WEBVTT 00:00:01.390 --> 00:00:04.009 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.370 --> 00:00:06.910 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:09.869 This fall we're studying the book of Second Corinthians. 00:00:10.769 --> 00:00:13.070 Second Corinthians is a heartfelt and practical 00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:16.070 book calling us back to the life of the cross. 00:00:17.050 --> 00:00:19.730 We, like the Corinthians, so often pursue glory, 00:00:19.949 --> 00:00:23.449 admire eloquence, shun suffering, hide hurt, 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:26.750 and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel of Jesus 00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:29.890 tells us that resurrection comes after a cross. 00:00:30.939 --> 00:00:34.500 comfort comes after being crushed, that the way 00:00:34.500 --> 00:00:36.759 up is the way down, that the way to glory is 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:39.899 through suffering, that his strength is made 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:44.619 perfect in our weakness. We'd love to meet you 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:46.259 and we hope you'll consider coming and joining 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:48.659 with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. in the 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.159 heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find us 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.880 online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.119 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:02.729 sermon. God bless. We pray again for us. Lord, 00:01:03.270 --> 00:01:06.450 now may the words of my mouth and meditations 00:01:06.450 --> 00:01:13.109 of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. I pray 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:18.790 that we would heed these blessings, these benedictions 00:01:18.790 --> 00:01:22.469 you give over your disciples there in Matthew. 00:01:23.230 --> 00:01:27.909 It seems so foreign to us that we might See that 00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:31.170 it is often that we draw closest to You when 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:34.150 we are poor in spirit and when we are persecuted 00:01:34.150 --> 00:01:41.129 and when we are afflicted, when we mourn. For 00:01:41.129 --> 00:01:46.790 it is in You where we find comfort and joy and 00:01:46.790 --> 00:01:53.590 hope and peace and life abundantly. Teach us 00:01:53.590 --> 00:01:57.719 these things this morning, Lord. Amen. All right, 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.400 so this fall we have been in the book of second 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.400 Corinthians and what we've been doing is we've 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:06.260 been going through it chapter by chapter and 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:10.800 I felt a few times now that that has Has caused 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.520 me to gloss over a few things. So while I think 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.620 it actually does largely work I'm going to take 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:18.939 just part of second Corinthians five this morning 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:22.750 and the end of chapter four. Here's part of what 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:24.830 happens, you know, Paul's giving you this book 00:02:24.830 --> 00:02:27.110 and it's all bleeding together so often. You 00:02:27.110 --> 00:02:29.590 kind of have to decide where to start from again. 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:31.569 And so we're going to actually begin with part 00:02:31.569 --> 00:02:32.969 of what we looked at last week and then we're 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:36.250 going to go into the first half of chapter five. 00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:41.849 With that, let me pose to you one of the great 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:59.210 questions of religion. Is God good? I'm not going 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:02.689 to answer that question entirely, not fully. 00:03:04.370 --> 00:03:06.430 But my guess is that even if you didn't come 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:09.250 into this space this morning asking that question, 00:03:09.310 --> 00:03:12.310 which probably many of you didn't, no doubt it's 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:15.229 a question that you've thought of, and particularly 00:03:15.229 --> 00:03:17.069 you've thought of it in the midst of your suffering 00:03:17.069 --> 00:03:19.150 or the suffering of a loved one who you hold 00:03:19.150 --> 00:03:22.020 dear. And no doubt, it's a question that many 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:24.139 of your neighbors ask when they're confronted 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:28.520 with the idea or the reality of God, His goodness. 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:33.699 Think with me of a story of Jesus that's told 00:03:33.699 --> 00:03:37.300 for us in John chapter 11, okay? So there's these 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:41.639 two friends of Jesus, they're sisters. Their 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:49.169 names are, yeah, which one goes first? Martha 00:03:49.169 --> 00:03:52.289 and Mary, Mary and Martha. And they send word 00:03:52.289 --> 00:03:58.270 to Jesus saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. 00:03:59.509 --> 00:04:04.210 He whom you love is ill. Jesus knew they were 00:04:04.210 --> 00:04:06.909 talking of their brother, another of Jesus' dear 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:10.889 friends, Lazarus. And when Jesus heard this, 00:04:11.169 --> 00:04:13.289 he said, this illness does not lead to death, 00:04:13.849 --> 00:04:15.789 but it's the glory of God might be revealed. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:19.860 And then verse five of that chapter, it says 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:23.680 this, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:31.379 Mary, and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:36.120 was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:47.279 where he was. What? Two days longer? Doesn't 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:52.720 he love them? Doesn't he love him? Doesn't he 00:04:52.720 --> 00:05:01.279 know that he's ill? Is he good? Is he allowing 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.240 Lazarus to go through more pain? His sisters 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:12.800 whom he loves to suffer anguish? And he waits 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.629 two days to leave? Then when he does finally 00:05:17.629 --> 00:05:19.750 go through the long journey if you know the story 00:05:19.750 --> 00:05:23.370 what we're told is That when he arrived his friend 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:27.769 whom he loved had been in the tomb for four days 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:33.850 Think of another story from Luke chapter 8 there. 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:36.470 There is a ruler of the synagogue His name is 00:05:36.470 --> 00:05:39.470 Jairus and he falls at the feet of Jesus, which 00:05:39.470 --> 00:05:41.550 is the most understandable thing and it says 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:44.550 that he implores him He doesn't ask him. He's 00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:50.620 begging Because what it tells us is that his 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:55.459 little daughter, his 12 -year -old daughter is 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:59.699 dying. I have a nearly 12 -year -old daughter. 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:03.000 I would have been falling on my face begging. 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.759 And then as he begins to go to Jairus' house, 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.800 this woman just touches the hem of his garment 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:18.399 and he stops. Like, just let her touch your hem, 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:23.459 be healed, go quickly. He calls out to her and 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:26.920 he heals her. And then while he's talking to 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.680 her, a messenger from Jairus' house comes and 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:39.379 he tells him, your daughter is dead. Imagine 00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:43.949 hearing those words, right? If there are any 00:06:43.949 --> 00:06:47.870 words which I fear most to hear, those may be 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:54.689 them. Daughter's dead. Imagine the weeping. You 00:06:54.689 --> 00:06:58.110 know those two stories, you know that in the 00:06:58.110 --> 00:07:01.509 first story we're told that Jesus wept also. 00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:05.410 Shortest verse in the Bible, right? Jesus wept. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.300 And if you know both those stories, what you 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.519 also know is that Lazarus and the young woman 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:19.339 were both raised to new life. Is God good? Isn't 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:23.339 that question most often and actually really 00:07:23.339 --> 00:07:25.939 understandably asked in the context of the suffering 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:30.060 that we experience. And think about this, right? 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:32.560 Lazarus and this little girl, this 12 year old, 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:37.089 while raised, no doubt still lived in these bodies. 00:07:39.730 --> 00:07:43.509 With our constant move towards corruption and 00:07:43.509 --> 00:07:47.490 decay, with minds that don't work often as we 00:07:47.490 --> 00:07:51.689 desire them to, with ailment after ailment seemingly 00:07:51.689 --> 00:07:56.629 coming one after the other, no doubt their bodies 00:07:56.629 --> 00:08:00.370 continued along the path of suffering. They were 00:08:00.370 --> 00:08:02.550 likely afflicted and perplexed and persecuted 00:08:02.550 --> 00:08:09.089 and struck down. They likely went from one experience 00:08:09.089 --> 00:08:13.410 of weeping on to the next. Because often this 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:15.269 is how it works, right? You go from being afflicted 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:18.569 to perplexed to struck down. There are tastes 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:22.689 of goodness and grace in the afflictions of this 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:27.009 life as they experienced. And yet the afflictions 00:08:27.009 --> 00:08:31.300 seem to keep coming. They seem to come one right 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:34.320 after the other. The sorrowful father, I mean, 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:35.919 think about just this little story, right, that 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.100 we have in Luke chapter eight. The sorrowful 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:41.200 father who's imploring Jesus is followed on then 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.759 by the woman who's had 12 years of a discharge 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.419 of blood who's been ostracized from the community, 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:48.879 afflicted, then perplexed, then struck down and 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:52.679 persecuted. And then it goes on and the girl's 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:54.899 dead and she's raised a new life. But no doubt 00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:57.940 the story continues, the story of affliction. 00:09:00.810 --> 00:09:04.230 I'm in Paul's life and very likely in your life 00:09:04.230 --> 00:09:06.330 affliction is followed by mental anguish Paul 00:09:06.330 --> 00:09:10.049 says perplexed, but we know this is a meant I 00:09:10.049 --> 00:09:12.590 Mean the dynamic of being put yet again in prison 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.169 The dynamic of going to yet another community 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:18.950 and being riots breaking out mental anguish followed 00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:21.750 by persecution followed by being struck down 00:09:21.750 --> 00:09:24.830 And yet Paul has told us at the end of chapter 00:09:24.830 --> 00:09:31.090 4 that this light light and momentary affliction 00:09:31.090 --> 00:09:38.090 is preparing for us a weight of glory beyond 00:09:38.090 --> 00:09:43.710 all comparison. And I imagine that the Corinthians 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:47.929 were honestly a lot like you and me. They were 00:09:47.929 --> 00:09:52.110 very, very likely a lot like Martha probably. 00:09:53.889 --> 00:09:56.190 You know, when Jesus comes to Bethany, the town 00:09:56.190 --> 00:09:58.070 where they lived and in their house. This is 00:09:58.070 --> 00:10:00.909 what she says first. We'll say what she says 00:10:00.909 --> 00:10:07.230 later. But first she says, Lord, if you'd been 00:10:07.230 --> 00:10:11.269 here, if God had been present, if you had actually 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:13.909 seen what was taking place, my brother would 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:20.929 not have died. Lord, if you're real, then certainly 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:23.070 he wouldn't have experienced this affliction. 00:10:25.509 --> 00:10:30.309 or if you knew, if you had just a sense of how 00:10:30.309 --> 00:10:34.330 bad and how sad the situation is, or if you're 00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:41.330 really good. As we see the suffering of the world, 00:10:41.370 --> 00:10:43.889 and we see of those we love, we see the death 00:10:43.889 --> 00:10:45.889 of those we love, we see our own experiences, 00:10:45.990 --> 00:10:50.909 and we wonder. The Corinthians, as I've said, 00:10:51.859 --> 00:10:54.259 were inclined towards the good life. Last week, 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:56.399 I talked a little bit about what a prosperous 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.980 city Corinth was, just partly just where it's 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:01.159 located and the trade route from the north to 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:04.740 the south of Greece and the Aegean Sea and all 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.759 of that. And then the great plain that was fertile 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.120 and the springs of the spring water that flowed 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.679 up in the area. It's very prosperous place. And 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.539 it seems as though between... the letters, some 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:19.919 leaders had come in, Paul talks about them quite 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.860 a bit in this book, who had come in and basically 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:26.120 said, it's the good life that's on offer. The 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:30.659 eloquence is what's most compelling. Your well 00:11:30.659 --> 00:11:36.299 -being is what shows the goodness of God, going 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.279 for strength, prosperity, and speaking against 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:45.039 weakness and suffering. Certainly what we can 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.559 piece together is they questioned a teacher like 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.279 Paul who had experienced all of this affliction, 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:55.759 all this imprisonment and shipwreck, mental anguish, 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:59.799 all that. And they dismissed him as not being 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:03.220 truly from God because how could God allow that? 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:12.539 But Paul doesn't just say to them as he did last 00:12:12.539 --> 00:12:16.740 week, That he's this fragile jar of clay and 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:18.899 because he's this fragile jar of clay we actually 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:23.519 see the the strength power of God made perfect 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:27.100 in his weakness, but He actually goes on and 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:28.919 this this section that I want to look at this 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:32.299 morning He says that our affliction in this life 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:36.720 is actually preparing us for something far greater 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:40.580 than we would ever imagine and part of what we're 00:12:40.580 --> 00:12:43.960 inclined to do is Hold on tight to this life. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:48.440 And he wants to invite us to say, no, there is 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:53.419 more. There's more. How you get the more is you've 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:58.940 got to learn to hold on loose now. Suffering 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:06.620 and death in a way can even be God's grace. His 00:13:06.620 --> 00:13:11.580 preparatory grace for what's ahead. And why this 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:13.580 is the case is because suffering and death so 00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:18.620 often focus us. You know, they cause the things 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:23.039 that don't matter to recede into the periphery. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.860 And here at least he says they focus our inner 00:13:27.860 --> 00:13:31.460 selves, our inner world and the unseen world. 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:35.220 The first they focus our inner selves. If you 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:39.600 have your Bible to that passage still, open it 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:45.879 up. And chapter four, verse 16 says, so we do 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:49.500 not lose heart though. Our outer self is wasting 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:55.940 away. Our inner self is being renewed day by 00:13:55.940 --> 00:14:00.960 day. And I think, I think a lot of, you know, 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:08.720 this dynamic, you know, that it can happen, um, 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.399 that we're more focused on the deep things that 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:16.120 matter when we are, not when we're experiencing 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.600 the blessings of this life, but actually it's 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.000 almost, it's really the opposite. So often we 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.220 actually focus on the deep things that matter 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.840 when we are going through the trials and afflictions 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:32.419 and we come close to death. Death and suffering 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.340 often actually do work in us for the transformation 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:41.149 of our lives. We know that death is an outer 00:14:41.149 --> 00:14:46.149 transformation, right? The Ceasing of breathing 00:14:46.149 --> 00:14:48.230 and the stopping of our heart and those kinds 00:14:48.230 --> 00:14:51.210 of things but it's so much an inner transformation 00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:53.750 And it's not just for those who are experiencing 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:56.049 it but for those who witness it too. It's an 00:14:56.049 --> 00:15:00.629 inner transformation So many of you know That 00:15:00.629 --> 00:15:04.470 it is when you're brought low When you walk through 00:15:04.470 --> 00:15:08.149 suffering and trial that you're transformed You 00:15:08.149 --> 00:15:13.289 find new loves, new affections, and it happens 00:15:13.289 --> 00:15:16.190 often in this context of suffering and death. 00:15:17.850 --> 00:15:19.970 Some of you are familiar with David Brooks. He's 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:22.850 written a number of books that I would recommend 00:15:22.850 --> 00:15:26.210 to you. He's written and he's spoken a number 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:29.710 of times on what he calls eulogy virtues and 00:15:29.710 --> 00:15:32.009 resume virtues. Maybe some of you have heard 00:15:32.009 --> 00:15:35.490 him or read him talk about this. He says, eulogy 00:15:35.490 --> 00:15:39.950 virtues are the quality of character that are 00:15:39.950 --> 00:15:43.529 mentioned at your funeral. Things that people 00:15:43.529 --> 00:15:47.610 say when you aren't around to hear what they're 00:15:47.610 --> 00:15:54.350 saying. People say when you aren't there to listen. 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:58.940 On the other hand, resume virtues are the list 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:02.080 of skills that we bring to the marketplace, the 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.720 list of achievements you have to promote yourself, 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.659 the accomplishments in education, the career 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:18.200 that you've had, the stuff you've acquired. You've 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.379 probably heard it said. Maybe you've seen the 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:25.080 bumper sticker. He who dies with the most toys 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:29.480 wins But we actually know if you if you've been 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.580 to a funeral you have never Heard a eulogy that 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:35.600 says man. You should see the dirt bike that he 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:40.039 rode. He had the coolest mountain bike ever No 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:44.360 No, we and we know that it's actually just silly 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:50.000 to even think of it No one at your funeral is 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.059 talking about what car you drove No one at your 00:16:54.059 --> 00:16:57.659 funeral is talking about that suit that once 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:01.419 just fit you so well. It's good you brought it 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:06.519 to the tailor. Eulogies are not spent talking 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:08.859 about how much money you acquired in this life. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.160 They are not. Instead, eulogy virtues are the 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.579 virtues that speak to our inner selves. Were 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:22.210 you kind? full of compassion, faithful in your 00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:26.569 relationships, honest in your dealings with others. 00:17:27.789 --> 00:17:33.269 Were you courageous and brave? Were you a person 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:40.589 capable of deep, committed love? And let's be 00:17:40.589 --> 00:17:44.069 honest, much of our life, which makes sense because 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:46.190 this is much of the world that we live in, and 00:17:46.190 --> 00:17:47.849 this is our education system, and it's just kind 00:17:47.849 --> 00:17:50.339 of the air we breathe. Much of our life is spent 00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:56.420 on our resumes, listing out our accomplishments. 00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:04.380 We know. We can do. The suffering and death have 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:09.259 a way of stripping that aside and focusing us 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:12.740 on what matters. Think about this. If you look 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:15.220 down again at verse 16, it starts, for we do 00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:20.299 not lose heart. If you go down, actually to chapter 00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:24.660 five, verse six, it says, so we are always of 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:31.019 good courage. Verse eight, yes, we are of good 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:35.140 courage. There's something even in the context 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:38.740 of Paul's suffering here that is producing in 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:43.920 him these eulogy virtues. This strength that 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.460 is an inner strength, that the resume virtues 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:52.099 have little to say about. And we know this, this 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:54.440 is not just a Christian experience, this in many 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:57.160 ways is just a human experience. Suffering and 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:03.039 death focuses you. Suffering and death focus 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:10.339 our inner selves on the things that matter. Which 00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:13.200 is to say, as a side note and sort of an application, 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:18.170 If you want to grow in faithfulness, if you want 00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:23.109 to grow in kindness, if you want to put on these 00:19:23.109 --> 00:19:30.769 deeper character traits that actually last, attend 00:19:30.769 --> 00:19:40.650 funerals, sit with the suffering, go to the hospital, 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:48.019 Sit beside someone of older age who has walked 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:57.039 the road long You will find that you hold on 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.079 to your possessions and to your resume much more 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:07.000 lightly I was actually sitting with Nevin in 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.019 the hospital a couple weeks ago, and he's nearly 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:17.849 100 I'm 43 very tempted to pursue the resume 00:20:17.849 --> 00:20:23.309 virtues, believe me. It is a gift to sit with 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:26.789 a 99 year old who wants you to pray for them 00:20:26.789 --> 00:20:32.230 and read scripture to them. It is. Sit with one 00:20:32.230 --> 00:20:36.450 another in one another's pain, in your suffering. 00:20:37.349 --> 00:20:40.410 Each time you engage with death, whether the 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:42.730 small deaths that we continue on in this life 00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:46.990 or ultimately death itself, the world becomes 00:20:46.990 --> 00:20:49.289 the world about us, the physical world about 00:20:49.289 --> 00:20:54.250 us becomes a little less real and the eternal 00:20:54.250 --> 00:20:59.569 world a little more real. Which leads to the 00:20:59.569 --> 00:21:02.490 second thing here that's going on. Suffering 00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:04.650 and death don't just focus our inner selves. 00:21:04.650 --> 00:21:07.630 They do that on the things that matter most, 00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:10.869 but they actually focus us on what we can't see, 00:21:11.170 --> 00:21:16.450 the unseen. Verse 18 of chapter four, it says, 00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:23.970 as we look not to the things that are seen, look 00:21:23.970 --> 00:21:28.309 not to the things that are seen, but to the things 00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:31.509 that are unseen. For the things that are seen 00:21:31.509 --> 00:21:36.210 are transient, but the things that are unseen 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:41.900 our eternal. Paul says, look, focus your attention 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:48.059 on the unseen. If we keep going on though, in 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:50.839 the beginning there of chapter five, in that 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.579 first paragraph, we see a word repeated. And 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:55.099 I think this is a helpful word that invites us 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:57.259 into these two images that Paul then kind of 00:21:57.259 --> 00:22:03.640 talks about. And the word is grown. Verse two 00:22:03.640 --> 00:22:10.140 says, for in this tent, We groan. Verse four 00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:14.539 says, for while we are still in this tent, we 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:19.140 groan being burdened. And that word there, the 00:22:19.140 --> 00:22:21.420 word in the Greek is strainatso. Think of the 00:22:21.420 --> 00:22:27.519 word to strain, strain. And it communicates this 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.880 sigh of deep distress, right? This groaning. 00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:34.549 But in the Old Testament, it's also used, it's 00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:37.549 not just a groaning, it's not just a sigh in 00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:40.049 itself. It's often used as a sigh that leads 00:22:40.049 --> 00:22:44.750 to prayer, which is to say it's this groaning 00:22:44.750 --> 00:22:48.269 that then expresses itself in a hope, a desire 00:22:48.269 --> 00:22:50.849 for something to come about, something to be 00:22:50.849 --> 00:22:56.150 changed. Some of you will know in Romans chapter 00:22:56.150 --> 00:23:00.009 eight, it says that creation itself is groaning. 00:23:01.329 --> 00:23:04.410 root word, it has a little suffix on it in, in 00:23:04.410 --> 00:23:07.950 Romans chapter eight. Um, but these are anticipatory 00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:10.730 groans. Creation is groaning for the sons of 00:23:10.730 --> 00:23:13.009 God to be revealed, it says, right? The children 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:16.990 of God to be who they are made to be. So this 00:23:16.990 --> 00:23:20.170 is a groaning that is experiencing this, this 00:23:20.170 --> 00:23:22.769 suffering and this reality of this life. But 00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:25.109 what it's saying is God brings something else 00:23:25.109 --> 00:23:30.599 about, show us what you're going to do. Bring 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:34.980 about your goodness. What's it groaning for? 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:38.259 What's it desiring? First, first thing is that 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:42.460 it's desiring our true home, okay? So verse two 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:49.160 again, for in this tent we groan, longing to 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:54.680 put on our heavenly dwelling. We're in this tent, 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:00.380 which is a dwelling, right? From this tent we 00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:03.359 grown, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.519 I read this week in one of the commentaries I 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:10.920 was using to study this, that a pastor received 00:24:10.920 --> 00:24:13.140 a letter from a nine -year -old girl in his church 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:16.680 and it read, Dear Pastor, I hope to go to heaven 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:23.619 someday, but later than sooner. Love, Ellen. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:29.079 And Ellen, Ellen speaks for most of us. We want 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:32.579 things to be right. We want things to be good. 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:36.079 We have a deep sense that we were made for more. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:40.559 We have a desire for things to be as they should. 00:24:41.019 --> 00:24:43.299 And yet we've often made actually this tent, 00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:48.240 which almost has this like flimsiness about it, 00:24:49.180 --> 00:24:58.700 our home. And yet Paul says it is often in suffering 00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:02.640 and in death that we are focused not on the scene 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:07.180 tent, which can call out to us, this is where 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:11.680 you belong. But on the more permanent structure, 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:16.539 the more real thing further up and further in 00:25:16.539 --> 00:25:21.740 reality of God's home for us. Keep in mind here 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:26.740 that Paul is not talking about a a home that 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:30.299 doesn't have physicality to it or a bodiless 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:34.299 home. And we were made by God as physical beings. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:39.980 Verse one says, for we know that if the tent 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:42.980 that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:46.339 a building from God, a house not made with hands, 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.559 eternal in the heavens. You think it's more, 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.500 it's even more solid than you would think. It's 00:25:52.500 --> 00:25:55.900 more permanent, it's more lasting. So this groaning 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:59.339 for the unseen that suffering and death help 00:25:59.339 --> 00:26:04.220 us focus on is for our true homes. For the place 00:26:04.220 --> 00:26:09.220 where you were made to be. Say here, the things 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:11.900 that you can see, they're transient. They're 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:16.059 passing. Things you want to grab onto now will 00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:17.960 one day be no more and they will be surpassed 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:24.029 by something far, far greater. Verse four tells 00:26:24.029 --> 00:26:29.849 us For while we are still in this tent we groan 00:26:29.849 --> 00:26:34.589 being burdened Not that we would be unclothed 00:26:34.589 --> 00:26:37.809 But that we would be further clothed So that 00:26:37.809 --> 00:26:43.809 what is mortal may be swallowed up by life He's 00:26:43.809 --> 00:26:45.769 saying what's in store for you is actually a 00:26:45.769 --> 00:26:52.250 deeper life a greater a greater clothing verse 00:26:52.879 --> 00:26:57.000 three, he had said that we don't want to be found 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.480 naked. And he says that because you don't want 00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:06.220 to be exposed to shame and the judgment of sin, 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:08.980 but he doesn't want to be, he doesn't want to 00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:11.200 clothe himself. He doesn't want to put himself 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.460 forward and say, hey, look, this is what I've 00:27:13.460 --> 00:27:15.779 done. He says, I want to be clothed with a more 00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:19.539 eternal thing that is life itself with God himself. 00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:23.500 Say he's getting this image back to the garden. 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:28.359 He's getting to the idea. One of the things that 00:27:28.359 --> 00:27:33.059 suffering does is it exposes our need. It exposes 00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:37.480 our need for God himself to clothe us. The righteousness 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:44.000 of Jesus focuses us on putting on the imperishable 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.490 rather than the perishable on focuses on putting 00:27:47.490 --> 00:27:49.950 on the immortal rather than the mortal, the things 00:27:49.950 --> 00:27:52.069 that are unseen rather than the things that are 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:56.170 seen. Paul is not only longing for a resurrection 00:27:56.170 --> 00:27:58.430 home where all things will be right, but a resurrected 00:27:58.430 --> 00:28:02.750 body where he will be right. And this is what 00:28:02.750 --> 00:28:07.869 suffering and death do for us. Transform us. 00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:13.609 They give us a new vision, a new focus. Which 00:28:13.609 --> 00:28:16.069 if we get back to the beginning of my sermon. 00:28:18.589 --> 00:28:23.329 It is often exactly at the place where we most 00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:30.009 doubt the goodness of God that God in His grace 00:28:30.009 --> 00:28:34.509 focuses us on that which is ultimately good. 00:28:36.430 --> 00:28:39.380 That so often We start to say, how can he be 00:28:39.380 --> 00:28:41.559 good if he allows this? How could he be good 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:43.799 if it allows his friend to go through such suffering? 00:28:44.339 --> 00:28:49.380 How could he be good? Oh, 12 year old Jairus's 00:28:49.380 --> 00:28:59.200 daughter to Terry when this child is dying. He 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:05.140 could be good if it's true that this Light and 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:08.920 momentary affliction is just preparing for us, 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:15.619 something that is so much better. To grace, because 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:24.140 so often, as we experience this, we lay aside 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:28.480 the things that don't matter. And when we do 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:32.279 that, we actually can sit before, stand before 00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:36.099 the judgment seat of God. Because we have put 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:39.519 aside the allure of this world and we have clung 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:44.380 to our resurrected Lord, Christ himself. Suffering 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:49.099 and death, they cause us to walk by faith and 00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:53.059 not by sight. Suffering and death often strip 00:29:53.059 --> 00:29:57.859 us. They take away the things that we've built 00:29:57.859 --> 00:30:02.039 our identity on, you know? Think of the teacher 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:06.099 here their eloquence their letters of recommendation 00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:10.440 Think suffering and death often strip us of the 00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:15.559 places of our identity our work What do we what 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.940 do we answer what do you do we answer with our 00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:23.859 work They strip of strip us of sometimes of our 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:29.799 voice Place our identity upon how we can speak 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:33.460 to others, how we can speak in front of others, 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:36.279 how we can sing. They strip us sometimes of our 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:39.059 play, often something that people put their identity 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:42.359 in. Sometimes suffering and death strip us of 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:45.180 our relationships, which is so often where we 00:30:45.180 --> 00:30:48.299 find our primary identity. What they do is they 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:52.440 strip these things away, where we must focus 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:57.299 on the ultimate thing. how we engage with God 00:30:57.299 --> 00:31:02.859 Himself. Often what happens is the things that 00:31:02.859 --> 00:31:08.619 matter most come into focus and we see when they 00:31:08.619 --> 00:31:11.279 come into focus that they are far greater than 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:18.420 we ever expected. I'm hesitant to say this because 00:31:18.420 --> 00:31:22.880 it's overused, but in a very real sense, we let 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:30.099 go and we let God. We hold loosely to the things 00:31:30.099 --> 00:31:33.019 of this world and we grab onto the resurrection 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:36.759 that is our only hope in this world and the next 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:43.420 that we belong to our Lord Jesus. Let me end 00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:47.279 with a illustration that I read. When Spain had 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:50.039 extended its conquest to the end of the known 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:53.740 world at the time, which is to say they controlled 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:59.700 both sides of the strait of Gibraltar. Those 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.400 fabled pillars of Hercules, right? on their Spanish 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:07.700 coins were those pillars and then and then there 00:32:07.700 --> 00:32:13.940 was a scroll in inscribed with the Latin words 00:32:13.940 --> 00:32:19.279 ne plus ultra Which is to say no more beyond 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:24.819 Say we've found the known world and Sailing out 00:32:24.819 --> 00:32:27.640 of this straight. There is nothing outside of 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:32.369 it Nothing beyond. It's the gates to the ends 00:32:32.369 --> 00:32:36.109 of the earth. But of course, now we know that 00:32:36.109 --> 00:32:40.910 was kind of myopic. Rather nearsighted, isn't 00:32:40.910 --> 00:32:46.710 it? I like how we live our lives. Nothing beyond 00:32:46.710 --> 00:32:49.650 what I can grab onto right now. There's nothing 00:32:49.650 --> 00:32:52.430 beyond what I am experiencing in my body right 00:32:52.430 --> 00:33:01.089 now. course, we know how silly that coin is and 00:33:01.089 --> 00:33:04.009 To their credit they did too after the discovery 00:33:04.009 --> 00:33:08.930 of the new world They wisely changed that phrase 00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:17.430 on those coins It was just plus ultra More beyond 00:33:17.430 --> 00:33:22.829 there is more beyond what we know and what we 00:33:22.829 --> 00:33:29.319 see And it is far greater than you imagine. It 00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:34.680 is God preparing for us an eternal weight of 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:40.339 glory. Think back with me to Martha, okay? Lord, 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:43.160 if you'd been here, my brother would not have 00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:47.940 died. And I wonder how much suffering she had 00:33:47.940 --> 00:33:50.500 already experienced in her life because then 00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:54.140 she followed it up. But even now, Even now, I 00:33:54.140 --> 00:33:57.700 know that whatever you ask from God, He will 00:33:57.700 --> 00:34:08.619 give you. God gave her her brother back. And 00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:11.599 I bet her faith grew like wildflowers that day. 00:34:13.659 --> 00:34:17.320 But then Christ himself rose from the dead. And 00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:20.920 he said, what is true of me will be true of you. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:30.260 He's the ultimate plus extra ultra rather more 00:34:30.260 --> 00:34:38.679 beyond But he says that's true for you There 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:42.980 is so much more beyond there's so much more beyond 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:50.019 this life Is God good One of the reasons we doubt 00:34:50.019 --> 00:34:53.480 this is because of our suffering because the 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:57.380 reality of death Brothers and sisters, Christ 00:34:57.380 --> 00:35:03.639 conquers that for you. His resurrection is promised 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:07.579 to you, and we are told he is preparing something 00:35:07.579 --> 00:35:12.800 for you that is so far beyond your imagining. 00:35:14.579 --> 00:35:16.380 That is the hope you have in Christ, brothers 00:35:16.380 --> 00:35:22.519 and sisters. Beyond all comparison, let me pray. 00:35:22.659 --> 00:35:31.150 Lord, you know Lord, you know better than any 00:35:31.150 --> 00:35:35.550 of us, you know better than myself how inclined 00:35:35.550 --> 00:35:42.269 I am toward the things of this world, towards 00:35:42.269 --> 00:35:57.500 the things that are seen and how my own ups and 00:35:57.500 --> 00:36:02.340 downs shape my life so much. God, I thank you 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:08.659 for this Do Not Lose Heart, this call to courage 00:36:08.659 --> 00:36:14.079 in the midst of this section here on suffering. 00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:23.219 I thank you for my own heart. Lord, I pray that 00:36:23.219 --> 00:36:32.750 we as a church But see that with you, we may 00:36:32.750 --> 00:36:38.030 be afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, 00:36:38.250 --> 00:36:43.489 but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not 00:36:43.489 --> 00:36:49.070 forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed because 00:36:49.070 --> 00:36:54.809 you, the resurrected Christ, are with us. That 00:36:54.809 --> 00:37:02.440 we may We may say to live as Christ, but to die, 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:09.739 that's gain. Because our minds and our hearts 00:37:09.739 --> 00:37:13.719 and our eyes and our whole being has been focused 00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:18.099 not on the things that are seen, but on the things 00:37:18.099 --> 00:37:23.880 that are unseen. We walk by faith and not by 00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:29.760 sight. God, I pray that we would be a church 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:34.179 that welcomes the opportunity to sit with one 00:37:34.179 --> 00:37:37.300 another in our affliction and our suffering and 00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:42.739 our pain. We know we often don't know what to 00:37:42.739 --> 00:37:47.179 say or what to do. I pray that we would learn 00:37:47.179 --> 00:37:50.619 to sit with one another, to be, and in that, 00:37:50.699 --> 00:37:57.429 Lord, that you would bless us. God, I pray for 00:37:57.429 --> 00:38:03.050 all of us here in this space, this time, that 00:38:03.050 --> 00:38:06.809 we would hold lightly to the things of this world 00:38:06.809 --> 00:38:14.550 and cling to the empty tomb of Jesus. God, that 00:38:14.550 --> 00:38:20.570 we would have a deep and abiding faith That what 00:38:20.570 --> 00:38:22.949 Paul says is this light and momentary affliction 00:38:22.949 --> 00:38:27.849 which doesn't remotely seem light or momentary 00:38:27.849 --> 00:38:31.170 Would in the grand scheme of what you are doing 00:38:31.170 --> 00:38:36.469 Be truly light and momentary Because you are 00:38:36.469 --> 00:38:39.050 preparing for us an eternal weight of glory behind 00:38:39.050 --> 00:38:47.369 beyond all comparison God move in us in these 00:38:47.369 --> 00:38:53.760 ways May we be found holding fast to the things 00:38:53.760 --> 00:39:00.739 that never age. While so often we are invited 00:39:00.739 --> 00:39:08.300 to grab, to hoard, to hold. May we hold fast 00:39:08.300 --> 00:39:11.539 to the cross and to the empty tomb. In Jesus 00:39:11.539 --> 00:39:15.840 name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:18.579 Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon 00:39:18.579 --> 00:39:20.840 has encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate 00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:23.699 the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing 00:39:23.699 --> 00:39:26.559 to this podcast and joining us in person each 00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:29.440 Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.599 SecondCityChurch .org and on Instagram, Facebook, 00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.340 and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God 00:39:35.340 --> 00:39:35.699 bless.