1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,960 message from God's word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,440 All right. I'm going to ask you to go ahead 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:27,560 and turn your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Second 9 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,560 Corinthians Chapter 11 and just stay a little more time this 10 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,000 morning. But I, I certainly am glad to be 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,240 here. I, I rather than retired, I like 12 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:44,280 to say I'm repurposed. You know, I, I'm no longer the 13 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,440 pastor at Grace Bible Baptist Church, but I still have a 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,480 purpose. I still have things to do and, 15 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,400 and have just been repurposed. I appreciate the song this 16 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:55,880 morning. What a day that will be. 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,720 I was just a teenager. My dad had gotten saved and 18 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,520 surrendered to the ministry. And so because he had 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,360 surrendered to the ministry, my pastor looked for opportunities 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,080 for my dad to preach. My dad had an opportunity to 21 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:10,840 preach at a church out in the country. 22 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,000 And so he took all of us with him. 23 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,960 And they didn't have any music. They didn't have a pianist, they 24 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:19,120 didn't have a song leader. And so my dad kind of stumbled 25 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,840 through it. When my dad got saved, he, he 26 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,280 knew nothing about the Bible, nothing about God other than, 27 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,320 you know, he did believe there was a God and did believe that 28 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,160 God existed. But he couldn't have told you, 29 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,640 you know, the Genesis was the first book. 30 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:41,000 If you to ask who are the, who are the 1st 4 gospels? 31 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,200 Who are the writers that he had no idea. 32 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:46,640 He had no idea when it came to singing about it. 33 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,920 But but he's going to give them his best sermon. 34 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:52,920 But he decided that they needed a little music. 35 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,600 He handed me the song book and said you can sing. 36 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,160 That's the song that I sang. Was that one? 37 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:06,200 I'm not sure how good a job I did, but but I'm thankful for 38 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,840 the opportunity to serve the Lord, thankful for the 39 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,320 opportunity to be here with you this morning. 40 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,040 I really wish we had a lot of time to go through the entire 41 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,960 book of Second Corinthians. It's a wonderful book. 42 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,800 Most of you are aware that the book of Corinthians, both First 43 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,880 Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians, Paul is dealing with some 44 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,880 problems that are in the church. Remember the Corinth of the 45 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,480 people that were saved in Corinth were saved out of a 46 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,040 Pagan heathen background. They had no understanding of of 47 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,560 of the Old Testament. They had no understanding of who 48 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,200 God was. There were a few Jews that were 49 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,240 involved in it who would have been familiar with those things. 50 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,360 But for the most part they, they were people who you know, they, 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,640 they had corrupt, wicked background for their life and 52 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,760 they heard the preaching of the gospel and the power of the 53 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,480 gospel radically changed their lives. 54 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:07,400 They were hearing from somebody who at one time was a hater of 55 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:12,040 the Lord Jesus Christ and his church, who was also radically 56 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,560 changed. And so the message of Paul 57 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,400 resonated with them. A good group of them got saved. 58 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,040 The church was started. Paul was there for a little over 59 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,640 18 months and perhaps a few months beyond that and developed 60 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:28,840 a deep, deep love for those people. 61 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,400 But if you read through the book of First Corinthians, you 62 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,560 discover they had some deep problems. 63 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:40,160 First problem that they had was that here, here they were and, 64 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,320 and, and there was there, there was a division among them. 65 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,720 And, and Paul reminded them in First Corinthians in the 1st 66 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,120 chapter that they, they, they were recipients of everything 67 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,680 that God had. Aren't you glad for this, that 68 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:59,920 when we get saved, God gives us all that he, I mean, everybody 69 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,880 who gets up from the cross saved has, has all that God has for 70 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,440 us. And so they, they had all those 71 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:08,800 things. He said you, you didn't come 72 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,360 behind in any gift. But they had a problem with the 73 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:16,959 vision, partly because part of their culture looked at people 74 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,920 and evaluated status of life based upon influencers and 75 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,200 people who had, you know, people that were popular and people 76 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,680 that had this and had that. And it become quite a popularity 77 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,080 contest. If you remember, the man of 78 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,760 Paulus was a very gifted speaker. 79 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,680 And while Paul is sometimes criticized that he was not a 80 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,400 very good speaker, I would think that if we listen to the apostle 81 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,960 Paul, we'd think it was probably pretty good. 82 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:47,640 Most of the time it was his enemies. 83 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,800 And the reason that they criticized him was because he 84 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,560 didn't, he didn't try to be what the, the, the, the, the 85 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,520 speakers, the, the philosophers that were round of the day that 86 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,840 people went to listen to Paul didn't try to be like them. 87 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,720 He wanted to be what Jesus Christ called him to be. 88 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:12,280 So he didn't measure up quite to the standards that the world 89 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:15,120 had, but he certainly measured up to what God had. 90 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,080 But they developed a division among them. 91 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:21,760 And there were those that said, you know, we are followers of 92 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,120 Apollos and we are followers of Paul and we are followers of 93 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,080 Peter. And some got real pious and 94 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,000 said, we're followers of Jesus Christ. 95 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,640 Let me just say this. That's the one we ought to be 96 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,360 all following is the Lord Jesus Christ. 97 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,240 But they were divided about that and they took some pride in it. 98 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,520 But there was a second, there was a second problem with them. 99 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,720 And, and it was this that they were, they were, they were 100 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,160 dysfunctional. And I used that word because 101 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:55,280 they had they, they had a lot of immorality within the church. 102 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,720 And it's one thing that you have people who commit immoral acts, 103 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,640 but it's another thing for the church to overlook it and not to 104 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,760 deal with it. You know, it's kind of like 105 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:15,760 parents with children. We had four kids and they, I, I 106 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,360 will tell you that there were times when they misbehaved. 107 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,880 Well, that that had to be dealt with. 108 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,240 You know, it has been dealt with appropriately depending on what 109 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,520 the circumstances of the situation was. 110 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,720 The same thing is true about a church, that a church can't just 111 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,880 be overlook everything and just kind of let things go on their 112 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:38,800 their sin needs to be dealt with. 113 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,200 And the best, the best advice is as, as the Bible gives us that 114 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,560 if we're going on our face before God and deal with it 115 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:50,080 first, it's a whole lot easier than for God to have to bring 116 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,560 about the discipline that's needed in our life. 117 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,400 But they not only had that, but they, they also had disorder. 118 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,560 They were they, they, they really didn't know how to do 119 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,880 church. And so Paul had to instruct them 120 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:04,880 about, OK, here's how you do church. 121 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,080 But they also had this, they were filled with doubt. 122 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,760 When you get to chapter 15 and 16 of the book of first 123 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,520 Corinthians, chapter 15, the resurrection chapter, remember 124 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,800 that part way through it, Paul said, how say some of you there 125 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,720 is no resurrection of the dead. And so they, they had these 126 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,520 ongoing problems. And so Paul wrote to bring about 127 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,680 a correction for that. And the good news is that most 128 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,080 of the church or many in the church responded to that 129 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,120 correction. Again, it's, it's one thing to 130 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,960 be wrong and then to be stubborn in it. 131 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,520 And it's another thing to be wrong and, and be rebuked for it 132 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,960 and get it right. And so most of the Corinthians 133 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,200 did that, but alas, he writes to them again. 134 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,760 And 2nd Corinthians, because there are some things that have 135 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,680 occurred that in Paul's absence, he's, he's, he has sent a 136 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,840 preachers to them. But in Paul's absence, they had 137 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:09,360 some people come in that tried to turn the heart of the people 138 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,320 away from the Lord Jesus Christ and away from the apostle Paul. 139 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,480 Second Corinthians is probably the most personal of all Paul's 140 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,400 letters. Certainly First and Second 141 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,440 Timothy, Titus, Philemon are personal letters to an 142 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,520 individual. But Paul reveals a lot of 143 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,840 himself in the book of Second Corinthians. 144 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,679 And we're going to deal with something that I think is 145 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,240 probably worth, obviously I think it's worthwhile. 146 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,039 God put it in the book. So it's good for us to do this. 147 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,200 And I want to speak about this subject in our Sunday school 148 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,960 lesson this morning. And that is committed to Christ, 149 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:52,200 not corrupt counterfeiters. Committed to Christ, not corrupt 150 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,680 counterfeiters. We live in a day where where 151 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,920 everything is counterfeited. You know, one of the, the 152 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:06,720 biggest things with Customs and Border is, is products made 153 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,320 overseas that have American brand names on them. 154 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,440 Then they're they're they pose to be American made, but they're 155 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:17,800 cheap knockoffs. Now, it's one thing if you know 156 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,400 that the shoes that I'm getting, I know they say Nike on them, 157 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,960 but I know that's not really Nike and you know that and 158 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:26,920 they're priced accordingly. That's one thing. 159 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:31,480 But if they're telling you they're Nike shoes and they're 160 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,680 an inferior quality and they're charging you the same kind of 161 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:37,320 money, a premium money that Nike gets for theirs. 162 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,080 Can you imagine? I'm old enough. 163 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,600 I I have a hard time fathoming that you would buy a pair of 164 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:45,560 sneakers. Tennis. 165 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:47,160 We call always call them tennis shoes. 166 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,000 That's what I grew up. We never played tennis, but 167 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,680 that's what we just called them, you know, but they have running 168 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:55,000 shoes, hiking shoes, walking shoes, all that. 169 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,080 But I, I just can't imagine paying the kind of money, you 170 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,560 know, 2, three, $400.00 for a pair. 171 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,560 It just kind of blows my mind. And I'm, I'm not saying they're 172 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:10,400 not worth it. I'm just saying I'm still, I'm 173 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:15,120 still living a few generations back or a few years back when 174 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,000 stuff was not nearly that expensive. 175 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,000 And so Paul's concerned because there are these corrupt 176 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,440 counterfeiters that have come in. 177 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,480 He's going to deal with them in the book of Second Corinthians 178 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,880 and the 11th chapter. And I want to begin reading, if 179 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:39,440 you would, just in verse #1 and follow down to verse #15 So just 180 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,760 follow along as I read it would to God. 181 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,440 You could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear 182 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:51,520 with me, for I'm jealous over you with a godly jealousy, For 183 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,400 I've espoused you to one husband, that I may present you 184 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,200 as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means, as 185 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,200 the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your mind 186 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,040 should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 187 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,600 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not 188 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,160 preached, or if you receive another spirit which ye have not 189 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,840 received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, you 190 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:25,080 might well bear with them. For I suppose I was not a whip 191 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,320 behind the very chiefest apostles. 192 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,880 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge. 193 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,960 But we have been thoroughly made manifest among you. 194 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,080 In all things have I committed an offense and abasing myself, 195 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,400 that you might be exalted, because I preached to you the 196 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,600 gospel of God freely. I robbed other churches, taking 197 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,880 wages of them to do you service. And when I was present with you 198 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,280 and wanted, I was chargeable to no man for that which was 199 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,920 lacking to me, the brethren which came from Macedonia 200 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,000 supplied. And in all things I've kept 201 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,800 myself from being burdensome to you unto you, and so will I keep 202 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,840 myself, as the truth of Christ is in me. 203 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,720 No man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Akai. 204 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,640 Wherefore because I love you not, God knoweth but what I do, 205 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,280 that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which 206 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,160 desire occasion that wherein they glory they may be found, 207 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,560 even as we. For such are false apostles, 208 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,800 deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of 209 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,400 Christ, and no marvel, for Satan himself has transformed into an 210 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,360 Angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing 211 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,440 if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of 212 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,800 righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. 213 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,760 Let's vow for prayer. Father, even as we've read this 214 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,640 passage in Second Corinthians, I believe it's there because you 215 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,480 intend for us to read it to gain instruction, Father, that we 216 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,480 might be well prepared to serve you in the day and age in which 217 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,400 we live. Father, I pray that the Holy 218 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,360 Spirit of God would lead us and guide us and that you'd make the 219 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,120 application to our heart that, Father, that that we might be 220 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,640 true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and not corrupt 221 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:26,520 counterfeiters or thank you for loving us as much as you do. 222 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,360 Help us to love you even more and more. 223 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,040 We pray and ask in Jesus name, Amen. 224 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,480 There was a lot of opposition that came to the apostle Paul 225 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:44,160 and if you remember back in the book of Acts, Paul had been in 226 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,240 Corinth for about 18 months and facing a lot of opposition and 227 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,800 that this the Lord sent him a message and he said I have much 228 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:56,040 people in this city. God cared about the Corinthians. 229 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:02,400 So here we are as Paul begins to give a defense of his, of his 230 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,400 ministry throughout this and to deal with these subjects. 231 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,400 The first thing that I think we see in this passage, and is that 232 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,240 the need for doctrinal discernment, the need for 233 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,680 doctrinal discernment, doctrine matters. 234 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,240 We live in an age where people constantly would tell you that 235 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,880 you know what a doctrine is, not what's important. 236 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,280 Love is what is important. And I'm going to tell you we 237 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:32,600 need both of them equally that that we are out of balance if we 238 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,120 are all doctrine, but we can't love anybody and we are out of 239 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,000 balance if we are all love and we're not doctrinally correct. 240 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,160 It is vitally important that we keep a balance in all of that. 241 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,160 And so doctrinal discernment is important. 242 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,120 It's one of the questions that a lot of times lost people will 243 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:52,680 ask, well, how can I know the truth? 244 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,400 How can I know which church is right? 245 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,320 Some of you may have even asked that question. 246 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,920 Well, how do I know? And like again, I think there's 247 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,800 some several things that God has given us and one is we have the 248 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,280 book, we have the word of God. And I would just encourage this. 249 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,880 If you have doubts, just get into the word of God and begin 250 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,600 to read it and say, God, I have some doubts. 251 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,200 I need you to show me what it is and, and trust that God will 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,080 give you the answer. One of the things that I, I 253 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:23,560 think every, every church member ought to keep in mind is that 254 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,280 when those questions come to our heart and mind, a lot of times 255 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,720 we want to add, we want to go to the Internet or we want to go, 256 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,360 you know, we want to go somewhere to get somebody to 257 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,960 give us an answer because we like things quick. 258 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,040 I tell you the best thing you can do, get on your face before 259 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,800 God in your own closet and pray and say, God, I really need to 260 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,400 know an answer to this. And then come to church with an 261 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:54,240 expectant heart and listen to the preaching of the Word. 262 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,840 And without you having said anything to your pastor, the 263 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,640 Holy Spirit of God will direct in his life. 264 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:06,760 He may not even know the subject that he's preaching on revolves 265 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,080 around the exact question that you've asked. 266 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,120 And chances are he won't know. But God knows and the Holy 267 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,480 Spirit of God knows, and you'll be sitting in the service and 268 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,200 all of a sudden the light bulb will click on and you'll say, 269 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,160 you know what? God gave me an answer. 270 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,360 Sometimes the answer will be no. Sometimes the answer will be 271 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,080 yes. But God will give you an answer. 272 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,200 And you walk out and shake the pastor's hand and say, thank 273 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,200 you, pastor, that was a great sermon this morning. 274 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,440 God gave me an answer to the question I have. 275 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,120 The good news about that is that you walk out saying God gave me 276 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,280 the answer. I didn't get it from somebody. 277 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,320 I got I got an answer from God that will give you confidence to 278 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,240 stand firm and the answer that God gives you, he gives it. 279 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,680 God promises to give us what we need through the preaching of 280 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,680 the word. God will reveal himself through 281 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,680 through that preaching. So anyhow, Paul said, would to 282 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,520 God, you have bear with me a little in my folly and indeed 283 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,560 bear with me. If you remember back in Chapter 284 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:09,160 11, Paul had had this to say about this very thing, that 285 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,280 verse 12 of Chapter 11. For we dare not make ourselves 286 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,079 of the number, compare ourselves with some that commend 287 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,440 themselves. But they measuring themselves 288 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,160 and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. 289 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,880 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but 290 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,760 according to the measure, the rule which God has distributed 291 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,680 to us, a measure to reach even unto you. 292 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,440 Part of the false teachers that had come in was that they made 293 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:42,160 these great boast about things. And Paul had already said that 294 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,960 boasting is not a part of our faith. 295 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,280 Boasting is not a part of who we are as Christians. 296 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:53,320 And, and so when he comes to Chapter 11, he said, I, I need 297 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,240 you to put up with me just a little bit because I'm, I, I'm 298 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:58,720 going to seem like a fool to these people. 299 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,720 I hope I'm not a fool to you, but I'm going to seem like a 300 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:08,280 fool as far as culture in the world is concerned put up with 301 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,240 me. But he said I'm jealous over 302 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,080 you. I'm jealous over you and he uses 303 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:18,120 an illustration of a presenting that I espoused you to one 304 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,800 husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 305 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,760 We know in Ephesians that by the Bible says in chapter 5, 306 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,520 husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave 307 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:33,120 himself for it. If you remember, John the 308 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:36,160 Baptist made this comment about himself. 309 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,080 It was said about him that he was the friend of the 310 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,600 bridegroom. What was John doing? 311 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,560 Well, he was preparing a people for the Lord. 312 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,840 Well, that's exactly what the Apostle Paul was preparing a 313 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,120 people for the Lord. And he said, I'm jealous over 314 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,160 you because I'm not looking for your loyal to loyalty to me as 315 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,000 much I'm looking for your loyalty to Christ. 316 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,840 I want, I want you to be committed to him in the same way 317 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,480 that that a young lady has engaged her husband, espoused 318 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,760 her husband in that same way that she's committed to him. 319 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:19,160 I, I want to present you purest chaste virgins to the Lord and I 320 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,120 want to present you in purity. That's why Paul dealt with the 321 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:26,520 the, the the the moral issues, the doctrinal issues with all 322 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,120 those things in Corinth is because that that Paul wanted 323 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:35,280 them to be that that that precious bride for the Lord 324 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,400 Jesus Christ. And so he said, I, I, I, I've 325 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,080 espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste 326 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,040 virgin to Christ. I'm jealous for you. 327 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:50,480 You know, jealousy is is not always evil. 328 00:19:57,050 --> 00:20:00,650 Envy is when you somebody has something that you don't have 329 00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:03,440 and you. Think you'd like to have it so 330 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,960 much so that you're willing to do what you need to take it. 331 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,040 But jealousy involves a third party and it's about here's a 332 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,680 husband, here's a wife and a third party that's coming in 333 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,480 between them. And Paul said, I'm jealous about 334 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,120 that. I don't want anything. 335 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,000 I don't want anybody coming between you and the Lord Jesus 336 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,680 Christ. Well, as he goes on, he said, 337 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,960 but I, I'm afraid of this because I my fear is this, that 338 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,920 as the serpent beguiled Eve, that you also might be beguiled 339 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,280 from the simplicity that's in Christ. 340 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:41,560 One of the dangers of the day is that often times false teachers 341 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:49,120 take simple things and make them complicated and that you you 342 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:52,400 need them for the keys to understanding. 343 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,240 You got to have them or you have to have their book. 344 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,160 You have to have their wisdom to understand it. 345 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:06,040 After all they've taken, what was the simplicity that's in 346 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,840 Christ? They have complicated it and you 347 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:15,760 have to go to them for the key. Notice that Paul said, for he 348 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,800 that cometh preaches another Jesus whom we've not preached, 349 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,280 or that you would receive another spirit that you've not 350 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,120 received or another gospel which you have not accepted. 351 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:35,440 You might well bear with them. It's vital, important that you 352 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,200 don't put up with people that would come in, you know, people 353 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,080 that come to Liberty Baptist Church, join Liberty Baptist 354 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:44,680 Church. They don't come in to change 355 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,840 Liberty Baptist Church. If they're coming to change 356 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,440 Liberty Baptist Church, everybody ought to stand up and 357 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,920 say, you know, I'm sorry, there are probably other churches down 358 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,040 the road that'll welcome you and you're welcome to go there. 359 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,320 But you're not going to change who we are because we are 360 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,680 committed to Jesus Christ. We're committed to his word. 361 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,760 We're committed to his church. And so we, we, we live in a time 362 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,240 where where those kind of things happen. 363 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,360 Paul was committed to them and he wanted to encourage them to 364 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,160 be committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. 365 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:23,760 Corrupters try to influence, you know, we, I, I, some of you are 366 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,480 not far off from my age and I and I, I agree. 367 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,400 There was no Internet. There were no computers, you 368 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,240 know, telephones hung on a wall that had a cord to them. 369 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,080 We didn't have those kind of things. 370 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,960 Nowadays you can find information. 371 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,160 As a matter of fact, when the when the news was given, most of 372 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,760 the time the news was delayed by often times hours and days. 373 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,960 Something could happened a couple of days ago and it's just 374 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,520 news today. But it's not like that. 375 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,160 Everything is instantaneous now. And and it's so much easier for 376 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:02,160 people to to slip in and try to corrupt. 377 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,440 We live in a pluralistic society. 378 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,760 Our society thinks that, you know, embrace everything. 379 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,720 We need to be tolerant of everything that we need to be 380 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,680 accepting of everything, but they're not very tolerant of us 381 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:22,720 if we disagree with them. You know, there's some things 382 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,960 that, and everybody knows this. There's some things that you 383 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:30,640 can't be intolerant about. If you go to a pharmacy to pick 384 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,640 up some medicine, do you want a pharmacist that you know what? 385 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:36,280 It doesn't matter. A pill is a pill. 386 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,040 That's you know what? It's a blue pill. 387 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,640 I'm not sure what it is, but they need a blue pill. 388 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:42,000 So here you go. Here's a blue pill. 389 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,040 How's that going to work? Are you want to be tolerant? 390 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,480 You want to be tolerant when you're driving down the street 391 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,440 and you see a street sign that tells you that Easton down this 392 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,880 road and you start down that road and and you wind up in New 393 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:03,200 Hampshire. We all want to be tolerant when 394 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,680 it comes to the red and blue lights that light up behind us. 395 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,440 If you've ever had that happen to you, I haven't for a long 396 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:10,480 time. Thank the Lord. 397 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,880 I try to behave myself, but we want him to be tolerant. 398 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,040 But you know what? We there, there are a lot of 399 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:18,760 things in life we don't accept this. 400 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,280 We don't accept we're not tolerant of. 401 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,440 I wouldn't be tolerant of my wife having a boyfriend. 402 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,480 I'm not going to be tolerant of that. 403 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,280 I'm not going to be tolerant of somebody that wants to harm my 404 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,640 children. So you see, there's some things 405 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,280 we, we can't tolerate everything. 406 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,720 There's some things. And it's important for us that 407 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,560 when it comes to the word of God, that that, that we know and 408 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,720 understand what we believe that it comes from the word of God. 409 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,280 It comes from God. And and that's it. 410 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,720 The line is drawn. And that we're not not not going 411 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:05,360 to allow those that come in to sway us or take us from that 412 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,360 salvation is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 413 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,840 They're not many ways to heaven. There's one way Jesus said I'm 414 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,200 the way the truth and life. No man cometh unto the Father, 415 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,720 but by me. Jesus is the express image of 416 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,760 God. He is God in the flesh. 417 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,200 And so there there's some things like this that the Bible reveals 418 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:34,800 to us that that matter and that it's important that we keep in 419 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,440 mind. They said that if he preaches 420 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,920 the they preach another Jesus, have another spirit, they have 421 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,760 another gospel. Well, there, there's only one 422 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:48,120 gospel that brings salvation. That's it. 423 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,000 There's not they're not many ways, they're just one. 424 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:55,040 It matters. It matters. 425 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,240 It matters what what the Bible we use, it matters. 426 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,400 It those things, all those things matter, but they were 427 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,920 corrupting. And Paul said, I, I'm concerned 428 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,080 about it, that you will not be naive and just simply accept 429 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,160 everything that comes along, but that you'll be good students of 430 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,760 the word. I don't know if you do this, but 431 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,040 I'd encourage everybody. I, I don't think our Christian 432 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:22,280 life and our Christian walk can ever be what it ought to be if 433 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,640 we do not spend time with God every day. 434 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:33,560 I, I, I know for myself, I have to spend time reading my Bible 435 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,760 and I have to spend time on my knees and prayer daily. 436 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,720 And if I don't, if I miss a day, if something comes up and I, so 437 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:43,560 I read my Bible, but I didn't pray. 438 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,160 And I'm, I'm thinking this is not good. 439 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,880 Or if I spent a little bit of time, but I didn't take time 440 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,880 read. I'm thinking, oh man, I'm in 441 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,520 danger. I'm in danger. 442 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,040 False teachers and false apostles like to prey on people 443 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:00,720 who are not good students of the Word. 444 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:08,200 Well, there's a second thing. And we find that starting in 445 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,360 verse #5 When he said, For I suppose I was not a whip behind 446 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:15,320 the very chiefest apostles, but though I'd be rude in speech, 447 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,160 yet not in knowledge. For we have been thoroughly made 448 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,920 manifest among you in all things Paul said It's important for you 449 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,440 to to understand there is a distinctive difference between 450 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:32,200 the ministry that I have the preaching that I bring to you 451 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,680 and that of the false teachers and the false apostles. 452 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,400 And now notice that Paul said in verse #7 have I committed an 453 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,360 offense and basing myself that you might be exalted. 454 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,160 You see, here were here were the opposites, the false teachers 455 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,440 were boasting. They were they, they, they made 456 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,320 a big deal about their knowledge, about their 457 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,920 understanding, about their abilities. 458 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,240 They made a big deal about that. They made a big deal about the 459 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,040 credentials that they had. And Paul, what did Paul say? 460 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,320 He I based myself, I humbled myself. 461 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,440 You know, truly followers of the Lord Jesus Christ don't have to 462 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,920 boast. God calls us to be in humility. 463 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,240 Remember that the Lord said if you, if you want to be chief, 464 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,560 the disciples, the apostles got all caught up in this about 465 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,120 who's going to sit on the right hand, Who's sitting on the left 466 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:36,760 hand? You know, when the Kingdom 467 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,000 comes, who gets to be this, who gets to be that? 468 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,600 And the Lord, the Lord said to them that, that if you're going 469 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,680 to be chief, then you need to be the servant of all. 470 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,320 Paul said you, you know how I lived among you. 471 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,200 And he goes on to make the contrast. 472 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,680 He said, I, I, I, I committed offense that I might be that you 473 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,360 might be exalted. I preach the gospel to you 474 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:05,960 freely. Paul said, I didn't make demands 475 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,040 on you that you have to do this. You have to do that, that that 476 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,880 that you have to provide for me certain financial criteria. 477 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,360 You have to do this for me. You have to do that for me. 478 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,360 Paul said we didn't do that. We just came and preached the 479 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,600 gospel to you. We're living by faith, trusting 480 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,960 God and pastoring for the 43 years being in the ministry, 481 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:34,240 pretty close to 50 years I've had, I've seen evangelist and 482 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,560 preachers come through that, you know, their, their first, their 483 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:44,280 first, their first conversation is what kind of place they can 484 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,080 stay in and how much money they can get. 485 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,240 I understand. I, I understand that when you go 486 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,800 to the gas station, you know, you can't just smile and, and 487 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,480 you know, let them fill up your tank. 488 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,960 That's just not going to work. I, I understand that. 489 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,360 But but when somebody comes to me and the first thing that 490 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,040 they're talking about is how much money what the honorarium 491 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,200 is or what this is or what, or I have to have so much up front to 492 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,280 come. Well, thank you. 493 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,160 But there are other places maybe could have you you're not coming 494 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,640 here. And I'm so grateful over the 495 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,760 years for the faithful evangelist and pastors that have 496 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,520 come to our church. And they just come and they come 497 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,800 because they believe. You know what we believe God's 498 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,040 in this. We, we, we're, we're happy to 499 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,200 come and we're going to trust the Lord for how he provides for 500 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,600 us. I think it's important for 501 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,200 church to be generous toward them. 502 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,640 You know, Paul, Paul's very pointed on this. 503 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,680 I robbed other churches taking wages of them to do you a 504 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,760 service. One of the wonderful things 505 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:56,800 about supporting missions and about supporting people in the 506 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,880 ministry is that we can allow, we can support them, which 507 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,360 allows them to go to churches that don't have the financial 508 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,080 means to take, really take care of them. 509 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,800 We, we have an evangelist that would come to our church every 510 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,400 year and we supported him on a, on a monthly basis. 511 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,320 And then we had him come to our church every year. 512 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:18,160 But, but by supporting him, he, he was able to, there was a 513 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,760 church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that you have to go way 514 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,520 out of your way. You have to, want to go there in 515 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,920 order to show up at this church. Well, they, they've got a dozen 516 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,960 people. How do they take care of him? 517 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,480 Well, they're going to take care of him the best they can, but 518 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,280 it's not going to take care of what he needs to get there and 519 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:44,160 all that. It enabled him to go to places 520 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:49,680 that that he went to Peru and he preached in the prisons in Peru 521 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,480 by supporting. We helped him to do some of 522 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,560 those things. And Paul said, I, I took wages 523 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,400 of other churches, but I, because I don't want to be 524 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:05,320 burdensome to you. In Paul's day, the philosophers 525 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:10,400 and the, the, the speakers of the day, they would, they would, 526 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,840 they would come to in and they would have a, an arena or place 527 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,560 where they could make a speech and people would, would bring 528 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,160 money to hear them speak. And they would wait until they 529 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,720 had enough money in the pot or whatever it was, and then they 530 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,240 would go ahead and then they would start their speech. 531 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,520 I don't know if you've seen people, sometimes musicians be 532 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,920 on the streets or the corners, you know, and they're playing 533 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,840 and they're, sometimes they just keep playing whether people put 534 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,000 money in or not. And then there are other times 535 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,560 that they're waiting for enough people to gather around and 536 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,880 enough people to put money in. OK, now you can have the now you 537 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:46,800 can. Now we'll play. 538 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,440 Now we'll perform for you. Well, that's how they these 539 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,080 worked in Paul's day. And Paul said, I don't operate 540 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,320 that way. See, there's a distinctive 541 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:57,840 difference. Paul said here's what's 542 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,080 important. Substance, not style. 543 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:08,320 Substance, not style. The speakers of Paul's day were 544 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:12,000 polished. They were professional speakers. 545 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,160 And because they were professional speakers, they 546 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:20,800 expected a large honorarium or a large monetary gift in order to 547 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,920 speak because they were professional. 548 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,400 Paul said, I'm not professional. I'm a minister of Jesus Christ. 549 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:32,600 I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. And that Paul was about 550 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:38,040 substance, not not about personalities and verse #5 for I 551 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,920 suppose that I was not a whip behind the very chiefest 552 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,880 apostles. It's a little bit of sarcasm on 553 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,200 Paul's part because when you look up that word, it's about 554 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,600 super apostles. So there were some people that 555 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,280 presented themselves to the church at Corinth that they were 556 00:33:54,280 --> 00:34:00,360 the Super apostles, not the 12. It's not them, but it's some 557 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,040 others that claimed to be apostles, sent ones. 558 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,880 And so they're claiming something that they don't really 559 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,480 have, and they're presenting themselves as that, that, that 560 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,480 we're experts in this and that we can tell you how things ought 561 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:20,159 to be done. Have you begun to figure this 562 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:23,159 out that experts don't always have the right answers? 563 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:35,080 You know, sometimes God's people have enough common sense, don't 564 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,199 really need an expert. We just need to read and see 565 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:40,480 what God said and then follow what the Lord said. 566 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:47,400 Said Paul's point in all of this that while he was not a that 567 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:51,520 while he was not a professional speaker, it does not mean that 568 00:34:51,520 --> 00:35:04,600 Paul was not a good speaker. And verse, number, verse #9 And 569 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,440 when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no 570 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,400 man for that which was lacking to me, the brother, and which 571 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,400 came from Macedonia supplied. And in all things I've kept 572 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:18,080 myself from being burdensome to you, so will I keep myself as 573 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,920 the truth of Christ is in me. No man shall stop me of this 574 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,680 boasting in the regions of Akai. Wherefore, because I love you 575 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:29,120 not God knoweth, but what I do that will I do that I may cut 576 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,880 off occasion of them that desire occasion that we're in the glory 577 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:38,680 they may be found even as we you see, they gloried in the fact 578 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:42,600 that they were these polished professional speakers and that 579 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:47,440 they, you know, they influenced people and people were attracted 580 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,720 to them and people followed them. 581 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:54,120 They, I, I, I, I don't know that it was necessarily like we see 582 00:35:54,120 --> 00:36:00,680 today, but you know, bless her heart, I had a dear lady one day 583 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:06,840 say to me, you're just a pastor. You haven't written any books. 584 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:16,520 These people wrote books. I'm fine being just a pastor. 585 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:19,200 I'm fine with that. That's what God called me to be, 586 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,040 trying to be the best of that, that I can. 587 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:25,960 And if it's just a pastor that I am, I'm great. 588 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,760 But her measurement of what was important was that these people 589 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,160 have written books. I can tell you what libraries 590 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:35,920 are full of books that are not worth reading. 591 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,400 And I'm not against education and I'm not against reading 592 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,040 books. I like reading books. 593 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:52,640 My wife will tell you that I, I have well, since I've repurposed 594 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,320 as pastor and I am, we're now downsizing everything. 595 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:01,840 My most of my library is gone, but right, I had lots of books. 596 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,000 My my dad collected lots of books. 597 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,760 I got his books. I collected lots of books. 598 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,560 Now everything's digitized. It's on computer. 599 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,360 You don't need the books anyway. But, but what I'm getting at is 600 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:22,320 that Paul said the measures about the substance of it, not 601 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,120 about, not about the, the style of it. 602 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:31,920 And, and later on Paul mentions that that the, the, all the 603 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,920 marks of an apostle, all the, all the things of an apostle 604 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,640 were found in me. And so he concludes with this 605 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:43,440 thought and, and this, that it's, it's about humility, not 606 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:47,480 about honorariums. And Paul said there's a 607 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,720 distinctive difference, a distinctive difference. 608 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:57,200 You can have substance or you can have style, you can have 609 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,600 humility or you can have honorariums, which do you want? 610 00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:04,080 Paul said about substance and humility. 611 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,520 But there's a last thing that's mentioned to us in this passage 612 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:14,120 and it's verses 10 through 15. And we'll we'll kind of deal 613 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,840 with that. And I but I do want to touch on 614 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:18,960 this verse 11. Wherefore. 615 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,640 Because I love you not, God knoweth. 616 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,320 Paul wants them to understand this. 617 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:30,960 He has a deep love for them and his desire is for their best. 618 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:35,400 If it cost him, that's OK. I don't mind paying the cost. 619 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:39,080 Remember Paul? Paul equated himself with 620 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,080 someone who wanted to present the bride to her husband, a 621 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,080 chaste, pure virgin. Paul also referred to himself as 622 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:51,040 a father. You know what parents, parents 623 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:56,720 sacrifice for their children and it's not a, it's not really a 624 00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:59,640 burden. Is it a hardship? 625 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,520 Yeah, sometimes it's a hardship. But you know what? 626 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:06,880 Our kids are worth it. My kids are all grown now and 627 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,640 not living at home. People will tell you today, you 628 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:13,200 know, and that's kind of the, again, the culture of the world. 629 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,400 You can't afford kids. And if you wait till you afford 630 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,960 can afford them, you won't have them because nobody can wait 631 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,360 till they have enough money for kids. 632 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,520 And I'm going to tell you this. Grandparents never have enough 633 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:31,040 money for grandkids. But the thing thing about it is 634 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:36,320 that does a does a mother does? Does she worry about her 635 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,480 sacrifices for children? I don't think so. 636 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,360 I don't think dads worry about the sacrifices that they make 637 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,720 for their children's, not men who are men of God and women who 638 00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:48,520 are women of God. They don't worry about the 639 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:50,360 sacrifices that they make for why? 640 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:52,480 Because we have a deep love for them. 641 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,040 You love your kids. Not hard to sacrifice for them. 642 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,760 I, you know, I just just retired, not from the ministry, 643 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,040 but from pastoring Grace Bible Baptist Church. 644 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,400 I want Grace Bible Baptist Church and Pastor Brett. 645 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,200 I want them to do far better than I ever could. 646 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:16,920 I want them to go beyond me. I don't have to be just what 647 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:20,520 what I had and it has to be the same thing forever because I I 648 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,200 know this that that I want, I want them to have it even better 649 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,800 than I had it. And Paul saying that to the 650 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,000 folks at Corinth that that I want the best for you. 651 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:38,120 And so this last part, verses 13 through 15 comes down to this. 652 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:43,760 Refuse dishonest deceivers. Refuse them, They're 653 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,960 counterfeit, for such are false apostles. 654 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,840 Paul didn't mention any words. False, not true. 655 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,920 False. Secondly, deceitful. 656 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:59,440 They're deceitful, transforming themselves into the apostles of 657 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,520 Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself 658 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:03,520 is transformed into an Angel of light. 659 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,000 Therefore it's no great thing if his ministers be transformed as 660 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:09,800 the ministers of righteousness. Who's then shall be according to 661 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,720 their works? The devil does not usually come 662 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:17,160 to us in a red suit with horns, a long tail and a pitchfork. 663 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:21,560 How does it come as an Angel of light? 664 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:27,400 Because the idea is to confuse. The idea is for us to think, 665 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:31,840 hey, these really are, these really are apostles. 666 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:37,760 These really are people, Paul saying you can measure the 667 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,360 ministry that I had with you and you can measure theirs, and 668 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:43,320 that'll tell you who the real apostles are. 669 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:52,120 Every one of the apostles of the Lord suffered, except perhaps 670 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:58,200 John suffered martyrdom. What were they doing? 671 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,360 They were following in the steps of Jesus. 672 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,920 They they didn't, they didn't have cities named after well, 673 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,560 they, I guess they did, you know, later on, but but in in 674 00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:12,560 their time, they, they didn't have all this promotion. 675 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:15,760 They didn't have all these Paul said we're the off scouring of 676 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:26,480 the earth. Paul was involved in deliberate 677 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,520 sacrifice for them. They were involved in deliberate 678 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,600 self-serving. They were destructive and not 679 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:38,000 edifying. Eventually. 680 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:42,520 The last part of verse #15 says whose end shall be according to 681 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:46,600 their works. Isaiah 820 says, if to the law 682 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,200 and the prophets, if they speak not according to this words, 683 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,680 because there's no light on them, they don't have a truth in 684 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:56,080 them. Measure things by the book of 685 00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,480 God. Make sure that it measures to 686 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:04,960 this and that we're not deceived by those false teachers and 687 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:09,920 false apostles, those corrupt, those corrupt people who will 688 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,720 try to turn our hearts from the Lord. 689 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,200 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 690 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:19,120 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 691 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,600 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 692 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:27,200 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 693 00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:32,000 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 694 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,840 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 695 00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:36,000 grow in His Word.