Faithful Are The Wounds of A Friend -Part 1 (WVNE Life Changing Radio Worcester / Boston)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Proverbs 27 verse 6 says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. Someone who truly cares about us, sometimes they'll be able to tell us things or pull us aside and tell us things that are not always easy to hear.

But that's a true friend, isn't it? Back in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the chapter that just about every Christian agrees on, 1 Corinthians 13 is what chapter? The love chapter, right? This is the perfect example of what love is and God's love.

And what does it say? Love suffers long and is kind. And everyone would say amen to that. I certainly would. But what else does it say? Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Jesus said in John chapter 4, you can just make a note of this.

The hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth. For the father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit. And those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

And that's what Paul wanted from the Corinthians, that they would worship the Lord in spirit. That is from their heart. It just it isn't superficial. It's not just going through the motion. It's in the spirit.

It's from their heart. But also that they would worship him in truth. And that was the big problem. That's the problem we've been looking at now for a month or two. That so many of the Corinthian believers had been led away from the truth by the false teachers.

Others might have affirmed the truth, but they really weren't putting it into practice. And now Paul is telling them that because he loves them, here's what I have to say to you. So all that to say this.

Everything Paul writes, it might not strike you at first as the perfect example of speaking the truth and love. But it is. It is everything that Paul is saying. This is coming out of a genuine place of care and concern for the flock of God.

And we're going to read verse 14 in a moment. Just one more comment. I think we know by now that the Corinthian church at times it was an absolute mess, right? I mean, that's one thing that everyone seems to know about the Corinthian church.

It was a complete mess. So if a preacher is going to speak to them, he has to address that kind of a thing, right? But he's doing it because he wants to help because he loves them.

All right.

Look at verse 14. Paul says now for the third time, I am ready to come to you and I will not be burdensome to you for. I do not seek yours, but you for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

All right.

I'd like you to turn to Acts chapter 18.

If you would.

Acts chapter 18. So based on what Paul said, he's already visited the church twice. Acts chapter 18 is the first visit. We're going to read about that. So Paul is going to come and see them for a third time.

As you're turning there, just one statement about this comment that he makes about children ought not to lay up for the parents. Parents are supposed to be the ones providing for their children, correct?

They speak the truth to their children, hopefully try to do it in love. And isn't it a common thing where the children don't like what the parents have to say? They don't always agree with what the parents have to say, but parents know best.

Amen?

Amen.

Well, most of the time. A quick comment on that. You know, parents should lay up for the children. Well, Paul was like a spiritual father to the church, so he wasn't going there to take from them. He was going there to give to them.

He was going to give of himself. Now, Paul had authority like a parent would, but he isn't coming because he wants to exercise that authority. He wants to smooth out all the problems so that when he gets there, it can be an enjoyable visit.

And he says, the more abundantly, here's the problem, though. He says, the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. Look at Acts 18, starting in verse 1. It says, and after these things, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus. And he had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came to them.

So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them. That is, Paul did and worked, for by occupation, they were what? Tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Now, I want you to think about this for a moment on this subject of speaking the truth and doing it in love.

Paul would go into a Jewish synagogue. He did this probably every Sabbath he could for quite a while. And he would tell the Jews what? What was he trying to persuade them of? That this Jesus who Israel rejected, this Jesus is Lord.

He's not only Lord, He's your Lord. And what Paul is doing, he is calling upon the Jews to repent and place their faith in Jesus as Lord. Now, just imagine this. If a Christian missionary or if a Christian preacher today went into a Jewish synagogue and said, repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

That's going to go over like a lead balloon.

Alright.

That's not going to go too well. And you know it didn't always go very well back then either. Now, the popular preachers of our age, just like the false prophets of the first century, they didn't do that kind of a thing.

They had a different take and certainly people today do that you'll hear things like, every religion has their own path. Each individual has their own path to God. Or if there's something that's really unpopular, they're unlikely to speak on that.

Is that Paul's approach? So, he went in and he told them the truth. Do you think it made some people upset? But what was Paul's motivation? Was it from a spirit of love and compassion for these people?

Here's the bottom line. If somebody is on the road to hell, the loving thing to do is not to be mean or cruel or yell and shout and be rude, but to speak the truth in love and try to warn them. If you really believe that's true, we have to warn people.

And that's what Paul was doing. So, how did that go? Look at verse 6. But when they opposed him and what? Blasphemed. What does that mean? They basically started taking the name of Jesus in vain, using it as a curse word.

And of course, people have been doing that ever since. And what did Paul do? He shook his garments and said to them, your blood be upon your heads. I am clean. Notice Paul didn't go into the situation saying that.

That's what he said on the way out. He says, from now on, I will go to the Gentiles. So, I can almost guarantee you that if a preacher did something like that today, went into a house of worship of another religion and that was what they said on the way out, what would people say about that?

Well, that preacher isn't very loving. You know they would say that, right? But honestly, was that Paul? Let's be honest. People can do things that maybe seem like the right thing to do, but they have poor motivations.

Theoretically, someone could do something like that just to get a charge out of people. That's the wrong motivation.

God knows.

But that wasn't Paul's motivation. He really loved these people. Remember in the book of Romans he said, I'd be willing to be accursed so that my countrymen, Israel, so that they would be saved. That's the heart we need to have for the lost.

That's the heart we need to have for other people. Now, Paul was an apostle.

He was a preacher.

That doesn't mean that every Christian needs to be a preacher and go from city to city proclaiming from the street corner. Some people have that calling. Some people don't. We all have friends and opportunities, but it can take different forms.

And just so everyone's clear, I'm not advocating, okay? I am not advocating that every random Christian go into a synagogue or a mosque and do exactly what Paul did. Just so we're clear. You have to consider in the first century there were no established churches.

If somebody wanted to preach Christ, they really had to go into a synagogue. That was the closest thing there was to a church at that time. Let's face it. At least they professed to believe the Old Testament.

So Paul wouldn't go in there saying things like that right away. But if push came to shove, here's the point. If push came to shove, he would be willing to speak the truth. But he was doing it from a place of love.

Lying to people is not loving. Letting people think they're going to heaven when they're really on the road to destruction is not loving. Look at verse 7. And by the way, who compelled Paul to do this?

If you believe the Bible, the Spirit did. Look at verse 7. So we think this didn't go well at all. No, actually it went pretty well. Look what happened. Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, what happened to him?

He believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. I call this a success.

Right?

Amen.

This was a success. Who would have ever imagined that the ruler of the synagogue would have gotten saved? He probably was the last guy Paul expected to be saved, but he believed. Verse 9. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision.

And he said, Paul, do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you. And no one will attack you to hurt you. For I have many people in this city. What did the Lord want Paul to do?

Speak, say something, go tell people, speak. And I want you to consider, is there someone the Lord wants you to speak to?

You might be a little nervous.

You say, yeah, but what if I say something and they start blaspheming and they start opposing me? They will. Okay, just get over that. If you tell people about Christ, some people will do that. That's the way it goes.

Right?

But the Lord said about this city, I have many people there. What does that mean? And by the way, the Lord says, don't worry, I'll protect you. But what does it mean that the Lord had many people there?

These were people that did not believe at that moment, but God knew they would. See, we don't have foreknowledge like God does. We don't know who will believe and who won't. But I wonder how many people in Leverett belong to the Lord, and we just don't know it.

How many people in Turner's Falls or Orange or Greenfield or Shelburne believe in the Lord? They belong to the Lord, but they don't yet believe in the Lord. The fact of the matter is, we don't know. But what does God want us to do?

Speak.

Speak.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.