WEBVTT 00:00:01.390 --> 00:00:03.990 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.370 --> 00:00:07.110 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 --> 00:00:33.149 a cross. that comfort comes after being crushed, 00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:36.090 that the way up is the way down, that the way 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:39.210 to glory is through suffering, that his strength 00:00:39.210 --> 00:00:44.109 is made perfect in our weakness. We'd love to 00:00:44.109 --> 00:00:46.070 meet you and we hope you'll consider coming and 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:48.390 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:48.429 --> 00:00:50.950 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:53.869 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:54.149 --> 00:00:57.109 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:57.109 --> 00:01:00.299 sermon. God bless. Let me pray again for us. 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:04.439 Lord God, we're thankful for your word. God, 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:08.060 I pray that it would be alive for us again this 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:12.239 morning, that we would be alive to you, that 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:17.700 we would be attentive to you, that we would be 00:01:17.700 --> 00:01:20.239 eager to learn from you and to give our lives 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:24.040 over more and more to following you, the true 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:28.909 God. We pray this in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:36.170 All right. Probably most all of you, though maybe 00:01:36.170 --> 00:01:40.430 especially a couple of you, heard of the great 00:01:40.430 --> 00:01:44.829 heist that happened last month in October in 00:01:44.829 --> 00:01:50.290 Paris. It was the stuff of movies, just bringing 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:54.069 a truck lift up to one of the greatest museums 00:01:54.069 --> 00:01:58.379 in the world. The Louvre, lifting it up as though 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:01.659 it's not a big deal to a window to smash it and 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:07.219 to grab $100 million worth of royal jewelry to 00:02:07.219 --> 00:02:10.939 run off down the lift onto some motorbikes masked 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:14.319 and get away. Those readings, supposedly they've 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:16.639 all been caught, but the jewels have yet to be 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:22.900 recovered. It's a great story. It's just an introduction 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:25.479 actually to my other introduction. illustration. 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:30.139 Because I want to tell you about Mark Landis. 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:32.800 Maybe some of you have heard the name Mark Landis. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:36.560 I imagine maybe there's a couple here. Maybe 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.219 some of you who are into art have heard of him. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:45.400 The Louvre Heist displays maybe for the world 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:51.180 just how easy it is to be robbed. Mark Landis 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:54.919 shows us maybe how easy it is to be deceived, 00:02:56.219 --> 00:02:58.960 to think you know what you're doing and to be 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:07.240 duped. So from the late 80s until 2010, Mark 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:14.620 Landis forged, immaculately forged famous pieces 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:20.819 of art and donated them to museums. Never taking 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:24.539 any money. Often going to the museum, calling 00:03:24.539 --> 00:03:26.620 them up, using various different aliases. He 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:30.520 actually used a number of different priests as 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.199 aliases. Religious people are easy to do that 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.189 with, right? Hi, I'm Pastor Peter. I've got this 00:03:36.189 --> 00:03:38.509 piece of art I want to give to you in my father's 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:41.169 name. Most of the art he gave away actually to 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:43.430 honor his parents, particularly his father who 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:46.590 actually did die when he was 17, which sent Mark 00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:49.870 into a hospital for nearly 18 months. They thought 00:03:49.870 --> 00:03:51.569 he was schizophrenic. They don't think that anymore. 00:03:51.689 --> 00:03:54.449 They think he might be bipolar. He actually went 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:57.490 on to go study art at the University of Chicago. 00:03:58.090 --> 00:04:01.449 So he has this sort of encyclopedic knowledge 00:04:01.449 --> 00:04:05.569 of art history and an unbelievable skill. So 00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:08.569 really, he would take these pieces of art and 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:10.629 he would take a magnifying glass of them and 00:04:10.629 --> 00:04:13.969 study them so intently and copy them so perfectly 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:17.689 that he could bring them to these museums, suggest 00:04:17.689 --> 00:04:21.040 that he donate it, actually allude to maybe giving 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:23.560 them more or maybe giving them some money from 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.680 the family endowment and get these guys to take 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:30.660 his art, his art that he had copied from somebody 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:35.060 else, and hang it up on their walls. Pretty remarkable. 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:37.160 In fact, one thing that I thought was so remarkable 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.600 as I was reading about him was that he did this 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:41.959 sort of spanning a bunch of different genres. 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:46.300 He forged modernist art. He forged the impressionist. 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:51.910 He forged religious art. You know icons and whatnot. 00:04:51.910 --> 00:04:54.649 I mean just all across this and he got away with 00:04:54.649 --> 00:05:00.029 it He supposed it supposedly I read a couple 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:02.189 different numbers but somewhere between 50 and 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:05.230 60 different museums throughout 20 different 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:10.610 states up until 2010 had Mark Landis paintings 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:16.680 that weren't his paintings remarkable One museum 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.100 director explained how Landis would imply that 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:22.139 he had even more to donate, and the director 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:25.779 admitted he knew right where to hit us, our soft 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:29.720 spot. What's the soft spot of museum directors? 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:35.560 Art and money. Who's an honest man, that director? 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:41.519 Deception. Deception that takes you off track. 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:45.339 It looks so appealing. It's exactly what you 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:50.759 want, but it's not the real thing. It's fake. 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:55.459 So, I've said, you know, today is the beginning 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:58.480 of Advent, the season where we remember the coming 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.500 of God, His first coming, look forward to His 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:05.759 second coming. And of course, we can think of 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:11.100 how many were taken off track as they waited 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:16.170 for the Lord. We could go walk through the long 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:18.870 history of the Old Testament as people longed 00:06:18.870 --> 00:06:21.709 for the one who would crush the head of the serpent. 00:06:23.790 --> 00:06:26.370 And yet they were taken off track again and again, 00:06:26.509 --> 00:06:31.290 deceived in their waiting. The long waiting for 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:35.129 Messiah's coming, generation upon generation. 00:06:35.209 --> 00:06:40.009 And the truth is actually, we could do this. 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:41.750 For those who have been waiting for the second 00:06:41.750 --> 00:06:44.850 coming of Jesus, so many Christians have said, 00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:50.269 I don't know, give me something else. Give me 00:06:50.269 --> 00:06:52.870 something easier. Give me something more palatable. 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:57.569 Deceive me a little bit. I've waited so long. 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:00.009 It's actually kind of interesting. There's two 00:07:00.009 --> 00:07:03.149 messiahs that are mentioned for us in Acts chapter 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:07.189 5. We know that there were lots of messiahs that 00:07:07.189 --> 00:07:11.540 came claiming to be God at work. You know, Messiah 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:14.800 means anointed one, the anointed one of God who 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.480 would work. All kinds of different people coming 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.920 and saying, follow me. And in the long waiting 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:25.519 for Jesus, a lot of people followed false messiahs 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.660 and their holy and good desire for Eden to be 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:31.300 restored, for things to be made right and just 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:36.399 and good, when after other things were deceived. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.459 It's a common story. So our passage this morning 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:44.579 is this long passage which Rebecca read very 00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:48.560 well. I actually was reading it out loud to myself 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:50.860 a couple of times in preparation, which I often 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:53.819 do. To hear the word out loud oftentimes helps 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:56.879 me understand it. And to be honest, I found myself 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.500 trailing off. It was so long. Rebecca, thank 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.800 you for practicing that and doing so well. It's 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.939 a long passage, but I also want to suggest to 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:07.480 you that in some ways it's a rather simple passage. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:13.339 It's not entirely too complex. Paul is continuing 00:08:13.339 --> 00:08:17.399 on in this talk that he began in chapter 10 and 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:19.279 actually kind of talked about earlier in the 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:22.439 text. And I know we've been so confused the last 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:24.660 month or so jumping around here and there, but 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:26.879 he's talking against these false prophets, these 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.699 people that came in and they were acting and 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:32.750 they were talking. in a way that wasn't consistent 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:36.830 with the true Jesus, these false teachers. And 00:08:36.830 --> 00:08:39.230 he comes in essentially here and he says, they're 00:08:39.230 --> 00:08:43.429 deceiving you. They're deceiving you and don't 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:47.529 be led off. They're doing what Satan has always 00:08:47.529 --> 00:08:50.629 been up to, harkening their minds back to the 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:54.509 garden story. They're taking you away from the 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:58.049 true place, which is your true peace. We have 00:08:58.049 --> 00:09:01.350 real provision. protection in the Lord Himself. 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:05.509 So I want to suggest to you that there's two 00:09:05.509 --> 00:09:07.629 main deceptions that are being talked about in 00:09:07.629 --> 00:09:10.129 this passage, okay? Two main deceptions that 00:09:10.129 --> 00:09:12.909 are being talked about in this chapter. And it 00:09:12.909 --> 00:09:15.490 kind of breaks up, if you have your Bible open 00:09:15.490 --> 00:09:20.029 actually to that passage, you kind of see... 00:09:21.089 --> 00:09:23.889 If you have it open to the Pew Bible, you'll 00:09:23.889 --> 00:09:27.629 see there's a break between verses 15 and 16, 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:29.950 and kind of the main points that I want to suggest 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:33.649 to you are actually right at that break. But 00:09:33.649 --> 00:09:36.110 this chapter largely has to do with this deception. 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:40.720 And the first deception that I want to suggest 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.559 to you is what I'm going to call disguised delight. 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:46.120 If you get down to the last part, the last little 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.399 paragraph of that section, what you'll find is 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.120 that there's this disguise, right? It says even 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.419 Satan is disguised as an angel of light, that 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:56.960 they're disguised as something that is to be 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.919 desired, to be delighted in, but they're deceiving 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:03.720 you in that, okay? Listen with me again to verses 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:08.289 one and two. I love how Paul begins this chapter. 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:12.250 It feels very like straight, real talking kind 00:10:12.250 --> 00:10:15.269 of. I wish you would bear with me in a little 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:20.330 foolishness. Do bear with me. For I feel divine 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:24.590 jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one 00:10:24.590 --> 00:10:28.549 husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 00:10:29.909 --> 00:10:33.259 Paul is stating from the beginning here, That 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:36.500 he's he's going to be a bit foolish in this chapter 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:38.759 and i hope you caught it in the reading of it 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:43.600 it feels a little. Defensive and and almost almost 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.480 like he's playing with them a little bit but 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:49.509 in a in a sad kind of way. He's going to play 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:51.750 the game that the false teachers are playing. 00:10:51.750 --> 00:10:54.190 He's going to go along with them with these super 00:10:54.190 --> 00:10:57.190 apostles who are talking themselves up. But what 00:10:57.190 --> 00:10:59.490 he wants to say from the very beginning is that 00:10:59.490 --> 00:11:01.509 this is a divine jealousy, that he's saying, 00:11:01.529 --> 00:11:03.509 I am not going to get into this conversation 00:11:03.509 --> 00:11:08.230 about this stuff along with these false apostles 00:11:08.230 --> 00:11:11.669 for my own sake, but because you have given yourself 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:15.960 to the true husband, the true love. And they 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:18.620 are deceiving you. They're giving you this deception 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:21.220 that they are disguising themselves as something 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:23.620 delightful, some sort of an other love and don't 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.379 buy it. That's what he's saying, don't buy it. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.779 What's happening is that they were finding other 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:35.080 sort of news, other things that tickled their 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:38.460 ears and hit their fancies a little bit more 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:43.000 than Jesus himself. And he is saying, Don't buy 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.120 into it. It's not the real thing. Don't be led 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.899 astray, as he says in verse 3, from a sincere 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:52.940 and a pure devotion to Christ. So how are they 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:55.559 doing this? How are they doing this? How are 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:58.899 they deceiving them with this sort of disguised, 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:02.340 delightful thing? First thing I want to suggest 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:04.399 to you is they're doing this in their proclamation, 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:11.110 okay? So verse 4, it says this, For if someone 00:12:11.110 --> 00:12:14.750 comes and proclaims another Jesus, then the one 00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:17.830 we proclaim, or if you receive a different spirit 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:20.190 from the one you received, or if you accept a 00:12:20.190 --> 00:12:23.169 different gospel from the one you accepted, you 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:25.509 put up with it readily enough. He says, you're 00:12:25.509 --> 00:12:29.870 buying into this, this other proclamation, and 00:12:29.870 --> 00:12:33.669 it's deceiving you. You're being easily deceived. 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:36.870 Someone is proclaiming a different Jesus and 00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:40.250 you're giving your attention to it. You're receiving 00:12:40.250 --> 00:12:42.090 it as though it's something that ought to be 00:12:42.090 --> 00:12:48.509 received. Now, keep in mind, it is not like these 00:12:48.509 --> 00:12:50.990 other teachers are coming in and saying, let 00:12:50.990 --> 00:12:55.730 me tell you about not Jesus Christ, but Jesus 00:12:55.730 --> 00:13:01.210 Zubrod, Jesus Rowan. They're not doing that. 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:03.870 That would be too easy. It'd be like, well, we 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:06.289 heard about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Now you're 00:13:06.289 --> 00:13:10.149 telling me it's about Jesus. Red, that's what 00:13:10.149 --> 00:13:14.129 Rowan means in case you're wondering. No, no, 00:13:14.129 --> 00:13:16.210 no, no, no, no. They're talking about Jesus Christ, 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:17.990 but here's what these deceivers are doing. They're 00:13:17.990 --> 00:13:19.909 talking about him in such a way, they're proclaiming 00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:23.330 him in such a way that is just so easy and so 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:27.370 palatable and so nice to hear with those Corinthian 00:13:27.370 --> 00:13:32.830 ears. I want us to sit in this for a little bit, 00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:36.600 okay? So people come to a Messiah, which again, 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:38.820 keep in mind, what does Messiah means? It means 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:43.679 anointed one, right? Anointed one. People come 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:46.899 to the Messiah, this one who would come and save 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:51.600 them, anointed one from God that would save with 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.100 what they believe is their fundamental problem, 00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:59.159 right? What do I need saving from? What's my 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:02.240 problem? Let's go to the Messiah with the problem. 00:14:03.730 --> 00:14:08.029 So some in Jesus' day, some messiahs in Jesus' 00:14:08.090 --> 00:14:11.269 day, we know this, this is actually part of what's 00:14:11.269 --> 00:14:16.370 mentioned in Acts chapter five, led a whole crowd 00:14:16.370 --> 00:14:20.450 of Jewish folk who were waiting for the Messiah, 00:14:20.649 --> 00:14:23.429 desiring His coming. They led them out into the 00:14:23.429 --> 00:14:27.889 wilderness. Why? Because the world had become 00:14:27.889 --> 00:14:31.990 so corrupt. We need to get away from all this 00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:34.710 corruption. The real, the main problem that we 00:14:34.710 --> 00:14:37.789 have is all these people around us. And they 00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:40.389 are just corrupting our good morals. And if we 00:14:40.389 --> 00:14:42.610 could just be by ourselves, we would have it 00:14:42.610 --> 00:14:45.330 fine. We just need us together who all agree 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:47.990 on blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? I mean, 00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:49.350 that's part of what the Messiahs were doing. 00:14:49.549 --> 00:14:51.309 Truly, that's somewhat what the Messiahs were 00:14:51.309 --> 00:14:56.889 doing. Some Messiahs thought that the primary 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:02.519 problem was a political problem. The primary 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:04.360 problem with the world was a political problem. 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:11.700 If we could just get rid of those others, I know 00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:13.679 you all are probably thinking in our world, you're 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.039 probably thinking either, oh, is he talking about 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:18.460 Democrats or Republicans? I'm not. Talking about 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:21.279 the Romans, right? But our minds are probably 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.259 running there. But truly, that was what was happening, 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.039 right? So you had messiahs that thought our primary 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:31.500 problem is that we are occupied. We're occupied 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:34.480 by the Romans. And so the messiah would come 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.340 and the primary thing that he would do is get 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.539 rid of those. Romans, get rid of the occupiers. 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:42.379 That's the problem. The primary problem with 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:47.299 the world is a political problem. Okay. Now, 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:51.230 there were other messiahs. That thought that 00:15:51.230 --> 00:15:54.850 the primary problem is a religious purity problem 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:59.269 That what we primarily need is a Messiah who's 00:15:59.269 --> 00:16:02.549 not going to hang around with the riff -raff 00:16:02.549 --> 00:16:06.129 Don't hang out with sinners. Don't especially 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:09.549 don't hang out with tax collectors Don't hang 00:16:09.549 --> 00:16:12.909 out with people that drink too much, you know 00:16:12.909 --> 00:16:14.649 Drink smoke and chew and go with the girls that 00:16:14.649 --> 00:16:16.389 do that kind of stuff. Don't hang out with those 00:16:16.389 --> 00:16:18.919 people And so some of the messiahs said, what 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:23.620 we need primarily is religious purity. That's 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:26.000 the fundamental problem, because there's not 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.460 religious purity. And so you have those kinds 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:31.600 of messiahs. I'm telling you, we know there are 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:36.419 messiahs that fit these descriptions. So of course, 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:44.320 what's Jesus' problem? Well, part of his problem 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.539 is that he hung out with people. that he wasn't 00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:48.080 supposed to. The religious people didn't like 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:52.139 that. He wasn't exclusive enough. He wasn't pure 00:16:52.139 --> 00:16:55.059 enough for them. Some of the problem was that 00:16:55.059 --> 00:16:57.759 he wasn't out to get the Romans like they wanted 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:03.220 him to. Why was Jesus killed? For those kinds 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:09.299 of reasons. Anyway, the Corinthians, which was 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:13.190 a wealthy Roman port city, remember? This is 00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:15.829 a great trading industrial place. It had all 00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:20.730 these temples to other gods. Part of their biggest 00:17:20.730 --> 00:17:26.529 problem that they would want is that they wanted 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:29.549 to be respected. This is a well -to -do place 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:32.390 with well -to -do people, educated folk. How 00:17:32.390 --> 00:17:37.150 do I religiously live in this kind of setting 00:17:37.150 --> 00:17:39.869 that I can still be respected and loved by those 00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:43.150 who are about me? give me more of a prosperous 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:47.930 Jesus, please." That's what they desire. Let's 00:17:47.930 --> 00:17:50.990 think about this a little bit, okay? I mean, 00:17:50.990 --> 00:17:54.650 it is not hard to think that in our own day, 00:17:54.769 --> 00:17:59.349 we have nationalist Jesus, right? But because 00:17:59.349 --> 00:18:01.089 the primary problem is that we have all those 00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:03.089 other people coming in here and telling us, like, 00:18:03.109 --> 00:18:06.329 messing with our nation. So let's get Jesus to 00:18:06.329 --> 00:18:13.779 stamp that. Or we can think of The great love 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:18.480 of modernist classically liberal idea is the 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.680 primacy of the individual. You do you. You think, 00:18:21.819 --> 00:18:24.140 therefore you are. I think, therefore I am. So 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:26.539 it's the primacy of the individual. So our main 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:30.559 objective in our world is to individually express 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.079 who we believe we are. It's the primary thing. 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:39.579 So let's get Jesus to stamp that. You can think 00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:42.680 about this all day. Let's get capitalist Jesus. 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:45.619 Let's get socialist Jesus. Well, whatever, you 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:48.160 know, we just want Jesus to stamp it. We have 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.660 the idea of what's our major problem and let's 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:55.319 get the Messiah, bam, on that. Different Jesuses. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:58.000 And that is exactly what these teachers are doing. 00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:00.099 That's exactly what these teachers are doing. 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:02.579 They're not proclaiming a Jesus with another 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:04.400 last name. They're saying, this is the Jesus 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.099 Christ, but they're not being faithful to who 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:10.720 Jesus really was as revealed in scripture. who 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:15.460 came primarily because the big problem is sin. 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:18.339 That's the big problem that has to be dealt with. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.579 Why is Jesus called Jesus? Why is Joseph told 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:24.779 to name him that? Because he will save his people 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:29.180 from their... I don't know what Jesus would have 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:31.299 been called if he was to save them from the Romans 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:34.940 or save them from a lack of purity. But what 00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:36.680 we have in the Gospels right from the beginning, 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.740 even His name, is because the main problem is 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:44.440 that Jesus is coming to deal with sin. They're 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:47.819 presenting a different Jesus. They're deceiving 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:49.539 and they're trying to make it more palatable, 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:55.140 more delightful. They're disguising Jesus. Now, 00:19:55.140 --> 00:19:56.660 I'm not saying that some of the things that we 00:19:56.660 --> 00:19:59.079 want to address are not real problems because 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:02.000 they are and they are an effect of sin, economic 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.660 systems and all these kinds of things. They're 00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:06.880 an effect of being estranged from God. They're 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:10.180 an effect of rebellious hearts. But if you don't 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:12.660 get the root problem wrong, you don't see the 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:15.940 Messiah for who He is, and you get deceived. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.160 What I'm suggesting is that the first deception 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:23.559 of a disguised delight is that they're simply 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:27.480 proclaiming a message that tickled the ears of 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:31.470 the Corinthian people. Another part of this Disguised 00:20:31.470 --> 00:20:34.190 Delight was their style. I'm going to say style, 00:20:34.410 --> 00:20:39.269 but that word's not in our passage. But verse 00:20:39.269 --> 00:20:42.109 five, I love this. We're not going to take this 00:20:42.109 --> 00:20:43.970 long in every section. I'm not going to walk 00:20:43.970 --> 00:20:47.329 this slowly through all these 33 verses, but 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:50.650 verse five. Indeed, I consider that I am not 00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:54.309 in the least inferior to these super apostles. 00:20:55.390 --> 00:20:57.509 I always kind of love that because it's almost 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:02.250 like these guys are big deal. They got their 00:21:02.250 --> 00:21:05.609 stuff going for them, right? And then verse six, 00:21:05.650 --> 00:21:09.089 actually, he says this, even if I am unskilled 00:21:09.089 --> 00:21:12.589 in speaking, I'm not so in knowledge indeed in 00:21:12.589 --> 00:21:16.190 every way we have made this plain to you in all 00:21:16.190 --> 00:21:20.390 things. So he's sort of admitting that these 00:21:20.390 --> 00:21:24.190 guys have a style that's attractive. I mean, 00:21:24.309 --> 00:21:25.890 you know, when he calls them super apostles, 00:21:26.029 --> 00:21:27.690 it may be in jest, but it actually could be that 00:21:27.690 --> 00:21:29.829 these people themselves thought these guys got 00:21:29.829 --> 00:21:36.109 it going. They are very, very articulate. They 00:21:36.109 --> 00:21:39.150 can speak in such a way that every single word 00:21:39.150 --> 00:21:41.430 that they speak, everyone is just hanging on 00:21:41.430 --> 00:21:45.869 it. What's he going to say next? The whole next 00:21:45.869 --> 00:21:50.569 paragraph, 7 to 11. He speaks primarily of this 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:52.930 idea that he didn't receive any money from the 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:55.150 Corinthian Church. Actually, if you notice, what 00:21:55.150 --> 00:21:58.690 he says is the Macedonian Church, who were what? 00:21:59.089 --> 00:22:01.990 Poor and afflicted, right? Were the ones supporting 00:22:01.990 --> 00:22:04.470 him in his ministry. He didn't receive anything 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:07.490 from the Corinthian Church. But why would he 00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:09.890 go into this for a little while in the context 00:22:09.890 --> 00:22:16.539 of this chapter? Well, it's because The money 00:22:16.539 --> 00:22:23.619 that you were given when you were speaking corresponded 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:29.579 to your ability, to your eloquence, to how many 00:22:29.579 --> 00:22:34.039 people you could gather. This isn't a hard idea 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:43.859 for you to get. I looked this up. An ex -president 00:22:44.190 --> 00:22:49.390 If he is going to give a speech, receives anywhere 00:22:49.390 --> 00:23:00.049 from $100 ,000 to $500 ,000 for one speech. By 00:23:00.049 --> 00:23:04.690 contrast, I used to lead Reformed University 00:23:04.690 --> 00:23:06.769 Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University, 00:23:06.809 --> 00:23:09.369 where I would often go preach to various churches 00:23:09.369 --> 00:23:13.099 around the Commonwealth. I would preach on average 00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:16.500 about 22 Sundays a week for various churches 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:22.180 and make anywhere from $100 to $300 a speech. 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:28.960 These super apostles, they were getting paid. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:35.400 And Paul wasn't. They had style. People liked 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.809 them. They liked what they had to say. They had 00:23:38.809 --> 00:23:43.470 sort of social cachet that invited the big bucks. 00:23:44.769 --> 00:23:46.730 I mean, you can imagine in a world where professional 00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:49.470 philosophers were accorded status by how much 00:23:49.470 --> 00:23:54.230 they got paid. And Paul wasn't getting anything. 00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:56.509 They kind of looked at Paul and thought, maybe 00:23:56.509 --> 00:23:59.529 this thing that he's talking about isn't worth 00:23:59.529 --> 00:24:03.630 anything. Maybe we should go a different direction. 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:10.690 Maybe because he refused to get paid, his teaching 00:24:10.690 --> 00:24:14.009 was of low quality, or the message wasn't worth 00:24:14.009 --> 00:24:18.190 much. Or if the gospel is free, then of what 00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:24.730 value is it? Maybe he isn't an apostle. What 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:26.609 I'm suggesting is all this money talk in this 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:30.710 has to do with the question of style that these 00:24:30.710 --> 00:24:33.349 false prophets had. And in that world, in that 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:37.180 time, and in that place, people were deceived. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:40.180 They could easily give into the deception that 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:42.220 the person that makes the money is the one that 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:44.380 you ought to listen to. They're speaking the 00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:50.599 truth. They wanted a palatable Jesus their neighbors 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:56.059 could respect. They wanted a Jesus who would 00:24:56.059 --> 00:25:02.380 get a lot of money for being proclaimed. And 00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:03.920 yet again, as we get to the end of that little 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:08.490 section, All it says is this is a disguised deception. 00:25:09.329 --> 00:25:13.109 Don't buy into it. It's not the real thing. It's 00:25:13.109 --> 00:25:18.089 false. Don't buy into the idea that you need 00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:20.410 a G's that primarily comes to deal with your 00:25:20.410 --> 00:25:24.750 nationalist problems or your expressive individualism 00:25:24.750 --> 00:25:31.150 or your economic plight. Don't buy into that. 00:25:32.549 --> 00:25:36.380 Don't buy into a style of presenting Jesus that 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:43.680 doesn't invite humility, the way of Jesus. Jesus 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:48.559 comes low and so must his people. Don't buy into 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:51.859 all the flash, Paul is saying, all the pomp and 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:58.240 circumstance. It's true, these are the kinds 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:00.019 of messiahs, I'm telling you, these are the kinds 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:02.599 of messiahs that were present in Jesus' own day. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:08.059 And people saw them. and they missed Him. And 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:10.359 I'm inviting you, I'm telling you, continue on 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:16.960 in the faith. Don't be deceived. Grab on the 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.500 true Christ. Okay, the second deception here, 00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:22.619 and this is sort of the second half of this chapter, 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:25.339 is that there's this other deception that was 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:27.740 at play. And I'm just going to call this one 00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:33.940 the deception to spurn suffering. to spurn suffering. 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:35.779 And it's sort of related to the first one, making 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:38.319 Jesus a little palatable, but it's a little bit 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:43.480 different, okay? Spurning suffering. So this 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:46.220 second part of chapter 11 is one of the most 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:47.559 complete, I mean, there's a couple of these, 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.380 but it's one of the most complete lists of Paul's 00:26:50.380 --> 00:26:53.039 suffering as he went about proclaiming Jesus 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:55.599 and planting churches and supporting the churches. 00:26:56.259 --> 00:26:58.160 But I do want to read it to you again, because 00:26:58.160 --> 00:26:59.880 it really is fairly remarkable. This is verse 00:26:59.880 --> 00:27:03.839 24 to 28. So he says this, five times I received 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:06.519 the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes less one. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.900 By the way, 40 was thought to kill somebody. 00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:13.240 So they said, we can't do 40, we'll do 39. So 00:27:13.240 --> 00:27:16.440 five times he received that. Three times I was 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.740 beaten with rods once I was stoned. Three times 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:21.519 I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:24.660 at sea. on frequent journeys and danger from 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:27.579 rivers danger from robbers danger from my own 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:30.920 people danger from gentiles danger in the city 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:33.359 danger in the wilderness danger at sea danger 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:37.220 from false brothers toil and hardship through 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:39.299 many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst 00:27:39.299 --> 00:27:43.319 often without food and cold and exposure and 00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:45.779 apart from other things there is the daily pressure 00:27:45.779 --> 00:27:49.660 on me of my anxiety for all the churches i mean 00:27:49.660 --> 00:27:57.809 that's a lot That's a lot. But the point of him 00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:03.549 sharing all of his suffering is not so that they 00:28:03.549 --> 00:28:07.430 can go, wow, y 'all, look at Paul. Because I 00:28:07.430 --> 00:28:10.430 kind of read it through and I'm like, dang, that's 00:28:10.430 --> 00:28:13.130 amazing that he went through all that. But I 00:28:13.130 --> 00:28:15.369 want to suggest to you that that's not why he's 00:28:15.369 --> 00:28:18.750 saying that, okay? If you go back, go back to 00:28:18.750 --> 00:28:21.349 the beginning of these verses. I'll read to you 00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:24.450 actually verses 16 to 21 again also, okay? So 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:27.390 this is what this says, and I love again how 00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:30.549 sort of human this feels. I repeat, let no one 00:28:30.549 --> 00:28:33.509 think me foolish, but even if you do accept me 00:28:33.509 --> 00:28:39.490 as a fool so that I too may boast a little. What 00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:42.990 I'm saying with this boastful confidence, what 00:28:42.990 --> 00:28:44.950 I'm saying with this boastful... full confidence, 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.849 I say not as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since 00:28:48.849 --> 00:28:51.710 many boast according to the flesh, so too I will 00:28:51.710 --> 00:28:54.589 boast. For you gladly bear with fools being wise 00:28:54.589 --> 00:28:58.049 yourselves. For you bear it if someone makes 00:28:58.049 --> 00:29:00.150 slaves of you or devours you or takes advantage 00:29:00.150 --> 00:29:02.109 of you or puts on airs or strikes you in the 00:29:02.109 --> 00:29:05.349 face. To my shame, I must say we were too weak 00:29:05.349 --> 00:29:07.569 for that." He keeps saying this is a foolish 00:29:07.569 --> 00:29:09.769 thing that he's about to do. He's sort of playing 00:29:09.769 --> 00:29:13.309 into their game as it were, right? But here's 00:29:13.309 --> 00:29:20.869 the thing. Their main game was their credentials. 00:29:21.630 --> 00:29:24.009 The main game, if you'll remember back a little 00:29:24.009 --> 00:29:26.470 ways about the whole letter, that these people 00:29:26.470 --> 00:29:28.170 came, these false prophets came with a letter 00:29:28.170 --> 00:29:30.490 of recommendation from others. Their main thing 00:29:30.490 --> 00:29:37.569 was, look at my CV. Look at the jobs I've had. 00:29:39.529 --> 00:29:44.059 Look at me. Right? That was what their main thing 00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:45.980 was doing. And so he begins to play along with 00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:48.180 this a little bit. And he does so first by saying 00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:51.299 this, right? Verse 22, are they Hebrews? Because 00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:53.440 that's on their CV. I'm a Hebrew, you ought to 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:55.720 listen to me about this guy. He says, check, 00:29:55.779 --> 00:30:01.400 so am I. Are they Israelites? Yes, check, so 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:04.240 am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? Okay, so 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:06.380 am I. Are they servants of Christ? Then he says, 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.400 I'm a better one. Now he says, I'm speaking like 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:10.640 a madman because he knows he's going easy. He's 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:13.079 kind of going a little bit far. But what I want 00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:14.839 to suggest to you is that he's entertaining this 00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:17.500 foolish idea that you ought to listen to him 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:20.539 because of his credentials. And he says, this 00:30:20.539 --> 00:30:23.759 is a deceptive thing to kind of just go, hey, 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:27.400 look at me. Look at what I've done. And he says, 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:31.220 The real test is actually, are you willing to 00:30:31.220 --> 00:30:33.880 follow Christ? And what does it mean to follow 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.079 Christ, but to follow Him to the place of suffering? 00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:42.420 Because most of us are deceived, an awful lot 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:44.259 of us are deceived, and the great test of faith 00:30:44.259 --> 00:30:47.380 is, are you willing to continue on in the faith 00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:51.819 when it means your life or some aspect of your 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:55.099 life that you cherish, that you hold tight to? 00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:00.259 goes into the boasting because he wants to show 00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:02.039 how foolish it is, but he also wants to lead 00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:05.299 them into this question of, do you actually receive 00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:09.400 Jesus? Because to receive Jesus means to receive 00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:12.759 the one who goes to the cross, who invites you 00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:18.720 to take up your cross and to follow him. I hope 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:23.470 you see what Paul is doing here. There's a deception 00:31:23.470 --> 00:31:26.829 that's at play in these false teachers. And the 00:31:26.829 --> 00:31:33.410 community is intrigued by this deception. They're 00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.509 considering going along with it. They're considering 00:31:36.509 --> 00:31:38.529 going along with a Jesus that's a little bit 00:31:38.529 --> 00:31:40.549 more palatable to their ears and to their neighbors. 00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:44.029 And they're intrigued by going along with a Jesus 00:31:44.029 --> 00:31:46.769 that says, all you need is the stuff that puffs 00:31:46.769 --> 00:31:53.900 you up. Don't go to the cross. Don't go to the 00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:56.799 place of suffering. Just give your CV that makes 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:03.420 you look good. They were tempted to follow Jesus 00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:08.180 until it meant something would cost them. Something 00:32:08.180 --> 00:32:11.480 that cost them. And again, I just want to suggest 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:13.440 to you, this is another one of the great deceptions 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:21.119 that we live in still. We're deceived. I'm following 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:24.259 Jesus until He comes again, until He comes again, 00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:27.460 His second Advent, because sometimes following 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:31.180 Jesus means it costs us something. Sometimes 00:32:31.180 --> 00:32:35.000 it costs us job opportunities. Sometimes it costs 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:40.140 us relationships that we desire, friendships, 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:48.200 romantic life that we would like to pursue. Truthfully, 00:32:48.359 --> 00:32:50.980 very few of you Probably none of you are likely 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:55.859 to be shipwrecked or receive the 40 lashes minus 00:32:55.859 --> 00:33:01.500 one. But it's not a crazy thought to think that 00:33:01.500 --> 00:33:04.400 quite a few of you may miss out on a job opportunity 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:09.200 because your Lord calls you to honesty. And often 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:12.380 honesty doesn't get you terribly far in business, 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:18.190 not as far as you may want to go. It's not likely 00:33:18.190 --> 00:33:20.910 that you will have sleepless night upon sleepless 00:33:20.910 --> 00:33:26.910 night as Paul did. But it's not unlikely that 00:33:26.910 --> 00:33:31.069 your relationships will be affected, that you 00:33:31.069 --> 00:33:35.289 might be invited into a life of celibacy to follow 00:33:35.289 --> 00:33:39.509 Jesus faithfully in your life. That might be 00:33:39.509 --> 00:33:41.569 part of the Lord's invitation to you. It might 00:33:41.569 --> 00:33:45.859 be part of the cross that you bear. And those 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:48.900 are just some of the reasons, those are just 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:50.740 some of the things that we might be invited into 00:33:50.740 --> 00:33:52.819 that we will say, you know what, this is too 00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:56.400 heavy to bear. I think I will give up on this 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:00.680 Jesus thing. We want to spurn the suffering, 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:04.200 the cross bearing that we have to bear in order 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:09.800 to follow Jesus. Paul says he can boast of these 00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:11.920 things though, if you caught at the end, because 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:17.099 they reveal his weakness. but God's strength. 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:23.599 I thought when I was studying this passage, how 00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:26.139 strange it is that he ends the way he does. Look 00:34:26.139 --> 00:34:28.519 at verses 30 in the end. If I must boast, I will 00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:39.730 boast of the things that show my weakness. Erratus 00:34:39.730 --> 00:34:42.750 was guarding the city of Damascus in order to 00:34:42.750 --> 00:34:45.349 seize me, but I was let down in a basket through 00:34:45.349 --> 00:34:47.250 a window in the wall and escaped his hands." 00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:49.809 That's how the chapter ends. You're like, what's 00:34:49.809 --> 00:34:51.849 this little story that you're sharing with us 00:34:51.849 --> 00:34:53.690 here at the end, Paul? Well, he's sharing with 00:34:53.690 --> 00:34:57.030 us this whole town is being guarded and I escaped. 00:34:57.190 --> 00:35:01.130 And he says, here's the truth. And here's a test. 00:35:01.269 --> 00:35:02.989 Maybe here's a test actually, just like giving 00:35:02.989 --> 00:35:06.090 is a barometer for your faith that we talked 00:35:06.090 --> 00:35:08.820 about last week a little bit, right? which is 00:35:08.820 --> 00:35:11.619 a true barometer. But another barometer is, have 00:35:11.619 --> 00:35:16.719 you seen that God's power is made perfect in 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:20.599 your weakness? Paul says, I knew that God was 00:35:20.599 --> 00:35:25.320 with me because I was so utterly unable. There's 00:35:25.320 --> 00:35:28.320 no way I was going to escape. This guy had the 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:33.260 whole place guarded. And I got out. Because God 00:35:33.260 --> 00:35:37.409 can provide. His power is made perfect in our 00:35:37.409 --> 00:35:46.489 weakness. So deception. Let me go back to Mark 00:35:46.489 --> 00:35:50.610 Landis as a way of closing. So Mark Landis lives 00:35:50.610 --> 00:35:56.869 in Mississippi. He's a free man. He was never 00:35:56.869 --> 00:36:02.050 arrested. He deceived all of these museums. all 00:36:02.050 --> 00:36:04.409 over the country 20 different states had had 00:36:04.409 --> 00:36:08.510 his pieces hanging in there on their walls but 00:36:08.510 --> 00:36:12.670 here's an interesting thing he he always gave 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:15.789 away his work he never received any money from 00:36:15.789 --> 00:36:19.269 it and the people that he was dealing with this 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:21.489 is interesting the people he was giving these 00:36:21.489 --> 00:36:25.949 pieces to were the experts They were the specialists 00:36:25.949 --> 00:36:29.050 in these works of art and they would receive 00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:30.929 them and they would examine them and they would 00:36:30.929 --> 00:36:34.949 say, sure enough, this is a true piece. I can't 00:36:34.949 --> 00:36:39.329 believe we're receiving this free gift. We'll 00:36:39.329 --> 00:36:44.110 hang it up on our walls. Here's why I share this. 00:36:44.570 --> 00:36:48.250 He was able to deceive and which is why he's 00:36:48.250 --> 00:36:51.110 not in jail. He's living free right now down 00:36:51.110 --> 00:36:54.610 in Mississippi. He was able to deceive the people 00:36:54.610 --> 00:36:59.929 that thought they knew, right? The real experts 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:05.110 in their field. Brothers and sisters, I want 00:37:05.110 --> 00:37:10.809 to encourage you, be on your guard. Hold fast 00:37:10.809 --> 00:37:13.869 to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. 00:37:14.849 --> 00:37:19.869 Cling to Jesus because if you rest on your laurels 00:37:19.869 --> 00:37:23.960 with the faith, It will be so easy to hear the 00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:27.940 tickling proclamations of another Jesus, to look 00:37:27.940 --> 00:37:31.659 and see the style of somebody else and be led 00:37:31.659 --> 00:37:34.000 astray. To consider, you know what, I'm not going 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:37.539 to have to suffer if I go with that Jesus instead 00:37:37.539 --> 00:37:40.780 of that Jesus. I want the good, the health and 00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:43.900 wealth and all that sort of stuff, life. Maybe 00:37:43.900 --> 00:37:48.320 I should go there. If these museum curators, 00:37:48.500 --> 00:37:51.679 if these experts in art can be deceived, believe 00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:58.099 me, we can too. And Paul's word to us is hold 00:37:58.099 --> 00:38:04.340 fast to Jesus. Continue in the faith until his 00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:08.940 coming. May we do so, and may we do so together. 00:38:09.019 --> 00:38:14.860 Let me pray. Lord, we're thankful for this text, 00:38:15.059 --> 00:38:18.099 Gal, we're thankful for its warning, its Advent 00:38:18.099 --> 00:38:22.760 warning, because Lord, the waiting is long. And 00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:24.599 I pray that You'd give us Your Holy Spirit to 00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:27.199 abide within us and to give us faith that we 00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:30.380 might cling to Jesus, our rock and our salvation. 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.780 We pray this in His name. Amen. Thank you for 00:38:35.780 --> 00:38:38.500 listening to Second City Sermons podcast. We 00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:40.400 hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:43.340 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:38:43.340 --> 00:38:45.699 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:38:45.699 --> 00:38:48.880 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:52.179 find us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on 00:38:52.179 --> 00:38:54.780 Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Thanks again 00:38:54.780 --> 00:38:56.280 for listening. God bless.