2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
And having therefore these promises. Now Paul's talking about all
the great promises of God that he's given his people, but particularly
he's talking about the promises that he just discussed in these
previous few verses. The promise of God that says,
I will dwell in them, in my people. I will walk in them. The promise
of God that He says, I'll be their God and they'll be my people. The promise of the Lord Almighty
when He said, I will receive you. The promise of the Almighty
when He said, I'll be a father unto you and you'll be my sons
and daughters. Now think what that means to
be the Almighty's sons and daughters. I was a teenager and my dad pulled
me aside and he told me, you remember when you go out in this
community, everything you do reflects on me and on your family. Now you pay attention to what
you're doing. You think about what you're doing
because it reflects on me. Well, that's what he's telling
us. We're sons and daughters of the Almighty and everything
we do reflects on our Father. Now, remember that. Keep that
in mind as we walk through this world. We've been given the promises
of our Father, promises of mercy, promises of grace, promises of
the forgiveness of sins. In this epistle, Paul has dealt
with the promises of the resurrection, of eternity, face to face with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at 2 Peter chapter 1. all these promises of God. 2 Peter 1 verse 3, According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises. that by these exceeding great
and precious promises ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust. And because of these promises,
and besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance,
and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to
godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. Because of these great and precious
promises, because of who your father is, add these things. Conduct yourselves as children
of the king. We've been given all things. We've been promised all things. We've been given the nature of
our father. And because Christ has done so
much for us, let's walk as obedient children. That's what Paul's
teaching is here. Walk as obedient children who
are motivated by love for our Father. You know, for good or
bad, our children typically act like us. They've got our nature,
and they follow our example. For good or bad, what they typically
do is follow our example, whether they want to or not, because
they're taught by our example. Well, God's children have been
given the nature of our Father, the nature of Christ. We have
His example in the Word to follow. Look over at 1 Peter chapter
1. Walk as obedient children. We
have the nature of Christ and we are to follow His example.
In 1 Peter 1 verse 14. As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lusts and your ignorance, but
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy. For I am
holy." Follow his example of holiness. So Paul says, now follow
his example and let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh. Now we know we cannot cleanse
ourselves from the sins and corruption and filth of this flesh, can
we? Christ has already cleansed his people by washing us in his
blood. We can't cleanse ourselves. That's
a work of God. Christ has washed us in his blood. He is our righteousness. He is
our sanctification. This is a work of God. God has
created in us a clean heart and we're cleansed from sin all by
and in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. But here, Paul's not
talking about the cleansing of sin and justification. He's talking
about a daily cleansing, the cleansing of our walk through
this world. Back in chapter 6 and verse 17,
this is what he's talking about. Our walk through this world.
Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. This is washing ourselves
in our daily walk. Now, we walk through this world
in a sinful body, a fleshly sinful body, walking through a world
of sin. When you walk through that world,
your feet are going to get dusty. They're going to get dirty. Look
over in John chapter 13. This is what I believe he's talking
about here. In John 13. Verse 8, this is where the Lord
had begun to wash the feet of his disciples. And in verse 8,
he comes to Peter. And Peter saith unto him, Thou
shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith
to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every whit. And ye are clean, but not all.
For he knew who should betray him, therefore he said, Ye are
not all clean. He said, Peter, you're washed.
All needs to be washed is your feet, because as we walk through
this world that we get dirty, the filth of this world on us.
And we wash ourselves daily. The exact same way that we're
washed in justification, it's by the blood of Christ. Look
over Revelations chapter seven. In Revelation 7 verse 13, And
one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which
are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now
they washed their robes. That's not talking about the
washing of justification. Christ did that. Christ took
them and washed them. This is the cleansing of our
daily walk. And we cleanse ourselves by constantly
looking to Christ. I promise you, nothing will correct
our behavior and correct our attitude more than seeing Christ,
than seeing Christ preached, than seeing Christ when we read
him in the Word. And we're told here to cleanse
ourselves, to cleanse ourselves from fleshly corruption, to cleanse
ourselves from all manner of outward sin so that we have an
honest, upright walk before men. We ought to be known as children
of God, as people of honesty and kindness and generosity,
to be known as, as the world speaks, as good. men and women,
to be good husbands, to be good wives, to be good employees out
on the job, to be a good neighbor. That's cleansing our walk in
the flesh. But Paul goes on here. Now, don't
just clean the outside of the cuff and platter. Don't just
cleanse ourselves from this, the outward motions of sin. Cleanse
ourselves from the filthiness of the spirit from within. Cleanse
ourselves from pride and envy. and hatred and self-righteousness. That's things of the Spirit.
Look over in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4 verse 21. Verse 20 says, But ye have not
so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off concerning
the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind. That ye put on a new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness, wherefore putting away lying.
Speak every man truth with his neighbor. We are members one
of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. Neither give place to the devil, but him that stole,
steal no more. But rather let him labor, working
with his hands, that thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." That's
what he's talking about, cleansing ourselves from the filthiness
of the flesh outwardly. and the spirit inwardly, that
we have the right attitude and motive. We cleanse ourselves
because this is the life, this is the walk that the Lord's called
us to as his children. So he says perfecting holiness
in the fear of God. And what he's talking about there
is carrying on a life of holiness. You know, it doesn't mean that
you're going to perfect your holiness and make yourself perfectly
holy. But that is our goal. Even though
we know we'll never reach close to it. That's our goal. Every
day is perfect holiness. And not out of a sense of fear
of punishment. Not out of a sense of fear, well,
if I don't do, you know, reach a certain level of holiness,
the Lord's going to punish me. No, it's out of a sense of love
and respect to our Father for who He is and what He's done
for us. And Paul tells these, gives this
admonition to those he calls dearly beloved. You see how tenderly
Paul talks to the brethren? Dearly beloved. He's telling
people who are so dear to him the importance of looking to
Christ. And the result of that is a holy
walk. The importance of faith and conduct. You cannot separate
them. They go hand in hand. And one
of the best ways To cleanse ourselves from a bad attitude and bad conduct
is to hear and receive the message of Christ. That is the best way
to cleanse ourselves, because sheep have to be fed. Look at
verse 2. This is what he says in verse
2. Receive us. We've wronged no man. We've corrupted
no man. We've defrauded no man. Receive
us. Receive our message and love
us. for the sake of the message of Christ. If you want to cleanse
yourself from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, receive the
message of Christ. Be here to receive it, to hear
it, because that's how you're washed. That's how you grow.
That's how you learn. Paul says in our message, we
haven't wronged anyone. We haven't corrupted anyone or
defrauded anyone. Well, for God's children, that
certainly ought to be true. We're not out here defrauding
someone, wronging someone, corrupting someone. The opposite of our
nature. But this applies to our preaching.
Our doctrine hasn't wronged anyone. This doctrine, the doctrine of
Christ, will not lead anyone the wrong way because Christ
is the way. Our preaching hasn't corrupted
anyone because our preaching is the sincere milk of the Word. Our preaching is the incorruptible
Word of God. It's impossible for the Word
to corrupt you. And our preaching hasn't defrauded
anyone. God's servants don't preach to
you to get something from you. They don't preach to you to make
merchandise of your souls. We preach to you for your gain.
Not to defraud you, but for your gain. That you might gain Christ. That you might win Christ and
be found in Him. That you might be cleansed in
His blood. That's the purpose. And not to
defraud you. It's for your gain. For your
eternal gain. Now that's the way Paul, this
is the man they've known. This is the man that spent time
in their town preaching to them. Now it's hard to understand how
someone's love for the man who preached the gospel to them can
change. But it does. It changed here. In some way, the folks there
in Corinth have become alienated from Paul. They've become alienated
in their hearts from the man who gave himself to preach the
gospel to them. Now for me, that draws a harsh
reaction. I need that to be cleansed. That's
the wrong spirit. Paul, rather than being harsh,
deals with them humbly. See there how humbly he deals
with them? And I know this is why. He cared more about them
than his own feelings. He cared a whole lot more what
they thought of Christ than what they thought of him. He took
himself out of the equation. to preach the gospel to them.
Look what he says in verse 3. I speak not this to condemn you,
for I have said before that ye are in our hearts to die and
live with you. Now, Paul wrote this letter,
the first letter to the Corinthians, to correct some bad behavior,
to correct a wrong spirit in the church. And he didn't write
that letter to condemn them. He didn't write that letter to
expose them and just really publicly get on them and make himself
feel better. He wrote that letter to correct
them because he loved them. If he didn't care anything about
them, he wouldn't have written to them to correct them, would
he? He took the time to write that letter to correct them because
he loved them. Parents do the same thing. We
correct our children. We discipline our children because
we love them. And we want the best for them.
If I didn't love my girls, I wouldn't have bothered correcting them
and spanking them. We don't enjoy correcting them. That's the last
thing we want to do. That's just what I look forward
to doing. My kids were little, coming home and spanking them.
That's just what I look forward to all day. Of course not. We hate that. But we do it anyway
because we love them. And that's why Paul, he didn't
want to write that letter. That's the last thing he wanted
to have to have happen. But he did it because he loved
them. Look over at Proverbs chapter 27. He did this out of love. Proverbs 27 verse 5. Open rebuke is better than secret
love. Faithful are the wounds of a
friend But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Faithful are the
wounds of a friend, if it's necessary, and done in love. It's done for
your good. And that's why Paul wrote that
letter, for their good, to correct these things. And he said, I
did that because you're in my heart. I love you. You're in
my heart. And neither life nor death is
going to change that, even if I have corrected you. I hadn't
changed it a bit. Now, verse 4, he says, he goes
on in telling why he was so plain, plain spoken and corrective manner.
Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my glorying
of you. I'm filled with comfort. I'm
exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. He says, I'm speaking, I feel
very free to speak boldly to you, no matter what the circumstance.
Because the closer you are to someone, the more comfortable
you feel speaking very plainly to them. You know, my brother
Jonathan and I, are very, very close. And we speak to one another,
and our term is an unvarnished manner. Unvarnished. You don't have to think about
how to say it. You don't have to be careful about how to say
it. We'll understand. And if you say it wrong, it's
okay. Because we're so close, it's not going to matter. Unvarnished
conversation between two people who are so close. Now, someone
that you're not all that close to, that you don't know that
well, you're much more reserved. You're much more careful how
you say something to them because you just don't know them very
well. They don't know you very well. But it can be unvarnished
with someone that you're so close to. Well, Paul felt comfortable
being unvarnished with the Corinthians because he loved them, because
they had a close union. And despite everything that had
gone on, he says, great is my glorying of you. I rejoice in
your faith. in your love and your generosity. I find comfort in your faith
for Christ and in your fellowship with me. And even these trials
that are going on does not affect that attitude. Even how you may
have reacted in a time of trial does not affect that attitude.
Now, remember what's going on here. The Corinthians had changed
their attitude about the apostles. And I promise you that was a
trial for the Apostle Paul. He didn't like that. He worried
about it, but he still rejoiced in their faith and in the grace
that God had shown them. He was confident that despite
everything that go on, they would be corrected. He was confident
of that because of their faith and love. So he goes on in verse
five. He says, for when we were coming
to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on
every side. without were fightings, and within
were fears." Everywhere Paul went, he met with persecution
over the gospel. Look over in 2 Corinthians 1
verse 8. For we would not, brethren, have
you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia. See, he had that trouble in Macedonia,
then over in Asia, he had this trouble. Trouble that was so
much, we were pressed out of measure, above strength, in so
much that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence
of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raised up the dead. He had this trouble in
Macedonia, and he had it in Asia too. Look over at 2 Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3. See, this happened everywhere
Paul went. Chapter 3, verse 11. Persecutions
and afflictions which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at
Lystra, which persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord
delivered me. He had these persecutions everywhere
he went. Now he goes to Macedonia and
the same thing. Same thing's happening. And the persecution
was so great, he just couldn't find any place of rest for his
flesh. He was just surrounded on every
side by trouble. And he was just wore out with
it, with preaching the gospel, with meeting this resistance
to the gospel. He was just utterly wore out
with it. Henry said in his outline, the
road of faith is not an easy road. And the Apostle Paul could
attest to that. This was not an easy road. He was tired. He had a fight
with those who are without the church, with unbelievers. But
he endured fighting the good fight of a faithful soldier. And that's what he was called
to be, a soldier. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul was called to be a faithful
soldier, to fight this fight of faith. And he told Timothy,
you're going to face the same thing, because every one of God's
preachers are called to this, to this fight, the fight of faith. 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. This charge I commit unto thee,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. You're in
a warfare. Holding faith, and here's how
you fight that warfare. Holding faith and a good conscience. Which some, having put away concerning
faith, have made a shipwreck. But you won't make a shipwreck
if you hold faith and a good conscience. Look over at 2 Timothy,
chapter 2. Timothy, even when you get tired,
even when there's no rest for your flesh. 2 Timothy 2, verse
3. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You contend for the faith. You fight this battle with the
word of God. And Paul fought this battle without,
with the word of God. Preaching and teaching the word
of God. And he used the same word to comfort the fears of
those who are within the church. It's the same message whether
it's to those who are without or to those who are within. It's
the same message. And Paul had to fight with heresy
and unbelief and false prophets, those without. He found he had
to fight unfaithfulness within the church. And that fight caused
even the great Apostle Paul to have fears within. He feared
for his life. I mean, despite enduring this
as a hard soldier, He feared for his life. This wasn't just
a small thing to him. He feared for his life. He feared
for the souls of men. I bet there are nights he lay
fearing. His ministry had failed. Hearing the things that went
on in Corinth, he thought, well, my soul. Didn't they listen? Didn't that preaching do any
good? He feared these things. Because all those fears go through
a sinful heart and mind that we have. And I know one of the
fears that was running through the mind of the apostle was wonder
how that first letter to the church there in Corinth is being
received. Wonder if they're angry about it. Wonder if they're upset
about it. Wonder what's going on, you know. Because communication
was slow in those days. You know, today we have email.
You know, you think communication is slow. You don't hear somebody
in an hour and a half. You know, Facebook's hollering.
She's all upset. She hadn't heard from her in
an hour. Communication is so fast. Then it took months. And
he feared how this correction was being received because the
human mind runs to the worst case scenario every time. That's
just what we think is going to happen. And that happens to us,
doesn't it? Fears within. Just the mind runs
to the worst case scenario. Well, when that happens to us,
what's our comfort? What's our strength? Same as
the Apostle Paul, verse 6. Nevertheless, God that comforted
those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus. Our
fears, Paul says, were great, but our God is never less than
our fears. He's never less. The comfort
of our Father is never less than our greatest need. The Lord comforts
the brokenhearted. He strengthens the weak. He encourages
the depressed. The Lord chastens, and he does
chasten his children and sends trial, but he always sends comfort
equal to the trial. Always. That's one of these promises
that we have. Having this promise, therefore,
dearly beloved, let's cleanse ourselves. The Lord has always
saved and comforted the brokenhearted, the humble ones. This phrase,
cast down, means the humble ones. And one of the ways the Lord
comforted Paul was sending Titus to visit. Now the Lord can use
many different means to comfort his people. And one of those
ways is the fellowship of the brethren. Here Paul is with these
fightings without and fears within. And who arrives but his son,
his son in the common faith, Timothy. And I can just imagine
the fellowship that they enjoyed. I'm confident they got along
and had some unvarnished conversations. They may not smoke a cigar like
me and Jonathan do, but they had an unvarnished conversation.
And Paul was comforted just by seeing Titus, just to get to
sit and visit with him. And that's what we do for each
other. We can comfort one another by being together, having fellowship
together. That's that's one of the means
the Lord uses to comfort his people. But Paul was even more
comforted, more encouraged by the news that Titus brought him
of Corinth. Look at verse 7. And not by his
coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in
you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent
mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more. Titus apparently had
gone to visit the church in Corinth before he came to Paul. And Paul
heard about Titus' visit. Titus was very encouraged by
his visit. He found that he was received
lovingly. He saw people who had taken Paul's
correction and taken it to heart, who worked to erase the divisions
that had gone on among them. He found this incestuous affair
had stopped, that people weren't taking one another to courts
of law anymore, that they'd restored the correct worship for the Lord's
table. He'd seen behavior that had changed because they had
a spirit that changed. cleansed of the filthiness of
the flesh and the spirit. He found a people mourning. They
truly hated that they caused this division and this trouble
and that they brought reproach on the gospel. They're mourning
over these things. Titus found a people who maybe
hadn't changed their attitude about Paul after all. Maybe they
realized how much they appreciated him and appreciated the message
that he preached. And they began walking like God's
children again. And that was the best news Paul
could have heard. Look over in 3 John. That's the
best news he could have heard. No wonder he was so encouraged. In 3 John 3, John found something
very similar. For I rejoiced greatly when the
brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even
as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in the truth. And Paul was happy
that they took his correction. And that's exactly what a wise
man will do. Look over Proverbs 28. This is
exactly what a wise man will do. He'll take correction. Proverbs
28. And he'll make a good friend
for it. Verse 23. He that rebuketh a man afterwards
shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue."
You know, we might prefer hearing the one that flatters us with
the tongue, but if we need correction, we need that rebuke, we don't
like to hear it at first. But afterwards, he shall find
more favor. Those folks in Corinth loved
Paul even more now that he corrected them. Now that they'd seen their
errors of the way and they appreciated him more. Because Paul told them
what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. And
that's what we need. We need a man who will tell us
what we need to hear. Not just always what the flesh
wants to hear. He'll tell you what the new man
wants to hear. What that new man loves to hear is the Lord
Jesus Christ. But he'll tell us what we need
to hear. That man's your friend. And that's what they found out.
All right.