The Surprise of Grace (2nd Corinthians 13:11-14)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:05.000 Like to begin with that question or two as we gather here this morning. 2 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:13.070 Have have you ever been exasperated with another Christian? Well, maybe it'd be 3 00:00:13.189 --> 00:00:19.230 safe to say you've been exasperated this week with another Christian, maybe your spouse, 4 00:00:19.309 --> 00:00:22.260 maybe your kids, maybe a friend, maybe a pastor, maybe an 5 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:27.019 elder, maybe just another member of the church. Have you ever tried and 6 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:33.859 tried to make a point, to get them to see your point, only 7 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:38.049 to have them meet with have you meet with resistance? You ever had that 8 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:43.810 happened? You've tried and you've tried to tried. It's going nowhere. Well, 9 00:00:43.850 --> 00:00:48.450 we all have. At one time or another, we faced other believers 10 00:00:48.490 --> 00:00:52.320 who, to use the modern phrase, simply don't get it. Whatever the 11 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:57.240 it is, they do not see the wrong they have done and even if 12 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.679 they did, they're not about to change. Well, that is what we 13 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:07.109 come to here in two Corinthians as Paul wraps up this letter. It is 14 00:01:07.349 --> 00:01:11.150 the closing letter of four letters, two of which are in scripture, of 15 00:01:11.349 --> 00:01:18.620 Paul, to a very troubled church. Paul had written for letters that we 16 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:22.260 know of, to to scripture, to outside of scripture. He had gone 17 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:27.939 on multiple visits, he had sent emissaries multiple times to deal with this troubled 18 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:33.290 urge, and as soon as one problem was solved, others rose up. 19 00:01:34.450 --> 00:01:38.730 They had been fighting with each other, they had rationalized in moral behavior, 20 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:42.409 they were denying, questioning fundamentals of the Gospel, the Resurrection of the Dad, 21 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:47.519 they had formed factions around gifted leaders, and the list goes on and 22 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.239 on. This one shirt seems to be the collection of all the problems that 23 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.439 have occurred in all the churches of history. Well, Paul is finishing off 24 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.030 this letter. There's some good news he's celebrating, but he's also concluding the 25 00:02:02.109 --> 00:02:06.310 second half of this letter, which is very much an admonition to them. 26 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:13.229 And as he's wrapping up this up this letter, he has the chance to 27 00:02:13.270 --> 00:02:20.780 say some final words to them. One one last conversation. When you've said 28 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:25.699 all you need to say, how do you wrap it up? Well, 29 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:30.610 if that's you or me talking with someone, or at least if it's me 30 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:35.569 and there been many conversations and they've got nowhere, I know what I would 31 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.530 say to wrap it up. Look, get on the bus or get off 32 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:42.289 the bus. That's what I want you to think about as we finish this 33 00:02:42.449 --> 00:02:46.639 off. or I might admonish, I might say, what is wrong with 34 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:54.000 you? How can anyone be so stupid? Or we made deployed the shaming 35 00:02:54.280 --> 00:03:01.469 model? You're making me look bad. So what surprising here is what Paul 36 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:07.870 writes. The Apostle, under the direction of God, says these as his 37 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:13.180 final words to the most exasperating, difficult church in the pages of the New 38 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:22.060 Testament. Finally, brothers, rejoice, aim for restoration, comfort one another, 39 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.860 agree with one another, live in peace. The God of love and 40 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:29.729 peace will be with you. Read one another with a holy kiss. All 41 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:34.009 the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love 42 00:03:34.050 --> 00:03:38.169 of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all and all 43 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:46.400 God's people. said. What what that? This is one of those occasions 44 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:51.280 when you're pretty convinced the critical scholars are right. Things were inserted into the 45 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:57.349 New Testament by later writers. There's no chiding, no shaming word, no 46 00:03:57.990 --> 00:04:00.990 closing rebuke, although there's rebuke in the letter. There's no close in correction, 47 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:04.430 although there is correction in the letter. There's no warning, although there's 48 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:12.419 warning in the letter. He ends with this. Why this end and doesn't? 49 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:16.100 Does that kind of water down all the all the things he said previously 50 00:04:16.259 --> 00:04:19.980 in this letter, especially the second half. No, no, Paul ends 51 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:26.730 this letter by characterizing their God is the god of love and peace. He 52 00:04:26.850 --> 00:04:30.449 ends this letter praying for the blessing of the Triune God, the grace of 53 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:33.490 the Lord Jesus, God Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of 54 00:04:33.529 --> 00:04:40.839 the Holy Spirit be with you will. Why does he do that? Why 55 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.399 does he why didn't he just stand with the exhortations? Why does he include 56 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:49.000 this characteristic, these characteristics of their God, this prayer for the blessing of 57 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:56.389 the Triune God? And I think it's very simple. Paul knows the only 58 00:04:56.509 --> 00:05:03.629 hope for change is their savior. The only the only way their hearts will 59 00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:06.980 be melted and they will be won to repentance is by the offer of the 60 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:15.339 free grace of God. So after sharp words of rebuke, after repeated appeals 61 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:21.290 to repent, they needed to be reminded of the Great Savior, Jesus and 62 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:27.250 if his generous grace to all who come to him. So let's look at 63 00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:30.290 the Gospel words in this passage and we're going to back up and look at 64 00:05:30.329 --> 00:05:34.089 the exhortations, because I think they're grounded in the Gospel. But let's begin 65 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:39.079 just by looking at Paul's willingness to say to them live in peace and the 66 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.800 god of love and peace will be with you. He characterizes their God, 67 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:48.519 is the god of love and peace. Now, notice there's nothing threatening in 68 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:54.310 that. See, if I was writing this, I would have written aim 69 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:57.350 for restoration. Agree with each other, live in peace or God will get 70 00:05:57.389 --> 00:06:02.829 you. That'll moravate them. Now Paul says, and the God of love 71 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:08.180 and peace will be with you. He characterizes God. He exhorts them to 72 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:12.740 action, but he doesn't threaten them. He tells them what sort of a 73 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:16.660 God they are coming back to in their repentance. The God and father of 74 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:20.529 our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the God of love and the God of 75 00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:25.649 peace. He hasn't changed, Paul is saying, even in the face of 76 00:06:25.730 --> 00:06:30.970 their strife and bickering, God still remains the god of love and peace. 77 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:34.600 What does he mean by that? Well, let's just take a quick look. 78 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:39.399 What do we mean by the God of love? So easy to lose 79 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.959 sight of this because we become familiar with it. The God of love means 80 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.629 that this God is his love is not a response to anything in us. 81 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:51.509 God's love flows out of the fullness of his own being. God is of 82 00:06:51.670 --> 00:06:55.829 such a character that he delights to do good, to bless him, to 83 00:06:55.870 --> 00:07:03.100 show kindness. He loves even when we're offensive, even when we offend him. 84 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:09.699 And now in Christ, God has revealed his love to them. And 85 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:18.129 in Christ they are as they are, beloved of God, Saints They are. 86 00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:27.009 This church is, with all its problems, beloved of God. That's 87 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:31.959 how Paul characterizes them in his earlier letters. Well, why does the characterize 88 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:36.879 God? Is the God of peace. Well, this is not news to 89 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.360 you, but maybe it is that the Bible pictures the condition of every human, 90 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:44.120 every member of the human race, is one of hostility to God. 91 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:53.110 We mask the hostility behind morality and religion and manners, but ultimately we resist 92 00:07:53.350 --> 00:07:57.069 God, the True God, and who he is and his claims on us. 93 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:00.540 We are enemies of God and we have no reason to be an enemy 94 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:05.980 of God. He hasn't done anything wrong. God does not deserve our en 95 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:11.379 matie. He is perfect in all his ways. So if you're in a 96 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:18.370 conflict and wrong as occurred, who needs to initiate the reconciliation? The person 97 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:22.889 who did the wrong right. And guess what? That's always the other person, 98 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:26.569 isn't it? What's the phrase we use? I didn't start this. 99 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:33.440 Who takes the first step to reconcile? We think it's the person who's done 100 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:39.559 the wrong who takes the first step to reconcile man and God, the one 101 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:46.990 who is without fault, the one who didn't start it. God takes the 102 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:52.669 first step, and not just the first step, all the steps, through 103 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:58.419 Christ, to bring us back, to move us from being enemies to being 104 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:05.059 reconciled to him, to make peace between us and him through his son, 105 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:11.529 whom he gave to us in love. He is the God of peace and 106 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:18.610 Paul is telling the Corinthians who will meet them in their repentance, the god 107 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:24.169 of love and peace. Another way to say this is is there. God 108 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.919 was ready, simply by their turning to him, to welcome them home. 109 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.720 He's not going to scold them, he's he's not going to put them on 110 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.399 probation, he's not going to lecture them, he's not going to shame them. 111 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:43.269 Who wants to go home to that now? He is the god of 112 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:46.230 love and peace. He is like the father of the Prodigal, the one 113 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:50.549 who's looking anxiously for their return and as soon as he sees them, will 114 00:09:50.549 --> 00:09:56.139 run to them far off and welcome them with kisses. That's the god of 115 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:03.340 love and peace. That's what will motivate their repentance and give them hope in 116 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:11.289 their repentance and melt their hearts and repentance, because it's utterly nonintuitive. It's 117 00:10:11.409 --> 00:10:16.529 not the way we think, but it is who God is. See, 118 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:20.129 it took me years as a pastor and as a Christian to learn that God 119 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:22.600 doesn't work the way I work. See, I used to think that what 120 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.279 I needed every day was a good conviction of sin, and when I first 121 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:31.440 became a pastor, I thought what my congregation regularly needed above all else was 122 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.350 conviction of sin. I thought that what they needed every week was a dose 123 00:10:35.429 --> 00:10:41.230 of shame and guilt that would motivate them to change, because that's how we 124 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:45.870 think, that's how we raise our kids, that's how we treat each other. 125 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:50.860 But God wonderfully sent a man who gave me a wise reproof and over 126 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:54.179 the process of many years his rism reproof and the help of others, I 127 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:58.299 began to see that what motivates people to change is not a conviction of sin, 128 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:03.649 but hope and a savior. See, for many years when I would 129 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:07.690 preach, my goal is that people would leave with their eyes to the ground 130 00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:13.129 saying woe is me, that's a good sermon. They thought that was a 131 00:11:13.210 --> 00:11:16.009 good sermon. They've been conditioned to think that was a good sermon. Oh, 132 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:20.120 pastor, that was so good, I'm so convicted. And then I 133 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:24.039 learned that a good sermon is when when they leave with their eyes to the 134 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:31.320 heaven saying thank you for such a savior. That's what I need. That's 135 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.029 what Paul saying to the Corinthians. You have that kind of a savior, 136 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:39.669 that kind of God. He is the god of love and peace and your 137 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:41.590 only hope is that kind of a god, that kind of a savior. 138 00:11:43.230 --> 00:11:46.299 Only telling you about this free, redeeming grace of God is going to melt 139 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:52.419 your hearts and win your repentance. Well, that that's pretty amazing in itself. 140 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:54.179 But then Paul turns up the volume. I mean we go from like 141 00:11:54.299 --> 00:12:00.419 seven DDBES to a hundred and ten decipls here, because he now prays for 142 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:07.970 the blessing of the Triune God. In them. Paul prays that each person 143 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:13.809 of the Triune God, working in symphony, which they've done from creation through 144 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:18.840 redemption, through glory, will be with them, an active among them, 145 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:24.440 son, father and Holy Spirit. See, Paul knows they can't fix themselves. 146 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:30.549 He knows that only the work of this God saving them can change them, 147 00:12:30.629 --> 00:12:35.470 and so he prays that this God will bless them. Let's look at 148 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:41.710 each of those phrases. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does 149 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:45.740 that mean? Well, grace is more associated with God, the son and 150 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:50.259 his redemptive work than any any other person of the godhead. And graces is 151 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:56.259 such a familiar word. It speaks of how God responds to people like us 152 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:01.769 who deserve condemnation. And in the words of Pulmot one or three, which 153 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:05.009 I read earlier, how does God deal with a guilty he does not deal 154 00:13:05.090 --> 00:13:13.159 with us as our sins deserve or reward us according to our unniquities, or 155 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:20.799 we would have no hope. Grace means that God, out of the fullness 156 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.159 of his generous being, gave his son for us. He did not of 157 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.350 us what we deserve, he did not reward us according to our sins. 158 00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.669 He freely, gladly willingly gave his son to be our savior. He freely, 159 00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:45.620 gladly, willingly forgives, no arm twisting needed. Paul had previously spoken 160 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:48.779 of this grace. He says, you know, the grace of our Lord 161 00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:52.100 Jesus Christ that, though he was rich for your sakes, became poor that 162 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:56.730 you, by his poverty, might be made rich. Such such simple words 163 00:13:56.769 --> 00:14:03.929 that roll off our tongues, so stunning. Who Does that? No human 164 00:14:05.129 --> 00:14:09.169 does that, no one. No human who is rich becomes poor in order 165 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:15.840 to make others rich. But our God does. He delights to give all 166 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.200 that he has in his riches so that we might join him in his inheritance. 167 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.269 Paul, Praise for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be active 168 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:28.230 among them. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 169 00:14:28.429 --> 00:14:33.389 All that, you may say, but but they're sinning, they don't deserve 170 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:39.379 it exactly. Well, they're stubborn. They keep sinning. They don't deserve 171 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:48.259 it exactly. Salvation is a work of God's grace alone, or it is 172 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:54.809 nothing. And for people who have long resisted God's word, which the Corinthians 173 00:14:54.889 --> 00:15:00.330 had, for people battling in dwelling sin, for people burden with their own 174 00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:07.600 weakness and temptations. Paul offers the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, because 175 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:13.440 they cannot fix themselves and if they try to, they will end up in 176 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:22.950 despair or in selfrighteousness. John Owen, the Great Puritan theologian who writes the 177 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.750 most difficult to read books in English history. John Owen describes it this way. 178 00:15:28.830 --> 00:15:33.629 He says he wants us to imagine that grace as a fountain and God 179 00:15:33.830 --> 00:15:39.179 invites sinners to come and drink. But the question is, is there enough? 180 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:48.379 Is there enough grace for sinners like us? What if grace runs out? 181 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:52.250 What if it what if the Fountain runs dry? Owen says if all 182 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:58.889 the world set themselves to drink of the free grace, mercy and forgiveness from 183 00:15:58.889 --> 00:16:04.120 the wells of salvation, they would not be able to diminish the fountain of 184 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:15.159 Grace One hair's breath. That beautiful millions gather at the fountain and drink of 185 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:21.750 the grace and the water level doesn't drop a hair's breath because says ooh and 186 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:27.230 there is enough for millions of worlds if there were, because it flows into 187 00:16:27.350 --> 00:16:33.899 it. What flows into it comes from an Infinite Bottomless Fountain of God's grace. 188 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:41.379 Paul Prais that that grace would be at work among them. Paul Prays 189 00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:42.659 for the love, that the love of God would be with the love of 190 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:47.289 God, love of God the father. Clearly a Trinitarian text, God is 191 00:16:47.370 --> 00:16:52.049 often simply shorthand for God the father. Paul wants them to know and experience 192 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:56.850 the love of God the father. What does that mean? Well, for 193 00:16:56.970 --> 00:17:00.879 most of us, John Sixteen is given for God so loved the world that 194 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.839 he gave his only son. But the New Testament says there's more to it 195 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.960 than that. Matter of fact, at the end of his life and John 196 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:15.599 Fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, as Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure, 197 00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:19.509 as his disciples are about to abandon him and betray him and deny him, 198 00:17:19.509 --> 00:17:26.509 Jesus tells them this. He says in John Fifteen, I want you 199 00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:30.819 to know that, as the father has loved me, so have I loved 200 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:37.619 you. No, wait a second. What did he say? As Jesus, 201 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:41.259 the Eternal Son, has known the love of the father in eternity, 202 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:48.890 past and the infinite fullness of God's life in himself. So he turns around 203 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:55.049 says, so have I loved you. Jesus loves US as the father has 204 00:17:55.130 --> 00:18:00.920 loved him. John Sixteen Jesus says. I want you to know that the 205 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:07.839 father himself loves you. I am loved by the father as he loves his 206 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:15.869 son. That's what scripture says and the big picture, which we'll talk about 207 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:19.349 in Sunday schools, God, the father, son and Holy Spirit dwell together 208 00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:25.269 in everlasting and infinite love, and their purpose as God, the father, 209 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:30.420 son and Holy Spirit is to have us join them in that communion of love 210 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:37.819 forever. That's what lies ahead of us, and Paul wants them to know 211 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:45.410 the love of God that passes all understanding, because Paul knows not only do 212 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:47.890 they need to know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they need 213 00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:52.170 to know the love of God, because when we doubt his love is when 214 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:59.200 we fight and quarrel and criticize and gossip and are fearful and anxious, but 215 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:03.119 when we know his love and we trust and rest in his love, all 216 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:11.029 those things go away. Well, last he talks about the fellowship of the 217 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:15.150 spirit. Fellowship is a word about participation. It's most often associated with the 218 00:19:15.230 --> 00:19:19.069 work of the Holy Spirit, not only in the godhead in the Triune God, 219 00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:23.230 been in our communion with God. The Holy Spirit, Jesus said, 220 00:19:23.230 --> 00:19:27.500 as the winner, connects us to himself and to the father. When the 221 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.460 Holy Spirit comes in that day, Jesus says, you will know that I 222 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.579 am in my father and you are in me and I am in you. 223 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:40.170 You will be brought into this communion of love. It is by the spirit 224 00:19:40.250 --> 00:19:45.529 we have fellowship with God and with each other. So think about that for 225 00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:48.809 a second. The father, son and the Holy Spirit live in eternal and 226 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:55.079 infinite love as three persons of the Triune God. God the father gives his 227 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:57.759 son for us and God. The father gives the Holy Spirit to us that 228 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:03.119 we might be united to the son, and being united to the son, 229 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:11.029 we are brought into that circle of divine love in fellowship with God. Paul 230 00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:14.670 ends this letter by reminding them of the nature of their God as the God 231 00:20:14.789 --> 00:20:18.309 of love and peace, and then he tells them and he prays for the 232 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:22.500 blessing of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 233 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:26.980 the father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to be with them, because 234 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.740 Paul wants the Corinthians to know that, as difficult as they are, their 235 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:40.130 savior hasn't changed. God's grace has not changed. They had been brought into 236 00:20:40.170 --> 00:20:42.930 the communion of father, son and Holy Spirit. That has not changed. 237 00:20:44.289 --> 00:20:48.490 They had been fully accepted through Christ. That has not changed. They are 238 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:56.319 beloved of God. That has not changed. What they need is not nagging 239 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.200 and lecturing and prodding and guilt and shaming. They need to dive more deeply 240 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:11.069 into the riches of the Gospel, because that will change them. Now this 241 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:15.869 works out in very practical ways, sometimes and different illustrations. My observation, 242 00:21:18.309 --> 00:21:21.779 almost forty years as a pastor, is that most of God's people live with 243 00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:26.539 a nagging sense of guilt. They know that if God were to inspect their 244 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:33.049 lives, they would never measure up. They trust their progress in sanctification for 245 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:41.809 their justification and therefore they either think that their embarrassment to God or they misjudge 246 00:21:41.849 --> 00:21:47.759 themselves in their self righteous and they're doing pretty well. They think what they 247 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.000 need is more guilt, as I once thought, more shame, more conviction. 248 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.480 Paul disagrees. Paul said what people like that need is a savior to 249 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:03.069 trust, not a moral improvement effort, but a savior who's grace and love 250 00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:12.069 and fellowship is unchanging for them in their sin. Now I have this played 251 00:22:12.109 --> 00:22:17.180 out many, many years ago, forty one years ago almost, because we've 252 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:22.220 almost been married forty one years. We were married in nineteen seventy eight and 253 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:26.180 as we moved into our life as newly weds, early one thousand nine hundred 254 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:30.569 and seventy nine, as is all too common with newly marriage, we got 255 00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:37.609 married and I I began to notice my wife had flaws, she had weaknesses, 256 00:22:37.009 --> 00:22:41.849 she sinned and I thought it was my duty as her husband to point 257 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:52.519 those out comprehensively, and that was not being well received. Can you imagine? 258 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.309 Well, I had a mentor WHO's now in his S and I would 259 00:23:00.750 --> 00:23:03.670 sit down with him once a week. I was as intern in the church 260 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:07.750 in Oregon and I we would just talk about life and he was always saying 261 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:11.390 how is marriage going, and I would bring him all the daily details of 262 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:15.019 my life and and I told them that I didn't know what was going on 263 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:19.180 that Rondi was becoming tense and defensive and he said why, and I said 264 00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:22.900 well, I'm trying to bring her critic critique and trying to help her repent 265 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:27.769 of her sin. And I'm trying to help her see your sin. And 266 00:23:27.890 --> 00:23:33.450 I told her I was just trying to help her be godly. And he 267 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:40.809 told me something that day that changed our marriage. He said, Pete, 268 00:23:40.849 --> 00:23:45.720 people don't change until they know their love just as they are, just like 269 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:52.440 with God. He said, your wife is terribly afraid that if you came 270 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.150 to know the secrets of her life, you would cease to love her. 271 00:23:56.549 --> 00:24:02.589 If you know her deeply, you will no longer love her. She's scared 272 00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:04.670 of that, and he said so are you, but you may not see 273 00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:11.700 it yet. So he said your goal is to show and Tell Rondi that 274 00:24:11.859 --> 00:24:15.099 you love her just as she is and to tell her if she never changed, 275 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:21.460 you would still love her just as she is. He said your goal 276 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:26.529 is to imitate God's love for your wife, because God knows her to the 277 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:30.049 depths and has loved her fully as his own daughter and as fully accepted her 278 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:38.359 just as she that was a bit of a shock to me and it became 279 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:44.640 a daily effort to restrain my criticism, to offer words of affirmation and love 280 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:47.359 and even that phrase, I love you just as you are, honey, 281 00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.240 if you never change. And God worked in me and he worked on her 282 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:56.509 and what we noticed is throughout that first year, as we both practice that 283 00:24:56.630 --> 00:25:06.309 with each other, the defenses dropped, the argumentedness about discussing our faults dropped, 284 00:25:06.390 --> 00:25:14.220 our ward hiding diminished, our resistance and avoidance of being known diminished. 285 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:19.259 And what was interesting is as she became convinced and I became convinced that we 286 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.730 knew each other deeply and loved each other just as we were, God began 287 00:25:23.769 --> 00:25:33.930 to changes. Paul knows that that's what this church needs is to be convinced 288 00:25:34.329 --> 00:25:40.039 that they are fully accepted by God in Christ just as they are, to 289 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.079 know that they are beloved of God, to know that father, son and 290 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.960 spirit are all that they need for their redemption. Will meet them joyfully in 291 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:52.910 their repentance and then they'll change. The fact, I think the reason Paul 292 00:25:53.190 --> 00:26:00.109 does the exhortations he does in this letters it concludes, as these are all 293 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:04.900 Gospel grounded exhortations. I imagine as I as I tell you the history of 294 00:26:06.059 --> 00:26:11.180 this church, and then I give you his final words like rejoice, comfort 295 00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:15.619 one another. You're thinking, why is he saying that? Because these are 296 00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:21.569 all the ways you respond when you know you are beloved of God. Rejoice, 297 00:26:21.650 --> 00:26:26.250 for example, be glad in God's grace and your unchanging acceptance by God 298 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.450 in Christ. If you know that is true and you're resting in that grumbling, 299 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:34.920 complaining, finding fault, knitpicking, criticizing and moaning, go away. 300 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:41.759 Aim for restoration, aim to make whole, set the bone straight that's broken. 301 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.559 Don't punish, hold on probation, harm or hold grudges, because that's 302 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:48.910 not how God treats you. Comfort one another, speak to the hearts, 303 00:26:49.230 --> 00:26:53.910 length and build faith. Draw close to each other, because that's how God 304 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:59.029 treats you and therefore you won't tear down so suspicion, cause others to fear 305 00:26:59.069 --> 00:27:04.099 or doubt or keep say agree with one another. Clarify. Paul is not 306 00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:08.380 saying agree on everything. The New Testament never commands that. It's agree on 307 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:15.500 what is most important. Not Every picky. You in detail. And if 308 00:27:15.539 --> 00:27:18.529 you agree with one another in that way on what is most important, you 309 00:27:18.650 --> 00:27:22.410 want quarrel, contend and demand your way and be petty. Live in peace, 310 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:25.970 because God is the God of peace. And if God is the God 311 00:27:26.089 --> 00:27:30.039 of peace, that means that pride, censoriousness, gossip, withdrawal and criticism 312 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:38.640 go away. Greek one another with a holy kiss. Affection shows unity and 313 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:42.359 warmth doesn't end. Don't show the cold shoulder, turn your back or give 314 00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:47.509 a phony smile. Greet each other but the holy kiss. Who Behaves this 315 00:27:47.630 --> 00:27:51.190 way? Paul knows, the people who behave these way, this way are 316 00:27:51.269 --> 00:27:52.829 people that know that they have a God who is a god of love and 317 00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:56.950 peace and they have tasted of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the 318 00:27:57.069 --> 00:28:03.299 love of God, the father in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Done 319 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:10.380 just apply individually, it applies to churches. I conclude with this. William 320 00:28:10.539 --> 00:28:15.289 Willeman was a methodist pastor and professor, now retired from teaching a Duke University, 321 00:28:17.650 --> 00:28:22.569 and he tells the story of his first pastoral call. Seminary degree in 322 00:28:22.690 --> 00:28:26.359 hand, he moved on to his PhD in Atlanta at Emory University and while 323 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:32.720 a PhD candidate, he took a call to a rural Georgia church a couple 324 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.680 of hours out of Atlanta and he was going to commute out there on the 325 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.549 weekends and preach and visit on Sundays and then returned to his schooling. Well, 326 00:28:41.630 --> 00:28:44.589 he said, fresh with a determination to be a good pastor for his 327 00:28:44.789 --> 00:28:48.430 first role. He arrived his first Sunday to discover that the front door of 328 00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:55.349 the church had a padlock and chain on it. And as he stood there 329 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:59.180 looking at those doors with padlock and change, the local sheriff pulled up, 330 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:07.380 got out of his car and said glad your hair. Mr You're the pastor, 331 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:10.170 right he said Yep. He said. Can I ask you, Sheriff, 332 00:29:10.170 --> 00:29:12.009 why is the padlock and change on hit chain on here? He said. 333 00:29:12.049 --> 00:29:15.690 Well, last weekend things got out of hand at the board meeting. 334 00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:22.609 Folks started ripping up carpet, dragging out the peers they had been given in 335 00:29:22.690 --> 00:29:26.599 memory of their mother's got real bad. Said I had to come out here 336 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.400 and locked the door until the new preacher could come and settle things down. 337 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:40.509 God bless him. Drove off. Willeman stood in the parking lot, rookie 338 00:29:40.589 --> 00:29:45.029 pastor, thinking what have I gotten myself into? And for the time he 339 00:29:45.230 --> 00:29:52.269 was there that was his experience of that church. said he would drive out 340 00:29:52.269 --> 00:29:56.539 there on Sundays, sometimes praying for a snow storm in October so he would 341 00:29:56.579 --> 00:30:02.220 not have to go and preach. He said he tried everything, but the 342 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:07.849 arguments, the pettiness, the fights in the parking lot after meetings continued and 343 00:30:07.930 --> 00:30:11.769 they were more than he could take. Well, he finished his course, 344 00:30:11.849 --> 00:30:15.289 he was done, finished his PhD, completed his student pastor at there and 345 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:18.690 he said as he drove off from the church his last Sunday, he thought 346 00:30:18.769 --> 00:30:27.200 to himself, Hugh, call yourself a church and off he went. Well, 347 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:32.440 what does the church like that need? What? What would change a 348 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:37.670 congregation so filled with bitterness? Well, the story continues. He said a 349 00:30:37.710 --> 00:30:41.309 number of years later he was back at his Grad School for a conference with 350 00:30:41.470 --> 00:30:45.430 pastors and he met a young man who introduced himself and said, Oh, 351 00:30:45.470 --> 00:30:51.220 Dr Williman, I'm now serving that church. He said. He looked at 352 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:52.380 him. He said he was a young man, only twenty three. In 353 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:56.019 his heart went out to him. Well, the young man said they still 354 00:30:56.059 --> 00:31:00.299 remember you out there. Williman replied, I will never forget them either. 355 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:07.529 Remarkable bunch of people, the young man said. That's one way of putting 356 00:31:07.529 --> 00:31:11.329 it, I replied. The young man continued. Their Ministry to the community 357 00:31:11.369 --> 00:31:15.529 has been a wonder. They are now supporting more than a dozen troubled families. 358 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:19.400 They run a Free Day Care Center and there one of the few interracial 359 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:30.599 congregations in the area. Williman was floored, amazed, curious. What happened? 360 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:33.950 was there a program that irremediator? Did you blow the place up and 361 00:31:34.069 --> 00:31:38.869 start all over again? Now? The young pastor said there was simply a 362 00:31:38.990 --> 00:31:44.950 Sunday when the Holy Spirit came down and assured everybody that they were loved by 363 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:52.220 God in Christ, and when they left that Sunday there was peace. God 364 00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:56.299 loved them, Christ died for them as they were. The Holy Spirit was 365 00:31:56.380 --> 00:32:02.130 in them. Everyone left in peace. It's all it took. Williman's comment 366 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:07.650 is I think that Church got intruded upon. Someone greater than I or that 367 00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:13.450 young pastor knocked the lock off the door, kicked it open and offered them 368 00:32:13.529 --> 00:32:19.839 the peace of God. I would simply say that that church, in those 369 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:23.240 moments, came to drink, drink deeply of the grace of the Lord Jesus 370 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:29.559 Christ and the love of God in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That 371 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:35.349 is what that church needed, that is what the Corinthians needed and that's what 372 00:32:35.470 --> 00:32:38.269 you and I need every day. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 373 00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:43.269 the love of God, the father and the fellowship, Fellowship of the Holy 374 00:32:43.309 --> 00:32:46.460 Spirit being with us and working in US would you pray with me?