KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY
1 Corinthians 6:1-11
April 11, 2007
Mike Matijevich
mmatevich@aol.com

Intro:
Question: Why do churches have problem?
Answer: Because they have too many spiritual babies in them.
* Remember this is church that was beset with problems.
After Paul led many of them to the Lord they had not grown as they should.
* They were "carnal"- fleshy, self-centered, just plain selfish.

* Chapters 1-4 "Relationships" - begins with primary relationship- God…
Chapters 5-6 "Sin" - in the church, in the individual
* Most people try to keep the "dirt" (family problems) in close quarters.
* This what Paul is saying to the believers here in Corinth.
! Cor. 6:1-5 (more later)
A scandal - in the church, community… to avoid the embarrassment
Bckgrd:
* Today in the world… lawsuit happy (lawyers) (not a new thing) (Eccl. "no new thing under the sun")
* Greek culture in the 1st century- abundance of lawsuits-
Saying in Athens, "Every citizen must have been a lawyer because there were so many lawsuits." (2000 years ago)
* Minor disputes brought to arbitration- apples falling on another person's property.
- Not a jury of 12 but possibly hundreds (every citizens had to serve)
- Caused everyone to have a selfish attitude
- (Same attitude spilled over in Corinth)
* Today our society much the same in the church-
Clarification:
(1.) Does NOT mean if you have a business & someone you do business with (or for) defrauds you in some way & claims to be a Christian that you can't sue them.

(2.) Paul NOT talking about CRIMINAL activity.
(Paul & Peter make it clear that is what the government is for…
Rom. 13:3; 1Tim 1:9-11

* What Paul is talking about is minor disputes in the church that are NOT criminal.
* Keep those problems in the FAMILY.
* Sometimes you can't work it out as believers (Mt 18) - they refuse then you tell it (not the details)- (as in Chapter 5)
6:2 "Do ye NOT know…"-
Cp. 1 Cor. 1:5 "That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge…" (for being so smart or as it would seem)
phrase 6 times this chapter (2,3,9,15,16,19) - (3 as to who we are & 3 to whom we belong)

6:2b 1. The saints have a future- "judging"…
- Think of the responsibility that we have in Christ.
- Some passages as to the meaning… I don't what all this means…
Jude 14-15 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (15) To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
* We come when He comes- to execute judgment.
2 Tim 2:12 "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"
Rev. 2:26 "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev. 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Millennial reign)
*** "Who me?" Judge who, or what?
- What kind of judgment do we display NOW?

6:3 "Judge angels…"
Jude 6 "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."

* Paul gives the application: (not worried about the details)
- Do you NOT understand the day is coming when we will rule & reign with Jesus.
SO what are you doing dragging your PETTY problems before a lost tribunal.
* Don't you remember WHO you are in Christ?

6:4 "If" not when… (This should NOT be the norm)
- These kinds of petty personality disputes should not go beyond the ability to forgive (Eph 4:26 "…let not the sun go down upon your wrath…")
6:4b "Least esteemed"- someone of no reputation in the world's eyes - because a humble Christian should be able to settle the dispute. (Judge Judy, Joe Brown, etc.)

*** The Key here: is NOT who is right or wrong; who wins & who loses but how to apply the solution-
6:7-8 How you solve this problem…same as with other problems… learn to die to self!

Cp. 1 Cor. 1:18 "…the preaching of the cross…"
* Learning how to put our personal desires aside & choose instead what God wants.
Rather than fighting to get what I want… I put that aside & say, "What would God want?"
- Go ahead admit that you were wrong & take it- & learn from it!
(You don't have to hire that person to do work for you again)

- Rather than causing a scandal say, "I'll NOT make that mistake again."
* The opposite is a characteristic of Laodicea ("my rights")
* Gal 2:20 "I am dead, but that is when there is power."

* This is the solution to squabbles in the church- dead to flesh but alive to God.
* See this clearly in…
Mat 19:27-30 "Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Mat 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."

* The spirit-filled believer is more interested in following Jesus than having all his rights protected.
* Not a Christian doormat… not come in screaming at them.
* Jesus is saying, "Just be defrauded."
* Keep your focus- not winning, but what is biblically right.

* "It's not fair!"
- Was it fair for Jesus to die on the cross?

* We MUST remember "who" we are…

1 Cor. 6:9 Not an exhaustive list…
- "effeminate"- soft & flabby (Lk. 7:25 same word, girly boys)
- "abusers of themselves with mankind"= homosexuals (Plato & Socrates were) (14 or first 15 Roman emperors were homosexual) * Nero had a young boy castrated and took as a wife (along with his socially acceptable female wife) & when Nero died willed him to the next ruler)
*** In other words not a NEW problem.
6:9-10 again…
- "revilers"- people that destroy with their tongue.

6:11a "And such were some of you." WOW!
- Paul knew that some of these things were going on in Corinth.
- Paul is saying a believer CAN'T stay there!

6:11b Making a contrast not a list (3 "buts")
1. Washed
2. Sanctified This what Jesus did for us!
3. Justified

Conclusion:
We must as believers come to the end of the flesh being in control. "Put off the old man and put on the new man." This is the victory over "fleshy" disputes in the church.