1 Corinthians 6 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00So,
2. 0:01we're in 1st Corinthians 6 and Paul has
3. 0:05been
4. 0:06ministering on the theme of divisions
5. 0:08and disunity.
6. 0:11And
7. 0:12it starts like this, "Does anyone of
8. 0:15you, when he has a case [music] against
9. 0:17his neighbor, dare to go to the law
10. 0:20before the unrighteous and not before
11. 0:23the saints?
12. 0:25Or do you not know that the saints will
13. 0:27judge the world?
14. 0:29If the world is [music] judged by you,
15. 0:32are you not competent to constitute the
16. 0:35smallest [music] courts?
17. 0:38Do you not know that we will judge
18. 0:41angels? How much more matters of this
19. 0:44life?
20. 0:45So, if you have law courts dealing with
21. 0:48matters of this life, [music]
22. 0:49do you appoint them as judges who are of
23. 0:53no account in the church?
24. 0:55I say this to your shame.
25. 0:58Is it so that there is not among you one
26. 1:01wise man who will be able to decide
27. 1:04between his brethren, but brother goes
28. 1:07to law with brother, and that before
29. 1:10unbelievers?
30. 1:11There's several interesting points that
31. 1:13emerge here. One, he's saying that in
32. 1:17small disputes within the church between
33. 1:20brothers,
34. 1:21it's a shame to them that they would go
35. 1:23to the public.
36. 1:26And that's not an arbitrary
37. 1:29rule that Paul has just invented.
38. 1:32He's saying it's bizarre
39. 1:35that people who have been given
40. 1:38the inheritance of God's spirit
41. 1:40>> [music]
42. 1:41>> and of eternal life and who are going to
43. 1:43judge the angels,
44. 1:45that they would think that somehow
45. 1:49wisdom is better found in the public
46. 1:52than in the church. And he thinks it's
47. 1:55crazy that they would appoint
48. 1:57someone who is of no account in the
49. 1:59church to judge a matter between
50. 2:01brothers.
51. 2:04Actually, then, it is already defeat for
52. 2:08you that you have lawsuits with one
53. 2:10another.
54. 2:11It's like it doesn't really matter who
55. 2:13wins. The fact that you're even doing
56. 2:15this, you've lost. You've lost the plot.
57. 2:18Why not rather be wronged? Why not
58. 2:22rather be defrauded?
59. 2:24He says, "You're afraid someone's going
60. 2:26to wrong you?
61. 2:27Is it as wrong as bringing a reproach
62. 2:32to the public
63. 2:34over trivial matters?"
64. 2:37Now, notice he's not talking about
65. 2:39whether or not
66. 2:40a so-called believer should be taken to
67. 2:43the law if they commit some criminal
68. 2:46act.
69. 2:47If they cross certain lines of criminal
70. 2:51behavior,
71. 2:52they ought to be judged in Caesar's
72. 2:54court.
73. 2:56But, for trivial matters that amount to
74. 2:59a dispute between brothers,
75. 3:01it's a defeat that they would even be
76. 3:03acting like the world
77. 3:06was the right venue. There's a mindset
78. 3:09in the church that loves the state, that
79. 3:11acts like the state is the answer to
80. 3:13everything,
81. 3:14that scorns the idea that the church
82. 3:17would try to do so much. Paul had
83. 3:18exactly the opposite mindset.
84. 3:21He thought that we had completely lost
85. 3:24the plot
86. 3:25if we were imagining [snorts]
87. 3:27that the state was more capable of
88. 3:29handling a dispute than brothers should
89. 3:32be capable
90. 3:33of handling the same matter.
91. 3:36On the contrary, you yourselves wrong
92. 3:38and defraud. You do this even to your
93. 3:41brethren.
94. 3:42Or do you not know that the unrighteous
95. 3:45will not inherit the kingdom of God?
96. 3:49So, he says,
97. 3:50"You're are
98. 3:51you're going to be defrauded. Your
99. 3:53brother owes you
100. 3:55$10,000. Well, you're wronging and
101. 3:58defrauding your brother
102. 4:00by dragging the matter to the world.
103. 4:03He says the unrighteous won't inherit
104. 4:05the kingdom of God. Those that are
105. 4:06settling this matter, they're not going
106. 4:08to be in heaven.
107. 4:09How could you be doing this?
108. 4:11And then he commences to tell us
109. 4:15that these people will not be in the
110. 4:16kingdom of God. He says,
111. 4:18"Or do you not know that the unrighteous
112. 4:20will not inherit the kingdom of God?"
113. 4:23And he's implying
114. 4:26you're defrauding your brother.
115. 4:28Be careful. You're going to lose the
116. 4:30kingdom of God.
117. 4:31Do not be deceived.
118. 4:35So, there's a deception that tells us
119. 4:38the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom
120. 4:40of God.
121. 4:41So, Paul's saying, "Do not be deceived.
122. 4:45Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor
123. 4:47adulterers nor effeminate nor
124. 4:50homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous
125. 4:54nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers
126. 4:57will inherit the kingdom of God."
127. 5:00And he includes in that some of the sins
128. 5:02that might be motivating these lawsuits.
129. 5:06Thieves. Did a brother steal from
130. 5:08another brother?
131. 5:09Covetous. Is a brother caring more about
132. 5:12money than he is about his brother?
133. 5:16Such were some of you.
134. 5:19But you were washed.
135. 5:22You were sanctified.
136. 5:24But you were justified in the name of
137. 5:27the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit
138. 5:29of our God.
139. 5:31And in that we see born of water and
140. 5:33spirit right there. Jesus said you will
141. 5:36not see the kingdom of God unless you
142. 5:38are born of water and spirit. Well, Paul
143. 5:40is alluding to the same thing. You were
144. 5:42washed. What are you washed with? Water.
145. 5:46You were sanctified. You were justified
146. 5:48in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
147. 5:51That's how you're baptized and in the
148. 5:53spirit of our God. That's when you
149. 5:55receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
150. 5:58The justification that we gain is when
151. 6:02the name of Jesus is put on us. When we
152. 6:04cease to be us and we become part of
153. 6:06him. When we disappear into the identity
154. 6:10of the only saved man.
155. 6:12Such were some of you, but you were
156. 6:13washed, you were sanctified, you were
157. 6:15justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
158. 6:17Christ and in the spirit of our God.
159. 6:20And then Paul goes on and he's attaching
160. 6:23back to the idea that they are having
161. 6:25these lawsuits. He says, "All things are
162. 6:28lawful for me.
163. 6:30But not all things are profitable."
164. 6:33It's legal for Paul to take his brother
165. 6:35to court, but is it profitable?
166. 6:39All things are lawful for me, but I will
167. 6:41not be mastered
168. 6:43by anything.
169. 6:45Now, somebody who is so eaten up with
170. 6:48their money that they've got to drag
171. 6:50their brother into court.
172. 6:53Is that someone who's been mastered by
173. 6:55something?
174. 6:57Have they been mastered by their
175. 6:59anxiety?
176. 7:00Have they been mastered by their money?
177. 7:03Have they been mastered by their bent
178. 7:05sense of justice?
179. 7:08Or have they been mastered by the love
180. 7:10of God?
181. 7:13Amen.
182. 7:14Food is for the stomach and the stomach
183. 7:17is for food.
184. 7:19But God will do away with both of them.
185. 7:24Yet the body is not for immorality, but
186. 7:26for the Lord and the Lord is for the
187. 7:29body.
188. 7:32So, he's saying, "There's a way to live
189. 7:34your life for appetite.
190. 7:37For what you hunger for, for your
191. 7:39instant gratification.
192. 7:41That's not why God gave you a body.
193. 7:44God gave you a body to honor the Lord.
194. 7:49Now, God has not only raised the Lord,
195. 7:53but will also raise us up through his
196. 7:56power.
197. 7:57Do you not know that your bodies are
198. 8:00members of Christ?
199. 8:02Your bodies
200. 8:05are members of Christ's body.
201. 8:07So, you are a body, but you're just a
202. 8:11member, like a a piece of arm or
203. 8:14piece of leg. You're a member of
204. 8:16Christ's body. That's what a hand is.
205. 8:18It's a member.
206. 8:20That's what an arm is. It's a member.
207. 8:23He says,
208. 8:24"Do you not know that your bodies are
209. 8:26members
210. 8:27of Christ?"
211. 8:30He doesn't say Christ's body. He says,
212. 8:31"Members of Christ."
213. 8:35You're Jesus' feet. You're Jesus'
214. 8:38hands. You're Jesus' arms.
215. 8:42"Shall I then take away the members of
216. 8:44Christ and make them members of a
217. 8:46prostitute?" So, he's saying, "You're
218. 8:48doing something to Jesus."
219. 8:51You take it away from Jesus,
220. 8:54and you give it to sin.
221. 8:56You're stealing.
222. 8:58You're doing something to him, to his
223. 9:01body.
224. 9:03"May it never be. Or do you not know
225. 9:05that the one who joins himself to a
226. 9:07prostitute is one body with her, for he
227. 9:10says, 'The two shall become one flesh.'"
228. 9:14So, he says, "The problem with with
229. 9:16these sins is that you're becoming one
230. 9:18with them, and you're supposed to be one
231. 9:20with Jesus.
232. 9:22So, Jesus is going to have to divorce
233. 9:24you until you divorce the sin."
234. 9:29"But the one who joins himself to the
235. 9:31Lord
236. 9:33is one spirit with him."
237. 9:35You can't have it both ways. You can't
238. 9:37be one flesh with sin and one spirit
239. 9:39with the Lord.
240. 9:41Flee
241. 9:43immorality.
242. 9:44Every other sin that a man commits is
243. 9:46outside the body.
244. 9:48But the immoral man sins against his own
245. 9:51body.
246. 9:53Or do you not know that your body is a
247. 9:55temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?
248. 9:58Whom you have from God.
249. 10:00And that you are not your own.
250. 10:04Your body, you're you're members of of
251. 10:07one body. But your body itself needs to
252. 10:10be seen as a sanctuary, as a house, a
253. 10:13temple where the Holy Spirit [music] is
254. 10:15supposed to dwell.
255. 10:17You are not your own.
256. 10:21There's a selfishness, there's a
257. 10:23self-ownership
258. 10:24that motivates the sins of the flesh.
259. 10:28It's just me. No, it's not. [music]
260. 10:31It's Jesus that you're doing that to.
261. 10:34For you have been bought with a price.
262. 10:38Therefore,
263. 10:39glorify God in [music] your body.
264. 10:43You were bought.
265. 10:45If you don't want to be owned by Jesus,
266. 10:47you're going to have to renounce his
267. 10:49blood that covers your sin.
268. 10:51But if you want to accept his [music]
269. 10:52blood, that blood is a purchase. He
270. 10:55bought you.
271. 10:56He purchased you.
272. 10:58He took you away from captivity to sin
273. 11:01and death and hell. And you are owned by
274. 11:04another.
275. 11:05How dare you take his things, his
276. 11:08people, and make them members of sin?
277. 11:11That's what Paul is saying.
278. 11:15>> [music]
279. 11:25[music]