WEBVTT 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:21.280 Morning, everyone. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.679 Welcome to you if you're new. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:31.519 Please turn up that passage if you would, either in a Bible that you've brought with you or on your phone so you can follow along. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:36.240 It's a short passage right at the end of our uh of 2 Corinthians. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.079 This is the last week of our studies. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:40.159 Just to let you know where we're going to be going. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:43.679 So we go into our summer schedule now, uh, where we look at the Psalms. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.920 So we're going to be in the Old Testament book of Psalms. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.159 We started this series five years ago. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:54.079 We started at Psalm 1, and you just do a bunch of Psalms until the end of uh the end of August. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:02.880 And uh we didn't quite realize that most of the Psalms very early on are all lament Psalms, so really we should have called the series Summertime Sadness. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:08.159 Um but uh we're getting a little bit more buoyant now as we as we go forward. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:18.159 So we'll be in Psalm 54 uh next uh next week and uh going consecutively through through the rest um up until the end of August. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:21.439 Let me pray for us as we look at God's word together. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:31.840 Father, we praise you uh for all of our time uh in this uh in this letter, for those things that you have taught us and formed in us. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.640 Thank you that when your word is read, we hear your voice. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.239 May we hear you speak to us powerfully by your spirit. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:40.319 We pray in the name of Jesus. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:41.280 Amen. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:02:10.800 Over the course of our studies, uh, just to uh remind you or bring you up to speed, over the course of our studies in this letter of 2 Corinthians, that's our practice, we take books of the Bible and we go through them consecutively, is that we have seen the uh the destructive nature of uh divisions, infighting, tension within the family of God, those divisions that can be created in a church. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:18.240 The church in Corinth was a church that is riven by division, people warring against one another. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:32.719 We saw that even from the very first letter, the very first chapter of the first letter, when Paul was talking about how some people were saying, Oh, well, I follow Paul, and other people were saying, Well, I follow Apollos, and some super spiritual people were saying, Well, I follow Christ. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:36.719 And really, Paul was saying, no, that's all just division. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:47.199 It's worth thinking about what causes division in a church, or what causes division in uh in your home life, in your work team. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.199 What causes division, tension, acrimony, those sorts of things? 00:02:54.080 --> 00:03:16.960 Well, it's things like self-seeking, self-love, seeking our own betterment, desiring our own power, looking down on the abilities or experiences of others, not regarding others as worthy of respect or as equal to you. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:27.680 And really, those sorts of attitudes, those sorts of divisions run through not just our lives, but society at large. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:37.680 We see people uh fracturing into tribes, into identity groups, into factions, and warring against one another. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:43.360 There is power struggles at various layers of our societal life. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:51.919 And yet people often talk in quite vague and positive terms about desiring unity. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:04:03.439 We want unity, we want togetherness, and yet so often we end up dividing down, feeling threatened, becoming hostile. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:18.959 Paul here, all the way through the letter, and as he concludes here, wants to remind the Christians of the importance and goodness and basis of Christian unity. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:43.279 That a united church family is a tremendous witness to the world, that a united church body is a healthy one that commends the gospel to people who come in and interact with our with our community, and as we go out, it commends the life of uh of Jesus to others. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:05:02.879 And so as we think about our life together, one of the things that, perhaps even the chief thing, but that will enrich our life, enrich our community, and commend our community in a divided world is the unity that we strive for together. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:10.720 And so I want to spend some time this morning not just talking in in vague uh kind of politician-type terms about wouldn't it be really nice? 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:28.480 We should be united, let's all come together to actually think specifically and practically about what Christian unity looks like, because I think that that is the button that Paul places in this final greeting on the letter as he ties up all of the strands. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:36.160 The first thing that we're going to look at are the aspects of unity. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:37.279 What are the aspects? 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.439 What are the characteristics of unity? 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.439 In what ways uh is unity expressed? 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:45.279 The aspects of unity. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.680 Paul in verse 11. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:57.600 Hopefully you've got it in front of you so you can see it, but Paul in verse 11 gives us five commands, five imperatives. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:59.920 They are, let's let's note them. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:10.000 Rejoice, first one, aim for restoration, second, comfort one another, third, agree with one another, fourth, live in peace, fifth. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:18.079 Five commands, things that the family of believers should be working towards together. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:27.439 What we'll see as we go through them is that Paul isn't introduced, it's not like, it's not like Paul sitting there going, Oh, I'm running out of parchment. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:31.199 Oh, and by the way, rejoice, and uh what's the other thing that he's saying? 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.519 Uh, live in harmony with one another and uh make sure that you're comforting one another. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:36.480 Okay, bye. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:44.639 No, no, what he's doing is he's drawing together strands and themes from the letter as a whole. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.360 Let's take these commands, these imperatives in turn. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:55.600 Uh this is a this is a typical uh Markian sermon where this is the first point, but there are five subpoints. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:56.720 You're welcome, Ben. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.360 The first command, the first imperative is to rejoice. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:17.680 All of these imperatives, in case you're you may or may not be interested, but all of these imperatives are written in the uh in the continuous form that is keep on rejoicing, keep on doing these things, keep on striving for unity. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:26.160 So it's not just rejoice one time, but be a community that rejoices, keep on rejoicing together. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:34.879 One of the ways that we show our unity one with another is by rejoicing together. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:36.399 Rejoicing in what? 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:49.439 Well, rejoicing in the gospel, rejoicing in what Jesus has done for us, rejoicing as you see others grow in the gospel, rejoicing as you see others being brought to repentance and newness of life. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.000 Rejoicing is a sign of our life together. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:02.000 Paul rejoiced over the Christians back in chapter 7. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.000 He says that I rejoiced that you had come to repentance. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:14.399 When he'd heard that report from Titus, who had returned, he rejoiced that they turned from their sin and turned to God. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.720 And now he's saying at the end of the letter, look at that, like I am delighting in you. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:29.040 I know there's tension, I know there's issues, but I am delighting in you, and I am inviting you to rejoice in the gospel and what God is doing among you with me. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:31.279 Let's rejoice together. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:37.279 He doesn't want them to persist in their sin, he doesn't want them to wallow in their shame of their sin. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.080 He wants repentance to give way to rejoicing. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.879 He wants repentance to give way to rejoicing. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.120 Is that the pattern of repentance in your own life? 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:04.240 See, we can sometimes think that repentance somehow means that you must perpetually go on just beating yourself up. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.399 You're wallowing in shame. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:11.120 No, there's a there's a right kind of double heartbeat to our coming to God. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:13.120 It's repenting. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.480 Lord Jesus, I have sinned against you again in thought and word and deed and action and in motive, in things that I have done and things that I have failed to do. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:31.919 I have not been a good husband, I have not been a good wife, I have not been a good uh citizen or colleague or friend, I have sinned against you in these ways. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:38.799 Genuine, specific repentance that then gives way to joy. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.039 But thank you for the assurance. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:50.639 Thank you for the assurance that if, as John says, we confess our sins, you are faithful and just and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.320 Thank you, I praise you for the cleansing of the Lord Jesus. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.759 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:02.000 Do you rejoice at the end of your repentance? 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:05.919 Or do you just go to God and say, Me again, same sin, really sorry. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.120 I'll try to do harder. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:07.759 No, no. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:15.840 What will actually fuel your holy living is your joy, your delight, your gladness in God going forward. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:25.600 The more glad you are in God, the more you're rejoicing in what Jesus has done for you, the less you'll be drawn by those habitual sins. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:30.559 The less beguiling they will look because they're not the source of your joy, but Jesus is. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.320 Well, there's a reason why he put it first. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:46.240 Because it is the it is the fuel and fire of our Christian living individually and in our life together. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.279 Friends, brothers and sisters, be glad in God. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.720 Be glad in what God has done for you. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:03.519 Be glad in who he is, be glad in how he has sustained you through this last year or more. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:10.240 Be glad in how he has borne you and comforted you through seasons of grief and trial. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:25.200 Be glad in his sending of his son for you to restore you to newness of life and to set your feet upon the rock and to give you the assurance of heaven and eternity with him. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:26.480 Be glad in God. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:28.240 Are you glad in God? 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:32.960 Rejoice that he has made you his own. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:43.759 Rejoice in his wisdom and goodness that he has placed you here at this time, at this moment, in this season of life. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.720 That he has done so for a purpose. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:54.480 Joy and gladness in God are the wellspring of the other imperatives, of the other commands. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.480 The second one says, Aim for restoration. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:06.240 Really, here what Paul is picking up is not really restoration, but the idea of reconciliation. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.399 We've already seen that in chapter five. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:16.720 He's saying, not just aim for it, but strive and keep on striving, persistently strive for reconciliation. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.960 That's what he means by this idea of aim for restoration. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:27.759 Reconciliation came up in chapter five where he says that that's the very message of the gospel. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.679 You want to know what the gospel is about? 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:37.440 The gospel is about how you as an individual and us as humanity are arrayed as God's enemies. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:42.639 And he stands in hostility towards us because of our sin. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:13:08.080 There is a breach in the relationship, and yet he has taken the actions, taken the steps that we could never take in order to end that hostility, to end that warfare, and bring the two warring parties together in the very flesh of the Lord Jesus, as he dies upon a cross, uniting God and man together, ending hostility because he has ended our sin. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:13.039 And so we have been reconciled between man together. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:24.399 And so what that does, Paul says, and what he's reminding us of here, is because God has done that on the vertical, that makes us, you and I, reconciliation people. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:31.600 We're the kind of people that love to seek and pursue reconciliation. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:42.799 We try not to hold grudges, we try to bury hatchets, to join back together again. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:52.320 It is a grievous thing to us when relationships breach and fracture down, and when people leave our community. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.799 That is not a first port of call. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.519 We strive for reconciliation. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:14.080 This is so easy to miss in our context when there are so many other churches and church groups that you know if somebody doesn't like it here at City, if somebody thinks that I'm a bit of a jerk, I know that you can be shocked to think that some people think that. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:18.799 But if some people think that I'm a bit of a jerk, then just be like, well, I'm just gonna go somewhere else. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:25.919 If you fall out with someone, just relocate, go to another church family. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.960 There can be little impetus to reconcile. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.440 Because reconciliation's hard, right? 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.279 Reconciliation was hard for God, it cost him his son. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:49.039 And reconciliation is hard for us because it causes at least one of us, if not both parties, to absorb hurt into themselves. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:58.879 It's saying, I'm not going to seek your ill, I'm not going to seek vengeance, I'm going to absorb that hurt and cost. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:04.399 I'm going to cast it upon the Lord, and I'm going to seek to rejoin with you. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.559 Paul this morning would have us see the goodness of reconciliation. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:29.759 And when it happens between us, when it happens between us in our church family, it is living, visible, tangible proof of the transforming power of the gospel. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:45.039 The third thing, the third imperative, Paul says, comfort one another. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:16:01.360 Here Paul brings us all the way back to chapter one, where go where Paul spoke of the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our sufferings, so that we are able then to comfort others with that same comfort. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:22.000 This is often why God allows us to go through something painful, so that in time you might know how best, how more precisely to comfort somebody who's going through what you went through those years before. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:37.039 He comforts so that you can go on then to comfort, so that you can speak words of reassurance, that idea of like I was I was in that pit, I was in that pit that you are in. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:38.879 I was in that hole. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:48.000 I know what it is to feel that anger, that resentment, that pain, but I also know the way out. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:55.440 I also know that God, just as He led me out, will lead you. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.679 Let's journey together. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.279 Let me comfort you. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.159 Let me shoulder some of that burden. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:27.839 It is a beautiful thing to be with a brother or sister who is despairing, hurting, burdened, and to lovingly lift their eyes to heaven, that they might glimpse the comfort and hope that God has for them, that God is in himself. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:45.200 Paul would have us so know one another and so be connected with one another's lives that we are able to speak those words of comfort, that we are the type of people that you call when you need comforting. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.960 To fulfill this imperative of comforting one another. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.839 We must be in one another's lives. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.759 We must know when you are hurting, when you're feeling empty. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.079 To know how best. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:05.599 To come alongside and to shoulder that burden with you. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:12.640 Or even just to sit for a while in the silence. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:20.799 Fourth, Paul says, agree with one another. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.480 Does that mean that uh we can never have differences of opinion? 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:32.079 Well, no. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.599 It doesn't. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.480 There are things that we disagree on. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:44.960 There are things that good, faithful, good-natured Christians have differences of opinion on. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:54.079 No, it's not this idea of there mustn't be any there mustn't be any um differences of opinion among you. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:01.119 It's not about just having kind of bland unanimity in all matters. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:17.599 No, what Paul is asking them to work towards, what Paul is saying that they should strive towards is to having shared shared values, a shared perspective, a shared heart, a shared mission. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:24.720 This is the difference between unity and uniformity. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:39.599 Uniformity is everyone believing the same thing, saying the same thing, expressing themselves in the same way, looking the same, dressing the same, doing the same sorts of things. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:54.880 Some movements can even market themselves as being about diversity, when actually what happens is that they struggle to tolerate a dissenting opinion. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:02.559 There is little diversity of thought in such movements, and so actually underneath they're quite uniform. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:08.880 Everybody believing the same thing, everybody parroting the same sorts of ideas. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:12.480 Christian unity isn't like that. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.759 Christian unity is different. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:34.160 In Christianity, unity is that we have a common core around which we unite, but that there is also room for diversity of expression and diversity of belief, even in terms of non-core issues. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.480 A prime example being that of baptism. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:43.440 People in this room, we believe different things about baptism, but we unite around the common core that is the gospel. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.000 And we believe that Christians, by good faith, can believe different things about the timing, the method, mode of baptism. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:58.240 Other ones might be people believe different things about the Lord's Supper. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:04.960 And some of those we can all have good disagreement over. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:19.039 But we believe and share in a common core. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.039 That is Christian unity. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.079 And we should strive to maintain that unity. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.359 So that we might live in harmony with one another. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:34.720 That's the idea, really. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.240 It's harmony, actually. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:43.599 It's not that we're all playing the same note, it's that we're all playing different notes that are that accord with one another. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.759 That's the right music analogy, Ben. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:48.480 Yeah, good. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:49.279 Yeah, okay. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:54.000 Music analogies and sports analogies are not my friends. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.000 So I'll move swiftly on to imperative number five. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.759 It says, live in peace, finally. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:08.799 Over the two letters, 1st and 2 Corinthians, we've seen that the church is in chaos and disarray. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.920 That there is discord between the church and Paul. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.839 They don't think very much of him. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.480 That's what we've been seeing for weeks and weeks. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.839 He doesn't look very impressive, he doesn't speak very impressively. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.319 There's people who are saying, turn away from Paul. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:25.119 We hate Paul. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:26.079 We don't like him. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:32.160 And so it's hardly surprising then that his final exhortation is to live at peace. 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.799 To live at peace with one another and with him. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.480 A peace in the Bible is a rich idea. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.640 It is something that God has ultimately promised to bring. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:53.599 It's not simply a sense of tranquility, but a holistic and all-pervading harmony between God and man, and between one another. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.160 Paul saying, strive for that. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.920 Saying, don't replicate the restless warring of the world. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:11.039 But may the church be seen as an oasis of refreshing for restless souls. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:20.240 And as a final encouragement in verse 11, he says, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.960 There's two senses to this. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:36.160 It is both that as we seek these imperatives of rejoicing, aiming for restoration, comforting, agreeing, living in peace. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:41.759 As we strive towards those things, we have resources at hand. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.079 We have help available to us. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:48.480 It's that the God of love and peace will be with us. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:55.680 The God of love and peace will enable and will equip us for these imperatives. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:14.400 But the other sense, which is equally true, is that as we realize these things in our community, as we rejoice together, as we reconcile, as we display our harmony and our peaceableness with one another, as we comfort one another, do you know what? 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:16.079 Do you know what will happen? 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:24.960 We will sense and experience and enjoy the God of love and peace in our midst. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:29.839 His presence will be more tangible among us. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.799 The God of love and peace will be with us. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:36.960 What a beautiful promise. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:43.839 Let me assure you that the subsequent points are much shorter than those. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.519 Those are the aspects of unity. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:25:01.680 The second point that I want to make, second main point, and there's no subpoints to it, is that Paul encourages them to express their unity. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:04.079 So the second point is unity expressed. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.400 Verse 12, greet one another with a holy kiss. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.519 Paul didn't have COVID to contend with. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.680 Not that outside of COVID times, that's what we were doing. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:24.000 Maybe we should greet one another with a holy kiss. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.000 But there is something to be kept in mind here. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:35.519 And you may know it from the kind of cultural background that maybe you come from. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:41.759 Maybe it's very common for both men and women to embrace one another and to and to kiss. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:43.279 Very European, Sylvie. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:43.839 Isn't that right? 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:51.119 And there's a whole etiquette about which side you go to first, and I always do it wrong, and I nearly meet Sylvie in the middle. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:52.400 It's very awkward. 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:55.920 You gotta make sure that you get the side right, okay? 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:00.319 Sylvie can give us a uh a rundown of which side we go to first. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:10.240 The kiss was a visible sign of all of the things we've just been talking about. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.119 It was a sign of joy in each other. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:22.720 Happy to see one another, of harmony, of the fact that you were reconciled. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:44.880 That's what's so that's what's so ugly and abhorrent about Judas, and Judas portraying Jesus with a kiss, because it's supposed to be a sign of friendship and love and reconciliation, and so to take that and to twist it into this just makes the avarice and the betrayal of that just all the more uh heinous. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:59.119 It was supposed to be a symbol of peace between parties, of a desire to comfort and excuse me, and encourage one another with familial affection. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:15.599 And so the challenge for us really is this is that we need to be mindful of ways to express our unity in a culture where kissing isn't the usual way that it's done. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:21.599 The point is, how will we, how will people know that we are united? 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:27.680 We can't even do a firm and hearty handshake or a big romance hug. 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:29.039 I'm looking at you. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:44.319 So, how are we going to express our unity in ways that are tangible, obvious, visible to one another and to the world? 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.680 Some ways that we might do that. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:49.920 First might be our words. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:28:04.960 It's one of the things that we've talked about in terms of our elders' meetings of late, is how we don't, uh, as a as a culture, I'm talking particularly of kind of Irish like because we don't immediately go out of our way to encourage one another. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:09.839 Normally the way that we show love to one another is by teasing and slagging one another off. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:13.759 And the more we tease you, the more we make fun of you, the more we love you. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:17.119 I know if you're just getting to know Irish, you're like, sorry, what? 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.559 But that's the way it is. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:20.400 We love you, really. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.319 And that's fine so far as it goes. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:29.680 But there are biblical imperatives that lift us above those cultural norms. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:38.480 That we might encourage one another with our words, that we might speak biblical encouragement to people. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:53.680 A well-placed and encouraging word might just steal a person in the suffering that they're going through. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:57.279 Or encourage somebody for service. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:00.240 So it's worth thinking about. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:03.359 How can you encourage somebody this morning? 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:06.720 How can you encourage somebody in your church family? 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:08.000 How can in our church family? 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.839 How can you speak words of that are life-giving? 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:16.559 It might even just be like as simple as thank you so much. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:22.000 Thanks, Cameron, for coming in early and for making and serving the coffee to us this morning. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:26.720 Like that's not that's not me just calling him out, he's dying at the back. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:41.680 But to actually have it noted that you people on the the tech team, David is immediately there getting me mic'd up because I always arrive late, and uh that's just where our family life is, and uh and he was on the ball with that. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:48.079 Thank you, thank you for uh for for enabling this to happen. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:50.240 I didn't set any of this up. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.519 I don't even know who was on the team this morning, but thank you. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:30:04.720 Maybe there are ways that we can acknowledge the service of one another, that we can acknowledge and point out the ways that you see God at work in another person's life. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.720 And you say, I've noticed this growth in you. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.839 I've noticed Christ doing this in your life. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:13.359 I think it's glorious. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.000 Because that's one of the beautiful things about our life together. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:35.119 You see that sometimes in a uh in a you know with your spouse, but you see it also in the Christian community that as we do life together, one of the things that you glimpse just for a moment, it's almost like God gives you a little insight into the future of who a person is becoming. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:50.799 And God has placed you there and allowed you to see that, to see God at work in another person's life, and you just glimpse for a second the kind of man, the kind of woman that they are becoming. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:52.640 That's a real, that's a joy. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:57.680 And you should call it and say, I see that, I see what God is doing in your life. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:02.960 I see how you are growing, how you are a different person because of that experience. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:11.119 Maybe another way that we can express our unity together is not just by our words, but what but by our welcome. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.160 Who are the kinds of people that we welcome into our community? 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:19.200 Who are the kinds of people that we welcome into our home? 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:21.599 Well, who should it be, biblically speaking? 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:31.920 It should be people of every ethnicity, every class, every background, every orientation, every family status. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:33.440 Why? 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:42.559 Because the gospel offers grace and forgiveness for all and asks repentance and faith of all. 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.680 We show our unity by our welcome. 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:51.599 And maybe it's also by our actions. 00:31:53.119 --> 00:32:09.839 Last week we had the first of our formal members making their declarations, and they resolved to do tangible things, to keep on meeting together, to live holy lives, to be on our collective mission, to give, to enable that mission. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:13.920 These are all expressions of our unity together. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.880 We might not be kissing one another after the service. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:22.960 In fact, regulations would dictate that you probably shouldn't do that, unless you're in the same family group as them. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:25.039 In which case, fill your boots. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:31.519 But there should be ways that we can tangibly express our unity together. 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:35.359 Finally, what is the basis of unity? 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:50.400 Paul finishes with a great crescendo, with that great blessing that has now come down to us in the history of the church, that we say from time to time, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:57.839 This is the basis of their unity as Christians. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:05.519 Paul finishes with this Trinitarian blessing. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:18.160 We believe as Christians that we believe in one God, in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, co-equal in divinity, co-eternal. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:21.359 Yea, indeed. 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.279 Good classical Trinitarian theology. 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:32.880 God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:37.920 That is all the kinds of things that we believe that Paul is expressing here. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:45.359 After all of the talk in this letter of disunity and mistrust, division and discord, where does Paul point us finally? 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:46.880 He lifts our eyes to God. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:48.400 And what do we see there? 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:53.200 We see a God who is himself united. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:57.440 United and yet diverse. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.720 There is diversity in our God. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.200 The Father is not the Son. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:04.799 The Son is not the Father. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:07.039 The Spirit is neither Father nor Son. 00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:09.199 They are not interchangeable. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:21.280 We do not believe that God just puts on different masks and appears to us in different forms at different times, like you might read in the book The Shack. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:25.360 That's modalism, that is an ancient heresy. 00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:29.119 They are distinct persons. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:32.320 The Father did not die upon the cross. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:34.800 It is the Son who died. 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:40.880 The Son can do nothing without the Father. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:44.320 He speaks the Father's words, he does the Father's works. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:48.239 That is Jesus' own testimony of himself in John 5. 00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:51.840 There is diversity of action. 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:54.480 Diversity of action here. 00:34:54.559 --> 00:35:08.000 The Father places his love on us, the Son lavishes his grace upon us, and the Spirit, well, the Spirit unites us in fellowship to Christ and to one another. 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:12.320 There is diversity, but there is also unity. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:17.840 Back to John 5, great Trinitarian chapter, John 5. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:19.280 What does Jesus say about himself? 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:26.400 It says John 5.24, just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son to have life in himself. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:34.639 That uncreated divine essence is shared by both Father and Son, and consequently Spirit. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:36.880 There is unity. 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:40.719 There is unity also of action. 00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:48.400 Not that each person does the same thing, but that each person acts with the other. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:52.880 They act in harmony together. 00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:00.480 Not only is God Himself united, he is the ground and basis of Christian unity. 00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:08.400 Just as the Spirit unites us to Christ and brings us into fellowship with God, so he unites us one to another. 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:11.519 We are all brought together in Christ. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:22.480 The fellowship that we have with him enables the fellowship that we have with one another. 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:31.199 You see, Jesus is only, is the only one able to truly unite diverse people. 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:33.039 Why? 00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:40.719 Because Jesus unites people not on the basis of background, ethnicity, race, class, sexuality. 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:49.679 No, he unites people on the basis of faith in him alone, and that invitation is open to all people. 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:54.159 Is Christianity an exclusive religion? 00:36:55.119 --> 00:36:56.400 Yes, it is. 00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:06.239 But because it is an exclusive religion, it is the most inclusive religion. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:17.440 Because it says it's not about your background, it's not about your family, it's not about what you do, it's not about how you identify, it's about faith in him alone. 00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:23.199 The exclusivity of Christianity is what opens up its inclusivity. 00:37:23.519 --> 00:37:27.679 The Christ's arms are open wide to every tribe and tongue and nation. 00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:40.960 And for this work of unity, this work of unity that we must constantly keep in our mind and strive towards, that will be tested and strained at various points in our life together. 00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:43.760 For that work of unity, what has Jesus given us? 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.239 He has given us his grace. 00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:51.679 Paul began his letter by saying, Grace to you. 00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:59.920 And now in verse 14, he says, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:04.159 Grace to you, grace now remain with you. 00:38:04.639 --> 00:38:06.000 What is the implication? 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:14.000 That throughout the whole letter and all of our studies, what has been flowing to us, but the grace of the Lord Jesus. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:15.920 Grace to you. 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:22.639 And then the wellspring of that great letter that we have studied these months has been grace upon grace to us. 00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:32.480 And now as we conclude and we move in to our summer season, what we need to know and what we need to rejoice in is that the grace of the Lord Jesus remains with us. 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:37.280 We've received his grace by his holy word these last weeks. 00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:48.800 And now his grace remains with us to refuel our joy, to reconcile us one to another, to allow us to comfort and live in harmony and to strive for peace. 00:38:49.119 --> 00:39:00.880 May we draw from the wellspring of his grace as we seek to express these things in our lives together for the glory of Jesus and for the good of one another and our city. 00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:02.239 Let's pray. 00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:22.239 We thank you that as we have read these words, your grace has been flowing to us. 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:31.920 May we be rich partakers of that grace and so be people who are glad in God. 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:41.599 People who reconcile and restore, who comfort, who are harmonious and who live in peace. 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:48.400 May we know the love of the Father that has been placed upon us. 00:39:49.039 --> 00:39:58.079 And may we experience in ever more tangible ways the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:10.079 For we ask it in the name of the one true and living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who is one God, world without end. 00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:11.440 Amen.