Good morning folks, great to see you today. Please do have those verses in 2 Corinthians open in front of you.
We are really excited to get into this series together, we've got so much to learn this morning.
But here's maybe a joke, an age-old joke, to kick us off and maybe just to kind of point us in the right direction.
Here's the joke, how many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?
Three. So one to climb the ladder, one to shake the ladder, and another one to work out how they're going to sue the ladder company.
Now just in case you think I'm singling out lawyers, used to be one.
But if you go on Google you'll find similar jokes all over the place about estate agents, car mechanics, football players, traffic wardens,
trades people, builders, bankers, people in investments, people in telesales, and owners of budget airlines.
In fact it was really hard today to try and think of a list of people who maybe aren't represented in this room.
And it's interesting isn't it, what those jokes kind of convey to us is that there's certain people in our lives, everyday lives,
who we instinctively have a really hard time taking them at their words.
And my question to you to think about is who would you add to that list?
Because many of us will know the pain of being burnt by broken and empty words.
There'll be others of us in this room who will know the shame, the crushing shame,
of being those who didn't follow through on our words.
And so into our lives and into our world where we're all desperate for someone and something that we can be all in on,
the good news of this passage is that it shows us the one person in this life whose words is absolutely rock solid.
And today we're going to take in one of the most famous and the most cherished verses in all of the Bible.
So maybe if you're new to the Bible today, maybe you're new to church,
you have picked a cracking Sunday to come and be with us because this really is,
this passage contains one of the most loved verses in all of the Bible and it's utterly wonderful.
But all of this comes in the context of changed travel plans.
Now we all know that feeling, don't we, of tangible disappointment when somebody cancels on you.
And those thoughts that run through our heads when we get that text, when we get that call,
did they get a better offer?
Do they really care? Maybe there's something I've done wrong.
Do they really want to spend time with me?
Do you know those kind of feelings when somebody cancels on you?
Those are the precise feelings and emotions that are hanging in the air in the backdrop of this passage
to this church in Corinth.
Track with me, we've got to get the backstory here for to understand both the depth and the glory of this passage.
So Paul has spent time with these Christians in Corinth
and they've developed this real loving bond between them.
Paul had originally told them, when he was with them,
that his plan, his travel plans,
his plan was to spend time, you see it on the map there, in Ephesus,
travel through and round Macedonia
and end up back in Corinth to spend the winter with them.
That was plan A.
And everybody was really excited about plan A.
We get to spend Christmas with Paul.
What a great deal.
But Paul rejigged his plans a bit,
meaning that he would visit Corinth not once but twice.
You see him refer to that in these verses
and that's what he's rehearsing from verse 15 onwards,
if you want to look at it there in the text.
It's what's making sense of this, right?
However, when Paul heard how things had got really tough in Corinth,
what he did is he changed his travel plans once again
and he just makes a beeline to go back to Corinth.
And that is what he's referring to at verse 1 of chapter 2
when he talks about, do you see it there, that painful visit.
So that's the visit he's talking about.
He's gone to Ephesus and he's changed his plans
and gone back to Corinth to deal with the situation there.
Probably likely that he's challenging some really bad behaviour,
some confused thinking.
But whatever's going on in that painful visit,
do you hear it in his voice?
Everybody's left that encounter really bruised.
And so what Paul has done is that instead,
he's left Corinth, but instead of going back again in person,
what he's done is he's wrote them a letter,
pouring out his heart to them, telling them how he feels.
That's likely what he's referring to at verse 3 of chapter 2.
It's a letter that we don't have,
but we trust that if God wanted us to have it,
in our Bibles we would have it.
But that visit, whatever happened there,
has caused quite the stir.
Now why would you write a letter instead of going in person?
You ever faced this conundrum before?
Answer, to give people time and space
to process what you're trying to say to them.
I do that all the time with my friends and my family
when I don't want them to put them on the spot
about a particular question I've got.
What I'll do is I'll text it in advance
rather than just putting it to them on the spot in person.
And the reason is just to give them time
to think about the answer
so I don't put them awkwardly on the spot.
Yeah?
So we do this kind of thing.
We text ahead before we see them in person.
That's the kind of thing Paul's doing here.
He's written a letter to give them time
to process and to pray and to think
on the things that he's saying.
But what has happened in the rawness of this situation
is that Paul's critics have got the rumour mill started
about Paul.
This guy says he's going to show up in person
always lets you down.
This guy's a flip-flop.
This guy's flaky.
This guy's undependable.
This guy's emotionally unstable.
This guy, and I think this is crucial here,
he's only in it for himself.
He doesn't care about you because if he loved you,
he would show his face.
And what they say is that this guy is just a hypocrite.
You know, I love that that's the words that we get
from the Greek word hypocrites,
which means an actor on a stage during a play.
It is an actor who's one thing behind a mask,
one thing with the mask,
and a totally other thing behind the mask.
That's where we get the word hypocrite from.
One thing on the mask, another thing behind the mask.
And that's what these folks are saying about Paul
in his absence.
He's a hypocrite.
And that's our world, isn't it?
Full of hypocrisy.
Here's a question that we're rightly asking ourselves
all the time.
In our world of, and this has been the last few years,
even the last few months, even the last few days,
in our world of hashtag me too,
in our world of fake news,
in our world of AI,
in our world of fact checking,
in our world where just a few weeks ago,
did you see the guy from Abercrombie and Fitch
exposed as somebody who was just abusing their power?
Does it not seem day after day,
we get another allegation about Mohammed Al-Fayed,
people who were just one thing in public,
but were a completely different thing in private.
And we rightly ask the question,
who can we trust?
And they're saying you can add Paul
to this whole list of people who in life
that you can't trust.
What's up for grabs in these verses
is Paul's authenticity.
Right?
Is he a fake?
Is he a fraud?
Because what they're trying to do,
if you discredit Paul,
then you can totally write off both his message
and his pattern of ministry.
Do you remember we saw this last week
when we thought about weakness as the way?
And that's the thing,
the false teachers in Corinth
because of the city in which they live
are trying to undermine.
You don't want to go that way.
You don't want to follow Paul.
You want to follow us.
Life shouldn't look unimpressive.
Life shouldn't be about suffering.
Life shouldn't be full of questions and hardship.
You undermine Paul.
You undermine his message
and his pattern of life.
So what's up for grabs here
is Paul's integrity.
And he defends his integrity.
We'll see this by making two appeals.
Here's the first one.
It is an appeal to his track record
of godly character.
Now, do you see it?
If you tap in there
at verse 12 of chapter 1,
Paul talks about how his what is clear?
His conscience is clear.
We don't talk much about our consciences these days,
do we?
But Paul's all up for talking about his conscience.
And he's talking about how
my aim is to do the right thing,
not in the eyes of man.
My aim is to do the right thing
in the eyes of God.
Now, we've got to be right here.
A clear conscience doesn't mean sinless.
A clear conscience means that
we're living in the light.
We're living in the light of Jesus.
It means that we live a life
where we're constantly asking God
by his spirit
to be constantly checking our hearts
and our motives.
I take it a clear conscience means
being able to put your hands up
when you got something wrong
and saying,
I own it.
I'm sorry.
It's what Christians in the past
used to refer to as
Coram Deo, right?
Coram,
the Latin meaning face,
Deo meaning God.
It just means living our lives
always before the face of God.
There's nothing off bounds.
There's no areas of our lives
that he doesn't see.
Living our lives in light
of the all-seeing,
all-loving,
and all-knowing God.
And that means that in life,
Jesus is the one
who we always aim to please.
And this is all wrapped up
in how Paul says
that he, Silas, and Timothy,
how they lived
when they were in Corinth.
I want you to see
these two phrases.
And I want you to think about
just how counter-cultural
these are.
How did they live among them?
Do you see these two phrases?
Simplicity,
or maybe you've got
holiness,
and godly sincerity.
Do you not love that?
Simplicity
and godly sincerity.
You know,
when I was young,
we used to cut out
photos of football players
and put them on my wall.
Players that I wanted to be like.
You ever do that?
People that you wanted to be like
when you grew up?
I want to be like this guy.
See,
when I get to the end of my life
and they put my gravestone there,
do you know the words
I want to be written on it?
Simplicity
and godly sincerity.
The more I go on in life,
the word I want for my life
is contentment
in Christ.
Do you see what he's saying here?
No hidden agendas.
No putting it on for the cameras.
We were just genuine.
You saw right through us.
We lived our lives in front of you.
You know
that we are the real deal.
I guess this is what we would say
in our culture today.
Our lives were an open book.
And so here's some
quick fire questions for you
just at this point
in this passage.
Friends,
I know many of us
are facing situations
right now,
perhaps at work,
perhaps with our
family and friends
where there's conflict.
Where there's tension.
Can I plead with
all of us
when we go through
times like this
in light of this passage,
above all else
to strive to maintain
our godly integrity.
Where is God calling
you and I to repent?
Is there hidden shame
and is there hidden sin
in our lives
that because of his love
for us
and because of the forgiveness
that's available in Jesus,
he's calling us
out of the darkness
to live our lives
in the light.
What part of your character
and my character
is he moulding
right now?
You know,
in our world
of imposter syndrome,
Jesus frees us
to live a life
of both radical
and liberating
simplicity.
Do you know,
they've got that phrase,
don't they,
that culture eats
strategy for breakfast?
You heard that?
It's so true.
Culture eats strategy
for breakfast.
Can I give you another one?
Character eats gifting
for dinner.
It really does.
Character eats gifting
for dinner.
And just to encourage us
this morning,
if we feel like we're
living our lives
in the world
and no one notices,
just from my short time
in the workplace,
remember,
as a young lawyer,
friends,
people notice
way more than they,
you think they do.
When you live a life
that's godly
in front of people,
they really do notice.
It will come out
on a work night out,
it will come out
on a drinks evening.
People notice
when we live our lives
as walk-in question marks.
What is it that makes them tick?
Why are they not behaving
like us?
What's going on?
In a world
where we so often chase,
and I'm so guilty of this,
the next big thing,
right?
The next big holiday,
the next big house move,
the next big job promotion.
Do you see Paul refer there
at verse 14
about what the next big thing
is on his radar?
And this is why
he acts like he does.
The next big thing
on the mind of the Christian
is the day of the Lord.
Do you see how
in our world
of short-term gains
and short-term goals,
Jesus woos us
to him
and calls us
to a life
of long-term
patient plodding.
In the words
of Martin Luther,
he said this,
there are two days
in my calendar,
this day
and that day.
Love it.
This day,
that day.
So he appeals
to a track record
of godly character.
Secondly,
he appeals
to a diary
driven by gospel motives.
And he does
what he does
because he's following
the Lord.
Get that right?
He does what he does
because he loves
them so dearly.
Do you see
the affectionate language
that Paul uses
to describe
how he feels
about these believers?
As he says,
Dear Corinthians,
you are never,
ever far from my heart.
Verse 4 of chapter 2.
Do you see
what he's saying?
When I picked up
my pen,
probably wasn't a pen,
probably with a quill,
to write,
I did so
with tears
in my eyes.
Yeah?
I did so
with much anguish
in my heart.
Such is,
right at the end there,
such is the depth
of the love
that I have for you.
He is pouring out
his heart
on this page.
You can feel
the tears
smudging the ink
as he writes.
Such is the depth
of his love for them.
Even in the conflict,
even in the chaos,
he's still clinging
to the fact
that he wants
these guys
to progress
in their love
for Jesus.
Now,
here's what I've been
asking myself all week.
What would I have done
in this situation?
I reckon
if I was in a situation
like this,
with conflict like this,
I think I probably
would have been
tapping out.
Probably would have
called it a date.
Probably this were
us in our world.
We would have
cancelled each other.
Yeah?
In our world
that too easily
walks away
when a relationship
gets messy
or costly,
I've been so
profoundly affected
by the fact
that the love
of Christ
by the indwelling
spirit in Paul
causes him
not to withdraw.
It causes him
to press
all the more
in to this
relationship,
persevering in
prayer and affection.
He doesn't
cancel and run.
Paul pours his
heart out
towards them.
Do you see it?
Friends,
I just wonder
if there's a
strained relationship
that the Lord
might be putting
on your heart
right now
to fight
to see right.
And with that
we get a fascinating
little insight
into what makes
Paul tick
and I find this
hugely challenging.
What does he want?
He wants their
joy in the Lord.
Do you see that?
He wants their
joy in the Lord.
That's why he lives.
That's why he does
what he does.
Not for him.
He does it for them.
We make decisions
all the time,
don't we?
When we make decisions
because of the world
that we've grown up in
and the air that
we're breathing every day,
we are used to
making decisions
where we're looking
after number one
first.
Everything and
everyone else
falls in behind that.
And I wonder
if some of us
are facing a big
decision right now.
Can I ask you
to think about
what are the top
three factors
in that
decision making
process?
Here's the challenge
of this passage
as we see
Paul's heart
for them.
Where does
following Jesus
and loving
and serving
his people
fit into
our decision making?
The decisions
that we make,
do we think about
the impact
that they will have
on our fellow
brothers and sisters?
See,
if the Lord
is moving you on
to a different
season of your life,
have you thought
about how you
can finish
as well as you
can?
Does finding
a good local
church where
you can grow
and be a blessing
to other brothers
and sisters
is that feature
in our decision
making?
You know,
one thing I think
that God has
taught me
through his word
over the years
through the things
that I've experienced
is that he's
concerned,
yes,
about what we
decide to do
in our lives,
but equally,
and you could
argue
probably more
so,
he's interested
in the thought
process that we
went through
to get there.
What if instead
of asking ourselves
what should we do,
we asked ourselves
first and foremost
who should we be?
And as we do that,
we pray that God
would shape our
character
so that we will
come to reflect
more of his
priorities
as we see
them in Jesus.
And I think
that's the thing
that takes us
beyond this
being just
a set
of good morals.
Because it would
be the easiest
thing to do
to cut ties
of this passage
here and say
let's go and do it.
But I know my own
heart,
I don't think I'll
last ten minutes
for that thing.
Okay?
Paul tells us
how he came
to be this
kind of person.
And what follows
is the most
wonderful description
of the Bible
story that exists
anywhere in
Scripture.
And the point
is Paul is
saying that
I've come
to be this
kind of person
only because
God is this
kind of God.
If you're new
to the Bible
here,
what Paul writes
at verse 20,
it's on the screen,
I'd love you to
look at it in the
text.
What he writes
here is the
cheat code for
understanding the
Bible.
Right?
It is the key
that unlocks
the whole thing.
And here it is,
he writes it
there,
that Jesus
is the yes
to all of
God's promises.
I think so
often we're
familiar perhaps
as Christians
with the stories
of the Bible,
perhaps to
the neglect
of understanding
the story
of the Bible.
Friends,
to read the
Old Testament
without Jesus
is like watching
a box set
all the way
through and
then realizing
the last one
isn't uploaded
yet.
You ever
heard that
experience?
reading the
Old Testament
without Jesus
is like
persevering with
a jigsaw puzzle
before getting
to the end
and realizing
that there's
a piece
missing.
Every type,
every pattern,
every promise,
every loose
ended question,
every longing,
all roads
lead to
Jesus.
Jesus is the
promised
Genesis 3
serpent
crusher
who will
reverse the
effects of
sin and
death.
He is the
one who
will crush
Satan's
head.
Jesus is
the one
through whom
God will
bless the
nations as
God promised
Abraham way
back in
Genesis 12.
Jesus is
the end to
the sacrificial
system that we
see in
Leviticus.
He is the
perfect priest.
Jesus is the
greater Joshua
who will fully
and finally
lead his
people into
the promised
land where
they will
have rest.
He is the
promised Davidic
king who will
defeat his
enemies and
win rest for
his people.
He is the
suffering servant
of Isaiah 53.
He is the
promised mighty
king from
Bethlehem that
Micah spoke
about and on
and on and
on we could
go.
Here's the
point.
God is not
like a jazz
musician who's
taken a
notion to
improvise.
Evil doesn't
have him on
the back foot.
God is not
responding to
world events as
they happen
thinking I
didn't see that
coming.
No, Jesus
is the glorious
climax to
God's plan,
get this,
hatched before
the foundation
of the world
to rescue
guilty, sinful,
clueless and
weary human
beings like
us.
I think so
often we
come to this
book and we
think it's
about us.
Friends, can I
say that's
precisely where
you and I go
wrong with our
Bible reading?
Because we come
to this and we
go looking for
us.
Can I tell you
what's the way
more satisfying
experience?
The way more
eye-opening
experience is to
come to this
and go looking
for him.
The great lover
and the great
pursuer of
souls.
Jesus Christ is
God's yes to
all his promises.
Christianity is
a yes religion.
Right?
There's tons of
stuff that we say
no to that the
world says yes to
but that only
happens because
we've been
captivated by the
life-transforming
message of Jesus
who is the most
significant yes
that you and I
can ever hope
to know.
It's all about
him.
You know,
there's an old
pub down in
Oxford called
the Eagle and
Child and it's
got a plaque
inside that
commemorates it.
It's the place
where C.S.
Lewis and
J.R.R.
Tolkien and a
few others
used to meet
to talk about
life, God and
everything.
You know the
whole, if you
could go back in
time in a time
machine to any
point in history,
where would you
go?
See for me, this
is up there as
one of them.
Imagine eavesdropping
in on those
conversations.
That's where I'd
go in my time
machine.
That and 1924
when Adrian won
the Scottish Cup
because believe me
that ain't happening
again anytime soon.
But one of those
conversations that
happens between
Lewis and Tolkien
apparently goes,
the two of them
are talking about
stories.
And one turns to
the other, I can't
remember who to who,
but he says, do you
know why we love
stories so much?
Because we're in
one.
We're in one.
This is what Paul
is saying here.
His life is caught
up in God's
wonderful story
about his
faithfulness and
his love.
And I think,
friends, we need
to feel the
pressure off us
trying to be the
hero of our own
stories.
We need to feel
the pressure off
trying to always be
winning at life.
Right?
We need to feel
the pressure off
of smashing it
at parenting.
to feel the
pressure off of
acing your
studies.
Feel the
pressure off of
trying to make
every decision
perfectly.
Having it all
together with your
mental health.
Feel the pressure
off.
Or entertaining
that paralyzing
pressure to find
your passion and
your goal in
life.
Feel the
pressure off.
love.
Because this
tells us by
grace that we
have been caught
up in God's
wonderful story.
We're participating
in it.
Where Jesus is
the glorious
yes.
And the only
thing left to
happen, and this
was the kids talk,
wasn't it?
I'd love to tell you
Pete and I plan that
stuff, but we
don't.
Not one of God's
good promises has
ever failed.
The only one yet
to happen in
the story is
for Jesus to
come back and
decisively conquer
evil, justly
judge those who
haven't accepted
him, and make
all things
new.
And that's why
he must refer
here to the
spirit as the
guarantee.
As if to say
the spirit living
inside of every
single believer
testifies to us
that that is
true.
Friends, my
question to you
as we draw to
a close is, do
you know the
story?
Where are your
gaps in your
thinking?
You know, we're
doing this men's
breakfast again on
the 23rd, and it's
free for anybody to
come.
We'll spend some
time eating
together.
We're going to
interview a man
called Martin about
his life and his
faith and his work
and how he does
all that stuff.
But part of it,
we're going to read
this book called
Enjoying God by
Tim Chester.
You can pick them
up at the back.
We've got a few
still to sell, but
we're going to just
spend 10, 15, 20
minutes talking about
this book together.
If what I'm saying
here is connecting
with you, this is a
great place to go.
Knowing God by
Tim Chester.
Let me ask you,
when was the last
time you saw a
glimpse of Jesus in
the scriptures that
caused your heart to
sing?
You know, my
favorite story last
year was hearing a
story about an
older saint in this
church who will
remain nameless,
although if you
come and badger me
afterwards, I might
let it squeak, who
in one of the many
Bible studies in
this church, when
they saw something
about Jesus that
they hadn't seen
before, they let
out a little sigh of
delight.
We never stop
learning.
Never stop
learning.
There's more of
Jesus here to know
than I think we
will ever get to the
bottom of.
We never stop
learning.
He is God's
glorious yes to
all of his
promises.
And you say,
hang on a minute,
I thought we were
talking about travel
plans.
And I think this is
Paul's point.
I'm faithful.
I'm only faithful
because the story of
God's grace and his
faithfulness, I've been
caught up into that
story.
Do you see how it is
Jesus Christ who
produces in us this
transparency and this
radical simplicity?
A life that's not
trying to impress
people.
A life that's not
trying to be
two-faced.
A life where we
don't talk ourselves
up.
A life where we
don't flatter
others.
A life where we
don't live for the
pleasure of other
people.
A life where we
don't exaggerate our
importance.
A life where we
don't hide our
weakness.
This is what God's
story of grace does
when it burrows its
way down into our
lives and into our
hearts.
So friends, would
our friends say and
families say that we
are people marked by
simplicity and godly
sincerity.
You know, just to
bring us back to the
big thing, I want
just to close by
telling you, and you
can turn around and
look at them if you
want, about the glass
doors in this foyer.
Every single one of us
walked in here today.
Do you see how there's
two glass doors that
you walked in?
So on Monday we had
Michael's funeral.
Something I learned at
this funeral is that
Michael was the
central, one of the
central drivers of the
team that designed that
glass foyer.
Now previously, before
my time, but Pete tells
me this, there were two
brown partition doors,
two brown partition doors
that went all the way
along that people had to
pass through to get into
this hall.
And a generation before
us sensed that our
neighbours and people who
walked past this building
thought of this church as
a mysterious place where
no one could see what
happened inside.
So what they did is they
raised the money wanting
to change that perception
and they drew up plans,
they put in the graph to
take out those brown
partition walls and put
in all that glass.
And what they wanted to
show outsiders, passers-by,
you can see straight in
here.
Now of course it's to let
light in, isn't it, as
well?
It's another reason.
But you can see straight in
here.
There's nothing to hide and
there's everything to see.
You see, authentic lives
of simplicity and godly
sincerity, that is how we
will make the real Jesus
non-ignorable in Edinburgh
and beyond.
Simplicity and godly
sincerity.
This is love.
Not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent
his son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God
so loved us, we also
ought to love one
another.
No one has ever seen
God, but if we love one
another, God lives in us
and his love is made
complete in us.
And so Father, we thank
you so much this morning
for each other.
And we thank you for the
relationships of love that
exist between us.
And Lord, I pray that you
would be helping us this
morning.
Lord, in all the different
things that are going on in
our lives, I pray that your
spirit would help, Lord,
both comfort and challenge
and just convince us of your
wonderful, heartfelt love
towards us and your
faithfulness in Jesus.
So Lord, I thank you for this
morning and I pray you'd be
with us now, Lord, particularly
as we move to a time of
communion and as we remember
who Jesus is, that glorious
yes.
Father, that you would fill our
hearts with greater affection
towards him.
And it's in his wonderful name
that we pray.
Amen.