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[Silence] [Unintelligible] If thou, Lord, shouldst keep account of sins, who, O Lord, could hold up his head? [Unintelligible]

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O gracious God, we thank you for the gift of this day and for the privilege to praise you in it. Grant unto us the presence of your spirit and power as we seek to worship you at this hour. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Let us greet one another this morning. Good morning and welcome to the worship of God.

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Now let's sing "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love" on the back of your bulletin. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC] [Music]

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[MUSIC] ♪ When we are walking in the water ♪ ♪ And we praise the Lord ♪ ♪ And the Father and the King ♪

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♪ His Lord and the Lord ♪ ♪ We are blessed to have our Father ♪ ♪ Our Lord ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪

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♪ We are blessed to have our Father ♪ ♪ We will walk in His water ♪ ♪ We will walk every day ♪ ♪ We will walk with each other ♪

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♪ We will walk with each other ♪ ♪ In the day of our sin ♪ ♪ We will rise with each other ♪ ♪ And the glory of Christmas ♪

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♪ We will walk with each other ♪ ♪ And the glory of Christmas ♪ ♪ We will walk with each other ♪ ♪ With each other we will walk ♪

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[MUSIC] ♪ With beauty and strength it stands firm ♪ ♪ And the glory of Christians above ♪ ♪ Above ♪

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♪ Is the glory of Christians above ♪ ♪ And the praise to the Father ♪ ♪ From the Lord be exalted ♪ ♪ And the praise to the Son ♪

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♪ From the Lord be exalted ♪ ♪ Hail, all praise to the Spirit ♪ ♪ Whose grace, love has filled ♪ ♪ With the glory of Christmas ♪

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♪ And of life, and of love ♪ ♪ Hail, to the glory of Christmas ♪ ♪ Our God and Lord ♪ - Amen.

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You may be seated. Our scripture lesson is found in 1st Corinthians. How many of you have your Bibles this morning? Oh, that's wonderful.

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Wonderful. Let me see them again. All right. Let's turn to 1st Corinthians, the 4th chapter,

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the 14th through the 21st verses. 1st Corinthians the 14th chapter the 4th the 4th chapter the 14th through the 21st verses Now let us read that together let's read it in unison let us begin I write not these things to shame you

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But as my beloved sons, I warn you For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ Yet have ye not many fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel Wherefore I beseech you

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Be ye followers of me For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus who is my beloved son and Faithful in the Lord who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways

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which be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some are puffed up as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and will know not the speech of them which are puffed up,

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but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love,

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and in the spirit of meekness? This is our time of prayer together. Let us all unite our hearts as we go to the throne of grace in the pilgrimage of prayer.

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Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, I am honored to express the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast of Julius. (eerie music) (eerie music)

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(gentle music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] We remember all sorts and conditions, remember our sick and our shut-in.

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There's a mistake on the bulletin regarding Sister Lucille Crawford. That should be Naomi Crawford, who was in Seton Hospital for pneumonia. She is supposed to be home now. She left yesterday morning to go home. And Brother Willie Houston passed away and will be funeralized here at our church on Thursday at 3 o'clock.

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So let's remember these families and all others as we pray together. Oh Father, which art in heaven, we thank you, oh God, for this moment of prayer. We thank you for being God, and we thank you for Jesus Christ, for all that he hath done and yet willing to do for us.

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And as we gather around your altar this morning, we pray that thou will forgive us of our sins, the wrongdoings. We pray, oh gracious Father,

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that you will strengthen and encourage us to continue on in this warfare. And as we come this morning, O gracious Father, we pray that thy will bless the sick, the afflicted, the needed everywhere.

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Bless those that are bereaved this morning. And let them know in your own way that all things work to good for them who love you. Father, we come this morning asking that Thy will pour out a blessing upon this church. Bless our pastor, give him strength and courage and a long life to

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preach and to teach Thy Word. Bless this church, church family in a special manner. Bless every church door that's open unto your name. Oh, we thank you for the privilege to gather around your altar. Somebody standing around your altar, standing in need of prayer.

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Somebody's trouble. Somebody have an ailment that they don't know what to do with. someone, oh gracious fathers, seeking peace, but peace just won't come. And we pray that something will be said or done this morning, that someone will see the

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light and glorify thee which are in heaven. Our father, we thank you for life. We thank you for a portion of health and strength. We thank you for keeping the disease out of our bodies.

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We thank you, oh gracious father, for having the use of our limbs. And we thank you, most of all, for using our body as a living sacrifice to tell dying men that you yet live, and they too can live. Now God, we ask that thou will be merciful and kind to all that we are due to bound to pray for.

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We realize time is limited, but you know their needs. You know the needs of this country. And we are living in fear of this and that. So we pray that thy will keep our faith towards the cross, that you are God of our lives,

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and that you will bring us out of this tribulation victoriously. And now Lord, when we have done all that thou have assigned for us to do, we pray that thy will take us and keep us in that place where there will be peace, love, happiness, and contentment. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us all say amen.

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God. [BLANK_AUDIO] [COUGHING] [COUGHING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(coughing) [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[ Music ] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle piano music)

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[Music] (gentle music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC]

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[Music] [Music] ♪ One that after the flesh ♪ ♪ One that after the flesh ♪

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♪ Are one with the spiritual beings ♪ ♪ Are one with the spiritual beings ♪ ♪ To walk that path of flesh ♪ ♪ To walk that path of flesh ♪

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♪ But forget their spiritual beings ♪ ♪ Forget their spiritual beings ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ God, can't you see me coming ♪

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♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ God, can't you see me coming ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Walk in the spirit of peace ♪

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♪ Walk ♪ ♪ Walk in the spirit of peace ♪ ♪ Walk in the spirit of peace, Lord ♪ ♪ In the spirit of peace ♪

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♪ In heaven we pour ♪ ♪ In heaven we pour ♪ ♪ Oh, in the spirit of Christ ♪ ♪ Oh, in the spirit of Christ ♪

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♪ In Christ's name we lift ♪ ♪ His wise commandment please ♪ ♪ So walk with the Spirit of peace ♪ ♪ Walk with the Spirit of peace ♪

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- Amen. We come to our time of giving. Let us all give according to how the Lord has prospered you. Honor the Lord with thy substance

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and with the first fruits of all thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses burst out with new wine. You will notice in your bulletin on the back page an analysis of membership giving near the bottom

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for the first quarter. Our fiscal church year begins with December, so December, January, in February we've just completed the first three months of our financial church year. And an analysis of that reveals that out of 1,039 members that 536 members gave during the quarter and 503 did not. So almost as many did not as did. And this has been

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the pattern of our church. So one of the things we must seek to do is to grow in consistent giving. Christian giving is not only voluntary but it is consistent regularly so in order to

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grow toward God's Standard for our lives and to practice Christian stewardship. It is necessary for us to cultivate Particularly more and more

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These persons and all of us in a way that we should be now you will notice that the budget analysis is One of 50,000 what we should have raised during that period and we raised

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53,000 through the quarter and We at the end of February Needed eleven thousand dollars to be up to date with our budget Now

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If we include last Sunday, which is the first Sunday in a new quarter as to where we are right now We we had Some ketchup in that so we are right now $8,000 behind in the budget as of last Sunday so this is making you aware where we are and

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Just as Jesus stood over against the Treasury and looked and observed what they gave there he still looks today upon us and bids us give

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lovingly and sacrificially. So with that spirit, let us give and let each one of us do that which is within our power

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to strive toward achieving the budget that is set before us. Let us pray. Under you O God we give thanks for the opportunity to give, but without giving our lives wither and

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shiver away and we ask that your spirit may bless us That we may grow in this grace

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in Jesus name Amen We have a special announcement at this time that will be made by Brandon Wilson. Brandon, would you come? Good morning. The youth of Ebeneezer invite you to join us in the observance of youth week which begins today.

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This Sunday we will be observing in the Sunday school and BTU classes. Wednesday, March 14th, we will attend teachers meeting and lead the prayer service. Next Sunday will be the culmination of our activities with youth participate in all the worship services.

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Also, participants in the speaker's tournament will present their speeches. At a later date, the speakers will go to either Houston or San Antonio for the semi-final stage of the competition.

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Our financial goal for next Sunday is $800, and we hope that each of you will give a special contribution to help us reach this goal. Thank you.

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Sisters Thelma Herron and Teresa Matthews are out today because of a sister in Waco, Texas who has suffered a heart attack. So let's remember this family in our prayers. [Silence] Our Youth Week observance will begin at the close of this service with the passing of the keys.

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And we will have the youth observing today. So let us cooperate in every way possible as we undertake the challenge of this particular week. We'd like for our

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visitors to stand if there are those persons present who are not members of this congregation, would you stand now that we may recognize your presence? Oh yes, give us your name again please. All right, this is the Reverend Brother James Francis of Philadelphia who is now in our city and we are privileged to have

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him. He's welcome to join us in the pulpit if he so desires but we're delighted to have you to share with us in our services today. [ Pause ] [ Music ]

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King Jesus lit the candle by the water side, to see the little children when they're truly baptized. Honor, honor unto the dying Lamb. King Jesus lit the candle by the water side, to see the little children when they're truly baptized. Honor, honor unto the dying Lamb.

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Oh, run along, children, and be baptized, mighty pretty maiden, by the water's side. Honor, honor unto the dying lamb. Oh, run along, children, and be baptized, mighty pretty maiden, by the water's side. Honor, honor unto the dying lamb.

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I prayed all day, I prayed all night, my head God sprinkled with the midnight dew. ♪ Honour, honour unto the dying lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, run along children and be baptised ♪

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♪ Mighty pretty maiden by the water's side ♪ ♪ Honour, honour unto the dying lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, run along children and be baptised ♪ ♪ Mighty pretty maiden by the water's side ♪

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♪ Honour, honour unto the dying lamb ♪ As you know we are continuing our series of sermons based on the first epistle to the Corinthians and we come now to consider the last part of the fourth chapter, the 21st verse of that particular passage.

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What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod in love and in the spirit of meekness? The subject of the message, "Sharp stick, sweet spirit." "Sharp stick, sweet spirit." One translation of that passage is, "Shall I come unto you with a stick, or shall I come

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to you with a sweet spirit and in meekness. So our subject is "Sharp Stick, Awe, Sweet Spirit." The words of the Apostle Paul, for the focus of our attention, contemplate a visit by the apostle to the Corinthian Christians. He has been there before, but now he's

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coming back again. He asks the congregation, "How shall I come? How shall meet you? How will we face each other? How will the confrontation be? How shall I come?" The Corinthians have shown that they are puffed up with words. They are rich when it comes to saying and extremely poor when it comes to being.

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They are long on talking and short on doing. Having diagnosed their problem as one of human pride, it's a matter of whether they will be motivated by pride or power, the power of God.

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What is the desire of the congregation concerning Paul's pastoral visit? How will they receive him? That is the question. Persons who live in rural areas often have one Sunday churches or two Sunday churches

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as the case may be. These are the Sundays when the pastor is present. Pastor often lives a number of miles away and the people look forward to what they call the pastoral Sunday.

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This was particularly true in yesteryears when most of our people resided in rural areas. The pastor's visit was a time weighted with expectation. Such is the occasion of Paul's visit. He asked them, "What is your desire concerning my visit?

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How shall I come? Then the Apostle Paul says, "Shall I come with a rod? Shall I come with a big stick? Shall I come with a sharp stick?

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Shall I come in love and meekness?" Let us consider Paul's position. Who is he? What right does he have to write as he does?

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What authority does he have to say what he says? People always ask the question about authority. It was asked of Jesus. By what authority do you do these things, they said.

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It was said that he taught not as the scribes, but as one having authority. From what source is your authority derived? His enemies wanted to know. Now Paul is the pastor of the church.

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pastor he has the authority to give directions. There are those persons who think that the pastor has no authority. They think of him just as a hired hand. They think of him merely as a salaried employee to whom they are to give the orders. There are those who think of the pastor in this manner, but these persons are completely ignorant regarding

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the nature of the pastoral office. The word pastor means shepherd, so the pastor serves as shepherd of the sheep. He is the leader and feeder of God's family. He is the overseer of the flock of God. So you see the pastor is the shepherd of souls. So Paul has the authority to say what he says because he is serving as

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God's Shepherd and as pastor he speaks with authority to the church and the church is under divine obligation to listen and seriously consider the word delivered unto them by the Shepherd. Oh the pastor here wants to know from the congregation how to come before the people. Shall I come with a sharp stick?

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You see the rod that is translated the King James, shall I come with a rod? For the rod is the Shepherd's club, it's the Shepherd's weapon used for beating and driving off enemies of the flock. Not everything that roams among the flock is sheep. There's some wolves in the flock, there's some lions that would invade the

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flock and destroy the flock. They're lions, they're bears. The scripture talks about instances where this happened. And then to put it another way, there are sheep who are in wolves clothing. They look like sheep, but in reality rather they are wolves in sheep's clothing, put that correctly. They look like sheep but

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they are wolves. So here the wolves have a hostile attitude toward the Word of God. The wolves seek to ravage the enemies of the flock, seek to ravage the fellowship and mutilate the sheep they seek to fatten themselves. So the shepherd needs to use a sharp stick in those instances that he might drive away

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the enemies that would destroy the flock. So the shepherd needs the rod, he needs the sharp stick to chastise, to correct. And not only is the rod used to to drive away the enemies, but the rod is also used to guide the sheep in the way that they should go, to chastise them. Should I come, he says, with a sharp stick, should I

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come with a rod to beat you into submission or should I come with the sharp stick to discipline you the rod should I come with the rod well there is a passage that says spare the rod and spoil the child you know we live in a time when we have a great deal of concern about discipline.

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And this is what we call a permissive age. And there are those who belong to that school of psychology who say that you should not use the rod. Don't do that because that will it will mar the individual's personality and the person will be crippled because of the use of the rod. And so to be sure that that

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does not happen you ought to just let the the youngster be free to do whatever he or she wants to do. And that has given rise to what we call a permissive society. But let us look here at the rod because here we have the rod of God. The rod has redemptive value? Ask Moses and Moses would say yes the rod was a means

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of my performing miracles before Pharaoh. It was with the rod that I stretched it out and the waters were parted of the sea and I stretched it out again and the waters came together. There is power in the rod, redemptive value in the rod. And so Paul is asking here, "Shall I come with the rod? Shall I come with the sharp

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stick?" Because you see the rod is to be used if necessary on those who are puffed up with pride in the congregation. In other words, if you read the passage, I'm sure many of you've been reading it That that one of the basic problems here of this church that was located in the in the city of

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Corinth is is not only the fact that they are puffed up with Human wisdom, but the cause of their being puffed up is that they are filled with pride My grandmother used to say that I'm going to whip you boy

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Because you are getting too big for your britches, too big for your britches You know some people only respond to the stick And really what Paul is pointing out here is the need for discipline And that's almost a lost thing in the church today people just don't know they don't think there's any need for discipline

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church of yesterday there was discipline. And you see the basis on which the church is established here in the New Testament really what Paul is doing and we'll follow this through all the consideration of the passages that come later that there is need for discipline in the church.

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Need for discipline. Stern, strict discipline. In order to do that the rod is necessary. That's why God has it. God knows the shepherd has to have the rod if he's gonna lead the sheep. And God has his rod for his children. God has the rod and this is what Paul is talking about.

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Now I'm getting ready to come to visit you but I want to know before I come, will I have to use a sharp stick? Or will I come to you in love and in meekness? What shall it be? That's what he's saying to the church.

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Happy is he that the Lord correcteth. You see, God does not expect. Some people have to be controlled by force. One of the problems in our world today

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we think that we can get things moving the way we'd like for them to be moved just by the use of force. And so we have wars. And we have yet really to come to the point in our

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life together on this planet that we recognize that people cannot be controlled merely by coercion.

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And that brings us to another question here that Paul raises. Shall I come to you in love and in meekness? To come in love, to come in sympathy and in understanding,

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to come in humility, shall I come in love and meekness? You see, really what Paul is saying here is that the tone and temper of his teaching will depend upon the moral condition of the congregation. How shall I come, Paul asks.

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It really depends on you. The apostle, you see, is going to adapt to the need of the people. And the kind of adaptation depends, of course, upon one's knowledge here of the human situation. How shall I come to you?

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I believe that not only do we need to consider how Paul raises this question in his dealings with the people in Corinth, but we need to consider this question in the light of the fact that God asked this question of each one of us. How shall I come to you? Shall I come to you with a rod? Shall I invade your life with a rod to beat

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you and to force you to recognize that I am God, shall I come to you with the rod? Shall I come to you with the fist? Shall I come to you in stern, strict discipline? Shall I come with the rod? Or shall I come in love and meekness? I often say that God has his left hand, that's what we call the wrath of God. You might say

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that that's the expression of the rod of God, then God also has his right hand and that's an expression of his love, his grace, his forgiveness. God has both of these hands and the question is as he deals with us, he asks the question of each one of us how shall I come to you? Is it necessary for me to use my rod right

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here or shall I use my grace of forgiveness love how shall I come to you? He asked that question today. He comes oh yes he often comes with a sharp stick to those who accept only that which is contrary to his will they find themselves rebelling against him time and time again. "How shall I come to you

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today?" he asked. "Shall I come with a sharp stick to hasten and chasten thy will to make known. Shall I come in that manner? Shall I come in love and meekness? For he does come in love and meekness. He comes as a lowly Nazarene. Yes, he comes to dwell among us in the form of his son Jesus. Jesus who humbles himself and

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becomes obedient even to the death of the cross. He comes to us in Jesus Christ. He comes and dwells among us. He comes in humility, yes, he comes in meekness. So meek that when he knocks at the front door and he's rejected that he goes around to the back door. Meekness. So meek that he's born in a lowly cattle shed. So meek. So meek that he walks among men and they don't know who he is. He's so meek. They do not recognize

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many of them that he is the Son of God because he is so meek and they just could not conceive of the meekness of God revealed in such a manner. But he does come in meekness and he also comes as the strong one. Yes he comes as the strong one, he comes wherever we are out there on the stormy seas when the winds

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and waters are raging, He comes. He comes. When our spirits are raging and we find ourselves fearful and frustrated by the circumstances of life, He comes. He comes. He comes. Right where we are, He comes. Comes many times when we find ourselves Not willing to face the circumstances of life and we get ourselves sometimes like Elijah in a cave.

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But he comes. He comes even when we find ourselves in the kind of circumstances where we shut all of the doors and we fasten all of the windows and we refuse to look outside. But God comes right where we are.

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He comes. Comes in times of sorrow. He comes in times of death, he comes right where we are when we are hurting most. God comes. He comes. John out there, the lonely apostle on the Isle of Patmos.

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After he has described all of the conditions and the sufferings of the world and given us a picture of the victory of the forces of righteousness. He sort of pulled back the

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curtain and let us peep into eternity and see how it's all going to end up. And when it's all over, John says, "Come Lord Jesus, come! Come Lord Jesus, come right now!" But the question is, he asks of us, "Shall I come with a sharp stick or shall I come in love and meekness. You know what brothers and sisters, the answer is with

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us. The answer is with you as to how God comes to you. Your spirit of acceptance are rejection. You and I have the answer to the question. There's an old story about a wise man that youngsters decided to see if they could not fool him by taking a bird in the hand to ask the man whether the bird was alive or whether

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the bird was dead. If he said that the bird was dead, they planned to open their hand and let the bird fly away. If he said that the bird was alive, they planned to crush the bird so that the bird would be dead. And so the wise man looked and he said, "As you will, as you will, as you will, as you will, so will it be." And

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that's what Paul is saying, "What will you?" What's your will in this situation? What do you really want? What's your heart's desire? That's the way God comes.

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Shall it be with a sharp stick or a spirit, a sweet spirit of love and meekness? As we come now to our time of decision, our time of dedication,

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the invitation to Christian discipleship. [music] We invite you to come, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, and uniting with the people of God here at Ebenezer.

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[music] [music] ♪ And I know it is God's Spirit of the Lord ♪ ♪ Therefore sing His praises on each place ♪

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♪ And I know it is God's presence of the Lord ♪ ♪ With holy spirit ♪ ♪ Steadfastly now ♪ ♪ Stand by him with us ♪

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♪ In us with your love ♪ ♪ And for his mercies ♪ ♪ We lift our hearts in praise ♪ ♪ For God's people ♪

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♪ With faith in him behold ♪ ♪ If we shall leave this place ♪ ♪ Save Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Save heavenly God ♪

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♪ Save our dear Lord God ♪ ♪ Fill us with your love ♪ ♪ And for his blessings ♪ ♪ We lift our hearts in praise ♪

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♪ For God is love beyond the reign of man, beyond ♪ ♪ And we shall be his words ♪ - Let us pray. Oh, gracious God, our Father,

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we thank you that you come to us in every condition and circumstance. and as the question is raised in our heart of hearts, what will ye? How shall I come to you with a sharp stick or in love and meekness? Grant that in the spirit of penitence and love,

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we shall have that openness to welcome you in our heart of hearts. Grace, mercy, peace be with you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]