2 Corinthians chapter 11, where we begin a new chapter in this inspired book written by the Apostle Paul. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Before we look at the first four verses of this chapter, I'd like to begin by asking you a question. Have you ever wondered why, all too often, people treat the worst those who care for them the most? People treat the worst. those who care for them the most. Unfortunately, I think we see this in almost any human relationship, don't we? We see this between parents and children. You might see that in your relationship with your spouse, whether you're a husband or a wife. You say you care for them, but then you often treat them the worst. You can even see this in a church. Do you see that in any of your relationships this morning? Do you treat the worst, those who care for you the most? It's a cause for great concern, isn't it? I don't understand why we do that so many times. All too often, even we treat the worst, those who care for us the most. Why does that happen? Well, this was something the Apostle Paul was no stranger to either in his ministry for the Lord. In fact, The Corinthian church, if you remember reading through 1 Corinthians or 2 Corinthians, we'll get there here in our Bible reading later this year. In many ways, that church was a thorn in Paul's side. And yet, he still loved them. In chapter 12 of this same book, in verse 15, Paul even says, though the more abundantly I love you, yet the less I be loved. So he experienced the same thing that we often experience. Paul was the one, apart from Jesus Christ, who cared for the Corinthian church the most. And yet, it seems from what we read in these two letters to the Corinthian church, that they treated him the worst. And instead of listening to Paul and listening to his caring messages to them throughout both of these letters, they started listening to some false leaders and even false apostles who had infiltrated their church in Paul's absence. And really, instead of caring for them, they cared more for themselves. Instead of caring for their interests, they cared for their own interests. And so in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 1-4, Paul attempts to win them back. But not just back to himself. As we sang just a minute ago, it was really to bring them back to Christ. To bring them back to Christ alone. So beginning in verse 1, Paul writes, I would to God, I have this earnest desire that you would bear with me a little in my falling. And indeed, bear with me. For I am jealous over you. with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste, pure virgin to Christ. But I'm afraid. I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. Back in verse 1, Paul is calling on this Corinthian church to bear with him once again. The idea really is to listen to what he has to say. Remember, he cared for them, apart from Christ, the most, and yet they treated him the worst. And they weren't listening to him. So he says, he begs them, listen to what I have to say, hear my words, and heed my words. especially since it's clear that they had been bearing with, as we read in verse four, they had been bearing with and listening to the false teachers who were leading them astray. And that is so common. to even us as Christians. We still have that old man, that old nature that is often drawn away by things that seem to titillate the ears, things that might be new, things that might be novel, things that might be more creative, things that might be more interesting. And in doing so, we're often drawn away from the clear, simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that was going on even in that early church. And so with maybe a little hint of sarcasm in his voice, Paul says to them, if you are able to put up and tolerate their foolishness, then maybe you should give me the same courtesy and put up with a little foolishness of my own. He says, would to God that you would bear with me a little in my following. And listen to what I have to say. He said earlier in chapter 10 that comparing ourselves amongst ourselves, we're not wise. And yet, he's going to, in a little bit, start to show that there really is no comparison between these false leaders and false apostles and true leaders of Christ and true apostles of Jesus Christ. So he says, listen to what I have to say. He cared for them more than those imposters did. And I think in these four verses and really the first part of this chapter, we're going to learn that those who care for you the most will lead you to Christ alone. You see, those false leaders, those false apostles, they were in it for themselves. They were trying to gain a hearing for themselves. They were trying to show themselves powerful and influential. And yet Paul said, that's not why I came. It wasn't about me, it was about Christ. It was so that you would know Him and His power and His resurrection and have this close, intimate, personal relationship and walk with Him. That's what your life as a Christian is all about. And so it is with us. If we truly care for others, we will point them to the one who will help them the most. That is Christ. We do that with our words, like Paul. We do that with our life. If you really care about someone, you'll point them to Christ. For those who care for us the most, especially those who care for our souls, we too need to bear with them, not just a little, but a lot. And we need to listen to some of these things that we find in these four verses. First of all, we need to listen to the genuine care that they have for our souls. The genuine care. Paul further expresses this in verse 2 when he says, For I am jealous over you, Corinthian church, after all that they put him through. I'm jealous for you with a godly kind of jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband. Who is that husband? Christ. I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste, pure virgin to Christ. The Apostle Paul had a genuine care for the souls of the members in the Corinthian church, and he expressed that care, he says in verse 2, with a godly jealousy. A God kind of jealousy. Or it could be also translated a godly zeal, and an ardent love for them. You see, Paul, when he was talking about these false teachers and false apostles, he wasn't jealous of them. He was jealous in the place of God. He wasn't jealous about their effectiveness or their so-called effectiveness. He was jealous for the Lord. As one writer explained it, Paul shared in the jealousy of God Himself. We find that is one of the attributes of God in the Old Testament. He is a jealous God. He is jealous for the people that He has called to Himself that they would not have anyone else in their lives but Him. And that's what Paul is doing here. Paul wasn't jealous of those teachers. He was jealous for the Lord. The same writer says, human jealousy is a vice. That's a problem. That's a sin. But to share divine jealousy, divine zeal, is a virtue. And so this jealousy and zeal that Paul had was a zeal for God, a zeal from God, and a zeal like as to God's. It was a passionate care for the people of God. Do we have that kind of jealousy, if you will, that kind of zeal for our own souls, but also for the souls of the people that we care about most? If we really care for some, we're going to want to point them to Christ. If we really care for some, we're going to have a godly zeal and jealousy for Christ in their life. So why did Paul so passionately care for this Corinthian church, even after everything that they put him through? Well, think about for a moment the relationship that you have, or perhaps once had, with your parents. Were you the perfect child? I'm sure some of you would say, no, I wasn't a perfect child. No. Or were you like the rest of us and gave those parents quite a bit of grief and some cause for concern? So why did most of our parents still care for us, even after everything that we put them through? It's because of who they were. It's because they were our parents. And because for the most part, they loved us and they wanted what was best for us. And in the same way, Paul cared for the Corinthian church with this godly kind of jealousy. It was because he was a spiritual father to them. And God used Paul to bring them to Jesus Christ. And so everything that Paul did, everything Paul said for them, was to deepen their relationship with Jesus. to deepen that relationship with Christ alone, and his number one desire was to prepare them for a relationship with Christ. Again, there in verse 2, Paul writes, I have espoused you to one husband. Now, this is a little different to our American ears, because Paul is talking about the kind of marriage that took place in Jewish circles back in those days. In ancient times, Jewish fathers took a far more active role in the marriages of their daughters, and they did everything they could do to prepare their daughters for that engagement, that espousal period, and ultimately that marriage. And so Paul, when he says this, I have espoused you to one husband. In this way, Paul, when he brought the gospel to the Corinthians, he prepared that newly formed church to become the bride of Jesus Christ. Now, if you remember what the Corinthians were like, that's an astounding achievement. In 1 Corinthians, we read that there were all kinds of ungodliness in the people there in the city of Corinth. It was a cosmopolitan city. It was sort of the sin city of that world, kind of like the Las Vegas of our world. When you went to the city of Corinth, what you did in Corinth generally stayed in Corinth. And there was all sorts of unspeakable crime and unspeakable sin that took place there. And yet God told Paul in Acts 18 that I have much people in this city. much people. That was before the gospel was ever presented. And so when Paul goes and presents the gospel of Jesus Christ, those that God had prepared trusted Christ, and now they are part of that new body, that new bride, that new church of Jesus Christ. And so what Paul is doing here is saying, now you are part of this bride, you are part of this new family, this new relationship with Jesus. This is an illustration that we see throughout the New Testament. But as their spiritual father, Paul was now responsible to guard this new bride, to guard this church until it was time ultimately to present them at their wedding day to their one husband. Also in those times, the engagement or the betrothal period could last up to one year. They generally did not elope. They would commit themselves to each other, husband toward a wife, a wife toward a husband, for a long period of time. But in the eyes of the law, which is contrary to what we experience today, in the eyes of the Jewish law back then, that future husband and that future wife were already married. So if there was a breaking off of this engagement period, it was like a divorce. And we understand this a little bit when Joseph and Mary were espoused to each other. If you remember, there was that period of engagement. That in the eyes of the people, in the eyes of the law, they were married. And so it talks about how Joseph did not want to make her a public example, but was willing to put her away privately. Those are words that talk about divorcing. And so even during that espousal period, if there was a breaking off, it was considered a kind of divorce. And so what we find here is in that time period, so it is for the Church of Christ. We have been espoused to Christ. We have been espoused to the Lord Jesus. So right now, we belong to Christ. But we're still awaiting that marriage. We are the bride, but that marriage has not taken place yet. But it will, according to Revelation 19.9, at that marriage supper of the Lamb. And so we see two different perspectives here. We see the preparation of the bride and the presentation of the bride. There's this long engagement period that Paul is using to do what to that church, to do what to that bride? To bring them to a point of purity, to bring them to a point of pure preparation to meet their husband. In fact, it was meant there to purify them. so that they would be faithful and become more holy for their husband, for Christ. And that is why Paul was so jealous for the Corinthian church. That's why Paul cared for them so much. He had a big responsibility as a father to prepare his daughter to be married to her future husband. But if this is the kind of care that Paul had for them, imagine the kind of care that Jesus has for you. As the hymn goes, no one ever cared for me like who? Jesus. You know, the Corinthian church must have been absolutely overwhelmed by the love of Paul. They might have been overwhelmed by the love of other people within their church, but we should be so overwhelmed with the love of our Christ and as a church, as our husband. Because why did Jesus come? He came not only to save us, but He also came to purify us. If you have Jesus as your Savior, you're part of this bride, you're part of His church, and Christ Himself is jealous and zealous over you. His desire, according to Ephesians 5, is to sanctify and cleanse you with a washing of water by the Word, so that He might present you to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that you should be holy and without blemish. That's what this time period is for. That's what the church period is for. We are prepared to become the bride of Christ when we are saved. And someday we will meet Jesus Christ and we will be married to Him. Our church would be married to Him. But in the time being, in this time, in this frame, what are we to do? We're to purify ourselves even as He is pure. That's what we need as well. We need leaders to care for us, but we also need to care for our own hearts and the hearts of others in the same way, with a godly kind of jealousy. Maybe the Lord has given you the privilege to share the gospel with someone and lead them to Christ. In a sense, you are a spiritual father or a spiritual mother to that person. And we ought to have a desire to see them grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And we ought to guard that responsibility jealously because we do not want them to be drawn away by error. We don't want them to be drawn away and deceived by the world. We want them to pursue after Christ alone and pursue after his righteousness. That's what Paul was doing. And that's what we need to do. We need to have a godly jealousy, a jealousy so that we will be prepared for and ultimately be purified when we are joined with Christ forever at that marriage supper of the land. So remember this morning who you belong to. If you're a Christian, remember who you belong to. If you know Jesus is your savior, you are part of the bride of Christ and you belong to Christ alone. Guard that relationship. Guard that relationship with others that you might have a burden for because those who really care for someone will lead them to Christ. Paul gave in verse 3 a second reason that they should listen to him and they should care for him in return, and that is because of his genuine concern for their souls. His genuine concern. Verse 3, he says, I fear. I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. The Apostle Paul had a genuine concern for the souls of the members of the Corinthian church, and he expressed that concern not just with a godly jealousy, but also here in verse 3, a godly fear. A godly fear. This is the right kind of fear that a father might have for his daughter so that she might remain faithful to her future husband. This is something that only truly fathers and mothers understand. You want to guard that child, whether it's a boy or a girl. to prepare them for the love that they will be able to share with their future spouse. And that's what Paul was doing here. He had a fear. He wanted to make sure that that Corinthian church, as the bride of Christ, will be ready for that marriage supper. And so we see a couple of concerns. First of all, the concern about deception. A concern about deception. Paul looks back into history to the very beginning in the book of Genesis. And I think it's important to note that Paul does not regard what he's about to mention here in this verse as a myth. It's not just an allegory of what took place between the serpent and Eve. It was actually true history. This actually took place. So go back, keep your finger here, and go back with me to Genesis chapter 3, and we're going to read about the time in history when the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. who we know, of course, is the devil in disguise. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye surely die, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, He shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day to eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her. and he did eat." Again, back in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul says, I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety." That's what we just read. The serpent beguiling Eve through deception, through his subtlety. Now, how did the serpent beguile Eve? How did the serpent tempt Eve? How did the serpent try to get Eve to do what he wanted her to do? Well, it was through his crafty questions and his appealing lies. Remember how Jesus described the devil? He's a liar from the beginning. And these were some of those lies. What was the devil, what was the serpent trying to do? He was trying to draw Eve away from the clear and simple truths about God. Clear and simple. The truths about God's authority, who really was in charge. It wasn't the devil, it wasn't the serpent, it wasn't Eve, it wasn't Adam, it was God. The clear and simple truths about God's goodness. Hear the devil saying, God is holding out something that is better for you. You just got to ignore him. Questioning God's goodness. Questions about his wisdom. Does God really want you to live your life without knowing the difference between good and evil? Does God really want you to live your life without eating that fruit of that one tree? Questions about his authority, his goodness, his wisdom, even his holiness, and look what happened. And so what is Paul's concern? It's grounded in the reality of the devil's nature, but it's also grounded in the reality of our own. And so not only is there a concern about deception, but there's also a concern about our delusion. Verse three, he goes on. I fear less by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, which we just read about. So your minds should be corrupted and defiled, deluded from what? the simplicity that is in Christ. Now, so often when we think about corruption, we think about the body. We think about sins that we might commit with our bodies. But Paul here is not concerned so much about the sins of the body, but rather the corruption of the mind. Again, he says, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. After all, isn't that really where sin begins? Sin does not just happen automatically because of our bodies. It happens deep within. Even Jesus addressed this when he said, you know what, it's not just about keeping those Ten Commandments, it's about going deeper into your mind and your heart. And you can go on through all of those different commandments, how it's not just the sin of the body, it is the sin of the mind. And the truth is, when you tolerate error of any kind like Eve, you are listening to the lies of the devil and you will be tempted to be unfaithful. And that's why we need to have the same concern. Because sin complicates everything, doesn't it? Think about Adam and Eve living there in the garden. It was a perfect place, a pure place. What a wonderful place to be able to dwell and fellowship with God. As He would walk there in the garden in the cool of the day, they would speak to Him and they would hear His voice. Life was relatively uncomplicated. And then sin entered into that world, and death by sin, and it complicated everything. And so does error. Sin and error complicates things from the simplicity that is in Christ. This can happen with the very same question that the serpent asked Eve. It can happen with that question, Yea, hath God said? Do you realize the world is still asking that to you? The world and the devil is trying to draw you away from the clear, simple truths about God, about His character, about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the simplicity that's there in Christ. Yea, hath God said? They would ask, did God really mean what He said in His Word? In fact, think about creation. The world and even some in the church are saying, did God really mean what He said about creation? When He said He made everything in six days, days of evenings and mornings? Did He really mean what He said? Did He really mean what He said when He created light before the sun? Did God really mean what He said about relationships when He said that there would be a husband and a wife, a man and a woman coming together and joining themselves to be one flesh? Did God really mean what He said about disobedience, even in one area, one point, one law, and death that would come by that sin? Hath God said? The truth is when we tolerate those questions in our minds, we will soon be tempted to be drawn away from the simplicity that is in Christ. That exclusive devotion that Christ desires in your life and Christ deserves from you. But that's what we need as well. We need, like Paul, to have a healthy concern for our own hearts and the hearts of others with a godly fear. A godly fear that instead of being single-minded and single-hearted Christians, our affections for Christ and our devotion to Christ may be compromised. And this is why we as a church need to have that same godly fear for our church. A desire that we will not let each other go down that path. that we will help them to commit themselves to the truth that God has given to us in the Word of God. So this morning, you need to remember something else. Not only that you belong in Christ, but also you need to remember who you believe. Who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe in the words of the serpent? Or are you going to believe in the words of Christ? We believe and trust in Christ alone. And we must cleave to Christ alone, sincerely, with our whole heart, because His word is what matters, and what must take precedence over the words of men. And this is how you show your true, genuine care and love for someone. You do not want them to go down the wrong path. If you let someone go down that path without cautioning them, without trying to get them, without trying to grab them, you know what? It shows that you really don't care for them all that much. to truly care for someone means that you're going to keep after them and point them to Jesus Christ, Christ alone. And then we find in verse 4, a third reason that Paul gave the Corinthian church for listening to him, and that is a genuine caution for their souls. Verse 4, he goes on, for if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached. Or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, you might well bear with him. Here the Apostle Paul gives a genuine caution to the members of the Corinthian church, and he expresses this caution with a godly warning. A godly warning, which we need to heed as well. When you look at verse 4, it reminds us of what Paul wrote in another letter to the people of Galatia, in Galatians 1.6. And I want you to look at verse 4 while I read Galatians 1.6-8, where Paul says to the Galatians, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel. which is not another. But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." You know what happened? Those same false leaders and false teachers and false apostles and false prophets that were there in Galatia, made their way all the way over to Greece to the city of Corinth and were doing the same thing there that they did in all of these other churches. It was a consistent problem where people would go where Paul had established this church and now was the father of this church, the spiritual father. He would move on as a missionary to plant other churches. And here would be these false leaders swooping in and trying to get them to follow after another Jesus. another spirit, and another gospel, which Paul says clearly is not another gospel. So we find here in 2 Corinthians a warning against another Jesus, who we have not preached, Paul says. He's saying you need to be aware that people might come to you and preach a different kind of Jesus, a Jesus who is different than his true nature, a Jesus who may be different in his teachings or different in his claims, even different from his purpose. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had the opportunity to witness a little bit to a lady who is a Jehovah's Witness. And if you're familiar with the Jehovah's Witnesses, they preach another Jesus, a different Jesus. They ignore his claims. They ignore his purpose. They ignore His nature, His true nature, the nature that we find in the Gospels, and they say, He is altogether different than what you have learned from the church. In fact, she said she grew up in a church. But He's altogether different than what Orthodox Christianity has preached for hundreds of years. But it's very interesting to see that Paul here does not use the term Christ. Perhaps those false teachers there in Corinth were presenting Jesus as just a man and not God, or just another teacher and not the divine Word of God. And he says, do not listen to those who are bringing another Jesus to you, because there really is no other Jesus. What a blessing it has been over the last several weeks to be reading about the life and ministry of the real Jesus. all of His claims, all of His teaching, all of His love, all of His purpose. Jesus said, I came to seek and to save those who are lost. And how was He to do that? He would come and give His life a ransom for many. He would die, come back to life. And we see this gospel for what it is. We see Jesus for who He is. But then Paul adds there in verse 4, a warning against another spirit. He says, beware of this other spirit whom you have not received. That is a different kind of spirit. Now we know that when we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we saw this in our video this morning in Sunday School class, when you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you receive a gift, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit of God. But what is the spirit like? Isaiah 11-2 describes him as the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He is the holy spirit. He is the good spirit. He is the comforting spirit. But the spirit that the false teachers were offering was likely a spirit of bondage and a spirit of fear, the spirit of the age. You see, when the gospel came to the Corinthians, The Holy Spirit came to free them from their sin and to free them from the mosaic law that they were trying to pursue after. But now these false leaders were trying to bind them again and say, you've got to be this way or do these things in order to truly be saved. This does not mean that the believers were becoming possessed with evil spirits, but rather they were influenced by them by tolerating and listening to false teachers. That's why, as the men explored a little bit yesterday in our Bible study through 1 John, John says in 1 John 4, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try them. Try those spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. You see, that Antichrist spirit moved all throughout those churches, those early churches. It was a plague on those churches. And Paul says, I'm warning you. Look back to when you were saved. Look to the beginning of your life in Christ. Look to when you trusted Jesus as your Savior and consider what happened to you. There's no other gospel that can change you than the gospel that we've preached to you. Here is a warning against that spirit and a warning against another gospel, a different kind of gospel. People may use the same words, but if the meaning is changed, it's not the gospel. It's not the good news. So Paul is warning us and then the very end of verse four, in case ye might well bear with him. In other words, he was concerned that they might tolerate these people in their midst. There are certain fundamentals to our faith, certain non-negotiables that we must not tolerate and we must not bear. And that was his warning to them. And that's why we need to have the same kind of caution for our own hearts and for the hearts of others. Do you know why? Because it is so easy to be led astray by air. It's so easy to be led astray and to bear with people who may present to us another Jesus, another spirit or even another gospel. So this morning you need to remember your beginning as a Christian. You need to remember your beginning as a Christian. It all started by the grace of Jesus the Christ. Jesus the Christ. It all started through the gift of Jesus Christ when he gave you the Holy Spirit of God. It all started with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. In a word, it all started in Christ alone. You see, there is no other Jesus, there is no other spirit, there is no other gospel, so be cautious. And in the words of Hebrews 2.1, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Be aware, be cautious of new things that you might hear. Things that have a ring of authenticity or even a ring of interest. Because so often we can be deceived and bear with those errors and be led astray. So who are you listening to this morning? Who are you following? Those who care for you the most? Those who show their concern and offer their caution to keep you from going astray? Or are you following after the latest and greatest? Those who have the best oratory, the best speech, the best ideas? This is what Paul was faced with. And unfortunately, that's what we're too often faced with as well. But this is still what genuine Christian love is like. Christian charity, Christian love suffereth long and is kind. So is that the kind of love that you have for the souls of others today? We need to follow the people that have the care enough for us that will point us to Christ. But we need to have the same kind of love and care like Paul did for that church to point people to Christ. Do you have that same kind of care for the soul of your wife, if you're a husband? Or for the soul of your husband, if you're a wife? Do you have that same care for the souls of your children, of your parents, or even for the care of our church? If you really care and if you're really concerned, you will continue to, like Paul, point them to Jesus Christ and to Christ alone so that they, like you, might truly belong to Christ, believe in Christ, begin in Christ, and to do so in Christ alone. To truly care for someone is to point people to Christ. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Father, I pray that you'll help us to see that in the life of Paul, we have a great example of someone that we ought to listen to, someone that we ought to follow. Because even later, he says, be followers of me as I am of Christ. He was worthy to be followed because he cared enough to point those Corinthians to Jesus Christ. And so, Father, I pray that Those will be the people that we follow, that we listen to, that we heed as well. Those who point us to Christ and his word. But then Lord, I think we also need to see that the kind of spirit, the kind of attitude that Paul had toward the church in Corinth, we need to have toward our own hearts and toward the hearts and souls of others that we care for. And the greatest way that we can show our care is to point people to Jesus Christ. because it's not about another Jesus or another spirit or another gospel, but it's rather about them belonging to Christ, being part of the true church, to be part of His bride. It's about them believing in Christ, repenting and trusting in Him. It's not by works of righteousness, which we do, but according to His mercy that He saves us. But then also, Lord, it's about how we begin. How we end our Christian walk is really by faith. And that is how it all started. Simple faith in the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that error complicates things. Sin complicates things. And so, Father, I pray that we will have a desire in our own heart to stick to those fundamental truths that we find in your Word and that we find in Jesus Christ. Lord, we know that the gospel is so simple that even a child can be saved. And yet it is not simplistic because, Lord, we find in Christ both the wisdom and the power of God. As we explore what the gospel means to us and how it all works out, it boggles our mind. But yet we know that your wisdom is greater than our own wisdom. And so, Father, I pray that as we stick to the simplicity of the gospel in Jesus Christ, as we stick to Christ alone in our lives, that, Father, we will then share that with others, that we might have a genuine care, a genuine concern for the souls of our husbands, our wives, our children, the members of our church, the people, Lord, that we come across throughout the week, a genuine care and concern because that will express itself with a desire to point them the only one that matters to Jesus Christ. I know, Lord, there might be some here who have trusted in Jesus and they do not remember who led them to Christ. Perhaps that person has gone on in complete anonymity. They don't know who they are, but we know that it wasn't about them. It wasn't about who the teacher is or the preacher is. It isn't about who presents that plan of salvation. It really is about Christ. And so, Father, I pray that we will remember to hang on to that wonderful truth, that it's Christ alone that matters to us. And so, Father, I pray that we will care enough to point others to Him, even as Paul did to that church. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.