948
THE KING’S BUSINESS
failure. We must come in outward touch with evil that we may save men from it. Our own purity must be so positive that we can be thrown in contact with impurity but keep from it. But when one who “is named a brother” falls into sin and will not give it up, we should have no com pany whatever with him. We should refuse even to eat with him. Of course we must be absolutely sure that our judg ment of the brother is founded upon clearly-proven facts and not our mere sus picions. Note well the sins Paul specifies as fellowship. They are not mere differ ences of theological opinion, but open immorality. It must also be noted that Paul groups the “covetous” man, the man grasping after wealth, with the “fornica tor,” “idolater,” the “railer” and the “drunkard” (,cf. Eph. 5 :5). Do our churches ' today 'hold to this classification ? Do we put a man who has gone after wealth in the same catagory with the libertine and the drunkard? It is not our business to judge them who are on the outside, that is God’s work, not ours, but it is our duty to judge those within the church when their sin is clear and to “put away the wicked man from among” ourselves. Sunday, October 14 . 1 Corinthians 6 : 1 , 2 . How strongly Paul attacks the Christian who goes •to law against another Chris tian before a worldly court instead of taking him before Christian arbitrators. “Dare any of you,” says Paul, “having a matter against another (that is any fel low believer), go to law before the unrighteous?” Yes, Paul, many professed Christians dare do it nowadays. By the “unrighteous” Paul means all who are out of Christ. Judged by man’s standard a man may not be a Christian and still be a righteous judge. By God’s standard he cannot be, anyone out of Christ is an unrighteous man. How can a man who is not right with God be a righteous judge? Therefore, believers, who have misunder standings with one another, should take the matter “not before the unrighteous” but
“before the saints,” that is before those who have been set apart for God through their acceptance of Jesus Christ. “The saints shall judge the world.” This every believer should know. Paul was surprised that there were any of them who did not know it: and yet there are many who do not know it even yet. But when will “the saints” judge the world? When Jesus comes again. When our Lord returns to this earth He will judge the world with and through His saints, and rule over the world with and through those who are called out in this present dispensation, (Matt. 19:28; Ps. 49:14; Dan. 7:22; Rev. 2:26, 27 ; 3:21; 20:4; 2 Tim. 2:12). Certainly if such judgment and rule over the world is to be given to believers when the Lord comes, are we not competent to judge “the small est matters,” that is things pertaining to earthly disputes, which are small indeed when compared to eternal affairs. Yet how many Christians regard these as the “smallest matters?” Oftentimes they act as if they regarded them as the largest matters. Monday, October 15 . I Corinthians 6 : 3 - 8 . But “the saints,” that is, believers in the Lord Jesus, are not only to judge the world of men, they are to judge angels. This is a stupendous statement, but we have no more reason for doubting this truth than any other statement that the Holy Spirit led Paul to make. We shall sit with Christ in final judgment upon fallen angels who are now reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of that day (Jude 16). The honor and dignity that Christ bestows upon his church is amazing. In view of this lofty judgment that Christ is going to entrust to the church, Paul 8 rebukes the setting 'of those who are of no account in the church, that is perhaps heathen judges, to judge over disputes that believers have among themselves. If saints are competent to judge the greater, they are certainly competent to judge the less. How absurd to seek unenlightened heathen judgment when we can have the judgment
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker