Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know our hearts better than we know our own hearts.
And you know how easily we flatter ourselves and deceive ourselves.
And Father, you know how we slightly or maybe even in a very big way turn from some of the very hard things you say to us because it offends our pride.
So, Father, we ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit upon us at this time and grip us with the gospel.
And as you grip us with the gospel, may your word come and minister to us at the very deep level of who we are.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I was going to say this earlier, but I forgot.
I thought this is the place that we worship regularly on a Sunday morning at Church of the Messiah.
We never, every five weeks, there's a different stage up front.
This is the beginning of the stage for the next play.
So, Charlie and I and others had to sort of try to figure out how the service was going to work.
There was some discussion about pulling the curtain across to hide the stage.
But I wanted to keep the stage as it is because, you know, at the end of the day,
Jonathan and Daniel and Daniel aren't being ordained to just like live in a little tiny church ghetto where we're not in the world.
Like, we gather in worship and we gather to receive from Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit grace.
But we do that to live in the world and to share the gospel.
And in some ways, this stage always reminds us that while we're here to worship,
we worship amidst cars going by and condos and business and in a very theater where other things have gone on.
And that's the world that we live in to represent Jesus and to proclaim the gospel.
So that's why we left the stage as it is.
There was a feature article on CBC just a short while ago.
It was, I think it was just two months ago, and it was a report.
It was covering a report by a major heritage organization in Canada that said that within the next five to ten years,
9,000 churches in Canada will close.
That's one-third of all churches that own buildings will close.
That's their estimate within the next five to ten years.
I just recently became aware of a private set of work about what the attendance is like in the Anglican Church of Canada.
We're part of a worldwide Anglican body and a North American-wide body,
but we're not part of the Anglican Church of Canada.
But the point is, the statistic is that between 2007 and 2017,
the average Sunday attendance in the Anglican Church of Canada dropped by 50%
at the same time that the average age in attendance on Sunday morning went up.
In Ottawa, the last time there was a census that talked about religious affiliation,
there are now more people in Ottawa who identify themselves as having no religion
than there are Protestants in the city of Ottawa.
More people who are called nuns, N-O-N-E.
More people in Ottawa who are nuns than are Protestants.
And we all know that we live in a culture
where for very many people, maybe the majority of people,
they'll do anything to get help other than go to Christianity.
Maybe they'll try yoga, they'll try all sorts of different spiritualities,
but the very last on the list will be trying Christianity.
Because I think for many people in our culture,
especially in elite culture and in entertainment world,
Christianity and the Christian heritage of the country is what causes trouble.
To be a Christian is to be a part of the enemy,
part of the problem that has to be rectified by something else.
So now that I've cheered up Daniel and Jonathan and Daniel,
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen,
and we'll continue on with the service.
I mean, that's the world that we live in, you know, isn't it?
And so it's very, very easy to be discouraged and to lose heart in today's world.
And it's not just the fact that we're, you know, as a pastor,
I'm very conscious that I'm the away team.
I'm on part of the away team.
You know, that means if you watch playoff hockey or basketball,
like when you're in the other stadium,
they're all waving the towels and stuff like that,
and the sound system's all cranked up to help the other team.
And it's not cranked up to help me at all.
And that's the culture, that's the world we live in.
And it's very easy to get discouraged.
And that's on top, of course, the normal things that can discourage us
about just getting tired or being sick.
But we live in a time and an age in Canada
where it's very, very easy to be discouraged.
And what I'd like to do in a few minutes is just to press into this.
Because one of the things which is so fantastic about the Bible,
it's very counterintuitive.
When I try to talk about things with my non-Christian friends,
I have to keep telling them that it's very counterintuitive
that the Bible is regularly pressing into issues.
In fact, the big problem for Christians is
we get those type of stats and we just want to shut down.
We want to think about something else.
We want to have a few happy thoughts.
We don't actually want to press into the issue.
And we don't want to press in to the state of our heart.
But the Bible actually, if we follow the Bible,
if we listen to the Bible, the Bible will press into those issues.
It'll say, let's look at those issues.
Let's go a little bit deeper into them.
And that's what we're going to look at today.
There's a passage in the Bible.
It was the passage that Alexander read that presses into this.
So if you have your Bibles with you,
if you would turn in your Bibles to,
it would help if I had the right text open,
2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 to 6.
And we're going to look at that text of Scripture
because the Scripture deals with losing heart.
It deals with discouragement.
And at first glance,
it might seem that reading something like this,
this text is written to a group of Christians
in a place in what we now know of as Greece.
And it was written in the late 50s.
That's the 0000 50s.
So it's almost 2,000 years ago.
And yet, it might seem very, very odd
to go to a text like this.
We, of course, as Christians go to it
because at the end of the day,
we believe that Jesus died on the cross
and rose from the dead.
And when he rose from the dead,
he triumphed over sin and death
and all hostile spiritual powers.
And he was vindicated as the one who reveals God.
He is vindicated as the one
who can connect us to God.
And so we as Christians,
we just believe Jesus.
And Jesus believes the Bible,
so I believe the Bible.
It's as simple as that.
I'm a very, very, very simple-minded guy.
Jesus told me to believe and trust the Bible,
so I believe and trust the Bible.
But even apart from that,
for those of us who haven't quite figured out that stuff,
it actually makes a lot of sense in some odd way
to go to look to such an ancient text.
Because if you think about it for a second,
I mean, one of the things that we Christians feel badly,
especially those of us who are over a certain age,
an age which I will not specify.
You can specify it yourself.
We remember a time when we weren't the away team all the time,
where there'd be at least some type of grudging respect
towards the church and towards Christian things.
But this letter is written at a time when there was no...
I mean, Paul was writing to a group of people
who were definitely the away team.
And it was a very, very similar situation.
Like, you know, in our culture,
all the smart people know that Christianity is wrong.
I mean, in fact, that would almost be a criteria
to be a smart person is to know that Christianity is wrong.
And that's exactly what was going on in Corinth.
Like, all the smart people knew that there were many gods, not one.
Like, that's what all the smart people knew.
And all the smart people knew that for men of means,
well, you had to have a wife, of course,
for reasons of inheritance.
But, gosh, you can't hold a man down to one woman,
so you'd have to have probably a concubine on the side.
And when the man is on a military campaign,
a young man, a young boy, for your sexual satisfaction,
that's what all the smart people knew.
That's what, in a sense, the Globe and Mail, the National Post,
the CBC, University of Ottawa, Toronto, McGill, politicians.
That's what everybody knew.
That's just the smart way to live.
Christians are weird.
And so we hear these words from Paul
in actually a very funny way,
in a very similar type of cultural context to us.
And here's what Paul says.
He's just finished talking about what he calls
New Covenant ministry,
the type of ministry that comes from the fact
that Jesus has created a new people,
a new way of following,
of being connected to God,
to have God be your king.
And so in verse 1 of chapter 4,
he says,
And just want to pause right there,
because I just want to pause there.
That's a really, really, really important way that this begins.
It begins by the Bible recognizing that we lose heart.
That's what it's saying.
Paul knows the people there,
and he knows that there are many times that they lose heart.
Another way to translate it is that they are discouraged.
Some of your Bible translations might say that you are in despair.
And the Bible,
Paul, God, ultimately, who's the ultimate author of this,
he knows that you and I,
many times,
have to deal with discouragement
and losing heart.
And the thing which is so wonderful about this,
especially when it's going to be about,
in the context about being a Christian in such a world,
well, actually, if you could put up the first point, Andrew,
that would be very, very handy.
The Lord knows the true state of your heart better than you do.
So, pray with openness and honesty.
I mean, on one level, I would say this to a non-Christian,
because as you know, I mean,
I think it was the Pew Research Center that,
a few years ago, they did a statistic.
And I'm not saying people shouldn't laugh at this,
but it's very interesting,
that a third of atheists pray regularly.
And in fact, the fact of the matter is,
is if you actually press in to get to know
some of your non-Christian friends very well,
you might, to your shock,
discover that they pray more than,
those of us who are Christians,
you might discover, to your shock,
that your non-Christian friends pray more than you do.
It's very counterintuitive to us.
And I would encourage a non-Christian,
if they ask me for advice,
just to pray openly and honestly to God.
Obviously, it's a very different thing to pray to a God,
whatever that means,
than it is to pray to your Father in Heaven.
But for those of us who are Christians,
this text is a very important reminder
to just pray.
To be honest,
that you're discouraged,
that you're downhearted.
And in terms of the original,
in the original language,
however this is captured,
losing your heart or discouragement or despair,
the opposite of it is courage.
The Lord knows that there's all sorts of things in your time,
there's all sorts of times in your life
and long seasons of your life
where you're lacking in courage to live as a Christian.
So just pray about it.
Now, I could end my sermon right here.
And, but part of the problem is,
is that that almost sounds like a bit of a truism.
And it actually, in some small way,
like, it's almost like a platitude.
I mean, it's very true.
I don't mean it as a platitude.
And the Bible's very serious,
but it's a little bit of a platitude, you know,
almost that, oh yeah, okay,
fire off a little prayer and go on.
But you know what?
It doesn't really get at what's going on in the world.
And it doesn't really get at
what actually causes us to lose courage.
And so the Bible presses in
to talk about some very, very, very uncomfortable truths
connected to our pride.
And it doesn't just sort of say,
okay, just fire off some prayers to God
because he knows you're discouraged.
Have a good day.
God loves you.
God is good all the time.
No, it says, okay, okay,
you can, whoa, whoa, you can do that.
Good.
But let's press in a little bit more
because there's other things going on
at the very center of whom you are
that God wants to deal with.
So what Paul does very next is,
after that, he starts to give us some,
to get at this heart issue of pride,
he starts to give us some instructions,
first by telling us what not to do
and then telling us what to do.
If you look at verse two,
here's how the Bible continues.
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.
We refuse to practice cunning
or to tamper with God's word.
But by the open statement of the truth,
we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience
in the sight of God.
Now, just sort of pause here for a second.
One of the big problems is, as you all know,
or maybe it's just,
I'm probably just vastly more wicked
than most of you here.
But one of the big problems I have regularly
when I read the Bible
is I think about how this applies to other people
other than me.
I'm very, very, very good at seeing
specks in other people's eyes
while I walk around with a log in my own eye.
And, you know, I can't remember what psalm it is.
Charlie would know what the psalm is.
But there's a very powerful psalm
that people should meditate on.
I think it's either 12 or 13,
how we flatter ourselves too much
to detect or hate our own sin.
And one of the things which we often do
when we're discouraged
is we flatter ourselves.
Legends in our own mind.
While functionally we act without courage.
But what this text is saying here,
the first couple of ideas
about we refuse to,
we have renounced disgraceful
and underhanded ways.
And that's a very, very good translation.
A very, very literal translation of it
is the secret things of shame.
That we either,
we refuse to act out of the secret things of shame
or we refuse to do those things,
the secret things of shame.
That's sort of a more literal type of translation.
And the thing which is very interesting about this,
you see,
is it actually presses in for us to recognize
that one of the things
that we have to struggle with
when we're discouraged is shame.
You see, if you're in a room
and you're the only person who thinks one thing
and everybody else,
if they knew what you thought,
would say that it was wicked,
it's easy to start to have a sense of shame.
And it's,
and a lot of really bad behavior
flows out of us not dealing with shame.
In fact, a lot of times
the people who are the best
at making condemning statements
and looking like they have puffed out chests
and are really strong,
often it doesn't come out
of a firm belief in the gospel,
but because they have
a deeply hidden sense of shame
that leads them to bravido.
But of course,
other things of shame
can make us very, very timid.
The next two things,
because all of us would say,
well, who on earth
would ever want to practice cunning
or to tamper with God's word?
But the idea behind cunning
is actually the end justifies the means.
And that's, of course,
a very, very powerful problem
in the church.
I mean, if I can just sort of
use some music
or use the service
or some other types of things
to manipulate you,
that's all right,
because if you give your life to Jesus,
the end justifies the means.
And tampering with God's word
is the same basic idea
as paring it down,
to water it down,
to hide certain things.
It's like saying,
let's not talk about
the different things
in the Old Testament
because there's all sorts of things
in the Old Testament
which are very offensive to people.
Don't talk about certain things
about sexuality
or about money
or about forgiveness
because that's going to offend people.
If you talk about things like that,
you're going to offend people.
And so you don't want to talk
about those things.
You water it down.
You hide it.
You don't bring it up.
You stick on very safe topics.
And those are all
very, very, very powerful forces
that when we organize
our worship services
in our small groups
that we just avoid
lots of topics.
We water things down.
We smooth things over.
We pretend certain things aren't there.
We talk about sins
that everybody agrees are sins
like slavery,
but we don't talk about things
like abortion
where we're going to say
some very, very different things
than the rest of our culture.
Because we, in fact,
have things which are eating away
at the courage of our lives.
And so what the Bible says here,
that was the first bit,
but he says,
what do you do in the opposite?
Look at verse 2 again.
We have renounced
disgraceful,
underhanded ways.
That's the things
which come out of shame.
We refuse to practice cunning,
that is,
where the end justifies the means,
or to tamper with God's word.
Another way to put it
is to be God's spin doctor
or to water things down.
But instead,
by the open statement
of the truth,
we would commend,
it says here ourselves,
what it means is our message,
ourselves as God's messengers.
We open statement of the truth
to everyone's conscience
in the sight of God.
And I think to my
non-Christian friends,
they'd be very surprised
to see that the Bible's advice
is that you always respect
the integrity of human beings,
and even those who disagree
with you very strongly,
and you respect their conscience,
you respect the integrity
of who they are,
and you don't manipulate,
you don't hide things,
you don't do things
that are coming out of shame,
you act in a way
which is clear
and straightforward
and public.
And I think
many of my non-Christian friends,
I know they'd be surprised at that
because it's not how
they experience Christians,
whether rightly or wrongly,
it's not how they often experience this.
But that's actually
what the Bible is saying.
But for people
who are very tempted
to say,
well, you know, George,
you don't talk about this
and this and this
and this in church
because you want to attract seekers,
you want to attract,
you want to make the gospel
attractive to people,
and by making the gospel
attractive to people
in a very, very compelling format,
and who Jesus is,
not the church,
and there's all these
different things that we say
and we say,
that's the way you go.
You don't talk about
these awkward things
like the very, very next things
which are going to be said
because, in fact,
it would be a very,
you know,
about a year ago,
there was a young woman
that I'd shared the gospel
with several times
and out of the blue,
when I was talking to her,
she asked me
if I thought
she was going to go to hell.
And I have to confess
I wasn't prepared
for the question.
And I sure hope
I didn't look like
a deer in the headlights
just before it gets hit
when I tried to answer
that question.
But I did the best I did.
I didn't deny it.
I didn't say,
no, no,
I don't think you're going
to go to hell.
I tried to deal with
this hard truth.
But these very next things
that Paul does,
the Bible takes us
in a very, very hard direction
almost immediately.
It's almost as if,
okay,
we're all agreed
we're not going
to water things down.
Yes,
we're all agreed
we're not going
to be spin doctors.
Yes,
we all agreed
that we're not going
to live out of shame.
Yes,
aha,
okay,
then look at verse 3.
And even if our gospel
is veiled,
it is veiled
to those who are perishing.
In this case,
it means that they're already,
unless something happens
from outside,
they're going to
perish eternally.
Verse 4,
in that case,
the God of this world
has blinded the minds
of the unbelievers
to keep them
from seeing the light
of the gospel
of the glory of Christ
who is the image of God.
And I could just imagine,
I was just sharing the gospel
with this fellow
named Mark
on Saturday.
Got in the way of me
actually working
on my sermon
for today.
And I can just imagine
if I said to him
that passage
and he'd say,
you actually think,
George,
that when you talk
about certain types
of things
that I can't see it
or I can't understand it,
that my mind
can't grasp it?
And are you actually
saying, George,
that there is
like a demon
that's making my mind
blind
so that my mind
is dark?
And I could just picture
so many of my friends
they'd smile and say,
George,
I'm way smarter than you.
And I see the crappy car
you drive.
I'm obviously vastly
more successful than you.
I'm way better
at making money.
I'm way better
at managing money.
And I'm way smarter
than you.
And you actually think
that there's things
my mind can't grasp
and that my mind
is darkened
and blinded
by a demon?
And I think
what I would say
to my friend
is,
before I answer
that question,
can we look
at the next two verses?
And then can I just
share with you
what I think they mean?
And because
they're my friend,
they'd probably
give me the time.
And if you look
at the next two verses,
there's something
very, very glorious
but very humbling
which is said.
Verse 5,
for what we proclaim,
for what we proclaim
is not ourselves,
but Jesus Christ
as Lord,
with ourselves
as your servants
for Jesus' sake.
Notice this,
what we proclaim,
what I am to proclaim
is Jesus Christ
is Lord.
I am to proclaim
that there was a man
in history
by the name of Jesus.
It was one of the most
popular Jewish names
for boys
at the time
that Jesus was born.
But in the case
of Jesus,
his name literally
is true
because Jesus
means God saves
and it literally
is true.
This man
named God saves
is the man
who will save us.
And this man
who lived in history,
who lived
a perfect life
and died upon the cross
and was buried
and on the third day
rose and then
ascended into heaven.
This very same man,
he is the Christ.
And what does that mean?
That means that
all of the overarching
story of the Bible,
it means that
for a thousand years
of all of the
prophetical writings
and all of the Psalms
and all of the laws,
that every law
finds its fulfillment
in him.
Every type
finds its fulfillment
in him.
Every promise
finds its fulfillment
in him.
Every hero
finds its true hero
in him.
Every riddle
which the Bible
poses to human beings
that do not seem
to be able
to be answered,
he is the answer
to every riddle.
Every promise,
prophecy type,
everything in the Bible
all finds their fulfillment
in him.
And when he died
upon the cross,
when he lived
his sinless life
and died upon the cross,
he did everything
that needed to be done
to make me right
with God.
He did everything
that needed to be done.
Every wrong,
every shame,
every accusation,
he dealt with it
in his person,
taking it in my place.
And after he had not only
taken all of those
terrible things away
from me,
I couldn't stand
before God
because I haven't done
very many good things
in my life.
You might think
I've done a few good things
in my life,
but I haven't done
that many good things
in my life.
But Jesus not only
takes all the bad
things away,
I am clothed
with his perfect life
of obedience
and I stand
before God
not because of anything
I have done,
can do,
or will do,
but all because
of him.
He is the Lamb
of God
who dies
and is in my place.
And by his rising
from the dead,
that is why we know
that he is Lord.
He is God with us
and I am here
to proclaim that.
And here's,
and they might say,
okay, George,
that doesn't deal
with the demon thing
and that doesn't deal
with what you think
about my mind,
but the next bit does.
You see,
this is the weird thing
about God.
This is the important thing
about the text.
One of the main reasons
I get discouraged
is I think it's about me.
One of the main reasons
I get discouraged
is I think it's about us.
I think if I could just be,
if I could just be more winsome,
if I could be more scholarly,
if I could pray more,
if I was just more effective
in communication,
if I could listen better,
if I just could listen
to the Holy Spirit better,
if I,
but the Bible here
cuts the ground
completely out from under me,
but not in a way
that completely destroys me.
What it says is,
George,
all God is asking you
to do is stand
on your hind legs
and say what you just said,
that there's this
man Jesus,
that he really did live,
that all of the promises
for over a thousand years
find their fulfillment in him,
that he is the one
that God has provided,
his life is for you,
he has done this,
he is Lord,
you just tell people that,
and when you tell people that,
sometimes what happens
is this,
verse six,
for God who said,
let light shine out of darkness
has shone in our hearts
to give the light
of the knowledge
of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
What does that mean?
I'm going to call you Charlie,
is that all right?
Charlie,
you're a smart guy.
Most people here don't know
he has a math degree
from UBC.
You have to be smart.
You can't just sort of
guess the answers
to do that,
okay?
And you were in,
like,
last years of high school
or was it university
when you became a Christian?
Second year university.
Charlie,
I have terrible news
to tell you.
You did not become
a Christian
because you were smart.
You did not become
a Christian
because you were holy.
You did not become
a Christian
because you engaged
on a spiritual quest
and you figured
those things out.
You know,
Charlie,
you are like me.
Before,
one day,
as somebody was saying
to you,
to Jesus Christ as Lord,
God said to Charlie
the same thing
he said on the first
day of creation
when he said,
let there be light.
And God the Father
said to Charlie,
let there be light.
And light from God
pierced the veil
and pierced the darkness
and came into your heart
and into your mind.
And Jesus Christ
became your Savior
and Lord
and it had nothing
to do
with your smarts,
with your ability.
And it's the same thing
that happened to me.
And if any of you
here are Christians,
there is nothing
at all
that you can be proud about
or boast in
because it had nothing
to do with your smartness
or your wisdom
or your seeking
or your searching.
Some simple Christian
pronounced
and shared with you
that Jesus Christ
is Lord
and God
does a miracle
in you
that you
cannot do
for yourself.
God said,
let there be light.
And light from God
pierced the veil
and pierced your darkness
and pierced your blindness.
So what would I say
for my friend?
Am I saying these things
about you?
You know what?
They
this was a darkened mind
and I didn't think
myself out of it.
God did a miracle.
And if you feel
any stirring
within you,
that's a sign
that the light
of the glory
of God
in the face
of Jesus Christ
is shining
into your heart.
Brothers and sisters,
this Daniel,
Jonathan and Daniel,
I just gave you
the great news
that a third
of all the churches
in the country
are going to close
within the next
five to ten years.
But here's what
I want to tell you.
God is still
on his throne.
He is still sustaining
everything that we see.
He has everything
under his control.
There are people
in Ottawa
that are just waiting
for some duffer
like you
or you or you
or you
to share
that Jesus Christ
is Lord.
And you do it
and God does
a miracle.
Because only
he can save.
You can do nothing.
Isn't that good news?
The pressure is off.
And he knows
how discouraged
you get.
He knows how you
can share and share
and share and share
and that nothing
seems to happen.
But you know what
he says is just
continue to proclaim
that Jesus Christ
is Lord
as clearly,
as honestly,
as humbly
as you possibly can.
If you could put up
the final point
to summarize this.
It's a prayer.
Lord, make real
to my heart
that it is only
your gospel
and only your power
that makes me yours.
And as God
makes it real
to our heart,
so help me
to pray for the
perishing
and share the gospel
with humility,
clarity,
and courage.
that
all I can do
is to share
that with you
and with each
of us here.
Could you please
stand?
Let's just bow
our heads in prayer.
Actually,
could you all,
I'm going to pray,
could you all pray
this with me?
If the Lord
has put it on your heart
to pray this with me,
could you pray
what is above
on the screen
with me
if it is with you?
And then I'll just
say a closing prayer
and then Bishop Charlie
will get up
and we're going
to make these guys
deacons.
So let's pray.
Lord,
make real
to my heart
that it is only
your gospel
and only your power
that makes me yours.
And so help me
to pray for the
perishing
and share the gospel
with humility,
clarity,
and courage.
Father,
pour out the Holy Spirit
upon us.
If there are any here
who do not yet know
Jesus,
may this be the time.
Father,
shine.
Just may they know
Jesus as Lord.
Reveal Jesus as Savior
and Lord to them.
And Father,
thank you that you
know our hearts.
Thank you that you
know how easily
we get sidetracked
as if it's all up to us.
Thank you,
Father,
so much
that at the same time
that you humble us
that it's nothing
about us,
you reassure us
of your great love
for us
and your great power.
So Father,
we ask that you
would make us
disciples of Jesus
who are gripped
by the gospel,
learning to live
day by day
for your glory
in this city
and to the ends
of the earth.
And all God's people
said,
Amen.