WEBVTT 00:00:01.410 --> 00:00:03.990 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.370 --> 00:00:06.950 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:09.390 This fall, we're studying the book of Second 00:00:09.390 --> 00:00:12.429 Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:15.330 and practical book calling us back to the life 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:18.870 of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:22.350 pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering, 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:26.230 hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel 00:00:26.230 --> 00:00:29.230 of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after 00:00:29.230 --> 00:00:34.039 a cross. comfort comes after being crushed, that 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.539 the way up is the way down, that the way to glory 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:39.899 is 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 --> 00:00:51.140 heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find us 00:00:51.140 --> 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 --> 00:01:01.149 sermon. God bless. Lord, thank you for the wonder 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:05.209 that is this passage, but even more what it speaks 00:01:05.209 --> 00:01:10.489 of. God, you and Christ, we're reconciling world 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:13.670 to yourself, not counting our sins against us. 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:23.689 You're the great lover who pursues the runaway. 00:01:24.510 --> 00:01:27.790 Our estrangement that our sin has created distance 00:01:29.530 --> 00:01:37.709 Distance is no obstacle to your love. Great reconciler. 00:01:38.930 --> 00:01:42.769 God, I pray that our hearts would be warm towards 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:48.549 yours this morning. God, bless now the preaching 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:53.549 of your word. Bless the words of my mouth and 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:55.590 the meditations of all of our hearts. May they 00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:57.810 be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:05.049 our Redeemer. Amen. All right. There are some 00:02:05.049 --> 00:02:08.009 events in our lives that radically change us, 00:02:08.610 --> 00:02:11.669 that define who we are, and they define what 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:14.669 we are about. They make such a shift that in 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:17.689 some ways we are new people. Of course, this 00:02:17.689 --> 00:02:21.370 doesn't happen a lot, going from one way of being 00:02:21.370 --> 00:02:24.030 in the world into a new way of being in the world. 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:27.349 But you can think of some of those. Marriage. 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:30.639 in a very real way, you come in two people, the 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.439 Bible says, and you leave one. We change names 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:36.699 and things like that, but according to the Bible, 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:39.020 there's actually a more radical change that's 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:43.020 taking place. Coming in singular, going out, 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:45.979 coming in plural, going out singular, it's a 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:51.099 redefining kind of thing. I mentioned last week, 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:53.919 the young man who has mentors and parents and 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.259 teachers encouraging him to wake up a little 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:59.280 earlier. to apply for certain jobs and all of 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.840 a sudden so -and -so comes into his life and 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.400 he has all of the energy he ever needed to get 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.560 all that stuff done. Think of having a child. 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:13.340 Your time and your money and all that seemed 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:20.680 to be yours. To do it as you pleased. Moments 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:28.180 later, a birth later, no more. In 1492, that 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:31.060 famous year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue, 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.639 there were two prominent Irish families, the 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:39.000 Ormans and the Kildares. They were both earls 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.500 of rulers and they were in the middle of this 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:48.360 feud. Fitzgerald had besieged, Fitzgerald was 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.020 the Earl of Kildare and he had besieged Butler, 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.069 the Earl of Ormand. And Butler actually took 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:58.770 refuge in that famous church in Dublin, St. Patrick's 00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:01.669 Cathedral, which is the main cathedral in the 00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:04.569 Church of Ireland. And what they did is they 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:09.090 actually bolted themselves in for fear of the 00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:13.430 Earl of Kildare. Well, as this siege went on, 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:16.990 the Earl of Kildare came to this conclusion that 00:04:16.990 --> 00:04:22.529 this is a foolish feud. Two families worshiping 00:04:22.529 --> 00:04:27.589 the same God, worshiping in the same church, 00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:33.189 in St. Patrick's itself, and they're literally 00:04:33.189 --> 00:04:39.069 trying to kill each other. So he called out, 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:41.029 there's actually an inscription there at St. 00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:46.449 Patrick's to this day, undertook on his honor 00:04:46.449 --> 00:04:51.660 that he should receive no villainy. Spelt V I 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:55.399 L L A N I E it's old. So he's saying I'm not 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.519 gonna do this on my honor I'm not going to come 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.620 after you not gonna Go after villainy of course 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:04.879 Ormond what happens when somebody's out to get 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.220 you and they say I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:10.720 harm you Like yeah, right. I'll think so. So 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.920 he's not so sure and he's afraid of this treachery 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.379 and so So he doesn't respond he's inside st. 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.680 Patrick's and kill there the story goes he seizes 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:25.240 his spear and he actually cuts in the door a 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:29.920 window inside this door Into the great Cathedral 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:31.839 of st. Patrick's. Well, I should say it's the 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:33.980 chapter house. So it wasn't like the main door 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:39.300 there and He thrusts his hand through rust his 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:43.389 hand through this hole that he he cuts open and 00:05:43.389 --> 00:05:48.870 it's grasped on the other side by the Earl of 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:53.290 Ormond. It's this great sort of picture of this 00:05:53.290 --> 00:05:55.829 reconciliation that's coming to realize how foolish 00:05:55.829 --> 00:05:59.350 sin is. It's actually where we get the phrase, 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:02.649 chancing one's arm, this gesture of will it be 00:06:02.649 --> 00:06:06.670 received. At that moment though, in that act, 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.639 of moving out towards, these families were entirely 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.379 changed. Just in that moment, that act of reconciliation, 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:20.259 lives were changed. Let me tell you of another 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:24.680 story that radically changed somebody. One of 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:27.779 the great New Testament scholars of the mid 20th 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:31.279 century was a scholar named R .V. G. Tasker. 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:37.750 He said this, man's greatest need is to know 00:06:37.750 --> 00:06:40.790 man's greatest need. Man's greatest need is to 00:06:40.790 --> 00:06:43.610 know man's greatest need. Tasker was a professor 00:06:43.610 --> 00:06:45.670 of New Testament at the University of London, 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:48.949 and he was on the committee that translated one 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:51.829 of the great New Testament or the Bibles. He 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:54.589 was over the New Testament part of the 20th century, 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:57.589 the New English Bible. He was one of the great 00:06:57.589 --> 00:06:59.829 recognized authorities in the mid century in 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:03.220 England of the New Testament. He wrote one of 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:05.319 the more well -known commentaries on the Gospel 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:16.379 of John. Anyway, he would later come to say that 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:19.360 even while he was doing this, he had no regard 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:24.720 for Christ. Very sort of interested in Christ 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.139 in a worldly way, but little regard for Christ 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:31.160 as his savior. He was actually an Anglican minister. 00:07:31.310 --> 00:07:34.149 And he went on to talk to his friend about how 00:07:34.149 --> 00:07:37.769 his sermons themselves had no real regard for 00:07:37.769 --> 00:07:42.110 Christ as Savior. He didn't believe his greatest 00:07:42.110 --> 00:07:44.949 need was to know his greatest need early on in 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:48.490 his ministry. He didn't believe himself to be 00:07:48.490 --> 00:07:52.290 in need of a new creation, a new heart, the forgiveness 00:07:52.290 --> 00:07:53.850 of sins, all that stuff. He didn't believe he 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:57.790 was alienated from God. How passe all that was. 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:01.899 He didn't believe he was doomed apart from Christ's 00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:06.199 reconciling work. He didn't believe he was estranged 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:08.939 from God because of his sin. And then one night 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:11.360 he actually went sort of out of interest to the 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.040 Christian Union, which was kind of like a inner 00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:16.459 varsity or RUF there at the University of London, 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:17.920 because there was a famous preacher that was 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.100 going to give the message that night. It was 00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:22.240 the preacher Martin Lloyd Jones. Some of you 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.500 know that name. He was a great preacher in London 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:28.970 in really a while in the mid century. Anyway, 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:33.629 he went to hear Martin Lloyd -Jones, and he said 00:08:33.629 --> 00:08:38.850 that his life that night was, quote, revolutionized 00:08:38.850 --> 00:08:42.909 by the address. Revolutionized. He was changed. 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:45.129 Literally, as though it was sort of an overnight 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:48.730 thing. That moment, hearing that message, changed 00:08:48.730 --> 00:08:52.070 his life. He came to see himself as a sinner, 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:56.120 as distant from God, in need of grace. as someone 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:01.039 actually ruined by sin, made new and part of 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:05.200 the new creation, said his greatest need was 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.299 to know his greatest need. And here's something 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.039 interesting. Well, much of the faculty there 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.480 at the University of London were his buddies 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.580 and were sort of in the same camp he was in. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.279 And they ostracized him for this. So many of 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.860 his academic colleagues became his critics. How 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:31.440 could this educated man buy into such dated ideas? 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:36.320 But it changed him. Overnight it changed him. 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:40.580 It came to define him. Give new purpose to his 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:46.200 life. He was brought near to God by grace that 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:52.230 night. He also actually ended up losing his position 00:09:52.230 --> 00:09:55.190 there at the University of London. He was ostracized 00:09:55.190 --> 00:09:59.509 academically, proclaiming this sort of new reality 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:04.330 of faith and sin and the cross. Paul knew this 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:07.289 reality, of course, Paul the apostle. He knew 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:10.710 how foolish and oftentimes offensive and sometimes 00:10:10.710 --> 00:10:13.629 it was considered uneducated, not something to 00:10:13.629 --> 00:10:19.740 boast about, the gospel of Jesus was. Paul knew 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:22.960 how getting the good news of the reconciling 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.279 gospel of Christ sometimes puts you outside. 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:29.559 It changes us and yet it sometimes makes people 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:33.899 look askance at you. Paul knew that there was 00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:36.399 nothing out of date about sin or God's grace 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:39.360 or Christ's sacrifice. And so he keeps applying 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.899 it all the time in his letters, right? Think 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:46.440 about Paul's story. The first time Paul is mentioned 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:50.019 is at the end of chapter seven in the book of 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:53.940 Acts. Chapter seven tells us about how Stephen, 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:58.500 who was a leader in the early church there, he's 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:02.120 being stoned to death because it says he was 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:05.200 full of grace and power, but the leaders there 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.960 in the early church didn't want anything of it 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.200 because he was preaching this reality of what 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.559 God had done in Christ, the need for repentance 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.649 and new life and faith. They claimed that he 00:11:14.649 --> 00:11:18.110 was blaspheming because he was saying Jesus is 00:11:18.110 --> 00:11:20.809 Lord. He was grabbed, you might know this story, 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:23.870 and brought out from out of the city. And he 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:26.850 was there stoned. And there is a religious leader 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:30.230 standing there collecting the garments of those 00:11:30.230 --> 00:11:34.830 who are stoning Stephen. And it says there that 00:11:34.830 --> 00:11:39.110 that was Paul. That's the first time he's mentioned. 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:43.320 He's a chief. He's a leader. He's a leader against 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:47.820 the way of Jesus seeking their harm. The next 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:50.259 chapter actually right away almost begins again 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:52.179 telling us the story of Paul. There it says, 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:55.980 he approved of his, that's Stephen's execution. 00:11:56.299 --> 00:11:58.440 That's the first, just the beginning of the next 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:03.100 chapter. And then it mentions that he was ravaging 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:05.379 the church and entering house after house. He 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:08.720 dragged off men and women and committed them 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.970 to prison. You know that story. Maybe you also 00:12:13.970 --> 00:12:18.250 know that that is how Paul's life was defined 00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:21.470 in that moment. How he could harm the church 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:24.250 of Christ. How much he disdained this idea that 00:12:24.250 --> 00:12:27.269 God himself would come down and die on a cross 00:12:27.269 --> 00:12:30.690 and that he would offer this lavish forgiveness 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:33.809 to sinners. How much he disdained that and yet 00:12:33.809 --> 00:12:39.100 it all changed. Acts 9, the next chapter, the 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:42.220 very beginning of Acts 9, it tells us that he 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:45.720 was breathing threats and murder against the 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.679 disciples of the Lord. I imagine just somebody 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.440 that's so angry that, you know, that vein starts 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:58.620 to bulge. Can't stand this idea of Christ and 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:02.840 his followers. And so he asks the leaders there 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:06.200 if he can go to Damascus. and find those who 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:08.559 devoted themselves to the way of Jesus and bind 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.879 them and bring them back to Jerusalem and put 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.600 them on trial and have the same sentence that 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:18.840 Stephen got. And there on the road, there on 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:24.759 the road in a moment, Jesus meets him and his 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:31.100 life is utterly changed. Walking one way and 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:37.059 all of a sudden he is a new man. Jesus blinds 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:41.100 him. He actually says, why are you persecuting 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:42.960 me? There's such a union between Christ and his 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:44.940 church there in that passage. He says, why are 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:47.500 you persecuting me? When he persecutes the church, 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.740 Jesus blinds him. He tells him to go to the very 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:56.159 people that he hates to receive his sight. But 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:02.159 in that moment, he comes to see his sin and he 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:08.259 has reconciliation. with God in Christ. The very, 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:11.080 the very thing that he most hated, the very thing 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:15.059 that he would say he's farthest from, he's brought 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:21.240 near to. He's given peace and new life. Utterly 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:26.179 changed. We're in this second half of Second 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:29.039 Corinthians chapter five, and some, some believe 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.539 that this is the the most comprehensive statement 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.059 about the work of Christ in Paul's writing. It's 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:36.139 certainly, like I said earlier, this is one of 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:42.059 those passages that I hope you know well. The 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:45.779 great statement of Christ's death in Paul's writing. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.259 But Paul is saying in part that Christ's work 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:53.360 changed him, radically changed him. And he's 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.259 also saying the same thing can happen to you. 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:02.679 As the Ormans and the Kildares, they were changed 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.759 in a moment of reconciliation and their lives 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:07.279 and their families' lives and their community 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:11.580 life was changed, you can be too. As Tasker was 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:15.779 changed in a moment by hearing and seeing his 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:20.799 need for Christ utterly changed, you can be too. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:25.419 As Paul went from being so estranged from God 00:15:25.419 --> 00:15:31.389 and at enmity with so many others, and yet changed, 00:15:31.690 --> 00:15:35.789 you can be too. Receiving the new creation, the 00:15:35.789 --> 00:15:42.269 reconciling work of God. Paul's ministry was 00:15:42.269 --> 00:15:48.070 different, different than the other people there 00:15:48.070 --> 00:15:49.590 among the Corinthians. We're gonna talk about 00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:53.129 this a little bit. He says, because I am different. 00:15:54.129 --> 00:15:57.549 He's a different being, new creation. And therefore 00:15:57.549 --> 00:16:00.230 the ministry is different. Paul, we can say this, 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:03.110 okay. Paul was a reconciler because he had been 00:16:03.110 --> 00:16:09.570 reconciled. First, he was Paul the reconciler. 00:16:10.549 --> 00:16:14.210 If you open up your Bibles with me to the second 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:17.509 Corinthians chapter five, verse 11, it starts 00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:20.250 this way. Therefore, knowing the fear of the 00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:25.490 Lord, we persuade others. We persuade others. 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.399 Okay, Paul was this chief Pharisee, right? He 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:33.059 was a Jewish religious leader. He had been taught 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:35.460 by Gamaliel. He was one of the great teachers 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.919 of his day. So he had the highest credentials. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.799 If there was anyone, he gets into this later, 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:44.600 if there's anyone who could take pride in his 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:48.700 Jewishness and in his being so learned, being 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:52.860 part of the very people of God, take pride and 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:58.460 then look down on others. It was Paul. And yet 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:02.100 what he says here is that he persuades others 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:05.759 for the Lord. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.259 persuade others. Okay, two things stand out here. 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:15.240 Who did he persuade? Well, we know all kinds 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.180 of people, right? But particularly Paul is known 00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:29.349 as the apostle to the Gentiles. Which is to say, 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:33.809 Paul's ministry was centered on those who were 00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:39.670 his enemies. Those who he would have at one time 00:17:39.670 --> 00:17:45.309 disdained, looked down his nose at. His ministry 00:17:45.309 --> 00:17:49.069 was to those who he had formerly considered outside 00:17:49.069 --> 00:17:54.509 of the pale of God's kindness and grace. Paul 00:17:54.509 --> 00:17:58.130 spent his life after that moment of encountering 00:17:58.130 --> 00:18:03.410 Jesus, going from Philippi to Ephesus to Athens 00:18:03.410 --> 00:18:08.309 to Corinth, preaching the good news of the forgiveness 00:18:08.309 --> 00:18:12.230 of sins to the very people that he once thought 00:18:12.230 --> 00:18:16.650 were outside of God's grace. So when he says, 00:18:17.049 --> 00:18:23.470 persuade others, saying that he is the reconciler. 00:18:23.490 --> 00:18:26.450 Paul is acting in this ministry of reconciliation 00:18:26.450 --> 00:18:30.289 as the reconciler. But he also says that he was 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:32.049 doing this knowing the fear of the Lord, which 00:18:32.049 --> 00:18:33.829 in the Bible you have to understand fear is not 00:18:33.829 --> 00:18:37.230 just so much cower, you know, cowering, but fear 00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:41.289 is being in awe of. It's the grandeur of God. 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:46.089 Paul was in awe of a God who had met him when 00:18:46.089 --> 00:18:50.230 he was breathing out hatred for that very God. 00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:55.069 Paul himself, what we should say is this fear 00:18:55.069 --> 00:19:00.150 of God, he was in awe first of the grace of God. 00:19:00.970 --> 00:19:05.210 Paul himself knew that God saves sinners because 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:08.630 he knew that he himself had been a sinner saved 00:19:08.630 --> 00:19:12.269 by God. Paul is a reconciler because he persuades 00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:17.359 others who he had once been at odds with. who 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.539 he had once hated. So right here at the beginning, 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:20.839 when he says he's persuades others, you have 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:22.519 to go, okay, he's talking about reconciliation, 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:26.920 but he's also a reconciler because he desires 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:28.940 reconciliation specifically with the Corinthian 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:30.720 church. This is something we've been seeing actually 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.339 the first four chapters. Part of the intent of 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:35.400 this book of second Corinthians is that Paul 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:37.420 is still over in Troas. Remember he's waiting 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:40.039 for word from Titus and he's wondering how they've 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:42.579 received his former admonitions. And now there's 00:19:42.579 --> 00:19:45.339 these new teachers that have come in and Paul 00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:47.410 sort of estranged from this from this church, 00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:49.710 which he loves. We've been talking about this 00:19:49.710 --> 00:19:54.390 for a little while, but they've been led astray 00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:57.849 specifically by those who were eloquent, by those 00:19:57.849 --> 00:20:01.309 who had the letters of recommendation, by those 00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:03.809 who hadn't gone through the afflictions of Christ 00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:06.930 like Paul has. And in that world, to receive 00:20:06.930 --> 00:20:08.769 all these afflictions like Paul had and to not 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:10.289 have the letters of recommendation, you would 00:20:10.289 --> 00:20:12.009 have not been the ones that anyone would boast 00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:15.160 of. He'd be the one that was pushed aside. So 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:19.500 sort of estranged from the people. And so in 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:24.380 verse 12, he acknowledges that the church there 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:26.619 in Corinth is inclined to boast about these other 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:28.440 leaders and not about him. That's what's going 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:33.279 on with the boasting stuff there. He's also acknowledging 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:35.940 that as far as appearance goes, he's not much 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:41.029 to boast about. Verse 13, he says that he makes 00:20:41.029 --> 00:20:45.450 himself beside himself for God, which interestingly 00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:48.190 the message, Eugene Peterson's translation says, 00:20:48.869 --> 00:20:54.130 I acted a little crazy, but he says not with 00:20:54.130 --> 00:20:58.289 them. And why? Because what he desires is to 00:20:58.289 --> 00:21:00.269 be reconciled with them. He knows that if he's 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:02.470 just going crazy, he's feeling this estrangement 00:21:02.470 --> 00:21:05.089 between him and them. He goes to God and goes, 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:07.819 ah, this is driving me nuts. But he knows if 00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:09.539 he goes to them, they're not going to receive 00:21:09.539 --> 00:21:11.359 that very well. And so he's trying to kind of 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:13.579 win them back. What I'm trying to say here is 00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:15.940 that in this talk about boasting, in this talk 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:18.779 about being crazy and all beside himself, he's 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:21.339 trying to move towards them in reconciliation. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:29.039 OK. Think about this. What is radical about the 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:35.009 Ormans and the Kildares? is that we are so disinclined 00:21:35.009 --> 00:21:38.029 to move towards others when they are moving away 00:21:38.029 --> 00:21:41.750 from us. Or we should say we're disinclined to 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:44.470 get close to those who have their swords drawn, 00:21:44.589 --> 00:21:48.150 right? Isn't this just how we function? I mean, 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:49.410 if somebody is kind of moving away, we're like, 00:21:49.789 --> 00:21:52.230 well, I don't know that it's worth it to move 00:21:52.230 --> 00:21:54.130 towards you. If you've got your swords up, I 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:55.910 don't know that I can move towards you. Or if 00:21:55.910 --> 00:21:58.269 you're so bent on this other teacher, I don't 00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:00.339 know, just go along with them. That's kind of 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:04.099 our human inclination, right? It's hard to pursue. 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:06.960 It's hard to reconcile with others when they 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.779 have their walls up and when they have their 00:22:08.779 --> 00:22:12.940 swords drawn. But that's what Paul is doing right 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:16.779 here. He is living out this ministry of reconciliation 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.660 with this church that is estranged from him. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:26.799 So we see Paul as a reconciler in his ministry 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:31.089 through who he persuades, right? Others specifically 00:22:31.089 --> 00:22:34.490 the Gentiles who he was once at odds with But 00:22:34.490 --> 00:22:36.769 also what we see is that he's living this ministry 00:22:36.769 --> 00:22:39.049 of reconciliation as the reconciler and how he 00:22:39.049 --> 00:22:41.910 persuades right here in this text He's seeking 00:22:41.910 --> 00:22:44.970 to actually bring close those who are far off 00:22:44.970 --> 00:22:51.990 from him relationally We also see Paul as a reconciler 00:22:51.990 --> 00:22:56.369 in his ministry Because of what his ministry 00:22:56.369 --> 00:23:00.019 has concluded so we see it in the who? Right? 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:02.460 The Gentiles who see it in the how, even in his 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:04.839 writing right here, he's seeking to bring that 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:06.660 which is far off this Corinthian church near 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:10.960 to him, but also in the what that he has concluded 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.599 by his ministry. And that's this. Christ has 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:21.539 died for all. Well, for the love of Christ controls 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:24.700 us because we've concluded this. that one has 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:26.640 died for all, therefore all have died, and he 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:30.579 died for all that those who live might no longer 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:33.279 live for themselves, but for him who for their 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:40.400 sake died and was raised. So here's a question 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:44.980 I have. How do you press into the life, into 00:23:44.980 --> 00:23:48.059 life with another when you think that other person 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:52.130 is too far gone? You know what I mean by that? 00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:55.990 Like, if you think there's no hope of having 00:23:55.990 --> 00:23:58.470 a real relationship with this person, are you 00:23:58.470 --> 00:24:02.730 going to put any effort into that? No, you're 00:24:02.730 --> 00:24:07.650 not. Okay. How do you go to another who you're 00:24:07.650 --> 00:24:10.970 at odds with when you really think the relationship 00:24:10.970 --> 00:24:16.210 is utterly dead? There is zero hope of that relationship. 00:24:16.250 --> 00:24:19.470 You're not going to go after that person. I think 00:24:19.470 --> 00:24:21.549 if we really come to the point where we think 00:24:21.549 --> 00:24:24.349 there is no hope in a relationship, we'll just 00:24:24.349 --> 00:24:28.150 divorce the relationship, right? Utterly cut 00:24:28.150 --> 00:24:33.490 ties, sever all ties with that person. But Paul 00:24:33.490 --> 00:24:38.390 says here that he has this ministry of reconciliation 00:24:38.390 --> 00:24:44.849 because he's concluded that there's nobody that's 00:24:44.849 --> 00:24:49.940 beyond the pale. There's not one relationship 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:53.799 that you have in this life that doesn't have 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.420 the possibility of being mended and made lovely. 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:02.380 Not one. So the love of Christ controls him. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:06.019 And the love of Christ shows, what does the love 00:25:06.019 --> 00:25:11.500 of Christ show? Nobody is outside the possibility 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:16.539 of God's love utterly changing them. No one. 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:22.859 No sin is so great that Christ cannot conquer 00:25:22.859 --> 00:25:25.660 that, that Christ's righteousness cannot cover 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:29.940 that. There's no sin that pushes you so far away 00:25:29.940 --> 00:25:31.920 from the Lord that what Christ did on the cross 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:39.240 cannot bring you close. Think about this. Think 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:44.339 again about the book of Acts. So Paul might be 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:48.049 thinking back on his life. And as he does this, 00:25:48.069 --> 00:25:50.809 he thinks about how radical God's grace is and 00:25:50.809 --> 00:25:53.569 how variant it is in terms of who he calls to 00:25:53.569 --> 00:25:56.049 himself. So you think back on Acts and there 00:25:56.049 --> 00:25:58.990 at that first Pentecost, 3 ,000 people give their 00:25:58.990 --> 00:26:02.730 lives to Christ. And those were devout Jews. 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:05.950 They were there at Pentecost because Pentecost 00:26:05.950 --> 00:26:08.029 was the day when you celebrated the law being 00:26:08.029 --> 00:26:11.569 given there on Mount Sinai, right? 50 days after 00:26:11.569 --> 00:26:13.769 God's people had been brought out from slavery 00:26:13.769 --> 00:26:17.259 in Egypt at Passover. So 50 days after Easter, 00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.279 there are all these devout Jews there in Jerusalem 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:20.859 and they're hearing this message and they were 00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:24.000 devout. They wouldn't believe in this idea that 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.759 God would take on flesh and die on a tree. And 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:29.539 yet 3000 of them that day gave their life to 00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:34.240 following Jesus. Fast forward Acts chapter eight, 00:26:34.660 --> 00:26:37.920 Simon from Samaria, who's known as Simon the 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:43.529 sorcerer. He finds out what What happens when 00:26:43.529 --> 00:26:45.569 the Holy Spirit descends on somebody and he's 00:26:45.569 --> 00:26:48.069 a sorcerer and he's like, man, if I could get 00:26:48.069 --> 00:26:51.170 some of that power, I could also get some money 00:26:51.170 --> 00:26:57.549 wanting to use God, like the televangelist before 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:02.269 televangelist. And the Holy Spirit does grab 00:27:02.269 --> 00:27:09.430 on him and his life's changed. Repents, receives 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:12.579 the reconciling work of God through Christ. Think 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:15.500 about that same chapter. That's the next little 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:22.220 story. Ethiopian eunuch. Man who is high up in 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:27.160 the court of Candice, Queen of Ethiopia. Somebody 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:31.759 with a great deal of power. And there, seemingly 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:36.299 in an instant, along the road, Philip shares 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:40.359 with him about Christ and his life dramatically 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:44.609 changed. believes and is baptized. Think of Acts 00:27:44.609 --> 00:27:49.650 chapter 10. Cornelius is called a Roman centurion, 00:27:50.009 --> 00:27:53.890 a leader in the Roman army. Think of Lydia, fabulously 00:27:53.890 --> 00:27:59.230 wealthy, a merchant in purple. Almost everybody 00:27:59.230 --> 00:28:00.849 believes, right, that the early church would 00:28:00.849 --> 00:28:05.029 have been largely founded by her means. Fabulously 00:28:05.029 --> 00:28:09.910 wealthy woman. Gives her life to Jesus. Think 00:28:09.910 --> 00:28:12.539 there also, and Philippi. Who else gives their 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:18.920 life to Jesus? A jailer. Y 'all, nobody. I mean, 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.279 Paul's saying, you know, we are estranged, and 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:28.700 yet I know that Christ dies for all. There's 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:30.799 nobody that's outside of the pale. You are never 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:32.839 so far away from God that the work of Christ 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:40.240 cannot bring you close. Ever. You can think back 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:43.440 of his own ministry. Think how variant all these 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:48.099 people were. What Paul's ministry had concluded 00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:50.299 was that one has died for all, therefore all 00:28:50.299 --> 00:28:53.000 have died. And he died, those who live might 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:56.779 no longer live for themselves. But for him who 00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:00.299 died, who for their sake died and was raised. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:05.279 There's no one, no one at all outside the possibility 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:10.119 of the reconciling work of God. Which first you 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:16.119 need to hear you are not I know sometimes it 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:21.460 is we think we are so defined By the ways we've 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:22.960 sinned by the ways that others have sinned against 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:29.660 us that marks us No, you can change it's on offer 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:32.660 for you, but also what you need to hear is that 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:35.500 others can change I mean, Paul is inviting this 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:37.720 community into this life of reconciliation with 00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:40.700 himself and with others. And if you can remember 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:43.700 back to 1 Corinthians, you know, this is the 00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:49.900 divided church in the New Testament. And your 00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:52.779 brother and your sister are never so far gone 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:59.759 that reconciliation is not on the table. Your 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:01.839 greatest, your most heinous sin, your rebellion 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:05.140 against God does not mean you're outside of the 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:11.519 scope of God's reconciling work. Now, here's 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:13.660 an interesting thing is that I think for a lot 00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:17.480 of us in our day, we actually have more of an 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:19.539 inflated view of self than a diminished view 00:30:19.539 --> 00:30:23.539 of self, right? There's some communities that 00:30:23.539 --> 00:30:26.140 say, oh, there's no way God could save me. And 00:30:26.140 --> 00:30:28.259 in our world, for the most part, we're like, 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.460 well, we're doing all right. So let me share 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:33.660 with you a few statistics I read about a report. 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:36.680 90 % of American business managers rate their 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:41.559 performance as superior. 86 % of employees rate 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:45.920 themselves better than average. Among divorced 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:49.099 couples, 90 % insist the breakup was their spouse's 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:55.589 fault. 89 % can't be above average. It just doesn't 00:30:55.589 --> 00:31:00.970 really work that way. We have an unrealistically 00:31:00.970 --> 00:31:04.470 high view of ourselves. But on the other hand, 00:31:04.470 --> 00:31:06.490 that means that we also have an unrealistically 00:31:06.490 --> 00:31:09.829 low view often of our neighbor. There's no way 00:31:09.829 --> 00:31:12.730 that God could be at work in them. There's no 00:31:12.730 --> 00:31:20.599 way that we could be reconciled to them. But 00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:22.420 here's the truth, y 'all. We don't love our neighbors 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:28.839 as ourselves. That's the second, you know, the 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:31.920 commandment there. There's no way that we do 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:35.819 that. None of us remotely lives up to God's calling 00:31:35.819 --> 00:31:39.460 on our lives. We don't love God as we ought to. 00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:46.119 No way. Not even close. We are committing transgressions 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:49.299 against the Lord sins against the true God all 00:31:49.299 --> 00:31:56.119 the time Let's do a couple other statistics 86 00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:01.420 % of Americans admit to lying to their parents 00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:08.380 75 % of lying to a friend 73 % of lying to a 00:32:08.380 --> 00:32:18.559 lover Only 11 % say that lying produced any serious 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:24.059 level of guilt or embarrassment. 74 % say they 00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:30.220 will steal if they can get away with it. Who 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:32.680 are we kidding? We have an inflated view of self 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:41.220 and yet sin just pervades. And yet no one is 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:44.940 outside of the pale. of God's redeeming, reconciling 00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:48.819 grace, not one of you and not one of your neighbor. 00:32:53.019 --> 00:32:56.359 This little paragraph gives us insight into Paul's 00:32:56.359 --> 00:33:00.200 ministry of reconciliation, like who he pursued, 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:03.400 how he pursued, what he concluded in these pursuits, 00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:06.339 right? That nobody's outside the possibility 00:33:06.339 --> 00:33:09.359 of God's grace, which means he can't treat people 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:11.599 like he once did. You can't treat people like 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:15.150 you once did. You can't dismiss somebody as not 00:33:15.150 --> 00:33:18.730 having the possibility of change, as having the 00:33:18.730 --> 00:33:22.130 possibility of revolutionized transformation. 00:33:23.710 --> 00:33:26.069 You can't regard what Paul says. We can't regard 00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:29.029 anybody according to the flesh anymore. That's 00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:31.789 what he's saying. We once regarded Christ according 00:33:31.789 --> 00:33:35.630 to the flesh and he rose from the dead. The world 00:33:35.630 --> 00:33:39.670 doesn't work as we thought it did. God changes 00:33:39.670 --> 00:33:45.450 us. Why is this? Why does Paul have this ministry 00:33:45.450 --> 00:33:49.950 of reconciliation? Okay. Paul was a reconciler 00:33:49.950 --> 00:33:52.450 because first and foremost, he is one who had 00:33:52.450 --> 00:33:56.690 been reconciled. Again, if you think with me, 00:33:56.730 --> 00:33:59.309 some of you know, some of you were probably being 00:33:59.309 --> 00:34:02.250 attentive. And when I said that Paul was first 00:34:02.250 --> 00:34:04.589 mentioned in Acts chapter seven, and then I read 00:34:04.589 --> 00:34:08.030 Paul, you were like, why is he misquoting that? 00:34:09.349 --> 00:34:11.230 Because Paul's not mentioned there, is he? Who's 00:34:11.230 --> 00:34:14.969 mentioned there in chapter seven? Paul. Yeah. 00:34:15.610 --> 00:34:18.769 Saul was mentioned there. But that's his old 00:34:18.769 --> 00:34:23.030 name. The name that he bared no more. Because 00:34:23.030 --> 00:34:26.869 why? Paul was a new creation. The old, even in 00:34:26.869 --> 00:34:31.650 his name, was gone. The old, the news come. Paul 00:34:31.650 --> 00:34:36.309 was a reconciler because he had been reconciled. 00:34:37.150 --> 00:34:39.329 Paul could declare that if anyone is in Christ, 00:34:39.349 --> 00:34:43.449 he's a new creation because he himself knew that 00:34:43.449 --> 00:34:47.469 He's a new creation. He's totally new. That old 00:34:47.469 --> 00:34:53.650 guy's gone. Behold, news come. He can say this, 00:34:53.690 --> 00:34:55.630 from now on, therefore, we regard no one according 00:34:55.630 --> 00:34:57.449 to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ 00:34:57.449 --> 00:34:59.369 according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no 00:34:59.369 --> 00:35:01.949 longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He's 00:35:01.949 --> 00:35:07.030 a new creation. Old, it's passed away. I think 00:35:07.030 --> 00:35:09.829 that's for me. Behold, the news come for me. 00:35:09.989 --> 00:35:12.250 And all this is from God. who through Christ 00:35:12.250 --> 00:35:15.110 reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry 00:35:15.110 --> 00:35:16.849 of reconciliation. See, he's not just saying 00:35:16.849 --> 00:35:19.150 it's out there. He's saying it's changed me. 00:35:19.170 --> 00:35:25.750 I am new. For our sake. Therefore, we are ambassadors. 00:35:27.949 --> 00:35:38.090 Personalized reality. Sorry, I think I'm confused 00:35:38.090 --> 00:35:43.659 with where I'm at now. Brothers and sisters, 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:49.000 here through this second paragraph, Paul can 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:56.059 say, it is us. We, we implore you. We have been 00:35:56.059 --> 00:35:59.139 reconciled. We are ambassadors, God making his 00:35:59.139 --> 00:36:03.179 appeal through us. For our sake, he made him 00:36:03.179 --> 00:36:07.159 to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we 00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:11.190 might become the righteousness of God. See, there's 00:36:11.190 --> 00:36:14.190 something deeply lovely about a true reconciliation, 00:36:14.449 --> 00:36:16.989 about a true hope that says nobody is outside 00:36:16.989 --> 00:36:19.969 the pale of God's grace. But Paul is saying that 00:36:19.969 --> 00:36:23.869 first and foremost because he has received this 00:36:23.869 --> 00:36:29.989 reconciliation. He who once knew sin has become 00:36:29.989 --> 00:36:33.289 the righteousness of God because Christ who knew 00:36:33.289 --> 00:36:36.809 no sin became sin that Paul might become the 00:36:36.809 --> 00:36:40.849 righteousness of God. Here's what Paul's saying. 00:36:41.070 --> 00:36:44.130 If you want to have energy, if you want to have 00:36:44.130 --> 00:36:52.969 a hope beyond what is fleshly possible, that 00:36:52.969 --> 00:36:55.789 your relationships, that your lives can actually 00:36:55.789 --> 00:36:59.170 change, that the people that you once thought 00:36:59.170 --> 00:37:01.409 were so far off and beyond the pale could actually 00:37:01.409 --> 00:37:03.170 have new life, that you could have a different 00:37:03.170 --> 00:37:05.369 relationship with them. If you want to have this 00:37:05.369 --> 00:37:08.489 kind of deep abiding hope, what Paul says is 00:37:08.539 --> 00:37:14.860 be reconciled to God. That our greatest need 00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:20.980 is to know our greatest need. That we first need 00:37:20.980 --> 00:37:25.699 a Savior. That our sin first needs to be dealt 00:37:25.699 --> 00:37:30.340 with. That we need to be reconciled. Brothers 00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:35.300 and sisters, if you want to have, you want a 00:37:35.300 --> 00:37:41.530 new life. You want something that redefines you. 00:37:42.250 --> 00:37:49.110 What Paul says is, be reconciled to God. Look 00:37:49.110 --> 00:37:54.429 your sin square in the face and then cast it 00:37:54.429 --> 00:37:59.130 on the cross. Be done with it. See, that was 00:37:59.130 --> 00:38:01.829 once a fleshly way of living. That was the old 00:38:01.829 --> 00:38:07.130 man. And in Christ, I have a new hope. a new 00:38:07.130 --> 00:38:10.429 life. What Paul is saying to the Second Corinthians 00:38:10.429 --> 00:38:15.630 Church is we are, we're far off here, but we 00:38:15.630 --> 00:38:22.090 are not beyond the scope of God's grace. In order 00:38:22.090 --> 00:38:25.329 to understand this scope of God's grace, we must 00:38:25.329 --> 00:38:28.650 know that our sin was taken upon Christ on the 00:38:28.650 --> 00:38:31.690 cross and he gives us this very righteousness. 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:34.789 Let me end there, brothers and sisters, with 00:38:34.789 --> 00:38:41.380 this word. I say I instead of we, I implore you 00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:47.380 on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Let 00:38:47.380 --> 00:38:52.159 me pray for us. Lord, I think of these stories 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:55.599 of Tasker, I think of these stories of utter 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.420 transformation, but we can hear Paul's own story 00:38:59.420 --> 00:39:05.199 in this text. Considering others according to 00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:07.760 the flesh, but no longer once living according 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:09.960 to the old man and now according to the new once 00:39:09.960 --> 00:39:14.400 an old creation and now a new creation God would 00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:18.920 we Know your reconciling work would we know that 00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:24.079 sin as strangers? sin creates distant Distance, 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:28.500 but the cross because it deals with sin draws 00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:34.679 us near to you and to one another Reconciling 00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:38.940 God. Make us, like you did to Paul long ago, 00:39:39.139 --> 00:39:43.519 ministers of reconciliation. May we enter into 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:45.380 relationships with one another. May we enter 00:39:45.380 --> 00:39:49.159 into evangelistic conversations with hope, knowing 00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:53.400 that people can radically change, that we don't 00:39:53.400 --> 00:39:59.519 have to be defined by our sin anymore. He who 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:03.170 knew no sin became sin. that it doesn't have 00:40:03.170 --> 00:40:06.929 to define us anymore, but that what defines us 00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:11.329 is the righteousness of God given to us through 00:40:11.329 --> 00:40:15.070 the work of Christ. In His name we pray this. 00:40:15.570 --> 00:40:19.110 Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City 00:40:19.110 --> 00:40:22.010 Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged 00:40:22.010 --> 00:40:24.170 you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel 00:40:24.170 --> 00:40:26.869 of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this 00:40:26.869 --> 00:40:29.630 podcast and joining us in person each Sunday 00:40:29.630 --> 00:40:33.010 at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch 00:40:33.010 --> 00:40:36.090 .org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 00:40:36.469 --> 00:40:38.489 Thanks again for listening. God bless.