I invite you to again take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 this morning. And as I mentioned earlier, we've been making our way for months now. I think this is somewhere around 20 sermons, something like that. I've lost count. But we've been making our way expositorily through the book and learning a lot about Paul, his ministry to the Corinthians, And we come this morning to chapter 10, verses 7 through 18. Paul writes, look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account. Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits. but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you, for we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labor of others, but our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. So here in chapter 10, Paul is returned to the defense of himself as a uniquely called apostle by Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. As we've seen, this has become necessary due to the false apostles who have infiltrated the church at Corinth. Readers of the letter have noted that there is a change of tone at this point, a tone that is sharper in comparison to earlier parts of the chapters. Now, theories have been suggested that this changed, perhaps some have the idea that, well, this must be from another one of Paul's letters. It's so strange and so, like, hard and so pointed compared to the gentleness with which he seemed to be dealing with them. Some say, well, this is probably something else Paul wrote that's interjected at this point, which doesn't make sense for a number of reasons. Some go so far as to say, well, really, this wasn't Paul at all. This was somebody else pretending to be Paul, and it got inserted into the letter. And so I reject those ideas. However, those perspectives are picking up on something that is found here, which is there's something going on that the temperature has been increased. He is sharper in this passage and through the end of the letter. But we have to remember, while letters like this could be composed in a single setting, many of us probably write letters, if we still write letters or emails, we do it in a single setting. And it's possible that the New Testament letters were written, though some of the longer ones, like Romans, I think that's probably not the case. They could also, these letters, be composed over several days or longer. Maybe they put their pen down, maybe they thought about it some more, maybe they came back, maybe they edited some things just in the human workings. My suggestion as an alternative explanation for the change of tone here is something like this, and it's just a suggestion. Paul gets to this point of the letter, takes a break, puts his pen down, but he continues to speak about the things at Corinth with Titus and with the other men who are coming and arriving and telling them what's going on and what is the temperature of the congregation. And by the time he picks up his pen again, or his scribe picks up his pen, he's fired up. He's had time to think and let this come in more deeply. And now he's like, you know what? Some of these things that are happening, some of the things are being said, I'm in danger of losing the church, so to speak, humanly speaking, if I don't just lay it out and deal specifically with what's going on there, I just I need to be more pointed. And I think that's the explanation for why in chapter 10, it really takes a sharp turn. So we have to remember that while we accept these letters as the Word of God, they're also letters written by human beings with personalities, moods, ideas, vocabulary, and concerns. These letters are dynamic in their flow and structure. The letters of the New Testament aren't mere rational, abstract theological treatises on Christian ideas, but they are living letters to real people from real people. As such, we can accept such a dramatic change in his tone shaped by his circumstances, his thinking, and things that we don't fully even know. So verse seven, we come to see a call to see the obvious. Paul commands them, urges them, queries them on the necessity to look what is right there before their eyes. He says, he writes, look what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, we are also. Paul is pointing something out here that should be seen by the Corinthians, and that is obvious. But despite how obvious it is, they are missing it. It's right there before their eyes, and they're not seeing it. They need to look at things differently than they have been seeing them. So what is it that Paul says should be obvious that's not obvious to them at this point? It is this. It is the confidence that Paul and his companions are Christ's. And while at first it may seem like he's talking about just being a Christian, like that's how I originally read the phrase, you know, if anybody thinks he is Christ, Christ what? Well, you know, Christ's child, Christ's, you know, salvation project, whatever you may say. But just the idea of being saved, if I am Christ, I'm Christ's possession, I'm Christ's atoning treasure, whatever it may be. But I think there's something more going on here. If we read between the lines, in the context, I think he's saying something more than, like, if they think they're Christians or we think we're Christians, then let them not acknowledge we're Christians. It's more than that. By being Christ, that we are Christ, I think he's saying specifically Christ's chosen servants for ministry. In the context, I think that's what he's arguing here. I think the context indicates that it's specifically what implied is if anyone is obviously Christ's servants to spread his message, it is Paul, and by extension his companions. Look, if it's evident anybody is called of Jesus, it's me. I mean, you've seen the miracles of an apostle. You've heard the message. I'm the one that went to Jerusalem and got the right hand of fellowship from James and the other apostles there. Like I saw Jesus raised from the dead. I mean, I was a persecutor and now I'm a preacher of the gospel. Like if it's clear anybody is in this thing and anybody is Christ's servant, it should be me. And so if they think they're so important and that they have all these skills and abilities, these false teachers like If anybody's going to measure up here, then surely you can acknowledge and see what's right before you. I am an apostle. I am Christ's. Now, later in the letter, we will revisit the reasons why this is so obvious and the reason that they should see it most clearly, which brings us to verse 8 through 11. where he's talking about boasting and authority, for he says, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. So Paul has already used the term boast in this letter three times in 512, 714 and 922. He's already introduced it and he's using it in an unusual number of times anyway. But what's significant is from this point to the end of the letter, chapters 10, 11, 12, that in that, and going on, yes, to 13, he uses it a total of 13 times, this single letter, this single word for boast, indicating that this is a significant theme from here on out. And here's why. The false apostles were particularly marked by their self-boasting. I mean, it's what they are marked by. They come in and what are they going to talk about? They're going to talk about themselves. How they are this. They're not boasting in Christ. They're not boasting. They're boasting in their ministries. They're boasting in their gifts. They're boasting in their ability to do things and get things done in the church. They're boasting, boasting, boasting. But the spotlight of the boasting is on themselves. And Paul's like, OK, you want to play that game, the boasting game? You want to talk about boasting? All right, I'll play. I'll play by your rules. And so he enters the boasting game on their terms. And that's why this term is used in 13 times through the rest of the letter. He's stepping into their arena and going, all right, let's take the gloves off and let's go. If he begins to boast or glory is another way to translate it, he says about the authority that he has been given. He says he will not be ashamed. Before God, he knows who he is and the calling that he has received. And that calling came from Jesus himself. So he's not going to be ashamed of the authority that he carries. He knows from whom he got it. He knows what he is. This call, for instance, is recounted to us as it came through Ananias in Acts chapter 9, verses 15 and 16, where it says this, But the Lord said to Ananias, Go, for he, that is Paul, this is Jesus speaking, is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. So Ananias, I've chosen Paul, I need you to go tell him, I need you to give that message, confirm this message, he's a chosen instrument to carry my name and I'm going to show him how much he must suffer. So Paul had received this call directly from Jesus as a chosen instrument. One of the marks of Paul's ministry would be suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ. And he had suffered greatly. And he's going to recount that suffering later in a later chapter here in 2 Corinthians. And it's a suffering that the false apostles are boasting that they don't suffer. That's one of their boasts is we don't suffer for the name of Jesus. We're way too gloriously in the kingdom. We're way too powerful for that. As a matter of fact, they were using Paul's suffering to discredit him. They were saying his suffering indicates in his. having churches rejecting him, and churches having fights, and churches, all this, like Christ is too glorious. They have what we call over-realized eschatology, like the kingdom has come, man, and when it comes, you see it. Look at Paul, beaten up, churches can't hold themselves together, always in battles with people over theology and otherwise. And so the very thing that Jesus said would mark Paul by way of his suffering, they are discrediting him for. So Paul admits that he has authority, but he exercises it differently than the false apostles. He says in this verse that his authority is for building them up, not destroying them. You see, someone who boasts about themselves for selfish reasons often does so in such a way that while lifting themselves up, at the same time, they feel a need to tear others down. because that just widens the gap even further. You know, I can try to prove that I'm the best, I'm the greatest, I'm the strongest, I'm the smartest, I'm the most eloquent. But you know, the gap is just sometimes too close. So the only way that I can really gain that gap is by tearing these other people down and then show how supreme I am to them. And that seems to be what they were doing. Paul says, and they were using their influence and authority to do this. And Paul says his authority, his boasting, in contrast, is not to build himself up and tear others down, but to build the church up. which then in verses nine through 11, he says, I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters, for they say his letters are weighty, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account. Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. So Paul makes it clear here that his intention isn't to frighten people into obedience by his letters. While the false teachers make the accusation that he is weak in personal presence, but weighty and strong in his writing, they're really saying Paul is a coward. But he assures them, as we saw last week, that he is a gentle warrior, but he's a warrior nonetheless. The reason for his patience and tenderness is not because he is weak, but because he is a spiritual father to them. They need to understand that if they continue to side with these false apostles, when he comes again, he will be weighty and strong in his personal interactions. His tone will change not only in letter, but also in presence. Which brings us to verse 12. verses 12 through 15a, which is just like this spaghetti of ideas and words that I think we can move through pretty quickly, but you'll get the idea. He's lampooning his opposers at this point. He's using sarcasm and irony to undermine their claim. He's using their own bodily weight against them like some forms of martial arts. He's entered into the game and now he's going to turn them on their heads. He's going to use their own terminology to undermine their claims. At this point, it's important to understand the methods with which these false teachers had gained the ears and the hearts of the Corinthian church. And it was something like this. To put it plainly, they were using worldly methods to gain Corinthians confidence, and the Corinthians fell for it due to their own worldly mindedness. Their techniques included rhetoric by which they classified or ranked themselves in comparison to other teachers. Well, you know, so-and-so? Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm this much better and this many notches up than that person. Or I've done this. Or we had a debate and then I won this one and they lost this one and the people voted and they gave us this and that. And so they had this whole ranking system of classifying and, you know, oh, no, no, no, no, that guy, he's not even in our particular class of influencers. And again, a lot of this has to do with the sophistic Greco-Roman background of the sophists and of the philosophers that had made its way through the Hellenizing influence into Christian culture. So it includes classifying, comparing them. After their speaking skills, abilities, and experiences, they show that, display that, put little speeches on, and then they say something like this, wasn't that awesome? And they're commending themselves. Or it may be like, that's my friend, and he And now they're commending one another in that way, and they're like getting momentum by this kind of group of guys in here. It's something like that. So they're measuring, they're classifying, they're commending, they're measuring themselves compared to other teachers. The only way they could accomplish this was by lifting themselves up and tearing one another down. And again, the Corinthians had just come out of the Corinthian culture, which was very metropolitan, very influenced by Greek, Hellenized ideas, very influenced by the sophists. And we look at it and we go, I don't know about this, but it was in the DNA of their thinking that they were still getting worked out by the gospel. Now, if any of this sounds familiar, and this reminds us of so many political debates, Yes, in our day. I got to throw that out there, right? So everybody goes, yeah. But really, it's throughout political history. There's nothing new under the sun. In political debates, where a candidate or an incumbent or somebody who is there in a position, it's just not enough for them to answer a question about a current problem. Sir, what will you do about the economy? Ma'am, what will you do about education? And instead of saying, here is my five-point plan, I will do this and this, and then I need the support of this and this. Instead of telling the audience what they plan to do, instead, the speaker starts by tearing down. Well, all I can tell you is I'm not going to do what that bozo did. I can tell you that. You see the current education system? It's his fault. It's her fault. Tearing down, criticizing, ridiculing their opponents because their platform and their ideas can't stand on their own. And then after tearing the other person down, ridiculing the other person, this is often followed by their boasting and what great changes they went, boy, but compared to them, you should see what's coming your way. Just trust me. Just what plan is it? Oh, it's the best plan we've ever seen. Oh, well, what are a couple of, oh, I can't give you that. I give away my strategy and then the other person might take it. But I trust, just trust me. They will boast about what great changes they will make, but they will either give vague responses to how they will make things better, or they'll give no substantive response at all. But what they do know is this, their opponents are villains who have done nothing or only made things worse. And they are the heroes who will bring about all of your hopes and dreams. If you understand that debating spirit and that style, though it's not really debate, technically speaking. It is with this spirit these false teachers had come into the church, gained the ear of the Corinthians by exalting themselves, tearing others down, particularly tearing down Paul. And you know what? As silly as it looks at face value, it worked. And it worked persuasively, and it worked powerfully, or we wouldn't have this letter. This is what Paul is fighting. He's saying, this is what they did. This is how you got trapped. This is what you've fallen into. But then he goes on to say, verse 13, we will not boast in comparison to comparing and commending and measuring and classifying. If they do that, they're just without understanding, he says. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God has assigned to us to reach even to you. We're not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you. We were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others." So Paul here refers to the fact that he was the one Jesus had used to bring the gospel to the Corinthian church, or the Corinthians who became a church, those who believed in the first place. He was the one who took the risks. He was the one who preached the gospel. He and his companions were the ones who saw people believe and be baptized and discipled them and welcomed the influence of other legitimate men like Apollos and Peter to benefit the church. He had planted the church at Corinth and was attempting to nurture them into maturity. And then, along came the false teachers. They, in Paul's absence, turn the church against Paul, boasting of their own superior abilities and speaking and experience. And they, in fact, took over the church for a time and then bragged about, look what we did. They take over the church, expel the leadership from the hearts of the people, and go, look what we did. I mean, it's all for God's glory. It's all for Jesus' glory. But look at this that we accomplished. Look at all these people. Look at this church that we have. Isn't this a wonderful thing we have done? In his jealousy, we'll see this in chapter 11, verse 2, he has a holy and angry jealousy. He was angry. Paul was angry at the influence the Corinthians had allowed these usurpers to come and teach a different gospel. So in his boasting about what the Lord had accomplished through him, he wasn't doing what they were doing. He was the one who actually planted and discipled and matured, was in process of maturing the church. If he boasts in his accomplishment, their legitimate accomplishment, because he had done them. God had done them through him. But rather it was these false teachers who had overextended themselves is what he calls it. So here's the image I want to use. These men were like pirates who hijack a ship with all of its cargo and then boast in their bounty. So imagine a ship on the high seas And I've got to think old-timey ships. I don't think of modern Somalian pirates. You know, that's just not romantic enough to me. But, you know, high-sailing ships with multiple masts and stuff, all that. And they've gone and they've searched bounty, and they've gotten things from foreign lands, and they're taking it back to their homeland, and here come the pirate ship, you know. And the pirates take over, they hijack it, and they get all this stuff, and they're like, look at all this stuff we got. It's like, that's not your stuff, man. That's an illegitimate gain for things you didn't work for. Now, in fairness, you know, you get the back story. They were probably plundering people of other lands, you know, these colonizers. But anyway, that's a separate story. But you get the idea. Let's pretend they got it all legitimately, but the pirates get on the ship. So what has happened then is these pirates have come along, hijacked the ship with all its cargo. They begin to boast of the bounty and the ship and the crew goes like this. Man, this is a great thing you all have done. The pirates are like, throw the captain off. They're like, OK. The captain who brought us here, the captain who navigated us, the captain who pulled the crew together, the captain who's working with the master, who's financing all of this and taking care of us, we're going to throw that joker off and welcome the pirates as the new leaders. That sounds like a great idea. That's exactly what the Corinthians had done. And the pirates are like, look, We've gained ships like this 20 times. We've done way more than your captain has. And they're like, hey, that's pretty impressive. Look, your captain, he's old and worn out. We're young and vibrant. I mean, we overtook your captain and his guard. Well, that is pretty impressive. So this is why I call this section battling pirates, because this is what Paul is doing with the church there. Paul was not the pirate as they were claiming, but he was the captain who had been tossed overboard by the crew at the direction of the pirates. Now through this letter, he wants the Corinthians to see what is right in front of them. I'm the one called by Jesus to be your apostle. I need you to pull me back on board the ship. I need you to help me toss the pirates out who have hijacked you. If you will do this, then not only will you mature, but this will set up for the work of God to continue in a larger way. That's what he comes to in verses 15, B and 16. He says, if you will do this, our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another area of influence. So Paul has a hope, and it is contingent, however, on the Corinthians' response to this whole situation. If they themselves don't pull him up on the ship and allow the pirates to have the influence, the ship is sunk. If the church will respond properly, he says, their faith will increase. And we may use that phrase to indicate the idea of believing God more strongly or a stronger faith in God's promises, and that's certainly part of it. But here Paul is using it as a kind of synonymous phrase for maturing in Christ for proper obedience. Increasing faith is maturity in Christ by obedience. So if they will grow up, receive again the true gospel, cast out the false teachers, grow in gratitude for what God has done through Paul and his companions, then not only will they see maturity, but they will also enable Paul to have more influence among them, which may mean just within the church itself. It may mean within the city of Corinth. Or as he terms it, his influence will be greatly enlarged among them. But not only this, what can happen there at Corinth, that they will repent. But this will also free Paul up to take the gospel to other places. The lands, he says, the lands beyond you. He probably has in mind the far reaches of the Roman Empire into Spain itself. He wants to go to these other places where the gospel has not yet been preached. He's not like the false apostles who make their living hijacking churches, but he wants to see Christ receive where his story has not yet been told. Then his boasting won't be in other people's works and their influences like the pirates, but by going into new territory with the good news of Jesus. Paul is using this argument and an appeal to the Corinthians who are supposed to love the glory of God so much that they want to see it preached to new people, that they're willing to grow up and accept Paul back in for that. That's the argument he is using. He wants them to do the right thing, stop being such a problem because they're constantly being a problem means he has to focus in on fixing or helping them. But as long as he's doing that, he's being detained from preaching the gospel to new areas. Which brings us then finally to verses 17 and 18, proper boasting and commendation. He says, verse 17, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Now at this point, commentators generally agree that Paul paraphrases and summarizes the wonderful passage that we know from Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. He paraphrases and summarizes this entire passage into this phrase. But here's what Jeremiah 9 says. Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. So Paul kind of gives a summarized link to that passage by saying, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. And that would ignite in the imagination of the readers, the hearers, oh, he's talking about Jeremiah 9, and they would recall all of that. So the mark of the false teacher is self-boasting, and Paul reminds them all boasting of our accomplishments, abilities, influence, and success properly belong to the Lord our God. And all those gifts are for the purpose of knowing God and glorifying him, says Jeremiah. But these men were about self-exaltation in the name of Jesus. So you would hear the name of Jesus and you would hear gospel terminology. But when you step back and looked at it compared to Paul and biblical ministry, it was really about self-exaltation in the name of Jesus. but Paul and his companions and the Corinthian church were to be about boasting in Jesus Christ and his salvation, not in themselves. Which then brings us to verse 18, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. So when it comes to commendation, approval, acceptance, the things that the false teachers seem to be driven by, and probably money as well, It is not ultimately from self or other human beings that we should be seeking them, he says, but the approval of God. This is what Paul wants, and this is what he wants the Corinthians to want. It is for this he will continue to argue and fight as the letter then continues in the coming weeks. So a few very dyspunctiliar applications, going back, gleaning from the text, here are some big takeaways, big picture applications as we close. First, what we find in this section is a warning that when we are not spiritually healthy, we can miss the obvious things that God is doing. Having been a pastor for 24 years, by my own experience and by the experience of those I've pastored, I can say this. It's like when someone is not doing spiritually well, it taints everything. It taints how church worship is going. It taints what the elders say. It taints interaction with other Christians. It spoils the good things. When someone is not spiritually healthy, it just puts these cataract-like glasses on that everything is cloudy and shady. And the person may even be aware, like, I don't feel like I'm doing spiritually well. And then instead of looking internally and upwardly, Start looking through cataract glasses around and saying, oh, it must be the elders fault, the worship leaders fault. It must be the church's fault. It must be this fault. It must be. And begin to look for outside things. And so it's just a reminder when when when life feels wonky or church feels hard or whatever it may be, I believe the first place to start is where is my own walk with the Lord? Am I spiritually healthy? As far as I can tell, am I well with the Lord? Am I living a life of worship and gratitude and pursuing of Christ and however imperfectly and however tainted with sin? Am I as best as I know walking with the Lord with those around me? And then I can more clearly see. But as the Corinthians, we see like, is there anything more obvious than Paul was the apostle sent by the risen Christ and was the true thing compared to the charlatans like That that's that's a no brainer, like put me on a game show and ask that question and I'll be a millionaire. So if genuine Christians can get it so wrong with something so easy, what about all the little nuances of church life and difficulty and leadership and all the rest? It's important that we maintain our spiritual health before the Lord, or we might to miss things that are as obvious. Second, A reminder from this passage that authority in the church is for building up and not tearing down, not destroying. For building up and not destroying. We must beware of preaching that is constantly just tearing down and moralistic and just degrading and just always, you know, I had a sister years ago, dear, dear sister in Christ, who came to me and this was after probably three years of my preaching. And she'd been with us probably about two years at that time. And she came up, dear older saint, older than me. And she came up, she's like, Pastor, I'm just so thankful for your sermons. Every time I hear one of them, I just feel so convicted. I'm like, still listening, like. And so thank you, you know, and she went, you know, to go grovel some more. And I thought after two years of ministry to her, if that's the only thing my sermons do to her, I think I'm doing something wrong. There are people, and I believe she was one of them, that I call grace dodgers. When you take heaps of grace from the Bible and throw it out into the auditorium, and people are like, that's not for me. That's not for me. No, I can't have comfort. You've got grace dodgers, and then you've got law takers. Here, in preaching, you're thinking about a very specific situation. You've got an arrow, you know, you've got it honed in on somebody in your heart. It's like, oh, I hope I hear it. And suddenly that law taker will jump across the aisle and jump in front of the arrow. It's like, that was for me. It's like, no, that arrow was not for you. Stop it. So granted, there are those folks among the congregation. But still, it caused me to pause and ask questions like, am I just going after conviction? Or am I going after promises and comfort? And conviction is important, and repentance is important. But authority in the church is not for constantly tearing down how bad people are and how much they are failing, but only doing that sufficiently to bring us to Christ for our healing, to bring us to Christ for our strength, to bring us to Christ for our renewal. And so when someone uses authority or influence in such a way that corrupts, corrodes, undermines our love for one another, then it's improper. That's one of the things we're reminded here. Next. In the church, it is folly to compare and measure ourselves to other people, other churches, other pastors, other ministries. It's just folly. We're acting like the worldly Corinthians. And some of you maybe in the same conference this week are going to hear about what God does in other churches. And you're going to think about going back to your home church or next week when all y'all are gone is just us again. We just like, well, we feel your absence. We'll feel your absence next week. And you start thinking, you know, but the question is, are we being faithful? Are we seeking the Lord? Are we loving one another? And not comparing, not measuring. with others, other pastors, other churches, but are we being faithful in what God has called us particularly to do? To compare and measure is an attempt to find reason for boasting and self-commendation too often. I know in my own life when I look for reasons to compare, some of you have heard this, when I was in seminary, and this is how pride works in me in comparison. I was sitting in a seminary class and I happen to be wearing a tie this day, and there was no official, you gotta wear a tie or suit or not or whatever, but I was wearing a tie that day, and there was a small class of us. I remember sitting there listening to the lecture, whatever he was saying, and I looked over, and there was somebody there without a tie, and I think, I remember literally thinking to myself, oh, that's so sad he doesn't take this more seriously. You know, at a fine institution like this, at a fine place where we're supposed to be carrying the word of God with reverence and awe There he is just wearing an open collared shirt. Wow. The next day, I didn't wear a tie, was sitting there in class and looked around and thought, looked at a guy with a tie and said to myself, who's he trying to impress? God accepts us as we are. There's no dress code in the Bible. Yeah, sorry. That's how my mind works. That's how my heart works. That's why I need Jesus. Because it's that bad in here. And so it's folly to measure. It is just folly to measure. Next, we should be aware of teachers who attempt to hijack the work of local churches. And for those of you here at RBC, you've heard about this. The influence of social media, it's always easy to be pastored by somebody that you don't know and doesn't know you. and it could be a big name, it could be a small name, it could be whatever, but it's just something that is thankful as I am for so many great, wonderful resources, it's so easily to be disaffected when you find like the number one reformed whatever preacher on the internet that has millions of views and you begin to functionally have him pastor you and then suddenly this goofball up here you see each week is like, well, he's really not that impressive. You're right, he's not. But I'm your pastor. I'm one of your pastors. And that makes a difference. That makes a difference. And pause to say not that I think that everybody's on a platform is trying to hijack others. That's not my point. But there are some who are trying to get the church disaffected with itself and take some kind of glory of people leaving churches. Those are the ones I'm really talking about. Next, our own personal spiritual growth and health is intimately connected with the spread of the gospel. Paul says, I'm so busy taking care of you guys. We saw that early in the letter. I had an open door of ministry in Macedonia, but I could not continue on because I was so burdened by you. So he wanted to go preach the gospel in new places, but he was so taxed by caring for these unnecessary problems in the church. I'm not talking about just Christian growth and people struggling with sin or whatever. I mean, them throwing him off of the ship at the direction of the pirates had derailed his ability to go into new places. And so our own personal spiritual health affects those who minister to us to not be able to minister to others, which doesn't mean we shouldn't get the help that we need. I'm not saying that at all. But it's also the point that when we are spiritually unhealthy, it can hinder us from spreading the good news to those in need. Have you ever shared the gospel with someone and you're sitting there thinking, man, I'm having trouble believing this myself? How can I say that? I feel like such a hypocrite right now. And so our own spiritual health can affect even how we spread the gospel to others. Two more. First, Our boasting should be ultimately in the Lord. That's the conclusion of this whole section. For all that we've done, all that we accomplish, these come not from our natural and learned skills, but what the Lord does through us. Let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows me. That he knows me. And then lastly, our primary aim is not to be those who seek to be commended by others, but to know that we are approved by God in the use of our gifts. Yes, we get input from others. We get feedback. We listen carefully to the voice of those who love us. But at the end of the day, we have to be most convinced that our consciences are good before God. Because if we please others and they applaud us and we know there are things that we are harboring and cherishing that are not pleasing to God, then it doesn't matter how much commendation or recognition or affirmation that we get. We know that we have to have dealings with the Lord. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless the preaching of his word. Let's pray and prepare for the Lord's Supper. So, Lord, we thank you for your word, we thank you that is so down to earth and relevant, and we pray, Lord, not knowing fully what happened to the Corinthian church, we hope that your spirit worked and these pirates were ousted and Paul became the recognized pioneer to that church and that you took him to other places to spread the gospel. And we are thankful that to some degree that was certainly accomplished because here we sit, mostly Gentiles, in another nation and we have believed and the gospel continues on. So please, we pray, whatever particular application points or part of this text felt for us individually or As a church, particularly pressing, Lord, continue to help us to think and pray, to read and to meditate, and Lord, follow your word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We ask in Jesus' name.