Raise you up from the evil's wings, Bear you on the breadth of dawn, What's up everybody, Chester ARP Church devotional podcast. Bobbie Ann brought us in and she does a fantastic job. The Lord indeed raises up those who rest in him and they walk and don't grow weary because they are on the wings of our great God who loves us and keeps himself for us. Here we go, Paul's joy, 2 Corinthians chapter seven, beginning in verse two. I'm going to read through the rest of the chapter, but I'm going to stop about halfway through and make a couple comments. Then we'll read some more, maybe do that once or twice more throughout this podcast. So here we go. Verse two of Second Corinthians, chapter seven, the Apostle Paul. Make room in your hearts, Paul says, for us. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you were in our hearts to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you. I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I am overflowing with joy. Paul here is encouraging the church in Corinth. He says, listen, I want you to know there's some challenges here. I want you to know we've been challenged and there's issues that we've addressed throughout this podcast, but are certainly there in the letters of first and second Corinthians. There's dysfunction in the church, but Paul says, I want you to know that I'm not dismayed by what's going on. I'm not trying to condemn you. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that we have pride in you as a church. We are filled with comfort. In our midst of our infliction, we are still overflowing with joy because of the work that God has done in you. I think understood here is the idea that because of the work that God has done in the hearts and the lives of the Corinthians, Paul and his companions are overflowing with joy. because they see what Christ has said. Earlier in the letter Paul says that you are a testimony of the gospel to the world and to the gospel we preach. You yourselves are a testimony, a living, breathing testimony of the glory and majesty of God. I think that would have been a tremendous encouragement to the church in Corinth and it would have been a tremendous encouragement to you if you had heard those words. Maybe you know that from your own experiences in your own life. Maybe you've got people in your life that you've shared the gospel with, maybe family members, others, and you see what God is doing in their lives. It's tremendous joy and comfort for you. It's a source of comfort and joy. Certainly as a pastor, I know what Paul was saying here. I find great comfort, great joy in the work that God is doing in the life of our congregation. We're not perfect. No congregation is. Everybody has dysfunction to some degree. It's the reality of sin. And we're redeemed sinners who are on process of being made more like Jesus. But there is tremendous joy in the work of God in the lives of his people. Verse 5 says this, for even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoice still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though. I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a little while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting, for you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. Now Paul gives reason for which he is joy-filled when he thinks about the church in Corinth. He wrote a very difficult letter. 1 Corinthians was a difficult letter. It was delivered by Titus. It was read. The effects of the letter in the church in Corinth was repentance. They came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and they repented of their sins. Paul had to address division in the church. He had to address sexual immorality in the church. He had to address spiritual pride in the church. He had to address division that came as a result of an inequity of wealth and inequality of opportunities due to result of wealth, etc. He had to address disorder in worship. He had to address a variety of things in that letter which we have as first Corinthians that he wrote to the church and Titus was the one who delivered it. But Titus meets Paul and his companions in Macedonia and testifies to the work that God has brought in the life of the church in Corinth. Now this is important because Paul says, I was grieved by the letter I had to send you and I was grieved over the fact that you were grieved by the letter. Paul did not want to call out the sin that he saw. I think that's an important point. Sometimes when we read the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, we tend to think, oh, he's so bold and he's so strong and he's so convicted of the truth of God that he doesn't mind hurting people's feelings for the advancement of the gospel. And certainly we can get that impression if we don't read portions of the New Testament like we read here in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Paul says, I was grieved and mourned over the fact that I had to say these things to you, not because you were doing them per se, but because the lot fell upon me, as it were, to be the one to address these issues in your life. And I knew that addressing those things was going to bring hardship, difficulty and grief to you. Right? I think that that's important. One of the reasons we don't challenge per se sin in the lives of our loved ones is because we don't want to be the one who brings that grief upon them. We don't want to be the one who hurts their feelings. And Paul says, I don't want to do that either, but I felt like I had to because what was more important? Your repentance and the purity of the body of Christ and the pursuit of righteousness in the church and in your personal lives? or my concern over hurting your feelings. We elevate the feelings of others, we elevate our fear of rejection, and in doing so, we reduce the importance of godliness. And Paul says the only way we can actually hope to see people grow in faith and righteousness and mature is by saying, challenging sin and saying, listen, you need to evaluate what you're doing here. Do it lovingly, graciously. Call people to faith and repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ. Offer the gospel to them. But recognize that in saying those things to them, we are doing it in a manner to bring them into a right relationship with God through faith and repentance, and so as to encourage their heart so they may grow in grace. For godly grief brings repentance. He's going to explain that. We'll pick it up next time. You guys have a great day. God bless you. Let's be willing to challenge one another, recognizing that godly grief brings repentance, and the ultimate goal is faith and repentance conversion. and eternity with Christ. Take care. See you next time.