If you would, please stand as we say together our memory Scripture for this quarter:
Matthew 6:31-33
“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
And our memory refresher Scripture is …
1 Timothy 6:6
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 6:7-11
Before we read the Scripture for today it is important to understand what it was like in the city of Corinth in Greece in the first century of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Corinth there was an “anything goes” attitude toward sexuality. A modern equivalent might be today’s San Francisco where freedom to participate in sexual activity with anyone and everyone anywhere is worshipped above all other freedoms.
Even now there are groups pushing to abolish age of consent laws so that adults will no longer be jailed for abusing children.
This is the type of moral cesspool in which the church in Corinth was placed.
Naturally, the Biblical mandate of one husband and one wife for life as Paul defined in chapter 5 would have seemed very restrictive to them. This and other issues are what Paul is addressing in this text.
With that in mind, let’s read our text for today but let’s start in 1 Corinthians 6:1 instead of verse 7.
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Just look at that list of sins that Paul lists under the heading of “the wicked”.
sexually immoral – idolaters – adulterers - male prostitutes – homosexuals – thieves – the greedy – drunkards – slanderers – swindlers
Those are some obvious sins if a person knows anything about The Lord God who gave us the Holy Scriptures.
And Paul goes on to say, “And that’s what some of you were!”
What’s the next word? “But!”
But can be a beautiful or a brutal word!
But is brutal in sentences like:
“Your resume is great, you have lots of experience and your academic records show that you are highly intelligent, but ….”
“We almost made it to the hospital but we ran out of gas and I had to do the appendectomy myself but because I don’t know where the appendix is you will now never need to have your gall bladder removed.”
Those would be brutal uses of the word but, but the “but” here is not brutal use of the word but, but the beautiful use of the word but!
Verse 11 says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Don’t you thank God for that beautiful use of the word “but”????
We may not have committed those sins, exactly, or we may have, but the fact is that when we confess our sins to the Lord and turn away from a life of sin and give our lives to follow Him as our Lord and master He does some amazing things for us!
The first thing He does for us is …
1) He washes us from the eternal penalty of sin, the guilt of sin and the condemnation that is the result of sin.
- Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
- Revelation 1:5b – Christ has, “freed us from our sin with His own blood.”
- An old church hymn puts it this way, “O the Blood of Jesus, O the Blood of Jesus, O the Blood of Jesus that washes white as snow!”
- “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
Praise God Forevermore!
The second thing He does for us is …
2) He sanctifies us. This means He sets us apart for His holy purposes.
- Ruth in the Old Testament is a great example of someone who makes the choice to follow the LORD and the LORD sets her apart, sanctifies her, for a great purpose. In Ruth 1:16-17 Ruth says, “Don’t urge me to leave you [Naomi] or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and YOUR GOD WILL BE MY GOD. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
- Ruth was a Moabite, sworn enemies of Israel. Her passion for her mother in law and for the God of Israel transformed her, set her apart and sanctified her.
- She was no longer an enemy of God but was so thoroughly brought into the people of the LORD that she ended up being in the family line of Jesus the Messiah!
- When we were living in sin we too were enemies of God and when we are saved we are integrated into His kingdom and set aside for God’s purposes.
The third thing the Lord God does for us is …
3) He justifies us …
- Romans 5:8-9 – “But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him!”
4) How are we washed, sanctified and justified?
Verse 11 says, “… you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The Holy Spirit of God calls us to salvation and enables us to turn to Jesus.
The power of the name of Jesus and His great sacrifice through His shed blood makes these great changes possible.
There is no other way.
There is no other god.
You can’t get it in any other religion or spiritualism.
Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life.
No one can come to the father any other way!
OK. So now I’m saved.
And, I certainly don’t intend on being sexually immoral, an idolater, an adulterer, a male prostitute, a homosexual, a thief, a greedy person, a drunkard, a slanderer or a swindler but what about other things?
How do I decide what I should and should not do?
What does the Bible say about the subject?
If you don’t know where to look then just compare what you want to do against the two great commandments.
Matthew 22:37-40 (recite if possible)
Is what I am thinking about doing going to offend my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in any way?
Will what I am thinking about doing cause me to neglect my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Is what I am thinking about doing going to damage a relationship I have with someone else?
What about other things I might do … how do I know what is acceptable to the Lord and what is not?
Earlier in this chapter there are instances of one Christian taking another Christian to court over legal matters in front of a non-believing judge.
Effects?
- The judge forms opinions about Jesus based on the behavior of the two professing Christians
- The relationship between the two Christians is damaged
Paul’s suggestion … it is better to be wronged … it is better to be cheated
(Actual illustration from life …)
Unnamed Pillar of the church vs. Unnamed Recent widow (lifetime church attender but no status in church)
Both Pillar of the Church and Recent Widow attend the same church and have known each other for literally decades.
Recent widow owes small loan to pillar of church that cannot be repaid due to death of husband.
Small loan was previously arranged for by decease husband and not by Recent Widow.
Recent widow would have attempted to pay off the loan anyway dollar by dollar if it took the rest of her life to do so.
But Pillar of church wants to make sure he is at the front of the line for payment when the farm is sold.
Pillar of the church takes recent widow to court for the money in front of an unbelieving judge and others in the court.
Meanwhile other debtors both those who believe in Jesus and those who do not are forgiving their debts with grace.
Recent widow goes to church but never says a word to anyone about what happened.
Recent Widow believes it is better to be wronged.
Now, that is an issue which is clearly addressed in 1 Corinthians 6.
But, what about something that you are uncertain of?
There is something we don’t really talk about much anymore and that is “spiritual discernment”. Spiritual discernment is not some magic gift of the Holy Spirit that is only given to a few hyper spiritual people.
Spiritual discernment comes from a closeness and an intimacy with the Lord. The more you know of Him and about Him and come to love Him the more spiritual discernment you will have.
For instance, I know that Pastor Karenlee does not like sugar in her coffee. This comes from a relationship I have with her. So, when I fix coffee for her I don’t put sugar in it.
The closer I get to Jesus the more I will come to know His desires and the more I come to love Jesus the more my desires will change to want to please Him in all I say and do.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TEST AND APPROVE WHAT GOD’S WILL IS - HIS GOOD, PLEASING AND PERFECT WILL.”
Closing comments and prayer.
