 Okay. So, Jeffina was just asking me some questions, so I thought maybe we can start with, if anyone has questions, we'll start first with Jeffina's questions, and then if anyone else has any, we can talk about that as well. Yeah, Jeffina can go ahead. I just want a little more explanation on verse five, where it says, do you want to ask me about that? Okay. So, I just want a little more explanation on verse five, where it says, therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes to bring both light, the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. So, whom does it actually talk about whose hidden things, whose counsel of the heart, does it talks about the end time judgment or I just want a little more understanding. So, this is from chapter four verse five. So, it says, therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes. So, talking about Christ coming to judge each of us, right, final judgment, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. So, here he's talking, hidden things of darkness might be things that we were doing in hiding that nobody else knows about. So, everyone else may be looking at what we're doing outside, but they don't know what is happening in our lives behind closed doors. So, the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. So, what is actually happening within the person's heart? So, counsels is what is the motivation, what is the things that are driving them and motivating them or leading them to do the things they do. So, while the work they're doing may be very good, they may be doing it with all the wrong reasons in their heart. So, we discussed this last week also like what kind of material it means to build God's church, right? So, all of that will be judged when Christ comes back. It will be proved for what we actually put in. So, even though it may look good on the outside, only Jesus knows what's in our heart and that will be revealed on that last day. And we will be judged according to what was in our heart. So, if what motivated us was of our own flesh, was for our own glory, then we will not get any reward for our work. We will still be saved like we talked about last week, but there will not be any other reward. So, anyone else wants to mention anything? Do you have a question or anything else that you want to share based on what we discussed from the first start? Okay, so we can move into the next part that we read before the break. For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last as men condemned to death. We have been made a spectacle of the world, both to angels and to men. So, in this culture, there was the practice of taking criminals or people who had been imprisoned by the leaders. They would be put to death in an arena where there would be a crowd gathered around them to watch. Okay, so if you'll have heard of gladiators where there would be wild animals brought in and the person would be brought in and you're basically seeing the wild animals maul that person to death and it was actually considered entertainment in that time. So here he's kind of bringing those pictures into play and he's saying we are being brought into this place last. So usually that last place was reserved for the worst criminals. Okay, so he's saying we have been treated in that way as the worst, as the lowest kind of people where you are boasting in your power, all of those things. We are experiencing this kind of treatment and we are being brought into the amphitheater or the arena as people condemned to death. And we're made a spectacle to all people, to both the angels and to men. So before everyone, we are being almost like the suffering that we're going through is being watched and being seen by everybody. Okay, verse 10, we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise and crafty. And so this is where he's trying that contrast. So you are boasting in your wisdom, but we are fools. You are boasting in your strength, but we are weak. You are seeking honor, you are seeking to be elevated in the eyes of the world, but we are disordered. So in doing this, he's saying don't run after these things. So if you are saying you are wise, you're boasting in your wisdom, but that's not what we're seeking after. We want to be people sold out for Christ and if that makes you look like fools, that's okay. So you are boasting in your strength, but there is no strength that we have. We are completely weak. He talks about sharing the gospel in fear and trembling, right? So we have no strength in ourselves. It's only in the Holy Spirit. So in this verse, yeah. Hi, I'm very sorry. There was some problem in the connection just dropped. But I think we're okay now. Okay, Jafina was going to ask a question. Yeah. So in Weston, we were looking at how you're saying we are weak in Christ, but you consider yourself as strong. But in the starting where it says we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ, it says. So that kind of makes me wonder, but because in other things, it doesn't say you are strong in Christ or you are distinguished in Christ. But in the first part alone, it says you are wise in Christ, which doesn't look for me. It doesn't look like he's putting them down like you're considering yourself as wise because somehow in Christ has been added. So I'm just wondering like how could it. Yeah. So that is verse 10. But you are wise in Christ. So they were boasting in their leaders. They were boasting in Apollo. They were boasting in Paul. So what they were saying is these leaders whom God has given us are my leaders wiser than your leader. And because I follow this leader, I am in some way better than you or I'm wiser than you. So why isn't Christ wise in my knowledge of Christ? Like I know Christ better than you. My understanding of Christ is better than yours. So that's where the competition was. They were finding that sense of status in their teacher's wisdom or teaching. So like all of these things are actually very, very relevant for us today. It's very common and I think it creeps into our own hearts very easily where I can confess that I have many times been guilty of this way. I feel like I know more than somebody else and I find myself being proud about it because I know something that somebody else doesn't know. But why do I know it? I know it because God has in some way gifted me with that knowledge. So he's given me the opportunity to learn it through someone. He's given me the resources to learn it in some way. So this is that point that Paul is taking. There is actually no room for pride because everything is from Christ. But the other side of it is what he's saying. We are fools for Christ's sake. That means we will not trust in our own wisdom. We will not trust in our own intellect. We will come to Christ as people who know nothing so that God himself can give us the wisdom and his wisdom is revealed through us. So we allow God to use our intellect. We allow God to use our knowledge. But our heart and our posture before God is I know nothing. And if I know anything, it must be because you have revealed it to me. If I am able to do anything, it must be because you have enabled me to do it. So that's a posture of weakness. That's a posture of coming to God as a fool. And in that way allowing God's wisdom to be seen in you. So verse 11. To the present hour, we both hunger and thirst and we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless. So all of these things, again, he's just continuing to talk about the sacrifices that they have made. Continuing to talk about the hardships that they have faced as ministers. So while the church was trying to find things to be proud about, here the apostles were suffering for the sake of the gospel. So it's a very different approach to the faith where one group of people is priding themselves in what they believe. This group of leaders that they are boasting in are actually sacrificing and giving up a lot and experiencing a lot of suffering for the sake of the gospel. So it's calling them to that kind of suffering, have that kind of mindset. Don't try to elevate yourselves and don't try to find a place of elitness in society. Instead approach God with a heart of sacrifice, a willingness to suffer. And what he describes in verse 11 is actually true of many philosophers as well. So while these people are boasting in wisdom, there were lots of philosophers who suffered a lot for their wisdom. So he's also kind of saying, yeah, you are boasting in philosophers, you are boasting in wisdom. And the kinds of sacrifices we are making is similar to the things that philosophers are doing. So the philosophers would do it because they felt that they were proving the truth of their message by their suffering for the sake of the message. And so in the same way Paul is saying, we have suffered for the sake of this message because we believe in its truth. And then verse 12, and we labor working with our own hands. So here he's coming to like what we talked about in the beginning of Corinthians. He's going against what the philosophers would value. So he's saying while you value only using your mind, we are working hard for the sake of the gospel. So we are not going to seek the praises of people. So just because the philosophers say this, we are not going to do it. We are going to do whatever it takes for the gospel to be made known. Being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we endure, being defamed, we entreat. We have been made at the filth of the world, the offscoring of all things until now. So basically he's saying, even if other people are saying terrible things about us, we will respond in kindness. We have become completely worthless in the eyes of the world. But this is not what we're running after. We're not running after the praises of the world. We want to take Christ to people. That is our goal. So if that means that the world looks at us as garbage, then it's all right. That's not what we are running after. So we see here that all is almost where the people in the church were trying to find things to boast in to prove their own word. Paul is going the opposite, on the opposite side and talking about all of the things that would be mocked, all of the things that would be looked down upon by people and boasting in those things in a way. To say that he's not boasting in those things, but he's basically saying this is the suffering we have endured, but it is worth it. It is something that we are willingly doing. So we are servants of Christ, like he said in verse one. So we are servants of Christ. So we are willingly entering into this kind of suffering for the sake of Christ. So that is something for us to consider as we go into ministry now. All of us may not and probably will not have all of these experiences that Paul had. But to come to ministry with that willingness to sacrifice, to face hardship, to be seen as a fool by the world, by the culture around us. So not trying to please the culture, not trying to be accepted by the world, but fully being true to Christ in all that we do. And that is very difficult, especially with social media and the exposure that that gives us. So anything we do in the church usually is for everyone else to see. So the whole world gets to see what we're doing here. And it can be so difficult sometimes to stay true to what we believe because we know that so many people are going to have a view about what we have said or what we have done. So this is a challenge for us. How can we sacrifice all of those things, sacrifice the praises of people, the things that the world around us is running after, the culture around us is running after. To only focus on Christ and only make Christ known through our lives and through our ministry. And if that is our focus, that may mean that we are looked down upon, that we are mocked, that we are seen as fools, that we physically face harm. All of these things might be the case, but will our hearts still be for staying true to the gospel and not giving that up for the sake of other comforts. Let's go on to verse 14 to 21. Somebody read that for us please. I do not write these things to shame you but ask my beloved children I warn you for though you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel therefore I urge you imitate me for this reason. I have sent Timothy to you who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some are puffed up as though I were not coming to you, but I'll come to you shortly if the Lord wills and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with the love and spirit of gentleness? Verse 14, I do not write these things to shame you but as my beloved children I warn you. So we go into this next section where Paul is talking to them as a father where before this he was talking as a church leader, as someone who was serving them who had raised up this church. Now he moves into recognizing this relationship that they have, that he has with them because he was the one who took the gospel to them and they responded to it and so it became like a spiritual father to them. And so he reminds them of that relationship which is so important. When we are bringing correction and when we are calling people to change something about the way they are doing things to have that strong relationship with them and for them to be able to trust that what we are saying is coming out of love. So when we correct, when we discipline that all of that is coming from a place of true concern the relationship that we share with them. So he says as my beloved children I warn you. So the heart of love and tenderness towards them. Verse 15, although you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. So instructors would be like teachers or tutors to children in school. So he was saying there are many people who may be teaching you things and showing you things from the scriptures. They may be teaching you in that way. But there are not many people who have this relationship that we have. So I was able to bring the gospel to you and in a way you were birthed into the kingdom through this gospel. And so I'm like that a father to you because I was responsible for that birthing into the kingdom. And because we have this strong relationship you can trust that what I'm saying is coming from that heart of a father. So this is an important thing to look at. What does it mean to be a true spiritual father? Because we see this term used a lot in the church, the spiritual father, the spiritual mother. But sometimes it can be misused or sometimes it can be twisted. Or people can use it to gain authority over people or to control people. So from this passage we can look at what does it mean to be a spiritual father? How did Paul relate to the church as a spiritual father? The first thing is that he not only birthed them into the kingdom through the gospel, but he also took them from immaturity to maturity. So he continued to be involved in the church even if he was not physically present with them. He continued to stay up to date with what was happening in the church. And as we see in this letter he was addressing issues within the church to make sure that they were not straying away from the truth of God. So this is important that we take that kind of responsibility. We are not going to just go and bring people to Christ and then move away and forget about them. But if we are to be a spiritual parent to them that we also take responsibility for them growing in faith. Now this is in the case of someone who is called to be a spiritual parent to someone. Now in some cases we may not have the opportunity to continue to encourage people in this way to continue to build them up. Say if we have shared the gospel to someone on the road. We may not have the opportunity to then go and see them grow in faith. But in this context where a church has been planted Paul continues to see that the church grows in faith. The second thing is that the spiritual father or mother allows other people to teach the sons and daughters. So Paul was allowed to teach Paul sensitivity to them. So there are other people who have been sent to them to teach and equip and instruct them. It should not be that a special father or mother says I should be the only one teaching you. And if anyone else comes don't listen to them. If that is the case then it is a sign it's a dangerous sign because it could be a sign of a cult where there's a lot of control over the people who are following the leader. They don't allow them to go out of their teaching to go out of their fold. And there's a lot of like limiting them and not allowing them to go to people outside. So that could be a problem. The third thing is that a spiritual father or mother sets an example for the sons and daughters. So by their lives, by the way they are living, they are setting an example and they are calling the children to follow their way of life. And we see Paul talk about that in verse 16. And the last point is that he's able to raise up. So the spiritual parent raises up children who will walk in the same grace and the same kind of training that they themselves had. So you're raising up leaders who can walk as equals with you and sometimes who can even be greater than you. So there should never be the mindset of I'm going to teach you but only to a certain limit so that you don't overtake me or so that your ministry never becomes greater than mine. That sense of insecurity should not be there in the spiritual parent. Their heart should be to raise this person up to their level and even beyond them so that the work of God continues to grow. So that also reflects the heart of Jesus. So Jesus said you will do greater things than me. Jesus didn't say, okay, you will do everything I can do but not this or not that. He said you will do things that are greater than what I did. So that should be the heart of a spiritual father. Oh, and then there's another point I missed. So the fifth point is a spiritual parent also should know when to discipline and when to respond with gentleness. So there should be discipline and correction that comes in when it's needed and there should be times of bringing correction with gentleness and with love. So knowing when to respond and how to respond. So I think we covered all of those verses in those points. Verse 16 talks about imitating Paul calling them to imitate him verse 17 talks about Timothy who Paul has raised as a son. So here is the example that Paul has raised somebody up and this person is able to do the work that Paul is doing. So where we've raised leaders up to be able to continue the work that we were doing. Verse 18 is just 18 and 19. He's talking about coming to them and coming to them to correct them to bring correction. And then verse 20 for the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. So this goes back to what Paul talked about earlier in this letter. In verse 2 verse 4 he says, my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with the demonstration of the Spirit's power. So he's repeating that again that it's not in my speech, not in speech or in discourse that God's kingdom is revealed. It is in power of the Spirit. And so he's saying that that is the kind of transformation you want to see in the church. The transformation should be in the way they live. Not just in the words that they are using. And he's saying that specifically about the people who are ghosting. The people who were talking as if Paul was not going to come back. So he says in verse 18, some of you are puffed up as if I was not coming back but I will come back to you shortly. And I will come back to you shortly if the Lord wills. And I will know not the word of those who are puffed up but the power. So he'll be able to see whether they really have the power that they are ghosting in. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. Any questions so far before we move to chapter 5? Yeah, go ahead. So we saw an introduction that Paul spent 18 months in Corinth as far as I know. So here he says about going back I'll shortly come back to you. I'm just out of curiosity I'm asking. Did he ever go back or? Okay, I believe that he does go back after this. But I'll have to check when he goes back and at what point he goes back in his ministry. Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on to chapter 5 then. So far we see that Paul was addressing this issue of disunity within the church. Now he moves on to another issue. And that was sexual immorality, sexual sin that was in the church. So in this chapter in the first five verses, he talks about how to respond to sin in the church. In verses 6 to 8 he goes back to something from the Old Testament. So the Passover and the Undeven Bread and he uses that to explain what the church is supposed to be like. And uses those pictures, those images to talk about how there should be purity within the church. And then verses 9 to 13 he talks about what will be the result of willful sin. So there's a difference between committing a sin once and repenting versus continuing to walk in sin without turning back or without repenting. So chapter 5 verses 1 to 5 is anyone willing to read that? I'll read chapter 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1 to 5. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles that a man has his father's wife and you are puffed up and have not rather want that he who has done this deed might be taken away from you. For I need as absent in body but present in spirit I have already judged as though I represent him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when you are gathered together along with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Thank you John sorry my headset seems to have decided to stop working so but thank you for reading verses 1 to 5 so let's go into that. Verse 1 it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate. A man is sleeping with his father's wife. So Paul is talking about a sin and the worst thing is that it's not only a sin that would be considered wrong within the church but even people who do not follow God people outside the church would see this as a terrible sin like everybody recognized that this was wrong but somehow the church in Corinth has not addressed it and in fact like he says in verse 2 they are even proud about it so we'll talk a little bit about what exhibit pride in response to it but somehow the church had not addressed it and had not considered it as a problem and so Paul is very shocked that he says a man is sleeping with his father's wife so it's implying that this is something that is still happening it's not something that happened once and stopped or was happening and then stopped it's something that is still going on that sin is still continuing and the church has not done anything about it. Now we know clearly from scripture that this was wrong in the Old Testament if somebody can read maybe one of these verses maybe we can look at Deuteronomy 2720 I read, Cass is one who lies with his father's wife because he has uncovered his father's bed and all the people shall say a man. Okay thank you sorry I still can't hear but I could see brother that you were brother Paul that you were reading thank you so yeah we see in Deuteronomy 2720 that it's clearly mentioned that the person who lies with their father's wife will be cursed so in scripture it's clearly revealed that what they were doing was sinful but even if it was not in scripture even the outside culture would not approve of what was happening but the church instead of correcting it or dealing with it or even addressing the issue they had become proud about it now that pride it's not clear from scripture itself how they were exhibiting pride though one way it might have been seen is that they were thinking we are being tolerant we are showing our religious freedom that we do not have to be fearful or we don't have to be under any strict rules but we have freedom in our faith and so we will allow this person to continue in their sin without bringing strict correction so Paul says shouldn't you rather have gone into mourning and put out of your fellowship the man who was doing this so there are two responses he's telling them we should have seen this this is the right kind of response to sin the first is that you yourself express sadness over what has happened because your brother has fallen and your brother is living a life of immorality so there should be a heartfelt response to that and on the other hand there should also be some strict discipline that follows and that discipline is to put them out of fellowship with the church verse 3 for my part even though I am not physically present I am with you in spirit so Paul is talking about being there like a father like having that intimacy with them he is with them even if he is not there in person his heart is with them and his concern for what is happening is very much real like he is with them in person as one who is present with you in this way I have already passed judgement in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this so he is doing this in the name of Jesus so his correction and judgement doesn't come based on his own authority but it is in the authority of Jesus and the authority that he has as a leader put over this church so Paul has been given that leadership and authority by Jesus and so whatever he is doing is within the authority that has been given to him verse 4 so when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit and the power of our Lord Jesus is present and this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord so when they come together Paul's heart and his thinking all of that will be like he is with them but the power of the Lord will be with them so it is the power of the Lord that will enable them to do what they have to do and what he is instructing them to do is give this man over to Satan so what does that mean to give that man over to Satan it means that this person will no longer be included within the fellowship of the church so he is going to be put outside of the fellowship and because he is not in fellowship with the church that means he is also exposed to Satan's work in his life so the church will no longer be protecting him he is going to be outside and he is going to have to battle whatever Satan puts his way in by himself and the objective of that is to bring him to repentance so it's not that he will be destroyed that he will be punished but the objective is that he will come back to the Lord when he realizes what he has lost when he realizes that fellowship and the protection that he has when he is within the church body is what will keep him in line with Christ and is what he should really be chasing after so we'll talk more about this, this is a difficult verse to end on but since we've reached the end of our time we'll stop here and we'll continue from here next week just a reminder that I'll post the question for your assignment on Google Classroom today and y'all can submit your assignments by Monday next week thank you, have a good week