WEBVTT 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.320 Morning everyone. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:27.519 Welcome back to our online Sunday service. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.480 It's good to have you watching along with us. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:33.439 Thank you wherever you're tuning in from. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:44.240 We're continuing this morning to consider God's word to us from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, the passage that Rory read for us. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.200 Please keep 2 Corinthians 4 open in front of you. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:01:01.119 Either grab a Bible or have it on your phone, look it up a Bible gateway so that you're able to make sure that what I'm saying actually is coming from the text of the Bible. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.840 And with that in mind, let me pray for us. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:23.599 Give us reasons, plant them deep into our soul this morning. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.760 Reasons to not grow wary. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:33.519 Reasons to not become overburdened with discouragement. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.319 Help us this morning by your spirit. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.079 In the name of Jesus. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:39.040 Amen. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:57.599 I was speaking to someone this week just after the Taoq had been on the radio and giving his interview, saying that uh really there's going to be uh very little by way of uh lightening the restrictions uh coming up to Easter. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:10.159 And the person that I was talking to is like, look, I like I'm really good at kind of keeping the restrictions, don't even go walking with other people uh who aren't in my in my family, but I don't know if I can keep on doing this. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:21.680 Like I don't know if I can go another uh couple of months uh with all of these restrictions and limitations that it uh that it that it brings. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.879 And uh honestly, I have felt the same. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:33.039 Uh I think Christmas was the one that broke me, if I'm honest, kind of locking back down after that. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:43.199 Um that was the uh the one that I found particularly uh discouraging, while I understand that it's uh it's probably uh necessary. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:50.719 Uh still find it hard and find myself wondering, can I keep on doing this? 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.680 Um, do I want to keep on doing this? 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.520 I suspect that uh that I'm not alone in that. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:10.639 Uh that people, as they face uh the uh the restrictions and the impact that they are having on each of our lives, wonder uh whether or not we can keep on going. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:25.520 Uh, but more importantly than that, perhaps one of the uh the questions that we ask ourselves from time to time is not just can I keep on going with COVID restrictions for a few more months, but can I keep on going as a follower of Jesus? 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:28.719 Can I keep on persevering in that? 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:46.319 I'm actually finding that deeply discouraging and finding that difficult and challenging, whether it is because of suffering that has befallen us in this last year or issues to do with mental health, anxiety, and depression. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.439 We wonder can we can we cling on? 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.080 Can we put another foot in front of our ourselves spiritually speaking? 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.240 That is a human reaction. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.879 That is a human reaction to the call of following Jesus. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.560 That from time to time we wonder, can I keep on doing this? 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.039 Maybe I should just drag it, you know, just jack it all in. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:22.480 Life in lots of ways would be easier if we didn't say to ourselves that we were following Jesus, whatever the cost. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:33.680 And even if you aren't thinking that right now, maybe there is just a sense of feeling fed up. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:35.839 Sense of weariness. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:49.920 Paul, as we've already mentioned in these weeks, Paul in this letter is having his excuse me, his reputation, his character, his ministry, it just rake through the mud. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:05:02.240 People are are deriding him, calling him ineffective and and useless, unimpressive, unpersuasive. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:09.600 The people that he had poured his heart out to, he's poured his life out to. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:17.120 Or if you flip over uh the page or scroll down to verse 16, verse 16 says, So, that is, given what is come before, so we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:28.560 Paul, in the midst of circumstantial discouragements, has reason or reasons not to lose heart. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:51.279 It is important, it is imperative for us this morning and next week as we view similar circumstantial discouragements of your relationship breakdown, suffering, ill health, being maligned for being a Christian, similar circumstantial discouragements. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:07:06.000 We need to know the reasons why Paul doesn't lose heart so that we, when we are facing the same weariness, the same discouragement, that we won't lose heart either. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:27.600 Lord willing, most of us watching this this morning will have decades of following Jesus left ahead of us, decades of long obedience, following Jesus through good seasons and difficult seasons. 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:33.120 And so how will you not lose heart? 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:41.759 How will you not give up what Paul wants to show us the reasons why he doesn't lose heart? 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:46.000 I think there are four in this short passage this morning. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:56.959 The first reason why he doesn't lose heart is because he remembers the mercy of God. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.800 So remember the mercy of God. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:18.480 Verse one, therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, so the mercy of God is the causal factor, that is how this ministry has come to him, that's the means by which his mercy has come. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:23.439 It's come to him by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:28.160 Because of the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:43.200 Paul draws his strength not from the circumstances around him, not from the results of his ministry, but from the mercy of God that has given him this ministry. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:54.559 He draws his strength from the mercy of God, not from the fruitfulness of his ministry. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.799 And what is this ministry? 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:02.720 Uh, just to remind ourselves, but it's the ministry that Paul was talking about in the passage that we looked at last week. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:09.600 It's the ministry that brings life, it's the ministry that has the surpassing glory of Jesus. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.399 It is the ministry not of condemnation, but of righteousness. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.720 That's what he says on up in in chapter three, verse nine. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:32.639 It's that ministry, it's gospel ministry has come to him by the mercy of God, that ministry that writes the law, not on tablets of stone, but on hearts of flesh and renews and brings people to life. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:36.480 Because he has that ministry by the mercy of God, he doesn't lose heart. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.360 He's focusing on the right thing. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:45.519 He's focusing not on the responses of people, not on the results of his ministry. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:52.480 I mean, that's what the the so-called super apostles were doing, the people who were coming in and uh and deceiving and manipulating the Corinthian Christians. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.519 They were looking at they were looking at their megachurch, they were looking at the the offering plate. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:09.840 Paul said, no, no, I'm not looking at that, I'm not focusing on those things, I'm focusing on the mercy of God that enables my faithful obedience, that enables my ministry. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:17.200 It's really important to focus on the right thing in order to be able to persevere. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:33.120 John Crosston is probably not a name that is known to very many of you, but John Crosston was on the beach in Thailand on Boxing Day 2004. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:40.559 And some of you being uh of being not born in the year 2000, right? 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:53.840 Happy birthday, Jenny, uh, will remember Boxing Day 2004 because that was the day of the tsunami that happened in uh in Thailand and Sri Lanka. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:57.919 And he was on the beach. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:07.840 And as he was on the beach, he saw the tide pull back and he knew what that signified. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:18.480 And so John Crosston began running up and down the beach and said, You have to get off the beach, you have to get to safety, you have to move to higher ground because there's a tsunami coming. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:22.639 Many people laughed at him. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.879 Said it's a glorious day, the sun is shining, everything is fine. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.320 Merry Christmas. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.480 He said, No, you're not listening. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:36.480 Look at the wave, it's coming, and then he would run on to another person, and maybe they might respond. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:41.200 But so many people laughed at him, derided him, thought that he was insane. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:53.919 If John Crosson was focusing on the results, on the responses of people, how many, how many deriding comments does it take for him to stop? 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.799 And go, well, sought these people. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.480 I'm finding the nearest mountain and climbing it. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.519 But he persevered. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.799 He persevered because he was focusing on the right thing. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:14.559 He had his eyes fixed on the right point, and the right point is not the responses of the people on the beach, it's the wave that's coming. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:28.960 If we focus on the discouragements that happen around us that demotivate us, it will cause us to give up. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:39.759 The fixed point on the horizon for the Christian in terms of long obedience is the mercy of God. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.279 We keep our eyes fixed on that. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:46.559 And we keep going. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:49.919 Telling people that a wave's coming. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:13:01.519 God's mercy, whether you realize it or not, is being extended to you. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.879 You are watching this this morning by the mercy of God. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:13.039 You do what you do by the mercy of God. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:25.039 You have been placed in the lives of those who love you and who you love by the mercy of God. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:34.159 You've been placed in the lives of people to commend Jesus to by the mercy of God. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:50.159 God has taken you and made you a co-worker with him in his plans to save human beings by the mercy of God. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:55.120 You know it's by the mercy of God. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:00.240 I at least I know it's by the mercy of God, because I know how inept and sinful I am. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.519 So do not grow weary. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:17.279 You are where you are by the mercy of God. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.320 Do not be scared. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.039 He is equipping you by his mercy. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:35.360 This mercy leads Paul, verse two, to renounce deceitful ways. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:40.639 He says, But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:44.799 We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:51.759 But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:15:01.919 The super apostles, the people that were coming in seeking to replace Paul, they were they were twisting and embellishing or knocking off the rough edges of the gospel. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.759 You know, we don't want to talk about sin, we don't want to talk about hell or any of those things. 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:21.600 And goodness me, I feel that that temptation, but they were tampering with with God's word in order to make it more palatable so that more people would commend them, follow them, build their platform, congratulate them. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:25.759 And Paul says, No, I'm not focusing on that, I'm focusing on the mercy of God. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:33.519 And so what that frees me to be like is it frees me to still have integrity. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:40.799 You see, if you forget the mercy of God to you, what you will replace it with is the praise of people. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:50.960 If you forget the mercy of God, you will look for the congratulation and love and affirmation of others above all else. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:57.840 People's opinion of you, love for you, approval of you. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.320 And it's all fickle, and Paul knows it. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:16.720 There's such a temptation to chase it, but you'll sell your integrity to do it because what happens is they become underhanded, deceitful, manipulative. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:31.440 Paul says, no, no, no, I'm not looking at it, I'm looking at the mercy of God, and because I'm looking at the mercy of God, I'm going to plainly state the gospel that he has given me and entrust the results to him. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:37.759 And in doing so, I commend myself to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.799 Paul draws courage from the belief that his ministry comes from God. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:48.879 It is empowered by God, it is done not in the sight of people, but ultimately in the sight of God. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:50.960 He lives for the audience of one. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.360 What audience are you living for? 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.519 Is it for the congratulation of the crowd? 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:05.920 Or is it for the audience of one? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:22.319 It is the one who will ultimately assess his ministry and give his approval, not any human being. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:30.079 We persevere when we have the right fixed point on our horizon, and that is the mercy. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.720 The mercy of God to you. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.920 Remember the mercy of God. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:50.720 The second thing that encourages us to keep on going, to not grow weary, though it might sound counterintuitive, is to remember that we are in a battle. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:55.119 That we are in a battle, a spiritual battle. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.599 Have a look at verses three and four. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:08.000 Paul says, and even if our gospel is veiled, he's picking up the language of chapter three, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:18.000 In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.319 We are in spiritual battle. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:28.880 It's so hard, isn't it? 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.119 Believer, brother, sister. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:42.079 When you've been persistently sharing the gospel with somebody and it just feels like it just feels like you know, bullets ricocheting off Catlar. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.359 That they just don't get it. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:56.559 Our patient, loving, persistent sharing of the gospel suddenly becomes very wearisome and discouraging. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:17.119 Paul here helps us by showing us what is going on in the unseen realms, by lifting the veil, as it were, to give us a glimpse behind the realities of what is seen. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:26.799 And what he shows us there is that no one will ever be argued into the kingdom. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.799 No one will ever be persuaded by by mere human words. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:51.039 Though don't hear me wrong, words are necessary, but it is not our persuasiveness because the problem of unbelief is not an intellectual problem, it is a problem of blindness. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.319 Where does this blindness come from? 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:02.480 Well, Paul says it comes from the God of this world, small g. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:13.440 This is the only time in the Bible where the world the word for God, small g, is used to describe Satan. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.559 It's very curious. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.039 The god of this world. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.160 The word world here, it's the world, it's the it's the word Aeon, right? 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.200 Uh, and it is probably better understood as age. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:38.160 It's not the it's not the word for the the ball that we're standing on, right? 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:42.000 It's not the word for the globe, the planet, the earth, right? 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:47.200 It's more to do with the age that we are in, the god of this age. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:56.079 It is not that Satan rules the physical globe, it's that Satan rules this present age. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.720 Now, what is this present age? 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.839 Well, it's the age of rebellion. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.160 Uh, the Bible in its mind only has uh two ages. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.279 There are only two epochs of time, right? 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:14.240 There is uh there is the age now and the age to come. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:18.799 And the age now began with Adam and extends to to us here. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:30.880 It is the age when when humanity is uh is arrayed in uh in in treasonous rebellion against God, where we don't want anything to do with him, where our hearts are hardened towards him. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:38.079 That's the age that we are in currently, and the age to come is the age when God will make all things new. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:45.839 The age that was inaugurated with the coming of Jesus and will finally be consummated when he comes again. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:57.839 And so, in a sense, we live in in an overlap of the ages, but they this present age is the age of rebellion, and Satan is having a field day. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.839 He is the he is the small girl. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.759 God over this present rebellious age. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:11.119 But even in saying that, Paul has things to encourage you with. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:23.519 Not least of all, because it means that Satan isn't God over all ages, over all times or all places. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:30.720 He has been given a rule of sorts for a time. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.240 There is implied limitation here. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:36.799 The God of this age. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.880 The God of this world, not all worlds to come. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:44.960 And how does he rule it? 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.200 He blinds people. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:53.759 He blinds people so that they cannot see the glory of Jesus. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:01.519 This is really important for us in understanding evangelism. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:10.079 What it means to evangelize our friends and our family, that unbelief is at root not an intellectual problem, but it is blindness to glory. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:22.720 That is, that people look at Jesus and they do not see him as beautiful, they do not see him as glorious, wondrous, sweet, majestic, or compelling. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:30.079 But like the aroma analogy in chapter 2, they they smell the smell of the gospel and it smells like death. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.920 They look at Jesus and go, Him? 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.880 You want me to you want me to follow him? 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:42.240 And yet the Christian sees the Lord Jesus and go, Yes, him. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.680 For he is wondrous and glorious. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:56.480 There is a light that emanates from the gospel, just as it did from Moses' face. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:01.920 That is the light of the unfading glory of Christ. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.519 And people by nature, because of what the God of this age has done. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.319 They cannot see it. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.599 That just to refer back to last week's text. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:24.160 That is why boredom is so dangerous. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:30.559 Because boredom could just be another way of acknowledging I don't see the glory of Jesus. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:34.720 I don't see him as beautiful. 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:40.720 I don't see the glory of Jesus in the gospel anymore. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:46.480 When I read about who he is or what he's done, or consider what it means. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:24:59.839 I just see words. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:22.559 While this is while these things are not a happy thought, they are a necessary one in order to help us to navigate the discouragements that we find in our life and enable us to persevere. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:35.200 It's good to know that there is other agency behind the veil of this reality that are at work. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:42.799 It's good to be fully apprised or as apprised as we need to be of those things. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:51.200 Wouldn't it be worse to be in a war and completely ignorant of it? 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:53.039 You wouldn't be on your guard then. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:58.640 You wouldn't have your antennae up, you wouldn't have your senses rightly attuned. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:03.200 It's better to know what's going on on the ground. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:12.559 And we'll come to this, but it's also good because it's good to know how God has worked in us. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:24.319 When it says about the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, that's not us standing in judgment saying that we're better people who are than people who aren't followers of Jesus. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:28.000 It's just it's a statement of reality, and it's a reality that was true of us. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:32.960 It was a reality that was true of Paul while he was a religious Pharisee. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:39.599 There was a reality that was true of me before God opened my blind eyes, and it is reality that is true for you. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:47.680 But God has worked, and we'll come to that when we come to our fourth point. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:59.279 It is also helpful in those times and seasons when we see people reject the gospel, when we see people start well and then walk away. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:03.519 We find that deeply demoralizing, deeply discouraging. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.759 Paul here reminds us of the spiritual realities that are at play. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:14.400 People are blind, and we cannot open blind eyes. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.559 Only God can do that. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.119 So remember the mercy of God. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.759 Remember the spiritual battle that we are in. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:27.599 Third, remember that it's not all about us. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.039 Because we will persevere when we remember that it's not all about us. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:40.480 Paul's competitors made their ministry all about them. 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:44.400 Their flashy oratory and persuasiveness. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:55.680 But when you put yourself at the center of your own universe and you make life all about you, you find yourself in a very treacherous position. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:01.279 Because when you make life all about you, it isolates you from others. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:05.680 It sets you against those who love you. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:13.440 It stunts your growth as a person because what you conclude then is that everybody else has a problem. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:15.680 Everybody else needs to change and not you. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:23.119 It also means that when tragedy and failure strike, it's devastating. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:29.200 Because you have nothing more durable to live for than yourself. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:38.799 If you want to persevere in the Christian life, it is good that we realize that it is not all about us. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.640 Look at verse 5. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:45.599 For what we proclaim is not ourselves. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.480 That's what the super apostles were doing ultimately. 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:54.160 They were addressing it in kind of Christian language and Christian veneer, but they were making it all about themselves. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:29:03.839 Paul says, For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.000 That's the that's the gospel dynamic right there. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:10.880 That's the right gospel dynamic. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:16.720 Jesus is Lord, and I am his servant for the sake of others. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.079 Jesus is Lord, and we are his servants for the sake of others. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.400 That is the higher call. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:30.559 That is the the greater thing that we can give our life to. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:38.000 This little phrase, Jesus Christ as Lord. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:41.279 You just can't skim over it, don't you? 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:43.680 It has huge implications. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:50.640 If you sit back and you think about it, I I was thinking this week, I was like, well, what are just some of the implications of this phrase? 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:52.799 Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:54.799 Jesus Christ as Lord. 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:58.880 Well, just off the top of my head, I could list six. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:12.160 Well, that I'm not I am not Lord, I am not sovereign over my life, over the lives of other people. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:17.839 I cannot control the decisions of others, nor should I try to. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:37.599 It takes me back to to history and it blows my mind that this man from this rural town would be God's king. 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:43.920 It means that Jesus of Nazareth is God. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:46.720 He is Lord. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:54.960 That is the the Old Testament, the Old Testament way of talking about God is to call him Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:58.960 And Paul doubtless is is resonating with that. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:08.480 It means fourthly that Jesus is supreme over every area of my life. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:13.519 Jesus rules my relationships. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:19.839 Jesus rules my career and the decisions that I make about that. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.839 Jesus rules what I do with my money. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.519 Jesus is Lord over my marriage. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:30.640 He is Lord over my romantic life. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:36.240 He is Lord over every breath that I take. 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:48.000 It means, fifth, that every human being that we encounter, every human being that has ever lived, is ultimately accountable to him as Lord and God. 00:31:50.559 --> 00:32:05.759 And it means sixthly and finally, but certainly not exhaustively, that all other allegiances are relativized by my primary allegiance to him as my Lord. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:17.839 If you grasp that Jesus Christ is Lord, you have grasped the Christian gospel. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:25.599 And what we proclaim is in ourselves, it isn't our own little petty lordships. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:28.400 It is Him. 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:36.400 Because sustained life comes from sustaining meaning. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:43.680 And the only sustain sustaining meaning that you will have in your life is to live for something bigger than yourself. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:52.000 And there is nothing bigger, more glorious, more supreme, no more eternally enduring than to live for Jesus. 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:58.240 You live for Jesus Christ as Lord and proclaim him in word and deed. 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:11.039 Then you will have given yourself to something, to a meaning and a significance that no discouraging circumstance can ever take you from. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:13.599 That is how you persevere. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:17.519 Find a meaning that suffering cannot take away. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:19.599 Jesus Christ. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:34.960 Fourthly and finally, we persevere when we remember that God has shown us his glory. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.599 Persevere by remembering the mercy of God. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:45.599 Persevere by remembering the spiritual battle, those realities that we find ourselves in. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:55.759 Persevere by remembering that it's not all about us, and persevere by remembering that you have seen by faith the glory of God. 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:58.559 Verse 6. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:09.920 For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:28.639 If unbelief is blindness to glory, then it is ultimately God's work and his good pleasure to open blind eyes, so that we, by faith in Jesus, might behold the surpassing wonder of him. 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:34.239 It is through faith that this is done. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:04.079 Right? 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:18.480 Or, and I think this is more probable given for given with what we're going to come into in chapter five, there's an allusion to creation, to Genesis, the very first chapter of the Bible. 00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:29.039 And the God who says, Let there be light, creation lay in darkness and chaos. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:38.639 And God said, Let there be light, and when he did, order and life sprung into being. 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:45.840 So too, when he speaks to the dead and darkened heart. 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:58.159 Through the light of the gospel, when it dawns in our life, it brings new life. 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:04.960 It brings order to the chaos that we feel. 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:16.400 The same word that spoke light into existence still speaks in the person of Jesus by his living word, and he brings others to life. 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:18.239 This is what Jesus says. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:20.800 Jesus says this in John 5. 00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:35.440 The day is coming when those who are dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and come back to life. 00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:49.840 And just as darkness conceals, so light gives knowledge. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:53.679 What does this light give knowledge of? 00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.639 The glory of God in the face of Jesus. 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:06.400 There isn't two competing glories, there's one glory intensifying, flowing through Jesus. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:13.280 That is that is what we were made to see as human beings. 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:17.440 We were made to be beholders of glory. 00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:26.000 We were made to be people who would with unveiled faces view the glory of God in the face of Jesus. 00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:37.360 We were made to be in awe of him, and that awe would eclipse everything else that vies for our affections. 00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:42.719 This is the ultimate end of the gospel. 00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:45.519 This is why you are a follower of Jesus. 00:37:45.760 --> 00:38:07.440 This is why Jesus came to save you, not simply so that he would make you innocent, not simply so that he would give you eternal life, not simply so that he would take your sins away, but that all of those things would flow to one singular end, and that is to behold the glory of Jesus. 00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:17.519 That is the end and goal of the gospel, that you would see Jesus for who he really is. 00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:28.400 That is why he has worked in the world, that is why he came, that is why he died and rose again, so that you might behold his glory. 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:36.159 Listen to the American pastor John Piper, who could only uh talk about this and talks about it much better than I ever could. 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:37.440 Listen to what he says. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:47.360 He says, This is the highest and best and final good that makes all other goods promised in the gospel good. 00:38:48.239 --> 00:38:58.480 Justification is good news because it makes us stand accepted by the one whose glory we want to see and savor above all things. 00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:08.480 Forgiveness is good news because it cancels all the sins that keep me from seeing and enjoying the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:23.199 Removal of wrath and salvation from hell are good news because now in my escape from eternal misery, I find eternal pleasure beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ. 00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:28.159 If I were John Piper, I would be doing this a lot. 00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:49.679 Do you see all of the benefits of the gospel are so that we might glimpse with ever increasing fullness the glory of God? 00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:58.559 What encouragement there is here in the midst of difficulty, apathy, and suffering. 00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:04.880 The God of this world and the blindness that he inflicts won't be the final word. 00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:17.440 God opens blind eyes, big G God opens blind eyes, and he does what he has promised that he will do. 00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:26.400 He opens blind eyes so that they can see, so that we can see the surpassing beauty and goodness of Jesus. 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:30.880 How astounding. 00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:35.519 How astounding that he would invite us to participate in that. 00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:43.519 That that would be the ministry that he calls Paul to, that by extension, we as followers of Jesus are called to. 00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:49.440 How astounding that God doesn't just say you've got nothing to give here. 00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:52.639 Sit back and just watch me do all the work. 00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:56.239 No, he says, Paul says, I'm a servant of this. 00:40:56.400 --> 00:40:58.159 We are called to be servants of that. 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:04.960 Our gracious Heavenly Father invites us to participate with him in that ministry. 00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:17.360 He uses our faltering words and our failing witness, and he uses it to open blind eyes to see the glory of Jesus. 00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:21.039 This is the Christian family business. 00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:33.760 And our Heavenly Father says to us, his children, it's gonna be hard, it's gonna be discouraging, but I will pour out my mercy on you, I will pour out my mercy and enable you. 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:52.639 And once in a while, just every once in a while, you'll see me blow the doors off somebody's heart, and you'll see the scales, you'll hear the penny drop, and you will see them behold the glory of Jesus, and that will increase your joy and that will help you to persevere. 00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:57.199 Just every once in a while. 00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:05.920 Can I encourage you that you need to strain to see the glory of Jesus? 00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:14.000 You need to ask your Heavenly Father, give me a renewed glimpse of the glory of Jesus in the gospel. 00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:26.400 When I look at this book, may it not be words on a page, but may it illuminate my face and my heart, may it warm my affections and stir my will. 00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:29.199 May I see him more clearly. 00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:41.599 Sing songs which speak of his glorious person and his wonderful work and sing them with gusto. 00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:53.920 Let them seep into every pore of your soul so that you might behold his glory more, because that's how you will persevere. 00:42:55.119 --> 00:43:10.320 Share with one another the beauties and joys that you have glimpsed in the gospel, that you have come to understand in the person of Jesus. 00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:22.000 Tell that in your prayer triplets, tell that in your community groups, recall to one another his work in your life. 00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:28.239 Cry out to him together for that mercy that he promises to give. 00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:43.039 Bring your weary souls to him and there find rest in the warmth of his glory. 00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:46.880 Let's pray. 00:43:52.559 --> 00:44:02.320 Father, we need to see afresh the Glory of Jesus. 00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:14.320 I want to behold the glory of Jesus more this morning. 00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:26.639 I want to see as much of who he is as my soul can bear. 00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:32.400 Because I am weary. 00:44:36.639 --> 00:44:40.719 And I know that my brothers and sisters are weary too and discouraged. 00:44:43.840 --> 00:44:53.599 In your mercy, you have met us this morning and encouraged our hearts. 00:44:56.320 --> 00:44:57.840 Now I pray. 00:44:59.599 --> 00:45:08.639 May we glimpse the glory of Jesus with our new spiritual eyes. 00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:23.199 And in doing so, would we have a renewed vigor and desire to follow him, whatever the cost? 00:45:25.519 --> 00:45:29.119 I pray these things in the name of Jesus. 00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:30.320 Amen. 00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:33.840 Amen, everyone. 00:45:34.639 --> 00:45:35.760 See you soon.