The True Measure of a Minister | Rev. Paul Lawler

The Prodigal Church #8

What if being faithful meant becoming the “scum of the earth”? In this hard-hitting message, Paul flips the Corinthian view of ministry upside down—and it still challenges today’s church.

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In a culture obsessed with platform and polish, Rev. Paul delivers a blistering correction to the Corinthian church’s warped view of leadership. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 4:1–13, this sermon reveals that the true measure of a minister isn’t charisma, applause, or even perceived effectiveness—it’s faithfulness.

Paul uses two powerful metaphors:

1. A Steward — A servant who owns nothing and is judged only by the Master’s standards, not public opinion.
2. A Spectacle — A condemned prisoner paraded before the world, revealing that true apostleship often means public shame and deep suffering.

He calls out premature judgment, prideful comparison, and flesh-driven favoritism. The world may call faithful ministers “fools,” but God calls them sons and daughters.

The gospel turns ministry upside down—and if we’re building on anything but Christ, we’re not building well.

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Chapters

• 0:21 Introduction to 1 Corinthians 4
• 2:25 A Call to Spiritual Awakening
• 4:35 Confronting Worldly Mindsets
• 6:22 Understanding Stewardship
• 8:11 The Judgment of People
• 12:16 The Importance of Accountability
• 13:14 Constructive Criticism in Love
• 15:28 The Right Time for Judgment
• 18:12 The Dangers of Division
• 19:07 The Apostles as Spectacles
• 23:17 The Folly of Pride
• 26:02 The Cost of Following Jesus
• 28:57 The Role of Suffering in Love
• 36:21 The Heart of Paul's Ministry
• 37:53 Renewing Your First Love

Transcript

[0:17] I want to invite you to follow along 1 Corinthians chapter 4. We're going to read the first 13 verses. We're in part 8 on this series on the book of 1 Corinthians. So hear God's word. This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required that we be found faithful. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I'm not thereby acquitted against myself, but I am already, not there, excuse me, it is the Lord who judges me. There, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit.

[1:17] Brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against the other. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you did receive it, what do you boast as if you did not receive it?

[1:35] Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You were held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the

[2:23] world, the refuse of all things. Now, Jesus, we pray that you would open the eyes of our heart, Lord, the very thing that Paul's addressing at Corinth, Lord, our spirit person rather than our flesh. Awaken us, Lord, so that we might have ears to hear, heart to hear, and to behold. And we pray it in the name and power of Jesus. Amen.

[2:48] So over 1,200 times the Bible instructs us to behold the Lord. The problem at Corinth is that they're beholding the world rather than beholding the Lord, and that's tripping them up. I want you to be mindful.

[3:04] When the Corinthian letter is written, obviously this is a day before television and cell phone by centuries. We all get that. But they had forms of entertainment, and a part of their forms of entertainment were not only taking place at the amphitheaters in the Roman Empire, but they were also entertained by these orators, Greek philosophers, who entertained with their oratory skills and their ability to captivate with their charisma. And what's happened is that that mindset has permeated the church in a way, whereas Paul and other apostles are coming, teaching.

[3:44] Helping the church to mature, the church is functioning in a way where they're discounting the message because it's not entertaining. It's also in the same way that people would have their favorite Greek philosopher or orator who would come through the city and entertain, they also were allowing that kind of perspective to permeate the church in a way where the church is divided by people who are going, hey, I'm a big follower and fan of Apollos, or hey, I click follow on my social media account for Peter. I mean, that's obviously a stretch. You get that. But you see what's happening in the church, and it's flowing out of a worldly, fleshy mindset rather than

[4:32] a spirit-centered, Christ-exalting mindset. And so what happens today in the text, and it's easy to miss if you don't understand what's happening culturally and what Paul is addressing, here's what the Apostle Paul does.

[4:46] He confronts it head on. And you're going to discover today some of the language he uses is very strong, very confrontive. His motive is love, love for the church, love for the glory of Christ. And so what he does is he presents early on three pictures of a Christian minister. He does that by describing them as a steward, as a spectacle, and I'll explain that in a moment, and also as a spiritual father. Now we'll deal with the first two today, and then we're going to have our anniversary service next week in the sanctuary. So we'll pick up spiritual fathering in a couple of weeks. But first, when he uses the word minister, this is a key word, because this word in the original language literally means a person who is an under rower, a person who would be down in the galley of a Roman ship rowing the ship.

[5:45] In other words, Paul is saying as ministers, we're not captains. We're persons who do the humble work of serving the king of kings, often in a way that's not seen or appreciated by the world. And so he affirms that as he begins. And so as he's affirming that, he begins this description as he's confronting the Corinthians first with this reality. We are stewards. We're stewards. Now, that's a key word because a steward is one who manages

[6:19] everything for one's master.

[6:22] In other words, they're serving an audience of one. A steward is faithful to one's master.

[6:31] A steward may not please everybody in the household, may not please the other servants, but he is focused on pleasing the master, that is the king of kings and lord of lords in this context, if he's a good steward. So the main issue when the apostle Paul begins is not this.

[6:50] Paul's not saying, hey, am I cool? Or am I well-liked? Or am I coming across with an entertaining style that's optimally engaging everybody in the way that the people do who go on tour throughout the Roman Empire. Nor is Paul comparing himself with Apollos and others in a way that sets up rivalry in the church and division. The main issue that he's seeking to highlight for the Corinthian church is this. Is Paul and is Apollos and others that are serving the Corinthian church, being faithful to what God has assigned them to do, being faithful to teaching the word of God clearly. And as Paul is stewarding this responsibility with accountability to an audience of one, the master, the king of kings and Lord of lords, he points out three specific things for the Corinthians to gain understanding in. Here's the first one, the judgment of people, the judgment of people. Look with me in verse three, but with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court.

[8:06] So remember the church at Corinth, highly critical of the apostle Paul. And so here's something we need to know.

[8:14] Paul didn't get upset when people criticized him because he knew that he was responsible for the message of helping build the church up in the right way, a God-honoring way, he was responsible to God. He did not let their opinions mold and shape him. He was governed by the revelation of the love of God, the revelation of not only the love, but the direction of God. Now, we're going to take a couple of pauses as we unpack this verse, or these verses. Now.

[8:48] One of the things that we also need to affirm is that Paul is not saying that he is in a state of perfection where nobody needs to judge his thoughts or actions. He's also not saying that the criticism that he's receiving doesn't hurt him. I mean, after all, he is a human being, but he is saying that he's not going to live as a people pleaser. And so he feels things when people are critical of him like anybody else does, but he doesn't live by what he feels. He knows that he's responsible to honor God properly. He knows that God alone is the judge, and that's what he's pointing out to the people at Corinth as he tackles what's happening in the church just head on. God is the judge.

[9:39] Secondly, he also, as he addresses this, affirms the— excuse me, the servant's own self-judgment. Now that's a little wordy, but listen to what he says in verse three. In fact, I do not even judge myself for I'm not aware of anything against myself. So Paul's saying, I'm not aware of anything that would disqualify my life and my ministry as I follow and lead people in Christ, but that did not mean that he was not accountable to God, and it did not mean that he's not accountable to people in the body of Christ. Now, it's important that we validate that because most of us, if not all of us know, here in the church in Western culture.

[10:27] Sadly, it's a somewhat regular occurrence when we read about somebody in ministry that's crossed some type of moral boundary and disqualified themselves in ministry. We need accountability in the church. Would you say amen to that? That's healthy. And so Paul's not saying that accountability doesn't matter. In fact, you can read other passages and you would see that he makes it very clear that accountability does matter. But what he is affirming is that his conscience is clear and the accusations that the church is firing at him are not with merit. Now, this is a sidebar. I pulled a little bit from the writing of Warren Wiersbe in the teaching today, and let me give a quote that Warren Wiersbe shares. This is very important. When our conscience is clear before the Lord, here's just a good, loving warning.

[11:26] There can be a fine line between a clear conscience and a self-righteous attitude. And so, therefore, we need to guard our own hearts. How many times, I won't speak for you, but I've heard someone, when they hear of someone stumbling, falling into sin, and then take a superiority attitude with statements like, did you hear what John Doe did? Did you hear what Jane Doe did?

[11:53] Rather than what we'll see unfold in 1 Corinthians 5 and following, where we love our sister and brother, and because we love them, we go to them and lovingly confront, not with a superior posture, but with a loving posture. There's much more we'll say about that in the weeks to come,

[12:14] because that's where the text takes us. So there can be a fine line between a clear conscience and a self-righteous attitude. So we all must beware around that and guard our own hearts. So he shares a bit as he's correcting the Corinthian church around the servants on self-judgment. But then he also affirms as he's correcting them the judgment of God. Look with me in verse 4. It is the Lord who judges me. Now, he's referencing here a day is going to come where God brings everything to light for all of us, and everything will be brought into the light, and God will also reward faithful service when that day comes. So let's again keep this healthy. I want to affirm that even though God is the judge—here we go, here's the flip side that I'm trying to also guard so we stay healthy— There is a place for loving critique. Did you know that?

[13:15] I'm going to explain that in a moment. Let me explain what it is. And I was around early in my ministry. There was a lady who came to me one day and said, Pastor Paul.

[13:27] And the tone was almost just like that. Pastor Paul, I said, yes, ma'am. I think God has given me the gift of criticism.

[13:38] And I said, ma'am, I think that's a gift God wants you to bury, okay? But is there a holy way to bring criticism that's constructive in a loving spirit? And the answer to that is yes. And the Bible reinforces that in several places. One of them is Ephesians 4.15, where the scripture says, speak the truth to one another in love. Note the spirit we're to operate in. That when moments like that come, we don't operate in a spirit of the flesh. That's a part of the problem at Corinth. We do this in a spirit of love. So, and we're going to unpack that more in the weeks to come. But that verse finishes by saying, so that we grow up in the image of Jesus, so that we're developed. We are, you know, Tim Tennant recently said, and I may have quoted it last Sunday, I can't remember.

[14:36] You can be justified come to Christ on an island, but you can't be sanctified there. You know, and my point, he's somehow on a desolated island. My point is that we develop as followers of Jesus in deep community with one another. We need one another speaking truth into one another's life. So here's the beauty. When a person does that in the right spirit, if they're right, we mature. Now, if they're wrong, then the church also exercises love and brings wisdom to the table so that all the church is strengthened. So as Paul's correcting the church at Corinth, he then writes this, Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things that are now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the art.

[15:26] Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Now, I've said this before, but when you open the Bible and when there's a therefore in Scripture, we need to pause and ask, what is it there for?

[15:41] So let's do that. What's it there for? Well, Paul is saying to the Corinthian church, you are judging God's servants at the wrong time. Listen to this, verse 5, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes. So once again, when the Lord returns, he will evaluate their ministries. He will evaluate all of our ministries, priesthood of all believers is what the New Testament teaches. So he's saying, wait until then. And what's happening that the Corinthian church remember, they're in the flesh. And so they're evaluating things in the flesh. You're not measuring up to the orators that are so entertaining in the culture. When you stand up before people, you're a little boring. I mean, that's what's happening because they think they need to be infotained to hear the word. And so what's happening is they're looking at things from the flesh. Now listen to what Jesus said about that.

[16:46] Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. And so that's what's happening at Corinth. They've already said about Paul, he's not very impressive looking. He just doesn't seem to be that much. It's all very fleshy. And so the Corinthians are assuming all of these privileges.

[17:11] And so you can see that in these privileges, they're doing a lot of misjudging. Secondly, they're judging with the wrong standard. Verse 6, I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit. In other words, the Corinthian church is judging on the basis of their own personal preferences and their prejudices, which leads us to what else the Corinthians were doing incorrectly. You're judging with the wrong motive. Look at what Paul says in chapter 6, excuse me, verse 6, pardon me, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what's written. He's referencing you're going beyond the revelation of God, and you're, again, operating on the basis of opinions. Notice what he says, that none of you may be puffed up in favor against one another, because what's happened is that their fleshy perspective is dividing the church. And as it's divided the church, this is why he said, so that you're not puffed

[18:10] up in favor of one against the other. They were tearing down and criticizing certain apostles, certain teachers, certain preachers in order to build up the ones that they liked. And their motive was fleshy and not spiritual.

[18:25] So you can see this is why Paul, again, he just deals with it straight on. This is a stewardship that God has entrusted to us with his heart, his revelation, his way of doing things in developing his church for his glory. Listen to this quote from Warren Weirsbeek.

[18:45] Wiersbe says, on the one hand, we can be so indifferent that we accept anybody who comes along. Now, that's a danger, but listen to this part. But the other extreme is to be so hypercritical that Paul himself would fail the test.

[19:00] So again, we are stewards of these things that the master, the king has entrusted to us. Secondly, we are a spectacle. Now, again, that may not sound like much, but let me read a paragraph to you. Then we're going to unpack that word together and explain why it's so relevant. So Paul writes, already you have all you want. By the way, I need to let you know this. Paul is using sarcasm here. Okay. I'm about to read a paragraph. Some of you may go, is sarcasm in the Bible? Well, you're about to hear it. Okay. In fact, I would call this sanctified sarcasm. Okay. It exists. I know because you're about to read it. All right. This is sanctified sarcasm. So Paul goes, he goes off like this. Already, you have all you want. Okay. He's talking about how self-centered they are. Already, you've become rich because they think they're so spiritually informed.

[19:55] Without us, man, you have become kings because you're making all these judgments. And would that you, also you did reign so that we may share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sent us to death because we have become, and I've highlighted this, a spectacle to the world. We'll circle back in a minute to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but man, you are so wise in Christ. You can hear the sarcasm. We are weak, but you, man, you're on a pedestal. You're strong. You're held in honor, but we are held in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless. We labor working with our own hands. You may remember Paul's a tent maker. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

[20:50] What's the deal here with spectacle? Because it's kind of the crescendo in the verse. Let me explain. He's using a term in the original language that's very familiar in the Roman Empire. The Roman government would keep its citizens entertained, not only in the amphitheaters, but also in different types of venues throughout the Roman Empire. Oftentimes, the amphitheaters would be filled with citizens eager to see these government-sanctioned competitions that took place where prisoners would fight lions to the death. In fact, the Greek word spectacle is where we get the English word theater. So when the main events ended, then they would release the poorest and the weakest prisoners to fight the lions or other wild beasts. And nobody expected much from this portion of the performance.

[21:49] This is the picture that Paul is using to describe the apostles, himself, Peter, Apollos, and others, that you Corinthians are so great sarcasm. You are so awesome. You are so lifted up. We are those people. We're just spectacles who are here at the tail end, bottom rung of the ladder. This is why, again, he's using this sarcasm. You have become kings. You are high and lifted up. And here's what Paul's doing with his sarcasm church family. He is separating God's facts from fiction.

[22:28] By contrast, he is exposing the level of their self-perception that is false, and he is opening their eyes by using sarcasm so that they may awaken and see the reality of the lies that they bought into. You are rich kings. Are you kidding me? Paul's standing there, along with the other apostles, bringing a message from the king of kings and lord of lords. And yet the church has grown or navigated into a place where they cannot see this clearly. In other words, you think you're so important. You are first in the eyes of people, but we apostles are last. Now, you know what? One of the things, this tells us many things, but you know, one of the things that these verses tell us, here it is.

[23:18] There is no room for pride for a follower of Jesus.

[23:25] Listen to what jesus said to another church that thought too much of their own way rather than god's way in revelation 3 you say i am rich i have acquired wealth and do not need a thing but you do not realize that you are wretched pit of pitiable poor and naked it.

[23:45] Church, Paul himself knew something about what we're talking about on a personal level. The Apostle Paul, you may remember, that he described himself at one point in his life as a Hebrew of Hebrews. What he's referring to is that he had the highest pedigree educationally in the Jewish system. That would be the equivalent of him, if he had wanted to brag, I'm a graduate of MIT. I have a master's degree from Harvard. He could go on and on, just the finest schools in the world at that time. And that was the apostle Paul. And he could have placed all his confidence and in his personal identity in those things. So he knew something about the things of the world and how they can puff up your own self-perception. And so it was also through Paul's own personal suffering, as well as his conversion to Christ, that helped him get right side up to understand reality. When he began to suffer with a thorn in his flesh, you may remember that it was Paul who taught us out of his own experience that in my weakness, I have discovered that there is a great grace from God that's available to strengthen me. In weakness, I know strength. And he shares his testimony to help believers, to help you know a strength that's in the Lord. And so he was no fool when it came to the things that the world valued.

[25:13] Yet, Paul knew if he had remained in the Jewish religion, he would have had a much easier life because he would have been able to excel in the world's eyes at that time. If he had sided with the Jewish rabbis and not taken the gospel to the Gentiles, he never would have been persecuted. There were all kinds of things that Paul could have taken an easier way, but his life was surrendered to Jesus. And he recognized as one who had been called to the third heaven and understood the revelation and implications of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he was compelled to take the love of the word of God and love of the gospel to all people for his glory. And so the Corinthians were wise in their own eyes, but loved ones, the truth is they were fools in the sight of God.

[25:59] And that's not too strong of language based upon the text. There is a sense in which the way—listen to this, church, this is really important— there is a sense in which the way to become spiritually wise is to become foolish in the eyes of the world.

[26:23] Last week there was a verse that I didn't cover. That goes right before the text that we're covering today. I saved it for today. You got to remember before, when the Bible was written, there were no chapters and verses, right? It was just a letter. So listen to what Paul said right before he affirms the reality that I just expressed based upon Scripture. He says this, Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. Now, I've said this to you before. I'll say it again, but here it is. When you're deceived, you don't know you're deceived because you're deceived.

[27:15] And Paul is reminding us you can't have it both ways. As we've affirmed based upon scripture, the gospel of Christ is foolishness in the eyes of the world. And if you place your life upon what Jesus Christ has done for you, what he's done, taking your sins, and this is what I'm about to say is going to become more true in Western culture as the years go by. I don't say that with trepidation. I just say that because I think it's true. That's opinion. That's not in the Word. Actually, it is in the Word. But it's going to become tougher.

[27:52] But you cannot follow Jesus without it being countercultural. Anybody say amen to that? I mean, it's just true. It's always been true. That's why Jesus said things like, count the cost. Understand you're not, everybody's not going to like you. Remember what was it Jesus once said? Beware when all people speak well of you. I mean, it's kind of like what Winston Churchill once said. You have enemies? Huh, congratulations, you stand for something.

[28:25] Now, Churchill, I don't know that he was saying that in the spirit of Christianity.

[28:30] But it reminds us, it's reminiscent in a holy way, if you can sanctify the statement of what Jesus was saying. This is why the late Jim Elliott once said, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. There's a lot of wisdom in that short sentence. So the Corinthian believers wanted the honor that comes from people, not the honor that comes from God.

[28:53] And that's the problem, is that the pattern of the world over the revelation of Jesus. And so Paul is saying, if you notice in those last verses, Paul's saying to them, look, if you associate with us, you had better get ready for suffering because you're going to be misunderstood by some. We apostles are not held in honor. We are often despised. And so Paul and the other apostles were treated just like the Lord Jesus was treated. And so we recognize that Paul's sharing these things out of love for them. He's not trying to wound them or hurt them. He's trying to help them grow in relationship with Christ. These are people who've put their faith in Christ already, but they've gone back to their worldly patterns. And so he writes this. These are such strong, sobering words. He says, regarding apostles, he says, these prophets and apostles and other leaders, he says, we are the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. Is that not really strong language?

[29:56] So Missy and I, when I was in grad school, I went on staff of a county seat church, and I rented a house. And really, I should have let Missy see the inside of the house before I rented it. I've repented of this. Please do not interview Missy after the service on this. But it was really, really bad. And there was a dear lady whom we loved, had passed away. I didn't know her, but I felt to love him a heart and lied to him about. I'm about to say, because of her declining health, she didn't clean. And I don't know that she had the capacity to do so, but she fried a lot of food in her house. And so the kitchen, years and years of frying with oil and grease, everything, okay, the kitchen is covered in scum. And so I go in, I mean, like with all kinds, Missy and I both, with a paint scraper. I'm telling you, we're just taking scum off everything, everything. It's thick. Well, when we got the room de-scummed, we did not look at all the towels and all the material. We didn't look at the scum and go, you know what? We need to keep that.

[31:17] We didn't make a trophy of that. It got hauled away. It was trash. And what Paul is reminding you is that people whom we love, we love. We don't stop loving. But people outside, I don't mean outside the walls of the church. It's mean people who don't, haven't come to know Jesus. They hear the gospel unless God's drawing them to Jesus. And it's just worthless. Scum. And that's Paul's point. That's how the world regards these truths, the reality of Jesus that we hold dear for the glory of God.

[32:02] I want to tell you about a church. I'll give you the name, Tuscumbia First Methodist Church. It's in North Alabama. Decades ago, it was a church very similar to Corinth.

[32:17] Just had reverted, more of a social club than a church. And people there would tell you so. So that's not me being a critic. People in that church would tell you that that was true. Their get-togethers might as well have been any other get-together. It was just a social club. And they got a new pastor. His name was Alton Paris. He served there for a while. I'll share that with you in a moment. And Alton, when he came into the pulpit the first Sunday, he reads from a manuscript, hardly even makes eye contact with the congregation. Turns out this is his normal. This is the way he always preached, reading his manuscript. And Alton's also a bit of an introvert. In fact, he's a big introvert. If Alton were still living today, if we said, hey, I'm going to drive Alton to Nashville this afternoon, we could get in the car. I could be in the driver's seat. I could say, good morning, Alton. How are you? And he would go, fine. And then not another word would be spoken all the way to Nashville. Massive introvert. And so after he had been there a few months, the church got into a little bit of an uproar. He is boring.

[33:37] We can't take any more of this. I can't bring my friends to church. I don't want to invite anybody. This is boring. I mean, just miserable. And the church was like, we got to get him out of here. Let me share with you some things that I left out.

[33:54] Alton Paris was a deep, deep man of prayer. He didn't use the tools of the flesh. He walked with Jesus in the Spirit.

[34:08] And what began to happen in the early years of his ministry there is that as he would read, by the way, the content was always rich, always rooted in the Scripture.

[34:20] Faithful to teaching God's Word clearly. What began to happen on occasion is that about a third or maybe two-thirds into the sermon, people would begin to sense something more happening in the room than just a sermon. They were sensing the presence of God, and it was emanating out of the prayers of their senior pastor. Much prayer, much power, little prayer, little power. This is a man of prayer. and God began to speak to people, not out of the tools of persuasion rooted in the flesh, but because the Holy Spirit is doing something. God began to speak to people. People began experiencing returns to their first love of Jesus. People began to awaken to the presence of God. People began to engage in worship in a way that they weren't just singing words, but their heart was adoring Jesus as words of exaltation and magnification of God and his nature are lifted up before the church family. And, you know, during the 13 years that he was there, 22 young men and women were called into full-time ministry. Some of you in this room know some of them. I know that.

[35:48] Fruitful, fruitful, and the church came alive. Picture that, a pastor who reads from a manuscript but has a dynamic prayer life, a pastor who's not necessarily the most extroverted person, but God brings great fruit when we do things His way and not the Corinthian way for the glory of God. Church, why is the Apostle Paul willing to suffer?

[36:21] Not only because he loves God, but because he loves people. And sometimes, because you love deeply, you don't enable. You correct. And that's what Paul is doing with the church. He's helping to guide her to be alive in Christ again. I remind you that the Son of God came because he loved you. He loves you. And at the cross, he took your sin. And I remind you again that the scriptures teach clearly that when you return to Jesus, repent of whatever sin or sins may be building a wall between you and God. When you do that, can I remind you that God is merciful? He is. That's not my opinion. That's the word of God. Scripture says that his mercies are new every day. I remind you of what mercy is. You do not get what you deserve. God forgives.

[37:24] He cleanses. Scripture says that if your life is in Christ, you put your life in Christ, you surrender to him. The right step toward God is always starts with an S, surrender.

[37:38] You surrender to him. He declares, you're a new creation. Old things, the things that had separated you from God, old things pass away. Only God can do this. Old things pass away. The new comes.

[37:54] He's good like that. And I want to encourage you, let Jesus renew your first love, your first love of Jesus. When you join this church, you put your faith in Jesus. You can't join the church without doing that. But return to your first love. Let him renew you for his glory. But Lord, we pray the words of Scripture, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we pray that that truth and reality would deepen among us. In Jesus' name, amen.