1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,100 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,100 –> 00:00:14,800 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website, openthebible.org. 3 00:00:14,800 –> 00:00:20,200 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin. 4 00:00:20,200 –> 00:00:27,120 Would you please open your Bible at 2 Corinthians and Chapter 5 you read from the Psalms in 5 00:00:27,120 –> 00:00:29,120 preparation for 2 Corinthians. 6 00:00:29,840 –> 00:00:32,840 We’re looking at just 3 verses I’d like to read these now. 7 00:00:32,840 –> 00:00:44,619 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 and verses 11 to 13 and the first sentence of verse 14. 8 00:00:44,619 –> 00:00:49,759 Therefore knowing the fear of the LORD, we persuade others. 9 00:00:49,759 –> 00:00:57,439 But what we are is known to God and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 10 00:00:57,439 –> 00:01:02,599 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us so 11 00:01:02,599 –> 00:01:10,459 that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what 12 00:01:10,459 –> 00:01:12,639 is in the heart. 13 00:01:12,639 –> 00:01:16,480 For if we are beside ourselves it is for God. 14 00:01:16,480 –> 00:01:21,199 If we are in our right mind, it is for you. 15 00:01:21,260 –> 00:01:28,760 For the love of Christ controls us. 16 00:01:28,760 –> 00:01:35,639 Now our series is called Don’t Lose Heart and we have already found reason for encouragement. 17 00:01:35,639 –> 00:01:39,720 First in the great future that lies ahead of every Christian believer as life in the 18 00:01:39,720 –> 00:01:46,540 tent becomes harder, the hope that we have in Jesus Christ shines brighter. 19 00:01:47,339 –> 00:01:54,160 And then we don’t lose heart second because as life here gets harder, we have unique opportunities 20 00:01:54,180 –> 00:01:59,959 to honor Christ and to walk with Him by faith in anticipation of the great day when we shall 21 00:01:59,959 –> 00:02:02,419 stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 22 00:02:02,419 –> 00:02:08,080 There are opportunities to honor Christ now in this life that we will not have in the 23 00:02:08,080 –> 00:02:13,860 presence of the Lord Jesus where sickness and sin and all of the many pressures of life 24 00:02:13,960 –> 00:02:20,119 in the body are gone and we are in an entirely new and very, very wonderful situation. 25 00:02:20,119 –> 00:02:25,020 Therefore, to seize all the opportunities that arise precisely because of the difficulties 26 00:02:25,020 –> 00:02:30,740 of this life is something that is given to us, therefore we do not lose heart. 27 00:02:30,740 –> 00:02:35,759 Now today we’re going to look at another pressure that causes many to lose heart. 28 00:02:35,759 –> 00:02:40,160 And I want to begin the message today with the application. 29 00:02:40,199 –> 00:02:44,720 Because that way, we will, as we go through, be able to connect what is being said from 30 00:02:44,720 –> 00:02:50,199 the Scripture to the immediate and practical circumstances of our own lives. 31 00:02:50,199 –> 00:02:57,839 So I want to speak today to all of the parents who endure the pain of a son or a daughter 32 00:02:57,839 –> 00:03:01,380 who has nothing good to say about you. 33 00:03:01,380 –> 00:03:05,559 You have done your best to love your children, to provide for them, but for some reason a 34 00:03:05,559 –> 00:03:10,839 son or a daughter has turned against you, set themselves against you, and nothing you 35 00:03:10,839 –> 00:03:13,779 do or say ever is right. 36 00:03:13,779 –> 00:03:17,020 There is an antagonism, even a hostility. 37 00:03:17,020 –> 00:03:23,800 I want to speak to all the people today who have been loyal to a difficult task, or loyal 38 00:03:23,800 –> 00:03:29,740 to a difficult spouse, or loyal to a difficult friend. 39 00:03:29,740 –> 00:03:31,460 And you have been taken for granted. 40 00:03:31,460 –> 00:03:34,000 You have been presumed upon. 41 00:03:34,000 –> 00:03:39,000 The good you have done has not been recognized, and the sacrifices you have made seem to count 42 00:03:39,000 –> 00:03:40,000 for nothing. 43 00:03:40,000 –> 00:03:45,479 Sometimes you feel that you have been treated with contempt. 44 00:03:45,479 –> 00:03:50,720 I want to speak to the person today who feels that you live under the constant pressure 45 00:03:50,720 –> 00:03:54,000 of unrealistic expectations. 46 00:03:54,000 –> 00:04:00,000 You are held to an impossible standard and nothing you do is ever good enough. 47 00:04:00,000 –> 00:04:02,800 Some folks experience that in employment. 48 00:04:02,800 –> 00:04:06,660 Others experience it in family circles. 49 00:04:06,660 –> 00:04:12,419 Perhaps you feel that you live under the shadow of another person and nothing you ever do 50 00:04:12,419 –> 00:04:21,000 can ever quite match up to the imposition of that shadow that remains over your life. 51 00:04:21,000 –> 00:04:27,799 And so the weight of criticism, critique that is spoken, and even more the stuff that is 52 00:04:27,799 –> 00:04:33,880 not spoken, that’s just in the role of the eyes and the body language and all of that, 53 00:04:33,880 –> 00:04:39,959 all of this critique that you feel you live under becomes crushing to you over time and 54 00:04:39,959 –> 00:04:42,940 you know what it is to lose heart. 55 00:04:42,940 –> 00:04:48,500 So to gather this little piece together, if you have ever been harshly judged, if you 56 00:04:48,500 –> 00:04:57,019 have ever been unfairly criticized, if your motives have ever been questioned, this message 57 00:04:57,019 –> 00:04:59,519 today is the word of God for you. 58 00:04:59,519 –> 00:05:02,779 Do I have an audience for this message today? 59 00:05:02,779 –> 00:05:10,440 I want us to be able to connect how the word of God speaks to hundreds of situations in 60 00:05:10,440 –> 00:05:18,700 real life where there is genuine hurt and the difficulty that comes with it that so 61 00:05:18,700 –> 00:05:24,220 easily can cause us to lose heart. 62 00:05:24,299 –> 00:05:28,500 Now, 2 Corinthians is the most personal of all of the letters of Paul. 63 00:05:28,500 –> 00:05:33,420 He speaks here more about himself, opens his heart more here, than in any other letter. 64 00:05:33,420 –> 00:05:38,239 And clearly, he is uncomfortable about doing so. 65 00:05:38,239 –> 00:05:39,779 Why did he then do this? 66 00:05:39,779 –> 00:05:45,600 Well, to understand the story behind 2 Corinthians, you need to know simply two things. 67 00:05:45,600 –> 00:05:51,440 The first is that Paul loved these believers at Corinth very deeply. 68 00:05:51,559 –> 00:05:54,019 He really loved these people. 69 00:05:54,019 –> 00:06:01,500 Acts 18, you can check it out later, gives us the backstory of how Paul came to Corinth 70 00:06:01,500 –> 00:06:07,679 and gave himself to a ministry of pioneer evangelism and discipleship and church planting. 71 00:06:07,679 –> 00:06:08,679 It was not easy. 72 00:06:08,679 –> 00:06:10,480 There was lots of hostility. 73 00:06:10,480 –> 00:06:12,679 He was thrown out of the synagogue. 74 00:06:12,679 –> 00:06:18,540 He set up a kind of house church in the home of a man by the name of Titius Justus. 75 00:06:18,540 –> 00:06:25,059 And he stayed there and gave himself to this ministry for 18 months, a year and a half, 76 00:06:25,059 –> 00:06:30,739 a long time, given the itinerant nature of the work of the apostle Paul. 77 00:06:30,739 –> 00:06:36,200 And Acts 18, verse 11 specifically tells us that he stayed in Corinth for a year and a 78 00:06:36,200 –> 00:06:41,739 half, and he taught the word of God. 79 00:06:41,739 –> 00:06:47,339 So the bonds that developed between Paul and these particular believers with whom he served 80 00:06:47,339 –> 00:06:51,880 for an extended period of time, these bonds ran very deep. 81 00:06:51,880 –> 00:06:56,880 And I want just to give you four scriptures to kind of emphasize that and seal it in our 82 00:06:56,880 –> 00:06:57,880 minds. 83 00:06:57,880 –> 00:06:58,880 We’ll go through them very quickly. 84 00:06:58,880 –> 00:07:01,839 So if you’re taking notes, just take down the reference. 85 00:07:01,839 –> 00:07:04,179 You may not have time to write out all of the words. 86 00:07:04,179 –> 00:07:05,940 You can check it out later. 87 00:07:05,940 –> 00:07:11,160 But I do want you to see that he risked his life to bring the gospel to them. 88 00:07:11,160 –> 00:07:18,040 Second Corinthians 10, and verse 14, we were the first to come all the way to you with 89 00:07:18,040 –> 00:07:20,140 the gospel of Christ. 90 00:07:20,140 –> 00:07:25,000 And read Acts 18, you realize how hostile it was, the risk that Paul took proclaiming 91 00:07:25,000 –> 00:07:26,239 the gospel there. 92 00:07:26,239 –> 00:07:27,279 It was not easy. 93 00:07:27,279 –> 00:07:34,040 No one else had done it, but Paul was prepared to extend himself to take the gospel there. 94 00:07:34,040 –> 00:07:36,079 As a result of him being the first there. 95 00:07:36,079 –> 00:07:42,540 He had therefore personally, as an evangelist, and as a church planter, personally led many 96 00:07:42,540 –> 00:07:44,200 of these people to the Lord. 97 00:07:44,200 –> 00:07:46,380 He’d actually led them to the Lord. 98 00:07:46,380 –> 00:07:53,279 And that’s why he says it one Corinthians 4, 15 I became your father in Jesus Christ 99 00:07:53,279 –> 00:07:55,660 through the gospel. 100 00:07:55,660 –> 00:07:59,320 What he means is though there were plenty of other people who arrived in Corinth later 101 00:07:59,320 –> 00:08:03,200 and were teachers, and group leaders, and all the rest of it, no doubt. 102 00:08:04,040 –> 00:08:06,320 I was the one who led many of you to Christ! 103 00:08:06,320 –> 00:08:11,239 Sharing the gospel as an evangelist and as a church planter. 104 00:08:11,239 –> 00:08:16,040 Third, he extended himself for these people in tireless effort. 105 00:08:16,040 –> 00:08:23,899 I love 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 15, which, by the way, is a great motto for anyone who 106 00:08:23,899 –> 00:08:27,279 really wants to give themselves in ministry. 107 00:08:28,000 –> 00:08:36,159 “…I would most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” 108 00:08:36,159 –> 00:08:38,000 Do you see the love in that? 109 00:08:38,000 –> 00:08:44,780 He says to these people, I’d be glad just to spend myself and just to be spent, for 110 00:08:44,780 –> 00:08:48,619 my life to be spent for the good of your souls. 111 00:08:48,619 –> 00:08:52,919 That’s what he says in relation to these people at Corinth. 112 00:08:52,919 –> 00:08:53,919 He loved them. 113 00:08:53,919 –> 00:08:59,000 He sought their good, and he knew what it was there for to weep over them. 114 00:08:59,000 –> 00:09:04,479 When they came to a difficult situation, he wrote 2 Corinthians 2-4, out of much affliction 115 00:09:04,479 –> 00:09:07,460 and anguish of heart and many tears. 116 00:09:07,460 –> 00:09:15,960 “…I did this to not cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have 117 00:09:15,960 –> 00:09:18,099 for you.” 118 00:09:18,099 –> 00:09:22,700 So just these four snapshots to settle this in our minds could give many more. 119 00:09:23,099 –> 00:09:28,840 Paul really loved these people. 120 00:09:28,840 –> 00:09:33,359 Second thing you need to know is that some of these believers at Corinth had become very 121 00:09:33,359 –> 00:09:36,760 critical of Paul. 122 00:09:36,760 –> 00:09:44,580 Now, some for sure had made too much of him, and it’s interesting that that may have been 123 00:09:44,580 –> 00:09:47,820 one of the reasons why others went the other way. 124 00:09:47,940 –> 00:09:53,739 We know from 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 12 that some actually said I follow Paul. 125 00:09:53,739 –> 00:09:59,580 Well Paul hated that and he responded to that in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 13 by saying, well 126 00:09:59,580 –> 00:10:01,400 was Paul crucified for you? 127 00:10:01,400 –> 00:10:03,679 I mean, why would you follow Paul? 128 00:10:03,679 –> 00:10:10,500 What is Paul, he says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5, only a servant through whom you believed. 129 00:10:10,500 –> 00:10:15,419 So there were certainly some people who made too much of Paul, and very clearly, and perhaps 130 00:10:15,460 –> 00:10:16,460 it was related. 131 00:10:16,460 –> 00:10:20,140 There were others who clearly went the other way. 132 00:10:20,140 –> 00:10:26,260 So, that by 1 Corinthians in chapter four you have Paul speaking about how he is a servant 133 00:10:26,260 –> 00:10:27,260 of God. 134 00:10:27,260 –> 00:10:31,280 But then he makes reference to being judged by you. 135 00:10:31,280 –> 00:10:36,059 So, quite early on it seems that there were people who were becoming very critical about 136 00:10:36,059 –> 00:10:44,539 Paul, were setting themselves against him, and were making unkind judgments about him. 137 00:10:45,020 –> 00:10:50,679 So here are people to whom he has brought the Gospel, many of them he’s actually lead 138 00:10:50,700 –> 00:10:51,700 to the Lord. 139 00:10:51,700 –> 00:10:56,580 He’s very happy to spend himself and be spent for the good of their souls. 140 00:10:56,580 –> 00:11:00,780 But they’re making judgments about him- many of them- and their judgments are not 141 00:11:00,780 –> 00:11:01,859 kind. 142 00:11:01,859 –> 00:11:09,020 Whatever Paul did, there were some people in Corinth who thought the worst about him. 143 00:11:09,119 –> 00:11:15,419 Now, let me give to you, just to seal this in your mind a Catalog of the criticism that 144 00:11:15,419 –> 00:11:20,799 Paul was facing from at least some of these Christians that he had loved and that he had 145 00:11:20,799 –> 00:11:21,799 served. 146 00:11:21,799 –> 00:11:25,880 I picked just five examples, I could have picked a number of others, but these will 147 00:11:25,880 –> 00:11:27,619 do for this morning. 148 00:11:27,619 –> 00:11:31,140 Number one, people said about him he’s unreliable. 149 00:11:31,140 –> 00:11:37,940 I picked that up from 2 Corinthians 1, verse 16-18, where Paul is explaining a change in 150 00:11:37,940 –> 00:11:40,179 his travel plans going through Macedonia. 151 00:11:40,179 –> 00:11:43,880 And he was going to come to Corinth, but then in the end he did not. 152 00:11:43,880 –> 00:11:47,679 It’s a very simple thing, he changed his travel plans. 153 00:11:47,679 –> 00:11:54,239 But you know what it’s like that when someone really sets themselves against you, almost 154 00:11:54,239 –> 00:12:00,460 anything, however small, becomes something that gets seized on and gets twisted in some 155 00:12:00,460 –> 00:12:04,099 way in a harsh judgment. 156 00:12:04,099 –> 00:12:11,880 And so, it seems quite clear then from verse 17, where he says, “‘Was I vacillating when 157 00:12:11,880 –> 00:12:13,500 I wanted to do this?’ 158 00:12:13,500 –> 00:12:15,479 Clearly some people were accusing him of that. 159 00:12:15,479 –> 00:12:20,239 “‘Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say yes, yes and no, no at 160 00:12:20,239 –> 00:12:21,239 the same time? 161 00:12:21,239 –> 00:12:27,200 No, as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no’.” 162 00:12:27,200 –> 00:12:31,559 So very simply here, Paul makes a change of travel plans, he had intended at one point 163 00:12:31,640 –> 00:12:32,640 to come to Corinth. 164 00:12:32,640 –> 00:12:35,780 Then there’s a change of plans and he’s not able to do that, or he chooses not to 165 00:12:35,780 –> 00:12:37,419 do that. 166 00:12:37,419 –> 00:12:41,059 He actually explains the reasoning for this at the beginning of chapter 2. 167 00:12:41,059 –> 00:12:46,700 But the people who’ve got it in for him seize on that, and they say, well, there you 168 00:12:46,700 –> 00:12:47,700 are. 169 00:12:47,700 –> 00:12:50,340 See, you can’t rely on him. 170 00:12:50,340 –> 00:12:56,940 He says one thing and he does another, and the mud gets thrown and some of it sticks. 171 00:12:56,940 –> 00:12:59,460 Well, he’s unreliable. 172 00:13:00,140 –> 00:13:02,179 Second, he’s unimpressive. 173 00:13:02,179 –> 00:13:07,659 Here’s an extraordinary verse from 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10. 174 00:13:07,659 –> 00:13:18,140 For they say, so here’s a specific criticism, they say, his letters are weighty and strong, 175 00:13:18,140 –> 00:13:23,340 but his bodily presence is weak. 176 00:13:23,340 –> 00:13:25,059 So here’s what the critics are saying. 177 00:13:25,059 –> 00:13:27,700 You read his letters and they’re weighty and strong. 178 00:13:27,820 –> 00:13:29,020 Well, of course, because they’re written 179 00:13:29,020 –> 00:13:32,539 under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 180 00:13:32,539 –> 00:13:34,859 But when Paul’s actually there in the room with you, 181 00:13:34,859 –> 00:13:36,780 he’s not actually that impressive, 182 00:13:36,780 –> 00:13:39,280 but very interesting, isn’t it, that that was said? 183 00:13:39,280 –> 00:13:43,380 I don’t know what your mental picture of the apostle Paul is, 184 00:13:43,380 –> 00:13:47,099 but evidently he was not the kind of big personality 185 00:13:47,099 –> 00:13:51,219 who immediately sucked the air out of the room, so to speak. 186 00:13:51,219 –> 00:13:57,380 And that actually fits, if you remember what he says in 1 Corinthians and chapter 2, 187 00:13:57,380 –> 00:14:03,679 he says, when I was with you, I was with you in weakness and fear 188 00:14:03,679 –> 00:14:06,460 and much trembling. 189 00:14:06,460 –> 00:14:12,380 So this is not some super confident mega personality, 190 00:14:12,380 –> 00:14:14,979 it just wasn’t like that. 191 00:14:14,979 –> 00:14:19,760 And because there seems to have been, along with his relentless passion 192 00:14:19,760 –> 00:14:24,460 for Gospel advance and his amazing courage against all odds, 193 00:14:24,460 –> 00:14:27,580 and there does seem to have been, after his conversion, 194 00:14:27,580 –> 00:14:34,159 something within him that reflected a feeling of his own need 195 00:14:34,159 –> 00:14:41,179 and the critics seize on this and they turn it back against him. 196 00:14:41,179 –> 00:14:42,719 Well, he is not very impressive. 197 00:14:42,719 –> 00:14:44,219 Third, he is ineffective. 198 00:14:44,219 –> 00:14:50,239 Again, same verse, they say his bodily presence is weak 199 00:14:50,239 –> 00:14:54,260 and his speech is of no account. 200 00:14:54,260 –> 00:14:57,239 Can you imagine that that was said about the Apostle Paul? 201 00:14:57,239 –> 00:15:01,640 He’s not a very good speaker, they said. 202 00:15:01,640 –> 00:15:06,840 Of course, the background here is that rhetoric was an art form, 203 00:15:06,840 –> 00:15:10,979 especially among the Greeks in the early world. 204 00:15:10,979 –> 00:15:14,719 People would go, they didn’t have television, not a Netflix, 205 00:15:14,719 –> 00:15:17,200 so what are you going to do for an evening’s entertainment? 206 00:15:17,200 –> 00:15:21,239 Well, they would go out and hear one of these great rhetoricians 207 00:15:21,239 –> 00:15:26,340 speaking to a crowd and putting on a marvelous performance, 208 00:15:26,340 –> 00:15:29,080 and this was great entertainment. 209 00:15:29,080 –> 00:15:34,820 People would talk about which was the best rhetorician and so forth and so on. 210 00:15:34,820 –> 00:15:41,919 Now Paul quite clearly didn’t do that, he spoke plainly. 211 00:15:41,919 –> 00:15:46,780 Acts 18-11, he taught the word of God. 212 00:15:46,780 –> 00:15:50,320 He specifically says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 1, 213 00:15:50,359 –> 00:15:55,840 I did not come to you proclaiming the testimony about God with lofty speech. 214 00:15:55,840 –> 00:15:56,919 So I didn’t do that. 215 00:15:56,919 –> 00:16:00,179 I wasn’t trying to be a rhetorician. 216 00:16:00,179 –> 00:16:07,059 His speaking was an open statement of the truth, that’s his own description of his 217 00:16:07,059 –> 00:16:15,159 speaking in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 2, an open statement of the truth. 218 00:16:15,159 –> 00:16:17,880 But, you see, the fault finders picked up on this. 219 00:16:17,880 –> 00:16:19,539 And so you can see how this goes. 220 00:16:19,539 –> 00:16:27,179 He’s not a big personality, and he’s speaking, these rhetoricians they can tell stories, 221 00:16:27,179 –> 00:16:32,200 have people laughing in the aisles, they’re just moving the whole crowd. 222 00:16:32,200 –> 00:16:36,099 When Paul comes all he does is he teaches the Bible. 223 00:16:36,099 –> 00:16:38,080 He’s not really that impressive is he? 224 00:16:38,080 –> 00:16:42,780 His speech is of no account. 225 00:16:42,780 –> 00:16:43,780 Number four. 226 00:16:43,780 –> 00:16:48,960 I’m just listing out some of the critique that was coming on Paul from people he loved 227 00:16:48,960 –> 00:16:50,119 and served. 228 00:16:50,119 –> 00:16:51,299 He’s proud. 229 00:16:51,299 –> 00:16:57,159 I’m back now to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 12 where we’re going to remain. 230 00:16:57,159 –> 00:17:01,580 He says, we are not commending ourselves to you again. 231 00:17:01,580 –> 00:17:05,680 Now if you want to do a word sir in the Corinthian letters you’ll find this whole business of 232 00:17:05,680 –> 00:17:12,280 commending keeps coming up, and it does seem that the critics accused Paul of making too 233 00:17:12,359 –> 00:17:14,839 much of himself. 234 00:17:14,839 –> 00:17:20,040 The truth of course was that other people were making too much about Paul, it was not 235 00:17:20,040 –> 00:17:25,839 Paul who was doing that, but what they did placed him in a difficult position. 236 00:17:25,839 –> 00:17:31,280 He felt that he had to say something in response to all this criticism that was being thrown 237 00:17:31,280 –> 00:17:35,939 out, so that good people would know how to answer this criticism. 238 00:17:35,939 –> 00:17:38,900 That’s what he refers to in verse 12. 239 00:17:38,900 –> 00:17:43,959 But on the other hand he knew that anything he said would be taken and it would be twisted 240 00:17:43,959 –> 00:17:50,060 and it would be used against him, whatever he said, by those who had set themselves against 241 00:17:50,060 –> 00:17:52,140 him. 242 00:17:52,140 –> 00:17:57,319 And then fifthly, the last of these five, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 13, do you notice how 243 00:17:57,319 –> 00:18:03,459 it says here, if we are beside ourselves, it is for God. 244 00:18:03,459 –> 00:18:08,319 If we are in our right mind, it is for you. 245 00:18:08,560 –> 00:18:17,319 Now, he would only have said that given that others in Corinth were saying, you know what? 246 00:18:17,319 –> 00:18:20,280 I think there’s actually something wrong with the apostle Paul. 247 00:18:20,280 –> 00:18:25,119 There’s something wrong with him, you know, out of his mind. 248 00:18:25,119 –> 00:18:28,760 You imagine they were actually saying that about the apostle Paul. 249 00:18:28,760 –> 00:18:32,500 There’s something wrong with him. 250 00:18:32,500 –> 00:18:38,060 So the fault finders have run up a catalog of criticism that can be clearly discerned 251 00:18:38,099 –> 00:18:40,520 from this letter. 252 00:18:40,520 –> 00:18:41,619 He’s unreliable. 253 00:18:41,619 –> 00:18:42,800 He’s unimpressive. 254 00:18:42,800 –> 00:18:43,800 He’s ineffective. 255 00:18:43,800 –> 00:18:47,959 He’s proud and he’s probably out of his mind. 256 00:18:47,959 –> 00:18:53,040 And Paul, remember, feels like a father towards these very people. 257 00:18:53,040 –> 00:18:58,479 They are his children, but they have turned out to be difficult children. 258 00:18:58,479 –> 00:19:02,640 Most of them are ungrateful. 259 00:19:02,640 –> 00:19:12,160 Many of them are unkind, and some of them are downright cruel. 260 00:19:12,160 –> 00:19:15,859 Now that’s the scene and I want now to ask two questions. 261 00:19:15,859 –> 00:19:19,260 The first is how in the world did this happen? 262 00:19:19,260 –> 00:19:20,859 How can that happen in a church? 263 00:19:20,859 –> 00:19:25,439 You want to avoid that at all costs. 264 00:19:25,439 –> 00:19:31,380 And I therefore want to give a warning against the sin of slander. 265 00:19:31,380 –> 00:19:35,760 And then the second question very obviously is how did Paul respond? 266 00:19:35,760 –> 00:19:38,000 And he responded wonderfully. 267 00:19:38,000 –> 00:19:43,880 And I want therefore to give an encouragement to grace under fire. 268 00:19:43,880 –> 00:19:51,839 So, keep in mind those things that come by way of critique so that we can land the application 269 00:19:51,839 –> 00:19:56,319 into the realities of our own lives and our own situations. 270 00:19:56,819 –> 00:19:57,880 So, first then, how did this happen? 271 00:19:57,880 –> 00:20:03,260 A warning against the sin of slander. 272 00:20:03,260 –> 00:20:09,420 Very simply, a powerful force had laid hold of the hearts and minds of many of these people. 273 00:20:09,420 –> 00:20:17,839 Paul refers in 2 Corinthians 11, 5, he refers to some who are labeled Super-apostles. 274 00:20:17,839 –> 00:20:20,479 And without going into that it’s a whole other story. 275 00:20:20,479 –> 00:20:24,180 Evidently there were some people who came into Corinth and they were full of themselves 276 00:20:24,239 –> 00:20:25,719 and they were full of confidence 277 00:20:25,739 –> 00:20:34,000 and they basically by their influence, steadily turned these folks who Paul had led to the 278 00:20:34,000 –> 00:20:39,540 Lord and nourished through his ministry, they turned these folks gradually and increasingly 279 00:20:39,540 –> 00:20:42,060 against the apostle Paul. 280 00:20:42,060 –> 00:20:46,420 And without going into all of that story, I just want to make one observation from it, 281 00:20:46,420 –> 00:20:52,780 that people who have a critical spirit, usually pick it up from others. 282 00:20:52,780 –> 00:21:00,900 People who have a critical spirit usually pick it up from others, and that is why the 283 00:21:00,900 –> 00:21:05,959 Bible says, bad company ruins good character. 284 00:21:05,959 –> 00:21:11,859 You pick this up, that is why in the first Psalm, Psalm 1 verse 1, it says, 285 00:21:11,859 –> 00:21:19,660 Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of scoffers. 286 00:21:19,660 –> 00:21:25,400 The word sit is important because it literally means hang around with, hang out with. 287 00:21:25,400 –> 00:21:29,880 If you hang out with people who are scoffers, that is people who are cynical or people who 288 00:21:29,880 –> 00:21:35,640 are critical and habitually pull other people down, if you hang around with them it will 289 00:21:35,640 –> 00:21:41,439 in some degree rub off on you and you will find yourself losing a blessing from God that 290 00:21:41,439 –> 00:21:43,560 you would have otherwise. 291 00:21:43,599 –> 00:21:51,160 Just as the men that don’t hang out with the critics, the cynics and those who habitually 292 00:21:51,160 –> 00:21:53,300 are pulling other people down. 293 00:21:53,300 –> 00:22:01,219 Young people, if you hang out with youngster who habitually bad mouth their parents, there 294 00:22:01,219 –> 00:22:06,560 has just always been going on about that and they are always bad mouth other people, it 295 00:22:06,560 –> 00:22:11,859 will rub off on you, it will infect your heart, it will start coming out of your own mouth 296 00:22:11,900 –> 00:22:15,420 and you will end up sinning against the fifth commandment to honour your father and your 297 00:22:15,420 –> 00:22:20,859 mother, who you hang out with is really really important. 298 00:22:20,859 –> 00:22:26,239 If that’s the character of conversation, that’s not the friends for you. 299 00:22:26,239 –> 00:22:33,760 Don’t hang out with people who habitually tear others down, don’t hang out with people 300 00:22:33,760 –> 00:22:39,239 who are habitually critical of the church or of its leaders, if you do, it will rub 301 00:22:39,560 –> 00:22:41,619 off on you. You will lose the blessing of God. 302 00:22:41,619 –> 00:22:47,939 Don’t sit in the seat of scoffers. Sit in the seat. I was thinking about, imagine having 303 00:22:47,939 –> 00:22:54,239 breakfast with someone who is going down with the flu and you move into the booth and this 304 00:22:54,239 –> 00:22:59,000 guy who you’ve been looking forward to having breakfast with and a good old conversation 305 00:22:59,000 –> 00:23:05,140 and he sits down in the booth and out comes the handkerchief and, oh, sorry, excuse me. 306 00:23:05,280 –> 00:23:11,780 Then he does it again. He’s, I’m so sorry I’m going down with the flu. You think to 307 00:23:11,780 –> 00:23:16,099 yourself, if I sit here for five minutes I’m gonna be going down with the flu as well because 308 00:23:16,099 –> 00:23:20,319 he’s spluttering the stuff all over the table right at me. 309 00:23:20,319 –> 00:23:27,699 Now, you keep that picture in your mind, though it’s not a very pleasant one. That is what 310 00:23:27,699 –> 00:23:33,979 you are, what it is like when you are in the company of a person with a critical spirit, 311 00:23:33,979 –> 00:23:39,540 the person who thinks the worst of others, the person who wants to pull other people 312 00:23:39,540 –> 00:23:40,540 down. 313 00:23:40,540 –> 00:23:45,800 Augustine, the great African leader of the Church in the fifth century, felt so strongly 314 00:23:45,800 –> 00:23:53,939 about this that he had some words carved into his dining room table, into the wood of his 315 00:23:53,939 –> 00:23:59,479 own table where he sat and he ate, and, this is so good I’m thinking I think I get this 316 00:23:59,479 –> 00:24:00,939 carved into my table. 317 00:24:00,939 –> 00:24:01,939 So see what you think. 318 00:24:01,939 –> 00:24:09,839 This is what was on Augustine’s table, whoever loves another’s name to blast, this table’s 319 00:24:09,839 –> 00:24:14,000 not for him so let him fast! 320 00:24:14,000 –> 00:24:17,000 Isn’t that good! 321 00:24:17,000 –> 00:24:23,040 If you want to tear other people down, you are not welcome at my table. 322 00:24:23,040 –> 00:24:27,420 I don’t want to be part of it, and if your conversation is about tearing other people 323 00:24:27,880 –> 00:24:33,640 down, I don’t want to be at your table either because the conversation that makes people 324 00:24:33,640 –> 00:24:42,280 think less of others is not a conversation that you or I want to be part of. 325 00:24:42,280 –> 00:24:50,819 We owe it to others always to make the kindest judgements that we possibly can, always to 326 00:24:50,819 –> 00:25:00,380 think the best of others, to make more of a person’s virtues than of their fault, 327 00:25:00,380 –> 00:25:07,680 to make more of a person’s strengths than of their weakness. 328 00:25:07,680 –> 00:25:11,760 Don’t be a faultfinder. 329 00:25:11,760 –> 00:25:18,119 Never assume the worst because love always hopes. 330 00:25:18,180 –> 00:25:24,800 So when you hear something unkind about another person, a good reaction to form the habit 331 00:25:24,819 –> 00:25:30,819 of is for your first thought to be, I really hope that that’s not true. 332 00:25:30,819 –> 00:25:33,880 I really hope that’s not true. 333 00:25:33,880 –> 00:25:38,920 And not only does love always hope, love is patient and love is kind. 334 00:25:38,920 –> 00:25:46,300 So even if it is true, even when a person is at fault, love remembers that our faults 335 00:25:46,400 –> 00:25:48,780 are many. 336 00:25:48,780 –> 00:25:55,420 And since Jesus has been so patient and so kind towards me in my many and continuing 337 00:25:55,420 –> 00:26:02,959 faults and weaknesses, the least that I can do is to seek to be patient and kind towards 338 00:26:02,959 –> 00:26:09,819 the faults and the failings of others. 339 00:26:09,819 –> 00:26:13,359 If you’re a visitor to this church today you’re probably thinking, why in the world is he 340 00:26:13,359 –> 00:26:14,359 talking about all this? 341 00:26:14,420 –> 00:26:16,660 Is there some real problem in this church? 342 00:26:16,660 –> 00:26:21,660 I tell you this is a very happy and blessed church, and I am so grateful for that. 343 00:26:21,660 –> 00:26:22,660 Why am I speaking on this? 344 00:26:22,660 –> 00:26:25,020 Because it’s in 2 Corinthians 5. 345 00:26:25,020 –> 00:26:32,300 But what I want us to take hold of as a congregation here today is how important it is to maintain 346 00:26:32,300 –> 00:26:39,500 the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace because it’s so easy for it to get lost. 347 00:26:39,500 –> 00:26:44,619 It only takes a few to get going, and others to take a great interest. 348 00:26:44,619 –> 00:26:51,219 You can see how it happens, so let us take from this scripture a warning against the 349 00:26:51,219 –> 00:26:58,739 sin of slander and seeing the preciousness of the blessing of God, and how easily it 350 00:26:58,739 –> 00:27:07,839 can be lost for us to be all the more urgent about doing our part in maintaining the unity 351 00:27:07,859 –> 00:27:12,079 of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 352 00:27:12,079 –> 00:27:16,959 Now, the second question is, how did Paul respond? 353 00:27:16,959 –> 00:27:21,319 And here, I want to give an encouragement to grace under fire. 354 00:27:21,319 –> 00:27:26,300 So, you’re thinking now about the situations in which you’ve extended yourself in love, 355 00:27:26,300 –> 00:27:31,020 it really feels like you’ve been slapped in the face, taken for granted, and so forth 356 00:27:31,020 –> 00:27:32,160 and so on. 357 00:27:32,160 –> 00:27:36,819 You put yourself, as you think of these situations, into the apostle’s shoes. 358 00:27:36,819 –> 00:27:42,500 Let’s try and stand in the apostle’s skin as it were, just for a moment. 359 00:27:42,500 –> 00:27:48,819 Okay, so here you are, and you have risked your life to bring the Gospel to these people. 360 00:27:48,819 –> 00:27:52,260 You have personally led many of them to the Lord. 361 00:27:52,260 –> 00:27:58,380 You’ve extended yourself night and day in unrelenting effort on their behalf. 362 00:27:58,380 –> 00:28:02,380 You love them, you have often wept over them, you’ve prayed for them, you have always 363 00:28:02,380 –> 00:28:04,380 sought their good. 364 00:28:04,520 –> 00:28:07,219 But now many of them are ungrateful. 365 00:28:07,219 –> 00:28:12,520 Most of them are critical, and some of them are downright cruel. 366 00:28:12,520 –> 00:28:17,540 And they say that you are unreliable, that you are unimpressive, that you are ineffective, 367 00:28:17,540 –> 00:28:20,380 that you’re generally proud and you’re probably out of your mind. 368 00:28:20,380 –> 00:28:23,180 How does that make you feel? 369 00:28:23,180 –> 00:28:24,819 This is really hurtful stuff. 370 00:28:24,819 –> 00:28:32,020 I mean if you have felt wounded and hurt, you’re surely going to say the word of God 371 00:28:32,020 –> 00:28:35,739 speaks to me right here. 372 00:28:35,739 –> 00:28:40,219 So here’s the question, how would you respond standing in the Apostle’s skin? 373 00:28:40,219 –> 00:28:46,339 I mean one way to respond is to fight fire with fire, isn’t it? 374 00:28:46,339 –> 00:28:50,579 But Paul doesn’t do that. 375 00:28:50,579 –> 00:28:59,140 Another way, and this is an Americanism that I love, another way is to go with, I am so 376 00:28:59,140 –> 00:29:01,040 out of here. 377 00:29:01,719 –> 00:29:05,439 I have nothing more to do with you, I am out of here. 378 00:29:05,439 –> 00:29:09,680 I am off to Thessalonica, Colossae, and all these other good churches where I’m appreciated, 379 00:29:09,680 –> 00:29:12,319 I’m never gonna set foot in Corinth again, you know? 380 00:29:12,319 –> 00:29:15,060 A plague on all your houses. 381 00:29:15,060 –> 00:29:17,920 Doesn’t do that. 382 00:29:17,920 –> 00:29:20,939 Another response is simply to lose heart. 383 00:29:20,939 –> 00:29:27,959 You know, I’ve extended myself, I couldn’t have done more, it’s all getting thrown back 384 00:29:27,959 –> 00:29:30,959 in my face, I mean, what’s the point? 385 00:29:30,959 –> 00:29:35,359 And you can almost feel a darkness coming over the soul and a bitterness beginning to 386 00:29:35,359 –> 00:29:40,979 settle in, and Paul doesn’t do that either. 387 00:29:40,979 –> 00:29:45,839 What does he do and what can you and I do and what must we do? 388 00:29:45,839 –> 00:29:48,780 Three things in these last moments. 389 00:29:48,780 –> 00:29:54,880 Number one, he maintains a clear conscience, and that’s really important. 390 00:29:54,880 –> 00:30:00,959 He mentions conscience in verse 11 here, and speaks about their conscience, but he’s 391 00:30:00,959 –> 00:30:05,660 only able to do that because first, if you go back a couple of pages to 2 Corinthians 392 00:30:05,660 –> 00:30:09,420 1 in verse 12, he speaks about his own conscience. 393 00:30:09,420 –> 00:30:15,500 The testimony of our conscience is that we behaved in this world with simplicity and 394 00:30:15,500 –> 00:30:17,540 godly sincerity. 395 00:30:17,540 –> 00:30:23,459 Not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God, and supremely so towards you. 396 00:30:23,819 –> 00:30:27,939 He says something very similar in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 3. 397 00:30:27,939 –> 00:30:32,800 He says I am not aware of anything against myself. 398 00:30:32,800 –> 00:30:39,939 A clear conscience friends, very simply means that you are not aware of any controversy 399 00:30:39,939 –> 00:30:43,119 between you and God. 400 00:30:43,119 –> 00:30:47,300 The sin that you have been aware of has been confessed, it has been placed under the blood 401 00:30:47,300 –> 00:30:52,420 of the Lord Jesus, it has been forgiven and you are at peace with God. 402 00:30:52,520 –> 00:30:56,939 You are not aware of anything that God is currently calling you to do that you are actively 403 00:30:56,939 –> 00:30:58,140 resisting, 404 00:30:58,140 –> 00:31:02,459 and you are not aware of anything that God has forbidden you to do that you are actively 405 00:31:02,459 –> 00:31:03,459 pursuing. 406 00:31:03,459 –> 00:31:08,660 A clear conscience of course does not mean that you are without sin. 407 00:31:08,660 –> 00:31:12,979 There may be actual sin in your life of which you are not yet away. 408 00:31:12,979 –> 00:31:18,920 And certainly for all of us there is always the latent sin that remains within our flesh 409 00:31:18,959 –> 00:31:22,439 that can break out into our life at any time. 410 00:31:22,439 –> 00:31:28,000 And that is why Paul says in First Corinthians four I am not aware of anything against myself. 411 00:31:28,000 –> 00:31:30,160 I am not thereby acquitted. 412 00:31:30,160 –> 00:31:31,719 It is the Lord that judges me. 413 00:31:31,719 –> 00:31:35,359 In other words he says it may be that there are things in me that I just haven’t seen 414 00:31:35,359 –> 00:31:36,359 yet, 415 00:31:36,359 –> 00:31:38,400 but I can honestly say before the Lord, 416 00:31:38,400 –> 00:31:43,819 I searched my heart and I am not aware of anything against myself. 417 00:31:44,160 –> 00:31:51,160 Now the aim of a Christian in this life is to hold the faith and a good conscience. 418 00:31:53,859 –> 00:31:56,260 That’s First Timothy chapter one and verse nineteen. 419 00:31:56,260 –> 00:31:58,380 That is what we are to d. 420 00:31:58,380 –> 00:32:02,099 And that is why the prayer that is at the end of Psalm one hundred and thirty-nine is 421 00:32:02,099 –> 00:32:03,099 so important. 422 00:32:03,099 –> 00:32:04,319 Search me. 423 00:32:04,319 –> 00:32:11,319 Oh God and know my heart and see if there is any way in me that’s grieving to you, 424 00:32:12,280 –> 00:32:15,739 so that you can lead me in the way everlasting. 425 00:32:15,739 –> 00:32:21,680 That is why asking God to shine the light into your own heart and confessing whatever 426 00:32:21,680 –> 00:32:25,439 you see there and coming to him in repentance is so important. 427 00:32:25,439 –> 00:32:30,099 So that you can live with a clear conscience and where you’ve said or done something 428 00:32:30,099 –> 00:32:36,500 that is wrong towards another person, go to them, say sorry, learn to say the word sorry, 429 00:32:36,500 –> 00:32:41,219 learn to own the things that you have done wrong and so that you can can have a clear 430 00:32:41,339 –> 00:32:42,380 conscience. 431 00:32:42,520 –> 00:32:47,160 I’ve brought where I have been at fault before the Lord, and where I have offended 432 00:32:47,160 –> 00:32:53,619 against another person, I have at least sought in as far as my part is concerned to do what 433 00:32:53,619 –> 00:32:57,380 I can to put that right. 434 00:32:57,380 –> 00:33:03,300 So Paul says I maintain a good conscience. 435 00:33:03,300 –> 00:33:07,819 And when you do that the other two things really come into play. 436 00:33:07,819 –> 00:33:11,180 Number two is find peace. 437 00:33:11,239 –> 00:33:14,839 Because God knows your heart. 438 00:33:14,859 –> 00:33:23,439 This marvelous statement in verse 11, what we are is known to God. 439 00:33:23,459 –> 00:33:25,839 Wonderful. 440 00:33:25,839 –> 00:33:30,699 That’s where Paul finds peace, that’s where he finds rest, under this barrage of unfair 441 00:33:30,699 –> 00:33:34,119 criticism that has been landed on him. 442 00:33:34,119 –> 00:33:39,599 Now, the order is important here, because if you have a bad conscience, if you’re harboring 443 00:33:39,599 –> 00:33:42,979 sin in your heart, the fact that God knows you is not going to give you peace. 444 00:33:42,979 –> 00:33:45,119 It’s going to give you the opposite. 445 00:33:45,119 –> 00:33:50,040 And I do say to you, if you are holding out on God in something you know He’s calling 446 00:33:50,040 –> 00:33:56,359 you to do today, or if you are actively pursuing something that God forbids today, then what 447 00:33:56,359 –> 00:34:02,079 you must do today is, you must come before Him in confession and in repentance, and place 448 00:34:02,079 –> 00:34:07,560 that under the blood of Christ, and depart from that way and to follow hard after Him. 449 00:34:07,739 –> 00:34:11,800 No one who fights against God ever wins. 450 00:34:11,820 –> 00:34:19,219 But when you have a clear conscience, the fact that God knows you is the most wonderful 451 00:34:19,219 –> 00:34:22,739 gift and it will bring you peace. 452 00:34:22,739 –> 00:34:27,459 What we are is known to God. 453 00:34:27,459 –> 00:34:32,739 Notice he says after that, and I hope that it is also known to your conscience. 454 00:34:32,739 –> 00:34:36,020 In other words, he’s appealing to these people who do know him. 455 00:34:36,020 –> 00:34:41,060 And he’s saying, look, I hope that you know in your heart that these things that people 456 00:34:41,060 –> 00:34:43,820 are saying are not true. 457 00:34:43,820 –> 00:34:52,659 But whatever you think, what we are is known to God. 458 00:34:52,659 –> 00:34:58,780 Now, friends, that will really help you when you find yourself facing criticism. 459 00:34:58,780 –> 00:35:04,139 When others look down on you and say all kinds of things against you. 460 00:35:04,139 –> 00:35:08,219 You can say with the apostle Paul, well you know what? 461 00:35:08,219 –> 00:35:12,899 Others may think that I’m unreliable and unimpressive and ineffective and proud and even out of 462 00:35:12,899 –> 00:35:14,159 my mind. 463 00:35:14,159 –> 00:35:21,199 But what I am is known to God, God knows me. 464 00:35:21,199 –> 00:35:25,600 And you will find great peace there, you’ll be greatly helped. 465 00:35:25,659 –> 00:35:35,919 Because man looks on the outward appearance, help me finish it, but God looks on the heart. 466 00:35:35,919 –> 00:35:40,479 That’s why he goes in that next verse to say it’s not about the outward appearance, it’s 467 00:35:40,479 –> 00:35:43,100 not about the most impressive, biggest person. 468 00:35:43,100 –> 00:35:45,239 God knows my heart. 469 00:35:45,239 –> 00:35:47,459 God knows the heart. 470 00:35:47,459 –> 00:35:50,219 And that leads to the third thing, maintain a good conscience. 471 00:35:50,219 –> 00:35:55,979 How do you stand up when kindness and love are thrown back in your face and you struggle 472 00:35:55,979 –> 00:35:56,979 with this hurt? 473 00:35:56,979 –> 00:36:01,580 You’ve got to maintain a clear conscience, you’ve got to find peace because God knows 474 00:36:01,580 –> 00:36:08,639 your heart, and here’s the third thing, draw strength from the love of Christ, for the 475 00:36:08,639 –> 00:36:14,159 love of Christ, verse 14, controls us. 476 00:36:14,159 –> 00:36:19,379 We’ll come back to this, of course, next week but just to end here today think about what 477 00:36:19,500 –> 00:36:25,320 Christ endured from those who were so hostile towards him. 478 00:36:25,320 –> 00:36:31,679 I mean he comes and he gives of himself, coming into the world, he ministers to others, he 479 00:36:31,679 –> 00:36:39,120 does all kinds of good, and as early as Mark in chapter 3, in verse 22, you’ll find that 480 00:36:39,120 –> 00:36:42,979 people are saying, you know what, he’s the devil, he’s Beelzebub. 481 00:36:43,939 –> 00:36:47,419 Can you imagine that they said that about Jesus? 482 00:36:47,419 –> 00:36:49,939 And his own brothers said, you know what? 483 00:36:49,939 –> 00:36:52,260 He is out of his mind. 484 00:36:52,260 –> 00:36:56,820 They said that about Jesus. 485 00:36:56,820 –> 00:37:08,280 Now, whatever Jesus said, those who set themselves against him wanted to take it and simply to 486 00:37:08,280 –> 00:37:10,899 twist it against him. 487 00:37:10,899 –> 00:37:12,959 And so Jesus says in Matthew, Chapter 11. 488 00:37:12,959 –> 00:37:18,719 He picked up a popular proverb from the day, and you know, John the Baptist did come and 489 00:37:18,719 –> 00:37:22,800 there was all this, you know, locusts, and camels here and fasting and all this kind 490 00:37:22,800 –> 00:37:26,360 of thing, all his austerity called to repentance. 491 00:37:26,360 –> 00:37:27,979 Jesus comes, there’s all this joy. 492 00:37:27,979 –> 00:37:32,159 And he is eating in many people’s homes. 493 00:37:32,159 –> 00:37:35,800 And you know, they criticize John for the one, they critique Jesus for the other. 494 00:37:35,800 –> 00:37:36,800 I mean, Where are you to go? 495 00:37:36,800 –> 00:37:38,159 Jesus picked up this proverb. 496 00:37:38,379 –> 00:37:41,959 He said to what shall I compare this generation? 497 00:37:41,959 –> 00:37:45,540 It’s like children in the marketplace and they’re singing. 498 00:37:45,540 –> 00:37:49,840 We played the flute for you and you did not dance. 499 00:37:49,840 –> 00:37:52,100 So we sang a dirge for you and you didn’t mourn. 500 00:37:52,100 –> 00:37:55,840 You see, nothing we ever did was ever right. 501 00:37:55,840 –> 00:38:04,439 Friends, nothing God does is ever right in the eyes of sinners. 502 00:38:04,439 –> 00:38:11,639 God is always blamed and never thanked by those who set themselves against him. 503 00:38:11,639 –> 00:38:19,639 And it’s a dreadful condition of heart and Jesus experienced that right from the beginning 504 00:38:19,639 –> 00:38:20,959 of His ministry. 505 00:38:20,959 –> 00:38:25,919 Luke chapter 4, He speaks in Nazareth and they want to throw Him over the edge of the 506 00:38:25,919 –> 00:38:31,560 cliff before the service is done. 507 00:38:31,679 –> 00:38:36,139 And so against that you understand the disciples think well we know how to sort this out. 508 00:38:36,139 –> 00:38:42,540 You got to fight fire with fire and so James and John, the sons of Boanerges, they say 509 00:38:42,540 –> 00:38:46,479 let us call down fire from heaven Jesus and Jesus said, no, no, no. 510 00:38:46,479 –> 00:38:48,639 We’re not going to do that. 511 00:38:48,639 –> 00:38:52,320 And then they get into the garden of Gethsemane and Peter says I’ve got the answer right here. 512 00:38:52,320 –> 00:38:55,820 He pulls out his sword and Jesus says you put that away. 513 00:38:55,820 –> 00:38:57,000 My kingdom is not of this world. 514 00:38:57,000 –> 00:38:59,159 We’re not going to fight that way. 515 00:38:59,479 –> 00:39:02,520 No, that’s not us. 516 00:39:02,520 –> 00:39:09,879 You would think that since in year one of Jesus three year ministry, public ministry, 517 00:39:09,879 –> 00:39:14,840 since in year one they’re calling the devil and saying that he’s out of his mind, and 518 00:39:14,840 –> 00:39:19,260 since there’s all this hostility towards Jesus, you might think that in year one, he would 519 00:39:19,260 –> 00:39:22,340 lift up his holy hands towards the Father in heaven. 520 00:39:22,340 –> 00:39:27,760 And he would say, it’s time for the ascension now. 521 00:39:27,860 –> 00:39:30,199 I’m out of here. 522 00:39:33,120 –> 00:39:34,120 But he doesn’t do that. 523 00:39:34,120 –> 00:39:41,939 He stays, he endures it, he gets it even more, and he goes all the way to the cross. 524 00:39:41,939 –> 00:39:48,300 And that is why Paul says it’s while we were still sinners, blaming God for everything 525 00:39:48,300 –> 00:39:51,959 and thanking him for nothing. 526 00:39:51,959 –> 00:39:55,959 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 527 00:39:55,959 –> 00:40:02,699 Always remember that if you complain against God or find fault with God you are finding 528 00:40:02,699 –> 00:40:10,000 fault with the One Who loved you and gave himself for you. 529 00:40:10,000 –> 00:40:14,060 That is why in the book of Hebrews we read these extraordinary words. 530 00:40:14,060 –> 00:40:24,060 Consider Him, Jesus, who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself. 531 00:40:24,159 –> 00:40:28,800 Why are we to consider Jesus who endured all this hostility against Himself? 532 00:40:28,820 –> 00:40:37,699 It says specifically, so that you will not grow weary and so that you will not lose heart. 533 00:40:37,699 –> 00:40:42,820 And then the writer to Hebrews adds this, in your struggle against sin you have not 534 00:40:42,820 –> 00:40:47,979 yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 535 00:40:47,979 –> 00:40:50,139 You see the point here? 536 00:40:50,139 –> 00:40:52,540 So people are saying you are unreliable. 537 00:40:52,580 –> 00:40:53,979 You are unimpressive. 538 00:40:53,979 –> 00:40:55,419 You are ineffective. 539 00:40:55,419 –> 00:40:56,419 You are proud. 540 00:40:56,419 –> 00:40:57,580 And you are out of your mind. 541 00:40:57,580 –> 00:40:58,580 Is that it? 542 00:40:58,580 –> 00:40:59,580 Is that all. 543 00:40:59,580 –> 00:41:02,260 You are being criticized. 544 00:41:02,260 –> 00:41:04,320 Your kindness has been thrown back in your face. 545 00:41:04,320 –> 00:41:06,580 And it’s very hurtful to you. 546 00:41:06,580 –> 00:41:09,860 Is that the extent to which it has gone with you? 547 00:41:09,860 –> 00:41:12,419 Think about Jesus! 548 00:41:12,419 –> 00:41:16,379 He’s shedding His blood. 549 00:41:16,379 –> 00:41:21,860 They drove spikes into His hands and into His feet. 550 00:41:22,580 –> 00:41:29,919 Consider Him and what He endured, and all the hostility that was poured out upon Him, 551 00:41:29,919 –> 00:41:39,020 and you will not grow weary and you will not lose heart! 552 00:41:39,739 –> 00:41:48,979 Father, for such a Savior we bow and worship and adore, 553 00:41:49,080 –> 00:41:55,760 please settle your Word into our hearts, that it may keep us from sin and that it 554 00:41:55,760 –> 00:42:02,300 may strengthen us in the battle. For these things we ask in Jesus’ name, 555 00:42:02,300 –> 00:42:05,800 Amen. 556 00:42:06,580 –> 00:42:09,959 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith open the Bible 557 00:42:09,959 –> 00:42:16,280 to contact us call us at one eight seven seven open three six five or visit our 558 00:42:16,280 –> 00:42:20,719 website openthebible.org