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Marvin Stalnaker

Manifesting A Gracious Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:1-8
Marvin Stalnaker January, 31 2018 Video & Audio
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A Study of 1st Corinthians

Sermon Transcript

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You know the wonderful thing
concerning preaching is that whatever this book says, that's the way it is. Whatever
this book deals with, that's what we deal with. I told you
about Brother Don telling me one time, he said, don't ever
be afraid of dealing with something that the Scriptures deals with.
And it just sets your heart, sets the believer's heart free. Because we want to hear what
does God have to say. Well, the Spirit of God has directed
the Apostle Paul to deal with another matter that was being
committed within the church at Corinth. This is the third issue
that he's dealt with. The first one was evil concerning
the divisions or the schisms that were created because of
the preferences that some believers had with certain preachers, I
like Apollos, I like, you know, Peter, I like this one, I like
that one, you know. And the second evil was concerning
the problem of a prominent member within the assembly that had
defiantly married his stepmother. And a deed that the Lord had
dealt with in the book of Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 8. He just
distinctly said, don't marry your stepmother. And he did. And obviously what he was doing,
he was just flaunting it. And it was a situation that demanded
that Paul go, being directed by the Lord, And he told the
church, he wrote them a letter, told the church, he said, now
this man is going to have to be delivered unto Satan to be,
you know, destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Now, tonight we keep going
and we start in chapter 6 and we're going to deal with a problem
that was being you know, there in the assembly. And what it
was, was this. And again, I don't doubt for
one second that it was a matter of, this is the way we always
did it. You know, like I said, Corinth
was shown to be, proven to be a wicked, wicked city. And things that were just accepted
out on the street You know, I guess they just decided that, you know,
this is the way we do it. But the Apostle Paul said, this
is not the way it's done, you know. In the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ, what they were doing is, they had believers
taking other believers to court. And they were suing each other. over whatever, whatever the reason. I don't know what it was, but
the Apostle Paul was appalled that believers would sue another
believer and take them before heathen judges. Now here's what
he said. He starts off verse 1. I'm going
to look at verses 1 to 8 tonight, Lord willing. Dare any of you
Do you dare having a matter against another go to law before the
unjust and not before the saints? Paul asked the assembly, do any
of you dare do such a thing? Having a complaint, having a
matter, something, something against a brother or sister in
Christ and you go and take that brother or sister and you take
them to court before an unjust, now I wanted to make sure I understood
what he was saying, before a violator of justice, a sinful, deceitful
judge, one that knows nothing of God's grace and mercy and
compassion. He said, do any of you dare to
bring one of your brethren before an unjust judge? One that is not righteous before
God. And you lay out your complaint
before him and everybody else. Instead of going to the saints,
The people of God, do you dare do that? Now here was the situation. Some of them within the assembly,
they felt that the case warranted litigation. And obviously it
was something that was probably in the natural world, out in
the world, would be a situation that would you know, be accepted. It would be an accepted case
of going to court. And it wasn't, it wasn't, the
problem wasn't that the case didn't need some litigation.
Maybe, you know, someone to be a mediator, an advocate, you
know, to help settle an issue. It wasn't that. The problem was
how they were going about it. They were going to the law. They
were going before judges. This case, like the previous
two cases, where they had a squabble over, you know, I like this preacher,
I like this preacher, and here's a guy marrying his step-mama
and flaunting it. you know, and it was just blatant,
it was something that was just absolutely forbidden in the scriptures. And so in those cases and in
this case today was that the Spirit of God marvelously, wonderfully
dealt with it and dealt with it like this. The Holy Spirit
sent a preacher. He sent the Apostle Paul. to
sit there and teach one inspired of God, called of God, taught
of God, directed by God, to handle this thing in an honorable way
scripturally. To handle it where the mercy
and grace of God was beheld. Now, the New Testament, as I
told you last time, we have to understand something. We've got
these scriptures. We're sitting here with the complete
Word of God. And we're blessed to have God's
Word. because these things that are
dealt with in God's Word, we have some understanding. Now
this is what we do, but now, in this case, when this took
place, the Scriptures hadn't been completed, they hadn't been
all written and put together, and this letter that Paul wrote
to them was part of the Scriptures. Now, But they didn't have that
then, so what the Lord did was He sent up a preacher to tell
them what to do. Now, they had a problem. Something had happened, whatever
it was. But now, let me show you the blessing that we have.
Turn with me to Matthew 18. I'm going to say the blessing
that we have. I'm talking about the blessing that we have if
this situation comes up in this assembly or any other assembly
where the gospel is preached. Let me show you the blessing
that we have. All right, now, look at Matthew 18. Matthew 18,
verse 15-17. Now, here's the marvel of what
we're getting ready to read, is who was speaking. The Lord
was speaking. The Lord speaking. Here's Matthew
18 verse 15 pertaining to this incident that happened in 1 Corinthians. Matthew 18.50, Moreover, if thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast
gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two
or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he
shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church, But if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen
man and a publican." Now, the Lord laid down this rule. He said if there's a problem. Now, according to the word of
the Lord Jesus Christ, if a believer feels that there's such an injury
committed toward him from a fellow believer, or even toward the
assembly of the church itself. The first step, he said in a
very gracious and meek spirit, is to visit that one by yourself
and go talk to him privately, lay before him the offense, just
right there. Now this, what that should be,
is that just right there may just open up the door of explanation
and just end the dispute. I mean, if there's something
that, you know, the Proverbs 25, 15 says, a soft tongue breaketh
the bone. There's no reason whatsoever
for harshness. Listen, the offense may have
been unintentional. Maybe, you know, Mitch, I may
have done something to you. I didn't even know it. If I did,
if I said it, I didn't even know it. And Mitch comes to me and
said, Marvin, you said something the other day that really hurt
my feelings. That would slay me. Carl? That would slay me
if I thought. I said, what? I didn't even know
it. You know, it might be just, you
know, the Lord said just go and 101 tell him what it is. And
he said, but now if that doesn't, you know, it's not reconciled
there. If approaching the offended brother privately doesn't produce
reconciliation and he won't hear, he won't, you know, I'm not going
to hear you. And the problem is such an offense that for the
glory of God and for the good of the body and another attempt
is needed, then consider, you know, whether that offense merits
action. I mean, you know, I got When
my kids were growing up, you know, he looked at me. She won't let me play with that
toy. And I just said, hey, that's enough, hush. But I mean, if
there's truly something that merits action, something like
chapter five, maybe there's like, whatever the offense, then he
said, take with thee one or two more that the mouth of three
witnesses every word may be established. I had a situation, I won't tell
you obviously what it was, but years ago, not here, I had a
situation like this, and the first attempt didn't produce
any effects favorably. And so what I had to do was I
had to just get somebody to go with me. I said, now I'm not
looking for a cheerleader. I'm not even looking for a friend.
I just need a witness. I just need a witness. Because
I want to make sure that everything that I say, everything that's
said, That's the way that it should be. I just want you to
know this is scriptural, this is what you know. And if these
first two words of instruction fail to produce the desired end,
then the matter is again of such grave necessity to maintain unity
within the body, tell it to the church. And hopefully that will
produce the desired effect. And then the Lord said, if somebody,
if there's something, and there's no reason in the world, if somebody
approaches you and they take two or three witnesses, you take
them to the church, and it's, you know, I want to apologize,
I'm sorry, forgive me, I don't want to, let's just reconcile
this thing, get it over with. No, I don't want to. I don't
want to. Then the Lord said, then just leave them alone. Just leave them alone. There's needs for times of reconciliation
and litigation and stuff like this. The Apostle Paul is saying
back here in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, he said, you got a matter
against another and you go to law before the unjust and not
before the saints? Listen, we're sinners. We're
sinners. That's what we are. And that
old man within us, we war within ourselves and we stumble and
we're commanded to be ready to help and encourage and support
one another. But, you know, let's do all that
we can to prevent the stumblings within this body. I remember
somebody said one time, I remember Brother Scott said one time,
he said, now this is a matter for this church. I don't even
remember what it was. Somebody just told me about it.
Said this is a matter for this church. And we're not going to
go out there and drag our dirty laundry before the courts and
the judges and let those that don't have any spiritual discernment
take care of this thing. You know, look, we don't want
to give the world any reason to blaspheme the name of our
Lord. You know, remember whenever David
sinned against the Lord and he took Bathsheba and God sent a
prophet, Nathan. And here's what Nathan said to
David. He said, The Lord also hath put
away thy sin, thou shalt not die, how be it because by this
deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
blaspheme, and the child also that is born unto thee shall
surely die. What he had done, he said, the Lord has forgiven
you, but he said the child that was conceived in Bathsheba, that
child is going to die. And remember that David prayed
and the child died. The point was, we don't want
to give anybody the impression that I thought they believed
in grace. They talk about mercy and compassion, and here they
are suing each other. Oh, let's be very, very careful
not to give any opportunity for our Lord's name to be dishonored. Philippians chapter 4 verse 5,
let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at
hand. Let all men know and perceive
and recognize your mildness and fairness and gentleness and unselfish
spirit because the Lord's coming back. I mean, this may be the
last night on this earth. I don't know. But He's coming
back. So, verse 2, do you not know
that the saints So judge the world? And if the world shall
be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Paul said those of you that feel
the need to expose that which is precious. the harmony of believers. Those
of you that need to expose that, you know, the relationship between
God's people, if you feel you need to expose that before the
world, have you not considered this fact? That redeemed saints,
the people of God, are going to judge the world? Now, in that
scripture right there, it sets forth this glorious truth. the oneness that we have with
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His body. His body. Now, He is the judge. He's the judge before whom all
men are going to stand. I know that. Listen to this.
John 5.22, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son. But as His people, are said to
be one with Him. And I don't understand. I believe it. I read it. I believe this. Somebody
said, do you believe you're one with Christ? Yes, I do. I believe
that. I believe that when the Lord
Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, I believe I was
chosen in Him. I believe that. I mean, before I was conceived,
in my mother's womb, He knew me. Like He told Jeremiah, He
said, I knew you, I ordained you a prophet. I believe that. I believe that when He was crucified,
I was crucified with Him. That's what the Apostle Paul
said. I believe that. I can't grasp hold of it. There's just certain things,
Neil, I just, I believe it. But I just can't, you know, I
believe that right now, according to Romans 8, 30, I believe that
every one of His people are glorified with Him. All those past tense,
whom He foreknew, He justified, He glorified, that glorified
means there, there in glory. I believe that we're seated right
now in Christ. I believe it. And I just, I can't
grasp hold of that. That's just more than I can understand,
but I believe it. I know this. He says it is, it
is. I understand that. So I know
this, that being one with Him, when we shall stand before God,
He's going to separate sheep from the goats. Okay, I can understand
that to a certain extent. But I'm going to tell you something,
we're going to be one with Him, in Him, judging the world. Someone says, well that just
doesn't make sense. Well, naturally speaking, maybe it doesn't to
this natural mind. But I'm going to tell you something,
there's a new heart that says that's the way it is. And one
day we'll understand it. But He says, don't you realize?
Don't you know that the saints will judge the world? And if
the world should be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge
the smallest matters, these little insignificant things? Comparatively speaking, you know
that since God's people, in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, shall judge the world, we've been given a new heart,
We've been led and taught by God's Spirit. Paul says, are
you incompetent to hear and to try and to settle according to
the scriptures? In a gracious and mild and meek
and kind way. These little insignificant, these
things. I tell people when somebody's
wanting to get married, I tell him, I said, now listen, listen
to me, listen to me now. I'm going to tell you something.
I said, I've been married a long time. And I said, I'm going to
tell you something. I'm sorry. It goes a long way. I love you. Forgive me. I said, that goes a long way. I said, because you're going
to reconcile. You're going to. The only reason
we don't do it immediately is because of pride. That's the
only reason. But you're going to do it. But
Paul says, are you not going to judge the world? You've got
to go to a heathen judge and tell them everything and here
you're going to judge the world? Look at verse 3. Know ye not
that we shall judge angels? Angels! These heavenly spirits
that are much more powerful than we, how much more things that
pertain to this life. Now, not only in the person of
our Savior shall believers judge the world, he said we're going
to judge the angels. Now which angels? Well you know
this, the fallen angels. Fallen. Hold your place, I'm
going to show you a couple of scriptures. Look at Jude, last
book before Revelation. Jude, verse 6. Jude, only one chapter. Talk about the angels that we're
going to judge. And it says, And the angels which
kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved in everlasting change under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day. Now, man may have a lot of questions
concerning these angels that kept not their first estate.
Those angels that followed after Satan and Satan's rebellion.
Now there's a lot of things that we might question about that
event. How did sin, there was war in
heaven. That's what scripture says. How
did sin get there? Well obviously by the permissive
will of God. You can bet that. That the Lord
permitted there to be war in heaven. And Satan and his followers,
those angels that failed, were cast out. But there's a lot of
things that the Spirit of God was pleased to be silent on concerning
that thing. But concerning the reason for
this judgment, look at Revelation 12, 7-9. Revelation chapter 12, here's
the reason Revelation 12, verse 7. There was war in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought
and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place
found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the devil, Satan. which deceiveth
the whole world, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him." What happened was, he rebelled against
God. And there was angels that rebelled
with him. And God cast them out. And how
many? How many of them? Well, Revelation
12.4 says, and his tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth and the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered
for to devour her child as soon as it was born." How many angels
fell? A third of them. One third of
these created beings, angels, these ministering spirits that
were created for the ministering to the saints, those that shall
be heirs of salvation, one third of them were cast out of heaven. And is there any hope for those
angels that were cast out of heaven? No. No. Why? Because there was no blood
shed for them. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 16, Hebrews 2.13, here's the manner of being that the
Lord came to redeem. For verily He took not on Him
the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.
He was made flesh. He came to seek and to save those
that had been given Him for the foundation of the world. that
were out of the seed of Abraham. Men. Flesh. Not angels. So, there were some angels that
were cast out. They followed Satan and his rebellion
and some didn't. Some didn't fall. Who were the
ones that did not fall? Well, I'll just tell you 1 Timothy
5 and verse 21. It tells us who they were. It
says, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and
the elect angels that thou observe these things without preferring
one before another, doing nothing by partiality. So the Apostle
Paul is showing that election pertains to men and angels. There
were some that God chose to keep, those that did not maintain their
first estate. Why? Because the Lord didn't
keep them. He allowed. You think Satan was powerful
enough to take a third of God's angels without the Lord's permission? He permitted it. And now Paul
says concerning this, do you realize that we're going to judge
angels? How much more that pertain to this life? Or in other words,
why do you not consider yourselves competent to judge the things
of this life? Verse 4, If then ye have judgments
of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are
least esteemed in the church. Now, the wording of that fourth
verse in our scripture is such that it is hard to understand. I've diligently tried to get
the meaning of it, and I think I have the meaning of it, and
I'll show you why. And it's really answered when
you see the fifth verse, you'll understand why I'm saying what
I do. It seems, at first it might seem to say, which it doesn't,
I don't believe it does, it seems to say that Paul is saying, why
do you not get the least esteemed, say, believer? within the body
to judge a dispute. Why don't you just get the one,
let's find the one in here that we just all least esteem. Well,
that's a sweet spirit, isn't it? Yeah, we'll get you to do
it because we just, we all just kind of esteem you the least.
Now, what kind of an attitude is that? I mean, you know, that's,
well, you talk about trying to elevate yourself above, you know,
somebody else. No, that's not what he's saying.
But considering what the Apostle Paul says in verse 5, I'll show
you why. Here's what I believe he's saying.
If you have, in verse 4, if you do have cases of everyday life
to decide between brethren, why do you appeal to those who are
least esteemed in the church? That is, Not those within the
body, but those that we least esteem to have true spiritual
judgment to do such things. Those are the outside of the
assembly, the judges that he's been talking about. Those that
you don't have any confidence in. Do you have any confidence
in going to somebody and asking them to settle something scripturally? and they make no profession whatsoever
to know the Lord or something like that, you talk to an unbeliever,
do you think that you're going to get a satisfactory answer,
Paul says, out of those who are regarded as the heathen with
no spiritual discernment? Now, with that being the understanding,
listen to verse 5 and it'll make sense. I'll read verse 4 and
then I'll just go ahead and read verse 5. If then you have judgments
of things pertaining to this life, and then set them to judge
who are least esteemed in the church, I speak to your shame.
Is it so that there is not a wise man among you?" See, now he's
starting to go back to the, you know, look within the church
here. Is there not one among you, wise? No, not one that shall
be able to judge between his brethren? See, what Paul has
declared, he says, I'm ashamed of you, Because you're acting
so far below the dignity that you claim to possess. You know,
we know we have the mind of Christ. The Lord has been gracious to
me. The Lord has been gracious to
us. Well, if the Lord has been gracious to us, is there any
graciousness in us? Is there any evidence of what
it says? He said, you say you believe
God and that you're the possessor of the mind of the Lord Jesus. Can it be that in the church,
those regenerated by the Spirit of God and enlightened by His
Spirit, is there not a single member? Is there nobody? Paul
is saying that spiritually sensitive and prudent enough that you've
got some confidence in. Is there nobody that you've got
some confidence in and say, listen, let me lay this before you and
we're going to talk about it. Can it be that there's a case
within the body where you boast of so much wisdom and that you
can't find one member? Look at verse 6, but brother
goeth to law with brother. And that before the unbelievers
is what he's asking. You know, I got to thinking about
this. What would you think? What would
you think? I go over to my mama's house
and I, you know, she'll tell me, she said, why don't you come
over here and eat lunch with me? I said, okay. And so I'll go over there
and, you know, she's got her stuff, you know, she's got her
walker and she's got her little buggy and she's got this that
and the other and her apartment is just very small and I'd go
over there and I'd trip over something and I hurt myself and
so what I'm going to do is I'm going to sue her. I'm going to
take my mama to court and I'm going to say now for my medical
bills and my pain and suffering you know and you're thinking what are you doing? That's your
mama. We have a closer relationship
as brethren in Christ than I do to my natural mother. She is
my natural mother, but I am closer to her, more intimately tied
to her as being a sister in Christ than I am. You know, we back
out and somebody backs into your car coming out here. I'm going
to sue you. I'm going to sue you. Now, if
you've got some insurance, that's fine. Just let them pay for it.
But, I mean, I'm going to take you to court. I'd sue you, Neil,
for, you know, you hit my car. And, you know, Paul would say,
you know, is there not love and compassion and kindness? Brother,
verse 6, goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. You know, we... We are the children
of the Most High God. Members of the body of Christ.
Chosen vessels of God's mercy. Redeemed by His blood. And the
evidence of our sonship is this. We love one another. We love
one another. Somebody bumps into your bumper
or something like that, you just... And I got worse than that over
at Walmart. I don't know who did it. It's just, it's not the
end of the world, you know. But the way that we treat one
another is a direct manifestation of our attitude toward the Lord.
Here's what the Lord said, Matthew 25, 40. Verily, I say unto you,
inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of one of these my
brethren, you've done it unto me. And then He said in verse
45, inasmuch as you've not done it, to one of the least of these,
you did it not to me." So the way we treat each other is a
direct manifestation to our attitude toward the Lord. And in closing,
verse 7 and 8, Now therefore, there is utterly a fault among
you, because you go to the law one with another. Why do you
not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer
yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, you do wrong and defraud,
and that your brethren. He's telling, he's telling, he
said, now listen, he said this thing of taking them to court
and suing them, and you know, I'm going to sue you, I'm going
to, you know, I'm going to take everything you've got, I'm going
to do this, that, and the other, and you're going to wish you'd never crossed
me, and this kind of, you know. Paul says you're wrong. You just,
you're wrong. Verse 7, there is utterly a fault
between you. Verse 8, nay, you do wrong. Why do you not permit yourself
rather to be injured rather than dishonor the cause of Christ
by your actions? Are you acting the way you are? Do you realize what you are doing? The Lord said in Matthew 5.39,
if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloak also. Rather than make an issue and
defraud, you know, be a hindrance to the cause of Christ, I've
told people this so many times, listen, for the sake of the gospel,
this is a whole lot more involved here than it's me or you. For
the sake of the gospel, rather than going to court, especially
against your brother, submit yourself to injustice. Do you think that the Lord doesn't
see? Do you think that the Lord doesn't realize? Do you think
the Lord is going to permit His own to be without that which
is needful? He said, if somebody is going
to sue you for your coat, He said, well here, just take my
cloak too. Have it all. He said, rather than be one that
would cause the world to blaspheme the name of Christ, I know, I
know, as I've told you before, I know what people have said
about this church for years and years and years. I know, I know.
Why? It's because we're not going
to give any glory to man. We're going to give glory to
God and let the Lord be God, and we're the recipients of His
mercy. And man hates that. He hates
the message of sovereign grace. But Paul says, for the sake of
the gospel, for the sake of the unity of the body. You take the
loss. You take the loss. It's just
stuff. We're forbidden to maintain an
unforgiving and resentful spirit toward anybody, but especially
in our passage, you know, against our brethren. Allow for the sake
of Christ yourself to be wronged. rather than take up a spirit
of revenge and hatefulness. Put away malice. Don't return
evil. Don't let your attitude be a
cursing. Don't love in word only, but
in deed. Whatever you do, the Lord says,
The Apostle Paul says, whatever you do, whether you eat, whether
you drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. The Lord
knows. The Lord knows. I pray the Lord
bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake. All right.
Amen.
Marvin Stalnaker
About Marvin Stalnaker
Marvin Stalnaker is pastor of Katy Baptist Church of Fairmont, WV. He can be contacted by mail at P.O. Box 185, Farmington, WV 26571, by church telephone: (681) 758-4021 by cell phone: (615) 405-7069 or by email at marvindstalnaker@gmail.com.
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