Instructions About Money

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:07.240 Though we know that the flash wages war against the spirit in us, it 2 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:14.519 is a losing war. You have conquered, you have won the victory you 3 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:20.839 have promised us. You have promised us a sure salvation. You have also 4 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:27.320 opened our ears and allowed us to hear things that we previously stuffed our ears 5 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:32.759 against. You soften our hearts that we might receive your truth. You help 6 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.320 us to see your work and to put our faith in it, faith that 7 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:42.920 we might have eternal life and have it abundantly in you. We asked that 8 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.079 you would do that again this morning as we come to your word and First 9 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:50.880 Corinthians. Bless us, Lord, help us to hear, to hear rightly 10 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:57.359 and to obey. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Sure remain 11 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:02.240 able to remain standing, please do. Let's turn our attention to First Corinthians, 12 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:26.920 Chapter Sixteen, versus one through four. First Corinthians Sixteen, as we 13 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:33.200 continue reading and preaching through this book, versus one through four. Now, 14 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:37.879 concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Glacia, 15 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:41.439 so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, 16 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.359 each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may 17 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:49.079 prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. When I arrive, 18 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.519 I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift or 19 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:57.519 do to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they 20 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:02.000 will accompany me. May God bless his word to us. You may be 21 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:29.520 seated. So in this passage, Paul gives some instructions to the Corinthians on 22 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:34.639 the collection of some money and how to collect that money from among themselves, 23 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.520 that he might take that money or have other people take it to Jerusalem, 24 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:46.240 unto the saints or that are there. That instruction that he's given to collect 25 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:49.120 that money. He says he's also given to Glacia, and we know that 26 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:53.240 he's given to other churches as well. I don't know exactly how this would 27 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.120 have worked, but I imagine that it would have been quite a big deal 28 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:04.680 to be in Jerusalem the day that all of this money with this great entourage 29 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:10.560 of people from these churches far outside of Jerusalem, from places that are known 30 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:19.000 for Paganism and idolatry, and yet here are coming brothers and sisters in Christ 31 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:28.000 bearing gifts from places like Corinth, the Roman colony glacian and elsewhere. You 32 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.199 imagine being there on that day when, in your poverty, poverty and need, 33 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:38.639 your brothers and sisters arrived with money, and potentially lots of money, 34 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:44.599 because this was coming from a lot of churches going to care for a very 35 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:49.639 large need. What a beautiful sight that would have been, how encouraging that 36 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.719 would have been, both for those receiving and for those who were giving as 37 00:03:54.759 --> 00:04:00.120 can you imagine being a part of of that group? Maybe the Apostle Paul 38 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.360 there with you, maybe others, maybe people you'd heard of, preachers you'd 39 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:10.800 you'd been helped by people, you'd been discipled by people coming into Jerusalem, 40 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.160 and here you are, a fulfillment of those promises to Abraham. You are 41 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:23.639 the gentile nations coming in to Jerusalem, bringing these gifts, supplying needs, 42 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:28.439 all in this great one, this great one body that the Lord Jesus is 43 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.160 put together, no longer a dividing wall between Jew and gentile, but each 44 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:44.399 calling each other brother an amazing, amazing thing, and that's in that context, 45 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.879 in that hope, that Paul gives this command. It's about something much 46 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:53.680 more than just collecting money. It's about the life of the Church it's about 47 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:59.240 Christ, who is alive and is living in us. It's a command that's 48 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.920 grounded in these values that I've been mentioning more and more lately. For faith, 49 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.600 good order, generous love, firm faith. They had to trust that 50 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.800 Jesus was the head of the Church and that these apostles instructions were true. 51 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:20.199 They had to trust that the Kingdom of God wasn't about eating and drinking and 52 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:27.600 storing up wealth, but it was about Christ and the victory he was bringing 53 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:31.240 about, something beyond this world, even though it was being experienced in some 54 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.639 ways already. It was a faith given that Christ, what Christ had already 55 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.759 done in them, the love that he had shown them, could also be 56 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:45.560 shown to others. It was faith that Jesus would take care of them and 57 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:51.040 ups through them. This faith in a passage like Philippi nineteen and my God 58 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:57.160 will supply every need of yours according to his riches, in glory, in 59 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:03.680 Christ, Jesus. They were trusting Jesus and the unity that they had by 60 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:10.959 the spirit of God with each other. We also see good order here right. 61 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.480 Clearly, Paul did not want them to be unprepared. He's very explicit 62 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:19.319 about that. The work was important and they needed to be organized about it. 63 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.439 It wasn't to be haphazard. Even though it was to come from the 64 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:28.800 heart, willingly and cheerfully, it was still to be done with good order. 65 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:34.000 Good order wasn't opposed to firm faith or generous love. It flowed out 66 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:40.040 of faith and it provided a context for the other. They were able to 67 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.079 be more generous by having a good order. They were able to show more 68 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.399 and witness more to the love of Christ by doing things in this organized way. 69 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:54.560 And so he says in verse two. As each of you are able 70 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.800 and prospered, on the first day of each week, give some that there 71 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.360 will be no collecting when I come. And, of course, this generous 72 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:11.319 love all the the Paul wants them not just to give, not just to 73 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.639 meet a need, but really he's wanting them to love one another. Notice 74 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:20.439 how all are called to participate in this. It's not just the rich out 75 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:26.879 of their wealth, it's not just the super spiritual, but everyone out of 76 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:31.279 their love, because ultimately it's not just about getting a need met, maybe 77 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:36.519 even more so, it's about meeting others in love, about seeing the work 78 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:43.920 of Christ and the body experiencing that participating it and enjoying in it. But 79 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.519 in order to make for this to make sense, it's important that you understand 80 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.439 some things about the nature of the church, about the nature of Christ and 81 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:56.800 his work among us, because in our world there are lies that are commonly 82 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:03.000 told and often believed that undermine these things, that really get in our way. 83 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.519 If we believe them, it causes us to doubt the goodness of Paul's 84 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:13.120 command. It cause us to doubt our obligation to care for one another and 85 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.639 the household of faith. So this morning what I'd like to do is we 86 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.439 think about this command, we consider these lies and address them. There's three 87 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:26.199 I want to address. The first is that the human body doesn't matter, 88 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:31.040 the second is that you don't have any obligations to anyone else and the third 89 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.879 lie is that this world is all there is. So first, the human 90 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:41.559 body doesn't matter. Of course, in some ways we're kind of obsessed in 91 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:46.919 our culture about the human body. We can turn it into idol and idol 92 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:52.919 and often do. But there's another lie in our society that teaches the exact 93 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.879 opposite. The world is contradictory. What can I say? And the opposite 94 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:03.320 lie that it teaches is that the human body doesn't matter. There's all kinds 95 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.720 of ways, many, many ways in which this is manifested. Here are 96 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:13.120 few in which the lie that the body doesn't matter comes across and is taught 97 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:18.919 and has expressed. Denying the importance of biology or engender the murder of children 98 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.639 not yet born, pornography and all other kinds of abuse, of sex, 99 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:31.720 work aholism and minimizing the importance of rest, thoughtless use and trust and technology 100 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:37.879 and technical solutions to solve all human problems, cold heartedness against the poor and 101 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:43.960 failure to provide for them, whether it's the mentally ill or migrants or foster 102 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:50.799 kids or elderly, all groups that are routinely neglected by people in a very 103 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:56.559 wealthy country. Each of these, in some way or another, minimizes the 104 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:03.600 value of human bodies. But we should know better, especially as Christians. 105 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:07.679 Let's think about that for a moment. With regard to the nature of the 106 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:13.519 church, some people will say that the church is a spiritual organism, and 107 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:18.519 that is actually very, very true, but that doesn't mean it is an 108 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:24.960 abstract organism or it doesn't have a physical component to it. We are born 109 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.320 of the spirit of God. We are united by the spirit it. We 110 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:35.039 produce the fruits of the spirit. In the same way that when you hear 111 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.600 the word Christ, you call yourself a Christian, you'd be wise to call 112 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:48.399 yourself spiritual and think of the spirit capitals. Spiritual very often means, and 113 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:52.559 we should often think of it as meaning of the Holy Spirit, and that 114 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:58.679 means something more than just not physical. Indeed, we have bodies and these 115 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:05.320 bodies are a part of that spiritual reality. Remember just last week when we 116 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:09.240 read in First Corinthians fifteen, or maybe it was two weeks ago, that 117 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:13.080 the body is sown, a natural body and is raised a spiritual body. 118 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:18.159 It's still a body, right, it's not not a body. It is 119 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:22.519 a body, a true body, a human body, but a spiritual one, 120 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:28.200 made, raised from the dead by the by the spirit of God, 121 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:35.559 into that, into a life that he gives us and produces. And that 122 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.600 spiritual life doesn't just come at the end in our glorification, because, as 123 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.840 Paul tells us, and glaciers, the fruits of the spirit are being produced 124 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:52.720 even now and they are manifested in very visible, physical, tangible ways. 125 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:58.000 Patience is seen in the mother's relaxed face as she waits for her four year 126 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:05.399 old to tie her shoes or not. All right, I'm kindness is felt 127 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:11.519 when someone who's new to church is offered a handshake, a smile and a 128 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:15.600 warm welcome. It's felt, it's failed it, it's felt at seeing. 129 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:22.879 Love is tasted when a meal gets dropped off, dropped off when life is 130 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:28.320 just a little extra tough. The fruits of the spirit get expressed through and 131 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.960 in our bodies. There's a reason that Paul speaks to us and he tells 132 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:39.600 us don't use your bodies as instruments for unrighteousness, but as instruments for God. 133 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:43.519 Now, our bodies in this life aren't any, aren't everything, but 134 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:48.720 they are still important to God and his plan. This world will sometimes tell 135 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:56.720 us that your bodies are just electrical impulses, they are meaningless shells, they 136 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:01.000 are any part of who you are as a person. But that's not true. 137 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.559 Just as much as Jesus's body was a part of him and his person, 138 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.600 in his human nature, it is for US consider the humanity of Christ 139 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.600 for a moment. Was that a throw away thing, a meaningless shell and 140 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:24.200 empty, unimportant thing? Was Jesus Body just electrical impulses and that's all there 141 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.759 was to him. That's why he became incarnate. Of course, not consider 142 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:35.360 the ointment, the perfume that was poured on him as an act of worship 143 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:39.840 that he recognized and blessed and called good. Consider his sweat that turned to 144 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:46.600 blood in a moment of great trial and stressed before his body was crucified for 145 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:52.759 our sins. Consider that Joseph of Arimathea, when he went to bury the 146 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:58.720 Lord. The scriptures say that he was seeking the Kingdom of God. And 147 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:03.399 of course it's Jesus who gave of himself and is healing power so frequently to 148 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:09.720 other people, healing and restoring their bodies, even in this life, in 149 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:16.320 all kinds of ways. So what I'm saying in pointing all this out about 150 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:22.039 the body of Christ, his actual physical body, and our bodies as well 151 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.840 as that, when we are united to Kim, I'm not saying that we 152 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:33.120 become some sort of weird transformer human body monster right that roves the earth. 153 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.120 That's not what I'm saying when I say that the church is a physical body. 154 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:41.120 But I am saying is that the spiritual organism that is the church gets 155 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:48.799 expressed in physical tangible ways through our actual bodies, and this is important when 156 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.919 we think about the needs of others. They're hunger, their shelter, their 157 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.639 clothing, when we think about the needs that they have, some very great, 158 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.960 some small, we never want to look at these things and say, 159 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:07.320 well, that isn't spiritual, that isn't important, because it's important to the 160 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:13.919 Lord he call, he cares for us in our physical bodies, even unto 161 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:20.360 and and including the Resurrection, and he calls us to do that for others 162 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.399 as well. Our bodies aren't meaningless. Our bodies aren't just a shell. 163 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:33.360 Our bodies aren't just electrics, electric impulses or whatever. Our bodies are made 164 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.120 to be in the image of God. They have value and importance both here 165 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:43.879 and now and in the life to come, and it's in that, it's 166 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.679 in the work of Christ and thinking about the resurrection, that Paul can then 167 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:56.120 call these saints to think about others and their needs. The second lie I 168 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:02.639 want to mention and point our attention to that we might recognize it and not 169 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:07.039 follow it, is that is this you have no obligations to anyone else. 170 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:14.039 This is a lie. In other places of scripture, Paul does tell us 171 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:18.039 that we are supposed to work with our own hands to provide for ourselves and 172 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:22.279 others. The scriptures say you don't work, you don't eat. Paul says 173 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:25.240 that a man who doesn't take care of his own family is worse than an 174 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:30.279 unbeliever. Listen to this from Ephesians for twenty eight. Let the thee no 175 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.200 longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own 176 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:40.879 hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. So 177 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:45.320 there is a call to responsibility as individuals. God had made work, and 178 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:51.519 work is good, even though it's frustrated and made difficult, it's good and 179 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:56.240 he uses it to provide for us. We ought to be good workers and 180 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:03.279 faithful workers, but it's not all about just us and ourselves. Notice how 181 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:07.279 he calls in Effesians for twenty eight. He calls us to Labor, doing 182 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.759 honest work with our hands so that we may have something not only to provide 183 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:15.200 for ourselves but to share with those in need. And right away you see 184 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:21.680 this, this idea of community happening. We have individual responsibility, but part 185 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:27.000 of our individual responsibility is for others as well, and there's a family of 186 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:33.160 faith brought together in the Lord. We have obligations to take care of one 187 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:38.000 another. Here Acts Twenty thirty five. In all things, I've shown you 188 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:42.440 that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember 189 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:48.039 the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said it is more blessed 190 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:53.240 to give than to receive. Hebrews Thirteen sixteen. Do not neglect to do 191 00:17:53.319 --> 00:18:00.000 good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 192 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:07.119 Glacian six to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 193 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:12.359 Romans twelve thirteen contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show 194 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:18.920 hospitality. That words seek is even stronger. It's like pursue right, run 195 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:25.640 after pursue hospitality. So this is one of the reasons Paul, this is 196 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.799 one of the things that that Paul's command is grounded in. It's why we 197 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:33.559 work together to take care of the physical needs of each other. It's why 198 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.359 we pay our ministers, it's why we pay to have shelter wall we meet. 199 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.119 It's why we give to those and we are aware in listening to those 200 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:45.400 who are in need. Of course, each of us has a personal responsibility 201 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:49.799 in our own lives. No one can, no one can take that away 202 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.960 from us and no, and we can't give it to anyone else. But 203 00:18:55.079 --> 00:19:00.400 part of the personal responsibility that we have is to care for others. Think 204 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.359 of it again terms of the body, the body of Christ that he is 205 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:08.200 put together. A hand should not try to be afoot, right, but 206 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:12.359 both the hand and the foot should do their own work. But how do 207 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:18.400 they do it in service to others, for the common good? If a 208 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.200 hand tries to be afoot or refuses to do its work as a hand, 209 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:27.400 it hurts both itself and the body. When we look to Christ in his 210 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:33.079 work, we see that because Christ has done he has made us members of 211 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.839 a body, members of one another, a theme Paul's brought up over and 212 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.039 over again throughout First Corinthians. Because of Jesus and his work for us on 213 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:47.839 the Cross, we are united in him into a kingdom, a community, 214 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:53.880 a family. Before he saved us, we served ourselves only sure we were 215 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.119 a part of a family. We are part of a nation. We are 216 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:03.000 part of a community in various ones, but broken ones, corrupt ones, 217 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.920 falling apart ones. But now that we belong to Christ, something new has 218 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:12.759 happened. We belong to a body that is eternal, a kingdom that cannot 219 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:18.559 be shaken, a community that is formed in union with him who does not 220 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:25.720 die and is full of healing and life. This is why Paul calls them, 221 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:30.039 and us as well, to see beyond ourselves, beyond even our own 222 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:36.200 church. Notice how here are, these Corinthians in this faraway place, are 223 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.880 called to provide, along with other churches and other people, for somewhere else. 224 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:47.079 That's an amazing, amazing picture. It's one reason we are presbyterians. 225 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:51.359 We take care of ourselves and our families, but in those times when we 226 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:56.039 are unable to, we know that the church is bigger than us and we 227 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.200 know that we are part of something that is bigger than us, so that 228 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:03.599 as we are able to provide for the needs of others, we do. 229 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:11.559 When we first started as a church plant here, other churches gave money to 230 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:18.519 help pay for my salary, our rent, the various things that we needed 231 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.160 in the life of the church. That was a huge blessing. We would 232 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:27.440 not be here if it weren't for the generosity of others who said we will 233 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:33.839 help a new church intucson and as we were able to establish and grow. 234 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:40.319 Now, every year we are able to donate money to our Presbyterian General Assembly, 235 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.960 who then use those funds to provide for other needy churches. Some of 236 00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:49.359 those churches are needy because they're small and just starting, like we were. 237 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:55.759 Some of those churches are spiritually mature, great, strong churches, but in 238 00:21:55.799 --> 00:22:03.000 financially impoverished areas. Some of those churches are churches that have faced natural disasters 239 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.880 or, as in the case of Ukraine, war. And in both the 240 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.680 giving and the receiving that we ourselves have experienced here at covenant, we have 241 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:22.480 found great blessing. We have also found God at work, taking care of 242 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:27.599 his people in their material needs and their spiritual needs. In our hearts, 243 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:33.119 he's been teaching us to love one another as he first loved us, and 244 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:42.960 that is a very great thing, a very great gift. Lie that we 245 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.680 are all in it for number one, just for ourselves, is not true. 246 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:52.319 God has put us in both part of his body to belong to one 247 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.200 another and to love one another, and in wonderful ways that we get to 248 00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:00.559 experience and ways that honor him and reveal his work in US and in the 249 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:06.759 world. That brings me to my last point, the lie which will be 250 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:11.039 disabused of, and that is that the world is all there is. There 251 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:17.920 is this idea that some people have that if we just work hard enough, 252 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.759 if we organize ourselves well enough, if we press people enough, that we 253 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:29.319 can eliminate suffering and poverty and hatred and any other kind of brokenness that we 254 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:34.599 experience in our world and even in our church. And, as a result, 255 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:40.559 those who have this vision and believe this lie they get sometimes, we 256 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:47.400 get sometimes very frustrated and angry when we are unable to achieve these ends, 257 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.039 when we look at our church and when we look at our lives and we 258 00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:55.640 say there's still problems here. We're not generous enough, we're not loving enough, 259 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.720 there are people who are hurting, there are people who are suffering and 260 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:03.759 we're not doing every thing we can. No sure, if we're not doing 261 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:06.640 what we need to do, we probably should get a little angry about that 262 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:11.599 and and work harder. But the point is that we can never believe that 263 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:18.079 simply by working harder or organizing better or even loving more, that we will 264 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:26.200 be able to accomplish this kind of utopia here and now. We cannot, 265 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:32.400 in our own power and in our own strength, eliminate suffering and death and 266 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:38.319 poverty and struggle. Partly God uses these things to sanctify us. It's one 267 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:41.480 of the reasons we are here in this world now, is so that he 268 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:48.279 might perfect us and grow us and purify us through these struggles and as we 269 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:52.839 struggle and more and along side one another. But this lie persists and it's 270 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:59.519 taught frequently in our society if we just do more, if we just try 271 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:04.039 harder, that we will be able to achieve well, heaven, but this 272 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:10.920 is not right. One easy way to prove this is the constant failure of 273 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:15.960 humanity to achieve this. Thousands and thousands and thousands of years of people working 274 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:26.000 and working and working to achieve this. Poems and songs and manifestos and Kingdoms 275 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.599 and all kinds of things have been built and tried. Power Hour has been 276 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:37.519 exercised, great armies have been raised to what end? To No end, 277 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:45.039 to a vain end. And if the years and years of human life on 278 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:47.920 this earth aren't enough to prove it, you can just look at your own 279 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:52.799 life. How close are you to perfection by just trying harder and doing more? 280 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:56.759 Are you just one step away from finally ridding all of yourself of sin 281 00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:02.200 if you just organized your calendar a little better or saved a little more money, 282 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:06.799 or we're a little nicer to your neighbors. The problems deeper than that. 283 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:12.279 It's much deeper than that. It's important to note this, not just 284 00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:18.039 because we're afraid of authoritarianism or something like that, although those are real concerns, 285 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.200 but it's important because we don't want to fall under the judgment of the 286 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.559 Authority, the king of Kings. You need examples of this. Look at 287 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.279 the Tower of Babel, for example. Humanity working together, achieving, in 288 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:37.920 its own strength, some sort of unified vision, all to come crumbling down 289 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:41.920 under the hand of God. You can think of Psalm to the the the 290 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:48.079 wicked getting together and murmuring, whispering one another about how they'll break apart the 291 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:52.960 bonds between the Lord and his anointed. One scripture says he will smash them 292 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:59.960 to pieces like with a rod hit the vessel. You can think of Nebuchadnezzar 293 00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:04.039 standing on his his porte, looking out over his kingdom, amazed that all 294 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:08.519 that he is accomplished, and a great kingdom it was, to find himself 295 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:14.720 eating the grass, just a little bit later, humbled under the hand of 296 00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:18.559 all mighty God. You can think of the Roman Empire, you can, 297 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.480 we could go on and on and on and see humanity in some ways coming 298 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:27.680 to its to these pinnacles, to these moments where there is a measure of 299 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:33.799 peace and strength and wealth and honor and these sorts of things that are proclaimed 300 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:40.039 of the Lord and revelation five, but yes, barely so, all hanging 301 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:45.559 on by a thread and ultimately easily crushed under the hand of God, the 302 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:52.880 true King. These examples teach us that happiness, greatness, Utopia, heaven, 303 00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:00.839 these things can only be achieved in God alone, and they can't be 304 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:07.480 achieved by our own obedience, because our obedience stinks, our lives don't work, 305 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:11.680 we're full of brokenness and dissension, we lie and break and hurt each 306 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:18.440 other all of the time. The only way that a kingdom that cannot be 307 00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:27.000 shaken can be established is by the hands of God. The only way that 308 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:33.000 we can risk get a kingdom that is strong enough, that is perfect enough, 309 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.640 that is glorious enough to match the Lord and all his promises, is 310 00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:41.480 to simply be given it as a gift. There's no way to earn it, 311 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:45.640 there's no way to achieve it, and the lie that says this world 312 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.960 is all there is. Just strive a little harder, hope a little more, 313 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:55.079 you will be able to eliminate these things that cause us to suffer. 314 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:02.519 It's very shortsighted and it always fails. The lives that we live, in 315 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:07.519 caring for one another and in being good neighbors in our world are not lived 316 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:15.839 in order to establish heaven on earth, because we've already received heaven through Christ, 317 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:21.599 our Savior, as we read earlier. We are already citizens of it 318 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:26.720 and we as we wait for Christ's return. We are not trying to build 319 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:33.440 an unshakable kingdom. We have received a kingdom that is unshakable, as Hebrews 320 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:41.440 says. The lives we live are not to create a heavenly society, although 321 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:45.480 of course we want to better our neighbors, we want our churches to be 322 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.200 strong, we want to grow in our own faith, but ultimately we do 323 00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:57.359 so through faith in our Lord, who is great and powerful and rich and 324 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:04.960 and loving. This means that all of our false starts and sufferings and frustrations 325 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:08.920 that we feel in this life will one day come to an end, and 326 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:15.000 that's good news. They will come to an end because this world is not 327 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:18.319 all that there is, because this world is not all that there is, 328 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:25.680 because God is giving to us something more, something greater, something glorious. 329 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.599 We can have hope, and not just in the promise of those things, 330 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:33.319 but in the guarantee of those things, which is Jesus's own blood shed on 331 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:41.000 the cross, because of Jesus, is sacrifice for sins. Our sins are 332 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:45.759 forgiven because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in our lives and his 333 00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:49.880 sanctifying work and, one day, his glorifying work. We know that these 334 00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:56.000 things that we so desperately want we will receive, but we receive them in 335 00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:02.079 him, not in this world and not through the means and the things of 336 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:07.240 this world. In fact, the Lord Jesus turns all this on its head 337 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:12.559 and teaches us that through suffering and suffering alongside one another and helping one another, 338 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:17.599 this is how we learn not to trust in ourselves, but to trust 339 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:22.160 in Christ alone, to trust in Christ working through us. Remember, at 340 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.240 the beginning of Corinthians, he says not many of you are wise, not 341 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.960 many of you are noble, not many powerful. The Lord Jesus didn't enter 342 00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:37.319 into Jerusalem on that donkey and then ride in and take over and then a 343 00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:41.920 point his apostles as great kings over all the lands who then appointed all the 344 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:45.799 nobles and the great people of the world. That's not how the Kingdom of 345 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:51.079 God came. The Kingdom of God came through the Cross. The Kingdom of 346 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:59.519 God came through suffering and persecution and struggle and poverty and all kinds of difficulties. 347 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:04.279 This doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to alleviate suffering, it doesn't mean 348 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:07.079 that we shouldn't love our brothers and sisters and help them eat, as Paul 349 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:13.200 calls us to do. But it does do. But, but it does 350 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:15.960 mean that as we do so, we do so because of what Christ has 351 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:21.799 done and trusting in him for what he is doing and what he promises to 352 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:27.240 do, not because we think that we can just accomplish all these things on 353 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.279 our own. In fact, we trust him that in the midst of our 354 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:35.680 suffering, in the midst of our trials, he has not abandoned us, 355 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:40.480 but he is working through them to sanctify us. So when we give, 356 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:45.440 which we must do, as we are able to do, we fundaintily, 357 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:52.279 do it out of a firm faith in Christ, in Christ alone, in 358 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:57.079 his work, in his kingdom, in His grace. We do it in 359 00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:00.839 good order, because he has created a body that is orderly and he desires 360 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:07.039 for us to share that love in great ways that testify to his goodness to 361 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:10.759 us. And we do it with a generous love, not being forced to 362 00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:15.599 or not scared that if we don't do it, everything will come falling apart, 363 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:19.519 but we do it trusting in the Lord and out of generosity, knowing 364 00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:24.240 that he'll take care of us. Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, 365 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:30.279 knows every hair on our head numbered? Who close the lilies of the 366 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:36.839 field better than Solomon? Our Father says, I got you, don't worry 367 00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:40.160 about it, I will take care of you, and it's from that play, 368 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:45.640 says his children, adopted because of the work of Christ, that we 369 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:52.079 can then give to others, generously and loving let's pray that God would bless 370 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:55.039 us in these things as well, even as he blessed the Corinthians, the 371 00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:01.079 glacians and the people in Jerusalem. Our heavenly father, we thank you for 372 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:06.480 your work among us, your generosity to us, your goodness to us. 373 00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:14.159 You, in all these things I have made yourself and your graciousness so manifest. 374 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:17.199 We see your work in our brothers and sisters, we see your work 375 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:22.800 in the church at this time, we see your work in Christ and in 376 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:30.280 your spirit working through us. We ask, Lord, that, as you 377 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:35.840 bring about in us a love for one another that flows from a love for 378 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.559 you, that flows from faith in you and your love that first was given 379 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:45.880 to us, that this love, and which we abide and live and enjoy 380 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:52.159 as receivers and givers of it, would just be on display for the world 381 00:34:52.199 --> 00:34:55.119 to see, not so that we might be praised, so that you might 382 00:34:55.159 --> 00:35:00.199 be praised, so that the love of God, in Christ Jesus, Our 383 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:05.440 Lord, that has been given to us in the Gospel, would be proclaimed 384 00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:09.400 and others would see it and come to you and give you all glory and 385 00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:15.159 honor and praise, and that they too would receive that kingdom that is unshakable. 386 00:35:16.039 --> 00:35:22.800 Lord, we ask for forgiveness for the love that we have failed to 387 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:29.559 share, for our lack of generosity. Are Our hearts, which give sometimes, 388 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:36.639 but give so with a sour face, sour heart, Lord, we 389 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:43.039 confess that we are often selfish. We confess that we don't care for others 390 00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:47.559 is as we ought to. We confess trying to build our own kingdoms in 391 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:54.719 replace of yours, of trusting in ourselves rather than our power rather than yours. 392 00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:58.679 We asked that you would forgive us these things and help us to set 393 00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:01.760 our minds more and more on Christ, that we might know him and receive 394 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:07.159 all that he has to offer, so that, instead of striving and struggling 395 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:15.840 and fearing and dying, we might enjoy your presence among us, your provision 396 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:20.119 for us, and even the suffering that we face and the trials that we 397 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:24.360 face. We asked that we would even enjoy those, rejoicing knowing that you 398 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:30.559 are at work among us. Lord. We ask these things knowing that, 399 00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:35.199 Ye, it is your desire to grant them. We ask them knowing that 400 00:36:35.239 --> 00:36:39.599 you have worked these things in US and will continue to do so. We 401 00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:45.800 ask, Lord, these things in faith, faith in you and in your 402 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:50.559 promises to us. We praise you for your love and we pray this in 403 00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:52.360 Jesus name. Amen.