I. Introduction
A. I knew of a Baptist church that took another Baptist church to court
to see which church was a true church. At one time, both of the churches
were one church, but as time progressed, the church split, and both sides
claimed to be the true, original church. The court threw the case out.
B. I knew a Baptist pastor who took his church to court to get paid for
past vacation days he had not taken. The court threw the case out.
C. Example like this is a rebuke to the entire Christian community.
II. I Corinthians 6.
A. Reasons why church members should not take other church members to
court.
1. It is necessary fully to understand I Corinthians 5 and how that
chapter fits in with chapter 6.
a. In chapter 5, the church was not taking care of business as they
should.
b. In chapter 6, the church was allowing others to take care of their
business.
c. They refused to judge that which God said was a sin,
a rebuke, and a hindrance to worship and witnessing, but they wanted the
secular world to judge that which they considered a sin, a
rebuke, and a hindrance.
d. Because the church would not take care of their own
business, they came to the place of allowing others to take care of
their business.
2. I Corinthians 5:12,13 – God judges whose without, the church
judges those within the membership of the church.
3. Many churches today do not want to stand for anything, therefore
they fall into more sin.
a. Many churches do not want to practice church discipline because
they do not want to hurt anybody’s feelings.
b. Because these churches do not practice church
discipline, they fall into all kinds of wickedness and sin, and
reproach.
B. Churches must understand what judging is.
1. Examples of Godly, Biblical judging.
a. Matthew 19:28 – Apostles will judge the 12 tribes of Israel,
sitting on 12 thrones. The word "judging" is the same Greek
word used in I Corinthians 6:2,3 for the word "judge".
b. God gave Israel judges during the books of Judges.
1.) Judges are judicial, not legislative.
2.) They enforce the laws, they do not make the laws.
3.) Our forefathers knew the difference, but today, that principle
is unknown.
4.) The local church does not have, and never has had, the right to
be a legislative body.
5.) We are a judicial body.
6.) We do what God declares we should do, using the Bible as a
guide.
7.) We are never to do what we think we ought to do.
C. Saints will judge angels, therefore we are fully qualified to judge
each other.
1. When people judge angels, they would necessarily be above them.
2. There will be a change of status in eternity.
3. Hebrews 2:7 is a quote from Psalms 8:5, continuing to Hebrews 2:9
– Jesus was made a little lower than the angels when he was made a
human, but (I John 3:2) we will be like Christ in eternity.
4. Romans 8:15 – We have received the spirit of adoption.
5. Romans 8:23 – We are waiting for the completion of the adoption
process, the redemption of our bodies.
6. Galatians 4:5 – We are redeemed from under the law that we might
receive the adoption of sons.
7. Ephesians 1:5 – We are predestinated unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself.
8. The Bible "assumes" that saved people will naturally seek
out other saved people and separate themselves from the world (or perhaps
that lost people will separate themselves from saved people), they would
"automatically" be scripturally baptized, then become a member
of that local church, or they would form a scriptural Baptist church.
a. Today, many people believe in a universal church, so they cannot
understand what it means to believe in a local church.
b. Many local churches are full of confusion because they are not
following Christ, therefore many people do not want to have anything to
do with them.
D. I Corinthians 6:1, 2 – judge in this world is the same word as judge
in eternity.
1. The word "judge" means to come to a determination.
2. The determination is always by the Word of God, never our own
personal opinions, or preferences.
E. Saints are saved people, who are in the church, not saints as in
Catholicism.
1. This shows that saints automatically gravitate toward other saints,
thus a church is formed.
2. Today, that does not seem to be the case, as there are saints in
every denomination and every church.
3. That is why Christ declares to them in Revelation 18:4 to "Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues."
F. True Godly churches are a "community" separate and apart
from the rest of the world.
1. Christ told us to come out from among them and be ye separate, II
Corinthians 6:14-18.
2. One of the very major problems in this world is that people want the
church and the world to be one and the same.
G. I Corinthians 6:4 - If then ye have judgments of things pertaining
to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
1. The point is not to pick out the person in the church that is the
least learned to decide cases.
2. The point is that the person that might be considered the
least able to judge a matter in the church is much more able than any
person outside the world to judge the same matter.
H. I Corinthians 6:6 - But brother goeth to law with brother, and that
before the unbelievers.
1. The church had caused unbelievers to rebuke believers, which is a
bad thing.
2. Unbelievers have been able to look into the very personal matters of
church members in order to make a judgment of right or wrong, which is a
bad thing.
3. Verse 7 – It would be better to suffer wrong rather than let
unbelievers make a judgment of personal matters instead of the church
making that judgment.
4. Verse 8 – Church members taking church members to court has caused
a great harm to the spiritual growth of brothers.
5. Verse 9-11 – The unrighteous are not even in the kingdom, must
less able to make any sort of spiritual evaluation of what God considers
right or wrong.
6. Verse 11 – Remember when you were in the world? And all the
trouble you were in?
7. Verse 12 – Going to court puts you under the authority of the
courts – unbelievers. Paul will not be under the authority of any person
except God. A good thing for us to keep in our minds.
8. Verse 13 – There should be a separation of secular and spiritual
things.
a. When church members take church members to court, they are putting
more emphasis upon temporal things than eternal things.
b. God is going to destroy all temporal things.
c. Only the things done for Christ (spiritual things) will last.
9. Verse 15 –Fornication is an ungodly power that is over the flesh
or spirit.
a. When a church member goes to court, they are putting themselves
under the authority of the court – thus other church members will be
affected.
b. Thus the entire church will be affected, not only because young
church members will not understand how to conduct themselves when there
are disagreements, but because the present situation requires some sort
of solution which is prescribed by the court instead of by the local
church.
III. Conclusion.
A. Because of this present evil world, and the need for insurance, there
are certain concessions made.
1. Insurance is a required evil today.
2. Insurance companies will not pay unless they are forced to pay.
3. Because of this fact, it is sometimes necessary for church members
to sue other church members.
B. Ephesians 4:31-32 states, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
1. Even though it is sometimes necessary for church members to sue
other church members, there is never a reason to have bitterness, wrath,
or anger toward other church members.
2. I remember a case in a church where the insurance company forced
church members to sue each other.
3. They joked each other about suing each other, and had no hard
feelings toward each other at all.