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🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 Please turn your song books to page number 410. Page 410, we're going to be singing Faith is the Victory. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, and let's sing that out on the first. 🎵 Encamped along the hills of light, ye Christian soldiers rise. 🎵 And press the battle air, the night shall bail the glowing skies. 🎵 Against the flow and bails below, let all our strength be hurled. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, we know that overcomes the world. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, Faith is the Victory. 🎵 A glorious victory that overcomes the world. 🎵 Page 410 on the second, his banner over us. 🎵 His love, our sword, the word of God. 🎵 We tread the road, the saints above, with shouts of triumph drawn. 🎵 By faith they light a world when spread, swept on o'er every field. 🎵 The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, Faith is the Victory. 🎵 A glorious victory that overcomes the world. 🎵 On every hand the flow we find, drawn up in dread array. 🎵 Let taints of ease be left behind and onward to the fray. 🎵 Salvation's helmet on each head, with truth all gird about. 🎵 The earth shall tremble neath our tread, an echo with our shout. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, Faith is the Victory. 🎵 A glorious victory that overcomes the world. 🎵 Page 410, let's sing it out on the set on the last. 🎵 To him that overcomes the foe, white raiment shall be given. 🎵 Before the angels he shall know his name, confess in heaven. 🎵 Then onward from the hills of light our hearts will love a flame. 🎵 We'll vanquish all the hosts of night in Jesus' conquering name. 🎵 Faith is the Victory, Faith is the Victory. 🎵 A glorious victory that overcomes the world. Great singing. Amen. We want to welcome you to the midweek service of Verity Baptist Church. We're glad you're with us. We call it the most encouraging service of the week. And it's always good to be with God's people in the middle of the week. And to be able to get away and spend some time together, of course. Let's go ahead and take our bulletins this evening. If you do not have a bulletin, raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, of course, for Father's Day, Ephesians 6-4, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning, service 1030 a.m. And we do invite you, of course, to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church. And then we have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. So we'd love for you to join us for all of those services. Of course, if you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. So we'd love for you to join us on Saturday morning. If you are a soul winner, don't forget to add your salvations on a communication card. Don't forget to turn in your maps if you have a map that was not completed. And if you're running late, call us at Texas there at the number 916-868-9080. If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight. As you go through the main foyer or the second foyer there, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist, and it gives a history of, really a history of Christianity from the Lord Jesus Christ all the way to modern times. It's very interesting. It's educational and enjoyable. We want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of those gift bags. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers will get you a Verity Baptist Church pen. You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We'd just like a record of your attendance. We actually want to be a blessing to you, but we need your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song, and when we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. As the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. Or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out. I hope you'll come by and say hello, of course. If you are needing to be baptized, please let us know on your communication card. There's a place for you to mark off that you'd like information about being baptized, and we will follow up with you and get that scheduled. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, we finished our Happily Ever After sermon series on Sunday, and we are in a series called Journey with Jesus. It's a verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Luke, and we're going to continue that this weekend. Of course, we had Father's Day, and we had the Young Men's Workshop, and all the kids had a great time on Tuesday with that. And Brother Joel, of course, did a great job, and we appreciate that. This weekend is the baby shower for Miss Rebecca Lunsford on Saturday, June 25th at 3 p.m. And Rebecca is registered on Amazon and Target. It is a potluck, so if you can, please bring a disc to share. And if you'd like to attend, you can sign up on your communication card. And then also this coming Tuesday is our Usher Dinner and Training, and we'd love for you to be a part of that if that's something you're interested in and you can sign up on your communication card. And then, of course, we've got the church picnic on Monday, July 4th at 3 p.m. I think the church picnic is probably one of the best events we put on for the entire church family, and everybody always has a great time. So we want to encourage you to be there. The address of the park is there for you. And if you are able to grill or if you can bring a grill, let us know on your communication card, and we would appreciate the help with that. Red Hot Preaching Conference is on its way July 14th through the 17th, and if you can help us with some different volunteer opportunities, you should have one of these cards in your bulletin, and you could help us. Of course, probably the number one thing we could use help with is cleaning during the week. There's different times there for you that you could help with that. And then, of course, sitting in the overflow, if you could help us with that, we would appreciate that. And we just ask that you sit in the overflow one night. And if you don't, if you, you know, I know there's some moms that say, hey, I've got a bunch of kids. I don't mind sitting in the overflow every service. And if that's good, then we appreciate that, too. But we're just asking that you sit in there one night if you could help us with that. And then we have the ladies serving Baskin-Robbins ice cream on Sunday night. And then, of course, our orchestra safety team and ushers, we just want to know when you're going to be available to help with that. So please take a moment and look at that. Choir practice begins back up this Sunday. Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there. We appreciate your faithfulness. And then there's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of June. This week we had Ezekiel Noltescu's birthday on June 19th and Miss Eva Rodari's birthday and Miss Melody Gonzalez's birthday on June 20th. And then later this week is Evan Smith's birthday on June 24th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements tonight. So let's go ahead and take our song books and we're going to go to page number 452. Page number 452 and we're going to sing All I Need. As we prepare to receive the offering tonight, 452, Jesus Christ is made to me all I need. Sing it out on the first. Jesus Christ is made to me all I need, all I need. He alone in all my plea, He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free, He is all I need. That's good. Why don't we go ahead and sing that like we're saved. All right, on the second. Sing it like Jesus is all you need. On the second. He redeemed me when He died, all I need. Good, all I need. I with Him was crucified. He is all I need. Sing it out. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free, He is all I need. 452, sing it out on the third. He the treasure of my soul, all I need, all I need. He have cleansed and made me whole, He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free, He is all I need. Jesus is my all in all, all I need, all I need. While He keeps I cannot fall, He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free, He is all I need. Let's sing it out like a great choir on the last. Glory, glory to the Lamb, all I need, all I need. By His Spirit sealed I am, He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free, He is all I need. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you would bless the offering. We pray that you would bless the gift and the giver. And we ask that you bless the time set aside for prayer. And then of course for the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our prayer sheets tonight and we'll go through our prayer list. If you did not receive a prayer list on your way in, just raise your hand and one of us just can get one for you. If you need a prayer list, just put your hand up. And of course I want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer list is through your communication card on the back of the card. There's a place for you to write down a request. Make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's private, only I will see it. If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out. But we usually don't put those on there. We do add them in the order that they're received and they are removed after a couple of weeks. So if you'd like it to be on there a little longer, then you'll have to fill out another communication card. And there are a couple of things that you can do. One of the things that you can do is you can go to your prayer list. Then you'll have to fill out another communication card. And there are a couple of things I'd like you to add. But first, if you look at the back there, I'd like you to notice that Miss Katie Rosenberg was added for the expecting mothers. So congratulations, Brother Keith and Miss Katie on the expecting of a new baby. Praise the Lord for that. And then there are some requests that came in today that after the prayer list was printed that we'd like you to hand it right in if you would. And the first one is from Brother Ray. And be in prayer for Miss Denise. And she's just having health issues. She had to go to the hospital this week and be in prayer for her, of course. And then Brother Aldo would like to add prayer for salvation of his parents and grandparents. And then also health requests. His grandmother has heart failure, praying for her recovery and prayer for results of his mom's mammogram that they would be negative. So if you would add those. And let's go ahead and take these requests to the Lord. I'll pray out loud as you follow along in your mind and your heart. And let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray for these requests from our church family. And Lord, we begin with these requests for salvation. Brother Darryl praying for his family that they would be wise unto salvation, that their eyes would be open to discern the truth from error, Lord. And we pray that they would understand what salvation is, that they would come to the place of salvation. Brother Vladi and Miss Antonina praying for their family's salvation. Miss Christine Ortiz praying for the salvation of her children. Lola, Wynnham, Victoria, Harris, Robert, Harris, Andre and Avent. Miss Kimmie Gessler praying for Phil, that he would change his mind and believe. They gave him the Gospel and that he would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, for salvation. Miss Dogma praying for the salvation of her daughter's family. And Shanu praying for his friends, Maddie and Julian, that they would be saved. Lord, we ask for all of these individuals. Lord, we pray for all those parents and grandparents, that they would also be saved. Lord, we pray that you would help these individuals, that you would move in their hearts. Lord, we pray that any truth that has already been preached to them, that your Holy Spirit would use it in their hearts and their minds. Lord, we ask for that you would move circumstances around in their lives to bring them to the place where they'd be willing to hear the Gospel. We pray that you would bring a soul winner to communicate the Gospel clearly to them and help these individuals to come to the place where they would be saved. Lord, we also pray for these that have health requests. We're praying for Miss Edith for recovery from her procedure. And we're praying for Miss Dogma for her pain, that you would alleviate that and help her with that. We pray for little Uretzi, that she would continue to be healthy and strong, of course. We pray for the Salvador and his health, for the Brandon and his health. And Lord, we just pray that all of these individuals would be helped by you. We pray for Brother Aldo's grandmother for recovery from heart failure and for his mother's mammogram to come back negative. Lord, we pray that your will be done in these situations. And then, of course, we pray for Miss Denise, that you would help her, that you would heal her. And Lord, we pray for all these individuals. We pray that you would give them healing, that you'd give them relief from pain. We pray that you'd give wisdom to the doctors, the nurses that are dealing with them. And we pray that they would all be healthy and strong. And Lord, we also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting. We pray for Miss Rebecca Lunsford, Miss Casey Taylor, Miss Esther Davidson, Miss Antonina Vukulcik, and now also Miss Katie Rosenberg, asking that you would give all these ladies strength, Lord, and help. We pray that you give them healthy pregnancies and healthy babies and healthy deliveries and to have no problems and no complications. Lord, we pray that you'd bless these families. We also ask for these that are praying for their friends and their family. Miss Christina Ortiz praying for her family and just asking for her family in general. And Brother Salvador praying for his family. Brother Brandon praying for his family as well. And Lord, we pray that you would help these individuals. We pray for these that are asking for traveling mercies. Miss Kimmy Gessel praying for their family as they're traveling to Vancouver. They left today. And Lord, we pray that you would give Adam and Miss Kimmy and their daughters, of course, a safe trip and help them to have a good trip up in Vancouver as they see family. And Lord, we pray that you'd bring them home safely. We thank you, Miss Docma. We've been praying for her as she was in Germany, and it's good to see her here tonight. She's back home, and thank you for bringing her back safely, Lord, and I pray that you'd give her rest. And we pray for Brother Brandon for his upcoming trip to visit his family. And Lord, we pray that you would help all these individuals and guide them, help them, Lord, and strengthen them. And we pray for Brother Salvador and Brother Brandon for their personal walk, their faith with you, Lord. And we also pray for these that have physical needs. Brother Salvador praying for his finances and his work. Brother Brandon praying for his job prospects, Lord, that you would open up the right doors there and take care of their needs. And then, Lord, we pray for our church family. Miss Christine Ortiz praying for the church family. And we're praying for all of the members in our prison ministry and their families that you would help us to continue to minister to them and be a blessing to them. We pray for our church here in Sacramento, of course. And we pray for our church plant in Manila and Pampanga and in Bicolor, Lord, that you would keep all these locations safe and that you would bless these places. And then, of course, we pray for these that have unspoken requests. We pray for Miss Kimmy Gessler and Miss Docma. We pray, Lord, for Brother Salvador and Brother Brandon. These all have unspoken requests. You know what their petitions are. You know what they're asking for. Lord, we pray that you would answer according to your will. We ask, Lord, that you would meet with us tonight as we take time to study the Bible together. Lord, we pray that you would help us to learn, to draw closer to you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Open up to 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians chapter number 13. If you need a Bible, just raise your hand and I'm just wiping your Bible. 2 Corinthians chapter number 13. If you need a Bible, just keep your hand up and I'm just going to come by. 2 Corinthians 13. You'll read the entire chapter as their custom. 2 Corinthians 13 beginning verse number 1. This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I told you before and foretell you as if I were present the second time. And being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned and to all other that if I come again I will not spare. Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you art is not weak but is mighty in you, for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For you also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, and that we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong. In this also we wish even your perfection. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification and not to destruction. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Great one another with an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word, Lord, and for our church. And for everyone that's here tonight, God, I ask that you please just give us all a tender heart to the message, Lord. And I ask that you please be with the pastor tonight to strengthen him and fill him with his spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, well, we're there in 2 Corinthians chapter number 13. And tonight we come to the last chapter in the book of 2 Corinthians. And we're going to finish this book tonight, this Bible study that we've been in. In 2 Corinthians we've been going verse by verse, chapter by chapter on Wednesday nights. And we started—I'll give you just kind of some information as we—since we're finishing tonight. We started this Bible study in 2 Corinthians on September 15, 2021. So we've been in it since the end of last year. And we spent about nine months studying this book on Wednesday nights. Of course, not every Wednesday night we've taken breaks here and there. And we had a total of 33 sermons covering 13 chapters. So we have thoroughly learned the book of 2 Corinthians. And we definitely believe in studying the Word of God around here. And I want to encourage you if you're with us as we end the book of 2 Corinthians, stick with us on Wednesday night. I can tell you next Wednesday night I'll be preaching a stand-alone sermon. But a couple of Wednesdays from now we're going to start a brand-new book of the Bible. And you're going to want to be here because the best time to be here is when we start a brand-new book. I encourage you to bring a notebook with you. And you can write notes, and we'll go verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And we love to do the verse by verse studies here. Just by kind of just some—whenever I finish a book of the Bible, I have a document in which I track. One of my goals is to preach through the entire Bible in the next—well, my goal is to preach the entire Bible in the first 20 years of our ministry. After 20 years, I'd like to maybe do it again if the Lord allows me to. And our church has been around now for 11 years. And in the last 11 years we have studied verse by verse, chapter by chapter, we have walked through the following books. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Esther, Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Matthew. We're working on Luke right now on Sundays. John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, James, and Jude. And we have gone through all of those books verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If you're interested, I've preached through 15 out of the 39 Old Testament books in the last 11 years. That means that we're about 38% through the Old Testament. I've preached through 10 of the 27 New Testament books, and that means we're about 37% through the New Testament. And I've preached through 25 out of the 66 books of the entire Bible, which puts us right at 37% through the Bible. So we've gone through a lot of Bible, and we're going to continue to go through the Bible. And if you've got a request for the next Wednesday night Bible study, you can give it to me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to listen to it. So just know that. You can tell me. I've got an idea of where we're going to go, but you can't. Sometimes people, they're like, oh, can you preach through this book? And I'm like, I preached through that book six years ago. So you're going to have to wait until I finish the whole Bible before I come through on that, back on that. But we're probably going to be in the Old Testament on Wednesday night because we're doing Luke on Sunday. So we're there in 2 Corinthians, chapter 13. And in chapter 13, of course, we have the end of this letter. And if you remember, as we've been walking through this letter, we've learned that the letter has been kind of hostile. The apostle Paul is not really happy with the church at Corinth, and he's trying to prepare them and get them to be ready. And he's been very hostile towards them, and you're going to see that that's how he begins this chapter as well. And there's five different kind of things that he covers in this chapter. We're going to walk through the chapter together, and we'll make application. But the first thing, if you're taking notes, and I would encourage you to write down some notes, the first thing we see is what I would call fighting words. And again, the apostle Paul begins very hostile towards the church at Corinth. He's not very happy with them, and he kind of just starts this chapter with what I would refer to as fighting words. Notice there in verse 1, he says, this is the third time that I am coming to you. And then he says this, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Now, you may read that and not really consider that too hostile or too negative if you don't understand the context. When the apostle Paul is quoting here and he's saying, I'm going to come to you, and when I come to you, he says, we're going to have a meeting, and in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, this is a terminology used in regards to judgment. And specifically for the local New Testament church, it's terminology regarding church discipline. I'd like you to keep your place there in 2 Corinthians chapter 13. That's our text for tonight. But go back with me to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 18, the first book in the New Testament. It should be fairly easy to find, Matthew chapter 18. When Paul says, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, these are fighting words. These are hostile words. You will see as we continue that they are hostile words. In fact, find there Matthew 18 and just go back to 2 Corinthians real quickly. Find Matthew 18 and we're going to go there, but we'll go back to 2 Corinthians 13. He says there in verse 1, this is the third time that I come to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Just to prove to you that he's being hostile towards them and these are fighting words. He's telling them if you want to fight, get ready for a fight. In verse 2 he says, I told you before and foretell you again. I told you before. He says, this is how a parent would speak to a child that's being disobedient. I've already told you. I told you before. He says and foretell. The word foretell means to tell beforehand. He says, I've told you before and foretell you. He says, I've already told you and I'm going to tell you again before. What he's saying is, I've already told you and I'm warning you again as if I were present the second time and being absent now. I write to them which heretofore have sinned and to all others that if I come again. Notice these words. He says, I will not spare. And this term will not spare, the word spare means to refrain from punishment or to be gentle or lenient. And he says, I will not spare. He says, look, I've told you before and I foretell you again. I'm going to warn you again. He says, those which have sinned and to all others that if I come again, I will not spare. He says, I'm not going to be lenient. I'm not going to be gentle. He says, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I mean, these are fighting words from the apostle Paul. He is coming in to clean house. He's coming in to take care of the problems there at the church. The church of Corinth. Skip down to verse number 10 just to get a little more of this context. 2 Corinthians 13, look at verse 10. He says, therefore I write these things being absent, less being present I should use, notice he says, sharpness according to the power which the Lord has given me to edification and not to destruction. So he's telling them, look, I'm warning you and I'm trying to fix some things before I get there. As less being present, I should use sharpness. So I think it's interesting because sometimes in a church like ours that is conservative and we believe here at Verity Baptist Church in what the Bible teaches in regards to having a pastor led church and a church that is led by a man of God. We are not a deacon board led church. We are not an elder led church. We're not a woman led church. And we are a, this is a pastor led church. And sometimes people will look at someone like me and say, well, you know, in that type of church, you know, you're some sort of a, you know, a dictator or something. And of course, you know, that's not true because as a pastor, my job is to submit to myself under the authority of the word of God. The Bible does teach that it is a pastor who's supposed to rule the church. Now we do not lord over God's heritage. I do not try to, I do not try and I don't want to have to make decisions in your personal life and look your life and the things you do at home that is between you and God. But when it comes to this ministry and this church and what's preached behind this pulpit and the word of God, the Bible that we use and the songs that we sing and how we do things, this is all ran by a pastor because this is how the Bible teaches. And sometimes people say, oh, you're being too rough or you're being too strict or you're being too controlling. Well, if you notice the Apostle Paul, he's talking about bringing sharpness and not sparing. And in other places, he talks about bringing the rod and the fact that, look, he's going to come in and he's going to take charge. He's going to do what needs to be done. And, you know, when people say, oh, you're a dictator. Well, I'm not a dictator, but I'll be honest with you, sometimes it's hard to tell because, you know, the Bible says that the man of God is supposed to sometimes stand up and fight for what's right. And sometimes there are those that will creep into a church and try to bring in heresy. And it's my job and it's Paul's job to say, look, at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. And we're going to come in, we're going to clean house. I told you before and I foretell you as if I were present. He's being very hostile here. Now, again, if you look at verse 1, he says, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. What is this referring to? If you go to Matthew chapter 18, you'll notice that he's invoking this idea of church discipline. And church discipline is not something that's spoken a lot about anymore by churches in our day and age. But in the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians, it comes up a lot. The Apostle Paul brings up this idea of church discipline a lot because of all of the problems that he's having there. And when he says, at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, it is a reference back to what the Lord Jesus Christ taught in Matthew chapter 18 about how to deal with problems within the church. Now, let me just say this, and I'm not preaching on the subject of church discipline tonight, and I'm not going to take the time to go through a thorough teaching on that, but Matthew 18 is not the only passage in the Bible about church discipline, and it's not the thing that we have to go to every time. When we're talking about church discipline, we're talking about kicking people out of church. We're talking about disciplining people out and saying, you are not allowed to be part of this church. And sometimes people get this wrong idea, and they'll think that Matthew 18 is a process that has to be followed every time that you have church discipline, and I just want to explain to you that that is incorrect. The Bible teaches that Matthew 18 is one of five different reasons. It's the mode that you use for five different reasons in which you might have to discipline someone out of church. In fact, if you're interested, I'll give you the five reasons someone would get kicked out of church or have church discipline put on them, and you can write these down. I'll give you references. I don't have the time to preach this tonight, but you can write it down and study it out for yourself. Of course, I preached sermons on this before. The first reason someone might get kicked out of church is for unacceptable sins. In 1 Corinthians 5 verses 9 through 13, Paul gives us a list of sins that are not allowed within church. Now look, we are all sinners. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. Everyone here is a sinner, but there are certain sins that if we're living in those sins and practicing those sins, the Bible says that they are unacceptable within the congregation because a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. So church discipline might happen because of unacceptable sins. You'll find that in 1 Corinthians 5 verses 9 through 13. But then also you might have someone get kicked out of church or have church discipline because they're bringing in unbiblical doctrine or heresy. You'll find that in Romans 16 verses 17 and 18. The Bible details the fact that you are to separate from and that you're supposed to kick people out who will bring heresy into the church, unbiblical doctrine. And then a third reason that someone might get kicked out of church is for unresolvable conflict. That's what we find here in Matthew 18. We're going to look at it. And this is simply when people are having conflict. Maybe it's not necessarily a sin. Maybe it's not necessarily a doctrine. But they're just butting heads and having issues and it's getting worse and it's unresolved. Then you would bring Matthew 18. You can also get kicked out of church for being an unproductive troublemaker. 2 Thessalonians 3 verses 6 through 11. The Bible literally teaches that if you're a man that refuses to work and you're a busybody and you're causing problems, that that's enough to kick you out of church. And then the last reason you could get kicked out of church is for unnatural sins. And that's found in Romans chapter 1, of course, verses 24 through 32. So there are all these processes and here's the point that I'm trying to make. If somebody comes into our church and begins to preach heresy, I don't have to go through the Matthew 18 process because Romans 16, 17, and 18 already tells us that if anybody brings in false doctrine, they should be thrown out. If someone is doing 1 Corinthians chapter 5, living in fornication, we don't have to go through the Matthew 18 process. They've crossed the line. So all of these reasons have their own passages of Scripture that explain to us what we're supposed to deal with. Matthew 18 is kind of the general one where there's no specific thing. It's just that there's a problem that needs to be addressed. And this is what the Apostle Paul is telling the Church of Corinth. He says, I have an issue with you. You have offended me. He says, when I show up, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Now how does this work in Matthew 18? Look at verse 15 and we'll just look at it real quickly. Matthew 18 and verse 15. This is what Jesus taught. He said, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee. The word trespass means to sin. It's a transgression. They've sinned against you. They've wronged you. They've done something bad to you. Here's the process you're supposed to take. Number one, go and tell him his fault between thee and him. And notice here's the key word, alone. This is the word that most people miss when they get to Matthew 18. They think, go and tell him and all of your closest friends. Go and tell him and all of your Facebook friends. Go and tell him and everyone on Instagram. No, that's not what it says. It says, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. You're not supposed to go. You say, well, what if I go and tell all the people? You're a gossip. That's gossip. The Bible says, look, if somebody does you wrong, somebody offended you, somebody did something wrong to you, then you are to go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou is gain thy brother. So you go to someone and you say, hey, listen, you offended me, you know, and by the way, let me just say this, because whenever, you know, you bring this up and you have this, you have this, you have this, people have sometimes a tendency to take things a little too literally, or I shouldn't say too literally, but when it comes to Matthew 18, we shouldn't be on a hair trigger, you know, where you're just like, this should be a pretty big deal, all right? It shouldn't be like, you sat in my seat before two or three witnesses. Every word's going to be established, okay? That's ridiculous, all right? Or you took my part, everybody knows I parked there. I always park there. It's like they're a first time guest. Are you an idiot? How would they know you parked there? How would they know you sit there? Okay, so obviously this requires a little bit of maturity, but obviously in church sometimes people can offend each other, people can have issues, so the Bible says, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone, and if he shall hear thee, thou is gain thy brother, but if he will not hear thee, so you go to so-and-so and say, look, you sinned against me, you did wrong when you did X, Y, and Z, you've offended me, you know, I'm bringing this up to you because I want you to make it right, I want us to be right with each other, and if they're like, you're right, I'm sorry, and they make it right, then praise the Lord, you've gained a brother, but if he will not hear thee, then here's step number two, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. This is what the apostle Paul is referring to. Paul says, I've already came to you guys, and you're not fixing this, so this is the third time I'm coming to you, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. He says, now you bring in people to judge the matter, and by the way, let me just say this, at Verity Baptist Church, when you get to step two, you better be involving me or my wife, all right? It's not you and your little buddy that are going to do this process, so then take with thee one or two witnesses. You say, well, that sounds like a dictator. Well, then just rewind the sermon back to like 10 minutes ago. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So this is where you bring judges, you bring a pastor, you bring a mature person in to look at the evidence, to make a judgment call, and then the Bible talks a lot about this. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 goes into detail about how the church is supposed to be able to judge within itself and that we're not supposed to take our brother to law, all of those things, but let's say that happens and then there's still, it's not resolved. Look at verse 17. This is why you need to involve the pastor, verse 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. So there comes a point in this process where you even would take it before the entire congregation and say, here's what's happening. Here's the situation. So and so has done this to so and so. It's a sin. It's wrong. We've looked at it. We've seen the evidence. We've heard the testimony. They're not willing to make it right. So we're bringing it before the church. Notice there in verse 17, but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. So what's the result? At the end of this process, if they're unwilling to make things right, when it says let him be unto thee as an heathen as a publican is that we're supposed to treat them as an unsaved person. Now, they're not unsaved. They're saved, but we're supposed to treat them, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican, and they are excommunicated from the church. Now, that doesn't mean they lose their salvation, but it means that they are taken out of the fellowship because church discipline is meant to be a punishment so that people will get right. Of course, the purpose of church discipline is in order to win your brother back, is to bring him back to the Lord, is to ye that are spiritual restore such an one, is what the Bible says. But here's what the Apostle Paul is talking about. This is what he's referring to. Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. So you can see that he starts off with these fighting words. The first thing we see is this idea, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. And the advice I give to you is try to resolve conflict before you get there. Don't get to the place where it's being taken before the church. And obviously, these things are extremely rare. They're not something that is just happening every week or something like that. And in cases where we have, in the past, we have had to have situations where we had to take it before the church. Obviously, we don't do it on livestream. We shut the livestream off at the end of the service or whatever. But this is what the Bible is talking about, and this is what the Apostle Paul is talking about. So he starts off with these fighting words. In verses 1 through 2. Then in verse 3, he says this. He says, Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me. Because remember, they were saying, Well, we don't know that you really are an apostle and that God really is speaking in you. So again, Paul is defending himself, and he's kind of hostile towards these people. He says, Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you word is not weak, but is mighty in you. He says, For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Now, keep your place there in 2 Corinthians 13. And go back to 1 Corinthians, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Here, as the Apostle Paul is finishing the second epistle to the church at Corinth, he talks about this idea of power through weakness. And it's interesting because as we go through this last chapter, you'll notice that there's a theme where he's kind of talking about stuff that he's already talked to them about either in 1 Corinthians or in 2 Corinthians. So for example, when he's talking about church discipline, he's already dealt with that in detail in the book of 1 Corinthians. Well here, when he's talking about this idea of power through weakness, he says, Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me. Because remember, they were saying about Paul that he's weak. They were saying that he's a paper tiger. They're saying, He's big and tough in his letters, but when he shows up, he's not that impressive. He says, Since ye seek proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you word is not weak, but is mighty in you. He says, You say I'm weak and Jesus is strong and he is strong. He's mighty. But Paul says in verse 4, For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. Now in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he's already dealt with this idea. Because in the Bible there is this concept that there is power through weakness. Now Paul already talked about this in the previous chapters. Like in 2 Corinthians, remember he talked about his thorn in the flesh and he talked about the fact that when I am weak, he says that I will glory therefore in my infirmity that the power of Christ may dwell upon me. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we see this again, that God delights in using the weak. And even Jesus, who's God in the flesh, even Jesus when he was crucified through weakness, he was crucified through weakness but he liveth by the power of God. So there's this idea of power through weakness. Look at 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 26. He says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh. Now I want you to notice here, Paul says not many. He doesn't say not any. He just says not many. He says when it comes to like wise, you know, because here's the interesting thing, Paul himself is a very wise man, scholarly and intellectual. But here Paul says not many wise men after the flesh. He says not many mighty. He says when God looks for people, if you look at the people that God uses, not many are wise men. Notice the caveat, after the flesh. So he's not saying that God uses fools. God uses wise men, men that are wise in the things of God. But wise men after the flesh in the sense that the world would look at them and say, well, there's a wise man. There's an intellectual. There's an educated man. God says not many wise men after the flesh. He used fishermen. He used carpenters. He used tax collectors. Now Paul was an intellectual so that's why he doesn't say not any wise men after the flesh. He says not many wise men after the flesh. He says not many mighty. The word mighty has to do with strength. He says God doesn't use a lot of strong. You say who does God use? He uses the Davids to fight the Goliaths. Now he says not many mighty. He doesn't say not any mighty. Every once in a while he'll use a Samson. But he says not many mighty. He says not many noble. Sometimes he'll use a king but oftentimes he'll use someone that's not noble. He says for ye see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world. So notice it's not that they're foolish but the world will look at them as foolish. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised has God chosen ye and the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are. And isn't this the storyline of the Bible? I mean isn't this David and Goliath, not many mighty, not many noble, not many wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise. Isn't that the story of Gideon and his 300 men? Isn't this the stories that we love in the word of God that God delights in using that which is weak? And you say well why does that, is that a theme in scripture? Well the reason for it is because of the fact you say why does God use the weak? Look at verse 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence. So why does God delight in using that which is weak? Here's why. Because when David kills Goliath, nobody says well of course, I mean look at David. When David kills Goliath, do you know what they say? Glory to God. When Gideon and his 300 men kill a multitude and have victory over a multitude of people, nobody looks at Gideon and says well those 300 men, they were pretty tough. No, no, they say to God be the glory. That no flesh should glory in his presence. And here's the takeaway for us, that we may not be impressive. We may not be wise after the flesh. We may not be mighty in the things of the world. We may be weak in the things of the world. But hey, God is not using that which is strong and God is not looking for that which has, you say well, as we met you're meeting in a building next to a methadone clinic around a bunch of homeless people but yet even in a place like this on a Wednesday night 150 plus people can show up to hear the word of God preached and God can use his church to literally have sent the gospel across the world and nobody would think that God would use a place like this. No one would think that God would use a church like this. No one would think that God would use a preacher like this. But hey, praise God, not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Amen. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. See, God delights in using that which is weak. So if you say well, I don't have the resources, I don't have the connections, I don't have the aptitude, I don't have the talent, I don't have the strength, I don't have the looks, I don't have what is needed. Hey, well then you're exactly who God's looking for. That no flesh should glory in his presence. Notice verse 30. But of him. Because remember, in 2 Corinthians 13.4 he says, For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God towards God. He connects our weakness and our strength in Jesus Christ. Here in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30 he says, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The word glory means to boast, to brag. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2 Corinthians chapter 13. So we first see these fighting words. Then we secondly see this power through weakness. And then thirdly I want you to notice that we can see this idea that Paul brings up that you can know that you're saved. In 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5 he says, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you? And then he says, Except ye be reprobate. So I'm going to come back to that phrase, except ye be reprobate, here in a minute. I want you to notice that he's talking about the fact that you can examine yourselves and in fact he's urging the Church of Corinth to examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you? He's telling them that you can know and he's telling the Church of Corinth and through the Holy Spirit is telling all of us he's telling me and he's telling you that we can know that we are saved. Aren't you thankful for that? Do you not have to go through life hoping, wondering, thinking that maybe go to 1 John if you would, 1 John chapter 5. If you start at the end of the New Testament and head backwards you have Revelation, Jude, 32 and 1 John. Revelation, Jude, 32 and 1 John. If you go out sowing with us, you will notice that as we knock doors and we invite people to church and we ask people this question, do you know for sure if you died today that you're on your way to heaven? And you'll notice that there's a lot of people out there who will give this answer, well, nobody can know that. Well, who knows that? Well, I don't know. And sometimes people are like, well, nobody knows that you don't know that. And I'm like, speak for yourself, buddy. You know, the Bible says that you can know. 1 John 5, 13, these things, what are the things there? 1 John 5, 13, these things, the word things that is referring to the word of God. Notice, these things have I written unto you, referring to the word of God, that believe on the name of the Son of God. Notice, that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. See, the Bible says that you and I can know. You say, well, how do we know? Well, notice it's not based off works because he says these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know. See, when you go back to 2 Corinthians 13 and he says examine yourselves whether ye be in the, notice this word, faith. He doesn't say examine yourselves whether you're doing enough works. He doesn't say examine yourself to see if you've repented of enough sins. He doesn't say examine yourself to see if you're following closely enough. No, no. He says whether ye be in the faith. Because here's the truth. The only way that you and I can know that we're saved is if salvation is a free gift that we receive. That's the only way to know it. Because if I had to earn my way to heaven, I'd never know. Because I wouldn't know have I done enough? Am I good enough? I'll have to wait. That's why people say, we ask them, do you know for sure if you died today or you earned whatever? Well, we'll see on that day. Well, we'll say on the day of judgment. Well, I guess we'll have to fight off. Only God knows. God will be the judge. These are the answers that people give. Why? Because they're trusting their works. Because if I was trying to work my way to heaven, I wouldn't know either. I'd be like, well, I don't know. I had a pretty good day today, but yesterday wasn't that great. But when salvation is a free gift, I don't earn it. Once I have it, I can't lose it. I call upon Christ in faith, and I have it, then I can know. And he says, look, salvation, you can know that you're saved. These things have it written to you that believe on the name of some God that you may know that you have eternal life. And if you're here tonight and you don't know that you're saved, please, please, please don't leave here tonight without letting somebody talk to you about that. We'd love for you to know. You can know, and it's not based on your works. It's not based on your religion. It's not based on what church you go to. It's not based on how good of a person you are. It's all in Jesus Christ. Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 13, look at verse 5. He says, examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not yourselves how that Jesus Christ is in you? Accept ye be. And then we get this word, and I want you to notice that he says, reprobates. He brings up this idea, fourthly, of reprobates. And to be honest with you, the next couple of verses, as the apostle Paul talks about reprobates, in 2 Corinthians 13, it's a passage that is often misunderstood and misinterpreted by people. It's confusing because Paul says here at verse 5, he says, examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not yourselves how that Jesus Christ is in you? Accept ye be. Reprobates. Then he says in verse 6, but I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. And then he says in verse 7, now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest though we be as reprobates. So because he says, accept ye be reprobates, I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. And then he says, though we be as reprobates. This can be a passage that is sometimes confusing to people. So I'd like to explain to you tonight, but in order to do that, let me just take some time and explain to you what the word reprobate and what it means to be a reprobate. Go to Romans chapter number 1. Romans chapter number 1. And it's fitting that we would do this in June because June is reprobate month. It's when all the reprobates celebrate their pride. Romans chapter 1, look at verse 18. What does it mean to be a reprobate? The word reprobate, and I'll prove it to you from the Bible here in a minute, but the word simply means to be rejected. It means to be something that is cast off or thrown off. In Romans chapter 1, and there's lots of passages we could look at on the subject of reprobates. We're going to look at Romans 1 tonight just because I need to move quickly. And Romans chapter 1 is the quintessential passage on reprobates. But there's a couple things I want you to understand. You say, what does it mean to be a reprobate? A reprobate is someone who has crossed a line with God, and they have lost their opportunity to be saved. They are rejected from God. Now sometimes people, they have trouble understanding this, but you need to understand something. Every unbeliever gets to this point, to this place at some point. The Bible says, and as it is appointed unto men, wants to die, but after this the judgment. If someone dies without believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, they've crossed a line, they can't be saved. The Bible teaches, however, that for some people they cross that line, for some people they cross that line even before they die. You say, well, what does the Bible say? Well, look at Romans chapter 1 and verse 18. A couple of things I want you to understand about a reprobate. First, you need to understand that they were exposed to the truth. Notice verse 18. For the wrath of God is, notice this word, revealed. Revealed, what does the word reveal? It's not hidden, it's something they can see. The wrath of God is revealed. You say, how is the wrath of God revealed? From heaven. Now, here's something I want you to understand about reprobates. They have been exposed to the truth. That does not necessarily mean that they've been exposed to the gospel. There's enough truth, without being exposed to the gospel, that you could reject that truth and become a reprobate. Here the Bible tells us, for the wrath of God, not the good news of God. The gospel is the good news. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. What is that referring to? The reference to heaven is a reference to creation, to nature. The Bible teaches that creation reveals the wrath of God. Creation, mankind is able to look up to the heavens and understand that there is a God that created the universe and that we will all stand before that God and be judged. You don't need the Bible to understand that. Now, you need the Bible to understand who the Lord Jesus Christ is. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You need the word of God to be preached in order for somebody safe. But in order for somebody to understand that there is a God that they will answer to, hey, creation's enough. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, notice, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Notice what it says. Who hold the truth in unrighteousness. See, ungodly and unrighteous men throughout history have held the truth of unrighteousness. This is why throughout history, even people that have not been exposed to the word of God, mankind has believed in a deity. Throughout history, people have believed that there is a God. Now, they might have believed in the wrong God and that's why we need to go and preach the gospel to them and make sure they understand who Jesus is and get saved. But throughout history, people have understood that there is a God. Why? Because creation reveals God. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Notice what it says in verse 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest. The word manifest means it's made seen in them. For God has showed it unto them. Now, I want you to notice, here we are told that there are two different ways that people know that there is a God. One is through creation and the other one in verse 19 we're told that because that which is made known of God is manifest, notice, in them. So one of the manifestations of God is out of them through heaven, through creation. The other manifestation of God that every human being has is in them. You say, what is that referring to? Go to Romans chapter 2. You're there in Romans 1. Go to Romans chapter 2, look at verse 14. See, God has given every human being two different ways of knowing that there is a God. One is through creation and one is through conscience. Romans chapter 2 and verse 14, the Bible says, For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves. How is it that all throughout history societies that were not given the Ten Commandments, that were not given the law of God, throughout history in general, aside from reprobate cultures, in general most of mankind people have known that it's wrong to murder, that it's wrong to steal, that it's wrong to lie, that it's wrong to commit adultery. Where did that come from? Well, the Bible says, For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. See, the Bible says that every human being has a conscience that tells you, no, that's wrong. No, that's not right. See, where did that come from? It didn't come from evolution. Evolution did not involve a conscience. God put that there. Because God reveals Himself through conscience. Go back to Romans chapter 1, look at verse 20. God reveals Himself through creation. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, referring to creation, even His eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, did they know God? They knew God. You say, I don't think it's fair. You teach that people become reprobates and they lose their opportunity to be saved. That's not fair. Well, according to Romans 1, they knew God. God gave them a conscience and told them there is a God. God gave them creation and told them there is a God. They chose to reject. They chose to not see. Reprobates are exposed to the truth but then they reject the truth. Look at verse 21 again. Because that when they knew God, notice, they glorified Him not as God. It's not that they didn't know. It's that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful but became vain in their imagination. And their foolish heart was darkened. Look at verse 23. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corrupt a man, into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. You say, what is that? It's referring to the fact that people saw creation and rejected the God of creation and chose to worship creation instead of the Creator. Now, throughout the ancient world, this would have been the idols of different animals, the Hindus that worshiped the cows. But today in America, it's called evolution. Where we don't worship the Creator, we just worship the creation. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corrupt a man, into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Look at verse 25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie. It's not that they didn't have the truth. They had the truth. They rejected the truth. They changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who was blessed forever. Amen. Look at verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Did they have a knowledge of God? Yes, they did. But they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. So what is a reprobate? A reprobate is somebody who's been exposed to the truth, purposely chooses to reject the truth, and then God eventually rejects them. So God rejects them? Look at verse 21. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. Notice. And their foolish heart was darkened. He did not enlighten their heart. He darkened their heart. Look at verse 22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, notice these words, God also gave them up. God gave them up to uncleanness through the loss of their own hearts, through dishonor of their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who was blessed forever. Amen. Verse 26. For this cause, notice these words. God gave them up. God doesn't give up on anybody. Well, he gave up on these people. Verse 24. Wherefore also God gave them up. Verse 26. For this cause, God gave them up. What did God give them up to? Unto vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. That's your pride month. Look at verse 28. And even as they did not... Oh, and by the way, I'm not... I don't have the verses. I had it in my notes, but let me just read it. Romans 1. Verse 26. For this cause, God gave them up to vile affections. For even their women did like to change the natural use of that which is against nature. And likewise, also the men leaving... Notice these words. The natural use of the woman burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat. You say, what is this referring to? The Bible teaches that God revealed Himself in conscience, in the heart. Every human being has a conscience that tells them murder's wrong, tells them lying's wrong, tells them stealing is wrong. Now, people still do these things, but they know it's wrong. The Bible says that a reprobate when they're given over, their conscience is seared. Now they will go and do things that a normal conscience will not allow. These are called unnatural sins. See, fornication's a sin. It'll get you kicked out of church, but it's natural. It's natural for a man to be physically attracted to a woman. That's natural. If they're not married, it's wrong. It shouldn't happen. We'll throw you out of church if you're unrepentant, but it's natural. You know what's unnatural? A man being attracted to another man. A woman being attracted to another woman. An adult being attracted to a child. It's unnatural! A human being being attracted to an animal. All these things are unnatural. And even as they did not like, verse 28, to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over, here's our word, to a reprobate mind. To do those things which are not convenient. You don't have to turn there, but I'll just read this for you. You can jot this down. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 30. Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them. What's a reprobate? A reprobate is someone that's been rejected by God. And a reprobate has had their conscience seared and will eventually go down into these sins of unnatural things. They're not normal. They're not natural. Now, today, what I'm preaching right now is called hate speech in our country today. Just this afternoon, I got a text from Pastor Thompson and some guy I've never heard of, I guess he calls himself a friendly atheist or something, is making some clip about me or whatever and attacking our church and attacking churches like ours. And they're just like, this is just terrible. You know, there was a day in our country where every Bible-believing preacher preached what I preach right now. I mean, I did this for our documentary years ago, but I'll just remind you of it. The word reprobate, if you look up the word reprobate, the definition of the word reprobate, you say, where? Not in some Bible scholarly dictionary, not in some commentary. If you go to Google and just type in dictionary, probably the number one website that's gonna come up is a website called dictionary.com. It's not some independent fundamental Baptist hate speech. It's just dictionary.com. Type in the word reprobate. You know what definitions are? Number one, a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person. Number two, a person rejected by God and beyond the hope of salvation. Say, how can dictionary.com? How can dictionary.com be more right than most pastors? Well, they're right because that's what the word means. A person rejected by God and beyond the hope of salvation. They cross the line with God. Now, here's the problem. People say, well, is every unsafe person reprobate? No, look, the vast majority of unsafe people are not reprobates. Unsafe people can be saved. Most people can be saved. No one's born a reprobate, but many people become reprobates. Once they reject God, they reject God, they reject God. Look, do you understand there's a difference between just an unsafe person doesn't believe on Jesus Christ, doesn't believe anything, they're not religious, they're just going... And then people who just hate God and are fighting, you know, this friendly atheist. I mean, the guy's probably a reprobate. He's just made it his goal in life to attack Bible-believing Christians. He calls himself a friendly atheist. We'll see how friendly he is when he's burning in hell. Because a person that rejects the truth will end up in hell and they'll end up a reprobate, a person rejected by God and beyond the hope of salvation. And I'm not saying that every atheist is a reprobate. I'm just saying that one is, just for the record. 2 Corinthians, go back to 2 Corinthians 13. You say, I don't think you should call him a reprobate. Well, then you're not going to like Paul because he's about to call some people reprobates. 2 Corinthians 13, look at verse 5. So what's a reprobate? A reprobate is someone who's been exposed to the truth, they've rejected the truth, and it's not like they just rejected the truth one time. I mean, they've gotten hardened towards the truth. They've become angry towards the truth. They hate God. They're working against God. They're wicked, evil people that are fighting God. And the Bible says, and we don't know when that line is. That's between them and God. But God says there comes a point when he will give them over to a reprobate mind, and the word reprobate means that they're called reprobate because the Lord has rejected them, a person rejected by God and beyond the hope of salvation. Now, in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5, Paul says, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobate? Now, here's where Calvinists, because Calvinists think everyone's a reprobate. Like, everyone's a reprobate, no one can be saved, except for them. You know, except for the ones that God calls, which just happens to just be only them. So, people will use this verse to say, well, then everyone that's not saved is a reprobate. But that's not what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying, hey, examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith, and if you're not in the faith, everyone who's not in the faith is a reprobate. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobate. What is he talking about? He's talking to the church at Corinth. You say, I don't understand. He's not saying everyone who's not in the faith is a reprobate, but what Paul is saying is, if you're at the church at Corinth, and you've been listening to the preaching coming from the apostle Paul, and you've had the amount of truth exposed to you, Paul is saying, if you're not saved by now, you're a reprobate. And I'll tell you this, at Verity Baptist Church, obviously people come in here off the street and they just come and they're here for a little while and they might get saved or might not get saved or whatever, but if somebody comes to this church week after week, month after month, year after year, and they've just been here for like three years, four years, five years, and then they're just not saved, they're not just unsaved, they're a reprobate. Say, how can that be? Because of the amount of truth that they're exposed to, I mean, one of the reasons that saved people like our church, one of the reasons that you love our church, is because we give you the word of God in heavy doses. I mean, we preached through almost 38% of the entire Bible in the last 11 years. Well, I've given you tons of Bible just in this one sermon. We give you the truth, the truth, the truth, the truth, the truth. So, look, churches like ours, because people will often, they'll look at a church like ours, or our church or churches like ours, and they'll say, well, you guys have all these enemies, and then a bunch of them end up being reprobates. How is that? Why is that? And what people don't understand is, yeah, because you know what? Our church is a salvation-producing machine with our 100 soul winners out every week preaching the gospel, but you know, we're also a reprobate-producing machine. Because unsaved people can come in here, and they can hear the truth and hear the truth and hear the truth and hear the truth and to be exposed to this much truth and reject it and reject it, I mean, you're for sure going to be a reprobate. If you don't get saved, if you come to church like it's saved, and that's what Paul's saying. He says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, know not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. He says, I'm worried about some of you. I think some of you guys are reprobates, is what Paul is saying, because you've had enough truth. You've known the truth, and you're rejecting the truth. So he's not saying everyone's a reprobate, but he's saying if you've been part of this ministry, and you're still not saved, then you're just probably a reprobate. Now, notice what he says in verse 6. But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. And then he says in verse 7, Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. And again, sometimes people, they're like, is Paul saying he's a reprobate? Paul's not saying he's a reprobate. He says, though we be as reprobates. What is he saying? He's saying, you're treating us like we're reprobates. Because remember they were comparing him to other apostles, and they were saying like, we don't even know if God is speaking to you. And he's saying like, hey, you better examine yourself and make sure you're in the faith, and we trust that ye know that we are not reprobates, but you're treating us like we're rejected of God. You're treating us like we're trash. You're treating us like we are reprobates. So I hope that makes sense what he's referring to and what he's teaching there about being a reprobate. Look at, I gotta finish this thing up. Look at verse 7. We'll just run through some of this real quickly. Here's the last thing he talks about is he talks about what he wishes, what he wants. In verse 7 he says, Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates, for we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. Paul is saying, look, I pray to God. He says, this is what I want. This is my prayer for you, that ye do no evil. And he says that ye should do that which is honest. He says, I want you to live honestly without deception. But he says, not that we should appear approved. He's saying, it's not, I don't want you to do right. Paul's saying, because he's a leader here. Remember, he told them that he's like their father. So he says, I want you to do right but not to make me look good. You know, it's like our children. My wife and I have, the Lord has blessed us with six children. And you know, my wife and I, I'm a pastor, she's a pastor's wife. I want my kids to live for God. But you know, I don't want my kids, and I know my wife doesn't, she doesn't, we don't want our kids to live for God just so that we look good. You guys, they need to do right because, you know, because I'm the pastor, you shouldn't embarrass me. That's not why we want them to do right. We want them to do right because it's the best thing for them. That's what Paul's saying. He says, now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. He says, for we can, you say, why should I live for God? For we can do nothing against the truth before the truth. Look, in life, just try not to fight against the truth. I mean, do you see how this is all connected to reprobates? Because what do reprobates do? They fight the truth. God says, make sure you don't fight the truth. You come to church and you hear a truth of the word of God preached, and you're like, ah, man, I need to stop doing that. I need to start doing that. I need to, that's something that I, don't fight the truth. We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. As Christians, we should always be going in the direction of truth. If we ever find ourselves fighting the truth, fighting the truth, fighting the truth, trying to cover things up, trying to keep things, you're going in the wrong direction, buddy. He says, what we wish is for you to live honestly. And then he says, and then he says in verse 9, for we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong. Remember this idea of weakness or strength? And this also we wish, because he's talking about the things they want. He says, even your perfection. Now, I don't have time to go into all of it. I've got like another page full of notes, but let me just explain this real quickly. The word perfect in the Bible is not the, in our King James Bible is not the same word that you and I use, the word perfect. When we think of the word perfect, we think of something that's flawless, something that's without error, without sin. The word perfect means to be complete, to be whole. And he says, here's what we want. We want you to live honestly, and we want you to, he says, this also we wish, even your perfection. Now, he brings up this idea of perfection. If you notice verse 10, he says, therefore, I write these things being absent, less being present. I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord has given me to edification and not to destruction. Finally, my brethren, farewell. So he's finishing up. He says, finally, my brethren, farewell. And he's giving them a farewell charge. He said, what does he want them to do? Number one, be perfect. Again, what does that mean? That means to be complete or whole. You don't have to turn there. I'll just read this for you. You can jot it down if you like. Job 1.1, the Bible says about Job, there was a man in the land of Oz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and is hewed evil. The word perfect means that he was complete. He was whole. He was mature. He was balanced. Paul says, I want you to be perfect. Then he says, I want you to be of good comfort. There in verse 11. If you remember when we started the book of 2 Corinthians 1 back on September 15, 2021, we saw the very first passage was about comfort. Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comforts, 2 Corinthians 1.3, 2 Corinthians 1.4, who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. So you notice how he's just kind of reviewing a lot of the stuff that he's talked about. He says, be perfect. He says, be of good comfort. And that's what he started the book with in chapter number 1. Then he says, be of one mind. That's what he talks about in Philippians when he says, and let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent. Philippians 1.27, he says, I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. And then he says this, live in peace. He said in Romans 12.18, he said, if it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. Now here's what he says in verse 11. He says, finally brethren, farewell. Here's my last little concluding charge. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace. He says, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Now if you notice, there's this theme about being perfect at the end. He says, be perfect. And then he told them earlier that he wanted them to live honestly and to live perfect. For we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong. And this also we wish even your perfection. 2 Corinthians 13.9. And then 2 Corinthians 13.11. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. The word perfect means to be complete or whole. He ends the chapter by giving reference to the Trinity. And he gives them a blessing. Now the Trinity is mentioned throughout the Bible, of course, and there are many references where they are mentioned together. Like, for example, the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ was there, the second member of the Godhead, God the Son. And the Bible tells us that lo, they heard a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God the Father was there, the first member of the Godhead. And then the Bible says that they saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. The third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, was there. So at the baptism of Christ, you had all three members of the Godhead and you find that throughout the Bible all three have been mentioned. In 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14, he gives a blessing and he talks about all three members of the Godhead. They're mentioned throughout the Bible, but as far as I can tell, I don't know that there's any blessings like this that are given, but it's interesting because it's a perfect blessing. It's a complete blessing. He wants to bless them with all three members of the Godhead. Verse 12, he says, Greet one another with an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace, notice the Trinity here, number one, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, and the love of God. You say, well, how do you know that's the first member of the Godhead? The Father. Because the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So he says the grace of number one, the Lord Jesus Christ, number two, and the love of God, number three, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. And we end the second epistle of the Corinthians. Let's bow our heads in our world of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this book and this Bible study and the verse-by-verse teaching that we can gather from it. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to continue to be a church that will read and study the Bible, learn the Bible, apply the Bible, and build our lives in the Bible. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. When our brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song, I just want to remind you that this weekend, this Saturday, June 25th at 3 p.m., is Miss Rebecca Lunsford's baby shower. So please make sure to attend to be part of that. And then also don't forget that in the foyer, we've got the sign-up sheets for the church picnic, Monday, July 4th at 3 p.m., and you can sign up on your communication card to bring a grill or to grill, but you can also sign up in the foyer to bring a side dish or a dessert. So we're gonna have, we have a lot of guys that are grilling. We should have a lot of meat, but we need side dishes and dessert, so make sure you go by there and fill that out if you've not yet done that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. Don't forget we have soul winning tomorrow at 2 p.m. if you're able to make it to Thursday soul winning, Friday soul winning at 2 p.m., and then our main soul winning time is Saturday morning, 10 a.m. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know why Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Please send your song books to page number 441. Page 441, we're gonna be singing Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Page 441, and let's sing it out on the verse. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of learning with thee. Thou changest not thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Page 441 on the second. Summer and winter and drink time and harvest. Sun, moon and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature and manifold witness. To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Let's sing it out on the last. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and pride all for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Great singing. Can I please have Brother Anthony close us in a word of prayer? Can I close us in a word of prayer? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.