Edifying The Brethren

So we're going to do just a little bit of review. So turn to 2 Corinthians with me, chapter number 12. Why don't we stand to our feet, and I'm going to read, let's do it responsibly here.

I'll read one verse, and then you all can read a verse, and then we'll go down through. We're gonna start in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and verse 14, and we're gonna go all the way through the chapter and finish chapter 12 today. I'll start in verse 14.

Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. I will, nevertheless, I be loved. But be it so, I did not burden you.

Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. I desired Titus, and with him, I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? Again, and again, he speaks the Lord.

For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not, lest there be debates and envyings, wrath, strife, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we have the precious word of God, something that we can stand upon and guide us in this dark and fallen world. And Lord, may our hearts be open.

I think of the story where Jesus fed the multitudes and how a little boy took a sack with just a loaf and a few fishes and gave it to the Lord, and he took and fed the multitude. And so this morning, my small offering here as I share, may you multiply it to the multitudes here and minister to every heart. We look to you again today in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen, you can be seated. Yeah, this song, Break Thou the Bread of Life, it's a song about the story that Jesus fed this multitude. Bless thou the truth revealed this day to me as thou didst bless the bread by Galilee.

And I've often found it amazing that when you share a message afterwards, maybe you'll talk to someone and they'll say, yeah, I just appreciate what you shared on this. And then they'll say something and I'm thinking, I never said anything like that. That wasn't even in my thoughts.

Where did you get that? So I gave a little basket, maybe with a fish and a loaf of bread, and then the Lord took it and then he multiplied it. And he fed people where they were at. And that's always an interesting concept here, but we've been teaching through, some of you are visiting, we've been teaching through the book of 2 Corinthians and we're coming down to the end.

And we've been spending the last number of weeks, maybe a month or so on Paul's defense of his apostleship. And that defense at the very foundation of it is addressing those words that Jesus speaks to the multitudes when he says, if you're gonna follow me, you must deny yourself and take up a cross. And those are the two things that Paul brings out to defend his apostleship is self-denial, or he calls it, I've abased myself in your presence.

And then he goes through the list of things that he has suffered. And an amazing list, we just read some of them this morning. Someone read a list of things that he suffered and he uses those as his defense of Christianity.

He goes on to talk about some of the infirmities that he has and we mentioned that last time. To be in a place of weakness is our strength. Verse number nine of chapter 12 says, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness or in your weakness.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

If you go back and look at all the miracles in the Bible, they are miracles that occur when people are in a place of weakness, a place of reproach, a place of infirmity, the greatest of the miracles. And you go back to the crossing of the Red Sea, they were put in a very vulnerable place where there was no options and God does miracles. And the widow and all through the Bible, God's power and strength is shown when there are times of weakness.

And so Paul here invites us as we've talked about to participate in weakness, to take pleasure in reproaches, to take pleasure in infirmities, to take pleasure in necessities, to take pleasure in persecutions. When you're thrown into that jail cell like Peter and the angel appears and there's a miracle, God's power is found in these things. And so Paul learned, probably took a while to learn, that when I am weak, then God is gonna show up and he's gonna bless me.

So we've come now to verse 14. And so I'm gonna take these verses here a couple of the time and we're gonna talk about them. Very, very similar to what we've been talking about in the last number of weeks.

But here in verse number 14, he writes, behold, the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be burdensome to you. For I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. That's almost a Mother's Day sermon there.

You know, mothers are very much that way. That's their heart. You know, I don't wanna be a burden to my children.

I'm gonna just spend and be spent for them. Oftentimes, though the more I love them and pour myself out into them, the less I get in response. But Paul's burden here to the church, and we've already addressed this in the past, but Paul does not want to be a burden.

I don't wanna be a burden, he says to the church. I don't desire to burden you in any way. I actually want to be a blessing to you.

Now, Galatians chapter six, verse five, Paul writes these words. Every man shall bear his own burden. Every man and every one of us in our hearts ought to have the desire to be responsible for myself.

I don't want other people to have to bear my burdens. I'm going to try my best to be responsible for myself. But in the very same chapter, he writes, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

And this is a picture of maturity. We're gonna talk about that here this morning, spiritual maturity. If I could give you a picture of a man walking along, you know, the dusty road, he is carrying his burden upon his back.

He is carrying his responsibility, whether it's for his family, it's not only just financial, but all the burdens of life. He is trying to bear his own burden. And those who are mature are not only bearing their own burdens, but they're seeing people on the road who are struggling with their burdens and they're coming and helping and picking up another sack and maybe another sack.

And while they're bearing their own burdens, they're bearing other people's burdens along with theirs. And that is a picture of maturity. Someone bearing not only their own burden, but also bearing the burdens of others.

Now there's a welfare state and it's a mindset that people have where I don't need to bear my own burden. I want other people to bear my burden for me. And of course, that's a mindset that is forbidden in the scriptures.

The Bible gives very strong words to that. If any man does not work, neither should he what? Eat. In other words, if you don't wanna bear your own burden, hey, go hungry.

And God's straightforward with that. And so it is our responsibility to bear our own burden. And Paul gives us this example here in verse number 14.

He says, I will not be burdensome for you, for I seek not yours, what you possess, but I seek you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Now this is a principle of nature.

God intends it to be this way. The mature, the mamas and the papas are the ones that care for the immature. And although this sounds like a family statement, a family message, and I'm sure Paul has that a little bit in mind, this is a bigger picture.

It's talking about the spiritual family. It's talking about spiritual men, fathers in the faith, who are mature, who are older, and spiritual women who are mothers in the faith. These individuals are the one who are to give to the children, who are to minister to the children, who are to bear the burden for the children.

It's a spiritual family message. Spiritual fathers and mothers caring for spiritual children. You know, the natural families that we have, parents take care of the children.

And the goal of us as parents is to get our children to the place where they're not only bearing their own burden. You know, as little ones, you have to take care of this. You have to clean their rooms.

You have to change their diapers. You have to feed them. They are a loving burden, yes, but they are a burden.

And the desire of parents is to get the children to the place, maybe by eight, nine, 10, 11, where they are carrying their own burden. They're no longer a burden. And then as they get to 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, not only are they bearing their burden, they're also bearing other people's burdens.

Oh, that's a good one there. That's maturity. And that, of course, is our goal in the natural family, but more importantly, our goal in the spiritual family or in the church is to bring people to that level.

And it's a sad statement. It's a sad condition. And I've observed this.

And we are living in a situation right now where actually the children are actually taking care of their parents because their parents are so messed up. It's a mess. And so when Paul writes here, he says, listen, I don't wanna be a burden to you all.

You're my spiritual children. He planted the church there at Corinth and he's their father and he wants to pour himself out like fathers and mothers who are mature want to pour themselves out for their children that their children might grow up and bear their own burdens and also bear the burdens of others. I think it's a beautiful thing when young people start to bear the burdens of others and they're bearing their own burden and bearing the burdens of other people.

So he wanted to care for them. Here in verse 15, it's a beautiful verse. And I will very gladly, it's not grudgingly, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

And churches need, and we need, and I know we have many here, but churches need those who are spiritual parents, those who are mature, those who are able to care for the young, those who are able to care for the weak, those who are able to care for the wayward. That's what maturity is. I will therefore spend and be spent for you.

Oh, that's a beautiful thing. If that's your heart here this morning, look around at the family of God here and some of you who are mature and older and in the faith and you're bearing your own burden and you're picking up burdens from other people and trying to help them down this road, that's a beautiful sign of maturity. I think of Jesus, he's our example for everything, but here he is, he's there on the cross again, and he's bearing his own burden.

He's not complaining, he's not murmuring, he's trusting in his father, and he's not putting any weight on anyone else, and he's actually reaching out and ministering to the people around him, but while people are cursing him and throwing things at him and reviling him, he is bearing their burden in the midst of this difficult situation. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And just a beautiful sign of maturity.

Turn with me to Luke chapter six here this morning and look at a couple of verses here. Luke chapter six, verse 32. I think Brother John might have touched on this a little bit last week, but Luke chapter six, verse 32 says, for if you love them which love you, what thank have you? That's not a sign of maturity.

Well, if someone loves me, you know, tit for tat, I can love them back. But maturity goes far beyond that, for sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you? For sinners also do even the same.

And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again. It's not that big of a deal if you do good to those who do good to you, if you love those that love you, or if you lend and say, you know, you're gonna give it back. Hey, Andrews, will you give it back to me? That's, sinners go that far.

But now notice what we're, and this is maturity here. This is what we're called to a life of maturity, but love your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again. Now I know Paul's heart, I will spend and be spent for you and I don't need anything back and I'll do it gladly.

I'll do it gladly for you. Hoping for nothing again. And verse 35, and your reward shall be great.

Now some of you think, well, why would anybody do that? Just spend and be spent. What is gonna motivate a person to live that way? Well, here's the motivation right here, for your reward is great. Your reward is great.

You say, I'm spending and being spending and I'm carrying my burden and I'm also pulling other people's burdens along with me. Wonderful, it's something that's, yes, it's gonna be a difficult thing on the road of life, but there is coming a day when your reward shall be great. Yes.

And it goes on to say, you shall be called the children of the highest. You should be called the children of the highest. And I brought, wrote this illustration up here.

You know, God is the highest and that's how God lives every day. He's up in heaven and he's doing good and he's doing good and he's pouring out grace. The Bible says he gives rain to the just and the unjust.

People curse him. He gives them rain like yesterday and blesses their gardens. He blesses their fields.

They don't even believe in him. They're atheists and he blesses and blesses and blesses and he does good and he does good and he pours out while they're doing him evil in return. So that's his character and his nature.

And now here's you and me. You know, we're supposed to be these channels, channels only, blessed master. And the Lord wants to take this grace of his and he is pouring it out on humanity and he wants to use us as a vessel.

And so you get to be that wonderful vessel where the spirit of God uses you to be a child of the king and of the highest and have the same nature as he. So you go through life the same way. You come over and you bless someone and they spit in your face and you bless them again, just like God does.

Well, there's a child of God. That's the nature of God. You can be the children of the highest and you lend to someone and you lend and you hope this person doesn't pay you back and they don't pay you back.

And then they turn around and curse you and you say, that's the way God lives. He lends people breath and they turn around and curse him with the same breath he lends them. Oh, I get to be a child of God.

I get to be a child of the highest. I get to participate in this very thing. Now, praise God, sometimes they bless you and they thank you for it.

And they do thank God sometimes too. And so if you want to get into this program here and you want to be a child of the highest, he says, participate. I lend all the time and I don't expect anything in return.

As a matter of fact, I give people life and breath. I give it to them and they use it to try to destroy me. I keep blessing them.

You should be the children of the highest. And it says there at the end, for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. You want to see a mature Christian is one that's like the Lord here who just does good to people while they curse him and steal from him and just is treated unjustly.

And they continue to just bear their burden. That's maturity, amen. And that's the goal that we have or we ought to have.

You know, there's so many like children. My children are this way, you know, tit for tat. If you do this, I'm going to do this to you.

And everything is tit for tat, tit for tat and always fussing and fighting. That's children. But I don't want not to be that way with adults, amen.

And especially spiritually speaking. Maturity says, I'll be spent for you. And I expect nothing in return.

And you get some families in the church congregation here who have the heart and attitude to say, Lord, I'm here to be a channel. You funnel it through me and I'll just spend it and be spent to bless the congregation and to edify the people of God. And I'll be happy whether they thank me or whether they curse me.

You notice it does say there that when Paul says, I will therefore very gladly spend and be spent. So this motivation here in Luke six is your reward shall be great. And then at the end here, verse 36, I want you to notice he concludes it with this.

Be therefore, and that therefore is there for what he just said. Be therefore merciful as your father also is merciful. Merciful, be merciful when you get no mercy.

Well, that's a real challenge right there. Be merciful when you get no mercy. And the cross is a beautiful example.

You know, the Lord is merciful. Father, forgive them. I want them to have mercy while they were cursing him.

There was no mercy for Jesus. No getting down on the cross. They wouldn't let him down.

They gave him no mercy. And he just gave him mercy. And you know, that's beautiful maturity there, isn't it? People treat you like dirt and you just keep giving them mercy.

And so be therefore merciful, even as your father in heaven is merciful. So maturity, we're talking about maturity here. Go back to second Corinthians with me.

And I know that it's hard maybe to get there, but that's the direction we ought to have. And you know, Paul said, I think brother John said it last week, Paul, he said, I have not attained, neither am I already perfect, but I am pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. I'm just giving you the mark here.

This is the mark and encouraging us all to press towards that mark. Let's keep reading here, verse 16. But be it so, I did not burden you.

And that's his heart. I did not burden you. Remember we talked about how he robbed other churches, that he would not be a burden to the church there.

Paul did not desire to in any way burden the people. But be it so, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? Now, Paul, when he wasn't there, he actually sent some young men, Titus and Timothy, and these young men were mature also. And probably Paul said, listen, go to the congregation there at Corinth and minister to them.

Spend and be spent. Expect nothing. Don't be a burden to the people.

You just go and give and give and bless them. And Paul says, didn't Titus and Timothy do the same thing like I was doing? You know, the people I sent to you, they walked in the same spirit. They walked in the same steps.

And it's mentioned here twice in verse 17. Did I make a gain of you by any of them which I sent? Verse 18, did Titus make a gain of you? Did they take advantage of you and try to extract from you? No, no, no, no. They didn't make gain.

They came and gave. And you know, honestly, a family, a church, when people are mature and churches are mature and families are mature, they are just abounding and giving, giving and blessing each other. And that's a beautiful thing.

Beautiful thing, beautiful testimony. Nobody is, well, you didn't do this. Well, if you do this, then I'll do this.

You know, this tit for tat kind of stuff is immature. And so when we have maturity, then we are willing to say, I want to bless you and I don't expect anything. Remember, I'm hoping for nothing in return.

And you get two, three, four, six, 10 people living like that. You're gonna have something good. Something mature.

We're gonna see here in a little bit, all the strife and biting, backbiting. The opposite of that here in just a little bit. Now, false prophets, and we've talked about how that Paul is comparing himself to some of these false prophets that are mentioned back in chapter 11.

And false prophets are the opposite of this. And I've talked about this with you. False prophets are the ones who are fleecing the sheep.

They are making a game. You know, I need your money. I need your time.

I need your daughters. I need your sons. I need, need, need, need.

And they're building their own empire. I want to read to you here. I think someone read this this morning.

It's amazing sitting back there and saying, Lord, you know, I'm gonna preach this sermon, but everybody's already preaching half of it before we get up there. Second Peter in chapter number two, it says this. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there should be false teachers among you who privilege shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. The way of truth is, I will spend it to be spent. Paul said, I'm gonna live the truth.

I'm gonna give and pour out, you know, let God pour grace into me and I'll pour it out into you. Ah, people say, that's, that's children of God. That's Christianity.

And then they see this false prophet making a game. And the way of truth begins to be evil spoken of. The next verse says this.

And through covetousness shall they with fain words make merchandise of you. Ah, there you got it. They make a merchandise of you.

In other words, they use you to make gain. So that's one of the ways you can tell the true from the false. If the true is gonna spend and be spent, the false is gonna take and make gain or make merchandise of you.

The new American standard says it this way. In their greed, they will exploit you. They will exploit you.

So you can just watch, you can determ who's actually fleecing the sheep and who's actually laying their life down. They use you for selfish gain. It's not just financially.

It's some, in some, in second Peter, it says they have eyes full of adultery. They exploit the membership immorally, sexually. They, and oftentimes these, a false prophet ends up being involved with maybe a woman or two or three in the congregation.

They exploit the congregation immorally. They have eyes full of adultery. They also are looking for position and praise.

They have men's persons in admiration because of advantage. And so their needs are being met, covetousness, immorality, admiration, all these things. You know, they're in front of the TV, they're in front of the screen, they're wanting admiration.

False teachers are users and abusers. First Corinthians 10 says this, even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they might be saved. So this is another example of Paul saying, hey, I really think you ought to follow me.

I have the spirit of Christ and I'm an apostle. And so here's how, you know it. And how you can distinguish between those who are false apostles.

Verse 19, back here in 2 Corinthians. Let's keep reading. Again, thinking that we excuse ourselves unto you, we speak before God in Christ, but we do all things dearly beloved for your edifying.

Our spending and being spent, by the way, that's not just money, it's my efforts, my energies, is all for your edifying. And by the way, that ought to be the goal that we have here is edification. Building up, edifying comes from the word edifice, building up a structure.

Children, let's sing. Building up the temple, building up the temple, building up the temple of the Lord. Say, father, won't you help me? Mother, won't you help me? Building up the temple of the Lord.

That's a children's song. It's teaching edification, edifying. We do all things, Paul says, for your edification.

And that's why we're here. By the way, I hope every Sunday you leave here and you're edified, you're edified. Meaning you walk out and you think, you know, I was helped today.

I am in a better place spiritually because I was in the church house and I listened and I sang. I'm in a better place. I have been edified.

Let me read to you Ephesians chapter four. It says, he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro. In other words, children, back and forth, beckoning.

No, we would mature and not be led astray by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, for whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. And so the goal here with all that we do is edification, is building you up. And I would take advantage of every opportunity.

I know the Frosts have a Wednesday night get together and I leave there edified. I leave here edified. And whatever opportunities you get, you ought to take advantage of them, to be edified, to be strengthened, because we need edification.

Let's turn over and read another passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, talking about edification. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, and the heart of God also in the heart of Paul regarding edification. Here is the spiritual gifts that the Lord is giving.

And he addresses some of those gifts here in chapter 14, verse one. He says, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy, for he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God, for no man understandeth him, how be it in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he that prophesies speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.

There's our word edification. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies himself, but he that prophesies edifies the church. I would that you all speak with tongues, but rather that you, or but more and more that you prophesied, for greater is he that prophesied than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret that the church may receive edification.

So here you have it's congregation. You have some people standing up, speaking in an unknown language. There's no interpreter.

They may edify themselves, but it doesn't edify the body. Nobody understands what they're saying. You might say, well, we're a spiritual church because people are speaking in tongues.

Well, if there's no interpreter, there's no edification. And there's no edification, it doesn't do any good. Verse 12, even so you for as much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.

You come to church here Saturday or Sunday, and you come maybe on Wednesday night, you ought to come with that in mind. I want to come, especially if you're mature in the faith, I want to come to edify. I want to come to edify.

Who can I edify? Meaning, who can I build up? Who can I come and maybe drop some biblical truth or maybe speak some words of exhortation or pray with someone, who can I come to edify? You say, it's just a small thing. Well, you take a bunch of small things and you add a bunch of small things up and you can build a pretty big building with a bunch of small things. They make buildings with bricks, they're just about that big, you know? They pile them on top of each other and they build a structure.

Now, maybe you're sitting here and you say, well, I'm not a very mature Christian and I'm a babe in Christ, I've only been saved in the last couple of years and yes, maybe you should come to receive edification and that's good, but come, participate. The Bible says not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together. We need it.

Jump over to verse 13. Or no, next verse. Wherefore, let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.

For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. By the way, I'm not against tongues. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also.

I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. People need to understand what you're saying. Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupies the room of the unlearned and say, amen, at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest, for thou verily give us thanks well, but the other is not edified.

You're not getting any building up here because the other person, well, hey, that's so-and-so. He's speaking in tongues. He's a real spiritual guy, but not gonna do anything for me.

God, I don't understand what he's saying. So when you come together, and I don't think when churches come together and people just speak things that no one understands what they're saying, I don't think that's a spiritual thing. It's maybe a childish thing because everything ought to be done unto edification.

So the conclusion here in verse 19, yet in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice, I might teach others also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. I did that calculation one time. I think I shared this with you.

I tried to speak and see how much words I could say in a minute. It's like Paul says, I would rather say five words. I would rather say five.

I just said six. I would rather say five. It takes me about two seconds than 10,000 in an unknown tongue, which takes about an hour and a half.

And so that's his heart. And his heart is that way because when you come together, people need to understand what you're saying that they might receive edification. Romans 14, 19 says, let us follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify another.

Peace and edification. Those are good things in church life. Peace and edification.

Blessed are the peacemakers. So that's our goal, edification. 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

Let's keep reading verse 20. Here's some more difficult things. And you know, Paul's gonna address this in chapter 13, which we'll discuss next time.

But verse 20 says, for I fear lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and I shall be found unto you such as you would not, lest there be debates and envyings and wrath and strife and backbiting and whispering and swellings and tumults. Now, Paul has no pleasure, and he actually is trying to delay his coming to this church here because, oh, I wanna come there and rejoice in the fact that you're doing well. And he's gonna talk about being humble because I've been telling people how great a church this is.

And if I come there and it's a mess, I'm gonna be humble. So he's delaying. He doesn't wanna have to discipline.

You know, I don't like disciplining my children. I rejoice when they obey. I rejoice when things go well and they're playing together and they're kind to each other and they're not striving and debating and fighting.

That's a grief. In the spiritual realm, it's the same way. You know, Paul's a spiritual parent to this church.

And he said, oh, please. And if you have a lot of fighting and discord, and it's generally because there's a lot of spiritual children. So he mentions relational issues.

And I wanna just bring this out here that Paul doesn't start off here with murder and adultery and lying and some of these things that we might make out to be bigger. He talks about these relational issues. You know, in the church, there's a bunch of debate, quarreling, there's a bunch of endings, wrath, anger.

People are angry. There's strife between brothers and sisters. There's backbiting.

You know what backbiting is, is when someone turns their back and they walk away, then you start talking about them in a bad way. You bite them in the back or they're not looking. Backbiting and whisperings, that's secretly talking negative of others, you know, talking about people.

Don't talk about people behind their back. You wanna talk to someone about a problem in their life? Go to them. It says, go to them and speak to them face to face.

Swellings, boastings and tumults, riotous upheavals. You don't think those happen? Just go to some brothers meetings every once in a while. You've been a part of those brother Chris, haven't you? I see you smiling there.

Riotous upheavals. These are relational. You know, some people say maybe our church, we got a long way to go when we do, but these people have a long way to go too.

But these things are happening there. But all these things here are relational. And you know, sometimes we strain at gnats and swallow camels.

I've seen people fighting over the length of dresses, you know, a couple of inches here or the color of dresses or whether everybody should wear the same head covering and all this kind of stuff. And they strive and fight in war. It's like straining at a gnat and swallowing the camel.

These are big issues. This debate and fighting and striving one to another. This is, and this sometimes is a new thought for many.

But you know, we think of the world. A lot of you have a concept in your mind. When I say love the world, immediately maybe you go to, you know, movies and immodesty and, you know, fast cars and entertainment.

And those kinds of things have been drilled into your psyche with regards to that word world. But if you look into the Bible, you'll find that the world is a little bit different than that, the spirit of the world. And that is some of the things that's mentioned right here and God brings them out.

James chapter four says this, from whence come wars and fightings among you, brothers and sisters? Come they not hence even of your lusts that bore in your members? And then he says this, you adulterers and adulteresses know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whoever thinks about that, a friend of the world is someone who is fighting, bickering, striving with a brother or sister. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

That's a strong, that's a strong words there. Oh, I don't love the world. We don't have fast cars and we don't go to movies and we don't smoke cigarettes and drink beer.

I don't love the world. And yet you're fighting and striving and debating. Oh, backbiting and speaking evil behind people's backs.

And that's in your heart and you have a worldly heart. You can look all pretty on the outside. But you have a worldly heart.

And by the way that James talks about adultery here, you adulterers and adulteresses. You know, there's a spirit out there. It's called the worldly spirit, which they fight and they strive.

They debate with each other. And here we are and we lock in with them. Yeah, we fellowship.

We have communion with that spirit. That spirit of the world is coming into the church and we embrace it and we actually sometimes like it. And we have a relationship with the spirit that is of this world.

So when you participate in those things, you're fellowshipping with the world. Now, verse 21 here, let's keep reading because he's gonna address another issue here. And I'm trying to be, I wanna be careful how to address this here this morning.

But he says, unless verse 21, when I come again, my God will humble me among you. Wonder how Paul would feel here. You know, thinking about when I come to remnant.

You know what he would say. Unless when I come again, my God will humble me among you and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already. And if not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness, which they have committed.

And we've already seen that already in first Corinthians chapter five, some of the immorality that was going on in the church. But there's three words he's mentioning here. The idea of uncleanness.

And uncleanness is simply a deviant sexual acts that are not clean. They're against nature. They're against the natural.

And there's a lot of this stuff going on and we're starting to accept it as being normal, but it's deviant. You'd have found those things in Sodom and Gomorrah. They're unclean, unclean.

By the way, the word uncleanness is most often associated with adultery, fornication, uncleanness. Nature teaches us how we are made and how things ought to function. Some things are unclean.

Fornication, that's the word pornea or pornography. Illicit sexual activity or any sexual activity outside of marriage is pornea. It's fornication.

It's a large word. It includes adultery, incest, all the things, sexual pleasure outside of marriage. Lasciviousness.

Lasciviousness is a big word. Probably if I ask you to, who knows what lasciviousness means? Raise your hand. Titus knows over there.

He's sort of squirming. I can see he knows what it is. No, who knows what it is? Brother Thomas? Or spell it.

Lasciviousness. One of the words that you find with lasciviousness, not only in its definition, but also I'll read a verse in the Bible, is excess. It's an absence of restraint.

It's excess. And certainly amongst these things that were sexual, it's people just running to the excess. And the Bible interprets itself the best.

And so let me read to you here how this word is used in 1 Peter 4. It says this, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness. Excesses of wine. Notice the word excess.

Revelings. Revelings is parties, just giving over to whatever you want. Banquetings.

Oh, there's the smorgasbord downtown, just eating as much as you want and drinking as much as you want and sexual immorality as much as you want, just giving yourself over to it. And abominable idolatries, wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot. Excess.

And so this church is struggling in some areas and there's some immaturity and issues that are going on. How many of you would like to be a part of that church, Corinth? It'd be a challenge. And we don't know, sometimes we don't know all the history, but the church at Ephesus, it seemed to be a great church at the beginning, but after a while, Revelation talks about they'd left their first love and things had fallen.

Here, it could have been a situation where they started out difficult, but then they prospered and they did well. But let me just say this in closing here, verse 21. It says, unless when I come again, my God will humble me among you and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already and have not repented.

And if you're in this category here of debates and envying and strife and backbiting and whispering and swelling and tumults and uncleanness and fornication, lasciviousness, and I would encourage you as Paul would, if he were here to repent, to turn, to acknowledge and to say, Lord, have mercy and forgive me and to turn from sin that we as a congregation could mature and not be hindered in these areas. Let's close with a word of prayer and I'll open it up for anyone who likes to share here this morning. Lord, we do wanna receive instruction and Lord, I trust that as I shared here, that you broke this bread to all of our hearts, wherever we're at, and Lord, that you would grant us repentance in areas that we need it, that our congregation here, our fellowship might truly pursue holiness, holiness in your sight and not in man's sight.

And so Lord, may we not have fellowship with the world, but truly love you and love your principles. And as we learned this morning, to pursue them with fervor and diligence. So Lord, minister to our hearts, edify us according to your purposes.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.