Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,
a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.
This fall, we're studying the book of Second
Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt
and practical book calling us back to the life
of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often
pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering,
hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel
of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after
a cross. comfort comes after being crushed, that
the way up is the way down, that the way to glory
is through suffering, that his strength is made
perfect in our weakness. We'd love to meet you
and we hope you'll consider coming and joining
with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. in the
heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find us
online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this
sermon. God bless. Lord, thank you for the wonder
that is this passage, but even more what it speaks
of. God, you and Christ, we're reconciling world
to yourself, not counting our sins against us.
You're the great lover who pursues the runaway.
Our estrangement that our sin has created distance
Distance is no obstacle to your love. Great reconciler.
God, I pray that our hearts would be warm towards
yours this morning. God, bless now the preaching
of your word. Bless the words of my mouth and
the meditations of all of our hearts. May they
be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and
our Redeemer. Amen. All right. There are some
events in our lives that radically change us,
that define who we are, and they define what
we are about. They make such a shift that in
some ways we are new people. Of course, this
doesn't happen a lot, going from one way of being
in the world into a new way of being in the world.
But you can think of some of those. Marriage.
in a very real way, you come in two people, the
Bible says, and you leave one. We change names
and things like that, but according to the Bible,
there's actually a more radical change that's
taking place. Coming in singular, going out,
coming in plural, going out singular, it's a
redefining kind of thing. I mentioned last week,
the young man who has mentors and parents and
teachers encouraging him to wake up a little
earlier. to apply for certain jobs and all of
a sudden so -and -so comes into his life and
he has all of the energy he ever needed to get
all that stuff done. Think of having a child.
Your time and your money and all that seemed
to be yours. To do it as you pleased. Moments
later, a birth later, no more. In 1492, that
famous year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue,
there were two prominent Irish families, the
Ormans and the Kildares. They were both earls
of rulers and they were in the middle of this
feud. Fitzgerald had besieged, Fitzgerald was
the Earl of Kildare and he had besieged Butler,
the Earl of Ormand. And Butler actually took
refuge in that famous church in Dublin, St. Patrick's
Cathedral, which is the main cathedral in the
Church of Ireland. And what they did is they
actually bolted themselves in for fear of the
Earl of Kildare. Well, as this siege went on,
the Earl of Kildare came to this conclusion that
this is a foolish feud. Two families worshiping
the same God, worshiping in the same church,
in St. Patrick's itself, and they're literally
trying to kill each other. So he called out,
there's actually an inscription there at St.
Patrick's to this day, undertook on his honor
that he should receive no villainy. Spelt V I
L L A N I E it's old. So he's saying I'm not
gonna do this on my honor I'm not going to come
after you not gonna Go after villainy of course
Ormond what happens when somebody's out to get
you and they say I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna
harm you Like yeah, right. I'll think so. So
he's not so sure and he's afraid of this treachery
and so So he doesn't respond he's inside st.
Patrick's and kill there the story goes he seizes
his spear and he actually cuts in the door a
window inside this door Into the great Cathedral
of st. Patrick's. Well, I should say it's the
chapter house. So it wasn't like the main door
there and He thrusts his hand through rust his
hand through this hole that he he cuts open and
it's grasped on the other side by the Earl of
Ormond. It's this great sort of picture of this
reconciliation that's coming to realize how foolish
sin is. It's actually where we get the phrase,
chancing one's arm, this gesture of will it be
received. At that moment though, in that act,
of moving out towards, these families were entirely
changed. Just in that moment, that act of reconciliation,
lives were changed. Let me tell you of another
story that radically changed somebody. One of
the great New Testament scholars of the mid 20th
century was a scholar named R .V. G. Tasker.
He said this, man's greatest need is to know
man's greatest need. Man's greatest need is to
know man's greatest need. Tasker was a professor
of New Testament at the University of London,
and he was on the committee that translated one
of the great New Testament or the Bibles. He
was over the New Testament part of the 20th century,
the New English Bible. He was one of the great
recognized authorities in the mid century in
England of the New Testament. He wrote one of
the more well -known commentaries on the Gospel
of John. Anyway, he would later come to say that
even while he was doing this, he had no regard
for Christ. Very sort of interested in Christ
in a worldly way, but little regard for Christ
as his savior. He was actually an Anglican minister.
And he went on to talk to his friend about how
his sermons themselves had no real regard for
Christ as Savior. He didn't believe his greatest
need was to know his greatest need early on in
his ministry. He didn't believe himself to be
in need of a new creation, a new heart, the forgiveness
of sins, all that stuff. He didn't believe he
was alienated from God. How passe all that was.
He didn't believe he was doomed apart from Christ's
reconciling work. He didn't believe he was estranged
from God because of his sin. And then one night
he actually went sort of out of interest to the
Christian Union, which was kind of like a inner
varsity or RUF there at the University of London,
because there was a famous preacher that was
going to give the message that night. It was
the preacher Martin Lloyd Jones. Some of you
know that name. He was a great preacher in London
in really a while in the mid century. Anyway,
he went to hear Martin Lloyd -Jones, and he said
that his life that night was, quote, revolutionized
by the address. Revolutionized. He was changed.
Literally, as though it was sort of an overnight
thing. That moment, hearing that message, changed
his life. He came to see himself as a sinner,
as distant from God, in need of grace. as someone
actually ruined by sin, made new and part of
the new creation, said his greatest need was
to know his greatest need. And here's something
interesting. Well, much of the faculty there
at the University of London were his buddies
and were sort of in the same camp he was in.
And they ostracized him for this. So many of
his academic colleagues became his critics. How
could this educated man buy into such dated ideas?
But it changed him. Overnight it changed him.
It came to define him. Give new purpose to his
life. He was brought near to God by grace that
night. He also actually ended up losing his position
there at the University of London. He was ostracized
academically, proclaiming this sort of new reality
of faith and sin and the cross. Paul knew this
reality, of course, Paul the apostle. He knew
how foolish and oftentimes offensive and sometimes
it was considered uneducated, not something to
boast about, the gospel of Jesus was. Paul knew
how getting the good news of the reconciling
gospel of Christ sometimes puts you outside.
It changes us and yet it sometimes makes people
look askance at you. Paul knew that there was
nothing out of date about sin or God's grace
or Christ's sacrifice. And so he keeps applying
it all the time in his letters, right? Think
about Paul's story. The first time Paul is mentioned
is at the end of chapter seven in the book of
Acts. Chapter seven tells us about how Stephen,
who was a leader in the early church there, he's
being stoned to death because it says he was
full of grace and power, but the leaders there
in the early church didn't want anything of it
because he was preaching this reality of what
God had done in Christ, the need for repentance
and new life and faith. They claimed that he
was blaspheming because he was saying Jesus is
Lord. He was grabbed, you might know this story,
and brought out from out of the city. And he
was there stoned. And there is a religious leader
standing there collecting the garments of those
who are stoning Stephen. And it says there that
that was Paul. That's the first time he's mentioned.
He's a chief. He's a leader. He's a leader against
the way of Jesus seeking their harm. The next
chapter actually right away almost begins again
telling us the story of Paul. There it says,
he approved of his, that's Stephen's execution.
That's the first, just the beginning of the next
chapter. And then it mentions that he was ravaging
the church and entering house after house. He
dragged off men and women and committed them
to prison. You know that story. Maybe you also
know that that is how Paul's life was defined
in that moment. How he could harm the church
of Christ. How much he disdained this idea that
God himself would come down and die on a cross
and that he would offer this lavish forgiveness
to sinners. How much he disdained that and yet
it all changed. Acts 9, the next chapter, the
very beginning of Acts 9, it tells us that he
was breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord. I imagine just somebody
that's so angry that, you know, that vein starts
to bulge. Can't stand this idea of Christ and
his followers. And so he asks the leaders there
if he can go to Damascus. and find those who
devoted themselves to the way of Jesus and bind
them and bring them back to Jerusalem and put
them on trial and have the same sentence that
Stephen got. And there on the road, there on
the road in a moment, Jesus meets him and his
life is utterly changed. Walking one way and
all of a sudden he is a new man. Jesus blinds
him. He actually says, why are you persecuting
me? There's such a union between Christ and his
church there in that passage. He says, why are
you persecuting me? When he persecutes the church,
Jesus blinds him. He tells him to go to the very
people that he hates to receive his sight. But
in that moment, he comes to see his sin and he
has reconciliation. with God in Christ. The very,
the very thing that he most hated, the very thing
that he would say he's farthest from, he's brought
near to. He's given peace and new life. Utterly
changed. We're in this second half of Second
Corinthians chapter five, and some, some believe
that this is the the most comprehensive statement
about the work of Christ in Paul's writing. It's
certainly, like I said earlier, this is one of
those passages that I hope you know well. The
great statement of Christ's death in Paul's writing.
But Paul is saying in part that Christ's work
changed him, radically changed him. And he's
also saying the same thing can happen to you.
As the Ormans and the Kildares, they were changed
in a moment of reconciliation and their lives
and their families' lives and their community
life was changed, you can be too. As Tasker was
changed in a moment by hearing and seeing his
need for Christ utterly changed, you can be too.
As Paul went from being so estranged from God
and at enmity with so many others, and yet changed,
you can be too. Receiving the new creation, the
reconciling work of God. Paul's ministry was
different, different than the other people there
among the Corinthians. We're gonna talk about
this a little bit. He says, because I am different.
He's a different being, new creation. And therefore
the ministry is different. Paul, we can say this,
okay. Paul was a reconciler because he had been
reconciled. First, he was Paul the reconciler.
If you open up your Bibles with me to the second
Corinthians chapter five, verse 11, it starts
this way. Therefore, knowing the fear of the
Lord, we persuade others. We persuade others.
Okay, Paul was this chief Pharisee, right? He
was a Jewish religious leader. He had been taught
by Gamaliel. He was one of the great teachers
of his day. So he had the highest credentials.
If there was anyone, he gets into this later,
if there's anyone who could take pride in his
Jewishness and in his being so learned, being
part of the very people of God, take pride and
then look down on others. It was Paul. And yet
what he says here is that he persuades others
for the Lord. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we
persuade others. Okay, two things stand out here.
Who did he persuade? Well, we know all kinds
of people, right? But particularly Paul is known
as the apostle to the Gentiles. Which is to say,
Paul's ministry was centered on those who were
his enemies. Those who he would have at one time
disdained, looked down his nose at. His ministry
was to those who he had formerly considered outside
of the pale of God's kindness and grace. Paul
spent his life after that moment of encountering
Jesus, going from Philippi to Ephesus to Athens
to Corinth, preaching the good news of the forgiveness
of sins to the very people that he once thought
were outside of God's grace. So when he says,
persuade others, saying that he is the reconciler.
Paul is acting in this ministry of reconciliation
as the reconciler. But he also says that he was
doing this knowing the fear of the Lord, which
in the Bible you have to understand fear is not
just so much cower, you know, cowering, but fear
is being in awe of. It's the grandeur of God.
Paul was in awe of a God who had met him when
he was breathing out hatred for that very God.
Paul himself, what we should say is this fear
of God, he was in awe first of the grace of God.
Paul himself knew that God saves sinners because
he knew that he himself had been a sinner saved
by God. Paul is a reconciler because he persuades
others who he had once been at odds with. who
he had once hated. So right here at the beginning,
when he says he's persuades others, you have
to go, okay, he's talking about reconciliation,
but he's also a reconciler because he desires
reconciliation specifically with the Corinthian
church. This is something we've been seeing actually
the first four chapters. Part of the intent of
this book of second Corinthians is that Paul
is still over in Troas. Remember he's waiting
for word from Titus and he's wondering how they've
received his former admonitions. And now there's
these new teachers that have come in and Paul
sort of estranged from this from this church,
which he loves. We've been talking about this
for a little while, but they've been led astray
specifically by those who were eloquent, by those
who had the letters of recommendation, by those
who hadn't gone through the afflictions of Christ
like Paul has. And in that world, to receive
all these afflictions like Paul had and to not
have the letters of recommendation, you would
have not been the ones that anyone would boast
of. He'd be the one that was pushed aside. So
sort of estranged from the people. And so in
verse 12, he acknowledges that the church there
in Corinth is inclined to boast about these other
leaders and not about him. That's what's going
on with the boasting stuff there. He's also acknowledging
that as far as appearance goes, he's not much
to boast about. Verse 13, he says that he makes
himself beside himself for God, which interestingly
the message, Eugene Peterson's translation says,
I acted a little crazy, but he says not with
them. And why? Because what he desires is to
be reconciled with them. He knows that if he's
just going crazy, he's feeling this estrangement
between him and them. He goes to God and goes,
ah, this is driving me nuts. But he knows if
he goes to them, they're not going to receive
that very well. And so he's trying to kind of
win them back. What I'm trying to say here is
that in this talk about boasting, in this talk
about being crazy and all beside himself, he's
trying to move towards them in reconciliation.
OK. Think about this. What is radical about the
Ormans and the Kildares? is that we are so disinclined
to move towards others when they are moving away
from us. Or we should say we're disinclined to
get close to those who have their swords drawn,
right? Isn't this just how we function? I mean,
if somebody is kind of moving away, we're like,
well, I don't know that it's worth it to move
towards you. If you've got your swords up, I
don't know that I can move towards you. Or if
you're so bent on this other teacher, I don't
know, just go along with them. That's kind of
our human inclination, right? It's hard to pursue.
It's hard to reconcile with others when they
have their walls up and when they have their
swords drawn. But that's what Paul is doing right
here. He is living out this ministry of reconciliation
with this church that is estranged from him.
So we see Paul as a reconciler in his ministry
through who he persuades, right? Others specifically
the Gentiles who he was once at odds with But
also what we see is that he's living this ministry
of reconciliation as the reconciler and how he
persuades right here in this text He's seeking
to actually bring close those who are far off
from him relationally We also see Paul as a reconciler
in his ministry Because of what his ministry
has concluded so we see it in the who? Right?
The Gentiles who see it in the how, even in his
writing right here, he's seeking to bring that
which is far off this Corinthian church near
to him, but also in the what that he has concluded
by his ministry. And that's this. Christ has
died for all. Well, for the love of Christ controls
us because we've concluded this. that one has
died for all, therefore all have died, and he
died for all that those who live might no longer
live for themselves, but for him who for their
sake died and was raised. So here's a question
I have. How do you press into the life, into
life with another when you think that other person
is too far gone? You know what I mean by that?
Like, if you think there's no hope of having
a real relationship with this person, are you
going to put any effort into that? No, you're
not. Okay. How do you go to another who you're
at odds with when you really think the relationship
is utterly dead? There is zero hope of that relationship.
You're not going to go after that person. I think
if we really come to the point where we think
there is no hope in a relationship, we'll just
divorce the relationship, right? Utterly cut
ties, sever all ties with that person. But Paul
says here that he has this ministry of reconciliation
because he's concluded that there's nobody that's
beyond the pale. There's not one relationship
that you have in this life that doesn't have
the possibility of being mended and made lovely.
Not one. So the love of Christ controls him.
And the love of Christ shows, what does the love
of Christ show? Nobody is outside the possibility
of God's love utterly changing them. No one.
No sin is so great that Christ cannot conquer
that, that Christ's righteousness cannot cover
that. There's no sin that pushes you so far away
from the Lord that what Christ did on the cross
cannot bring you close. Think about this. Think
again about the book of Acts. So Paul might be
thinking back on his life. And as he does this,
he thinks about how radical God's grace is and
how variant it is in terms of who he calls to
himself. So you think back on Acts and there
at that first Pentecost, 3 ,000 people give their
lives to Christ. And those were devout Jews.
They were there at Pentecost because Pentecost
was the day when you celebrated the law being
given there on Mount Sinai, right? 50 days after
God's people had been brought out from slavery
in Egypt at Passover. So 50 days after Easter,
there are all these devout Jews there in Jerusalem
and they're hearing this message and they were
devout. They wouldn't believe in this idea that
God would take on flesh and die on a tree. And
yet 3000 of them that day gave their life to
following Jesus. Fast forward Acts chapter eight,
Simon from Samaria, who's known as Simon the
sorcerer. He finds out what What happens when
the Holy Spirit descends on somebody and he's
a sorcerer and he's like, man, if I could get
some of that power, I could also get some money
wanting to use God, like the televangelist before
televangelist. And the Holy Spirit does grab
on him and his life's changed. Repents, receives
the reconciling work of God through Christ. Think
about that same chapter. That's the next little
story. Ethiopian eunuch. Man who is high up in
the court of Candice, Queen of Ethiopia. Somebody
with a great deal of power. And there, seemingly
in an instant, along the road, Philip shares
with him about Christ and his life dramatically
changed. believes and is baptized. Think of Acts
chapter 10. Cornelius is called a Roman centurion,
a leader in the Roman army. Think of Lydia, fabulously
wealthy, a merchant in purple. Almost everybody
believes, right, that the early church would
have been largely founded by her means. Fabulously
wealthy woman. Gives her life to Jesus. Think
there also, and Philippi. Who else gives their
life to Jesus? A jailer. Y 'all, nobody. I mean,
Paul's saying, you know, we are estranged, and
yet I know that Christ dies for all. There's
nobody that's outside of the pale. You are never
so far away from God that the work of Christ
cannot bring you close. Ever. You can think back
of his own ministry. Think how variant all these
people were. What Paul's ministry had concluded
was that one has died for all, therefore all
have died. And he died, those who live might
no longer live for themselves. But for him who
died, who for their sake died and was raised.
There's no one, no one at all outside the possibility
of the reconciling work of God. Which first you
need to hear you are not I know sometimes it
is we think we are so defined By the ways we've
sinned by the ways that others have sinned against
us that marks us No, you can change it's on offer
for you, but also what you need to hear is that
others can change I mean, Paul is inviting this
community into this life of reconciliation with
himself and with others. And if you can remember
back to 1 Corinthians, you know, this is the
divided church in the New Testament. And your
brother and your sister are never so far gone
that reconciliation is not on the table. Your
greatest, your most heinous sin, your rebellion
against God does not mean you're outside of the
scope of God's reconciling work. Now, here's
an interesting thing is that I think for a lot
of us in our day, we actually have more of an
inflated view of self than a diminished view
of self, right? There's some communities that
say, oh, there's no way God could save me. And
in our world, for the most part, we're like,
well, we're doing all right. So let me share
with you a few statistics I read about a report.
90 % of American business managers rate their
performance as superior. 86 % of employees rate
themselves better than average. Among divorced
couples, 90 % insist the breakup was their spouse's
fault. 89 % can't be above average. It just doesn't
really work that way. We have an unrealistically
high view of ourselves. But on the other hand,
that means that we also have an unrealistically
low view often of our neighbor. There's no way
that God could be at work in them. There's no
way that we could be reconciled to them. But
here's the truth, y 'all. We don't love our neighbors
as ourselves. That's the second, you know, the
commandment there. There's no way that we do
that. None of us remotely lives up to God's calling
on our lives. We don't love God as we ought to.
No way. Not even close. We are committing transgressions
against the Lord sins against the true God all
the time Let's do a couple other statistics 86
% of Americans admit to lying to their parents
75 % of lying to a friend 73 % of lying to a
lover Only 11 % say that lying produced any serious
level of guilt or embarrassment. 74 % say they
will steal if they can get away with it. Who
are we kidding? We have an inflated view of self
and yet sin just pervades. And yet no one is
outside of the pale. of God's redeeming, reconciling
grace, not one of you and not one of your neighbor.
This little paragraph gives us insight into Paul's
ministry of reconciliation, like who he pursued,
how he pursued, what he concluded in these pursuits,
right? That nobody's outside the possibility
of God's grace, which means he can't treat people
like he once did. You can't treat people like
you once did. You can't dismiss somebody as not
having the possibility of change, as having the
possibility of revolutionized transformation.
You can't regard what Paul says. We can't regard
anybody according to the flesh anymore. That's
what he's saying. We once regarded Christ according
to the flesh and he rose from the dead. The world
doesn't work as we thought it did. God changes
us. Why is this? Why does Paul have this ministry
of reconciliation? Okay. Paul was a reconciler
because first and foremost, he is one who had
been reconciled. Again, if you think with me,
some of you know, some of you were probably being
attentive. And when I said that Paul was first
mentioned in Acts chapter seven, and then I read
Paul, you were like, why is he misquoting that?
Because Paul's not mentioned there, is he? Who's
mentioned there in chapter seven? Paul. Yeah.
Saul was mentioned there. But that's his old
name. The name that he bared no more. Because
why? Paul was a new creation. The old, even in
his name, was gone. The old, the news come. Paul
was a reconciler because he had been reconciled.
Paul could declare that if anyone is in Christ,
he's a new creation because he himself knew that
He's a new creation. He's totally new. That old
guy's gone. Behold, news come. He can say this,
from now on, therefore, we regard no one according
to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ
according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no
longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He's
a new creation. Old, it's passed away. I think
that's for me. Behold, the news come for me.
And all this is from God. who through Christ
reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation. See, he's not just saying
it's out there. He's saying it's changed me.
I am new. For our sake. Therefore, we are ambassadors.
Personalized reality. Sorry, I think I'm confused
with where I'm at now. Brothers and sisters,
here through this second paragraph, Paul can
say, it is us. We, we implore you. We have been
reconciled. We are ambassadors, God making his
appeal through us. For our sake, he made him
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we
might become the righteousness of God. See, there's
something deeply lovely about a true reconciliation,
about a true hope that says nobody is outside
the pale of God's grace. But Paul is saying that
first and foremost because he has received this
reconciliation. He who once knew sin has become
the righteousness of God because Christ who knew
no sin became sin that Paul might become the
righteousness of God. Here's what Paul's saying.
If you want to have energy, if you want to have
a hope beyond what is fleshly possible, that
your relationships, that your lives can actually
change, that the people that you once thought
were so far off and beyond the pale could actually
have new life, that you could have a different
relationship with them. If you want to have this
kind of deep abiding hope, what Paul says is
be reconciled to God. That our greatest need
is to know our greatest need. That we first need
a Savior. That our sin first needs to be dealt
with. That we need to be reconciled. Brothers
and sisters, if you want to have, you want a
new life. You want something that redefines you.
What Paul says is, be reconciled to God. Look
your sin square in the face and then cast it
on the cross. Be done with it. See, that was
once a fleshly way of living. That was the old
man. And in Christ, I have a new hope. a new
life. What Paul is saying to the Second Corinthians
Church is we are, we're far off here, but we
are not beyond the scope of God's grace. In order
to understand this scope of God's grace, we must
know that our sin was taken upon Christ on the
cross and he gives us this very righteousness.
Let me end there, brothers and sisters, with
this word. I say I instead of we, I implore you
on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Let
me pray for us. Lord, I think of these stories
of Tasker, I think of these stories of utter
transformation, but we can hear Paul's own story
in this text. Considering others according to
the flesh, but no longer once living according
to the old man and now according to the new once
an old creation and now a new creation God would
we Know your reconciling work would we know that
sin as strangers? sin creates distant Distance,
but the cross because it deals with sin draws
us near to you and to one another Reconciling
God. Make us, like you did to Paul long ago,
ministers of reconciliation. May we enter into
relationships with one another. May we enter
into evangelistic conversations with hope, knowing
that people can radically change, that we don't
have to be defined by our sin anymore. He who
knew no sin became sin. that it doesn't have
to define us anymore, but that what defines us
is the righteousness of God given to us through
the work of Christ. In His name we pray this.
Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City
Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged
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of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this
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at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch
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Thanks again for listening. God bless.