WEBVTT 00:00:05.710 --> 00:00:12.070 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 14. 2 Corinthians 00:00:12.070 --> 00:00:19.370 chapter 12, verse 14. The passage we looked at 00:00:19.370 --> 00:00:22.629 last week, the beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:26.649 12, is one of my favorite passages. I think that 00:00:26.649 --> 00:00:30.030 there is a lot of strength we can gain from that 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:33.780 passage. Because life is hard, and just that 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:36.380 truth of God's Word, that His grace is sufficient 00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:39.700 and His power is perfected in weakness, I think 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:42.659 we should be able, as Christians, to draw a lot 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:45.759 of power from that, to just trust in God even 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.539 when things don't go the way we want, even if 00:00:48.539 --> 00:00:50.740 our prayers aren't answered in the way that we 00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:53.500 desire, to know that God is gracious and His 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.520 grace will get us through. And so that's a good 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:00.630 passage that we looked at last week. Tonight 00:01:00.630 --> 00:01:03.670 we'll continue on, we'll skip down a few verses 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:08.329 to verse 14, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 00:01:08.329 --> 00:01:12.909 14. Let's pray and then we'll get started. God, 00:01:12.969 --> 00:01:14.730 we come to you tonight, we thank you for the 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:16.950 freedom and the privilege that we have to come 00:01:16.950 --> 00:01:20.629 and to worship you. I thank you for all the folks 00:01:20.629 --> 00:01:23.049 that have come out tonight. I pray that you just 00:01:23.049 --> 00:01:25.150 would help us to feel your presence and to feel 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:28.209 just some comfort from being here, dear Lord. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.200 A busy week, I'm sure, and different things going 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.359 on for different folks, but dear Lord, whatever 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:37.980 we've had going on, no matter how busy it may 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:41.000 have been or may not have been, I pray that you 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.879 would help us to be free of distractions and 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:46.340 worries and thoughts of the world. I pray, dear 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:49.400 Lord, that your Holy Spirit would be in this 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:51.299 place tonight, that you would help me to preach 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:53.799 and teach in a way that brings glory and honor 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.700 to you, dear Lord, that we would draw near to 00:01:56.700 --> 00:01:59.640 you, God. As we read these words and let your 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:03.140 words do the speaking to us tonight. And I ask 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:07.659 these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now we've 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:11.280 seen up to this point Paul, in a sense, we could 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.280 say is defending himself because some of the 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:17.460 people in Corinth are questioning him. But Paul's 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:20.719 desire, as we've talked about a few times throughout, 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.210 especially these last few chapters, Paul's defending 00:02:24.210 --> 00:02:28.349 himself, but not for himself. He's really concerned 00:02:28.349 --> 00:02:30.909 about the people. He's not concerned about what 00:02:30.909 --> 00:02:33.009 the people think about him, but he is concerned 00:02:33.009 --> 00:02:36.050 about the people. And he wants to make sure that 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:38.789 they know the word of God and that they're living 00:02:38.789 --> 00:02:42.349 right. And we see kind of his heart for the people 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:46.169 all through the book, certainly. But we see it 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:49.370 here in these couple of verses. Paul says in 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:52.770 verse 14, Now I am ready to come to you this 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:57.650 third time. I will not burden you, for I am not 00:02:57.650 --> 00:03:02.229 seeking what is yours, but you. And I paused 00:03:02.229 --> 00:03:05.449 on that last part as I was reading through it, 00:03:05.490 --> 00:03:08.830 and I was thinking, man, what a beautiful heart 00:03:08.830 --> 00:03:11.310 I think we see of Paul there. He says, I'm not 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:15.770 seeking what's yours, I'm seeking you. I'm not 00:03:15.770 --> 00:03:19.210 worried about what I can get from you. I'm worried 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:22.639 about you. I'm not concerned about anything else. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.759 I'm concerned about you. My love and my care 00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:31.000 is for you. I want to serve you. I want to be 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.080 here to lead you. I want to guide you. I want 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:36.900 to teach you. I want to protect you. I don't 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:41.139 want anything from you. I just want to love you, 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:44.580 and I just want to help you. And is that our 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:49.020 attitude in life? I think that maybe at times 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:53.610 it is. But I think that our natural inclination 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:57.150 maybe, our human side is, okay, I've got to get 00:03:57.150 --> 00:03:59.889 to the top. I've got to do good at this and I've 00:03:59.889 --> 00:04:03.990 got to do good at that. And sometimes in us trying 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:08.330 to get to the top, in us trying to increase ourselves 00:04:08.330 --> 00:04:11.650 in whatever way it is, a lot of times you see 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:14.729 people just kind of step over others. They're 00:04:14.729 --> 00:04:16.829 not concerned about other people. They're just 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:19.589 concerned about what they can do from other people. 00:04:20.329 --> 00:04:23.149 And maybe we see that in some of our relationships. 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.910 Maybe sometimes we have that heart and that mentality, 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:30.050 okay, I'm going to help this person, not because 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:32.329 I desire to help them or not because it's the 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:35.110 right thing to do, but if I help this person 00:04:35.110 --> 00:04:40.069 now, then maybe they'll help me later. And that 00:04:40.069 --> 00:04:42.889 can be very dangerous. You can see a lot of corruption 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:45.889 when that takes place. I think we see. Those 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:48.430 very types of things taking place in politics 00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:52.350 and in a variety of areas. And sometimes there 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:56.629 may be a tendency for us, instead of seeing other 00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:58.949 people as just other people that we can serve 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:02.509 and we can help, perhaps sometimes we are tempted 00:05:02.509 --> 00:05:05.569 to think, what can I get from this person? Now, 00:05:05.569 --> 00:05:07.470 some people certainly are. And some people are 00:05:07.470 --> 00:05:09.310 well aware that that thought exists in their 00:05:09.310 --> 00:05:12.660 heart. And they prey on people. And they go out 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:14.899 and they seek people not because they love people 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:17.959 or desire to help people or desire to serve people, 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:21.379 but they go out with the very intention of, what 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:24.699 can I get from you? Now, we've seen some of these 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:26.740 people that Paul's talking about, these false 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:30.100 teachers. And it appears as though this is part 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:34.379 maybe of their problem, of whatever that these 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:37.100 false teachers are wanting, that some of it is 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:39.899 some monetary gain or some material gain from 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:43.850 the people. But Paul tells the people here, look, 00:05:44.129 --> 00:05:48.230 I'm not seeking what is yours. I don't care about 00:05:48.230 --> 00:05:51.009 your money. I'm not trying to get something from 00:05:51.009 --> 00:05:54.870 you. I'm not trying to use you. I'm not trying 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.310 to do something nice for you now so that I can 00:05:57.310 --> 00:06:02.129 call in a favor later. Paul says, I don't want 00:06:02.129 --> 00:06:06.689 anything from you. I just want you. That's a 00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:09.290 beautiful heart to have. It's that when we encounter 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:13.310 people and we are around people that we don't 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:16.290 go into any situation thinking, how is this going 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:19.310 to benefit me? Oh, I'm looking for a husband. 00:06:19.370 --> 00:06:21.069 I'm looking for a wife. What kind of qualities? 00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:23.029 Oh, they got to do this and they got to do that 00:06:23.029 --> 00:06:24.529 and they got to make a lot of money because that's 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:26.889 what's going to benefit me. Or whatever it is, 00:06:26.949 --> 00:06:29.470 there's tons of ways in which we may fall into 00:06:29.470 --> 00:06:32.670 these traps of, okay, if I enter into this situation, 00:06:32.949 --> 00:06:37.100 how is it going to benefit me? But maybe we need 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:40.579 to stop for a moment and we need to reverse those 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:43.980 roles and say, here's a person I'm fixing to 00:06:43.980 --> 00:06:47.500 marry, or here's a person I'm going into some 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:50.579 type of business interaction with, or here's 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:52.319 a person I'm going to encounter on the street, 00:06:52.379 --> 00:06:54.819 or here's a neighbor that's nearby. And instead 00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:57.060 of saying, how can they help me, or what am I 00:06:57.060 --> 00:06:59.240 going to get out of this, maybe we need to ask 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.639 ourselves, how can I help them? How can I help 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:06.160 them? How can I serve them? How can I make this 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:08.720 business relationship better? How can I serve 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.980 my husband or my wife? How can I be a better 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:15.199 spouse? How can I be a better man of God? How 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:19.379 can I be a better woman of God? How can I serve 00:07:19.379 --> 00:07:22.220 God by serving other people? And that is the 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:26.879 heart that Paul had. Now, Paul, he goes along 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.500 with some of their their foolishness we've seen 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:32.100 that he says all right she won't boast in foolishness 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:34.759 well let me let me boast in foolishness and paul 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:37.639 he kind of he kind of gave in to him a little 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:40.920 bit just trying to get their attention he's even 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:43.379 gotten on to him pretty pretty sternly we see 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:46.199 that in first corinthians we see it at the beginning 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:49.540 of this book that he does get on to him pretty 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:53.100 sternly but it's not that paul is on a power 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:58.439 trip it's not that he's jealous because All these 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.339 people are listening to another preacher and 00:08:00.339 --> 00:08:03.040 not listening to him. None of those things are 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.819 of concern to Paul. The only concern to Paul 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:11.259 is, I want you, and I want you to be okay. I 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:13.300 want you to know Jesus, and I want you to live 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:15.740 for Jesus. I don't want you to be a slave for 00:08:15.740 --> 00:08:18.240 sin. I don't want you to get caught up in sin. 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:21.740 So Paul says, I'm not asking for anything from 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:26.589 you, but I just want you to be okay. He says, 00:08:26.629 --> 00:08:29.170 for children are not obligated to save up for 00:08:29.170 --> 00:08:31.970 their parents, but parents for their children. 00:08:32.090 --> 00:08:36.529 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:40.710 Now, that's a beautiful idea. Now, most of you 00:08:40.710 --> 00:08:44.210 in here have children. You know what it's like 00:08:44.210 --> 00:08:46.830 to raise children. You know what it's like to 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:50.370 sacrifice for children. And Paul says here, children 00:08:50.370 --> 00:08:53.129 are not obligated to save for their parents, 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:55.330 in my translation, but parents for their children. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.899 We have to understand the context here a little 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:00.299 bit. By that self, we may say, okay, well, as 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:02.700 parents, we're obligated to leave some big inheritance 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:05.100 for our children. But that's not what the text 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:08.000 says. And in the context of what's being said 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.340 here, he's simply stating, okay, here's how a 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.220 parent and child relationship works. A child 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:17.659 is born. They can't take care of themselves. 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:21.639 It is the obligation of the parent. to provide 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:23.659 for the child. And some of your translations 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:26.740 may say, it may not say save up, it may say provide 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:29.179 for. And I think that's probably a more accurate 00:09:29.179 --> 00:09:32.940 heart of what Paul's trying to say. And what 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:36.500 he's saying is, look, in a sense, I'm your spiritual 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:39.080 parent. I've led you to Jesus Christ and it's 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:43.519 my job. It's my blessing. It's my joy, I think 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:46.600 Paul would say, to see you grow in the Lord. 00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:49.889 And so it's my job to provide for you and to 00:09:49.889 --> 00:09:53.549 take care of you. I don't want anything for you, 00:09:53.590 --> 00:09:57.110 but I want to make sure that you're okay. I want 00:09:57.110 --> 00:09:59.149 to try to meet your needs and I want to try to 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:03.429 help you focus on the Lord. So he says, I will 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:09.690 most gladly spend and be spent for you. Now, 00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:12.110 for those of you who have kids and now you have 00:10:12.110 --> 00:10:14.970 grandkids, do you ever have to spend any money 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:19.350 on them? Yeah. Yeah, your bills go up a lot, 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:21.990 right? Because kids come, and boy, they come 00:10:21.990 --> 00:10:24.289 out, they're this big, and then in just a few 00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:26.529 years, they're this big, and every time they're 00:10:26.529 --> 00:10:28.389 going from this big to this big, you've got to 00:10:28.389 --> 00:10:30.269 get new clothes, you've got to get new shoes, 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:32.870 you've got to get diapers, you've got to get 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:36.049 all kinds of stuff. So you've got to spin, baby, 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:39.370 spin, and spin, spin, spin. You've got to spin 00:10:39.370 --> 00:10:46.769 a lot. But if you have kids, Lord willing, You 00:10:46.769 --> 00:10:50.049 joyfully did that. I know a lot of you did. Maybe 00:10:50.049 --> 00:10:54.149 all of you that had kids. It wasn't easy. You 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:55.710 couldn't just go in the backyard and pick a few 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:58.470 dollars off the money tree. You had to work harder. 00:10:59.049 --> 00:11:01.830 You had to get up and go in early. You had to 00:11:01.830 --> 00:11:05.129 come home late. You had to do without so that 00:11:05.129 --> 00:11:09.090 your kids could have. And Paul said, look, I 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:14.850 want to spend. It's my joy to spend for you. 00:11:15.470 --> 00:11:19.330 It's my joy. I will most gladly spend and be 00:11:19.330 --> 00:11:23.509 spent for you. Not only will I use all I have 00:11:23.509 --> 00:11:26.429 materially, if I have to sacrifice so that you 00:11:26.429 --> 00:11:28.730 can come to know Jesus Christ and follow him 00:11:28.730 --> 00:11:32.429 more, I'll be spent physically. Paul was spent 00:11:32.429 --> 00:11:35.950 physically. I mean, we just saw in the last chapter 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:38.509 all the list of things that Paul had gone through. 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:42.250 And he says, I gladly do this for you. I suffer 00:11:42.250 --> 00:11:46.000 for you. And I give everything I've got for you 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.200 because I love you. And he says at the end of 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:55.100 the verse, if I love you more, am I to be loved 00:11:55.100 --> 00:12:01.340 less? The people that Paul is talking to, we've 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:05.340 seen this struggle, this problem. It's like they 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:07.139 don't really love Paul anymore. They don't have 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:09.700 the same respect for Paul anymore. They question 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:13.169 Paul because he's not. as good a speaker. He's 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:15.610 not maybe as eloquent as some of these other 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:19.429 speakers, false teachers that they have. But 00:12:19.429 --> 00:12:21.409 what he says is, I love you more. And I think 00:12:21.409 --> 00:12:25.009 in these couple of verses, we see that. We see 00:12:25.009 --> 00:12:28.409 in this language, we see the heart of a man who 00:12:28.409 --> 00:12:31.110 loves these people like his own children and 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:34.129 who is ready to do anything and everything possible 00:12:34.129 --> 00:12:39.950 to help take care of them. And why? Because he's 00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:42.580 fearful that they're going to Turn away from 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:45.639 Jesus. They're not going to hear the truth of 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.460 the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's fearful that 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:50.580 they are going to continue to live in their sin 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:53.100 and that they're not going to stay in the straight 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:55.120 in the narrow way, that they are going to be 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.220 led astray. Now, I don't have a child, but I 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:02.980 can imagine that as a parent and as a grandparent 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:08.080 that there is probably nothing more rewarding 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.320 than to see your child succeed. and to see them 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:14.200 do well in school and to see them excel in their 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:17.440 sports and to see them get a good job and to 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:20.460 see them begin to get established and start their 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:22.960 own home and start their own family, I would 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.279 imagine that as a parent that you probably feel 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.940 more joy seeing your child succeed than you ever 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:32.259 felt in your own success. Now, I'm just guessing 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:35.240 at this. Y 'all can tell me I'm wrong after church 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:38.419 if I'm wrong, parents. But I think that that's 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:40.500 probably true. I see a couple of heads shaking. 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:44.019 That there's a great joy in seeing your children 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:47.679 succeed. But I suspect also that there's probably 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.519 no greater pain than seeing your children in 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.470 pain. than seeing your children suffer, than 00:13:53.470 --> 00:13:55.590 seeing your children struggle, than seeing your 00:13:55.590 --> 00:13:58.110 children lose their job, lose their home, not 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:01.070 be able to get on their feet, not make good decisions, 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:04.350 get into trouble. There's probably nothing more 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:07.210 painful than seeing your children in trouble. 00:14:08.029 --> 00:14:11.029 And so Paul shows the joy that he has from saying, 00:14:11.090 --> 00:14:13.889 look, I want you to continue to do well in Jesus 00:14:13.889 --> 00:14:17.830 Christ. But he also addresses why at the end 00:14:17.830 --> 00:14:21.419 of the chapter. In verse 20 he says, For I fear 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:24.679 that perhaps when I come, I will not find you 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:29.620 to be what I want, and I may not be found what 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:35.679 you want. There may be quarreling, jealousy, 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.120 outburst of anger, selfish ambitions, slander, 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:45.360 gossip, arrogance, and disorder. So this is Paul's 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.799 fear. Now, he gives a list of some things that 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:50.419 he's worried about in the next couple of chapters. 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:52.799 And these are some of the very things that he's 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:55.679 addressed in 1 Corinthians. And he has a fear. 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:58.580 He says, I want you to do good and I'm writing 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:00.820 you this letter so that you'll do good because 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:02.759 I want you to be safe and I want you to grow. 00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:06.059 But I'm afraid that I'm going to come and you're 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:08.899 not going to be doing good. I'm afraid that when 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:10.679 I get there, you're going to be in bad shape. 00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:14.960 And I don't want to see that. And he says, you 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.179 don't want to see that either. Because if I come 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:19.860 and you're not what I want you to be, then when 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:21.659 I come, I'm not going to be what you want me 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:24.379 to be. Because what Paul wants to do is come 00:15:24.379 --> 00:15:27.259 and see the people flourishing in the Lord. And 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.220 that they can sit and they can eat and they can 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:31.779 rejoice and they can praise God together and 00:15:31.779 --> 00:15:35.259 grow in the Lord together. But if Paul comes 00:15:35.259 --> 00:15:38.700 and he doesn't see that, if he sees that there 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:42.659 is all kind of sinfulness in this order, then 00:15:42.659 --> 00:15:45.460 Paul's going to have to address that in the same 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.759 way that a parent has to address when a child 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:52.559 is misbehaving. Again, I don't have a child, 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:56.220 but I would imagine it's probably pretty difficult 00:15:56.220 --> 00:16:00.179 to discipline your children, but it's necessary. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:02.799 Maybe that's why children today, a lot of them 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.299 aren't disciplined. I don't know. Maybe it's 00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:06.940 because it's too hard. I'm not sure. But you 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:08.860 see the result of children who are disciplined 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:11.919 and children who are not disciplined. And Paul 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.039 knows the dangers. If he lets these Corinthians 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.539 just continue to do whatever they want and he 00:16:17.539 --> 00:16:19.860 doesn't make any effort to correct them, then 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.539 it's going to be for their own demise. It's going 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:24.659 to be for their own destruction. So he says, 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:27.200 look, if I come, I'm not going to be who you 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.399 want me to be. Because you're doing good. You 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:33.059 make A's in school. You had a good day at school. 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:35.080 You go home and you can just play your games 00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:37.039 and have a cool afternoon and you ain't worried 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:39.059 about nothing when your mom or daddy gets home. 00:16:40.470 --> 00:16:42.330 But you get in trouble at school and you get 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:45.450 a paddling, you get home, there ain't no enjoyment 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:47.889 because you don't want them to be what they're 00:16:47.889 --> 00:16:49.289 going to be because you know what they're going 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:51.669 to be. You're going to get in trouble. And that's 00:16:51.669 --> 00:16:54.070 what Paul says. He says, look, you do good. It's 00:16:54.070 --> 00:16:56.289 going to be a great day when I get there. But 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:58.009 if you don't do good, you're not going to be 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:01.230 excited about what's going to happen. And Paul 00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:03.730 goes through and he lists all these things that 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:06.789 he may find. He says there may be quarreling. 00:17:07.750 --> 00:17:10.049 jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, 00:17:10.369 --> 00:17:15.109 slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. Now 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:17.029 look at that list. Think about these things in 00:17:17.029 --> 00:17:21.349 this list. Think about how bad a group of Christians 00:17:21.349 --> 00:17:24.430 would be, a church would be, if these were the 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:27.650 types of things going on. Could you imagine if 00:17:27.650 --> 00:17:30.750 every time you come to church there was a bunch 00:17:30.750 --> 00:17:32.910 of quarreling between the people here? You had 00:17:32.910 --> 00:17:34.930 a few here in this group and a few in that group 00:17:34.930 --> 00:17:37.589 and a few in this group. and they all begin to 00:17:37.589 --> 00:17:41.250 quarrel amongst themselves. If there were some 00:17:41.250 --> 00:17:44.089 who were jealous of others, I'm jealous that 00:17:44.089 --> 00:17:46.029 he got to teach that class. I want to teach that 00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:48.029 class, so I'm going to try to promote myself 00:17:48.029 --> 00:17:50.750 and make myself look better. And you get jealous, 00:17:50.769 --> 00:17:53.250 and you start doing things that are not good. 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:57.490 Outburst of anger. One person gets mad at another 00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:00.910 person. How dare you put red pews and carpet 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:02.910 in here? I wanted green pews and carpet, and 00:18:02.910 --> 00:18:06.849 I'm not going to stand for it. People begin to 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:09.750 get angry with one another. People begin to be 00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:11.710 selfish and worry about themselves. They begin 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:13.910 to slander one another. They begin to gossip 00:18:13.910 --> 00:18:17.849 about one another. It's just chaos and disorder. 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:21.910 Imagine if that's what the body of Christ looks 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:25.069 like. Imagine if that's what a church looks like. 00:18:25.130 --> 00:18:28.690 And sadly, some of us may not have to imagine. 00:18:29.289 --> 00:18:33.740 We may have seen that in our life. Because sometimes 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:36.380 you see this kind of quarreling and anger and 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:39.480 selfish ambition and disorder in the house of 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:42.460 God. And that's what Paul is trying to stop. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.180 He says, look, I love you guys and I want you 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:48.339 to do good and I'm trying to teach you and show 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:51.079 you and guide you, but I'm afraid that if you 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.200 don't listen to me, this is what's going to happen. 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:56.180 And I don't want to come and see this. Why does 00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:59.279 he not want to come and see us? A church that 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:02.359 is quarreling and full of anger and arguing when 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:06.619 there is no love is not an effective church for 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:09.740 the Lord. And it may very well not have many 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:12.400 people who follow the Lord in it if that's the 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.380 heart of the church. And so Paul says, look, 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:17.980 I love you like a parent loves a kid and I'll 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:22.000 do anything I can for you. But I am fearful. 00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:25.279 I'm fearful that if you listen to these false 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.960 teachers, if you continue down the... path you're 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.220 going down, I'm fearful that this is what's going 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:37.599 to happen. And Paul would be devastated. And 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.119 the work of the kingdom of God would be totally 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:44.299 ineffective among this group of believers. Paul 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:48.900 says in verse 21, he says, I fear that when I 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:52.900 come, my God will again humiliate me in your 00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:56.369 presence or humble me in your presence. And I 00:19:56.369 --> 00:19:59.170 will grieve for many who sinned before and have 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:04.430 not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, 00:20:04.450 --> 00:20:09.670 and promiscuity they practiced. He said, this 00:20:09.670 --> 00:20:11.650 is going to be a humble experience. If I come 00:20:11.650 --> 00:20:17.150 and I see disorder and I see you led astray and 00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:20.369 I see sin running rampant among people who are 00:20:20.369 --> 00:20:23.910 supposed to be God's people, he said, God will 00:20:23.910 --> 00:20:27.369 humble me. It'll be a humbling experience. What 00:20:27.369 --> 00:20:31.009 does he say? He says, I will grieve for those 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:36.650 who have sinned and have not repented. Do we 00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:42.490 do that? Do we grieve for those who have sinned 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:46.789 and not repented? Is that what our world does? 00:20:48.829 --> 00:20:54.720 Perhaps sometimes, but maybe not enough. We see 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.319 a lot of sin in our world today. And if we're 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.420 honest, even us Christians, sometimes we turn 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:04.380 a blind eye to it. We just pretend like it doesn't 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.720 exist. We don't address it. We don't acknowledge 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:12.000 it. We don't speak out against it. And we're 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.859 not grieved over it. And sometimes these sins 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:22.180 are celebrated. And that's the sign of a morally 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:25.980 bankrupt culture. of a morally bankrupt country 00:21:25.980 --> 00:21:31.859 when we celebrate sin. But the sign of a healthy 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:35.319 people, the sign of a people who God can help 00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:39.559 and God can restore and God can use are a people 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:43.039 who grieve over their sin and grieve over the 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:47.559 sins of the people around them. And Paul says 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:52.440 here, I will grieve for those who have sinned 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.559 and not repented. And he goes on and lists some 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.059 things that certainly must have been prevalent 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:03.779 there. Moral impurity, sexual immorality, and 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:09.259 promiscuity. So Paul knows that soon he's going 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:13.240 to go see these people. He knows how he wants 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.160 them to be living. He's told them as much in 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:18.119 the letters that we have and perhaps there are 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:21.019 other letters that we don't have that Paul wrote 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:24.089 as well. I'm sure very similar to what we see 00:22:24.089 --> 00:22:29.049 in 1 and 2 Corinthians. And Paul says, I'm coming 00:22:29.049 --> 00:22:33.890 to you. And you know what it's right. But I fear 00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:35.349 you're still going to be doing what's wrong. 00:22:37.450 --> 00:22:43.470 What about us? What if the Lord comes back today 00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:49.549 or tomorrow? Coming back one day. We've got His 00:22:49.549 --> 00:22:51.750 Word. We've got His instructions. We've got His 00:22:51.750 --> 00:22:56.690 commands. Maybe we're following them pretty good. 00:22:58.130 --> 00:23:03.750 Maybe we're not. And what a fearful and sad and 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:07.150 horrible thing it'll be if God comes and finds 00:23:07.150 --> 00:23:13.009 us as a people of disorder, as a people of sinfulness, 00:23:13.069 --> 00:23:19.619 who have not repented. Just as Paul loved these 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:23.740 Corinthians, as a father loves a child, so God 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:28.319 loves us. As our Heavenly Father, He desires 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.140 for us to be His children. Sometimes He gets 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:36.079 stern with us, as Paul does. The Bible says that 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:38.960 God disciplines those that He loves. Praise the 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:43.220 Lord. Paul disciplined the church of Corinth, 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:47.829 at the very least, in these words. But what will 00:23:47.829 --> 00:23:51.910 be their response? What will be your response? 00:23:55.849 --> 00:23:57.809 It's a beautiful thing to know that we have a 00:23:57.809 --> 00:24:01.849 Father who loves us. Do you know that God loves 00:24:01.849 --> 00:24:03.630 you today? Do you know that He gave His only 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:07.390 begotten Son? That's pretty amazing love that 00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:13.309 Jesus would die for your sins. God doesn't want 00:24:13.309 --> 00:24:18.630 anything from us. He just wants us. In the same 00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:21.130 way that Paul spoke those words to the people 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:24.490 of Corinth, I don't need your wealth. I don't 00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:27.349 need your riches. I don't need anything from 00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:31.170 you, but I want you because I love you. And I 00:24:31.170 --> 00:24:33.910 think the very heart we see of Paul in this passage 00:24:33.910 --> 00:24:38.829 is the very heart of God. Let's pray. God, we 00:24:38.829 --> 00:24:40.509 come to you. We thank you for these good words. 00:24:40.589 --> 00:24:42.750 We thank you for Paul. We thank you for his heart. 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.500 Dear Lord, we see that he gets pretty worked 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:49.220 up. He gets pretty stern. He's not afraid to 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:53.880 address these things, but we also see his love 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:56.279 and his gentleness and his compassion, dear Lord. 00:24:56.759 --> 00:25:00.299 God, we see these same characteristics in you, 00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:04.799 dear Lord. You are a loving God, but you do want 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:06.920 us to do right. You do try to lead us in the 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.160 right direction. You do sometimes, dear Lord, 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:13.660 have to... discipline us and guide us and lead 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:17.420 us in the way we should go. So dear Lord, I pray 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:20.680 that we would give ourselves to you, that we 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:22.619 would know your love, dear Lord, that we wouldn't 00:25:22.619 --> 00:25:27.460 try to earn your favor by what we can do, but 00:25:27.460 --> 00:25:29.480 that we would just seek Jesus Christ and know, 00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:32.259 dear Lord, that there is nothing that we can 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:35.339 do, that you don't want anything from us. You 00:25:35.339 --> 00:25:39.240 just want us to be obedient and to seek you and 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:42.640 to follow you, dear Lord. I pray that you would 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.380 help us to have that same heart when we encounter 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:48.660 other people, dear Lord. That we don't go through 00:25:48.660 --> 00:25:50.859 the world looking for what we can get from others, 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:52.539 but that we would go through the world seeing 00:25:52.539 --> 00:25:56.119 how we can serve and help others that come into 00:25:56.119 --> 00:26:00.160 our path. Dear Lord, help us to be on guard because 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:04.920 we are just as vulnerable as the people of Corinth, 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.259 dear Lord, that if we are not on guard, if we 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:10.640 are not obedient to your word, That all this 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.160 chaos and anger and disorder, it can take place 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.880 right inside this building, dear Lord. And we 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:20.660 don't want it. We don't want there to be sin 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:24.000 in our life that we have not repented of. We 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.960 don't want to celebrate sin, dear Lord, that 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:30.400 others around us do. We want to be grieved by 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:32.400 that. We should be, dear Lord. If we're not, 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:34.460 then I pray that we would seek you and grow in 00:26:34.460 --> 00:26:37.039 you that you would make in us a heart that... 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.099 that would be grieved over such things. I pray 00:26:41.099 --> 00:26:43.019 that you'd protect our church, dear Lord, from 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:44.980 the enemy, that you'd protect our hearts, that 00:26:44.980 --> 00:26:47.619 you would help each one of us to make sure that 00:26:47.619 --> 00:26:50.519 we are not one that can be used to bring such 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:53.619 disorder and chaos in this church. God, I pray 00:26:53.619 --> 00:26:56.980 that you'd protect us and provide for us. Help 00:26:56.980 --> 00:26:58.839 us to be a church that would seek you and that 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:03.079 would seek to love others, God. And I ask these 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:05.799 things in Jesus' name. Amen.