Show Notes
II Corinthians 11:1-15
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Let's pray together. Ask for God's blessing in the reading and preaching of his word.
[00:00:05] Our heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word to us, and we praise you for the beauty of it, the consistency of it, the salvation that's in it. And, Lord, there are many lies that are around us. There is an evil one that desires to trick us, a world that desires to pull us in, into various snares and choke out the life that is in us. But your word is firm, and it is a light in the darkness. We ask that you would help us to understand it, to hear it, to desire to know you better and better, that we might discern good from evil and true from false. Be at work in us now. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:00:53] Excuse me. Excuse me.
[00:00:57] Let's turn to two corinthians, chapter eleven. Remain standing if you're able, and let's hear God's word. The first 15 verses in two corinthians eleven.
[00:01:41] Second Corinthians, eleven.
[00:01:44] I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
[00:01:58] But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sere and purer devotion to Christ.
[00:02:08] For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
[00:02:23] Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every way, we have made this plain to you in all things.
[00:02:39] Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need.
[00:03:03] So I refrained. And I will refrain from burdening you in any way, as the truth of Christ is in me. This boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you. God knows I do.
[00:03:19] And what am I doing I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like their claim. That in their boasted mission, they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
[00:03:55] May God bless his word to us. Please be seated.
[00:04:25] So the apostle Paul is worked up, right? Can you hear it in his words? Can you hear his emotion? He's upset. We could say he's angry, or to use his words, he has divine jealousy.
[00:04:40] He is emotional, we might say, but not in a bad way, not in the way that sometimes people mean that.
[00:04:50] What's Paul's aim here, brothers and sisters? What's his aim? What's his objective in this passage?
[00:04:58] As you think about what you've heard as you're eyes scan over the texts, what is he trying to get at?
[00:05:06] Well, I think one of the main things he's committed to helping us to understand is the difference between his ministry and the ministry of these false apostles, these ministry of people that have styled themselves as super apostles, better than the apostles above them in some way.
[00:05:29] In this passage, he wants the corinthians, and he wants us to distinguish between a true and false, between truth and error.
[00:05:40] And he is very zealous about it, as he should be.
[00:05:44] Let's take a moment before we get into exactly what he says here and hear the tone in which it comes.
[00:05:55] Feelings.
[00:05:57] Emotions are not sinful in and of themselves.
[00:06:03] Emotions are not righteous in and of themselves.
[00:06:07] Emotions have to be directed at the right things, and they have to be what I may call perfectly powered. And here's what I mean.
[00:06:19] Think about the ways in which we can sin in our emotions, which Paul is not doing here, but just for a moment. How do we sin in our emotions?
[00:06:28] One way is by directing them toward the wrong end. Right. Sometimes we think about love, for example, as a good emotion. But if you're loving something evil, is that good? No.
[00:06:41] If you. Sometimes we think about fear as a bad emotion, but if you are failing to fear the Lord, is that good.
[00:06:55] Our emotions, whatever they are, they need to be directed in the right way. We need to love the things we ought to love, hope for the things we ought to hope for, be angry about the things we ought to be angry about.
[00:07:08] When we sin in our anger, in our love, in our hope, in anything else, we sin in one way by directing them to the wrong place, loving things, we ought to not be loving, being angry about things we ought not to be angry about.
[00:07:26] A second way in which we can go wrong in our emotions is by not having the intensity dialed in. Right. If I can put it that way, they can be overpowered and they can be underpowered.
[00:07:41] Somebody who fails to act in a moment where justice is required and just sort of shrugs their shoulders as a bystander has failed. Right. If someone's getting bullied or torn down and you just kind of stand there and let it happen, that's not good. You're not sufficiently worked up, you're not sufficiently bothered and protective and seeking justice.
[00:08:07] On the other hand, if someone makes a rude comment and then you try to kill them, right. This is overpowered emotion. Too far, too much. Way, way too much. I'm exaggerating, but you get the point, right?
[00:08:24] For emotions to be godly or a godly use of our emotions, they need to be directed towards the right things, and they need to be commensurate with the thing that they are directed towards. Think about love, for example.
[00:08:38] What did Jesus say as far as the commandment to love an action and an emotion?
[00:08:45] He says we are to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul, all of our strength, all of our understanding. There's no way in which you can love God too much.
[00:08:58] There's no way in which you need to kind of dial it back a little bit, as much as you can give and more, because of who he is. That's how God grounds it right here. O Israel, the Lord is one. Because of who he is. We love him as we ought to love him. Our problem isn't loving God too much. Our problem's the other way. Right. Underpowered love, unfeeling coldness, distraction, these kinds of things.
[00:09:33] So just a little lesson on emotions there. Paul is obviously feeling things. He says it here in verse two. He says, I feel divine jealousy for you.
[00:09:46] What is he feeling? I think he's feeling this combination of love, of fear, and of anger.
[00:09:55] His love is towards something good to them as his spiritual children. He cares about them. He desires good things for them. He loves them. He also loves the aim of his ministry. What does he say it is? He says that he is afraid. We'll get to that in a moment. They're afraid they'll be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. That's a good thing. He wants them to be wrapped up in Christ, to be devoted to him, and not in a superficial way, not in a checking the box kind of way, but in a sincere way, a way in which the inside feelings and thoughts and all these things of the heart match the outside actions. That kind of devotion, love and loyalty mixed together.
[00:10:52] That's for you men who were at the breakfast yesterday, this emotional stance towards something good, love, that's what he feels towards them. And that's combined with this anger, a righteous anger of having this difficult obstacle placed in front of him, these super apostles who are trying to take away and ruin the thing that he loves, righteously loves and should protect.
[00:11:21] He sees this relationship, not just him with them, but even more so, them with Christ at risk.
[00:11:30] He is afraid, he says.
[00:11:33] He says, I feel a divine jealousy for you. And then in verse three, he says, I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
[00:11:47] He talks a little bit about how he understands himself through this metaphor of a kind of matchmaker, friend. What does he say in verse two? He says, why does he feel this way? Because I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
[00:12:06] He set them up. We could say he was this matchmaker. He brought the corinthians to Lord Jesus Christ, who loved them in such a way, as we read in one john, that then they loved him.
[00:12:20] And this was wonderful, and this was good and important, the most wonderful thing that can happen. But now there are these people creeping in, seeking to undermine that relationship.
[00:12:33] Imagine in a human way, you set up a couple, two friends, and they're doing great. And then you see a third person coming into their relationship and trying to tear it apart.
[00:12:48] You say to your friend, what are you doing?
[00:12:52] Why are you hanging out with this woman? Why are you hanging out with this man?
[00:12:58] This is his concern, and it is a godly concern.
[00:13:02] His love, his fear, his anger, as he puts it, this divine jealousy that he has, the situation that's going on, it deserves strong words, it deserves a strong response. And he is responding in that way, not too much either. And yet I'm not weak as well.
[00:13:27] And that's why he begins in the way that he does. In verse one, he says this interesting way of, well, I'll just read it. He says, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me.
[00:13:42] What's he saying there? I think what he's saying is the kind of sentence that we put before we have to say something kind of hard.
[00:13:52] And we know it's going to sound intense, and we're kind of prepping someone for that. Right?
[00:13:59] I know this is going to sound off putting, or I know this how this may sound, but bear with me, right? I'm going to talk in these big ways and in these intense ways, but bear with me, he says.
[00:14:15] There's an important application here which I just want to sidebar for us for a moment. And that's just a good reminder that communication is tough sometimes. It's hard to say sometimes what's on your heart, especially when you're worked up and especially when the consequences are really heightened.
[00:14:38] Communication is difficult even in the easiest of circumstances. And we do a loving thing when we do as Paul calls them to do, which is bear with each other.
[00:14:50] When we bear with each other. What does that mean from the Corinthians standpoint or from our standpoint as we hear Paul now?
[00:14:57] It means giving him the space to say what he needs to say. It means listening with ears to hear, not being nitpicky about this or that word. What do you mean by foolish and all these kinds of things? What do you mean by boasting? Is that really good boasting? Is there such a thing as boasting? Isn't it bad to boast like this kind of nitpickiness?
[00:15:16] Right. Without really hearing what he's intending to say. That's what he doesn't want. Instead, he wants them to be to submit to him out of love and listen, because he cares for them.
[00:15:33] When we bear with one another in our conversations with one another, that means giving people the opportunity to speak and say what they need to say. But it also means listening in a way that seeks to understand.
[00:15:48] And this is so helpful, and it's necessary here.
[00:15:52] And so what does Paul say?
[00:15:55] He says an important thing, and he's asking for the space to say it. He's asking them, in other words, to listen.
[00:16:04] Well, what he says is that they are facing a danger.
[00:16:09] There are these present deceivers who are leading them astray, and they're putting up with it readily.
[00:16:17] What is the command? It comes in verse four, or implied command, but he calls us not to put up with those who would proclaim another Jesus, who would give another spirit, who would give and preach another gospel. And that's exactly what these people were doing.
[00:16:41] We'll return to that in a moment when he continues on in what else is happening? You hear it in the next verse. In verse five, he says, indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles.
[00:16:59] I think if we translated this in a very modern way. We'd put quotes around super apostles. He doesn't think they're better than him. This is an attack or this is a perception the other that they have, or of his perception of what they're seeking to do.
[00:17:17] He is not inferior. And as we've talked about before, what's the complaint they're making?
[00:17:23] We hear it in verse six. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge.
[00:17:32] How do we know?
[00:17:34] Well, he tells us in this way at the end of verse six. In every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
[00:17:45] Underline, underline, highlight, highlight. He's saying in his words, the proof is everywhere.
[00:17:54] This is so plain and so clear. I don't need to tell you and rehearse all the things that I've said and all the things that I've done. You just need to open your eyes.
[00:18:06] The proof is everywhere. The problem, we could paraphrase it this way. The problem is not a lack of clarity on Paul's part. It's not a lack of time. Maybe he hasn't spent enough time with them so that they don't yet know him. No, it's not clarity. It's not enough time. It's deception. It's confusion. It's worldliness. That that's the problem.
[00:18:34] Paul may not be as fancy a speaker as the super apostles are and claim is important, but he doesn't care because he has spoken well enough.
[00:18:51] When Paul relishes in his foolishness, he is not relishing in incoherence or ridiculousness or anything like that. He's relishing in clarity.
[00:19:04] And that is the mark of a good preacher.
[00:19:07] He says. What is the proof of his good work among them? In every way we have made this plain to you. And what is the thing that has been made plain? It is that he is not inferior in knowledge.
[00:19:23] And we see this. We can see this and read this for ourselves. We don't have to have lived in Corinth at this time. We can read through Paul's letters, right? And we see the very clear and direct and helpful ways in which he constantly is opening up the Old Testament for us, explaining to us the work of Christ in all kinds of ways, with metaphor and arguments and in various contexts. It doesn't mean that everything is equally as easy. But the proof of his plainness, the proof of his knowledge and apostleship is everywhere, and so it ought to be believed. It's just as simple as that. I don't need sometimes maybe you've been in an argument with a friend or with your children or something like that, and they're bringing up all these things, and you say, why are we arguing about this? You know the truth, right? We don't need to spend our time going through this and that. All these details. You know what the truth is. I know what the truth is. It's time to accept it and move forward. That's what he's saying there.
[00:20:34] The second thing that he says is the concern that he has is in verse seven, we hear it. Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge?
[00:20:54] Paul is comfortable with sarcasm. We can say, right, did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted? This tells us several things. And then preaching the gospel free of charge, one, it tells us what he did. And he continues to describe that he did not, though he tells us in other places that a worker is worth his wage and that the minister of the gospel should be supported by the people. He says in this particular context, and sometimes he does this in his ministry. He refuses a wage from the people, even though he knows it's his right and it's owed. And he does it for particular reasons.
[00:21:37] In this case, he did. We won't get into those now, but he did it in this case in the church in Corinth. He preached free of charge. Now, he still had to live. He still had to be supported. Where did he get his money from? Well, as he puts it in verse eight, I robbed other churches.
[00:21:59] Now, Paul is not actually doing anything immoral here, right? He's using an expression to say they gave what they did not owe to cover what I was not charging you to cover the expenses so that you would not have to pay. And he describes that, he says, by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
[00:22:22] One of the things Paul was trying to do in Corinth was demonstrate to them that he was not about the money.
[00:22:29] Now, that wasn't something that always needed to be proved in every place that he was at, but in this place, it was. He wanted to show that he was not there to enrich himself, to become something special among them and gain a following among them. He was there to preach Christ. And because there was a lot of confusion, because there were these other people doing exactly that, he needed to differentiate himself.
[00:22:58] So he looks at the context of his ministry, and he makes this very wise choice. He makes this choice. And he says, I am going to make sure that it's really clear to everyone that I am not doing what these other men are, even though I have a right to receive that kind of support. And so that's why he does what he does. And so then, but you can sense the way he's being attacked. They're looking at him and they're saying, look, he doesn't accept money. He's not wealthy, he's dependent on other people. And Paul's upset.
[00:23:32] It's like, what are you talking about? I did this for you. I'm doing it for you. You. I'm humbling myself.
[00:23:42] I am not being impressive in my wealth, I'm not being impressive in my speech, I'm not being showy in these various ways for this reason that you might be exalted. That's why Paul is doing what he's doing and he's reminding them of what he's doing. And just to punch it one more time and really in a wonderful way, he says he's not going to stop.
[00:24:12] He's so clear about this. He says in verse twelve, and what I am doing, I will continue to do. He's not going to be pushed around by people that think there's something he's not going to lose sight of his mission and his calling by people that would seek to undermine him. In fact, he's going to continue to do what he does does in order to undermine them and to show the work of God that is truly going on through him.
[00:24:43] He is going to work to undermine their false pretenses. For as he tells us in verse 13, such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles, Christ.
[00:25:06] And then to make both a theological and a practical point, he says this should be no surprise. The theological point is that their work is anti christian. Their work is satanic because they are deceiving and separating people from Christ, just as Satan does. The practical point then is, don't be surprised that they disguise themselves, that they cover themselves, that they trick you, that they deceive you, because that's what Satan does and they are his servants. The warning, of course, to follow them and of course to be one of these people is at the end there. Their end will correspond to their deeds, period.
[00:25:57] It's a warning. It's a very strong warning. And of course, what is the end of Satan?
[00:26:04] To be thrown into the lake of fire and tormented forever.
[00:26:08] What is the end of all of those who are in rebellion against God and seek to hurt and harm his people.
[00:26:16] It is this very same end.
[00:26:20] Works of unrighteousness, works of lawlessness and wickedness, are the works of hell or deserving of hell. The wages of sin is death.
[00:26:34] We ought not to follow those who would lead us that way, Paul says.
[00:26:41] And so then we have to sum all of this up. A very clear call. Do not be deceived.
[00:26:49] There is, of course, an important reminder here that that can be difficult sometimes.
[00:26:55] Sometimes we like to think of ourselves as being, you know, super smart, and we'll obviously never be tricked until, of course, we are. And we go, how was I tricked? How did that happen? How did they take so much money from me or cheat me out of that contract or lead me astray theologically or something like that?
[00:27:14] Of course, sometimes people make errors and unintentional things happen. But there are other people, beloved, there are other people, people in this world who want to hurt you, want to trick you, and they will actively do things to deceive you. That's important to be aware of. They will speak the things of the word. They will use Bible verses. They will carry a Bible that looks like your Bible. They'll go to churches that look like your church. They will dress in similar ways. They'll use christian phrases. And they are wolves.
[00:27:54] Not because they look like you, right? Because there's lots of people who are christians, is what I mean. Not outward looks, but there are lots of people who are christians.
[00:28:06] And they look and act and walk like christians, right, as you would expect. But the point is in deception. Wolves in sheep's clothing, as the phrase go. Wolves cover themselves in a way to deceive us.
[00:28:21] So it is possible to be fooled.
[00:28:25] It is possible to belong, to attach ourselves to people and institutions, to churches who can harm us, who will leave us malnourished, who will sometimes abuse and neglect.
[00:28:45] And this is very sad, and it's a dangerous thing that we ought to be on guard against. The Corinthians were not being sufficiently careful about it. And that's why Paul speaks to them like this. They're not being sufficiently careful. These people were coming in and they're charming and they're attractive and they have all this thing, and they look at Paul, all pay attention to him. We got a message for you.
[00:29:12] If you do this, if you act in this way. And we have various, know from the letters various things that they were teaching, but it always boils down to the same stuff, right? It always boils down to some sort of program in which your works count for something your obedience, the intensity of your feelings, how smart you are, something call combined together, which is how you earn acceptance.
[00:29:40] And all you need to do is look at this guy who's got all this stuff and has it all together, and look how wonderful he is.
[00:29:49] They put themselves up as proof of the gospel. But Paul is saying they're telling you the wrong gospel. In some ways, we might say that false teachers are proof of the gospel that they preach.
[00:30:03] They preach a system of works, righteousness.
[00:30:07] They preach a gospel that would not have you cling to faith in Jesus Christ and him alone, but cling to something else. And then they show you all those other something else's.
[00:30:18] What does Paul do?
[00:30:21] He suffers a lot. And he keeps telling the words about Jesus over and over and over again. He counts himself nothing. He humbles himself in all kinds of ways. He expends himself for everything, for the surpassing riches of knowing, and also, in his case, preaching Christ.
[00:30:45] So that's, so how do you know the difference?
[00:30:48] How do you not be deceived?
[00:30:51] Well, you have to know who Jesus is.
[00:30:54] You have to know what the gospel is. You have to know who the spirit is. And how do we know those things? We have them in the apostolic word, the word that we have here in our bibles.
[00:31:09] It's very easy when somebody comes along that looks nice and they're funny, and they seem to have their lives together, and maybe they've got an amazing story, and they're gifted and they're impassioned to not even ask about what they believe, really, to not really see, to understand. Do they understand and do they live a life out of the gospel?
[00:31:39] I remember this one time, maybe some of you remember that because you were in the room, but I remember this one time, several years ago, we were talking about studying the Bible and how important it is to, how important it is to understand context, right? To read the passage in its own, according to its own understanding. And we were just talking about basics of Bible study and not taking things out of context. And to give an example of this, what I decided to do in the moment was I flipped open to a random passage of scripture. And then, just to demonstrate how wrong this could go, I impassionedly, falsely, in a pretend way, and everyone knew it was pretend, but I basically gave a false exegesis of a passage in a really obvious way. And I told everybody to do something really sinful. Again, this was all pretend. I told everyone to do something really sinful, but I told it in a really serious and direct with these sort of pseudo biblical arguments and all this sort of stuff. Basically, I did a false teacher thing intentionally, right? As a teaching thing.
[00:32:54] This is the reason it was memorable. I looked around the room and I saw a lot of scared faces.
[00:33:01] I was like, that was maybe a little too much.
[00:33:07] Why did people, maybe you remember being there. Why did you feel scared in that moment?
[00:33:15] Well, at least as I perceived it, I think it's because you said, here's someone I trust who is capable of doing really bad things. I just saw it with my own eyes.
[00:33:31] And not only that, it was kind of convincing, even though I knew it was ridiculous and even though I knew it was wrong.
[00:33:39] The pseudo arguments, the pointing at passages in scripture, the opening of the Bible, all of these sort of external things, all of those were there and yet I knew it was false. And in that moment you were like, whoa, it's sort of like getting an email of a phishing email that you know is a phishing email. And you look at it and you go, if someone hadn't told me that this was a phishing email, I would have clicked that link.
[00:34:04] That kind of fear, right? This sort of sense of, there's real danger here, there's real danger here.
[00:34:13] Now it's my job not to be a false teacher and to pay attention to the warning that is given here at the end.
[00:34:20] Their end will correspond to their deeds. The warnings to teachers in scripture are very, very clear and very, very dangerous to put it lightly.
[00:34:33] We have to be on guard and we have to be thoughtful and growing in our knowledge and in our discernment about the Lord and what he's doing.
[00:34:45] And so when we think about our ministers, when we think about the teachers and the books we're reading and these kinds of things, we have to be aware.
[00:34:56] And the way to be aware in its most central way, is to learn the gospel. Well, it's to learn the truth about Jesus and what he came to do. It's to learn who he is and learn how that applies in our lives, not just in words but in actions.
[00:35:17] There are people who will say that they are for the gospel, but when it really comes down to it, they're for themselves.
[00:35:26] They may talk a good talk, they may have the right theology in a way, but they use coercion and fear credentials and these kinds of things to lead us. And they don't lead us to Jesus. They lead us to themselves. They lead us to being on some sort of team. They lead us just in different places.
[00:35:56] Well, who is Jesus? Let's finish by reminding ourselves of this.
[00:36:01] Where is our hope? Even against false teachers, as scary as that might be, our hope is in our shepherd, right? Our hope is in our savior, who sends his apostles, who sends his light into this world to reveal these things. The Lord doesn't save us and then back away into a corner and just let us figure it all out for ourselves, lead us to leave us defenseless and scared. He is our shepherd. He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. And sometimes he brings us into dangerous places on purpose, not to hurt us or trick us or do some sort of evil in our lives, but so that we would become aware of how vulnerable we are. Truly, all the time, whether we feel it or not, he leads us into these places so that we learn not to look at ourselves or the things of this world that false apostles and false teachers preach, but so that we would look to him and to him alone. And who is he? He's the one who, like Paul here, made himself nothing so that we would be rich, who became poor, so that we would become wealthy and rich in him, rich in every way.
[00:37:21] He's the one who came into this world and gave his own life, who did not protect himself and seek a sort of great name or a kingdom for himself, but instead received it from the father through his obedience.
[00:37:41] This kingdom that he calls us into, that he brings us into, is rock solid because it's built on him, on his life, on his works, on his strength, on his sacrifice.
[00:37:57] When we think about our weakness, when we think about our frailty, our danger, or all the deceitful things that are in our hearts and in our world, it is so helpful and so calming to remember who Jesus is, to remember his strength and his goodness, to remember that his sacrifice for sin cleanses us of all unrighteousness. And his blood is effective to do all that he sets out to do, to draw in his elect and save us all from the evil one. Jesus battle with Satan is not a battle of equals, not even close. As we sing in one of our hymns of Satan, we say, one little word shall fell him.
[00:38:46] And what is the word? The word is Christ.
[00:38:50] So Paul's encouragement, and therefore my encouragement to you, my admonition to you, is to know the Lord Jesus.
[00:38:59] Know his strength, know his power, know his forgiveness.
[00:39:04] Know that he even now sits on the right hand of God, ruling and reigning over you. Know that he will expose all those who are false and will judge those who do wrong and those who turn away from the things of this world and the teachings of this world and all the empty promises and turn to him will be saved.
[00:39:28] He doesn't say, go out into this world and accomplish all the things that you need to accomplish so that you can have rest.
[00:39:35] He says, if you're weary and sick and needy and a sinner, he says, come to me and I will give you rest.
[00:39:44] That's who Jesus is.
[00:39:46] That's the message of the gospel. That's what we must cling to. And the better we know it, the better we will be able to distinguish truth from error.
[00:39:57] Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us in that our heavenly Father, so great and wonderful are you a God of truth and light beyond all gods.
[00:40:12] Lord, the evils of this world do not even begin to compare against the strength and power of your truth.
[00:40:23] Lord, there are those who would plan and mock you and your people, but we know that you sit in heaven and laugh. You hold them in derision and they are no threat to you.
[00:40:43] And so, Lord, when we find ourselves needing wisdom, needing discernment, when we find ourselves in a place where we are not sure what to do, let us learn to depend on you, to wait, to be patient, to seek and look, because you promised that those who seek will find. And what they find in you will find, what they find in you will be a great and eternal treasure, a life of knowledge and hope, of security and righteousness.
[00:41:18] Lord, help us. We now pray not to be deceived.
[00:41:22] Help us in our own ministries, in our lives, with our families, and within our neighbors and communities here within the body. Let us all be little christs, christians who demonstrate and proclaim the Lord Jesus in our words and in our actions.
[00:41:43] Lord, let us learn never to boast in ourselves, but to boast always in him, to have our confidence in him and when necessary, to speak strongly in accord with that, and other times, when necessary, to endure suffering with patience, trusting you who knows how to vindicate your people.
[00:42:07] Give us wisdom, Lord, for we need it. Give us discernment and protect us from evil ones who would seek to do your sheep harm.
[00:42:17] Lord, we thank you for the life that we have together in Christ. And as we pray for ourselves, we pray for others. I myself ask, Lord, that you would bless my own life, that you would watch over my own doctrine and teaching my own walk with you, that I might follow you and lead your people well. We pray, Lord, for the work of other pastors and ministers within our church, our regional church nationally, and our missionaries overseas as well.
[00:42:53] This gospel that you have proclaimed to the world is so good. We want everybody to hear it. And may it go out boldly and unstained and freely and plainly in every way and in all things.
[00:43:08] Lord, our confidence is only and always in you. Keep us humble, keep us faithful. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
