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

Mar 17, 2024
So let's turn our Bibles to Second Corinthians chapter 9. Paul has spent the last few chapters telling you about the collection 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 and offering them his hand and in chapter 8 he tells them about Gathering these funds in chapter 9, he continues his appeal to them to give aid to the church in Jerusalem, and as to the ministry to the saints, it is really superfluous for him to write to them because he said, "I know how willing you are." You must do these things with the advance 'do not underestimate your mind, therefore I will boast about you before those in Macedonia that a ki 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 brothers so that our boasting of you may not be in vain in this name and so Paul sent Titus and another brother ahead to receive the collections they had taken to help the church in Jerusalem and Paul's. a little worried now he has been boasting about how generous and willing the Corinthians were to support and now he expects them to live up to his boast about them and that is why I have sent the brothers so that our boasting of you will not be in vain in this so that , as I have said and as I have declared of you, be willing to give, lest, if they have Macedonia, they come with me and find you unawares, we and say that you should not be ashamed of this same competent boasting, so Paul is like trying to cover his bases in a sense, he's been bragging about them, he told the churches in Macedonia that all these guys are really super givers and they're really ready to help and now if I come and they haven't done anything you know what?
47 2 corinthians 9 10   pastor chuck smith   c2000 series
I will be ashamed and you will be ashamed and you are also encouraging them to give, therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brothers to come to you first and repay your generosity in advance. it might as well 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 Paul wanted to exclude any criticism that might arise from his ministry by saying Well, Paul He is only in it for the money and was extremely careful in this regard not to want to bring a reproach to Jesus Christ in the matter of giving.
47 2 corinthians 9 10   pastor chuck smith   c2000 series

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47 2 corinthians 9 10 pastor chuck smith c2000 series...

Unfortunately, there are many who do bring a reproach to Jesus Christ because of 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 didn't want any kind of accusation that he was fleecing the church and therefore wanted everything to be taken care of, he sent a couple of companions ahead of time so that all the donations would end when he got there and he could receive what was given to him. 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 his name or whatever is being used as a fundraising tool.
47 2 corinthians 9 10   pastor chuck smith   c2000 series
A few years ago I was in Hawaii speaking at a Bible conference and I was invited to speak at this Bible conference and the first night when the man went to take the offering, he took about 10 minutes and you know we've asked our brother Chuck to come here and it cost him the money and everything to bring him here and and we want to make sure that he takes care of everything right, so we want you to really give tonight, you know, to meet the needs of our dear brother Chuck and everything this kind of thing and I sat there on the platform, embarrassed and foolish. 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 take a dime 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, gives me a generous expense account and meets all my needs, so if you want to take care of Offerings here, it's okay if you want to give, that okay, but don't give it to poor brother Chuck because he's not going to take a dime from you.
47 2 corinthians 9 10   pastor chuck smith   c2000 series
I am here to give and not to receive and he made me very embarrassed. I do not do it. like my name used like you know, the goat or the trick or whatever to give to people. I trust my father to meet my needs and he does and he's very good at it, he's very faithful at it and I really class it. In this sense, I have always been disturbed by the emphasis that the church so often places on giving and that is why perhaps I have swung in the other direction of the pendulum and say so little about giving, which is why I never mentioned any need to you. that can exist because we are not looking at you, we are looking at the Lord to supply the work of the ministry and when God guides, God always provides and I always look a little askance at those who have I have been led by God to some great program and everything It's going to fail unless you rescue God.
Somehow I don't conceive of God being on the brink of bankruptcy every two weeks and ready to abandon his entire program because people won't come and rescue him from financial insolvency, so Paul had the same attitude toward giving, he didn't want it accepted. offerings while he was there, I wanted the emphasis to be placed on the money, go ahead and receive it all before I get there, so that when I get there there will be no collections while I am there, but in giving, Paul mentions a basic law interesting law of God and that law of God is a spiritual law and it is interesting because sometimes it is difficult to understand how it can work. and I don't know the mechanics of how it works, all I know is that it works now.
There are many laws of physics 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 repel each other now why they repel I don't know why opposite poles attract I don't know I know since I was child I knew I could take a magnet and slowly put it on the ground and finally watch the nail jump towards the magnet and an invisible force grab that nail, push it towards the magnet and hold it up 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 bit about electricity enough not to put my finger in a socket I know that we can project and I don't know this I don't know if electric charges go through it or not wire or around the wire, I don't know, but I know they can be transmitted along the wire and I understand a little bit about everything that happens and the direct currents, but just how it works I'm not sure I know the laws are there and I learned having used those laws to advantage I know that gravity is a natural law that works I know that I should not challenge it now why it is that 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 cannot explain how they work, I know that they do, and so you learn to live by these laws, you learn to follow them. these laws and to reap the results now I know that there is a spiritual law that declares give and it will be given to you measure it press down overflowing now how it is 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: he who so moderately will also reap in moderation, and he who shows himself abundantly will also reap abundantly. Now that's the spiritual law and when you put it like that, I can begin to understand a little bit how the more you give, the more you will receive, because Paul here puts it in a framework that I can begin to understand a little bit if I'm sowing wheat in the field, it's logical that the more seed I sow, the bigger harvest I will have now if I want to be very careful with how I sow and I just take the seeds and throw them here and there, then I'm just going to have little sprouts of wheat here and there.
I'm not going to have much of a harvest, but if I go out and do it 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 get, the more God gives back to you. , the greater the harvest and that is why Paul includes it in this law of giving saying that if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly, but if you sow abundantly then you will reap abundantly, that is a law. of God interesting is the only law that God challenges you to test many people say I am going to test 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 with this says the Lord, see if I will not pour out on you a blessing that you cannot contain and to prove it is in giving God tithes and offerings, so there is a basic law that works, I cannot explain it. how it works all I can do is assure you that it does work.
God says, test me and see if it doesn't work just in the area of ​​giving now to every man and that's how we are to give to every man according to his purpose. the heart of him, so don't let him give reluctantly or without pressure because God loves a hilarious 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 complains about it. Have you ever had someone give you something and then they go around and complain and you know what they gave you reluctantly?
My feeling is always to keep it, man, I don't want it, you know, I don't like gifts with conditions. Sometimes things are given to the church and I don't really like to question the reasons, but sometimes people let it slip. You know, this chair was given to us by our grandmother and we don't want to get rid of it. It doesn't really have any use, we don't really want to, but we thought about giving it to the church, you know, because we don't want to throw it away and then it becomes our obligation to put it somewhere and keep it.
It's for the grandmothers' sake, you know, but God doesn't want you to give him anything grudgingly, you know, with an "it's okay, I'll give it to you," you know, kind of attitude and God, no matter how much he says Hey, keep it. I don't want it, I don't need it nor does God want your gift to be due to pressure. Someone is really pressuring you. You know that now everyone is watching to see what you are going to give. God does not want the gift to arrive. out of necessity out of restriction out of pressure but what you give to God what God receives and accepts is what you give with just a joyful heart giving hilariously Lord you know here I love giving to God it's just a joy to be able to give and just really You should give God what is hilariously given to you because it is only what God truly respects and honors so it is better to keep it than to give it to him under pressure or reluctantly, it is better for Reedy to keep it. and you would be better off if you keep it and only give what you can give or heart fun because of your love for him, so every man has a purpose in his own heart, so let him give and God can. to make all grace abound in you so that always having all sufficiency in all things you will abound in every good work which is God's return to you that you have given to God hilariously God will never be a debtor to you remember that God will never He will be a debtor to man like the Scriptures who have given him and he has not been rewarded again and as Jesus said given will be given measure it press down overflowing because God is not going to be his debtor so God can make all grace abound towards you taking care of all your needs every good deed as it is written he has been scattered abroad he has given to the poor his justice remains forever and that is why he gathers here some of the songs in this verse he has been scattered abroad given to the poor, his justice remains now he who ministers the seed to the sower or God both ministers the bread for your food and multiplies your sown seed and increases the fruits of your justice and so God who gives the seed to fly gives us the bread to multiply the seed that you have sown and simply increase your fruits, becoming rich in everything - all linked to the plenitude that causes through us Thanksgiving to God and thus God simply returns riches to you even for the administration of this service not only supplies the need for the saints but it is also abundant with many thanksgiving to God so it not only has a double purpose, it meets their need but also creates praise in the hearts of God and the people who are receiving, while they receive the gifts that you have given to them, they will thank God and therefore through your donations you are actually causing a lot of thanksgiving to go to God when people go away and say oh thank you God, oh praise him .
Lord Lord, you have taken care of our needs and everything, and these praises go to God and they are actually praises that have resulted from your donation. I think that's a really beautiful way to look at it. Giving in the fact that it's going to bring blessings to other people who in turn will thank God for those blessings and for that.Your giving is not only to minister to their needs but is the cause of bringing praise and joy under the Father, while through the experiment of this ministry they glorify God by their professed subjection under the gospel of Christ and by its liberal and disparate 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 who long for the supreme grace of God that is in you, thank God for his indescribable gift, so we talk about giving to God, but still you know you think about what God has given us, that indescribable gift of Jesus Christ and what was the reason behind it?
God so loved the world that he gave and that is why the motive behind our donation must be love, our love for God and any other motive is not really valid. Give because you love the Lord. Give what you have purpose in your life. heart what you can give hilariously that is what you give to God and God will bless you abundantly for it so the rules are really about giving and I want those rules to listen to them I really don't want you to give unless you are motivated by the love of him Lord within your hearts and give only as you intend in your own heart to give never feel pressured never feel constrained they will never come to you begging for funds for the work of God they will close the doors before we do if things get tough bad financially and everything and we start going down the tubes, we'll just close the doors, we won't go up and send you letters and say, well, you know, we're really in a desperate situation and all that was just closing the doors and I.
I'll head to Hawaii or something, don't feel sorry for us, thank God for the indescribable gift of him. All God is so good to us and in his love has given us so much, not only Christ, but that gift that is through Christ of hope for the eternal Kingdom and those riches in glory that are ours through Christ Jesus, you know that Christ is in some sense the obvious, but with Christ comes so many things that you know the additional benefits never end, they go on and on. and so on, but they all come to us through the grace and peace of Christ, so these glorious ones receive God, how do I receive them through Christ?
They will be multiplied through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that he may be the gift that truly opens the door for all. these gifts that God grants us now Paul has finished his section on donations for the poor saints in Jerusalem and he continues with other things and these other things are very sober and serious things again, he addresses the challenge of his Apostolate that was done by those in Corinth there was a faction in Corinth that was against Paul and this foolish group tried to turn other people against Paul. Divisions within the church are always an ugly thing when people begin to align themselves with man or some teaching system rather than Jesus Christ and very often when people create these divisions instead of just saying well, let's start something. new, somehow they have to give a justification for starting something new by tearing down the old and finding fault and saying things against Paul and So these factions were always in action, something ugly in the body of Christ and that's why Paul is now writing about these events, addressing the criticisms made by those who in a certain way establish themselves as spiritual authorities and there are always those who are around.
You know, those who pretend to have greater spiritual insight and greater spiritual understanding, they walk around with a kind of deferral of this good brother aura, when you really get to that level, you know the extent to which I am, you will understand these things, I can understand them. . Now you're just not ready for these things, you know, but as you mature and grow, then you can understand these deeper things of God and this nonsense that comes up with you, you know, and like they're more spiritual, they have in seitan and you , poor peons, they know that one day they may arrive, but in the meantime we feel sorry for them when they try to reinforce their own cause by tearing down others.
You know they used to make Confucius say. I don't know if Confucius said everything. the things he is credited with saying, but I can remember one of Confucius saying that when I was a child it was nice to be, you know, one of the popular things on the cake. Confucius says that many men smoked with foo Manchu, one of the things he used to say but there is another saying attributed to Confucius and probably more accurate and it was Confucius who says that the man who throws mud loses ground. I like that you see, you can't really throw mud without getting your hands dirty and losing ground.
They were throwing mud. to Paul Paul now speaks in the next chapters to defend himself as if he needed to defend himself. 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 really doesn't want to. say these are things that were between him and the Lord these are things that he endured for the love of Christ willingly with joy things that he didn't go around, you know, proclaiming throughout the land, but now he's more or less obligated because of his position . challenged by these evil people in Corinth to reveal some of the things by which their Apostolate is really tested now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who is the one who in presence I am vile among you but in absence I am bold To you, this is one of the charges they made against him, hey, when he runs away, he can write these terrifying letters, but when he's here, he's so meek and so peaceful and everything, but he runs away and then he writes these. scary letters to you, but when he is around he is an ugly dwarf and they made fun of his appearance and according to one of the first apocryphal books written around the year 200, the acts of Paul are called Tek ulam, I think it is Describes Paul and says that he was, you know, a short guy, with bushy eyebrows that came together, a hooked nose and kind of bow legs, you know, bow legs and kind of little bow knees, knobby knees and you know there's not much to it. look. and that's what they said these days, guys, there's not much to see, you know, but he runs away and Manny gets dynamic and barbell, you know, you see him with us, he's the 97-pound weakling that runs away, You know, and it's an atlas and and then they were making these kinds of accusations against Paul and then he says I beg you by the gentleness and meekness of Christ that in the present I am vile among you but when I am absent I am bold towards you I beg you two Sometimes now begging them, not demanding but simply appealing to them not to be bold when present with that confidence with which I believe I am bold against some who think that we walk according to the flesh, accused us of walking according to the flesh of falling. flesh were making all kinds of bitter accusations against him and he and he is warning that when he comes he does not want to read the heavy message on them, 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 through God to cast down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every man into captivity. Thinking about the obedience of Christ, so we walk in the flesh, that is, we are in a body of flesh, however, our true wars are not carnal. Although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, said for us. We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers and spiritual entities in high places.
Our real battles, our real war, are not physical battles, they are spiritual battles with these spiritual entities that surround us and there is a constant spiritual war. I cannot imagine the extent to which this spiritual war is being waged in the universe around us. Do you remember when Daniel set his heart to seek the Lord in fasting and prayer and after 21 days the angel came to Daniel and told him from the day you called for the first time? to God I was sent to bring you the answer then the Prince of Persia captured me and held me until finally Michael, that Great Prince, came and freed me and now I have come to reveal to you those things that you still wish to know from God.
This great spiritual war that was hindering the answer to Daniel's prayer for 21 days while this angel sent by God was held and captured by the Prince of Persia by the powers of the spiritual forces of darkness and held until Michael came and took him. released. If we are not really aware of the spiritual war going on in the universe around us, it would be good if we were more sensitive to the fact that there is a spiritual war going on and we often receive the criticism of that spiritual war. Byproduct of this many times our feelings that we don't really understand and can't really define a feeling of heaviness a 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 As a result Of the spiritual warfare going on around us, there is a tremendous battle over the souls of men waged by the Spirit of God and by Satan who desire to control the mind and soul of man and many others.
At the moment when a person is in the middle of that conflict, since it is his soul that is in the balance, the Spirit of God pulls Satan who is in 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 don't always recognize when Satan is attacking and very often we are prone to just overlooking it, you know, our own nature or our righteous feelings or I just woke up this morning feeling horrible, ya You know, and I get grumpy, sometimes you'll have to forgive me and all that, and we're not aware of the fact that we're under spiritual attack and because we're not aware of the fact that it's like that. a spiritual attack against us we just continue instead of standing against it and resisting it because the Bible tells us that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us, but I have to recognize that it is Satan's attack before I resisted, so there There are actually two three R's that I call spiritual victory and one is to recognize the source of the attack this is the enemy in action he is attacking me having recognized it then I can deal with it resisting it in the name of Jesus resist the devil and he will flee from you and then the third key to victory is to rejoice in the victory of the Lord over the powers and forces of darkness and as you rejoice you find that the depression disappears, you discover that the irritation goes away and you begin to read.
I feel the victory in Christ and what a difference the day becomes because you have taken that victory that is yours through Christ over this attack of the enemy against you, but many times we just bow our heads and you know we continue to be beaten and beaten. feeling bad and I don't know why we complain to God because things are going so horribly without recognizing that it is actually a spiritual attack from Satan against you against your home against the family and it can manifest in so many ways so we walk in the flesh, but We really don't fight according to the flesh, war is a spiritual war and for spiritual warfare you need spiritual weapons and God has provided those spiritual weapons and in Ephesians chapter 6 Paul said, therefore, recognize that we are fighting against these. spiritual forces and powers, put on the whole armor of God so that you can resist the works of the evil one, you can confront them and he speaks of the helmet of salvation, he speaks of the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, the shield of faith, where we quench the fiery darts of the evil one and then, having fully armed them, concludes by saying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, that your requests may be made known to God so that the weapons of our war may be known. not carnal the weapons of spiritual warfare our spiritual weapons the Word of God prayer of faith and by these we come 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 to flight 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 near to God. and He will draw near to you.
Our problem is that many times instead of attacking the enemy with spiritual weapons, we come against him with weapons of the flesh. You know I'm going to conquer this. I'm going to pick it up. To get out of this depression, I'm going to take them down and we come with our own carnal devices and schemes instead of these spiritual weapons that God has put at our disposal and so the fight goes on and on and on and on and I and I live in a quasi-world constantly fighting, constantly being harassed and attacked by the enemy because I am trying in my flesh to protect myself from their power and their attacks against me.
The weapons of our war are not carnal, they are powerful thanks to God. tear down the strongholds and that is exactly what we can do through prayer is tear down thestrongholds of the enemy now the battlefield area is in man's imagination and in his thoughts Satan fights with you in your mind spiritual battles are fought in your mind That is where Satan challenges God. God said. God knows? Is there knowledge in the Most High? God sees and very often we are deceived by Satan into thinking we are missing him. God doesn't see if God sees then why didn't he do something about it and because God doesn't please strike we think well we're getting through this and we've deluded ourselves into thinking that somehow we're getting through our evil is going unnoticed by God it seems that we are prospering in our evil that as the old saying goes the wheels of justice grind slowly but extremely fine and it will come out but in our minds Satan will plant thoughts ideas fantasies what do I do with them I say oh I like that mm-hmm You know and I started to fantasize and see myself in this experience and I started to follow in my mind and play with it and everything you know would be so good and I could be so happy and oh it's so ideal and you keep fantasizing 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, correct your goal on a piece of paper, put it in your mirror and when you shave for the morning look at it and look at yourself now in this position of power, look at yourself in this position of authority, look at yourself sitting behind the desk, president in the, you know, and as you visualize, your subconscious will take over. and you will begin to devise the methods and the means by which your visualization can become an actualization and this is how Satan works, you begin to visualize yourself in these things doing these things and your subconscious begins to develop the schemes and the methods by which it becomes a reality and suddenly you find yourself caught up in what 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 will not commit adultery but I tell you that whoever desires a woman and is harmed you will see that that is where it begins in the mind in the fantasy you are already guilty you are on the way you are on the way you have already done it in your mind the act and that is where it has to be reviewed, that is where we need spiritual weapons to check those imaginations and tear down every imagination and anything that exalts itself against the law of God that would put me in opposition to what God has said that brings every thought into bondage to the obedience of Jesus Christ, if that thought you have It doesn't fit what Jesus wants you to be or do, so get rid of it, don't play with it, don't flirt with it. because it can lead you to damnation then the weapons of our war we need the spiritual weapons to fight the spiritual war we can walk in the flesh but that is not where the real war takes place, the spiritual battle for control of my mind takes place in my mind 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 and 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 lead you away from the Lord look at the abundance and availability of pornography today Satan is working overtime to bring out things that will capture your mind and make these fantasies begin to work and you have to stand in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit against them in the grooves of the enemy or else you will find yourself taken captive to the slavery of your flesh.
My heart is with 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 maintain in your flesh a spiritual experience that you must take. and use everything that God has put at your disposal if you are going to stand firm in these days and that is how Paul concludes this little episode of conversation with the Ephesians on the same topic, he said strange, therefore, and having made everyone stand your ground, and lord knows sometimes it's all we can do, I mean, after Satan's past and the banging and the explosions, just the fact that I'm still standing, man, that's alright , you know, thank God, it's only by the grace of God that I'm standing, because surely Satan is. to destroy and overthrow you, and then being ready to avenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Paul is referring again to those in Ephesus on whom he plans, if they do not change, to take revenge for their disobedience, now? look at things according to outward appearance and this is where they were making fun of Paul's outward appearance, you know that he is weak and despicable in his presence, his speech is despicable. Paul said to look at outward appearances if anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ's. Let him think this about himself again that just as he is Christ, so we are Christ, so these people who said well, we really belong to the Lord.
Wait a minute, I too am from the Lord or we have the mind of Christ. Paul said that we too we have the mind of Christ, but we have received a revelation. Balls, I have received a revelation, so these people say they are of Christ, but just leave this, we are of Christ too, although I should brag a little more. of our Authority that the Lord has given us for edification and not for your destruction I should not be ashamed now Paul's authority was given to him by the Lord to build the body of Christ and so be careful you see when a person is speaking The authoritarian He reads and is using that to tear down the body of Christ, so it is dangerous to destroy it.
Paul said that 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 up the body of Christ these people are out there trying to destroy or tear down the body of Christ so that it doesn't seem like I'm going to terrorize them by the letters by their letters they let's say they are heavy and powerful but their bodily presence is weak and their speech is despicable. Now let us think about this: just as we are in word by letter when we are absent, so we will also be in deeds when we are present.
Hey, when I get into the facts I will be powerful and heavy. Paul wasn't really one to mess with when Paul was on a particular island back then and it's in the book of Acts and it's not clear, you can go and get the details, but there was a governor of the island, Sergius Publius, and Paul was sharing with him the things of Jesus Christ and there was a certain source, Rankin is a lamb like the sorcerer who spoke against the things that Paul was saying and Paul. He turned to Limas and said God strike you with blindness brother and the guy went blind so o Sergius and Oliver Reedy amazed by the power demonstrated through this man Paul Paul says to how I am in my letters powerful waiting this is how I'm going to be in my works when I deal with these guys when I get there, man, if it were one of them feet against Paul, God, take a leave of absence and get out of town for a while because we dare not be of the number that are guilty of the mistake of comparing themselves with others because when they measure themselves and compare 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 compare myself to you and when 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, why, because no man . is my standard Jesus Christ is my standard God doesn't call me to be like any man, he calls me to be like Jesus Christ and even if 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!
I am 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 by using each other as a standard of comparison and therefore becoming puffed up because of it. but that is a mistake that is not wise God help us not to fall into that trap of not measuring ourselves by others but let us look at Christ as the standard for an interesting scripture in John chapter 16 where Jesus said when the Holy Spirit has come he He is going to rebuke the world of sin of righteousness and judgment of sin he said because you do not believe in me interesting statement because we would think of sin because they are liars and deceivers and adulterers and fornicators and murderers and thieves but it is not a sin because they do not believe in me why because Jesus through his death paid the price for every sin there is only one sin that can condemn a man now and that is the rejection of Jesus Christ who did not come to condemn the world but to save the world because the world was already condemned and this is the condemnation the light came into the world but men did not want to come to the light that is the condemnation sin because they do not believe in me but then he said of righteousness because I ascended to my father now that again is an interesting statement why would I equate justice with his ascension to heaven the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven in the sight of the disciples was God's declaration to humanity this is the justice that can be received to heaven no less if you want to be accepted into heaven then that is the righteousness that God accepts in heaven you say woe is me, I am outside not because by faith in Jesus Christ God imputes to us that righteousness that is from Christ through faith but immediately eliminates any work that you may be seeking to do to be accepted by God.
Eliminates works as a method of gaining entry to heaven completely. The Ascension of Jesus Christ set the standard of righteousness so high that I cannot reach it by my own efforts I must accept it as a gift from God through His grace of righteousness because I ascended to heaven God's statement this is the standard so he is the standard by which we must measure not one another but Paul said that we will not boast of those things without our manger, but according to the manger of the rule that God has distributed to us in a measure to reach even to you, because we do not extend beyond of our manger as if we had not come to you, because we have come to you. also in the preaching of the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things beyond our measure which are the work of other men, but having hope when your faith increases, when we will be magnified by you according to our rule abundantly and therefore Paul says: I am not You will know how to measure myself with other standards.
The work I did is enough. The work I had among you. That is the greatest. Your faith in Christ is following Him. That is the testimony. That is the testimony of the authenticity of my ministry. You yourselves are the fruit of my ministry bear witness to the fact that my ministry is valid and Paul said to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast in another man's things prepared at our hand and so Paul speaks of his ministry. he wasn't really interested in going around and building on another man's foundation. He wasn't really interested in going where the gospel had already been declared.
He was interested in going to further regions and when they arrived in Corinth, they had never heard of it before. They had heard and believed that there were always those people ready to step in and belittle Paul and try to build their own popular following and that is always the case when people see a wonderful work like what God has done here at Calvary. Chapel, there are always one thousand and ten ministers around the country who suddenly feel called Orange County. You know, maybe we can catch some consequences or maybe we can get some, whereas it's interesting that every week we get calls and letters from all over the country. people begging 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 ?
Do you see why? Don't you call people to those places where you know a job hasn't been established yet? When you come, you know we have a little bit of full recovery, that's good, but you know they're just a little bit short, so God called us to complete the job. We know they're small, you know it's a It's really a shame when there are thousands of areas all over the country begging for someone to come and teach them the word, that these people don't hear God's call to go there, so Paul faces this in the cars all these guys moved in.
They weren't going to unreached regions, they were going and trying to build on the foundation that he laid, why do they go into the church and try to take something away from the church and then go to the beach or go to the public? The markets are amazing how many times, while we are sitting here saying the Word of God, people are out there covering their cars with invitations to some event at their church that is going to be held, we have a team that is there at every service to take away from them. things. from the windshields that these people who come when the cars are parked there put up, you will never know what they have invited you to, but we will call these people nosure, why would you come to our parking lot to pass out? your literature, why don't you go to South Coast Plaza?
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 not? go out and win the lost and Paul says that is the validity of my ministry is to go to regions beyond where the gospel has not been heardcall of God on the art of Paul, go out where necessary, do not go and build another Church and duplicate another ministry, but go where necessary, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond and not to boast about the things done by another man. ready at our hand not to enter and try to take away from other people's work but he who glories, let him glorify in the Lord because it is not the one who praises himself that is approved but the one that the Lord praises is not what I think of myself That's what counts, it's what you think about me, it's not what I say about myself, what really matters is what God says about me, so with you it's not what you have to say about yourself, what's really important is what God has to say about you.
It's not you what you have to say about your calling or your ministry or whatever God is saying about it, it's not self-recommendation, that's not it, but God's recommendation, that's it. What we must look for if we want glory. Let us not glory in our works or in our efforts, but let us glory in what the Lord has done. I feel so ashamed many times because when I meet people from all over the country, ministers and everything, and we say that they are surely doing a great job there in Costa. Mesa and I always correct them.
I say the Lord is truly doing a fabulous job and I have the privilege of watching what he is doing. I don't see this as my job. God knows what I can do. I can make a mess. kind of like we used to say that 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 out of anything. stuff. This is a work of the Lord, it is wonderful in our eyes, we have the joy and blessing of seeing God work and he glories, glory in the Lord for what God has done, and let us not seek the praises of man, the approvals of man, who seek the approval of the Lord what does God think of me and my service men they could be hailing me saying how wonderful I am hey that doesn't matter they could be wrong what is God saying that is what worries me what is the opinion of God that has me deeply god worried help us father we thank you again for your word standard of life the light for our path may we walk in your truth and oh God may we live according to the spirit and according to the things of the Spirit a pleasant and acceptable life Lord to you in the name of Jesus we beg you.
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 that you may have. a new vision of 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.

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