2 Corinthians 12:14-13:14, Have You Been Tested?

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church

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2 Corinthians 12:14-13:14, Have You Been Tested?

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2nd Corinthians chapter 12 starting in verse 14 To chapter 13 verse 14. So the in the end of the letter hear the word of the

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Lord Here for the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be a burden for I seek not what is yours

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But you for children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children

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I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls if I love you more.

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Am I to be love less? But granting that I myself did not burden you I was crafting you say and got the better of you by deceit

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Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him.

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Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act at the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

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Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ and all for your a building beloved

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For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish and Perhaps there may be quarreling jealousy anger hostility slander gossip conceit and disorder

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I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of The impurity sexual immorality and sensuality that they have practiced

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This is the third time. I'm coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

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I Warned those who sinned before and all the others and I warned them now while absent as I did when present on my second

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Visit that if I come again, I will not spare them Since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me

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He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you for he was crucified in weakness

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But lives by the power of God for we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you

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We will live with him by the power of God Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith test yourselves

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Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail to meet the test.

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I Failed the test, but we pray to God that you may not do wrong Not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may

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Do what is right, though? We may seem to have failed for we cannot do anything against the truth

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But only for the truth for we are glad when we are weak and you are strong Your restoration is what we pray for for this reason

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I write these things while I am away from you that when I come I may not

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Have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down finally brothers rejoice aim for restoration comfort one another

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Agree with one another live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you

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Greet one another with a holy kiss all the Saints greet you The grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all

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May the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. We'll take it any test lately

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You may think well, I'm out of school. I don't have to take tests again Well tests are a part of life in school Of course You'd take a lot of death almost every class or course that you say ends with a test at some point

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If you want to go to college, you'll probably have to take the SAT or the ACT College courses usually end with a test an exam if you want to go to graduate school after college

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You'll likely have to take the GRE the graduate record exam, but tests don't end with school

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You know You might have to take an IQ test or to get a driver's license You have to take a driving test and an eye test

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To start some jobs yet It may have to take a health test or a drug test If you're just out of school and don't know what to do

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You can take a career test you want to fine -tune your marriage You can take a relationship test if you run a restaurant,

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I understand Well, of course you'll occasionally get inspected which is a kind of test and inspection how healthy your place is

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They'll come in and test you make sure everything is at the right temperatures I believe you got to take tests and know You know how cold some things to be how hot has some things have to be right?

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So bacteria does it grow that kind of test recently? We've heard a lot about medical tests particularly testing for kovat

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Medical tests are the only test you that you don't want to be positive. He's not most of the time No, maybe except for pregnancy a lot of time

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Well people may want a pregnancy test to come out positive But most of the time they want their medical tests to come out negative, but if you test positive for kovat

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That's not a good thing. Many people like to so learn about themselves that they will take tests just for fun

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You know, it's kind of it's kind of weird that in school students hate tests but then people get out of school and then they'll just take take tests all the time just to Find out about themselves personality test a love test movie trivia test

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Sports test is even a nerd test to determine your level of nerdiness

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If you like that kind of thing some games like Trivial Pursuit are really just competitive tests that people will pay hard -earned money

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So they can take tests for fun. Some some people like competitive sports like basketball

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Simply because they get to test themselves over against other players. So the guys who come here later this evening will want to play games

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You know with keep score Compete against each other with teams not just shoot around you say well, they said that come here for the basketball

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But yeah, but they don't just stand there and shoot baskets They want to play games with each other because they want to test themselves against each other

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They want the experience of being tested, but there's one place where people normally don't expect test

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The church Many believe the church is a test free zone All the assumptions that go behind tests what think of what's assumed in test

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Well, there's some kind of authority that can implement the test Then there are some criteria that you have to meet and there's the possibility that you could fail

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You know, if you never if you can't fail the test, it's just a waste of time You're not interested in that but all those those those assumptions like some kind of authority

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There's a criteria to be met and that you could fail Many people assume that that's the opposite of what the church is about That there's no authority.

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There's no really anything you have to Understand or live and there's no way you could possibly fail.

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They think that's what the church is It's like that big and that's a major reason. I think that many particularly men and particularly young men find the church so Boring the church in their mind is sort of the the opposite of the basketball game

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There's there's no rules. There's no authorities. There's no there's no way to lose or even win

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So it's just about sitting around and hearing the same old things we don't really you don't have to learn and you don't have to live by so it makes no difference and And you just feel good about yourself you hope and that's so boring

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What's that and so no wonder that they would be bored with the church if that's why we really are But here the

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Apostle Paul shows us as he concludes his second letter second letter actually that we have to the Corinthians He probably wrote at least one other.

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He's here He concludes that that is not at all what the church is is about that there are tests and we see that here in three parts first tested for authenticity in chapter 12 verses 14 to 18 and then second testing audacity in chapter 12 verse 19 to chapter 13 verse 4 and Finally test yourselves from an authority so we have authenticity audacity and authority first Paul's authenticity

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Has been tested he's coming to them for the third time He's he says starting in verse in chapter 12 verse 14.

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They they've seen his life now up close for years He has been tested and he resolves that he will not be a burden to them

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He says that he's not gonna be another rent -a -preacher. He's not an entertainer in their culture of oratory

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It just makes his his money off of that like an entertainer He's not gonna be a burden on them

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For because he explains I seek not what is yours, but you

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That's a great line. By the way, this is a great culture of oratory, that's a great Read a rhetorical line.

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I seek not what is yours meaning Latin I don't seek your money your cars your houses your stuff.

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I don't see what's yours. I see you I Don't want your things your cash

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I want you your souls your hearts your lives and he regards them as his children and so he'll

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Spend and be spent for their souls literally, of course

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Practically, he would have to spend money To minister to them, but he would spend the money from other churches from Macedonia in order to minister them but the fact that that he wasn't taking money from from them, but from others and Yet still nurturing them still caring for them

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Providing for them like a parent provides for a child, you know, if the child can't pay them back that fact

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That they've seen in his two previous visits They've seen in his life is a test of his authenticity he was the real thing

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But Despite that what they should be obvious to them. They should have seen his life. He's authentic but in a culture of so so full of frauds some of hooksters coming through Selling themselves just really just try to make money to saying whatever they can say performing so many people available to entertain them with oratory

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Super Apostles competing with Paul for their attention and admiration It's easy to become cynical to assume that you know since everyone else is in it for the money

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So too must Paul be he must be in the money in it for the money somehow Even after he's been tested and he's proven.

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Otherwise, he loved them more as proven by his life, but he was loved less

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He says in verse 15 And that's how horrible I loved you more But I was loved less

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I think he means loved less than you love those Super Apostles I love you more than they loved you and I got love less from you

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Because you love their swagger That's because sometimes true love doesn't immediately please the one being loved

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True love means doing for someone what they need what is good for them

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Which may not always be what they want Sometimes those loving things That people need which are good for them.

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Sometimes they're pleasing certainly sometimes They're not sometimes the most loving thing you can do for someone is not what they want a

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Drug addict may love for you to help provide him or her drugs But it's not the loving thing to do a drunk may love for you to ignore their sin

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Just to live with it comfortably kind of enable it by challenging it by not challenging it I should say, you know by not exposing it.

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I'm telling them to stop getting drunk, but it's not the loving thing to do an abusive person may May love for you to keep putting up with the abuse

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But it's not the loving thing to do People lost in their sins They were trapped by some cult or in false doctrine or just deluded by a false sense of security because they're moral

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They're religious. They made some decision years ago that they're convinced They're okay with God, even though the test of their life doesn't show it such people will want you to play along They'll want you to say yeah, you're okay.

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You're you're Christian. You're fine You're saved you're going to heaven to not rock the boat to let them go on presuming that everything is fine

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You'll make them happier in the short run by doing that But it's not the loving thing to do

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Here Paul loved them the authenticity of that love was proved by his willingness to sacrifice that is due to spend

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And be spent for them But like many people they had rather be entertained than loved and in the culture full of frauds

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It's easy to be cynical where nearly everyone is in authentic Everyone is in it for what they can get out of it for the money

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You don't recognize authenticity when you see it as in verse 16 where Paul echoes the criticism of some that Paul's Refusal to take money from them must have been must have been some kind of angle everyone has an angle a ploy a

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Self -serving strategy so two months as so too much this clever Paul He's like the company that advertises their software was it you know a free download and you find out yeah, okay?

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I can download it for free, but I can't use it unless I pay so it's all a gimmick You learn when doing business that there's always that there's always an angle

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There's always a gimmick that nothing comes for free that every company that offering something what what they say is for free has a way

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Somehow to take advantage of you a strategy to separate you from your money so the

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Corinthians assume Paul must be like that, too That's the way the super apostles were they would come they would sound so good

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And there were always have a way of getting something out of it for themselves profiting for themselves Paul must be they've been looking for when's the when is the hook come in from Paul?

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They haven't found it yet, but they're just assuming it's coming sooner or later Maybe if he didn't take money yet.

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He's just setting them up for that big haul Sometime later, maybe when he take supposed to take all that money to Jerusalem.

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Maybe then he'll Take a lot of it for himself Maybe he's just very crafty.

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He's deceived them. They're cynical people To whom you can never really prove yourself now matter how many tests you pass

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They'll always suspect there's there's something inauthentic about you You know the people like that doesn't matter how how many tests you pass

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They'll just always Suspect you you can't earn the respect of disrespectful people

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We have a similar culture here our culture of inauthenticity where the people often put forward for leadership

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Especially in the church are often put forward like these super apostles Because Not because they're necessarily that they're spiritual or mature or biblical, but maybe they just have a gift for the gab

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They're smooth talkers They're people pleasers. They're successful men with numbers to boast about they can they can draw a crowd

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It's looked like we don't have much of one today. Well, they can draw a big crowd Fill up a gym maybe and men with swagger

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But who learn oddly enough never to run in front of the other men with swagger And they do that by challenging the sins of those out there

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Their sins and never the ones of the sins right in front of them So like preaching against those homosexuals in San Francisco while ignoring the racists who are right in front of them

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And that's what so many people that's what many people like in This culture, right?

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I've been told myself. I remember one man told me preach the word brother Okay, and when I did boy, he didn't like it

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He wanted me to preach the word to somebody else out there He didn't want it priest at him. And so in that religious system, which is common here in its culture

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It's I think same for the Corinthians It doesn't matter how often you quote scriptures or leadership on following on church discipline first step first Timothy chapter 5 verse 19

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Not accepting an unverified accusation against an elder the leader, especially the pastor is always wrong

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Because we just know In our enlightened cynicism that he chose that line of work to profit himself

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Serve himself and we have we've got to always keep a close eye on him Because we know

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He's inauthentic And so Paul asked him a series of rhetorical questions Starting in verses verse 17 the verse verses 17 and 18 to get them to see past their sentences

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I mean ask them these things about Titus, you know, why did this happen? Others to get them to thinking for themselves to examine what's going on They don't believe anybody

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They're not gonna be taken advantage of by anyone They're that kind of time, you know, I'm not gonna be taken advantage of by anybody not even

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Paul crafty fellow that he is You know, they just knew oh, he's not taking any money from us.

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Huh? He is something up about that. He's something up He must be doing must be doing something wrong and So we asked him look at the test have

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I ever taken advantage of you Many of them were saying no not yet, but the time is coming you will

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Like that that I did I use any of those I sent to you to take advantage of you

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That Titus did he try to pull one over in you? Did he manipulate you for pay?

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Haven't we all been always authentic? Look past your cynicism your suspicious assumptions that everyone is out to take advantage of you somehow the answer to all those questions in verses 17 and 18 are all to prove that Paul has been

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Tested and he's passed he is Authentic now if he's authentic they're audacious they're audacious because instead of accepting the results of Paul's test that is that he's authentic and now

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Submit to his authority to test them They presume

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That's that's what audaciousness is right? It's just to presume They presume to still be testing him.

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They should be the ones undergoing testing but instead they presume to be the ones implementing the test to be the testers and so Paul proceeds to try to relieve them of their audacity from chapter 12 verse 19 to chapter 13 verse 4

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He asked him in verse 19 if you've if you've been audacious enough to imagine that me

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Paul that I've Did that you can test me if you're that audacious?

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You know, what's what's your what's your problem? Is all this that he's been writing about in these previous three chapters this this foolish boasting that he's indulged in He's he's out boasted the boastful because he actually had more to boast about They didn't know it because he had been boasting about it

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Has it been merely has been merely interested in proving himself to them notice that He says am

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I just proving myself to you? As he is he submitted After three chapters of this, you know boasting out boasting the boastful showing that he has more experience than the super apostles

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Has he been submitting to their presumptuous demand that they can put him?

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Through testing is that what's been going on? Remember the authority does the testing?

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Right. The one who does the testing is the authority not the students who test the teacher. It's the other way around right?

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so by Putting himself out there to be tested by them. Is he is he submitting to them?

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Is he saying? Okay Corinthians? You're my you're my authority. You're my teacher No, that's what they've been thinking because they're audacious but that's that's what's been going on in verse 19

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That's their audacity As Paul been defending himself to them because they're their authority.

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That's what they audaciously thought here Paul has defended himself for about three chapters because They're also audacious.

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They assume that is because Paul is submitting to their demand to put him through more testing

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They're just assumption about themselves that they are the authority and they get to examine

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Paul, but he clarifies Do you think that I've been saying this to prove myself to you? No, I've been speaking before God for the purpose of Not proving myself to you but for the purpose of building you up To teach you that your spirituality like what we talked about last week.

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Your spirituality is all wrong You're boasting in your glory and your success and your numbers and your budget your love of swagger of people who'd like to talk about themselves and their visions and their revelations and their

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Experiences and you just lap that up. You just think that's what it means to be spiritual. That is all misplaced

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It's all off target to show you what it means to take up your cross in this life

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So that now you'll finally know That if you're gonna follow a man who was crucified

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Don't be surprised When he shares some crucifixion with you Paul says

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I wrote all that not because I was submitting to you as if you were the authority Now you think you're the authority because you're audacious

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But he says no, that's not why I was doing it because you're not the authority now. We're gonna address your audacity I wrote all that to you to build you up and then he ends

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Beloved you notice that verse 19 I'm not submitting to you because you're not my authority

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You think I have been because you're audacious because you have this character problem. You have this spiritual ality problem

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You're distorted and you're beloved You're loved by God by me

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I'm showing you that you are loved and building you up by taking from you the audacious assumption that you

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Should be testing me that you can't even test me They are so audacious by continued to insist that they could put him through testing because in reality

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It is Paul who was coming to test them for because he says in verse 20.

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You need to understand. This is the reason That is not you testing me but me testing you

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I'm coming for a third time He says and if they are still when I arrive Paul says and you are still

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Audaciously thinking that you can test me He says well, I won't be finding you as I wish

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Very understated very mild way to put it. I won't I'll be this like like a very self -controlled parent after a

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Badly misbehaved child. I'm disappointed in you Paul is saying if I come and you're still audacious thinking you can test me

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I'll be very disappointed in you and he says you won't find me as I as you wish either

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Because you'll find me severe He's coming to test them and they won't like it at all proud people audacious people who don't understand that They are the ones undergoing testing resent it when their tester arrives

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When they are put to the test and this is what proud people today in the church find so strange

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Thinking about church discipline the very idea about it the idea that they can be tested by the church

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They just find that They have almost no category for it in their brains.

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What do you mean that the church can test me? No, that's not what the church can't do that church is a test -free zone

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They think today the average American churchgoer audaciously thinks that no one Can test him?

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That same proud audacious attitude is fertile ground for all the sins are listed in verse 20 Notice those sins they come out of pride

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Paul is saying that as long as you are so proud There might be quarreling quarreling because people can't tolerate each other's differences.

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They can't tolerate someone being in the lead for a while So they quarrel there might be jealousy because people suspect that what others have

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Including authority or respect actually belongs to them. I want it There might be anger

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Because the proud person can't tolerate when someone in impinges on what they think they deserve.

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I deserve more respect than that There might be hostility as deep down they resent others

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There might be slander as they think they have the right to say anything about anyone To put them in their place

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Put them under them. There might be gossip This is kind of like slanders for the same purpose.

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A gossip is often true, but it's unnecessary Gossip as they use little morsels of truth to put down others under them

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Gossip is usually half -truths slander is just outright false conceit and audacious as audacious people assume that they are better than each other and Disorder as proud people who can't tolerate being asked to submit to some kind of authority who will put them in order a tester

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Paul is coming to test him and they need to understand that or else they could find that the same he could find that the same sins that he's corrected for like at first Corinthians are still being practiced and Paul says that would humble him in verse 21

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It would humble him by showing him that they still have it turned from their sins after all the his ministry there

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They're his preaching to them his letter writing to them that they are still living the same way

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But there's still those who are practicing sexual immorality who are greedy or just disorderly and Nothing's changed that would humble

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Paul. He would think well, I'm a failure. I've produced nothing in you While all along they are audaciously testing

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Paul He said this is the third time I'm coming chapter 13 verse 1 and I'm going to put you to the test and he quotes the law that every charge must be supported by Witnesses and he says his own third visit will be his third witness and he will have other people along with him to be

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Supporting his support supporting witnesses in verse 2. He reminds them that they've been warned He will not spare them he says he is coming to test them and if they are still in their sins

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They could expect discipline can expect severity They audaciously think that they could continue testing him in verse 3

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They're seeking proof from him from him as though they are in a position to seek proof

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Right, you don't you you don't you driving down the road don't pull over a policeman and ask him for for his

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ID and Driver's license and insurance card. Do you know it's the other way around because he's the authority you can do that to you

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You can't do that to him here with the Corinthians These Corinthians have got into their head they can pull him over and ask for his driver's license and ID and Insurance.

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No, Paul is saying no, it's the other way around. You've been audacious They're seeking proof from him is that they were in his position to seek proof

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They're not the proof is though. He says he will not spare them He will test them and fail them if necessary.

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He will spell some of them from the church He will be powerful in dealing with them with you

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They've mistaken swagger for strength and true strength the meekness and gentleness of Christ they've mistaken that For weakness and they're about to find out if they remain audacious arrogant putting themselves at the place of the tester

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They're about to find out that Christ himself Through the Apostle Paul will be strong dealing with sin

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Just as he said he would The Christ himself was weak as they think of weakness in verse 4 he was physically vulnerable he was crucified by those he submitted to but through that weakness that voluntarily chosen weakness

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He now lives having been raised up by The power of God and now be submit to him.

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We admit our weakness our sins Our needs our position is those being tested

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Not as the cynics who get to test everyone else To their own standards

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Audaciously thinking that you know, we are the strong ones No Paul says because we are weak in relation to Christ that he that he's our

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Lord to whom we trust and submit We will be strong in dealing with you

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Corinthians it will be as if Christ himself and all his resurrection power was dealing with them in their sins if they do not repent

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They audaciously and their pretended Swaggering strength their own self -appointed authority

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They think they can put Paul to the test, but Paul is coming in the power of God To test them now the best way they can prepare for that the third point the best way they can prepare for that Then is to test themselves

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Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith He writes in verse 5

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And I found that there is probably no more insulting command to the modern presumptuous audacious

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Professed Christian than that if you want to deeply offend professed

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Probably nominal Christians today tell them simply as Paul does here test yourselves

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To see if you're really safe examine yourselves Now first many of them have a theology that doesn't even allow them to make sense of that command

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What are you talking about test myself to see if I'm saved it doesn't register with them

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They believe that salvation is having made a decision at some time past they believe that being in the faith means just agreeing

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Intellectually with a few basic doctrines about Jesus and that once they do that Then they are quote saved and they are eternally secure and they never need to doubt it

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So with that understanding of salvation, it makes no absolute it makes no sense from absolutely no sense from Paul When he asked them to examine themselves because he's writing think about it

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He's writing Remember many people today so -called Christians. They have this theology basically salvation is just saying you believe some things and I have to make any change your life and here's

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Paul writing to a whole congregation of people all of whom say they believe in Jesus and So if that theology is right, all of them should be saved, but he's writing to them

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This congregation full of people who say they believe in Jesus who've made all of them have made some kind of decision for Christ It makes no sense then to ask them to examine yourself to see whether you were in the faith

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Oh, what are you talking about? They're all say they believe so they're in the faith But Paul does ask that and he asked that because that understanding of salvation

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That it's just a decision about whether we supposedly agree with some facts about Jesus. That isn't real salvation

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That whole idea is false real salvation resulted What Paul called earlier in this very letter in 2nd

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Corinthians being a new creation if anyone is in Christ He is a new creation.

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All things have become new God has made us new and that newness will show in our lives not perfectly, but it will show

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Authentic salvation results in an objective change so radical it will show in some definite ways

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It's not just like having a change of opinions. I You know, I used to not believe those doctrines.

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I used to not believe that about history now I do believe that no, there's much more to it than that. It's more like a pregnancy

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There is an objective new life That that is now in you. It was not in you before There's something new there.

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It's alive in you And that's different the presence of that new life can be tested

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You you can come back positive with test to show that you have

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Jesus Christ living in you and so he says in this verse Do you not realize it's about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you don't you understand that?

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If you were born again, the same Jesus who was raised from the dead is in you and he is going to make a difference

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In you so it's not like some put it sure. Okay, maybe Jesus is in your life, but he's not

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He's not on the throne of your life That's the way some try to people explain why you have some people who profess to say they're believers and then don't show it

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Well, yeah, he's in my life, but he's not on the throne You have to make the decision to put him on the throne, but you're still saved

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You just don't have him on the throne of your life No Jesus is gonna play along with that Jesus is the king.

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Don't you know? I mean we've never met Kings I don't at least I have it probably none of us have here but Kings don't come into your house and just sit anywhere

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They'll sit on the throne because that's what they are. They don't put up with any other kind of second -class treatment

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Jesus is the king. He's not gonna be anywhere else in your life other than the throne

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He's not gonna play along with our audacious attempts to put him somewhere else.

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You can sit there Jesus in that by the way No, he's not gonna he's not gonna do that our Audacious attempts to make ourselves the king while we try to get him to serve our our interests

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No, if you are saved Jesus Christ is in you and He will rule over you

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And that's why Paul can challenge them with that test test yourself To see whether you are in the you are in the faith if you are if you're truly saved it will show

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Just like a pregnancy can show you can test it I believe this is what he's been driving it for this entire letter what he's been building up toward He's been gathering up the proofs of what it is to be a

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Christian You have the Holy Spirit who's the God of all comfort? So you are comforted?

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You are led As the church together spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere and like an army in a victory parade

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We don't proclaim ourselves We proclaim Jesus. We are new creatures.

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We are the temple of God We have a godly grief about our sins We're not free of all our sins yet But we mourn over them in a way that brings us to repentance when we do said we give generously to give cheerfully

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We've tasted the meekness and the gentleness of Christ Following a crucified man.

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We've had some crucifixion shared with us These are all test

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Proofs to show whether we are truly saved at all Do you test positive?

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for the presence of Jesus You see it is possible to be a professed

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Christian made some kind of decision Acknowledge the facts about Jesus, but not be truly saved.

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Some people can test themselves and fail the test He says at the end of verse 5 if you fail the test

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Then that's not because we have Jesus as our Savior Not our Lord It's because we aren't saved at all yet It is biblical.

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It's a biblical important vital question. Are you really in the faith?

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I don't believe Except in maybe some extreme kind of rare Circumstances like an

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Adolf Hitler who professes to be a I don't know if he really professed to be a Christian or not by the time He really what you know in early life.

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He was professed to be a Catholic. I don't believe in except in some really rare cases In concluding that someone who professes to be a

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Christian is not one understand Someone professed to be a Christian. I believes that you're not As though I have the right to test them if Paul could think about a

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Paul here. He's the Apostle He's wise he's full of the Holy Spirit and he knew these people very well and still here

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He doesn't start concluding, you know Corinthians your problem. Is that you you and you and you and he starts naming names

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You're not really saved Now if he doesn't do that Then I don't think

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I have the right to do that But I do believe that we can tell people to test themselves If their life doesn't show this profess to be a

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Christian But the living in sexual immorality or they're greedy or whatever you guys say these that you're not living like one

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You don't stand the difference but there is a big difference I Do believe that we can call people to test themselves to lay before them the criteria that they should be meeting

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This is how a Christian lives The fruit that that having the Lord Jesus in your life should be bearing

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You say you look you're slander. You're you're lying. You're a hateful racist you're lust driven and your person bondage to sexual immorality or You just have no desire that I can see for the

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Lord for the word for worship That's why you're not going to church. You don't care for the life of the church. That's the criteria.

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Why you need to test yourself Do you have any grief over your sins? Now if your religion doesn't lead you to repentance you need to you need to understand

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I can't make that conclusion for you. You need to understand That you failed the test Test yourselves

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This is a large part of what we come to church for At least should be far from the assumption.

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The church is a test -free zone We come every Sunday for the purpose of being tested Of hearing what it means to have

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Jesus Christ in our lives Sometimes we'll fail The test sometimes we show it.

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Yeah, we've been doing this or that we've been We've been showing Jesus in our lives

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But sometimes we don't show it and when we and when we sin by acting differently than Jesus We show the presence of Christ By him causing us to grieve over our sins

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He shows us our sin and we grieve and we repent and we're forgiven And we have joy and that grieving and repenting and joy makes us humble

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So we don't continually have all those prideful sins listed in verse 20 like like nearly every other area of life we have tests in the church and That includes all the things that go behind tests, you know an authority that can implement them

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Criteria that have to be bet the possibility that we could fail The authority is here

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For the Corinthians Paul himself in verse 10. He says he's coming with authority from the Lord himself He can use that authority severely if need be

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He is the one who has been tested in verse 6 and passed of course to them and their audacity Thinking they they can put part of the test.

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He doesn't seem like he measures up He seems like he fails in Comparison to those super apostles, you know with their swagger

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Your self -confidence Preaching themselves all the time. He seems weak

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They assume They are strong They assume they're in their position of authority.

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They assume they can test him But he is for their restoration He is for they're finally being mature for them knowing what true strength and weakness is

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That the gentleness and meekness of Christ is strength that the swaggering boasting of the super apostles is

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Really weakness the authority here Was Paul to them the authority for us is

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The Word of God which comes in the same way to us Showing us correcting us

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Making us grieve sometimes bringing us to repentance Giving us joy. We come to church to be tested to meekly

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Weakly submit to the authority of God's Word showing us what it means to be in the faith

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What it means what the impact of the presence of Christ will make in our lives to admit that by ourselves

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You know, sometimes we fail the test that we don't measure up that we have nothing to feel proud or strong about but that if we are in Christ That means that Christ is in us and so we have real faith that God has given us a a new heart where Christ now dwells and he sits on the throne a

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Foretaste of a new heaven and the new earth that is coming and So we can be new now

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The authority tells us what it means and what it should look like So we test ourselves with the

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Word of God if so, then Whether we test ourselves say we pass in this area or we test ourselves and we fail we get forgiveness

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So then we rejoice He says as we conclude 2nd Corinthians rejoice that you have within you if Christ is in you the power to be restored

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To be who you were a midgley vigil a intended to be we have the God of comfort.

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So comfort each other We have the Lord within us who is gentle and meek

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So concede to each other Submit to each other and be at peace then the

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God of love and peace Will be with us Show that love and peace here with a holy kiss mean

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I want to do that now with the coven thing going around but In their culture that was the affectionate Brotherly or sisterly way of greeting and it still is on the cheek and some parts of the

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Middle East now We're not I don't think we're obligated to to have that form of the holy kiss

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But we should still have the meaning what is intended to mean a warm culturally appropriate greeting of affection testing positive for the presence of Jesus and With him with Jesus come all the persons of the

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Trinity he concludes we conclude with a benediction Naming each of the persons of the

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Trinity not not in the order of theology But in the order of our experience the grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ Who makes it possible to experience the love of God the

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Father? From whom we get the fellowship that the relationship with the

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Holy Spirit Who makes our fellowship with the rest of the Saints with the rest of the church the