On the wings of angels' flight, sure on their way. Well, again, if you have a copy of God's Word, please turn with me this time to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, and to chapter 6, 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. Before we read, we'll ask God's help. O Lord our God, we freely recognize that your Word is spiritual and that we cannot understand it nor profit from it apart from the work of your Holy Spirit. And so we ask that you would help me as I preach, that you would help your people as they listen, that these things would not simply be received as human words, but they would be received as your words, the very words of God, and that they would not only be received intellectually as the words that you have spoken, but they would be received practically as those which are to be treasured, and those things that are to be practiced in our lives. And we ask all of this in Christ's name, amen. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 beginning in the first verse. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 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? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 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. 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 yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do you not be deceived? Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Thus ends the reading of God's holy Word. So this passage is a passage about disputes between Christians. Perhaps when you hear that, your heart sinks just a little. It's not a particularly nice topic. It's not particularly uplifting to come and hear about, but it is a necessary topic. We live in a world where there is going to be disputes amongst Christians. It's deplorable. It's shameful. It's dangerous to your spiritual health, but it is a fact. You can either bury your head in the sand and hope for the best, or you can hear what the Bible has to say about it, practice the Bible's instruction by the grace of God in Christ. Now, let me also say, the Bible, when it speaks to practical matters, always, always roots that in structure in God Himself, and it's no different with this passage. So, as we learn how to deal with disputes amongst Christians this morning, we aren't just going to get some self-help advice. Lord willing, we're going to see our God, His grace, His power, His goodness. And if you're here as a covenant child or for other reasons and you don't know Him, there's enough in this passage to give you an introduction to Him, the one and only true and living God. My title, if you're taking notes this morning, is Dealing with Disputes. Dealing with Disputes. And I have three points. The organizational solution, the heart solution, and the grace solution. The organizational solution, the heart solution, and the grace solution. The chapter begins with a sharp rebuke. It's got these five sharp, piercing, rapid-fire questions that Paul puts before the Corinthians. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not the saints? Do you not know that saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning the things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those least esteemed by the church to judge? And then he says, is it so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?" So, he hits them with question after question after question, and then he sums it all up in this statement, brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers. What seems to be the case is that there was a culture in the Corinthian church of playing out every little dispute in the law courts. This was very common in Greece and in Corinth in particular. It was a litigious culture. And so here we have yet another example of the Corinthians not having left the world behind and just bringing the world into the church. And Paul says this sort of behavior is inappropriate. From the perspective of Christ, this is disreputable. Dare any of you, he says, it's damaging to Christ's reputation is the implication. And so, Paul is exhorting them, settle your disputes within the church. And the church is the organization to which Christians should be looking to settle their disputes between one another. And his argument is basically this. You are actually more competent to handle many of these disputes yourself, rather than going to the courts. Letting the world settle all of your disputes is out of step with what God is doing in this world. Letting the world settle your disputes is airing your dirty laundry in public. And letting the world settle your disputes is actually ridiculously inconsistent of you because you claim to be experts in wisdom. Let's look at these things a bit more closely. He says, you're competent. He says to the Corinthians, look, we're going to judge the world on the last day. We're going to judge angels, verse 3. The point is, if God has chosen you to judge on that level, Why don't you think you're competent to judge on the little matters of disagreement between yourselves? And then this is out of step with God's plan. Again, God has chosen his people as judges on the day of judgment along with Christ. But if you're going to the world, then you're resubmitting yourself to the world. Going to the world is inverting the true order of reality. God has chosen His people as judges. More than that, the world doesn't have the mind of Christ. He doesn't want them to, verse 1, go to law before the unrighteous. Why? Because they won't get biblical justice there. And note, Paul is not saying that the secular courts have no use for Christians, but he's particularly speaking into a situation where those secular courts are not run by God-fearing men, but are in the hands of men who are motivated and guided by a completely different set of commitments, a completely different worldview. And he says, going to the world for judgment is going to a place where you're not going to get judgment in line with the mind of Christ. It's like going to children to rule the house or prisoners to run the prison. So, you're competent in judge. It's out of step with God's plan if you go to the world. More than that, you're airing your dirty laundry in front of the world. This is also implied, I think, when he says, they just want them to go to law before the unrighteous. We all know, don't we, in our marriages, in our family, in our close friendships, that We don't air all the little disagreements and difficulties out in front of the world. Now, there's a time and a place to go for the help of older, wiser people, to go for the help of elders and to bring in other people to help sort out things. But it isn't wise to always be airing every disagreement, every complaint, every fight, blow by blow to your friends and to anyone who will listen. It just embarrasses you and your spouse. It just embarrasses you and your family. It just embarrasses you and your friends. And this is the same principle that he's putting forth to the Corinthians here. And then it is just ridiculously inconsistent of them to be going to the world when they claim to be experts in wisdom. Remember, that was one of the things that they prided themselves on. They were so wise. And he's saying, you who think you're so wise, why can't you even sort out these little difficulties amongst yourselves? What we're learning here is that we're not to take our disputes to the world. We're to settle them amongst ourselves. We're not to look to the world as the orbiter of our disputes. Now, it's true that this principle has been twisted. I've just stated it in its purest form because I want us to hear the Word of God and what it says. but it has been twisted. I'm not meaning to say that the secular courts don't have their legitimate functions. God has established not only His church, but also the civil authorities as ministers of justice in this world. And so, there are proper times to go to them. There are times where there are things that the church is responsible to report to the world in terms of abuse, or if someone breaks into your house and steals something from you, it's to be dealt with ultimately by the courts. Now, sometimes, even in those areas, things can be sorted out amongst brothers, but we shouldn't deny that there is a legitimate function of the secular courts, and sometimes people do deny that, and you get the idea that everything's to be covered up and kept in house, and leaders use this to guilt their congregation members not to seek the legitimate redress that they ought to have. And so, we're not saying that the courts have no legitimate function, but what this text, I think, does press upon us is that as a general principle, wherever possible, we should seek to settle the disputes between ourselves within the church. We shouldn't be going out to others. We shouldn't be certainly always dragging every little thing into the law courts. What does that look like practically? Well, it looks like what we read in Matthew 18. You have a disagreement with someone, you think someone sinned against you, you go to them and tell them that. And the reality is, that's really hard. The reality is, if I can say it, that's really not British. And we don't like to be upfront with each other about the difficulties that we have with one another, but it's what God requires of us. Now, sometimes you're going to go and tell someone gently, carefully, wisely about some way that you think they have sinned against you. Sometimes you might just be able to iron it out like that. Maybe it's a misunderstanding, Maybe you've actually thought wrongly about the situation and you're able to sort it out. But sometimes they are just going to be stubborn and they aren't going to want to apologize or to make amends or to do whatever is necessary. And so we're told to bring others along. not just anyone, of course, probably in wisdom, bring wise, helpful people along to hear this as well, to help sort it out. If it's not possible to sort it out again, then you go to the church. And God has particularly given elders in responsibility over his church that these things are to be taken to. And there's the processes that we've been considering over the last couple weeks of church discipline and all of that. but we are to use this sort of process in dealing with our disputes. We're not to rush, certainly to the courts, but we're not to rush to all of our other friends and talk about it. We're not to rush to the media. We're not to rush to social media. Disputes are inevitable, but God in His goodness has given us a structure to deal with them, and that structure is His church, and He's equipped His church with those who are responsible for her to deal with these things. So, we're to use this. For the glory of Christ, for our good, God has given an organizational solution for dealing with our disputes. That solution is the church, and we are to use it. But the problem of disputes will not really be solved by getting the institution right that we're supposed to go to. I think we all know that, basically. These things are often a lot deeper than just surface level things that we can sort out easily. No, at root, the problem of disputes is a heart problem. And that's why my second point is the heart solution. And we see Paul getting onto this in verse 7, where he says, 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 yourselves be cheated? Now, this is radical in today's world. It's even incendiary. to a culture that prizes rights at every turn, at all costs. In fact, I think to many people today, this sort of thinking is almost incomprehensible. What? Not seek my rights? Not seek for redress when I'm in the right? What? Accept wrong? What? Let myself be cheated? Come on, Paul. What are you smoking? In a world that is all about me and my rights, that makes no sense to do what Paul is saying here. In a world where my very personhood depends on me asserting what is mine, this sounds like giving up on myself. where freedom is supposedly found in asserting what I feel to be right and true, this sort of attitude makes no sense. The answer of many to Paul's question, why not rather accept wrong, the answer of many today would be, well, I would lose. I wouldn't get justice. I would lose face. I would have to give up my sense of superiority, although they probably wouldn't say it like that. I wouldn't be shown to be right. Is your heart a heart that clings to yourself, to me, myself, and I when you encounter disputes? That's the heart of this world. You see, if Christ is king over this world, and he is, if he ultimately decides right and wrong, and he does, if he is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and he will set everything right, and he will, then we can afford to accept wrong. we can afford to be cheated because all of this will be taken care of by the one who has died for us, the one who loves us, and the one who is ruling over all of heaven and earth. If we remember that we're only accepted because God has been immeasurably gracious to us. If we remember that actually Christ's honor is much more important than our own, if we remember that God in His goodness has made Christ's honor and our honor one and the same as He's joined us to Christ, then we can afford to be wronged, to be cheated. We don't deserve any good in the first place, and therefore we don't have to fight for our rights. But this takes a whole different sort of heart. a heart that has let go of your autonomy and is subject to Christ rather than still holding on to your autonomous rights. Where is your heart this morning? And it's often not a binary. Oh, my heart is completely attached to my rights and my autonomy. My heart is completely under the subjection to Christ. It often is a spectrum. We are more over here or more over there. Where is your heart? Is it holding on to your rights, your autonomy, or is it more and more subject to Christ? Now, of course, this teaching, just like the last point, can be used in unhelpful and damaging ways. To someone who is in a genuinely abusive relationship, they should go in and seek help and seek that from the church authorities, and if necessary, the state authorities. They shouldn't just be walked all over. If you're a person who is always absorbing other people's faults, then sometimes you need to learn to stand up and deal with these things rather than just be walked all over all the time. Again, this sort of right teaching can be used to guilt others, particularly when someone is an authority and they guilt someone under their authority to just put up with their bad behavior and just accept wrong. Of course, that's the Christ-like thing to do. We want to reject all that. But just because this teaching can be abused, let's not miss the power of this teaching. Unlike what our culture says, we can accept wrong rather than fighting for our rights. Brothers and sisters, we can even let ourselves be cheated rather than seek justice. if our hearts are submitted to Christ and we're trusting in Him to take care of us and to vindicate us on the last day. And this is so important and beneficial for our relationships in this world. Think about how this can revolutionize relationships between couples who are always fighting with one another. Think about you siblings. Do you sometimes fall out with each other? Do you sometimes get so upset when your sibling wrongs you and you want nothing more than to get justice for yourself? This principle can help you. With our friendships, particularly when someone has stepped on the things which matter most to us, We can long to get justice, to get things sorted out in the way we want them. We need to hear this truth. We need to check our hearts. We need to make sure that they are enthralled to Christ and not to self. And of course, this is just really practical good advice as well, because our hearts are something we have direct control over. We can actually do this. We can't always get justice for ourselves, right? But we can control our hearts to give these things to Christ, trust Him with them, and even be willing to accept wrong or to be cheated, trusting Christ. So let me challenge you. Next time you're in a dispute with your friend or your spouse or your sibling or your fellow church member, check your heart to see if you are living in that dispute subject to Christ or seeking your own rights. Ask yourself, in the middle of the dispute, Can I just be wronged? Why not rather be wronged? Do I care more about the glory of Christ? Do I trust Him to take care of me? So we've seen the organizational solution. We've seen the heart solution. But ultimately, It is God's grace that enables us to deal with disputes amongst ourselves in the church and to be a bright reflection of His glory to the world. And this is where verses eight to 11 come in. If I can say it reverently, this is the grace solution, as I've put it in my third point. Having just exhorted the Corinthians to accept wrong from one another if necessary, Paul points out the fact that this is exactly what they are not doing. Verse 8, no, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren. He reminds them then of God's wrath against hypocrites. In verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. You can't be living clearly, stubbornly against God's ways and still be His child, still be connected to Christ and in Him. Or at least, clearly, you might have backslidden and He might bring you back, but you can't If you're living completely stubbornly against God, then there is no fruit or evidence that you are connected to Christ. And therefore, you have no reason to expect that you have a right to the kingdom of God, to the new creation, to victory and vindication on the day of judgment, to inheriting the kingdom of God. Inheriting the kingdom of God and stubbornly living in sin are incompatible. Paul is trying to shake these Corinthians to their core. He is telling them, wake up. You can't live like some of you are currently doing and presume to inherit the kingdom. This is a warning that should also lead us to examine ourselves. Perhaps you are a hypocrite. You claim Christ, but you're living in ways that are completely contrary to what he calls you to do. And if that's the case, you should fear. You have no reason to expect that you inherit the kingdom of God. At the very least, it should spur all of us on in our fight with hypocrisy. But the real force of these verses is what Paul does next. And I think this is very surprising and beautiful. He writes these wonderful words, verse 11. and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. He says to these Corinthians, your immorality, your sin, your hypocrisy need not have the last word. In God's grace, He has provided Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, for your cleansing, for your making holy, that is setting apart for Him and making you pure. He has provided Christ for making you righteous before Him, that is justifying you. And He didn't just come for the righteous to give them a helping hand, but He came for sinners. And such were some of you, He says to these Corinthians. Some of you were locked out of the kingdom. Some of you had no right to the kingdom. Some of you were covered in the open public filth of immorality. But in Christ, He washed you, He sanctified you, He justified you. How did He do that? Of course, we know it's by coming to this earth, living the perfect life fully in accordance with God's law, dying condemned by man and God in the place of those of His people who He would call to Himself, and applying that perfect righteousness and that atoning death to them by His Holy Spirit to you if you are in Him, and this is what we call grace. And it is what each and every one of us who are in Christ have received. You may not have committed fornication, or maybe you have. You may not have been mired in homosexuality, or maybe you have, but we were all rebel sinners without any hope of inheriting the kingdom. And we were washed, and we were sanctified, and we were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And this, brothers and sisters, is what ultimately enables us to deal with our disputes. You know, this is why Jesus told the parable of the ungrateful servant that we read earlier in our service. This servant who owed the king three million pounds he couldn't pay, he was commanded to be sold with his family and everything he had to pay, he pleaded with the king. The king had mercy and compassion upon him and forgave his debt. And then he goes out and he chokes his fellow servant who owes him a mere 200 pounds, demands payment, won't have compassion on him or forgive him, and throws him into prison. And the king finds out about it, and he turns the first servant over to the torturers. Christ was trying to show us that grace shown to us should lead us to show grace to others. Anything less is just as grotesque as that servant who was shown immense goodness and grace and went out and choked his fellow servant. Grace shown to us. should change our whole paradigm. It should turn us from seekers of justice to givers of grace. Have you known the grace of God? Do you know the grace of God this morning? If you do, He has taken from you the infinite debt of your sin at the highest cost possible, the death of His dearly beloved, His only begotten Son. He has saved you from infinite wrath for all eternity. And can you, brother or sister, take your brother to court, even if that's only in your heart? Can you judge Him or hold bitterness towards Him? Can you seek your pound of flesh, either publicly or by giving Him the cold shoulder? If you know the grace of God, how can you not show that grace to your brothers and sisters? Do you see how the grace of God throws our disputes into the shade? I think it's only because we don't really grasp the greatness of our sin, because we don't really grasp the holiness of God. because we don't really grasp all that we've been forgiven of and cleansed from, that we don't grasp the greatness of the work of Christ on our behalf. I think it's only because we don't grasp the greatness of these things that we can hold so tightly to our disputes and our determination to get justice for ourselves. Brother or sister, Let the grace of God melt your heart in your friendships, in your marriage, in your family, in your disputes with other Christians. Extend the same grace you have been shown. And you know what? When we do that, we declare the glory of God's grace to a watching world. Instead of sullying the name of Christ by dragging the filth of our disputes into the world at large, we show the world the glory of God's grace. Disputes among Christians are deplorable and inevitable. And we've seen that God's given his church. He's exhorted us to check our own hearts, that we should even be willing to trust him and be wronged. And he's lifted our eyes to see the grace that we have been shown, that our disputes might seem small in comparison. In conclusion, let me exhort you to apply these things to your own relationships, to sacrifice like Christ, to appreciate the grace that you have been shown, and to do this so that we might live together in love as a congregation and that we might show forth to our friends, our neighbors, our family, to this city, the glory and the greatness of the grace of our God. Let's pray. Lord God, To let ourselves be wronged is so counter-cultural. It goes against so much in our own hearts. And Lord God, we are so slow sometimes to see the magnitude of your grace. But oh Lord, help us. Change us from those who seek our pound of flesh to givers of grace. Change us because we are taken up with the glory of the grace You have shown unto us. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Please take your hymnals. and turn with me to hymn number 493, hymn number 493. Let us sing to God's praise. you