(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. All right, we're there in 2 Corinthians chapter number two. And of course, on Wednesday nights, we've been going through the book of 2 Corinthians. We're going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the book. And we spent three weeks in chapter one. We're gonna spend a couple of weeks in chapter two. And we're gonna look at verses one through 11 tonight here in 2 Corinthians chapter two. And just to lay a little bit of the context, if you remember, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. In fact, if you would, just go back to chapter one real quickly, 2 Corinthians chapter one and verse 23. If you remember, the apostle Paul had to address the fact that he was being attacked because he had told the church in Corinth that he was gonna be going there. And then he decided not to go. And they were saying that he was wishy washy and that he was not someone that could be counted on. And he used that as an illustration and said, you know, maybe you can't count on me, but you can always count on God. God's yay is always yay. But in verse 23, 2 Corinthians one and verse 23, he gave the reason, if you remember why he didn't go, he said, moreover, 2 Corinthians 123, I call God for a record upon my soul that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth. He said, the reason that I didn't come is because I want to spare you. He said, I wanted to help you, but I wanted to help you by not coming yet because there were some issues I needed to deal with. And that's where we pick up in chapter two and verse one. Notice what he says. He says, but I determined this with myself that I would not come again to you in heaviness. See, the apostle Paul was supposed to go to Corinth. But if you remember, and we're going to look at some passages in 1 Corinthians, the epistle, the letter written to the Corinthian church, the first letter, the church at Corinth is a church that had a lot of problems, had a lot of issues. And the apostle Paul, if you remember when we went through 1 Corinthians, it's a very negative book. He was not like Philippians at all. He was just kind of correcting a lot of issues and problems that he had. And now, as we're going to see tonight, they did what Christians often do, is when they are told there's a problem or they see a problem, they kind of jerk the steering wheel. And they go from one extreme to another. Now Paul has another problem to deal with. And that's why he says, I did not come. Notice again there in verse one, he says, I determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in heaviness. Now, what we're going to look at tonight, there's kind of two major themes in the first 11 verses. And the themes go hand in hand, and they connect. So we're going to look at them together. And then next week, we'll look at the rest of the chapter, which kind of shifts into a different subject. But in the first 11 verses, what we find is, first of all, we see a theme of the heart of the apostle Paul. And really, it's the heart of any true man of God who is a spiritual leader whose job is to teach and preach the word of God. And then he explains the hurt of church discipline and the problems that they're having to now deal with as a result of church discipline. So if you're taking notes tonight, and of course, I always encourage you to take notes, just know that there's kind of two sections we're going to work through. The first one is the heart of a true man of God. And I want you to notice, and if you're taking notes, you can kind of write this down into that section. Number one, no true man of God enjoys correcting people. What we see in this passage is the apostle Paul. And he's kind of letting us into his personal mindset, his psychology. And you're seeing a little bit about how he feels. And I want you to notice the adjectives that he uses in verses one through four. He says, but I determined this within myself that I would not come to you in, I want you to notice this word. In fact, if you don't mind underlying in your Bible, or writing in your Bible, or circling in your Bible, you might want to circle this word. He says, heaviness. He said that I would not come again to you in heaviness. The word heaviness means to be somber, to grieve, to be serious. He says, I wanted to come to you, but I didn't come because I had some things to deal with. And he said, I didn't want to come to you in heaviness. And I've already had to deal with some things in the first letter. And I'm not ready to go there. I've got to write this second letter to correct even other things further. And when I come, he said, I want to come happy. I don't want to come upset. I don't want to come heavy. I don't want to come somber. Notice what he says in verse two. He says, for if I make you sorry, who then is he? He says, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? He says, if I make you sorry, then who's gonna make me glad? He said, the person, the people that can make me glad are the same people that are made sorry by me. Notice verse three. He says, and I wrote this same unto you, lest when I come, notice what he says. He says, I should have, notice this word, sorrow. And if you don't mind underlining in your Bible, you gotta underline that word, sorrow. In verse one, he said, heaviness. In verse three, he says, sorrow. The word sorrow means distress or grief. He says, and I wrote this same unto you. He said, I didn't come because I didn't wanna come in sorrow. He said, I've got some things I need to deal with. He says in verse three, and I wrote this, talking about the second epistle, I wrote this same unto you, lest when I come. He said, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice. He said, I should be rejoicing in you, but instead right now, I'm sorrowing. He said, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. Verse four, he says this, for out of much, notice this word, underline it. If you don't mind, out of much affliction. See the word affliction there? Word affliction means a state of pain or misery. For out of much affliction, and notice this word, anguish. The word anguish means distress, suffering, pain. He says, out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote unto you, notice he says, with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. See, the Apostle Paul is kind of allowing people into his personal space a little bit, and he's explaining to the church at Corinth that when he wrote the first letter of the Corinthians, and when he began to confront them, if you remember, that was a very negative letter, he confronted them about church discipline, he confronted them about how they were doing baptism, he confronted them about being carnal, he confronted them about having cliques, he confronted them about all sorts of issues within the church, and he says, I want you to know that when I did that, and he says, even now, there's some things that you've not yet corrected that I need you to fix, and he says, when I did that, I did it in heaviness, I did it in sorrow, I did it in affliction, I did it in anguish. He said, when I wrote this to you, I did it with many tears, and here's what I want you to know, and you may not know this, and I don't know that you could know it unless you were in ministry, or you're a pastor, or you're a pastor's wife, but I want you to understand this, and I think this is what the Apostle Paul is trying to help you understand, and I hope you can understand this. Unfortunately, I've pastored enough future pastors with our church starting five churches now, I've trained enough guys who eventually became pastors that I laid hands on, and I've had many of them say this to me after they were in ministry, and they say it as an encouragement, and I understand that, but it's not so encouraging when I hear it, and I've had so many of them say it to me now that my wife and I have been in ministry for six months, or a year, or two years, now that we've been doing it for a while, now we understand all the things you were saying about ministry, and they're saying like, yeah, isn't that good that we get it now, and I'm thinking to myself, no, that just means we've got 150 people that still don't get it probably, and I'm not trying to pick on you. I understand you have other jobs, and you've got other things you're doing, and your life is not necessarily your job to deal with these things, but if you would allow me just for a minute to help you understand something, no true man of God enjoys correcting people. My job as a pastor is to stand up here three times a week, take the word of God, and show you where you're wrong, show you what needs to be corrected, show you where you need to fix some things, and sometimes I think people think that you become a pastor because you're just this person who just enjoys hurting people, enjoys upsetting people, but I would submit to you that no true man of God actually enjoys correcting. In fact, whenever we have to correct, whenever we have to bring things up, whenever we have to show passages of scripture and say this needs to stop, this needs to end, this isn't right, this is not what God wants, these things are done, Paul would say, oftentimes out of sorrow, anguish, affliction. You're there in 2 Corinthians, go with me to the next book, book of Galatians if you would, and this might surprise you, but let me just help you understand this, everyone likes to be liked, even pastors, even pastor's wives, everyone, even true men of God want to be liked, and oftentimes what we worry about, what we worry, and maybe it's just our own carnality and our own flesh, but what we worry about is that the things that we have to do as our job, as our God-given responsibility to rebuke and reprove and correct, to love people and help people by telling them the truth is that we're just turning people against us. This is how Paul said in Galatians 4 16, he says, am I therefore, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? That was a concern for Paul. I'll be honest with you, it's a concern for me. The truth is this, no true man of God likes to correct people. Nobody in general likes to correct anybody because everybody likes to be liked, but I think sometimes people think like, oh, the pastor, the pastor's wife, they don't, they obviously, they're just these angry ogres, and they tell people no, and they tell people you can't do this, and they tell people you can't do that. The usher said I could do it. The staff said I could do it. Then Ms. Joanne found out, and she said no, or then pastor found out, and he said no. You say, why do you guys say no? Here's why, because it's our job. It's not because we enjoy it. In fact, sometimes we walk away, and we wonder, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? And sometimes, and when we talk about hard preaching, we often usually always focus on the congregation, how much you don't like it, how much you don't enjoy it, how much it doesn't feel good to you to get your toe stepped on, and to get your face ripped off, and all those things, but let me let you in on a little secret. It's not that pleasurable on this side either. I have to look at the faces. I have to deal with the awkward silence, and the avoidance, and the normally they say hi, but not that service. They went out the other door. All those things that cause us to wonder, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Something you might want to consider, something the apostle Paul's trying to teach at the church at Corinth is this, that no true man of God actually enjoys to correct people. Sometimes I think it's funny because you listen to these young preachers, or young guys who want to go in ministry someday, and they act like, I'm just gonna get up and be the hardest preacher ever. Every sermon is gonna be against the sodomites, and by the way, if every sermon is against the sodomites, that's weird. That's not something you should be fixated on. That's odd. Yeah, every sermon is gonna be just as hard, so I'm just gonna preach about all these. Here's the thing. That's because you're not actually connected and ministering to anybody. You actually have these people in your home, or you go to their home. You're with them at their hardest times. You're with them at the hospital. You bury their dead. You marry their children. You counsel them. You're there when they need you. You actually spend time with these people. You develop relationships. You begin to love these people. You're not gonna enjoy getting up and correcting and rebuking. You'll walk away asking this question, am I therefore become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. Honestly, I take some comfort in the words of the apostle Paul, because for the longest time, I used to wonder if there was something wrong with me as a pastor. And I'm not trying to make this about me. I'll just give you personal illustration. I wish you knew, I wish you knew the countless Sunday nights and Wednesday nights that my wife and I stay up after a Sunday night service or a Wednesday night service. Worried. Everybody does different things when they're stressed out. One of the things that I like to do, I don't know why, I'm sure I'm just weird, but one of the things I like to do is just kind of lay on the floor when I'm stressed out. I don't know if anybody else is like that. Not on a couch or not on a bed, but just kind of on the carpet or just lay on the floor. And there are many a Sunday night when we put the kids to bed and I just kind of lay on the floor in our living room. My wife sits there next to me and we talk. Is it too much? I know I needed to say it. I know it needed to be addressed. I know we couldn't allow it to continue. I hope they understand we love them. I hope they understand we did it because it's what the Bible says to do. I hope they get in. Here's what I'm telling you. You might think, I preach on something, but by the way, half the time, half the time I'm preaching about things that connect to you or that are about you and I don't even know it. I always think it's funny when people tell me eight months later, I've been mad at you for eight months when you said X, Y, and Z about me smoking. I'm like, I didn't even know you smoked. There's like 20 people in our church that probably smoke. You thought I was preaching about you. Mad at you for seven years. It's like, I didn't even know that was you. I thought that was your wife, you know, whatever. I thought that was your. The point is this. We as preachers want to be liked. We want to be loved. We want to have friends. And no true man of God actually enjoys correcting people. Paul says, I already had to deal with you guys. Just to be honest with you, I know I was supposed to come. I said I was gonna come. You were expecting me to come. You'd announce it and put it in the bulletin and then I'd flaked out on you. But here's the honest truth. The last time I had to deal with you in heaviness, and I just didn't want to do it again. He said it was heaviness. He said it was sorrow. He said it was affliction and anguish and tears. There's no true man of God enjoys correcting people. By the way, nobody enjoys correcting people. And even true men of God want to be liked. Go to Romans, if you would, Romans chapter 16. If you're there in Galatians or in 2 Corinthians, you just go backwards past 1 Corinthians and Romans. Romans chapter 16. It's easy, this weekend I'll be preaching at the fire breathing conference. I'll tell you, it's the easiest thing in the world to preach hard sermons in somebody else's church. You don't know those people and you don't care. I mean, you know what I mean. You care, but they quit the church. It's like, whoa, sorry. No true man of God enjoys correcting people. But true men of God will correct people. And by the way, let me just say this. Because nobody enjoys correcting people, this is why false prophets will never preach anything negative. Romans 16, are you there? Look at verse 17. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them. Notice verse 18. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly. And by, notice these words, notice the description. And by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. See, here's what I understand. People, they come to a church like this and then I say something they don't like. They're like, I don't like him, he said this about me. It's like, hey, the fact that I said something you don't like should at least prove to you that this is a true man of God. Because if I was just trying to win a popularity contest, if I was just trying to get as many people in the building as possible or as many people watching on YouTube as possible, then I would just only say good words and fair speeches and deceive the hearts of the simple. That's why, look, turn on a televangelist, whatever televangelist you want, turn them on and listen to them and you'll never hear anything negative. You'll never hear anything to correct. You'll never hear anything to reprove and to rebuke. Why? Because they just want friends. And they actually don't even want friends. They just want money. They just want popularity. Second Timothy, you have to turn there. You go back to Second Corinthians. Second Timothy 4-3 says this, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. In verse four, he says this, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. See, there are people out there today who want to go to a church where they'll be lied to and there's many a preacher willing to lie to them. False prophets will never preach anything negative. Why? Nobody likes to correct. Everyone wants to be liked. And when you actually correct people, it brings mental stress. Sometimes people come to me and they tell me something. And I immediately, and I look, I'm just confessing your faults once or another. Maybe it's wrong for me to think this way. But people tell me, so please understand this. It's my job and I will do my job. But sometimes people say something to me or they say something to my wife. I can see it on her face sometimes. It's kind of like, ugh. I wish she wouldn't have told me that because now I have to deal with it. Now I have to talk to them. Now I have to confront them. We can't let it, we're a Bible-believing church. But please know this. When Pastor Jimenez corrects you, when Ms. Joanne steps in and says no, sorry. But the staff, they said, I know what they said, but my husband says no. It's not because we're on a power trip because we actually don't like doing it. You say, well, what is it? Well, notice 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might, notice these words, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. Pastor Jimenez, why would a preacher whose entire job consists of trying to get people, can we just be real? Trying to get people to come hear him preach. That's how he survives. That's how they pay the bills. That's how they pay the staff. Why would that guy then stand up and say things that are gonna offend the people that are there? And it's one word. It's only one reason why you would do it. It's love because we actually love you because we actually care about you. See, Paul said, why did I deal with the affliction? Why did I deal with the anguish? Why did I deal with the sorrow? Why did I deal with the tears? Why did I deal with these things that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you? You say, I've been offended by you, Pastor. Then you oughta know I love you. Because it would've been easier to not say it. It would've been easier to let you ruin your life, let you ruin your marriage, let you ruin your children. That actually would've been easier. Less stressful, less anguish, less awkwardness, less wondering, are they gonna leave? Are they gonna get upset? It would've been easier. Notice what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12. In verse 15, see, why would a true man of God actually preach and correct? Here's why. We do it out of love, there's really no other reason. There's really no benefit to us. There's no benefit to us for you to be upset with us but love the staff. There's no benefit to me. I love the staff too, but I always think it's funny if people are like, oh, I don't like Pastor Jimenez, I'm gonna be extra nice to the staff, and I'm sure I'll be nice in front of him to make sure I make a point that I don't like him. Yeah, well, you wouldn't like them either if they have to stand up three times a week and preach about your sin. 2 Corinthians 12, 15, here's what Paul says, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. This is the heart of a preacher. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. I'll give myself, I'll give my life, I'll give my energy and my time, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, Paul says, the less I be loved. You say, how can that be? Proverbs, if you would, go there, Proverbs 27. You open your Bible just right in the center of your more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 27. Proverbs 27 and verse five. Open rebuke is better than secret love. And then he says this, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So you know what a friend does? A friend tells you what you don't want to hear, and they're faithful. A friend tells you what you need to hear, and they're faithful. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. See, like Judas Iscariot, it'd be easy to just give you a kiss while we deceive you and lie to you, stab you in the back. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. True men of God don't like to correct. And those of you that think you're gonna get into the ministry someday because you're gonna get up and rip face, you gotta really reconsider if this is really what you want to do because it's not fun. You know what's fun? Preaching the nice sermons. Those are fun. Or preaching against the sin that nobody's doing in the room. But that doesn't help you. You know what helps you? It applies to you. When it's brought down and applied to you. No true man of God enjoys correcting people, but true men of God will correct because of love. They'll do it out of love, that you might know the love which I have more abundantly. Go to First Corinthians, if you would, First Corinthians chapter five. So you see in this first section that the Apostle Paul talks about his heart. He uses these adjectives, heaviness, sorrow, affliction, anguish, tears. He said, I don't like it. I worry about it. I know it needs to be said. I know it needs to be addressed. I know I can't let it go on. I know that I'm accountable to God, but I don't like it. Paul says, I do it though, because I love you. Then he begins to talk about church discipline. He begins to talk about the hurt of church discipline, and that's why he had to correct them. And just to give you the context or to remind you, in First Corinthians chapter five in verse one is when he talked to them about this. He said, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. If you remember in First Corinthians five, Paul had written that they should conduct church discipline against this young man because of fornication. Now, we're gonna come back to this here just right in one minute, so keep your finger right there in First Corinthians five, but go back to Second Corinthians two. Let me just talk to you about church discipline for a minute, because this is what Paul's dealing with. This is one of the things he had to correct them on. In First Corinthians, and now he has to correct them again in Second Corinthians about the same issue, just a different extreme. And he talks about this church discipline. Let me just give you some thoughts on church discipline, because here's what we see in this passage. We see the heart of a true man of God, and we see the hurt of church discipline. Church discipline, if you're taking notes, maybe you can write this down. Number one, church discipline is supposed to hurt. Second Corinthians two, look at verse five. But if any have cause of grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part, that I may not overcharge you all. Look at verse six. Sufficient to such a man is the punishment. Sufficient to such a man is the punishment which was inflicted of many. When we talk about church discipline, and let me just say this, the doctrine of church discipline or the practice of church discipline has all but disappeared off the face of the earth. There are very few churches that actually practice and believe in church discipline, and we believe it because we believe the Bible. We believe every bit of it. And you say, church discipline, that seems kinda harsh. And just to remind you what exactly church discipline is, go back to First Corinthians five, look at verse four. He talked about this young man. He said it's commonly reported that there's fornication among you, verse four. He says, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you gather together in my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, notice what he says. This is church discipline. To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. When someone is church disciplined out of a Bible-believing church, one thing that we're supposed to do, and one thing that I do, not because I enjoy it, just because I have to follow the Bible, is to pray imprecatory prayers against believers. We talked about imprecatory prayers against the reprobates but here's an imprecatory. Imprecatory just means to pray a curse upon. Here Paul said, in First Corinthians with this young man, he said, you need to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. You need to pray that Satan destroys this young man's life and that he does not prosper, that he does not win in the sin that he's living in. To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus. Notice verse six, it says, your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? This is the danger of allowing sin into a church. So what do you do? Verse seven, purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Notice verse nine, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators. Don't hang out with them. Don't spend time with them, not to company with fornicators. He says, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters, for then must ye need to go out of the world. He's not talking about unsaved people out in the world. Unsaved people out in the world are gonna act like the world. He's talking about here within the church. But now, I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. He says, with such and one, know not to eat. For what am I to do to judge them that also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without? God judges, therefore, notice what he says, put away from among yourselves that wicked person. You say, that seems kind of mean. You kick them out. You tell them you can't company with them. You don't spend time with them. You put them away. You pray that Satan will destroy their flesh. Notice, not that they would go to hell, but that they would not prosper within their sin. You do those things, why? Here's why. Because church discipline is supposed to hurt. It's called a punishment for a reason. You say, but why would you do it? And why would you preach about it? Well, I'm only preaching about it tonight because it's in our text. But I'll be honest with you. You say, why do you preach about church discipline? Why do we do these things? Because I want the people in our church, and especially the young people, to be scared to death! To be afraid to go down the road of becoming a drunkard. To be afraid to go down the road of being a fornicator. To be afraid, and look, they need to know, as much as I love all of you, they need to know, you need to know, that you have a pastor who actually believes the Bible. And though it hurts me, though it sorrows me, though it afflicts me, though it brings me anguish, though I stay up late at night thinking about it and praying about it and talking to my wife about it, I will do what the Bible tells me to do. You say, why? Because I love you, that's why. Because it's supposed to hurt. I want my kids to be afraid to fornicate. I want my kids to be afraid to take a bottle of alcohol and put it to their lips. I want them to be afraid. I want your kids to be afraid. I want to be afraid, and I want you to be afraid. It's supposed to hurt. Church discipline is supposed to hurt. So that we'd be afraid to do it. It's called a punishment for a reason. You say, do you enjoy it? You come spend time with me on Sunday night. Do you like it? We do it because we love you. Number one, church discipline is supposed to hurt. Number two, church discipline is supposed to be carried out by everyone. This is often the times when you feel lonely in ministry, when you as a pastor are by faith carrying out the scriptures. And sometimes you feel like people, you know, you got this front line fighting with you and then you look around and everybody's pulled back. Notice what he says in verse six, second Corinthians two, verse six. Efficient to such a man is a punishment, notice these words, which was inflicted of many. Well, I know a pastor said that church discipline, so that means he can't talk to them. No, it's supposed to be inflicted of many. See, here's the thing about church discipline, it's church discipline. You're supposed to do it too. You're supposed to not keep company. You're supposed to put away from among yourselves. You're supposed to deliver such and one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. You say, pastor, do you really pray prayers like that? You know, I'll be honest with you, when I pray a prayer like that, and there are people I'm praying for like that right now, I'm not talking about reprobates, I pray for reprobates like that too. But there's people that I love that I'm praying for like that right now, and my wife and I love, that have gone wayward. And here's what we pray, Lord, do whatever you gotta do in their lives, and do it as gently as possible to bring them back to you. How gently he does it is really up to you. Say, why do you pray like that? Because we love you. And I will pray like that for all of you if you get back, if you fall into one of these sins. Obviously not every sin will get you kicked out of church, but there's a list right in our passage. See, church discipline is supposed to be carried out by everyone. It is a punishment which was inflicted, Paul says, of many. And by the way, it only works if it's carried out by many. Why do you want it to be carried out by many? Because we want it to hurt. Why do you want it to hurt? Here's point number three. Number one, church discipline is supposed to hurt. Number two, church discipline is supposed to be carried out by everyone. Number three, church discipline is supposed to lead to restoration. Second Corinthians two, look at verse seven. So that contra-wise, so that contra-wise, see, I want you to understand this. Well, let's just read it, I'll explain it. So that contra-wise, he ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such and one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. See, here's what happened. And we'll talk about it here in a little bit. But this young man was in fornication and the church knew about it and they were allowing it. Nobody was stopping it, nobody was willing to stop it, nobody was confronting him. Nobody was saying, hey, this isn't right, you're not allowed to do this, you can't do this, you can't be here and do these things. So Paul, out of much sorrow and grief and anguish, pens a letter to the church of Corinth and says, what are you guys doing? It's commonly reported among you that there is fornication, you can't allow this. You have to throw him out, you have to get rid of him. They took that correction, they didn't like it, but they took it and they threw him out. Then here's what happened, the guy got right with God and he came back to church and they were still mean to him and they didn't want to accept him and they didn't want to forgive him. And Paul says, good night, now I have to write another letter. Look at 2 Corinthians 2 six, sufficient to such a man is the punishment which was inflicted of many. He says, good, good on you, you inflicted it. He says, so that contra-wise, he says, contrary to what you may think though, now that he's gotten right, ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with over much sorrow. See, when somebody repents and they get right with God, we shouldn't look down on them and treat them like some sort of a second-class citizen. No, that's what we wanted. Wherefore, I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him, for to this and also did I write that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. You know, the truth about Christian maturity is this, not when you follow the Bible on the things you want to do, but when you follow the Bible on the things you don't want to do. You don't want to do it, but you do it because that's what the Bible says. That I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things, verse 10, to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also. For if I forgive anything to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. See, church discipline is supposed to hurt and church discipline is supposed to be carried out by everyone, but church discipline is supposed to lead to restoration. We want people restored. We want them to come back. We want them to be back in fellowship with us and with God. Galatians 6, if you would. You're there in 2 Corinthians. Just go past to the next book, Galatians chapter 6. Look at verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken and in a fault, notice these words, ye which are spiritual, sometimes that's a tall order, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Notice these words. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Remember, we're supposed to treat people the way we'd like to be treated. And we should consider ourselves that we might also, look, we're not above sin. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. If a man is overtaken and in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. You say, but pastor, I don't understand, there's all these emotions and all these, you feel this way and you feel that way and you have all these things. How do you work through all those things? We're not guided by our emotions. If we were guided by our emotions, we wouldn't correct ever. Cause all it does is bring mental stress, anguish, sorrow, worry. It'd be easy to just lie to you. We shouldn't be guided by our emotions. Look, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Quit following your heart, it gets you into trouble every time. Follow the Bible, you'll be all right. Notice what he says there in verse 11. Lest Satan, here's what I think is interesting. He says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2nd Corinthians 2, 11. He says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. And obviously, you could preach a lot out of that and there's lots of things we know about Satan. He's a deceiver, he's a tempter, he corrupts the word of God. We know all those things about him and some of that's even brought up later on in the chapter. But I want you to look at this verse in its context. He says, look, when I corrected you, I didn't enjoy it, I didn't like it. In fact, it brought a bunch of stress upon my life, but I did it because I loved you. And then you corrected it, you did what you're supposed to do and you punished the young man and took him out and it was inflicted of many. But then when he tried to come back, you didn't forgive him, you didn't reconcile. And he says, now I have to correct you on that as well and I wanted to come to see you, but I didn't want to come in heaviness and say, you guys are still wrong. I want you to try to fix this through this letter so when I come, we can just have a good old time. He says, look, all these things, it's happening and we must deal with it, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. You say, what does Satan have to do with this situation? Here's what Satan would love. Satan would love for any Christian to be in balance. And by the way, I don't have time to preach this, but let me just kind of help you out. The Christian life is all about balance. It's consistently taught throughout the Bible. I mean, you look at finances and the prayer we're told to pray in Proverbs is, you know, give me not riches and neither give me poverty. Lord, just put me somewhere in the middle because I don't want to have riches and then get puffed up and forget about God. I don't want to have poverty and then despise your name. He said, just balance it, Lord, so that I can be content and serve you. The Bible says that Jesus was full of grace and truth. Truth hurts, grace is kind. Balance. Some people, all truth, all truth, I'm just gonna tell you everything and then run. Yeah, but you know what, we're supposed to speak the truth in love. But Jesus, what was he? He was grace, he was truth. The Christian life, the Christian life is supposed to be a life of balance. That's why, by the way, it's inappropriate when your life is imbalanced. When your whole life is about, you know, one issue. The sodomites, that's not balance. That's weird. Your whole life is just one issue. You read the Bible, study the Bible. You never go soul winning, but you read the Bible, study the Bible, that's not good. Or you go soul winning, soul winning, soul winning, but you have no prayer life. You don't read the Bible. Christian life is supposed to be balanced. Here's how the Bible puts it about joke. We're supposed to be perfect, meaning whole, complete, balanced. Say, pastor, what do I need to be all about? What should be my one hobby horse? Your one hobby horse should be a balance of the word of God. You know, I'm gonna go soul winning every day and make other people who don't feel bad. Well, wait a minute, good. You go soul winning as much as possible, but are you reading your Bible? Are you praying? Are you tithing? Are you doing all these other things? We're supposed to do all of it. We're supposed to be balanced. You see, even churches are supposed to be balanced, and Paul is telling the church of Corinth, go back to 1 Corinthians 5, he says, look, Satan would love for this church to be in balance. There's two extremes this church was on. In 1 Corinthians 1, they were on this extreme. Let anything go. Just any sin is accepted, everything's fine, we'll never correct you. Right, that's what they were doing in 1 Corinthians 5. Look at verse one. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much is named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. And notice what he says about them. Verse two, and ye are puffed up. And remember, Paul wrote this out of sorrow and grief. He's not angry and upset, but he's telling them the truth. He says, and ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourn that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. Look at what he says in verse six. He says, your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole of? This church in 1 Corinthians, it was the church that was just allowing any and every sort of sin. And by the way, this is the average church in America today. Churches that pride themselves on just accepting everyone and anyone. You could be fornicating, you could be a drunkard, you could be a sodomite, I mean, you could be a pedophile, you could be anything. We'll just let you in, and we'll glory in it. Look how great we are. Well, that's one of Satan's, less Satan should get an advantage of us. Satan would love for churches to be on this extreme that says, anything goes, every sort of sin. But then there's this other extreme. The other extreme is the extreme that they were on in 2 Corinthians. Go to Mark, if you would, Mark chapter 11. Matthew, Mark, Mark chapter 11. What was the other extreme? The other extreme was they were too harsh, too mean, unforgiving. That's an extreme as well. We don't want to be so harsh and mean that we never forgive and never restore. See, one of Satan's advantages, or taking advantage of us and one of his devices, one device is to just let anything go. The other device is just to be mean and harsh and unforgiving. You say, which one's right? Neither one's right, we're supposed to be balanced. Say, what does that mean? That means that we deal with sin when it needs to be dealt with in a biblical way, and it means that we forgive and restore when people are ready to repent and get right with God. Mark 11, 25, and when you stand praying, see, here's an advantage, you say, I'm a fundamentalist! I don't have to forgive anybody! Okay, well, then you've just fallen for one of Satan's devices. Because here's what the Bible says, and when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. You know that the Bible says that as a Christian, if you're not saved, you don't have to worry about this, but if you're saved and you actually want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you know the Bible commands you to forgive? There's no option, there's no like, oh, somebody wronged me, then they ask for forgiveness, and then I get to choose. No, if you're gonna be a follower of Jesus Christ, you're required to forgive. And in fact, God takes it so seriously, he says, you mess up every day, and I wanna talk about salvation here, salvation's eternal, you have that. He says, you mess up every day, and I forgive you all the time! But if you refuse to forgive others, He says, why don't you get the beam out of your own eye? If you refuse to forgive others, God says, what I will do is I will treat you the way you treat others. And when ye stand praying, forgive. If ye have ought against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. You know why you should forgive people? Because you wanna be forgiven. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Ephesians 4 and verse 32, if you watch 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, this is the last one we'll look at, we'll be done. Ephesians 4, 3, 2. And be ye kind one to another. Ephesians 4, 3, 2. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. I don't wanna forgive him. Well, you know, the Bible says that God forgave you for Christ's sake, so you and I can forgive for Christ's sake. Because Christ has forgiven me. Because God the Father has forgiven me through the blood of Christ. And I don't have the right to hold anything over anyone. And I should be willing to forgive. And here's all I'm saying, Paul says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. If this is you, I'll never forgive. I'll never let it go. You have fallen for the device of Satan. He has you exactly where he wants you. Because now you're in a position where God says, all right, I'll have to treat you the way you're treating others. When you mess up, I'll have to come, with the same measure you need, it should be measured to you again. And you've fallen for exactly where Satan wants you. And if you live this way, and you say, anything goes, anything flies, any sin, you're right where Satan wants you. He'll destroy your life with sin and chaos. Well, what am I supposed to do? A life of balance. This is how you run a proper church. You're strong on preaching, correction, punishment, sin, and you're quick to forgive and love and restore. By the way, that'll be good parenting. That'll help you run a good business. That'll be good friendship. Faithful of the wounds of a friend, but you'll forgive. That'll help you in every area of life. Less Satan should get an advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for this passage of scripture. And Lord, thank you for the apostle Paul. I don't know if it's helpful to anybody else, but I know it's helpful to people in ministry. I know it's helpful to me and my wife. I know it's helpful to other pastors, pastor's wives, people that have to correct, people that have to say no, people that sometimes have to be the bad guy. Lord, it encourages me to see the apostle Paul, the great apostle Paul, say that sometimes he was stressed out, too, in heaviness, affliction, anguish, many tears. Lord, I pray you'd help people to know when we do correct them. It's not because we enjoy it, it's because we love them. And then, Lord, it always helps us to have this attitude that says we will correct sin and we will forgive quickly. We will correct what needs to be corrected and we will restore once there is repentance. Help us to live a life of balance. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.