Will you take your Bibles this morning and turn to Second Corinthians chapter 11. This will be the third and final week that we will be examining this particular passage, mainly verses five and six, under the heading "Purity of Devotion to Chris."

Like finding a treasure in an unexpected place, we come to Paul's defense of his apostolic authority and his apostolic gospel message in opposition to the false teachers that have made up all manner of wicked accusations against him; and in the context of this, we are unable to unearth many rare jewels of spiritual truth. May I remind you, in our previous two expositions, we've examined, number one, Paul's zeal for the purity of Christ's bridal church, and number two, his fear of their vulnerability for a false gospel. Let me read that section for you. 

"I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me.

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealous;  for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 

For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully." 

And this brings us to the third and final point in our little outline that we'll look at today, and that is, his distress over their love for manipulative theatrics over transforming truths. Notice, in verse five, he says, "For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most imminent apostles." In other words, contrary to what these false apostles are saying, I'm in no way inferior to the Jerusalem leaders, James, Cephas and Joh; apostles that Paul depicted in Galatians, two nine as men who were reputed to be pillars of the church. And of course, this refutes the false apostles inflated opinion of their own status. They were self-appointed phonies who deceitfully claimed the same authority as the other apostles, and they belittled Paul. And so what we see from the very beginning here in this section, is Paul asserts his parody of status, if you will, as an apostle among the the true apostles, equally competent in knowledge and in faith. 

And then in verse six, he says, "But even if I am unskilled in speech..." Let me pause there a moment, "unskilled" in the original language is the word "idiotes." We get our word "idiot" from that. And so Paul here is saying, well, even if I am an idiot as an order, unrefined, untrained, ordinary, he goes on to say, "... yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way, we have made this evident to you in all things." 

Now, you must remember the context here; his slanderous rivals, these false apostles, practiced flowery rhetoric of the Greek philosophers. They were skilled orators that would sway the naive and the ignorant crowds to get them to believe just about anything on the basis of not so much what they said, but how they said it. We've seen politicians do this before, and sadly, these manipulative theatrics were very effective in the Corinthian church; they became enamored with these people, and we've all witnessed this before. In an effort to attract and entertain a crowd, we've seen preachers that, oh, they tell stories, and they get all involved with other people. Or they start screaming and shouting and dancing around the stage, or orthey get that rhythmic gasp where they're taking a breath in between everything they say. Or they talk up and they talk down. They get that quiver. They got all these things that they do to somehow work up people, rather than just opening up the word and letting the Spirit do what the Spirit can do. And it's the same type of thing that was going on in Corinth. And then, rather than presenting a God-centered gospel of redemption through faith in Christ, they end up preaching a a man-centered gospel about how to find purpose in life, or something like that; needs based preaching that appeals to the emotion rather than to the mind. And then what happens is methodology takes precedence over theology. 

Well, not so with Jesus and the apostles. You will recall how the false teachers said of Paul in Second Corinthians 10:10, "'... his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.'" Not very kind words. And here in verse six, Paul humbly concedes to their criticism. He says, even if I lack skill and oratory, I certainly do not in knowledge. Paul knew that it's not the messenger, but the message that is important. You know, the evangelical landscape is strewn with the corpses of those who have been recipients of need based preaching. That type of preaching never offers any true and lasting spiritual nourishment. The authority and the power of scriptures is traded for the sugar high cotton candy sermonettes that give a brief burst of emotional energy, where you think that something spiritual is going on, but then you end up with a long crash of spiritual lethargy. Many young pastors are more comfortable in exegeting Hollywood movies than the inspired Word of God. And what happens, as well, is in many churches, "the sacred desk," as the Puritans used to call it, has become the psychologist couch and sermons are nothing more than self help seminars. So many pastors today consider the pure gospel that Jesus and the apostles preached to be archaic and divisive and offensive, and therefore, like the latest version of iPhone, it continues to be reinvented to meet the demands of the consumer. But dear friends, where you have no true gospel, you will have no true repentance, and when you have no true repentance, you will have no genuine salvation. You will have no genuine justification and sanctification and glorification, and what remains will be a Christless Christianity; churches filled with counterfeit Christians. You know, modern day evangelical gurus that preach pragmatism will be the type of people that would have said to Paul, you know, Paul, in order to be more effective, you need to study the techniques of the preachers of your day. You should study their eloquence. You need to cultivate that in your own oratory. You need to understand the art of persuasion. You need to adopt a manner and method and a style and a demeanor that fits the culture. Otherwise,nobody's going to listen to you. That's what they would tell you. I've been told that many times, let the culture shape your techniques and your delivery. Give the people what they want, and then you will capture their attention. But it's interesting, as we read in Scripture, unlike the manipulative celebrity speakers of today, and even in that day, Paul's manner of delivery was unconventional, so much so that it might have been considered counterintuitive. 

We read in First Corinthians, two beginning in verse one, he says, "And when I came to you brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the Word of God," referring to the message of the one who sent him. Then he adds this, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." 

Whenever I think of the apostle Paul, I I try to put myself in his presence. And here my mind goes to, for example, Acts 25 and 26 which gives us a dramatic picture of of who he was in his unconventional manner. Let me remind you of the context there, Paul had been brought before Festus, who was a Roman magistrate appointed by the emperor of Rome and they had trumped up charges against him in Jerusalem that he was causing all kinds of problems amongst the Jews, but Festus couldn't find anything wrong with him, and he had to somehow appease the Jews. And so Paul appealed to Caesar himself for justice, and therefore Festus decided to send Paul to Caesarea to stand before King Agrippa for a hearing. Now, although this was an informal hearing, it was also an opportunity for Agrippa to be noticed with his people, typical of every narcissistic politician. And in 25 verse 23 we read, and, "So, on the next day when Agrippa had come together with Bernice..." Let me pause there for a moment. Bernice, by the way, was his sister with whom he was living incestuously. He goes on to say, "... amid great pomp - "phantasia" in Greek - the word "pomp" refers to a great pageantry, great spectacle. 

Then we read and had, "... entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city..." folks get the scene here; here we have a parade of the movers and the shakers. I mean, this is a star-studded spectacle of celebrities and nobility; the social elite. And like strutting peacocks, they enter into the auditorium enjoying all of the oohs and the awes of the flattering sycophants while musicians gave tribute to the royals. Agrippa would have been decorated in his finest silk robes, the robes of royalty, draped with colorful sashes. His body bejeweled with ostentatious necklaces, rings and bracelets, and they wore lots of makeup. It was kind of first century drag queen type of thing. He would have had a priceless crown of gold on his head, one that was laden with emeralds and rubies. And he probably clutched a magnificent scepter in his hand as he slowly glided across the floor. And of course, Bernice would have been decked out in her finest and most seductive wardrobe with the flamboyance of a Hollywood starlet at the Oscars. That's the scene. She would have slowly sashayed her way to some exalted seed of prominence next to her lover, her brother; careful to soak up all of the glares of envy and lust. And of course, Festus, likewise, would have been adorned with the highest Roman fashion, slowly bowing and gesturing to the audience as he accepted their adulation. And then you would have had the Roman commanders there as well, dressed in their full military regalia; shining armor, red sashes, magnificent plumes protruding from their helmets; it would have been quite a spectacle. 

Then there were the prominent men of the city, the dignitaries, and probably their wives, each one desperate for their share of the attention and the applause. The smell of garlands and incense would have filled the auditorium, along with the sounds of processional music and cheers and laughter applause. And then suddenly, all the boisterous adulation hushes in verse 23 we read, "... at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in." No pomp, no ceremony, no applause. Suddenly, the majesty of the that moment was turned to mystery, as the soldiers bring in this short, rather hunchbacked, bald-headed man with a rather large nose, imagine the scene. A very unassuming, homely creature; a prisoner wearing the tattered garments of a peasant, a pathetic looking creature bound in chains. We know that, of course, he was a former rabbi, and in Acts we read that in the eyes of the Jews, they considered him a real pest who stirred up unrest among the Jews worldwide; a ringleader of what the Jews considered a non-Jewish sect who tried to desecrate the temple and on and on it goes. 

But if we were there, I'm sure we could look on him, and we would see no fear in his face. We would see no grimace of anger. But rather, there would have been a softness to his countenance, a look of compassion, a look of courage, a look of confidence. I'm sure there was an ineffable aura of godliness surrounding him that just set him apart from everyone. And as God would have it, this great apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ was about to become the entertainment of the hour. I remember standing on the very place where Paul would have stood in Caesarea. If you've been to Israel, you've been there. And my mind goes to what we read from his inspired pen in First Corinthians, four, nine, "... God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake... we are weak...  without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now." 

But what did the sorry looking apostle say to the king, to the royalty? What did he say to those accusers who had trumped up these charges against him? Well, we know, if we go to the book of Acts, that he first gives his testimony of how God miraculously saved him after he spent so much time persecuting Christians, and then he explained how he was, according to Acts 26 verse 18 and following, sent to, "'... open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'" He went on to add, he was "...stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was coming to take place," all that they had prophesied, "...that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." No flowery rhetoric, no manipulative theatrics; he simply gave them the old gospel of Christ, crucified, buried, resurrected and returning again. 

We read in Acts 26 beginning in verse 27, "'King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.' Agrippa replied to Paul, 'In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.' And Paul said, 'I would wish to God, whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains.'" 

So with that background, let's go back to our text of Second Corinthians 11 six. "But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way, we have made this evident to you in all things." All of the saints in Corinth could see that he was no layman with regard to true knowledge. Paul was devoted to the truth; he understood the power of the gospel. He had no other agenda other than proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, that men and women might be saved. You know, we live in an age of satanic deception, don't we? 

By the way, if you can't see that, you are spiritually blind and alienated from God. From the demonic cult known as Black Lives Matter, to the religious hypocrisies of Hillsong, our country is absolutely drowning in deception. The greatest threat to our nation is not systemic racism, it's systemic deception. I read this last week, the United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Illinois has announced that a drag queen, a man who dresses as a woman for perverted sexual pleasure, is a candidate for the pastorate. The article said, "This past Sunday..." gave the man's name, "dressed in his usual garb to celebrate his sexual abnormality, as the church gathered virtually to celebrate drag Sunday." You know, dear friends, as appalling as this is, whatever you do, don't hate these people. Love them for the cause of Christ; were it not for God's grace, we would be among them. Give them the hope of the Gospel. My mind goes to the inspired words in Revelation 21 and verse 8, where we are warned that, "... the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." 

Dear friends, people need the Lord, and we're here to give it to them. America today can be likened to ancient Israel. I was thinking of the prophet Amos. Remember that minor prophet? By the way, the word Amos means burden or burden bearer. He was a Judean prophet. God had called him to deliver a message primarily to the northern tribes of Israel in the mid eighth century BC, and like America today, Israel, in that day, perceived themselves to be militarily invincible. They were secure. It was a time of peace and enormous prosperity, but spiritually, they were an abomination in the eyes of God. Their worship was merely external, ritualistic; they had no real love for God. It was a time of rampant injustice, corruption, moral decay. They were utterly apostate. And they willfully rejected the message of the prophets, including Amos, who warned them of God's judgment, lest they repent. There's a fascinating passage in Amos, chapter eight, beginning in verse 11. There we read, "'Behold days are coming,' declares the Lord GOD, 'when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.'" The point is, physically, we cannot live without food -that is bread or water. But here, the Lord warned Israel of even a more severe deprivation, and that is to languish from hearing the words of the Lord. Imagine what it would be like today that the word of the Lord was not preached. 

You will recall how Jesus responded to Satan's temptation in Matthew 4:4. He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 he said, "'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Dear friends, being deprived of food and water will destroy you physically, but being deprived of God's word will kill you spiritually, eternally. Our country is in the middle of such a famine, is it not? Today we experience an increased shortage of Spirit empowered biblical preaching. And biblically the deprivation of the divine word being preached is always a dire portent, or omen, of God's wrath. If you look back historically, you will see that every revival, every reformation, has been a result of expository preaching. Every single one. 

The protestant reformation of the 16th century is a great example. There you had men like Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Knox and John Wycliffe. Sola scriptura was the banner over their pulpit; the pulpit of a new generation of Bible expositors. Oh, would that we learn that today, instead of reinventing the church to make it relevant. We must once again capture the essence of the New Testament church whose spiritual authenticity can be seen most clearly in the Protestant Church of the Reformation. Biblical preaching of the Reformers ushered in the golden age of the Puritans in the 17th century in Scotland and England, the home of my ancestors - John Owen, John Bunyan, Thomas Brooks, Jeremiah Burroughs, Stephen Charnock, and on it goes. The irresistible force of the gospel caused monarchs to tremble and literally change the course of the river of history. The 18th Century followed suit, according to Stephen Lawson, quote, "The Bible-saturated preaching of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and the tenants, thundered through the early colonies. The Atlantic Seaboard was electrified with the proclamation of the gospel, and New England was taken by storm. The word was preached, souls were saved, and the kingdom expanded." He went on to say, "The fact is, the restoration of Biblical preaching has always been the leading factor in any revival of genuine Christianity. That is to say, every great revival in the church has been ushered in by a return to expository preaching." Dear friends, this was what was missing in the pulpit in Corinth. And this is what is missing in many pulpits today around the world. This was why Paul was so deeply concerned. He knew that Satan is far more deceptive than we are discerning. Therefore, we need the word and he was greatly distressed by their infatuation of these manipulative theatrics, of these charlatans that had come into the church, rather than being passionate about the transforming truths of the Word of God being preached. Many of you have been delivered from churches where the word has not been preached. And what the church needs today is the systematic, in-depth preaching, doctrinal preaching and teaching and application of the Word of God, expository preaching. Exposit, by the way, just means to expound or explain in a detailed manner. Therefore, expository preaching is the doctrinal proclamation of the Word of God that is derived from an exegetical process that is concerned only with the revelation of God, not the revelation of man, not man's wisdom. And therefore, it will carefully convey the God intended meaning of every passage of Scripture, which will inevitably be linked to other great passages, other great doctrines, other great theological truths. 

And then, after the word has been accurately explained, the preacher will passionately apply the meaning of the text to the contemporary issues of life. But like the showy, false apostles in Corinth who manipulated the naive, and the ignorant with their flowery rhetoric and their flesh enticing heresies, the evangelical church today is overrun with pastors that are more concerned with being trendy than they are being truthful. Doctrinal precision is not that big of a deal. What's important is pleasing the crowd, private revelations, psychobabble, political theory, anything but the accurate exposition of divine revelation. The same problems also surface in the church of Ephesus. 

And here I'm going to shift to some passages in First and Second Timothy. You will recall how Paul warned young Timothy as he came into that church as a young pastor. Timothy was afraid; had some pretty powerful people in that church. First Timothy one beginning in verse three, he warned them about those who "teach strange doctrines."  And he warned Timothy not to pay attention to "myths," referring to fictitious narratives; "myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation, rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith." He went on to describe these false teachers in First Timothy one six. "For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law..." in other words, the word of God, "... even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions." Then the subject of apostasy continues to be the major theme throughout Paul's epistle to Timothy. 

So we can ask, well, what's a preacher to do? How are we supposed to respond? And what should every congregation insist upon in their pastor? Well, thank you, Spirit of God, for giving Paul the answer to that and giving it to us. The answers begin in First Timothy 4:6, "In pointing out these things to the brethren..." in other words, the great truths of Scripture, "... you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." Verse 10 and following, "For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you..." Timothy, "...which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things. For as you do this, you will ensure salvation, both for yourself and for those who hear you." Pretty clear marching orders, right? First Timothy six, beginning in verse two, "Teach and preach these principles. If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." In other words, men who use the preaching of the gospel and the pulpit and the church to make a buck. Second Timothy, he goes on, beginning in chapter one and verse 13, "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." And in chapter two, beginning in verse 15, he says, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness." And then he says this, in chapter three and verse one, "But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come." And then what he goes on to describe our pastors and church leaders; ere's what's coming as leadership in the church,  "...men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." And then he says this, "Avoid such men as these." The Greek grammar is active, aggressive. It means from such turn away, deliberately shun these type of people, don't have anything to do with them. It's like Titus 3:10 where Paul told Titus "reject a factious man..." - "hairetikos" - don't have anything to do with those kind of people. 

And he goes on in chapter three and verse six, "For among them are those who enter into..." literally, in the Greek, they creep into or they worm their way, "...into households and captivate weak women..." referring to childish, immature women susceptible to false teachers, "...women weighed down with sins." Carries the idea of being overwhelmed with past sins and present sins. They're, "...led on by various impulses." In other words, they're ruled by their emotions, ruled by their lust, controlled by their desires. And here's what happens, here's what happens to them, "...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." He went on to describe these men who do this to people. These men also "...oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith." 

Then he adds this in chapter three, beginning in verse 13, "But evil men and impostors..." in other words, these false teachers who hold to a form of religion, a form of godliness, but it's just a pretense, "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." In other words, their deceptive teachings will increase and accumulate, over time they will become increasingly evil. "You, however, continue in the things you have learned, and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned to them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus." Then he adds this text that we're all familiar with, "All Scripture is inspired..." is breathed out by God, "...and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness' so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." And then in chapter four and verse one, Paul gives this charge to Timothy and to every faithful shepherd. He says, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His Kingdom:..." and here's the charge, "...preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction..." and here's why, "...For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you..." young pastor, Timothy, and every pastor, "...be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." Folks, this is so important. It's important for you to understand, not only on the basis of knowing what you need to look for in a pastor, but also to understand the power and the importance of the word. There are nine imperatives, nine commands that must rule a pastor's heart and life that Paul just mentioned. And by the way, none of these were characteristic of the false teachers. 

First of all, we're to preach, the word referring to the message and the teaching God revealed in Scripture. The word preach here, "kerysso" in the original language, means to proclaim aloud and publicly. You need to understand this. This isn't necessarily talking about a guy that stands behind a pulpit like I'm doing, even though it includes that. But in that day, what it referred to was the duty of the imperial herald who would speak with authority on behalf of his sovereign. This was the spokesman of the king, and he had a message, a public proclamation. And in this context, it is a public proclamation to repent and trust in Christ as Savior and serve him as Lord; preach the whole counsel of God revealed in scripture and in the Greek grammar, and even in the context, it reveals the idea that this is to be obeyed at once. That's why, when I preach, I don't have a conversation with you, I'm here to proclaim the message of my sovereign,

Kenneth Wuest said this, "This should be the pattern for the preacher today. His preachingshould be characterized by that dignity which comes from the consciousness of the fact that he is an official herald of the King of kings. It should be accompanied by that note of authority which will command the respect, careful attention and proper reaction of the listeners. There is no place for clowning around in the pulpit of Jesus Christ." Furthermore, Wuest went on to say, "The preacher, as a herald, cannot choose his message. He is given a message to proclaim by his sovereign. If he will not proclaim that let him step down from his exalted position." What a contrast to much of the preaching today, where the hipster preacher is more concerned about style than substance, concerned about being relevant and contemporary and innovative to somehow attract a crowd; more concerned about fitting in to secular culture and their fashions and their cultural values. By the way, all of those things are utterly contrary to the commands that we have in the New Testament. 

"Not only are you to preach the Word," he says, but he says, "Be ready." This is the second imperative, be ready. It carries the idea, in the Greek of being on hand, being alert. It has a sense of earnestness here; a sense of urgency. Don't be timid. Be ready in season and out of season. In other words, take every advantage to publicly and boldly proclaim the word of your sovereignty, whether it's popular or not. Don't try to remove any of its offense to make it culturally relevant. Don't contextualize it to eliminate any resistance. That's the work of the Spirit, not the work of the preacher. Then he goes on to say, "reprove." This means to expose erroneous thinking. It means to correct with all authority; tell people they're wrong and why they're wrong and what they're doing is wrong; not a very popular way to do preaching these days, right? 

He adds another word, we they are to "rebuke." In other words, after telling people what they're thinking and what they're doing is wrong, now the pastor is charged with telling them to stop. This is calling people to repentance; it carries the idea of denunciation or even a formal censure. You will recall in Titus one nine, an elder must quote, "hold fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." In verse 13, he adds "this testimony is true, therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith." You see, every faithful shepherd is going to love his sheep enough to warn them of the dangers that they are embracing, and then call them to repentance. 

Dave Harrell  

The fifth exhortation here - an imperative, another command - “...exhort with great patience and instruction." Exhort, it's interesting, it comes from a Greek word, "parakaleó,"which means to earnestly encourage a proper course of action. And it carries the idea of being consoling and comforting. In fact, the first time it is used in the New Testament is in Luke 2:25, it is in reference to Christ as the quote "consolation of Israel."  So the term is is related to "paraklétos," the name Jesus used to speak of the Holy Spirit that would come, the Comforter. And so when you exhort with great patience and instruction, you do so earnestly with a sense of encouragement, with a sense of love. You see, shepherds lead their sheep, they don't drive them. Pastors who are constantly scolding their congregation are like abusive fathers who try to beat their children into submission. You know, the beatings will continue until the attitude improves. I mean, that doesn't work very well. You're either going to produce a rigid conformist or a total rebel. Galatians six one. You don't have this on your screen. It comes to mind it. It speaks of how, if anyone is overtaken in some trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness. Paul goes on in Second Timothy 2:24, "The Lord's bond-servant," literally, the Lord's slave, "must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." 

And why are all these commands so important for pastors to heed? He says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires." In other words, be careful, Timothy, people in your church will want to dictate what you preach. Don't fall for that. They "...turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myth." In other words, they will embrace deceptions related to false teaching that are not true; things that are contrary to sound doctrine. 

And then again, he says, "But you..." and here's the sixth imperative, "...be sober in all things." Be sober in all things, it carries the idea of being alert, being watchful, balanced, self-controlled. If I can use the word circumspect. In other words, dear friends, preaching the word of God requires a deep concern for the dignity and the solemnity of what is taking place. The pulpit is no place for clowning around. I might even add that you will notice that there is a pulpit here in the center of the worship center, and the reason for that is to underscore the fact that the word of God is the center of what we do here. And it's also a pulpit that hides much of me, because you're not here to see me you're here to hear the word and see Christ. Whenever I'm asked to preach, I always tell them, I want a pulpit. I don't want some see through little glass, whatever thing, it's not like I'm trying to hide, but I'm trying to not be seen. I feel that I even need to dress with dignity, because I am the undeserving messenger of the Most High God who has called me and sent me to speak on his behalf. So I'm not going to parade around up here with a multi colored Mohawk, skinny jeans, all torn up, sandals and some t-shirt. I'm not here to tickle itching ears, but to proclaim the glories of Christ, because, dear friend, the eternal souls of men and women are at stake. 

The seventh imperative is to endure hardship. But boy, is it going to come. It has, it will continue. I hear that our brother up in Canada, now, that got let out of prison because they were still preaching, even though all the covid things - I hear now that they've put a fence around the church. We don't know what's going to happen here. We recently had an incident with people screaming vulgarities in the parking lot a few weeks ago. "Be sober in all things, endure hardship..." I think of chapter two and verse three, where Paul said, share in suffering, "as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Folks, we're at war. You need to understand that. The good news is, our side wins, alright? 

And then he says, number eight, "...do the work of an evangelist." In other words, proclaim the gospel in all of its purity and all of its power, "fulfill your ministry." And here he just, that's the ninth imperative. He comes full circle, "fulfill your ministry." In other words, do all of these things I'm talking about, and you will fulfill your ministry. Oh Child of God, this is what you must look for in a New Testament Church. And if this is not there, you shouldn't be either. Obviously, the false teachers in Corinth, like so many preachers today, bore no resemblance to the clear divine imperatives that Paul mentions. And to be sure, the world doesn't want this kind of preaching, nor does it want to be a part of this kind of church. 

I remember an encounter, it's been a couple of years ago, in the airport here in, I think it was in Nashville. It might have been in another airport, I forget. But anyway, there was some hipster pastors there, and I got to talking with them and, long story short, when they heard about expository preaching - doctrinal preaching - in all that time, they were saying, Man, I don't know why you would do that. I mean, do people really want to hear that? I mean, our people don't want to hear that. I remember him saying, and this is a paraphrase, one of the lead guys, man, if I started to do expositional doctrinal preaching, my entire congregation would leave. Do you really expect me to do that? Remember him saying that, and my response is, doesn't matter what I expect, it's what God expects, and that's what God expects you to do. Your ministry is designed to please him, not to please man. So either you either do ministry God's way, or you do it your way. The choice is yours and the consequences are yours. 

Some have asked, "Why is there such a decline in true expository preaching?" And the answer is quite simple, it's because there is a loss in the belief of the authority of the inspired Word of God. That's why. A diminution in the belief that the Bible is indeed the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, infallible, all sufficient Word of the living God. And I would ask you, what is your spiritual authority? Is it what mama taught you when you were a child? Is it what your church taught you? Is it what you kind of think on your own? Is it man's wisdom, or is it God's wisdom?

Can you argue your beliefs on the basis of Scripture? Because dear friends, when preachers depart from this, they no longer preach the word, they preach their own opinions. And those opinions will inevitably appeal to the fallen flesh of men and women. And what happens is you get false gospels. When you move away from the preaching of the Word, you get woke churches and denominations, you get black liberation theology that believes that Jesus is a savior to liberate black people from the bondage of white people. So sad. You get evangelicals to support the blasphemous policies of of the Neo-Marxist groups that have taken over our country. You get charismatic chaos where charlatans claim that they get private messages from God; where truth claims are validated by subjective personal experience, rather than the objective truths of the Word of God. You get cultural Christianity. You get social club churches that believe you must become like the world in order to win it. You get effeminate girly man pastors prancing around stages trying to appeal to a culture with their innovation and with their humor. And you get man hating feminists sharing their personal encounters with God and pretending to be messengers of the Most High. You get a person by the name of J Mai. I've talked about this before, it came to my mind. J Mai is one of the was one of the featured speakers of at the Democratic National Convention. And this person identifies as a quote, "black, Vietnamese, transgender, non-binary, gender transcendent, mermaid queen/king who recently became," quote, "a licensed minister in the progressive National Baptist Church.' J Mai advocates abolishing the police, ICE and prisons and so forth. I read about this individual, J received their Bachelor's in sociology. See, you can't use "he" or "she." You've got to use "they" and "their." t's insane, absolutely insane. Jay received their Bachelor's in sociology and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at Wake Forest University, and is currently working towards a master's in Divinity at Wake Forest University, School of Divinity. That's what you get, folks. That's where we have come. Worse yet, there are millions of people who believe that this type of insanity is okay; nothing wrong with that. And what's worse is many of them claim to be evangelical Christians. This is what happens when depraved human beings reject the truth and the authority of divine revelation when false teachers are allowed to flourish and when pastors fail to preach the Word. 

You know, many preachers claim to be Bible expositors, but frankly, if they have people in their church who believe these kinds of things, I don't know what they are, but they're not Bible expositors, because the word will either harden or soften hearts. It will either separate or unite, and it's going to separate the sheep from the goats, not unite them. We're to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. We're not to be showman entertaining crowds, we're not to be politicians pushing some political agenda or entrepreneurs peddling the gospel for profit. And this is why Paul said in Second Corinthians 11 three, "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." O Child of God don't let that happen to you. May we all share Paul's zeal for the purity of Christ's bridal church. May we all share his fear that that we too might be vulnerable to a false gospel, and may we also be distressed even over our own fleshiness that still is within us, that we might fall for manipulative theatrics, rather than the transforming truths of the gospel. May we all, as Peter said, "like newborn babies, long for the sincere milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." And I hope you have and if so, the word will transform you into the likeness of our precious Savior and our King. Let's pray. 

Father again, we thank you for your word and all that it has done to us and for us and in us, through us. We thank you for the power of your Spirit that dwells within every twice born saint. And I pray that we will all take heed to what we've heard today that we will do business with you where necessary, that we might truly be salt and light in this world. And Father, if there be one here that does not know you with that intimate knowledge of a personal Savior; if there's a person here that does not really truly desire to serve you, oh, won't you break their heart today, help them to see their sin and their need to repent and also see the mercy and the grace that is available to them in Christ that they too might be saved. We ask all of these things in the precious name of Jesus and for his sake, Amen.