I.  Turn To, Not Just Toward! October 21, 2007  am
• Paul not only preached the word, he cared enough to try to get the people to turn:
• from these vanities unto the living God!
• from darkness to light!
• from power of Satan unto God!
• repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance!
• Why would anyone who DOES care, try to trip up someone trying to turn things in their life around as well as their life itself?
• Wouldn't you be better to encourage - have some grace as they learn and try - maybe even a little longsuffering wouldn't hurt?
• We are to turn to the RISEN Christ through Paul!
II.  When You Don't Make the Turn  October 21, 2007 pm
• What can happen if you keep hanging onto something you know you should turn from!
• I am not sure we actually believed these points made are actually detrimental to us or to our kids...
III.  Without Wrath  October 24, 2007
• I Timothy 2:8
• Why do some folks / parents get angry and some even full of wrath when someone / their child, etc. wants to finally do something right according to Paul's teachings?
• holy hands?
• without wrath?
• without doubting?
• For ladies, I Timothy 2:9 - "in like manner" - means without wrath and doubting for the ladies, too!
• There is nothing from Paul that should even come close to making us have wrath!
• Why do some people, including parents, often get mad at others / including their own kids, young and old, when they want to learn about, how and then DO something in their life that would please God?

For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Introduction and setting of the scene

Verse 1

• cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit
• perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
• But don't panic - yes, this is living to please the RISEN Christ, but it isn't to be done in the manner as expected in the Gospels or demanded by present day holiness preachers and those who are preaching or designing their mission around the Great Commission!

• At least Paul's group had not wronged anyone, corrupted and defrauded nobody

4 - How his folks handled his preaching enabled him to speak boldly. It filled him with comfort; he was even joyful in all their tribulation!

5 - Paul's (and those with him) flesh had no rest - they were troubled on every side!

• For what happened when Paul visited Macedonia, see Acts 16, 20:1 and Acts 20:3
• without were fightings
• within were fears

7 - Titus was also comforted by their response towards Paul!

• earnest desire
• earnest - Ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain; having a longing desire; warmly engaged or incited.  Intent; fixed. Serious; important; that is, really intent or engaged; to be really urging or stretching towards an object; intent on a pursuit.
• mourning
• mourning - the act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow.
• fervent mind toward Paul
• fervent - Ardent; very warm; earnest; excited; animated; glowing;

• A 'letter' would mean it must be I Corinthians.
• Chapters 5,6 on the man who was committing fornication with his 'father's wife.'
• But it must have worked!
• made sorry after a godly manner!
• they were on good ground! Matthew 13:23 - But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
• godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: - sorrow in what you are!
• "I am no good, I need the Lord to show me His way - I will trust Him with my life as well as my soul!" (through Paul, of course)
• Isaiah 6:5 - Then said I, Woe is me!  for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
• Romans 7:24,25 - O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
• Not just getting caught - or being damaged, etc.
• Understanding that your walk now does or does not please God!
• Understanding that now life is about Him, not you!
• Realize that you can not be the one to fix things on your own!
• You can't wait for God to magically fix it, but will dig into the book and see what Christ would have you do - through Paul!
• sorrow of the world worketh death.  Sorrow only in what you did!  Being regretful that you were caught!
• "I have made a real mess of my life.  I've ruined my life, I can't do anything right anymore, I'm a failure, I wish I was dead, etc."  "Maybe I can still fix things 'my way.'
• Matthew 27:3 (Judas)
• Exodus 9:27 (Pharaoh)
• Numbers 22:344 (Balaam)

Main Sermon Content

We will not be dealing with the 'practical' situation as the context presents with a man and his 'mother.'

However, what I want us to see here a way for us to see ourselves all the way through with complete turn UNTO GOD into various areas of our lives!
For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

A few of my personal clearings:

• me - myself - I
• faith - the right kind - faith in Christ working through that Bible - not just magical religion
• music
• Modern Christianity
• Bibles - KJB vs others
• modern churches and organizations
• Great Commission of Jesus to James, John and Peter, etc. vs Greater Commission of the Risen Jesus Christ through Paul
• Old Testament / Gospel guilt trips!
• Preachers that preach growth / money / guilt / shame, etc.
• Authors - Christian Books, etc.
• Denominations - Baptist and Lutheran / 7th Day, etc.
• People who follow the preachers and don't read the Book for themselves
• Sports - Not sports in itself, but what it has become today - and the danger it represents to your children!
• Video games (along with TV actually harm our children physically, mentally - and even spiritually)
• TV / Videos that don't edify but feed the worldly ways to our kids and to ourselves - and that just waste time and suck the brain dry so you can sleep better?
• Out of order women - loud, in authority, immodest, rude, mouthy women who are wrecking the very home & family they say they love!
• Lazy and 'too' busy men who only hear, but don't do!
• Men who do not study the Book!
• Pretenders - can't you at least try!
• Modesty vs Immodesty - in public AND in the home
• guns for Christians
• education today - including homeschoolers and the god that it is, even to Christians!
• today's parenting skills and the lack of desire to put the effort into it - and the lack of priority our children are to parents today, when one considers the spiritual, mental and physical attack towards our children today!
• etc.

• Carefulness
• Heedfulness; caution; vigilance, in guarding against evil, and providing for safety.
• Do you even know how to be careful?
• Ephesians 5:15 - See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
• Proverbs 22:3 - A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
• Do you know what Paul has warned us about - take heed, etc.?
• I Corinthians 3:10 - According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
• I Corinthians 8:9 - But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
• I Corinthians 10:12 - Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
• Galatians 5:15 - But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
• I Timothy 1:4 - Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
• I Timothy 4:1 - Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
• I Timothy 4:16 - Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
• Titus 1:14 - Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
• Do you think you even need to be careful in any matters?
• Do you know what to be careful of?
• Don't forget,II Corinthians 2:11 - Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
 
• Clearing of Yourselves
• Doctrinal Understanding of Paul's Gospel TO US today!
• we oppose ourselves... II Timothy 2:25
• not imputed Romans 4
• no law, no transgression Romans 4:15
• works to burn, but not your soul (sin has already been judged) I Corinthians 3
• my soul has been cut away from my flesh...  Colossians 2:11-16
• all things are become new...  II Corinthians 5:17
• liberty in Christ Galatians 5:1
• It isn't you that did it, it was sin that dwelleth in me.  Romans 7:20
• Romans 7:25 - I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
• Indignation
• Indignation - Anger or extreme anger, mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence.
• God's indignation
• Compare:
• Psalm 78:49 - He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
• Deuteronomy 29:28 - And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
• Jeremiah 10:10 - But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
• Ezekiel 22:31 - Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
• Tribulation - God's time of indignation
• Revelation 14:10 - The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
• Daniel 8:19 - And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
• Daniel 11:30 - For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
• Daniel 11:36 - And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
• Nahum 1:6 - Who can stand before his indignation?  and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?  his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
• Zephaniah 3:8 - Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
• Isaiah 30:27 - Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
• Isaiah 30:30 - And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
• Isaiah 34:2 - For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
• Our indignation
• It's ok to be indignant!
• Look at our past!
• Look at the damage, destruction, disgustingness and death that our past represents!
• Ephesians 2:12 -  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
• Colossians 3:5-8 -  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
• Galatians 5:19-21 - Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
• Philippians 3:13 -  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
• Forget about the past...
• ... and don't laugh and joke about those things, either.
• How much 'fun' do we present our wicked past to our children and grandchildren?
• What have YOU subjected your own children to in your own life that you know was wrong???
• Have we forgotten the shame that our past represents?
• Abhor evil!
• Abhor - To hate extremely, or with contempt; to loathe, detest or abominate.
• Romans 12:9 - Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
• Matthew 18:6 - But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

• Fear
• Judgment Seat still ahead - God is still God, Christ, the KJB, etc. It isn't all just a casual 'good time' working our way back to heaven as little spirit children, etc.
• Realize the damage & hurt you can to do others!
• Putting forth a false testimony that will keep someone from being saved, learning the truth, being edified, etc.
• I Timothy 4:16 - Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
• Philippians 2:12 - Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
• Ephesians 5:21 - Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
• Paul's fear for us
• II Corinthians 11:3 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
• Vehement Desire
• Vehement - very ardent; very eager or urgent; very fervent; as a vehement affection or passion
• Fervent - Ardent; very warm; earnest; excited; animated; glowing
• Fruit to our account!
• Philippians 4:17 - Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
• Answer to Paul's prayers
• Colossians 1:9 - For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
• Towards those things, wehich ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in Paul - adn that we would come to know his doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions and his afflictions!
• II Corinthians 7:7 - 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.
• Zeal
• Zeal - Passionate ardor in the pursuit of any thing.
• Go after it!  Go for it!  Jump In!
• Galatians 4:18 - But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
• Titus 2:14 - Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
• Be prepared - have the right knowledge
• Romans 10:2 - For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
• Revenge
• Revenge - To vindicate by punishment of an enemy.
• Revenge?  I thought we were to leave vengeance up to God?
• God's revenge!
• Nahum 1:2-9 - God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.  The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.  He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.  The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.  Who can stand before his indignation?  and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?  his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.  The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.  But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.  What do ye imagine against the LORD?  he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
• Are we to seek revenge?
• No - God deals with the people!
• Yes - We can seek revenge in what we are needing to turn from as we seek to turn different parts of our daily lives UNTO God!
• From what do we seek revenge?
• Those things that are wrong in our lives - those things that control us - spot our testimony - make the Lord / Bible look bad, please the devil - quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, etc.
• How do we get revenge?
• This is amazing - one verse answers that question!
• Do right according to Paul!
• II Corinthians 10:3-6 - For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
• Pulling down of strong holds!
• cast down imaginations
• cast down every hight thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God
• bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
• revenge all disobedience!