WEBVTT 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:17.719 2, verse 5 is where we will start. Last week, 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.239 Paul was writing to let the people of Corinth 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:23.960 know why he didn't return as he had originally 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.160 said he was going to, and we don't know exactly 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:29.559 the situation, but there were some things going 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:34.079 on, and Paul said the reason why he did not come 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.079 is because he didn't want to caused pain to them 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.240 because he knew if he'd come, he would have to 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.439 discipline them. And we see that same idea in 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:48.039 1 Corinthians. We see Paul bringing discipline 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:51.140 toward the Corinthian people for some things 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:53.500 that were going on. And it appears as though 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.299 there were still some things going on that Paul 00:00:56.299 --> 00:00:58.939 has addressed, maybe some in the 1 Corinthians 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:01.159 that we have or maybe even some other letters 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:04.280 that we don't have. But last week, it was pretty 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:08.569 strong language about... And Paul used strong 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.230 language in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 where he 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:13.150 talked about one in the church that was in sin 00:01:13.150 --> 00:01:16.569 that they needed to hand over to Satan so that 00:01:16.569 --> 00:01:18.750 that person may be saved. Now, what exactly that 00:01:18.750 --> 00:01:21.709 means is hard to say, but there was some discipline 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:23.829 there that I think Paul was saying, look, you've 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.269 got to get this one away from you. If he's going 00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:28.870 to continue to live in sin and be unrepentant, 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:31.060 You have to address that. That's not healthy 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:34.560 for the church. And so we know that Paul is pretty 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.379 strict on some occasions. And we also see similar 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:41.859 language in 2 Timothy chapter 1. You may remember 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.219 when we talked about a couple of guys that he 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:47.260 talked about handing them over to Satan so that 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:51.079 they may be taught not to blaspheme. And so Paul 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:55.099 really hits home on a few occasions about the 00:01:55.099 --> 00:02:00.400 necessity of discipline. But this part of the 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.739 letter that we're getting to tonight is kind 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:06.099 of the flip side of that. Paul is not just some 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:08.960 disciplinarian who's wanting to come in and just 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.460 always get on everybody all the time and be some 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:13.580 authoritarian that tells everybody they're doing 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:17.039 everything wrong. That's not his heart. And we 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.400 see his heart at the end of the verses we looked 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:22.319 at last week when he says, look. I didn't come 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.400 to you because I do not want to hurt you. I do 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.199 not want to cause you pain because it causes 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:30.599 me pain. And he said, look, I write this with 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.080 anguish and tears because I don't want to see 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.360 you guys. I don't want to see some troublemakers 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.319 among you. I don't want to see sin popping up 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:41.039 among you. I don't want to see your fellowship 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:43.580 and other brothers and sisters in Christ stumble 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:47.240 and fall into the traps of Satan because of these 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.080 things that are going on. Paul says, for this 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.039 reason I delayed my coming, because when I'll 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.120 come to you, I don't want to have to come to 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:58.580 you too harshly, because that wouldn't be good 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:01.759 for either of us, he said. And so with that in 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:05.419 mind, we kind of shift gears to a kind of a more 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:08.759 uplifting idea that we see in what he writes 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.219 tonight. So let's pray, and then we'll get started. 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:14.699 God, we come to you. We thank you for your word. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:16.960 And I pray that we would soak it in, that we 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:18.759 would get it, that we would understand it, that 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:21.319 your Holy Spirit would be with us and free us 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.560 from the worries and the things of the world 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.819 that are on our mind tonight. I pray that you 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:29.020 would just lead us, that you would speak through 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.680 me, dear Lord. There's no good word I can speak 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.580 if it does not come from you. So I pray that 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:36.460 your Holy Spirit would be among us and bless 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:41.379 this word. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. 2 Corinthians 00:03:41.379 --> 00:03:47.460 2, verse 5. If anyone has caused pain, he has 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:52.139 caused pain, not so much to me, but to some degree, 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.780 not to exaggerate, to all of you. The punishment 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:00.960 inflicted by the majority is sufficient for that 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:04.740 person. All right, so... Apparently there's somebody 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:07.860 or maybe multiple people. He's real vague here. 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.879 We don't have any specifics. Maybe he's referencing 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.120 somebody that we see talked about in chapter 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:16.899 1. Some have suggested that maybe he's talking 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:20.240 about the same person that was addressed in 1 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.839 Corinthians 5. Maybe he is, maybe he's not. It's 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:27.000 hard to know exactly. It doesn't really matter 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:30.529 who it is. But there is somebody or maybe multiple 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:34.250 people who have been causing trouble, who have 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:36.709 been causing problems. And he says if anyone 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:40.569 caused pain, he caused pain not so much to me 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:45.470 but to some degree to all of you. And so what 00:04:45.470 --> 00:04:48.550 he's saying here is that when there's a body 00:04:48.550 --> 00:04:52.129 of Christ and there's one person in that body 00:04:52.129 --> 00:04:55.509 or some people in that body who are living in 00:04:55.509 --> 00:05:00.209 sin, unrepentant sin, or causing trouble or causing 00:05:00.209 --> 00:05:03.689 chaos among the body of believers, it brings 00:05:03.689 --> 00:05:07.250 pain on everybody. The things that we do, we 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:09.649 don't do them in a vacuum. It's not just things 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:12.290 that we do that affect us. The things we do affect 00:05:12.290 --> 00:05:16.129 other people. The things that we do as a church, 00:05:16.350 --> 00:05:19.829 as individuals, when we go out into the world 00:05:19.829 --> 00:05:22.170 and act a certain way and do a certain thing, 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.779 and people know that you go to Enterprise Baptist 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:28.000 Church, that's going to have an effect. If you've 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.959 got two or three people in the church that are 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:32.800 going out acting a certain way, not behaving 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.699 appropriately, acting a fool, then guess what? 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:37.779 People are going to start to question, hey, you 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:39.680 know, they go to Enterprise Baptist Church, and 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.920 they go to Enterprise Baptist Church, and that's 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.639 going to cause sometimes conflict and all kinds 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:46.759 of problems within the church, and people begin 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:49.819 to take sides. The same goes for me as a pastor. 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:52.079 If I go and do something, then that's going to 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.769 leave a stain on the church. And people are going 00:05:54.769 --> 00:05:57.430 to hear about things that we do. Even if we do 00:05:57.430 --> 00:06:00.230 them as individuals, that's going to turn people 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:03.149 off from being part of this body, from being 00:06:03.149 --> 00:06:05.750 part of the work that God calls us to in the 00:06:05.750 --> 00:06:08.709 ways that God calls us to serve. And so Paul 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:11.829 says, look, whoever it is that's causing trouble, 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:15.329 he says it's not just bringing pain to me, but 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:17.930 it's bringing pain to everybody. The whole church 00:06:17.930 --> 00:06:21.029 of Corinth, all of the believers there, it's 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:25.529 caused trouble. It's caused pain. And Paul doesn't 00:06:25.529 --> 00:06:27.490 want that to be the case. He doesn't want to 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:30.649 see chaos among the body of Christ. We should 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:33.269 not want to see chaos among the body of Christ. 00:06:33.589 --> 00:06:37.050 We have to always check ourselves and examine 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:40.250 our lives to make sure that we're doing okay. 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:42.269 And sometimes we don't do good. And sometimes 00:06:42.269 --> 00:06:44.970 we do things we shouldn't or say things we shouldn't. 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:49.069 And sometimes we're not a good example of what 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:52.009 a Christian should be. And that's not good for 00:06:52.009 --> 00:06:54.500 us. And it's not good for our body. We don't 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:57.480 want to be one who causes conflict amongst other 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.120 brothers and sisters in Christ that we worship 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:02.879 and serve with. And listen to what he says in 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.560 verse 6. The punishment inflicted by the majority 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:12.410 is sufficient for that person. they had punished 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:15.110 this person who had been doing wrong, who had 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:17.629 been living in sin. And rightfully so. Paul had 00:07:17.629 --> 00:07:19.870 said on some occasions, as we've discussed it, 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:22.250 there are times that discipline is necessary. 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:26.589 And now he says to them, this person or these 00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:29.589 people have been disciplined, and the discipline 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:33.350 they have received is sufficient. The punishment 00:07:33.350 --> 00:07:35.839 they receive by the majority. That is, there 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:37.819 were a few that were bad or maybe only one that 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:41.540 was bad. And the majority of the believers had 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:44.180 come together and they had addressed this problem. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:46.259 They had talked to this brother or this sister 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:49.079 in Christ. And they had acknowledged that what 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.399 you're doing is not right. There was some discipline, 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:54.699 some punishment that took place. And Paul says 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.860 the punishment that's taken place is sufficient. 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:00.500 There needs to be no more punishment. And listen 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:03.899 to what he says in the next verse. As a result... 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:08.699 you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:13.360 this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 00:08:14.139 --> 00:08:18.699 Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.199 him. Now, this is the other side of the coin 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.000 of discipline. You never want to just be one 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.220 who is just a tyrant that's just discipline, 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:28.410 discipline, discipline. Getting on everybody 00:08:28.410 --> 00:08:30.689 for every little thing. Boy, we could point out 00:08:30.689 --> 00:08:32.490 all kinds of little stuff that everybody does 00:08:32.490 --> 00:08:35.409 if we wanted to be that way. But that's not what 00:08:35.409 --> 00:08:37.389 Paul is talking about. He's not just saying we 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:40.289 should be these strict disciplinarians. He's 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:42.990 saying, look, sometimes, and hopefully not very 00:08:42.990 --> 00:08:45.950 often. And it shouldn't be very often in a body 00:08:45.950 --> 00:08:49.169 of Christ, of people who love the Lord. But sometimes 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:51.470 you're going to have a person. It's inevitable. 00:08:51.750 --> 00:08:54.190 The best church, you're just going to have people 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:56.269 that are going to cause some trouble, that are 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:58.149 going to be doing some things that are not healthy 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.629 for them and that are not healthy for the church. 00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:03.450 And in those situations, Paul says, deal with 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.929 them. But he says here, look, once it's been 00:09:06.929 --> 00:09:09.870 dealt with, don't just keep beating the poor 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:13.470 boy up. There comes a time where you have to 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:16.149 forgive that person. You have to give them grace. 00:09:16.250 --> 00:09:18.750 Once they get to a point when they've received 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:21.769 the discipline and they repent, and it sounds 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:24.710 as though this person has repented and Paul is 00:09:24.710 --> 00:09:28.149 giving them instructions as if they had. Look, 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:32.350 this man has repented. Therefore, you need to 00:09:32.350 --> 00:09:34.809 show him a little grace. It says you need to 00:09:34.809 --> 00:09:40.710 forgive him and you need to comfort him so that, 00:09:41.210 --> 00:09:45.230 He may not be overwhelmed by excessive grief. 00:09:45.549 --> 00:09:47.929 Now think about this for a second. Now probably 00:09:47.929 --> 00:09:51.350 most of us in here got a whipping when we were 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:53.970 little, and a lot of you have whipped a child 00:09:53.970 --> 00:09:57.610 or a grandchild, and there are times when you 00:09:57.610 --> 00:10:00.929 need to have that discipline, and it's effective. 00:10:01.169 --> 00:10:03.889 But if your child or your grandchild or your 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:06.809 dog does something that they shouldn't do, and 00:10:06.809 --> 00:10:10.149 you discipline them, It doesn't take much and 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:12.590 you start to see a reaction there. There probably 00:10:12.590 --> 00:10:15.289 starts to be some tears. There probably is an 00:10:15.289 --> 00:10:17.669 apology. Maybe it's genuine. Maybe it's not. 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:20.129 But it probably is usually after a couple of 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.330 licks with that belt. And I'm sorry. I didn't 00:10:22.330 --> 00:10:24.490 mean to do it. I'll never do it again. I won't 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:27.389 do it again. Well, that's what you want. You 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:30.840 want people who receive discipline to know. This 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.000 is not acceptable. This is not healthy. This 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.259 is not good. And when they have that spirit of, 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.740 okay, I know I was wrong. I won't do it again. 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.220 I've learned my lesson. Well, that's what Paul 00:10:41.220 --> 00:10:43.179 is getting to here. He says, look, this guy's 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:45.659 learned his lesson. It's just like when our little 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:47.580 dog, whenever she was young and she would do 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:49.740 stuff she wasn't supposed to do, we'd have to 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:52.679 discipline her a little bit, and we'd teach her 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:55.120 not to eat the cords that go to the lamp. Why? 00:10:55.690 --> 00:10:58.409 Well, one, I got tired of patching lamp cords 00:10:58.409 --> 00:11:00.590 and putting them back together. But two, I don't 00:11:00.590 --> 00:11:02.529 want her to bite into a cord to get electrocuted. 00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:05.490 So we had to discipline her several times. But 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:07.149 we didn't just keep beating her every day when 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:10.029 we got in because that's just going to cause 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:13.429 somebody or some animal to be afraid. If you 00:11:13.429 --> 00:11:15.769 just keep on beating your kids all the time, 00:11:15.830 --> 00:11:18.549 that's not discipline, that's abuse. And Paul 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:21.500 says here, look, don't abuse this person. You've 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:23.960 dealt with the problem and so be it. It's good. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.539 They've learned their lesson. But once somebody 00:11:26.539 --> 00:11:29.080 has learned their lesson, you have to see on 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:31.539 the other side of discipline, there has to be 00:11:31.539 --> 00:11:33.539 grace and there has to be mercy and there has 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:37.480 to be comfort. There has to be some love or else 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.460 this person is just going to feel excessive grief. 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.519 Now, it wouldn't have made for a healthy church. 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:45.840 if the people of Corinth would have continued 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.440 every time they see this person just to give 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:50.120 them the evil eye and to look down on them and 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.659 say, I can't believe you did that. That would 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:54.840 not have been a healthy thing. That's not what 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.159 Paul wants to do. That's not what we should do. 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:00.419 And maybe sometimes we're guilty of that, of 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.419 somebody who's already repented. They've already 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:05.519 acknowledged they're sorry. They cannot change 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.779 what they did. They cannot go back in time, but 00:12:08.779 --> 00:12:10.919 they're to a point where their heart regrets 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:13.100 it, and they're not doing it anymore, and they 00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:15.960 don't want to be involved in it anymore. And 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:18.299 you can't just hold something against somebody 00:12:18.299 --> 00:12:22.980 forever and ever and ever. You have to embrace 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:26.860 them with love. And so many times I hear parents 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:29.399 that have talked about when they give their kid 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:32.750 a whipping, they hug them afterwards. They show 00:12:32.750 --> 00:12:34.250 them that discipline, but then they show them 00:12:34.250 --> 00:12:36.049 that love. And they hug them and they say, look, 00:12:36.090 --> 00:12:37.690 I love you. I don't want to do this to you, but 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:40.970 you can't do that. I've seen Michelle do it plenty 00:12:40.970 --> 00:12:43.210 of times with our little pup. Boy, she'd get 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:45.190 Portia for eating those cords. And you know what 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:47.549 she'd do after that? Portia, you could tell she 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:49.269 learned her lesson. She could tell she got it. 00:12:49.610 --> 00:12:51.049 And Michelle would pick her up and she would 00:12:51.049 --> 00:12:52.490 just hold her. And Portia would just sit there. 00:12:52.909 --> 00:12:55.110 And so you've got to show on the other side of 00:12:55.110 --> 00:12:57.289 that discipline, yeah, what you're doing is not 00:12:57.289 --> 00:13:00.600 right, but I still love you. And I'm telling 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:02.519 you these things because I want you to be healthy 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.419 and I want you to grow and I want you to be okay. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:07.799 And that's what he tells the church here. You've 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:09.639 got to take care of problems when there's problems, 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:13.080 but don't get hung up on that. You've got to 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.539 show some grace. You don't want anybody to be 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.120 overwhelmed with the burden of their sin. You 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:19.919 want them to experience the freedom in Christ 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.200 and the love of the congregation. They need to 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.659 be part of the body and they need to be welcomed 00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:28.399 back in with open arms. That's what Paul is telling 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:33.929 them here. He continues on. Therefore, I urge 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:38.289 you to reaffirm your love to them. It's very 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:41.049 important that we do not forget that step, that 00:13:41.049 --> 00:13:44.029 we do not forget that sometimes there are occasions, 00:13:44.250 --> 00:13:47.049 whether it's our children, or whether it's someone 00:13:47.049 --> 00:13:49.269 in the church, or whether it's a co -worker, 00:13:49.429 --> 00:13:52.129 or an employee, or whatever it is that discipline 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:56.909 occurs, but it always needs to end with a reaffirmation 00:13:56.909 --> 00:14:00.330 of, look, this is not personal, this is not bitter, 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:03.269 I love you, and you need to know that I love 00:14:03.269 --> 00:14:05.850 you, and I care about you, and he says here, 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:08.889 reaffirm your love to this person. Make sure 00:14:08.889 --> 00:14:11.639 that they know that they are loved. that they 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:14.159 are part of the body of Christ, that God loves 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.039 them, that you love them, that they have been 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:19.159 forgiven. And he continues with that thought 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.059 in the next verse. I wrote for this purpose, 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:25.539 to test your character to see if you are obedient 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:29.700 in everything. If you forgive anyone, I do too. 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:32.539 For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:36.700 anything, it is for you in the presence of Christ. 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:40.190 So Paul says, look, I gave you these instructions 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:43.129 on how to deal with this problem or this person 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:46.230 or whatever was going on. I wanted to test you. 00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:47.769 I wanted to make sure that you were going to 00:14:47.769 --> 00:14:50.029 be obedient to God's word, that you weren't going 00:14:50.029 --> 00:14:52.950 to let sin come in and people come in and run 00:14:52.950 --> 00:14:55.629 rampant and cause problems, but that you were 00:14:55.629 --> 00:14:58.289 going to hold people accountable to the commands 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:01.029 and the words of God. And I wanted to test you. 00:15:01.230 --> 00:15:03.669 And they passed the test, obviously, it sounds 00:15:03.669 --> 00:15:06.330 like. They've dealt with the problem. And Paul 00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:08.289 says, good job. You've dealt with the problem. 00:15:08.389 --> 00:15:11.440 Now go love on this person. Go love on them a 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.460 little bit and let them know that you love them 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:15.620 and they're still part of your group and they're 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.659 still part of this community of believers in 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:20.779 Christ. And don't let them be overwhelmed by 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:23.220 their grief, but let them see your love and let 00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:25.340 them know that there's restoration that's occurred 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:28.220 through Jesus Christ. There's forgiveness that's 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.179 taken place. I forgive, Paul says. You guys should 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:34.340 forgive too. This is what we do because Christ 00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:37.240 has forgiven us. We forgive others through Christ 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:41.090 who forgives us. And why is he so concerned about 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:44.110 all this? Why does he spend the time in 1 Corinthians 00:15:44.110 --> 00:15:47.149 dealing with some disciplinary issues and books 00:15:47.149 --> 00:15:50.090 like 2 Timothy, that account we talked about 00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:52.750 here at the beginning of this book a little bit. 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:56.009 Why is he worried about discipline and restoration 00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:58.870 among the believers? Why is this important? Well, 00:15:58.889 --> 00:16:01.889 he says why in this next verse, in verse 11. 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:06.580 He says, I have done this. so that we may not 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:11.379 be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:15.139 ignorant of his schemes. So Paul says, look, 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.980 the devil is always working, and the devil wants 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:22.019 to break up the body of Christ. The devil wants 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:25.580 believers to live like unbelievers. The devil 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:28.840 wants believers to squabble amongst one another. 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:31.570 The devil wants people to come into the church 00:16:31.570 --> 00:16:34.049 that are going to be divisive and that are going 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:36.230 to cause problems and that are going to mess 00:16:36.230 --> 00:16:39.049 up a beautiful spirit and a loving spirit. The 00:16:39.049 --> 00:16:42.409 devil wants to destroy the work of God. So Paul 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:45.440 says, I'll write these things to you. I'm telling 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:47.559 you all these instructions, everything that you 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.980 wrote in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians and 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:52.340 other letters that we don't have. Paul says, 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:56.000 I'm writing these things to you because you need 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.159 to know the devil's schemes. You need to be aware 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.600 of, you need to be reminded of the schemes of 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:05.440 the devil. That the devil wants to come in and 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.640 he wants to take advantage of these situations. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.630 So do not give Satan a foothold. That's why sin 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:14.829 has to be dealt with in our individual life. 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.130 And sadly, sometimes even in our churches. Because 00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:22.589 if you give the devil an opportunity, all the 00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:25.309 devil needs is one person to cause trouble. Will 00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:29.190 it be you? And we would all say it won't. But 00:17:29.190 --> 00:17:33.029 boy, the devil knows just how to use us to tear 00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:35.890 apart a body of Christ, to cause trouble, to 00:17:35.890 --> 00:17:38.859 cause conflict. So we have to make sure. that 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:41.259 we don't fall into that scheme of the devil. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:43.619 We have to make sure that we check ourselves. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.220 We have to make sure that maybe there's some 00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:49.240 things in our life that we need to address. Maybe 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.160 God's Word's disciplining us a little bit sometimes. 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:55.359 Maybe sometimes we just need to be reminded, 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:58.440 okay, we've done some wrong, but if we've repented 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:01.779 of that, then praise God. God doesn't want us 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:03.779 to keep beating ourselves up over it. The devil 00:18:03.779 --> 00:18:06.539 does. That's one of his great schemes. Is there 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:08.380 going to be some sin you sinned 20 years ago, 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.700 and you done prayed for forgiveness for it 100 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:14.279 times, and you are forgiven if you've prayed 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:16.859 from the heart. But man, the old devil, he just 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:18.660 keeps beating you over the head, and it just 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:22.099 keeps causing you excessive grief. And there 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.359 are some times in our lives that we live with 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:26.500 excessive grief over something that we've been 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:30.240 forgiven for for 20 years. And you say sometimes, 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:32.500 people will say, well, God forgave me, but I 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:35.180 can't forgive myself. Well, that's foolish. The 00:18:35.180 --> 00:18:37.099 Bible doesn't ever say anything about us forgiving 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:39.460 ourselves. We're not called to forgive ourselves. 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.319 We can't forgive ourselves. When we say that, 00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:43.940 what we're saying is we're greater than God. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.500 Well, I know God is powerful enough to forgive 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.980 me, but I'm not powerful. I mean, I can't do 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:53.220 it. So we need to not allow the devil's schemes 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:57.089 to overtake us in that area. We need to know 00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:58.869 that, look, if there's sin that we've done and 00:18:58.869 --> 00:19:01.849 God has disciplined us for that and we feel conviction 00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:04.910 for that and we've repented of that, then I want 00:19:04.910 --> 00:19:06.930 you to know today that there is freedom in Jesus 00:19:06.930 --> 00:19:09.369 Christ. That you don't have to live with that 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:12.170 sin anymore. That it has been nailed to the cross 00:19:12.170 --> 00:19:16.049 and it is cast as far as the east is to the west 00:19:16.049 --> 00:19:19.630 and you do not have to live in that anymore. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.039 And we need to know that truth that Paul says 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:26.019 today. We need sometimes to know that God's love 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:29.480 for us has been reaffirmed and that our love 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.420 for one another makes sure that it is reaffirmed. 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:35.779 Maybe there are some people that you've had trouble 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:37.740 with in the past. Maybe you need to reach out 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:40.140 to them and just let them know you still love 00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:44.400 them. God's Word is good for us tonight. There's 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.299 good things for us to consider here. There's 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:49.079 good things for us to think about. Some of Paul's 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.930 stuff is hard. Some of these things he tells 00:19:51.930 --> 00:19:55.170 the people to do are hard when it comes to exercising 00:19:55.170 --> 00:20:01.109 discipline. But he always does it with a heart 00:20:01.109 --> 00:20:03.589 of love. And that's the most important thing 00:20:03.589 --> 00:20:07.670 we want to remember. Let's pray. God, we thank 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:09.690 you for your good word. I pray that you would 00:20:09.690 --> 00:20:12.039 help us as we... work through this book, as we 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:13.900 work through the teachings of Paul, dear Lord, 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.859 that we never become one who just wants to always 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.019 bring discipline, but dear Lord, that your Holy 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:21.759 Spirit would guide and instruct and direct us 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:26.000 on when discipline is necessary. God, perhaps 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.880 there are times that we need to be disciplined, 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:31.599 or times that we need to discipline others, but 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:34.220 God, I pray that everything we do is done with 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:37.109 love, God. that everything we do is to draw closer 00:20:37.109 --> 00:20:40.390 to you, to grow individually, to grow as a body 00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:43.190 of Christ, dear Lord. And I pray today, God, 00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:46.470 that if there's anybody that in the past has 00:20:46.470 --> 00:20:50.069 some sin that just keeps lingering on in their 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:52.250 mind, dear Lord, and they've come to you time 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:54.450 and time again, I pray tonight that you would 00:20:54.450 --> 00:20:57.369 give them some peace in that, dear Lord. I pray 00:20:57.369 --> 00:21:00.200 that... As they have asked you for forgiveness, 00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:02.160 that they would find peace to know that they 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.200 are forgiven, dear Lord, that they are freed 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.359 in Jesus Christ. God, maybe there are some here 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:10.779 tonight or some listening online, and they've 00:21:10.779 --> 00:21:13.319 never really confessed their sin. They are still 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:15.279 carrying it around. And God, I pray that maybe 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.799 tonight, in this moment, that they would repent, 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:21.480 that they would turn from their sinful way, that 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:23.079 they would ask you to forgive them, maybe for 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.660 the first time, dear Lord. and that they would 00:21:25.660 --> 00:21:28.299 experience the joy and the peace and the comfort 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:31.500 that comes through salvation in Jesus Christ, 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.400 God. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.