WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.620 Good morning. Sorry, that was me, not her. I'm Matt. I'm one of the pastors here. We're glad 00:00:08.620 --> 00:00:13.120 ! We're glad you're here this morning. Brief word before we begin. Typically at Trinity, we preach 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:17.519 ! We preach through sections of Scripture. So we preach sequentially, passage by passage. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:24.400 And we just finished last week a series in the book of Numbers, and we are going to begin a series next 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:31.000 week in the book of Acts. So look forward to that as we look at how God built His church and what that 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:40.379 means for us as His people, as His church in the 21st century, continuing to participate in what 00:00:40.379 --> 00:00:46.359 God is doing in the world. So today we have a one-off sermon, but I hope it's going to continue to 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:55.600 model for you or show to you the way that we honor God's Word in this church. So it's a passage near 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:03.679 and dear to my heart. It's 2 Corinthians chapter 4. If you want to turn there, it's page 907 or so 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.840 in your pew Bible. We have a couple of different editions. So it's not there. It's right around there. 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:14.920 And we're going to look at that in just… we're going to read that in just a minute. But I just 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:23.460 want to give that introduction before I get started. As summer turns to fall and a new season begins, 00:01:23.460 --> 00:01:33.980 I want to ask you a question. What will be the defining influence of your life? What will you make 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:41.200 the center of who you are, of how you live, of what you value, what you pursue? 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:51.140 It's easy for those questions to be influenced by an awful lot of things in our world today. Your 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:56.980 family and your home culture will tell you, here are the things you should value. This is what you 00:01:56.980 --> 00:02:02.939 should be about. We all know that social media shapes us far more than we ever wanted to believe 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:12.879 it was true. But it is. The nations and the cultures you grow up in, your career aspirations or academic ambitions, 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:21.099 your family situations and trials, whatever they are, there may be things that are shaping you. And again, we would 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:28.939 like to think that we are independent of those things enough to be able to make decisions for ourselves. We can choose what's most important. 00:02:28.939 --> 00:02:40.939 But I don't think that's actually true. Often we are unaware. Often we have things that influence us that we are not willingly choosing, but are carried along by. 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:52.939 And the fact is, we are always going to be influenced by something, whether we are choosing it or they are choosing us. 00:02:52.939 --> 00:03:04.939 So this leaves us at a question. What will be the defining thing for you? It's not only a question we ask for ourselves individually, but here at Trinity, we ask ourselves the same question. 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:16.939 What's going to be the defining thing for our church? What will shape us? What will shape the way that we worship and the way we live in community together and how we minister to others? 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:26.939 The Apostle Paul faced a similar situation as he ministered to a church in Corinth that was being asked similar questions. 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:33.939 You see, Paul had come and planted the church in Corinth, but after he had been there, false teachers had come behind him. 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:43.939 And though they claimed to continue to believe in God, they challenged Paul, his character, his methods, and most importantly, his message. 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:51.939 And they were proposing that they forsake Paul's method and take another one, take up a different worldview. 00:03:51.939 --> 00:04:10.939 And so in the letters to the Corinthian church, which 2 Corinthians is one of, Paul is explaining and defending his understanding of what God would have be our greatest controlling influence. 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:11.939 He focuses on what God would have been in the Bible. 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:20.939 He focuses on what he calls the gospel, the gospel of good news about what God has done in Jesus Christ. 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:37.939 That God in love for a sinful, rebellious world like us sent his son into the world so that he might deliver us, save us from the judgment and death that sin deserves. 00:04:37.939 --> 00:05:00.939 He came as a substitute, living a human life for us, the perfect one that we should have lived but couldn't live, dying a death for us that we deserve because of our sin, and rising to new life so that we as fellow humans with him might be raised to an eternal life. 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:19.899 This is the core of Paul's message that God in Jesus Christ has done everything possible for us to be forgiven of our sins, renewed to an eternal relationship with God, life now and life eternal with him. 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:24.899 And Paul says, this is the heart of the message. 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:35.899 And he explains how it confronts the false teaching of the false apostles who were challenging the church in that day. 00:05:35.899 --> 00:05:51.899 And so that's what we're going to do is we're going to look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and see how Paul spins this out, how the gospel shapes his ministry in his life and how it can shape our ministry in our life as well. 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:57.259 So again, if you want to read it in the pew Bible, the passage will also be up on the screen as I read it. 00:05:57.579 --> 00:06:03.639 But I'd love for you to pull it out if you have it so that you can look at it again as we go ahead and look at God's word. 00:06:03.739 --> 00:06:08.699 Page 907 in the pew Bibles, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:10.120 Let's read it together. 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:38.319 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:50.560 In their case, the gods 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. 00:06:51.159 --> 00:06:59.879 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:11.500 For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:19.839 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:22.779 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:07:23.339 --> 00:07:25.399 Perplexed, but not driven to despair. 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:27.699 Persecuted, but not forsaken. 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:30.300 Struck down, but not destroyed. 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:34.959 Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:40.099 So that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 00:07:40.719 --> 00:07:44.919 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake. 00:07:45.159 --> 00:07:50.500 So that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:55.000 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:05.319 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed and so I spoke, we also believe and so we also speak. 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:14.459 Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:23.779 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:26.759 So we do not lose heart. 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:31.979 Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 00:08:31.979 --> 00:08:40.319 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 00:08:40.319 --> 00:08:46.220 As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:52.819 For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:54.860 This is God's word. 00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:55.940 Let's pray together. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:58.260 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:08:58.920 --> 00:09:06.640 We thank you that you have spoken to us, Lord, in this enduring way so that we might know you. 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:13.379 Lord, I pray for this morning that we would have hearts that are receptive to your word. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.940 I pray that you would help me to speak your word truthfully as I ought. 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:27.160 Lord, that together as we sit under your word, that you would turn our hearts to worship you and to follow you. 00:09:27.560 --> 00:09:29.160 And we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:29.960 Amen. 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:30.060 Amen. 00:09:35.060 --> 00:09:39.780 So what does it look like for the gospel to be in the center of Paul's ministry? 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:50.820 Well, in verses 1 through 6, we see the first thing, and that is that the gospel ministry of Paul is seen to be God's work, ultimately, and not merely ours. 00:09:50.820 --> 00:10:00.980 He begins in verse 1, and he says, we have this ministry, that is, we have this thing that God has called us to do, which is to let other people know this good news of the gospel. 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:05.920 But he says, but I do this not because I'm great. 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.720 I have this ministry because of God's mercy. 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:15.100 He starts out by saying, no one deserves to do the ministry of God. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:21.080 No one, Paul knew he was a sinner saved solely by the grace of God. 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:26.940 God reached down into his life and pulled him out of spiritual death into life with him. 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:30.920 He said, this is the mercy that God has shown me. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:33.940 That's why I have this ministry. 00:10:33.940 --> 00:10:42.140 I have this privilege to tell others of the good news of what God has done for me and for all people in Jesus. 00:10:43.180 --> 00:10:46.880 So he says, I have this ministry by God's mercy. 00:10:47.380 --> 00:10:50.860 And then he goes on, and he seems to be defending himself, doesn't he? 00:10:50.880 --> 00:10:54.100 When you look at the end of verse 1 and 2, it's like, we don't lose heart. 00:10:54.420 --> 00:10:59.720 We've renounced disgraceful, underhanding ways, and we don't want to tamper or cunning. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.720 Why does he have to defend it? 00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:03.760 Well, here's my supposition. 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:06.500 Because it's a very weird flow of thought otherwise. 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:15.740 My supposition is that the false teachers were saying, that Paul, he's kind of a backwards kind of a rube. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:17.700 He doesn't really know what to do. 00:11:18.180 --> 00:11:21.220 We know how to be really impressive in ministry. 00:11:21.420 --> 00:11:27.580 We know how to have great strategies and great schemes and great programs. 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:33.980 And we're going to build our success by building on those things. 00:11:35.540 --> 00:11:41.980 And you look at Paul's ministry and look, people don't even always respond to his message of the gospel. 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:45.080 This is what it means when he says, even if the gospel is veiled. 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:45.960 Right? 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:54.240 Paul is being attacked by saying, your gospel ministry is really kind of weak and ineffective. 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:56.779 And we've got something better than that. 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.320 That's what it seems like the false teachers were promoting. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:08.200 And friends, if you're a part of the church today, do you see how easily we do the same thing? 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:14.620 Now, look, I want to be careful because none of these things inherently are wrong. 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:20.480 But isn't there a pull to be the cool church? 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:22.160 The vibe church? 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:23.240 Right? 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:27.180 The one with the killer children's ministry or youth ministry. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.900 The one with the swag or the X factor. 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:32.300 The best strategies, the best programs. 00:12:32.620 --> 00:12:34.540 The smoke machines, whatever it is. 00:12:34.539 --> 00:12:38.699 And look, you can do all of those, have all of those programs. 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:39.679 Right? 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:44.159 And do much of those ministries in an honest way that honors the Lord. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:54.219 But when we start to trust in these things and think that these are the strategies that are going to finally push our ministry into grand success. 00:12:57.199 --> 00:12:59.939 Paul would say, no, that's not what it is. 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:01.519 Look with me again at verse 3. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:01.959 Right? 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.500 Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled. 00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:05.980 Why? 00:13:06.660 --> 00:13:07.860 Because of sin. 00:13:08.180 --> 00:13:10.019 Because of the hardness of hearts. 00:13:10.300 --> 00:13:12.100 Because of the spiritual warfare. 00:13:12.920 --> 00:13:21.480 And the only hope and the only remedy for sinners like you and me and for a lost world is that God would work. 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.720 That God would take away the scales from our eyes. 00:13:26.060 --> 00:13:27.960 Remove our spiritual blindness. 00:13:28.300 --> 00:13:33.039 So that, as he says, we can see the glory of God in the face of Christ. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.920 We can hear with our ears the good news of the gospel. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:46.500 And our spiritual vision is now enlightened or able to understand and see what God has done for us in Jesus. 00:13:47.699 --> 00:13:50.979 So that they might be brought from darkness into light. 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:55.139 So that they might have this life with God. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:59.659 Just as God created the world and made life for it in the first place. 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:06.700 Now he is spiritually recreating people through this saving work of preaching the gospel. 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:13.460 And so the gospel ministry is about God's work that we have the privilege of participating in. 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:15.379 That's what he says in verse 5. 00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:17.100 We don't preach ourselves. 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:18.680 This isn't about me. 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:24.160 Please remove me and Nick from this pulpit if it ever becomes about us. 00:14:24.900 --> 00:14:26.240 It's not about us. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:31.620 It's about Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves. 00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:33.440 And not just the pastors or the elders. 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:39.680 But the church as servants of God for his sake. 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.600 So this is the first thing we see in Paul's understanding of ministry. 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:51.480 And it's a call for us to be sure that this is true for us as well. 00:14:51.480 --> 00:15:03.019 Oh, Trinity, may we keep the understanding that ministry is ultimately God's work, not ours, in the center of what we do. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.500 Secondly, Paul goes on in verses 7 through 12. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:18.320 He talks about how the gospel ministry embraces suffering as central in God's plan to display his gospel. 00:15:19.060 --> 00:15:21.420 So this is what we see in verses 7 through 12. 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:26.519 He's talking about the glory of the gospel as seen, you know, the end of verse 6, right? 00:15:27.019 --> 00:15:30.120 The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.220 This is the greatness of what we have. 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:37.620 And he says, and we have this treasure, which is a beautiful treasure, in jars of clay. 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:46.639 Now, a jar of clay in the first century was a very common, very ordinary thing. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.439 It was not a particularly valuable item. 00:15:49.439 --> 00:15:55.139 It might be compared today to like a plastic two-liter bottle or a peanut butter jar, right? 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:58.759 Something that has very little value in it of itself. 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:01.960 The only value in it would be what is inside. 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:08.120 And Paul says, we have this treasure in jars of clay, right? 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:13.879 And isn't this important for us to recognize? 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:20.200 Because as human beings, we're so easily look at one another and think, oh, that's an impressive person. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.460 We live in the backyard of Yale. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.379 There are a lot of superly impressive people. 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:28.320 Some of you are superly impressive, right? 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:33.600 You're very extraordinary in the world's values. 00:16:34.420 --> 00:16:43.300 But Paul says, no, all of us are simply jars of clay compared to the all-surpassing power. 00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:49.379 And so if you're one of these extraordinary people, beware not to be puffing yourself up. 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:54.240 And if you're someone who feels like, oh, I can't, those people are so impressive. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.019 I have nothing. 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:57.700 You have the same treasure in you. 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:18.620 In verses 8 and 9, he has increasing terms. 00:17:19.620 --> 00:17:22.960 We are afflicted, but not in every way, but not crushed. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:25.039 Perplexed, but not driven to despair. 00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:26.720 Persecuted, but not forsaken. 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:29.160 Struck down, but not destroyed. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:33.000 Right? 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:41.120 Paul says, this is the path for the ordinary jars of clay in life, is that we will suffer. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.559 Now, we don't really like this, do we? 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:46.100 Let's be honest. 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:47.880 We don't want to suffer. 00:17:48.100 --> 00:17:49.960 And we need to put a couple of caveats, right? 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.039 We're not supposed to choose suffering. 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:57.680 We're not supposed to put ourselves on the top of a hundred-foot pillar in the middle of the desert to suffer, right? 00:17:57.779 --> 00:17:59.819 And thinking that that's going to glorify God. 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:09.079 We also need to beware, because the Scriptures warn us, not to suffer for being sinful or ungodly or stupid. 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:14.720 We should not suffer because we're being needlessly offensive and then say, oh, look at how bad my suffering is. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:15.019 Right? 00:18:15.019 --> 00:18:16.779 Right? 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:16.860 Right? 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:26.140 But suffering is central to God's plan because of what we see in verses 10 and 11. 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:39.620 Always carrying around the body of, in the body, the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 00:18:39.619 --> 00:18:43.719 This is a fundamental gospel dynamic. 00:18:44.159 --> 00:18:59.439 Just as Jesus, because he died for us and then rose from dead, when we by faith are joined with him, we walk this path of dying and living that God is working in us. 00:19:00.219 --> 00:19:00.500 Right? 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:08.759 We have this death every day as those who follow and engage in this gospel ministry. 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:13.279 We die to our own plans so that we might live to God's plans. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:18.759 We die to our own preferences so we might live to serve other people. 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:19.599 Right? 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:30.619 We die to having easy relationships so that we might love those who are a little more difficult in Jesus' name. 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:40.779 We choose righteousness in following Jesus, even when it's incredibly costly to our social standing or even our career. 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:54.379 We stand for righteousness and die to the praise and glory of the world so that we might live rightly with God in the ways that he has given us. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:05.960 The suffering that we experience is producing in us life. 00:20:08.099 --> 00:20:09.559 This is the pattern. 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:12.379 Die to sin, live to righteousness. 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:14.839 Die to self, live to God. 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:19.440 And it's not just for us, is it? 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.659 It's also for others. 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:22.839 Did you see verse 12? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.720 So death is at work in us, but life is in you. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.319 So it's not just that we do this for our own. 00:20:29.659 --> 00:20:33.299 This is not a very warped, twisted plan towards self-care. 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:33.659 Right? 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:35.039 We want the life of Jesus. 00:20:35.159 --> 00:20:35.940 We're going to suffer more. 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:38.539 This is the part of the pattern. 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:42.519 But the end result is that it would overflow from us. 00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:50.200 That the life that he's producing in us as we pursue the gospel isn't just for ourselves, but it's for others as well. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:21:04.220 So we experience this life and death dynamic in the gospel because it's God's plan for us to display. 00:21:04.340 --> 00:21:05.140 How does this work? 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:08.780 Well, you've got to go back to verse 7. 00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:10.560 You noticed I skipped over it, right? 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:13.540 We have this treasure in jars of clay. 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:14.000 Why? 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:21.100 So that the all-surpassing power would be seen to be of God and not ourselves. 00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:23.279 Right? 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.480 This is why suffering and death are a part of God's plan. 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:33.219 Because we in our human nature, just like Adam and Eve did at the very beginning at the garden, 00:21:33.679 --> 00:21:40.459 we are arrogantly grasping towards being equal with God and promoting ourselves. 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:44.500 And suffering humbles us again and again. 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:50.240 Humbling makes us embrace the reality of our weakness that we want to deny. 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:57.819 As Paul says later in 2 Corinthians, God's words to him as he was suffering. 00:21:57.819 --> 00:22:04.659 God said to him, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:10.439 And Paul says, therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, 00:22:10.899 --> 00:22:15.419 so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.879 So just as the ministry is about God and his work, so even suffering. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:29.420 It's about how God wants to use us to display his power by sustaining us, 00:22:29.860 --> 00:22:35.380 by daily giving us new life, by enabling us all the time. 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:40.420 Friends, how different this is from some of the pictures of Christianity in our world today. 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:46.020 There's a picture of victorious Christianity where faithfulness is equated with material abundance 00:22:46.020 --> 00:22:47.380 and personal ease. 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:53.400 Or triumphant Christianity that denies that suffering could be a part of God's plan 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.240 and says if you're suffering, you must lack faith. 00:22:56.780 --> 00:23:03.100 Or a powerful Christianity where we want to own our enemies and scorn the weak, 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:12.000 seeking to seize the reins of power and to control and impose on others. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:22.000 How different is this from the modern gospel of progress is going to lead us to easier and better lives 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.259 with comfort and accommodation where suffering is avoided at all cost. 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:32.599 The gospel tells us something very different. 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:34.819 And we need to recognize that. 00:23:34.940 --> 00:23:36.539 We need to embrace it. 00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:39.399 And we need to not be ashamed of it. 00:23:39.399 --> 00:23:43.740 But we need to see that it is in fact the very way that God is going to do this. 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:45.079 Some of you are young. 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:46.859 You haven't suffered very much yet. 00:23:48.639 --> 00:23:55.420 I want to plant this cornerstone in your life now so that when it comes, you'll be ready. 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.500 Some of you have lived through the storms. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:01.579 And maybe you feel battered. 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:06.879 And maybe you feel like you're hanging on by a thread or you're just about to give up. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:13.759 The life of Christ is being manifested in you as you suffer. 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:16.839 As you carry around death in your life. 00:24:17.939 --> 00:24:19.359 In your everyday life. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.839 Hold on to this. 00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:27.619 This is how the gospel shapes us as we think about ministry. 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.199 So that's the second thing that Paul says. 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:42.940 The third thing we see in verses 13 through 15 is that the gospel calls us to join in the ministry of God's mission of bringing life in Jesus to others. 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:44.140 Right? 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.039 So in verses 13 through 15 he says, 00:24:47.840 --> 00:24:51.259 Okay, so I'm experiencing this death and life dynamic. 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:56.740 So since we have the same spirit of faith, that is we believe that God is bringing life to us. 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:58.299 We're going to speak. 00:24:58.299 --> 00:25:00.180 We're going to speak the gospel. 00:25:00.339 --> 00:25:05.119 We're going to speak the good news about what Jesus has done for us. 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:06.299 Right? 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:09.379 And he does so with great conviction. 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:11.159 Right? 00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:13.279 Verse 14. 00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:21.940 Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus. 00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:26.920 So this is the basis of his confidence as he speaks. 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.960 He says, we have the best news because we know that Jesus rose from the dead. 00:25:31.080 --> 00:25:38.500 And if Jesus rose from the dead, that means that no matter else what happens, we have a good news to say. 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:39.920 And it's worth saying. 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:41.400 Right? 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.779 It's rooted in that. 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:49.879 But notice, did you notice how he worked in a couple of different pronouns at the end of verse 14 and 15? 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:54.160 It's so awkward in Greek and in English to read these sentences. 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:54.480 Right? 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:55.599 But he says, 00:25:56.660 --> 00:26:03.279 Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:06.579 Do you see where Paul's heart is at? 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:10.240 This isn't just about him knowing he's going to heaven. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:14.920 He sees that God's desire is that more and more and more. 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:19.720 He wants the Corinthian church to not be led astray by a false gospel. 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:23.119 But he also, as you keep going in verse 15, right? 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:27.980 For it is all for your sake so that grace extends to more and more people. 00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:33.620 He has his eyes lifted up from his own life to see the world the way God sees it. 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.779 And to see sinners perishing without Christ. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:42.799 To see those who are lost spiritually bearing the consequences of sin. 00:26:43.740 --> 00:26:46.380 Destroying their lives in various ways. 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:48.360 And he has compassion on them. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:48.759 And he says, 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:50.160 There's another path. 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:53.140 There's a path of life that's in Jesus Christ. 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:56.339 And I want more and more and more of you to know that. 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:05.259 So the gospel calls Paul to live not for himself but for the sake of others. 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:08.579 And to frame his priorities and his energies. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.420 And the way he thinks about the world through this lens of, 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.160 I want more and more people to know God. 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:24.720 And look, if you're uncomfortable with that because it feels like we're just another club 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:27.240 trying to be the biggest club on campus. 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:28.519 Trying to be the most. 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:30.480 That's not the point at all. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.940 Because do you see the end of verse 15? 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:35.779 It's not about us. 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:37.700 It's about God. 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:42.660 Because as more and more people hear and respond to this gospel. 00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:46.819 As they know this great promise of resurrection with Jesus. 00:27:46.819 --> 00:27:48.059 Of life with him. 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:49.920 They will what? 00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:54.200 Abound in thanksgiving to the glory of God. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:54.240 God. 00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:57.279 This is what the church should be. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:02.500 Not about us and our place in society and our power and what we can influence. 00:28:03.120 --> 00:28:05.480 It's about giving thanks and praise. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.640 Bearing witness to God and how great he is. 00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:12.819 And the salvation that he has given for us. 00:28:12.819 --> 00:28:25.200 Friends, if you're here this morning and you're a follower of Christ, does this picture capture your heart? 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:31.480 Do you want the glory of God to cover the world? 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:38.460 Do you want to see the hearts of other people come to know the good news of the gospel? 00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:45.480 Do you want your own heart to be renewed in joy and thanksgiving that God has saved you? 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:50.079 Oh friends, I want that for you. 00:28:50.779 --> 00:28:52.360 We want that for you. 00:28:53.940 --> 00:29:00.279 And if you're here this morning and you're exploring Christianity and you're not sure what you think about this. 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:04.599 I invite you to come and examine. 00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:13.160 Because Paul has based his whole life and gospel on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:17.259 If Jesus was raised from the dead, then all of this makes sense. 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.259 And if he wasn't raised from the dead, then it doesn't. 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:22.779 So friends, come and explore that. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:23.920 Come talk to me. 00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:26.139 Talk to Pamela at the welcome table. 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:28.420 Talk to Nick at the back door as you go out. 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:30.320 Talk to your friend who you came with. 00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:31.180 Whatever it is. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.900 Explore whether Jesus really did rise from the dead. 00:29:37.180 --> 00:29:40.880 Because if he did, it makes all the difference. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.060 All right, finally, at the end of this passage, 00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:54.279 Paul tells us that gospel ministry is sustained by an eternal hope that is beyond compare. 00:29:54.860 --> 00:29:57.160 Verses 16 through 18. 00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:01.200 Paul reiterates, we do not lose heart. 00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:04.720 Now, why would he have to say that again? 00:30:05.360 --> 00:30:12.240 Why is he concerned that he or the Corinthian church might lose heart in this gospel ministry he's been talking about? 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:17.360 Well, you know what the greatest source, I think, is for us losing heart? 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:22.039 It's when we have false expectations and then are disappointed. 00:30:25.979 --> 00:30:32.099 We might believe that the gospel will produce great material success in this world. 00:30:32.099 --> 00:30:35.899 And when it doesn't, we feel like the gospel has failed. 00:30:36.699 --> 00:30:40.980 We might think that the gospel will save us from suffering. 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:46.279 And if it doesn't, we think the gospel has failed. 00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:56.720 We might think that the gospel will give us a great purpose in life of having a self-fulfilled, happy life. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:04.319 But the gospel, if the gospel doesn't produce this, then we are disappointed. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:19.740 The final expectation that I think comes behind this section is that we think that the gospel tells us that we will have the fullness of the blessings of eternity now in this time. 00:31:19.740 --> 00:31:24.220 This is what the Corinthians were faced with. 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:27.299 In fact, this is what the false teachers were saying. 00:31:27.700 --> 00:31:28.859 You have the Spirit of God. 00:31:28.940 --> 00:31:29.779 You have it all. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:39.460 And if you have weakness, if you have suffering, if you have trials in ministry, then you're not really in God's plan. 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:42.980 Because you should be able to have it all now. 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:46.839 And friends, I'll tell you what. 00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:51.240 This is an impulse that is both in our culture and in the church today. 00:31:51.879 --> 00:31:57.399 Where we think that we're going to get the kingdom of God in its fullness now. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:06.959 And as we hold that expectation, how prone are we to become disappointed? 00:32:08.339 --> 00:32:08.659 Right? 00:32:09.399 --> 00:32:15.679 While facing the reality of a life that the scriptures describe as a now and not yet. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:20.920 God has begun to bring the gospel in his kingdom, but he hasn't brought its fullness yet. 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:24.100 And so as such, we still live in a fallen world. 00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:25.840 Right? 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:33.379 But there's a spirit in some of our social movements today that think, we have to be done with sin. 00:32:34.379 --> 00:32:35.980 There will be no more abuse. 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.399 There will be no more suffering. 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.599 There will be no more corruption. 00:32:39.939 --> 00:32:41.439 We're going to eradicate it all. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:46.680 Friends, this is not a realistic view. 00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:51.799 We are to work for righteousness and justice and bless our world. 00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:56.039 We are to bring the aroma of Christ wherever we go. 00:32:56.360 --> 00:33:01.980 But we need to recognize that we will not bring in the kingdom by doing those things. 00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:09.440 And we need to recognize that the church is not going to be the place of perfection. 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:13.599 And I don't say this to excuse the sin of the church. 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:18.099 But I say it to recognize that we are all sinners saved by grace. 00:33:18.099 --> 00:33:31.179 And as we pursue righteous living, God allows a fallen world to continue because of his loving pursuit of more and more souls. 00:33:32.619 --> 00:33:33.980 That wasn't even my notes. 00:33:34.259 --> 00:33:36.639 That was a little bit of a discursus. 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:37.279 But here we go. 00:33:37.619 --> 00:33:38.799 So what does he say instead? 00:33:39.139 --> 00:33:40.579 He says, this is what it looks like. 00:33:40.579 --> 00:33:41.919 So we do not lose heart. 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:44.079 Though outwardly we are wasting away. 00:33:44.579 --> 00:33:46.119 This is what we experience. 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:47.519 Life in a fallen world. 00:33:47.899 --> 00:33:48.839 Some of you are older. 00:33:49.099 --> 00:33:52.619 You know what it feels like to literally feel like you're wasting away. 00:33:52.740 --> 00:33:54.579 Your body does not do what it used to. 00:33:54.859 --> 00:33:55.799 Some of you are young. 00:33:55.879 --> 00:33:57.039 You haven't gotten there yet. 00:33:57.159 --> 00:33:59.720 But you see a society that is wasting away. 00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:01.439 You see a world that is wasting away. 00:34:01.539 --> 00:34:03.419 You see institutions that are wasting away. 00:34:03.419 --> 00:34:05.899 You see relationships that are wasting away. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.340 Marred by sin and leading towards death. 00:34:10.579 --> 00:34:12.360 This is the world we live in. 00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:14.360 Outwardly we experience all this. 00:34:14.759 --> 00:34:16.900 But Paul says that's not the end of the story. 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:20.619 Because there is instead in this gospel hope. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:24.420 Inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:26.400 How does that renewal happen? 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:30.119 For these light and momentary afflictions. 00:34:30.279 --> 00:34:32.299 He calls them light and momentary afflictions. 00:34:32.299 --> 00:34:33.920 When you look at what Paul has suffered. 00:34:34.259 --> 00:34:36.099 They're not light nor not mormonary. 00:34:36.659 --> 00:34:38.000 He has been beaten. 00:34:38.319 --> 00:34:39.400 He has been imprisoned. 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:41.039 He has been shipwrecked. 00:34:41.180 --> 00:34:42.960 He has been scorned. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:44.019 He's been stoned. 00:34:44.119 --> 00:34:45.599 He's been thrown out of places. 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:48.119 So he does not say this lightly. 00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:51.579 If you think Paul is saying, Paul doesn't understand. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.139 I'll tell you what, Paul does understand. 00:34:56.180 --> 00:34:57.900 He has suffered greatly. 00:34:58.119 --> 00:35:01.940 And even if Paul doesn't understand, Jesus understands. 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:10.159 Because he went to the cross to bear not only the guilt but the weight of the sin of the world. 00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:14.860 He does know every suffering and every trial. 00:35:14.860 --> 00:35:26.820 And he says these light and momentary afflictions are not worth comparing to an eternal weight of glory that they are achieving. 00:35:27.420 --> 00:35:32.099 That our suffering now, the trials that we face. 00:35:32.099 --> 00:35:36.980 It's not just we endure them to the end, but they're actually achieving. 00:35:36.980 --> 00:35:38.860 They're producing something. 00:35:39.099 --> 00:35:43.659 Because as we cling to the gospel in the midst of this fallen world. 00:35:43.779 --> 00:35:48.880 As we cling to the gospel in the midst of the suffering that you are facing today. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:53.059 Your children are unhinged. 00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:56.960 And you're pulling your hair out not knowing what to do. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:01.019 Your career path has completely been derailed. 00:36:01.300 --> 00:36:02.320 And you're adrift. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:11.099 The relationship you long for so much has been totally destroyed and blown up. 00:36:11.860 --> 00:36:15.000 Your body is wasting away and suffering. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:21.659 And you find yourself daily with less and less capacity to do what you used to be able to do. 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:24.400 Whatever the sufferings are. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:27.400 As you cling to this gospel. 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:30.400 You are achieving a glory. 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:34.860 Because you are glorifying God in his promise. 00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:38.739 To redeem and to resurrect you to eternal life. 00:36:39.659 --> 00:36:41.420 And this is why he says. 00:36:42.039 --> 00:36:44.599 We do this not by looking. 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:46.280 At our daily circumstances. 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:49.920 Not by looking at the trials and the obstacles and the hard things. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:54.940 Not by looking at the realities of everyday life. 00:36:56.360 --> 00:37:01.280 But we lift our eyes to the eternal and unseen truths. 00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:04.500 That whatever this is. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:07.059 It is but for a moment. 00:37:07.059 --> 00:37:10.779 And the resurrected life of Jesus will be forever. 00:37:10.779 --> 00:37:18.679 And the redemptive plans of God are more certain than the hardest thing that you face today. 00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:22.199 And he will take you home. 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:24.439 And friends. 00:37:24.439 --> 00:37:26.500 This is Paul's heart for the gospel. 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:32.000 This is what we hope to be as a church. 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:36.179 A church that treasures the gospel the way Paul did. 00:37:36.179 --> 00:37:37.759 And as we treasure it. 00:37:37.759 --> 00:37:40.819 We live it out to be a gospel-centered church. 00:37:40.940 --> 00:37:43.159 In this city and to the ends of the earth. 00:37:43.819 --> 00:37:45.480 We talk about it here to be gathered. 00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:49.799 Transformed and sent by the gospel into the world. 00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:57.800 And my prayer is that you may be caught up in what may it be true. 00:37:58.140 --> 00:38:00.060 What God is doing in our midst. 00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:02.440 Through the gospel for his glory. 00:38:02.700 --> 00:38:03.519 Let's pray together. 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:06.580 Lord we thank you. 00:38:07.900 --> 00:38:12.800 We thank you because you are a great God above all gods. 00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:17.000 And you have worked in us a salvation that is beyond comparison. 00:38:18.640 --> 00:38:20.100 Oh Lord help us. 00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:43.800 Thank you. 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:13.800 Thank you. 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:43.800 Thank you. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:13.800 Thank you. 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:43.800 Thank you. 00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:13.800 Thank you. 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:43.800 Thank you. 00:42:12.800 --> 00:42:13.800 Thank you. 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:43.800 Thank you. 00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:13.800 Thank you. 00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:43.800 Thank you. 00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:13.800 Thank you. 00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:43.800 Thank you. 00:45:12.800 --> 00:45:13.800 Thank you. 00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:13.800 00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:13.800 00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:13.800 00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:14.800 Thank you. 00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:15.800 Thank you. 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800 00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:15.800