galatians chapter 5 verse 19. I just want to show you how this list compares. Because they're very similar and they say very similar things. Galatians chapter 5 verse 19. The Bible reads, Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Adultery, that was in the other list. Fornication, that was in that list. Cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, that was in the other list. Witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envians. Murders, was that in the other one? Murders? Not sure. Drunkenness, that was in that one. Revelings and such like. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So is this saying you need to stop doing this stuff to inherit the kingdom of God? Is it saying you need to stop being a sinner in that sense to inherit the kingdom of God? No, because we know that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. We know that keeping the deeds of the law will not get you saved. We know that. We've gone through that over and over again. Salvation has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if you think you need to do more than trust the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then you're trampling the blood of Christ upon your feet. And you're not saved if you think it's more than just believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then what is this list about? That people of this nature will not inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 19 makes it very clear that now the works of the flesh are manifest. These works that people do are in the flesh. It's works of the flesh. It's works of the old man. It's works of the carnal man. And unfortunately, we all still struggle with the flesh. Unfortunately, this list of sins are things that you can potentially do in your life. But if you do them, does that mean you're not saved? Of course not! Because salvation is not about you cleaning up your life. Salvation is not about you turning another leaf. Salvation is based upon you trusting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Okay? It's the works of the flesh. And what did we read in 1 Corinthians 15? Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This flesh will never inherit the kingdom of God. This flesh will die, and one day Christ is going to give you that new resurrected body. The new body that will never sin. Okay? So please, in 1 Corinthians 6, 9, and 10, don't take it out of the context of what you're reading. This isn't a plan of how to get saved. Alright? Or to judge someone's salvation. This is talking about those that you go to, the unjust of the smallest matters. You're taking these things to wicked people when you could just be taking it to the believers in the church. Okay? Verse 11. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11. And such were some of you. Okay? Paul is saying, look, some of you in the church were like these unbelievers. Okay? But ye are washed. What's this about? This is the new man. This is now the Spirit. Okay? The new creature when you get saved that you receive. And the Holy Spirit, and we'll see that in a minute, where the Holy Spirit indwells in you. And such were some of you, but ye are washed. That means you're no longer defiled. As far as God is concerned, your position before him, you're clean. Okay? You've been cleaned from your sins. You've been washed with your sins by the blood of Christ. But ye are sanctified. That means not only has he cleaned you, he's set you apart for his purpose, to do his work, to do his will. But ye are justified. What is justified? I've heard it taught in some of my previous churches. One of the easiest ways to know what justified means is just if I'd never sinned. Justified. Just if I'd never sinned. You're made right before God, just as though you had never sinned. That's your position before God. In the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Because you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you. You have the new man in you. You've been revived. You've been born again. That part of you is clean. That part of you is justified before the Lord God. Verse 12. Then he says this. 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. It's a little bit funny. He's kind of changing topics, but still not totally removing himself from what he just said. Because he says all things are lawful to me. Meaning he's at liberty to do whatever he wants. You're at liberty to do things. Obviously not sins. But you have the liberty to do what you want. But all things are not expedient. What does expedient mean? Profitable. You can do a lot of things. You're free to do a lot of things in your life. But not all those things that you do are profitable. Not all those things that you do are worth it. A lot of it is a waste of time. A lot of it is hay, stubble, wood and stubble. Some of those things. It's just a waste of time. All things are lawful for me. So he says it again. But I will not be brought under the power of any. So this is just a good measuring stick on the things that you spend your time on. Are they lawful? Yeah, maybe you can do things that are lawful. But are they expedient? Are they profiting you? Is there value in what you're doing? Or is it just a big waste of time? And I really encourage you guys. Think about your life. Think about the things that you do. The hobbies that you do. The things that you enjoy in your life. Again, they might be lawful for you to do. It's not like they're sinful. But are they really profitable? Is it worth your time? Or can you be using your time to be doing things that are expedient? Things that are profitable to you. But if we don't take it away from the context for a moment. It's obviously talking about the facts. We're talking about taking things to the courts. Taking things to authorities. But yeah, it's lawful, I guess, to go to law and take these matters before the law. You can do that. But is it expedient? Is it profitable? Is it worth it? If you keep it within the context of what we're reading. And that's what he's saying to this Corinthian church. Yeah, okay, you can take these things. I can take you to court. But is it profitable? Is it going to be better than allowing our church brethren to make judgement on these matters? Verse 13. 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. So your body belongs to the Lord. And it ought to be used for him. Your body ought to be used for the service of God and not for fornication. And it says here, but God shall destroy both it and them. Because again, remember, the works of the flesh. That's not going to inherit the kingdom of God. It's going to be destroyed by God. But it will be brought to life once again. Resurrected from the dead in the future. We'll see that in verse 14. And God have both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power. So remember that list of things of the flesh? Well, God's going to come and give you that new body at some point. When he raises you by his power in that new resurrected body. Because the flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. But your body belongs to the Lord. He's going to give you that new resurrected body. And of course that new resurrected body is a body just like Jesus Christ. And that belongs to God. But you know he takes your old body and changes it. So if that new body belongs to the Lord. Then even so, this current body that we're in belongs to the Lord. Even though it's flesh and blood. Even though it's wicked. It still belongs to the Lord and we ought to be using our bodies to serve him. And not to be committing things like fornication. Now look at verse 15. July then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot. God forbid. What's a harlot? A prostitute. I'm assuming this means that there were people in this church that were going to harlots. Because it doesn't make any sense for Paul to just come up with this all of a sudden. It seems to me, it seems logical to me to say that there were men in the church committing fornication with harlots. And he's saying to you, look, your body belongs to the Lord. It ought not to be used for fornication. What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you going to the... And look, it's one of the worst things you can possibly do. One of the worst things you can possibly... Look at verse 16. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For to save he shall be one flesh. Now what's that? For to save he shall be one flesh. That phrase one flesh appears, I wrote it down, six times in the Bible. Six times in the Bible. Five times. The other five times, besides this passage, it's talking about marriage. It's talking about husband and wife becoming one flesh. Now he's saying what you're doing is you're becoming one flesh with that harlot. You're becoming one flesh with that prostitute. Now some people have taken this to mean that your previous... I'm sorry again. I'll try to keep it clean, right? It's like your previous partners are married to you. I've heard this preached. They say, well, your previous partners, they're married to you. Once you've committed that, that's your husband. That's your wife. No, that's not what it's saying. It's comparing the fact that marriage... Because we know that phrase belongs to marriage. That your body is for marriage. If you're going to commit that act, that ought to be an act that is one flesh within your marriage. And what you're doing is defiling yourself and doing that same act, which is the act of being one flesh, outside of marriage. And that's fornication. It's teaching that the act of being one flesh is for the marriage, not for the harlot, and not for fornication. It's fine to be one flesh with your husband and wife. That's God's plan for you. But it's not God's plan for you to give your body over to fornication when Christ himself has died for you, he shed his blood for you, and you belong to Christ. You belong to the Lord. It's such a wicked sin, fornication. Such a wicked sin. And look what he compares it to. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 17. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. He compares it how we're joined to the Lord in one spirit. What's that spirit? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost that indwells you. Verse 18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body. So every sin that you do is toward someone else. But he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body. This is a sin that you commit against yourself. And that's where I think the abusers of mankind comes in, because you're actually abusing yourself. Anyway, we'll cover that some other time. But it's a sin against your own body. The body belongs to God. And when you sin against your own body, you're sinning against God. God owns your body. Look at verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple? The temple! The temple is something that ought to be holy. The temple ought to be something that was sacred. It belonged to the Lord in the Old Testament. It had the presence of God within the Old Testament temple, if you know that. It's where people came to praise God. It's where people came to worship God. Your body is compared to that Old Testament temple. Why is it a temple? It's a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. You don't belong to yourself when you're saved. You belong to God. And when you commit fornication, you're taking the temple of God and defiling it. That temple which the Holy Spirit resides in. Keep yourself from fornication. Verse number 20. But ye are bought with a price. What was that price? The shed blood of Jesus Christ. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ. He took upon your sins. He took upon the sins of the whole world. He suffered. He suffered greatly for you. And now you're going to take your body and join it to a harlot. Is that how you're going to repay what Christ has done for you? No. You belong to God. You ought to keep your body for the Lord. Yeah, verse 20. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So just in conclusion, I just want you to think about these things, especially what we spoke about at the beginning. If you get offended by a brother, what do you do? Is it a small matter? Give it time. Think about it. Be rational about it. Don't go off your emotions. Don't go off your emotions. Because when you're emotionally charged, you don't want to go off your emotions. Don't go off your emotions. Because when you're emotionally charged, you can make really bad decisions. Just cool down. Speak to your husband and wife if you've got that. Or if you're a kid, speak to your parents. But then take the matter. Don't go and spread rumours. Don't go and spread everywhere. Take the matter to that person alone. And hopefully that's where it gets sorted. Hopefully that's where you win your brother and things get better. And we don't need to then take things further into the church judgement or the church discipline. But at the same time, if it's a crime, if it's a crime, and you want to report that to your authorities, you have the right to do so. Keep that in mind as well. We cannot ignore the fact that crimes take place in church because we're taking 1 Corinthians 6 and twisting the scriptures for ourselves because we're trying to protect our church. God's going to protect our church. If something bad ever takes place in this church, we do the right things. Some big crime takes place. We do the right things. We report it to the authorities. We pray to the Lord that He will defend us and protect us and keep this church safe and sound. Let's pray.