In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of holiness and sanctification in the church. He warns against returning to the sins of the world and urges believers to follow the footsteps of the flock, rather than the footsteps of the wolf. The sermon also addresses the issue of discipline and indulgence, highlighting the need for self-control and temperance. Additionally, the preacher discusses the themes of believing and obedience versus doubt and disobedience, emphasizing the importance of unity in the church.

In the whole universe, there is one fellowship, which is the most perfect, which is the fellowship in deity. And this is the fellowship between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. And this fellowship is also the most exclusive. Because there are only three, the Father and the Son and the Spirit. No one else can participate. And this is too holy. And it's perfect. No one is qualified to enter. But we thank God. Because of His love, He is willing to open His fellowship. And to bring men into this fellowship. And Lord Jesus is willing to share this fellowship between Him and the Father with us. And what the Father has shared to Him, He shares to us. So that we can have a portion in that fellowship. And this fellowship, you cannot just enter. You cannot join, but you have to be born again. So we have to be born again. And after we are born again, we are in that fellowship. We can enjoy our Lord. We can enjoy our Father. Now we can enjoy each other. And this is the beautiful fellowship. There is only one fellowship. There is no other fellowship. So Paul said, Is Christ divided? Christ is not divided. There is only one Christ. We are all in that fellowship. And this is the footstep of the flock. But the Corinthian believers, they departed from this fellowship. Their footsteps is the footsteps of division. Because Paul said, There is a family of kleos coming to me. And he informed me that there is division among you. And Paul said, I believe that too. Because some of you said, I belong to Paul. And I belong to Apollo. And I belong to Stephen. Some said, I am of Christ. And you are not of Christ. Christ is my privilege, my monopoly. And Paul said, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? And are you baptized in the name of Paul? Paul counts nothing. Apollo was nothing. And God is all. Brothers and sisters, Here you see in the Corinthian church, Some said, I am for Paul. Because I was saved by his preaching. And some said, I am for Apollo. Because Apollo taught me about the Bible. And some said, I am for Cephas. Because Cephas was the Orthodox. And some said, I am higher than you. I am of Christ. Brothers and sisters, Is Christ divided? At that time they were still together. But they were divided into different divisions. Why that happened? Because they live in the flesh. You know that flesh is always dividing. There are not two flesh that can be in one. Your own flesh is weak. You raise up another person who has a bigger flesh and you say that you are for him. But in reality you are trying to boost yourself. So Paul told them that you are wrong. And Paul counts nothing. Apollo counts nothing. All is yours. You have the Lord. And everything is yours. Paul is yours. Apollo is yours. And the whole world is yours. And you belong to the Lord. And the Lord belongs to God. And this is unity. So brothers and sisters, Now here we have a warning. When we deviate from the footsteps of the flock, We fall into division. The more we divide, the poorer we are. Because if we are in unity, then all the riches of Christ is ours. So brothers and sisters, Here we have to learn a deep lesson. From chapter 5 to chapter 6. We can say that it speaks about holiness and worldliness. Because in chapter 5 verse 7, Therefore purge out the old leaven, That you may be a new life. Therefore purge out the old leaven, That you may be a new lump, Since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feasts, Not with old leaven, Nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Brothers and sisters, Our Lord is the land of Passover. We have already passed the Passover. Now we are in the festival of unleavened bread. We know that the festival of unleavened bread is immediately following the Passover. The unleavened bread is seven days. That means that since we believe in the Lord, We have been united in the unleavened bread. Unleavened represents sin. Sometimes it represents sin in life. Sometimes it represents the heresy in doctrine. But we today who belong to the Lord, We are a new lump. The leaven was taken out. We know that on the festival of unleavened bread, The whole household of Israel cannot have any trace of leaven. And this is the church. The church is a new lump. And the old leaven is taken away. Lord Jesus Christ, through His blood, our sins are washed away. He has saved us from this world. Now we are an unleavened bread. Now we need to follow the Lord with sincerity and truth. And to live a separated life. But we see the Corinthian church. In chapter 5, it tells us the sin that they find among the believers, Are even cannot find in the world. And that brother has committed that sin. And the brothers and sisters just let it alone. Did not think this is a problem. Then they even boast that they themselves are tolerating. They do not have any sense of sin. The church did not rise up and to abolish, to deal with the sin. Completely fall into the world of sin. In chapter 6, we see the brothers went to the court against brothers. Paul said, you belong to the Lord. And one day you are going to judge the angels. Do you have to go to the court in front of the outsiders? Why do you bully your brothers? Why do you not want to be bullied? You really put your Lord to shame. Brothers and sisters, we see the church is holy. Because our Lord is holy. Now the salvation will bring us into sanctification and to be made holy. Then how can we return to the world, to the sins of the world? And this is not the footstep of the flock. This is the footstep of the world. From chapter 7 to chapter 10, we can say this is about discipline and indulgence. We see chapter 9, from verse 24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain it. All those who are holy in the church have discipline. They just want to get a good title. We just want to get a bad title. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown. But we want an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Paul shows us here that he is the one who disciplines his body and brings it into subjection. In the original language he actually says he buffets his body. And this is not to abuse his body. And it is to say that he is a disciplined person. And for the sake of the Lord he has a very disciplined life. But the Corinthians, they just let go. And they write to Paul about marriage. And they write to Paul about eating the meat that has been sacrificed to idols. In other words, they are very loose in the matter of marriage. And they are very loose in the matter of eating the meat that is sacrificed to idols. And they even say that we believe only one God. Now only this God and there is no other God. Now these idols are all false. And therefore to sacrifice to an idol is to sacrifice to nothing. So it doesn't matter if we eat. And also the meat that is sacrificed to idols are the best meat and the lowest cost. Then why can't we eat it? And at that time most of the social activities happen in the temples. Now if we do not go to the temples of the idols then my life is very bland. Paul said yes. You have that knowledge. But the knowledge pops up. Only love edifies. You have to think about those brothers and sisters following. They were worshippers before of idols. Now in behind the idols there were indeed that evil. Evil spirits. After they believed the Lord. They dare not touch these things. Because when they think about eating these things they think that they have a portion in these things. Paul said you eat and drink of the cup and the bread of the Lord and then you go ahead to eat the cup of the evil. And you have to for other people's sake. For other people's conscience. You have to be mindful of the weak. You have to use love to be the reference and the standard of your work. Love. Not according to the knowledge in your brain. Your knowledge may be right. But the knowledge pops up. Now the Corinthians only look to the exterior knowledge and utterance. They do not have. They lack love. They lack life. They indulge their own flesh. So brothers and sisters. So here we see that the footstep of the flock is discipline. Because our Lord is discipline. Do you see the discipline our Lord to himself is to such an extent. And he said for their sake I sanctify myself. Brothers and sisters. And this is the footstep of the flock. From chapter 11 to chapter 14. Now here we can say this is about on one hand is the spiritual order. On the other hand is the carnal liberty. Here we see before God there is an order. Because the beginning of chapter 11 it says. God is the head of Christ. And Christ is the head of man. And the man is the head of woman. Here we see there is an order. Not only in the family but also in the church. When we gather together there is an order. In chapter 14. Verse 40. Let all things be done decently and in order. Our God is not a God of disorder. Our God is a God of peace. Of course this order is not destined by man. And this order is the order of God. We see our God when he rules the whole universe there is an order. Today among God's children there is also order. There is the order of the spirit there. It is not that man who organize the design. It is the spirit of life that brings in a spiritual order. And this is the footstep of the flock. But the Corinthians wants liberty. And they want to do everything according to what is right in their own lives. Now even when they use the gift, they use the gift in order to magnify themselves. They have not thought of edifying others. And this is the way that the Corinthians went astray. In chapter 15 and 16. And we can say that it is about believing and obedience. On the one hand and the doubt and disobedience on the other hand. And Paul says at the beginning we have preached to you what we have received. And you also believe. And if you do not suddenly believe, then what I have preached to you is only the second chapter. But among them there are some who do not believe in resurrection. Then when it comes to chapter 16 And Paul told us And at the end of the chapter He said Those who are dedicated to serving the Holy Spirit I advise you to obey such people And all those who have the same work and the same labor Chapter 16, verse 15 And that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints That you also submit to such and to everyone who works and labors with you. Now along the footstep of the flock we believe and we obey. If we deviate, go astray from this footstep Then we will doubt and we will not obey. So when Paul concluded his letter And in chapter 16, verse 22 He said, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come. If anyone does not love the Lord That love is not agape It is not that absolute love It is not the God-like love Paul does not count Corinthians to be able to receive that word Because they do not understand the agape love of God And Paul said, men, that you do not even have the filial love among men And you have no feeling for the Lord If you have some compassion for the Lord, you will not fall to this extent If you have no feeling for the Lord at all Then you are accursed Because the Lord will come Maranatha Anathema Brothers and sisters This is a very serious word So we see that it is terrible to deviate from the footsteps of the flock Because the Lord is coming We thank God And Paul did not give up Strictly speaking, Paul wrote four letters to the Corinthians according to what we can discover now The first Corinthians is actually the second letter Why is that? Because Paul wrote it in the fifth chapter of the Corinthians Verse 9 He said, I wrote to you in my epistle Not to keep company with sexually immoral people This is not only to keep company with those who are sexually immoral If this is the case, you must leave the world But now, I write to you in my epistle If there are brothers who are like this I have written to you not to keep company and so on and so forth So the first Corinthians is actually the second letter So in verse 9 he says, I already wrote to you So after he wrote the first Corinthians He really had a love for the Corinthian brothers And then the result According to what we can determine today Not recorded in the Acts And he went from Ephesus to Corinth in a hurry After he wrote the first letter And he did not feel peace So he went to Corinth quickly Hoping that he could help them in faith But very regrettably they did not accept How do we know? Because in the second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1 He says, the third time when I went to you So he must have gone there the second time So we know that he must have gone there quickly Maybe that visit was very short Because they are not willing to accept him So he wrote another letter When he wrote that letter And he was writing in tears And that if you can see in the second Corinthians chapter 2 In chapter 7 When he wrote that letter he was weeping in his heart He also wrote a very severe letter So that to make them worry He asked Titus to bring the letter to them So the letter went, Titus went As soon as Titus went He had an agreement with Titus To meet in Troy Because he wanted to know What would happen if Titus brought the letter So he asked Titus to bring this letter over And this is second Corinthians chapter 2 And when he went to Troy Titus was not there And he was uneasy in his heart Now even the door of the gospel is open He has no heart to work So he went to Macedonia And then Titus went to Macedonia And bring him good news When the Corinthians received this very severe letter And they repented In second Corinthians chapter 7 And Paul says because of this letter They grieved in their hearts And they feared And they rose up to deal with the sin And they received Titus So Paul has joy in his heart So we thank God So we see when Paul wrote the second Corinthians And his tone is different We see that the Corinthian church Was then brought back to the footsteps of the flock How can one come back from deviation To walk according to the footsteps There is only one way The way of the cross If man is willing to accept the cross And let the cross deal with the flesh Deal with sin And deal with the world Deal with self Brothers and sisters Then we see And we will be restored And we will be brought back To the footsteps of the flock So when Paul wrote the second Corinthians And at conclusion And he said Chapter 13 verse 11 Finally brethren Farewell Become complete Be of good comfort Be of one mind Live in peace And the God of love And peace Will be with you Although there are Few people Opposing But by and large The church was restored So finally Paul said In verse 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God And the communion of the Holy Spirit Be with you all Thank the Lord Let's pray Our Lord You never disappear You never let us lose We thank you and praise you Your love always follows us To bring us back to yourself We thank you We put forth ourselves again into your hands May you have a freedom In every one of us In the name of Lord Jesus Amen