Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 17, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - Paul's Defense

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September 17, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - Paul's Defense · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, TBC.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: As you probably noticed, I'm not Connor, although I strive to be.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: I am Jeremy McGrath.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the student ministry pastor here, and I get the privilege of giving the sermon for today.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm super excited to be with you, y'all.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: But before we get into the sermon, uh, I'm gonna ask you guys to pray with me.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're gonna we're gonna pray the way we do down in the student ministry before I give sermons down there.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you are able, uh I'd ask you to join me on our knees as we go to our Heavenly Father.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not because you need to pray on your knees, but it helps me to get in the frame of mind uh that I'm going before the Lord of the universe, who I'm giving my all to.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so if you're here this morning and you're able, please join us on our knees.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you're if you're at home and you're on your sofa, get that recliner back up, get on your knees.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: And even if you're watching this afterwards, I just really encourage you guys to get on your knees before the Lord with me this morning.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do so.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying those amazing but baffling words.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Why should I gain from Christ's reward?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: I cannot give an answer.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: But Lord, we do know with all our heart that that makes no sense and that we deserve the complete opposite of what we receive in Christ.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: That you have given us your love and your son in eternity, even though we do not deserve it.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: I thank you, Lord.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for those who are coming here this morning burdened and wary, those who are distracted with a million things, those who are stressed, those who are struggling with illness and ailment, and have so many other things going on outside of these four walls here.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: I pray, Lord, that you would allow them, just for a moment, at least, to rest.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that you would prepare their minds to focus on the words that you have for them.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that you would convict us through your word as we desire to know you more and to look like you better.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: We pray this in your name, Lord.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining me, guys.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Some of you guys just had knee surgery, and I know as you still got on your knees.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I was I did not mean you.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Some of you guys might know my younger brother Mitchell.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: He actually interned with us a couple summers back, and he's a great intern, besides the fact that he was my little brother.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're kind of annoying.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but no, he's he's great.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: I love my little brother.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, recently I was really proud of him because he started a Bible study with some other guys his own age, and he got he got about eight other dudes to meet on Thursday nights for Bible study.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the first things that he told them on the night that they met, he's like, Look, guys, this is important.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I want us to keep Thursday night sacred, to prioritize this study, and so I don't want you making any plans on Thursday night if it is at all possible.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so they all agreed and they were all doing great.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: But a couple weeks into the Bible study, one of the guys texted Mitchell and said, Hey man, I'm sorry, I'm having a family emergency, I can't come.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So Mitchell totally understands.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Hey man, totally understand.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm praying for you.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Take care of what you need to do.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, a couple days later, Mitchell's talking with one of his other friends, and uh he's asking her what she was doing the last couple days, and she said, Actually, I was hanging out with that dude that just joined your Bible study on Thursday night.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Mitchell, you know, he's not, he's not making jumping any conclusions yet.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe she was over there helping him with his family emergency or whatever.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: So he says, Well, well, what were y'all what were y'all doing Thursday night?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, Oh, we were uh we were watching the Chicago Bulls basketball game.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Busted.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now, unless unless this dude was related to one of the Bulls players and the family emergency is one of the players got injured and he had to play point guard, I think Mitchell Mitchell was calling bullcrap there, right?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's not true.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So so we've all had this happen to us before, right?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Where someone has flaked on plans that they committed to.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes they lie to you about what they need to do, and sometimes they just plain don't show up.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that doesn't feel very good, right?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: It can be very hurtful.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it lessens our trust in them.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, today we're actually gonna talk about another situation where someone flaked.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was the Apostle Paul.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Paul, how could you?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the Apostle Paul actually flaked on the Corinthians, and they weren't too happy about it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna talk about Paul's response to not following through on some plans that he had previously committed to and why that happened.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're also gonna explore some theological truths in it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: For those of you who are with us last week, we just started a new series in 2 Corinthians, continuing on our series last fall in 1 Corinthians.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're new or this is your first week back in this series, don't worry, you haven't missed too much, you're still kind of in right at the ground floor here.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So today specifically, we're gonna be in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 15 through 22, if you want to turn your Bibles there.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, we will have it up on the screen for y'all to track along with, okay?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: The plan for this morning, we're gonna try to hit four points.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna set up the dilemma.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Why are the Corinthians upset with Paul?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, uh, we're going to dive into some theological truths that Paul brings out in these passages.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see how Christ reveals God's faithfulness.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Next, we're gonna see how Christ confirms our unity as believers.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, we're gonna see that Christ assures our salvation.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you guys might already know this, but when I'm downstairs with the students, I like to ask them at this point, are y'all with me?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And they say, Oh yeah, let's see if you can do a better job.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Are y'all with me?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that was that was really good.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was maybe even better than the first service.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Good work.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let us hop into the first couple verses.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be in verses 15 through 17 as we unpack the scenario, what's going on here, all right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So Paul says, Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: He's talking to the Corinthian church, I wanted to come to the Corinthian church first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Or do I make plans according to flesh, ready to say yes, yes, and no, no, at the same time?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's break this down.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, in verse 16, Paul tells us what his original plan was, the plan that he had committed to that apparently he's flaking on.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: The plan that he had committed to was he wanted to go visit the Corinthians for an extended stay on his way to the church in Macedonia.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then after he visited the church in Macedonia, he was going to come back, visit the Corinthians again, take a love offering for the church in Jerusalem, and then take that to Jerusalem.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was his original plan.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: But the plan got messed up a little bit because before he made his first travel to the Corinthians, he heard some concerning news about them.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: There were some bad things that were going on, and it was just kind of like an emergency, and so he made an emergency visit to go see the Corinthians and deal with some things.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we know from chapter 2, verse 1, this did not go well.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of contention in that visit, and Paul was hurt by someone in the congregation, and it seems like the congregation kind of supported this guy against Paul.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so Paul got out of Dodge real quick.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then instead of actually going back on his way to Macedonia and doing that extended stay, he sent a really harsh letter with Titus to Corinth, and he himself went straight to Macedonia.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so in this letter, he just was filling the pages with rebuke and like anger and you know, like all of these things that they were doing wrong.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: He was just like kind of imbuing his inner English teacher, right?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: And just the red pen all the way.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's just correcting everything they're doing.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is the letter they receive, and this is actually the true 2 Corinthians.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: We have 1 Corinthians, this letter he sent to them was the second one that we know of, and then the letter we're reading right now is the third.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: But the second letter they receive, they actually receive well.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: It did hurt them.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of them were brought to repentance, and and Paul heard of this and was glad and he was happy, and he said, Look, I'm so glad that you guys have repented, and we can we can enter back kind of into unity together.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna come visit you on my way back from Macedonia.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And this letter, 2 Corinthians, that we're reading right now, he sent on ahead with Titus to prepare them to give generously to the people in Jerusalem.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what's going on here.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: But the Corinthians were upset, as I said already.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we know they were upset because in verse 17 on, Paul spends a lot of time trying to defend the fact he didn't visit them on his way to Macedonia.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just gonna be honest, guys, I know I'm a pastor and like I have my master's and Bible and everything, but I had no idea what he was saying in verse 17.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was, it looks like I don't know really if it was actually translated from Greek to English.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna be honest.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to do some digging, and after I did some research, we're gonna we're gonna go look at what Paul actually meant if he knew how to speak like normal modern-day English, okay?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: So these are Paul's words in verse 17, what his defense is if we're using like the dumb Jeremy translation, okay, just for understandability.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: So this is what he says.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: He says, was I making my decision based on conflicting desires?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: My decision to come see you, my travel plans.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Was I like both kind of wanting to go, but also not really, and just like wasn't sure?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so he says, Do I plan based on my selfish desires, fully willing to say yes or no, depending on what I feel?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so apparently the Corinthians were accusing him, they were saying, the reason you didn't come to visit us was because you didn't actually care for us at all in the first place.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, all you cared about was what you wanted to do, and when it became more convenient for you to not see us, you decided to do something else.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's what they're accusing him of, okay?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're maligning his character and his trustworthiness, and most importantly, his care for them, okay?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: And Paul is saying, no, this is not what I was doing.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: But we're gonna take a break from this for a second, because Paul takes a break from defending his reasoning, and he goes on to a more important defense, a more important topic, and that's gonna be in verses 18 through 20.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And this is kind of when we're gonna get into the meat and potatoes of the sermon.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: So you guys are following along, verses 18 through 20.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll read up on the screen and see what he's doing here.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Sylvanus, which is another word for Silas, his companion, and Timothy and I, was not yes and no, but in him, in Christ, it is always yes.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: For all the promises of God find their yes in him, and that is why through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now I want to explain to you what he's doing here, because he's he's trying to communicate a very important point to the Corinthians.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna use another speech to kind of give you an idea of what's going on.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: How many of you guys have heard of this guy, Lyndon B.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Johnson?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, me neither.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh apparently he was a president in the 60s.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't pay attention in history class.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, yeah, so so he was uh he was a president in the 60s, and if you guys know anything about the 60s, there was a lot of turmoil going on in our country in the 60s.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: And Johnson had to give an address after three people, prolific people in the community, had been attacked.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And this includes the death of uh Martin King, Martin Luther King Jr., right?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so the nation is reeling from this.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And they're feeling like America is just dissolving and is sick and is just on the track to hell, right?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And there's no going back.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they're just giving into this fear.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: But Lyndon says this in one of his addresses, which I just thought was really poignant.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Tonight, this nation faces once again the consequences of lawlessness, hatred, and unreason in its midst.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it would be wrong, and it would be self-deceptive to conclude that from this act, our country itself is sick, and that it has lost its balance, and that it has lost its sense of direction or even its common decency.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is the best part here.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: He says 200 million Americans did not strike down Robert Kennedy last night any more than they struck down President John F.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Kennedy in 63 or Dr.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Martin Luther King Jr.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: in April of this year.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: But those awful events give us ample warning that a climate of extremism, of disrespect for law, and of contempt for the rights of others, violence may bring down even the very best among us.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, whether you agree or disagree with Lyndon's view of America at the time, what he's communicating to the Americans who are just struggling and in fear that their nation has just gone off the rails is don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: There are some really bad people in this nation right now, and there is a growing sense of extremism, is what he's saying, that is threatening to destroy us, but there are still a majority of Americans who value peace and justice and equality and order and love.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope that you're among them.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: So don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, all right?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Stand up as the citizens who still value these things against the growing division.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of what Paul is doing here.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's asking the Corinthians not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: If we go back to verse 18, right here, he says, our word to you has not been yes and no.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And the word he's talking about is the gospel.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: What Paul is saying is, look, I know you have an issue with me, and you're wondering if I'm trustworthy or if I care about you.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's fine.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: I guess that's fine.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can you can push me away, but don't get rid of the gospel because of that.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Don't give up on the gospel because you have an issue with me.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is really what Paul's trying to get across.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't like that the Corinthians have this wrong view of him, but he's like, man, if you're going to, just don't give up the gospel.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's where his concern lies.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: But now I want to unpack some of the deep theological truths that we find in these verses that Paul communicates to the Corinthians.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: In verse 19, what he's essentially saying is that you, the Corinthians, we, we believe that in Christ all things are yes.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'll think, what does that mean?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: All things are yes.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: All the promises of God are yes.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: We receive all things in Christ is yes.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: And he's and he reminds them, you guys believe this to such an extent, then when we are worshiping together, come together as a community, we all say amen when we hear these truths.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: See what this still happens today in America, not in our congregation, we're a little quiet, but like in other congregations, when the pastor says something, exposes this deep truth of God, people shout out, Amen, which means surely, truly this is true.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he says the Corinthians were doing that when they heard these truths about Christ.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: This is the important thing.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't just saying amen or surely this is true, because they just knew something about God.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: They knew something about God and Christ that deeply affected their very being and purpose and approach to life.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: It changed everything for them with their perspective.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give you an example of how this worked for them and how it can work for us.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: How many of you guys have heard of Stephen Curtis Chapman?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe some of the older crowd.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's a Christian artist.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he kind of peaked in the late 90s and early 2000s.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: He's still great though.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a picture of his family back in the 2000s.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, had a fantastic family, and as you can probably tell, he adopted three beautiful girls from China.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And he was especially close to the one that he's holding there in the middle, who is the youngest.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and back in, I think it was like 2007, 2008, she had just turned five and they were celebrating um, you know, her fifth birthday.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: But then a couple days later, she got ran over by her brother and died.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: And the family was devastated.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Especially so, because I don't know if you guys know much about the orphanages in China.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're horrible places.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so Stephen had felt like he had just rescued some girls from a life of misery and had given them something good, and had given them Christ, and her life was just off to a good and beautiful start, and it was gone.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people, when this happens, a lot of us, find it hard to move on.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's an emptiness and a brokenness that just will never be filled or comforted.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to read to you lyrics of one of his songs that he had written a couple years prior for those who had lost students in a school shooting.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And these words reflect how he dealt with the loss of his daughter.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: He says this in the song how we thought it was supposed to be was that we had so many plans for you.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: We had so many dreams, but now you've gone away.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: And all you've left us with is memories of your smile.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: For a lot of us, that's where it ends.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hopelessness.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: But he continues.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we cry with hope, and we say goodbye with hope.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because we know our goodbye is not the end.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we can grieve with hope.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because we believe with hope that there's a place that we'll see your face again.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: We will see your face again.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Which it even reveals here that is unique to the Christian experience is that because of Christ, our deepest longings and desires have a yes in him.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Our desire for hope is yes in Christ.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Our desire for love is yes in Christ.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Our desire for purpose is yes in Christ, and our desire for forgiveness is yes in Christ.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Can we get an amen for that?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: But Paul makes an even bigger point here than just the fulfilling of our desires having and longings having their yes in Christ.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: The very promise and promises of God find their yes in Christ, he says in these verses.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you guys know that throughout the Old Testament, many of you know throughout the Old Testament, God, thousands of years before Christ, God was making promises to his people about how he was going to redeem them and fulfill them and bring them close to him.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: He told Abraham that through his offspring there would be someone, there would be a man who would change all of the nations around him and bring them together.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: He told David that he would raise up someone, a root of David, to take the throne and to rule with peace and justice and love.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it's answered in Christ.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then in Jeremiah, we see that through Jeremiah, God made a new covenant.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: He said he would make a new covenant where he would place his law on our hearts and he would forgive our iniquities.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's a yes in Christ.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: But the most important promise that God makes is this overarching promise to say yes to humanity when he should have said no.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: We sang that song, Why should I gain from his reward?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I cannot give an answer.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: All of us have been saying no to God from the beginning.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: We say no to following him.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: We say no to living good and upright lives.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: We pursue selfishness and self-gain.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: But God says, although you say no to me every day, I say yes to you.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: And my yes can be found in Christ.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we learn, guys, is that God or Christ reveals God's faithfulness to us, that God has always had the answer to your deepest longings, and it is a yes in Christ.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're not a believer here this morning, or you're watching online, and you are not in Christ, and life right now feels so empty.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know there's something deep down missing.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have that hope.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have that purpose.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: You feel broken.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: The word for you from God's word is that you're not gonna find it unless you go to Christ.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I encourage you if you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, do so.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want to find the fullness of what it's like to live in Christ, surrender everything you are to Him, commit to Living for him.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to know more of what that means, I'd love to talk to you after the service.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: The leaders at this church would love to talk to you.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: But this is the most important decision you will ever make because this is God's all of the branch to you saying yes to everything.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Let's continue on in verses 21 through 22.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: If you guys want to turn your attention to the screen.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Paul continues.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And he has anointed us.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Then we can explore the theological truths.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: So here he's reminding the Corinthians that he brought in the last passage that he brought the gospel to them, that they accepted it, and then they became brothers.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: That they became sealed in Christ together, and now they're on the same mission, they have the same anointing.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason he's reminding them this again is so that they remember not to throw out the gospel that they've said amen to over and over and over again.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: But not just that, not just that.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: But he's saying, look, if you could trust me and believe me with the greatest of all truths, and we could grow close together as brothers, and we are, can you not just give me the benefit of the doubt with this little thing and this change of plans?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: And know that my heart is for you, even though you don't understand right now.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now he does explain later on why he had to make his change of plans, but he's asking them to trust him with the small things because they trusted him with the greater things.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what he's doing here.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to focus on the theological truth that Paul brings us from his actions.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: I want to make the assertion that Paul humbly attempts unity, and I'm sorry that I got messed up on the screen there, but Paul humbly attempts unity.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now, back in college, I was actually known as the Paul hater.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Not gonna lie, it's not a great thing to be known as, but the reason I was known as the Paul hater is because I got really frustrated reading Paul's letters, because he seems to brag a lot.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: All right?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: Connor talked about this last week, and there's no better book of the Bible to see Paul's bragging than in 2 Corinthians.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so I want to read to you some of his, j' just a couple of the verses where he seems to be a little arrogant, wagging a little bit.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: He says in 11.5, I do not think I am the least inferior to those superapostles.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: In 11.6, he continues, although I am not a Polished speaker, I'm certainly not lacking in knowledge.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: He's he's essentially being the kid who's like, I'm not good at tests, but I'm actually really smart.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying here.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then in chapter 11, verse 23, this is the kicker, this is the big one.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Are they servants of Christ?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm more.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let me list all of my pedigree for you.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have worked much harder, been imprisoned more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Paul, I mean, like, you gotta slow down a little bit.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: You're even making Gaston blush, okay?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is a little too much.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: A little too much self-love going on.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: But is that what's really going on?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is Paul really just arrogant and prideful and trying to uplift himself?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think if we put this in context in regard to what Connor was talking about last week, we see where Paul's heart really is.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, last week Connor was saying that the Corinthians were casting aspersions against Paul's character.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: They were calling him ugly, which seems like kind of an elementary school tactic, but okay.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: They're calling him ugly, they called him a fool, they called him unimpressive and a weak speaker, and he was also burned on his last visit by someone that he trusted in the congregation.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: So they were rejecting him, they were attacking him.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: And Paul's not kind of combating these attacks with his, with these, oh, I'm so great, mic drop Sidia.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's not what he's doing.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: But remember, the reason he defends himself is so that he can defend the gospel.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because he's afraid that if they attack his character and give up on him and bring him low, that they're also gonna bring low his testimony about Christ and drop that.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so this thing that seems really bad, where like Paul's arrogant, we actually see that he's fighting tooth and nail to protect the gospel in the Corinthians' hearts.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what is amazing, guys.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Paul doesn't just care that the Corinthians accept the gospel, but that the Corinthians are united with him in the gospel.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: If we go back to these verses in 21 and 22, I want you to count up on the screen how many times Paul uses the word us or ours.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: One, two, three, four, five.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Five times in two verses, Paul uses us.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: We are bonded in Christ.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: We have the Spirit.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: We have an anointing.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because Paul realizes that as Christians, as brothers and sisters, yes, we have assurance in Christ, but one of God's priorities in Christ is to make us united.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: And this is very important.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because Paul, what Paul shows us is that he was willing to persist through hurt for the sake of unity.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let me remind you, in 1 Corinthians, he was willing to sacrifice and push through hurt for the sake of unity for a church that was applauding an adulterate, an adulterous relationship.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: He thought that church was worth loving and pursuing and reconciling with.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't see the same thing today, to be honest.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think we have as much of a commitment to unity as Paul does.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm guilty of this too.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: But what I see is us forsaking unity.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: When we think someone is weird, or when someone snaps at us, and we have minor theological disagreements, when the other person doesn't seem to be making enough effort to get to know us, or when they make a joke that we don't like, or maybe we just don't pursue unity because we're just lazy.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's too much work.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: But Paul understood something that Jesus explicitly said right before he died.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: In John 17, which is the true Lord's Prayer, this is Jesus' wish for all of his people.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, God, let my people be united, be as one as we are one.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Paul understood what unity was worth, and he was willing to fight for it.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Even in the face of people who were killing him, attacking him left and right.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: So my question is, well, will you sacrifice for unity?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to continue in verses 21 through 22 because there's a second thing that we can learn, deep theological truth, from these verses.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: I want to take a look at what he describes we united have in Christ.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: First, I want to point out he says that we are established with Christ and we are sealed with him.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: What these words mean is that we are God's property.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: We are owned by God, but we're not just owned by God, we are his heirs.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: We have to expect to gain everything in the afterlife.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: Everything that is his will be ours, but we are God's and he is ours.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: But even more than that, this is the really cool truth.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Later on at the end of the verse, he says that he has put the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now let me tell you what this doesn't mean, and then I'll tell you what this does mean.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: What this doesn't mean is that God is using the Holy Spirit as like, you know, the monthly like trial run.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'm gonna give you the spirit, we'll see how it goes.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you do a good enough job, then maybe we'll we'll continue this whole relationship thing.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's not what he means.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: In the Greek, this word, this word means to make a deposit where you are committing yourself to the final payment.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: God is saying here, I have given you the spirit to prove to you that no matter what, because you have put your faith in me, I will deliver the final payment in heaven with Christ.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Guaranteed, no matter what.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that amazing?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we learn from these verses is that Christ assures our salvation that we are completely secure in Christ.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: God has said yes to us, no matter what we say, no matter what we do, he has said yes to us.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: We are secure in him.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to point out one last thing.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: While God is doing all of the heavy lifting, he's fulfilled all of his promises, all our desires for all of our longings in Christ, and then he's given Christ to us as a deposit, the guaranteeing that we will be with him and we will receive all things in the end.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: Paul said there's one more thing that we're united in.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And is that we are anointed together.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Anointed.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't the anointing of like a king where we're given a special position.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, what Paul is referring to is anointing where we are given a mission, a common mission.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read to you Isaiah 61, 1 through 2, which talks about what this anointing is as Christians.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: Isaiah says this, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: The anointing is this common purpose that God has for all of us.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to recap and then come back to this.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: We learn that God has revealed his faithfulness in Christ, fulfilling our deepest longings and saying yes to humanity when he should have said no.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: He confirmed our unity together.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: He gave us brothers and sisters to walk alongside with.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then he also assures ourselves, guarantees our salvation if we are in him.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: God says yes time and time again.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: But what will you say?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you are in Christ, he's given you an anointing and a mission.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: He has told you that you are here not just to live a cushy life and be saved at the end of time, but you are here to go out and do good.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things that we're all equally anointed in, equally is our mission, is to share the gospel.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: I saw a really sad fact.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Just read this yesterday.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: 97% of evangelicals do not evangelize.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you believe this morning that there are people who are going to heaven and there are people who are going to hell, and you have never once shared the gospel with an unbeliever, what are we doing?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're spitting in God's face and we're saying no to him.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're saying no to the lost around us.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: But we also have a common mission to care for the weak and the oppressed and uphold justice and to encourage those around us.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we are called to do.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: God has said yes to us.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Say yes to him.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: When we truly consider your love for us, it is baffling that you say yes to us in everything in Christ.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I myself say no to you so often.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: Even though I know I have everything in you, I still say no.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that we would not be a church that says no to you.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: But that we would be a church that says yes and amen.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I I pray that the 1,400 people who grace these halls in this sanctuary every Sunday, that we would go out boldly and live for Christ.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that people would know the name of Topeka Bible Church because of our fruits, and that these fruits would lead them to say yes to God.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, I just pray that we would fall more in love with you as we realize how in love with us you are.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you, God.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: We pray this in your name.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, guys.