Through this changing world below, I would not
choose my path to go. Tis his hand that leadeth
me, then oh, how safe his child must be. Sometimes
we walk in sunshine bright, sometimes... In the
darkness of the night, in sometimes the way I
cannot see, but his precious hand still leadeth
me. Sometimes there seems no way to take, but
his hand a way doth make. And sometimes I hear
him gently say, Come, follow me. This is the
way. So why should I mind the way I go? For his
way is best for me, I know. And he is my strength,
my truth, my way. He is my comfort, my rod, my
stay. And so, beloved, on we travel. Hand in
hand. Bound for thy glorious heavenly promised
land. And always, through all eternity, I'll
praise his name for leading me. And with perfect
trust and perfect confidence, we place ourselves,
our lives, into your care and your keeping. Just
keep leading and we'll keep following. I just
feel like having a good heart -to -heart talk
with you. And I hope that you're feeling like
you'd like to have a good heart -to -heart talk
with me. If you do, we'll have an awful good
time together for the next few minutes. And I'm
going to talk to you about something that's very
practical. You know, after all is said and done,
the Bible is very practical. In fact, this thing
of living a Christian life is the most practical
life in the world. Jesus himself is a very practical...
person right down to earth. And there isn't a
need in our life. I don't care who you are, under
what circumstances you are living. I don't care
whether you are rich or poor, learned or unlearned.
I want you to know, regardless of what your need
is, there's a promise in the Word that'll meet
that need. There isn't anything that concerns
a human life but what the Bible speaks of that
very thing. Now, here's something that's very
practical, and I feel that we have disregarded
it. Turn, if you will, please, to 1 Corinthians,
the sixth chapter. And everything that I'm going
to have to say will be in the first 11 verses.
That's right. You should have known I was going
to have a heart -to -heart talk with you, and
you should have gotten your Bible out. Then we
could have saved a little time. That's right.
You have it now. All right. Read it, if you will,
please, with me. The first word is most important.
And in the entire Word of God, this is the very
first time any chapter begins with this word,
dare. Dare any of you. It's a mighty challenging
word with which the apostle starts. Dare any
of you. Had you the courage? We see it once.
It's a question almost of amazement on his part,
as though the apostle on the human level was
saying, I don't understand why you are doing
it. I don't understand how you dare do it. How
you even had the courage to do it? How dare you?
How dare you what? Having a matter against a
neighbor? How dare any of you go to law before
the unrighteous and not before the saints? It's
a challenge. The implication is that to do such
a thing... would be to violate the very principles
of their life. And he says, dare you do it. Hand
you the courage. Their action was a violation
of the very genius and value of their life as
Christians. To take the matter of disputes within
the church, outside the church, and ask the opinion.
Ask the heathen to ask the unregenerated for
their help, their advice. And the emphasis is
on that word, you. Dare any of you. Oh, that's
great. You mean you didn't know it was there?
Sure. Dare. Any of you. To whom is he speaking?
Those who have been born again. He is talking
to those who have been regenerated. He's not
talking to the unsaved. Having a matter against
another. He is still speaking to those within
the body of believers. In the body of Christ.
He's not talking about the unbeliever. Both are
Christians. Get this picture. Both have been
born again. Both are members of the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They are in the body of
Christ. Dare any of you go to law before the
unjust and not before the saints? Now, before
we go a little deeper into this study of the
word and get the full meaning of it, let's just
pause and go back to the beginning of Paul's
letter. He was writing, of course, to the Corinthian
church. And they were having trouble within the
church. They were having trouble among themselves.
Disputes and jealousies. They were just ordinary
people like the rest of us. Human nature hasn't
changed one iota. Know that. All through the
years, human nature has not changed. Man is just
the same today as he was back there. Go to the
beginning of Paul's letter. He'd received word
of the condition that was in the church. And
instead of approaching them from a negative standpoint,
he used the positive. Oh, it's great. Do you
want to know what he did? The very first thing
that he did, he put them on their own honor.
He reminded them of their position as Christians.
He reminded them of the fact that they were more
than just plain, ordinary men and women. For
having been born again, he calls them the Church
of God. Oh. Could he have called them anything
greater than to remind them that as believers
they were the church of God? And then he goes
a little further. He continues and he calls them
sanctified in Christ Jesus. You're not just the
ordinary run of... People, since your experience
of regeneration, remember you're sanctified in
Jesus Christ. Then he goes a step further and
he calls them saints. That's really putting them
on their honor. You're saints. You don't dare
do the things that you're doing. because of your
position. You have forgotten to whom you belong.
You can't act like the unregenerated. You're
the church of God. You're sanctified in Christ
Jesus. You're saints. Now then he continues with
that same thought and it's Still positive. And
if you can learn this lesson, it's the greatest
thing in the world that I could teach you. Remember
to whom you belong. I pray that right now the
Holy Spirit will take the word and make it a
very part of your living, your thinking. a very
part of you, and it will change your life completely.
Dare any of you, having a matter against another,
go to law before the unjust and not before the
saints? Do you not know that the saints shall
judge the world? These are children of God. And
he's reminding them that they are sons of the
Most High. And that in their disputes, in going
to the heathen, the pagan, the unregenerated,
they were going outside of their own ranks for
wisdom when the Christian should have greater
wisdom than anybody else in the world. Why do
you go to the unsympathetic person for advice?
When the Christian brethren are supposed to be
better equipped for doing the job than anyone
else. Dare you, it's a challenge. And remember,
not necessarily neighbor, but... Any of you having
some dispute with another of you, dare you go
to the unrighteous for help. Why do you, who
profess to be Christians, regenerated, sons of
the Most High, go over to your next door neighbor,
who is not a Christian, that make no profession
whatsoever. of Christianity. They have no regard
for God or the things of God. Why do you go over
to the next door neighbor when you get into trouble
and ask their advice? Let's pinpoint this thing.
You are a Christian woman. You have God as your
Heavenly Father. You have the Word of God and
you have perfect confidence in the Word of God.
You know how to pray. You know how to get hold
of God in prayer. You find that your husband
is untrue to you. You're having domestic difficulties.
And so what do you do? Instead of doing the thing
that you should do as a born -again woman, as
a child of God, you go over to your neighbor
lady and you sit by the hour and tell her all
of your troubles and try to get advice from her.
When if you only knew it, She's having the same
trouble herself, and if she could help you, believe
me, she'd be holding her own husband and his
affection. Maybe she's just keeping her mouth
shut about her troubles, using a little more
wisdom than you're using. She's not blabbing
it all over the neighborhood. Maybe she's just
a little smarter than you are and keeping it
to herself. Yet you go over to the unregenerated
and you try to get advice from her. How in the
world do you expect to win her for God when she
sees through your example that you have no power
in prayer, that in a time of distress, in a time
of trouble, You yourself do not go to the place
of supply. You do not go to the powerhouse. You
do not act as though God is your Heavenly Father.
And it's just like that. This is old -fashioned
Missouri cornbread that I'm giving you today,
and I think it's needed. If you are a Christian,
act like a Christian. If... you believe that
your Heavenly Father is all -powerful, act like
it. If you believe that he who has promised will
keep his promise, if you believe that you are
a son of the Most High, if you believe that you
are a joint heir with Christ Jesus, you do not
have to go outside of the ranks. of born -again
Christians to seek advice. That's exactly what
he's talking about. Dare any of you. All this
is challenging. Uh -huh. Yeah. The church has
no right to get mixed up with the world in their
troubles. Their business dealings. Don't take
it into a pagan atmosphere. Don't take it to
the unsympathetic. That's when we really get
into trouble. Then, he reminds them of something.
Do ye not know? that the saints shall judge the
world? And if the world shall be judged by you,
are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
In other words, how in the world are you going
to be able to judge the world as a part of Jesus
himself when you can't take care of your own
personal matters? You're inconsistent in your
living. You're inconsistent in your thinking.
We need a fresh baptism of consistency among
Christians. Do you remember what Paul said once
in 1 Timothy regarding elders and deacons in
the church? I quote his exact words. In other
words, he's saying, if a man cannot govern his
own children, if a man has no control over his
own son, his own daughter, that man is not in
a position to either be an elder or a... deacon
in the church. How can he rule over others in
the church of God when he has no rule over members
of his own household? The whole thing begins
at home. It's like that. If you had no control
over your own life, your own emotions. If there
is no self -discipline in your own life, how
in the world can you discipline anyone else?
Oh, this is wonderful. This is the most practical,
the most logical thing in the world. And it is
true when he's talking about ruling and reigning
with him. Let me just take a half second. I have
the Bible right here, and let me turn to it,
and you turn to it too. The fifth chapter of
the book of Revelation. This is what he's referring
to. It's there in the tenth verse, all right?
And has made us... unto our God, kings and priests,
and we shall reign on earth. That's a part of
our inheritance. As Christian, as born again
men and women, he's appealing to the consistent
life. any of you go outside of the ranks of the
spiritual to get help to get advice when one
of these days you are going to help rule and
reign this earth with him when right now You
don't have enough power in your own life to go
to the right source for help. Do ye not know
that the saints shall rule the world? And if
the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy
to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that
we shall judge angels? How much more things that
pertain to this life. In the next broadcast,
we're going to go a little deeper into this subject
that's so needed.