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Hello, and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh, and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now, come along.

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Let's look into the Bible and
see what God has for us here today

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in the book of 2 Corinthians.

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If you have your Bibles, turn
there with me.

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2 Corinthians.

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And we're going to be in
chapter number 11.

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We've been following the book
of 2nd Corinthians now for quite

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a bit of time, and we have
found ourselves here in this chapter

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dealing with Paul as he deals
with the Corinthian Church and how

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he is defending his ministry
against false teachers at this point

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in time.

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If you've been following us in
this sermon series, you've realized

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that here at this specific
time frame, there have been some

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false teachers who have
claimed to be apostles of Christ,

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move into the church at
Corinth, and they're preaching something

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contrary to what Paul is preaching.

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And so what's happened is, is
that these false teachers have allowed

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themselves to get to a place
that they have built the trust with

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the church.

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And the church at Corinth has
tolerated these false teachers, and

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they've come to a place where
now they're accepting the message

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of these false teachers and
they're rejecting the message of

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Paul, which.

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The message of Paul is the
message of truth.

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The message of Paul is the
message of the Gospel.

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And so Paul now is defending
himself, but it's not so much that

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he's defending himself as much
as he's defending the truth of God.

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But he knows that there is a
necessity here, and the necessity

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is for him to prove that he is
a messenger of God and therefore

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prove that what he is
preaching is truly from God.

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And so Paul is defending the
truth of God and his own ministry,

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and he's matched up against
false teachers who are doing their

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best to get the church of
Corinth to go the opposite direction

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of the truth.

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And we live in a world today that.

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That is very similar.

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We live in a world today that
is trying to pull the church away

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from the truth.

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We have a world today that's
trying to pull away the believer

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from what God has clearly
defined as truth in the gospel and

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truth in his word, and to get
us to believe things that are contrary

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to his word.

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And so Paul, in this case, is.

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Is reluctant to defend himself
in this defense.

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Okay?

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He he's reluctant.

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Um, he actually calls it, as
we saw earlier on, foolishness.

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He says, this is foolishness
that I have to sit here and go backwards

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and, and to go back to what
we've already talked about.

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This is a waste.

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Um, but no, he knows that this
is a necessity.

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So.

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So he says, guys, we're
wasting our time here.

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We're getting distracted with
things that should not be pulling

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away our attention.

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So he will, in this passage,
boast, but he's not going to boast

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like the other apostles have
boasted, these false apostles.

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He's going to boast in what
God has been able to do through him.

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And so what we can see here in
Second Corinthians, chapter 11 is

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that Paul is going to say,
okay, I'm going to tell you what

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God is doing.

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And what God is doing in my
life is not what God is doing through

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those other people's lives.

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The.

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The false apostles.

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We go back just in Second
Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 17,

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and he says, but he that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

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And so Paul says, these people
that are glorying in themselves and

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their works of the flesh, in
the way that they've pulled this

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audience together and how much
they have in their material blessings,

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these people are glorying in
the wrong things.

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They're boasting in the wrong things.

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Really, the only thing that a
believer can glory in is glorying

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in what God has done for us,
boasting and, and giving honor to

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God for his blessings in our life.

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And so Paul says, this is
foolishness, but I'm going to defend

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what God is doing in my life
here in the church.

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So look at it with me here in
verse number 16.

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Verse number 16, he says, I
say, again, let no man think me a

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fool.

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So he says, even though I'm
doing something foolish by lowering

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myself down to defend myself
and not preach the gospel, he says,

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do.

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Don't think I'm a fool.

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If otherwise.

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If you think I'm a fool, yet
as a fool, receive me.

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Say, what is he talking about here?

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He says, well, you've received
other fools.

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You've received all these
other people talking about their

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accolades.

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Just for the next few moments,
he says, listen to me that I may

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boast myself a little, that I
might share with you what God is

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doing through my life.

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And so this is what Paul is
talking about here.

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If you read this passage out
of context, it might seem like Paul

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is bragging about himself.

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But again, we understand that
just a few verses ahead Paul says,

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I don't boast in anything
other than what God has done in my

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life.

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And so what Paul is doing is
he's saying, look, if you think that

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they're the true teachers,
look at what God is doing through

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them.

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Well, he's not doing anything
through them.

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Look at what God is doing
through me.

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The proof is in the pudding,
essentially, is what he's saying

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here.

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So he says, I need to tell you
what God is doing now.

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Now, what have we titled this
sermon this morning?

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I've entitled this the
Credentials of a Certified Christ

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Follower.

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Okay, so Paul is giving his
credentials, and he's giving his

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credentials as a certified
Christ follower.

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He says, oh, they claim to be
Christ followers.

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What are their credentials?

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I claim to be a Christ follower.

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Here are my credentials.

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And I think all of us want to
be what's called a certified Christ

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follower.

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We all want to be those
Christians who are honoring God by

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the way that we live our lives.

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We all want to be those
believers that are are showing the

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gospel to the world.

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And so Paul says, you want to
be like me?

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You want to have my credentials?

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Here it is.

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And I think all of us can
learn a little bit from what Paul

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is sharing here in this passage.

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So let's go ahead and pray,
and then we're going to jump right

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into our main thoughts here
this morning.

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Lord, I pray that you be with us.

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I pray that you help us see
your truth through this passage of

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scripture.

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I pray that we can understand
that you have called us to defend

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the truth.

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You have called us to proclaim
the truth.

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You've called us to live the
truth in our lives.

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And so, Lord, I pray that you
can help us this morning understand

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that as we live for you, that
there will be challenges.

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As we live for you.

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There will be ups, but there
will be downs.

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Lord, I pray that you can help
us see what it means to have you

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in our lives through everything.

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Lord, I pray that here this
morning that we can all leave here

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growing in our understanding
of what it means to be a Christ follower.

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Lord, I pray that you can
challenge our hearts, convict our

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hearts, comfort our hearts.

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Lord, I pray if there's
someone here today that does not

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know you as personal savior,
that today can be that day.

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Lord, I pray that you can
remove me out of the way and that

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your word can clearly be seen
here this morning.

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We thank you and we love you.

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In Jesus name we pray.

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Amen.

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Verse 17.

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Verse 17.

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He says something very
interesting and some people have

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read this to say that this
passage of scripture is not from

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God.

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That would be a
misunderstanding of what is being

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said here.

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Verse 17, he says, that which
I speak, that when I'm about to tell

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you, I speak it not after the
Lord, but as it were, foolishly,

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in this confidence of
boasting, meaning this.

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Okay, you, you would say.

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So is he saying, this is not
from God, this is not inspired?

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No.

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What is he saying here?

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He's saying this.

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The fact that he's not
speaking according to the Lord is

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in the sense that his defense
of his credentials focuses on himself.

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He's speaking about himself.

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So he says, for the next few
moments, I'm not talking about God

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directly, I'm talking about me.

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Now we know in the underlying
theme, he's talking about what God

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has done through him.

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But he says, for the next few
moments, I'm not gonna be giving

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you the gospel.

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I'm gonna be giving you what I
have been able to do through the

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power of God.

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So when he says he's speaking
not after the Lord, he says, I'm

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not speaking about God here,
I'm speaking about myself.

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But, but Paul, he.

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He didn't like to talk about himself.

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We can see his reluctance
here, his humility.

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And we even know that back in
Second Corinthians, chapter 4, verse

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5, he says, we don't preach
ourselves, but we preach Christ.

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So this is pulling Paul out of
his comfort zone.

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The fact that he has to tell
people what he's been doing for the

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Lord.

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It would be like me going off
and, you know, as your pastor, you

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guys send me off and do a
short term missions trip somewhere

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and I come back to you and you
go, well, did you waste our money,

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Pastor, or did you do
something for the Lord?

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I would have to get up and
tell you what I was able to do through

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the power of God.

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But if I'm a humble minister
of the gospel, it's somewhat embarrassing

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to come up and say all the
things that were able to get done.

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You know, like, well, we did
this and we did this.

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What Paul's saying is, I don't
want this to be about me.

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I want it to be about the Lord.

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But I've got to tell you what
the Lord has been doing.

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And so in this case, he's both
seen in what God has done.

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He's both seen in his accolades.

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And so he says in verse 17,
this is not according to the Lord.

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This is not about God.

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This is about what God has
done through me.

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And then we see verse 18, he
says, seeing that many glory after

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the flesh.

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Now, we know that he's not
glorying after the flesh because

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of this next verse.

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He.

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He says, you know, seeing that
many glory after the flesh, he says,

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I will glory also.

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But he says, these people are.

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Glory in the flesh.

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I'm going to glory, but I'm
not going to glory in the flesh.

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And so Paul is boasting, but
it'll be nothing like the boasting

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of the many that have come
before him.

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And so by way of
understanding, we understand that

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this group of false apostles,
we don't know how many there that

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were there, but they had been
getting in front of the church and

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bragging about themselves.

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And Paul says, I'm gonna brag,
but not in accordance to the flesh.

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I'm not gonna brag like these
have bragged before.

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And so that's.

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That's what he's talking about here.

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Verse 19.

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For ye suffer fools gladly,
meaning this.

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You guys have been allowing
these fools to get up in front of

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you and tell you about
themselves so much, you should be

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able to listen to me.

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For you suffer fools gladly,
seeing you yourselves are wise.

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Now, Paul uses what we could
possibly call Christian sarcasm here.

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Okay?

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00:09:39,706 --> 00:09:40,858
That's what he's doing.

242
00:09:40,994 --> 00:09:44,106
Paul says, you guys have been
so wise to listen to these fools.

243
00:09:44,138 --> 00:09:46,070
You need to listen to this
fool for a while.

244
00:09:46,690 --> 00:09:47,050
And.

245
00:09:47,090 --> 00:09:49,786
And so sometimes people say,
well, sarcasm is always wrong.

246
00:09:49,818 --> 00:09:51,690
Well, it's not always wrong if
he's making a point.

247
00:09:51,730 --> 00:09:52,826
And Paul's doing this in.

248
00:09:52,898 --> 00:09:53,242
In love.

249
00:09:53,266 --> 00:09:55,340
And he's doing this and
speaking the truth in love.

250
00:09:55,450 --> 00:09:57,640
And so Paul says, here, look, listen.

251
00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:01,512
He says, you guys have been
listening to these people brag about

252
00:10:01,536 --> 00:10:01,864
themselves.

253
00:10:01,912 --> 00:10:03,380
So you need to listen to me.

254
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:04,344
You guys.

255
00:10:04,392 --> 00:10:06,808
Exercise your worldly wisdom now.

256
00:10:06,864 --> 00:10:08,728
Exercise your wisdom in
listening to me.

257
00:10:08,784 --> 00:10:10,152
So he's going to move forward here.

258
00:10:10,176 --> 00:10:13,752
And he's going to say, hey,
look, there are people that have

259
00:10:13,776 --> 00:10:14,744
been deceiving you.

260
00:10:14,832 --> 00:10:16,024
I'm coming with the truth.

261
00:10:16,072 --> 00:10:17,048
Listen to the truth.

262
00:10:17,144 --> 00:10:17,960
Verse 20.

263
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,496
For ye suffer if a man bring
you into bondage.

264
00:10:21,528 --> 00:10:23,242
He says you have allowed.

265
00:10:23,306 --> 00:10:24,234
This is what he's saying.

266
00:10:24,322 --> 00:10:24,986
You have allowed.

267
00:10:25,018 --> 00:10:29,050
That word suffer in the older
English means to allow something

268
00:10:29,090 --> 00:10:30,602
to happen, tolerate something.

269
00:10:30,706 --> 00:10:35,770
So he says, you have allowed
people to bring you into bondage.

270
00:10:35,930 --> 00:10:37,418
This is not bondage to Christ.

271
00:10:37,474 --> 00:10:40,010
This is bondage to those false teachers.

272
00:10:40,170 --> 00:10:41,834
So what we can understand is this.

273
00:10:41,922 --> 00:10:45,354
Someone has come into the
church at Corinth and allowed themselves

274
00:10:45,482 --> 00:10:48,922
to enact bondage on the people
of the church of Corinth, who basically

275
00:10:48,986 --> 00:10:50,622
rule over them in a.

276
00:10:50,646 --> 00:10:53,406
In a Fleshly human focus.

277
00:10:53,558 --> 00:10:56,290
So he said, you've allowed
people to put you into bondage.

278
00:10:56,950 --> 00:10:57,902
Says if any.

279
00:10:58,006 --> 00:11:01,214
If a man devour you, you've
allowed people to devour you.

280
00:11:01,302 --> 00:11:04,030
This is similar to what the
Pharisees were doing to the widows

281
00:11:04,110 --> 00:11:04,990
back at the time of Christ.

282
00:11:05,030 --> 00:11:07,742
If you remember what was
happening, they were abusing the

283
00:11:07,766 --> 00:11:09,790
widows, and they were
devouring, as it says, their.

284
00:11:09,830 --> 00:11:11,406
Their homes, their money.

285
00:11:11,478 --> 00:11:13,518
And so what's happening is
there's abuse.

286
00:11:13,614 --> 00:11:13,870
So.

287
00:11:13,910 --> 00:11:17,416
So what we can take by way of
context is that the false teachers

288
00:11:17,528 --> 00:11:21,304
there in Corinth were abusing
the people by putting them into bondage.

289
00:11:21,352 --> 00:11:23,240
Or we could say legalism, right?

290
00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:24,696
You've ever heard of that term?

291
00:11:24,848 --> 00:11:26,504
Legalism isn't just having standards.

292
00:11:26,552 --> 00:11:31,112
Legalism is putting a rule
upon someone that is not based in

293
00:11:31,136 --> 00:11:34,104
scripture and then charging
them in that account.

294
00:11:34,272 --> 00:11:37,768
So if you don't wear, you
know, black pants on a Sunday morning,

295
00:11:37,824 --> 00:11:38,952
you're wrong, okay?

296
00:11:39,016 --> 00:11:40,104
And that's a sin.

297
00:11:40,232 --> 00:11:44,666
And what's happening is, is
that it's a arbitrary legalism that's

298
00:11:44,698 --> 00:11:45,706
being placed upon the church.

299
00:11:45,738 --> 00:11:47,738
He says, that's what's
happening in your bondage.

300
00:11:47,834 --> 00:11:49,994
And then secondly, you are
being devoured.

301
00:11:50,042 --> 00:11:53,882
So basically, these false
apostles were pulling the resources

302
00:11:53,946 --> 00:11:55,750
from the people for their own good.

303
00:11:56,050 --> 00:11:57,962
And Paul even said, we saw
this last week.

304
00:11:57,986 --> 00:11:59,658
Paul says, I don't want to be
a burden upon you.

305
00:11:59,714 --> 00:12:01,146
I haven't taken anything from you.

306
00:12:01,218 --> 00:12:03,626
And so these people are
abusing them, by the way, that they're

307
00:12:03,658 --> 00:12:06,442
putting them into legalism and
devouring their goods.

308
00:12:06,506 --> 00:12:07,642
And then what else does it say?

309
00:12:07,666 --> 00:12:08,650
It says if.

310
00:12:08,690 --> 00:12:10,058
If a man devour you.

311
00:12:10,114 --> 00:12:11,546
If a man take of you.

312
00:12:11,618 --> 00:12:14,762
So they're actually not just
manipulating the situation.

313
00:12:14,826 --> 00:12:17,114
They're actually stealing from
the church at Corinth.

314
00:12:17,162 --> 00:12:20,618
These super apostles, as we
talked about before, these fake apostles

315
00:12:20,714 --> 00:12:23,274
that have come in, they're
stealing from the church at Corinth.

316
00:12:23,322 --> 00:12:27,946
They're taking from them, says
if a man exalt himself, so they're

317
00:12:27,978 --> 00:12:29,178
exalting himself.

318
00:12:29,354 --> 00:12:30,714
So he's putting a contrast.

319
00:12:30,762 --> 00:12:31,034
He's.

320
00:12:31,082 --> 00:12:35,700
He's giving what we would call
the condemning credentials of the

321
00:12:35,740 --> 00:12:36,708
charlatans.

322
00:12:36,804 --> 00:12:37,332
Okay?

323
00:12:37,396 --> 00:12:37,620
So.

324
00:12:37,660 --> 00:12:41,252
So we have the credentials of
a certified Christ follower.

325
00:12:41,316 --> 00:12:43,204
And now he's given the.

326
00:12:43,292 --> 00:12:45,812
He's condemning these
credentials of these, what we would

327
00:12:45,836 --> 00:12:46,516
call charlatans.

328
00:12:46,548 --> 00:12:49,668
They're coming in to fake
their way to influence.

329
00:12:49,764 --> 00:12:52,372
They're coming in saying that
they're apostles of Christ.

330
00:12:52,476 --> 00:12:56,740
But we saw last week, as it
says in verses 14 and 15, that these

331
00:12:56,780 --> 00:13:00,440
were ministers of Satan,
ministers of evil.

332
00:13:00,940 --> 00:13:02,532
So he says, hey, what do they do?

333
00:13:02,556 --> 00:13:03,880
They exalt themselves.

334
00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:06,212
And so Paul is like, hey, you
know what?

335
00:13:06,236 --> 00:13:07,284
I don't want to exalt myself.

336
00:13:07,332 --> 00:13:09,684
These people are like,
everything that they can do is exalting

337
00:13:09,732 --> 00:13:10,324
themselves.

338
00:13:10,452 --> 00:13:12,308
And then what does it say
there at the end?

339
00:13:12,364 --> 00:13:17,332
It says, if a man smites you
on the face, say, what is it?

340
00:13:17,356 --> 00:13:18,340
What is he talking about here?

341
00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:20,452
Is this, like, just theoretical?

342
00:13:20,516 --> 00:13:25,796
No, what he's saying is you
could allow one of these ministers

343
00:13:25,828 --> 00:13:29,242
to come up to you, smite you
in the face, and you would be like,

344
00:13:29,266 --> 00:13:31,530
well, he's from God, so that's okay.

345
00:13:31,690 --> 00:13:32,026
He's.

346
00:13:32,058 --> 00:13:34,842
He's basically saying that the
Corinthian Church were turning a

347
00:13:34,866 --> 00:13:38,950
blind eye to the public
displays of sin of these leaders.

348
00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:40,330
And.

349
00:13:40,370 --> 00:13:40,618
And.

350
00:13:40,674 --> 00:13:41,882
And what we would say?

351
00:13:41,906 --> 00:13:43,002
Would they really hit them?

352
00:13:43,106 --> 00:13:45,466
Well, well, they probably
would have, because it wasn't uncommon

353
00:13:45,498 --> 00:13:50,170
for religious authorities of
that day to command those people

354
00:13:50,290 --> 00:13:53,610
that they considered ungodly
to actually be struck on the face

355
00:13:53,650 --> 00:13:54,470
by the leaders.

356
00:13:54,610 --> 00:13:54,958
Okay.

357
00:13:54,974 --> 00:13:56,686
It was a way of disciplining them.

358
00:13:56,838 --> 00:13:58,830
So it would be like, okay, you
guys acted up this week.

359
00:13:58,870 --> 00:13:59,262
Line up.

360
00:13:59,286 --> 00:14:01,182
You guys are going to get your discipline.

361
00:14:01,326 --> 00:14:03,710
And so this was literally
something that they were probably

362
00:14:03,790 --> 00:14:07,006
doing, physically hitting
these people in the Church of Corinth.

363
00:14:07,038 --> 00:14:08,702
And we know that through the
concept of.

364
00:14:08,806 --> 00:14:13,614
In First Timothy, when it's
talking about a pastor and the qualifications

365
00:14:13,662 --> 00:14:16,638
of a pastor, it says not to be
a striker or a brawler.

366
00:14:16,734 --> 00:14:18,670
And a lot of times people
think that means just going out and

367
00:14:18,710 --> 00:14:19,582
fighting in public.

368
00:14:19,686 --> 00:14:22,622
That also can mean striking
and hitting their own followers because

369
00:14:22,646 --> 00:14:23,674
of that discipline.

370
00:14:23,822 --> 00:14:26,930
And there is godly discipline,
but the Bible never says that that's

371
00:14:27,010 --> 00:14:28,594
physical discipline within the church.

372
00:14:28,642 --> 00:14:31,042
Okay, so that's what we're
seeing here in this case, Paul says,

373
00:14:31,066 --> 00:14:32,994
you're tolerating things that
are evil.

374
00:14:33,042 --> 00:14:36,578
You're tolerating things that
are contrary to the message of God.

375
00:14:36,674 --> 00:14:39,906
And so Paul says, if you've
tolerated this, tolerate the truth,

376
00:14:40,098 --> 00:14:44,482
how much of a church, as a
church, have we tolerated false teaching?

377
00:14:44,546 --> 00:14:45,458
How much of a.

378
00:14:45,514 --> 00:14:48,514
As a church have we tolerated
the ways of this world?

379
00:14:48,602 --> 00:14:49,682
And he says, hey, you know what?

380
00:14:49,706 --> 00:14:52,470
You need to turn from that and
turn back to the truth.

381
00:14:53,230 --> 00:14:55,090
But why were they comfortable
with this?

382
00:14:55,390 --> 00:14:59,254
Sadly, many people are more
comfortable with authoritarian, authoritarian

383
00:14:59,302 --> 00:15:03,910
leadership than they are with
the freedom that is found in Jesus.

384
00:15:04,070 --> 00:15:05,334
So what I would say is this.

385
00:15:05,422 --> 00:15:09,254
Sometimes in church, people
want to be bossed around with legalism

386
00:15:09,302 --> 00:15:10,326
because it makes more sense.

387
00:15:10,358 --> 00:15:10,694
Right?

388
00:15:10,782 --> 00:15:11,990
Give me a list, Pastor.

389
00:15:12,070 --> 00:15:13,958
Tell me what's good, tell me
what's bad.

390
00:15:14,014 --> 00:15:15,910
And I can go home and I can
check off my list.

391
00:15:15,950 --> 00:15:18,630
But the Bible says that the
Christian life is more than just

392
00:15:18,670 --> 00:15:19,464
listening.

393
00:15:19,542 --> 00:15:22,660
There is right and wrong, but
there is the issue of the heart.

394
00:15:22,700 --> 00:15:26,996
And what Paul has said is,
look, you have tolerated this authoritarian

395
00:15:27,028 --> 00:15:31,124
leadership because you like
the structure, because you like the

396
00:15:31,132 --> 00:15:31,700
way that it is.

397
00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:34,196
Because it's like every other
religion out there.

398
00:15:34,348 --> 00:15:38,212
Every other religion out there
had this system of, hey, follow your

399
00:15:38,236 --> 00:15:38,468
leaders.

400
00:15:38,524 --> 00:15:40,644
And the leader, leaders are
going to lead with an iron fist and

401
00:15:40,652 --> 00:15:41,444
you're going to be punished.

402
00:15:41,492 --> 00:15:43,108
And it's all about condemnation.

403
00:15:43,204 --> 00:15:45,872
And what Paul says is, hey,
yes, there is condemnation, there

404
00:15:45,896 --> 00:15:48,256
is judgment, but that comes
through the Lord.

405
00:15:48,368 --> 00:15:49,920
That comes through faith.

406
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,552
That comes through conviction.

407
00:15:51,616 --> 00:15:54,688
And so he says here, hey,
look, you have gotten the wrong way

408
00:15:54,744 --> 00:15:57,088
of thinking when it comes to
the church.

409
00:15:57,184 --> 00:15:59,456
And he says, you're following
the way of the pagans.

410
00:15:59,488 --> 00:16:01,504
You're following the way of
the world.

411
00:16:01,672 --> 00:16:02,832
And so he goes on to say this.

412
00:16:02,856 --> 00:16:06,640
Verse 21, I speak as
concerning reproach, as though we

413
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:07,700
had been weak.

414
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,460
So again, he's using sarcasm here.

415
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:15,104
He says, we were so weak that
we didn't do these things to you.

416
00:16:15,272 --> 00:16:19,136
So by way of context, what the
people of Corinth were saying is,

417
00:16:19,208 --> 00:16:21,040
we like strong leadership.

418
00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:22,752
Paul, you guys are weak.

419
00:16:22,896 --> 00:16:24,176
We want strong leadership.

420
00:16:24,208 --> 00:16:28,256
And Paul says, sorry that we
were so weak that we didn't abuse

421
00:16:28,288 --> 00:16:28,864
you.

422
00:16:29,032 --> 00:16:31,520
So sorry that we let you make
decisions in Christ.

423
00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,152
Sorry we came alongside of you.

424
00:16:33,176 --> 00:16:35,248
And we're meek and we're
gentle and.

425
00:16:35,304 --> 00:16:37,232
And he says here, he says this.

426
00:16:37,336 --> 00:16:40,272
Don't take meekness and
compassion as weakness.

427
00:16:40,336 --> 00:16:41,712
That's essentially what he's
saying here.

428
00:16:41,736 --> 00:16:44,434
He says, sorry that you think
that we were weak, but it was a weakness.

429
00:16:44,552 --> 00:16:45,838
It was compassion.

430
00:16:46,014 --> 00:16:46,606
It was.

431
00:16:46,678 --> 00:16:47,790
It was meekness.

432
00:16:47,870 --> 00:16:49,730
Meekness is different than weakness.

433
00:16:50,550 --> 00:16:56,974
But he says this, verse 21,
how be it wherein soever any is bold,

434
00:16:57,022 --> 00:16:57,966
I speak foolishly.

435
00:16:57,998 --> 00:16:59,210
I am bold also.

436
00:16:59,590 --> 00:17:00,142
See, what is.

437
00:17:00,166 --> 00:17:00,862
What is he saying here?

438
00:17:00,886 --> 00:17:01,850
He's saying this.

439
00:17:02,230 --> 00:17:04,862
Though you might think that we
are weak, we have been patient with

440
00:17:04,886 --> 00:17:05,214
you.

441
00:17:05,302 --> 00:17:06,766
We have been compassionate
with you.

442
00:17:06,838 --> 00:17:08,494
But now I'm going to speak boldly.

443
00:17:08,622 --> 00:17:11,806
There's a time and a place,
even in humility, to speak boldly

444
00:17:11,838 --> 00:17:14,844
the truth of Christ to those
that are seeking after the truth,

445
00:17:14,892 --> 00:17:15,148
right?

446
00:17:15,204 --> 00:17:17,532
So if I got up here today and
I said, well, I can't tell you really

447
00:17:17,556 --> 00:17:19,548
the truth because it might
offend some of you.

448
00:17:19,604 --> 00:17:21,964
If you want to know the truth,
hopefully you will tolerate the truth

449
00:17:22,012 --> 00:17:22,764
in boldness.

450
00:17:22,892 --> 00:17:24,828
I hope that you're hope.

451
00:17:24,884 --> 00:17:25,100
I.

452
00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:26,140
I hope that this.

453
00:17:26,180 --> 00:17:26,892
I hope this.

454
00:17:26,996 --> 00:17:30,812
I hope that the church here at
Middletown Baptist wants to hear

455
00:17:30,836 --> 00:17:34,732
the truth boldly, whether it's
contrary to culture or not, whether

456
00:17:34,756 --> 00:17:36,604
it's contrary to your feelings
or not.

457
00:17:36,692 --> 00:17:36,940
I.

458
00:17:36,980 --> 00:17:40,770
I might get up here, and maybe
not today, maybe, maybe not next

459
00:17:40,810 --> 00:17:44,146
week, but there's gonna be
some point when I preach something

460
00:17:44,218 --> 00:17:46,978
from this book that's gonna
rub you the wrong way.

461
00:17:47,114 --> 00:17:48,466
You're gonna say, whoa, whoa, whoa.

462
00:17:48,498 --> 00:17:50,306
Who is he to say that again?

463
00:17:50,378 --> 00:17:51,330
Remember, it's not me.

464
00:17:51,370 --> 00:17:52,562
It's the word of God.

465
00:17:52,706 --> 00:17:56,146
And so what we can see here in
this case is Paul says, okay, we've

466
00:17:56,178 --> 00:17:57,906
been quote, unquote weak to you.

467
00:17:57,978 --> 00:18:00,882
Now we're going to be bold and
we're gonna tell you the truth, and

468
00:18:00,906 --> 00:18:02,390
you need to receive this truth.

469
00:18:02,890 --> 00:18:03,730
And, folks, I.

470
00:18:03,770 --> 00:18:05,922
I think that Paul has proven
himself through all this.

471
00:18:05,946 --> 00:18:07,992
And we're gonna see this at
the end of this passage, that he

472
00:18:08,016 --> 00:18:09,240
does all of this in love.

473
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,064
He loves the church at Corinth.

474
00:18:11,192 --> 00:18:12,792
And so it's speaking the truth
in love.

475
00:18:12,816 --> 00:18:13,960
It's boldness in love.

476
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,152
And so Paul is going to say,
okay, I'm going to tell you what

477
00:18:16,176 --> 00:18:17,460
these people are really like.

478
00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,768
So Paul tells them not to take
compassion as weakness.

479
00:18:21,944 --> 00:18:23,064
Here comes the boldness.

480
00:18:23,112 --> 00:18:25,768
And so he's going to give his
credentials right here.

481
00:18:25,904 --> 00:18:28,408
These are the things that Paul says.

482
00:18:28,464 --> 00:18:29,976
You want to see a true Christ follower?

483
00:18:30,008 --> 00:18:32,888
This is a true Christ
follower, verse 22.

484
00:18:32,944 --> 00:18:33,832
Are they Hebrews?

485
00:18:33,896 --> 00:18:35,930
So he speaks to their ancestry.

486
00:18:36,750 --> 00:18:37,654
So am I.

487
00:18:37,742 --> 00:18:39,638
So he says, I've got that
taken care of, okay?

488
00:18:39,654 --> 00:18:40,822
I've got my ancestry taken
care of.

489
00:18:40,846 --> 00:18:42,838
We're not going to get into
Paul's ancestry here.

490
00:18:42,974 --> 00:18:45,558
There's other passages of
scripture where Paul speaks to his

491
00:18:45,614 --> 00:18:48,742
past and his credentials when
it comes to that side of things,

492
00:18:48,846 --> 00:18:51,302
but he's going to speak more
to what he has gone through in this

493
00:18:51,326 --> 00:18:51,750
case.

494
00:18:51,870 --> 00:18:53,206
Are they Israelites?

495
00:18:53,318 --> 00:18:54,370
So am I.

496
00:18:55,230 --> 00:18:56,582
Are they the seed of Abraham?

497
00:18:56,646 --> 00:18:57,238
So am I.

498
00:18:57,294 --> 00:19:00,406
So he says, I'm similar to
them in that concept, in my ancestry.

499
00:19:00,438 --> 00:19:01,324
But there's more.

500
00:19:01,462 --> 00:19:04,576
He says, there's more to your pedigree.

501
00:19:04,688 --> 00:19:07,024
There's more than just your ancestry.

502
00:19:07,072 --> 00:19:08,672
It's more than just your tradition.

503
00:19:08,736 --> 00:19:11,792
It's more than just your past
and where you come from.

504
00:19:11,896 --> 00:19:13,552
And I think that's important
for us to see as well.

505
00:19:13,576 --> 00:19:15,792
Like, what if I got up here
today and I said, well, don't you

506
00:19:15,816 --> 00:19:18,960
know that my dad and my
grandpa, my great grandpa were pastors

507
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,880
so that everything I say is okay?

508
00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:22,688
No, that's not necessarily the case.

509
00:19:22,744 --> 00:19:25,344
Now, my dad wasn't a pastor,
my grandpa wasn't pastor, so you

510
00:19:25,352 --> 00:19:26,400
don't have to worry about that.

511
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,216
They're deacons, so that's
another whole thing.

512
00:19:28,328 --> 00:19:30,296
But the idea would be this.

513
00:19:30,448 --> 00:19:33,976
There have been people in
Corinth, and there's been people

514
00:19:34,048 --> 00:19:37,432
today that have said, look at
where I have been.

515
00:19:37,616 --> 00:19:39,480
So I must be preaching the truth.

516
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,376
Problem is, is that doesn't
always equate to being truth.

517
00:19:42,488 --> 00:19:42,808
Right.

518
00:19:42,864 --> 00:19:45,752
You gauge what's being
preached from what they're saying,

519
00:19:45,856 --> 00:19:48,328
what they're doing, and how
does that match up with the word

520
00:19:48,344 --> 00:19:49,020
of God?

521
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,784
And so he says, oh, yeah, I've
got the ancestry.

522
00:19:51,832 --> 00:19:52,840
We're the same on that.

523
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,110
But he asked a question in
verse 23.

524
00:19:56,970 --> 00:20:00,690
This is a heavier question
than what you might expect.

525
00:20:00,810 --> 00:20:01,950
He says this.

526
00:20:02,490 --> 00:20:04,270
Are they ministers of Christ?

527
00:20:05,050 --> 00:20:07,186
Okay, now that seems like basic.

528
00:20:07,218 --> 00:20:08,290
Well, are they ministers of Christ?

529
00:20:08,330 --> 00:20:09,670
Are they serving Jesus?

530
00:20:10,330 --> 00:20:11,554
Well, they claim to be.

531
00:20:11,642 --> 00:20:15,426
But if you go back to verse
15, it says, therefore it is no great

532
00:20:15,498 --> 00:20:19,122
thing if his ministers,
talking about Satan's ministers,

533
00:20:19,186 --> 00:20:22,236
are also be transformed as
ministers of righteousness whose

534
00:20:22,268 --> 00:20:23,628
end shall be according to
their works.

535
00:20:23,644 --> 00:20:26,604
And so he says, these people
claim to be ministers of Christ,

536
00:20:26,692 --> 00:20:29,836
but what makes them ministers
of Christ actually serving Christ?

537
00:20:29,908 --> 00:20:31,920
That word minister means to serve.

538
00:20:32,340 --> 00:20:37,468
It means to be part of the
message of the truth of Christ.

539
00:20:37,524 --> 00:20:40,108
And so therefore they're not
ministers of Christ.

540
00:20:40,164 --> 00:20:42,572
He says, I speak as a fool,
meaning I'm.

541
00:20:42,636 --> 00:20:44,316
I am the one who understands this.

542
00:20:44,388 --> 00:20:45,864
He says, I am more.

543
00:20:45,972 --> 00:20:47,900
I am more of a servant of Christ.

544
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,112
And he starts to talk about
his credentials, and he doesn't say,

545
00:20:52,136 --> 00:20:53,660
well, this is where I went to school.

546
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,500
He doesn't say where he's preached.

547
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,340
He doesn't say how many
churches he started.

548
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:02,336
He doesn't.

549
00:21:02,368 --> 00:21:04,672
He doesn't, you know, I'm a PhD.

550
00:21:04,736 --> 00:21:04,960
No.

551
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,048
What does he say here?

552
00:21:06,184 --> 00:21:09,008
He does something that is not
what we expect.

553
00:21:09,144 --> 00:21:13,380
He begins to talk about a
different element of his credentials.

554
00:21:14,530 --> 00:21:16,666
So again, we gotta go back to
what a minister means.

555
00:21:16,738 --> 00:21:20,618
A minister means, and
literally in the Greek, it's deakinos.

556
00:21:20,714 --> 00:21:22,282
We get the word deacon from it.

557
00:21:22,386 --> 00:21:28,150
It describes a humble servant
of basic work, everyday work.

558
00:21:28,690 --> 00:21:31,994
So Paul says, are they
servants of Christ?

559
00:21:32,082 --> 00:21:33,910
Are they workers for Christ?

560
00:21:35,410 --> 00:21:35,818
Even.

561
00:21:35,874 --> 00:21:38,170
Even what we would consider in
this case, the.

562
00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:43,844
The most elevated apostles had
inflated their idea of ministry to

563
00:21:43,932 --> 00:21:46,600
basically be a title of exaltation.

564
00:21:47,020 --> 00:21:48,480
What do I mean by that?

565
00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:49,492
They, they.

566
00:21:49,516 --> 00:21:50,660
They would come up and say this.

567
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:50,900
The.

568
00:21:50,940 --> 00:21:52,132
The false teachers there in.

569
00:21:52,156 --> 00:21:55,076
In Corinth, they would say,
we're ministers of Christ now serve

570
00:21:55,108 --> 00:21:58,756
us do you see if you
understand what that word minister

571
00:21:58,828 --> 00:22:03,284
means, how that's, that's
contrary to what is being taught,

572
00:22:03,332 --> 00:22:03,588
right?

573
00:22:03,644 --> 00:22:06,276
So if I got up here and it
says, I'm, I'm but just a minister

574
00:22:06,348 --> 00:22:09,204
of Christ, I just want to
serve the Lord now let me sit in

575
00:22:09,212 --> 00:22:10,660
my high place and everyone
serve me.

576
00:22:10,700 --> 00:22:14,612
That's the opposite of what
we're called to do as ministers of

577
00:22:14,636 --> 00:22:15,252
Christ.

578
00:22:15,436 --> 00:22:18,020
And so what had happened in
the church at Corinth were these

579
00:22:18,060 --> 00:22:21,300
individuals were looking at
that term minister of Christ, and

580
00:22:21,340 --> 00:22:24,244
putting that as a title,
putting that as their credential,

581
00:22:24,292 --> 00:22:25,364
just my title.

582
00:22:25,492 --> 00:22:27,812
So I came up to you and say,
don't you know who I am?

583
00:22:27,916 --> 00:22:30,510
I'm, I'm the lead pastor of
Middletown Baptist Church.

584
00:22:30,620 --> 00:22:32,010
That makes me a good person.

585
00:22:32,130 --> 00:22:33,194
No, that means nothing.

586
00:22:33,242 --> 00:22:34,234
It's a title.

587
00:22:34,362 --> 00:22:36,234
A title is just something that
we give someone.

588
00:22:36,322 --> 00:22:39,642
It's what you do is really
your credentials is what Paul is

589
00:22:39,666 --> 00:22:40,282
saying here.

590
00:22:40,386 --> 00:22:42,810
So he says, hey, I am a minister.

591
00:22:42,930 --> 00:22:44,250
They are not ministers.

592
00:22:44,330 --> 00:22:49,114
They became very highly
regarded, quote, unquote, ministers.

593
00:22:49,162 --> 00:22:51,578
Essentially, what they're
doing is they're abusing you.

594
00:22:51,714 --> 00:22:54,314
And so in the following
section, Paul explains what qualifies

595
00:22:54,362 --> 00:22:56,470
him to be called a minister of Christ.

596
00:22:56,780 --> 00:23:01,812
And we should hopefully, in
our own lives, claim this for our

597
00:23:01,836 --> 00:23:03,960
own credentials.

598
00:23:05,420 --> 00:23:08,852
We, we would expect it to be
different, but these qualifications

599
00:23:08,916 --> 00:23:11,188
are, are totally opposite of
what we would think.

600
00:23:11,244 --> 00:23:13,160
So let's look at those credentials.

601
00:23:13,660 --> 00:23:15,748
First one, in Labors.

602
00:23:15,844 --> 00:23:17,172
This is the middle of verse 23.

603
00:23:17,196 --> 00:23:19,524
He says, in labors more abundant.

604
00:23:19,652 --> 00:23:20,660
What is he talking about here?

605
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:25,572
Labors are essentially
working, toiling, sweating, the way

606
00:23:25,596 --> 00:23:27,860
I wrote down in my notes here,
sweat equity.

607
00:23:28,020 --> 00:23:30,436
He's, he's, he's, he's working
for the Lord.

608
00:23:30,468 --> 00:23:31,572
He's toiling.

609
00:23:31,716 --> 00:23:34,132
Some of you understand what
that means.

610
00:23:34,236 --> 00:23:37,332
You know, maybe you, you're,
maybe you work outside all day and

611
00:23:37,356 --> 00:23:39,268
you're out there and you're
sweating and you're working, you're

612
00:23:39,284 --> 00:23:39,716
sore.

613
00:23:39,828 --> 00:23:42,164
That's, that's the idea that
Paul is talking about here.

614
00:23:42,252 --> 00:23:44,116
He's not talking about, well,
I work for the Lord.

615
00:23:44,148 --> 00:23:47,540
I, you know, I, I, I walked
into church today and I sat down,

616
00:23:47,580 --> 00:23:48,212
I walked out.

617
00:23:48,236 --> 00:23:50,014
That was a lot of work for the
Lord today.

618
00:23:50,212 --> 00:23:52,362
I'm not saying that that's a
bad thing, but what I'm saying is

619
00:23:52,386 --> 00:23:55,310
he's talking about something
more like, I've, I've struggled.

620
00:23:55,730 --> 00:23:58,346
I, I, I, blood, sweat and
tears for the Lord.

621
00:23:58,378 --> 00:24:02,074
He says that's, that's what it
means to be a Christ follower.

622
00:24:02,122 --> 00:24:03,350
He goes on to Say more.

623
00:24:05,010 --> 00:24:07,946
In stripes, above measure.

624
00:24:08,138 --> 00:24:08,602
Say what?

625
00:24:08,626 --> 00:24:08,842
What are.

626
00:24:08,866 --> 00:24:09,786
What is he talking about, stripes?

627
00:24:09,818 --> 00:24:11,230
He's talking about wounds.

628
00:24:11,810 --> 00:24:15,722
He's talking about people
taking a whip and striking him with

629
00:24:15,746 --> 00:24:19,118
that and leaving scars and marks.

630
00:24:19,294 --> 00:24:21,342
We could go back and we could
look at many of the stories that

631
00:24:21,366 --> 00:24:21,950
Paul talks about.

632
00:24:21,990 --> 00:24:26,590
He talks about being whipped
by the Jews, being whipped by these

633
00:24:26,630 --> 00:24:28,318
people that are against him in.

634
00:24:28,374 --> 00:24:29,726
In what he's preaching.

635
00:24:29,838 --> 00:24:34,446
And so he says, hey, in
stripes, in wounds above measure.

636
00:24:34,478 --> 00:24:37,694
I can't even count how many
times that I've been wounded for

637
00:24:37,702 --> 00:24:39,090
the cause of the Gospel.

638
00:24:40,070 --> 00:24:41,438
You say, what does that mean
for me?

639
00:24:41,494 --> 00:24:42,490
That means this.

640
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,024
To be a certified Christ
Father, we must be willing to take

641
00:24:48,192 --> 00:24:49,656
wounds for the Lord.

642
00:24:49,768 --> 00:24:52,856
We must be willing to go
through pain for the Lord.

643
00:24:52,968 --> 00:24:55,640
You would say, well, that's
what it's about.

644
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,624
I don't want to be there, folks.

645
00:24:57,672 --> 00:25:01,960
The truth is, is that if we
want to be servants of God, we must

646
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,720
be willing to get out of our
comfort zone and be willing to take

647
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,272
the wounds that we face from
this world.

648
00:25:07,296 --> 00:25:08,456
Paul says, I'll preach.

649
00:25:08,488 --> 00:25:10,130
And it doesn't matter how much
I'll preach.

650
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:11,694
I'm still gonna face this.

651
00:25:11,782 --> 00:25:15,438
He says, in prisons more
frequent, he says, I've worked harder

652
00:25:15,454 --> 00:25:16,170
than them.

653
00:25:16,870 --> 00:25:18,574
I've been beat more than them.

654
00:25:18,742 --> 00:25:21,614
I've been in prison more for
them, more of them.

655
00:25:21,702 --> 00:25:23,290
And the idea would be this.

656
00:25:24,070 --> 00:25:27,550
Paul went to prison, but Paul
didn't go to prison for, you know,

657
00:25:27,590 --> 00:25:30,094
trying to evade the Roman tax.

658
00:25:30,262 --> 00:25:33,970
Paul didn't go to prison for
speeding on his chariot.

659
00:25:34,710 --> 00:25:37,116
He went to prison for
preaching the gospel.

660
00:25:37,238 --> 00:25:39,408
He went to prison for obeying God.

661
00:25:39,584 --> 00:25:39,920
So.

662
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,980
So he was persecuted
essentially for his faith.

663
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:47,632
And the question would be that
in America today, and I know this

664
00:25:47,656 --> 00:25:51,872
is really heavy, and I know
that this is convicting and I am

665
00:25:51,896 --> 00:25:57,280
convicted, but how many people
would be where they are today if

666
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:58,900
there was more persecution?

667
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,416
How many of us would be
willing to say, yeah, I'll publicly

668
00:26:03,448 --> 00:26:04,248
be a Christian.

669
00:26:04,344 --> 00:26:08,264
If that meant that we would be
in prison, if that meant we would

670
00:26:08,272 --> 00:26:12,040
be hurt, if that meant we
would have to pay a price with our

671
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:13,640
blood, sweat, and tears.

672
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,904
You know what we see in second
Timothy, chapter three, verse 12,

673
00:26:17,072 --> 00:26:18,744
it says, Yea, all.

674
00:26:18,912 --> 00:26:23,352
All that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

675
00:26:23,496 --> 00:26:26,056
So it's actually an
expectation that if we live boldly

676
00:26:26,088 --> 00:26:29,264
enough for Christ, we will
face some element of persecution.

677
00:26:29,352 --> 00:26:33,584
And what Paul is saying is, is
that a certified Christian, a certified

678
00:26:33,712 --> 00:26:36,672
Christ follower, which means
they're serving God, it's not just

679
00:26:36,696 --> 00:26:40,480
by what they say, but Also by
what they believe and by what they

680
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:40,912
do.

681
00:26:41,016 --> 00:26:44,400
Someone who is willing to be a
minister of Christ is going to be

682
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,016
willing to do all of these things.

683
00:26:46,088 --> 00:26:47,776
They're going to be willing to
be ostracized.

684
00:26:47,808 --> 00:26:49,552
They're going to be willing to
be mocked.

685
00:26:49,616 --> 00:26:52,512
You know what the truth is, is
that most of us will never have to

686
00:26:52,536 --> 00:26:55,104
go through physical torment
for being a Christian.

687
00:26:55,152 --> 00:26:56,022
I hope not.

688
00:26:56,176 --> 00:26:57,866
And that's not a guarantee.

689
00:26:58,058 --> 00:27:02,074
But maybe you'll live your
whole life and not be physically

690
00:27:02,202 --> 00:27:03,482
hurt for being a Christian.

691
00:27:03,546 --> 00:27:05,658
But you know what also comes
with that?

692
00:27:05,714 --> 00:27:09,274
There's a lot of persecution
when it comes to mocking, when it

693
00:27:09,282 --> 00:27:11,082
comes to ostracizing.

694
00:27:11,226 --> 00:27:15,546
Maybe you living as a
Christian has made your family forget

695
00:27:15,578 --> 00:27:16,202
about you.

696
00:27:16,306 --> 00:27:17,226
I don't know.

697
00:27:17,378 --> 00:27:18,970
And that's painful, I get that.

698
00:27:19,090 --> 00:27:21,802
But what it says here is that
we, if we want to be ministers for

699
00:27:21,826 --> 00:27:25,956
Christ, we must be willing to
go through and these difficulties

700
00:27:26,068 --> 00:27:27,060
for the Lord.

701
00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:30,788
And so he says here in
prisons, more frequent, in deaths

702
00:27:30,884 --> 00:27:31,860
oft meaning.

703
00:27:31,940 --> 00:27:33,684
Now you say he's died multiple times.

704
00:27:33,772 --> 00:27:35,316
It just means this.

705
00:27:35,388 --> 00:27:36,920
He's been left for dead.

706
00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:40,932
He's been seen as dead,
meaning he has gone almost to the

707
00:27:40,956 --> 00:27:42,356
point where he's taken his
last breath.

708
00:27:42,388 --> 00:27:45,460
And some have even said that
Paul did die and he was resurrected.

709
00:27:45,540 --> 00:27:48,212
But nonetheless we know that
he says, I've been willing to die,

710
00:27:48,276 --> 00:27:49,588
I'm willing to die.

711
00:27:49,764 --> 00:27:50,960
That's what he's saying.

712
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:55,004
Verse 24 of the Jews, five
times received thy 40 stripes, save

713
00:27:55,052 --> 00:27:55,640
one.

714
00:27:56,180 --> 00:28:00,400
25, verse 25, thrice three
times was I beaten with rods.

715
00:28:01,460 --> 00:28:02,796
Say, what is he doing here?

716
00:28:02,868 --> 00:28:04,560
He's giving his credentials.

717
00:28:05,540 --> 00:28:07,372
Like that's not what I
expected him to say.

718
00:28:07,396 --> 00:28:09,644
I thought he was going to say
that he went to school, he was a

719
00:28:09,652 --> 00:28:13,036
Pharisee, that, that he knew
the Bible backwards and forwards.

720
00:28:13,068 --> 00:28:13,852
No, what is he saying here?

721
00:28:13,876 --> 00:28:16,520
He's saying these are the
things that he has gone through.

722
00:28:17,340 --> 00:28:23,652
Once I was stoned, thrice I
suffered shipwreck a night and a

723
00:28:23,676 --> 00:28:23,860
day.

724
00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:29,076
I have been in the deep, in
journeyings, often in perils of waters,

725
00:28:29,188 --> 00:28:34,308
in perils of robbers, in
perils by my own countrymen.

726
00:28:34,404 --> 00:28:38,916
He's been betrayed by his own
people, in perils by the heathen.

727
00:28:39,028 --> 00:28:43,438
Okay, so that's persecution
from the non believers going forward.

728
00:28:43,494 --> 00:28:48,494
Here he says imperils in the
city and perils in the wilderness.

729
00:28:48,622 --> 00:28:51,262
He's saying there's been
struggles everywhere.

730
00:28:51,326 --> 00:28:52,814
I couldn't run from those struggles.

731
00:28:52,862 --> 00:28:54,318
I went to the city, I found struggles.

732
00:28:54,334 --> 00:28:56,222
I went to the country, I found struggles.

733
00:28:56,366 --> 00:28:57,730
It was everywhere.

734
00:28:58,390 --> 00:28:59,486
Imperils in the sea.

735
00:28:59,518 --> 00:29:01,086
I couldn't even avoid it out
in the ocean.

736
00:29:01,118 --> 00:29:06,690
There was perils out there in
perils among false brethren, in weariness

737
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,800
and painfulness, in watchings,
often meaning lack of sleep, not

738
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:19,704
sleeping, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings, often in cold

739
00:29:19,752 --> 00:29:21,020
and nakedness.

740
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:27,016
He says, these are all the
things that I have done as a Christ

741
00:29:27,088 --> 00:29:27,784
follower.

742
00:29:27,912 --> 00:29:31,896
These are all the things that
I have done that I continue to do

743
00:29:31,968 --> 00:29:34,740
and that I'm willing to do as
long as God has me to live.

744
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:37,880
That's a pretty strong testimony.

745
00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:42,880
I don't know if any of us here
today would say, I'm in.

746
00:29:43,980 --> 00:29:47,076
And, and, and the truth is, is
that I don't think that God asked

747
00:29:47,148 --> 00:29:49,028
every single believer to go
through this.

748
00:29:49,084 --> 00:29:52,516
Paul had a specific purpose in
a specific time.

749
00:29:52,668 --> 00:29:56,292
But he calls all of us to some
degree to give up something in our

750
00:29:56,316 --> 00:30:01,918
life, to give up our comfort,
to give up our will to give, to give

751
00:30:01,974 --> 00:30:05,854
up our desires, our agendas,
and say, lord, if it takes me to

752
00:30:05,862 --> 00:30:08,974
be shipwrecked, if it takes me
to go through this struggle, if it

753
00:30:08,982 --> 00:30:11,502
takes me to go through this
loss, if it takes me to go through

754
00:30:11,526 --> 00:30:14,558
this pain, if it takes me to
go through this sickness for other

755
00:30:14,614 --> 00:30:16,542
people to see you, so be it.

756
00:30:16,566 --> 00:30:17,854
I'm willing to do that.

757
00:30:17,942 --> 00:30:19,998
That is a certified Christ follower.

758
00:30:20,094 --> 00:30:21,262
You want to be a disciple?

759
00:30:21,326 --> 00:30:24,206
That word disciple means
committed follower of Christ.

760
00:30:24,278 --> 00:30:27,830
A committed follower of Christ
says, lord, I'll follow you anywhere.

761
00:30:28,170 --> 00:30:30,162
I won't just follow you in the good.

762
00:30:30,346 --> 00:30:32,354
I won't just follow you in the easy.

763
00:30:32,482 --> 00:30:34,594
I won't just follow you when
everything's smooth sailing.

764
00:30:34,642 --> 00:30:38,962
I will follow you when it goes
bad, when everything seems to be

765
00:30:38,986 --> 00:30:41,842
going astray, when our country
is this way, when our country is

766
00:30:41,866 --> 00:30:44,962
that way, when my family is
this way, when I'm this way, when

767
00:30:44,986 --> 00:30:47,842
I have bad news from the
doctor, when I get to work and I

768
00:30:47,866 --> 00:30:49,378
realize that I've lost my job.

769
00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:53,150
That's where I will say, lord,
I am with you no matter what.

770
00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:58,284
And even further, I will
proclaim your word and face the backlash

771
00:30:58,332 --> 00:31:00,240
of proclaiming your word publicly.

772
00:31:01,140 --> 00:31:05,164
There are people in this world
that are okay with us being in church

773
00:31:05,212 --> 00:31:08,492
here because we're like every
other church in America, right?

774
00:31:08,596 --> 00:31:10,188
They me and they leave.

775
00:31:10,284 --> 00:31:12,812
But there's a lot of people in
this world that would be upset if

776
00:31:12,836 --> 00:31:15,960
we take the gospel message and
send it out.

777
00:31:16,420 --> 00:31:17,964
That's when the opposition comes.

778
00:31:18,052 --> 00:31:20,352
They don't care what's
happening within these four walls.

779
00:31:20,476 --> 00:31:22,152
Every other church in America meets.

780
00:31:22,216 --> 00:31:25,912
It's when we publicly,
publicly Proclaim the change of the

781
00:31:25,936 --> 00:31:29,832
gospel when we publicly
proclaim that Jesus is the only way.

782
00:31:29,856 --> 00:31:31,144
And Paul says, hey, you know what?

783
00:31:31,152 --> 00:31:33,032
There was a lot of religious
people that are okay with what we

784
00:31:33,056 --> 00:31:34,680
were doing until we started
preaching Jesus.

785
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,616
And that's when everyone came
against us.

786
00:31:36,768 --> 00:31:38,792
And so he says, I've gone
through so much.

787
00:31:38,896 --> 00:31:42,472
I've had so many burdens, but
I'm doing it for Christ.

788
00:31:42,576 --> 00:31:43,368
But then here.

789
00:31:43,424 --> 00:31:46,140
Here is what blew my mind when
I was reading this passage.

790
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:47,240
He.

791
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:51,704
He talks about in weariness
and painfulness, in lack of sleep

792
00:31:51,752 --> 00:31:54,200
and hunger and thirst and
fastings and cold and nakedness.

793
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,776
But then we see his biggest
burden, verse 28.

794
00:31:56,848 --> 00:31:59,016
And this is not what we would
think his biggest burden is.

795
00:31:59,088 --> 00:32:03,544
If I was him, my biggest
burden would be getting beaten multiple

796
00:32:03,592 --> 00:32:03,800
times.

797
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:04,088
Okay?

798
00:32:04,104 --> 00:32:05,592
I'd be like, I don't want to
do that anymore.

799
00:32:05,656 --> 00:32:08,952
But this is Paul's biggest
burden here, and this is a mark of

800
00:32:08,976 --> 00:32:11,600
a believer focused on the
cause of the gospel.

801
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:12,576
Verse 28.

802
00:32:12,648 --> 00:32:17,264
He says, Besides those things
that are without, that which cometh

803
00:32:17,312 --> 00:32:21,300
upon me daily, the care of all
the churches.

804
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,392
Say, what is he saying here?

805
00:32:23,576 --> 00:32:24,780
He's saying this.

806
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,456
Paul's biggest burden was the
ministry to the church, the people

807
00:32:29,528 --> 00:32:30,336
of the church.

808
00:32:30,448 --> 00:32:31,904
He says, whip me all you want.

809
00:32:31,992 --> 00:32:35,120
My biggest burden is the
people and the souls that are there

810
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,882
in Corinth, the souls that are
there in Ephesus.

811
00:32:37,976 --> 00:32:39,158
I want them to come to Christ.

812
00:32:39,214 --> 00:32:40,550
I don't want them to be misled.

813
00:32:40,630 --> 00:32:43,750
He says, my biggest burden is
not the physical that's coming down

814
00:32:43,790 --> 00:32:44,198
on me.

815
00:32:44,254 --> 00:32:45,798
My biggest burden is the church.

816
00:32:45,894 --> 00:32:49,222
My biggest burden is your
spiritual growth.

817
00:32:49,326 --> 00:32:51,814
My biggest burden is the
gospel of Jesus Christ.

818
00:32:51,902 --> 00:32:57,370
And so Paul's deepest concern,
his deepest burden was not for himself.

819
00:32:57,790 --> 00:32:58,630
Man, if I, If.

820
00:32:58,670 --> 00:33:01,286
If I had the testimony of
Paul, I'd be wanting people to like,

821
00:33:01,358 --> 00:33:02,566
oh, I'm so sorry, Pastor.

822
00:33:02,598 --> 00:33:03,510
What can we do for you?

823
00:33:03,550 --> 00:33:04,474
And come alongside.

824
00:33:04,582 --> 00:33:06,130
Paul says, don't worry about me.

825
00:33:06,170 --> 00:33:07,874
I'm more worried about you.

826
00:33:08,042 --> 00:33:13,074
It was for others, for the
week, for those who were stumbling

827
00:33:13,122 --> 00:33:14,034
in the false teaching.

828
00:33:14,082 --> 00:33:16,066
He's sitting there like, you
know, we're.

829
00:33:16,098 --> 00:33:17,026
We're gonna see next chapter.

830
00:33:17,058 --> 00:33:20,750
I don't want to give you too
much of a spoiler for next week.

831
00:33:21,530 --> 00:33:22,466
Paul has a.

832
00:33:22,538 --> 00:33:25,602
Has a thorn in his flesh, and it.

833
00:33:25,626 --> 00:33:25,810
It.

834
00:33:25,850 --> 00:33:27,682
It holds him back in his mind.

835
00:33:27,706 --> 00:33:29,746
It holds him back from doing
what he can do for the Lord.

836
00:33:29,778 --> 00:33:32,426
He says, there's something
holding me back, and he wants God

837
00:33:32,458 --> 00:33:33,418
to take that away.

838
00:33:33,554 --> 00:33:34,490
But you know what?

839
00:33:34,610 --> 00:33:37,146
Because of all these burdens
that are upon him.

840
00:33:37,298 --> 00:33:39,386
He could have felt sorry for himself.

841
00:33:39,498 --> 00:33:40,202
But what does he say?

842
00:33:40,226 --> 00:33:42,938
He says, I'm more concerned
about that false teaching that's

843
00:33:42,954 --> 00:33:45,230
leading you astray, that's
making you stumble.

844
00:33:46,530 --> 00:33:50,010
A true mark of a certified
Christ follower would be someone

845
00:33:50,050 --> 00:33:52,270
who was concerned about others
instead of themselves.

846
00:33:52,770 --> 00:34:01,252
Paul had many burdens, but
ultimate burden that he had would

847
00:34:01,276 --> 00:34:04,084
be the burdens of the souls of
those around him.

848
00:34:04,252 --> 00:34:05,924
Now, not in a perfect way.

849
00:34:06,092 --> 00:34:07,876
We know who did that in a
perfect way.

850
00:34:07,948 --> 00:34:09,108
That was Jesus.

851
00:34:09,284 --> 00:34:12,404
Jesus was the perfect example
of someone who was other centered.

852
00:34:12,532 --> 00:34:18,196
He came to this world, he was
mocked, he was beaten, he was rejected

853
00:34:18,228 --> 00:34:19,360
by his own people.

854
00:34:19,980 --> 00:34:25,176
He was put on a cross, but yet
he did it.

855
00:34:25,248 --> 00:34:26,168
As we read this morning.

856
00:34:26,224 --> 00:34:27,352
Romans, chapter 5, verse 8.

857
00:34:27,376 --> 00:34:29,528
But God commandeth or
demonstrated his love towards us.

858
00:34:29,584 --> 00:34:31,752
And now, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.

859
00:34:31,856 --> 00:34:34,776
He was willing to do that for
us because of his love for us.

860
00:34:34,848 --> 00:34:36,824
Paul was willing to do that
for the church of Corinth, for his

861
00:34:36,832 --> 00:34:37,976
love of the church of Corinth.

862
00:34:38,088 --> 00:34:42,936
Are you willing to love others
enough to go through the difficulties

863
00:34:42,968 --> 00:34:43,752
of this world?

864
00:34:43,856 --> 00:34:47,304
The persecutions of those that
are against the gospel, the pain

865
00:34:47,352 --> 00:34:48,670
that you might face with others?

866
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:50,098
And sometimes the wounds are not.

867
00:34:50,154 --> 00:34:51,890
Sometimes we'd rather have a
physical wound.

868
00:34:51,970 --> 00:34:55,070
I don't know about you, but
sometimes we know that those in.

869
00:34:56,010 --> 00:34:58,914
In your heart wounds are more
painful than the ones that are on

870
00:34:58,922 --> 00:34:59,630
the outside.

871
00:35:01,690 --> 00:35:03,590
And sometimes those wounds
don't heal.

872
00:35:04,410 --> 00:35:09,270
But are we willing to be
wounded for the cause of the gospel?

873
00:35:10,010 --> 00:35:13,090
You say, well, I've never been
a part of a church service that asked

874
00:35:13,130 --> 00:35:13,870
that question.

875
00:35:14,660 --> 00:35:17,340
If you go through second
Corinthians, it's pretty clear that

876
00:35:17,380 --> 00:35:19,436
that is the call to action here.

877
00:35:19,508 --> 00:35:22,108
Am I willing to be hurt for
the gospel?

878
00:35:22,284 --> 00:35:27,676
Am I willing to be, in most
cases in America, just discomforted

879
00:35:27,708 --> 00:35:28,720
for the gospel?

880
00:35:29,140 --> 00:35:29,548
Am.

881
00:35:29,604 --> 00:35:33,052
Am I willing to have someone
look at me and turn a side eye just

882
00:35:33,076 --> 00:35:34,320
because I'm a Christian?

883
00:35:34,740 --> 00:35:37,640
That's really what mostly what
we're facing in our world today.

884
00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:41,400
Well, someone at work might
call me a crazy person.

885
00:35:42,030 --> 00:35:43,670
Well, be called a crazy person.

886
00:35:43,790 --> 00:35:45,590
Okay, so someone might.

887
00:35:45,630 --> 00:35:48,902
Might call me, you know, weird
because I don't do the things that

888
00:35:48,926 --> 00:35:49,862
they do at work.

889
00:35:49,966 --> 00:35:52,090
Let them call you weird for
the gospel.

890
00:35:52,430 --> 00:35:53,510
That's the point.

891
00:35:53,630 --> 00:35:54,966
The point is to live differently.

892
00:35:54,998 --> 00:35:56,950
The point is to follow
something differently.

893
00:35:57,030 --> 00:36:01,110
The point is to say, lord, I'm
willing to go through this for you

894
00:36:01,230 --> 00:36:03,094
because of the greatest act of love.

895
00:36:03,182 --> 00:36:04,278
Romans 5, 8.

896
00:36:04,414 --> 00:36:06,210
He went to the cross for us.

897
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:11,696
We all have an opportunity to
reciprocate that love by obeying

898
00:36:11,728 --> 00:36:12,848
him in every way that we can.

899
00:36:12,904 --> 00:36:22,512
So going forward here, he says
verse number 29, who is weak and

900
00:36:22,536 --> 00:36:25,920
I am not weak, who is offended
and I burn not meaning.

901
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,288
His concern is for those who
are weaker than him.

902
00:36:28,424 --> 00:36:33,344
His concern is for those who
are offended in the false teaching

903
00:36:33,392 --> 00:36:34,656
of those people there in Corinth.

904
00:36:34,688 --> 00:36:36,630
He says, I'm concerned for
your souls.

905
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:37,050
I.

906
00:36:37,090 --> 00:36:38,830
I'm concerned for your weakness.

907
00:36:41,010 --> 00:36:41,658
Verse 30.

908
00:36:41,714 --> 00:36:44,154
If I must needs glory if I'm
going to boast.

909
00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:49,818
He says, if I'm going to boast
in anything in my life, I will glory

910
00:36:49,994 --> 00:36:54,750
or boast of the things which
concern my infirmities.

911
00:36:56,210 --> 00:36:57,722
What is he saying here?

912
00:36:57,906 --> 00:37:02,602
He says, the only thing that
I'm going to boast in is what I have

913
00:37:02,626 --> 00:37:03,466
gone through for Christ.

914
00:37:03,538 --> 00:37:04,830
My weaknesses.

915
00:37:05,730 --> 00:37:08,458
Now that's like, that's
totally contrary to what we think.

916
00:37:08,514 --> 00:37:11,306
We think, let me, let me boast
in all the things I'm strong in.

917
00:37:11,378 --> 00:37:15,994
He says God has allowed me to
go through struggles and pain so

918
00:37:16,002 --> 00:37:19,050
that he is seen, so that he is
elevated again.

919
00:37:19,090 --> 00:37:21,434
I don't want to get too far
ahead, but he's going to talk in

920
00:37:21,522 --> 00:37:24,890
Second Corinthians, chapter
12, about what happens when we are

921
00:37:24,930 --> 00:37:25,626
weak.

922
00:37:25,818 --> 00:37:27,194
I'll give you a little hint.

923
00:37:27,322 --> 00:37:28,778
God is able to work.

924
00:37:28,914 --> 00:37:32,036
God is the one who is seen
strong, folks.

925
00:37:32,068 --> 00:37:33,396
I can tell you what it means.

926
00:37:33,548 --> 00:37:35,560
And all of you know what it
means to be helpless.

927
00:37:36,300 --> 00:37:38,836
I mentioned this last week and
it's real to me.

928
00:37:38,908 --> 00:37:42,500
It's fresh on my mind when I'm
looking at my one year old son and

929
00:37:42,540 --> 00:37:47,268
he's in pain and he's
screaming and I can't take that pain

930
00:37:47,284 --> 00:37:47,780
away from him.

931
00:37:47,820 --> 00:37:50,084
As a dad, I want to just take
that pain away.

932
00:37:50,252 --> 00:37:51,332
I felt so weak.

933
00:37:51,396 --> 00:37:53,412
I felt like such an inadequate father.

934
00:37:53,476 --> 00:37:54,964
Like, why would I let this happen?

935
00:37:55,052 --> 00:37:57,318
I know that the surgery was
there to help him, but as a dad,

936
00:37:57,404 --> 00:37:58,882
you never want to see your
children in pain.

937
00:37:58,946 --> 00:38:00,146
I want to take my children's pain.

938
00:38:00,178 --> 00:38:01,858
I would take, I take a bullet
for my children.

939
00:38:01,914 --> 00:38:03,314
Like I would take anything for
my children.

940
00:38:03,402 --> 00:38:04,830
I love them so much.

941
00:38:05,290 --> 00:38:08,850
And the truth is, is that in,
in that opportunity, in, in that

942
00:38:08,890 --> 00:38:11,618
moment, I realized how
helpless I was.

943
00:38:11,754 --> 00:38:16,670
But in that helplessness, it
made me more reliant on God's power.

944
00:38:17,210 --> 00:38:17,906
Right?

945
00:38:18,058 --> 00:38:22,754
And I didn't feel lost because
I felt that even though I'm helpless

946
00:38:22,802 --> 00:38:25,442
here, the one who I trust in
is more powerful than I could ever

947
00:38:25,466 --> 00:38:26,030
be.

948
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,984
And so what we can see here is
Paul says, look, I'm Gonna glory

949
00:38:30,112 --> 00:38:31,700
when I go through struggles.

950
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,160
When you have that
perspective, it's an amazing perspective

951
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:38,240
because Paul always talks
about win, wins.

952
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:39,584
Remember his other win, win.

953
00:38:39,672 --> 00:38:43,616
I wanna go to heaven to be
with God, but if I don't die, I'm

954
00:38:43,648 --> 00:38:44,560
here to serve him.

955
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:45,472
So it's a win, win.

956
00:38:45,496 --> 00:38:46,432
I go to heaven, I be with him.

957
00:38:46,456 --> 00:38:47,792
If I'm here, I'm serving him here.

958
00:38:47,896 --> 00:38:49,712
It's an awesome way to think
about life.

959
00:38:49,816 --> 00:38:52,352
It's the same way when it
comes to struggles and pains and

960
00:38:52,376 --> 00:38:53,380
persecutions.

961
00:38:54,090 --> 00:38:57,202
Well, if things are going
well, I can give glory to God for

962
00:38:57,226 --> 00:38:57,762
the blessings.

963
00:38:57,826 --> 00:39:00,354
If things are going difficult,
I can just rely on him more.

964
00:39:00,522 --> 00:39:02,978
And that's the idea that Paul
is trying to get across here.

965
00:39:03,034 --> 00:39:04,546
So he goes on to say more here.

966
00:39:04,618 --> 00:39:05,790
Verse 31.

967
00:39:06,410 --> 00:39:11,794
The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which is blessed forevermore,

968
00:39:11,842 --> 00:39:13,298
knoweth that I lie not meaning.

969
00:39:13,314 --> 00:39:14,722
He's like, God knows my heart.

970
00:39:14,746 --> 00:39:16,642
God knows I'm not just going
through the motions here.

971
00:39:16,746 --> 00:39:17,602
God knows my heart.

972
00:39:17,626 --> 00:39:19,260
I don't care if you believe
because you.

973
00:39:19,300 --> 00:39:19,548
Why?

974
00:39:19,604 --> 00:39:20,476
Why would he say that?

975
00:39:20,548 --> 00:39:22,892
He would say that because
everyone's like, yeah, right, Paul,

976
00:39:23,036 --> 00:39:24,560
you like your infirmities.

977
00:39:24,900 --> 00:39:26,236
Yeah, right, okay.

978
00:39:26,348 --> 00:39:28,716
That's what everyone says when
you read those passages of scripture.

979
00:39:28,748 --> 00:39:29,004
Come on.

980
00:39:29,012 --> 00:39:31,068
We all say, you know, you're
that passage of scripture.

981
00:39:31,084 --> 00:39:32,636
I glory in my infirmities.

982
00:39:32,748 --> 00:39:34,284
I'm thankful, I count it all joy.

983
00:39:34,332 --> 00:39:37,148
When I fall into diverse
temptation, we all go, yeah, right.

984
00:39:37,204 --> 00:39:37,420
That.

985
00:39:37,460 --> 00:39:38,300
He didn't really mean that.

986
00:39:38,340 --> 00:39:39,500
Paul says, God knows my heart.

987
00:39:39,540 --> 00:39:42,040
God knows I'm not lying, I'm
true about this.

988
00:39:42,660 --> 00:39:44,140
Then he goes on to say more about.

989
00:39:44,260 --> 00:39:44,492
Really?

990
00:39:44,516 --> 00:39:46,076
It's one of his first trials
of persecution.

991
00:39:46,108 --> 00:39:46,826
Verse 32.

992
00:39:46,908 --> 00:39:49,694
In Damascus, the governor
under Eratas, the king, kept the

993
00:39:49,702 --> 00:39:53,486
city of Damascus with a
garrison desirous to apprehend me.

994
00:39:53,558 --> 00:39:56,286
And through a window in a
basket, I was let down by the wall

995
00:39:56,318 --> 00:39:57,246
and escaped his hands.

996
00:39:57,278 --> 00:39:58,478
You say, why does he bring
that up?

997
00:39:58,534 --> 00:40:00,542
Well, back in Acts, chapter
nine, that was one of the first times

998
00:40:00,566 --> 00:40:02,462
that God gave him provision.

999
00:40:02,526 --> 00:40:04,430
God gave him salvation.

1000
00:40:04,510 --> 00:40:07,678
Not in spiritual salvation,
but in his physical.

1001
00:40:07,854 --> 00:40:10,366
And so what I would say here
in this case is that Paul is pointing

1002
00:40:10,398 --> 00:40:12,770
to the provisions of God
through the difficulties.

1003
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:14,168
You would say, so.

1004
00:40:14,224 --> 00:40:16,520
So we're supposed to just go
through pain and grin and bear it?

1005
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:17,480
No, we go back.

1006
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:18,632
I want you to go back with me.

1007
00:40:18,656 --> 00:40:21,256
We're gonna kind of wrap this
up in Second Corinthians, chapter

1008
00:40:21,288 --> 00:40:21,480
four.

1009
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:22,504
We need to have a review.

1010
00:40:22,592 --> 00:40:25,720
When I was a teacher, I would
go back and have to review things

1011
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:26,776
that we built upon.

1012
00:40:26,888 --> 00:40:28,584
We've been going through
Second Corinthians, and that's why

1013
00:40:28,592 --> 00:40:29,480
we do book studies.

1014
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,072
The reason why we do book
studies is because when we're going

1015
00:40:32,096 --> 00:40:35,208
through Second Corinthians,
something in chapter four might be

1016
00:40:35,264 --> 00:40:36,952
built on in chapter 11.

1017
00:40:37,056 --> 00:40:39,576
And if we don't go back to
chapter four, we might not connect

1018
00:40:39,608 --> 00:40:40,270
the dots.

1019
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:41,506
That's why we do book studies.

1020
00:40:41,538 --> 00:40:43,954
If I just read this passage of
Scripture to you, you might think,

1021
00:40:44,042 --> 00:40:45,682
well, so I'm just.

1022
00:40:45,786 --> 00:40:48,322
Life is all just gonna be
about pain, and now I just have to

1023
00:40:48,346 --> 00:40:49,250
grin and bear it.

1024
00:40:49,370 --> 00:40:49,746
No.

1025
00:40:49,818 --> 00:40:52,072
What does Paul say in 2nd
Corinthians, chapter 4?

1026
00:40:52,155 --> 00:40:54,210
2 Corinthians, chapter 4,
verse 8.

1027
00:40:54,250 --> 00:40:55,490
This is amazing.

1028
00:40:55,650 --> 00:40:56,274
This is.

1029
00:40:56,362 --> 00:40:57,794
This is how the dots are connected.

1030
00:40:57,842 --> 00:40:58,930
This is how we can move forward.

1031
00:40:58,970 --> 00:41:02,030
He says, we are troubled on
every side.

1032
00:41:02,970 --> 00:41:05,952
Paul says, hey, look, we've
got trouble all around us.

1033
00:41:06,066 --> 00:41:08,900
In front of us, beside us,
behind us, above us, below us.

1034
00:41:08,940 --> 00:41:12,440
There's trouble around us, yet
not distressed.

1035
00:41:13,100 --> 00:41:15,924
He's like, I can have trouble
all around me, but it doesn't distress

1036
00:41:15,972 --> 00:41:16,560
me.

1037
00:41:17,500 --> 00:41:18,516
We are perplexed.

1038
00:41:18,548 --> 00:41:21,140
That means confused, but not
in despair.

1039
00:41:21,220 --> 00:41:24,660
You ever been confused so much
that you just like, I give up, got

1040
00:41:24,700 --> 00:41:25,204
no hope.

1041
00:41:25,292 --> 00:41:26,052
I don't know what to do.

1042
00:41:26,076 --> 00:41:29,320
Paul says, I'm perplexed, but
I'm not in despair.

1043
00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:31,204
Persecuted.

1044
00:41:31,252 --> 00:41:32,580
There's our word that we were
talking about.

1045
00:41:32,620 --> 00:41:34,496
Persecuted, but not forsaken.

1046
00:41:34,608 --> 00:41:37,340
People will come against me,
but God's not forgotten about me.

1047
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,368
Cast down, but not destroyed.

1048
00:41:40,544 --> 00:41:43,952
Reminds me of the psalm that
says, though he fall, the man of

1049
00:41:43,976 --> 00:41:44,416
God.

1050
00:41:44,528 --> 00:41:47,216
Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord

1051
00:41:47,248 --> 00:41:48,208
upholds him with his hand.

1052
00:41:48,264 --> 00:41:52,432
So the Bible says here that
though we will be cast down, we are

1053
00:41:52,456 --> 00:41:53,540
not destroyed.

1054
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:58,224
Always bearing about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus.

1055
00:41:58,272 --> 00:42:02,510
Meaning we're carrying with us
the gospel message of Jesus sacrifice,

1056
00:42:02,930 --> 00:42:08,314
that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our body.

1057
00:42:08,402 --> 00:42:11,130
Meaning we carry Jesus around
with us.

1058
00:42:11,170 --> 00:42:14,730
And what we do and how we
respond reflects Jesus to those around

1059
00:42:14,770 --> 00:42:15,402
us.

1060
00:42:15,586 --> 00:42:18,186
So how we respond to good
reflects Jesus.

1061
00:42:18,298 --> 00:42:22,746
How we respond to bad, how we
respond to difficulty reflects Jesus.

1062
00:42:22,938 --> 00:42:24,070
Going further.

1063
00:42:24,620 --> 00:42:29,508
For we which live are alway
delivered unto death for Jesus sake,

1064
00:42:29,604 --> 00:42:33,476
that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal

1065
00:42:33,508 --> 00:42:34,148
flesh.

1066
00:42:34,324 --> 00:42:37,892
We go through struggles to
show people Jesus through our flesh,

1067
00:42:37,956 --> 00:42:39,600
through our body, through our life.

1068
00:42:40,140 --> 00:42:43,748
So then death worketh in us,
but life in you.

1069
00:42:43,884 --> 00:42:46,548
Paul says, it's all about the
message of the gospel.

1070
00:42:46,644 --> 00:42:47,924
It's all about glorifying.

1071
00:42:47,972 --> 00:42:48,388
God.

1072
00:42:48,484 --> 00:42:50,756
If I have to go through
difficulties, I will for the cause

1073
00:42:50,788 --> 00:42:53,740
of the gospel, so that people
will know him, so that people can

1074
00:42:53,780 --> 00:42:56,620
understand his goodness, so
that people can understand his love,

1075
00:42:56,660 --> 00:42:59,996
his grace, his patience, his
forgiveness all across the board.

1076
00:43:00,068 --> 00:43:03,372
It's a beautiful thing that we
have in Christ and that is his love

1077
00:43:03,396 --> 00:43:06,092
and his presence working in us
and through us.

1078
00:43:06,116 --> 00:43:10,332
And so what we can see here is
Paul says, hey, the struggles are

1079
00:43:10,436 --> 00:43:11,788
not just a waste.

1080
00:43:11,884 --> 00:43:13,836
The struggles are not just
something that we tolerate.

1081
00:43:13,868 --> 00:43:17,280
The struggles are used to
point people to Jesus.

1082
00:43:17,620 --> 00:43:20,520
And so Paul goes through all
those credentials to say this.

1083
00:43:22,970 --> 00:43:25,378
I'm willing to go through
these pains and sorrows.

1084
00:43:25,474 --> 00:43:28,674
I'm willing to point people to
Christ through this.

1085
00:43:28,842 --> 00:43:32,706
Are the true apostles that are
claiming to be apostles in your midst,

1086
00:43:32,738 --> 00:43:33,730
are they willing to say this?

1087
00:43:33,770 --> 00:43:34,690
Are they willing to do this?

1088
00:43:34,730 --> 00:43:35,122
No.

1089
00:43:35,226 --> 00:43:36,258
They want to be exalted.

1090
00:43:36,274 --> 00:43:38,002
They want to be removed from
all the problems.

1091
00:43:38,066 --> 00:43:40,866
They want to be the ones that
are stealing from you and taking

1092
00:43:40,938 --> 00:43:42,418
from you and abusing you.

1093
00:43:42,474 --> 00:43:43,346
And here's the case.

1094
00:43:43,418 --> 00:43:46,292
Paul says it really boils down
to this.

1095
00:43:46,466 --> 00:43:50,100
Those false teachers point the
people to themselves.

1096
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,420
A true Christ follower points
people to Christ.

1097
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:56,240
That's, that's where it's
summed up.

1098
00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,040
And so Paul fights and he
fights and he fights against these

1099
00:43:59,080 --> 00:43:59,696
false teachers.

1100
00:43:59,728 --> 00:44:02,960
And we know that ultimately
he's going to talk in the next chapter

1101
00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:07,776
about, about the biggest
picture, and that is the biggest

1102
00:44:07,808 --> 00:44:09,392
picture of God's grace is sufficient.

1103
00:44:09,456 --> 00:44:16,290
He, he, he ends this thought
at the where we're going to start

1104
00:44:16,330 --> 00:44:16,722
next week.

1105
00:44:16,746 --> 00:44:19,030
And that is God's grace is sufficient.

1106
00:44:19,930 --> 00:44:22,338
And if you don't come back
next week, I want to tell you God's

1107
00:44:22,354 --> 00:44:23,026
grace is sufficient.

1108
00:44:23,058 --> 00:44:24,610
I hope that you come back for
next week.

1109
00:44:24,730 --> 00:44:28,722
This is a building point to
the place where Paul is going to

1110
00:44:28,746 --> 00:44:29,714
give us his thesis.

1111
00:44:29,762 --> 00:44:30,818
You know what your thesis is?

1112
00:44:30,874 --> 00:44:32,510
Your thesis is your main thought.

1113
00:44:32,810 --> 00:44:36,578
And Paul is basically going to
tell us that it doesn't matter what's

1114
00:44:36,594 --> 00:44:39,150
happening to you, because
God's grace is all you need.

1115
00:44:40,490 --> 00:44:45,910
Good, bad, easy, hard,
persecuted, exalted.

1116
00:44:46,570 --> 00:44:49,750
All we ever need is God's grace.

1117
00:44:51,050 --> 00:44:52,498
You go to Romans chapter 5.

1118
00:44:52,554 --> 00:44:56,226
Romans chapter 5 speaks of
glorying in tribulations, counting

1119
00:44:56,258 --> 00:44:58,914
all joy when we fall into
different tribulations.

1120
00:44:58,962 --> 00:44:59,266
Why?

1121
00:44:59,338 --> 00:45:02,750
Because those tribulations work.

1122
00:45:03,370 --> 00:45:04,230
Patience.

1123
00:45:05,140 --> 00:45:06,428
That's endurance.

1124
00:45:06,604 --> 00:45:08,412
Taught patience through struggles.

1125
00:45:08,556 --> 00:45:11,420
Patience, experience and experience.

1126
00:45:11,540 --> 00:45:12,204
Hope.

1127
00:45:12,372 --> 00:45:13,640
Don't we all want hope?

1128
00:45:14,260 --> 00:45:14,940
I want hope.

1129
00:45:14,980 --> 00:45:16,284
The world's looking for hope.

1130
00:45:16,452 --> 00:45:18,236
So we say, oh, hope, what do
we do?

1131
00:45:18,308 --> 00:45:18,588
Hope.

1132
00:45:18,644 --> 00:45:19,500
Hope is not.

1133
00:45:19,620 --> 00:45:21,132
Some of my Sunday school Class
knows this.

1134
00:45:21,156 --> 00:45:23,356
I'm about to call them up here
and they can quote you the definition

1135
00:45:23,388 --> 00:45:23,740
of hope.

1136
00:45:23,780 --> 00:45:26,108
It's not, lord, please do this.

1137
00:45:26,164 --> 00:45:29,520
It's a confident expectation
that God is going to keep his word.

1138
00:45:30,190 --> 00:45:32,774
The more trials we go through,
the more we're willing to say, lord,

1139
00:45:32,822 --> 00:45:34,102
I know you're going to keep
your word.

1140
00:45:34,166 --> 00:45:34,822
I know it.

1141
00:45:34,926 --> 00:45:36,054
I don't care what's going to happen.

1142
00:45:36,142 --> 00:45:36,678
I don't care.

1143
00:45:36,734 --> 00:45:37,990
I don't care if my life is
taken away.

1144
00:45:38,030 --> 00:45:38,502
Because you know what?

1145
00:45:38,526 --> 00:45:41,110
At the end of the day, this
is, and this is not something we

1146
00:45:41,150 --> 00:45:42,598
want to talk about in American Christianity.

1147
00:45:42,694 --> 00:45:44,646
But if your life is taken,
guess what?

1148
00:45:44,718 --> 00:45:46,262
What's the worst that can happen?

1149
00:45:46,446 --> 00:45:47,862
What's the where, where am I?

1150
00:45:47,886 --> 00:45:48,710
If I'm a Christian?

1151
00:45:48,790 --> 00:45:51,766
If I'm a Christian and someone
comes in here and they say, don't

1152
00:45:51,798 --> 00:45:52,534
you preach Jesus?

1153
00:45:52,582 --> 00:45:54,550
If you preach Jesus, you're,
you're going to be dead.

1154
00:45:54,630 --> 00:45:56,954
Okay, what's the worst that
can happen?

1155
00:45:57,102 --> 00:45:58,870
Get to go to be with my Savior.

1156
00:45:59,370 --> 00:46:00,706
No one wants to talk about that.

1157
00:46:00,778 --> 00:46:01,938
No one wants to talk about that.

1158
00:46:01,994 --> 00:46:04,870
But the truth is, is that
we're, as Christians, we are living,

1159
00:46:05,450 --> 00:46:08,994
we're living not on our, our
benefits, right?

1160
00:46:09,082 --> 00:46:10,578
We're living on Christ's benefits.

1161
00:46:10,674 --> 00:46:12,950
Every moment that we have is a gift.

1162
00:46:13,690 --> 00:46:16,150
That, that, that breath you
just took in was a gift.

1163
00:46:17,130 --> 00:46:17,870
Right?

1164
00:46:18,250 --> 00:46:20,390
The fact that we can meet
together is a gift.

1165
00:46:21,210 --> 00:46:24,190
And so the fact is today is
that God has given you time.

1166
00:46:24,740 --> 00:46:26,060
We don't know how much time.

1167
00:46:26,180 --> 00:46:28,412
The Bible says to redeem the
time because the days are evil.

1168
00:46:28,476 --> 00:46:29,436
And so what do we do?

1169
00:46:29,508 --> 00:46:31,900
We utilize that time for
what's at hand.

1170
00:46:31,940 --> 00:46:33,740
Paul could have said, I need
to go.

1171
00:46:33,780 --> 00:46:37,996
Just take a break and go out
to the Mediterranean Sea and probably

1172
00:46:38,028 --> 00:46:38,476
try to.

1173
00:46:38,548 --> 00:46:40,876
He would have a shipwreck or
something like, remember Jonah?

1174
00:46:40,908 --> 00:46:43,484
Jonah tried to run the
opposite direction and a bunch of

1175
00:46:43,492 --> 00:46:44,204
bad stuff happens.

1176
00:46:44,252 --> 00:46:45,868
The best place to be is in the
will of God.

1177
00:46:45,964 --> 00:46:46,892
So what I would tell you is this.

1178
00:46:46,916 --> 00:46:48,140
There's nothing wrong with
taking a break.

1179
00:46:48,180 --> 00:46:51,252
There's nothing wrong with
taking a season of rest.

1180
00:46:51,396 --> 00:46:55,524
But what I will say is that
let's not get weary and well doing.

1181
00:46:55,692 --> 00:46:58,932
Let's keep pushing forward,
redeeming the time, because the days

1182
00:46:58,956 --> 00:46:59,652
are equal.

1183
00:46:59,796 --> 00:47:02,292
And I would encourage you to
think about you, you would say, well,

1184
00:47:02,316 --> 00:47:04,628
hey, Pastor, what, what's the
call to action here?

1185
00:47:04,764 --> 00:47:07,396
Are we supposed to just go out
and be persecuted?

1186
00:47:07,588 --> 00:47:11,120
Don't worry about the
persecution that will come.

1187
00:47:11,980 --> 00:47:16,388
Live for Christ, live publicly
for Christ, live boldly for Christ,

1188
00:47:16,524 --> 00:47:18,732
live different in Your
families live different in your.

1189
00:47:18,746 --> 00:47:19,512
In your workplaces.

1190
00:47:19,576 --> 00:47:21,704
Live different everywhere you are.

1191
00:47:21,792 --> 00:47:23,592
And ultimately there will be
struggles and.

1192
00:47:23,616 --> 00:47:25,352
And struggles come from many
different places.

1193
00:47:25,416 --> 00:47:28,024
Struggles come from the enemy,
the attacks of the enemy.

1194
00:47:28,072 --> 00:47:30,056
Struggles come with our own
bad decisions.

1195
00:47:30,168 --> 00:47:32,920
Struggles come from the world.

1196
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:34,648
And then God allows struggles
to happen.

1197
00:47:34,704 --> 00:47:34,920
I.

1198
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:38,072
I do firmly believe that God
allows difficulties to happen to

1199
00:47:38,096 --> 00:47:39,528
test us in our faith.

1200
00:47:39,704 --> 00:47:41,112
You don't believe that.

1201
00:47:41,296 --> 00:47:44,110
Read the book of Job, right?

1202
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,994
None of us want what Job had,
but all of us must be willing and

1203
00:47:47,002 --> 00:47:48,034
ready to say, you know what?

1204
00:47:48,122 --> 00:47:51,390
If it takes a wound, so be it.

1205
00:47:52,570 --> 00:47:55,550
If it takes shipwreck, so be it.

1206
00:47:56,010 --> 00:47:57,522
If it takes hunger, so be it.

1207
00:47:57,546 --> 00:47:59,602
If it takes sleeplessness, so
be it.

1208
00:47:59,626 --> 00:48:01,550
I want to do what I can for Christ.

1209
00:48:03,050 --> 00:48:05,426
I'm not saying all of us are
capable of doing the same things.

1210
00:48:05,498 --> 00:48:06,738
Some of you are like, you know what?

1211
00:48:06,794 --> 00:48:11,236
My days of going out and
conquering the world are over.

1212
00:48:11,308 --> 00:48:13,492
But I'm going to tell you,
folks, it's not over.

1213
00:48:13,676 --> 00:48:18,292
God has given you what he has
given you for a purpose and a time

1214
00:48:18,316 --> 00:48:18,612
at hand.

1215
00:48:18,636 --> 00:48:20,804
You'd say, I'm not able to get
out the way that I used to get out.

1216
00:48:20,892 --> 00:48:22,244
God has given you opportunities.

1217
00:48:22,292 --> 00:48:23,412
I know he has.

1218
00:48:23,596 --> 00:48:26,532
Every one of us come across
people that we can influence for

1219
00:48:26,556 --> 00:48:28,080
the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1220
00:48:28,460 --> 00:48:30,244
Paul says, I'm more concerned
about them.

1221
00:48:30,332 --> 00:48:31,716
But you know what happens?

1222
00:48:31,908 --> 00:48:33,044
What happens is this.

1223
00:48:33,132 --> 00:48:34,640
This is what happens in my life.

1224
00:48:35,590 --> 00:48:42,062
I get so busy with me and my
struggle and my issues that I lose

1225
00:48:42,126 --> 00:48:44,798
sight of those around me that
need the grace of God.

1226
00:48:44,974 --> 00:48:46,490
So life's all about me.

1227
00:48:47,270 --> 00:48:47,630
And.

1228
00:48:47,670 --> 00:48:48,622
And I say, well, you know what?

1229
00:48:48,646 --> 00:48:50,222
I'll get to that when my life
is straight out.

1230
00:48:50,246 --> 00:48:52,846
It's kind of like when Alicia
and I first got married.

1231
00:48:52,878 --> 00:48:54,798
We said, we're gonna have kids
when we're ready.

1232
00:48:54,974 --> 00:48:56,798
We're gonna have kids when we
have enough money.

1233
00:48:56,934 --> 00:48:59,774
And someone came up to me in
love and said, brother, let me tell

1234
00:48:59,782 --> 00:49:00,062
you something.

1235
00:49:00,086 --> 00:49:01,262
You're never gonna be ready.

1236
00:49:01,406 --> 00:49:02,782
You're never gonna have enough money.

1237
00:49:02,886 --> 00:49:04,122
You're never gonna have enough stuff.

1238
00:49:04,206 --> 00:49:05,230
So here's the thing.

1239
00:49:05,530 --> 00:49:08,002
We're never gonna get our
lives to a place where we can say,

1240
00:49:08,026 --> 00:49:08,990
hey, you know what?

1241
00:49:09,610 --> 00:49:10,706
I got no more problems.

1242
00:49:10,738 --> 00:49:12,034
Now I can help other people.

1243
00:49:12,202 --> 00:49:14,546
Thing is, is now we just take
what God has given us and graced

1244
00:49:14,578 --> 00:49:15,330
us with and help others.

1245
00:49:15,370 --> 00:49:18,642
And Lord willing, God allows
others to come help us.

1246
00:49:18,666 --> 00:49:20,690
And it's that process of edification.

1247
00:49:20,850 --> 00:49:21,618
And so walk.

1248
00:49:21,674 --> 00:49:24,402
The Bible says walk circumspectly.

1249
00:49:24,546 --> 00:49:25,474
It's a weird word.

1250
00:49:25,522 --> 00:49:25,906
Circum.

1251
00:49:25,938 --> 00:49:28,178
What circumspectly means, just
means like, walking around.

1252
00:49:28,234 --> 00:49:31,916
And when we played football,
some of you aren't a sports person,

1253
00:49:31,988 --> 00:49:33,788
but you'll get it.

1254
00:49:33,924 --> 00:49:35,080
So we play football.

1255
00:49:36,020 --> 00:49:40,812
If you keep your eyes focused
on one thing all the time, you might

1256
00:49:40,836 --> 00:49:42,268
not see what's coming from the side.

1257
00:49:42,404 --> 00:49:43,260
I can tell you a story.

1258
00:49:43,300 --> 00:49:44,620
There was a time where I had a job.

1259
00:49:44,660 --> 00:49:47,292
I was to tackle this guy, and
I was running towards him.

1260
00:49:47,316 --> 00:49:49,404
He was running this way, and I
was running this way, and I was running

1261
00:49:49,452 --> 00:49:50,252
like this.

1262
00:49:50,436 --> 00:49:53,164
All of a sudden, I felt like a
train hit me.

1263
00:49:53,252 --> 00:49:55,532
Some guy came in full speed
from the other way, and I had no

1264
00:49:55,556 --> 00:49:56,618
clue he was there.

1265
00:49:56,764 --> 00:49:57,598
And I got up.

1266
00:49:57,654 --> 00:50:00,142
I don't know how many minutes
it was later, I tried to walk to

1267
00:50:00,166 --> 00:50:01,246
the wrong sideline.

1268
00:50:01,358 --> 00:50:02,446
I didn't know where I was.

1269
00:50:02,518 --> 00:50:05,118
I didn't wake up to, like, we
were eating at Burger King.

1270
00:50:05,134 --> 00:50:07,582
And I'm like, oh, why am I here?

1271
00:50:07,686 --> 00:50:08,638
It's weird.

1272
00:50:08,814 --> 00:50:12,654
But the reason why that
happened is I wasn't walking with

1273
00:50:12,662 --> 00:50:14,142
my head looking for things
around me.

1274
00:50:14,166 --> 00:50:16,206
I was looking at the one thing
in front of me.

1275
00:50:16,358 --> 00:50:19,262
And as Christian sons, we can
get so focused on the blinders of

1276
00:50:19,286 --> 00:50:21,902
life that I'm so focused on my
own life that I don't see people

1277
00:50:21,926 --> 00:50:22,990
hurting beside me.

1278
00:50:23,110 --> 00:50:25,918
So when the Bible says walk
circumspectly, it means look around

1279
00:50:25,974 --> 00:50:29,150
for opportunities to extend
the grace of God to other people.

1280
00:50:29,270 --> 00:50:31,886
And that's really the picture
of what Paul is saying here is, I'm

1281
00:50:31,918 --> 00:50:32,734
concerned about you.

1282
00:50:32,822 --> 00:50:35,262
Paul could have been sitting
there concerned about his own life.

1283
00:50:35,446 --> 00:50:37,646
He could have been
complaining, but he didn't.

1284
00:50:37,678 --> 00:50:39,086
He said, I want to help you.

1285
00:50:39,238 --> 00:50:41,182
And I'm reluctant to tell you
what I've gone through, but I need

1286
00:50:41,206 --> 00:50:42,942
to tell you what I've gone
through to show you that I'm the

1287
00:50:42,966 --> 00:50:43,690
real deal.

1288
00:50:44,070 --> 00:50:44,734
And that's.

1289
00:50:44,782 --> 00:50:47,210
That's the story of Second
Corinthians, chapter 11.

1290
00:50:47,670 --> 00:50:49,982
So I'm going to ask you if
you're able to stand with me, every

1291
00:50:50,006 --> 00:50:51,950
head bowed, every eye closed,
as the music plays today.

1292
00:50:51,990 --> 00:50:52,818
It's a.

1293
00:50:53,014 --> 00:50:54,106
The difficult message.

1294
00:50:54,138 --> 00:50:55,978
It's not a passage of
scripture that we would just pull

1295
00:50:55,994 --> 00:51:01,386
out of a hat, as a passage of
scripture that would be used to encourage

1296
00:51:01,418 --> 00:51:01,770
each other.

1297
00:51:01,810 --> 00:51:02,714
But here's the thing.

1298
00:51:02,802 --> 00:51:05,082
When we get to these passages
of Scripture, they're there for a

1299
00:51:05,106 --> 00:51:05,530
purpose.

1300
00:51:05,610 --> 00:51:10,298
And it's there to show us that
the Christ follower, the one.

1301
00:51:10,354 --> 00:51:13,274
The one who is following
Christ with everything, is willing

1302
00:51:13,322 --> 00:51:16,826
to go through the struggles of
life for him because of the greatest

1303
00:51:16,858 --> 00:51:19,110
gift of love in his sacrifice
for us.

1304
00:51:19,730 --> 00:51:20,618
How dare we?

1305
00:51:20,674 --> 00:51:23,690
How selfish is it that we say,
lord, I don't want to do that for

1306
00:51:23,730 --> 00:51:24,362
you?

1307
00:51:24,546 --> 00:51:29,034
When we look at what he has
done for us, he hasn't called everyone

1308
00:51:29,202 --> 00:51:33,050
to do everything, but he's
called everyone to do something for

1309
00:51:33,090 --> 00:51:33,670
him.

1310
00:51:34,370 --> 00:51:36,154
You have a purpose in your life.

1311
00:51:36,242 --> 00:51:37,722
If you're breathing here today.

1312
00:51:37,826 --> 00:51:40,618
You have a purpose for the gospel.

1313
00:51:40,794 --> 00:51:45,396
You have a ministry, as the
Bible says, that ministry of Christ.

1314
00:51:45,578 --> 00:51:47,740
How are you serving Christ today?

1315
00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:52,912
Say, well, I serve Christ by,
you know, not yelling at my neighbor.

1316
00:51:53,056 --> 00:51:53,968
That's a good start.

1317
00:51:54,024 --> 00:51:57,100
But what are you doing for the
Gospel of Jesus Christ?

1318
00:51:57,640 --> 00:52:00,016
It's one thing to stop doing
the wrong, right?

1319
00:52:00,088 --> 00:52:02,176
We all should stop doing wrong
in our life.

1320
00:52:02,248 --> 00:52:04,432
We should all strive not to
fall into sin.

1321
00:52:04,496 --> 00:52:07,168
But the Bible says it's so
much more than just not doing bad

1322
00:52:07,224 --> 00:52:07,728
things.

1323
00:52:07,864 --> 00:52:10,544
It's not doing bad things and
replacing that with the things of

1324
00:52:10,552 --> 00:52:13,956
the Gospel to elevate Christ,
to elevate his message.

1325
00:52:14,068 --> 00:52:16,484
And so, folks, I'm glad that
you are a good citizen.

1326
00:52:16,532 --> 00:52:21,700
I'm glad that you are an honor
honoring person that goes to church

1327
00:52:21,780 --> 00:52:23,476
and follows the best that you can.

1328
00:52:23,548 --> 00:52:26,036
But the second part of that
is, what are you doing for the furtherance

1329
00:52:26,068 --> 00:52:27,652
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

1330
00:52:27,836 --> 00:52:31,300
Because the truth is, is that
if we stay stagnant, if we stay still,

1331
00:52:31,420 --> 00:52:34,452
many times before we know it,
we've drifted back the other way.

1332
00:52:34,636 --> 00:52:37,092
And encourage you to stand
strong and say, you know what, I

1333
00:52:37,116 --> 00:52:38,248
might not be Paul, but.

1334
00:52:38,284 --> 00:52:41,888
But I can say that I'm willing
to go through discomfort for him.

1335
00:52:42,024 --> 00:52:43,392
I'm willing to be stretched
for him.

1336
00:52:43,416 --> 00:52:45,712
I'm willing to go somewhere
that he has called me to go.

1337
00:52:45,736 --> 00:52:48,864
I'm willing to move somewhere
where he's calling me to move.

1338
00:52:48,952 --> 00:52:50,800
I'm willing to change
something in my life.

1339
00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:53,456
And this is a point that I
wanted to bring up before, but I'll

1340
00:52:53,488 --> 00:52:57,664
say it again here in this time
of invitation, maybe God is calling

1341
00:52:57,712 --> 00:53:00,464
you to change something in
your life or take something out of

1342
00:53:00,472 --> 00:53:00,848
your life.

1343
00:53:00,904 --> 00:53:01,872
And you're like, you know what?

1344
00:53:01,896 --> 00:53:06,122
I can't give that up, that one
thing, Lord, I just can't give that

1345
00:53:06,146 --> 00:53:07,194
up for you folks.

1346
00:53:07,322 --> 00:53:08,426
I don't know what that is.

1347
00:53:08,498 --> 00:53:09,802
I don't know what that is in
your life.

1348
00:53:09,826 --> 00:53:11,306
I know what it is for my life.

1349
00:53:11,458 --> 00:53:14,106
And there's a time and a place
where we all have to say, lord, I'm

1350
00:53:14,138 --> 00:53:16,150
willing to give that up for you.

1351
00:53:16,930 --> 00:53:18,314
Well, it's not a bad thing.

1352
00:53:18,402 --> 00:53:21,402
But if a good thing becomes
the first thing, it becomes the worst

1353
00:53:21,466 --> 00:53:22,070
thing.

1354
00:53:22,930 --> 00:53:24,858
Don't allow something to come
between you and the Lord.

1355
00:53:24,874 --> 00:53:27,274
If it's something between you
and the Lord right now, if it's a

1356
00:53:27,282 --> 00:53:30,394
good thing, it's an
entertainment thing, it's a hobby

1357
00:53:30,442 --> 00:53:32,410
thing, it's a security thing.

1358
00:53:32,450 --> 00:53:33,082
You know what?

1359
00:53:33,186 --> 00:53:35,514
Be willing to say, lord, I
will give you everything.

1360
00:53:35,602 --> 00:53:37,626
I will give you my all.

1361
00:53:37,778 --> 00:53:40,490
So here this morning, the call
for invitation is this.

1362
00:53:40,530 --> 00:53:43,082
Are you willing to come
forward and dedicate your life to

1363
00:53:43,106 --> 00:53:46,378
being one of those ministers
of Christ, like Paul was willing

1364
00:53:46,394 --> 00:53:47,110
to do?

1365
00:53:47,970 --> 00:53:51,066
If so, during the next few
moments, you can come kneel and commit

1366
00:53:51,098 --> 00:53:52,150
yourself to him.

1367
00:53:53,330 --> 00:53:56,378
Not looking forward to the bad
things that'll happen, but being

1368
00:53:56,434 --> 00:53:59,188
ready when the bad things
happen, to know that, that God's

1369
00:53:59,204 --> 00:54:01,360
going to get me through this,
that I can look to Him.

1370
00:54:02,540 --> 00:54:04,160
But secondly, it's this.

1371
00:54:04,460 --> 00:54:07,012
You can't be a minister of
Christ if you don't know him in a

1372
00:54:07,036 --> 00:54:08,000
personal way.

1373
00:54:08,460 --> 00:54:10,484
You need Jesus Christ as your
personal Savior.

1374
00:54:10,532 --> 00:54:12,772
If you've been trusting in all
the wrong things, if you've been

1375
00:54:12,796 --> 00:54:16,596
trusting in your works, in
your church, in your, your money,

1376
00:54:16,668 --> 00:54:21,476
in your health, whatever it
is, anything outside of trusting

1377
00:54:21,508 --> 00:54:24,004
in Jesus Christ and Him alone
for your salvation is empty.

1378
00:54:24,052 --> 00:54:27,608
The Bible says he is the way
the Bible says it is him who died

1379
00:54:27,624 --> 00:54:28,760
on the cross for our sins.

1380
00:54:28,840 --> 00:54:31,928
And so therefore, without
trusting in him, we do not have salvation.

1381
00:54:32,024 --> 00:54:35,032
If you need salvation here
today, if you need forgiveness, if

1382
00:54:35,056 --> 00:54:37,352
you need to know what it means
to have everlasting life with him

1383
00:54:37,376 --> 00:54:38,728
in heaven, come forward.

1384
00:54:38,784 --> 00:54:42,360
We'll show you in the word of
God what it means to know Jesus and

1385
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:44,568
to have salvation and to live
eternally with him.

1386
00:54:44,624 --> 00:54:46,488
Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation, working

1387
00:54:46,544 --> 00:54:47,460
hearts and lives.

1388
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:52,626
I encourage, Lord, these
people to trust in your grace.

1389
00:54:52,738 --> 00:54:53,074
Lord.

1390
00:54:53,122 --> 00:54:56,402
I know that five encouraged
them even more.

1391
00:54:56,426 --> 00:54:59,106
So you're encouraging them
through the preaching and teaching

1392
00:54:59,138 --> 00:54:59,778
of the Word.

1393
00:54:59,874 --> 00:55:01,714
So Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation.

1394
00:55:01,762 --> 00:55:04,150
Help us to be committed to you
as Christ followers.

1395
00:55:04,730 --> 00:55:07,310
We thank you and we love you
for what you've done in our lives,

1396
00:55:07,770 --> 00:55:09,670
most importantly for salvation.

1397
00:55:10,010 --> 00:55:11,362
So we trust in you for that.

1398
00:55:11,386 --> 00:55:12,338
In Jesus name, amen.

1399
00:55:12,354 --> 00:55:14,670
As the music plays, follow as
the Lord leads here today.

1400
00:55:15,050 --> 00:55:17,714
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1401
00:55:17,762 --> 00:55:18,458
podcast.

1402
00:55:18,594 --> 00:55:21,270
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1403
00:55:21,570 --> 00:55:23,866
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1404
00:55:23,898 --> 00:55:27,562
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1405
00:55:27,706 --> 00:55:30,510
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1406
00:55:30,930 --> 00:55:35,386
You can also email me directly
at joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch

1407
00:55:35,418 --> 00:55:39,850
dot com if you've enjoyed this
podcast, please subscribe and follow

1408
00:55:39,890 --> 00:55:42,830
along for future podcasts and updates.

1409
00:55:43,330 --> 00:55:44,410
Thank you so much.

1410
00:55:44,530 --> 00:55:45,354
God Bless.

1411
00:55:45,482 --> 00:55:46,530
Have a wonderful day.