Settling Disputes Between Believers

Transcript

GR 1313
12/04/05
Settling Disputes between Believers
I Corinthians 6:1-8
Gil Rugh

When He was introduced to the nation by John the Baptist, John declared, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And through the sovereign plan of God Jesus Christ died on the cross and was raised in glorious victory to provide salvation for all who would believe in Him. And those who have come to believe in Him become part of what is known as the spiritual body which is the church. And the manifestation of the church in the world today is the local church, local churches like this, assemblies of those who have been redeemed, called together by God to be a testimony to His grace, to serve Him and to grow together.

Paul is writing to the church in the city of Corinth, a local church comprised of the saints as he addressed them in chapter 1. He noted that they were the temple of God, a holy place, a center of holiness in the city of Corinth. A sinful city, a depraved city, city characterized by spiritual darkness and depravity, yet in the midst of that city there is a center of holiness—the church of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. And it is holy.

Now Paul's concern in much of the letter is that the transformed character of the people of God, their holiness as the result of the work of Christ is to be manifest in the way that they live. And the Corinthians are struggling with this in many areas, as we do today. It is constant pressure from the world around us to adopt the world's way of thinking and the world's way of functioning. And that's true as we come to chapter 6 and deal with a situation in the church at Corinth. As a result of sin we have all become self-centered and self-focused. We are all concerned about our own personal rights, getting what we deserve or what we think we deserve. We've developed a whole culture of being victims. One of the recent news magazines had an editorial on all the different kinds of victims that have been developed in our society, and our purpose of becoming victims is so that we can seek redress of the wrongs that have been done to us, real or imagined. And one of the things that has happened as a result of this is a proliferation of law suits. One of the teachers in our children's church program that was in my last hour class said after the class that he asked the 4-year-olds, somebody does something wrong with you, what do you do? He said the overwhelming majority of the class hollered out, sue him. He was just reminding me they start early. He can appreciate that because he is by training, a lawyer and knows it from the inside.

But we ought to remind ourselves, and I was interested to reread some of the historical setting of Corinth, this is not something new. The Greeks were known for loving lawsuits. It was part of their entertainment to go to courts and watch the trials and be entertained by certain lawyers who were very adept in the speeches they would give. Let me read you some comments. People in the ancient world contended for honor in the law courts and one gained honor by beating down a rival. The pursuit of litigation often had little to do with the pursuit of justice. The legal skirmishes usually became fixed assaults on the defendant's character. Litigation was undertaken as a manifestation of enmity and lawsuits were perhaps the most single generator of private hostility in Rome.

Another wrote, going to court could be a very expensive proposition. Cassidus..... Cassidus was a Roman and he wrote this statement in about 47 A.D. Now Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthians about 55 A.D., so within 8 years of Cassidus making his statement Paul wrote to the Corinthians. And he told us that a lawyer in 47 A.D. could command a fee, and I won't go into the financial things here, but it would be about 8-10 times what a regular government official would make in a year. And that would be his fee for a case. We sometimes think, we see celebrity lawyers and so on being paid vast sums of money. Nothing is new. Chrysostum, some of you are familiar with Chrysostum, an early Christian, and he wrote a letter to the Corinthians about 100 A.D. It's not part of our scripture but it has been preserved. And about 100 A.D. he wrote and said, in the cities of Rome and Corinth, and Corinth as we noted was a city dominated by Roman thinking and ideas, there were lawyers innumerable perverting justice there. So in one way nothing has changed. We saw that with depravity and sinful practices and the use and abuse of the legal system, and the injustice. And if you would read anything of that time, the injustice there was far greater than what we perceive as the injustice in our systems here. It was all settled on the status you had in society and the wealth you had in society and relationships. I know we hear that about our system, but it was much more pronounced there.

The problem is that that begins to invade the church, that kind of thinking. Now we ought to be aware that Paul made clear that the governing authorities, and that would include the courts, were appointed by God for the administering of justice, and they are for the good of society and they serve a good purpose. And we often talk about the abuse, but we fail to appreciate how important the legal system is and what benefit we receive from it. Paul wrote Romans 13 and reminded the believers at Rome of the importance of the governing authorities which would include the legal system. Peter, in I Peter 2, wrote to the same point. So there may be inequities, improper use of the legal system, as there is in every area of our society by sinful people. We need to be careful that we don't become part of those jaded by what we hear and see.

Paul's concern in I Corinthians 6 is not with the legal system per se. His concern will have to do with the conduct of believers in availing themselves of the legal system in Corinth. And in so doing, deny who they are in Christ and the destiny that has been appointed for them and the ruined testimony of the church in Corinth. Now in chapter 5 Paul had talked about the matter of the responsibility of believers in judging. And in verse 12 he said that believers were not responsible to judge unbelievers, those outside the church. But they were responsible to judge insiders, believers, those who are member of the church. And in that context in chapter 5, the responsibility of the believers in the church at Corinth was to exercise judgment and remove the man guilty of immorality, incest from the fellowship of believers. But he is not done talking about the responsibility of believers to judge among themselves. So verses 12-13 of chapter 5 form a transition to what he's going to talk about in chapter 6. Not only is the church to judge in matters of morality and so on among themselves within the church, they are also to judge in other matters having to do with everyday life, having to do with what would be known as civil situations, civil litigation. Not addressing here particularly criminal cases. If one believer would murder another believer in the church, that would become a criminal case and naturally would involve secular courts. But in the matters of everyday life disagreements arise. There is nothing new. I was just this week, since working on this passage, going down and trying to recall in my mind some of the different kinds of situations like addressed in chapter 6 have come up in the years that I've been here. And there have been a number of them, and they are ongoing. They come up regularly because of the affairs and activities of our lives as God's people. And we work and serve together and we get involved, and pretty soon we are not only joining together for worship and directly serving the Lord, but we find ourselves working for one another in business relationships or hiring someone, or doing these kinds of things. We sell something to another believer in the church or a believer's advice, and now we have settings for disagreements and conflicts between believers. How are they to be handled?

Well since lawsuits were a rather common occurrence and a regular practice in the city of Corinth, that kind of thinking had invaded the church, and you find that believers within the church at Corinth were guilty of taking other believers to court to resolve their differences. And this is what Paul is addressing and he starts chapter 6 verse 1, does anyone of you when he has a case against his neighbor dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? That means let me just remind you, really continuing the emphasis on judging fellow believers at the end of chapter 5 and the responsibility of the church. And Paul expresses shock at what the Corinthians are doing. You'd think after the case in chapter 5 there is no shock left. I mean any church that can be tolerant of immorality and incestuous immorality at that, has about used up their shock value. But in chapter 6 Paul expresses this like he's dumbfounded. You'll note the word dare in the middle of verse 1 as we have it in our English translation, if you're reading the New American Standard. In the Greek text as Paul wrote this, the first word is that word dare. And literally he says, dare anyone, having a case against another, take it for judgment before the ungodly and not before the saints. How dare you do such a thing. It is shocking that such a sin would happen. It obviously had been reported to him, perhaps by Chloe who was referred to in chapter 1, perhaps by Stephanos and others who will be referred to in chapter 16. But Paul was absolutely shocked at the behavior of the Corinthians. How dare you do such a thing. He's going to go on and stress that it's a denial of what God has appointed you to do in the kingdom He will establish, and totally is destroying the testimony of the church in the city of Corinth.

That he has a case against his neighbor, literally, when he has a case against another. And in the context it is one believer in the church having a case against another believer. That expression, having a case against was almost a technical legal term for civil litigation against another person in biblical times. You have something that could be taken to the civil courts and you would take another believer to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints. Now he's not saying you ought to look for a believing judge or believing attorneys here, it's the unrighteous in contrast to the saints. The unrighteous refers to the unbeliever. In chapter 6 verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? These are those who are not destined to spend eternity in the presence of the living God. They are called unbelievers at the end of verse 6, going to law before unbelievers. You would go to law before the unrighteous, not before the saints. Remember the word saints means to be set apart, same basic word group that we get the word to be holy from. The saints are the holy ones. Now those who are God's holy ones are taking other of God's holy ones into the secular court system at Corinth and asking unrighteous judges, and that unrighteous not only identifies them as unbeliever but it carries a moral connotation—the unrighteous, the unjust. They are described in verses 9-10. Now that is not a rebuke of the secular system, that is just what unregenerate, unbelieving people are by nature. They are the unrighteous. But the contrast is striking. How can you ask those who by nature are unrighteous, unholy, ungodly to sit in judgment between two of God's holy ones. Is there not something shocking about this? That's what Paul is expressing—how dare you take your differences between two of God's holy children before the unrighteous and ask them to resolve the conflict.

How could a group of people called by God's grace get into the messes that the Corinthian church does? Well, Paul answers this question, verse 2. Do you not know the saints will judge the world? Remember that expression do you not know is found ten times in Corinthians, several of those times will be in chapter 6. I mean there is no excuse for this. Something that is foundational knowledge. The saints will judge the world. And when Paul asked that question, do you not know the saints will judge the world, there is no excuse for not understanding this. Some Christians are walking around in a fog about the future earthly reign of Christ. Paul writes to the Corinthians and says there is no excuse for you being confused on this matter. Saints will judge the world. Now he doesn't say they are judging the world now. That is their destiny.

Back up to Daniel 7, and we're talking about the overview of the empires of this world. And we come to the climax, that 7-year tribulation and the reign of the antichrist. And then verse 21, I kept looking and that whore, referring to the little horn which is the final western world ruler who will dominate ultimately the world, was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came, that's Jesus Christ, to set up His kingdom. Judgment was passed in favor of the saints. You may have a marginal note, judgment was given for the saints of the highest one. And the Greek translation of the Old Testament that the New Testament writers basically used translate this, judgment was given to the saints of the Most High. That's also the emphasis of the last part. And the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. The kingdom belongs to them and they will rule and reign in the kingdom. Judgment will be given to the saints in the coming kingdom. I want you to note something, verse 18 says the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever. We're not yet there. We will know when the kingdom starts because Jesus Christ will come in glory and put an end to earthly powers, and the rebellion of those who oppose Him. That has not yet happened. When He comes, then believers will be the recipients of the kingdom that He will establish.

Turn over to Matthew 19 in the New Testament. The Bible clearly teaches that there is coming an earthly kingdom over which Christ will rule and reign. We are not in the kingdom now, the kingdom has not begun now, not partially or not fully. It will require the direct intervention by the personal return of Christ from heaven to establish His kingdom on earth. Look at Matthew 19:28, Jesus said to them, speaking to His disciples, truly I say to you that you who have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, the throne of His glory. You see what we're talking about here. When things will be made new, in the regeneration, when Christ sits on His throne of glory in Jerusalem, you shall also sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So here the 12 disciples are promised that they will exercise authority and judgment in the kingdom over which Christ will be king. That's not happening. I mean Jesus Christ is not sitting on His throne in Jerusalem and Peter, James, John, Thomas, and so on are not sitting on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So there is no excuse for confusion on this. People say, well I don't think it means that literally. Well we really don't care what you think, we don't care what anyone else thinks, we just care what God says. It's pretty clear, here's a promise He give to His disciples, it has not yet been fulfilled. What I want you to note here, there is coming a time when Christ will share His rule and the judgment that will take place with those sitting on thrones with Him. Well that's the 12 disciples, I'm worried about me.

Come over to II Timothy 2:10. Paul has been talking about his hardships and encouraging Timothy to step up and be willing to suffer for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 10, for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, for the elect, so that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory. Note the first line of verse 12, if we endure we will also reign with Him. I realize the kingdom is yet future, the privilege of reigning with Him is yet future. I am enduring now, but someday I will reign.

Turn over to Revelation 2. Here Jesus Christ is addressing the seven churches of Asia Minor. Revelation 2, the promise to the church at Thyatira, the believers. Verse 26, he who overcomes, the overcomer is a believer, I John 5. Who is he that overcomes, but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ. An overcomer is one who believes in Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel. To him who overcomes, he who keeps my deeds until the end, and note this, to him I will give authority over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of potter are broken to pieces. I also have received authority from my Father. Remember Psalm 2, kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way. He will rule with a rod of iron. Now here Christ promises believers in the church that they will rule and reign with Him also in His kingdom. They will have authority over the nations and they'll be judging among the nations, because they'll have authority to make decisions. They rule with a rod of iron.

Turn over to Revelation 3:21, another promise to the church. He who overcomes, now note this, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. When Jesus Christ comes to take authority, it's because the Father has given authority to Him and then Christ will share that authority with those who have believed in Him. We will sit on His throne. It doesn't mean we're all going to crowd on that one chair, but we share the authority of His rule. We will be given authority from Him to act on His behalf as His representative in His kingdom.

One other passage, Revelation 20:4. Here we have come to the end of the 7-year tribulation. Jesus Christ has bodily returned to earth and those who have suffered and died during that 7-year tribulation are resurrected. The church has already been resurrected, Israel has already been resurrected, and we're told at the end of verse 4 that these resurrected people who are part of the first resurrection. The first resurrection includes all those who are believers and experience God's salvation. The end of verse 4, they came to life and reigned with Christ, they came to life and reigned with Christ for 1000 years. That's the first resurrection. So you see the destiny of those who have come to believe in Christ and experience then His resurrection to glory. Unbelievers won't be resurrected until after the 1000 years, we are told in verse 5. And what are believers resurrected for? To rule and reign with Christ.

So come back to I Corinthians 6. Evidently this is part of what Paul packed into his teaching when he was at the church at Corinth. Perhaps he's referred to it in one of the letters he has written to them. We know there was at least one previous letter as we saw in chapter 5. Do you not know the saints will judge the world? Now think about that. You and I are appointed and destined by God to someday share in the rule of Christ over this earth. Remarkable. What will happen when Christ returns, there will be people who have been saved during that 7-year tribulation. They are alive when Christ returns, they go into the millennium, that 1000-year kingdom, in physical body. They will have children and repopulate the earth. All unbelievers on the earth are destroyed, the judgments that Christ sets up when He returns to earth to set up His kingdom. So only believers will enter that kingdom. They are in physical bodies, we are there in glorified bodies. Those in physical bodies are going to have children, they're going to repopulate the earth. Do you know what they pass on to those children? Sin, a sin nature. So those born in the millennium, and there will be no pain, there will be no suffering in childbirth, there will be no death in childbirth. We're going to have a population explosion like has never been seen. And now you have all these little sinners growing up to be grown-up sinners, and they need to be saved by faith in Christ. We are going to be administering the earth as God's glorified people.

So, do you not know the saints will judge the world? I'm going to be acting as Christ's representative, I don't know where. McCook? I don't know, He'll delegate authority out to wherever we are, according to His appointment. Now if that's the case, if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to judge the smallest matters. It says the smallest courts, but you note in the margin, the most trivial cases. I think that's a better translation in the context. I mean, if you're going to judge the world, can't you judge the little things, the trivial matters? Of course you can. I mean, if someone is appointed and will be sitting on the Supreme Court shortly, certainly he can render the decisions that the Justice of the Peace might be called to make. I mean, the chasm is so great. What's the problem in the church at Corinth? Well, I don't trust him, I don't think he knows enough. Don't speak down about him or her, they are appointed in the plan of God to, in the future, sit with the authority of Christ, ruling and judging in His kingdom. So you can certainly see that believers are qualified by God to judge the trivial matters.
That's not all, verse 3, do you not know that we will judge angels? Again, I'm amazed. This is not an old church. This church, I've been pastoring here far longer than the church at Corinth has been in existence, and Paul rebukes them. Don't you know we're going to judge angels? I mean this is something that every believer ought to know, and not only know it, but be living in light of it. Now I am amazed at some commentators who are confused on this. I don't think it's so confusing. I don't believe we're going to judge fallen angels somehow. I believe we will judge angels in the same sense we will judge the world in verse 2. And at the same time when Christ sets up His kingdom and the church is glorified, we have glorified bodies and we are ruling with Christ in His kingdom, not only will all the peoples of the world be subject to us, but all of the angels of heaven will be subject to us as well.

Turn over to Hebrews 1. I hope you're tracking this because there may come a time when you have a disagreement with a fellow believer in this church, and this is the basis we will use to resolve that. And it won't be a matter whether you like it or dislike it, you'll have to like it, because God says this is the way it has to be. We're talking about the superiority of Christ to angels in this section of Hebrews. Hebrews 1:4, Christ sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, for He has inherited a more excellent name than they. So through the rest of chapter 1 you have all these quotes from the Old Testament, showing that Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel is superior to the angels. And then you come to verse 14, you'll note verse 13 to lead into it. To which of the angels has He ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's when He will come and reign. Right now He's waiting at the right hand of the Father for the time for Him to return and establish His kingdom and subject all His enemies.

What about it? Are they not all ministering spirits? We're talking about the angels. Verse 4, He became much better than the angels. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Even today angels serve on our behalf. You understand angels are not eternal, they're created beings. I think a strong case can be made for angels being created on the first day of creation in Genesis 1. God had no need for the angels in what we call eternity past. They are created to serve in the context of the people that God was going to create to populate the earth, and they serve on our behalf. They render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation, who are destined for the fullness of the glory that God has promised to those who love Him.

Come down to verse 5 of chapter 2, He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. The world to come is the kingdom that will be established here. The writer to the Hebrews is writing to Jewish believers who are well familiar with the kingdom promises of the Old Testament. He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But then he quotes, and you have a quote here from the Psalms 8:4-6, what is man, that you remember him? The Son of Man, you are concerned about Him? You have made Him for a little while lower than the angels, crowned Him with glory and honor. Verse 8, you have put all things in subjection under His feet. That's ultimately referring to Christ. Subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But we do not yet now see all things subject. I don't know how some people think we're in the kingdom, either fully as a spiritual kingdom or an already not yet, we're already in the kingdom but we're not yet in the fullness of the kingdom. We don't yet see all things subjected to Him, we're not in the kingdom. It requires the presence of the king on His throne. But you'll note, it;s destined for all things, including angels, to be subjected to Him. And we are going to what? We read in Revelation, sit down with Christ on His throne, with His authority delegated to us. You know what that means? Angels will be under our authority, we will be judging angels in the kingdom. You know, you start thinking about this and you think, this is really amazing. Paul tells the Corinthians you ought to be living in light of this. You're not in the kingdom, but you ought to be functioning as the people of God.

Come back to I Corinthians 6. If saints are going to judge the world, you can judge the trivial matters. If saints are going to judge angels, how much more matters of this life. And that expression, matters of this life, is a common word used in the Greek world at the time for matters of everyday life, the normal, everyday things of life. Certainly if the angels of heaven are going to be under my authority and I'm going to exercise judgment concerning them and their activities and so on, I am capable of dealing with the mundane things of this life. That doesn't mean I have all legal expertise and know all the legal matters of this life, but I am qualified by God in light of what He has appointed for my destiny. And you as God's people. So the requirement required to be a judge between believers having disagreements regarding the everyday matters of this life is that he be another believer in Jesus Christ.

So we come to verse 4, if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? Appoint in verse 4, it says if you have law courts, if you have business disputes, civil disputes, these kinds of things needing judgments, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I mean, this is not the way it should be done. Those of no account, those who have no standing in the church. These are the unrighteous that we saw in verse 6, the unbeliever, as they are called at the end of verse 6. At the end of verse 1 they are called the unrighteous, at the end of verse 6 they are called unbelievers. In verse 9 they are called the unrighteous again, those who will not be part of the kingdom. They are not even qualified to be in the kingdom and you're going to rule and reign in the kingdom, and yet you're appointing those to judge over God's holy ones. How can this be? I mean, does this not seem incongruous to you?

I say this to your shame. Now chapter 4 verse 14 when he talked about their division and conflicts he says I don't write this to shame you, I write this to admonish you. Paul see this as a deterioration, and he says, I do write to shame you. You ought to be embarrassed. I mean this is totally without any excuse, such behavior. I say to your shame. And you'll note here in English the italicized words were not there in the Greek text, so we've made two sentences in English. But really it is one sentence. I say to your shame, there is not among you one wise many who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother and that before unbelievers? It's all a question. Now the shame really refers to the fact that brother is going to brother against unbeliever, and you're doing that before unbelievers. So you're going to go now before the unrighteous unbeliever. Again, he's not castigating the secular “system,” but the contrast between those who are God's people and those who are not. What is their character? What is their destiny?

Now you're going to have one of God's holy ones pick another of God's holy ones and ask the unrighteous who have no standing in the church of Jesus Christ. And you're going to say this holy one hasn't treated me fairly, he didn't pay me what he should have, he sold me a bill of goods. And this holy one is going to say, you don't understand, this guy is a liar and can't be trusted. And now you're going to have the unrighteous decide between two holy ones who are trying to destroy one another's character. I mean can you go to court and not say that someone has not done something right or fair to you? And that the whole reason we're there, we believe we've been treated unfairly or something has been done to us that we don't think should have been done. So to go before the unbeliever you have to begin to attack the character. Then to defend yourself you're going to try to show what he is saying is not true. So you have two holy ones, redeemed by God's grace, purified by Him, called His holy ones, His saints. And now they're airing their dirty linen before those who have never experienced God's saving power, never been cleansed from their sin, not destined to eternal glory but eternal condemnation. What a shameful situation. Paul said this isn't even for admonition, this is just to shame you.

You get the idea that Paul is almost at his wit's end in some of this. I mean, when he started this chapter, how dare you do this. And then I write to shame you. This is a total disgrace. I don't know what we compare it to. You know you sometimes talk to your kids when they do something so blatantly wrong and in violation of everything you've taught them, and you say, how could you do such a thing. What a disgrace. You ought to be totally ashamed of yourself. I mean, that's what Paul is saying to the church, and the church is paddling along. Paul brings this up, this is normal church life. Well you have a problem, you know I have rights, we do live in this country that gives us certain rights, and even though this is a believer, you know they tricked me. They sold me that car and when I got it home the fender fell off and they had puttied it up. How are we going to resolve that? Well, let's have a fellow believer............... What does a fellow believer know about that? I mean, I want my justice. That's the church at Corinth. In Corinth everybody went to court. As I mentioned, it was part of the entertainment because the style of the lawyers, the ones that were most followed were those who were the forensic public speakers. And to listen to them was part of the entertainment of the day.

Brother goes to law with brother. That's bad enough, because something is already wrong. I mean, don't you tell your kids when siblings have a problem and they're young you say, work it out. That's your brother, that's your sister, you have to get along, work it out. Now you have brother goes to law with brother, they are at one another. This is a.............., you're going to court with one another, brother with brother, brother attacking brother, brother trying to defeat, destroy, defraud brother. We already had a tragic situation when love covers a multitude of sins, and I may have been wronged, but that's my brother. I'll get over it, it's okay, he's my brother. Someone else did it I may have been bothered, but that's my brother. We make all kind of allowance for brothers, right? Or sisters. They're family members. Love covers a multitude of sins. Brother goes to court with brother, and if that's not bad enough you're at one another, you do it before the unbeliever. I mean that's a disgrace. You're going to go tell this unrighteous unbeliever all the dirt you can dig up so you can win the case against this person, and you're going to respond to him by trying to tell what a dirty scoundrel he is. I'm sure the unrighteous would love to be converted like you were.

Verse 7, actually, then, it is already a defeat for you that you have lawsuits with one another. The point being, there are no winners. It's already a defeat that you would have lawsuits with one another. Doesn't matter who wins, you've lost. You say well, who won? Well there were two believers, no one did. Well who did the judge rule for? Doesn't matter, they both lost. It's not in that court that the ultimate judgment comes. In the court of heaven they lost. God's verdict. Paul writes under the inspiration of the Spirit, this already is a defeat for you. We didn't get into who is right and who is wrong. The fact that you have two believers in this kind of case, the court of heaven has ruled. It's a defeat for you. That you have lawsuits with one another.

Well what's the solution? Why not rather be wrong, why not rather be defrauded? Wait a minute, I knew there was a catch in this. What's the solution? Work it out. Well, I'm right. I can't tell you how many times these things have come up. And at the start people are always ready, okay, that will be fine, we're going to have someone sit down with you and hear the case, hear your disagreements and give the recommendation. Sometimes it's more than one, sometimes it's elders involved, sometimes it's deacons, sometimes it's just a member of the body. Paul doesn't say it has to be a certain person, just has to be a saint, believer. The problem is, people always come with their mind made up, and people agree to this, and then when the saint who is doing the arbitrating, if you will, says this is what I think should be done, the party that doesn't agree, all of a sudden it's not workable. I don't agree, I can't accept that. I have letters in my file over this. People have left the church over these kinds of things, didn't agree with it. Starts out all right because I've already decided what the result has to be, right? And I'm sure that any godly person with a half ounce of common sense mixed with his godliness is going to rule in favor of me. And when they don't.............. Well, you can't expect me to go along with that because I deserve to win. And all the “buts” get inserted here—but, but, but.............. It's not fair. So what? You're willing to be wronged, you're willing to be defrauded. Strong words here. For the loss that you'd be willing to take for your testimony and for the testimony of the church. You know what happens, we get so attached to the things of this life and to our possessions that they become more precious to us than our testimony for Jesus Christ, than the testimony of the church. And we're willing to sacrifice that because I'm just convinced I'm right.

Paul says there is an easy solution here. Can't be resolved any other way, you take the loss. That means you won. I like the satisfaction of being declared the winner and getting what is............... I don't want what is not rightfully mine. And besides, isn't that why we have a legal system in our society, and I'm willing to go to court, and if they settle it then it will be settled. I just don't think I trust believers. Well the church is God's family and it must be done God's way. That means to take the loss. We've had people do this in this church. They don't get publicized. Rather than go to court........... You know what happens, you work for someone. I don't think they paid me enough, I think I'm owed this. Well, it doesn't belong in the court, it ought to be resolved here. We've had people pay what I don't think they had to pay, but they said, I won't go to court, so whatever it takes, I'll resolve it. Personal loss, personal loss. That's worth it.

They don't get any honor here because we don't announce, guess what so-and-so did against so-and-so. It's resolved down here and most don't know about it, the ones who need to know about it, know—the court of heaven. They function like God said they should function. Did they really lose? God has stored up for them an inheritance in heaven that cannot be corrupted, defiled or lost in any way. So they've taken some material loss, well, Lord, it is in your hands. It doesn't really matter anyway.

Turn over to I Thessalonians 4. And you ought to note something. Interesting how some of these sections come together. Do you know what Paul is talking about in the first part of chapter 4? Immorality. Do you know what he talked about in chapter 5 before he got into chapter 6? Immorality. You know what he's going to talk about at the end of chapter 6? Immorality. Some of these things begin to go together. You find one of these problems, you find another. And so remember verse 8, what Paul is writing here under the inspiration of the Spirit. He who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. He's going to say something about that Holy Spirit again in a moment. But you note, when you reject what God says in His Word, you're rejecting, not man, but God. You're saying no, not to man, but to the Holy Spirit. Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you. You yourselves are taught by God to love one another, and he encourages them, you are practicing it. But I urge you to excel still more.

Verse 11, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business. Work with your own hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. Paul is concerned for their testimony and the believers in the church at Thessalonica, where the letter to the Thessalonians is written, ought to be the best workers in the city. Disgraceful to hear that, well, I hired that Christian, it turned out to be a mistake. They were lazy, couldn't get them to work. What a testimony. Behave properly toward outsiders. Our testimony before the watching world is important.

Come over to I Corinthians 3:16, do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you. Note the end of verse 17, the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Remember, the church at Corinth is a center of holiness in the midst of the depravity and vileness of the city of Corinth. Here is a place where the Holy Spirit of God dwells, God's dwelling place comprised of God's people, surrounded by the vileness and the filth of the unrighteous that will not be part of the kingdom. And now they're going before the unrighteous to try to declare their rights, to show how they've been unfairly treated by a fellow saint. What does that do to the testimony of the church in the city? They are like us, they are just as greedy, just as covetous, just as self-righteous and self-focused and determined to get what they think is rightfully theirs. It's already a defeat for you that you're in the courts with brethren.

Verse 8 of chapter 6, on the contrary you yourselves wrong and defraud, even to your brethren. I mean, let's face it, somebody took somebody to court here, so both sides are going on. You're not only fighting for your rights against those who think you owe them something or there’s something to be based but that you take the initiative. And again, we looked at this, but the general use of our court system becomes such that even the church gets conditioned by it. We think, it's part or their right to go to court, I guess even with an unbeliever if something has been legally not right, that's why we have courts—to solve it. Well, God has appointed the courts, they are divinely appointed, according to Romans 13. And the rulers, and that would include the governing officials, court officials are God's messengers in the world. And we receive benefit from that. But this is God's family. If I have a disagreement with my brother, I don't go to court over it, I work it out with my brother. We're family. Nothing is so sad as to see family members in court with one another, and that's not nearly so tragic as to see spiritual brethren in court with one another. You should never take the initiative to do that, and if someone takes the initiative against you in this church, you ought to do all you can to avoid it. I realize there may be cases you can't get out, I mean you don’t, you don't have any say in it, so to speak, but if it means I take the loss, I take the loss. Whatever it takes. The testimony of Christ is worth it.

Let me read you some verses. Jesus Christ speaking. We sometimes wonder, how does this get applied? This is the Sermon on the Mount, listen. I say to you, do not resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and to take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Certainly we can put this into practice among ourselves, right? I mean if you're a fellow believer and absolutely convinced I wronged you, what can I do to make it right? And if I can't do anything to make it right, then we probably need some others to sit in on it to say how it can be resolved. There has to be a way. Maybe you and I can't resolve it, maybe you're absolutely convinced that what I did was wrong and defrauded you in some way. There just doesn't seem any way to make it right. We may need to ask a third person in this body to sit down with us and we will abide by what you say. That means I take the loss, I take the loss. If it means you take the loss, you take the loss. But it has to be resolved in a way that honors our testimony personally and the testimony of this church.

What would you think if you got Wednesday's paper and you saw in there that I was suing Pastor Eddie Masters. I sold him some of my books and he didn't pay me what we agreed on. Now the whole world reading, Pastor Gil Rugh at Indian Hills suing Pastor Eddie Masters at Indian Hills. Rugh claims he was defrauded, Masters claims he was overcharged. You'd say, couldn't these guys work it out? I mean, what does that do to the church, people reading that and saying, that's what they're like out there, they're just like us here. I mean I sued the guy at the bar the other day, we sue one another in the bar, they sue one another in church. We're just like one another. It would be a terrible embarrassment. And that would be true of anything that goes on here like that. And all we do, whatever it takes. If it means I have to give up my shirt or my coat, I guess I do it. Let yourself be defrauded, wronged.

Romans 12:17 & 19, never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. Never take your own revenge beloved, leave room for the wrath of God. It is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay. I Thessalonians 5:15, see that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. That's our goal, to be like Christ. Peter wrote in I Peter 2, as he was being abused, as he was being mistreated, he was being unjustly crucified, he didn't utter a vile word against those who were doing it. And Peter said that's the pattern for our life, even if we have to suffer unjustly. We count it a privilege to follow the pattern of our Savior. We say, yeah, I'd do that, but I wouldn't suffer the loss of any of my property, any of my possessions, anything that I believe is rightfully mine. We need to be careful we are being biblical.

Two points have been made in this section. 1) The saints are destined to judge the world and angels. Thus they are qualified to sit and judge in disputes among believers in these kinds of civil area. We need to remember that. It's easy to talk about it now, but when we get involved in one of these disagreements, then we are emotionally involved. And I've watched people sit down and say to me, whatever is decided. Then I watch them further and further and by the time it's all done, they are totally upset, they are totally done with the church because they had already made up their mind what had to be done. They hadn't made up their mind I am anticipating it will go against me. This person will decide that I'm not right, and I will have lost. Well if it means I'm defrauded and wronged, before the Lord I've done the right thing, I'm willing to leave that in His hands. And that's where it stays. You know we're to be living in light of our future destiny. Paul tells them what they are going to be in the kingdom. Now live as God's children with such a destiny. 2) The church must always be careful of its testimony. That means the decisions I make, I have to make in light of how will this impact my testimony personally, how will this impact the testimony of God's church, as the center of His holiness in this lost world.

I'll read you II Peter 3:11, since all of these things are to be destroyed in this way, by fire, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness. It's all going to be burned up, don't worry about it, don't become too attached to it. Concentrate on holy conduct and godliness until Christ comes.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of your Word. Thank you for its clarity. Lord, each and every one of us, if we're honest, would acknowledge that when we become entangled in disagreements, in disputes and conflicts, it's easy for us to become consumed with our rights and lose sight of who we are in Christ, to lose sight of our testimony as the church, which is the center of holiness in an unrighteous world. Lord, I pray that we might be a church that puts these into practice, that we might hold the things of this world lightly so that if we are called upon to lose them we don't count it great loss, because our concern is holy conduct and godliness. We pray in Christ's name,
amen.