Epistles of Paul 34

Paul in his first publicly recorded epistle to the Corinthians pleaded for unity. And then he addressed various issues that were prevalent in the congregation. He initially urged the Corinthians to imitate him. And with that in mind, he sent Timothy to teach them the way, the way which Paul taught and the way to live by. There were a number of brethren in the church in Corinth which had various types of talents.

Some of them were very successful, probably in business. Others maybe were distinguished or could even be some were celebrities of high standing. And that backs up the point, or is backed up by the point that Paul said that they were very blessed with many talents, many gifts, many abilities. Not just physical, but spiritual as well. Now, because of these various abilities, that is a possible reason why some were arrogant or let's call it puffed up. And because of that, as a result of that, there was a lack of unity among some. And therefore, because some were puffed up and arrogant, that could have been also seen in the way they talked.

And therefore, Paul mentioned that he planned to visit them, God willing, and address the matter. And therefore, as a lead-in to address this issue of a combination of arrogance and disunity, he mentions that God's kingdom is not based on, let's call it arrogant talk or being very capable of talking, but God's kingdom is based on God's power. And then he poses the question, which he says, and we read that in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 21. And he poses the question, shall he visit them with a rod of correction or in a spirit of love and gentleness?

The word gentleness is a Greek word, praoates, which basically means gentleness and mik, or mikness. Sometimes it's also translated as mikness. So he's saying, I don't want to visit you in a very corrective mode, but I rather come there in a spirit of love and gentleness. And so within that context, he does address that correction in this letter in the hope that there would be a change so that he would not have to address it when he was there in person.

And so he did so in this letter in the spirit of love and gentleness and mikness. And then he starts by saying that it is reported that some are condoning sexual immorality in the church. And instead of mourning about it and addressing the issue, some were being puffed up or arrogant about it. Therefore, we read that in the last Bible study in chapter 5, he has decided, or in other words, he has judged, to remove that person from the fellowship.

Why? Is it to cause the person to lose eternal life? No. His intent is in the spirit of love and gentleness so that the person would repent, in other words, for the person's own good. He adds that we as Christians, then, must not have Christian fellowship with these sinning people that have been asked to be removed from the fellowship. Because we need to make a decision, we need to act in a way that will keep the church separate from sin. That's basically, in other words, what he said at the conclusion of chapter 5. In other words, he said, we need to judge those inside the church.

We need to act, we need to judge those people that are sinning and not allow them to have fellowship with the church. In an act, in a loving way, an act which should be a loving way. Not being unkind to them, but in a way that they need to see that they are not condemning them, but they're hoping that those people would repent.

And that's what, in fact, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 5, where he said he's doing that for the destruction of the flesh, in other words, for them to repent. That his spirit, you know, was that the spirit of man in man, that the way that person thinks and acts, that his spirit, he says, may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, in other words, so that he would repent.

And therefore, he would be continuing working in the way towards eternal life. Then, in Corinthians 6, he continues talking about judging because members were, in addition, instead of addressing the issues in the church, they were taking other members of the church to court. Seeking judgment. And Paul says that that is completely wrong. Let's read now 1 Corinthians 6, verse 1. There any of you, there any of you, in other words, how do you dare? How do you have audacity?

Say, having a matter against another, and he's talking about another brother, another member in the church, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints. In other words, why do you try and resolve the issue by going to a court or a system of the law in the country of unrighteous, of unconverted people, when you could take it to the leadership in the church to try and get it resolved? So that's what he's saying. So if we have a problem, or if we do ever have a problem against another brother in the church, how do we handle it? And they were trying to sort it out, quote unquote, by going to law, to court, instead of to the church.

Now, understand, he's talking about people that were inside the church, not for those outside, or that have been removed from the church and are no more part of the church. That's a different matter. In those, you do need, if there is a problem, you may need, in fact, in some cases, to go to the law.

But for those in the church, that is not the case. And then he's saying, in verse 2, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? We now are the saints. We are the ones that are set apart by God, too, that are in the process of sanctification through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And so we ultimately will be judges. We will judge the world. Now, obviously, it's Christ that will judge the world.

But Christ will delegate judges and a ream, for instance, over five cities, over 10 cities, etc. He will be judged. He will be judged in cities. And basically, as we take up, basically what we mean is we will be judged in the world. So therefore, those in the church should be able today to settle issues in the church. Outside the church, we have no authority. And the only authority we have in the church is basically to talk to them and to try and talk to make sense, to bring people to repentance.

And if that is not the case, then we would have, if the situation is very serious, we would have to ask the people to leave the church. That's what we read in Matthew 18. But let's go completely complete reading 1 Corinthians 6 verse 2, and then we want to turn to Matthew 18. So we're reading verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 6. 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? In other words, aren't you able to make decisions to evaluate, to discern, and make decisions, as for instance, the leaders in the church, make decisions and discuss with the brethren that are having an issue and address the issue? So in that context, let's now read Matthew 18. Matthew 18, we'll start reading from verse 15.

Moreover, if your brother sins against you, so we're talking about a sin, a specific process here for a sin, but whatever the issue is, it's always better. It's always the right thing to go to your brother and resolve whatever issue it is at the lowest level, just you and him alone. That is the way we need to do for everything. There is a little disagreement, or a person is a little upset, or a person is offended.

A person says, hey, you offended me, then we should be able to talk to one another directly, not through another person, but just say, hey, you've offended me. You should be able to approach that person. Maybe that person that offended you didn't even realize that what he or she said offended you. Maybe he doesn't even think that he's an even an offense. He thinks that was so small. But maybe the person that was offended is more sensitive and felt that there was an offense. So that person that was offended should approach the one that has offended him and say, hey, that comment you gave, it hurt me.

And the other person may say, wow, I didn't intend it that way, but I'm sorry, I just got to be more careful when I speak that I don't come across that way because I didn't mean to come across that way. And that is always the best way to address these issues. Go and tell him his fault between you and Imola. It shouldn't even be you tell somebody else and then somebody else comes and tell you and says, well, you go and talk to that person, apologize.

It should be direct. It should be the offended person going directly to the one that caused the offense, him alone. Anyway, if he hears you, you've gained your brother. It is important to hear other people's concerns and to make peace and gain a brother. Verse 16 and 17. But if you're not here, take with you one or two more. There by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.

So now you get some witnesses to try and say, hey, you know, he has the case. It is a valid case. And then if he refuses, he still refuses to give them. And again, this is if the matter is big enough. Sometimes small matters, it's best to just say, well, it doesn't and just take offense as we will look in a moment, just accept offense and leave it. Sometimes that is the case, as we'll see Paul mentions that. But again, continue reading in verse 17. If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses, even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

So basically, what he's saying is, when you have a matter that normally you would go to court, you don't go to court, you don't go to the Lord. If you're having a matter between two brethren in the church, what you do is you go to the leadership in the church, and you try and resolve it in the church. And whatever the person or the ministry or the leadership says, do this over that, then that should be done.

If he or she refuses to do that, then it says, remove that person from the fellowship. Now, therefore, it should be, when we take this up to this level, it should be a situation that warrants to remove a person from the fellowship. If it is some minor offense that we can just let go, sometimes it's better to let go.

We talk to them, but sometimes it's better to be defrauded, as we will do in 1 Corinthians 6, when he talks about that. And then we read here, still in Matthew 18, verses 18 through 20, says, So in this context, if you agree with that person to handle the situation that's this way or that way, then it will be bound in heaven as well. Or it will be loosed and forgiven in heaven as well. Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by the Father or by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of you. It's interesting that the context of this situation is when there is a disagreement, they come to a conclusion to resolve that disagreement. So it's not something that they come to change God's laws or anything like that.

No, it's actually there is a little matter or a matter of a bigger import that needs to be addressed, and it's agreed to address it in a specific way. And when it's addressed that way, what is bound on earth is bound in heaven. All right, let's continue now reading in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 3. Do you not know that we shall charge angels?

How much more things that pertain to this life? Don't you know that we'll even charge angels? Well, probably they didn't know. You know, unless we had this, yeah, we probably wouldn't know. But look at a few other scriptures that go in with this one. The one is in 2 Peter, chapter 2, 2 Peter, chapter 2, verse 4. 2 Peter, chapter 2, verse 4. He says, But if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them to Tartarou, in other words, to a place of restraint, and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment, there will be a time when there will be a judgment.

Now, when he talks about, it says here in verse 4, they were cast down to Tartarou. We also see another scripture that helps us to explain a little bit more about that, which is in Jude 6. And in Jude 6 we read, it says, And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, in other words, those angels that became disobedient, that did not keep their first place, as some versions put it, did not keep their responsibility, because they were supposed to be working with mankind with responsibilities to serve on the earth.

And it says, yeah, but left their own abode. So they left their responsibility, which was to look after what God was doing and is doing on earth. So they went, and as we know, they went and fought against God. They lost that first war. We know there will be a second war of that kind, because we read that in Revelation 12, when Satan will rise up, and Michael will then, a big partner, rise up against Satan and will expel Satan once for all out of heaven.

But at that time, it says, they left their abode, and he has reserved in everlasting shines under darkness for the judgment of the Great Day. So there will be a judgment. They will be thrown, they were thrown into Tartarou, a place of restraint. And this also goes together with Luke chapter 8. Let's look at Luke chapter 8 verse 21 through, I think, verse 28 through 31. Luke chapter 8 verse 28.

And this is when these, Luke chapter 8 verse 28, and there were all these, it says, There was this demon-possessed man that was healed, and when he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the Most High? I beg you, do not torment me. Now this was a demon talking. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For he often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles.

But he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. So Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss, into this place of restraint. So there is some place of restraint, and some of them were not staying there. And there is exactly what is happening in detail, why some are in Tartaru and some are able to leave and impact people.

One person that I heard explaining is that Tartaru is restricted to earth, whether that is the case or not. I don't know. But anyway, let us continue reading in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 4. And this is basically, don't you know, we're going to judge angels.

So there will be a time that we will judge angels. So now, the point about judging angels, people say, Well, what about the good angels? Well, we will be managing because they'll be our servants. We'll be managing them.

We'll be ruling over them. And therefore, in a sense, as we manage over them, we'll be judging them. He says, No, do this, do that. No, you haven't done this. Do it that way. So that is also, by extension, a way of judging as well. So let's now read verse 4.

In other words, if you have a matter to address, to resolve, amongst brethren in the church, why do you appoint those, as it says, who are least esteemed by the church to judge? Now, in verse 1, he talks about go to the law before the unrighteous. You see, these people that are even in courts, they are judges in courts. They're not righteous people according to God's principles. They are unrighteous. Therefore, they are unrighteous judges. And so why do you take brethren in the church to those that are unrighteous judges? You know, as they're not obedient to God's principles and God's laws, to judge in a matter between church brethren. He says, no, it shouldn't be so. Look at verse 5. 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? So is it that there's not even one person in the congregation, one lead man, that may be appointed? Our case would be an elder or a man that would be appointed to that the brethren would go and say, okay, we've got a matter to address and resolve. You see, so typically will be an elder says, isn't there a wise man among you, not even one, will be able to judge between his brethren? Why are you taking it to unrighteous judges in the law, in man's law? And then I'll continue in verse 6. But brother goes to law against brother. Once again, he's talking about brethren in the church. Brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers. You see that before unbelievers. He says, now therefore, verse 7, it is already an utter failure for you. It is a complete failure. It's a complete misuse application of an action which is completely defective. In other words, it's a lack of wisdom, lack of proper conduct, lack of brotherly love, and maybe even lack of proper care by the leaders and not to teach them the way to do it properly. And so continue. Is it already an utter failure? It is already an utter failure for you that you go to war against one another. Why do you not rather, rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? And this is what I was saying a little earlier on. When there is an argument between two brethren and one of them feels well, I don't offend you. I've got nothing to apologize. If the matter is not that big, it's better to just accept wrong. It's better to just allow yourself, in your mind, to be cheated. That's what I'm saying in there. So why don't you accept a little bit of injustice? Even between... and he's obviously talking about amongst brethren. That is better than going to the law.

Because if you go to the law, that brings a bad name to the church. It's not a good reflection on the church. Again, please note, this is in the context that both members are in the church. That is the context. And so he says, why don't you accept to be, as he says, cheated or defrauded? Why don't you accept wrong? Versus, I have my rights and you do this to me! Isn't that maybe a bit of arrogance? Think about it. Sometimes, sometimes, the one that says he's offended and therefore is pointing fingers, saying that he was offended, maybe that one is even more at fault.

Than the one that is allegedly cause the offense. And the one that allegedly cause the offense. In this case, understanding that the other brother is, let's call it, wicked in the faith, wicked in this matter. Just accept. Accept wrong. And apologize. And accept it.

So we're talking here, really, a discussion between arrogance and humility. Now, we were reading in Matthew 18. So I want to continue now reading in Matthew 18. But now I'm going to read from verse 21.

18, verse 21. The emperor came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. Wow. Up to 70 times seven.

And then he was a parable. And a parable he asked from verse 23 to verse 27. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who held him ten thousand talents. But he was not able to pay his master to pay his master commander that he be sold and his wife and children and all that he had in payment be made. And the servants therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me and I'll pay you all. Then a master of death servant was moved of compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. The parable, Yah, is the master, is God. And we that have an enormous debt of sin, it's you and I. And we need, we come to God and say, I just can't pay it back. And God forgives us. And he actually gives us Christ to pay for our sins. But God forgives us because of his mercy, because of his kindness. He forgave us that great debt. God accepted being defrauded by us, by you and I. And then he continues this parable in verse 28. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants. We owed him a hundred denarii. So in other words, now you and I as members in the church, brethren in the church, we have been forgiven this huge debt that we cannot pay back. And now we, between two brethren, have an argument about a silly thing. Maybe you use the word that the other one felt it was offensive. And the other one says, but that was not really offensive. But Yah, it was offensive! Okay, fine. Be defrauded. You see? But in this parable, one of these fellow servants, because he's talking about a fellow servant, in other words, by analogy, is one of our brethren, a fellow servant in the church. So we don't forgive that person. We hold a garage against that person. And we'll not forgive that other brother. That is a big problem between that person that doesn't forgive and God. And because we read the story starting in verse 32, then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you bet me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had, pity on you. So if there is a fault or an offense between two brethren, comparing to the offense you and I have done to God, that is nothing. Should we just, you know, let it go and be defrauded? And he asked the point in verse 34, and his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. If people don't forgive, you know that you become miserable. It's like you delivered to the torturers. If the people don't forgive, you got this thing in you that is like a torturer. You become miserable until you learn to just let it go, until we learn to just accept and be defrauded. Because if we don't do it, it says, it says, I'll deliver it into the torturers. That's in the meantime, be miserable, and until you should pay all that was due to him, and you can't pay all. How do you pay all? You pay all with the lack of fire, the sick and death in that analogy between us and God.

So, we must be willing to be defrauded, to accept wrong from our brethren. Look at also Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Verse 1. Galatians 6. Verse 1. Brethren, if any man is overtaken in any trespass, now we're talking really about a sin. It's not some, yeah, a person said something and the other's taken it wrong. Come on, guys, come on. We need to be a little bit bigger in some of these things, don't we? And just let some of these things go rather than make it a big issue. Anyway, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, so we're talking about a sin, you are spiritual. You are more spiritually mature. If you think you are more spiritually mature, then say, restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness. Make peace with him or her, restore him or her in the spirit of gentleness, meekness. It's the same word, parotis. It's meekness. It's like being tamed. It's teachable, malleable, meek, gentle. Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted, bear one another's burdens. It was except to be defrauded and so fulfilled the law of Christ. That's what Christ has done for us. Verse 3, for if anyone feels himself to be something when he's nothing, if you think you're such good spiritual giant when we're nothing, we're deceiving ourselves. We must not think, I know it all. I know it all. This is that way. This is that way. And hey, I know what you should do.

We've got to be careful because we could be deceiving ourselves. Verse 4, but let each one examine his own work. We need to examine ourselves, not examine our brother. We need to examine ourselves, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. Examine ourselves, we change ourselves, we become better people, and we have peace internally in our mind, and we rejoice in ourselves alone and not in another. Not rejoicing because we force the other to change because in the end we can't change anybody. Verse 5, so each one must bear his own load. We must bear our own cross. Do you remember Luke 14? Verse 26 through to verse 28, you probably were reminded of that or highlighted that at your baptism when it said, count the cost. He says, we've got to love less all these things, and he says, even your own life. And put God first. And he says, then you've got to carry our cross. You've got to carry your cross. Otherwise, you can't be crushed to the sample. That's why he says, count the cost. We've got to carry these burdens. We've got to carry a cross.

Therefore, brethren, going back to 1 Corinthians, we were reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and he says in verse 7, we should not rather accept wrong or let yourselves be cheated. Therefore, brethren, in summary, we should be able to handle our own problems, not going to law. And by example, if, for instance, you and your spouse are having a problem, wouldn't it be better for you and your spouse, or my wife and I, wouldn't it be better for us to resolve our own problems? Of course, and understand that sometimes it could just be the tone of voice, or a snappy comment, or just an unkind retort, and it's just like a spark that lightens up. So, we need to examine ourselves, as we saw in Galatians 6 verse 4.

That is the best way we tackle it individually, privately, as we read in Matthew 18. We don't broadcast it to other people. We don't take others to the court of public opinion, or starting rumors and things like that. We just address it ourselves. Because that's what it says. If we take it outside of that core and proper way of doing it, it says it's act of failure. That's what it says in verse 7. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 7. It's act of failure of you. It's lack of brotherly love. It's lack of wisdom and proper conduct. Now, obviously, that's one side of the story. We've got to accept wrong. But then there is the other side of the story. Verse 8. Now, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren. The other person is possibly also doing something wrong. Maybe your she doesn't see it. Only she's not the fault is the other. And maybe the person kind of flips things around and he says, no, it's his fault or her fault.

Are we able to examine ourselves both parties? Both parties? Do you yourselves do wrong and cheat and that to your brethren? So, one side of the equation is one being defrauded. The other side of the equation is the other that is causing defraud. And sometimes the one that feels that is being defrauded is actually the one that's causing the fraud. We've got to be very careful with this and understand very carefully. And so he says here in verse 8, how can you do wrong things to your brethren? That's the other side of the coin. That's the one that is actually doing the wrong thing. Remember, we all stand before God. Let's continue reading verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't you know that the unrepentant, whether it is the unrighteous person, member, or whether it is the unrighteous judge, the unrepentant will not be in the kingdom? Do not be deceived. Now, you and I know Satan is the master deceiver. We read that in Revelation 12, if I remember correctly, verse 9. But in Jeremiah 17 verse 9, it also says, we deceive ourselves. We can deceive ourselves. And that's why it says, do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor so the might. A lot of the synths, a lot of these synths that he's listing here, at least in verse 9, are sexual synths. Homosexuals, for instance, it's effeminate type of behavior. So the might is more abuse of self with men. There's a lot of problems, a lot of emotional problems. Some of them have been brought because of problems when people were very young, very young. And they did not have genuine, for instance, fatherly love, and they seek that love in other ways. But they won't find true love in just six. Six is not necessarily true love, the true love that they're looking for. Now, there are many abuses, many problems that occur amongst people. The church has a blog called Breaking Free. So if you go to ucg.org, then beyond today, then under blogs, you'll see a section called Breaking Free. There you'll find various articles and a lot of material related to healing, broken trust in a marriage. Articles regarding the same-sex attraction. Articles regarding victims of sexual abuse and child abuse. Articles about alcoholism. Articles about anxiety and depression. Articles about gaining addiction. Articles about stress reduction. Articles about feelings which are suicidal or bipolar or schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Articles about eating disorders, obesity and anorexia. Articles about drug addiction. Articles about verbal abuse and anger addiction. Brethren, there's a whole lot of information to help people. And note, some of you can contribute with articles. Please talk to your pastor, because we're always looking for additional good, valuable content to help others to put in our site, which are available. We should be able to be made available to other people without charge. We know those which are not copyrighted. So if you can write material which could be helpful, please let your pastor know. So we were reading in verse 9, and so it goes on, in verse 10, No thieves, no coveters, no drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. So it's saying all these sins, unless people repent, those that have those sins will not be in the kingdom of God. Now look at verse 11, and such were some of you.

But those have repented. But such were some of you. Some of you could have had some of these sins. And remember, therefore, it is possible to change with the help of God's Holy Spirit, but it takes work. It takes work. And so it says, and such were some of you. In other words, God calls sinners into the church.

And that's what it says. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. So you have repented. You've been washed with Christ's blood, and God's Holy Spirit is helping you in the way of sanctification. You see, church is like a hospital. We all need to be healed.

If you say you don't need to be healed in anything, maybe you've got a problem. We all need the church. We all need to overcome something. In Luke 5, verse 32, 30 and 32, where it was that those Pharisees said, well, you know, how come you're going into these people? There are sinners. Christ said He calls sinners to repent us. Some were some of you, but we need to change. We need to repent. We need to be overcoming. And so, Christ has come to help those that need help. And therefore, are we, or you and I, willing to accept that help through His power, which is God's Holy Spirit?

Let's continue now in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and we're going to read now verse 12. All things are lawful to me or for me, but all things are not helpful. Apparently, this was a Greek idiom. And basically, what it's saying is, there's a lawful use for all things. It was all things are lawful for me, more like all there is a good use for everything. There's a everything has a proper, correct application. What do we usually say in the church?

The thing is not the sin. Sin is the wrong use of the thing. For it's sex is not the sin. The sin is the wrong use of sex. Likewise, for certain plants and certain herbs, they are proper uses. And for some plants and from some herbs, and there is an improper use for some of them, which they, when used improperly, may become drugs or addictive drugs. So there is a lawful use for all things. There is a way that certain things can be used correctly, but not all things are expedient.

But not all things are helpful. Not all things are expedient. For instance, if doing something or saying something destroys the peace in the church, destroys the edification in the church, or the edification of your brother, if it causes another brother or sister to stumble, if it causes your brother or sister to be grieved, if it offends their mind, because maybe they are weak in the faith or weak in the mind, for instance, like eating meat offered to idols, as we'll discuss in chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians.

So if there's anything that is going to cause some possible thing that will cause that person to stumble, don't do it. Don't say it. Could be lawful, but shouldn't be done. And so we need to evaluate ourselves. I'll give you another example. If somebody comes to the church and they think drinking wine is sin, and they haven't learned from the scriptures that, no, it isn't sin, don't cause offense. Don't serve wine at the table of that person.

So you're not offending that new one in the faith. So whatever you do, it should edify the other person. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 23 and 24. He says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. So don't be selfish to please our own desires or our own vanity. Don't do that. So let's continue reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 12. And he says, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I will not be under the control of any. It was I will not be under the authority of that thing.

It was that thing will not master me. That comes from the Greek word 1850 exo siazo, which means I will not be under the power of authority of that thing. Let me give you another example. Alcohol. If you think that you are drinking a bit too much and maybe it's kind of starting to control you, why don't you go a few months without it? Then you'll know and you are controlling over it. So and one of the sins that is very enslaving that must is a person is sixth sense.

That's why there in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 10 mentions a number of sixth sense. We really need to be on top and control all sins, all vices, all things, things that are lawful, but we've got to do them in a right and a lawful way. So let's continue our reading in verse 13. Foods are for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. You see, he's now using an analogy, a physical analogy.

God created us this way. You see, so food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food. So, but it's whole physical, all physical. And in that analogy, the body, which is also physical, was not created for sexual immorality, for misuse section, but the body was created for the Lord and the Lord for the body. You see, why are we created with a body? Because in a body, we have the spirit of man in man, and that spirit of man in man is there to receive God's Holy Spirit, so that you and I can be really children of God.

So we can be a family. So the body was not created for sexual immorality, was created for a greater spiritual purpose as an analogy. Again, Corinth was a city which was very moral, a harbor city with sailors and a lot of corruption. I explained that at the beginning of the series of studies when I introduced 1 Corinthians. And then it says, we just finished reading, that somewhere, somewhere, did some of these things. We read that in verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 6, and such with some of you. So some brethren, before conversion, were doing some of these things.

So he's saying, don't go back to it. You see, in 1 Corinthians 12, for instance, it talks about that the body, we are one body, members of one spiritual body, which is Christ's body, which is the church. Right? So we belong to Christ. So don't use the body for the wrong purpose. The body is a capability somehow of working with the spirit of man in man, and the two now become a living being. And that is there for us to receive God's Holy Spirit so that we can be children of God.

That's the purpose of the body. And so he continues in verse 14 and 15. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Yes, God, through His power, through His power of His Spirit, He raised Christ. He will also raise us. Do you not know that your body are members of Christ? Don't you know that we are members of Christ's body, of a spiritual body? Shall I then take members of Christ and make them members of a hollet? Certainly not. Certainly not. Verse 16, or do you not know that He who is joined to a hollet is one body?

For the two, with her, for the two, He says, shall become one flesh. The sexual act, the sexual relation makes one one flesh. So we are to be one flesh with one faithful spouse in the church. And that, by analogy, shows a spiritual meaning. Verse 17, that He who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him. We are with Him in one Spirit because God and Christ want us to be one, like they are one.

And we are to be one Spirit. We are to have the same Spirit, God's Spirit. That same Spirit is to be part of us. We are to have that same spiritual essence that brings us all as one. So the husband-wife relationship is a type of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are to be the bride of Christ, to be of one mind, to be one. That Spirit, God's Spirit, imparts many gifts, many talents, and it has many attributes, as we read, for instance, about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, 22, and 23. Therefore, verse 18, flee sexual immorality. Flee any illicit sexual relationship because that's sinning against your own body. It says every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Sexual sins involve your whole emotion, deep psychological feelings. The body and a misuse can bring many, many serious diseases. Verse 19, all do not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. Obviously, the church is God's temple, but so is our body, and we are part of that spiritual body, which then is God's temple, the body of Christ. So this whole thing is interconnected.

So let's... That was verse 19 and verse 20. For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. We are paid and bought for. God dwells in us. So we can see here in this chapter six, Paul talked quite a bit about relationships, about forgiving one another, about being able to be one through God's Holy Spirit, and avoiding, as he started in chapter five, sexual sins, sexual immorality, and he's saying that is one big problem that affects the unity of the body of Christ, because we are one with Christ.

We are one, as it says here, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, whom you have, or which you have from God, and you are not your own. We have been bought with a price. Therefore, let's glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God's. Until next week, brethren.