Paul’s Paternal Care 1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? Fact #2: Angels Are Not to Be Worshiped Because they are created, angels must never receive our worship or our prayers. Most of us find the account of John’s angel worship in Revelation 19 quite understandable. The sight of God’s true angels must be awe-inspiring beyond anything we can imagine. This may be why they are invisible to us most of the time—to prevent us from sinning through angel worship. By the same token, we should not pray directly to angels for help. The Bible gives no indication angels will respond if we pray directly to them for help. In fact, the Bible does not offer any examples of people asking God to send them an angel’s protection. We must seek God alone, for He alone is worthy of our praise and prayers. What are your thoughts? Fact #3: Angels Are Not Fully Understood Because angels are spirit beings who inhabit a world we’ve not yet seen, we must choose to be comfortable with what we do not know about them. Scripture mentions them over three hundred times, so we are meant to know something about them.. However, they should not consume our thoughts, and we should not envy others who may have dramatic encounters with them. Fact #4: Angels Are Not Our Slaves Because angels serve God, they do not serve us.- What are your thoughts on this statement? The messages angels carry travel in one direction only—from the mouth of God to the intended recipient. Angels are not ours to control or to use. They are not available to satisfy our physical and emotional needs or our intellectual curiosity. Why has God created angels? - Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? ——————————————- 1 Corinthians 6:4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? Unsaved judges are not given places of honor or esteem by the local church. They are, of course, respected for the work they are doing in the world, but as far as church matters are concerned they do not have any jurisdiction. Paul is asking the Corinthians: When matters arise between you requiring the impartial judgment of some third party, do you go outside the confines of the church and set men to judge you who are not recognized by the church for spiritual discernment? 1 Corinthians 6:5 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? Paul asks this question to move them to shame. Is it true that in an assembly that boasted of its wisdom and of the rich bestowment of gifts on its members, not one wise man could be found to settle these quarrels between his brethren? 1 Corinthians 6:6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Apparently not one such wise man was available, since a Christian brother was going to law against his own brother in Christ, taking family matters before the unbelieving world. Truly a deplorable situation! 1 Corinthians 6:7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? The expression “Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you” shows they were entirely wrong in this thing. They shouldn’t even think of going to law against one another. But perhaps one of the Christians would object at this point: “Paul, you don’t understand. Brother so-and-so cheated me in business dealings.” Paul’s answer is: “Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?” This would be the truly Christian attitude to take. It is much better to receive a wrong than to commit one. 1 Corinthians 6:8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! But this was not the attitude among the Corinthians. Instead of being willing to accept wrong and be cheated, they were actually committing wrong against others, even their own brothers in Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, Had they forgotten that people whose lives are characteristically unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? If they have forgotten, then he will remind them of a list of sinners who will have no part in God’s kingdom. He does not mean to imply that Christians can practice such sins and be lost, but rather he is saying that people who practice such sins are not Christians. In this list, fornicators are distinct from adulterers. Here fornication means illicit sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person, whereas adultery would mean such conduct on the part of a married person. Macdonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.