WEBVTT 00:00:01.350 --> 00:00:03.930 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.330 --> 00:00:06.950 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.730 --> 00:00:09.349 This fall, we're studying the book of Second 00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:12.390 Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt 00:00:12.390 --> 00:00:15.269 and practical book calling us back to the life 00:00:15.269 --> 00:00:18.829 of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often 00:00:18.829 --> 00:00:22.289 pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:26.170 hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:29.190 of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after 00:00:29.190 --> 00:00:33.100 a cross. that comfort comes after being crushed, 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:36.039 that the way up is the way down, that the way 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.179 to glory is through suffering, that His strength 00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:44.079 is made perfect in our weakness. We'd love to 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.000 meet you and we hope you'll consider coming and 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.340 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:50.899 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:50.899 --> 00:00:53.820 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.060 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:02.509 sermon. God bless. Lord, we have this masterful 00:01:02.509 --> 00:01:05.310 chapter before us in second Corinthians chapter 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:15.269 four. And I thank you, Lord, that Paul in it 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:20.370 says he's just a jar of clay, a weak vessel. 00:01:23.109 --> 00:01:27.670 Lord, the wonder that is. The glory of what you 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:33.129 are doing in us through Christ and preparing 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:37.629 for us for Christ. Think of what Paul said a 00:01:37.629 --> 00:01:39.689 couple chapters earlier, who is sufficient for 00:01:39.689 --> 00:01:44.810 these things. But Lord, we open this up and pray 00:01:44.810 --> 00:01:49.430 that the words of my mouth and then the meditations 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:51.650 of our hearts would be pleasing to you, Lord. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.840 that you would change us and shape us and cause 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.260 us to fall more in love with our crucified Lord 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:06.900 in whose name we pray. Amen. All right. We are 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.400 all changing and sometimes that happens kind 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:14.080 of quickly and sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.360 you show up in a new social setting and you learn 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:18.629 that you don't know. the jargon of that setting 00:02:18.629 --> 00:02:20.490 and you make a quick pivot and then it becomes 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:22.669 a habit. This is what happened to me when I was 00:02:22.669 --> 00:02:25.770 in seventh grade. I spent the second half of 00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:28.189 my seventh grade living in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 00:02:28.189 --> 00:02:33.949 and I quickly found that the word y 'all became 00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:41.009 part of my jargon. And I'm from Washington State, 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:44.229 an island, Vashon Island, near Seattle in Tacoma, 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:48.879 where people do not say that. and I moved back 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:53.060 there after five months in Chattanooga and y 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:56.699 'all, it did not, I got some weird looks, okay? 00:02:57.300 --> 00:03:01.159 And it just stuck with me. Sometimes change happens 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.219 kind of quickly and sometimes it happens fairly 00:03:03.219 --> 00:03:10.080 slowly. Let me give you a silly example of something 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.400 that changed in my life another thing that changed 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.099 in my life and I will acknowledge that some of 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:20.219 you may be tempted to Reconsider your church 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:24.080 affiliation. Okay, I don't know. We'll find out 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.520 I grew up listening to a lot of different kinds 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:29.979 of music. I still love all different kinds of 00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:33.159 music to this day I've always loved folk music 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.219 So I remember really kind of devoting myself 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:40.280 for about a year to the early works of Bob Dylan. 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:45.780 I regularly listened with my family to Celtic 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.500 music growing up, like the Chieftains and whatnot. 00:03:50.419 --> 00:03:54.419 I love like heavy, fast drum beats and so punk 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:59.259 just drew my heart in kind of early. I love the 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:00.939 bringing together of different instruments. And 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:03.080 so I think jam bands like Dave Matthews kind 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:06.500 of just like just stirred in me. Boy Tinsley's 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.240 violin, Lee Ramour's sax, Tim Reynolds on the 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.580 guitar is sick. Y 'all gotta listen to that. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.819 And then of course Carter Beauford playing this 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:18.459 unbelievable fills on the drum. I love choral 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:21.980 music. I was in quite a few choirs both in high 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:29.060 school and in college and I loved it. But I never 00:04:29.060 --> 00:04:35.579 gave any time to country music, like never. And 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:39.420 I sort of wore that as a prideful thing, as probably 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:42.540 some of you do. I would encourage you to reconsider 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:49.019 that. That is until I met the love of my life, 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.560 Elise. And pretty quickly, I started listening 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:59.199 to country music, y 'all. And I even went to 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:04.220 the Bayou Country Superfest at Tiger Stadium 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:10.160 in Baton Rouge in 2011, where we heard the wonderful 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:15.740 bands like Zach Brown Band and Sugar Land, Billy 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:20.519 Currington, Luke Bryan. I mean, my kids now can 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:26.639 be singing along to Bob Dylan one moment. Then 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.399 Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney the next talk 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.500 about an upbringing But I'll tell you what it 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:35.339 was transformation and it was transformation 00:05:35.339 --> 00:05:37.180 actually like how a lot of transformation takes 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:42.060 place It's this it's this truth beholding beauty 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:47.199 Beholding beauty is the sure way for change for 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.899 transformation and it is what you love that shapes 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:56.540 how you live I Mean consider I'm not inviting 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:58.939 you to consider any particular young man, but 00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:04.560 consider the general young man who falls in love. 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:08.920 Parents, teachers, friends, mentors have challenged 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:13.759 this young man's bad habits, sleeping in, games 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.120 till three in the morning, whatever have you, 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:19.720 going out late with friends, and they've challenged 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.149 these habits to no avail. They've had no success. 00:06:23.370 --> 00:06:25.089 These people that have given themselves so much 00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:30.629 to the life of this young man. And then somebody 00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:35.550 walks into his life and wow, all of a sudden 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:38.649 his grooming behaviors have improved a thousand 00:06:38.649 --> 00:06:42.829 -fold. He's applying to new jobs, taking on new 00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:48.529 responsibilities. A changed man. Transformation. 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:54.089 Beauty. Beholding beauty what you love shapes 00:06:54.089 --> 00:07:00.189 your life The city of Corinth so we're in second 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:01.850 Corinthians, right the city of Corinth was it 00:07:01.850 --> 00:07:06.509 was a great city It sits on this narrow strip 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:10.170 of land that divides northern Greece from southern 00:07:10.170 --> 00:07:12.930 Greece it's actually about halfway between the 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:17.860 great cities of Athens and Sparta By its location 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:20.120 alone on this little strip that it's actually 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:24.000 at the end of the Gulf of Corinth So it nearly 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:25.759 connects and actually there's been a number of 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.600 attempts which eventually were semi successful 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:31.339 of making a canal there to connect the Aegean 00:07:31.339 --> 00:07:34.000 and the Adriatic seas but by by its location 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.079 alone It was bound to be a great city a city 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:41.610 where people thrived There were a number of fresh 00:07:41.610 --> 00:07:44.290 springs, freshwater springs right there around 00:07:44.290 --> 00:07:48.050 the city. And there's a large fertile plateau 00:07:48.050 --> 00:07:50.250 where agriculture has always kind of thrived. 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:53.470 I mean, it's just made to be a successful place. 00:07:55.689 --> 00:07:58.990 The city was sacked and laid to ruin in 146 BC, 00:07:59.009 --> 00:08:01.629 but then it was refounded and it was built again 00:08:01.629 --> 00:08:04.750 by none other than Julius Caesar in the year 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:10.430 44 BC. So he made Corinth the capital of that 00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:13.269 province of Achaia, the Roman province there, 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:16.829 and people in Corinth were very proud of this. 00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:21.329 They were very proud of their Romanitas. They 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:28.050 were Romans, the Romaness. There was a new temple 00:08:28.050 --> 00:08:33.860 built, the imperial cult, the cult that was geared 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:36.500 towards the state and Caesar and the Empire, 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:40.940 the imperial cult. And that temple was deliberately 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:43.659 raised higher than all the others. It was the 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:47.059 highest building there in Corinth. It was above 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:48.879 the other local temples. But think about these 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.360 other local temples with me for a moment. There's 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.759 a temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.519 lust and beauty and pleasure. There was a temple 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:04.509 to Apollo. The God of many things, light and 00:09:04.509 --> 00:09:06.850 music and healing and plagues and beauty. And 00:09:06.850 --> 00:09:11.529 it was a temple to Apollos' son, Asclepius. Some 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:13.990 of you will correct me later. That's fine. Feel 00:09:13.990 --> 00:09:17.210 free to do so. The God of healing, the God of 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:19.889 medicine. But here's the thing, above all of 00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:23.149 these soared the temple to the imperial cult. 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:28.509 The original settlers of the Roman city, they 00:09:28.509 --> 00:09:31.570 were freed slaves. And they were freed slaves, 00:09:31.590 --> 00:09:33.629 like I said, to this place of great commerce 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:35.309 that connected the northern and southern parts 00:09:35.309 --> 00:09:37.429 of Greece. It connected the Adriatic and the 00:09:37.429 --> 00:09:39.929 Aegean seas. This place where all this commerce 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:43.509 was taking place, significant wealth was on offer. 00:09:45.049 --> 00:09:47.909 These freed slaves were people that knew they 00:09:47.909 --> 00:09:51.490 were on their way up in life. They were helping 00:09:51.490 --> 00:09:55.740 to establish a great Roman city. So they joined 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:59.340 the businessmen, they joined others making their 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:03.940 trades and commerce and transportation. This 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:09.580 was a city of possibility. A place where people 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:13.220 paid attention to social standings. A place where 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:15.240 you would often actually, like I said last week, 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:18.120 bring your letters of recommendation to establish 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.919 your work, you establish your place in society. 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:25.100 This was a place where people Paid attention 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:27.179 to the crowds. They paid attention to the beautiful 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:31.259 blessed by Aphrodite and Apollo And they certainly 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:35.080 paid attention to that which was powerful Which 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.940 stood strong? Particularly of course politics 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:42.600 and the politically connected but the powerful 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:48.879 Doesn't all of that sound a little bit like our 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:55.159 world a little bit beholden by beauty by wealth 00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:01.220 and by power and by social climbing by eloquence 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:10.179 and What what we can sense from Paul is that 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:12.879 in some ways he was none of this Remember last 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.340 week. He didn't have the letter of recommendation 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:18.720 a fly right here. He they were his letter of 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.179 recommendation When he first went to Corinth 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:24.000 in AD 51, this is being written about four or 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.779 five years later, he came from Athens, but he'd 00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:29.600 recently been imprisoned in Philippi and then 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.919 went through the riots in Thessalonica. He wrote 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:35.919 in the letter to the Thessalonians, I came to 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:41.240 you in weakness. That's what he says. Not terribly 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:46.059 attractive to the people of Corinth. In his first 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:48.600 letter to the Corinthians, he said, he came to 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.080 them. in great fear and trembling. That's kind 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:56.580 of his posture to them. In that same letter at 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:59.379 the beginning there in the first chapter, he 00:11:59.379 --> 00:12:01.799 says that the message that he preached was Christ 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:05.419 crucified and that this was a stumbling block 00:12:05.419 --> 00:12:11.919 to the Jews and it was anybody? Foolishness is 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:17.659 folly to the Greeks. Where's Corinth? Right in 00:12:17.659 --> 00:12:21.220 the middle. of this Greek peninsula. He's saying 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:25.679 to you all, I understand this is totally folly. 00:12:31.539 --> 00:12:33.840 Some certainly believed it, no doubt. We have 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:38.039 these churches, but many didn't. They rejected 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:40.960 it as foolishness. Some had seen the beauty of 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.379 Jesus and had been discipled in His way. But 00:12:45.379 --> 00:12:48.620 for many, the way of the world, the way of these 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:51.299 temples and what they brought in, the allure, 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.559 their beauty seemed more appealing. Here's what 00:12:55.559 --> 00:13:01.059 I want you to hear this morning. We're all changing. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.940 We're all being discipled in a certain way. We're 00:13:03.940 --> 00:13:09.299 all moving. We're all kind of beholding beauty. 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:14.649 And I think Paul is putting forth something here 00:13:14.649 --> 00:13:16.570 that you can be discipled and you can find the 00:13:16.570 --> 00:13:20.669 beauty of the world. Go down that discipleship 00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:23.570 or you can see the beauty of Jesus and be transformed 00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:28.269 into his image. He's saying Christians walk in 00:13:28.269 --> 00:13:30.509 the way of Christ. So first, disciple by the 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:34.889 way of the world. What we can gather as we put 00:13:34.889 --> 00:13:37.049 together different parts of Second Corinthians, 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:40.070 what we can gather is that these other teachers 00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:43.149 that had come into Corinth, that he mentions 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:44.870 quite a bit, that he first mentioned at the end 00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:46.450 of chapter two, and that he's still mentioning 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:48.350 there at the beginning of chapter four, and he'll 00:13:48.350 --> 00:13:52.870 mention later on, is that their hearts and their 00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:56.289 lives were more shaped by the world about them 00:13:56.289 --> 00:14:00.370 than by the way of Christ. Think I mentioned, 00:14:00.370 --> 00:14:02.929 this is a city of commerce. If you think of when 00:14:02.929 --> 00:14:04.450 they were first mentioned back at the end of 00:14:04.450 --> 00:14:08.809 chapter two, Paul says they are peddlers of God's 00:14:08.809 --> 00:14:14.190 word, commercial idea. They were using it for 00:14:14.190 --> 00:14:17.350 their gain. This is after all this great commercial 00:14:17.350 --> 00:14:20.990 center and they're living into the way of the 00:14:20.990 --> 00:14:23.809 world there. Here in chapter four, verse two, 00:14:23.870 --> 00:14:27.269 they're said to practice cunning and to tamper 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:30.509 with God's word. They're using it as a way of 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:32.870 selling it, making it more appealing, packaging 00:14:32.870 --> 00:14:38.309 it so that others will grab onto it. Last week 00:14:38.309 --> 00:14:41.049 we saw how these other teachers had their letters 00:14:41.049 --> 00:14:43.870 of recommendation Like I said a common practice 00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:50.210 in the ancient world there Verse five here says 00:14:50.210 --> 00:14:54.409 for what we proclaim is not ourselves But Jesus 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:57.049 Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants 00:14:57.049 --> 00:15:01.269 they came in and said look at Look, we can proclaim 00:15:01.269 --> 00:15:05.269 ourselves We have our credentials What I'm saying 00:15:05.269 --> 00:15:08.000 is that by all accounts these New leaders of 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.720 the church have been formed not so much by the 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.340 way of Christ, but by the way of the world about 00:15:13.340 --> 00:15:19.779 them. Verse four in this chapter here in chapter 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:22.980 four says, in their case, the God of this world 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:26.059 has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep 00:15:26.059 --> 00:15:27.960 them from seeing the light of the gospel, the 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:31.480 glory of Christ, who is the image of God. They've 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:35.620 been blinded by the God of this world. They've 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:39.440 been beholden to the way of the world. He's saying 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.960 that they can't see the light of the glory of 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:47.120 Christ who is the image of God because they've 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.240 been beholden. They've seen something lovely 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:51.919 in this world and they've walked in that way. 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.759 Certainly for Paul he is in a way referencing 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.580 Satan, but he's also referencing this way of 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:01.539 being about them. They can't see Jesus because 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:04.340 they're beholden to something else, and they 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:07.519 live out of that which they behold as lovely. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.440 They're being discipled by the world about them. 00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:16.360 They've been beholden to seek after physical 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.700 beauty and wealth and power and a life of ease 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.840 and all of this, and it blinds them to the way 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:31.100 of Jesus. I've said Beholding beauty is a sure 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:35.600 way for transformation, and it is. But for these 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.899 folk, the beauty of this world has so captivated 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:42.919 them with all of its temples, with all of its 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.240 social climbing, with all of its commerce, with 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.200 all of its possibility that the glory of Christ 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:55.399 seems dim to them. Think about that with me. 00:16:57.129 --> 00:17:02.269 How much is this case today? Think of how often 00:17:02.269 --> 00:17:07.890 our time is spent seeking beauty. How much of 00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:12.470 our energy is spent presenting ourselves as lovely, 00:17:14.049 --> 00:17:17.190 seeking after, running after the gifts of Aphrodite, 00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:20.849 worshipping at her temple. Think of how much 00:17:20.849 --> 00:17:25.130 our time and our energy is spent on the Romanitas, 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:29.319 right? the Roman -ness, the temple of the imperial 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:32.980 cult, which doesn't it beg for our attention, 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:38.079 all of our attention, all of the time? Being 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.819 shaped more by our pursuit for power and our 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:43.259 political heroes than by our Lord Jesus himself. 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:49.759 It's not hard to entertain that the discipleship 00:17:49.950 --> 00:17:52.549 that this community in Corinth was experiencing 00:17:52.549 --> 00:17:54.710 is very similar to our own. The very things that 00:17:54.710 --> 00:17:56.829 they are being drawn to are the things that we 00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:00.529 are being drawn to today. How much you can acquire 00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:03.309 through your commerce and your letters of recommendation, 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:08.190 your peddling. How lovely you can appear to others. 00:18:08.670 --> 00:18:11.329 How much you can grab on to those that can have 00:18:11.329 --> 00:18:17.039 sway in the world. It's remarkably similar. The 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.720 great challenge to discipleship in the way of 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:22.900 Jesus then and now is that people were being 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:27.000 discipled in a different kind of way, the way 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:33.480 of the world about them. Our attention, our love 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:38.559 is constantly being called out for and our loves 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:43.240 transform us. Paul understands this. Paul understands 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:47.200 that the way of Jesus makes very little sense 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:53.559 also in that kind of environment. Where what 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:55.740 we are primarily doing is presenting our self 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:58.880 forward as lovely and as beautiful as able with 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.819 our letters. Where we are constantly told to 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.140 grab on to power that rather than to release 00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:10.559 it. Where we are constantly called to hoard and 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:16.809 to take, to pedal, to use. You can be a disciple 00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:18.569 in the way of the world or you can be discipled 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:20.890 in the way of Christ So let's consider the way 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:24.089 of Jesus How it looks to be discipled in the 00:19:24.089 --> 00:19:26.250 way of Christ and the first thing and I think 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:29.009 this is why in a way He knows this is hard because 00:19:29.009 --> 00:19:31.490 the first thing about being discipled in the 00:19:31.490 --> 00:19:34.430 way of Jesus is that Jesus goes down He goes 00:19:34.430 --> 00:19:39.309 low We're told that he wasn't lovely to look 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:44.960 upon by Isaiah So Paul says in verse six, as 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.940 he kind of turns in this chapter a little bit 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:53.779 from this focus on these other leaders and into 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:57.119 his ministry, he says, sorry, not verse six, 00:19:57.500 --> 00:20:02.660 it's verse seven, but we have this treasure in 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:07.259 jars of clay, which is to say they're fragile. 00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:12.029 They're cheaper than other kinds of jars. They're 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:16.829 prone to break. They're not terribly strong. 00:20:18.269 --> 00:20:21.029 And then he goes on in the same paragraph to 00:20:21.029 --> 00:20:23.309 say things like this, that he's afflicted and 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:26.369 he's perplexed in verse eight, that he's persecuted 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:28.750 and he's struck down in verse nine. Verse 10 00:20:28.750 --> 00:20:34.369 tells us that he is always carrying in his body 00:20:34.369 --> 00:20:42.019 the death of Jesus. Which, at first, can't you 00:20:42.019 --> 00:20:45.299 imagine this community going, well, sign me up. 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:48.400 Because what he's definitely not saying is that 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.299 if you want to be discipled in the way of Jesus, 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.839 you're going to have an easy peasy kind of life. 00:20:56.180 --> 00:20:59.180 If you're discipled in the way of Christ, then 00:20:59.180 --> 00:21:01.140 you have to understand that the way of Christ 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:04.019 is first the way down. It is first and foremost 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:07.720 the way of the cross. To live the life of Christ 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:11.319 now, is to live, as you heard Rebecca read to 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.279 us from the Great Sermon on the Mount, to live 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:17.380 as poor in spirit, as those who mourn, as those 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:20.160 who are meek, as those who hunger and thirst 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:23.220 for righteousness, as those who are merciful 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:26.000 and pure in heart and peacemakers and who are 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:32.819 persecuted for righteousness' sake. Being discipled 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:34.960 in the way of Jesus is first being discipled 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.279 in the way that is the cross, the way down. But 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.339 when you behold the beauty of Jesus, the God 00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:49.079 who takes on flesh for you, that His crucifixion 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.680 and His going down and His death is actually 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.660 a death for you and for your redemption. When 00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:57.740 you behold the beauty of Christ, then even the 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:01.880 crucified Christ is the image of God that you 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:06.140 want to embody. If you can see that Jesus, God 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:11.880 Himself, goes low for your sake, Then as scary 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.220 as way walking in the way of Christ as it becomes 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:18.160 the way of love we always become like what we 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:24.180 love Beholding the beauty of Christ what Paul 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:26.200 says here is that it means that he renounces 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:33.839 underhanded ways Ways of embracing a different 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:39.960 kind of life seeking his own gain But he says 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:43.539 the possibilities that we live like Christ, which 00:22:43.539 --> 00:22:45.779 is often the life of suffering, being afflicted 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:48.279 and perplexed and persecuted and struck down. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.039 He actually says, you will carry with you in 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.500 your body, the death of the Lord as he has done 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:59.599 because we are jars of clay. Because Christ comes 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:03.880 lowly. Christian ministry and all of Christian 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:07.119 discipleship is following in the way of Jesus. 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:10.150 That is what Paul will say to us like time and 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:13.789 time again in the second Corinthians His power 00:23:13.789 --> 00:23:17.329 is made perfect in weakness because Christ Becomes 00:23:17.329 --> 00:23:19.869 weak for our sake. He gives up his strength. 00:23:19.869 --> 00:23:24.650 He gives up his riches for our sake So Paul says 00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:27.809 in verse 11 for we who live are always being 00:23:27.809 --> 00:23:31.900 given over to death for Jesus sake so that the 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:34.660 life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal 00:23:34.660 --> 00:23:39.099 flesh. Verse 12, so death is at work in us, but 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:40.599 life in you, what does that mean? What does it 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:42.380 mean that death is at work in us? He says death 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:43.740 actually works through us because this is the 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:47.160 way of Christ. Life comes through the cross. 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:51.539 If you're to have life, we also must live through 00:23:51.539 --> 00:23:56.859 death. This is the way of Jesus. He dies that 00:23:56.859 --> 00:24:00.299 we might live. Paul says that he does the same 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:02.680 thing that the church in Corinth might live and 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:04.519 he invites them to see that this is the way that 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.000 they might live for one another and for the neighbors 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:10.200 and the community and the life about them. Because 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.819 the same is true for us as we are one with Christ. 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:19.480 As you die to yourself, to your pride, to your 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:22.039 demanding to be right all the time, to your hoarding 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:24.059 your goods and your money and your time and your 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:27.599 emotions and all the rest, What you will always 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:31.579 see is that in dying you live You must first 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:36.960 go down We can say that death is at work in us 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:42.079 but life in you Because this is the way of Christian 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:44.339 ministry and this is the way of Christian life 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:49.519 because it is the way of Christ himself But here's 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.440 the interesting thing and this is where Paul 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:55.819 goes He says that's not the end of the story 00:24:58.780 --> 00:25:01.700 Being discipled in the way of Jesus does mean 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:07.619 going down. But when you go down, you get lifted 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:12.980 up. That is the way of Christ. He takes on death, 00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:16.299 but he goes through death to glory. And so this 00:25:16.299 --> 00:25:19.240 is where Paul goes with this. The way of Christ 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:24.059 is first down, but it is then up. So verse 12, 00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:27.619 Sorry, Jesus tells us in John chapter 12, this, 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.720 he says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.240 ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:37.859 dies, it bears much fruit. He goes on, whoever 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:43.440 loves his life will lose it. Whoever loses it, 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:47.500 and whoever hates his life in this world will 00:25:47.500 --> 00:25:50.859 keep it for eternal life. And at the end of that 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.119 little passage, he says, if anyone serves me, 00:25:53.289 --> 00:25:59.309 the father will honor him." He's saying, Jesus 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:01.970 is saying right there to walk in the way of Christ. 00:26:02.250 --> 00:26:04.130 The only way you're going to truly live, truly 00:26:04.130 --> 00:26:06.549 live is first to go down, but you do not stay 00:26:06.549 --> 00:26:10.390 there. That is the promise of your father. You 00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:14.529 are lifted up when you are brought low. The way 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:17.170 of Christ is first down, but then it is up. Listen 00:26:17.170 --> 00:26:21.529 again to verse seven. But we have this treasure 00:26:21.529 --> 00:26:25.950 in jars of clay to show that surpassing power 00:26:25.950 --> 00:26:30.890 belongs to God and not to us. Not just for the 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:33.369 sake of being clay, but to show what God will 00:26:33.369 --> 00:26:36.269 do. So listen, we're afflicted in every way, 00:26:36.289 --> 00:26:38.569 but we're not crushed, perplexed, but not driven 00:26:38.569 --> 00:26:40.950 to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck 00:26:40.950 --> 00:26:44.470 down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the 00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:48.450 body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus 00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:51.710 may be manifested. It is not just that you bear 00:26:51.710 --> 00:26:54.869 the death of Christ, but in Christ you also are 00:26:54.869 --> 00:26:59.950 lifted up. Death to resurrection or listen to 00:26:59.950 --> 00:27:03.170 verse 14. Knowing that he who raised the Lord 00:27:03.170 --> 00:27:08.769 Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring 00:27:08.769 --> 00:27:13.039 us with you into his presence. Death. to resurrection, 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:15.880 the life of Christ embodied in the people of 00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:22.140 Christ. Or listen to verses 16 and 17. Though 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:26.180 our outer self is wasting away, our inner self 00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:29.839 is being renewed day by day. For this light, 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:33.539 momentary affliction, Paul's going to talk to 00:27:33.539 --> 00:27:36.000 us later about the afflictions that he went through. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:38.900 I guarantee that none of us would count them 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:45.460 as light. but in comparison. For this light momentary 00:27:45.460 --> 00:27:48.640 affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:54.980 of glory beyond all comparison, death to resurrection, 00:27:56.019 --> 00:27:59.299 because we've been discipled in the way of Christ. 00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:04.119 Just as the disciples could not believe the glory 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:07.160 of the resurrected Christ at times, this is certainly 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:13.289 true of us. The disciple who is planted by streams 00:28:13.289 --> 00:28:17.470 of living water bears its fruit in the season. 00:28:17.970 --> 00:28:20.609 It's not always immediately, right? Being planted 00:28:20.609 --> 00:28:23.029 by the stream of the living water of Christ. 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:27.990 But the promise is it will happen. When you go 00:28:27.990 --> 00:28:30.450 down to the ground and die, according to our 00:28:30.450 --> 00:28:35.049 Lord Jesus, in Him you will always be raised 00:28:35.049 --> 00:28:38.390 and you will live more abundantly. Those temples 00:28:38.390 --> 00:28:42.609 there in Corinth. This is what they told to everybody 00:28:42.609 --> 00:28:48.990 grab your life now Grab your beauty while you 00:28:48.990 --> 00:28:53.809 can still have it grab your Resources and your 00:28:53.809 --> 00:28:55.970 money and all that you can while you're able 00:28:55.970 --> 00:28:59.930 grab onto it hold fast to it Grab power when 00:28:59.930 --> 00:29:07.559 it might be yours to take We're saying Centers 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:09.519 of the gods of this world and the gods of this 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:14.380 world have not changed one bit. People of Corinth, 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:16.299 they were discipled in that way. And brothers 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:19.740 and sisters, that's the life you're often being 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:23.180 called to. And Paul is saying there is a more 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:25.359 glorious way that is set before you in the way 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:30.799 of Christ. Cross and resurrection, glory beyond 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:35.299 your imagining. Paul came into this place, this 00:29:35.299 --> 00:29:40.000 place of splendor, this place of prized eloquence. 00:29:40.339 --> 00:29:43.119 He came in low with fear and trembling as a jar 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:46.440 of clay, not handsome, not lovely to behold, 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:51.000 afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, carrying around 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:56.940 in his body the death of Jesus. But what that 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:00.500 meant is that he had beheld the beauty of Christ. 00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:03.319 You'd see that there was something that was set 00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:06.279 before him that was far more lovely than anything 00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:14.420 that this world has to offer Beholding God himself 00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:20.299 crucified for him God himself raised for him 00:30:20.299 --> 00:30:27.839 He'd been discipled in the way of Jesus You know, 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:32.319 I've told a few people this week including Jonathan 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:35.940 Hendrickson right before the service. If you 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:37.779 ever wonder sometimes what I'm talking about 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:39.359 with the liturgists back there, occasionally 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:45.920 it's like, what am I doing? I said, you know, 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:48.700 I can't believe I'm preaching the entirety of 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:52.859 this unbelievably beautiful chapter in one sermon. 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.420 Because it seems a little crazy and I think that's 00:30:57.420 --> 00:30:59.960 true. Hannah, actually this week, said, I think 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:01.819 what all of us were thinking in our staff meeting, 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.859 we could read this chapter every day of our lives, 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:08.500 just like we should devote ourselves to reading 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:10.799 Psalm one and the Beatitudes, these kinds of 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:15.160 things. So rich, it's so powerful. But there's 00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:17.240 something in here that I think is very important. 00:31:17.240 --> 00:31:19.380 And I think it's that the text itself is inviting 00:31:19.380 --> 00:31:21.279 us to take this together. If you look at verse 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:25.579 one, it says this, therefore having this ministry 00:31:25.579 --> 00:31:31.319 by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. Look 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:33.160 down at the last paragraph, verse 16, it begins 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:36.259 in verse 16. What does it say there? So we do 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:40.420 not lose heart. He's tying all these ideas together 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:46.079 into this idea of press on. Press on, do not 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:53.180 lose heart. Why would they lose heart? The allure 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:57.339 of the world about them can be so great. Everybody 00:31:57.339 --> 00:32:03.940 else is doing it. He does not lose heart because 00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:08.500 the way of Jesus is more lovely. Why would they 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:10.339 not lose heart? Or why would they be tempted 00:32:10.339 --> 00:32:12.420 to lose heart? Maybe because the way of the cross 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:15.940 is actually deeply difficult. The way of following 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:19.539 Jesus can be unbelievably, unbearably hard at 00:32:19.539 --> 00:32:22.920 times. But it calls you to what Jesus says to 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:24.880 you to take up your cross and to follow him. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:29.940 Why do we lose heart? Because actually some people 00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:32.480 who are claiming to be teachers of God become 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.720 peddlers of the word. And we follow in their 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:41.640 ways. There are all kinds of reasons that we 00:32:41.640 --> 00:32:45.819 might lose heart. He says, so we do not. Why? 00:32:47.460 --> 00:32:50.279 Because this light and this momentary affliction 00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:54.319 is just preparing for you. A weight of glory 00:32:54.319 --> 00:33:00.039 that is beyond. It's beyond what you can imagine. 00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:04.160 What God has in store for you, the goodness that 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:07.119 God has in store for you, we cannot even quite 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:12.400 comprehend. Because if you have died with Christ, 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:17.839 you will be raised with Him. The greatest affliction 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:21.599 that you can receive in this world pales in any 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:24.480 kind of way to the glory that will be yours in 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:30.049 Christ Jesus. Some of you might know that one 00:33:30.049 --> 00:33:33.990 of the great sermons of the 20th century was 00:33:33.990 --> 00:33:36.529 not given by somebody who was typically prone 00:33:36.529 --> 00:33:40.049 to preaching. He said he was the great author 00:33:40.049 --> 00:33:42.369 and literary critic and teacher, C .S. Lewis, 00:33:42.410 --> 00:33:44.910 and he actually gave us a sermon. He was asked 00:33:44.910 --> 00:33:47.970 to give this sermon that he titled The Weight 00:33:47.970 --> 00:33:51.309 of Glory. Interestingly, he almost never mentions 00:33:51.309 --> 00:33:52.809 that. I don't think he actually does mention 00:33:52.809 --> 00:33:55.089 the passage at all, but it comes from this passage. 00:33:55.549 --> 00:33:58.599 And this is how he begins it. Well, near the 00:33:58.599 --> 00:34:01.779 beginning. It says, if we consider the unblushing 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:07.000 promises of reward and the staggering nature 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:12.000 of the rewards promised in the gospel, it would 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:14.920 seem that our Lord finds our desires not too 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:19.920 strong, but too weak. Meaning God is offering 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:23.880 you something so much bigger than you can imagine. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.679 And we kind of want to settle for, you know, 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:33.599 Aphrodite and Apollo and the imperial cult. It 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.880 says, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:39.260 not too strong, but too weak. We are half -hearted 00:34:39.260 --> 00:34:43.239 creatures fooling about with drink and sex and 00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:48.360 ambition. Sounds like the temples there in corn. 00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:53.730 When infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant 00:34:53.730 --> 00:34:56.349 child who wants to go on making mud pies in the 00:34:56.349 --> 00:34:59.429 slum Because he can't even imagine what is meant 00:34:59.429 --> 00:35:05.170 by the offer of a holiday at the sea Near the 00:35:05.170 --> 00:35:10.389 end of that Incredible work he says this It's 00:35:10.389 --> 00:35:13.150 a serious thing to live in a society of possible 00:35:13.150 --> 00:35:16.369 gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest 00:35:16.369 --> 00:35:20.079 moment most uninteresting person you can talk 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:23.000 to may one day be a creature which if you saw 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:25.199 it now you would be strongly tempted to worship. 00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:28.539 What is he saying? Glory is on offer to you shining 00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:33.219 in the face of Jesus. If God raised Christ he 00:35:33.219 --> 00:35:36.500 will also raise you. If the glory that we see 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:38.820 in Christ will be ours we would be tempted to 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:42.619 actually worship each other. We will be. If you 00:35:42.619 --> 00:35:44.579 saw it now you would be strongly tempted to worship 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:47.679 or else a horror and a corruption such as you 00:35:47.949 --> 00:35:50.309 Now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. He's 00:35:50.309 --> 00:35:51.909 saying you're going one way or you're going the 00:35:51.909 --> 00:35:55.030 other. All day long we are in some degree helping 00:35:55.030 --> 00:35:58.570 each other to one or the other of these destinations. 00:35:59.349 --> 00:36:02.130 It's in the light of these overwhelming possibilities. 00:36:04.449 --> 00:36:07.130 It is with the awe and the circumspection proper 00:36:07.130 --> 00:36:09.429 to them that we should conduct all of our dealings 00:36:09.429 --> 00:36:11.210 with one another, all of our friendships, all 00:36:11.210 --> 00:36:15.489 loves, all plays, all politics. There are no 00:36:15.489 --> 00:36:18.690 ordinary people. You've never talked to a mere 00:36:18.690 --> 00:36:21.929 mortal. Nations and cultures and arts and civilizations, 00:36:22.030 --> 00:36:24.929 these are mortals. And their life is to ours 00:36:24.929 --> 00:36:29.829 as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals with 00:36:29.829 --> 00:36:33.969 which we joke, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. 00:36:36.570 --> 00:36:40.469 Saying we're all going somewhere. We are all 00:36:40.469 --> 00:36:43.650 changing, you could say. We're all being discipled 00:36:43.650 --> 00:36:48.250 and we're all walking in a way. And the possibility 00:36:48.250 --> 00:36:49.969 for the church in Corinth, and brothers and sisters, 00:36:49.969 --> 00:36:52.289 I'm telling you, the possibility for us is the 00:36:52.289 --> 00:36:56.449 same thing he's talking about there. Seeing the 00:36:56.449 --> 00:36:57.809 beauty of this world and saying, yeah, I'm going 00:36:57.809 --> 00:37:03.989 to walk in that. And it's just a mud pie. And 00:37:03.989 --> 00:37:07.849 it's leading the wrong direction only to death 00:37:07.849 --> 00:37:11.690 and to despair. What Lewis says is a nightmare. 00:37:13.969 --> 00:37:18.409 And then you have the way of Christ. Which Paul 00:37:18.409 --> 00:37:20.550 doesn't bat around about he says it's often the 00:37:20.550 --> 00:37:24.510 way of affliction It is first the way down, but 00:37:24.510 --> 00:37:28.690 it is preparing for you a weight of glory Beyond 00:37:28.690 --> 00:37:31.250 which you can't even you don't even have anything 00:37:31.250 --> 00:37:35.670 to compare it to And that is what is on offer 00:37:35.670 --> 00:37:40.110 to you if you follow in the way of Christ Glory 00:37:40.110 --> 00:37:49.309 wonder joy beyond anything you can imagine Brothers 00:37:49.309 --> 00:37:51.110 and sisters, walk with me in the way of Jesus. 00:37:51.849 --> 00:37:55.369 It is the way down, but our Lord will lift us 00:37:55.369 --> 00:37:58.010 up just as he raised Christ from the dead. Let 00:37:58.010 --> 00:38:02.869 me pray for us. God, it is true that the deities 00:38:02.869 --> 00:38:06.829 of the ancient world are the same things that 00:38:06.829 --> 00:38:09.750 we often want to grab onto to make our identity 00:38:09.750 --> 00:38:14.809 in. Lord, I pray that we would be a body that 00:38:14.809 --> 00:38:21.739 holds fast to Christ. Come what may that we would 00:38:21.739 --> 00:38:24.579 put on the death of Christ that the life of Christ 00:38:24.579 --> 00:38:28.760 might be lived through us also God do this in 00:38:28.760 --> 00:38:33.239 us give us strength in our times of despair give 00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:39.800 us hope in our times of trial Gotta pray that 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:43.739 we would take up our cross That we would be the 00:38:43.739 --> 00:38:46.900 wheat that dies into the soil that bears much 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:54.500 fruit in your kingdom. God, may we hold fast 00:38:54.500 --> 00:39:00.420 to the true things that never fade. May we find 00:39:00.420 --> 00:39:04.500 Jesus more lovely than all these alternative 00:39:04.500 --> 00:39:09.000 loves that are on offer to us. And may you transform 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:13.840 us into his image, we pray. We might behold his 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:18.929 glory and live in light of it. In His name, Amen.