God Works In You, Through You

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:06.040 Reaching of his word. Lord, you know how prone we are to wander. 2 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:13.679 You know how our hearts go after such foolish things. Lord, we 3 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:18.039 are so quick to despair, we are so quick to give up. We 4 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:22.879 look to ourselves and our own strength and we see ourselves lacking and and then 5 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:27.399 we give up. But why do we look to ourselves when you have called 6 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.199 us to look to you? Lord, we ask that you would forgive us 7 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.679 our sins and help us to see and to know the forgiveness of our sins, 8 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.439 the strength that we have in you, the debt that has been paid, 9 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.640 the glory that you have given to us through the Cross of Christ, 10 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:50.320 so that we might die in him and live to the newness of life. 11 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.679 Lord, we ask that you would draw close to us in your word and 12 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.119 that, as we hear your voice, you would change us and mold us, 13 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:03.040 that you would mortify the sinful passions of the flesh, the selfishness, 14 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.640 the pride and all the rest, and that you would bring to life that 15 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.239 fruit of the spirit and a body of Christ that is glorifying to you. 16 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.599 We pray this in Jesus name. Amen, please remain standing if you're able, 17 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:23.920 and let's turn to First Corinthians Chapter Sixteen and read the last portion of 18 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:38.840 this book. First Corinthians Chapter Sixteen, Verse Ten, a through the end. 19 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:00.359 Let's hear God's word. First Corinthians Sixteen, verse ten. When Timothy 20 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:05.079 Comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is 21 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.120 doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one 22 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:13.000 despise him. Help him on his way in peace that he may return to 23 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:16.520 me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. Now, concerning our 24 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:22.719 brother of Paulus, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, 25 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.280 but it was not at all his will to come now. He will 26 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:31.400 come when he has opportunity. Be Watchful, stand firm in the faith, 27 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:38.039 act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in 28 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:43.199 love. Now, I urge you, brothers. You know that the household 29 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:47.560 of Stephanus were the first converts in a Chaa and that they have devoted themselves 30 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:52.719 to the service of the saints. Be Subject to such as these and to 31 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:58.039 every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and to 32 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:04.120 Fortuna, Fortuna to us and a Caius CAIACHUS, because they have made up 33 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:08.240 for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give 34 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:14.479 recognition to such people, the Churches of Asias and you greetings. Aquilla and 35 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.879 PRISCA, together with the Church and their house, send you hearty greetings in 36 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.680 the Lord, all the brothers and you greetings. Greet one another with a 37 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:27.319 holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 38 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.639 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Oh 39 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:37.080 Lord, come, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My 40 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:59.199 Love Be with you all in Christ Jesus. Then you may be seated. 41 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:04.599 Was Paul gives instructions to the Corinthian church here, concluding instructions he's been giving 42 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:12.159 throughout these sixteen chapters. I'm he helps us to once again understand what it 43 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:16.680 is to live our life together as a church. He gives us commandments and 44 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:23.000 instructions, some which are very specific to the Corinthian church. Received Trimothy, 45 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:28.000 know this about a Paulas and etc. But instructions which apply to all of 46 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:33.439 us and all the Churches of Christ in various situations and in various times and 47 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:39.319 places. Throughout this whole book, Paul has been giving US instructions as a 48 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:46.439 church in all kinds of difficult and challenging situations. You think back about instructions 49 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:56.319 regarding the Lord's supper or marriage or meet sacrifice to idols, questions about conscience, 50 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:00.160 questions about doctrine like the resurrection, all kinds of things and how these 51 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:06.560 ought to influence our way of life together. And in these final instructions we 52 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:12.560 see that theme to again, fee that theme again, we see how it 53 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:17.600 is we ought to be living our life together, what it means to be 54 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:24.199 not just individual Christians before the Lord, but individual people, to use a 55 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.279 metaphor he's given in this book, who are like members of a body, 56 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:33.120 a body that has been put together as the Lord Wills, to work in 57 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:39.720 in accord with one another, to use our gifts for mutual upbuilding and edification. 58 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.800 So what are some of the instructions that we have here? What are 59 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.720 the some of the instructions that he gives us on how we ought to live 60 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.680 together under the Lord? Well, the summary of it, I think, 61 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:56.560 is all, is in verse fourteen. He says, let all that you 62 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.959 do be done in love. Nothing we do can be done or should be 63 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.839 done apart from love. It's let what guides everything. This, of course, 64 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:10.839 makes sense with Jesus Own Commandments. When he's asked what a summary of 65 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:15.480 the entire laws, what does he say? Love? Love the Lord, 66 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:18.439 your God, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Love 67 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:24.079 your neighbor, is yourself. All of the commandments are summed up in this 68 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:28.519 word. To love, to love God and to love man. We he 69 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.920 gave us a whole chapter and chapter thirteen about love. He told us about 70 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:38.199 how love is patient and kind, how love doesn't boast, how love covers 71 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:44.560 up wrong and all kinds of other things. We've seen how love US often 72 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:49.680 very practical. In the Book of First Corinthians we've talked about how love often 73 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:56.439 means giving up our rights, things that brightfully belong to us, things that 74 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:01.600 are our do and in some cases ought to be enjoyed and and fought for, 75 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:06.120 but in other cases ought to be given up and let go for the 76 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:12.920 sake of a brother, for the sake of our witness. Love is hard 77 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:18.319 sometimes, because love often encounters people that aren't always going to love us back, 78 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:24.439 that aren't always as lovely as we might like them to be. Love 79 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:29.160 sometimes, as wonderful and beautiful, it is as Nice as as it is 80 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:38.319 to experience, is sometimes so hard to give, so so difficult. It's 81 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:43.920 not surprising, then, that it follows this sort of warrior image in verse 82 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.920 thirteen. Like soldiers, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act 83 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:54.680 like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. 84 00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:01.480 These are not contrasting images. To do the work of love requires these 85 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:07.639 things. It's not just a nice emotional feeling that we expressed when we feel 86 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.240 like it. Love is often doing the right thing, even when it's really, 87 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:18.519 really hard. Love is often being watchful for opportunities and looking for places 88 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.439 to apply it, looking out for dangers which would seek to undermine it and 89 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.480 would would dissolve a union of love between us and the Lord and us and 90 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:33.720 one another, things which break apart our communion and union with one another. 91 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.960 We have to be watchful, we have to be strong, we have to 92 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:45.000 stand firm in the faith because, ultimately, and I'll talk about this more, 93 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.399 that's where this all springs from. The command to love, the ability 94 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:54.399 to love, to fulfill that command, these come only from Christ and abiding 95 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:01.200 in his love for us. So what are some of the practical ways we 96 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.000 see that expressed? Here and in Paul's instructions, and what are some ways 97 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:09.320 that we can apply that in our own lives? Well, first he gives 98 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:15.639 this instruction regarding Timothy in verse ten. When Timothy Come, see that you 99 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.759 put him at ease among you, for he's doing the work of the Lord, 100 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.919 as I am. Let no one despise him, help him on his 101 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:26.720 way in peace so that he may return to me, for I'm expecting him, 102 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:31.440 with the brothers, Paul's going to send this fellow servant, this worker 103 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.600 of the Gospel. We have a couple letters in the New Testament, first 104 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.960 and second Timothy, which are written to Timothy and giving him instructions on on 105 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:46.320 his work as a as a minister. Well, here Timothy and doing that 106 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.919 work. He's going to come to the Corinthians. And what does Paul want? 107 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:54.559 Paul wants them to put him at ease. I. He wants them 108 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:01.159 to be proactive and think about what can they do when he arrives that will 109 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:07.320 make things easy for him, comfortable for him, helpful to him. How 110 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.200 can they support him? How can they help him? How can they support 111 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:16.120 the work that he's doing, which ultimately will be a blessing to them and 112 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:22.159 to others as well. We have an opportunity to think about this and then 113 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.399 your future, when I go on vacation and some study leave. Right Pastor 114 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:31.240 Kufus is going to come and and be here and we can be thinking in 115 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:35.039 the same way, exactly the same way that Paul gives Timothy Instructions. How 116 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:41.200 can we help pastor coufus and his wife as they come and and put them 117 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.320 to ease, help them to know that they are welcome, that there is 118 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.240 love for them here and a love that comes from Christ. There's all kinds 119 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.879 of examples and things we can think about, but we we can start with 120 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:00.600 just the basics, right. We can think about we can put ourselves in 121 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.960 the shoes of other people. What would it feel like to be a stranger? 122 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.480 What did it feel like to not know all the rules and how the 123 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.879 community works? What would it feel like to not know where to go or 124 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.919 what to do? And how can we be helpful in those things? How 125 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:24.759 can we how can we make things easier and give that support in the Lord? 126 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:33.000 How can we help on their way? So hospitality, strengthening and encouraging 127 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:37.000 one another. This is a big part of life in the church. On 128 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:43.200 there's all kinds of instructions, whether it's to strangers or fellow workers, a 129 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:48.639 people who are coming and people who are going. Paul says in Romans that 130 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:52.759 we are to be zealous and pursuing hospitality. The word pursue there you can 131 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:58.120 think of like, you know, an animal. Maybe watched a nature show 132 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:03.519 and you've watched one of these, you know, giant cats right chasing down 133 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:09.159 their prey, pursuing right till I achieve their end. We're not looking to 134 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:18.759 kill anyone in hospitality, but that dogged pursuit, that being zealous in in 135 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.159 looking out for another. People. Love the love that Christ gives to us. 136 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:28.759 It is not a kind of like lackadays, a Goil, if I 137 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.440 feel like it, kind of love. He goes after US right, he 138 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.799 pursues US until he has us, and it's in that same sort of love 139 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:45.279 and spirit that he calls us to give to others and to support others. 140 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:52.279 He also gives us instructions in in these kinds of things to think about our 141 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:58.320 life together as we are working together. He points to the household of Stefanis 142 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:03.399 in Verse Fifteen, the First Converts in this whole region of a Chaa. 143 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:11.480 He says, this is verse for Verse Fifteen, that they have devoted themselves 144 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:18.399 to the servants of the saints. You imagine being the first convert in an 145 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:24.519 whole area, being the first household that claims the name of Christ, and 146 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:31.799 having the opportunity then to spread that word and then encourage others and support others 147 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:37.679 and be devoted to the service of the saints. What a difficult thing that 148 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:43.080 might be in some ways, but what a lovely and powerful thing it was 149 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:50.320 in this case. He calls them to be subject to such as these and 150 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:56.919 every fellow worker and laborer, and in some ways that means everyone right because 151 00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:01.120 when we think about we think back on Paul's instructions about the gifts of the 152 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:05.639 Holy Spirit, we are reminded that the Holy Spirit has given to each and 153 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:11.039 every Christian a measure of grace and a measure of gifts for the mutual upbuilding 154 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:16.600 one another. We're all fellow workers in Christ. We're all supporters of the 155 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:24.200 body and upbuilders of one another, supporting one another in our callings, blessing 156 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:30.679 one another, encouraging one another along the way. Is is so important and 157 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:35.360 it's what Paul calls us to do here. It's what he experiences himself. 158 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.240 Notice how, in Verse Sixteen, he says of these people who came to 159 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:46.279 him. Say he says they've refreshed my spirit as well as yours. You 160 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:52.120 know what it means to be refreshed right it's we're coming in on summertime here. 161 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:56.399 The heat gets upon us. You know what it is to be outside, 162 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:03.240 whether you're running errands or doing yard work, and it's tiring. You 163 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:07.120 get exhausted and you come inside and what are you looking for? Refreshment. 164 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.679 You're looking to get your energy backed, to not feel so tired, so 165 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:18.080 down, to have some help. We need refreshments in our spirits as well, 166 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:24.320 not just our bodies. We all get into places where we're tired, 167 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:31.200 get kind of blaise a or maybe we feel sort of just confused about life. 168 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.039 What am I supposed to be doing? What is going on? Why 169 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:39.799 are things so hard? These kind of things, and it's so helpful to 170 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:46.919 have other people come into our lives and encourage us, strengthen us, refresh 171 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:54.279 us. Be that that, that cup of lemonade for us, or recliner 172 00:15:54.360 --> 00:16:00.840 to put your feet up in, to be a refreshment to our souls when 173 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.799 we experience those things in the body of Christ. We ought to give recognition 174 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:08.600 to such people. As Paul says, it's not against the Gospel of grace 175 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:15.600 to say to someone thanks, brother, thanks sister, that was really, 176 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.720 really helpful, or to tell someone else I you wouldn't believe. What's and 177 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:25.919 so did for me this week was so kind, so thoughtful, so helpful. 178 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:30.519 We can give recognition to those people while at the same time seeing that 179 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:34.399 it's God's work in them, to give praise to God and give thanks to 180 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:41.399 him for them and to ask his continuing work in the body of Christ. 181 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.360 This happens on a large scale as well. Look at Verse Nineteen. It's 182 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:51.600 not just individual to individual, but the body of Christ is larger than any 183 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:57.240 one individual church. This is one reason we're presbyterians and we enjoy and support 184 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:03.679 and believe in this connection that we have with other churches outside of our own 185 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:11.119 local congregation. The Churches of Asia send you greetings. Even the particular church 186 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.759 in Aquilla and PRISCA's house send their hearty greetings in the Lord. These are 187 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:21.000 people who are eager to talk to one another, seek one another, encourage 188 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:26.119 one another, even if it's just through distance and a greeting and writing. 189 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:32.119 Paul sends his own greetings in Verse Twenty One. I send this greeting in 190 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:37.119 my own hand. And then he says this very hard thing. In Verse 191 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.720 Twenty Two. He says, if anyone has no love for the Lord, 192 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:48.039 let him be a cursed but those are strong words. It basically means let 193 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:53.839 him. Let the curse of God fall upon that person, let that person 194 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:00.519 be damned to hell, let that person come under the wrath of God. 195 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:07.039 And these are strong, strong words. But when we consider the picture that 196 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.359 he's been giving us, when we consider the work that God is doing, 197 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:17.119 when we consider the love of Christ for us, this is not out of 198 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.839 the blue, is it? It's the flip side of the coin that he's 199 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:26.880 been talking about all along. This life that we have together, this life 200 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:33.680 of love, this life of support and hospitality and upbuilding and peace and and 201 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:38.519 nurturing and all of these things, it's lived out out of love that God 202 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:45.119 has given to us and that we have for him. It's ultimately about our 203 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:49.400 connection with him. It's ultimately about his love, which he loved us even 204 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:56.240 before the world began. And to somebody who says I reject all of that 205 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:03.119 I reject the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing outside of that, or 206 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:11.160 there is nothing for them left except for curse. There is no alternative. 207 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:15.920 In other words, when one rejects the love of the Lord, when one 208 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:22.039 rejects the Lord Jesus Christ and this beautiful city he is building, this beautiful 209 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:27.960 kingdom that he is giving to us, there's no plan be. There's no 210 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.200 place to live, no alternate city, no kingdom that you can settle down 211 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:37.759 into and say, well, I won't have Christ, but instead I'm going 212 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:44.200 to have this other happy thing, because there's no happiness outside of him. 213 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:48.599 There's no pleasure and no love, no joy, no satisfaction, no peace, 214 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:56.720 nothing that's final anyway, nothing that's truly satisfying, nothing that's everlasting. 215 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:02.559 The alternatives that we choose when we reject the Lord, when we refuse to 216 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:07.200 love him and follow him and be a part of him and his people, 217 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:12.799 the alternative is only cursing. It's to live and in a place that is 218 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:18.200 cast out of his love, to live in a place that is outside of 219 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:23.400 His grace. It is a dark place. Jesus describes it as a place 220 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:30.720 of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Paul is not just presenting a really nice 221 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:34.519 option that you can take or leave. And if you choose not to take 222 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:38.680 it, well and you'll find something else. There will be some other way. 223 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:45.039 There is no other way and it has to be that clear in our 224 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:49.440 minds when we choose to follow the Lord, when we say yes, I 225 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:55.279 will follow the Lord Jesus, no matter what and at any cost. We 226 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:59.039 of course get to enjoy all of these things, in these blessings that he 227 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:04.759 promises us, some now in a in for an a foretaste kind of form, 228 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:10.000 in this life, and one day completely when he returns. As Paul 229 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:15.440 says, our Lord come right. There's a longing for the fulfillment and consummation 230 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.720 of those things. That's what we receive. But if we reject that, 231 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:26.599 if we reject the Lord, we reject life itself. Jesus says, he 232 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.960 is the way and the truth and the life, and there's no way to 233 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.240 the father, there's no way to glory, there's no way to abiding in 234 00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:41.880 the love of God except through him. So this is of course a warning 235 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:48.279 to all who see this great grand loving project of the Lord, a project 236 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:52.240 of Salvation, a community of love, and says it's not for me. 237 00:21:53.240 --> 00:22:00.759 Be warned, because there's no alternative place to go, nothing which will satisfy 238 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:07.880 your heart. It will only bring curse and death. But to those who 239 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:11.640 were do receive the Lord Jesus. We can look to him and his coming 240 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:21.799 with strength and hope and life. Our Lord Come, Paul says in Verse 241 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.960 Twenty Two. This ought to be always on our hearts, always looking forward 242 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:32.640 to the future, having a hope that is strong, having a hope that 243 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:41.279 is unfailing, because he is unfailing. This is, of course, difficult 244 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:48.559 to do at times, because the church isn't always what we would want it 245 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.160 to be. The church isn't always what God would want it to be, 246 00:22:53.799 --> 00:23:00.599 at least as he commands it to us in his as he exhorts us in 247 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:04.079 our callings. The church often struggles. You get a little bit of a 248 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:10.759 sense of this, I think, in in verse twelve, when Paul says 249 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.160 now, concerning our brother Apoulos, I strongly urged him to visit you with 250 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.680 the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. 251 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:23.680 He will come when he has opportunity. Why didn't Paul get what he 252 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:29.799 wanted? I want to know why didn't apolos want to hear, listen to 253 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:34.359 Paul, when Paul was not commanding him but strongly urging him. Can you 254 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:41.960 imagine? And yet apolos has some reason for this, a reason which Paul 255 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:49.519 submits to and says he will come when he has an opportunity. We're not 256 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:55.599 always going to agree. We're not always going to be able to find an 257 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:00.319 easy, in a smooth path to walk together. Sometimes we're going to bump 258 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:06.240 into each other a lot. Sometimes we're going to say things that we regret. 259 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:10.519 Sometimes we're going to regret not saying things when we had an opportunity to 260 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.680 do so. Sometimes we're going to do the wrong thing. We're going to 261 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:21.440 be prideful, boastful, to trusting in ourselves, to despairing in ourselves. 262 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:25.359 Sometimes we're not going to be there when we should have been, or sometimes 263 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:30.079 will overstay our welcome. There's a lot of ways in which we can fall, 264 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:33.759 in a lot of ways in which we do fall, and sometimes it 265 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:40.559 can get quite bad. Sometimes are our sins become so overwhelming, in our 266 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.480 divisions becomes so tangled up that you get a church like the Church and Corinth 267 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:49.160 where Paul writes to them and it seems like he's banging his head against the 268 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:53.160 wall. Sometimes this is why are you doing this? This doesn't make any 269 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:59.960 sense. How can this be? How can that be? Sometimes things are 270 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:07.000 very difficult. Sometimes we forget the fundamentals. Sometimes we get too attracted to 271 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.400 the things and the powers of this world that we we lose sight of who 272 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:15.680 we are, who were called to be. In life in the church can 273 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:22.000 sometimes get very tangled, very messy and not at all kind of loving place 274 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:29.720 that we desire it to be. Sometimes that's outward difficulties that we experience. 275 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:37.319 Sometimes we're at the center of the problem. Usually it's a mix. We 276 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:42.359 also have a situation in which we don't always know what's best for us. 277 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.680 Sometimes it's hard to know what the right thing to do is and you feel 278 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:51.240 like you're just sort of shooting in the dark, just trying to do the 279 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:56.400 best you know how to do given the information you have. Sometimes it seems 280 00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.000 like there is no one right way or that there might be multiple right ways 281 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:06.599 or multiple wrong ways. Sometimes we feel really limited, like we want to 282 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:08.960 be somewhere, or maybe we even know what the right thing is to do, 283 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:14.480 but we just can't do it. We feel like we can't be everywhere 284 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:18.039 we need to be or do everything we need to do or know what we 285 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:27.640 need to know. Sometimes the dynamics in church life are changing so fast. 286 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:34.480 Sometimes it feels like we barely have control over this thing at all. And 287 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:41.599 you know what, that's all really true. We don't have very much control, 288 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:47.359 not over other people, not over the church, even over our own 289 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:53.200 lives. We struggle to have control over many things. This makes it very 290 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.920 difficult, is what I'm trying to point at. God calls us to this 291 00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:03.480 very high calling and it's a beautiful and wonderful thing when we experience that. 292 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:07.200 But it's not easy. The Devil's working against us, the less of the 293 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:15.279 flesh are working against us, the world is working against us. So what 294 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:21.440 do we do? Well, we need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 295 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:26.400 to be with us. That's how Paul ends all of this in Verse Twenty 296 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:30.279 Three. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My Love 297 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:37.079 Be with you all in Christ Jesus on. Then, where does Paul's love 298 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:45.000 come from? Despite Paul's UNAB inability to be everywhere and to know all things 299 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.720 and to do all things, how does he continue to exercise love? How 300 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:55.400 does he press forward, even when he's banging his head against the wall about 301 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:03.200 these Corinthians, and he'll write to them yet another letter? He roots his 302 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:11.240 love for them in Christ, Jesus. He's looks to the Lord Jesus, 303 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.519 Christ and His grace, and he remembers, as we almost remember, that 304 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:18.839 the church, though we are a part of it and though we have a 305 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:22.880 part to play and we have gifts that have been given, ultimately it is 306 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:32.240 called the body of Christ. It's his body and he's the head. The 307 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:37.839 life that we have together is lived in the Holy Spirit, who is the 308 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:41.240 one who regenerates us, who is the one who gifts us, is the 309 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:48.160 one whose glory rests upon us and who knits us together in this beautiful mystical 310 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:53.559 union. He is the one who is he is tying us together and working 311 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:57.680 at our individual lives so that the hand doesn't try to be the foot and 312 00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:02.279 the foot doesn't try to be the eye and we're not just meeting ourselves up 313 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:08.480 all the time. The only reason we aren't totally falling apart, the only 314 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:12.920 reason that there is evidence of grace in us, evidence of fruit in us, 315 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:19.160 is because the Holy Spirit is at work, because Christ is interceding for 316 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:25.599 us and meeting, mediating for us because, as Paul said, he was 317 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:32.279 crucified for us and he rose again, victorious over all the things that would 318 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:37.039 threaten to undo us. It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 319 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:44.640 his loving grace, that holds us all together, and that's why it's ultimately 320 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.319 to him and not to ourselves, that we have to look all the time. 321 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:56.480 We will stand firm when we stand firm in the faith, in the 322 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:03.440 faith we stand firm in Chris Fist, believing in Him, knowing him, 323 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:14.039 trusting him, accepting his love. Jesus is strong enough. Jesus is everywhere 324 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:18.799 at all times. He does know all things, he can do all things, 325 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:26.680 and he can take ungodly people, broken people, limited people, and 326 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:33.519 pull them together in a body that shines his light forth into the world. 327 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:38.480 He can do that and he does do that and he's been doing it for 328 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:45.559 thousands of years and he will continue to do it, never failing, until 329 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:51.279 he comes again, at which time is he's promised us in this very letter, 330 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:59.559 we will raise from the dead, glorified in him and living as a 331 00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:06.359 body, as a people forever in that love that he has called us to. 332 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:11.920 When we put our faith in him, that's where we get our strength 333 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:15.279 from, that's where we get our love from, that's where we get our 334 00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:19.200 hope from, that's where we get our peace from, that's where we get 335 00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:26.640 our our our sanctification from, that's where we get our justification from the forgiveness 336 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:30.720 of our sins, so that we can know when we stand in him, 337 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:37.000 we spand strong. It's when we depart from him that we begin to fall. 338 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:41.079 And that's why, Paul, throughout this letter, even as he has 339 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:47.400 given us so much instruction, so much wisdom and indeed many things that we 340 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:51.880 ought to go back and reflect on and think over and over and over again, 341 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:59.359 he continues to call us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's 342 00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:06.319 how it is that this whole body exists and it is how this whole body 343 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:13.000 will one day be glorified in him. So, as we look to obey 344 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:16.960 the commands of the Lord it to love, let's look to Christ. When 345 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:23.240 we fail to obey his commands to love, let's look to Christ, and 346 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:29.559 when we look forward to the future and his work that will finally be accomplished, 347 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:34.519 let's look to him. Put our faith in him and stand firm in 348 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:38.680 it, and let us always call out to the Lord Jesus to come, 349 00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:45.079 to come quickly, and to believe that he will. And as we do 350 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:51.119 those things, that's how we live our life together as the body of Christ, 351 00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:54.920 as a people in him. Let's pray now and ask that God would 352 00:32:54.960 --> 00:33:02.400 do these things in us, even as he has begun to do. Lord 353 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:07.240 Jesus Christ, that is because of your grace for us, and you are 354 00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:14.680 coming into this world that we can know that we belong to you and to 355 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:22.240 one another. You have come into this world and taken on flesh and blood 356 00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:29.000 so that you could be a perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that we 357 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:36.240 would no longer be enslaved and captured and held to our our selfishness and our 358 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.599 pride and our worldliness, so that we could no longer look to the things 359 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:45.160 of this world for our salvation in our life, but instead you have freed 360 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:52.039 us. You have freed us to trust you, freed us to love you 361 00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:58.880 and freed us to belong to a community of Holy Ones, of saints, 362 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:06.559 people, a great family that has been adopted in your name that we might 363 00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:14.239 live together and forever with you. Lord, we see this work even now, 364 00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:19.119 in this letter, in our the on our own lives. We see 365 00:34:19.159 --> 00:34:22.480 you at work, we see you changing lives. We you see you changing 366 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:29.039 our own lives, maturing us, helping us to grow. You give us 367 00:34:29.079 --> 00:34:34.159 more and more unders standing of who we are and you more and more understanding 368 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:39.000 of your commandments, more and more understanding of your gifts of love as they 369 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:45.079 come into our lives, often through other people. Lord, we thank you 370 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:49.960 for the brothers and sisters who are sitting around us this morning. We thank 371 00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:54.360 you for the fathers and mothers who have gone before us and and who've passed 372 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:59.400 down this faith to us. We thank you that you have given us all, 373 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:01.800 apart, to play in the body of Christ. You have given us 374 00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:07.360 all gifts that we might support one another and encourage one another. We've asked 375 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:12.440 that you would help this love, that this love that you have given to 376 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:17.159 us, to be on display and to be exercised and experienced in this church, 377 00:35:17.719 --> 00:35:22.119 help us to love one another, help us to know how to put 378 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:27.280 each other at ease, especially visitors and guests and those who are new to 379 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.000 our body. We asked, Lord, that you would help us to be 380 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:37.719 a helpful people a serving people, to be watchful and looking for opportunities and 381 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:42.360 all these things. Lord, help us not to rely on ourselves, to 382 00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:47.000 be prideful and think that our strength comes and comes from from our own resources 383 00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:52.440 and not yours, because when that happens, Lord, we always fall and 384 00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:58.000 we despair and we lose heart. So, Lord, instead, we asked 385 00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:02.159 that you would help us to trust in you, to stand firm in you 386 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:07.800 and to be strong. Let us not give up, let's not give in, 387 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:14.639 despite no matter how things are, how difficult things are in our lives 388 00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:20.639 or in our world. Let us learn to look always to you. And 389 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:23.320 in that, Lord, we do pray for some of the specific things in 390 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:28.559 the life of our body. We pray for our worship services, we pray 391 00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:32.880 for our various service teams, we pray for our fellowship groups and the various 392 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:39.280 opportunities that we have to get together and and and and be built up in 393 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:44.599 your word. We asked that you would be with these different things in the 394 00:36:44.599 --> 00:36:47.480 life of our church and that you would bless them, that through them we 395 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:52.159 would come to know you a better and better and that we would grow in 396 00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:55.719 your love. And when we fail, Lord, and when we struggle, 397 00:36:55.800 --> 00:37:00.239 we ask that, by your word and the power of your spirit, you 398 00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:04.679 would help us to grow, help us to learn how to forgive, how 399 00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:08.280 to lay down our lives, how to how to give to others what you 400 00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:14.599 have given first to us. Lord, we also pray for our brothers and 401 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:21.800 sisters outside of this particular local church. We pray for our other other churches 402 00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:27.639 and our denomination throughout Arizona and our presbytery and and even around the world. 403 00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:32.000 We ask that this work, this work that you are doing, would go 404 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:37.760 forth in that we would grow in our unity and love with one another. 405 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:43.199 We also ask, Lord, that you would continue to bring in your people, 406 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:46.400 that through the message of the Gospel and the work that you are doing, 407 00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:52.360 more and more would come to see how great and wonderful you are, 408 00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:57.400 that they might not be cursed and forever cast into darkness, but would instead 409 00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:02.639 be brought into the light that we might join together in following after you. 410 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:06.840 We pray these things in Jesus name. Amend