[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Scripture reading this morning is in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 1-11.
[0:17] ! As we've gathered to worship, to bring honor to our Lord and Savior, to be uplifted, to be encouraged, to be equipped to go out and to serve the Lord, our God, the rest of this week as well.
[0:54] So thank you for coming, for being part of our morning worship service. Now, I was blessed by the young ladies as you sang that song, and it's such a dear reflection of what the Christian has above the world.
[1:17] We have the God of peace living inside. And we go through the turmoils of life with the peace of God resting inside of us.
[1:33] And that song was beautifully portrayed that. And so the God that calms the storms, calms the storms of my heart, allows me to go.
[1:47] So, a very, very beautiful reminder. And as we, as this is kind of the first Sunday of July, we're into the summer break from Sunday school.
[2:09] I thank you again for doing a special number. But I noticed there's a sign-up sheet in the back for every Sunday this July, August, to do a children's story or a special number or both.
[2:24] And I would like to encourage and challenge us as a congregation to not have any Sundays empty.
[2:41] Now, how many of us are able to do a children's story? Let's be honest. There should be a lot more hands going up. This is the church of God.
[2:56] We're a family. And God is calling upon family members to step up. And so, we do this in recognition that we don't have Sunday school.
[3:10] It's more specific for children. But adults are always blessed as well when we have a children's story or a special number. So, I want to encourage us.
[3:20] Let's do that. And so, today after the service, find your way to that sign-up sheet and pencil in where it works for you. So, may the Lord lead and bless in that area.
[3:35] And then as well, we are going to plan to have a communion service next Sunday at the end of the service.
[3:46] And so, we are kind of pushed back or neglected June. We're going to do it at the end of June. And so, we're going to do it planned to next Sunday.
[3:59] And so, it will be a regular service. But at the end, we'll have a short. We'll take part in the breaking of bread and sharing the cup. So, it will be at the end of next Sunday.
[4:14] All right. And thank you, Eric, for reading the Scriptures this morning. It's not necessarily a pleasant text to work with.
[4:31] It's a bit negative. And as Paul identifies another issue in the church at Corinth. And he has dealt with disunity in the church.
[4:50] Divisions. He's dealt with being puffed up with knowledge.
[5:03] Carnality. And in the last two Sundays, I believe, from Pastor Henry, you heard about immorality in the church. Sexual immorality. And such is not even heard among the Gentiles.
[5:19] And now, this morning, we're dealing with covetousness. Money. And so, he's speaking to believers.
[5:34] Who are struggling to crucify the flesh in their setting. And as the Lord is teaching them that you are now a new creation.
[5:47] A person that has been born again with a new heart, a new mindset. We let go of these things. And we behave in the image of Christ.
[6:01] And so, I trust the Lord will bless us this morning as we work through this. Now, how many of us have heard the saying that where your money is, there your heart is also?
[6:19] Is that true? And generally, it is. Where we channel our money, or the money that the Lord flows through us, is where my heart is.
[6:36] It's a reflection of my heart. And so, we're going to just tie or touch into that a bit as well. So, in an overview of these verses that were read for us, is that in Corinth, there are believers taking other believers to a worldly court of law and suing them.
[7:03] Or, they're bringing their money disputes before a national court and asking them to make a decision between two Christian brothers.
[7:18] And Paul is having a very hard time with us. And he feels, and he knows, this needs to be addressed.
[7:30] This is not right. This is wrong. This is not reflecting the image of Christ. So, the setting here is such that it's brother against brother.
[7:49] Now, they were living in the world, but God had called them out of the world.
[8:00] Not physically, but morally. And so, today, we're living in the world. And our world is the Grand Prairie region.
[8:15] But God has called us out of their standards into His standards. And thereby, we let us, or let the light shine that God has given us.
[8:30] And so, God establishes churches in the world, and then He takes the world out of the church. And so, before we're tempted to think harshly upon the Corinthians, they are an example of who we are.
[8:52] And we may not struggle with this particular one, but we do struggle with letting go of the world.
[9:06] And as we learn to die to self. So, I've titled the message this morning. It's a bit off, but it says, Money, the reflection of the heart.
[9:20] Money, the reflection of the heart. Starting in verse 1. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
[9:41] 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? So, the issue that's been identified here is that Christians are going to the unrighteous for judgment.
[10:07] And those least esteemed by the church. Because they're unrighteous. So, if we think about that, the righteous going to the unrighteous for judgment, this is wrong.
[10:30] And so, Paul brings that out very clearly. He says, in fact, Do you not know that the righteous will judge the world? Are we going to judge the world?
[10:52] We do? Already? Okay. And so, the work of the Spirit in us brings judgment?
[11:02] Oh. Right. Okay. So, we have the truth, and we have the knowledge of God, and so, therefore, we do part of that now.
[11:23] This is, the context here is future, though, although what Mr. Tychrup said is right, that there is already judgment happening through believers, and yet, we will reign with Christ when He sets up His kingdom, and Christ will judge the nations.
[11:48] And we will be with Him. So, in that sense, we will, in our union with Jesus Christ, we will be co-judging with Him.
[12:00] because as we will be with Christ, we will have been perfected, and we'll be able to judge with Him. And so, as we make our way through this life, and the challenges that come our way, we're to remember that.
[12:25] That God has called us above to a higher standard than the world around us. Now, as we think of money, it's the standard in society for so much.
[12:49] It's position, it's image, it's power, the list would go on.
[13:03] With money, we can do so much. Or so we think. And it's very, very normal for our youth, and I'll just address our young people here this morning, that as we approach adulthood, there's a desire to make money.
[13:32] We haven't had yet before. Mom and dad have had. But now we're being released. We're being released into freedom to go and earn, and to make our way in life.
[13:48] And so, that is that is the zeal of our youth, and so on.
[13:58] And that is not entirely wrong. But to keep God in that picture. We are to provide, we are to work, and so on, but to keep money in its proper perspective, and that God comes first.
[14:23] And so, as young people, I would caution you that you temper your desires, your zeal, with what is, what does God want for me? And if you do that, you will not go astray.
[14:39] and the Lord will bless you with that. So just a few thoughts on that. So as we look at this, that the saints will judge the world, the question back is, if we're going to judge the world, are we not able to judge our own situations?
[15:06] Now if, and maybe I should ask, how many of us have had a dispute with a brother? I have had as well.
[15:18] How do we deal with it? How should we deal with it? What's the first thing we should do? Go talk to them.
[15:34] One on one. Matthew 18. One on one. Go talk to a brother.
[15:46] And whether I'm defrauding him or he is me, we need to talk. And it's generally the one that is being defrauded.
[15:58] And sometimes both are guilty of trying to get to talk to each other. Who is going to initiate the talk? Generally the one that feels he is being taken advantage of.
[16:20] And so, hence, the Bible would teach us go to your brother and try to reconcile. and the procedure would be, if not, go and take two or three with you.
[16:39] And if that doesn't work, then involve the church. That's Matthew 18. But nowhere are we told to go to the world and have them judge our sin.
[16:55] So when we think of being wronged money-wise, what's the problem? What's the core issue? The root? The love of money.
[17:16] Okay. Greed. Okay. The love of money and greed. Any other thoughts?
[17:28] What's the root? You're both right. It's the flesh.
[17:42] What the heart is set on. Yeah. The heart is set on. See, there's the carnality, the flesh that we are to crucify has surfaced and is providing direction in my life.
[18:04] The need for security as well. The need for security. The need for security?
[18:16] Okay. Okay. Okay. So, the comment here is, money is, or the need for security often drives us for money.
[18:30] And how much security does it give us? A tiny bit? it's usually overrated, right?
[18:46] It's usually, money does not provide the peace, especially what we heard this morning. Money cannot buy the peace of God in our life.
[18:59] And so, the love of money drives the peace of God from us. It does the opposite. it. So, when we are tempted, or when we're in a situation where there's issues between brothers, we need to recognize that the flesh is at work in either one or both.
[19:26] There's no exceptions in one or in both. And the only solution is to humble ourselves and to acknowledge that this is wrong.
[19:47] And so, therefore, that is why Paul is taking such big issue with this. In verse three, he further says, do you not know that we shall judge angels?
[19:59] How much more things that pertain to this life? And I'm going to take us to a few scriptures just to see that we will be judging.
[20:13] Let's start in Jude 6. If you have your Bibles, turn with me. Jude 6.
[20:35] Jude 6, not chapter 6. And he says, And the angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
[20:53] And our union with Christ, we will be present with Jesus when he judges the angels. And this is a reference to the fallen angels or to the demons.
[21:06] And they will be judged by the church with Christ at the helm. Today, we have a very, I should say, a very high respect for the demonic world and their power in that we don't play them lightly.
[21:35] And yet, there's a day coming where we're going to look down on them and judge them. And they will have their place. I'm, just a little side note here, I'm intending, and I'm already starting to study up on it, after this Corinthian series is finished, I would like to do a very short series on the demonic world and that of angelology.
[22:10] And I think it's something we're sometimes lacking. We don't understand fully what's out there. But here we're told in Jude that the angels will be judged. 2 Peter 2 verse 4.
[22:25] 2 Peter 2 verse 4. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment.
[22:48] So they are awaiting judgment. And furthermore, they know it. They know that's what's ahead of them. Let's also turn to Revelations chapter 2.
[23:04] Revelations 2. And verse 26. verse 26.
[23:22] Verse 26. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. And then verse 27.
[23:36] He shall rule them with a rod of iron. they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels as I have received from my father. And so 26 says to the Christian that part of our reward will be that we will have power over the nations.
[23:59] We will judge them and rule over them. along with Jesus Christ. And we turn the chapter to 3.
[24:13] Chapter 3 in Revelations verse 21. Also the victory verse to the church in Laodicea. 3.
[24:25] 21. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father and his throne. And so thrones specifying we will be judging.
[24:41] We'll be ruling with Jesus Christ. So words of encouragement as we persist and continue that victory will come.
[24:55] So let's go back to 2 Corinthians. Verse 4 1 Corinthians 6 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?
[25:28] I say this to your shame. Is it so that there is 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?
[25:45] Now Paul really hurts them where their pride is the highest because in Corinth it was a very big thing to have to be a person of knowledge and they esteemed one another by having this knowledge this higher knowledge and here Paul is zeroing in on that kind of slapping him in the face to speak and saying you guys if you have this higher standard or knowledge you're not able to judge sin among you and that you have to go to a worldly court I say this to your shame so as we if we would do that and
[26:47] I would take a brother to court let's say it's brother cliff here I take him to court because he wrecked my truck and he refuses to pay for it and I go to a court of law in Grand Prairie and here are two professing believers what are we portraying to the unbeliever what's the image worldly behavior there's no faith absolutely your your religion is empty what's the difference between you guys and us that's that's the message that is being sent thanks for paying for the truck cliff did it okay sorry
[28:02] I had no idea okay okay okay well praise the lord that it was settled in a godly manner yeah that's kind of interesting okay so as we continue here I'll reread verse seven 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 yourself be cheated so Paul is saying if your brother refuses to reconcile let it go let it go now is it easy to let go it can be thirty dollars or three hundred or if you're in the business world it can be three hundred thousand but what makes it hard to let go
[29:37] I want to hear from you what makes it hard whose money is it but whose money is it does not God own everything and he has made us stewards over it and as stewards if we have done our best and a brother is defrauding who is the brother in reality defrauding he's defrauding God and is God not able to bless you if you let it go so if we find ourselves struggling to let go if we're caught up in a situation like this then it's my heart that needs to be examined why am I struggling but I worked for this money yes you did but we need to let go and trust
[31:12] God that he will take care of this and generally as we do exactly that the Lord has a way of blessing and returning upon you he does but beware of covetousness desire for money verse 8 brings out the very root no you yourselves do wrong and cheat and you do these things to your brethren do you know why you're struggling with letting go because you are there yourself and you're doing wrong and you're cheating where you can that's what he's telling them so your own heart is wrong so that's that's right in your face if you can say it that way
[32:22] Paul is very direct to them that if you're struggling to let go is there perhaps the same root in you or in me so that's that's the problem brought out right to the forefront I have been there personally where I felt I was wronged with a in my mind quite a large sum of money and and I had to work through a process of letting go because my first impulse was no this is wrong I got to fight this but as I and the Holy Spirit did bring conviction to not follow through and I let go of it and the
[33:25] Lord did his work the Lord did his work and he will but sometimes we get tested to see where our heart is at verses 9 through 11 as we finish off this morning he says do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators idolaters adulterers nor homosexuals sodomites thieves covetous drunkards revilers extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God why is Paul bringing this list to the forefront he's saying if this is if this is your practice if you're caught up in any one of these that it's your normal practice then you are not a born again believer that's what he's saying here and let's let's quickly just run through those words a fornicator it's it's a reference to sexual immorality before marriage generally before marriage and as two words down an adulterer is sexual immorality within marriage or being married and and sinning outside of marriage so those are those are list of grievous sins that if we persist in them it's an indicator that we're not believers okay the second word there is idolaters idol worship worship of an idol or a false god or a false religious system a false religious system also can be an idol and that is also part of this list of the unbeliever homosexuals the the corruption of the biblical male slash female union homosexuals this includes all perversion including sex changes which today is characterized by the transgender movement it's the mark of the unbeliever persisting in grievous sin a sodomite it's specifically a reference to same sex or same gender relationships male and male and female and female sodomites thieves simply taking what's not yours it's that simple desiring what's not yours covetous!
[37:20] greed it's the same line as stealing or as thieves desiring what belongs to others to covet to want the stealing is the actual doing of it drunkards someone under the influence of alcohol continually or consistently to the point where it controls him it's a drunkard a reviler it's a person who seeks to destroy others with their words to revile and lastly extortioner it's a word that means to swindle or embezzle stealing indirectly or taking advantage of others for your own financial gain and scripture uses this of even with the
[38:32] Jews where they take advantage of weak situations of widows and so on and for their own gain take advantage of the weak so one form of that and notice that thieves the covetous and extortioner all have the same root desiring what's not yours money it might be property it might be things but it results to to the same concept and so the conclusion of the matter is that if you're practicing this kind of practice in your life then Paul is lumping them in with the unsaved now we need to continue verse 11 and such were some of you but you were washed but you were sanctified but you were justified in the name of the
[39:42] Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God and he's saying to them brothers that's who some of you were before but now in the name of Christ you have been washed you have been sanctified set apart for a godly life and and you have been justified you've been declared righteous therefore there is no more room for this kind of practice because your calling is different as we're called to bear the image of Jesus Christ you know all of us were born sinners sinners with a sinful nature and not long after we come into this world we start to sin as well that's our nature and we may have done one or more of the sins in this list might have been my lifestyle but as we come to
[41:17] Christ he washes us you know when when Jesus washed the disciples feet and Peter said not mine and Jesus said yes I need to wash your feet or else you have no part in me and then Peter says oh wash my whole body and Jesus says there's no need you are already clean all except one of you a reference to Judas Iscariot so washed we've been washed we've been cleansed from within we've been cleaned up and it's a symbol of regeneration we've been made a new creation and let's turn to 2
[42:19] Corinthians 5 just to pick up that verse verse 17 2 Corinthians 5 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new so a new heart a new mindset we now have a new master and so our lives need to reflect that and so this passage serves as a reminder to us that we are to be salt and light to those around us not to go against our
[43:22] Lord and Savior and do as the world does and we need to be reminded myself included because it's so easy to get caught up in these things it's easy to get caught up and unfortunately sometimes the world wants to rub off on us instead of the other way around so that's why we need to be reminded where is my heart at I want to close with Psalm 50 50 verse 10 through 12 he's addressing the Jews and saying he's answering their bringing of sacrifices sacrifices and ties with an impure heart the wrong motives verse 10 says for every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills
[44:56] I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine if I were hungry I would not tell you for the world is mine and all its fullness in other words I don't need your sacrifices I own it all so let's take that principle and make application as sometimes we go through struggles the Lord is master may he bless you let's pray Father we thank you for the reminder this morning that as our God that has created all things you own all things and that you entrust us through our journey in life with a portion of it whether small or larger and yet you call us to be faithful with it so thank you for the reminder to watch our motives that of covetousness of greed but rather
[46:20] Lord to have you truly master in everything may you continue to lead us as we go through our week Lord and just to keep these things in mind in Jesus name I pray Amen up