No Suits Allowed (Part 4)

No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

Dr. Mike Avendroff. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

Number nine, keep your emotions subservient to the Word of God. And I know you can do it, because I know if you get in a big fight with somebody in your family and the phone rings, you said this, you did that, you're going to do that, how can we do that, ring, ring, hi,

Mike Avendroff. Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.

Number 10, remember sooner or later the conflict must be dealt with, so resolve it to the glory of God.

If you've got the power to resolve it, Proverbs 3 says, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do so.

And then number 11, finally before we get back into the text, worship instead of worry before, during, and after the conflict.

Worship instead of worry. Remember sanctification, you say no to the wrong thing, and then you put on the right thing, so no to worry, yes to worship.

I'm going to worship God in the midst of this conflict, and I know one day something's going to be happening, and that is all the conflicts will be taken care of, this person eventually in heaven, this person's going to be glorified one day, and why worry about something that's sure to happen, that is the glorification of a person at church or my spouse.

Philippians 4, rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice, even in conflicts. Alright, let's go back to 1

Corinthians chapter 6, 9 to 11. Back up again, taking a big picture, 6, 1 to 8 is talking about having no rights to act unjustly, and now 6, 9 to 11,

I've got a question for you. Is it the next section, or does it go with the first section, 1 to 8?

Well the best way to find out is to see if there's a connecting word in verse 9. So here's the question again, most people when they preach 6, 9 to 11, consider it it's own unit, but that's not right, because there's an initial word there that connects it to 6, 1 to 8.

6, 1 to 8 and 6, 9 to 11, this is the third time I've said it because it's very, very important, it's connected by the word or, this is one unit.

The thought passage, the pericope should be 6, 9 to 11, as the new one, no, 6, chapter 6, 1 to 11.

Let me read it to you and tell me how this fits in, how does this go with the lawsuit issue of chapter 6, verse 1 to 8, 1

Corinthians 6, 9 to 10 and 11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, or drunkards, nor revilers, or swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. What is the connection?

We've got 6, 1 to 8 and now we've got 9 to 11, they all go together. Here's the connection, 6, 1 to 8, don't act unrighteously by suing another

Christian. And here's a warning to make sure you realize just how important it is.

Did you know that people who are characterized by unrighteousness don't go to heaven? You say, well, you know, it's just a lawsuit, it's just this, it's just that.

It is unrighteous behavior to sue another Christian when God says don't sue another Christian. So Paul says, just as a warning, just for emphasis, just for a very emphatic statement, unrighteous people, like those who sue, don't inherit the kingdom of God.

Righteous people positively suffer now and inherit later. Unrighteous, get now and suffer later.

Now that helps unity, that's wise. And so Paul gives this motivation here to be godly.

The unrighteous don't go to heaven, so act righteously. And then he also says in verse 11, we're going to see, and Jesus has changed you, you're going to be different.

So let's take a look at this and see it in context. Main question again, if you've been a

Christian, if you are a Christian rather, you are different, so don't act like you used to do, like you used to act.

Now he asks a question again, take a look at it in verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. There's my question. Is it easy to be deceived with this? It's easy to be deceived because why would he say do not be deceived?

Oh, we would never be deceived. The world, it's pressure, it's thinking, it's selling, it's media, unrighteous go to heaven.

Our hearts, well you know what, there really can't be a hell so bad, just temporary sins on earth and God punishes people forever.

What kind of loving God would that be? Paul says don't be deceived because it's easy to be deceived.

Paul says you know better, you should know. Don't be deceived. Your hearts might trick you.

What's the most deadly thing for deception in the life of a Christian? It's not the world, it's our own hearts.

You know what I like about Paul? He's basically saying this, there is not one reason you should be deceived with this issue.

There's no necessity. I'm just going to tell you the truth. Nobody should be deceived when we go to this list, this parade of sinful people and when the parade goes by of people who are characterized by fornication, idolatry, adultery, passive and active homosexual sexuality and greed and all the way down the line.

When that parade goes by you on Jerry Springer's show or on Oprah, you should never say to yourself but you know, they're nice, they love each other, they're committed.

What goes on with two consenting adults is not that big a deal. Paul says don't be deceived.

And so Paul gives a list here of ten things, it's not an exhaustive list, but ten characteristic words that should remind you that when you meet a person like this, you should evangelize them.

That when you say, this is what I used to be, thank God that I'm not this anymore. A .T.

Robertson calls this the solemn roll call of the damned. Doesn't mean that Christians can't commit these sins, but they're not dominated by these sins.

This is not lifestyle sins, catalogs of sinners that are typical of the unsaved.

There are ten in the Greek, nine sadly in the ESV, but we'll tell you why in a second.

Number one, fornicators. Let me give you the Greek word, pornoi, P -O -R -N is the root word.

This is all sexual sin outside of marriage. So people that are dominated by that, that's their lifestyle, that's just what they do, it's not they sinned one time, repented, and reestablished fellowship with the

Lord. This is people who fornicate, the Bible says, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

It's like years ago when I met someone here and I said, are you a Christian, yes.

Does your girlfriend live in your house with you, yes. How long has she lived there, six years.

I said, do you sleep upstairs and she sleeps downstairs, of course not, we sleep together.

So you're telling me for six years you've slept together and now you think when you die today you're going to go straight to heaven.

Yes, I believe that Jesus is my Savior. Do not be deceived. I said, based on your own profession, if you die tonight, you're going straight to hell forever.

The man admitted himself into the hospital because he had an anxiety attack and he's okay now, physically, but I was glad it happened because it showed his head of conscience.

Do not be deceived. Or I can say, oh you're good to go, you love each other, you got baptized, you read your

Bible, you want to bring your kids up in the local church, everything's fine. You went to Awana, your dad's a pastor, you're good to go.

Do not be deceived. Unrighteous people don't go to heaven. Number two, idolaters.

Not just greedy for sexual lust, but greedy to serve other gods. Idolaters is the next word.

I'll give you the Greek word, you may recognize it. Idolater, idolaters.

Here we have God, the one God, he's made everything and he wants us to worship him.

We've been made for his good pleasure. We're to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength. As a matter of fact, he's a jealous

God. No other gods before me, God told the Jews. And for people that put other gods before Jesus as a lifestyle, as a habit, as a characteristic, then you ought not to say to yourself, yeah, but you know what, they're really nice, they pay their taxes on time, they're good friends,

I think they're in. Number three, adulterers. Sexual relationships outside the marriage,

Philo said the second half of the Decalogue begins with the command against adultery because it is the greatest of crimes.

Why is adultery so bad? Well, it's breaking promises, it's defiling, it was worthy of a death sentence back in the

Old Testament. But for the Christian, we look at it because we say, Christ loves the church. Is Christ faithful to the church?

And so when something goes on with marriage, then it hurts the picture of Jesus and his church.

And by the way, marriage wasn't designed, and then God said, that's a great picture for marriage. Marriage was designed after this great design of God, the

Son, going to rescue the bride and ransom her, and then a good picture was going to be marriage.

Number four and number five. Here's what's happening again, big picture. We don't have the right to act unjustly, therefore

Paul shows a lot of people who act unrighteously or unjustly, and he says, these people don't inherit, you want to inherit, don't you?

So don't act the way you used to do, don't act the way you used to act. Now the

ESV, you can read the little footnote, if you'd like, in your ESV down below. The ESV only gives one word, it doesn't give two.

I love the ESV, but this is probably the biggest mistake I think they made here, but other translations have made worse mistakes, and so, just to let you know, if you look at verse nine, nor men who practice homosexuality, footnote, and then read the footnote below, the two

Greek words translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts.

So if the ESV puts them together, I'm just going to break them apart because they're two separate Greek words. So ESV says, two words, one translation, let me give you the

NAS, effeminate, effeminate means basically soft, someone who is going to be the passive one in a homosexual relationship, or act, men are boys who want themselves used by another person, this is passivity, this is submission, that's what the word effeminate means.

Then the active word is, the next word in the NAS is homosexual, or maybe you could translate it sodomite, that is a different Greek word, arsenokoite, this word is used in the

Old Testament, Leviticus 18, you should not sleep with a male as a woman, for that is an abomination. Leviticus 20,

Septuagint uses it there as well, whoever sleeps with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they're liable to be put to death.

These words should not be translated male prostitutes, somehow making you think that it's not homosexuality is the problem, but paid sex is the problem, and I don't think this week, but maybe in the next couple of weeks we'll do a special series on how to think about homosexuality properly, but for now let's just continue in this list of sins.

Number six, thieves, this is a sin of greed, here's where we get the word kleptomaniac because the

Greek word is klepti, people that steal, people that want, people that are greedy, both rich people and poor people can be greedy.

Number seven, covetous, desiring to have something that belongs to another person.

Eight, a drunkard, somebody whose life is characterized by getting drunk. Number nine, reviler, somebody who, to assassinate somebody with their words.

And number ten, a swindler, those who steal indirectly.

Now, if you've committed one of those as a Christian, it doesn't mean you're not going to heaven, it means that if your life is characterized by those things, you aren't going to heaven.

It means that when you say to yourself, do you know what, this whole lawsuit thing's not that big a deal,

I'll sue anyway another Christian, that's unrighteous behavior, just like these things are, and Paul says,

I'm warning you, suffer now and inherit later. Don't inherit now and suffer later.

These verses are also very helpful because, friends, if you see someone who lives this kind of lifestyle, what's the most hateful thing that you could ever do?

It's to not say anything and treat them just like a Christian. What's the most loving thing you could do? Tell them the truth.

It doesn't have to be a harangue, you tell them the gospel. By the way, the gospel of Christ Jesus and His perfect atonement and resurrection can save every one of these kinds of people.

And everyone here that's been saved, including me, has been one of these kinds of people. It might have been a different parade of sins, but God has saved us.

If you meet one of these people who is a slave to these sins and who are captured by these sins and who can't extricate themselves from these sins, we know someone who can.

And how about verse 11? Never read 9 and 10 without 11. I've been trying to make my sermons cut down to about 45 minutes or so, but it's not going to happen today.

So you drove all this way, snowing outside. Middle East is in crisis.

Gas is $8, it's $9 a gallon in London. Since I just was in Jerusalem, you know,

Paul one time preached so long, there's a man that fell asleep up in the window. But I have to give you 11.

Because here's the hope. If you know someone who is a fornicator, an idolater, an adulterer, passive or active in homosexuality, who's greedy, who's lustful, there's hope for them.

God's grace is so great he can deal with the worst sinners. And such were some of you.

Such were some of you. You know, at Bethlehem Bible Church, we have ex -fornicators, we have ex -idolaters, we have ex -adulterers, we have ex -effeminates, we have ex -homosexuals.

We all used to be that way, didn't we? Maybe not with our bodies, but with our minds. We used to be greedy, we used to run after the world.

But we're not that way anymore because God has done something to us. And look how Paul talks about that.

He gives three transactions that occurred when Jesus saved them. And this has happened to you if you're a

Christian. I call them three grace passives. Why? Because there's three of them, that's step one.

Step two, it's all by grace, culminated in Christ's perfect atonement. And it's all passive, it means it's been done to you.

You didn't do any of these. These were done to you by the grace and free will of God. And if you're a

Christian, these three things have been done to you. You're able to obey.

And if you know unbelievers, Jesus Christ can do these things for them as well. Number one, washed.

Do you see that in verse 11? But you were washed. I've seen some pretty horrible sins in my life.

And now with TV, we've seen a lot of sins across the world. And doesn't, have you ever sinned so badly you just felt dirty?

Ever just want to take a shower, but you think I can't clean my soul. I'm just so dirty,

I just want to be clean. And then to think the washing of regeneration, or because of God, the

Father, the Son, and the Spirit together in one great counsel says, I'm going to wash you. I'm going to cleanse you.

That's that word here, washed. You used to be a degenerate person, and now

I'm going to regenerate you. I'm going to wash you. This has nothing to do with baptism. This has everything to do with God making you born again and washing you clean.

And you know what? Every sin washed. God forgave you and washed you, how many sins did he wash?

Just the bad ones, just the not so bad ones. I like to think of those stars that are down about 50 feet at the carnival, and you get one of those guns, those compression guns with BBs, pay five bucks or whatever, and to win the cupid doll, you have to shoot out what?

All of it. And if you have one little tiny trace or smidgen left, you get what? Heckle that.

That's what you get. Everything cleaned. And God's death is so great that it cleans everything, and it's going to need to be that way because we can't take one sin to heaven.

Look at the next word. You should be asking yourself the question, it should be justified, then sanctified.

Why is sanctified before justified? Because first you're declared righteous, then by the grace of God through your hard work, you become more and more sanctified.

Philippians 2, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is different. He says sanctified first.

He has not gone to systematic theology class at IBS. What is wrong with Paul? What do you mean sanctified first?

Chapter one, verse two, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctified just means set apart. You have your plastic dishes, and then you have your china.

And by the grace of God, we've been set apart. We're not in the world anymore. We've been set apart. That's all that means.

Sanctified in Christ Jesus. And lastly, justified. Justified. Accepted as righteous based on the righteous work of Christ Jesus.

Treated as if I've never sinned by the merits of Christ. Christ living a full life.

Why? Because he needed to be our representative as a human being. Although God, yet a human, he was our representative.

And God declares us righteous by the son's righteous acts.

It is a declaration. It is a pronouncement. It is a one -time thing. Pronounced righteous.

Obeying the law perfectly in Christ Jesus. Clothed of the righteousness of Christ. And on the flip side,

Jesus is then clothed with our sin. He is imputed with our sin. How could

God take such gross, vile people and make them new?

Well, it's by washing, sanctifying, and justifying. And if you were a king and you had people who were rebels in your kingdom, and they were transgressors, and they tried to kill you, and they tried to take what was yours, what would you do as the king?

You would take all your troops and infantry and chariots and you would crush them. And then to thank

God the Father with these three great divine passives, he crushes his son instead.

And when a son is crushed on behalf of sinners, they don't act the way they did. Friends, if you act the same way you did before you called yourself a

Christian, you're not a Christian. Do you mean to tell me that the God of the universe washed you, sanctified you, and justified you, and you just live the merry way you used to live?

Then you're deluding yourself. And look at what the justification is.

We're almost done. Hang in there. In the name of the Lord Jesus, you are justified in the name of his holiness, in his righteousness, in his grace, in his compassion, in his long -suffering, in his mercy, his holiness.

And by the Spirit of our God, the great triune action. You better believe in the Trinity because God is triune.

Such were some of you. And if you used to be that way, and now you're washed, sanctified, and justified, ought you not to be humble?

Ought you not to say, I'm not going to sue other people if I'm not supposed to sue other people? Because that's what God says. God, in light of everything you've done,

I'll gladly obey by the grace that you've given me through the Spirit of God. I'll do it. Ought you not to have compassion on people who are slaves to sin?

Ought you not to say to yourself, you know what? I ought not to look down on those people. We're going to talk about that the next two weeks.

Sinners aren't our enemies. Homosexuals aren't our enemies. Adulterers are not our enemies.

They are people made in the likeness and image of God, and they have fallen, and they need what? Grace. And Paul parades all these wicked people in front of your very eyes to see.

You almost think, should my kids hear these words? The parade of the dam comes right before you, so you just take stock and say,

I'm not going to be unrighteous, because then it's going to show I'm not a Christian. And I'm going to be thankful, and I'm going to be humble, and I'm going to be joyful, and I'm going to be on the lookout, because I would say, friends, we just got back from Israel.

Here's a fascinating thing. My world is evangelicalism.

I think that's pretty much my world. But do you know most Christians, or people who call themselves

Christians in America, aren't evangelical. Mainstream, liberal, mainline churches, if they represent 100 % of the people who call themselves

Christians, evangelicalism is this much. It's an inch out of the three feet. And we live everywhere with people who say they're

Christians, and they're not washed, they're not sanctified, and they're not justified. And it's easy for us to see.

Matter of fact, it's so easy that 1 John 3, 10 says, it's obvious to see.

It's obvious to tell an unbeliever. And I personally don't want one person to go to hell.

But I know, like in John 12, the text says, many believed on him, but because of the

Pharisees, they did not confess him. Big picture, 1

Corinthians 6, 1 to 11. Suffer now, inherit later.

You like that deal? Suffer temporally, inherit eternally. Because you are different, you're washed, sanctified, justified.

And if you're not washed, justified, sanctified, in the other order, then you are unrighteous, and you're going to be in that same list.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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