Latest / Prophecy Watchers / What “Unequally Yoked” Really Means | Studies with Stearman

Transcript

What “Unequally Yoked” Really Means | Studies with Stearman · Prophecy Watchers

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Studies with Stearman. Join us as we look
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: deeper into the Bible. Strengthen your faith with us even
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: as we see the day approaching. And now, here's Gary.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Well, we're back in 2 Corinthians. As you know, we
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: study the Bible not as some spiritual exercise. And by
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the way, if anybody doesn't have a Bible, there are
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: some back in the back on a bookshelf. So feel
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: free to just jump up and grab a Bible. We
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: have several different versions back there. The thing about the
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Bible is that it is not a highfalutin book. It
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: basically gives the shoe leather view of the world. And
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: it talks about people that have had all kinds of problems,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: people who failed to meet up with God's demands, people
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: with great doubts in their lives, people with uncertainties, sin
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: in their life, some of it dealt with, some of
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: it not. And to me that's the beautiful thing about
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: the Bible. I can identify with it because it is
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: not speaking about a bunch of pious people who are
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: floating around up there with the angels and they've just
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: accomplished everything, but rather it's talking about people like me
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: who have not quite made it to full piety yet.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: So That's where I come from. 1 and 2 Corinthians
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: in the Bible are, the more I think about it,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: the more I have come to the conclusion that they're
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: almost a little separate section in the Bible. Because Paul
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: is dealing with problems in these two letters. 1 and
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians, he's dealing with people problems all the way.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Anybody ever have a people problem? The world would be
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: fine if everybody were like me. But unfortunately there are
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a lot of jerks around. But Paul dealt with the jerks.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: The foreflushers, the cheaters, the false accusers. Every kind of
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: criticism you can think of. And in 2 Corinthians he's
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: dealing with several difficulties in the early church. And he
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: reveals that he is not above it all, but rather
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: he suffers when these people don't live up to what
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: he's trying to teach. It's real anguish for him. But
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: this week we're going to take up where we left
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: off in 2 Corinthians 6.11. So if you want to
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: turn to this place in your Bible, 2 Corinthians is
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: a book to review that essentially cannot be outlined. You
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: know everybody wants to outline, do your basic Bible study
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: and you put your Roman numeral I, 2 Corinthians, capital
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: A indented. You go to chapters 1, 1 through 2,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: 14 and you talk about Paul's change of plans, his
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: general philosophy of ministry and You might put a small
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: numeral one under that where Paul's talking about his own
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: character and the character of the Ephesians and of the Corinthians.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: As you go down through your outline, it gives Paul's philosophy,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: his exhortation to the Corinthians, his example to the people
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: he dealt with, particularly the Macedonians, and on and on.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: You can outline this book. When you get through, you discover,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: wait a minute, I don't even have an outline at
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: all here. It's like receiving a three-page letter from your
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: Aunt Margaret and your task is to outline Aunt Margaret's letter. Okay.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Dear nephew, it's been cold up here in Punxsutawney. Roman
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: numeral one, cold in Punxsutawney. Have you ever tried to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: outline a letter? It could just drive you crazy. That's
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians. It is a letter from Paul's heart. It
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: is a book in the Yes. But as we study it,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: let's forget that it's a book in the Bible and
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: let's talk about it as a letter from the heart
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: of Paul to the Corinthians. I mean, he just lets
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: it out as we have seen. There's another note here
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: that I would like to insert at this point in time.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: I've said this before, but Paul wrote this letter in Koine.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Because it was the language of the street in the
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: first century. Not Aramaic, not Hebrew, not Latin, and it
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: was the Roman Empire and Claudius was seated on the
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: throne in Rome and he was just about to be
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: overthrown and replaced by Nero and the Romans ran the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: whole world. So you'd think, well everybody should speak Latin. Wrong.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: The Romans were Johnny-come-latelys and Greek rule had actually, since
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: the time of Alexander in 323 B.C., Greek rule had
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: set the cultural tone of the Middle East. And so
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: everybody spoke Greek. That's why the New Testament is written
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: in Greek, because it's the common language. In fact it's
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: called Koine, which is common. Koine Greek. And he writes
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: this in Koine Greek and the thing about Greek is
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: In Greek, you have the ability to be very, very dramatic.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: And I've tried to point that out for the past
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: few weeks. Greek is a language of great precision, but
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: also it was cultivated around oratorical skill. And there's a
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: lot of great and pompous oratory in Greek. And there
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: are a lot of gutturals and syllabic interjections, and there
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: are a lot of markers in the text and certain
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: letters like he. There's one letter in Greek that's pronounced e.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: It's the letter eta. And if it has an accent
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: above it, it's pronounced he, like that. Well, you can
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: be talking along and you say he, apostasia. And everybody
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: in the audience knows, oh, wow. Well Greek is just
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: full of oratorical markers and constructions. We've talked about the appositives,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: we've talked about the couplets, we've talked about a number
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: of grammatical ideas. And by the way for you who
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: haven't been here, don't worry. This is not a grammar school.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: What I'm trying to do is just lay the groundwork.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Paul puts his heart on the line in Koine Greek
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: and if you could read the Greek. Every now and
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: then I revert to talking about Greek examples because it
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: reveals the depth of his emotion. So we come now
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: to 2 Corinthians 6-11. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Now we've read
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: this before but I wanted to repeat it, verses 11-18
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: before we go on to chapter 7. You're not straightening us,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: but you're straightening your own emotions. Now for a recompense
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: in the same I speak unto you as unto my children,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: be ye also enlarged. Now I want to say a
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: word here. That's Jacobean English. That is Jacobean English. We
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: go back to Dr. Beck and we read the same words.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians 6. starting in 11. Where Paul says, we
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: have talked frankly to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are wide open.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: There's plenty of room in them for you, but you're
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: narrow in your attitude toward us. I ask you as
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: my children, treat me as I treat you, and open
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: your hearts wide too. Let me go back to the
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Jacobean English of the King James. O ye Corinthians, Our
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: mouth is open unto you, our hearts enlarged. You're not
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: straightened in us, but you're straightened in your own bowels, emotions. Now,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: for a recompense in the same, I speak unto you
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: as my children, be ye also enlarged. Which of those
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: is easier to understand? Dr. Beck's translation. And I teach
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: out of the King James, but I'm reading Dr. Beck's
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: street language translation because It really reflects what he's saying
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: in the Greek here. He's saying, hey, I've spoken from
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: my heart. I've talked frankly with you. How can right
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: and wrong go together? That's the idea in this whole dissertation.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Our hearts are wide open There's plenty of room in
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: them for you, but you're narrowing your attitude toward us,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: toward me. I ask you as my children, treat me
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: as I treat you and open your hearts wide too. Now,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: catch the flavor of this language. This is a problem-solving epistle.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Paul is solving a problem. We'll talk again about what
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: that problem is in just a few moments. But Paul
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: is in problem-solving mode. Have you ever had a problem?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Maybe with a family member? Somebody you're obligated to go
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: to their house because somebody's having a birthday or it's
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: a holiday and you've got to go over and visit
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: aunt and uncle so-and-so and all the cousins. And they're
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: going to have dinner. And you're getting ready to go
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: over there and you're saying, oh man, I wish I
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: didn't have to go over there. Ever have that experience?
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Of course. Everybody has. Well that's the way Paul had
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: to deal with the Corinthians. Because quite frankly there were
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: factions among the Corinthians that were trying to destroy his ministry.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: And yet he really wanted to get them straightened out.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: And so he says, I've talked frankly to you. My
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: heart is wide open. There's plenty of room end them
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: for you too, you know. But you're narrow in your attitude. Now,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: are these the words of a great vaunted apostle? This
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: guy is not laying down the law to the Corinthians.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Here's a man who was taught by Jesus Christ personally.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Here's a man who was the greatest of the Pharisees
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: a man who ranked high in the Sanhedrin, who had
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: the equivalent of two PhDs. He was a citizen of
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Rome with Roman papers, with Greek academic papers, and with
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: papers from the Sanhedrin and from the Pharisees. He had
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: four sets of papers. He could talk down to anybody.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: But what does he say? He says, I've talked frankly
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: with you. I've talked from my heart. My heart's wide open.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: There's plenty of room in my heart for you, but
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: you're narrow in your attitude toward me. I ask you
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: as my children, treat me as I treat you. Now
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: are those the words of the great vaunted Pharisee, student
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: of Gamaliel, graduate of the University of Tarsus, the man
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: who was given permission by the temple authorities to go
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: and rout Christians out of their homes and to destroy
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: early Christianity. He was an authoritarian figure. And now he's
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: talking as little old Paul. Please, from my heart, please
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: listen to me. I ask you as my children, treat
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: me as I treat you. Verse 14 says, Be ye
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: righteousness with unrighteousness? Dr. Beck translates that, don't be yoked
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: with unbelievers. Well isn't that kind of narrow-minded? I've got
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: some good friends that are unbelievers, can't I go out
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: and have fun and enjoy things with unbelievers? And by
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: the way, occasionally we do, and we rationalize it by saying, well,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: you know, if they associate with me they're going to
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: learn about Christianity, so there's my ticket. I can fraternize
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: with unbelievers and not feel guilty about it, right? Well,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: you might have to think about that a bit. Paul says,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: how can right and wrong be partners? Or how can
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: light have anything to do with darkness? How can Christ
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: agree with the devil? Or what does a believer have
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: in common with an unbeliever? How can God's temple agree
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: with idols? Now we are the temple of the living God,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: as God said. Now that's the Dr. Beck translation. Back
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: to the King James, be ye not unequally yoked together
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: with unbelievers. Are you yoked together with unbelievers? To be
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: yoked together refers to a team of oxen pulling a
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: plow or a wagon where you would be doing work together.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Now common sense tells you you do work together with unbelievers.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: You know if you're standing behind a McDonald's counter, you know,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: the guy next to you might not be a believer,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: but hey, you'd be doing equal work behind the counter
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: at McDonald's or wherever you happen to work. Wouldn't that
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: be being unequally yoked together with unbelievers? No, because what
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: he's talking about here is the ministry of Christ. And
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: what had happened in the Christian church is that Gnostics
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: and Hellenistic Jews had begun to be yoked together with
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: the pure Christians taught by Paul and they were starting
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: to work together under the same roof and produce an
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: odd variant of Christianity. A Christianity with overtones of Gnosticism
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: with overtones of strange philosophical terms with legalisms that came
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: out of the long Judaic history. And that's what Paul's
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: talking about when he says be not unequally yoked together
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: with unbelievers. He's talking about doctrine here. Make sure that
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: your doctrine is pure and make sure that those within
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Christendom with whom you work to accomplish the furtherance of
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: the gospel of Christ, are doctrinally pure. And if they're not,
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: separate from them. And that's basically the message of this
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: entire letter. Because the problem in Corinth is that there
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: was a breakdown in classic Christianity, classic doctrine as taught
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: by the Apostles, was beginning to be infiltrated with the
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: doctrine of unbelievers. And the unbelievers were saying, wait a minute,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: we can probably reach more people for Christ if we're
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: more like these hieratic Greeks over here who have slightly
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: different belief systems. And by the way, they worship in
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: various kinds of temples, etc. But that's okay. Okay. if
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: they just at least give lip service to Christianity, it's
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: okay if they go on and continue offering up offerings
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: to Diana or offerings to Zeus at Mount Olympus. It's
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: possible they would have said to be a Zeusian Christian
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and to make your annual pilgrimage up Mount Olympus to
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: leave offerings for the gods of the Eleusinian mysteries and
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: still be a Christian. That's what was beginning to happen
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: in Corinth. Corinth is the crossroads of the old world.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: It was a trade center. It was basically the hot
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: spot in Achaia in southern Greece. And if you lived
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: there and if you were taught in the apostolic doctrine,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: the doctrine specifically of Paul, you would be forced to
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: separate yourself from the world of the Eleusinian Greek mysteries.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: The Babylonian mystery religion, the Roman cults, the Greek cults,
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: the Jewish cults, the Hellenistic cults. They all found a
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: place in Corinth, which was kind of a spiritual crossroads.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: And there is a great danger in becoming syncretistic. That
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: is today's study word. Syncretism. S-Y-N-C-R-E-T-I-S-M. Remember that. It'll be
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: on the test. I'm joking. Syncretism. You know what that means?
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: It means incorporating into Christianity pagan belief. There are countries
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: in the world where that has been done very widely. Mexico,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: for example. where they have incorporated a lot of the
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Mayan religion into Christian religion, resulting in a sort of Greco-Roman,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Roman Catholic, Mayan, semi-Christianity that's laden with superstition of all kinds. Well,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: this was going on in Corinth. Syncretism. Blending in the
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: false ideas of the world with the true ideas of
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: the gospel. By the way, is that going on in
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: America today? Anyone know of any examples of that? Of
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: course we do. Psychology being melded in. Pop psychology being
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: melded into Christianity. And by the way, it's very popular.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: You can fill a very large hall if you blend
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: pop psychology with Christianity and come up with one of
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: those everyday and every way I'm getting better and better
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: types of Christianity that don't ask you to follow Christ
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: so much as follow your own inner emotional leadings. And
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: there are some very popular churches. Well, This was the
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: problem that Paul was addressing. Be ye not unequally yoked
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: together with unbelievers within the church. The church has got
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: to remain doctrinally pure. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: he says. You know, he then goes on to say,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: and what communion hath light with darkness. Communion is the
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: fellowship of the body of Christ and we celebrate the
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: communion from time to time here and we remember the
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: bread and the cup, the body and the blood of
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: the Lord Jesus Christ and we take communion and we
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: celebrate the commonness that we have among us. What is
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: the commonness? Namely that we are all indwelt by the
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit of God. This is our common linkage, our
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: common bond, and it's illustrated by the bread and the cup.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Supported then by the apostolic doctrine. And if we begin
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: to water it down, if we begin to inject other
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: ideas into it, it becomes weaker and weaker and weaker
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: and light and darkness are blended together in a way
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: that they should not be. And what concord, verse 15,
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: hath Christ with Belial? The word Belial is an ancient
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Hebrew word, Belial. In some Hebrew text it's spelled with
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: a resh ending, Beliar. But essentially it means the negative
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: of the Messiah. If you just take Christ and flip
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: it around, And look at the other side. What do
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: you have? Antichrist. Christ, Antichrist. Christ, Antichrist. This word Belial
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: here essentially is the idea of Antichrist. What concord hath
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Christ with Antichrist? Or what part hath he that believeth
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: with an infidel or with an unbeliever? What agreement hath
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the temple of God with idols. That's interesting because in
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Corinth there were a number of temples of idolatry. There
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: were temples to the Roman gods, Jupiter, Hera. There were
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: temples to Zeus, Diana. There were the temples of the
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: agricultural gods and goddesses. There were temples large, temples small.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Back in Ephesus, of course, the great temple of Diana
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: of the Ephesians was one of the seven wonders of
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: the ancient world. And it was just down the street
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: from that temple that Paul set up his office, if
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: you can believe that. He kept his office, what, five,
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: six blocks from the temple of Diana of the Ephesians.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: And Ephesus became not the city of Antichrist, but the
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: city of Christ. It became the place where ultimately John,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: the apostle, was the bishop of Ephesus. And so these
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: people had incredible close familiarity with temples of unrighteousness. And
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: he's using this figure, what agreement hath the temple of
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: of God with idols. If I go over to Revelation,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: there's a great example of what he's talking about. In
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Revelation chapter 3 verse 12 to the church in Philadelphia
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: he says, him that overcometh will I make a pillar
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: in the temple of my God, and he shall go
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: no more out, and I will write upon him the
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: name of my God, In the name of the city
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: of my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: down out of heaven from my God, and I will
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: write upon him my new name. In other words, you're
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: going to become entirely identified with Christ in the world
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: to come. And you will become a pillar in the
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: temple of God. Now, that means you'll be part of
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: the structure of God's architecture. What a thrill that's going
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: to be. It doesn't mean you're going to be fused
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: into the architecture and have to stand with a rock
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: on top of your head. If you move the whole
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: building will come down. It doesn't mean that. It means
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: that you will become infused into the architecture of God.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Greek temples, on the other hand, are external and not internal.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: They are great, vaunted monuments to imaginary gods. And so
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Paul says what agreement hath the temple of God which
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: is a true temple with idols. An idol's temple is
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: a beautiful thing to behold but it's not real. For
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: ye are the temple of the living God as God
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: hath said I will dwell in them and walk in
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: them And I will be their God, and they shall
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, be
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: and I will receive you. And I will be a
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: saith the Lord Almighty. So what's Paul talking about here?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: He is making a plea to these people not to
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: mingle with wrongly mingle their Christianity with the belief systems
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: of this world. There's a great temptation to do that,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: to let your own doctrine slip in order to become
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: more attractive to those who are not in Christ. It
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: takes courage to maintain sound doctrine, to stand up and say,
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: I believe this. Particularly today when the left wing, the
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: atheist wing of humanity is growing very, very rapidly. And
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: it's becoming less and less acceptable to be a Bible-believing
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: Christian who professes to be bought by the blood of
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: the Lord Jesus Christ. It's becoming less and less acceptable
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: all the time. And so your temptation is to modify
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: your own beliefs so that you are more like your
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: friends and neighbors. And Let's go along and get along
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: and let's not talk about this part of our Christianity
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: because that might be offensive to somebody. And after a
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: while you say, well, you know, I really should have
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: more fellowship with so-and-so. And you know how that goes.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: There is a divergence from true faith because it's easier.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: It's always easier to follow an emotional pathway than it
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: is an ideological pathway. By the way, that word is
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: pronounced ideological in spite of the fact that in the
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: last few years it has become kind of a fad
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: to pronounce as ideological. I don't know who got that idea.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: But then again, why even pursue good grammar? Why don't
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: we just let our grammar slip To match the grammar
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: of this world. I mean, why even use words above
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: two syllables? Because they're kind of offensive and difficult to understand. Like, whoa.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: Hey man.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Like, wow. Cool man. We modify our language downward. Multi-syllabic
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: words are out. Subordinate clauses. Nah. That's 19th century stuff.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: All you really need to do is just say.
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: Wow, man, oh, cool.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: I mean, well, you know what I mean.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: What I'm talking about is what Paul's talking about. It's
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: a subtle point, and it is maintain your doctrine even
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: when everything around you is saying dumb down your doctrine
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: a little bit you'll be more acceptable to your neighbors.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: That's what the Corinthians had done. And he was saying
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. In other words
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: in the work of Christ there is sound doctrine. Don't
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: let your doctrine slip. Verse 18, I'll be a father
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: saith the Lord Almighty. Now, that's called relationship. It's called fellowship.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: It's called communion. It's called being yoked together in a
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: common cause. And the Corinthians had forgotten about all this.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: And sometimes we forget too. And Paul is making the plea.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: As I said earlier, 2 Corinthians is a problem-solving epistle.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: It's a letter written by a man who is very,
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: very troubled on several levels. And Paul used these very
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: words beside himself. And by the way it says that
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: in the Greek language. The phrase to be beside oneself
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: is in Greek. There's a Greek word for it. And
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: what it means is to be just driven nearly insane
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: by a problem you can't solve. And I like to
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: emphasize that to show that here you've got a great
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: Apostle and this great Apostle had the same down-to-earth problems
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: that all humans have. And he didn't come on like
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: some great world authority, but rather he came on from
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: the heart. Trying to convince people. Now, did he convince
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: all the people who went the wrong way? Absolutely not.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: He did not convince those people then. After he died
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: there were still others. After all the apostles died there
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: were still others and the church was went radically astray
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: over the years and still continues to do so in
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: spite of all the pleas of the apostles. But thanks
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: to the grace of God we still have all their
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: letters so we can go back to the first century
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: and read what they wrote in about 56 AD. Having
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: therefore these promises, dearly beloved, this is chapter 7 verse 1.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: These promises are the promises that we just read at
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: the end of chapter 6. Where God said, I will
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: dwell in them, I will walk in them, I will
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: be their God, they shall be my people, I'll be
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: a father to you, you shall be my sons and daughters.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Paul refers to this saying, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved,
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: and spirit Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Filthiness
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: of flesh and spirit. Been on the internet lately? You
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: want to talk about filthiness of flesh and spirit? Surf
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: the web. Surf Twitter. Facebook. Look at some of the
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: comments that people make. I mean, four-letter words are old hat.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. The crass, the gross, the corrupt.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: There is a, it's like somebody scraped the top layer
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: off and all the evil is beginning to show in
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: the public media. It's not just the internet, it's television,
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: it's radio. Bit by bit, every day when you turn
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: on an electronic communication device of some sort, and there
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: are many, and In fact we practically grow an iPhone
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: out of our head these days. With amusement I watch
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: women coming out of stores while I'm waiting for Doris
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: to shop and the ladies will come out, they will
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: sit in their cars, seat themselves behind the wheel and
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: fasten the seatbelt but they will not start their car
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: until they have hooked up with somebody on the C-phone.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Then and only then will they start their car. And
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: it's become such a ritual with us to be in
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: moving linkage with another human being through some kind of
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: ethernet that it's almost spooky. Sometimes solitude is a wonderful thing.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: And it's like all of humanity is trying to escape
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: solitude and be in direct hookup with as many people
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: as possible all the time. And only then will you
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: be able to avoid all the problems that might beset you,
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: all the anxieties and the difficulties and troubles. If you
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: just be hooked up in enough ways with enough people
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: you can just solve every problem. And I think that
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: idea is pervading humanity but I'm kind of old-fashioned. In
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: this way. I like being hooked up with God. To
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: me that's a wonderful thing and you don't even have
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: to have an iPhone. Of course I have my blue
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: letter Bible on my iPhone but that's somewhere else. You don't.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: You can commune with God before, during, and after starting
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: your car because He indwells you by His Holy Spirit.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: There's a hunger in man to communicate. And if you're
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: not communicating with God in Christ there are a thousand,
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: thousand substitutes and we're seeing them today. The wireless network
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: that surrounds the world 24-7 today is a way of
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: avoiding anxiety if at all possible. Like if I can
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: just commune with the right people enough of the time.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: Everything's going to be just fine. But I like the
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: promises of God. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: Do I have to cleanse myself from all filthiness of
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: the flesh and spirit? Gary?
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Me? Me?
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: Cleansing myself from filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Why,
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: I don't have any filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: I'm just, I'm the pastor. There's none of that in me, right?
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: I'm just perfect, right? You all know that, right? You're
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: dead wrong. I have to cleanse myself of all filthiness
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: of the flesh and spirit. It's a continuing process.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Why? Why?
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: Because I live in a body of sin and death
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: until the time that I'm resurrected. And I am going
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: to have to fight the good fight both internally and
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: externally until the day I die. And if I pretend
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: that I don't have sin in me and filthiness in me,
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: I'm just lying to myself. And here Paul says we
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: have these promises that God said that We would be
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: His children and He would be in us and we
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: would be in Him and we'll be a pillar in
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: His temple. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: holiness and the fear of God. I've said before, and
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: I'll say it again, I say it all the time,
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: I actually believe the Bible. The whole thing. Every word.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: And yes, I've read all the critiques, the higher criticisms,
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: Julius Wellhausen, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich. I've been all through
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: all the biblical criticisms. I've studied the languages, the history,
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: the theologies, the hermeneutics. I don't like that word, by
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: the way. But I just believe the Bible. I just
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: believe the Bible. It's true. And that's how naive I am.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: What are we supposed to do? Let us cleanse ourselves
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: the fear of God. Perfecting holiness... in the fear of God.
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: What's holiness? And I have to stop here. Everybody knows
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: what holiness is, right? Holiness is wearing a black robe
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: with a red stole and some kind of a hat
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: and walking around with your arms inside of your sleeves
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: like this and humming great chants of the ages. You know,
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: that's holiness, right?
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: No.
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: That is not holiness. Holiness means to be dedicated to something.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: That is what holiness is. Many of you have heard
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: me say this before, but it's time to repeat it.
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: My definition of holiness. is to be found in a
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: graduate of Marine Corps boot camp. A fresh graduate from
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: boot camp in the Marine Corps is the holiest individual
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: you'll ever find. He is dedicated to the Corps. Yes sir!
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Have you ever seen a fresh graduate from a military school?
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: My sons both One came out of the Air Force Academy,
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: and the other came out of officer school in the Army.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: And I saw them just after they graduated. And I mean,
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: they're ramrod straight. They're 15 pounds underweight, all muscle. They
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: can run for 20 miles with a full pack. And, sir, yes, sir,
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: we're dedicated to the Corps, sir! Well, the idea of
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: dedication is what you find in the Greek word that's
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: translated holiness. in the New Testament. To be holy is
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: to be dedicated. To be dedicated is to be holy.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: And so lest we confuse piety with holiness, the two
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: are two different concepts. Piety is where you are utterly,
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: so utterly separated from the world that you're just kind
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: of walking around up here six feet off the ground,
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: levitating in the Lord. But holiness means to be dedicated
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: to something. So are you dedicated to the cause of Christ?
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: That's all you have to ask yourself. If you are,
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: then you are holy. And Paul says, perfecting holiness in
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: the fear of God. And I try to perfect my holiness.
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: Now I will never make it until the day I die.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: I'm getting closer and Sometimes I think I'm getting farther away,
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: but then I get closer again. But perfecting holiness is
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: what it's all about. Now, it's optional. You don't have
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: to perfect holiness. And the concept introduced here then is
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: expanded later on in 2 Corinthians and Paul begins to
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: talk about this idea of perfecting holiness, but it's optional.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: That is to say you don't have to perfect your holiness.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: Nobody's going to stand over you with a whip and
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: make you perfect your holiness. It's something you should want
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: to do. Holiness being dedication to the cause of the
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: Lord Jesus Christ. Now having said all that we get
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: into an incident here. Or Paul's recollection of an incident.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: His meeting with Titus. He says, receive us. We have
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: wronged no man. We have corrupted no man. We have
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: defrauded no man. We haven't injured anybody. We haven't robbed anybody.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: Can you imagine the great apostles using such words? The
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: great apostle Paul saying, I haven't wronged anybody, I haven't
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: injured anybody, I haven't corrupted anybody, I haven't robbed anybody,
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: I haven't defrauded anybody, I haven't done anything to anybody.
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: Why would an apostle of all people be saying these
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: kinds of things? Because he had been accused of all
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: of this and more. I speak not this to condemn you,
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: for I have said before you that ye are in
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: our hearts to die and live with you. Great is
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: of you. I am filled with comfort, I am exceedingly
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: joyful in all our tribulation, for when we were come
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: unto Macedonia our flesh had no rest. But we were
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: troubled on every side. Without were fightings, within were fears.
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: Nevertheless God that comforted those that are cast down comforted
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: us by the coming of Titus. And so Paul is
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: saying that the relationship that he had had with the
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: Corinthian people had been so disturbing to him that he
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: was just about beside himself. He was terribly disturbed. Arguments. Controversies.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: Paul confesses here that he had anxiety. The great apostle Paul,
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: he had anxiety. Well, that's wonderful for me, because now
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: if I If I'm occasionally anxious, I can say, well,
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: Paul was anxious too. In other words, he was fighting
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: a good fight just like I'm fighting the good fight.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: Outside were fightings or arguments. Inside were fears. Nevertheless, God
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: that comforteth those that are cast down. Cast down, by
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: the way. I can't let that term go by. Cast down.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Cast down. To be cast down is to be hurled
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: to the ground, just slammed, body slammed. He says, nevertheless
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: God that comforted those that are cast down comforted us
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: by the coming of Titus. And not by his coming only,
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: When he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more,
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: or all the more. For though I made you sorry
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent.
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: For I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry,
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: though were but for a season. He had bad words
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: with the Corinthians. Crucial, critical words. In fact, as we
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: have said, he wrote at least three letters to the Corinthians,
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: one of which no longer exists. And of that letter,
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: Paul confesses that that letter was so harsh that he
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: had to apologize for it. So I think God graciously
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: moved that letter out of the way. All of which
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: is to say They had problems to solve in the
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: early church. We have problems to solve in the church
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: of the 21st century. Nothing has changed. Paul was in
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: Ephesus when he wrote 1 Corinthians. He expected Timothy to
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: visit Corinth and to come back to him And we
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: see this in 1 Corinthians 16, but I'm not going
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: to take the trouble to go back there. He expected
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: Timothy to go down to Corinth, talk to the people,
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: and come back and give them a report about what
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: was going on. And Timothy did. After a while, he
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: brought a report of the opposition that had developed against
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: Paul in Corinth. A faction had developed in the Corinthian
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: church that accused Paul of being a false apostle and advocating...
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: excluding Paul from the church. He's a false apostle. Follow me,
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: not that false apostle. In fact the word that's used
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: in Greek is false apostle. A fake apostle. Well Timothy
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: brought back a report of this opposition from Corinth after
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: a brief and painful visit. Timothy's telling this to Paul.
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: Paul says, really Timothy? Is that what's going on? So
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: Paul goes to back to Corinth for a very short time,
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: finds out for himself. Then he returns to Ephesus and
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: he writes the sorrowful letter to urge the church to
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: discipline the leader of the opposition. And we've already seen
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: how that worked back in 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Titus
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: carried this letter for Paul to Corinth. Paul was anxious
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: to learn the results. He wanted to see if people
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: read the letter, how they reacted to it. Titus was
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: supposed to come back to Paul. Paul was just on
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: pins and needles until Titus got back with the report
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: of what was going on. Paul waited and waited and
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: he got so anxious he said, you know, I can't
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: wait anymore. So Paul went to Troas. And then he
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: went to Macedonia to meet Titus on his return trip.
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: He couldn't wait. He had to hear what Titus was
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: going to report to him. And he was greatly relieved
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: that Titus reported that the majority of the Corinthians had
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: repented of their rebelliousness against Paul's apostolic authority. However, a
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: minority in Corinth still persisted. They set up their own church,
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: if you will, and they were going to try everything
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: they could to push Paul completely out of the Corinthian church.
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: The influence of Paul to them was still absolutely unbearable.
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: So that minority opposition continued to exist. Now all the
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: way through 2 Corinthians we're going to hear references to
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: this minority opposition in Corinth. The opposition seems to have
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: been led by Judaizers. Judaizers are those who believe that
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: you should keep the law after you become a Christian.
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: That is to say you are obliged to keep the
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: feasts of Israel and the commandments, the Sabbath, and so forth.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: And so there was a battle royal in Corinth between
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: Judaizers and the followers of Paul. Well, while he was
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: in Macedonia, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, which we're reading. And
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: he sent it with Titus and another brother, and we
• 52:01
  Speaker 2: don't know who it was, and this took place in
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: about A.D.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: 56.
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: Probably This letter, 2 Corinthians, was written in Philippi up
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: in Macedonia. But I say all this when we have
• 52:15
  Speaker 2: the test, you're not expected to remember all these geographical locations, time, dates,
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: and places. And there will be a test. No, there won't.
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: I'm kidding.
• 52:24
  Speaker 2: You don't have to remember all of this. But I'm
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: just trying to give you a little of the flavor
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: of the dramatic upset that was going on at the
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: time in AD 56. Now Guess what was also happening
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: at this same time? Nero was in the process of
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: coming to power. And there was about to be a
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: huge persecution of Christians. So in addition to battling internal
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: problems in the church, Paul and the others were going
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: to have to battle the Romans. Nero and the others.
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: Paul then, after all this, made another trip to Corinth.
• 53:04
  Speaker 2: And later on in 2 Corinthians, and then back in
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: the book of Acts, we're going to refer to this
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: final trip that Paul made. I say all this to say,
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: and I think you now have a flavor of what
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: was going on. There was deep emotional anguish, heart-rending separation.
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: There was political difficulty. There was nastiness. There was backbiting, infighting.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: And Usually when you read 2 Corinthians you don't read
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: it this way, do you? You don't think about all
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: this stuff. What you do is you kind of read
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: it and say, oh this is sweet. Gee, I can
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: learn some spiritual lessons when I read 2 Corinthians. But
• 53:51
  Speaker 2: these are not sweet words. These are words of anguish
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: and anxiety, of problem solving and of drama, person against person.
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: And so Going back to verse 5 of chapter 7,
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: for when we were come into Macedonia, remember I said
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: Paul went up into Macedonia, probably to the city of
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: Philippi to meet Titus, says for when we were come
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: into Macedonia our flesh had no rest. We were troubled
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: on every side. Outside were fightings, inside were fears, nevertheless
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: God that comforted those that are cast down comforted us.
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: by the coming of Titus. Titus came with good report. Yes,
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: there's a large faction of the Corinthians who have repented
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: of their criticism. And not by his coming only, but
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you. Because
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: when Titus went down to Corinth, Titus expecting to find
• 54:56
  Speaker 2: all kinds of political unrest and had instead discovered that
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: there were a number, in fact a majority, of the
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: Christians in Corinth were very faithful. So it says here
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: in verse 7, Verse 8, and we'll quit here. For
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: though I made you sorry with a letter, I do
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: not repent. Though I did repent. For I perceive that
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: for a little season. Now I rejoice. Not that you
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: Ye were made sorry after a godly manner, or according
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: to a godly manner, that you might receive damage by
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation,
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: world worketh death. Verse 10 is often quoted. Godly sorrow
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: worketh repentance. People often use that as a kind of
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: a hammer, you know, Do you have a godly sorrow?
• 56:25
  Speaker 2: Do you really have a godly sorrow? Are you certain
• 56:28
  Speaker 2: you have a godly sorrow? If you don't have a
• 56:32
  Speaker 2: godly sorrow God will not hear your prayer. That's not
• 56:36
  Speaker 2: at all what is going on here. And we're out
• 56:41
  Speaker 2: of time so next week we're going to talk about
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: godly sorrow and what Paul is really saying. I love
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: reading these letters. It's like opening and reading somebody's private
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: mail You mean he said that?
• 56:55
  Speaker 3: Whoa!
• 56:56
  Speaker 2: What a confession. If you really know what's going on here,
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: it's marvelous that God has chosen to put this in
• 57:05
  Speaker 2: Scripture so that we'll understand that other people got problems too.
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: And I need to hear that. Because, well I hate
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: to confess it, but I have problems sometimes. And you
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: thought everything just went extremely well for me, didn't you?
• 57:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: And I thought everything went extremely well for you. Ain't
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: Christianity wonderful? It is just wonderful to have this common
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: experience in Christ and to have His Holy Word, the
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: words of Scripture, which just happen to be somebody's personal
• 57:42
  Speaker 2: and private mail that you can actually read. It's just
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: amazing to me.