Latest / Scripture Central / 2 Corinthians 7-13: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me)

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2 Corinthians 7-13: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me) · Scripture Central

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Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I hope you're taking advantage of everything on our website.
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I just love the archives and the know whys and everything else in
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addition to the come follow me. But I'm here today to talk about
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Second Corinthians. We're in the last week of Come
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Follow me on 2nd Corinthians, this wonderful book where Paul
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is writing back to express his love for the Saints.
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And in Chapter 7 through 13, he focuses on repentance, their
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welfare contributions, and his authority that was being
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attacked. So it's sort of a counterattack
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or defense of that. Just as a reminder, Second
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Corinthians was written quite early.
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We think that it was one of his first books written probably at
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the end of his third mission. He's already left Ephesus, you
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can see on the map, and he's trying to get to Corinth to see
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how the Saints are doing, but it's too late in the season to
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go across the sea, so he has to go by land.
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So it goes up over northern Turkey and northern Greece
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before he drops down into Akaya, which is where Corinth was then.
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Timothy is also one of the cosenders with Paul, his beloved
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junior companion. And just like last week and the
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week before, he's writing those who believe the gospel of Jesus
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Christ. He knows these people well.
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He taught them for 18 months after he wrote the 1st letter,
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which I called his spanking. We call it the 1st letter, but
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really wasn't the 1st letter. There was other correspondence
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before. In fact, in the book of Acts,
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you can almost trace 7 letters by Paul to Corinth.
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But the letter that we call First Corinthians has a lot of
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Corrections, and in that letter he was very worried that they
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would receive it harshly. But Titus delivered it and is
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now meeting Paul. And Paul and Titus meet up,
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probably near Phillip, high up in northern Macedonia, northern
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Greece, and he hears the good news and then is able to share
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the last part of this letter on the news that Titus has sent.
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I've got an outline for the book that's not only in my handouts,
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but also on my slides. Chapter 7 talks about the need
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for repentance and he's still calling the Corinthians to
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repentance, whereas chapters 8-9 get down to the need for their
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offerings for the poor, their tithes and offerings, their
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generosity for the rest of the church.
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It was a great example of the unity within the Saints.
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And then chapters 1011 and 12, Paul talks about his authority
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and he's begging the Saints basically to not speak evil
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against the Lord's servants. And then he ends in chapter 13
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with this admonition, this exhortation, and a beautiful
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greeting and benediction. One of the things I love about
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this book is that Paul knows these Saints well.
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It's very personal. He he cares so deeply about them
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and you get the intensity of his emotion.
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Let's start in Chapter 7, verse one.
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This is from the NIV, dear friends.
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Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the
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body and spirit, perfecting holiness and reverence to the
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Lord. I want to talk about two of
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those words. The first one is contaminates.
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Contaminates is also used in the King James as the word
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filthiness and other translations have different
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words. But what it means is something
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that's unclean. It's staining, It's defiling or
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polluting someone. Also the word perfecting.
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Now in our generation, that word has severe meanings, but in the
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time of Paul, it meant to complete, to become whole, to
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bring to an end, to accomplish, to execute.
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He's trying to say I'm trying to complete your conversion.
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I want to take you all the way. And I believe Paul is talking
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about the ordinances. Earlier in First Corinthians and
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in Second Corinthians both, we have references to the
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ordinances. I think he's saying I want to
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complete your commitment and so that you're receiving the gift
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of the Holy Ghost on a regular basis and you're able to receive
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the promises of exaltation. First two and three continue on.
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Receive us. We've wronged no man.
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Then skipping down to three, ye are in our hearts to die and
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live with, you know, I feel like this is such a great example.
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After Paul has spoken harshly to them, he now turns around and
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he's going to express his his love.
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It's just like the council that Joseph Smith received in Liberty
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Jail. After you reprove them, make
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sure you show forth love right afterward.
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That's what Paul's doing here. It's really a very tender
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letter. Verses 4 to 16 talks about the
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joys over the news that Titus has brought that he's so
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thrilled they're doing well. And in verse four, it reads in
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the BSB translation. Great is my confidence in you.
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Great is my pride in you. I am filled with encouragement
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in all your troubles. My joy overflows.
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Now I can just see this fabulous missionary, so happy that the
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Saints are willing to change, are willing to repent, are
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willing to come back to the fold.
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And he is thrilled, you know, remember the Lord says your joy
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will be full. And that as I feel what Paul is
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expressing right here in this letter, it continues on in verse
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nine, I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because
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your sorrow led you to repentance, for you felt the
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sorrow that God had intended. I just love this idea, this
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whole principle, that our sorrow, our guilt, is to lead us
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to repentance. It's not to depress us and to
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keep us down and to paralyze us into not acting.
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If we feel like we've offended God, if we are feeling those
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feelings, we just need to repent, Take those feelings to
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come unto Christ, to come to our Mediator.
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Help him carry our yoke and let him receive our repentant,
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broken contrade hearts. It's a fabulous message that
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Paul is talking about here. I'm glad you sorrowed.
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And repentance, that's what it's for.
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But if we use guilt to become depressed and discouraged and
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anxious, we're not using it for the reasons that the Lord has
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given it to us, but the Corinthians used it for the
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right reason. Before we leave the subject of
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repentance, I just want to tie it to President Nelson.
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Remember general conference a couple years ago when he taught
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Does everyone need to repent? The answer is yes.
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Too many people consider repentance as punishment,
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something to be avoided except for the most serious
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circumstances. But this feeling of being
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penalized is it gendered by Satan?
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He tries to block us from looking to Christ, who stands
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with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive,
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cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.
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I love the call for daily repentance.
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I think repentance is one of the greatest gifts of my day.
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I feel motivated, I feel happier.
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And when I repent, I feel the Spirit, especially when I start
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my prayers with repentance. Then I feel the Spirit more when
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I pray. And now continuing on in verse
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11. I'm still in chapter seven of
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Second Corinthians, but I'd like to read it from the MIV
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translation. See what this godly sorrow has
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produced in you. What earnestness, what eagerness
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To clear yourselves from indignation, What alarm, what
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longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
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Now, the reason why I chose the NIV translation there is because
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I didn't like the King James Version use of revenge.
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The word justice in NIV is revenge.
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I don't think there's any revenge in Paul's heart, and I
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don't think there's any revenge in a repentant person's heart.
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So I think that word is communicating something
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differently than the doctrine I think is taught.
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You know, Paul so loves these. He's not trying to get revenge
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on these Saints and they don't need to have revenge on God or
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anything else. I think there's a
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misunderstanding there. As we move on now to verses 14
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and 15, Paul is saying I talked really highly of you to my
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junior companions, to Timothy and Titus from the BSBI was not
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embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you.
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But just as everything we said to you was true and his
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affection for you is even greater, and as you welcome Tim
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with fear and trembling, that phrase is used nine times in
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Paul's letters. That is a very familiar phrase,
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probably from either an Aramaic or a Hebrew phrase that comes
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from ancient texts, is one of Paul's favorite vocabularies.
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You know, fear and trembling, meaning they're going to
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reverence the Lord. They're going to be humble and
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meek and contrite. Chapter 8 now moves ahead about
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the collection of these financial offerings.
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And we had already heard about this in First Corinthians.
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He already had told them in Chapter 16, at the very end of
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First Corinthians, he said start gathering your money because I'm
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going to come back again and I want to have all your ties and
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offerings ready. Well, now in this letter he
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returns to that subject, and I think this is one of the reasons
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why he wrote the letter, is because he wants to make sure
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all the offerings have been gathered.
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And we read in verse one and two in the MIV brothers and sisters,
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we want you to know about the Macedonian churches.
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So up where he is up now in northern Greece, in the midst of
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a very severe trial, their extreme poverty welled up in
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rich generosity. So he says, I want the men and
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the women participating. And that's why I chose the MIV,
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was to make sure you that you heard that he's talking to both
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genders here. And then he says, I am so proud
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of the people I'm with a here, your neighbors who are just
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north of you, a couple of hours or a day's journey, I guess,
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without a car. But I'm so proud of them for
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being so generous, wanting to give to the poor even though
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they are in dire straits right now.
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And sometimes the more we sacrifice, the more we need the
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Lord's blessings. And so he gives those to us in
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verse 3, continuing in the NIV, it reads, I testify that they
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gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability
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entirely on their own. He's showing that the law of
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consecration is not something that you do without voluntary
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responsibility. You have to choose to do it.
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You have to be accountable and you have to have a stewardship.
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We learned back in the book of Acts that they were living the
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law of consecration very, very early in the early Christian
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Church. And that is something that we
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need to work on. We do not want rich and poor in
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the church. We want everyone to have enough.
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Continuing on in chapter 8 to verse 6, the BSB reads.
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So we urge Titus to help complete your act of grace, just
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as he had started it. I'm not making a demand, but I
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am testing the sincerity of your love.
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I skipped down to verse 8 as well.
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So he's saying I I don't want to make this anything but
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volunteer. But you told me you were going
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to give. And so now I'm just following
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through to make sure everything's in order before I
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come because. And then he gives the underlying
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principle of why they have to live the law of consecration.
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There's no poor among them. We read about this in the book
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of Moses, in Acts, in the Doctrine Covenants Lots of times
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the Doctor Covenants 42 is when the law of consecration is
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given. But then we read about again in
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section 51 and 55 and 59 and the doctor countenance is filled
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with information on how we are to take care of each other, to
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have no poor among us. Verse 9 and the BSB reads Jesus
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Christ and then skipping head a little bit, became poor, so that
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through his poverty you might be enriched.
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Now some of you been me wondering back to wait a minute,
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Jesus was born in a poor family and we learned that in in the
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Gospel of Luke. But he chose to not earn an
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extravagant living and to live extravagantly.
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He chose to focus all of his energies on taking care of
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others, on ministering and serving and healing and
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preaching. He chose to live in poverty, to
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bless everyone around him. And of course, we can also take
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this symbolically. And he gave of his entire self.
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He completely consecrated his life for our lives, and we see
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the law of consecration in our Savior beautifully in that
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regard. Moving on still in chapter 8 but
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verses 10 and 11 in the NIV, it reads.
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Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have
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the desire to do so. Now finish the work and then
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skipping down to verse 11 according to your means.
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He doesn't want anyone to go overboard.
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He says You promised you would do this.
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Can you please now fulfill that promise?
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I need you to be consistent with your promises.
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Continuing on now in verse 13 with the MIV, our desire is not
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that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but
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that there might be equality. This is one of the keys of the
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love consecration. It's not so that you're working
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your heart out so somebody else can be lazy.
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It's so that we all work together.
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It uses that word equality twice these verses.
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It's not about some people working and some people not
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working. It's everyone giving all they
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can to the Lord's Kingdom and to the poor.
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It's a beautiful statement of what we're striving to live now.
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I also feel like this is such an important message to prepare us
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for the Lord's second coming. Our part of the Restoration
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taught repeatedly in the doctrine cabinets that we, the
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Lord, cannot come again until we are a Zion society, until we are
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living the law of consecration, and as soon as the Saints are
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ready to live it. I believe our Savior will come.
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We can cut short the calamities, the last days.
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This is something that is so applicable to our generation as
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well. Moving on to verse 13 again in
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the NIV he's quoting actually from Exodus, Exodus 16.
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He says the one who gathers much did not have too much and the
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one who gathered little did not have too little.
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Do you remember what he's talking about?
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This is Mana. He's going back to the children
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of Israel in Egypt, gathering the manner he says it.
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It was just the right amount for everyone, and the Lord supplied
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exactly the right amount. We can do this now on our own,
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voluntarily, without the Lord measuring out exactly how much
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everybody needed to get before the worms came in.
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Continuing on in 820 to 21, and I'm going to read the BSB here.
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We hope to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this
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generous gift, for we are taking great care to do what is right.
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And Paul goes on to say I'm sending you Titus and somebody
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else. Obviously someone they trusted
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very well that the Corinthian Saints knew said we're being
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very careful. Titus is very honest and upright
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in his collecting of these funds.
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We don't want any dishonesty in the Lord's money.
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And then he finishes up chapter 8 with a wonderful message on
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love, and I want to read it from the NLT translation.
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So show them your love and prove to them the churches that are
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boasting about you is justified. And I remember Paul has finished
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the gifts, the Spirit in his first letter and he talked all
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about how important charity was. He said, you know this is more
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important than all the other gifts combined and we need to
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seek charity more than anything else.
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Now he says show your love for the other Saints.
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The Saints in Jerusalem are in dire straits.
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Please be generous in your tithes and your offerings.
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Moving ahead to chapter nine, he talks about that these
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charitable offerings are not about money, they're actually
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about your faith. Verse six, he says, if you're
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going to sow sparingly, you shall reap also sparingly.
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And he who sows bountifully and then he goes on and talks about
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you'll you'll reap bountifully. And skipping ahead to Chapter 9,
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verse eight in the NIV, he reads, God is able to bless you
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abundantly so that in all things and at all times, having all
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that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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I am one who has learned that tithing is a matter of faith and
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not by finances. When I didn't have money.
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When my brothers didn't have money.
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When my sisters didn't have money.
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When my fatherinlaw didn't have money and they paid their
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tithing and they were prudent and careful things worked out.
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But when my dear friends did not pay their tithing, they lost
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their faith, and it often was one of the steps to leaving
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their testimonies. I'm so grateful that the Lord
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has shown us it's not about money, it's about consecrating
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our all to God. Chapter 9, verse seven, it
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reads, God loveth the cheerful giver and continue on.
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In verse 10 in the BSB, he says he who supplies seed to the
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sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store
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of seeds. You will increase the harvest of
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your righteousness, but it's the Lord who's going to plant the
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seed for you. And if you are able to give some
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of your seed corn or whatever it is, your seed wheat.
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Obviously they didn't have corn in the ancient world, but if
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you're able to give some of your seeds, the Lord is going to
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multiply your harvest. And more important than any kind
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of financial reimbursement, the Lord will bless you with
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righteousness, will bless you with the Spirit, will bless you
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with eternal holiness. You know, it's sanctification.
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It's a beautiful message. And then he finishes up chapter
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nine with one of the most beautiful verses in our section.
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Today. I'm going to read it from the
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NIV verse 15. Thanks be to God for his
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indescribable gift. You know, I feel like the reason
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why he's ending this is he's asking for people to be
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generous. And he says, if you think you're
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giving a lot, just think of what our Savior has given you.
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Think of eternal life. Think of the rewards that are
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there. Think of his atoning sacrifice.
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All of us have been redeemed by him.
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Remember, that means bought back, paid for as if we were
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taken by a pirate ship. And the Savior came and paid
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every penny for us. Well, we were taken by Satan.
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We are falling and we were bought back by the Savior.
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So he's saying be generous in your offerings.
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It's such a blessing to just keep it in perspective of all
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the the Savior has given us. And now moving on to 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 10, the 1st 10 or 11 verses talk about
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Paul's weaknesses and he is replying to those who are
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accusing him and being too overbearing in his letter.
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He starts out in verse one by saying by the humility and
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gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you.
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And then moving ahead in verse 6 and the BSB, he reads we will be
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ready to punish every act of disobedience.
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So you know, it's it's an epistles.
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We only get half the story. We really don't know quite
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what's going on here in this chapter 10.
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But we can read between the lines and it sounds as if not
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only are people questioning his authority, but it sounds as if
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some people are saying, you know in your letters you're really
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harsh and then when you come in person you're all soft and warm
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and fuzzy. But he says I am going to call
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for discipline if people have not straightened out when I
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come. I remember Corinth is a very,
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very wicked city and So what they think is sinful is not
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necessarily what Paul called sinful.
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And Paul says I am going to ask for complete purity in the
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church when I come moving ahead to verses 7 through 9 in the
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BSB. It reads you are looking at
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outward appearances. Even if I boast someone
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excessively about the authority of the Lord gave us, I do not
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want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters.
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Please don't think my letters are inappropriate.
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I'm calling you the repentance. I'm not trying to scare you.
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I don't want you to leave the faith because of fear.
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Paul continues to address this issue of his authority.
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He wants to talk about all who are apostles.
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Remember, an apostle is one who is sent.
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There are many apostles in the New Testament that are not
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necessarily part of the Quorum. Of the 12, at least we're we're
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not told they're part of the Quorum.
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It sounds as if they were different.
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James, for example, and Barnabas and Paul, they're never
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mentioned to be part of the Quorum of the 12.
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So I'm going to continue on now waiting in verse 12 and skipping
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down to 14. Both in the NIV.
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We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who
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commend themselves. We are not going too far in our
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boasting. Neither do we go beyond our
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limits by boasting the work done by others.
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So he's saying, hey, if you're thinking, I'm boasting, why
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don't you look at yourself and other people are claiming that
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they are, that they are, that they did the work I did.
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You know, I I think this is what he's trying to say.
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I was sorry for leaving the King James so often, but in these
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books of the epistles, it's very difficult to step outside of
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some of the archaic language. And so I just wanted to open up
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other translations to help you understand the text a little bit
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better. We're 17 and 18 is actually
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quoting Jeremiah. Jeremiah 924 starts out let him
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who boast boast in the Lord and Paul just cites that he knows
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his Old Testament so well. His letters are saturated with
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Old Testament quotes and I don't think he's has his own set of
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scriptures there. Right with him you know it's
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very expensive to have scriptures and he's traveling
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and he's it's shipwrecked and things like that.
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You know, it's not like these things were available.
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And yet he has the memorized such a good, good example.
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He really is a scriptorian, He continues on.
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For it is not the one who commends himself who is
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approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
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He says don't listen to these people who are telling you
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they're great. I was commended by this, by the
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Lord. I was commissioned to be a
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missionary. I am an apostle because Jesus
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Christ called me, You know, I think it's very good for our day
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and age too. Let's not talk evil of the
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Lord's anointed, because then we're talking evil of the Lord.
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Moving on to Chapter 11, Paul does something sort of funny
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here. He is now going to defend
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himself as he says a full speech.
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And I think what he's doing is these people who have been
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denouncing him have used this silly kind of logic.
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And Paul says I'm going to use the same silly kind of logic to
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defend myself that they attacked me with.
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He starts out in verse one. I'll read it from the NIVI hope
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you will put up with me with a little foolishness.
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And then in verse two I have espoused you to one husband that
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I may present you as a chaste virgin in Christ.
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And you remember back in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah
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and Josea and Ezekiel, they talked a lot about Jehovah being
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married to Zion or married to Jerusalem and their offspring
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was Israel. And here now in the New
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Testament we have very similar analogies, and it's with Christ
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being married to the church. And Paul is saying, I arrange
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this marriage. We have one husband that is
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Christ Jesus, and I want to present you a completely
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committed to him as a chaste virgin.
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I don't want you filled with barnacles of sin.
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And so he begs them to repent and to become one with Christ,
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so that they then can be, like the bride, ready for the
23:05
bridegroom. This is the same analogy that
23:08
John the Revelator uses in the Book of Revelation.
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When Christ comes, he says the bridegroom can come only when
23:15
the bride is ready. So we as the Church are the
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bride, and we need to be ready to receive our our Savior when
23:22
he comes. Continuing on in Chapter 11,
23:25
verse three says just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's
23:29
cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere
23:35
and pure devotion to Christ. He's warning them that the
23:38
people who are taking him away are probably being motivated by
23:42
Satanic influences. You know anything that's taking
23:44
you away from Christ is from the devil.
23:47
Even if it appears good, if it's taking you away from Christ,
23:50
it's wrong, he says in verse 4. This is still Chapter 11 in the
23:54
BSB. If someone comes and proclaims a
23:56
Jesus other than the one we proclaimed, you put up with it
24:01
way too easily. Now we also have Paul addressing
24:05
the same thing when he gets to the Glaciians and he says don't
24:08
trust anybody else. Well, some of our Christian
24:13
other faith traditions use this to say I won't believe your
24:19
traditions on Christianity because Paul says don't believe
24:22
anybody else. Well, I always in those
24:25
discussions go back to the idea that we have to trust the
24:29
Spirit. The only way we know which is
24:32
right, which is truth, is by a witness of the Spirit.
24:36
And how do we do that? Not only by their fruits you
24:38
shall know them, but by studying it, by learning it.
24:41
And I invite them to make that decision.
24:44
I believe I am following Christ gospel.
24:47
Why don't you take a look at it and and pray and ask the Lord
24:52
verse 5 and the NIV continues on in Chapter 11.
24:54
I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super
24:58
apostles. What he's trying to say is, you
25:01
know, don't think that I'm not an apostle because I'm not one
25:04
of the 12, or I'm not an apostle because I wasn't there with
25:06
Christ. You know, I'm still called and
25:09
commissioned. I'm still, this is my
25:10
responsibility. Please stop speaking evil of me.
25:13
I'm. I'm commissioned by our savior.
25:15
You know, he's really trying to defend himself here in verse
25:18
six, he says. Although I am not a polished
25:20
speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge.
25:23
And we have made this clear unto you in every possible way.
25:27
Now I just want to go back to the book of Acts and remind you
25:29
Paul is extremely well educated. He's from Tarsus, which is the
25:34
the major capital of elocution. The education there was
25:38
phenomenal. He learned how to speak there.
25:40
He has been invited to come and speak on Mars Hill, you know,
25:43
the most important place to go if you're a orator.
25:46
And he was invited back to Mars Hill.
25:49
And you know, he says, I think sarcastically.
25:52
Or is he saying, I didn't come and speak to you by the
25:56
philosophies of men? And with great oration, as I had
25:59
been trained, I came to speak to you through the power of the
26:02
Spirit. I think that's what he's trying
26:04
to say here. But we do not need to fear that
26:07
we don't understand who's writing this letter.
26:09
Also, in Chapter 11, he next addresses the challenge that
26:12
came up with money. And some people are saying that
26:15
you should be paid for your preaching.
26:17
Paul just goes crazy over this one because do you remember when
26:20
he was acting as a tent maker and he was actually paying for
26:23
his own way for his mission? So he says in Chapter 11, verse
26:26
seven, was it a sin for me? By preaching the gospel of God
26:31
to you free of charge, and then skipping down to verse nine, he
26:35
repeats this. He says, I have kept myself from
26:37
being a burden to you. He says, now, why are you
26:40
attacking me? Because I didn't take money.
26:42
You think I I didn't. I didn't deserve money.
26:44
Is that what you're thinking? You know, he he's he's just, we
26:47
don't have his letters. We're having to read between the
26:49
lines. We don't have the conversation
26:51
that he had with Titus and the Corinthians.
26:53
And I think this is what's happening.
26:55
At least when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together,
26:57
that's what it looks like. Verse 11 in the NIV, he says.
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Why? Because I did not love you.
27:03
God knows I do. I wasn't doing this because I
27:08
just have a Commission. I do it because I love you.
27:11
He's so good about this charity and I think the reason why he
27:14
knows so much about it and emphasize it so much is because
27:17
he feels it towards those people that he's teaching.
27:20
Continuing on in Chapter 11 to verse 12 to 14, he gives this
27:24
image in the BSB of a wolf and sheep's clothing.
27:27
But he says I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to
27:32
undercut the false apostles, deceitful workers, the
27:36
masqueradings as apostles of Christ.
27:39
And and then he skips down to verse 14.
27:42
Satan himself masquerades as an Angel of light.
27:46
It is Satan who is the great counterfeit.
27:49
It is Satan who's always trying to deceive and he's trying to
27:52
counterfeit our Savior. He wants to be the God of this
27:55
world. He wants to be the Prince of
27:57
Peace, you know, he is constantly trying to act like
28:02
our Savior and yet pulls the rug out.
28:05
So it's it's very, very he's a very clever, awful person, Paul
28:10
continues on in Chapter 11. I can match what anyone else
28:13
dares to boast about. Are they Hebrews?
28:16
So am I. Are they Israelites?
28:18
So am I. Are they servants of Christ?
28:22
I am speaking like I'm out of my mind.
28:24
I am so much more. Paul is saying I have just spent
28:29
my entire adult life for serving the Lord.
28:34
Please realize that what they're claiming is not accurate and
28:38
what they're saying about me is not accurate.
28:40
And then in Chapter 11 from about verse 16 to clear down to
28:44
33, Paul starts listing all the atrocities he's been doing, this
28:49
foolish boasting, and now he says, you don't think that I've
28:52
suffered. Let me tell you a little bit
28:54
about it. And he lists his whole list of
28:56
sufferings. I just want to remind you that
28:58
in the Judaic world, they limited things, like how many
29:02
times you could be scourged or lashed.
29:04
You know, it can't be more than 40.
29:06
So the rabbi said, well then let's make it 39 to make sure we
29:09
don't miscount because we don't want to disobey God.
29:12
But in the Greco Roman world, they didn't have those kinds of
29:15
limits. So as we begin reading in
29:18
Chapter 11, verse 23, he says in labor's more abundant in stripes
29:24
above measure. That's the whipping.
29:25
That's the scourging. In prisons, more frequent in
29:28
deaths OFT. Five times received I-40 stripes
29:33
save 1 thrice. Was I beaten with rods?
29:36
Once I was stoned thrice. I suffered shipwreck a night and
29:41
a day. I have been in the deep.
29:42
That's their vernacular for 24 hours in journeyings, often in
29:46
perils of water, in perils of robbers and perils with my own
29:50
countrymen, in perils of the heathen, in perils of the city,
29:53
perils of the wilderness and the sea, and among faults, brethren,
29:57
and the painfulness and watchings often in hunger and
30:00
thirst and in fastings Often he's just pouring at his heart.
30:05
But we get a remarkable autobiographical lesson here.
30:11
This man suffered for God, and as I look at the challenges of
30:16
our day and age, I just feel like I have nothing to complain
30:20
about. Chapter 11, verse 32 then gives
30:23
any specific example and he remembers back in Damascus, and
30:26
he gives you a few more details on the story.
30:28
We read about it back in the book of Acts, but I'll just read
30:30
it here too. In Damascus, the governor had
30:33
secured the city in order to arrest me.
30:35
This is in the BSB translation. I'm skipping down to verse 33
30:38
now. I was lowered in a basket
30:40
through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
30:44
No, the Lord will protect his anointed ones and he will
30:47
protect you if you keep your covenants.
30:49
I know he has protected me many times.
30:52
Chapter 12 begins this wonderful chapter on the visions of heaven
30:56
and verses. One through 6 he talks about the
30:59
3rd heaven and he starts out in verse one.
31:02
Boasting is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and
31:08
revelations of the Lord. Who says I don't want to?
31:10
I don't want to. Just rehearse all the things
31:13
I've done for the Lord. I want to move on to tell you to
31:16
share with you some of the visions that I have received.
31:20
In chapter 12. Verse two, I'll read from the
31:22
DRB translation. I know a man in Christ above 14
31:27
years ago caught up even to the 3rd heaven.
31:31
Now this is interesting because he does not.
31:34
He changes it to third person. Is he talking about himself or
31:37
is he talking about someone else who had a vision?
31:39
Well, we're very blessed to have something from Joseph Smith on
31:43
this verse. And the prophet says in the
31:45
history of the Church, Paul ascended into the third heavens
31:49
and he could understand the three principal rounds of
31:53
Jacob's ladder, the telestial, the terrestrial and the
31:56
celestial glories or kingdoms where Paul saw and heard things
32:01
which were not lawful for him to utter.
32:03
I could explain 100 fold more than I ever have on the glories
32:09
of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, Were it
32:12
permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.
32:17
I hope that we as a people can become prepared to receive more
32:23
light and truth, and once we are ready, I know the prophets will
32:26
be able to share more, first five to seven says.
32:30
Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities there
32:36
was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the message of Satan to
32:40
buffet me, lest I should be exalted with a measure.
32:43
He says, I'm not going to tell you about my visions.
32:46
I don't want to exalt myself because the Lord has kept me
32:48
humble, and He's kept me humble because I have a thorn in the
32:51
flesh. You know, he uses this image
32:53
that's very clear in that environment where thorns are
32:56
just filling the countryside. In the NIV it says the Lord has
32:59
kept me from being conceited. So sometimes our weaknesses are
33:03
for purposes that we don't understand, but spiritually, how
33:07
nice to keep us humble. How nice of God to keep us meek.
33:10
You know, I'd much rather be meek and humble now and have the
33:14
opportunity for the blessings of the Lord hereafter than being
33:17
proudful and smart and famous or anything else.
33:20
Paul has the visions of the eternities to keep him humble as
33:24
well. Chapter 12, verse eight and nine
33:26
reads 3 *. I pleaded with the Lord to take
33:31
it away from me, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for
33:34
you, for my power is perfected in weakness.
33:39
I love this verse. We've told elsewhere in
33:42
Scripture that our weaknesses take us to the Lord, that our
33:45
weaknesses are to become strengths even.
33:48
And I have found that to be in my life.
33:50
You know, I'm a dyslexic. I'm going blind.
33:53
And yet the Lord allows me to focus my time and energies to
33:57
see and to do what I need to do. I feel like because I have these
34:02
weaknesses, I am much more clarified on what I want to
34:05
spend my time doing. We also read about this in the
34:08
Book of Mormon. Jacob chapter 4, verse 7.
34:11
The Lord God show us our weakness that we may know that
34:14
it is by His grace that we have power to do all things.
34:19
And in second Levi chapter 3, verse 13, we read out of
34:22
weaknesses. We shall be made strong and then
34:26
we have a lot more. But I'm just going to read first
34:28
from Ether chapter 12. If men come unto me, I will show
34:33
unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weaknesses that
34:36
they may be humble. And my grace is sufficient for
34:40
all men that humble themselves before me.
34:43
For if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me,
34:47
then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
34:51
And I could have also read to you and the Doctrine Covenant
34:53
said in the pro great price. There are so many verses on
34:56
this. Anytime we have a physical or an
34:58
emotional or there a spiritual weakness, remember they can be
35:03
used for good if they will take us to our knees.
35:06
Anything that takes us to our knees can be a blessing in our
35:10
lives. Chapter 12, verse 10 continues
35:12
on in the NIVI. Delight in weaknesses in insults
35:16
and hardships and persecutions and difficulties.
35:19
You know you don't get too proud when you're constantly being
35:21
attacked. And so Paul says I like being
35:24
made humbled. I like having the opportunity to
35:26
constantly fall on my knees and plead with my Lord.
35:30
It's just a powerful image, you know.
35:33
Starting from the time of Noah's Ark, these weaknesses have had a
35:37
purpose to them. God is giving them to us.
35:40
Some are tailor made and some, just as Adam and Eve were told,
35:44
are part of mortality. Verse 10 finishes up in the NIV
35:48
by saying for when I am weak, then I am strong.
35:54
That is a powerful promise from the scriptures.
35:58
I remember once I was reading about a modern prophet named
36:01
John Taylor who also addressed the subject.
36:03
I'd like to read it to you. It's in the Journal of
36:05
Discourses. It is necessary that we pass
36:08
through certain ordeals in order that we may be purified.
36:13
We have learned many things through suffering.
36:15
We call it suffering, but I call it the school of experience.
36:21
I never did bother my head much over about these things.
36:24
I do not today. What are these things for?
36:27
Why? It's for the good men that
36:29
should be tried. Why is it in fact that we should
36:32
have a devil? Why did the Lord just kill him
36:36
long ago? Because he should not do without
36:40
him. We need the devil and a great
36:43
many of those who do his bidding just to keep men straight, that
36:48
we may learn place of our dependence upon God and trust in
36:52
him, and to observe his laws and keep his commandments.
36:57
I think Lehigh said in Second Nephi, opposition is necessary
37:02
in all things. And this is just what John
37:04
Taylor's observed here, that without the opposition sometimes
37:07
become become complacent. It keeps us on our toes.
37:10
It keeps us dependent on the Lord and to follow him.
37:15
Chapter 12, verse 12 reads truly The signs of an apostle were
37:18
wrought among you in all patients in signs and wonders
37:24
and mighty deeds. The signs of an apostle are the
37:27
gifts of the Spirit. You know, visions, healings,
37:29
tongues, He's saying. All of those were manifest with
37:33
you. You should have recognized these
37:34
as gifts of the Lord's anointed. They are also gifts available to
37:39
all disciples. And the fruits of the Spirit
37:42
will talk about more in Galatians, but they are equally
37:46
accessible to all disciples who come unto Christ.
37:49
He continues on in chapter 12 to talk about his motivation.
37:53
He's saying, I'm writing because I'm trying to come.
37:55
I want to spend my winter with you.
37:56
I got a visit planned for this is the third time I'm ready to
37:59
come to you. That's the NESB translation.
38:01
But in the King James, it sounds like it will be his third visit.
38:05
That's not quite what the Greek says, and that's not quite right
38:08
either. As you recall from the book of
38:10
Acts, he came on his mission, his second mission, and then he
38:13
came at the end of his third mission.
38:15
Verse 19 says we do all things Dearly beloved for your
38:20
edifying. I love this statement by Paul
38:23
because it's a beautiful bridge back to the book of Moses.
38:26
Do you remember in the restoration we received Moses
38:28
chapter one, verse 39. My work and my glory is to bring
38:32
to past the immortality and eternal life of man.
38:35
And Paul says the whole reason why I work is to edify is to
38:39
bring you to Christ. You know, they they have
38:42
parallels there between those two.
38:44
Still in chapter 12, verse 20 and the BSB reads when I am
38:48
afraid that when I come there may be quarreling and jealousies
38:53
and rage and rivalry and slander and gossip, arrogance and
38:56
disorder, and many have not repented.
38:59
This is in the BSB. And so he starts right into
39:03
chapter 13 on this same correction he says in verse two.
39:06
I told you before, and I foretell you, skipping down to
39:11
them, which heretofore have sinned.
39:13
I will not spare you know, he said, this letter has been full
39:17
of compassion and love. But I want you to know that if
39:20
you are living in sin and profaning the atonement of Jesus
39:25
Christ, I will come and discipline you.
39:28
There's no room for this. Remember back in First
39:30
Corinthians, there was somebody who had married his father's
39:33
wife and there was immorality going on in the church, and
39:37
Chloe told him about these things.
39:38
He he's still very concerned that not everyone has repented.
39:41
So I think that was one of the reports that Titus gave.
39:44
Also in chapter 13, verse three and four read since you are
39:48
demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me, that's the
39:51
BSB. He goes on in verse 4 to say he
39:54
was indeed crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's
40:00
power. And though we are weak in Him,
40:03
yet by God's power we will live in Him to serve you.
40:08
He is a masterful writer. He's a great orator, but he also
40:12
is a beautiful poet. And look at these parallels
40:15
here. And I know the language is
40:17
tricky sometimes, but if you can pull out a few of these kernels,
40:21
Paul makes beautiful comparisons to the Savior and what really
40:25
matters. He also now talks about
40:28
examining ourselves. They reminded me back earlier
40:31
when we are told in First Corinthians to examine
40:34
yourselves before you partake of the sacrament.
40:36
But now, here in Second Corinthians chapter 13, verse
40:39
five, the NIV reads, examine yourselves to see whether you
40:43
are in the faith. Test yourself.
40:46
This is such a beautiful message.
40:48
We have to be all in. Are you feeling the spirit every
40:51
day? Don't, don't leave.
40:55
Read, pray, seek the Lord. Get a calling.
40:59
Magnify that calling. Examine yourself.
41:01
How better can I live the commandment so that I can feel
41:04
the Spirit, so I can be a servant for God?
41:08
Verse 7 to 9 in the BSB of chapter 13 reads.
41:12
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong.
41:17
Our prayer is for your perfection.
41:20
Remember that word. Perfection is complete and
41:23
whole, and he finishes up in verse 10.
41:26
This is why I write these things while I am absent, so that when
41:29
I am present I will. And then he skips ahead a little
41:32
bit, use the authority of the Lord gave me in building you up.
41:37
And finally he ends in chapter 13, verse 12.
41:40
Greet one another with a holy kiss, but Joseph Smith changes
41:43
it. He doesn't change very many
41:44
versus have doctrinal significance here in Second
41:47
Corinthians, but this one he does.
41:49
He changes the holy kiss to holy salutation because what part of
41:54
the Joseph translation is, is not going back to what Paul
41:56
originally said, but it's making it communicated to a generation
42:00
where you don't go around and kiss everybody on the cheeks
42:02
like you did in the Latin countries.
42:04
The Lord is guiding His church according to our language and
42:08
our understanding. So he says have your
42:10
communications be holy, do things in the name of the Lord,
42:14
and every time you're going to communicate with anyone, do it
42:18
with holiness. And then verse 14 ends made.
42:22
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and
42:27
your fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all Eight
42:31
times In Paul's letter he closes with this same consistent
42:35
phrase. Sometimes it's about peace or
42:37
Christ or love or the Spirit or grace.
42:40
But it's always be with you all. It's a beautiful conclusion to
42:44
his letters. This is a fabulous book.
42:47
I love the messages that he teaches us.
42:50
It's not a systematized list of our theology.
42:54
It is a very personal friendship letter where a leader is having
43:00
to point out some faults, but he's doing it with love and
43:03
charity, and it's a great example on how we can do the
43:06
same. It's also a great example of how
43:09
we can come into Christ even in our weaknesses.
43:11
And I assume that we will have more persecution in the future.
43:15
And I pray that we like Paul and use those times of hardships to
43:20
draw closer to the Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ,
43:24
Amen.