47 2 Corinthians 9-10 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

Shall we turn our Bibles to 2 corini chapter 9? Paul has been in the last few chapters telling you about the collection that he wanted you to take up for the poor in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem had been through many problems. Severe persecution. and the Christians in Jerusalem were in great physical need and that is why Paul is asking the Gentile churches to show their love in the body of Christ for their brothers in Jerusalem by sending them an offering of his hand and in chapter 8 he tells them about In the gathering these funds in chapter nine, he continues his appeal to them to give aid to the church in Jerusalem, and as to the ministry among the saints, it is really superfluous for him to write to them because he said, "I know." how willing you are to do these things, the openness of your mind by which I will boast about you to those in Macedonia, that AI was ready a year ago and your zeal has provoked many, so Paul is speaking to them again about ministering to the needs of the church in Jerusalem and he said I know a year ago you were ready to do it and I shared with others your willingness and they were excited about your willingness and it was an inspiration to them to give your zeal. an inspiration provoked others now I have sent the bre so that our boasting of you may be in vain in this name and then Paul sent Titus and another brother ahead to receive the collections they had taken to help the church. in Jerusalem and Paul is a little worried now that he has been boasting about how generous and willing the Corinthians were to support and now he expects them to live up to his boasting about them and that is why I have sent the brothers so that we do not boast about you should be in vain in this name that, as I have said and as I have declared of you, you might be ready to go, lest, happily, if the Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, uh, we and say that you should not be ashamed.

In this same confident boasting, Paul is trying to cover his bases in the sense that he's been bragging about them, he said to the churches in Macedonia, oh, these guys are really super givers and all that, and they're really ready to help. and now. If I come and you have done nothing, you know that I will be ashamed and you will be ashamed and all this encourages you to give, that is why I thought it was necessary to exhort the brothers of bread to go before you and prepare their generosity in advance, so which they had previously noted might be ready as a matter of generosity and not greed.

Now Paul didn't really want offerings to be taken while he was there, he wanted everything to be done in advance. Pablo. He wanted to exclude any criticism that might arise from his ministry by saying, "Well, Paul is only in it for the money and he was extremely careful in this regard, he didn't want to bring a reproach to Jesus Christ in the matter of giving, unfortunately there are many who do." . a rebuke to Jesus Christ for the emphasis they place on giving and there are all kinds of ways to fleece the flock of God and believe me these intelligent evangelists have discovered all the ways and even some that were not there but Paul did not want any type of accusation that he was fleecing the church and therefore wanted it all sorted out.

He sent a couple of Fells in advance so that all the donations would end when he got there and he could receive. what was given and take it to the church in Jerusalem, but he didn't want any collections to be taken up while he was there, it's extremely embarrassing to me that your name or whatever is being used as a fundraising tool for a few years. A while ago I was in Hawaii speaking at a Bible conference where Ed was invited to speak at this Bible conference, so the first night when the man went to take the offering, he took about 10 minutes and, as you know, we asked him to our brother Chuck that you come here and it cost you money and everything, to bring him here and we want to make sure that he is well taken care of and that's why we want you to really give tonight, you know, to provide for our dear brother Chuck. need and all this kind of stuff and I sat there on the platform embarrassed and stupid, so when I finally got a chance to get up I said I appreciate what this brother said about your poor brother Chuck, but I want you to know that I'm not going to accept not even a cent to be here because I have an extremely rich father who takes care of all my needs and I don't have to depend on people to meet my needs because my father takes care of me very adequately.

It gives me a generous expense account and meets all my needs, so if you want to accept offerings here, that's fine, if you want to give, that's good, but don't give for poor brother Chuck, because he's not going to take your smell. I'm here to give and not to receive and uh, I was really embarrassed uh, I don't like, uh, my name is used like, you know, the goat or the trick or whatever to give to people, uh, to give , I do trust my father to meet my needs and he does it and he is very good about it, he is very faithful in that and I really in a way modeled myself after Paul in this sense.

I have always been concerned about the emphasis that churches so often place on giving and that is why perhaps I have swung in the other direction of the pendulum and say so little about giving. That is why we never mention to you any need that may exist because we are not looking at you, we are waiting for the Lord to supply. the work of ministry and when God leads, God always provides and I always look a little bit at those who have been led by God to some great program and everything is going to fail unless you rescue God.

Somehow I don't understand it. God was on the verge of bankruptcy every two weeks and was ready to abandon his entire program because people are not coming to rescue him from financial insolvency, so Paul had the same attitude towards donations and did not want offerings to be accepted while he was over there. I didn't want any emphasis on money, go ahead and get it all before I get there so that when I get there there won't be any collections while I'm there, but in giving, Paul mentions an interesting basic law of God. and that law of God is a spiritual law and it's interesting because sometimes it's hard to understand how it can work and I don't know the mechanics of how it works.

All I do know is that it works now. There are many physical laws that I know work. I don't know how they work. I understand a little about the laws of magnetism, the attraction of opposite poles and the repulsion of light poles. I know that positive charges now repel each other. why they repel I don't know why opposite poles attract I don't know I know uh since I was a child I knew I could pick up a magnet and slowly I lowered it and I found I saw how the nail jumped up to the magnet and to some invisible force that was grabbing that nail and bringing it to the magnet and holding it against the magnet later when I started studying a little physics I understood that opposite poles attract, now I know why they do it.

I don't know I know a little about electricity and not putting your finger in a socket I know that we can project and this I don't know if the electrical charges go or not in the cable or around the cable I don't know, but I know that they can be transmitted through of a cable and I understand a little about alternating currents and direct currents, but how does it work. I'm not sure. I know the laws exist and I learned to use them. to take advantage of those laws I know that gravity is a natural law that works I know that I should not challenge it now why mass attracts I do not know but I know that it does the same with the spiritual laws that are also established by God within the universe and although I can't explain how they work I know they do and so you learn to live by these laws you learn to follow these laws and reap the results now I know there is a spiritual law that declares to give and it will be given to you measured, pressed and overflowing now how It's that the more you give to God, the more you receive.

I don't know how that works, but Paul brings up this spiritual law here, but I say this from the SWS. in moderation will also reap in moderation and he who SWS abundantly will also reap abundantly now that is the spiritual law and when you put it like that I can begin to understand a little how the more you give, the more you will receive, for Paul here puts in a framework that I can begin to understand a little if I am sewing wheat like in the field, it is logical that the more seeds I sow, the greater harvest I will have now if I want to be very careful with how I sew. and I just take the seeds and throw them here and there, then I'll just have little wheat sprouts here and there.

I'm not going to have much of a harvest, but if I go out and sow abundantly, then I'm going to reap an abundant harvest, so putting it in that kind of framework I can begin to understand a little bit how the more you give, the more you receive, the more God returns, the greater the harvest and so Paul incorporates it into this law of giving to say that if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly but if you sow abundantly you will reap abundantly that is an interesting law of God it is the only law that God challenges you to try many people say I'm going to try to God now, but God has only challenged you to test Him in one area and that is in this law of giving and God said, test me now in this, says the Lord, and see if I will not pour out on you a blessing that I cannot contain and That to prove it is to give God tithes and offerings, so there is a basic law that works.

I can't explain how it works. All I can do is assure you that it does work. God says, test me and see if. He does it only in the area of ​​giving now to every man and that is how we are to give to every man according to what he has purposed in his heart so let's not let him give reluctantly or without pressure because God loves a fun giver. and that's what the greek word means god takes it as a personal affront and I would too if I were God when someone gives you something and then you complain ever someone gave you something and then they go around and complain and you know What they gave you, giving it reluctantly, my feeling is to always keep it, man, I don't want it, you know, I don't like gifts with conditions, a lot of times things are given to the church and I don't really like to question the motives, but sometimes people classify them. to let it get away, you know, this chair was given to us by our grandmother and we don't want to get rid of it, we don't really use it and we don't really want it, but we thought about giving it to the church, you know, because we don't want to throw it away and then it becomes ours.

You have to put it somewhere and keep it for Grandma's sake, you know, but God doesn't want you to give him anything grudgingly. I know with an okay, I'll give it to you, you know, a kind of attitude and God no matter how much I say Hey, keep it, I don't want it, I don't need it and God doesn't want your gift to be because of pressure. someone is really putting pressure on you, you know everyone is watching now to see what you are going to give them. God does not want the gift to come out of necessity, out of restriction, R out of pressure, but what you give to God, what God receives and accepts, is that. which you give with only a joyful heart giving hilariously Lord You know here I love giving to God it is simply a joy to be able to give and only that you should really give to God what is given hilariously because it is only that that God really respects and honors, for what it is better for you to keep than to give a restraint under pressure or reluctantly, it is better for you to keep it and you would be better off if you keep it and only give what you can give with a hilarious heart because of your love for him so that every man be his purpose in his own heart so let him give and God can make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in all things you will abound for every good work which is the return of God now to you you have given it to God hilariously God will never be a duty to you remember that God will never be a duty to man as the scripture says who has given and has not been rewarded again and as Jesus said give and it will be given to you measured tight overflowing because God does not is going to be your debtor then God can make all grace abound to you taking care of all your needs every good work as it is written he has spread himself, he has given to the poor, his justice remains forever and that is why he gathers here some of the Psalms In this verse, he has been scattered, given to the poor, his righteousness now remains, he who ministers seed to the poor.

God so ministers bread for your food and multiplies your sown seed and increases the fruits of your righteousness and so God who gives the seed to the flight gives us the bread that multiplies the seed that you have sown and only increases your fruits being enriched in everything to all. generosity that causes through US Thanksgiving to God and may God return untold riches for the administration of this service not only meets the need of the saints but is also abundant with many thanksgiving to God so that not only does He have a double purpose, it meets their needs but also creates praise in their hearts to God and that is why the people who are receiving, by receiving the gifts that you have given them, will be giving thanks to God. and so through your giving, you're actually causing a lot of Thanksgivings to be directed toward God when people walk away and say oh, thank you God, oh praise the Lord, Lord, you've taken care of our needs and everything. , and these praises go to God and are actually praises that have resulted from your donations.

I think it's really a beautiful way to look at giving in the fact that it will bring blessings to other people who in turn will thank God for those.blessings and so your offering is not only to attend to their needs but is the cause of bringing praise and joy to the father while through the experiment of this ministry they glorify God by your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ and by your liberal distribution. to them and to all men and for their prayer for you and, of course, they in turn, having received, will pray for you, which long after you by the extraordinary grace of God that is in you, thank God for his indescribable gifts, that's why we talk about giving to God, but you still know you think about what God has given us, that indescribable gift of Jesus Christ and what was the reason behind it.

God loved the world so much that he gave and that is why the reason behind our giving must be love, our love for God and any other reason is not valid, give because you love the Lord, give him what you have proposed in your heart, what that you can give hilariously, that give to God and God will bless you abundantly for it, so the rules really about giving and I want those rules should apply here I really don't want you to give unless you are motivated by the love of the Lord within your hearts and give only as you have intended in your own heart never feel pressured never feel constrained we.

We will never come to you asking for funds for God's work, we will close the doors before doing so. If things get bad financially and all that and we start going down the drain, we'll just close the doors and not get out. and send you letters and say, well, you know we're reading in Desperate Straits and all that, we'll just close the doors and I'll go to Hawaii or something, don't feel sorry for us, thank God for his ineffable gift oh God is so good with us and in his love he has given us so much not only Christ but that gift that is through Christ of the hope of the Eternal Kingdom and those riches in glory that are ours through Christ Jesus you know Christ is something like, in a sense the obvious but with Christ come so many things you know the added benefits never stop they go on and on and on and on but they all come to us through Christ Grace and peace oh these glorious ones.

The gifts of God, how do I receive them through Christ, will be multiplied for you through our Lord Jesus Christ, so he is the gift that really opens the door to all these gifts that God gives us now that Paul has finished his section on giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem and he goes on to other things and these other things are very sober and serious things again, he deals with the challenge of his apostleship that was done by those in Corinth, there was a faction in Corinth that was against of Pablo and uh, this facto group tried to turn other people against Pablo.

Divisions within the church are always an ugly thing when people begin to align themselves with man or some teaching system instead of Jesus Christ and very often when people create these divisions instead of just saying well, let's start something new , they somehow have to give a justification for starting something new, tearing down the old and finding fault and saying things against Paul, so these factions were always working on something ugly in the body of Christ. And so Paul is now writing to these factu groups, addressing the criticisms made of him by those who, in a way, set themselves up as authorities of spiritual authority and there are always those around him who claim to have greater spiritual insight and greater understanding spiritual. greater spiritual understanding they walk around with a kind of um postponing this aura of uh well brother when you really get to uh you know the degree that I'm at you'll understand these things that I can understand now you're just not ready for these things that you know, but as As you mature and grow, then you can understand these deeper things of God and this Malarkey that come out with you, and so, as if they were more spiritual, you have a greater perception and you poor peons, you know. someday maybe you'll get there, but in the meantime we feel sorry for you trying to bolster your own cause by tearing down others, you know, they used to make Confucius say, uh, I don't know if Confucius said all the things that he says. attributed to having said, but I can remember one of Confucious's sayings when I was a kid and it used to be, you know, one of the popular things you say about Confucious, you know a lot of men smoke with, but fuang Chu, uh, one of the things what they used to say but there is another saying attributed to confucius and probably more accurate and it was confucius says the man who throws mud loses ground I like that you see that you really can't throw mud without getting your hands dirty and losing ground they were throwing mud in Paul Paul search now In the next few chapters, defend yourself as if you needed to defend yourself.

It's tragic that Paul was put in this position and Paul is embarrassed by it. He is now more or less forced to say things that he actually says. I don't mean to say that these are things that were between him and the Lord. These are things he endured for Christ's sake willingly and joyfully. Things that he didn't go around, you know, preaching throughout the land, but now he's more or less obligated because of his position being challenged by these evil people in Corinth uh to reveal some of the things that his apostleship is already proven by.

Now I, Paul myself, beseech you for the meekness and gentleness of Christ who is the one who in presence I am vile among you but in my absence I am bold towards you, this is one of the charges they made against him. Hey, when he runs away, he can write these scary letters, but when he's here, he's just, you know, so meek and, uh, you know, so gentle and everything, but he runs away and then. He writes you these terrifying letters, but when he is around he is an ugly dwarf and they make fun of his appearance and according to one of the first books of apography written around the year 200, Paul's deeds are called in Tulum, I believe .

It's what describes Paul and says he was, you know, a short guy, with bushy eyebrows that came together, a hooked nose and kind of bull's legs, you know, bull's legs and kind of little knobby knees. , and you know, just, uh no. a lot to look at and that's what they said in Corinth, hey, this guy doesn't have much to look at, you know, but he runs away and becomes dynamic and naked, you know it's a him with us, he's the weakling 97b, he runs away, You know? and he is an atlas and and uh so they were making these kinds of accusations against Paul and then he says: I beseech you by the G gentleness and meekness of Christ that in presence I am vile among you but in my absence I am brave towards I beseech you twice now, the supplication, not demanding but simply appealing to them, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence with which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. accusing Paul of walking according to the flesh, they were making all kinds of bitter accusations against him and he and he are warning that when he comes, he doesn't really want to attack them harshly, however, if necessary, he will, even though he said we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are powerful in God to pull down strongholds, pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and taking everything captive. thought to The Obedience of Christ so that we walk in the flesh, that is, we are in a body of Flesh, however, our royal blood, but against principalities, powers and spiritual entities in high places, our true battles, our Royal War, are not.

Physical battles are spiritual battles with these spiritual entities around us and there is a spiritual war going on constantly. We do not and cannot imagine to what extent this spiritual war is being waged in the universe around us. Do you remember when Daniel set his heart seeking the Lord in fasting and prayer and after 21 days the angel came to Daniel and said from the day you called upon God for the first time I was sent to bring you the answer but Behold, the Prince of Persia captured me and held me until finally Michael the great Prince came and freed me and now I have come to reveal to you those things that you wish to know about God.

This great spiritual war that was hindering the answer to Daniel's prayer for 21 days while this angel sent by God was detained. and captured by the Prince of Persia by the spiritual powers and forces of darkness and held until Michael came and freed him, we are not really aware of the spiritual warfare going on in the universe around us, it would be nice if we were more sensitive to the fact that there is a spiritual war going on and we often receive criticism of that spiritual war. The byproduct of it is often feelings that we don't really understand and that we can't really define as a feeling of heaviness. feeling of depression a feeling of discouragement or a feeling of despair discouragement a feeling of restlessness just a feeling of agitation these feelings can often result from the actual byproduct of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us there is a tremendous battle for the souls of men being delivered by the spirit of God and by Satan who wish to control the mind and soul of man and many times a person is in the middle of that conflict since it is his soul that is in the balance, the spirit of God pulling Satan .

Sustaining tremendous spiritual battles and being aware of them is vital for us as Christians, if we want to maintain a life of Victory, one of our problems is that we do not always recognize when Satan is attacking and very often we are prone. just overlooking it, you know, our own nature or our own feelings, or I just woke up this morning feeling horrible, you know, and I get grumpy, sometimes you'll have to forgive me and everything and we're not aware of the fact that we're under a spiritual attack and because we are not aware of the fact that it is a spiritual attack against us, we simply move forward instead of opposing it and resisting it for the Bible.

It tells us that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us, but I have to recognize that it is his attack before I resist it, so there really are the three R's that I call Spiritual Victory and the first is to recognize the source. of the attack this is the enemy at work he is attacking me having recognized him then I can face him resisting him in the name of Jesus resist the devil and he will flee from you you and then the third key to victory is to rejoice in the victory of the Lord over the powers and the forces of darkness and as you rejoice you find the depression leaving, you discover the irritation leaving and you begin to read, you feel the victory in Christ and what a difference the day becomes because you have taken that victory that is yours through of Christ about this attack of the enemy against you, but many times we just bow our heads and continue to be beaten and beaten feeling bad and we don't know why to complain to God because things are going like this. horribly not to recognize that it is actually a spiritual attack from Satan against you, against your home, against family, and it can manifest itself in many ways, so we walk in the flesh, but we do not really wage war according to the flesh, war is a spiritual war and for this spiritual war you need spiritual weapons and God has provided us with those spiritual weapons and in Ephesians chapter 6 Paul said, therefore, recognizing that we are fighting against these forces and powers of the Spirit, put on the whole armor of God so that they may be able to resist the works of the evil one to be able to stand firm against them and speak of the helmet of salvation, speak of the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, the shield of faith with which we extinguish the darts of fire from the wicked and then having fully armed it then concludes by saying praying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit may your requests be made known to God so that the weapons of our warfare may not be carnal the weapons of spiritual warfare are spiritual weapons the word of God prayer of faith and by these we come again against the attacks of the enemy and by these we can defeat the enemy none of you as children of God need to continue being harassed by Satan you have the authority and the power through Jesus Christ to put the enemy on the run and when you come against him in that victory of Christ that was achieved at Calvary, Satan must yield, resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw an N to God and He will draw you.

Our problem is that Very often, instead of attacking the enemy with spiritual weapons, we come against him with weapons of the flesh. You know I'm going to beat this. I'm going to get out of this depression. I'm going to get out of this depression. and we come with our own carnal devices and schemes rather than with the spiritual weapons that God has placed at our disposal and so the fight goes on and on and on and I and I live in a quasi-world constantly battling. being constantly harassed and attacked by the enemy because I am trying in my flesh to eliminate his power and his attacks against me.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are powerful through God tearing down strongholds and that is exactly what we can do. through prayer the strongholds of the enemy are demolished now the battlefield area is in man's imagination and in his thoughts Satan fights with you in your mind theSpiritual battles are fought in your mind that is where Satan challenges God. Has God said? Is there knowledge at the top? God sees and very often we are deceived by Satan into thinking that we are overlooking God doesn't see if God sees then why didn't he do something about it and because God doesn't attack instantly we think well we are getting by with this and we have been deceived.

By thinking that we somehow get by with our evil, God goes unnoticed, we seem to be prospering in our evil, but as the old saying goes, the wheels of Justice grind slowly but extremely finely and it will come out, but in our minds Satan it will plant thoughts ideas fantasies what do I do with them I say oh I like that you know and I start to fantasize and see myself in this experience and I start to follow in my mind and play with it and oh you I know it would be so good and I could be so happy and oh , it's so ideal and and you continue to fantasize and and Satan takes that imagination, that fantasy and uses it to trip you up with the law of metaphysics, visualization, what do you want?

Put it in your mind, put it in front of your mind, write your goal on a piece of paper, put it in your mirror and when you shave in the morning, look at it and see yourself now in this position of power, see yourself in this position of authority. See yourself sitting behind the president's desk, you know, and as you visualize, your subconscious will take over and begin to devise the methods and means by which your visualization can become an actualization and thus Satan works, you begin to visualize yourself in these things. . By doing these things, your subconscious begins to develop the schemes and methods by which it becomes a reality and suddenly you find yourself caught up in something that you really thought you would never do, but you see that you did it first in your mind, that is.

What Jesus was talking about when he said, you have heard that it has been said You shall not commit adultery, but I tell you that whoever desires a woman in his heart, you will see that that is where it begins in the mind in fantasy. you are already guilty you are on the path you are on the path you have already done the act in your mind and that is where we have to check it that is where we need the spiritual weapons to check those imaginations and tear down all imagination and anything that exalts itself against the law of God to put me in opposition to what God has said, taking every thought captive to the Obedience of Jesus Christ, if that thought you have is not up to par and does not coincide with what Jesus would have.

You must be or do, so get rid of it, don't play with it, don't flirt with it because it can lead to damnation, so the weapons of our war, we need the spiritual weapons to fight the spiritual war that we can walk in . the flesh but that is not where the real war takes place it takes place in my mind the spiritual battle for control of my mind and if I have the mind of the flesh then I will reap corruption but if I have the mind of the spirit then I will reap life, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, but the battle is for the mind and Satan is trying to captivate your mind and look at the tools he has today to captivate your mind and plant things in your mind that would distance you from the Lord see the abundance and the availability of pornography today.

Satan is working over time to bring out things to capture your mind and make these fantasies begin to work and you have to stand firm in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit against these attacks of the enemy or else you will find yourself In captivity and in the slavery of your flesh, my heart goes out to you, it is not easy to live the right kind of life. today because every ungodly pressure in the world is against you and you cannot in your flesh maintain a spiritual experience, you must take and use all that God has placed at your disposal if you are going to stand firm in these days and this is how Paul concludes this little I spoke in Ephesians with the Ephesians about the same subject, he said, therefore, stand and having done everything, stand and God knows that sometimes that is all we can do.

I mean, after Satan's been through the punches and the explosions, just the fact that I'm still standing, man, that's cool, you know, thank God, it's only by the grace of God that I'm standing because surely Satan is ready to destroy you and bring you down and then have a disposition to take revenge for all disobedience, obedience when your obedience is fulfilled Paul again refers to those in Ephesus on whom he plans, if they do not change, to take revenge for their disobedience. Now you look at things after the outward appearance and this is where they were making F of Paul's outward appearance, you know that he is him. weak and contemptible in his presence his speech is contempt Paul said do you look at the outward appearance?

If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ, let him think about this again, that just as he is Christ, so we are Christ, so these people who said well, we really belong to the Lord Paul says wait a minute, I am also from the Lord. Lord oh we have the mind of Christ Paul said we also have the mind of Christ well we have received a revelation Paul said I have received a revelation, so these people say they are of Christ, but just write this down, we are also of Christ, because Although I should boast a little more about our Authority that the Lord has given us for edification and not destruction, I should not be ashamed now that Paul's authority was given to him by the Lord to build up the body of Christ, so be careful , when a person speaks with authority and is using that to tear down the body of Christ, then that is a dangerous thing to destroy.

Paul said my gift was not given to me to destroy but to build if I have the anointing of the spirit of God and the word of the Lord in my heart that word was given to me to build the body of Christ these people are going to try to destroy or tear down the body of Christ, so that it does not seem that he would terrify them with letters, because his letters are said to be heavy and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is contemptible. Now let such a person think this that just as we are in the Word through the letters when we are absent, so we will also be in the Acts when we are present.

Hey, when I arrive in Acts I will be powerful and heavy. Paul wasn't really. one to mess with when Paul was on a particular island and it's in the book of Acts and it's not clear, you can go and get the details, but there was the governor of the island, Sergius Pus, and Paul was sharing with him the things about Jesus Christ and there was a certain sorcerer, I think it was the sorcerer who was speaking against the things that Paul was saying and Paul turned to him and said God kill you with blindness brother and the guy went blind so that oh Sergius and all of them were really amazed by the power demonstrated through this man Paul Paul says Hey, how I am in my cards, powerful and heavy, that's how I'll be in my works when dealing with these guys when I get there, man.

If I were one of those who speak against Pablo I would like to take a leave of absence and leave the city for a while because we dare not be part of the number of those who are guilty of the error of comparing themselves with others by growing up alone and comparing themselves to each other they are not wise now this is often a mistake that people make you see we look around us and say hey I'm not that bad because I'm comparing myself to you and since we use each other as our standard of comparison, sometimes we can feel very heady, very proud, you know, because I'm using another man as my standard of comparison, but Paul said that's not wise, because no man is my standard.

Jesus Christ is my standard. God doesn't He calls me to be like any man, he calls me to be like Jesus Christ and even though I look at some man and say, well, you know, I'm not that bad when I look at Jesus Christ, I say woe is me. a sinful man, God help me, so here in Corinth there was a small group that was conceited because they were comparing themselves to each other using each other as a standard of comparison and therefore being conceited about it, but that is an error that is not wise . God help us.

May we not fall into that trap of not measuring ourselves by others, but look to Christ as the standard for an interesting scripture in John chapter 16 where Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will rebuke the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. of sin he said because they don't believe in me interesting statement because we would think of sin because they are liars and cheats and adulterers and fornicators and murderers and thieves but it is not a sin because they don't Don't believe in me why because Jesus through his death paid the price of every sin there is only one sin that can condemn a man now and that is the rejection of Jesus Christ he did not come to condemn the world but to save the world for him the world was already condemned and this is the condemnation light came to the world but men but it immediately eliminates any work you may be seeking to do to be accepted by God yes it eliminates works as a method of gaining entry to heaven completely the Ascension of Jesus Christ sets the standard of righteousness so high that I cannot reach it by my own efforts I must accept it as God's gift through his grace of righteousness because I ascended to heaven God's declaration this is the standard so he is the standard why we should measure ourselves not by each other, but Paul said we will not boast in those things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule that God has distributed to us, a measure to reach even you, because we do not stretch beyond our measure. as if we did not come to you, because we have also come to you preaching the gospel of Christ, not boasting without measure of the things that are the works of other men, but having hope when your faith increases, when we will be abundantly expanded by you according to with our rule and that is why Paul says: I am not going to come to Corinth.

They had never heard before now that they had heard and believed that there were always those guys ready to come in and take Paul down and try. to build their own popular following and that's always the case, you know, when people see a wonderful work like what God has done here at Calvary Chapel, there are always a thousand ministers around the country who suddenly feel called County of Orange, you know, maybe we can catch some Fallout or maybe we can put something out, whereas it's interesting that every week we get calls and letters from all over the country from people asking to have a Calvary Chapel type Ministry in their area.

Hundreds of requests come in every year because they say there is nothing like Calvary here, where we can go and just learn the word of God, but still, why isn't God there? You see? Why doesn't he call people to those places where you know a work has not yet been established? Are they called to come, you know, five blocks away or nearby and set up a job and then come in and say folks, why don't you come? They know that we have a little Fuller calario, it's good, but they know that they are. They're just missing a little bit and that's why God called us to complete the work where you know they're just a little bit, you know it's a shame really when there are thousands of areas around the country begging for someone to come and teach them the word that these people don't.

They hear God's call to go there and then Paul faces this in Corinth, all these guys moved, they weren't going to unreached regions, they were going to try to build on the foundation that he laid why they come into the church and try to take something away from church instead of going to the beach or going to public markets. It's amazing how many times, while we're sitting here saying the word of God, people are out there filling their cars with invitations to some event that's going to be held at their church, we have a crew that's there at every service to take things away. of the windshields that these people who come when the cars are parked put up.

There you will never know what you have been invited to, but we will call these people and tell them why you would come to our parking lot to hand out your literature, why you don't go to the South Coast Plaza shopping center. Why don't you go down to the beach? Why are you trying to remove yourself from the body of Christ? Do you know if you are really valid? Why don't you go out and win the lost? and Paul says that is the validity of my Ministry. It is to go to Regions Beyond where the gospel has not been heard, the call of God in the heart of Paul, to go out where it is necessary, not to go to build another church and duplicate another Ministry, but to go out where it is necessary to preach the gospel in the regions of the Hereafter and not boast in the line of another man's things prepared at our hand so as not to enter and try to take away from another person's work, but he who boasts, let him glory in the Lord, because not he who he praises himself is approved.

But whoever the Lord recommends, it is not what I think of myself that counts, it is what God thinks of me, it is not what I say about myself, what matters in reading is what God says about me, so with you it is not what you have. What to say about yourself that counts What's really important is what God has to say about you, not what you have to say about your calling or your ministry or whatever God is saying about it, it's not the who recommends himself is not where it is, but praise. of God that is what we must seek if we want Glory notLet us not glory in our works or in our efforts but let us glory in what the Lord has done.

I feel very ashamed many times because when I meet people from all over the country, ministers and everything, they will tell you that you are surely doing a great job. There in amazing and I always correct them I say the Lord is really doing a fabulous job and I am privileged to see what He is doing I don't see this as my job God knows what I can do I can make a mess of anything as we used to say , our kids could juice anything when they ate. You know, little kids eat dry cookies, but they can juice them, and just like they can juice anything, I can make a mess. of anything this is the work of the Lord it is wonderful in our eyes we have the joy and blessing of seeing God work and he who glories should glory in the Lord for what God has done and let us not seek the praises of man the approvals of man let's seek the approval of the Lord what God thinks of me and my service men they could be cheering me saying how wonderful I am hey that doesn't matter they could be wrong what God is saying that's what worries me what is God's opinion on That has me deeply concerned God, help us father, we thank you again for your standard word for life, the light for our path, that we walk in your truth and, oh God, that we live according to the spirit and according to the things of the spirit, a life that is.

Lord acceptable and acceptable to you in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen, may the Lord be with you and bless you throughout the week as God ministers to you those infinite riches of His love and grace with which He loved you before the world existed and could. You come to have a new insight into God's love and concern for you so that you in turn can have a new depth of love and relationship with Him. May this be a blessed week, blessed by God in every way.