In this sermon, the preacher starts by introducing a familiar hymn about the blessings of salvation and the invitation to come to the feast. He then shares a story about a man who offered to pay for a fence between two neighbors, symbolizing the need for reconciliation and unity among believers. The preacher also briefly mentions the topic of sexual immorality, acknowledging that there wasn't enough time to delve into it. The sermon concludes with a parable about a nobleman who goes away to receive a kingdom and entrusts his servants with money to do business until his return, representing the future kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Instead of a new chorus today, I think we'll go back and try one. Do I have two volunteers, John and Paul? Thank you very much. This one is familiar, I think, to quite a few of you. If you only knew the blessings that salvation brings, you would never stay away. If you only saw the table spread with lovely things, you would come to the feast today. How many remember it? Quite a few. Good. Okay, would you like to play a part of it for us, just to remind us of the tune, Lita? Good, you got it? Let's try it. If you only knew the blessings that salvation brings, you would never stay away. If you only saw the table spread with lovely things, you would come to the feast today. The door is open wide, the Savior bids you come. There's nothing you will have to pay. So be wise and step inside, and do not be like some foolish hand. Try it again. If you only knew the blessings that salvation brings, you would never stay away. If you only saw the table spread with lovely things, you would come to the feast today. The door is open wide, the Savior bids you come. Thank you very much. Pass those in to the middle aisles. Okay, our scripture reading today is in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And we're going to be reading, at least for the time being, the first 11 verses. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so that there's not a wise man among you? Not even one who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers. Now, therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded? No, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And you do these things to your brethren. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexual, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. I'm impressed by the number of different subjects that the Apostle Paul deals with here in 1 Corinthians. And here we have the whole subject of going to law, which happens to be a very timely subject today. Because probably never before in the history of this country has been such a rush to carry matters to courts. Accident claims, malpractice suits, divorces, inheritance claims, breaking wills, and so forth. You even have a burglar breaking into a building, hurting himself as he went through the skylight, bringing a suit against the owner of the building, and winning the case. Incredible. The fact of the matter is that our courts of law are glutted today with cases. It's impossible for the judges to keep up with them. It is being so abused. The passage of Scripture before us has primarily to do with Christians going to law against other Christians. We'll take up the other subject, too. What about Christians going to law against non-Christians? But that isn't particularly dealt with here in this chapter. This chapter has to do with believers going to law against other believers. Notice that Paul begins verse 1 with the word dare. In other words, it's an act of daring. We would say it's an audacious act for a believer to go to law against a fellow member of the body of Christ. Almost as if a member of my body was going to go to law against another member of my body. Instead of functioning together efficiently and happily. An act of daring. Notice also that in this verse, worldly judges are spoken of as the unrighteous. Very interesting. And not surprising when you think of the tremendous miscarriages of justice that there are in the world today. When you think of how many times decisions are influenced by bribes, by corruption, by graft, and so forth. But generally the unrighteous here is a synonym for the unsaved. It's a synonym for unbelievers. And Paul expresses a sanctified surprise that Christians in Corinth would actually dare to go to law against the unrighteous and not settle matters within the confines of the local church. You say, well, can matters be settled within the local? Of course they can. Taking matters up with godly elders oftentimes, they can be settled very peacefully and much more inexpensively than by going to law. Dean Pound of the Harvard Law School once said, if you want law, go to law school. If you want justice, go to theological school. Which was an admission that the law doesn't necessarily deal with justice. That there are two different things, law and justice. And it's absolutely true. If you want law, go to law school. If you want justice, go to theological school. So you have the problem of lawsuits between believers. And Paul states the problem here in verse 1 with a gasp, as it were. With a gasp of surprise. Surprise. And then in verses 2 through 5, he asks six rather probing questions. And some of them are going to come as a surprise to us. But this is argument that is given by the Holy Spirit of God. He says, do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? We would say, if believers are going to judge the world, how come they can't judge trivial matters in this life? That's really the argument of this verse. That any problems that could arise between believers in the church today are nothing. Compared to the momentous problems that will be dealt with in the coming day. But that raises a question, doesn't it? Are believers going to judge the world? How are believers going to judge the world? When are believers going to judge the world? Sitting here in San Lorenzo today, it seems very remote that little nobodies like you and me would ever judge the world, doesn't it? Rather a shocking idea. Well, let's look at a couple of passages of Scripture that might make it clear. First of all, in Luke chapter 19, verses 17 and 19. Luke chapter 19, verses 17 and 19. Well, I really should go back to verse 11 if you don't mind. I'm just going to take the, for the sake of connection, I'm going to go back to verse 11. The parable of the miners. Now, as they heard these things, he spoke another parable because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore he said, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten miners, and said to them, do business till I come. I think in some Bibles it might say ten talents, does it? Or some other word. Do business till I come. But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first thing, Master, your miner has earned ten miners. He said to him, well done, good, good servant. Because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities. And the second came saying, Master, your miner has earned five miners. Likewise he said to him, you also be over five cities. Now the suggestion in this parable is that it refers to the millennium, to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes back and sets up his kingdom and the saints will be rewarded with positions of authority and rule in the millennium. You get that also in Matthew chapter 25, although it doesn't specify ten cities, five cities in that particular passage. Look also at Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21. Verse 20 says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. Sitting on the throne with the Lord Jesus, the throne is a place of authority. It's a place of rulership. The thought here is that because of our association with Christ, we will occupy positions of authority, positions of rulership in that day. So, Paul's argument in this verse is, listen friends, you're going to judge the world, judge in the sense of rule. And if you're going to judge the world someday, how is it that you can't sit down peacefully among one another and settle any problems that might arise between you? It's interesting that that expression, do you not know, that you find in these verses, is found six times in this chapter. Do you not know? And I think there's a little barb in that because Corinth, the assembly in Corinth, boasted of its wisdom and knowledge. And now Paul is telling them, actually, some of that knowledge is ignorance. Do you not know? He had already dealt with these subjects before with them. There's also the thought in verse 2, verse 1 says, they go to law before the unrighteous, and verse 2 says, they're going to judge the unrighteous someday. Why take matter to those over whom you have judicial authority? It's part of the argument of verse 2. Then it says in verse 3, do you not know that we shall judge angels? Well, actually, this is the only verse in the Bible that I know of that even suggests that we will judge angels. But you only need one verse to teach the truth in the Bible, don't you? It doesn't take more than one verse. And once again, the thought here is that it's because of our association with the Lord Jesus, who is head over all things to the church, that we will be even in positions of rulership over angelic beings. So the argument in this verse is, if we're going to deal with such august subjects in the world to come, why is it that we can't handle things in this present life? Certainly, these two verses of Scripture give a tremendous picture of the dignity of being a child of God, doesn't it? And I think it's when we lose sight of what we are in Christ and in association with Christ that we stoop to worldly methods. Isn't that what Paul is suggesting here? It's when we lose sight of who we are and of the tremendous position that is ours before God that we would even think of stooping to worldly methods. And so, in verse four, he says, if then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? This is an interesting verse to me. In the original King James, it says something like, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. It's not a question, it's a statement. It's almost an imperative. And I can remember driving with Dr. Ironside over the Bay Bridge one day. I was taking him over to San Francisco. And whenever you were with Dr. Ironside, he was always ministering to you, but not in a dogmatic way. He was trying to draw it out of you. He said to me, he said, Bill, what do you think that means in 1 Corinthians 6, 4? If you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. Because I didn't have the foggiest notion. I didn't even know there was a problem there. And so, he let me think about it for a while, and then he said graciously, as he always did, do you think it might mean, do you set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church? And of course, that's the right answer, isn't it? Actually, in the original language of the New Testament, it could be a statement of fact, or it could be a question. The original doesn't settle it, but the context settles it. What they were doing is going to men who had no standing in the church. It doesn't mean that we don't respect earthly judges. Of course we do. We say, your honor, or sir. Because the Bible says, 1 Corinthians, I mean Romans chapter 13, honor to whom honor is due, doesn't it? And we do respect men, not necessarily for their personal lives, but for the position they hold. Because in those positions, they are ministers of God. Judges in worldly courts are servants of God. You say, but they don't know God. No, they're not servants of God personally, but they are officially. That's why we do respect them. But here it's saying that as far as the church is concerned, these men have no standing in the church. That's why it says here, who are least esteemed by the church to judge. The church doesn't look upon them as qualified to judge in matters that should be settled within the confines of the church itself. Worldly judges have no position or standing in the church, therefore they're unsuited to judge matters within the church. Many times over the years, I have seen newspaper accounts of where Christian and churches, Christian churches have gone to courts of law and where the judge has actually thrown it out and said, you settle this among yourselves, this is not for me to settle. And you keep your eyes open, you might see clippings like that in the paper too. That's a terrible rebuke, isn't it? To those who profess the name of Christ, that earthly judges would say that to them. Well, I hope this is clear now in verse 4. If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life. What do you mean things pertaining? Could be a matter of money, could be the boundaries of property, anything pertaining to this life. If you have problems like that among Christians, do you set to judge those who are least esteemed in the church? That is unrighteously unrighteous, unbelievers, unsaved, earthly judges. Let's see, the fault restated in verse, well, I'm getting ahead. We're still in question in verse 5. I say this to your shame, if it so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren. In other words, Hall looks at it as a shameful thing for Christians to go before the world, we would say, and wash their dirty linen in public. Isn't that right? Because that's what it is. Parading problems among Christians in public. Hall says, shame to do such a thing. Once again, here's a church that prided itself on its wisdom. He says, isn't there one wise man, isn't there one man with sufficient wisdom among you who will be able to arbitrate these matters? Who will be able to judge between his brothers? Let me just say, once again, I have known down through the years, many problems that have arisen, which when taken to godly elders, were resolved peacefully and economically without going into worldly court to do it. The average assembly would have men who had experience in business and some experience in law too. And even if they haven't had experience in law, they know what the law has to say about it. They could find that out even in the local library and are able to handle these matters and to handle them well. He says, but brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers. This is unseemly behavior. For Christians to be acting like this and what kind of a testimony is that? The world would look on and see Christians battling with one other and they'd say, well, what's the difference between you and us? That's a valid question too. And they're very quick to pounce on something like that and to say exactly that. All things is completely out of character. For Christians to go before unsaved people like that, brother goes to law against brother. That whole idea of brother, the whole thought of brother, brings you back to the family, brings you back to the church. People who are like-minded, people who love one another. And here they go out into the realm of the world and parade all of these things. He says, it's an utter failure among you. Verse 7, now therefore it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against an almost defeat. You're going to win a case and it's defeat before you even start. And there's a lot of sense to that, a lot of truth to that. He says here that there are two preferable courses of action. One is, accept wrong. The other is, be willing to be defrauded. He said, well, he was wrong and I was right. And he owes me that money. And Paul says, so what? Accept it. Let him owe it to you. Actually, I think it's covetousness that's at the root of most lawsuits, isn't it? It's our inordinate desire to get more or to hold on to what we... I've said before that the most sensitive part of modern man's anatomy is his pocketbook. And that's what causes most of the trouble in life. Amazing, isn't it? The world has three things to offer people. Money, sex, and power. That's what keeps the wheels moving in the world. Money, sex, and power. And most of what we're talking about today, most of these cases would have to do with money. And so Paul is saying here that the Christian attitude is, it's better to be wronged than to do wrong. And it's better to be defrauded than to defraud. I don't know whether I like that or not. Well, Christ is our example, isn't it? Christ is our example. And I think if we hold a light enough touch on material things, it would influence a lot of our decisions in this regard. Now you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and you do these things to your brethren, their unrighteous actions. They were doing wrong. They were defrauding, and they were doing it to their own brothers in Christ. When we become unspiritual and walk in a carnal way, it's easy for us not to see Christ in our brothers and sisters. But Paul is here arguing for that close tie that binds us to one another in him. Now, in verse 9, the first part of the verse, he talks about the fate of the unrighteous. The fate of the unrighteous. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And there's two ways of understanding the flow of thought in this verse. First of all, you go back to verse 1, and that word is used there too. The unrighteous judges, the judges of this world. Unrighteous, unsaved, unconverted, unbelievers. And Paul could be saying in this verse, you're going before the unrighteous with your lawsuits. Don't you know they won't inherit the kingdom of God? Could mean that. Or it could mean you yourselves are acting in an unrighteous way, and that's what characterizes people who aren't going to enter the kingdom of heaven. He's not telling the Corinthians they're not saved. He's not saying that. But he could be saying your behavior is similar to that of people who won't inherit the kingdom of God. Which is rather sobering thought, isn't it? So, you'll have to decide whether you think unrighteous there is referring to the unrighteous judges in verse 1, or to the unrighteous way that the saints were acting, and incidentally, to do wrong in verse 8. Do wrong at the same root from which you get the word unrighteous. There, of course, it's referring to the Corinthians themselves. I'm going to read those three verses. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. First of all, these verses are a solemn warning, aren't they? A solemn warning. Anyone whose life is characterized by these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Anyone who makes these things the practice of their life, anyone who is dominated by any of these things is an unsaved person, and that unsaved person will not inherit the kingdom of God. A solemn warning. But those three verses are also a tremendous encouragement, too. An encouragement. Such a sordid list of names. You say an encouragement, yeah. It says, but such were some of you. I think that's wonderful. I think it's wonderful to picture that assembly meeting there in Corinth around the Lord's table. Just look around and think of the past history of some of those people. You talk about the dregs of society. You talk about the scum of the earth. You talk about outrageous sinners they were. You know, that's what made them eligible for salvation, wasn't it? It's only the ungodly who can be saved. And what triumphs, what trophies of the grace of God to think of those dear believers there in Corinth with lives like that and look, all blotted out by the blood of Christ. All those sins forgiven. God had put them away as far as the east is from the west. So far had he removed their transgressions from us. You know, we can do the same thing today. We can look around and look at ourselves, too. And think, why me? Why would God have ever saved somebody like me? But his love is wonderful. These three verses teach that genuine salvation brings a change in the life, doesn't it? It changes a person. It's been often said, it doesn't put a new suit on the man, but it puts a new man in the suit. That's right. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are new. It brings a change. And I've said before and I say it again, if your life is the same as it has always been, you're not saved. Because when Christ comes into a life, he changes that life. But the sinner becomes a saint, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. And somebody might say to me, well, my dear friend, I have never committed any of those sins that are listed here. I suppose a lot of people would say that. I've never committed any of those outrageous sins that Paul is speaking about. That's possible. Quite possible. You can still say that and not be saved. But you know, that's not the only list in the Bible. There's another list in Revelation chapter 1 verse 8 that I'd like you to look at. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 7. I'll begin at verse 7. Revelation 21, 7. And he who overcomes shall inherit all things, that I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now, I'd like you especially to notice two words in that list. The cowardly, the fearful, and the unbelieving. A lot of people who can honestly say they've never committed any of the outrageous sins listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, what about those two? The fearful and the unbelieving. And notice that the fearful and the unbelieving are listed with all the other horrible things. Abominable, murderers, immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, liars, these compulsive liars. They're all going to spend eternity in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. I know a lady in Oakland, California who was saved through that verse, the word unbelieving. She had lived what you might call a moral, decent, respectable life, you know. She was kind of the cream of society. But I tell you, that word stopped her in her tracks, the unbelieving. And not only that, but the fearful too. Fearful of what? Fearful of taking your stand for Christ. Fearful of what your unsaved friends will say. Very real, isn't it? I really think it's pride that keeps people off in time from the Lord. They're afraid of the smear, the snicker of the world. They'd rather have the approval of men than the approval of God. The fearful and the unbelieving. That's really what condemns a person. He that believes on the sun has everlasting life. He that believes not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Or as you might say, I don't always believe. You might be here today, you might have been raised in a Christian home like myself. And I can honestly stand here today and say, I cannot think of a time in my life when I didn't believe all the facts. About Calvary. About the Lord Jesus. About his substitutionary gift. I mean, I could have told it to you just as clearly as I'm telling it to you now. I wasn't saved. Why? Because it was an intellectual belief that I had never committed my life to the Lord. I believed the facts, but I never had received the person. That's a difference, isn't there? So, don't be satisfied with just an intellectual assent to the truth. It'll never get you to heaven. Believing involves a commitment. Very, very important. You know what it is when you commit yourself to a doctor. I mean, the fever is raging. Your throat is like raw meat with little white specks all over it. You call the doctor and you commit yourself to him. You commit yourself to his care. I mean, you believe he's there. But that doesn't do you any good. You have to entrust yourself, you turn over your case to him. That's what it means. And that's when you do that with the Lord Jesus, that's when he saves you. When by a definite act of faith you receive him as your Lord and Savior. So, don't hide behind the fact that in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 you've never committed any of those. I could have said that before I was saved. I'm guilty of innocence, but I was unbelieving. And I was fearful. And those things will dash you to hell just as fast as any of the other things will too. You know, there's a little animal known as the mole. I don't know if all of you have ever seen a mole. But there are certain kinds of moles and no one has ever seen a mole alive with its eyes open. And no one has ever seen a mole dead with its eyes closed. That's a parable. Is it possible to go through life with your eyes closed to the Lord Jesus? With your eyes closed to the gospel? With your eyes closed to the truth of God? This is blocking it out. The God of this world has blinded the eyes of those who believe not. Is it possible to do that? I want to tell you something, dear friends. The moment you die your eyes will be open. Just like that rich man in hell. Oh, that someone would go and tell my brothers so that they would not come to this place of torment, he said. His eyes were open. Remember the little mole. Nobody has ever seen a living mole with his eyes. His eyes are always closed when he's living. And every time the eyes open. I don't mean that he can see because he's dead. But in the case of the unsaved, as soon as they die their eyes are open. Now I should just say something here that in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 there are some possible exceptions to this. There may be situations where a Christian has to go to law against another Christian. For instance, in a life-threatening situation. I don't rule those things out. There may be situations, and maybe you can come up and tell me of some afterwards. Paul is stating the general principle here. Try to settle matters within the confines of the church. And this has a lot to do with Christians getting divorces from one another, doesn't it? It has a lot to do with that. Of course, we can always get around that by saying the other fellow was never really saved. You know, just a profession. That's the back door of escape. But will it stand with God? That's the question. What about Christians going to law against the unconverted? I think that passage is dealt with probably best in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 25. Matthew chapter 5. It says, Agree with your adversary quickly. No idea. There's no suggestion here that this man's a believer. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him. Lest your adversary deliver you to the judge. The judge hand you over to the officer and you are thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penalty. Well, I don't really have time to go into this in detail. May I summarize what I believe it's saying? I think it's saying as a general rule, if you go to law, the law will get you. I think that's what it says. Try to avoid law court. I think that's a good rule, don't you? Well, Christians, try to avoid it. Actually, the lawyer is the only one who's sure to win. Did you ever notice that? The lawyer always wins. He gets his fee. Oh, he's sure that he's going to get his fee whether you win or not. There was a cartoon in it. It told the picture very nicely. The plaintiff was pulling on the head of a cow and the defendant was pulling the tail of the cow and the lawyer was milking the cow. That's it. And I think this passage of Scripture states that. Agree with your adversary quickly. I do know there are cases where it is necessary for a Christian to go to law or at least even appear in the court of law as a defendant. I think of John MacArthur, the radio preacher, and how that man was counseling a young fellow. I think the young fellow had been deeply on drugs and he counseled him and he actually brought him into his home and made a home for the fellow and the fellow subsequently committed suicide and his parents sued John MacArthur for not sending their son to a psychiatrist or psychologist or something. So Christians do get roped into it. I don't know what the outcome. I think John MacArthur was exonerated or acquitted in it. But it was really a question. They raised the question of malpractice. But actually, I think what this verse in Matthew chapter 5 is saying, look, if you can possibly do it, stay away from the court of law. A man bought a new piece of property and he decided to build a fence between himself and his neighbor. And the neighbor saw him building this fence and he went out there and he said, listen here, my friend. He said, when you bought that house, you bought a lawsuit. He said, what do you mean? He said, that fence is five feet over on my property. The Christian said, I knew when I bought this property I'd have a nice neighbor. So he said, I'll tell you what I'll do. He said, you build the fence. You put it where it should be and I'll pay for the fence. The fence was never built. There was no need of a fence between people like that, was there? And I think that's the point here. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are with him in the way. Otherwise, you'll be dragged into a court of law and you'll be the one who loses. Well, we didn't have time to look at the last part of the chapter having to do with the body and sexual immorality. I'm sure it can wait for another time. So we just look to the Lord in closing prayer. Father, we realize today afresh as we study these things how the Christian life is a supernatural life. It cannot be lived in the energy of the flesh. It requires divine life. We pray that in the tacky, difficult situations of life you will enable us to respond not as the world responds rushing to a court of law but that we'll be enabled to respond as the Savior would respond. That we'll be able to ask what would the Lord Jesus do in this situation and follow his example. Father, if there are some here who do not know the Savior we pray that they'll be reminded of this solemn thing that not only outrages sinners but fearful and unbelievers will have their part in the lake of fire which burns forever and ever. We pray that the Spirit of God will convict and convert. We ask it in the Savior's worthy name. Amen.