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Man 2nd Corinthians chapter number 10. I'm really enjoying doing the series through 2nd Corinthians and let me tell you why I Like it so much 2nd Corinthians is a great book has a lot of memorable quotable verses a lot of really famous verses Tucked in these chapters and I've heard those verses preached my whole life I've preached a lot of those verses in fact my very first sermon my main text verse when I was 17 years old was out of 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 But what's interesting is when you actually go through the book of 2nd Corinthians and get these verses in context They're actually a lot different than the way we've heard them preach now the way that they've been preached has been a lot of great Preaching I'm not saying that the way I've heard this preached by a lot of other preachers hasn't been great It's just that they were preaching more of a secondary application or a generalized Application and what I'm enjoying about this series is that by going verse by verse through the chapter. We're actually getting them in context and they actually take on a greater depth of meaning than then I had known that they had myself and Not only that but I think this is one of the hardest books in the New Testament as far as the language the grammar I'd say, you know 2nd Corinthians and Hebrews might be tied as far as difficulty And so I'm enjoying just slowing down and just breaking it down line by line and getting some great truths now This is a particularly Interesting chapter because we see the Apostle Paul here. He's being challenged now Obviously we know that the Apostle Paul came down hard on the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians and he comes down hard on them a few times in 2nd Corinthians and when a leader comes down hard on people and Starts rooting out a wicked element within the church and fighting battles There's gonna be resistance. Not everybody's just gonna roll over and sit back and let the Apostle Paul just come in and clean house there's gonna be a fight obviously people are gonna Resist that or struggle with that bad people are gonna fight that and maybe just Some people aren't gonna be comfortable with the way he came in and and cracked heads, etc So that's what he's defending in this chapter and he's talking about how some people have been criticizing him and Basically saying that he's just a paper tiger, you know, he writes them these letters that are so bold But he's not gonna say that to our face. That's their attitude and that's what he's dealing with in this chapter Let's read the chapter. It says in verse 1 now I Paul myself beseech you By the meekness and gentleness of Christ now beseech means I'm Asking you I'm begging you I'm pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ Who in presence and base among you but being absent and bold toward you, you know, cuz that's that's their line of thinking Well, you know when he's here, he's not so big and bad, but he's sure talking tough in his letters Look at verse 2 But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I'm present with that confidence Wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh He said look don't make me show you how bold I can be in person You know, yeah, I was nice to you when I was physically there with you. I was nice to you. I Want to be nice. I want to be gentle. I want to be meek Jesus Christ was gentle. Jesus Christ was meek and I'm beseeching you by the gentleness and meekness of Christ Let me be nice. I Don't want to have to come down there and get bold and get in your face right because people are saying That I'm not bold. I only write bold letters. Well, I can show you that I'm bold I can show you what it's like to face me when I've got the rod in my hand But he said I don't want to do that, right? I want to be nice. I want to be gentle. I want to be meek Now verses 3 4 & 5 are some of the most quoted verses that I've heard countless sermons on But when you actually get these verses in this context, they get a totally different meaning Because he just finished saying hey, you know, oh his you know, they say his letters are bold But in presence he's based and whatever he's saying Well, you know, do you want me to be bold because I can be bold. I don't want to be And then look at it in verse 3 for though we walk in the flesh now That's picking up from the end of verse 2 that we just read because what's it say at the end of verse 2? Wherewith I think to be bold Against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh So verses 3 through 5 are actually in the context of people thinking That he walks in the flesh. So this is what they're saying. He's not so tough. He's not gonna say that to our face He's not gonna come in here and clean house. He's just threatening us with idle threats and he says well We walk in the flesh, but we don't war after the flesh For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds What he's saying is look if you're looking at me after the flesh and thinking that I'm weak. Okay, you're right in the flesh I'm weak. I'm not an MMA fighter I'm not a giant bodybuilder, but you know what the weapons of our warfare are not carnal they're spiritual and I'm gonna come there in the boldness of the power of the Holy Spirit and I'm gonna fight this battle and he says the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds and he says in verse 5 casting down Imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity Every thought to the obedience of Christ, but look the thoughts not over the sentence is not even over right? there's a semi-colon and having in a readiness to revenge all Disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. I've never even heard those verses ever preached and tied in with verse 6 It always just kind of stops at verse 5 and look I'm not down on that preaching because obviously These are universal biblical truths You can take verses out of context and still apply those general truths because the Bible is so deep it can be applied in a variety Of situations and it could be used for a lot of things, but let's stop tonight and let's get the primary application Amen of what he's actually saying He's saying you know what? I'm ready to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled and you know what? Maybe you don't think I'm so tough, but that's because you think I'm warring after the flesh I'm coming with a spiritual weapon and it's pointed at you and I am ready to do what needs to be done to clean house at that church in Corinth So it takes on a whole new dimension when you get it in the context of verse 2 and verse 6 Because that's where it lies in the Bible Amen, look at verse 7 and it fits in perfectly with what he says in verse 7 Do you look on things after the outward appearance? You know, you're looking at the Apostle Paul and I don't know what the Apostle Paul looked like But I have a feeling he probably Wasn't that impressive to look at because God typically doesn't use the best-looking people or the most You know physically fit people or just the the most debonair or whatever He was probably just an average guy Because if God's gonna use him more than anybody else and have him write down half the books in the New Testament God's gonna want to get the glory so he's not gonna pick the most glorious guy He probably just picked a pretty ordinary guy and we don't know what he looked like But we know a lot of people criticize him and thought he's weak. He's not tough He's not gonna do what he said. He's gonna do we know that that happened So he's saying look Don't look and judge things according to the outward appearance And then he says if any man trust to himself that he is Christ's Let him of himself think this again. That is he is Christ's Even so are we Christ's So he's saying You know, okay you trust to yourself that you're Christ's You say well, I'm saved Okay. Well, I'm saved too Big deal that doesn't make you the boss of the local church And it certainly doesn't give you the right to do the things you're doing over there in Corinth because we know that some of the things They had going on in Corinth or fornication going unchecked There was drunkenness going on there were a bunch of sins going on in the church and he's saying well great You're saved But guess what that doesn't change the fact that you're not in authority there and look what he says in verse 8 for though I should boast somewhat more of our authority Which the Lord hath given us for edification and not for your destruction. I should not be ashamed He's saying here look maybe I should talk more about the fact that I have authority That's what the Apostle Paul sang You know since you guys think it's an open mic down there at Corinth since you guys think it's just anything goes There's just a free-for-all Oh, well, I'm saved so I can get up and run the church and preach and do all the stuff He's saying no, that's not the way it works. Okay, there's an authority Structure and maybe I should boast somewhat more of our authority But I'm certainly not going to be ashamed to get up and tell you that you guys need to do what you're told You need to follow the leader here You see you can't let church become just a free-for-all open mic Anybody gets up and preaches whatever doctrine whatever the Bible version, you know We'll bring in the Christian rap artists and we'll bring in the Christian heavy metal And we'll bring in the NIV and we'll bring in the comedy routine and we'll bring in all these You know, it's not just an open mic for just any doctrine We're just any denomination We'll bring in the Catholics and the Methodists and the Presbyterians No folks, the Bible says that all things be done decently and in order The Bible says let the elders that rule well be kind of worthy of double honor he didn't say the elders who just kind of hang out and Supervise well, he said the elders that rule well there there is an authority structure that needs to be followed There is leadership that needs to be followed and Paul is having to assert himself here to a rebellious crowd There is a rebellious crowd that doesn't want to follow leadership They despise government not talking about political government But they despise anyone telling them what to do being governed and they don't want the pasta Paul Telling them what to do raining on their parade and he's telling them look I have authority over you You know, maybe I should talk more about that Maybe I should come down there and get bold with you But I'm trying to be meek and gentle like Jesus Christ If you guys will get your act together, then I can show up and be gentle and meek and nice like Jesus Christ Look what he said. This is a great chapter Look at verse 8 for though I should boast somewhat more of our authority which the Lord has given us for edification Edification means to build you up. So God gave us this authority. He said not to tear you down But to build you up for your edification like the Spanish word edificio, right is a building edificar is to build He's saying to build you up not to tear you down not to destroy you You know, don't try to make leadership out to be the bad guy Kids don't look at your parents and think your parents are the bad guy Don't look at your husband as the bad guy. Don't look at the pastor of the church as the bad guy Okay, don't look at the boss at work as the bad guy. Okay leadership and authority in our life Is there to help us it's there to build us up not to tear us down Okay, but you know what if you do that, which is evil the Bible says be afraid Because the leader bears not the sword in vain you must obey Because of the wrath of the leader and because of conscience sake two reasons to obey authority in our lives and so he says in verse 9 That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters Right, I don't want to seem like I'm just Terrifying you by my letters again because they're making him out to be a paper tiger that he's all talk He writes a scary letter, but in person, he's just a little lamb. Okay Verse 10 for his letters say they are weighty and powerful But his bodily presence is weak and his speech Contemptable so that goes to show you what I was saying that it's possible or likely we can't necessarily trust these people because these are the critics But it's possible that his bodily presence was contemptible in the sense that maybe he was a little bit short Maybe he's a little bit small and he maybe couldn't speak very well we don't know I mean for all we know he could have been tall and booming voice, but that's what they're saying about him and It seems likely that that could be the case but that's why he's saying well, you don't understand the weapons that I have Yeah, I may not look that much but I've got weapons The great equalizer is a weapon. He says not a carnal weapon I'm not gonna pull the gun on you. The weapon is a spiritual weapon. I'm filled with the Holy Ghost I'm gonna show you a demonstration of the power of God, you know, and and that's what he's saying here It's not about my physical size and you know This should encourage you if you want to serve the Lord But maybe you're of small stature or maybe you are a bad speaker or whatever, you know God will often use the stammering lips and an unknown tongue to speak his word God will often use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and so God will use the weak To send the mighty fleeing away. He loves to put a David who's filled with the Spirit up against a Goliath of this world That's when he gets the glory when he uses somebody like Paul or someone like that So he says well, you know, they say his letters are waiting and powerful But his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. Well, let's such in one Such a one like the type of people that are saying that stuff Let's such a one think this that such as we are in word by letters when we're absent Such will we be also indeed when we're present? For we dare not make ourselves of the number or Compare ourselves with some that command themselves But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves amongst themselves are not wise say that ten times fast But we will not boast of things without our measure But according to the measure of the rule which God had distributed to us a measure to reach even unto you Now what's he saying there again? The language is a little bit tough in these Pauline epistles, especially second Corinthians and Hebrews are probably two of the toughest ones What's he saying here? He's saying look, you know, you're comparing Yourselves amongst yourselves you're measuring yourselves by yourselves What he's trying to say is don't compare me to you. Okay. I'm not you. I'm not your buddies in the Church of Corinth Okay, and he says I'm not boasting about things that are beyond my measure I'm not boasting in another man's labor I'm not boasting about things or or talking about authority that I don't actually possess You know, I'm not stepping in and getting involved in something where I don't have authority. He's saying my rule My authority reaches unto you Okay, that's what he's saying. Let's let's get a few more verses and then we're gonna back up because I want to make sure we understand this Verse 13, but we will not boast of things without our measure You know I'm not gonna go out of bounds and start exercising authority over things that God hasn't put under my authority Right because obviously everybody has a certain scope of authority, right? I have authority over my family but I can't come into your house and start telling you how to run your family right because then I'd be Boasting of things beyond my measure I'd be out of bounds and Paul's saying look I'm not out of bounds here I'm in bounds. Okay. God has given us God has distributed to us Rule he says are you le do you see that but we will not boast of things without our measure but according to the measure of the rule Which God has distributed to us a measure to reach even unto you? For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure again talking about going out of bounds or you know Reaching out and trying to exercise authority in a situation where you don't have authority you say no No, we're not reaching beyond our measure as though we reach not unto you For we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ Not boasting of things without our measure that is of other men's labors But having hope when your faith is increased that we should be enlarged by you according to our rule Abundantly and what he's saying there is similar to what he said in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 when he says, you know You have many instructors in Christ. You might have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you have not many fathers I've begotten you in the gospel. He's saying look I preach the gospel to you I want you to Christ and that means something not just that I'm just some random dude that you're listening to. I'm actually the one who went there and preached the gospel to you and He says also that he wants to preach the gospel verse 16 in The regions beyond you and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand But he that gloriest let him glory in the Lord for not he that commandeth himself is approved But whom the Lord commandeth now this I want to tie this in with verse number 12 Okay, and I know it's a little complicated but I want to make sure that we we really understand this passage verse 12 for we dare Not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that command themselves Now there are people who command themselves. What does it mean to command yourself? Well, the word command might be easier to understand If you think of a very similar word that we have in our modern vernacular Recommend right. What if I said I Recommend pita bistro. It's a great restaurant. I recommend it. What am I saying? I'm saying it's a great restaurant I'm praising it. I'm lifting it up and exalting it and putting it forth as a good example. I'm recommending it to you Okay Well to commend is very similar to that just like sometimes a policeman Will maybe Get a commendation because he did some heroic thing or got shot or something and then he'll get a commendation It's basically being praised and lifted up and and if I'm lifting up a certain restaurant, I recommend this Okay, I'm saying good things about it. Right? So these people command themselves. They're basically people who tell you how great they are They're telling you how wonderful they are These people are puffed up and he says we're not going to be like those people we dare not Make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not white The reason these people are puffed up and commending themselves is because they're comparing themselves amongst themselves So it's pretty easy to find somebody who is less of a Christian than you are Knows the Bible less than you or whatever and then start getting puffed up thinking well, I'm better than so-and-so Or I'm better than him. I'm better than her. We're supposed to compare ourselves to Jesus So if we compare ourselves to Jesus, that'll keep us humble then we're not gonna start thinking how great we are We're gonna be humble We don't want to compare ourselves amongst ourselves and measure ourselves by ourselves and then what we're gonna do We start commending ourselves Okay, and then he says in verse 18 for not he that commendeth himself is approved But whom the Lord commendeth, so he's saying look you got a bunch of people in Corinth that are exalting Themselves they're lifting themselves up. They're putting themselves and saying hey listen to me. I'm the boss I'm the one you should be listening to I'm a great Christian and Paul's saying no, that's not how it works You know, there's a rightful legitimate authority and it's not the people who commend themselves It's the people whom the Lord commands that matters So what we have to understand is that Paul is not praising himself or commending himself in this chapter He's not saying in this chapter. I'm the greatest Christian. I'm the best preacher. I'm a great speaker I'm Physically able to whip you guys in a fight. He's not saying anything like that. Is that what he's saying? All he's saying is look the Lord has given us Authority, isn't that what he said God has given us authority that authority is for your edification It's not for your destruction if I'm gonna boast about something I'm not gonna boast about my personal attributes the thing I'm gonna boast in the thing I'm gonna glory in is the Lord the Lord gave us a ministry the Lord gave us this authority. That's why We're gonna come in and clean house and get these bozos out of there the false teachers the people who are committing all these wicked Sins, etc. So that's how it all kind of ties together in this chapter But one thing I want to bring up in regard to this chapter is the subject of church planting So when it comes to planting a church, there are a few different ways to plant a church biblically, okay? Now what we have to understand as we study the Bible is that the church begets the church Okay, the church doesn't just spring up out of a vacuum It just springs up out of a void where you just have a bunch of people and all of a sudden They're just sitting around and just all right. We're gonna start a church Now this is kind of a little bit of a new phenomenon Because of the internet because it used to be that in order to get a bunch of people saved You'd have to physically go there and get those people saved right so you'd physically go somewhere you'd get a bunch of people saved and Then you'd say okay let's start a church right so the guy who went there and Brought the gospel and won these people the Lord is the same guy who's starting the church so everybody understand He's gonna You know get the people together organize but now you have people that are just in these remote pockets all over the place and they're just hearing the gospel online and They're getting saved through watching videos or listening to preaching and they're in just these isolated areas usually in other countries and So they just don't have a church to go to you know because they're in a play and it's like in the past It wouldn't have been a problem because people just wouldn't be getting saved in that area unless somebody went there And then they'd start the church and whatever So it's a good problem to have that you got all these saved people popping up in some of the most Spiritually dark places in the world and that's great that the gospel is getting behind enemy lines You know even in dark places where the gospel is is is difficult to get there physically You know people are tuning in online and getting saved and that's great and then even in the United States you have people getting saved online and they don't know where to go to church and Maybe they struggle to find a good church in their area or they go to what they think is a good church And they're disappointed by it. It's lame or whatever You know oftentimes you just have to bite the bullet and go to the best church in your area and just be a blessing strengthen the things that remain Find the things you like about it find the things that they're doing good Don't focus on the negative focus on what they have right and just get in there sit down shut up be a blessing Right do what you can to thrive in that local church But obviously best-case scenario is we want to plant more good churches so that everybody in the world's got a good church near them I mean in a perfect world. We would just snap our fingers right and then what would happen? We just have a great church in every city in America and every city across the world, but that's not reality even in the Apostle Paul's day This was something that was a struggle that they're working on now a perfect example is Titus chapter 1 Okay, and in Titus chapter 1 if you'll flip over there. We find that on the island of Crete there were a lack of qualified pastors, okay, so Paul had been there preaching and Titus had been there preaching and they've won a bunch of people to Christ and they've started a bunch of churches right so they've Gotten the people saved and they've started the churches. What's missing? What's missing is they don't have the qualified leadership there on-site a pastor because in a perfect world a Church is gonna have an ordained pastor of that church, and then it can be an M They could be an independent church right and it can be governing itself all right and not relying on Someone else to lead, but it could have a leader right there locally okay, so that's the perfect scenario But is that the scenario in Crete no? That wasn't the scenario because they're missing the pastors look what the Bible says in verse 5 for this cause This is Paul talking to Titus for this cause left. I thee in Crete that thou shouldest said in order the things that are wanting and Ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee then he goes into the qualifications if any be blameless the husband of one wife Etc etc and So what he's saying is look. We've gone there. We've won people to Christ. We started the churches, but something's missing We need to ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee meaning This was the plan from the beginning. That's what he had appointed him, and he's just reminding him look Here's why I left you there Titus because remember how I pointed you To make sure that you ordain elders in every city you know and here are the qualifications You need to stay there now if this was something that they could just do real quick Then Paul would have just done it while he was there But he leaves Titus behind to stay behind and basically Take care of these multiple churches and get an ordained pastor in every church, so here's Titus everybody understand He's on the island of Crete, and he needs to get a pastor ordained in every church And he's the one who's being told the qualifications so that he can get a pastor in every church And he needs to get the qualifications so that he can know what kind of person to pick for the job So he can do his best to pick the right people To be ordained as elders, and it's gonna take time because he's gonna have to get to know these people He's gonna have to observe these people He's gonna have to go from church to church so basically Paul wants to move on and do more missions Preach somewhere else do other work that God has called him to do and he's saying I'm gonna leave you here Titus You're basically gonna Ordain elders in these churches because that's something that's lacking because look God wants every church to have a qualified pastor An ordained qualified pastor that meets these qualifications He didn't just give these qualifications for fun so that we could just have church and just say oh We don't even need a pastor. We don't even need a leader. We don't even know what are all these qualifications about Why does he spend so much time giving us these in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1 because it's important that we get the bishop Ordained in each church now can a church exist without a pastor though. Yeah, because guess what Crete's full of them Okay, so you can start a church and that church doesn't have a pastor right away okay, and then eventually the church gets a pastor and Until then it's under the leadership of the church that started that church Do you understand so the Apostle Paul and Titus they're sent out as missionaries and they go start these churches and they're saying okay we are going to in the long run ordain elders in these churches and Then once he's ordained elders in the churches We have an example in Acts chapter 20 where he commends them unto the Lord and says, okay, you know now It's between you and God right now and we're gonna move on you guys are the leadership The Holy Ghost has made you overseers of these flocks and we're commending you unto the Lord now You know, we're turning you over to him now and we're moving on but but Crete's not there yet Is it Crete's not to that point where they're ready to just be cut loose and commended unto the Lord? Why because something's missing something's wanting something's lacking what is lacking they need an ordained bishop elder Pastor whatever you want to call it Therefore The way that we start churches it can be done up one of a couple ways number one You could send out a guy like Titus who's already qualified. He's already ordained He's already ready to pastor and he goes out and starts a church and that church is just Autonomous and independent from day one because it has a qualified pastor from day one Okay, that's like our church faithful word Baptist Church. I was sent out. I started the church I was the pastor from day one Sent out by my local church to start a church here and to be the pastor from day one That was the plan and you know what? That's a great way to do it But that's not the only way to do it. You can also start a church In an area even if you don't have the guy to pastor yet because it can be a Crete situation where you're gonna ordain the pastor later once you find the right person or Once the you know, the the right guy has matured enough and gotten to the point where he's ready to take on that challenge now in today's world Obviously, there are lots of churches that have already been started There were a lot less churches back then now there are tons of churches and in most areas There's already a decent independent Baptist Church that you can go to and serve God and be blessed It it might not be the best church ever But there's usually something available for you while you're waiting for a church, but you know in some situations it makes sense It's advisable to start a church on this Titus chapter 1 type of a model, you know, for example we start a church in Los Angeles, California and So here we had a group of people that were just they already were there waiting. They wanted this church they they were struggling to find a good church in their area and you know, it was like 40 people or something that were just ready to roll and Then Bruce Mahia was a guy that was qualified To get things started to preach to lead the church But he wasn't ready to be ordained as pastor because he was just a little bit Young in his marriage and we have certain standards about you know, we look at these qualifications We want a guy to have children and you know to be married to have children, etc. He wasn't that point yet. Okay But he had he was a guy that had the potential to get to that point So we started that church in LA He's been at the helm of that church But it's under the authority of faithful word Baptist Church Because of the fact that he's not ready to be ordained as Bishop it now he is getting ordained God willing this August and this August when he's ordained as Bishop as pastor of the church, well, then there's nothing lacking anymore and Then at that point we're just going to commend them unto the Lord and then at that point it's an independent Baptist Church But right now it's not independent because they're missing something You know if you're missing something that's essential you're not independent Okay, and so they're missing something so they need who are you let me ask this these churches in Crete Are they independent or are they relying on Titus? They need Titus they need the Apostle Paul and they need his deputy Titus they are relying on Titus for leadership because Titus is the guy who's gonna come in and Lead and ordain the permanent leadership, right? But at the end for now he's running things and he's gonna ordain the permanent leadership so that he can then Turn them over to the Lord's everybody understand that this is a biblical model of church planting You'll see where the Apostle Paul and and his helpers will go through and start churches in The book of Acts and then they'll come back through later and they're ordaining elders you know after people have had a chance to serve and and get to know people and Be saved longer and and meet the qualifications because you don't want to have a novice a novice simply as a beginner So you want to make sure it's someone who's mature and they've been tested. They've been a blessing Look, you can't be a great leader until you're a great follower Every great leader was first a great follower the Bible even tells us Jesus submitted himself to Joseph and Mary Jesus submitted to Joseph and Mary right now he's qualified to lead Okay, what about Eli? Shuh becoming a great leader after he poured water on the hands of Elijah So he's a great follower first then he became a great leader Well, look, you can't be a great pastor unless you first been a great church member You can't just sit there and say well, I don't even go to church because all the church around me are too liberal So I'm just gonna start my own church and you haven't been a church member No You need to first be a faithful follower and a good church member Before and then basically once you're accepted of your peers and They say yeah, okay This guy's ready to roll then the man of God Lays hands on you and ordains you and you're ready to be a pastor now that you've already been a church member You've been a follower now. You can be a leader You don't just go out and just do it on your own and just start your own and by the way groups of people don't Just get together and just say hey, we're just getting together randomly and starting a church. No the church begets the church Churches should be started by other churches. Otherwise, you just need to go to a church that already is existing You go to an existing church or the church needs to beget a church The church needs to produce the church everything brings forth after its own kind You don't just get a bunch of random people together and just say well We just decided we're starting a church and then we're just gonna pick somebody to be the pastor That's not the right way of doing things right the right way of doing things. Is that people who are already in a church? Serving God thriving Doing well, those people are like, okay. We're approved We're gonna go out now and take this somewhere else and and and start a church somewhere else And it's everybody understand the difference that it's a big difference because if these churches are just springing up out of a vacuum They're being started by just total novices and whatever who don't even go to church in many cases or just disgruntled church members Get angry leave the church split the church and whatever instead of Actually, you know doing things the right way. All right, so Here's a a perfect example of this Adam Fannin You say well, I'm tired of hearing about a fan. Well, then you can leave all these doors are open And those are tuning in online can just change to a YouTube channel go watch cartoons or whatever you want Okay, but here's the thing Adam Fannin is the biggest phony That needs to be called out right now Okay, because here's a guy who was sent to do exactly what brother Bruce Mihia was sent to do You know, we sent Bruce Mihia and he's doing FWBCLA and he's a good example where he's doing a good job He's preaching. He you know, the church has grown from like 40 to 100 or whatever and you know He's he's preaching and he's serving God humbly and he's gonna get ordained when the time comes when the time is right This August God willing he's gonna get ordained, you know, okay, Adam Fannin was sent to Florida to do the exact same thing Okay, and he was there Running a church under the authority of another church Because it was just an embryonic church plant just like we have all over Crete just like the Apostle Paul Did so many times in the book of Acts where they plant these churches? But they're not fully independent yet because they don't have the ordained elders yet in these churches okay, that was the situation over in Florida and he was running it as a deputy for like what a year and a half or something and then all of a sudden when he gets fired and When the home church tells them hey you're not going to continue to lead the guy who put you there turned out to be a wicked person and you know, you're not going to continue in your position because you're showing yourself to be a wicked covetous person and a liar and So as soon as he got fired, you know what he did the next week He changed his doctrine and here's what he said the next week. Oh These church plants are unbiblical It's unbiblical You know to go start a church and be ruling it from afar That's unbiblical. These church plants are totally unbiblical So he now he basically says what he's been doing for the last year and a half was unbiblical Well, it's funny how it was biblical until you got fired Isn't it interesting how it was biblical when you were doing it? and If you hadn't got fired, you'd still think it was biblical But now that you got fired suddenly, it's not biblical Isn't that convenient That's called hypocrisy folks when you get up and say oh, yeah when I'm doing it, it's fine But then as soon as I get fired, well, it turns out that was a biblical anyway So then he does this big sermon to explain why it's not biblical and this was his mantra in this sermon Local leadership the church must have local leadership The church cannot be led by someone in another city It cannot be ruled by someone in another city It's the local leadership doesn't matter if they're not ordained doesn't matter if they're not qualified So basically now he's pastoring this renegade Church lol Baptist Church. It's called literally and He's running this renegade Church law of Liberty Baptist Church and basically there's no pastor Okay, he is the local leadership Right no pastor and he says oh, it's unbiblical for his his pastor Legitimately that was his pastor that fired him. Well when you fire me, I mean, I can't listen to you if you fired me Well, if the leadership fires you then that's tough on you But now all of a sudden it's just not biblical Well, let me ask you something. You just read 2nd Corinthians 10 with me. Is it biblical for somebody to rule from another city? Folks that's what first and second Corinthians are all about The Apostle Paul saying hey, I've judged this situation and you know, my spirits gonna be with you Here's the justice. You're gonna carry out you're gonna throw that guy out of the church. That's a fornicator because I said so and He's saying look, maybe I should boast somewhat more of my authority and I'm telling you that my rule Our rule it's not just my because it's not Paul just doing this unilaterally Okay, if you look at the beginning of the passage in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1 he says Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother So it's Paul and Timothy. That's the we and it's the church. They gave them that authority That's the we and they're saying you know what our rule extends unto you When we get up and say that we're gonna come to Corinth and we're not gonna spare and we're gonna come with a rod if We need to let me tell you we're not boasting of things beyond our measure our rule extends to you So, how can you sit there and say oh, well, don't his whole sermon. He just keeps saying over No, well the New Testament, you know, it's always got to be the local the local guy makes the decision No, if the local guys a bozo We listen to the legitimate ordained leader that was placed by God over that church Not the local bozo who's not qualified and being fired Folks this is cut and dried The guy showed himself what he is a covetous money-grubbing Judas Iscariot brazen liar Okay, who gets up and says oh, well, you know, I you know, I'm just doing what the people want I mean, I just know that if Pastor Shelley becomes the pastor not 90 plus percent of the people are gonna leave same day 30 40 people make a video saying we stand with Pastor Shelley. I'm thinking does this church run 400 does the church run 500? Folks Pastor Shelley is the pastor and guess what? 90% of the people didn't leave 80% of the people didn't leave 70% of the people didn't leave 60% of the people didn't leave 50% of people about 40% of the people left and You know what good take out the trash if you want because look birds of a feather flock together and anybody who can listen to Adam Fannin get up and lie through his teeth where he's documented that he lies and Get up and just be interested in money and promoting himself and lifting up himself folks Anybody who can just be thinking of himself in a crisis like that Where Pastor Shelley's trying to pick up the pieces from the debacle that was going on and then basically all he's thinking about is well When do I get ordained? Well, you know you can be on a plan to get ordained 18 months from now. Oh, that doesn't that's not gonna work I'm supposed to get ordained in six months. I Was supposed to get a 20% raise. Where's my raise? It's like what it what is Is Now the time to get sheep and oxen and gold and silver gaze I and men servants and maid servants Is now the time is that what you're thinking about right now? Folks the love of money is the root of all evil and let me tell you something Add the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and look I'm all for giving people a raise if they're not making enough money But when you hear about a catastrophe in the church your first breath shouldn't be like well, what about my raise though? That's your priority right there And we know he had the bag and kept no financial records, which is illegal and stupid But again, I don't want to go off on that even though I just did okay But I don't want to spend too much time on that but let me say this Okay, his doctrine of convenience that says that church planting has suddenly become unbiblical Folks, it's still biblical because of the fact that the Apostle Paul was exercising authority over the church in Corinth from afar So what was the local guy? He didn't have very nice things to say about the local guy He's coming to clean the local guy's clock with a spiritual weapon. I Mean And how many times do we see a situation like where Titus is sticking around Ordaining elders in churches that don't have elders. So we need to understand that things need to be done decently in order now some people They don't think authority matters But what you have to understand is that when there's a void of leadership Listen to me carefully when there's a void of leadership the worst elements will step in and fill that void This is why anarchy inevitably leads to horrible oppression Anarchy sounds great on paper, you know, you listen to these anarchists these young people They're in their 20s and they're like, oh man Anarchy and I'm an anarcho capitalist. I'm this and that it sounds great on paper friend Except that it will never work because as soon as you have anarchy and everything's just based on you know The free market and private property and laissez-faire you know what there will be wicked forces that will come right in and Fill that void and they will take over and they will put you in bondage that fast That's why some people are going around calling themselves an anarcho capitalist and then you run into anarcho communist That's where that's a little more accurate. That's where you're heading You're heading for Joseph Stalin when you have anarchy look at these failed states Where the government has no power, you know what I'm talking about Who knows what I mean when I say a failed state and I'm not an expert on geopolitics. I'm not interested in politics anymore I'm just interested in the things of God, but I just want to briefly say that in a failed state guess what you have just Roving bands of drug lords and organized crime and mafia that steps in and fills that void of leadership well, guess what happens when you have a church with no pastor and There's no leader because look these churches in Crete. They have no pastor, but here's the good news. They've got Titus Yeah, but Titus isn't local. It's gotta be local Folks Titus didn't even have an internet Titus didn't even have a telephone Titus is Communicating by writing letters and he's literally walking on foot I mean if Titus wants to go preach in LA, he has to walk from Phoenix to LA Now the good news is Crete is smaller than the distance from Phoenix to LA. So he never had to go that far Because Crete is just a little island, you know, it's interesting if you like maps like I do Just pull up the island of Crete on Google Maps and you can do some measurements and see how many miles and look at the main Cities and see how far things are. Yeah, you can look at Crete and see okay Here's what Titus was dealing with but you know what Titus didn't have phone Titus didn't have internet Paul didn't have internet Paul did and Paul couldn't just hop on a flight and be there in two hours Paul can't hop on a flight and say hey, I'll see you guys tonight You know Paul wouldn't be preaching in Arizona on Wednesday night and fly to North Carolina and preach on Friday night What how many thousands of miles away right 2,000 3,000 miles away why because he didn't have that technology But yet these churches in Crete, you know, what was keeping them straight Titus is there to make sure the wolves don't come in The Apostle Paul is there to make sure the wolves don't come in and when he hears about bad stuff happening At least he can write a letter and say look guys. Let me guide you. Let me pilot you Let me lead you from afar my spirit is there I'm not there, but I'm there with you in spirit. You need to throw that guy to the church. He's making decisions He's executing judgment from afar. So is Titus say well Paul's an apostle. Well, what about Titus? He's not an apostle Hey Titus is doing the same thing. Why because that was his job. That's what he was there to do in Crete I guarantee you he was traveling from church to church in Crete fixing problems preaching sermons identifying the leaders and Eventually getting things dialed in that's why Paul left him there to do that Okay, that's a biblical model for church planting. So this local leadership mantra is just made up folks It's not a biblical teaching the Bible doesn't demand that anywhere Okay, there can be a leader who leads from remote. Okay, and that's totally biblical We have numerous examples of that in the Bible. So let's go back to 2nd Corinthians 10 and finish up and by the way Let me say this one of the qualifications for being a pastor that Titus is given and this is one that we don't talk About very much, but I guess we need to start talking about it more going forward not self-willed Not Self-willed not the kind of person that's just gonna do whatever they want It needs to be a team player Who's gonna take correction he's gonna take Instruction he's not just gonna be somebody who's just self-willed like well, I don't care what Pastor Shelley says I don't care what Pastor Anderson says I'm just gonna go do it because I was ordained by Mr. Casino to come here and be an evangelist and you know, I know I'm not qualified to pastor But you know, I'm the local guy so I'm just gonna do whatever I want That's self-willed And you say well what gives you the right Pastor Anderson? I'll tell you what gives me the right because I preached the gospel unto them and that's why my Border extended unto them and you know what I went and stepped in and helped out of that situation in Fort Worth because I was invited By the church the church said will you please help us? Will you please lead us and I told them I'm ready to go home at any time. I would love to go home But they said no, please they begged me to stay and to lead and so I de facto Ran that church for the four days that they had no pastor I acted as the pastor for four days because they didn't have a pastor So I stepped in and I led I was the one who was brought in from the beginning and by the way, I'm the one who sent him to found that church and They said pastor Anderson help us Donnie Romero himself said pastor will you please fly out here and be here on Sunday and Will you make sure that things go smoothly so that the church can survive? the pastor's wife Contacted me the pastor contacted me the church begged me to stay and do it But it's like well what gives you the right? Well, you know what? That's what gives me the right And you know what gives me the right because my name's Titus That's what gives me the right and I was there to ordain an elder in a city where something was lacking that makes me Titus and You know what after four days we got through the storm. We got through the battle. We got a new pastor ordained and we're ready to move forward and you know what the naysayers and the critics and The rebels and The people who are self-willed and want to go out and just change their doctrine on a dime because of a convenience Where what they did last week is suddenly unbiblical now that they aren't allowed to do it anymore. I Mean a few days before he preached that sermon. He was begging other pastors to rule over him from another city And then three days there oh, I was totally on biblical because I can't find anybody who will do it I Can't find anybody who'll leave me for no city. So it must be unbiblical, you know, I local locally I'm Adam local leadership Fannin Local only leadership lol right local only leadership Baptist Church 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 He said in verse number 13, but we will not boast of things without our measure But according to the measure of the rule which God had distributed to us a measure to reach even unto you And he's warning them I don't want to come to you and be bold in your face I'd rather be gentle and meek and you know what I Get frustrated with this in my life because I am by nature a nice guy and Often I'm a nice guy to a fault So basically I want to be nice to everybody and this is why whenever I worked in business I was never a good manager because I was too nice to the workers and A good manager is not nice to you You know what I mean like a good manager can't be your buddy You know what I'm talking about? because man I I've worked at some jobs where they ran a tight ship and Where I mean it things were clean things were getting done The boss was making money Everything was efficient. It was a well-oiled machine, but the boss was never nice at those places. I'm just being honest. I Was always the guy who wants to kind of be the buddy I want to be all my workers buddy I Want to be my church members buddies, you know, I want to just I'm just a nice guy I just want to be nice I want to be meek and humble and just get along with my family and my family and my family And humble and just get along with everybody But you know what I found is that a lot of people confuse meekness with weakness And it's really sad Because here you know you want to be nice you want to be gentle you want to be friendly? You want to hang out and have a good time with people and just enjoy life and just enjoy fellowship and people will just abuse that and it's a you give them a finger they take the whole hand and It's frustrating. You know you know what I mean especially You guys say you want to be nice people, and then they start taking advantage of you You know it's like it's like when we're using these cab drivers in Guyana, and we're nice to them we're giving them tips right and we're giving and then on the last day one of them tries to rip us off and And basically collects money from two different people in the group in order to get paid twice And it's like we were so nice to him. We're buying all their food. We're giving them tips. We're treating them well We're buddy-buddy, but then they just see you and then they just think oh, you're nice. You must be a sucker See what I'm saying. It's terrible isn't it so so that so it's like basically Paul's saying I want to be that nice guy But you're making me be mean I mean look we all want to be nice to our kids don't we and we want to just Laugh with them and take them fun places and spend time with them. We want to buy them gifts, but we're afraid of what? spoiling them rotten Because guess what if you're just nice to your kid all the time you're their buddy all the time you give them everything they want you know why you want to do that because you love them and Then what happens they become a spoiled brat so as a parent you got to understand You know what sometimes I can't be a buddy. I've just got to be a parent I've got to be parent first and that's more important than being their buddy I got to be the manager first and that's more important than being their buddy I got to be pastor first buddy second you know and it's sad, and that's the heart that I get from Paul in this chapter It's not just a bunch of bluster of you know I'll show you oh you think I'm just terrifying you with my letters as I am in the letter. That's how I'm going to be in your face look. That's not what I see in this chapter I mean, that's there, but what I see is at the beginning. I see verse 1 Where he says look I'm beseeching you By the gentleness and meekness of Christ Don't make me get bold with you. I want to be your friend. I want to rejoice. I want to be happy I want to show up big smile handshake big hug greet the brother with the holy kiss I don't want to greet you with a fist to the face, and I'm just kidding obviously he's not gonna use violence, but I'm saying Metaphorically speaking I don't want to give you a swift kick in the pants I want to give you a pat on the back That's what leaders want to do kids your parents want to be nice to you They want to pat you on the back, but you know what they're gonna have to whip you and spank you if you're being bad because they love you and That's what comes across loud and clear from the Apostle Paul in this whole epistle chapter after chapter So don't take advantage of people that are nice to you. Don't bite the hand that feeds you and You know when God blesses you don't take advantage of that how many times in the Bible God blesses them And then they get all wealthy and everything's going great And then they spoil their kids and then the kids grow up and don't even worship the Lord Because everything was handed to them and they grew up with a silver spoon in the mouth so we got to be careful fear the Lord and his goodness and Don't get puffed up when people are nice to you and think oh the boss is being nice to me I guess I can get away with murder on the job. Well. No you're not and if you if you mess around he's gonna fire you Whoa, I thought we were friends Sorry you're fired It's that simple. That's life Spyro has never word of prayer father. We thank you so much for this great chapter Lord and What powerful verses Lord they've been they've been used powerfully by many preachers That have preached them that I've sermons that I've sat in and listened to and been edified by Lord But thank you also for the primary application of What was actually going on in this chapter because there's a lot of relevant things we can learn from that as well Lord And so thank you for the book of 2nd Corinthians Lord I pray that this study would be a blessing to people as they as they hear these verses expounded Lord just verse by verse Getting the context and bless us as we go forward with the last three chapters in Jesus name we pray. Amen