 in our text this morning, 2 Corinthians 6 verse 11 through 2 Corinthians 7 verse 3, the title of our sermon, Undivided Devotion. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 11 through 7 verse 3. As we come to our text this morning, 2 Corinthians 6 verse 11, I think it's important to begin by reminding ourselves that Paul is writing to the church in Corinth which is a true and biblical church of the living God. In Corinth they are facing tremendous difficulty, tremendous difficulty. They have significant problems to overcome, not the least of which is pervasive sin in the church, the spread of false teaching here in our text. We see their affections for the apostle Paul waning. We see many making shipwreck to their faith, many who are trailing off after false teachers. There is division and there is discord, there is error. However, despite all this, there are genuine believers in Corinth. Genuine believers who are living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are indwelt by the spirit of God, they are serving the Lord, they are gathering for worship, they are administering the ordinances, they are praising and singing hymns, songs and spiritual songs together. This is a true biblical church. Paul, Timothy, Silas, Priscilla, Aquila have been preaching the gospel there. Many have turned from sin, many have come to faith in Christ. There has been genuine conversion experience at Corinth. This church may be a mess. In fact, it may be one of the largest messes of all the New Testament churches when we read the pages of scripture. However, this is a genuine church in Corinth. They are, chapter 1 verse 1, a church of God. In Corinth he calls them brethren in chapter 1 verse 8. They are epistles of Christ in chapter 3 verse 3. They are the temple of the living God in chapter 6 verse 16. Paul says to them in chapter 5 verse 18, God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. In chapter 5 verse 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sinned for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. This is no synagogue of Satan. This is a true church, an embattled church to be sure, a church having difficulty absolutely, an immature church as Paul has already written, but nevertheless a true church. However, Paul knows how easily we can deceive ourselves right? We believe this to be a true church of God. Now there are people here, many of you, love the Lord Jesus Christ. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, heart, soul, mind, and strength. You're preaching the gospel. You're discipling one another. There's been genuine conversion. The wind blows where it wills, right? And we hear the sound of it. We don't see where it's going or where it comes from, but we see the effects of it. We see the effects of the spirit of God in this church among God's people here. Where God's people are gathered, where His ordinances are administered, where there is the worship of God's people, there's the biblical church. But Paul knows, we know, don't we, how self-justifying our hearts can be. We know how easily we can be deceived that which grows like wheat may later be exposed as a tear. We know that there are many who will call upon Jesus as Lord and later be revealed as those who practice lawlessness cast away from His presence. A genuine Christian is someone indwelt by the spirit of God. Be sure, as Paul says, that if you have not the spirit of God, you are none of His. And where the spirit is at work, where the spirit is at work in the life of a genuine Christian, and where the spirit of God is at work in the life of a biblical church, we will see fruits of the spirit. We'll see evidences of the spirit's work, right? The one who has the spirit will see, experience fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, not always perfectly, always falling short. You're going to see those marks, aren't you? You're going to see those fruits. And as that church matures, as they are conformed, as they are sanctified, you'll see those fruits abound in the life of God's people, abound in the life of God's church. Saving faith will produce good works, will produce obedience to the Lord's commands. Why? Because we're indwelt by the spirit of God. Because God has changed our heart. He's taken out the heart of stone. He's given us a heart of flesh. He's placed His spirit within us, and He, by His grace, by the work of His spirit, causes us to walk in His statutes and His judgments. God does that work. It's the grace of God that appears to all men that teaches us to deny ungodly and worldly lusts, right? Which wage war against our soul. Where there is the spirit of God, we see the fruits of His work. The people of God will persevere in faith. They will persevere. They don't fall away. The people of God will grow in conformity to Christ's image as they are sanctified. They will perfect holiness in the fear of God, becoming more and more and more like Him as the Lord, the spirit of God, works in them, both to do and to will according to His good pleasure. As we pursue sanctification, as we perfect holiness in the fear of God, there will be fruits of the spirit. There will be evidence of a work of His spirit. But be sure, as Paul knows, right? And what fuels Paul's admonition here, what fuels his commands, what fuels his instruction, what fuels his zeal, his concern for this church in Corinth, is that he knows we can easily deceive ourselves if their faith in Corinth is a sham, right? If your faith is a sham, if your faith is fake, if it's counterfeit, if your faith is a dead and damning faith, so to speak, false faith, then those fruits will be fleeting and hard to come by. There's a sense in which the lost person can produce kindness in their own strength, in their own effort, isn't there? To be externally kind to someone else, to show external kindness, there's a sense in which a lost person can show external love, external compassion. There's a sense in which in their own strength, in their own power, a lost person can be gentle, can be good. But in no way, former fashion, can the true fruit of the spirit be produced apart from the work of God's spirit, right? Those things are not produced, those fruits are not produced in our own strength by our own effort. That list unattainable to one apart from Christ, to one apart from his spirit perceived progress will be inconsistent at best or non-existent to one who doesn't have the spirit. It'll be only that which is possible through human effort, only that which is possible or attainable through their own efforts. Those fruits, any fruit that is produced, any love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, gentleness that is shown, will only be shown. Those fruits will only be those that are possible or to the extent possible in their own strength and by their own effort. But what is lacking is that true fruit that we see in the life of a person who's been transformed by God and indwelt by his spirit. That heart holiness, those true and genuine, deep, persevering, lasting and genuine, heart filled, faith filled, Godward worshiping and Christ praising fruits are only possible by his spirit. And ultimately, ultimately, perseverance will eventually fail. Apart from the spirit of God, a person cannot persevere in those things that are only possible through the spirit of God. So Paul, with this wisdom, with this understanding, Paul then turns to this embattled church at Corinth and says to them in 1 Corinthians, you are saved only if you hold fast the word which I preach to you unless you have believed in vain. Now is that teaching that somehow their perseverance merits God's favor? No, it's not saying that at all. I had a conversation with a couple of Mormons, yes, more Muslims, further in the same boat. A couple of Mormons yesterday, they wanted to say that, right, that our perseverance in the faith merits the grace of God. You're saved by grace after you've done all that you can do. What an abysmal, abominable heresy that is. Paul says that this perseverance is a fruit of the spirit of God, is an evidence of the spirit of God at work. It's an evidence of God's preservation of the Christian by faith through the work of his spirit. And if you don't have that, you believe, you set out, you have presumed to follow Christ in vain. He turns to this embattled church at Corinth, which he's concerned that there are many there who are deceiving themselves. And he turns to them and he says, the sorrow of the world produces death. It's the godly sorrow, godward sorrow, faith-filled sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation. He turns to this embattled church at Corinth and he says, examine yourselves as to whether or not you're truly in the faith. Test yourselves, he says to them. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified? Solomon said in Ecclesiastes chapter one that in much wisdom is much grief. In much wisdom is much grief and Paul is demonstrating wisdom, much wisdom here. But this wisdom, understanding these things, has Paul grieved, has Paul in anguish writing this letter in tears, he says over this church at Corinth. Paul sees the ditches, he sees the cliffs, the pitfalls, the potholes that are spread before them as snares for their feet. He knows that they are even now entangled in sin. He knows that they're unable to run with all that weight around them, right? They're unable to run their race with endurance. He's already seen many in Corinth, makes shipwreck of their faith. There's been one who has turned against him and opposed them to his faith, falling away after false teaching. They have failed to press on in cutting off worldly influences. These false teachers at the time of this writing are leading an insurrection in the church. It's had the effect of cooling, even restricting or hindering or impeding their affections for him. It is undermined the efficacy of his preaching and teaching, the efficacy of the word of God among them. They've failed to press on in cutting off worldly influences. They have failed, in other words, to press on in sanctification. They have failed to press on perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Their sanctification has come to a screeching halt and Paul knows what lies at the end of that path. All you have to do to begin falling back is to stop pressing forward, you see? And so he writes to them, chapter two, verse four, out of much affliction. He writes to them out of anguish of heart, out of many tears. He pleads with them not to receive the grace of God in vain, chapter six, verse one. He pleads with them. In chapter six, verse 13, open your heart to me, he says, in chapter seven, verse two, cut off godless influences, pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Be holy, he's telling them, pursue your sanctification, cleanse yourself. He says, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, open your heart to us. Give God undivided devotion. That's where we get the title of our sermon. Give God your undivided devotion. I want to take a look at the outline of this passage in your notes. And from our outline, I want to show you how this is communicated by Paul in this text, how the text fits together and how this concern is being communicated and how Paul will, in the grace of God, how Paul will instruct them for how to overcome this waning of their affections, this trailing of their faith and perseverance, how they can protect themselves in the power of the spirit from this danger. First, I want you to see from your notes, Paul charges them to fuel or to fire godly affections in verses 11 through 13. Fire or fuel godly affections. He says in verse 11, O Corinthians, we have spoke openly to you. You know our love for you, right? We've held nothing back from you that would be profitable, nothing we've held back that would be for your good. Chapter three, verse two, you are our epistle written in our hearts. Our heart, he says in verse 11 is wide open. Verse 12, you're not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. In other words, there's no restriction in our affection for you. There's nothing that we're doing that's hindering your affections, but there is a problem with your affections for us. And Paul certainly takes this personally. There's a problem in your affections for me, he's saying. There is a problem in your heart. So in verse 13, now in return for the same in return for our affections to you, this time speaking to you as my spiritual children as a spiritual father, you also now be open to Paul, exhorting them to fuel godward or godly affections, particularly for him and his ministry. Paul returns to this very thought again in chapter seven, verse two. And if you put both of these sections of texts on either side of the instruction, the promises of God, the theology in the middle, you have two bookends which begin and end this section of text that we're going to be studying together. Paul returns to this very thought again in chapter seven, verse two and says to them once more, open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have cheated no one. I don't say this to condemn you. Paul says in verse three, but I've said before that you're in our hearts to die together and to live together. What's Paul's concern? Paul's concern is that chapter six, verse one, that the Corinthians are in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain. They're in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain. The first evidence of that, maybe what you could say would be the low hanging fruit, so to speak. What was obvious? What was apparent in the circumstances at Corinth that would have led anyone to that conclusion is the fact that their affections for Paul, the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, their affections for him have cooled. Their zeal for the message that he preaches has been dampened, camped down, undermined. Their zeal for the word of God has cooled. They are turning away from the Lord's apostle. In turning away from the Lord's apostle, they're turning away from the Lord, turning to that in Corinth, which would destroy the church and lead many to hell. And Paul says, open your heart to us. What is going on in your heart in Corinth? Fuel godly affections. And what lies between those two bookends then is the instruction and exhortation of chapter six, verse 14 through chapter seven, verse one, and point two on your notes. One, fuel godly affections to douse or extinguish worldly affections. Douse or extinguish worldly affections. How do we do that, Paul? How do we do that? First, there is disunion with the godless. Disunion with the godless. Verse 14, do not the unequally yoke together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with belial? What part has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. Five rhetorical questions framed in antithesis to make the point that it's not possible. Cut off godless influences. There must be disunion with the godless. Second, there is communion. There must be communion with God. Cultivate communion with God. Verse 16, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. There's going to be communion. If there's going to be fellowship, let it be with God and God's people. Amen. Verse 17, therefore, what's Paul's instruction in light of those glorious promises? Verse 17, therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to God, right? To these promises. I will be a father to you. You shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord almighty. What fellowship with God? Third, there must be a devotion to godliness, a devotion to godliness. Therefore, chapter seven, verse one, having these promises with an eye to those promises, trusting the Lord for those promises, beloved, he says, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. As we'll see by working through this text, Paul is calling for undivided devotion, undivided devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ by through the instrumentality of through the means of perfecting holiness in the fear of God. When the Bible speaks of holiness, there's often a twofold sense to that word. One, you are to be holy, meaning set apart to God. We're to be holy. We are set apart to God, set aside to God, consecrated to God, for God's use, for his service, for his worship, for his purposes. Things that we are unique in the world, so to speak, distinct. Those things that were common were set apart for common, unholy, you could say, use. Those things that were uncommon set aside for God's use. We are to be uncommon. There were vessels that were set apart for use in the temple. The Levites were set apart to serve in the temple. The priests were set apart to make sacrifices on behalf of the people to God. They were holy to God, set apart for his use, separate from the world, not in league with the world. Do you see? Not in league with the world, separate from sinful influences in the world, but not of the world. Set apart to God, set aside to God. Secondly, you are to be holy, meaning set apart from sin. One sense of the word set apart to God. The other sense of the word set apart from sin. In other words, living a holy life, putting off sin, putting on righteousness, pursuing holy or righteous living as Paul would say here, cleansing yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. And we'll see Paul in our text, exhorting us regarding both the senses of the word as we work through this passage over the next couple of weeks. For many, there is a pattern in their quote unquote Christian life of believing that now that I am saved, now that I've been forgiven, now that I've been reconciled, now that I'm no longer in enmity with God because of wicked works, now that he's brought me into fellowship with himself, I can coast in the Christian life. I can take it easy. There are those that would say, I just need to rest in my justification. I don't need to strive. There's no struggle. Why would we struggle? Christ has done it all for us. We just need to sit back and rest in our justification. In other words, in the Christian life, I am passive until I am received into heaven by him one day in the future. Now there's a sense in which we absolutely rest in and trust in and rejoice in and relish our justification. Amen. That finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary that secured for me my eternal right standing with God. Amen. But there is nothing passive about the Christian life. Paul says, no, the Bible teaches that failure, failure to move on, making progress in increasing holiness in both senses of the word, making progress in increasing holiness in both senses of the word is receiving the grace of God in vain. If you don't make progress in holiness, you receive the grace of God to you in vain. If you're not being sanctified, you are in danger. The Corinthians were in serious life-threatening danger. They're in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain. That prompted Paul's exhortation in this text, his exhortation to holiness. Come out from among them, Paul says, and be separate, says the Lord, quoting the Old Testament. Touch no unclean thing, cleanse yourself from all filthiness, striving toward complete holiness in the fear of God, diligently, earnestly pursuing your sanctification. So at the outset, I want to ask you this morning, think about the pattern of your own life. What about you? Think about what your Christian life looks like. Paul says, Paul teaches this in great love for the Corinthians, right? This is loving for us to call ourselves, call ourselves to an examination of these things. It would have been unloving for Paul to have turned a blind to their plight and Corinth, right? To be pridefully embittered against their rejection of him, and so then to turn away from them in cold, heartless indifference and let them wallow in his sinful condition. So it is right for us to think about these things, brothers and sisters, amen? It's right for a brother or a sister to come to you when there's a concern. It is loving. It is affectionate toward you to do that. What about you this morning? What does your Christian life look like? What does it consist of? Can you say, brother, can you say, sister, that your Christian life reveals a persistent and earnest and diligent pursuit of holiness? Can you say that your Christian life is a pursuit, a diligent pursuit of sanctification through the means of grace, in the strength of his spirit, by the power of God, in the fear of God? Is that what your Christian life looks like, or have you have your affections, has your zeal, have the fires that once kindled your heart in that direction, have they become cold? Have they been dampened? Do you have a wet blanket draped on your heart right now? What does your Christian life look like? Are you coasting? Are you floating on flowery beds of ease? Are you passive? And if you say no to yourself, right? If you say no to that, remember, remember, our hearts can be deceitfully self-justified. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. If you say no, then what exactly are you doing? What exactly is it? This is not mystical. It's not ethereal. You don't walk into your room and just sort of place your hand on the Bible and say, that's not sanctification. What are you doing? What steps are you taking? It's not in your own strength, but in the power of the Spirit of God, in faith and dependence upon Him. What are you doing? Are you preaching the Gospel? Are you discipling? Are you loving? Truly loving your brothers and sisters, right? Evidence and action. Are you loving them? Are you loving the lost, preaching the Gospel to them? This is the mission that we've been given. We are ambassadors for Christ and we plead with them as though God were pleading through us. What are you doing when a person turns from sin to trust Christ alone for salvation? At the moment of their conversion, they are declared by God to be righteous in Him, righteous in Christ. By virtue of the finished and substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are no longer guilty. No longer guilty. There is no sentence of condemnation which hangs over our head any longer, praise God. I'm no longer on my way to hell. I am a citizen of the Kingdom of the Son of His love. I am the righteousness of God in Him. My sins have been forgiven. I've been reconciled to God. Having been declared righteous by God, brothers, sisters, now standing as it were in that righteous position, that positional righteousness must now result by the power of His Spirit, by His grace to me through faith, must result in practical righteousness in my life. Holiness will be perfected in me. Holiness will become my daily pursuit, my daily practice. That's the life of a genuine Christian. You'll talk to many that will argue with that. It's because they're not genuinely Christians, if their life doesn't look that way. There is power in the gospel. Is there not? There's power in the Spirit of God, and it is life transforming power. The reality of indwelling sin, the reality of my inward fleshly corruption, the sinful influences, the sinful pressures of this sinful and wicked world, the activity of Satan, the adversary, all ensure this pursuit of holiness. In other words, because my own inward corruption remains, because I live in this world that is wicked and puts pressure upon me to conform to its pursuit, because there is an adversary that stands opposed to me, my three enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, and my remaining corruption ensure that this pursuit of righteousness, this pursuit of increasing holiness, must proceed. It ensures that it is a necessity, and it necessitates diligence. It necessitates zeal and effort. We have formidable foes. Do we not? They are conquered foes already. Conquered foes already. And who has conquered them? Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his power that we triumph, right? Paul's statement of glorious promise in chapter 2, verse 14. He always leads us in triumph. But it requires diligence. It requires effort, striving against sin, a constant struggle. That's the teaching of the New Testament. The Christian life is a striving. To cease to fight is to be swept backward by the tide that presses against me. In this life, there is no escaping this pursuit. There are no exceptions. Our pursuit comes to an end when we are glorified in him. And Paul says, speaking of being glorified in Christ, Paul says, we are saved in this hope. And it's hope in the future, right? That which is seen, Paul says there, is not hope. If it's seen, it's not hope. We're saved in hope. Hope of what? Hope of a glorified body, finlessly glorified to be like our Savior. We're saved in this hope. The best is yet to come. Hope for the future for what is not seen. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, 11, verse chapter, through chapter 7, verse 3, Paul then gives us the means by which we pursue this holiness. By which we pursue that endeavor, practical righteousness in the life of the believer. We have to fire godly affections. We have to douse or extinguish worldly affections. All that is accomplished by cutting ties with the godless, cultivating communion with God, and committing yourself to the pursuit of godliness. That's our outline. Let's look at the text in depth now as we examine point one. Paul calls us to fuel godly or godward affections. And he begins in verse 11, O Corinthians, we have spoke openly to you. Our heart is wide open. You're not restricted by us, but you're restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same, I speak as the children, you also be open. The Paul begins here in verse 11, not dispassionately, not coldly, not heartlessly, but Paul demonstrates great emotion here, great affection on his own part. Anytime Paul moves from speaking generally to using a direct address as he does here, Paul's wearing his heart on his sleeve. Sometimes that results in a rebuke, like it does in Galatians chapter 3, verse 1, where Paul says, oh, foolish Galatians. Do you remember that text? Who's bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? Here, it's an emotional plea as well, but it's fueled by affection, right? It's filled with affection for the Corinthians, and filled, fueled by his concern for them. O Corinthians, he's saying to them in verse 11, essentially, why is it my love for you reciprocated? Why is it my love for you reciprocated? You can see this isn't dispassionate, right? His genuine love for them would not allow for such a thing to take place. Paul loves them. This is an example, beginning of verse 11, of the pleading and the begging that he exhorts them to in chapter 5, verse 20. We plead, we beg you, implore you, be reconciled to God. It flows out of the anguish of his heart. He is grieved. In all this while, consider the context, all this while, wicked opponents in Corinth were accusing Paul of being heavy-handed. Paul has shed tears over them, pleaded with God in prayer on their behalf, and they accused Paul of being heavy-handed. Paul's teachers would have said that he was abusive, that Paul was authoritarian, and Paul is reaching out to them in love. Do you see? We've seen that already as we've worked through 2 Corinthians, haven't we? Paul's heart for them. He's not abusive. He says what they need to hear because he loves them. He's not authoritarian or heavy-handed. He's wearing his heart on his sleeve. They would accuse Paul that he had no real affection for the church at all, that he was out for himself. That is certainly not the case, clearly not the case, and the Corinthians knew that it wasn't the case. They're being persuaded by these accusations. In chapter 2 verse 4, Paul said that he was writing to them out of much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears. For the purpose that they're in chapter 2 verse 5, they might know the love which he has so abundantly for them. His heartfelt plea is motivated by the love that he has so abundantly for them. He refers to them as beloved in chapter 7 verse 1. That's a tender expression for the family of God beloved. This is warm. This is pastoral. This is affectionate. Verse 13, like a father would be with his own children, and Paul is a spiritual father addressing his spiritual children, you could say in this way. Verse 13, Paul's love, Paul's affection toward them is demonstrated in two ways, beginning in verse 11. One, Paul says we have spoken openly to you. Paul's affection toward them demonstrated in his open communication with them. Literally the word there means that our stomachs are open to you. That opening in your face that leads to your stomach is wide open, and it carries the sense of speaking freely. I speak freely, unhindered, unhindered, not superficially. I speak freely. The truth and love. I don't hold anything back. That's what you get from Christ's true ambassadors. You get free speaking, full disclosure, full transparency, hard on his sleeve, streams of tears, shouts of joy. He would have said that he spoke to them what was necessary for them to hear, even if it was difficult for them to hear it. Sometimes you have to say hard things. Generally speaking, an indication that your affection has waned is when you receive those hard things pridefully and defensively and with hostility or anger. Paul says we've spoken openly to you. Nothing. They refrained from saying nothing that would have been profitable for them. We have spoken openly to you. That kind of open and free communication is loving. It shows genuine affection, true affection, not fake, worldly, superficial affection. When you genuinely love a brother, when you genuinely love someone else, you have, don't you, that if it's biblical, if it's godly, especially if it's spirit-empowered, you have that kind of open communication, don't you? Parents, let me ask you, why do you correct your kids? Why are you open with your kids in that way? Why do you discipline them? Why do you instruct them? Why do you plead with them? Why do you shed tears for them when they trail off? Why do you pray for them? Why do you anguish over them? Why parents? It's because you love them, right? Because you love them. Why are you so transparent sometimes? Why do you say what needs to be said? Why do you not withhold that which for them would be good and for their profit? Because you love them. If you didn't love them, you wouldn't do that. You don't hold back what is necessary for their good. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 24, he who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. That's what we see in the example of our Lord. Hebrews 12 says that it's those whom the Lord loves that he chases. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and look down there beginning at verse 8, Paul here saying what they needed to hear, doing what was necessary for their good, even if it was painful to them. Verse 8, even if I made you sorry with my letter, Paul's referring here to that severe letter that he sent to them, rebuking them for their sin, calling them to repentance, Paul saying, even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, even though I did regret having to send it in the first place, right? But I did regret it, for I perceived that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while, but now I rejoice not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance, for you were made sorry in a godly manner that you might not suffer loss from us in nothing. But what was Paul's motivation for sending that? Look at verse 12, therefore in verse 12, Paul says, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but I did it so that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you, might appear to you, so that you would know that we love you and that this is because we love you. And it's because of love, because of our care and our concern for you that we say hard things sometimes. Paul spoke openly to them. Secondly, in verse 11, the second way that Paul demonstrates affection for them, Paul says that our heart is wide open. Not only is our stomach, so to speak, our mouth wide open, but our heart is wide open. Speaking as a spiritual parent of the church in Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 7, Paul said to them, we were gentle among you. Paul wasn't heavy-handed. Paul wasn't tyrannical, dictatorial, manipulative or abusive or authoritarian. Paul says we were gentle among you. Just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children, so affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you would become dear to us. Paul says our heart was wide open to you. Now notice here, especially in that passage, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, that it's not mere feeling. It's not mere emotion. There is certainly emotion involved. There's certainly feeling involved, but love takes action. Affectionately longing for you, Paul says. We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel, we certainly did that, but in addition to imparting to you the gospel of God, we imparted to you our own lives also because you had become dear to us. Love takes action. So here we are again, chapter 6 verse 11. Here's Paul once again speaking freely with his heart wide open. That's what he's doing here. Speaking freely with his heart wide open. There's no hint of hypocrisy. This is not fake or manufactured or superficial or tamped down. And consider with the texture that we're looking at. Consider the context with me. How have the Corinthians been treating him? Think of Paul's love for them, his affection toward them in the context of how they themselves were treating Paul. It led Paul to say in verse 12, you're not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Paul says it's not me, it's you. The problem that Paul is addressing in Corinth has nothing to do with his affection for them. It has much to do with their failing affections for him. The word restricted there refers to being cramped, constrained or impeded. They have pressed or squeezed Paul out of their heart and mind altogether. There's no room in their heart for Paul. It's entirely opposite and intentionally contrasted with Paul's wide open or enlarged and broadened heart for them in verse 11. There's plenty of room in his heart for them. He told the Philippians in chapter one, verse seven that I have you in my heart. I have you in my heart. Paul is saying there's no restraint. There's no impediment in our love for you. We're not doing anything to hinder or constrain your affections. Nothing that we're doing is hindering or impeding your affections, but there is restraint there. There is an impediment in your affections for us. What's the reason for this lack of genuine love, Corinthians? What's the reason for this? Paul says it's not my conduct. It's not my conduct. Look at chapter seven, verse two. We've wronged no one. We've corrupted no one. We've cheated no one. What accusation is there against me? Paul says that can actually stick. In what way have we failed to show godly affection, godly love toward you? Paul is saying the problem is not with me. The problem is with you. The affection Paul says that I'm demonstrating toward you is not being reciprocated. Your love for me is not comparable to my love toward you. This is unrequited love, isn't it? Unrequited love. Unrequited love is painful, isn't it? They had already departed from Paul in their heart. There was now something between them. Think with me. They forgot, and therefore they despised. Through a lack of affection, they demonstrated that they despised his labor of love among them. Many of them had forgotten that it's a preaching of the gospel by Paul, that God saved them. They have been persuaded by the lies, persuaded by the accusations, and now they looked at Paul with doubt. They looked at Paul with suspicion. Something has come between them. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? You have warm brotherly affection in the church, warm sisterly affection for someone. You see one another during the week. You pray for one another. You've shed tears together. You've been out witnessing together. You've been through the trenches together. You've been through much together. You've seen one another grow in the Lord. You've rejoiced over one another. You've enjoyed one another's fellowship. You look forward to coming to a group during the week so you can spend time with those sisters, spend time with those brothers, praying with them, loving them, sharing their burdens. And then one day, you're in church and that brother, that sister, comes through the door and what used to be a big smile come across your face, right? Because they see you and as you are, they're looking forward to seeing you and they love you. And there's a warm affection between, there has been warm affection between the two of you. Now, when they come through the door, they don't have a smile on their face any longer. In fact, they make an immediate right hand turn and they're headed for the bathroom. And so you think to yourself, there's obviously a problem, right? Why has your countenance fallen? Why has your countenance fallen? There's something between them. And so you think to yourself, I'm going to talk to them immediately out of the service. Maybe I'm going to corner them in the stall. And I'm going to talk to them in the bathroom. And I don't want to let another moment pass. This is grieving to my heart, right? So you corner them in the stall and they're angry maybe because you corner them in the stall. But let's say you corner them in the hall and they're angry or they're hostile or they show bitterness towards you. There is obviously problems. I just noticed that you acted toward me differently and I'm concerned, have I done something to offend you? Is there anything I've done that, right? As soon as the service is over, they bolt for the door. That's what the cartoon, right? They bolt. There's a little puff of smoke and the hat spins and the hat is always left. And if you listen carefully, you can hear the tires screeching as they pull out of the parking lot. They don't return your text. They're not returning your calls. What is going on? What is going on? The thing about it with me, right? From our text. How does Paul respond? How does Paul respond when this takes place? There's obviously a problem. There's obviously a problem. But does Paul respond with anger? No. Does Paul respond with coldness of his own? No. With indifference? Then they'll get over it. No. Does Paul respond with distance? Well, he's not going to call me. I'm not going to call him either. He's going to avoid me? I'm going to avoid him. I'm going to sit on the other side of the church. No. Does he respond with impatience? Does Paul become embittered? Does Paul become defensive? Does Paul become angry? No. Why? Because, 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4, the fruit of love that is produced by the Spirit of God in the heart of every genuine Christian suffers long. That love is kind. That love does not envy or parade itself. That love is not puffed up. That love doesn't behave rudely. That love doesn't seek its own. That love is not provoked. That love thinks no evil. That love refuses to rejoice in iniquity. In fact, that love will point out iniquity and call to repentance. But that love rejoices in the truth. That love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Paul would later say in chapter 12 verse 15, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. That's amazing on one side, right? The fruit of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit of God. And it's also tragic. I will spend and be spent for your soul, even though the more I love you, the less I am loved. Tragic. Paul may not have responded with bitterness, may not have responded with anger, but Paul was hurt. Paul was sorrowful. Paul grieved at how they were conducting themselves toward him. But his love for them endures. We see that in the text, don't we? Why? Why does his affection for them? Why does his affection for Christ endure? Why does his affection for the brothers endure? Because it is spirit wrought, spirit empowered, spirit produced love. It may grieve, it may sorrow, it may weep, but that love endures. However, and worse yet, more to the point of Paul's writing here, their lack of love reveals a problem. Just like that person in the foyer, their lack of love reveals a problem. Something is wrong in Corinth. Paul says that problem lies with your affections. The problem here that you have is a heart problem. Verse 12, you're not restricted by us, you're restricted by your own affections. The Corinthians have become ensnared or embroiled in something. They've become entangled with something or they've become entangled with someone that has influenced them. It's had an influence, a negative influence on their affections for Paul. It's had a negative influence on Paul's ministry among them. The reality is that this impediment will also dampen or have a negative influence on their love for Christ. It'll have a negative influence on their love for the things of God, their affections for the Lord. Worldly affections, chapter 6, verse 14 through chapter 7, verse 1, have crowded Paul out. Worldly affections have crowded the word of God out. Worldly affections have crowded Christ out. They have no more room in their heart because sin and idolatry have filled it up. Worldliness has filled up their heart. He's going to address all that with them in this text, but he begins here low-hanging fruit, you could say, with their own affections for him. We've seen it, haven't we? He says in verse 13, now in return for the same, in return for the affection that I've shown you, and I speak to you as a father would speak to his children, you also be open. I'm speaking to you in love, Paul says, as a father would do his own children. Open your heart to us. The word return here means in like manner. It's a fair exchange. In other words, in fair exchange for the love that I've shown you, you now open yourself to me, right? Recompend my love. Show me love because of the love that I've shown for you. I've been open with you. Now you be open with me, right? The affectionate towards me is I've been affectionate toward you. I read a book a while back. It's been a while. The title of the book is Comeback Barbara. It's a good book for you to be read by your parents. But the book is essentially about a Christian mom, Christian dad, who don't lose their daughter to an accident. They don't lose their daughter to disease. They don't lose their daughter to death. They lose their daughter from the Lord. They lose their daughter. She turns away from Christ. She turns away from desiring to follow after him. And she begins to follow after the dictates of her own heart, begins to pursue her own sin, and has no interest in following the Lord. If you're a mom or dad, we may, at least through empathy with a brother or sister who's lost a child, see the pain involved in losing a child to death, losing a child to disease, losing a child to a car accident, those kinds of tragic events. But there is, isn't there a unique pain involved in losing a child to this world? In losing a child to, at least for the time being, losing a child to Satan, losing a child to the enemy, so to speak, when you know that the only hope of their eternal well-being is turning to Christ in faith. And the book basically entails how this mom and dad sort of dealt with the reality of that. And ultimately, as a father, a loving father would in love for his child, they simply continue to love. They continue to love, they bear long, they're patient, they're long suffering, they plead, and they pray, but they are kind and gentle. Like Paul is being here, right? Don't turn away from me. Don't turn away from the Lord. It's Paul's concern. Don't be deceived by your own wicked heart. Don't be deceived by these false teachers. Don't be deceived by this world. Don't be carried away in worldliness. Don't be carried away in laziness or indifference or apathy. Don't allow your affections to cool. Don't allow your heart to grow cold. Don't turn from your first love. Repent and do the first work, right? Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't turn away. And there is a unique or distinct pain like that of a father for his child that Paul feels for them. It's the unique or distinct pain that I felt for some that you have felt for some as we have lived and ministered in the Lord's church. Paul begins with their affections for him. Don't do this. We know with much wisdom comes much grief, right? We know where that path leads. We know the ditches and the precipices that they are walking along. We know the danger. He says, open your heart to me. Open your heart to me. Fuel godly or godward affections. Ultimately, how was it or why was it that Paul loved them in this way? Why is it? I would submit to you that it's ultimately because Paul is loved in this way, right? Saul was violent. Saul was hostile. Saul was a hater of Christians. Saul was a hater of Christ. Saul's heart was closed off to Christ and yet on the road to Damascus in grace and mercy. Saul became Paul. His heart was changed, his eyes though temporarily blind, temporarily blind were opened. And Paul was given affection for the Lord. And Paul, seeing with new eyes, with spiritual eyes, what the Lord Jesus Christ had done for him, now knew what love looked like. The reason that Paul could love them in this way is because ultimately he is loved in this way. We love him because he first loved us. That's right. So, brother, sister, listen, when we realize that our love has grown cold, if you take stock of your own heart and you consider my love has grown cold, if you come to realize that you have left your first love, or maybe you're on the way out the door, maybe you've departed in your heart and in your affections. Revelation chapter 2, verse 5, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent, do the first works, fire your affections by cultivating a love and gratitude for Christ and what he has done for you. As we'll see next week, cut off godless influences, cultivate communion with God, commit yourself to a pursuit of godliness. All praise, honor, and glory to the one who first loved us.