Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / December 10, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - Meekness?

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December 10, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - Meekness? · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: We are in the middle, or near the tail end actually, of a series going through the book of 2nd Corinthians in the Bible.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so if that's new to you, what's going on right now is that the Apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to the Corinthians, and then those in Corinth who received it.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little uh town, wealthy town in Greece.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I shouldn't say it's little, it would have been gigantic back in the day.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: But anyhow, the Paul had planted this church there.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And to make a long story short, they're having some relationship problems.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh this letter that he wrote to them uh has been filled with a lot of grief and difficulty because uh there have been some who have come into the church in Corinth uh claiming to be uh have authority from Jesus, and they're kind of trying to knock Paul off of his pedestal as the one, sort of the father.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: He uses that language, the spiritual father to the Corinthians.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so what is going on here this morning in chapter 10 is there have been some uh accusations, some lies, some rumors that these folks have been spreading about Paul, and he's gonna respond to one of those rumors.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you might be surprised that he kind of agrees with them, sort of.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And but moreover than that, he uses the opportunity to teach them about the gospel and the way that Jesus responds to those who treat him poorly.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we will begin in uh chapter 10, verse 1, and this is how Paul starts.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I, Paul myself entreat you, or plead with you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am lowly when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away, that Paul, I beg of you that when I am present, I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some sentences in these passages here that you're like, near to Shakespeare, in terms of trying to figure out what is going on, but we'll walk through it together.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, uh at the very beginning, Paul is actually quoting his opponents.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so this part here where he says, So I, Paul, myself entreat you, I um plead with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then here's kind of the criticism.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I who am lowly or timid or um sort of a push-over when face to face with you, but bold, and and really what he means by that is overly confident towards you when I am away.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: See what's what's going on is these individuals who have come into the church, they have their criticism of Paul is this that when he is in their presence, when he's in person, he's a coward, he's a pushover.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't do any of the strong language that he's used in his letters is something that he's terrified to you when he's in person with them.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're like, he's, you know, this sort of scaredy cat when he's here with us, but now look at him.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming in on his high horse across the Aegean Sea, and he's writing this letter to us.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: He has no problem telling us, you know, all the ways that we're wrong and need to change, and they're characterizing him as sort of this like brutal taskmaster.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is responding to this.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Both of these things are unfair in their own way, and he's gonna respond to both of those criticisms.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so the the first thing that's happening here, though, we have to recognize is that there is a kernel of truth in the sense that um we it seems to be that when Paul was in Corinth, when he had lived there, you know, for over a year, that he wasn't, or let me take a step back.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: He was somebody who wouldn't be afraid of conflict, but didn't seem to be, you know, overly harsh or cruel or any of the things that they're now characterizing him to be.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: He was somebody who is apparently fairly pleasant to be with, because there is some reaction by the Corinthians to the letter that he sent.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently, what he is writing to them is not the way that he acted with them in person.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: The degree to which, though, that that is the case is more the question: is he wrong in what he's doing?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: But the other part of this that's true is that the Corinthians have changed.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: They aren't the same as they were when Paul was present.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: When he was with them, they struggled with things, sure, as we all do.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: But since he has left and gone to plant other churches and visit other churches, they have really struggled.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of things that they are failing to do, and and those are through you know, throughout the letter in 1 Corinthians and even in 2nd, and we know about the third letter that Paul had sent to them.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But regardless, Paul has had a need as the spiritual leader for this church to begin sort of increasing his urgency in communication and his intensity.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is a part of this where he's like, okay, you know, the the kids get left at the grandparents or the babysitter, and the parents go out on the date, right, and they find out at some point that the kids aren't behaving right.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so they get on the phone and it's like, listen, you need to shape up, and you can do it right now, or I can make it happen when I get home, right?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's happening here.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: The the kids are misbehaving.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul, as this parent, has had a need to sort of write them in a certain way.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: But is he being a brutal taskmaster?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they're saying.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, you know, for the Corinthians who are being sort of swayed by these new leaders, they've also been told that Paul, that when he was in their person, that he's just this coward.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is the first thing that he's going to respond to.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: The other part will come later.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul says, okay, you have called me, you've said I'm timid, I am lowly.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Another word, actually, for this is depressed, that I am somebody of no real meaning or account when I'm with you.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Is that really true?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: He says, No.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I have, it is by the meekness and gentleness of Christ that I have been acting.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, uh, meekness is a word that peaked in use back in like 1670.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody really has used this word in the last 100 years.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's very, very rare.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, it's rare that we would understand what it is offhand instead of just using as many translations do what they think is a synonym.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes we'll say that, hey, meekness is being humble, or it's being gracious, or it's being patient.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And meekness is not really, it is some of those things, but it is a certain attitude.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, meek is a word that Jesus loves to use to describe the type of person he wants following him.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, it's a word that is used to describe Jesus himself.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: We go to the prophecy of Zechariah in chapter 9.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is speaking about Jesus.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Later, Matthew quotes it.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and says, Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Look, your king is coming to you.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: He is righteous and victorious, meek and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a donkey.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So for those of you who are more familiar with your Bible, you might recognize this is the prophecy that Jesus fulfills when he comes into Jerusalem in the Passion Week, riding on a donkey.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea of meekness here is presented by the fact that the king, who we understand to be Jesus, the king is not basically calling upon his rights as king, but instead willingly doing the thing that benefits other people and is being gracious in this sort of humble circumstance.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Meekness is kind of a collection of things, but it is receiving the abuse or opposition of others without retaliation.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see that the life of Jesus throughout, and then most obviously on the cross, is something where he did not sort of call upon, like I said, his rights as king, even though he was due them, even though there was unrighteousness being committed against him.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes he endured those things for the benefit of other people, so that the gospel message might be drawn further.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if you think of like any celebrity, right, who says, Don't you know who I am?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's the opposite of that.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's the opposite of calling upon that right.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have a king who is deserving of kingly rights, who is deserving of kingly tribute, who is deserving of kingly praise, and instead he comes in on this donkey.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It transmits a message.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's different than being humble, which oftentimes we just subscribe to being without pride, or maybe that you rightly understand yourself, but meekness truly is an attitude about doing what it takes for the benefit of other people, even though you could be righteous or correct rather, in calling out something that is unfair.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So to give another example for this, right?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: When we talk about like, like let's say somebody butts in front of you in line, okay?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Even though, according to the social standard, they need to get behind you in line.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Meekness, as a very trivial example, is this idea that even though you would be correct potentially in saying that, no, I'm in front of you in line, no, this is the way that it's supposed to go, no, this is fair and even just.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, you are willing to sacrifice that for, in this case, this person's benefit.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: It really goes against like most things in our culture, right?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Where we desire, you know, we tell people like, make sure you have this backbone, right?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be a slouch, don't be a pushover.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so we combat that idea as much as possible by never wanting never wanting to be seen as somebody who's going to let something slide.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: But when we look at the example of Jesus, we see that, you know, we don't look at his submission.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: We don't look at him in the face of opposition as him ever being a pushover.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's an attitude that Jesus adopts and then encourages others to have that is ultimately focusing on someone else instead of ourselves.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyhow, we'll talk more about meekness later on, but it is important to see that Jesus giving up what his is rightly, uh giving up what is rightly his as king is a part of this idea of meekness, but it doesn't make him out to be some toothless lion.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Really, the the contrast that Paul is going to draw at the end of this passage is the difference between weakness and power and how you balance those things in a life.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: But for now, this is what Paul is referencing.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so basically we can hear Paul saying, Look, I implore you, I appeal to you, Corinthians, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I pray that when I come, I will not have to show you the boldness that I could have shown you in person and would have been right for me to show you in person.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, what I was doing when I was in your presence and you were struggling, is I was being patient with you, and I wasn't lording my authority over you.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing this activity which you have called cowardice.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have been meek and gentle, and through that I have been desiring that you would draw yourselves to change.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sort of that old statement that it's easier, right, to get flies with honey than with vinegar.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is saying here is it was an intentional decision that I acted in this way, and the fact that you have changed that and warped that into being a pushover, a doormat, he says, this is the thing that I'm pushing back on now.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I was meek like Christ.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we get a sense, though, at the end of this passage, that there is one thing, though, that Paul is going to be quite frustrated about.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: He's correcting their version of events that he was a coward.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: He says, No, I was being meek like Christ.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: But there's something that his opponents in Corinth are saying that he will not let stand.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: He says it at the end of this passage.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is those who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those phrases that the Bible uses quite a bit, but if you're not familiar with the Bible, you're it sounds like a zombie.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the contrast that he's drawing out here is one that there are those, there's basically spirit and there is flesh, which is kind of the shorthand version for those who are following after God's desires and those who are following after the world's desires.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so the one thing he will not let stand is the idea that in all of this attitude that he has and the and the conduct that he had with the Corinthians and their accusations against him, he says, I was not doing it for my own desire.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was not doing it for my own benefit.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: As he continues on, he says, For though we walk in the flesh, we'll explain that in a second, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the beginning sentence here can be kind of confusing because he uses flesh twice, but he uses them in different ways.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, what he's saying is, obviously, I'm a human, okay?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not God.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not, you know, the the one of deserving of worship.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I am human, but I am not doing all of these things.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: My ministry to you is not because of human motivation.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm not doing it unlike those, and in the later chapters in 2 Corinthians, he'll like really kick on uh his criticism of these who have infiltrated the church.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: But right now he's sort of passively attacking them.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, unlike those who are in your midst, who are doing it for power and prestige and uh waging war with very human ideas, he says, Instead, I am using the spiritual weapons of God to wage war and the difference, and sort of like two ships passing in the night.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: The reason the Corinthians aren't seeing this is because they have been trained to judge people and assume things about people based upon their appearances and their physicality and the attitudes that they have been taught to observe, like how skilled somebody is with their speech.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so those back in Corinth are telling the Corinthians proper the whole church, they're like, hey, this guy, this tent maker who isn't great at preaching, and when he comes into your presence is kind of a weakling, like why are you following after him?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, Well, I'm not waging war according to the flesh.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: If I were, then maybe he would focus more on those things.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he would be somebody who had fantastic rhetoric and argue the exact way that his opponents wanted him to argue.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: But instead he says, No, I am waging war in a different way, and it's a way that only God understands and is empowered by God.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so these spiritual weapons that Paul is using are ones that we understand.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: They're things like walking in the spirit and using the power of the gospel and prayer and trusting that God's word is going to transform people.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's more than that.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: But you can understand the battlefield that Paul is sort of acting on.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So Paul says we walk in the flesh, but we're not waging war according to the flesh.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the language that he uses here is might be shocking because he begins to get into military language, military strategy, and he begins talking about tearing down strongholds and enemies building up ramparts up to the walls, you know, that that he is going to be begin tearing these things down.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And he uses language about taking things captive like POWs.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so we go, well, Paul, what are you what are you doing here?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: You're the Corinthians, like you love them.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you using this language?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's using this language because what's happening actually in this conflict between him and those who oppose him back at the church is not about personalities.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not even about vision for the church or desire or things like that.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is a spiritual battle.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is spiritual warfare.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so the language that Paul is using, notice that it is not against a person per se, but it is against the effect of their activity, right?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: The people he's or the things he's taking captive are not people, but it's every thought that needs to be taken captive to obey Christ.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is seeing is he looks beyond those who are in Corinth, and those he looks beyond these false apostles who have come in and begun to infect the hearts and minds of the people, and we see them almost in this tug of war.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we see them in this tug of war.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Paul and these fake superapostles see them in this tug of war for the faith of the Corinthian church.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is attacking is not the individuals.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: That would be waging war according to the flesh.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, he's waging war against their thoughts and their influence.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so he is going to take down every stronghold that they have been built up, been building up against the truth of the gospel.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: And he's going to take every thought captive that they have been sort of disseminating, that is, not following after Christ.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then also he says at the very end, he is when he arrives, he is prepared to punish every disobedience.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then he says, when your obedience is complete, he's desiring that the church, in the meantime, before he arrives, would figure some of these things out for themselves, and he would not have to do it all when he comes.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: The urgency that Paul has shown in speaking to the church in the times when we've all said, like, yeesh, okay, that's some pretty strong language that he's using.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's because he is exercising his authority as an apostle, and he's saying, I want you to make this change, because when I come, I'm I'm willing to make this change, but it's going to be a lot harder if it has to happen when I do it.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: The language, the the fight that uh these fake super apostles have picked with Paul, the uh um uh infection that is happening at the church, the way that they are slowly turning them against their spiritual father, uh their criticisms that he is doing it for selfish motivation, um, the call that he is a coward and a brutal taskmaster at distance.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh these are the things that eventually are drawing Paul out of his attitude of meekness and into one of appropriate boldness.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where we go next, as we begin to see that Paul uh at no point in time was ever afraid of being telling the Corinthians the hard thing, but we go back to the beginning where he says, really, what you perceived as my, you know, doormat status was me trying to have patience and grace with you as you figured these things out.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says, look at what is before your eyes.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this would be read to the entire church.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: They would receive this letter and then they would read it and like this.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is speaking to the whole congregation here.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Look at what is before your eyes.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, so also are we.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: For I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: For they say, again, quoting them, his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is of no account.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, let's start here at the top.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what is before your eyes.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, your translation of the Bible, depending on what you have, might phrase that differently.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the CSB.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um there it's kind of a difficult thing to translate, but it means one of two things.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Either he is telling them, look beyond the surface level, look beyond what is just being told to you, look beyond sort of this at this argument that these super apostles are presenting, sort of look deeper, or he is saying, and this one would be even more direct, he's saying, it is so obvious that their ministry is false or fake or not producing the fruit.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: He says, just look at what is obvious in front of you.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what is clear and present, and you should be able to see the things that I am talking about.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what is before your eyes.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless, he's drawing the Corinthians in.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Don't be fooled by them.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like some of you are.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be fooled by them.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: He says, if anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people, a lot of commentators see this as another dig to those who have come in and said, We know from elsewhere, they've come in saying that they were sent by Jesus.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: These individuals have come into the church.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Later on in 2 Corinthians, Paul will call them superapostles, is a very ironic term.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: That they have come in and they have stated in some fashion that they have spiritual authority given them to them by God.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is saying here is kind of a dig at them, and he's saying, um, if anyone is saying that they are coming on behalf of Christ, uh make it to, okay?
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because also me and those that have, you know, as an apostle of Christ and those that are with me on my team, like we are actually the ones that Jesus has called and he has sent.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul here is now sort of clawing back some of the authority that they are trying to strip from him.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Who is this guy that he's writing to you and saying these things?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Well, I mean, not to boast, but I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Paul does say a pretty controversial statement, though.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: He says, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, right?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, next week we are going to talk all about boasting and what it how does that happen?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: What does it look like?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: What does Paul mean here?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: But suffice to say for right now, there are basically two kinds of boasting in the Bible.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's one where you boast about yourself, and there's one where you boast about all the things that God is doing.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul has no problem boasting in the second way.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: He has no problem saying, these are all the things that the Lord is doing in my life, and these are all the things that the Lord is doing through his ministry that he has called me to participate in.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so really what he's getting at here is this idea that they might have the perception that he is boasting too much, but he says, I have no problem doing it because I am, you know, I'm righteous in what I am doing.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm okay, I'm I'm not sinning by doing this, and instead, what I'm trying to draw you to understand is that there is some authority that you need to be responding to, and it's not the people that you currently have lording it over you.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I won't be ashamed.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: But he is cognizant of the way that they have received his letters.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to appear to be frightening you with any of my letters.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's never been my intent.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then it once again he gives their criticism.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: I just, I will say, uh, there's a part of this that kind of cracks me up, and just like how deep they are sort of like making fun of him, and they're just and sort of trying to disparage him.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just like he's, you know, not doing what he should.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're just like, have you looked at him lately?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like his arms are so tiny.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's such a little guy for being a temp maker.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, who is this, you know?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's have you heard him speak?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: My goodness, like, oh, my ears.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, they just they continually say these things about him.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And even Paul, in another letter, admits he says, I'm not very talented at speaking, but he is sent by Christ, and that makes all the difference in the world.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the question then becomes, and this is what we kind of want to answer here, um, Paul has already to a degree responded to this idea that he's not a coward, he's being meek and gentle like Christ.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: But now the question becomes well, is he a bully at a distance?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is he somebody who hides behind uh the ocean and his letter to then say things that he wouldn't say in person?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul sort of answers it here, right?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Let a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, oh, I'll walk the talk.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: When I see you, I will I will do these things that I've mentioned.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to I want to actually draw your attention.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's a passage in 2 Corinthians 13 that I think better sort of explains this balance that Paul is trying to show between weakness, intentional weakness, and power, and how you balance those things and ultimately how he is drawing that from Christ.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's where he says this is coming from.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm being meek and gentle like Jesus.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm being influenced by the gospel as we all should be.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where he is drawing it from.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians 13, verses 2 through 4.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warned them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them, since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you, for he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: For we excuse me, for we are also weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: So there are many parts of Jesus' life that initially seem weak, right?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: The obvious example here is going to the cross.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's, I mean, just from a uh worldly perspective, there's no other world religion where God dies, okay?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: This idea that Jesus Christ was crucified is um surrounded by the concept that he willingly gave up his life and suffered unrighteousness, even though he did not deserve it.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is, I mean, frankly, the core of the gospel message.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: He took the sacrifice, or he was the sacrifice that we needed because he took the punishment we deserved, right?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: So there are many parts about Jesus' life that initially seem weak, but nobody who understands the gospel would ever say that he is powerless.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ever.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: It'd be such a foolish statement to make.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul here is drawing these things out, and he says, Christ, in fact, is defined by this power displayed through his willing sacrifice.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the ironic truths of the gospel message and God's kingdom is that the weak are made strong and the strong are made weak.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so actually, what Paul is showing here is that there has been no point in time where he has ever lacked the authority or the power to be able to do what needs to be done, and ultimately what he is willing to do, but rather his hesitation to display that authority in such a present and obvious manner was done only for the purpose of drawing the Corinthians closer, giving them time to respond and react, and doing it so that through his patience, through his meekness, right, they might come to have even greater affections for Christ.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: If his entire ministry with them was, this is how you're wrong, this is what you need to be doing, don't you understand that the judgment of God is coming?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: There might not have been as many people who would respond to that message.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is drawing these things out.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: He is displaying the meekness of Christ, which was enduring hardship with grace for the benefit of others.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that one more time.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is enduring hardship with grace for the benefit of other people, even when you might have a righteous claim to sort of for retribution, or even we'd say almost revenge, Jesus had every right to come out and take revenge on those who had done these things to him, who were unrighteous and had murdered him, but instead Christ displayed meekness and gentleness.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Having said that, like I like I mentioned, uh though Paul's ministry now might seem weak at first, right, it is filled with power.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we see through Paul is that he is replicating, he is um modeling his ministry after a truth of the gospel.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a truth of the gospel presented in the life of Jesus Christ, and in fact, it's a truth of the gospel that is present in our current day.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: See, God is still acting in this way.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: God is still acting in such a way in the current time, since Jesus Christ died and has resurrected and lives now.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: God is being, we might say, meek.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: He is being patient and gracious and kind until such a time that his judgment and his authority will arrive.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: All of the things that are true about God's word are going to come true.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: All of the things about God's word are going to come true.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: But we are in a period of time right now where we are witnessing the same kind of thing that Jesus and then later Paul displayed in their ministry, that they are what some people might say is powerless or weak, and instead what it is is just grace and kindness.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says later in the book of Romans.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that you will escape God's judgment?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you think nothing of the riches of his kindness, restraint and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment is revealed.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is the gospel message that Jesus did all of these things for us.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it is true about the gospel message today, that God is still caring for us and showing his love for the world by giving us time and opportunity to respond to his gospel message, to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so, just as some people today, incorrectly uh thinking through the flesh, are going to say, Well, where is God?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: What is he doing?
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Where is he right now?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Why isn't he visiting his judgment upon the world?
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where is his authority?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: What is he doing in our present world?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we look and we say, uh, right now, he is being gracious and kind.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because his authority is coming.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: The day of the Lord is going to arrive, and we don't know when it will be.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: But at that point in time, it is like Paul saying, when he returns from his journey, he says, I will bring to account and make right all of the disobedience that has been happening in my absence, all of the things that people have failed to repent of, all of the things that they have failed to change, all of the ways that they have rejected God and fallen away.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I I will be happy when I come next to make sure that those things are made right.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: But it would be preferable if you had changed beforehand.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: It would be desirous, Paul would even say, right?
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: That through the things that they see as cowardice, they might understand that they have an opportunity to respond.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: So this is true about God's gospel.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is true about Paul's ministry.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is true, obviously, about the ministry of the life of Jesus Christ, that he was meek and gentle, but did not lack power, and was willing to exercise that power, but instead, at least for the time being, chose when it was appropriate to submit himself and to sacrifice himself, and to not take what he was due, but instead by grace endure hardship for the benefit of others.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: So where we finish this morning is you have to understand then, just as Paul is saying, he is calling and reflecting his life after Christ and being meek and gentle, this is also something that we have to do.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in terms of correcting, right, because it is, it's a balance between this idea of meekness and gentleness and power and presence, you do need to correct yourself.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so there perhaps are some people in our world who are maybe too meek, but I'll be honest, I don't know many of them.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think most of the time we very much like to be the person who's like, you know, are you gonna let that happen?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are you just gonna sit down while they do that to you?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Are you just gonna take that lying down?
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: These comments, and frankly, our American culture is immersed in this idea of standing up for ourselves.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, in many good ways of righteousness and justice, okay, that we hate seeing anybody get what they don't deserve.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: But having said that, when we now move beyond this idea of our culture and instead say, well, the greatest thing that we can do when we live in our culture is to exemplify the gospel of Jesus Christ and allow that to influence culture.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: We say, okay, well, what is the gospel calling us to do?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not what is the world saying, what is the gospel calling us to do?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: And what the gospel is calling us to do is be meek like Christ.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Someone butts in front of you in line.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Coworker takes more credit than they should for their work.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Someone cuts you off while you're driving.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: A relative has a demanding request when they're in town.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: A friend loses your favorite sweater.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: The internet company messed up and you need to talk to a customer service representative.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe someone spread gossip about you, or you go on a road trip and have to pay more for gas than the other folks.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: The fast food place messed up and your order and was rude when you mentioned it.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know these things are trivial, okay?
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: They don't even scratch what was going on in the ministry of Paul and obviously the ministry of Christ.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: How meekness was truly exemplified and the way that they laid down themselves for other people, even when that was not fair to them.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: But these trivial examples are the easiest way to talk about the idea of meekness without having comments coming the other direction of saying, well, I know I feel like in that situation they sort of stood up for themselves.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of situations in our life, and oftentimes they are defined by the small things where we have the opportunity to be meek, but we choose instead to, for one of two reasons, go the other direction.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those two reasons are either we are just one of those people that came out, you know, of the womb with an internal sense of justice, and that we hate they're usually their firstborn child, okay?
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: And they hate to see anything that is not perfectly even, fair, and square.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: There might be some of that, but most of the time, it's because we're selfish.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, well, it's not selfish to want justice.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's true.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's not selfish to want justice in any respect.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes we hide behind wanting justice so we can get what we want.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we hide behind the idea of making things square and even, or even going beyond that because that'd feel really good.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because we say that there needs to be some kind of retribution.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: And in certain situations, right, this identity of meekness needs to flow out of us and be something that defines us, just as it defined a part of Paul's ministry.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: So meekness, I think, is rare today because it requires us to go beyond what is even normal, which is righting wrongs or perceived justice, and instead going to a space of unnatural behavior where we willingly endure things for the sake of the gospel, even though it might result in temporary consequences for us.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I want to sort of almost separate this from some of the words that are used in conjunction with meekness, like sacrifice or humility.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, well, those are a part of it, but meekness really is setting aside what is rightly yours for the benefit of other people and doing it with grace.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that Jesus talks about on the Sermon on the Mount, right?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: When he says, uh, you have heard an eye for an eye.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, What if you just let them take the other eye?
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Someone hits you on the cheek, what if you turn the other cheek?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: If someone asks you to go to mile, what if you go two miles with them?
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, a significant message in the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus loves the meek and the mild of this world.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: He loves those that the world might sometimes call incorrectly cowards or pushovers.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he says they are the ones who inherit the earth.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: They are the ones who will be made, uh they go first in line when the kingdom comes.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: That there is a way that our world views things, and then there's a way that Christ views things.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: And just as Christ was maligned in his lifetime, so also might we be criticized and uh made out to be false things sometimes when we correctly carry out gospel initiatives.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those examples.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: Four things I want to leave you with here, four brief things that I think will help you to lead a life of meekness, right?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: And keeping in mind that it is not just our perception, but those people on the other side, how do they perceive us?
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's important.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Four quick things.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: First, meekness is not a grand act.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: Meekness is an attitude and a reputation that is built over time.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: Those trivial examples that I gave, when you talk to the customer service representative and um you are on the fifth transfer, okay, and they had nothing to do with your actual problem, um, but you're struggling to communicate, okay.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: These are the times that it comes into play when nobody else is watching as well.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are you somebody who is meek and mild at heart?
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: Are you somebody who is exemplifying the gospel of Christ?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: And over time, that begins to transform you in a way that the things which used to sort of make you bristle and poke out spikes because somebody didn't do the right thing, you begin to soften over time.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: And people say, wow, they did just let that slide.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I saw a little bit of Christ in the way that they acted there in that grace and mercy.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: Meekness is not a grand act, but it's a collection of small decisions in your life, and how you act in those small decisions and situations is preparation for how you act in the future when there might be something bigger that comes along.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, meekness is not powerlessness.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: Paul is no pushover.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: We would never say that Jesus Christ was powerless.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ever.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: That would be a foolish statement to make.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why meekness is not powerlessness, even though some might perceive it that way, is because it is the hardest decision to make.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: It is the hardest decision to make and therefore takes the most power and discipline and determination and passion to be able to choose the thing that is harder.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: Just as how people see some massive weight loss journey, and they say, man, they did the hard thing.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Going the route of meekness is something that requires a lot of intentionality.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_00: You are not powerless as you do it, but actually showing and displaying in a very subversive way the power of God as you say that you will not be controlled by these other things.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is not powerlessness, but in fact, you display power by showing meekness.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Christ was in control.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Third, meekness is a choice.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is separate from the other one, from the one just before it, because the idea of meekness is that you can't control what happens to you in many respects, but you can control how you act to that.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is an obvious statement that we're all familiar with.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: But where the rubber hits the road is that meekness is one of those options.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: It is one of those things that you can do, one of those choices you can make in the way that you're going to respond to people.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so, even though it might be, you know, inconvenient or hurtful or frustrating at times to let things happen without taking revenge or getting square, sometimes you make the choice that you're not going to do it, and that is the right choice after all.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth and finally, meekness is confidence.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this isn't in some weird, like rah-rah sense, but uh Paul's no pushover, Paul's no doormat, yet he was consistently called that by the Corinthians.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: They used his meekness and turned it against him, and it became a criticism.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that will probably happen if you are somebody who chooses to walk this road as a reflection of the gospel is that you will have people who say things about you that are untrue because of the way they perceive your meekness in Christ, okay?
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: And by continuing down that road, you are displaying confidence that your identity is not based or overly swayed by the opinions of somebody who does not understand your motivation and your purpose, but rather with confidence you are going to continue walking forward because even though the Corinthians might not have grabbed it, the overarching claim is that meekness reveals the gospel of Jesus.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: It is captivating to read the gospels and see the way that Jesus responded to those.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Who are sometimes the worst to him.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: It displays how he was in control, how he had power, how he was confident.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: And not that those are our ultimate goals, but rather that through that he was drawing people to himself.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is why he goes out and the Pharisees go, Why are you having dinner with the sinners and the tax collectors?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Those are my favorite people to hang out with.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: Even though the judgment of Christ ultimately comes against sin, he says, but what if that wasn't the lead foot?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not giving up any of my power by saying that my authority and my judgment will come later.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, I'm giving people an opportunity to respond.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: So in conclusion, I would say that there are two big takeaways from this morning.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: One is that if you don't understand Christ as your Savior, that now is the time to make that change.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel has gone out.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ has died for your sins.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: He is your Savior if you would accept him as such.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you would be cleansed of your sins, you would be forgiven of your sins against God, your rebellion against God, and you would have full fellowship with him.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: The kind of fellowship that will fill the hole in your heart that cannot be filled by anything else, only a relationship with God.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing and understanding as a true statement, not one of brutality, that eventually Christ is going to return, and then it will be too late.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: But the other conclusion is that if you're somebody who trusts Christ as your Savior, is that probably more often than is currently the case, you should walk the road of meekness and you should intentionally be looking for opportunities to do the hard thing, sacrificing what might be rightly yours with grace for the benefit of other people.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: And through that display that you are reflecting the gospel.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for today.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you that we follow a Savior who sacrificed himself for us.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, who gave up what was rightly his, whether be it on a donkey or on a cross.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: God, that he is still our King, but He is one who can be described as meek.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: Father, we ask that you would help us by the power of your Spirit to pursue these things, to be more meek.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, perhaps to set aside some of our internal sense of righteousness and justice, insofar as it concerns us, that we might give other people the benefit of the doubt.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: Give them some grace and patience and mercy, that they might sorely need.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, in so doing, reflect your gospel.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: God help us to do these things because they are hard.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: They are hard, Lord, especially if the people that we are talking to or dealing with are like Paul's opponents in Corinth, who are only slandering him and saying terrible things.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us by your spirit in these moments.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, if there's a situation right now where somebody is walking through this, I pray that they would just experience what it might look like to transform a situation by acting like Christ.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: God help us, like I said, in these things, because they are hard.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in our culture, they are even harder.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: But God, we desire most of all to follow after you and your gospel and to let it transform our lives.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's in your Son's name we pray.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, if you weren't able to make it to the light show, invite somebody, come out, invite them to see the gospel message.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good week.