And what a wonderful time of singing we had this morning. Will you take your Bibles and turn to First Corinthians chapter four. We will resume where I left off prior to my sabbatical a few months ago, and this morning, we will be looking at verses 14 through 21, First Corinthians, chapter four, and I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, "A Life Worth Imitating"... a life worth imitating; before we look at the text, I'd like for you to think about some things with me. Human beings are, by nature, imitators. All we have to do is watch our children - monkey see monkey do, right? Just look at the fashion that we have today. Look at our youth in particular. Whatever is in vogue, whether it's hair styles, tattoos, clothing, shoes, glasses, you name it, we imitate one another. We tend to do that. But because of our fallen nature, very often, we imitate the wrong people. Now God has told us, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." But sinful man says, no, I have no interest in holiness. I want to do my own thing, and I will imitate those who impress me. And typically, in every culture, the impressive ones are the celebrities. In our culture, it's the athletes and the actors and the actresses, or the rappers and the rockers or whatever; imitate anyone who can help me gain attention and somehow boost my self- image. And there seems to be no limit and no parameters on the type of people we will imitate.

Recently, a Brown University study was released. Maybe you are aware of it. There's a university study on transgendered people by Lisa Litman, a behavioral scientist, and her study focused on what is described as, quote, "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents and Young Adults." And as you read the study, you see it talks about gender dysphoria that was not present in early youth but suddenly manifested itself within days and even weeks in teens and young adults. And we're seeing this all across the country, people who, all of a sudden, parents, all of a sudden have, for example, a 13-year-old girl that seems normal, and suddenly she tells you, I'm really a man. I'm really a male trapped in a female body. The study concluded that social media and friends are the primary influencers of a teen that wants to change their gender identity. In other words, it's peer pressure, not biology. And of course, you know how this works, especially in young people. I want to imitate someone that will help me gain attention. And of course, with something like this, since most people are not going to join in with that delusion, you are going to be a victim, at least in your own mind, in the minds of many other people, and so you can join the elite ranks of the oppressed and get attention and so on and so forth.

Litman said, quote, "A group with 50% of its members becoming transgendered identified, represents a rate that is more than 70 times the expected prevalence for young adults." End Quote. Additionally, she said that, "62% of parents reported their teen or young adult had one or more diagnoses of a psychiatric disorder or neurodevelopmental disability before the onset of gender dysphoria," and, "48% reported that their child had experienced a traumatic or stressful event prior to the onset of their gender dysphoria including being bullied, sexually assaulted, or having their parents get divorced."

Now, as expected, the LGBTQ community did not like this, and so five days after the study was posted, it was yanked from the website because of all of the complaints of it being what they call "transphobic." But folks, my point here is not to talk about the whole transgender issue. I think you can all see through that, but to say how sad to have young people that are hopeless; that need something. They're looking for something. They're blinded by their sin. They're blinded by Satan. They're in desperate need of the gospel. They need the saving and the transforming truths of Christ so that they can be conformed into his image and start imitating Christ, not imitating others that they think will somehow gain them attention and approval.

So the question before us this morning, as we approach our text is, what kind of person should we imitate? What are the qualities of a person worth emulating? What makes a life worth imitating from God's perspective. And our text this morning will address this very important issue.

Now let me give you the context before we read the text. Like every church today, the church in Corinth was plagued by immature believers who were greatly influenced by their culture. They had come to faith in Christ, but Paul called them in First Corinthians 3:1, "men of flesh." They were still fleshy, being ruled by their flesh. He called them babes in Christ. So they are believers who are being ruled by their flesh rather than by the Spirit, and as a result, you can see a whole host of sins that's going on there. They are arrogant, they are worldly, they are immoral. There...some of them are struggling with drunkenness, jealousy, strife, disunity. It was a mess. As you may recall, many of them were infatuated with the wisdom of the world, and they were therefore the church was plagued by factious sectarianism and personality cults, which was really characteristic of the great culture that they lived in.

And all of this is, of course, characteristic of self-centered pride; the root of all sin that causes us to rebel against God's standard and prefer instead to do our own thing and therefore exalt ourselves. And in the first 13 verses of chapter four, Paul, sternly rebukes them for all of this; but then, like every good father would do, after disciplining his child, he embraces them with tender affection, and he explains to them why his discipline and their obedience is so very, very important. And in his response to them, dear friends, we can learn about this godly apostle, and in him, we can see a life worth imitating.

Now, let me read the text to you, beginning in verse 14,

"I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ, Jesus, I became your father through the gospel.

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

For this reason, I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

Now, some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.

What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?"

Beloved here is a life worth imitating. Before we look at it closely, may I ask you to ask yourself, "Can I honestly say to my spouse, to my children, to my friends, to my coworkers, 'I exhort you be imitators of me?'" If you were to say that, would those who know you best say, "Yeah, right." Or would they say, "Yes, I want to be like you, I want my kids to be like you." Would your spouse say to your children, "O, dear son, dear daughter, I pray that you grow up to be like your father or like your mother." Would your closest friends and associates say to their children, "I pray that you will grow up to be a man or a woman just like you."  It's been my observation over the years that there exists a marked difference among Christians, especially among men. Very few, would have what I would call, a godly presence about them.

Now, what I mean by a godly presence is a man, for example, that has a noticeable aura of godliness about him, a man like Jesus, a man who has a palpable sense of humility and love so strong that it draws you into his presence; a man who exudes spiritual strength and confidence and boldness and wisdom; a man that has a notice noticeable fervency about him that marks him as a man of God - a man on a mission, a man that is so lost in the majesty and the wonder of God, he's so filled with the divine presence that there seems to be nothing in the world that can cause him to despair, or can cause him to be distracted from worshiping and serving Christ. This is that man whose authority enters a room with him and commands respect without ever asking for it. I'm speaking of that extraordinary man that, as Paul says, "is full of the Spirit and of wisdom," which, by the way, were the qualifications for a deacon among the early saints in Acts six. This is that exceptional man who has such a great likeness to Jesus that that he actually emanates the power of Christ in his life, and people can see it; a life that is mysteriously transcendent and profoundly influential. You just don't see much of that. A man that manifests what Paul described in Ephesians one verse 19, as "the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe in accordance with the working of the strength of His might," of God's might, a man with personal power that only comes "from Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us."

And I've noticed even over the years, among pastors, very few can open up the Word of God with divine authority and then literally disappear behind the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ, and then bring men and women, young and old, into the presence of the Most HighGod with convicting power. I have not known many such men, and I can only pray that I could become one; but when I have been around them, and when I have heard them preach, and when I have read what they have written, I instantly sense a godly presence; a godly presence that comes only from the unrestricted rule of the Spirit of God in that man's heart, this is the kind of man that you want on your side when you go into battle.

Now, there are many examples of such men in Scripture, like Peter and John. Remember in Acts four, who because of their confidence and their boldness and knowledge beyond their training amazed the sanhedrists who, quote, "began to recognize them as having been with Jesus." Men like Stephen, who, according to Scripture, was a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, full of grace and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people; a man whose face was like the face of an angel, a man who prayed for God to forgive his murderers. And certainly, men like the Apostle Paul who, despite enormous opposition, fought the good fight throughout his life, finished the race, kept the faith. The godly men of Scripture understood what Paul meant when he said, "For this purpose, also, I labor striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." This is what we see, dear friends, being manifested in this gentle but forthright response that the apostle Paul gives to the saints at Corinth.

Now Paul is going to make it very clear, as you're going to see, that talk is cheap. Talk is cheap. What matters is how you live. Do you practice what you preach? Because he is going to say in verse 20, which is really the very heart of the passage, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power." You see, the arrogant Corinthians were convinced that their wisdom, their deep philosophies, proved the presence of the kingdom of God. They believed the power of God was in their words, in their assertions, in their speculations. Paul is saying, no, no, no, no, not at all. The kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power - divine power - the kind of power that the Spirit uses to produce genuine repentance, genuine saving faith, genuine regeneration, where God raises the spiritually dead to spiritual life and a whole galaxy of other Christian virtues that can only come by the power of the Spirit. And here we see what a Spirit-empowered life worth imitating really looks like.

Now I will warn you, as we examine this text, you're going to see that these are virtues that the world knows nothing about. In fact, these will be virtues that the world will absolutely laugh to scorn. But I would suggest that there are at least four virtues that drive a godly man and a godly woman. Folks, if you want to have a life worth imitating, you like Paul, will be committed to four things. Let me give them to you briefly, evangelism, number one; discipleship number two; godliness, number three, and purity number four - especially purity in the church.

As we will see, by evangelism, I'm referring to a man or a woman that is committed to boldly proclaiming the gospel to the lost. By discipleship, I'm referring to those who will do whatever they can to invest their lives into other people, to help them grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ. And by godliness. I'm talking about a personal pursuit of holiness that manifests itself in a life of humility and love and Christlikeness. And by purity, I'm talking about a person who is committed to the church, that the church will bring glory to Christ. I hope this will be helpful to you, as it has been to me personally. Let's look closely at the text.

First of all, with respect to evangelism, I want to begin with 15 rather than 14. Notice what he says, "For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." I read that wrong, but the point that I'm trying to make here is that he's pointing about these tutors in Christ, rather than him being just the father...if you had a whole lot of tutors, in other words, people, by the way, in that culture, they were, they were typically slaves, they were paid attendants. They were, they were doing this out of out of duty, so to speak, not out of desire, not out of love, rather than the way he would do it as a loving father.

Jesus used a a similar juxtaposition, shall we say, when he contrasted the good shepherd, remember with the hireling and Paul's point here is because I loved you as a father, I'm not going to treat you as a tutor. "If you were to have countless tutors in Christ," he says, "yet you would not have many fathers for in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the gospel." And now bear in mind that Paul had led most of these people to faith in Christ, right? God had used him to do that, and that's what we do. We plant the seeds, but it's God that causes them to germinate, "in the exercises of his will," we are told in James 1:18, "He brought us forth by the word of truth." And you will recall in Acts chapter 18, there is a record of Paul's ministry at Corinth. We've gone over it before, but you will remember that Corinth now is an exceedingly depraved, vile, decadent, idolatrous culture, and what's fascinating is that in the midst of a fierce opposition, especially among the Jews, who blasphemed Christ, he spent a year and a half planting this church. And in chapter one of First Corinthians, in verse 23 he says, "I preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, to Gentiles foolishness." That's how they perceived his message. And he went on to say, in chapter two, beginning in verse three, that, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

Folks, this is the kind of man I want to be. This is the kind of man I want to imitate. You can have your athletes, you can have your actors, you can have your actresses, you can have your rappers and your rockers, I want to be like Paul. Because Paul was like Jesus, and ultimately,we want to be like Christ. In fact, Paul said in First Corinthians, 11 and verse one, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." And therefore, like Christ, Paul had a passion for evangelism. That was his priority. He had a burden for the lost. And I ask you, do you have a burden for the lost? When you get around lost family members and friends, do you find yourself just being kind of consumed with sorrow, knowing that many of them will perish in their sin, that many of them will one day stand before a holy God and have to give an account? Folks, the only life worth imitating is a life lived in obedience to Christ, and Paul was obedient to Christ's great commission, to make disciples of all nations.

In fact, true disciples will always be, as Jesus said, "fishers of men." In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, "'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" You see, Paul knew that the salvation of sinners brings great joy and great glory to God. In fact, it fills believers with a contagious joy. Even the angels in heaven, Jesus said in Luke 15, verse nine, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." You see, Paul had a zeal for the glory of God, and that zeal manifested itself in his zeal for evangelism; to see sinners converted and come to a saving knowledge of Christ. And therefore, he was bold in his proclamation of the gospel. That's the kind of life worth imitating. You show me a man with no burden for the lost, and I'll show you a man that has a life that is bereft of spiritual power and not worth imitating. Oh, he may be moral, he may be kind, he may be generous and even religious; have many wonderful qualities, but if he has no burden for evangelism, he is a spiritual pygmy. He has no power in his life; there will be no godly presence about him. He's not being led by the Spirit, but by the flesh. He's not obedient to God, so he will not enjoy the blessings of God.

Can I make this real practical? Young ladies, listen to me. Don't ever even date a young man who has no burden for the lost. Young men don't ever even date a young woman who has no interest in proclaiming the gospel to the lost - because their life is not worth imitating. Why would you want to marry someone whose life is not worth imitating? Oh, but he goes to church,and he says he has a burden for the lost. Wonderful. Does he practice what he preaches? Remember, talks cheap. For the kingdom. Paul says, of God is does not consist in words, but in power. Dear friends, the proof is in the pudding, not in the recipe. Paul could point to a godly life and see how the Spirit of God had used him. And therefore, he could say, "imitate me."

And I might add that a man's disregard for evangelism proves not only his lack of zeal for the glory of God, but also his lack of gratitude for his own salvation; both are equally despicable and unworthy of imitation.

Well, not only was he committed to evangelism, but secondly, to discipleship. Now we go to verse 14. He says, "I do not write these things to shame you but to admonish you as my beloved children." Admonish means to warn or to instruct, even to reprove or exhort. You see, like any godly father, he loved his spiritual children enough to discipline them and disciple them, to invest in them, to give them admonishment, correction, instruction and so forth.

I have to give you an example we have the joy of caring for our three-year-old granddaughter. And if you know anything about three-year-olds, as some of you do, there is a new story every day, almost every hour. Well, this last week, she decided to remove a cup of boiling water from the microwave with a hot mitt from the drawer, thinking that that's somehow what you're supposed to do. I immediately saw it and said, "Oh, honey, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that. You'll burn yourself." So what did she do? Well, she took the mitt, threw it on the floor, and stomped off. And I said, "Pepper, come back here. Come back here. Pick up the mitt, put it in the drawer." And you know what? She told me, "You pick it up." Well, of course, I just laughed and said, "Oh, what a cute little stinker." No, not at all. Papa immediately went into discipline mode, and I would say that within about one minute, she had a PhD in the folly of disregarding Papa's benevolent authority.

Now my purpose in disciplining my precious little girl, I'd give my life for her, you parents all know this. My purpose was not to shame her or hurt her in any way, but help her see the seriousness and the consequences of sin, the profound danger of rebelling against God's authority. And certainly, Paul's children, here in the faith in Corinth, were also living in rebellion. In the previous section, he's rebuked them strongly. Quote, “as his beloved children." And he's going to give further admonition and the rest of First Corinthians, and in fact, in Second Corinthians two and verse four, he is going to write and say to them, "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, not so that you would be made sorrowful, but you might know the love which I have, especially for you." Folks, this is discipleship. This is intentional one-anothering. This is coming alongside our wife, or our husband, or our children or whoever God places in our pathway, and encouraging them in the Lord, warning them perhaps, teaching them, maybe even rebuking them. Again, because the Kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.

Now, I'm not talking about becoming a Barney Fife and running around with a bullet and a badge and putting everybody in jail. I mean, we don't need that in a church. There's nothing more divisive in a church than having a few know-it-alls running around telling others how to live. And typically, these are people that are bereft of a godly presence people that nobody really wants to imitate. But when a person truly is walking with Christ and longs to see other grow in Christ and has a godly character; when their spiritual maturity and their love and their humility is known by others, then they earn that respect and they can come alongside those that God places in their life; and at least there's a much higher probability that that person is going to hear them.

Paul spoke of this in First Thessalonians, two and verse 10, he said, "You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behave toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. Beloved, this is the heart of a discipler: one who longs to see others follow Christ and enjoy the blessings of Christ so that Christ can be exalted. This is a life worth imitating.

Dads, does that describe you? Moms, does it describe you? Folks, the problem with the church today is that it is absolutely bloated with words, but is it is bereft of power. I mean, think of all of the books and conferences and seminars and articles and blogs and think tanks and surveys and dialog that we have. But where's the power? Think of how so many believers place a premium on education and on degrees and titles and certifications. The heads of Christians today are absolutely exploding with intellectual understanding and theology, but where is the power? Where do you see people really coming to Christ and being discipled in the Lord? Where do you see people growing in Christ? Where do you see men and women with a godly presence? Where's the power?

Where do you see men and women like Paul, who were not only committed to evangelism discipleship, but thirdly, to godliness. And by godliness, I'm referring to that secret devotion to God that manifests itself in Christ, like humility and love and power. Again. First Corinthians, 11 one Paul says, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." Now, mind you, he has described in the previous verses the crucial virtues of a godly leader. Remember, he described them, the apostles, himself included, as as a servant, a farmer, God's fellow worker, a builder, a galley slave, a steward, and now a spiritual father. So in verse 16, he says, "Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me."  Folks, herein is the power of the gospel. This is the power of the kingdom when other people can look at our life and see the power of Christ. In Galatians, four and verse 12, Paul says, "I beg of you, brethren, become as I am..." He's referring there to this idea that he had abandoned all of his efforts to save himself through law keeping and now he's trusting solely in God's grace. He's begging them to be able to sing with him, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling." I'm begging you, "brethren, become as I am."

While speaking about our need to pursue the goal of Christ's likeness, Paul said in Philippians three verse 17, "Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” Folks, can you say that? With respect to separating oneself from habitually disobedient believers, Paul said this in Second Thessalonians, three and verse nine, we, "...offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example." You see dear friends, in every area of Christian living, Paul was an example worthy of imitation. And although he admitted in Philippians, chapter three, remember verse 13, he says, "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it as yet," referring to Christ likeness, he went on to say how he was still pressing... "pressing on toward the gold for the prize of the upward call of God and in Christ Jesus." Referring to the perfected sanctification in heaven. But he knew that in this process, his life was worth imitating, because the Spirit of God continued to manifest his power through him, through his ministry. Therefore, he can say, "I exhort you be imitators of me." Son, I exhort you be an imitator of your father. Daughter, I exhort you be an imitator of your mother. Can we say that?

You've seen how I've conducted myself as your spiritual father, how I've loved you and instructed you in the faith, imitate me in my manner of life, in my teaching, in my evangelism, my discipleship, in renouncing ambition and arrogance, which I have just enumerated and condemned, imitate me in my humility and my self-resignation and in my love and my passionate desire to see others conformed into the image of Christ. It was such a passion for him notice what he said in verse 17, "For this reason," in other words, to help you imitate my life, "I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ." In other words, by his teaching and by his lifestyle, he's going to imitate me and remind you of this. Then he says, "...just as I teach everywhere in every church." In other words, the consistency of Paul's life and the doctrine that he taught, complimented each other wherever he went.

Now, like the Corinthians, the Spirit of God had used the Apostle Paul to bring spiritual life to Timothy; to nurture him and to guide him in the faith. So Timothy is the perfect representative of Paul to help the saints at Corinth imitate Paul and ultimately imitate Christ. It's fascinating to think about it, isn't it? He was so much like Paul, he could help imitate Paul, and Paul knew this. In fact, in First Timothy four and verse 12, you may recall, Paul instructed Timothy. He said, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe." You know, folks, this is the great blessing of having godly parents, right? And of being a godly parent. To have your offspring grow up to be like you, and hopefully you've been a good example. And likewise, in ministry to disciple people, and then have them pattern their lives in such a way as to be like you. And Paul's commitment to personal holiness was the secret to his power.

May I remind you of Colossians, chapter one and verse 28 there, he says this, "We proclaim Him..." there's his commitment to evangelism, alright, "...admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ." There's his commitment to discipleship. "For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." There's his commitment to godliness that unleashes the power of the Spirit of God within him. Over the years, whenever I counsel with people that are struggling with some life-dominating sin, I always want to ask them about their walk with Christ. And more often than not, what you will see is a deficiency in personal piety. They have no secret devotion to God, no hungering and thirsting after righteousness; no desire to walk with him privately, passionately; no habit of prayer; a lack of humility and love for Christ. And so therefore they bear no spiritual fruit because the root is diseased. They have a lot of words, but they have no power. This is especially prevalent in our evangelical culture that has such little regard for personal holiness.

And therefore, it's interesting, in our culture, in evangelicalism, it seldom sees sufficient cause for a man to be disqualified for ministry. Have you ever noticed that? With such a low standard for righteousness, few pastors share Paul's fear of disqualification and his commitment to self-discipline, to guard himself from it. Remember what he said in First Corinthians nine, verse 27, "I discipline my body and make it my slave." Why? "So that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." The great Scottish pastor, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, had a deep commitment to personal holiness, and we should heed his warning seriously, men, especially pastors. And certainly, this speaks to all of us as believers. Here's what he said, "Do not forget the culture of the inner man. I mean, of the heart, how diligently the cavalry officer keeps his saber clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God's sword, his instrument, a trust, trusted and chosen vessel unto him to bear his name in great measure according to the purity and perfections of the instrument. I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, this purity and perfection of the instrument will render the success." Then he says this, "It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God." You see folks, Paul understood what it meant to be filled by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit expressed elsewhere as walking by the Spirit.

And by the way, grammatically, since, since "be filled" is in the passive voice, we as believers are the ones that are receiving the action. And what is that? What is it that we receive? It is the Holy Spirit's continuous and complete spiritual control over our lives so that we can walk in perfect harmony with the will of God and be empowered by his Spirit in all that we do. So, Paul commands us to continue being filled or controlled by the Spirit, and when we do that, we manifest the fruits of the Spirit. And because of his commitment to personal holiness, he was confirmed by one power, the Spirit of God, who controlled him. He was committed to godliness, to being continuously controlled by the Spirit. My friends, that is a life worth imitating.

We must be aware that the world is so seductive. It is so clever Satan's schemes to conform us into the world. And many believers can articulate the gospel; they can preach theology, but they have no power. Bible verses can roll off their tongues, and yet their life is an utter disaster, not worthy of imitation. And without fail, what you will find is those people have no commitment to evangelism, no commitment to discipleship, no commitment to godliness. They're not walking by the Spirit, so they have no power. They're all sizzle and no steak; a lot of words, but no power. Folks, I ask you, does this describe you? I pray that it doesn't, but I fear that it does in the vast majority of evangelicalism today.

And finally, the man or woman whose life is worth imitating will not only be committed to evangelism, discipleship and godliness, but finally, purity. I'm speaking here of purity in the church. Notice verse 18. "Now, some of you have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you." Now, he's dealt with this before, but he uses this word, "arrogant," "physioō" inthe original language, it literally means "bellows." You know what a bellows is that you use to pump air into your fire, to make it kind of enflame more and more. It means to puff or to blow up. And so, what he's saying here is some of you are puffed up. You're full of empty air, you're inflated with your self-value. You show no remorse over your sin, as though I were not going to come to you. Of course, we all struggle with this, and certainly arrogant sinners full of hot air will be big talkers...big talkers, until they have to stand face to face with a man that is filled with the Spirit of God and has a godly presence, and all of a sudden you see something very different. The godly presence of a godly man will silence the most piercing calls of the strutting peacock, even as Paul silenced the mighty Felix and caused him to tremble.

Verse 19, "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power." In other words, I'm not interested in what you have to say, your worldly wisdom, your philosophical rantings - I want to see the manifestation of the power of Christ in your life. Is your life worth imitating? Is it a life filled with humility and love; a life committed to evangelism, discipleship and godliness and purity in the church? Are you bearing fruit for the glory of God?

Verse 20, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power," referring to supernatural gospel; power manifesting the reign of God in his church and in individual believers. I'm not interested in your theology, your empty speeches, your spiritual rhetoric. Show me the Spirit's power in your life. And then he closes and says, "What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?" Like every father would say to a stubborn child, "are you going to humble yourself and obey me, or am I going to have to get more forceful." Make no mistake, dear friends, God is serious about purity in his church. What did God do immediately after he birthed the church at Pentecost? You remember he publicly killed Ananias and Sapphira because of their hypocrisy - a husband and a wife who pretended to be spiritual in order to impress others. And what happened? Acts 5:11, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." Verse 13, "but none of the rest dared associate with them; however, the people held them in esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women were constantly added to their number." Dear friends, there is power.  The power of purity in a church, the power of the gospel. This is why Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God unto salvation." Oh, dear Christian, what has happened to our power? The church, as I say, is bloated with words, but bereft of power. The church needs to tremble before a holy God, so that the world will tremble before the church, even as Mary Queen of Scots, trembled at the prayers of John Knox, to the point where she once said that she would rather face the armies of England than the prayers of John Knox. Friends, too many people today, in our churches, and I fear, some in this church, hold to what Paul calls "a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." And he says, "avoid such men as these." But oh, to have men and women committed to evangelism, committed to discipleship, committed to the humility and love that's a part of godliness, and committed to purity in the church.

So I close this morning, I would ask you, dear friend, have you been brought under the Spirit's power in your life? Have you come to a place where you're convicted of your sin and you tremble before the Most High God, knowing that judgment awaits you? Have you come to a place of despair in your soul and recognize your guilt before a holy God? Dear friend, if this is you, I plead with you to come to Jesus today in saving faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Recognize your utter inability to save yourself. Recognize that there is absolutely nothing that you can do, on your very best day, your greatest righteousness, that will ever impress God, so that you can sing with the saints, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling."

And dear Christian, remember well the theme of this great text. The "kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power." Examine your heart today. Is your life worth imitating? Oh, I pray that it is. If not, won't you confess this? Won't you repent of whatever the Spirit of God brings to your mind and ask him to do whatever it takes to conform you into the likeness of Christ for your good and for his glory. Amen. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for these eternal truths. They resonate within the heart of everyone that you have elected by your love. But oh, Spirit of God, help us to deal with these things every day continuously, as we yield ourselves to the Spirit's control. And if there be one here today that knows nothing of what it means to truly know Christ as Savior, oh dear God, break their heart, give them no rest upon their pillow until they come before the cross and cry out for undeserved mercy and experience the magnificent reality of sins forgiven, of the righteousness of Christ being imputed to them, the miracle of the new birth. Lord, we pray for them that you will do your mighty work. We give you praise for all that you have done, are doing and will do, for it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.