 The title of our sermon this morning is Spend and Be Spent, and we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. We're looking at this passage that begins in verse 14 and runs through verse 18. Spend and Be Spent from 2 Corinthians chapter 12, 14 to 18. The Methodist minister, William Booth, painted a picture of Christian ministry. Here's what Booth said. I saw a dark and stormy ocean over it. The black clouds hung heavily through them every now and then vivid lightning flashed and thunder rolled while the winds moaned and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again. In that ocean, I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning. And as they cursed and screamed, they rose and shrieked again and then some sank to rise no more. And I saw out of this dark, angry ocean a mighty rock. It rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock, I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight, number of the poor struggling, drowning, wretches continually climbing, continuing being pulled out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety. On looking more closely, I found a number of those who had been rescued. They were industriously working and scheming by ladders and ropes and boats and other means more effective to deliver the poor struggleers out of the sea. Here and there, there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of the consequences and their passion to rescue the perishing. And I hardly know which gladdened me the most, the sight of poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks, reaching a place of safety or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance. But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly every one of them seemed to have forgotten all about it. It seemed that the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care, that is, any agonizing care about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes. Some of them were absorbed day and night in trading, in work, in business, in order to make gain. They were absorbed in storing up their savings in boxes and safes and the like. Many spent their time absorbed in amusing themselves with growing flowers on the side of the rock, others in painting or playing music. Then the author goes on to describe that, which most amazed him, that those who had been rescued by the rock, who was plunged beneath the depths for them, stood on the platform, so taken up with their trades, their professions and their pleasures, that they ignored his calls to them to labor with him in the water. So that illustration pictures well the sin of complacency that so easily ensnares the professing church, that so easily ensnares us, doesn't it? Tasked with a good work of eternal importance, tasked with a good work of eternal significance with heaven and hell in the balances, so to speak. We find ourselves too often, don't we, so easily absorbed day and night with the affairs of this life, trading in business, amusing ourselves in pleasure, finding all matter of distractions, saving in boxes and safes and the like. But if you look more closely, if you look more closely, you'll find that many of those who claim to have been rescued out of the sea, you'll find that they're standing on a platform there around the rock, now fallen in among thorns, standing there unmoved by the perishing in the water. They're taken in among thorns and the thorns, the cares, the riches, the pleasures of this life choke out the seed that was sown in their heart and they simply have traded now one path to hell for another. So here's what Paul would say then. Here's what Paul would say. Therefore, brother, therefore, sister, listen, if there is any consolation in Christ, if there's any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection, if any mercy, Paul, please fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out, not only for his own interest, but also look out for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you, this mind that Paul has just described. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Consider his example. Consider for a moment that this was his mind toward his ministry, who, being in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death in the cross. So if the Lord has saved you out of the ocean of your sin by dying in your place, then brother, sister, you have been saved into a ministry. Praise God that you've been saved. Praise God that he has redeemed you through his blood, but you've been saved to ministry. If he's reconciled you to himself through Jesus Christ, if he has become sin for you so that you might become the righteousness of God in him, and he has reconciled you to himself through Jesus Christ, then he has given you the ministry of reconciliation. We've been called to ministry. Much has learned about this ministry from the example of the Apostle Paul, particularly in our study of 2 Corinthians. Follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Following his example, we see Paul's sacrifice. Following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see Paul's labor. We see his care. We see his concern for the Lord's church. We see how he suffers on their behalf, how willing he is to enter suffering on their behalf, giving up the pleasures of this life for treasure and the life to come, for their eternal benefit, for the good of their soul, for their spiritual well-being, for treasure in heaven, Paul labors, Paul suffers, Paul loves. We see his great love for them in Christ, even when they don't love him back, right? Even when they don't love him back. Paul says, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though the more abundantly I love you the less I'm loved, even to that degree. Paul would then call us to follow his example. That's what I think texts like this do. They teach us many things. We learn much from the example of Paul. We learn much from texts like this. But aren't we exhorted to Paul's example here? Aren't we challenged by Paul's love for the Lord, by Paul's love for the Lord's church, love for the Lord's people? Paul calls us to imitate him as he imitates Christ. He would call us to spend and be spent in ministry. Only one life will soon be passed. It's only what's done for Christ that will last, amen? To spend ourselves and to be utterly expended, to exert the greatest effort in the cause of Christ, not to be ensnared by the passing pleasures of this life. And what does this look like? What does that look like? We see that largely in the example of Paul, don't we? We see that illustrated in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for us, but then in the ministry of the Apostle Paul, as Paul works out that in the life of these dear beloved people in Corinth, works out that ministry among them. I want us to consider three points from Paul's example in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 14 through 18. Three points from Paul's example there. One, the aim of our effort. If we were to consider what we should spend, what we should be about in this life, we should consider the aim of our effort from the example of Paul in verse 14, the aim of our effort. Secondly, the extent of our effort, what Paul would spend. The extent of our effort in verse 15, and lastly the sincerity of our effort verses 16 through 18, the aim of our effort, the extent of our effort, and the sincerity of our effort. Consider with me point one on your notes, the aim of our effort from verse 14, the aim of our effort. If we are to spend and be spent for the Lord Jesus Christ, on behalf of the Lord, for the Lord's church, for the Lord's people, then consider the aim of that effort from verse 14, where Paul says, now for the third time, I'm ready to come to you, and I'll not be burdensome to you, for I do not seek yours, but you, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. On verse 14, Paul explains both a plan and a purpose, a plan and a purpose. The word that begins at verse 14 is look or behold. Look for the third time I'm ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you. That's Paul's plan. I'm going to stick to my commitment. In other words, Paul is saying here in verse 14, I'm not going to take any financial support from you that's been my pattern. I'm going to stick with it. He gives them fair warning that he's about to make another visit, giving them opportunity to get their thinking straight, giving them opportunity to repent of sin, to turn back to him, as he said to them in 1st or 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 6, for them to open their hearts to him, to show their affection. And then Paul says he's not going to change his pattern. He's not going to be lumped together with the false teachers who are ministering incorrents for money, peddling the word of God for profit. He's not there to fleece the flock as they are doing, as his opponents are. And unlike others who have infiltrated the church for personal gain, Paul isn't there for that purpose. He wants there to be no misunderstanding about this. What is Paul's purpose in Corinth? What is he there about verse 14? I do not seek yours but you. Third time I'm ready to come to you. I will not be burdensome to you. I do not seek yours but you. I don't seek what is yours. We know what he's saying, right? I'm not seeking your possession. I don't want your money. I'm not after your stuff. I want you, your soul. I want your salvation, your well-being. I want the eternal blessing of your soul, the eternal good of your soul. I want your heart fully devoted to the Lord. I want your heart fully devoted to the Lord's cause, to the Lord's work. I don't want everything that you have. I want everything that you are. I don't want yours. I want you. And I don't want anything to get in the way of that. I'm willing to sacrifice for it. I'm not going to take support from you. It's most important to Paul that they understood what he was there for. And it was most important to Paul that nothing got in the way of that. Nothing got in the way of that. I do not seek yours but you. The Paul was being accused by the false apostles of not being worthy of payment for his services. So even in this sacrificial work that Paul does, this sacrificial blessing that he gives the church at Corinth, Paul is accused. Paul stands accused by the false teachers. Paul stands accused even amongst the Corinthians themselves as if he wasn't worthy of payment for his services. And at the same time, we'll look at it later, Paul's being accused of taking advantage of the Corinthians through the collection that he's taking up for poor saints in Jerusalem. Even accused with regard to the money through that collection, it appears as though the Corinthians, in addition to all this, to add insult to injury, it appears as though the Corinthians thought that Paul didn't love them. That Paul didn't love them as much as Paul loved the other churches because Paul, being closer to them, would accept financial support from them but wouldn't accept financial support from the church at Corinth. They turned it entirely on its head, do you see? The fact that Paul would take support from poor Macedonians and refuse support from the Corinthians somehow in the mind of the Corinthians meant that Paul didn't love them the way that he loved the Macedonians. It was an honor culture, right? And they viewed it as a dishonor. It's amazing, isn't it? The way that we get things twisted up in our heads, twisted up in our minds. And we just address these issues in chapter 11. Put the page back and look at chapter 11, verse 7. He addresses the very same issue here in chapter 11, verse 7 where Paul says, did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preach the gospel of God to you free of charge? You see how in chapter 11, verse 7, he's answering the accusation. This accusation comes again and again and again. Paul is addressing it again and again and again. It's filthy, lucre, right? This issue of money continues to come up. Listen, for that reason, if for no other, to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to be careful and faithful about the way that we deal with money. Because that, the enemy gets more mileage out of that wicked temptation. It seems that he does most others. Here it is again, the apostle Paul being raked over the coals about money. Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preach the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches taking wages from them to minister to you. When I was present with you and in need, I was a burden to no one. For what I lacked, the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied, and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself. Now, there's a couple of reasons for doing that. One certainly is for their benefit. He loves them and he doesn't want this issue of money to be a stumbling block in their mind. But he's also going to mention another reason in just a moment. He says in verse 10, as the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of a chaos. Why? Because I do not love you. That was the accusation, right? Somehow Paul doesn't love them. God knows I love you, he says in verse 11. But here's why I do it verse 12. What I do, I will also continue to do so that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. I want to cut off the boasting and the opportunity for boasting amongst these false teachers in Corinth. Such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. They are ministers of Satan. Paul says, listen, it's not about the money. It's not about the money. It's not about what you have. How many times are we out witnessing, right? And inevitably, it comes up on a routine basis. I go to church and all I hear is how much are you given? They're past the offering plate four times before you get out the door because all they want is your money. What a wicked, deplorable caricature of the Lord's church and the Lord's motives and the Lord's work and the Lord's cause. Paul says, it's not about the money. I'm not here for that. I do not seek what is yours, but you. I love you as a father. Paul says, I love you as a father. Verse 14. The children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. They told him in the first letter in his first letter, first Corinthians, he said, for though you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ in chapter four, yet you do not have many fathers for in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. Paul views them as his spiritual children, so to speak, as if he had begotten them himself through the gospel. Paul loved them as a father loves his own children. He loved them in chapter 11. He sees himself as the protective father of the bride. He betrothed them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is now jealous for their purity, jealous for the bride's devotion to her bridegroom, jealous for her love for the bridegroom. And then here in chapter 12, he sees himself as the providing father, the providing father of the bride. It's his joy to provide for them and not the other way around. Paul says, look, I'm not your employee. I'm not your employee. I'm not a stranger. I'm not a guest speaker. Paul didn't just bop in to preach a sermon, get an honorarium and take off again. He's not a guest speaker. He says, I'm like a spiritual father to you. And you're like my spiritual children. This is the aim of all of Paul's ministerial effort among them. This is Paul's heart. I do not seek what is yours but you. Maybe you've experienced this before, right? I've been out to dinner many times with my parents. And now that I've gotten a little older, not that I've gotten old. I've just gotten a little older, right? I've gotten a little older. Got a little older. I earn an income for myself now, praise the Lord, by God's grace. That comes from the gracious and faithful giving of God's people. And I'm blessed to be able to work in ministry. Thank you for that. And but I can, I can pay for my dinner. I can pay for the dinner of our family. So have you ever experienced that, right? When now you're out with your parents, you've gotten a little older, you have your own income, and at the end of the meal, there's this argument, this fight over who's going to pay the bill, right? No, no, I'll take it. It feels weird for them to continue to pay, but it feels weird to them. So the same thing happens when we're out with our kids, and I'm sure always will. I'm going to be old and decrepit by that point. They're going to have gainful employment, and I'm still going to feel the responsibility, the desire I want to pay for their dinner, right? Even though I'm a, you know, at that point, who knows what, there's not going to be any social security left folks. So, I mean, need them to pay for my, for my meal. We understand the, the responsibility involved with that, right? Parents give to their children. They provide for their children. Children don't lay up for their parents. Paul is invoking his parental rights here, so to speak, in verse 14. As if to say, I don't seek what is yours. I want you. I seek you. This is illustrated really well in First Thessalonians. Turn with me to First Thessalonians chapter two. A really good picture of this from Paul's letter to this dear church, First Thessalonians chapter two, and beginning there in verse one, First Thess, chapter two, verse one. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you is not in vain. His work among them, his integrity, his honesty, his life, his character, evidenced clearly among them. You yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you is not in vain. Even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you, the gospel of God, in much conflict. Why? Because we love you. We love you. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. I wasn't wily and crafty to try to deceive you, to get my long arm in your short pocket. I came to you in love. Our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so then we speak, not as pleasing men, but as pleasing God who tests our hearts. Paul later asked, are you seeking the favor of men or of God? Whose favor are you seeking? The favor of men or the favor of God? Are we striving to please men? If you are laboring to please men, then you are not a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? We are not here for that. We are here for you, Paul says. Verse five, for neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. We are not here for what is yours. We are here for you. We didn't labor among you for money. Verse six, nor do we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. Paul says elsewhere, in particular 1 Corinthians chapter nine, that those who minister with the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. It's axiomatic. It's a rule, right? But Paul, even though he has that right, didn't make demands of them. According to that, he wanted to have them understand that he was there for them. Verse seven, how did that look? Look, we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. That picture of a nursing mother, right? So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives. Why? Because you'd become dear to us, because we love you. Paul told them, essentially, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. I will very gladly love you in that way. Verse nine, for you remember, brethren, you remember, you saw it, our labor, our toil, our hardship, right? Laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you. We preach to you, you could say, free of charge, the gospel of God. Paul is saying, we want not what is yours, but we want you. Do you see? Could he make it any more evident in the way that he lives his life and the way that he conducted himself in ministry and what he's done, what they saw among them from Paul? We want not what is yours, but you. You are witnesses, verse 10, and God also how devoutly, how justly, how blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe. As you know, how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And notice there what the loving father does. Notice what the loving father does. First, he's a good example. We see that in verse 10. You saw, you are witnesses to how we devoutly and justly and blamelessly conducted ourselves. He's a good example of integrity, of honesty, of righteousness, of blamelessness. But also notice what the father does in verse 11. He exhorts, he comforts, he charges, or he implores, he pleads for what purpose? For the purpose of patting his wallet? For the purpose of getting at their stuff? No. But, verse 12, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. You would walk worthy of him. You see how this expresses love, right? For the Lord Jesus Christ. A love for the Lord's church, a love for the Lord's example, a love for the Lord's work, a love for the Lord's cause, and also a love for these dear people willing to pour himself out for them. So that's Paul's point then. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 14, he is treating them as a father in the same way. Fathers don't take from their children. Fathers give in love. I'm after the well-being of your soul, Paul says. Now, Paul, elsewhere, actually took support from some of his spiritual children. Paul actually exercised that right on occasion, not seeking the gift as he told the Philippians, but seeking the fruit that abounds to your account. Where Paul believed that it was right, good, and just to do so, Paul does. Here in Corinth, he refrains. Why did he refrain in Corinth? Love. He refrains because of love. It was simply better for them if he refrained so that he could say to them with evidence to back it up, listen, I'm not here for what is yours. I'm here for you. Can you see how in the mind of these waffling, vacillating, often simple, compromising Corinthians, it could have been easily twisted. Paul's not here for us. They look at the money that we're giving him. It was already being twisted. Paul was already being accused. Paul is saying, look at the evidence. Look at the evidence. You see how devoutly, unjustly, and blamelessly we have conducted ourselves, how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children. You would walk worthy of the God who calls you in his own kingdom and glory. We seek not what is yours, but you. That must be the aim of all of our ministry. Your in ministry for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of God, to love him supremely by obeying his commandments, by serving his church, by loving his people, right? The aim of our efforts in ministry must be you, must be the Lord's people, must be your spiritual well-being, your good, your health, your perseverance, your faithfulness, right? Preaching the gospel to the lost, to a lost person. You should be able to say, I'm not after what is yours. I'm here for you. Why would you do that? Why would you go to that door that could very likely get slammed in your face? Why would you have that conversation? Why would you put yourself out like that? Because I'm not here for what is theirs. I'm not out for me. I'm out for them. I'm out for the Lord Jesus Christ. Ministering in the Lord's church, I seek not what is yours, but you. And if that's truly your heart, right? If that's your heart, as it is the Apostle Paul's heart, then you will let them have you as well, right? Goes along with the territory, doesn't it? I'm not here for what is yours. I'm here for you. That presupposes that you're there for them. They're going to have you as well. The Lord doesn't seek what is yours. He owns it all. Amen. The Lord seeks you, your heart, your devotion, your love. Let him have you. Amen. And let them have you. That should be the extent, the aim of our effort should be to let them have it. This is true of every God honoring relationship, right? When you become a Christian, you're given a stewardship. You're giving a, you're given a responsibility for those relationships around you. Husbands, let your wife have you. At the end of the day, a godly wife is not out for what's in your bank account. She wants you. And you can say, I neglect her. It's a necessity because I have to work. I've got to work. I've got to work. I'm going to neglect her. She wants you. Wives, your husband should have you. He's not out for what is yours. He's not trying to run your life for, right? You've got a godly husband. Let him have you. Parents, let your kids have you. It's certainly true in the Lord's church. Certainly true in the Lord's church. He seeks and we seek not what is yours, but you devoted to the Lord, devoted to the Lord's people, devoted to the Lord's church, you wholeheartedly, whole sold commitment, devotion to the Lord's church, your heart, your love, your mind, your vigor, your zeal, your fervency, your faithfulness, your perseverance, your labor, your toil, your prayers. And as Paul thinks about all that, Paul himself, knowing what the Lord Jesus Christ gave for him, Paul says, I'll give it all. I'm going to give it all. Knowing that the Lord gave his life for Paul. Paul now says, turns and says, I'll no longer live for myself, but for him who died and gave himself for me. I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls. And Paul does that in the context of ministry, ministry among the Lord's people, ministry in the Lord's church. I don't know how much more clearly I don't think it can be made any more clearly. It's been made, the case has been made perfectly by the infinitely wise spirit of God through the word of God, that the Christian life is not merely showing up for church on a Sunday morning. That is not the Christian life. Certainly you should show up for church on Sunday morning. The Lord Jesus Christ isn't simply after your time. Do what you're supposed to do, fill out the form, check the box. You were there on Sunday from 11 to 1130. Right? He wants your heart, your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, all your strength, all the time, right? Whole soul, whole hearted devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to give it all. Paul says I will very gladly spend and be spent for your soul. Paul said that first of Lord Jesus Christ, didn't he? Lord, what would you have me do? What would you have me do? I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, Jesus Christ. And certainly now he turns to the Lord's people, the Lord's church, the Lord's cause. And he says the same, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls. That speaks to point two on your notes then, the extent of our effort, doesn't it? The extent of our effort. He says in verse 15, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though the more abundantly I love you the less I'm loved. This speaks of the length to which Paul is willing to go in love for these people. Paul, this describes his ministry. This describes Paul's ministry. Paul says I will very gladly spend and be spent. The word most often used there for spending, most often used for spending actual resources, actual money, actual time. But here in verse 15, it means that and far more. He said, I'll very gladly spend, in other words, spend his time, spend his money, spend his resources, spend his energy. And then Paul adds and be spent, be utterly expended. I will give everything I have and I will give everything I am for your souls, for your good, for your eternal benefit. I will spend all that I have and I myself will be utterly expended for you. That's what Paul is saying. He says something similar in Philippians chapter 2, verse 17. Paul says, there, yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Paul says, be glad with me, rejoice with me in that. Paul is saying, regarding the extent of his ministry, he will spend, utterly spend, and he will be utterly spent for the sake of these Corinthians. He says, listen, if it means your salvation, if it means your salvation, your eternal well-being, if it means the good of your soul, if it means your perseverance in the faith, if it means your joy in the Lord, if it means your growth, if it means your maturity, if it means your knowledge of him, if it means your wisdom, if it means your spiritual understanding, if it means your faithfulness, if it means your fruitfulness in the work, if it means that you may know him and the power of his resurrection, if you may know the fellowship of his suffering, if it means comforting you when you're faint-hearted, right? If it means warning you when you're unruly, if it means confronting you in your sin, if it means strengthening you in the battle against him, if it means upholding you in your weak, if it means fighting off false teachers, Paul says, I will gladly spend and be spent for you. I don't seek what is yours, I seek you. Do you see? I'll do what it takes, Paul says, if it means staying up all night making tents, so I don't have to take money from you and be a burden to anyone here, so that I don't get accused falsely and risk putting a stumbling block in your mind over this whole money deal. Paul says, I'll do what it takes, I'll make tents if it takes that to get help from other churches if it takes that, so that I won't be a burden to you. I'm not here for what is yours, I'm here for you. I will gladly spend and be spent. And listen here, he's not reluctant to do it. He's not resistant. Paul doesn't have to be pledged with and cajoled and argued into this. Paul says, of course I get tired, right? In weariness often, in toil often, in sleeplessness and hunger and thirst. Paul says, of course there's difficulty. Of course it requires great sacrifice, but my joy, Paul says, is in serving the Lord's church, serving the Lord's people, ultimately serving the Lord, right? I will very gladly spend and be spent, a willing, joyful and total entire sacrifice of Paul's resources, Paul's energies, Paul's thoughts, Paul's zeal, Paul's vigor, Paul's labor, Paul's life. Do you see? Why? Why is that the case? Because I love you. I love the Lord. Loving the Lord like that has authored a love within Paul for the Lord's people. That's why love for the brothers is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Love for the brothers is a spirit wrought fruit, genuine saving faith and a new heart in Christ. It's a fruit of the spirit. Paul says, I long for your eternal well-being. It's for your soul, not here for what is yours, but for you, even though, even though, verse 15, the more abundantly I love you the less I'm loved. This is how Paul feels, right? His heart is laid bare. The more and more and more Paul feels that I pour out love that I have for you, the more distant and cool and disaffected you become toward me. The ESV, the NASB trains like this is a question, I think rightly so. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? Same basic meaning is intended, right? One translation presents the reality as a statement of fact, and it's true. The more I love in this situation in Corinth, even though the more I pour out love toward you Corinthians, you seem to love me less. The rhetorical question is convicting and piercing, isn't it? Even though the more abundantly I love you, right? If I love you more, am I to be loved less? The reality in Corinth is this. The more that Paul poured himself out in love for the Corinthians on the sacrifice and service of their faith, the less and less they seemed to love him in return, chose the extent of Paul's love for them, the extent of Paul's effort. He continues to pursue them, makes his sacrifice and love for them even more worthy of imitation, doesn't it? Demonstrates his sincerity, demonstrates his sincerity. It's not conditional in that sense on them reciprocating his love. I'm not doing it anymore until you do something for me, right? It's not a quid pro quo. Points of the sincerity of our effort. Point three on your notes, verse 16. Be that as it may, Paul says, even though I may be loved less, the more I love you, even though the more that I love you, the less it seems that I'm loved by you. Be that as it may, I did not burden you. I'm not going to burden you. Nevertheless, nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning. Now, we've seen Paul be sarcastic before. This is another example of Paul's sarcasm. Paul is answering the accusation about money again, again. The accusation is basically this. He refuses to take support from you so that he can look like he loves you. So he can look like he's running a ministry of honesty and integrity. He looks like he refuses support from you so that he can fake sincerity. But all the while, what's Paul doing? Paul has his minions in Corinth, taking up the collection for the poor in Jerusalem while he skims off the top to take money for himself. That's the accusation. He has, through his minions in Corinth, he has his long arm in your short pocket, and he's getting your money by being crafty. He's getting your money by being cunning. These are words for deceitful, deceitful. Where does this accusation come from? Calvin says this. It is customary for the wicked impudently to impute to the servants of God whatever they themselves would do if they had it in their power. In other words, where do the accusation come from? It came from the false teachers who thought to themselves, that's exactly what we would do if we could. If I could get away with it, that's what we would do. That's what Paul's doing when they accuse Paul. So Paul then points to the sincerity, the integrity of his ministry among them. Verse 17, did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? Titus or the other brothers that came? Did I take advantage of you through them? I urged Titus and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? How did Titus conduct himself among you when he was there? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Not capital S, right? Did we not walk in the same steps? In other words, Corinthians, you know Titus, you know those brothers, how they conducted themselves. They evidenced a ministry of integrity and honesty and love among you in the same way that I did. Did we not walk according to the same spirit? Did we not have the same mind, right? Did we not walk in the same steps? Titus's love for the Corinthians was well attested. Titus was the one who delivered the severe letter, pleaded with them to repent of their sins, sought to convey Paul's heart and love for them. Titus himself being willing to go, Paul said, because of the love he had for them. Paul's asking them, did he take advantage of you? Does he not have the same heart toward you that I have? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps? Did we not have the same mind toward you? In other words, our ministry among you is tested and proven, found to be sincere, found to be earnest, found to be in love. You know, just like Paul told the elders from Ephesus in Acts chapter 20 when he saw them, listen to Acts chapter 20 verse 17, Paul sent to Ephesus, called for the elders of the church to come. When they had come to him, Paul said this, you know, you know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you. Paul, his example is tested and proven, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, also to Greeks, repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what our ministry was about among you. Nothing else. We weren't there to catch you by cunning to be crafty, to steal from you. The sincerity of Paul's ministry and frankly, the sincerity of Titus and the brothers that were sent with him is evident. It's observable through his labor among them. It's earnest. It's unassailable. Paul is blameless among them. Paul has a good reputation among them. Titus is blameless among them. No accusation against him can stick. It's reminded of this thinking of the qualifications for an elder or the qualifications of deacons in 1st Timothy chapter three. Those qualifications there are the qualifications that every Christian man and every Christian woman should aspire to, right, to be faithful, faithful to the Lord. Paul says, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless. Accusations against him won't stick. His reputation among them is proven and tested and sincere and earnest. He must be the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, right, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle as a nursing mother, right, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. If a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not being puffed up. He must have a good testimony. So Paul is saying here, you know us. It is, it's astounding to me, absolutely amazing that when a godly brother comes under assault, when someone fixes it in their mind, in their heart, they're going to attack or sail or accuse a godly brother that they will take everything that they can lay hold of, twist for their own use for the purpose of tearing down that brother, tearing down that sister, and will twist it every chance they get, every opportunity they have. They'll take Paul's love for them and turn it into an accusation against him, and the very accusation that they use against him is that he doesn't love them because he won't take support from them, right. Amazing, amazing. But that's what the wicked do. Paul says our ministry among you is sincere. Paul could say that he maintained a clear conscience before God with respect to his ministry among the Corinthians. Brothers and sisters, we must do the same. Labor, labor, labor, spend and be spent doing it in love, doing it in love for the Lord and love for the Lord's people, be earnest, be sincere, have a good reputation among God's people. What about you this morning? You know, Booth describes those who had been rescued, had been saved out of the ocean of their sin, and there were those who industriously worked, scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other means more effective to deliver the poor struggleers out of the sea. Someone may object and say, that's that's that's legalism, but we don't have to work like that. You were saved by grace through faith and we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Here and there, Booth says, there were some who actually jumped into the water regardless of the consequences in their passion to rescue the perishing. I hardly know which glanned me the most. The sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks, reaching a place of safety, praise God, that is entirely the work of God or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance. Or does that describe you? Does that describe your work, your labor among the Lord's people, your labor in the Lord's church? That's what we should aspire to. That's what we should endeavor to do. Amen? Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. This is Paul's example. Spend and be spent for the souls of your brothers and sisters. Spend and be spent for the souls of the loss and preaching the gospel. Spend and be spent. Or having been rescued by the blood of the Lamb, have you forgotten your first love? The Lord would say, repent and do the first works. Repent and do the first works. We've been saved to a ministry, a ministry in the Lord's church, a ministry among the Lord's people, a ministry in this world for the lost to preach the gospel. Let's follow Paul's example. Let's endeavor to display the heart earnestness that Paul does here for these dear people. Let's spend and be spent for their souls. Amen? Paul prays honor and glory to him who sacrificed himself in love for us. Let's pray. We don't do this in our own strength. It is impossible. Apart from him, we can do nothing. We want to serve the Lord faithfully, fervently in the ministry that he's called us to. Let's go before the Lord and ask for his strength, his power, his grace to make us sufficient for this good work. You're here this morning and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin. He calls out to you with a free offer of his grace to save you from the ocean of your sin against him. Turn to him in faith and be saved. Your sins may be blotted out. And when you're done praying, you're dismissed. Let's pray.