WEBVTT 00:00:01.449 --> 00:00:03.990 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 --> 00:00:09.390 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 --> 00:00:22.329 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 --> 00:00:39.920 is through suffering, that his strength is made 00:00:39.920 --> 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 --> 00:01:00.909 sermon. God bless. Lord God, we're thankful for 00:01:00.909 --> 00:01:04.209 this beautiful text that you've given to us from 00:01:04.209 --> 00:01:06.349 the pen of Paul to the Corinthian church long 00:01:06.349 --> 00:01:11.109 ago, 2 Corinthians. You've got to pray that you 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:14.469 would continue to speak to us here this morning. 00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:19.650 Lord, it's often that we come into this space 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:21.569 and we come into other places in our lives and 00:01:21.569 --> 00:01:24.189 other conversations clouded by so much that is 00:01:24.189 --> 00:01:26.069 going on in our lives. And yet, Lord, I pray 00:01:26.069 --> 00:01:33.040 now, that you would push away the cares of tomorrow 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:39.680 that we all have, the baggage from our past that 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:45.159 we all have, and that now you would speak truth 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:48.900 to us and that we would be eager to receive it 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:51.980 from you. May the words of my mouth and the meditations 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:54.480 of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. The 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:59.140 Lord our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. All right. 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:04.680 I was glad to get away last week. Don't hear 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:07.840 what I'm not saying. I was not glad to be away 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.379 from you all. Actually, I missed being with you 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:15.460 all. And I was very blessed by getting to listen 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:17.819 in on the service and particularly blessed by 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:21.039 Jed's sermon. I hope you all heard that. I thought 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.400 I did a wonderful job at what could be a hard 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:26.860 passage. But I was blessed because I got to connect 00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:30.580 with friends, relationships that I had built 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:33.340 long ago, it seems now, when we lived in Richmond, 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:36.879 that I don't have many opportunities to foster. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.039 And so it's wonderful to be with them and to 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.240 connect and to play and to talk and just be with 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:47.620 older friends. And yet my joy in that time was 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:51.659 broken heavily and significantly by a text of 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:58.289 a friend that I received. The basic content of 00:02:58.289 --> 00:03:01.949 the story, this is not the place to share this, 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:04.650 and I'm not the one to share all the details 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:07.969 of this, but the basic gist was that one of my 00:03:07.969 --> 00:03:10.729 close friends had been arrested the day before 00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:14.409 soliciting prostitution. And as you can imagine, 00:03:14.409 --> 00:03:16.069 it was devastating. I spent most of the night 00:03:16.069 --> 00:03:18.030 talking to that friend, actually. I was able 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:20.750 to talk with him and talk to Melissa. Most of 00:03:20.750 --> 00:03:25.469 the night was filled with tears. The obvious 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:27.710 difficulty that that creates with his church 00:03:27.710 --> 00:03:30.229 and his family and all of that and just the distance. 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:33.550 Human relationships that are fractured, sin that 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:38.990 has its ugly effects. The next day I learned 00:03:38.990 --> 00:03:41.090 from actually a friend that I stayed with while 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:43.349 I drove down to North Carolina, who's also a 00:03:43.349 --> 00:03:45.389 pastor and in my pastor cohort, this friend, 00:03:46.490 --> 00:03:49.030 that his mother -in -law had passed away totally 00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:54.240 unexpectedly. When I spent the night his house 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:55.759 one of the things that he did was he gave me 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.300 a tour of the home That is just 20 feet away 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:03.539 from his own his in -laws moved from the Midwest 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:06.759 a few years back and Just in these last few months. 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:10.360 They were building a house Right next to their 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:13.219 own house where they could be right next door 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:16.620 to their grandchildren and she unexpectedly passed 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:23.860 away It's devastating it's depressing And I have 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:27.899 no doubt that each one of you has stories that 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:30.439 create a heartache that maybe throw you into 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.920 a tailspin, an emotional depth that you're not 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:40.480 sure if you will recover from. And probably for 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.540 a lot of you, it's not really the life that you 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.600 were expecting when you started following Jesus. 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:50.759 Certainly it's not the life that you desire, 00:04:50.899 --> 00:04:53.800 dark nights of life, dark nights of the soul. 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.800 Often this depression, this affliction is relational, 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:03.459 right? It's there because of this great gap between 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:07.100 you and others. And often it's because of sin. 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:09.920 Often it's actually sin itself that creates this 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:17.540 deep distance. And the relational healing, and 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:23.000 healing from sin is often painful and hard, and 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.779 oftentimes it just feels sort of impossible. 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.100 What good is going to come out of this? How could 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:33.120 this be done? So you find yourself not just in 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.220 a place of deep affliction, but actually of dark 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:41.480 despair. And I think, so this is part of what 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:43.660 I want to say to you. I think that it's common 00:05:45.149 --> 00:05:49.930 for us to think that as Christians, we are immune 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:55.470 from this. We're immune from that kind of darkness, 00:05:55.589 --> 00:05:58.910 those sorts of dynamics, those dark feelings, 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:02.990 places of depression and affliction. And so when 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:06.509 we come upon them, when we are shocked and we 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.870 wonder if God actually loves us, we wonder if 00:06:08.870 --> 00:06:12.050 there's something just deeply wrong with us. 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:15.410 And think about it, so many of our contemporary 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:21.550 Christian songs are written for triumphalism. 00:06:21.889 --> 00:06:24.629 They're made, actually, I read this a while ago, 00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:29.129 that much of Christian music shifted after Coldplay. 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:34.310 Isn't that interesting? And Coldplay wrote its 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:38.569 songs with the idea of arena music. Tons of people 00:06:38.569 --> 00:06:43.769 gathered together, hyped up. triumphalistic. 00:06:45.149 --> 00:06:46.629 Not of course that all of Coldplay's songs are 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:49.069 triumphalistic, but you know, and then we hear 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:51.689 like words like what we had just read the chapter 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:53.529 before, by the way, I know Jed preached chapter 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:55.569 eight, I'm back in chapter seven. So chapter 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:59.389 six now, where we read things like what fellowship 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:01.790 does light have with darkness? It's a rhetorical 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:05.850 question. The answer is none. And yet sometimes 00:07:05.850 --> 00:07:13.860 our life just feels so dark. So I wanna try to 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:16.639 dispel this idea that Christians are immune from 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:20.720 darkness, affliction, despair, but also to tell 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.319 you that there is a hope that Christians have 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.339 that is actually deeper than the darkness, okay? 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:31.639 So first, I wanna dispel this idea that we're 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.939 immune from despair. Turn with me to the front 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:39.160 cover of the bulletin, okay? I have three quotes 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:40.860 there. I'm actually gonna read each one of them 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:44.180 for you. And the first is from Charles Spurgeon. 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:47.259 Some of you may know Charles Spurgeon. He was 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:49.959 one of the great preachers of London in the mid 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.879 sort of second half of the 19th century. He was 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.339 the pastor at London's Metropolitan Tabernacle. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.160 And when he began his ministry, there were 80 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.529 people in his church. And yet, after a number 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:09.009 of years, that church regularly was packed out 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:13.009 with multiple services. And regularly, every 00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:17.689 Sunday, mid -late 19th century in London, 5 ,000 00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:20.509 people would come and hear Charles Spurgeon preach. 00:08:21.110 --> 00:08:22.990 Actually, it's kind of interesting. So there 00:08:22.990 --> 00:08:26.370 was a great exhibition in London. Think of the 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:30.310 World's Fair. Which was actually the reason for 00:08:30.310 --> 00:08:33.289 a lot of cities building great buildings and 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:35.549 monuments. Think of the Eiffel Tower or the Space 00:08:35.549 --> 00:08:39.029 Needle for all of you lovers of Seattle. I know 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:45.769 many of you love the Northwest. Well, the Crystal 00:08:45.769 --> 00:08:48.429 Palace was built for that exhibition in 1851 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:54.429 and he packed it out. 23 ,000 people went to 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:59.129 the Crystal Palace in London. hear somebody preach. 00:09:00.509 --> 00:09:03.350 I mean, if there was somebody who was a successful 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:08.629 minister for Jesus in the mid to late 19th century 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:10.789 in London, it was Charles Spurgeon. And yet, 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:17.350 listen, or look, I'm the subject of depressions 00:09:17.350 --> 00:09:21.909 of spirit. So fearful. That I hope none of you 00:09:21.909 --> 00:09:27.289 ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as 00:09:27.289 --> 00:09:33.750 I go to The greatest preacher of the age in the 00:09:33.750 --> 00:09:35.850 dark place of despair and it wasn't sort of a 00:09:35.850 --> 00:09:38.909 one -off thing He later said from the same pulpit 00:09:38.909 --> 00:09:42.730 personally. I've often passed through the dark 00:09:42.730 --> 00:09:48.649 valley Christians are not immune from this affliction. 00:09:48.730 --> 00:09:51.669 We're not immune from despair. Look at the next 00:09:51.669 --> 00:09:55.110 quote, John Henry Jowett. Some of you might know 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:57.950 that name. Maybe it's certainly not as well known, 00:09:57.970 --> 00:10:00.809 but he was the pastor of the great Fifth Avenue 00:10:00.809 --> 00:10:04.029 Presbyterian Church in New York City before he 00:10:04.029 --> 00:10:08.850 actually moved to London. This was the late teens, 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:12.370 where he became the pastor at Westminster Chapel. 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:14.460 Some of you will be familiar with that church, 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:18.120 maybe, because the minister who preceded him 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:21.220 was G. Campbell Morgan, who many considered to 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.539 be one of the great preachers early on in the 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:26.279 20th century. And the preacher who succeeded 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:29.960 him was none other than Martin Lloyd Jones, who 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:33.240 was a great pastor and preacher there in London 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:38.620 in the 20th century. I say all that to say a 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:43.129 towering figure, towering preacher in 20th century 00:10:43.129 --> 00:10:47.330 New York City in London is what he said. And 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:49.350 this is what we think right often as we approach 00:10:49.350 --> 00:10:51.769 Christianity and maybe particularly the great, 00:10:52.350 --> 00:10:54.990 greats of Christianity. You seem to imagine I 00:10:54.990 --> 00:11:00.769 have no ups and downs, but just a level and lofty 00:11:00.769 --> 00:11:04.830 stretch of spiritual attainment with unbroken 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:13.320 joy and equanimity by no means. I'm often perfectly 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:20.340 wretched and everything appears murky. You might 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:22.259 know that experience of everything appearing 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:26.019 murky. Finally, there's a quote about Alexander 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.460 White. Alexander White was a great Scottish preacher. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.659 Some people consider Alexander White to be the 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.480 greatest Scottish preacher after John Knox, the 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.320 great reformer. So this is spoken of Dr. White. 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:40.320 Resolute as was Dr. White's character. He had 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:42.259 seasons of deep depression regarding the results 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:45.500 of his work in the pulpit and among his people. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.539 Depressions are not immune from affliction. We're 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:51.299 not immune from despair. We're not immune from 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:55.230 the dark nights of depression. And there are 00:11:55.230 --> 00:11:58.850 two kind of big reasons for this. And Paul kind 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:02.090 of gets into these actually. I think this is 00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:03.470 kind of the main thing that's going on in this 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:06.850 passage in a way. And the first thing that happens 00:12:06.850 --> 00:12:10.269 is distance in human relationships, okay? So 00:12:10.269 --> 00:12:12.789 if you look with me down at verse two, open up 00:12:12.789 --> 00:12:16.009 your Bible there to 2 Corinthians chapter seven. 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:21.889 Our first verse was verse two. It says, what's 00:12:21.889 --> 00:12:26.929 the title to this section? Anybody? Paul's Joy, 00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:29.750 right? Well, listen to this. Make room in your 00:12:29.750 --> 00:12:37.070 hearts for us. Which behind that is, I'm not 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:40.490 sure there's room in your heart for us. Okay? 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:43.970 We've wronged no one. We've corrupted no one. 00:12:44.009 --> 00:12:47.929 We've taken advantage of no one. I do not say 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:53.409 this to condemn you. All right, now again, why 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.649 would he say this? There is a distance, there's 00:12:56.649 --> 00:12:59.590 a relational distance at play. He's desiring 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:01.529 them to actually open up their hearts to him 00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:03.690 because as far as he is concerned, actually, 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:06.230 well, before he wrote this at least, there's 00:13:06.230 --> 00:13:08.029 a great distance at play. We'll get into this 00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:11.570 in a second. Verse four, then he says, I'm acting 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:13.649 with great boldness toward you. I have pride 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:18.570 in you. I'm filled with comfort in all our affliction. 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:24.850 flowing with joy. So there's this connection 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:29.149 with affliction here. And the darkness that's 00:13:29.149 --> 00:13:30.929 present, even we're going to get to the joy stuff, 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:35.389 but the darkness that is present is because there 00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:38.509 is this relational distance between Paul and 00:13:38.509 --> 00:13:42.970 the people there in Corinth. And this is often 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:47.470 the case of how affliction actually works. Think 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:49.940 with me. Did you hear the passage that was read 00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:53.120 from the Old Testament? He wanted to die. Why 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.759 did he want to die? Why was he sitting underneath 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.720 the broom tree and needing to be ministered to? 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:04.419 Anybody? He thought he was alone, right? He thought 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.659 he was alone. Think of King David in the Old 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:12.139 Testament. One of the darkest times of his life 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:16.960 is when his rebellious son, Absalom, dies. Oh, 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:21.320 my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, would 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:24.019 that I had died instead of you, relationally 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:31.220 distant, effects of sin. Think of how the greatest 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:35.419 category, I mean, if this isn't a challenge to 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:38.740 how we sing, I don't know what is. The greatest 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:42.179 category of Psalms in the book of Psalms is the 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:50.009 category of lament. It's not, God has done great 00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:53.710 things, let's praise Him. It's, oh my word, where 00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:56.990 are you, my God, my God? Why have you forsaken 00:14:56.990 --> 00:15:00.250 me? And what does Psalm 22 do? But actually go 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:05.429 on to say, I am distant from others. Relational 00:15:05.429 --> 00:15:12.049 distance. They so often speak about enemies, 00:15:13.529 --> 00:15:18.629 being alone with... With regards to the very 00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:21.710 people of faith relational distance and think 00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:27.429 of your own life, okay? So often we actually 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:30.889 can say with Joe it that great early 20th century 00:15:30.889 --> 00:15:35.669 preacher That we we actually are perfectly wretched 00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:39.809 and everything appears murky the times when that 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:45.389 feels most present is When our children aren't 00:15:45.389 --> 00:15:49.250 talking to us or when our parents are on their 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:54.409 deathbed, or when we experience an estrangement 00:15:54.409 --> 00:15:56.750 from a friend that we thought we were so close, 00:15:57.750 --> 00:16:00.230 or simply in the reality of death seeming to 00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:02.509 be very present to us in all different places 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.850 in our lives where it feels like there's such 00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:08.549 a gap, where we feel deeply alone, where there's 00:16:08.549 --> 00:16:14.049 a relational distance. It's actually pretty similar 00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:17.049 in some ways to the Corinthian community. I mean, 00:16:17.230 --> 00:16:18.830 part of what's happening, you know, Paul mentions 00:16:18.830 --> 00:16:21.250 Macedonia here and he's waiting for Titus. Titus 00:16:21.250 --> 00:16:24.629 comes up and he's going to come up again. But 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:27.070 if you remember back a few chapters, he had waited 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:29.570 in Troas to go to the Corinthian church, even 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:31.029 though the Corinthian church was so dear to him. 00:16:31.090 --> 00:16:33.529 He spent so much time there. He loved that church, 00:16:33.730 --> 00:16:36.169 but he waited because he desired to hear how 00:16:36.169 --> 00:16:39.899 they would have received his other letter. Did 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:43.580 they receive it with a desire to listen? He was 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:46.080 fearful as we are in our communications with 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:47.700 other humans because there was a distance that 00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:50.899 was at play between him and this Christian community. 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:01.320 I think this reality is so prevalent in the Christian 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:05.140 life. And this reason is actually why so many 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:07.480 of the great hymns that speak to us come out 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.359 of hymn writers who knew this darkness, knew 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:14.299 this affliction. Maybe the most well known of 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:18.299 those is William Cooper, who spent much of his 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:23.039 adult life in deep depression, the deepest of 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.079 which, which he never recovered from and which 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:29.160 we know led to a lot of at least suicidal ideation. 00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:33.880 came after his own wife's death. It's so often 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:36.079 the case that our times of affliction come out 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.980 of relational distance. Some of that's because 00:17:38.980 --> 00:17:41.940 of sin, some of that's from living in a world 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:44.500 that is simply so broken that the lives of those 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:50.160 whom we love are taken from us. He wrote the 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:53.759 Mass for hymns, God moves in a mysterious way, 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:57.690 his wonders to perform, and he knew how oddly 00:17:57.690 --> 00:18:02.549 and sadly mysterious God's ways are. He also 00:18:02.549 --> 00:18:05.269 wrote the hymn, there's a fountain filled with 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:08.869 blood. He knew the anguish of our Lord Jesus. 00:18:10.130 --> 00:18:13.569 So part of what I'm saying is that Paul's speaking 00:18:13.569 --> 00:18:16.990 to this reality of affliction that often comes 00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:22.089 out of human distance, relational distance. But 00:18:22.089 --> 00:18:24.609 also he actually does get at this idea of affliction 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:27.210 through the idea of distance from God. Okay, 00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:31.150 because of sin. So verse 5, if you look down 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:45.390 at the next paragraph, I mentioned this, that 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:47.349 he was still in Macedonia wondering if he was 00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:48.650 going to go to the Corinthian church. But why 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:50.769 was that the case? Why was there this relational 00:18:50.769 --> 00:18:53.009 distance? Well, part of it was because he was 00:18:53.009 --> 00:18:54.769 calling out the sin of the Corinthian community. 00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:57.250 If you remember back to 1 Corinthians, a lot 00:18:57.250 --> 00:19:01.150 of it is correcting wrongdoing. People taking 00:19:01.150 --> 00:19:04.690 each other to court without actually engaging 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:07.549 with one another. People having sexual relations 00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:11.390 that were very inappropriate. All kinds of things. 00:19:11.390 --> 00:19:14.509 He's calling them out. So he's saying there's 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:16.670 a distance that is being created in your sin 00:19:16.670 --> 00:19:21.710 between you and God. If we go farther down in 00:19:21.710 --> 00:19:23.190 that paragraph, verse eight, it says, for even 00:19:23.190 --> 00:19:26.650 if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not 00:19:26.650 --> 00:19:31.529 regret it. He's saying there's a distance that's 00:19:31.529 --> 00:19:36.029 at play in sin. There's a distance at play with 00:19:36.029 --> 00:19:38.789 you and God in your sin. He says, I don't regret 00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:41.539 that I called it out. Though I did regret it, 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:45.160 for I see that that letter grieved you. He doesn't 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.940 desire the grief. Only for a while. As it is, 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:52.940 I rejoice not because you were grieved, but because 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:56.680 you were grieved into repenting. They properly 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:03.559 understood sin. You felt a godly grief so that 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:08.440 you suffered no less through us. We should say 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:11.980 part of The pain part of affliction of this chapter 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:16.859 is because Paul had corrected this sin. We say 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.359 he knew that sin was creating this distance from 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:25.000 God. Sin always distances. Sin always pushes 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.880 us towards hiding as it did in the garden long 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:35.799 ago. And hiding always relates to darkness. Again, 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:37.660 of course, this is so often the case in our own 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:43.059 lives. You and I are made to be near God. Think 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.299 of God again in the garden, calling them out, 00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:49.940 walk with me. Where are you? I desire you. We're 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:54.259 made for relational repair with God. Yet so often 00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:56.839 the very thing that harms our lives, our sin, 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:06.079 we treat lightly, worldly. Brush it off. Minimize 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:12.960 it. Don't really face it head -on And this always 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:18.200 is for our harm it always aggravates the affliction 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:29.269 Always invites the despair Think of this It's 00:21:29.269 --> 00:21:32.509 hard to really face and name the ways that you 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:35.069 have gone against God because so often you actually 00:21:35.069 --> 00:21:37.130 have to face and name the ways that you have 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:41.049 sinned against others in doing that. And so what 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:44.369 we often do is we kind of treat this call to 00:21:44.369 --> 00:21:50.289 this grief in a worldly way. We think that if 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:53.089 we really own it, if we really name the harm 00:21:53.089 --> 00:21:57.690 that it's caused, then our pain will only increase. 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:02.740 and we want our pain alleviated. So what we do 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:07.240 is we often sweep it under the rug, deal with 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:11.819 it face to face, but it's still dirty. It's still 00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:14.559 harmful. There's still no closeness at play. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:19.579 Sin has to be dealt with. It always has to be 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:26.160 faced head on. There to be closeness. So much 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:28.119 of our affliction and our despair does come from 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:34.220 our sin. I may have mentioned just a great example 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:39.880 with my friend, but it's always the case. It's 00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:43.680 always the case. Christians are not immune from 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:46.920 this. Paul is writing to a church, a people of 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:51.339 faith. He's warning them not to treat their sin 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:56.190 in a worldly way, a way of controlling it. a 00:22:56.190 --> 00:22:58.769 way of diminishing it, a way of disregarding 00:22:58.769 --> 00:23:03.130 it, but embrace the sorrow and the grief that 00:23:03.130 --> 00:23:11.230 leads to repentance and salvation. This passage 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:15.230 is not just about the fact that Christians are 00:23:15.230 --> 00:23:18.289 not immune from despair and affliction. It is 00:23:18.289 --> 00:23:22.549 about that. It is about how Christians, we ourselves, 00:23:23.120 --> 00:23:26.420 live in the reality of distance, humanly speaking, 00:23:26.539 --> 00:23:29.500 and distance with God. But also this passage 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:34.740 is titled Paul's Joy, which is also a very prominent 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:37.859 idea here in this passage. Comfort and Joy. If 00:23:37.859 --> 00:23:40.119 you read through it, actually, you would probably, 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:42.779 and I said, what's the main word? Probably would 00:23:42.779 --> 00:23:45.779 have said comfort, which of course relates to 00:23:45.779 --> 00:23:50.240 affliction, doesn't it? And also joy and rejoicing, 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:53.779 which and in some ways is the inverse of sorrow. 00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:58.079 So look with me down the third paragraph, verse 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:01.440 11. I'm going to read to the end of that paragraph. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:20.960 It was not for the sake of the one who did the 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.519 wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:26.819 the wrong. But in order that your earnestness 00:24:26.819 --> 00:24:29.039 for us might be revealed to you in the sight 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:37.079 of God, therefore we are comforted. Paul did 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:39.839 write to the church to correct their sin. We 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.730 know that. They truly had been distant from God. 00:24:44.029 --> 00:24:46.750 And what that did, if you read through 1 Corinthians, 00:24:46.890 --> 00:24:49.589 is they just created division, division, division 00:24:49.589 --> 00:24:51.609 in the life of the church. I mean, if you think 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:54.430 of this poem that I read, they were distant from 00:24:54.430 --> 00:24:56.170 God and distance from God is always saying, I 00:24:56.170 --> 00:24:58.930 can do this myself. You said, don't eat that. 00:24:58.950 --> 00:25:00.750 I'm going to decide for myself. I don't need 00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:04.369 you. But that always creates a further distance 00:25:04.369 --> 00:25:06.490 from others, right? Sin is always doing this. 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:09.559 So he does. write them to correct their sin, 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:15.200 they truly had been distant from God. He says 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.420 that it wasn't just for their sake that He wrote 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:20.660 them, but quote, in order that your earnestness 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:25.579 for us might be revealing to you in the sight 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:30.519 of God. He desires for them to come close to 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:35.240 God, be in the sight of God. His comfort and 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.630 their comfort came from a healed relationship 00:25:38.630 --> 00:25:41.809 with the Lord, from a repentance that leads to 00:25:41.809 --> 00:25:45.650 salvation, from a godly sorrow, acknowledging 00:25:45.650 --> 00:25:49.190 their sin to a close communion with the Lord. 00:25:51.490 --> 00:25:53.289 Their grief over their sin had not been a worldly 00:25:53.289 --> 00:25:56.529 grief, but a godly grief that produced this nearness 00:25:56.529 --> 00:25:59.450 to God. What Paul actually says is their salvation. 00:26:01.490 --> 00:26:03.829 So Paul has comfort and joy and the comfort and 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:10.789 joy is specifically because that distance from 00:26:10.789 --> 00:26:13.390 God, which is so often related to our affliction 00:26:13.390 --> 00:26:17.269 is being healed out of repentance and salvation. 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:21.269 But it's not just the human, the divine sort 00:26:21.269 --> 00:26:23.069 of relationship that's at play here. He also 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:25.029 often is talking about the human relationship. 00:26:25.609 --> 00:26:28.069 So his comfort and joy is also about the human 00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:30.410 relationships that are at play here. So look 00:26:30.410 --> 00:26:34.670 with me there at the final paragraph. Verse 13, 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:36.589 as these things go, started in the last paragraph, 00:26:36.630 --> 00:26:40.569 but look at verse 13. It says, and beside our 00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:44.650 own comfort, we rejoice still more at the mention 00:26:44.650 --> 00:26:49.589 of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed 00:26:49.589 --> 00:26:57.210 by you all. He needed refreshment. Their relationship 00:26:57.210 --> 00:26:59.910 with God had come close. But it's not just that 00:26:59.910 --> 00:27:01.809 their relationship with God had come close. Their 00:27:01.809 --> 00:27:04.309 human relationships were beginning to mend and 00:27:04.309 --> 00:27:08.049 to heal and to give life. While so much of our 00:27:08.049 --> 00:27:11.150 affliction in this life is in regards to our 00:27:11.150 --> 00:27:13.329 human relationships, here's the truth is that 00:27:13.329 --> 00:27:15.829 so much of our comfort and our joy is also in 00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:20.150 regards to our human relationships. The affliction 00:27:20.150 --> 00:27:23.769 that Paul mentioned early on is because of the 00:27:23.769 --> 00:27:26.230 distance between him and this community and his 00:27:26.230 --> 00:27:29.200 comfort and his joy and his rejoicing. is because 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:33.339 of the healing of this human community between 00:27:33.339 --> 00:27:37.440 the Corinthian church and Titus and Paul. He 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:39.960 was wondering, would they hear his voice? Were 00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:42.420 their hearts soft to him? Were they open towards 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:45.200 him? Right? Make room in your hearts for us. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:50.480 And the answer was yes. And this is how it works. 00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:53.019 His comfort in the midst of his affliction was 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:56.420 being met by the presence of the people of God 00:27:56.420 --> 00:28:00.099 coming to him and opening their hearts to him. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.380 He has confidence in the healing of this human 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:07.140 relationship because they have been healed first 00:28:07.140 --> 00:28:11.720 by repentance that led to salvation. Okay, here's 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:15.680 what I'm saying. The key for comfort and affliction 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:21.329 is the community of Christ. The difference between 00:28:21.329 --> 00:28:25.009 godly grief and worldly grief is the work of 00:28:25.009 --> 00:28:29.130 Christ. So at the heart of the affliction and 00:28:29.130 --> 00:28:32.349 the despair that Paul is experiencing, and that 00:28:32.349 --> 00:28:34.670 Titus also experiences, and also you could say 00:28:34.670 --> 00:28:36.430 that these Christian communities were experiencing, 00:28:37.809 --> 00:28:41.809 was a relational, human relational distance. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:45.079 and a divine relational distance. And he says, 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.579 because of the work of Jesus, you can have godly 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:50.799 grief that produces salvation, but out of the 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.700 godly grief that produces salvation, you can 00:28:53.700 --> 00:28:57.339 also have the community of Christ. A community 00:28:57.339 --> 00:29:01.500 that says, let's look under that rug. Let's open 00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:05.039 it up. Let's live in self -dependence with one 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:10.359 another. So much of our sorrow and our despair 00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:14.789 in our human relationships. It's coming out of 00:29:14.789 --> 00:29:17.670 the fear that they're just simply unredeemable. 00:29:20.329 --> 00:29:25.349 That they're just bound to be distant. And so 00:29:25.349 --> 00:29:27.529 much of the despair that we experience in this 00:29:27.529 --> 00:29:33.430 life is that our sin is what defines us. Imagine 00:29:33.430 --> 00:29:36.349 my friend thinking right now. I've talked to 00:29:36.349 --> 00:29:45.490 them some this week. Define me. No doubt you've 00:29:45.490 --> 00:29:52.250 had that experience. It's what defines me. The 00:29:52.250 --> 00:29:57.369 gospel addresses both of these fears. My relationship's 00:29:57.369 --> 00:30:09.630 irredeemable. My sin what defines me? No. Absolutely 00:30:09.630 --> 00:30:13.900 not. Jesus says that it's as far as the East 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:15.880 is from the West that He removes our sins from 00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:19.200 us. As far as the East is from the West. Totally 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:26.279 gone. Godly grief produces salvation, repentance 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:30.660 to salvation. And what it also does is it brings 00:30:30.660 --> 00:30:36.180 a healing. We could never imagine human relationships 00:30:36.180 --> 00:30:38.559 being healed and yet they are there. They're 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:48.019 healed. I'm sure that in a community like ours, 00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:53.660 there are different takes on Halloween. I'm not 00:30:53.660 --> 00:30:55.700 going to take a poll on who gave out candy and 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:59.579 who received it. But I imagine there's different 00:30:59.579 --> 00:31:02.319 takes on it and that's fine. I understand why 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:04.279 some may not want to participate in a holiday 00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:07.599 that has really kind of become grotesque at times. 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:14.490 But it's also the eve of the hallowed one's day, 00:31:15.309 --> 00:31:18.809 right? Halloween is the eve of all saints' day. 00:31:19.990 --> 00:31:28.529 And that invites us to mock the reality that 00:31:28.529 --> 00:31:35.089 sin will win. It will create such human distance 00:31:35.089 --> 00:31:39.190 and divine distance that Satan wins the day. 00:31:40.619 --> 00:31:47.740 that hiding must be the norm. That you are so 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:51.099 irredeemably separated from those whom you love 00:31:51.099 --> 00:31:55.380 in death that forget about it. That you're so 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:57.099 separated because of your sin right now that 00:31:57.099 --> 00:32:01.519 you have no hope. You will once be known again 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:07.099 and loved again because of your sin. I mean All 00:32:07.099 --> 00:32:11.230 Saints Day is a day to celebrate this reality 00:32:11.230 --> 00:32:16.369 of what Christ did. He so unites us to one another. 00:32:17.450 --> 00:32:19.410 And we can say there's one faith, there's one 00:32:19.410 --> 00:32:21.650 Lord, one baptism that even in death, we cannot 00:32:21.650 --> 00:32:25.829 be separated because Christ rose from the dead. 00:32:25.869 --> 00:32:30.289 That is what we celebrate. And so we can mock, 00:32:30.769 --> 00:32:33.230 dress up our little kids with little silly pitchforks. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:37.200 That's all you've got? Death? Well, it's not 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:42.220 enough for Jesus. But some of you know that not 00:32:42.220 --> 00:32:47.640 only is October 31st the eve of All Hallows Day, 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:51.079 All Saints Day, but it's also Reformation Day, 00:32:51.339 --> 00:32:53.980 which we talked about in Sunday School, Sunday 00:32:53.980 --> 00:32:59.819 School plug. Let me end with Martin Luther, because 00:32:59.819 --> 00:33:01.339 that's actually the person we were talking about 00:33:01.339 --> 00:33:05.579 in Sunday School, which I didn't know that. So 00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:10.180 Martin Luther was kind of famous for mocking 00:33:10.180 --> 00:33:13.579 Satan. We talked a little bit this morning about 00:33:13.579 --> 00:33:16.500 how he once threw an inkwell, because he had 00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:18.700 a vision of Satan. He threw an inkwell to hit 00:33:18.700 --> 00:33:26.279 him with it. Great. But maybe you know this, 00:33:26.299 --> 00:33:27.539 maybe you don't know this. Martin Luther was 00:33:27.539 --> 00:33:30.900 also very well, is very well known for his dark 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:33.809 times. He was familiar with despair and with 00:33:33.809 --> 00:33:38.430 depression. He kind of puts these two ideas together 00:33:38.430 --> 00:33:40.869 when he was writing to a friend. I wanted to 00:33:40.869 --> 00:33:42.650 read you the whole letter because it's just really 00:33:42.650 --> 00:33:46.269 great, but it says, try as hard as you can to 00:33:46.269 --> 00:33:49.869 despise these thoughts sent by Satan. In this 00:33:49.869 --> 00:33:53.990 sort of temptation and battle, contempt is the 00:33:53.990 --> 00:33:58.730 easiest road to victory. Laugh your enemy to 00:33:58.730 --> 00:34:03.630 scorn. Laugh at Satan is what he's saying. And 00:34:03.630 --> 00:34:07.029 ask to whom you are talking. By all means flee 00:34:07.029 --> 00:34:11.369 solitude, for he lies in wait most for those 00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:16.869 alone. This devil is conquered by despising him 00:34:16.869 --> 00:34:21.469 and mocking him, not by resisting and arguing. 00:34:22.909 --> 00:34:27.409 So a short story from Luther's life. Said Luther 00:34:27.409 --> 00:34:31.360 was familiar with despair. He was often afflicted 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:37.059 with depression. In fact, we know that on many 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:39.139 occasions he actually would lock himself in his 00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:42.900 room and his family would take away, take outside 00:34:42.900 --> 00:34:44.679 of the house any implements where he could harm 00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:48.400 himself. We know that's the case. Well, in the 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:52.380 middle of one of these times, his dear beer brewing 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:59.969 wife, Katerina, entered the room dressed all 00:34:59.969 --> 00:35:03.329 in mourning clothes, looking like she was heading 00:35:03.329 --> 00:35:09.090 to a funeral. And he was startled and he said, 00:35:09.170 --> 00:35:17.050 who died? And she said, no one. But by the way 00:35:17.050 --> 00:35:22.309 you're acting, it's as though God himself is 00:35:22.309 --> 00:35:27.809 dead. But the fact of All Saints Day, And the 00:35:27.809 --> 00:35:30.170 fact of our comfort in our affliction, which 00:35:30.170 --> 00:35:32.510 our affliction is real, and our sorrow in the 00:35:32.510 --> 00:35:35.070 midst of our, our joy in the midst of our sorrow, 00:35:35.070 --> 00:35:40.409 which is real, is that fact. That God did not 00:35:40.409 --> 00:35:44.789 stay in the tomb. Which does mean your relationships 00:35:44.789 --> 00:35:48.190 which cause such deep despair are not irredeemable. 00:35:49.289 --> 00:35:51.429 There is a union that you can have with other 00:35:51.429 --> 00:35:55.989 Christians that passes our understanding. And 00:35:55.989 --> 00:36:01.150 that your sin is fully dealt with. That you don't 00:36:01.150 --> 00:36:05.389 have to engage with it like godly grief. You 00:36:05.389 --> 00:36:07.650 know, thinking a little of it or thinking too 00:36:07.650 --> 00:36:12.030 much of it, that it alone rules the day. But 00:36:12.030 --> 00:36:17.269 on offer to you, repentance that leads to life. 00:36:18.809 --> 00:36:22.170 Repentance that leads to life. God is not dead. 00:36:23.130 --> 00:36:28.000 Jesus rose from the dead. Our despair, our affliction, 00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.619 though real, is met with his comfort and joy. 00:36:31.780 --> 00:36:36.980 Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your 00:36:36.980 --> 00:36:39.639 word. God, thank you for First Corinthians, which 00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:43.739 corrects so much sin. And for Second Corinthians, 00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:47.820 this testimony that we can receive correction 00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:54.829 with a proper repentance. God, I'm thankful for 00:36:54.829 --> 00:36:58.070 the constant testimony of Your Word from the 00:36:58.070 --> 00:37:04.849 giants of the faith that go before us. That we're 00:37:04.849 --> 00:37:09.909 not alone in our dark nights, in the sadness 00:37:09.909 --> 00:37:16.190 that overwhelms us. You know it fully. Our Jesus, 00:37:16.230 --> 00:37:21.230 we think of how You there in the garden. We're 00:37:21.230 --> 00:37:23.769 alone. Your disciples fell asleep when you asked 00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:28.889 them to stay awake. How there on the cross, Lord 00:37:28.889 --> 00:37:32.690 Jesus, you said, my God, my God, why have you 00:37:32.690 --> 00:37:39.590 forsaken me? But also, Lord, we praise you that 00:37:39.590 --> 00:37:42.690 there on the cross our sins were dealt with entirely 00:37:42.690 --> 00:37:46.610 and completely. That they were removed from us 00:37:46.610 --> 00:37:51.429 as far as the east is from the west. So Lord, 00:37:51.449 --> 00:37:55.489 in the midst of a life that is more often than 00:37:55.489 --> 00:38:02.449 not marked by sorrow, we, we who can be called 00:38:02.449 --> 00:38:07.489 the holy ones of God, the saints of the everlasting 00:38:07.489 --> 00:38:13.429 God, can have comfort and joy. Lord, would you 00:38:13.429 --> 00:38:17.269 make us to be a church that meets one another 00:38:17.269 --> 00:38:22.619 in those places? that does not pretend to have 00:38:22.619 --> 00:38:28.440 it together, that certainly celebrates the triumph 00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:33.139 of the empty tomb, but knows the deep sorrow 00:38:33.139 --> 00:38:41.440 of Holy Saturday. God, would we live in these 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:48.280 realities of sin and its ugly effects, of relational 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:56.090 estrangement, divine distance. And also, Lord, 00:38:57.090 --> 00:38:59.610 would we live in the reality of resurrection, 00:39:01.070 --> 00:39:03.849 holding together the cross and the empty tomb. 00:39:05.969 --> 00:39:08.409 Those who die with Christ would also be risen 00:39:08.409 --> 00:39:20.250 with Him. In His name we pray. Amen. Please consider 00:39:20.250 --> 00:39:22.650 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:39:22.650 --> 00:39:25.829 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:39:25.829 --> 00:39:29.150 online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Instagram, 00:39:29.309 --> 00:39:31.869 Facebook and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:39:32.170 --> 00:39:32.769 God bless.