Introduction:
1. According to an Associated Press report from May 17, 2001 student led prayer was going to be allowed at the Washington Community High School graduation in 2001 until the ACLU & senior valedictorian, Natasha Appenheimer, filed a law suit against the district. They won an injunction that banned any prayer at the event. It was the first time in the school’s 80 year history that a prayer wouldn’t be offered at a school graduation. The move was so unpopular that the audience booed the valedictorian when she accepted her diploma. Another student, Ryan Brown, one of the speakers for the evening paused during his speech to pray silently. Then, according to The Peoria Journal Star newspaper, at the end of his silent prayer he feigned a sneeze & the audience in mass responded with “God bless you.”
2. This certainly isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last when the legal system has made controversial decisions when it comes to faith. America has increas-ingly become a country that sues over nearly anything. Some of the stories you may have probably heard about foolish lawsuits aren’t true, but many others are. We are a nation that loves to sue one another.
Cell #1— I Corinthians 6 is found on page 873 of the Bible in your pew.
3. Would anyone like to guess how many lawyers there are in the United States? We have a little more than 1.4 million attorneys in this country. Consider this:
• Americans spend more on civil litigation than any other industrialized country in the world according to a study in the Economic Journal.
• We spend twice as much on litigation as on new automobiles.
• Over 16 million civil suits were filed in state courts in 2002.
• Nearly 80% of physicians admit they have ordered more tests than they believed medically necessary because they were afraid they might get sued if they don’t.
• Just over 75% of Americans say they believe the fear of being sued dis-courages people from doing normal activities.
• But perhaps most telling is the fact that 87% of Americans believe the justice system is used to start legal action with the intention of seeing just how far their lawsuit can go.
• Only 16% trust the legal system to defend them against frivolous lawsuits.
4. What could any of this possibly have to do with this morning’s message? Sim-ple, lawsuits aren’t new. A common problem that was going on at the Corinthian church was that members of that immature church family were suing one another and Paul was deeply troubled by it. Paul has several warnings he wants to pass along to them and to us. If you have found your way to 1 Corinthians 6 let’s read the passage together, let’s start with verse 1 and we’ll read the remainder of the chapter.
New Living Translation,
1 When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit & ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!
2 Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?
3 Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.
4 If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?
5 I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?
6 But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!
7 Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice & leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated?
8 Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong & cheat even your fellow believers.
9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ & by the Spirit of our God.
12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.
13 You say, “Food was made for the stomach, & the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bod-ies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, & the Lord cares about our bodies.
14 And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.
15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, & join it to a prostitute? Never!
16 And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”
17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you & was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Let’s pray and then we’ll begin our study. PRAYER
TS— Paul here gives us some specific instructions about things that we are not to be involved with. Let’s begin with what the one which I introduced this morning’s message with. He tells us that…
Cell #2—
I. We Must Not SUE ONE ANOTHER 6:1-8
1. Paul was dealing with a problem which was normally an issue among the Greeks. Suing one another was a very common thing. Jews didn’t ordinarily go to the public law courts at all; they settled things before the elders of the village or the elders of the synagogue; to them justice was more a thing to be settled among the family than in the legal system. In fact the Jewish law clearly prohibited a Jew from taking a disagreement into a non-Jewish court; to do so was considered blasphemy against God’s law. It was totally different among the Greeks; they were very litigious.
2. Paul seems to have been shocked to hear that this tendency to sue one another was also taking place in the Corinthian church. This doesn’t seem to be about one notorious situation, as it was with the incestuous relation-ship we discussed last week in 5:1. It was apparently more a matter of routine. Corinthian believers were suing one another when things didn’t work out the want they wanted them to. Paul couldn't believe that it had not dawned on anyone that a Christian taking a fellow Christian to a pagan court, especially over relatively minor matters, flew in the face of their new life in Christ. The Corinthian church was one spiritual body. The logical question is; “How can one part of the spiritual body sue another part of the spiritual body without damaging the whole body?” It can’t.
3. To take their private disputes into the pagan domain gave ammunition to those who opposed the church and made the church look like it was no different than those who didn’t know Christ. Paul tells these immature be-lievers. If you can’t work out things on your own you need to take your problems up with your spiritual brothers and sisters instead of taking your conflict to the courthouse. It was better for them to go to their spiritual leaders if they couldn’t figure out how to get along. They needed to deal with problems in their congregation with the help of respected leaders, so nothing would hinder their spiritual witness. Here was his point...
Cell #3—
When two believers cannot agree handle it In the Church not In the Courts. (1)
4. Paul takes his point even farther in verses 3-4 when he tells them that in the future we will be the ones who will be judging the world. In fact, when we get to heaven we’ll even be judging the angels. It’s not completely clear what that may mean, but it’s obvious he wants them to understand that if we’re going to be doing that in the future, we should be able to help our spiritual brothers and sisters work things out while we’re here.
5. Paul uses the language of family regularly in this letter. He addressed them as “brothers & sisters” and even referred to himself as their “spiritual father.” Families try to work things out within the family. We don’t ask those outside the family to fix our problems unless there is no other way. Paul said the Corinthians were doing that and “right in front of unbelievers!” It was an incredibly poor witness to the non-Christian public. Those who have received God’s grace through the suffering & sacrifice of Jesus needed to find ways to settle their disagreements & offer forgiveness within the church. The way they were suing one another they were acting just like everyone else in Corinth.
6. Paul basically tells them that when they sue one another they are demon-strating how off track they are. Look at verse 7, he said when they sued one another it was “a defeat for you.” If they had been growing spiritually they would have been getting along better. Believers wouldn’t need to bring lawsuits against one another. That they had to resort to lawsuits to settle disputes already indicated a defeat for them. It proved that they were still very immature. Paul explained that even if they were cheated, they were better off letting it slide than dishonoring God’s name by taking a spiritual brother or sister into a court that didn’t recognize God’s laws. Mature be-lievers should be willing to do what Jesus talked about in Matthew 5:29 & “turn the other cheek.” Here was the point…
Cell #4—
When Christians sue one another both Lose even if one Wins. (7)
7. Charles Colson told the following stories in one of his books. The Emmanuel Baptist Church got a new pastor. He wasn’t a good guy. He quickly began trying to find out all the dirt on the members and when someone crossed him he would threaten them. This went on for a while, but soon the people he was threatening began to rebel. Finally, things got so bad that the church’s deacons decided they had to have a meeting to consider firing the pastor. However, the pastor wouldn’t let them announce the meeting in a service as their bylaws required. One Sunday a deacon tried to announce the meeting, but the pastor had the man running the sound turn off the mi-crophone he was going to use. Another Sunday the pianist started playing loudly when a deacon tried to announce the meeting. The next Sunday one the deacons went to the piano and closed the keyboard lid, another went to the sound booth to make sure the microphone wasn’t turned down, while another prepared to make the required announcement. The pastor’s sup-porters refused to give up and a fight broke out in the front of the church. The police had to be called in to restore order. Several leaders, including the pastor had to appear before a judge, in fact, the judge was a member of a synagogue that often played softball with many of them. He told them, “Je-sus of Nazareth may allow fistfights like you had at your church last Sunday, but the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not.”
TS— That brings us to the second thing Paul said to the church. He told them…
Cell #5—
II. We Must Not BE UNGODLY PEOPLE 6:9-13
1. Morals in the city of Corinth were loose. It was a very permissive society with a philosophy similar to the one we’re living in today. Their attitude toward their sexuality was something like this, “Sex is a normal physical function, so do whatever you want to satisfy yourself.” Paul makes a very pointed statement that those who live blatantly sinful lives won’t inherit God’s kingdom. God created sex & therefore He has the right to tell us how to use it. If you will, the Bible is our “owner’s manual” & we are responsible to obey what God has told us.
2. It’s not just sexual sin; Paul pointed his finger at the members guilty of su-ing each other because of their greedy attitudes. Let’s be clear, God is the One who defines right & wrong. All of us can have different opinions but our opinions aren’t really what matters, God is the One who says what is right and what is wrong. Whether it’s heterosexual sin taking place outside the marriage relationship or homosexual sin God says immorality is wrong. Whether it’s being a thief, living a greedy life, abusing drugs or alcohol or being abusive, sin is sin. We’ve been called to live godly lives. Paul reminds them that God expects them to take His commands seriously.
3. He makes the point that many in the Corinthian church had been guilty of all of these sins in their past, but those sins were to be in their past, not a part of their present lifestyle. Look at verse 11 he tells them, “But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…” A sinful lifestyle had been part of their past, but it had no place in their present lives as believers. He tells them they have been cleansed, made holy they were set apart by God to live godly lives.
4. We are to speak of sin as sin, but also proclaim God’s grace in spite of our sinfulness passionately because all of us are sinners. We are to accept & love people where they are, but we are to never accept sin because God doesn’t. That is the balance we are called to maintain. Let me share the fine line we are to walk as believers.
Cell #6—
The church should be a haven of forgiveness and healing for sinners who repent with-out compromising about what the Bible Calls Sin. (9-11)
5. Paul stressed that there is no kind of sin that cannot be forgiven. When the Corinthians received Jesus Christ, their sin was washed away. They were set apart by God to be holy. We were declared righteous and just in God’s sight.
6. Look at the interesting statement that begins verse 12. Paul is quoting things that apparently some Corinthians were saying. “I am allowed to do anything.” They were using this phrase as a license to live any way they wanted. Maybe Paul had used that statement when he preached to the Co-rinthians about their freedom in Christ, but they had misunderstood it. “Freedom in Christ” didn’t mean ignoring basic morality & ethics. Some of them apparently were using this logic to excuse their sins, saying Christ had taken away all sin, so they had complete freedom to live as they pleased; or by saying that what they were doing wasn’t strictly forbidden by Scripture. Here is the point Paul was really making…
Cell #7—
Many people claim they can do whatever they want. However the real question is
Should You. (12)
7. “Food for the stomach & the stomach for food” was another slogan some Corinthians were using to justify their immorality. They reasoned that “food” was pleasurable & necessary. When their stomachs signaled hunger, food satisfied them. So they thought, by the same logic sex was pleasurable & necessary. But Paul drew a sharp line between feeding our body and doing anything we want sexually. God designed our bodies for sexual ex-pression, but that doesn’t mean He is okay with us being immoral.
8. Look at the end of verse 12. There Paul says we are not to be enslaved by anything. His point is that we are never to allow our sinful nature to gain such a hold on our lives that we do not control ourselves. If something con-trols us, we have allowed it to become too powerful. Our commitment to God is to be the dominant force in our lives.
9. Writer, Thomas Costain tells the story of Raynald III, a 14th century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was often called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a bitter quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald, but didn’t kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in Nieuwkerk castle & promised he could regain his title & property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This wouldn’t have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows & a near-normal size door that was never locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. Each day Edward sent his brother a variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter & fatter. When Duke Edward was ac-cused of cruelty, he replied, “My brother isn’t a prisoner. He may leave when he wills.” Raynald stayed in his room for 10 years. He wasn't released until Edward finally died in battle. By then, his health was so bad that he died within a year--the prisoner of his own appetite.
TS— Not only must we not sue one another, or be ungodly people, but Paul urges another similar commitment. He says…
Cell #8—
III. We Must Not LIVE IMMORAL LIVES 6:14-20
1. As is often the case, the “free love” attitudes found in the Roman world in-volved a double standard. Immoral sex was generally tolerated if committed by men but not women; & of course there were societal norms which were to be observed. As one Roman author put it, “Provided you keep away from married women, virgins, young innocents, & children of respectable families, love anyone you want.”
2. Paul makes the point that in a mystical way we are part of the body of Christ. He them says that if we commit immoral acts, we are using our body, & thus Christ’ body in a way that dishonors our Lord. The fact that we belong to God changes the way we are to behave. God demands that we live in a way that honors Him.
3. Look at the end of verse 15, “Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, & join it to a prostitute? Never!” The way this statement is con-structed in the Greek language of the New Testament makes clear that the answer should be an emphatic “No!”
Cell #9—
When it comes to sexual sin God says “No” in The Strongest Terms Possible. (15)
4. The sexual relationship is much more than just a physical connection. It’s a union of the deepest parts of ourselves which alters us & our spouse. It’s making us vulnerable with that person we’re committed to & are sharing life with each day. Paul spoke of this in verse 16 when he quoted Genesis 2:24 “The two will become one flesh.” Paul made the point that when sex is shared without commitment the results are confusion and this wonderful intimate relationship isn’t all that God intended it to be.
5. Paul wasn’t saying that sleeping with a prostitute or even someone you’re not married to was the equivalent of marriage, because marriage also in-volves commitment. But he was saying that it is within the commitment of marriage that our sexuality is to be expressed. When sex takes place out-side of those bonds, God isn’t pleased. When a husband & wife pledge their love & faithfulness to each other, they lay the foundation on which to build a life & in which the sexual relationship can be enjoyed.
6. Paul says when we get involved in immorality we’re setting ourselves up for major trouble. When we sin sexually, we misuse our bodies in a way that is unique among other sins. Clearly other sins also affect the body, such as gluttony or drunkenness, but no other sin has the same effect on the memory, personality, or soul as sexual sin. In the sexual relationship our bodies & emotions & personalities are involved in a unique way. When we give in to sexual sin we violate God's purpose for our bodies. So Paul says, don’t walk, run from sexual sin. We need to exercise alertness to stay away from temptation & use strong & evasive action if we find ourselves being trapped by our passions. So here is the point…
Cell #10—
When it comes to sexual sin God says Run. (18)
7. Paul concludes the passage by once more summarizing the importance of not being immoral. He says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you & was give to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.” That is the point. We don’t belong to ourselves to do whatever we want to do with our bodies, we belong to God & He is telling us what is right as well as what’s actually best for us.
8. God created us & has also bought us, so we belong to Him. He has the right to tell us what to do. He is looking out for us & guiding us in His way. He says God has bought you at a very high price. The price to redeem us was His Son, thus God has a claim in our lives that should make each of us com-mitted to pleasing Him. In Paul’s mind there was no stronger call to live godly lives than this.
Conclusion:
1. Paul challenges us to a higher purpose than merely fulfilling our desires. Sexual immorality is a temptation that is always there. In movies & TV, sex outside marriage is treated as normal & even desirable, while marriage is often shown as hard & constraining. People are even sometimes looked down on if they are suspected of being pure. God doesn’t forbid sexual sin to be difficult. He knows its power to destroy physically & spiritually. No one should underestimate the power of sexual immorality. It has destroyed countless lives, families, churches, & even nations. God wants to protect us from hurting ourselves & others.
2. Some in society say you’ll be your happiest if you give in to your passions. While many are very critical of marriage and what it has to offer, the most recent research makes the point that marriage works better than we have thought.
3. A few weeks ago I stumbled onto research by Harvard trained researcher, Shaunti Feldhahn. She just released the book, The Good News About Marriage. She debunks the idea of the 50% divorce rate. I’ve thought that & most of you have, but no serious research has ever said that. It’s an urban legend.
• Based upon several of the most reputable surveys on marriage the actual rate at which marriages fail is around 30%. Let me put it another way, “Ac-cording to the most recent Census Bureau survey 72% of people who have ever been married are still married to their 1st spouse.”
• Shaunti’s research shows 71% of couples claim to be happily married.
• Research done by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has been looking at marital happiness since 1972 & here are their results to this question. “Taking all things together, how would you describe your marriage?” Very Happy— 65.4%, Pretty Happy— 32.2%, Not too happy— 2.3%. Nearly 98% of people say their marriage is happy.
4. I’m not suggesting that marriage is perfect, because we all know that it’s not. But we need to understand that God’s way, works much more than people of-ten think it does. The same is true of morality and spiritual commitment. When we are committed to pleasing God, we enjoy life more and find life more fulfilling. Will you commit to following God & His plan for your life? Let’s pray.
1 Warren Wiersbe, Be Wise: 1 Corinthians, (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications) 2001.
2 John Walvoord, Roy Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: 1 Corinthians, (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor) 1983.
3 Jack Cottrell, Tony Ash, Richard Oster Jr., The College Press NIV Commentary: 1 Corinthians, (Joplin, MO: College Press) 1995.
4 William Baker, Ralph Martin, Carl Toney, Philip Comfort, The Cornerstone Commentary: 1 Corinthians, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale) 2009.
5 Frank Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan) 1981.
6 Bruce Barton, Greg Asimakoupoulos, Jonathan Farrar, Linda Taylor, Dave Veerman, Neil Wilson, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale) 1999.
7 William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible: 1 Corinthians, (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster) 1975.
8 Tom Fuller, The Danger of Taking Shortcuts, (Newberg, OR: Calvary Chapel, Sermon Central) 2003.
9 Greg Vance, Whose Are You?, (Signal Mountain, TN: Church of Christ, Sermon Central) 2005.
10 Michael Luke, Glorify God in All Things, (Tilton, IL: Church of Christ, Sermon Central) 2006.
11 Jim Denison, Does Social Media Cause Infidelity?, (http://www.denisonforum.org/cultural-commentary/1153-does-social-media-cause-infidelity) 2006.
12 Graduating Student Sneezes so Fellow Students can Say “God Bless You”
13 http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/graduationsneeze.htm#.VAKg1vldWfc
14 Craig Brian Larson, Ed., The Leadership Journal, P. 214, Copyright 1993 by Christianity Today, Inc.)
15 Shaunti Feldhahn, Tally Whitehead, The Good News About Marriage, (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books) 2014.
