Gracious Lord, I pray that you would help us through your word tonight
and by your spirit, give us a glimpse of not just our present life,
but our future.
And I pray that we would walk out of here transformed, changed,
and deeply in love with the Lord Jesus.
And we ask it for your glory. Amen.
Keep your fingers in 2 Corinthians 5.
And also, if you can flip back a couple of books into Romans 2,
that would be really helpful.
A young police cadet was taking his final exam
at Hendon Police College in North London
before being unleashed on the British public.
And one of the questions in this exam paper was,
you're out on a patrol in outer London
when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street.
Upon investigation, you discover that a large hole
has been blown in the footpath
and a nearby block of flats is on fire with people trying to escape.
Beside the blast site is an overturned van.
Inside the van, there is a strong smell of marijuana.
The occupants of the van, a man and a woman,
are half naked and injured.
You'd notice that the woman is the wife of your divisional inspector
who happens to be away at the moment in the United States.
A passing motorist stops to offer assistance
and you recognise him as a suspect in an armed robbery case.
Then suddenly, a man runs out of a nearby house
shouting that his wife, who was expecting a baby,
has gone into labour due to the explosion.
Another man, who's been blown into the adjacent canal,
is crying out for help because he can't swim.
And by now, a crowd of onlookers has formed
and there's a risk of a second explosion.
Then comes the question.
Bearing in mind the provision of the Mental Health Act,
describe in a few words what actions you would take.
The officer thought for a moment
and then picked up his pen and wrote,
I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd.
Let me just get a little bit serious with you just for a moment.
2 Corinthians 4 and 5,
which we've been looking at in our mission month
over the last three weeks and today the fourth week,
is designed by the Apostle Paul through God
for us Christians not to take off our uniform
and mingle with the crowd.
He doesn't want us to lose heart.
That's the purpose of 2 Corinthians 4 and 5.
You see there, you can imagine it,
the stakes are pretty high when in a moment like that,
a police officer takes off their uniform
and decides to mingle with the crowd.
And I think what the Apostle Paul has been trying to tell us
in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 is the stakes are astronomical
if the Christian takes off their uniform
and decides to mingle with the crowd.
That is, if we lose heart.
We got a glimpse of exactly how high the stakes were last week.
We only looked at it very quickly in chapter 5, verse 10.
And I've included it again this week.
And I want to dig a little bit deeper
because the stakes are enormous when you look at this verse.
So if you've got your Bibles open, have a look at it there.
2 Corinthians 5, verse 10.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ
that each one may receive what is due him
for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad.
That's how high the stakes are.
It's saying there that God will hold us accountable
for how we've lived.
Notice that the judgment seat of Christ is universal.
It says, we must all appear.
That is, everyone.
No exceptions.
We will all give an account to the Lord Jesus for our lives.
And notice too that while it is everyone,
we'll all be judged individually.
Notice that each one must give an account.
That is, it won't be me sort of being able to hide in the crowd
at that point.
It will be me and God,
no one else giving an account for my life.
All of my life will be brought to bear.
And you won't be there to say,
stand with me in that moment
and sort of prop me up and put an arm and say,
look, he wasn't such a bad bloke after all.
Romans 2, if you've got your finger in that,
just flick over there
because I think it gives a vivid account
of what that day will look like.
A little bit clearer than verses,
chapter 5 and 10 here.
It says in verse 5 to 11,
because of your stubbornness
and your unrepentant heart,
you were storing up wrath against yourself
for the day of God's wrath
when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
God will give to each person
according to what he has done.
There's the connection with 2 Corinthians 5 and 10.
And then we read that there are only two outcomes
for the final reckoning with the Lord Jesus.
Verse 7,
To those who by persistence in doing good
seek glory, honor, and immortality,
he will give eternal life.
But for those who are self-seeking
and who reject the truth and follow evil,
there will be wrath and anger.
There will be trouble and distress
for every human being who does evil,
first for the Jew,
then for the Gentile.
But glory, honor, and peace
for everyone who does good.
I see the description there.
It says,
Stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
self-seeking,
who reject the truth and follow evil.
And that is, I think,
a really helpful description
of what the Bible calls sin.
Sin is a universal problem.
It's not just, if you like,
for the so-called bad people.
It is a problem for everyone,
even us clean, middle-class people
who are deeply committed to nice boy,
good girl, wickedness,
of pride and unbelief
and indifference and ingratitude
and impurity of mind
and personal ambition.
God will hold us accountable for that.
And that is why Romans 3 says
that everyone has sinned
and fallen short of what God requires.
No one has lived a perfect life
except Jesus.
And the terrible consequence
of a life of sin
is what Romans 2, 8
calls wrath and anger from God.
And that is referring there
to eternal punishment.
And in all the reading
that I have done,
let me say that no one
has overstated the terrors
of what wrath and anger
from God actually mean.
Last week,
the Apostle Paul painted a picture
from early in 2 Corinthians 5
painted a picture of eternal life.
Eternal life is infinitely wonderful
to imagine.
Eternal life in the presence of Jesus
is infinitely beautiful to contemplate.
And it's hard for us to get a glimpse of it,
but think of a moment in your life
when you were bursting
because you were so happy.
Think of a moment.
Surely there's at least one.
And multiply that a thousand times
and let it increase continually
for all of eternity
and you got just some sort of a notion
of what eternal life with Jesus
would be like.
And so if eternal life with God
is the most glorious reality
that we could even hope to imagine,
eternity without God
is the most appalling reality
that you could possibly imagine.
If heaven means that I'm raised
with a body fit for life
of joy and peace
and painlessness and beauty
that will never end
in the presence of God,
then hell means that I'm raised
with a body fit for eternity
of torment away from God.
The suffering will never kill the body.
It will just go on and on and on and on
and no horror of suffering
in human history
will be compared with it at all.
That's as close as I can get to it,
what it will mean.
Revelation 14.11
is probably the most graphic
New Testament judgment,
a statement, sorry,
of the eternal suffering
of those who are unrepentant sinners.
It says,
The smoke of their torment
rises forever and ever.
There is no rest,
day or night.
The point of all this
is that when we read
2 Corinthians 5.10,
we're not just meant
to sort of skim over it.
We're actually meant
to feel something
and we're meant to shudder
is really what we're meant to do.
To paraphrase a quote
from John Piper,
he says,
we need to feel
that we were once
as close to hell
as we are in the seats
that we're now sitting on
even closer.
Its darkness like vapor
had entered the soul
and was luring us down.
We must believe and feel
that just like a rock climber
who has slipped
and perilously hangs
on the edge of a cliff
with his fingertips,
so we used to hang over hell
a mere heartbeat
from eternal torment.
The Bible says,
it is a dreadful thing
to fall into the hands
of the living God
and for the first 22 years
of my life,
I was but a heartbeat
from that.
For half of my life,
I was a heartbeat
from that.
And so it says
in verse 11,
since then we know
what it is to fear the Lord.
He's speaking to people
who are Christians here.
He says,
we try to persuade men.
The fear of God
is a right motivation,
but it isn't our only motivation.
The fear of hell and God
is no proof
that you actually love Christ.
But if we do not believe
in our hearts
the awful truth
of the enmity
that is between God
and us
and all the terrifying
consequences
that go along with that,
then our love for Christ
will be shallow
and it will be flawed.
Without the fear
my love for Christ
will be taken for granted.
It will be passionless.
And all those joys
that I spoke about last week
of the eternal kingdom
in the presence of God,
I'll just come to expect it
to be the next thing.
It's kind of a given
that that's the next thing
that I'm going to get.
And so let us believe
and feel the horror
of eternal condemnation
and flee from it
into the loving arms of Jesus
where there is no condemnation.
We are told in verse 14
that fear of judgment
is not Paul's only motive.
He says,
because Christ's love compels us.
And these verses
that flow on from that
are just rich
with the wonder
of the love of Christ for us.
Verse 18,
have a look at it.
God,
who reconciled us to himself
through Christ.
And again in verse 19,
God was reconciling the world
to himself in Christ.
To reconcile
is to render two parties
to be no longer
opposed to one another.
It is to win over
from hostility
and enmity
into friendship
is to make
two opposites
consistent
and compatible.
And these verses
say that God
took the initiative
so that we would not
be rendered
separated from one another
for all of eternity.
God took the initiative
to reconcile
us to himself.
It is all the work of God.
See it there in verse 18.
All this is from God.
See it in verse 19.
God was reconciling
the world to himself.
Again in verse 21,
God made him
who had no sin
to be sin for us.
What it's saying there is
that we are opposed
to God
living a life of sin,
living for ourselves
and God took the initiative.
It was the initiative,
the momentum,
the purpose
of reconciliation
are all from God.
God does something
about the sin
that has caused
the enmity
between us and him.
Verse 19
is the preliminary
explanation
of how this reconciliation
is brought about.
Have a look at it.
God was reconciling
the world to himself
in Christ,
not counting men's
sins against them.
And verse 21
describes
how it is possible
that God doesn't
count our sins
against us.
It says,
God made him
who had no sin
to be sin for us
so that in him
we might become
the righteousness
of God.
The end of verse 19
says that God
doesn't want to count
our sins
against us.
Frankly,
we don't want God
to count our sins
against us.
And so picture here
if you like
an account book.
The account book
has written in it
everything that I've said,
everything that I've done,
everything that I've thought,
all that I am,
everything.
That's a pretty frightening
thought really.
And verse 21
says that
my sin
is not put
into my account book
but it's put
into Jesus'
account book
instead.
My account
of sin
has been put
by God
to the account
of his
sinless son.
Jesus has taken
my place
and he's borne
my sin
in his body
on the cross.
It means
that Jesus
has been judged
for my error,
for my sin.
He was made sin,
the sin of the world,
that terrible burden
and offence to God,
all the hostility
and enmity
and filth
that separates
me from God
and for all of us
from God.
Everything that is
the reason
that I deserve
eternal punishment
has been placed
by God
onto his son
the Lord Jesus
and the Lord Jesus
willingly accepts
all that wrath
and anger
from God.
He is judged
for my
and for our sin.
On the cross
he suffered
the torment
and cried out,
my God,
why have you
forsaken me
so that I might
not never
have to utter
those words
for all of eternity?
but not only
is my sin
put into his account
but his
perfect
unblemished
righteousness
is put into
my account.
I can't be
condemned
if I trust
in Jesus
because there
is no proof.
There is no debt,
there is no
badness and sin
written up
in my book.
I open the book
on the day of judgment
and it reads
perfect righteousness.
No wrong.
The only thing
that I contribute
to my reconciliation
with God
is the sins
for which I must
be redeemed.
In a trivial way,
it's kind of like
the day I married Nat,
not that that
was trivial.
As I exchanged
rings with Nat,
I got a ring
and I put the ring
on her finger
and I said,
Natalie,
with this ring
I wed you.
With all that I am
and all that I have,
I honour you.
What I'm saying
there in that moment
is that everything
that's mine
is now yours.
The problem
with that was
after five years
as a student,
that included
a hex debt,
a car loan
and $2,000
that I had to borrow
from my father-in-law
in order to have
a honeymoon.
And I said to Nat,
it's now all yours.
All that I have,
all that debt
is now yours.
That's a trivial way
of putting it,
if you like.
That's what happens
when you become a Christian
or another moral,
realistic way
of putting it,
it's like getting
Nathan Tinkler's
bank account
and changing
the name
at the top of it
with Bill Gates
and getting
Bill Gates'
bank account
and putting
Nathan Tinkler's
name at the top of it,
a big swap
has happened.
All the debt
and the bankruptcies,
nearly there,
has been swapped.
So that Bill Gates
takes the bankruptcy
and Nathan Tinkler
gets the bank account
and the richest man
in the world.
That's what happens
when you become
a Christian.
You bring all your sin
and moral bankruptcy
to him
and he receives it
and he counts them,
God counts
all of that stuff
to the Lord Jesus
and Jesus'
perfect record
is given to me.
And my friends,
if you're a Christian,
it is to fill you
with the wonder
and the gratitude
and the thankfulness
and the humility
that the death
of one man,
the God-man,
Jesus Christ,
would bear the infinite penalty
as a substitute
for everyone
who repents
and trusts in him.
and it is essential
for your confidence
in his finished work
of reconciliation
that we see
the centrality
of the Lord Jesus
in it all.
Notice in verse 18,
it is all through Christ.
Verse 19,
it is in Christ.
The reconciliation
of the world
to God
happens through
the death
and resurrection
of Christ.
It is something
that has happened
in history.
It is something
that is finished
and we have no part
of it.
And the word world
in verse 19
is staggering.
It says
that what God did
through the death
of the Lord Jesus
on a hill
outside the city walls
of Jerusalem
in around 30 AD
concerns
the reconciliation
of the entire
human race
to its maker.
It is the extraordinary
claim of the New Testament.
It is the claim
of verses 14 and 15
in 2 Corinthians 5.
We are convinced
that one died
for all
and therefore
all died
and he died
for all.
Jesus' death
has universal significance.
He is
the reconciler.
There is
no reconciliation
with God
outside of Jesus.
You don't need
anything more
than Jesus
but you can't
have anything
less than Jesus.
And this message
of reconciliation
with God
through the Lord
Jesus Christ
is our message
for the city
of Chatswood
and beyond.
That's what
mission month
is all about.
The stakes
couldn't be high
my friends.
Separation
from God
for all of eternity
and torment
or coming to Christ
and living for him.
Eternal life
in his presence
and he calls us
with a real sense
of urgency
in 2 Corinthians 5
and 6
to attend
to this matter.
If you're not
someone who trusts
in the Lord Jesus
then I want to say
with all humility
and with gentleness
but with deliberateness
the stakes
could not be higher
for you right now.
As chapter 2
verse
chapter 6
verse 2 says
now is the time
of God's favour
now is the day
of salvation
and I implore you
as the Apostle Paul
does for us
in these verses
to be reconciled
with God.
If he has
at all
twinged your heart
tonight
do not ignore it.
Come and speak
to me
or speak to Sam
or Rob
or a friend
who's brought you
here tonight.
Attend to the matter
right now.
So the message
of reconciliation
of what God
has done
and can only
do through Christ
the ministry
of reconciliation
on the other hand
is what God
can only do
through us.
And so this bit
is for those
who receive
the message
of reconciliation.
This is what
God is calling you
to.
The message
doesn't just
shape our future
it actually
shapes our
present as well.
So verse 20
we are therefore
Christ's ambassadors
as though God
were making
his appeal
through us.
The main thrust
of verse 20
and onwards
is that what
Christians
the ones who
have been
reconciled
must do
if the message
of reconciliation
is to be heard.
That is the message
of reconciliation
is our ministry
of reconciliation
to the city
of Chatswood
and beyond.
This is what
God does
through us.
Verse 18
All this is
from God
who reconciled
us to himself
through Christ
and gave us
the ministry
of reconciliation.
The ministry
is given to us
it's not given
to Christ
it's not given
to the angels.
Verse 19
And he is
committed to us
the message
of reconciliation.
It's given to us
not Christ
not the angels.
Verse 20
We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors
as though God
were making his appeal
through us.
He does it through us
not Christ
not the angels.
Then again
in chapter 6
verse 1
As God's fellow workers
we urge you
not to receive
God's grace
in vain.
We do the urging
not God
yes God does it
through the Holy Spirit
but it is
our responsibility
it is our task
it is our voice
it is our tongue.
Verse 20
makes our ministry
very clear
we are Christ's ambassadors.
And as an ambassador
that job is
quite distinguished
as an ambassador
the honour
of the Lord Jesus
is at stake
that is an
overwhelming thought.
In his death
Jesus represents us
and in his absence
we represent him.
And so if you have
received the message
of reconciliation
then the ministry
of reconciliation
is yours.
It's not just
reserved for people
like me.
It's yours.
Everyone who's
received the message
of reconciliation
has been given
the ministry
of reconciliation.
See the connection
in verse 15?
He
Christ
died for all
that those who live
should no longer
live for themselves
but for him
who died for them
and was raised again.
As a recipient
of the message
of reconciliation
my whole life
has now been
redeployed
for diplomatic service.
I speak
and I live
in such a way
that makes Jesus
look like the treasure
that he actually is.
And Paul shows us
in chapter 6
verses 3 to 10
that being an ambassador
is hard work.
So when I talk
about diplomatic service
don't think of
High Commissioner
in New Zealand
for instance.
Think of being sent
to a hostile
foreign country
to speak on behalf
of your sovereign government.
Let's have a look
at it there
in verses 3 and 4.
We put no stumbling block
in anyone's path
so that our ministry
will not be discredited.
Remember
we represent
the Lord Jesus.
Our lifestyle
and our message
are to be consistent
with each other.
It is absolutely essential
because if the ministry
is discredited
the message
is discredited
which means
that the Lord Jesus
is discredited.
That's an overwhelming thought.
Verse 4
rather
that is rather than
being a stumbling block
and discrediting
the ministry
and discrediting
the Lord Jesus
as servants of God
we commend ourselves
in every way
and how does he
commend himself
in his service?
By taking off
his uniform
and mingling
with the crowd?
Have a look
in great endurance
in troubles
hardship
and distresses
etc.
As one
former minister
or current minister
actually said
the ministry
of reconciliation
is sheer
hard work.
Claypot expectations
from earlier on.
Sheer hard work.
It's not being
an ambassador
for the Lord Jesus
when it feels right
or when it seems
like the correct time
or when you think
people are going
to receive
what you're going
to say
favourably
or when a
positive response
is guaranteed
or when it's convenient
it shapes
your whole life.
I loved
hearing the story
recently
of an elderly
Christian man
who was dying
of cancer
and his main
concern
was to die
so well
around his
carers
and his nurses
and his doctors
and his families
that Jesus
looked great
to them.
That's what
shaped his life.
An ambassador
of the Lord Jesus
right to the end.
He hadn't
lost heart
in the troubles
and distresses
and hardships
of life.
He hadn't
taken off
his uniform
and mingled
with the crowd.
And so
friends
St. Paul's
I want to
ask you
do the
ministries
and particularly
this is for you
if you're
in leadership
in any
capacity
at St. Paul's
do the
ministries
of this church
make clear
the need
and the
message
of reconciliation.
I'm not
asking
did they
start
with the
purpose
of the
ministry
being clear
I'm asking
has it
continued
or has
there been
a loss
of heart
along the
way
maybe
the
relationship
connection
has become
central
rather than
the message
of reconciliation
or maybe
the maintenance
of the ministry
structure
has in fact
consumed the
focus.
I can tell
you that for
me
one of the
sure signs
that I'm
starting to
disrobe my
uniform
is
when I
go about
activities of
ministry
and I
don't shed
a tear
for those
who are
lost
Christ.
Or it's
possible to
year in
and year
out
just keep
the
clogs
moving
balancing
the
budgets
making sure
people are
turning up
running out
the programs
week in
week out
week in
week out
and we
do it
to make
ourselves
comfortable
rather than
do it for
those who
need to hear
Christ.
Where we
can be more
concerned about
the look of
this thing
and the fact
that it's
probably got
three tons of
water in it
on a wooden
structure and
will it
possibly stand
up and put a
hole in the
building than
what it's
actually here
for and
celebrating what
happened tonight.
friends our
mission statements
written on the
back wall of
our church
there tells
us that we
exist for
this message
and for
this ministry.
St. Paul's
exists to know
Jesus, to
treasure Jesus
and represent
Jesus and it
is not just
meant to be
written on the
walls, it's
meant to be
written in
our hearts
and to be
shaping our
lives.
I believe the
more deeply
we feel how
undeserved and
free was the
grace of the
Lord Jesus
Christ that
plucked someone
like me at
the age of
23 from the
flames of
eternal misery
the more we
will treasure the
Lord Jesus and
the gift of
grace that we
have in him.
And the more
that we treasure
the Lord Jesus
I believe the
harder we'll
work, the
less we'll
regard everyone
from a worldly
point of view,
we will see them
as people in
need of Christ
and the
freer our
love will be
in representing
the Lord Jesus
to those who
need to
experience his
mercy.
Let's pray.
Gracious
Father I pray
that you would
reshape our
priorities as we
have gone
through 2
Corinthians 4
and 5
over this
month of
refocusing
again on
your global
agenda and
your plans,
the mission
that you've
entrusted to
us.
Lord if we
have been
tempted either
individually or
corporately to
take off our
uniform and
mingle with the
crowd, encourage
us in heart I
pray as again
we hear the
message of
reconciliation.
Help us Lord
to be humbled,
to see that
we've contributed
nothing.
There's no good
and better people
but that we're
all in deep
need of
reconciliation
with you
and we
thank you for
what you've
done for us
in the Lord
Jesus.
May it shape
our lives we
pray day by
day.
Amen.