WEBVTT 00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:05.880 As a church, I'm going to invite you this morning to second Corinthians chapter two, is where we're going to be today. 00:00:06.580 --> 00:00:12.540 Second Corinthians chapter two and we're not going to be specific in our message today related to Mother's Day. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:19.900 However, you're going to find a lot of application if you are a mother and not just in that category, but really any 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:27.140 walk of life, this will be helpful as we deal with relationship today, in looking at this text in second Corinthians chapter two. 00:00:28.380 --> 00:00:35.400 I'm just going to ask, this is a well known question and well, I'll leave this rhetorical for you, but 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:38.790 something to think about here, as we dive into this text. 00:00:39.580 --> 00:00:46.600 Do you know the number one reason Christian missionaries leave the mission field? 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:53.600 What is the number one reason Christian missionaries leave the mission field? 00:00:54.900 --> 00:01:02.000 And of all the things you might conjure up or ideas to consider, the sad reality is the number one reason that's been attributed 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.620 to, really through many years. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:08.200 You can just Google this if you don't believe me, you'll see all kinds of articles pop up. 00:01:08.740 --> 00:01:09.730 It's interpersonal conflict. 00:01:11.380 --> 00:01:16.880 They can't get along with the other missionaries they work with and they end up leaving the mission field. 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:25.720 It's a tragedy to think about, because when you consider what God does in his people, and then what God desires to 00:01:25.720 --> 00:01:28.190 do through his people, it is a beautiful work. 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:36.500 When Christians within their own tribe can't even get along, it's what God calls us to, it's a very tragic narrative that 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:36.920 is written. 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:43.300 Second Corinthians chapter two, that is exactly what Paul deals with here, is interpersonal conflict. 00:01:43.300 --> 00:01:50.460 You probably could have determined what the answer would've been to that question, if you looked to the headlines of the sermon 00:01:50.460 --> 00:01:52.530 notes, if you picked those up when you came in today. 00:01:52.960 --> 00:02:00.420 But Paul is giving us some thoughts as it relates today, how to navigate through conflict when we experience it, especially among God's 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.100 own people or in your close relationships in life. 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:11.009 That is how Paul approaches this text today, four thoughts when navigating through conflict. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:13.040 I'm just going to jump right into it. 00:02:13.100 --> 00:02:20.200 First, number one in your notes there, is to be mindful of the destruction conflict can cause to the work of the gospel. 00:02:20.940 --> 00:02:25.560 Be mindful of the destruction conflict can cause to the work of the gospel. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:31.580 Paul starts off in verse four, chapter two, just giving us the thought that way. 00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:36.740 But before we dive into verse four, I want us to see how Paul, right in the middle of what he's sharing in this chapter. 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:44.800 He says in verse 11, "So that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs." As 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.080 Paul, through this section of verse four to verse 17, he's talking about conflict. 00:02:48.420 --> 00:02:55.500 He wants us to realize just kind of a sobering reality, that in our interaction in life, there's always something spiritual that's 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:56.280 taken place. 00:02:56.340 --> 00:03:03.400 Sometimes people can get obsessive about spiritual warfare, but everything we do in life has some sort of spiritual implication related to 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:03.880 it. 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:11.640 Paul is saying, especially when we deal with relationship and it gets to the point of conflict, it doesn't have to be a place where 00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:13.700 Satan gets victory in our lives. 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:21.320 God can use our conflict, and we're not as believers not to avoid conflict, but God can use that as a way in his life to show the beauty of the gospel, not 00:03:21.320 --> 00:03:23.500 to create the division among his people. 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:30.080 But when it gets to that place where it becomes counterproductive in our relationships. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:37.180 Therefore, it becomes counterproductive in what God wants to do through us in this world as his community and it's exactly what Satan wants 00:03:37.180 --> 00:03:39.280 to leverage among God's people. 00:03:41.200 --> 00:03:48.280 It's important for us to be mindful of that, because sometimes when we get offended or we get hurt, we get all up in our emotion and all we 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:49.210 can think about is ourself. 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:56.900 We start to see red and we say things like, "Catch me outside." It's like, "Meet me out back." If you're from the 80s and, "Catch me outside." If 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:58.500 you're from recent years. 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.900 That's how we phrase it and we get stuck in that emotion. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:09.820 We stop thinking about beyond us and the consequences of that and we live within our ourselves 00:04:09.820 --> 00:04:12.920 and how we can provide retribution to the moment. 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:22.460 Paul, taking a step back from the conflict he's experiencing with the church of Corinth, begins to recognize and 00:04:22.460 --> 00:04:28.470 when we walk in that, Satan gets victory. 00:04:28.820 --> 00:04:35.250 So when we get to that place of that emotional turmoil and the frustration of relationship, to be mindful. 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:41.900 Be mindful of the destruction conflict can cause to the work of the gospel. 00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:49.160 It's not to say that we shouldn't walk in conflict or step into a difficult situation as believers. 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:57.620 We're not talking about avoidance here, but to realize the repercussions as we journey down that path and we're in precarious 00:04:57.620 --> 00:04:59.920 moments in places of adversity. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:08.980 In fact, in verse four, he says it like this, "For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of my heart and with many tears." Paul, 00:05:09.080 --> 00:05:11.240 super apostle here, or an apostle. 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:16.240 We're going to talk about super apostles in this book, should not equate that with Paul, but Paul as an apostle of the Lord. 00:05:16.260 --> 00:05:18.580 If you think anyone's got grit, it's definitely Paul. 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:26.640 I mean, in the book of Corinthians, he talks about all the things that he endured for the sake of the gospel, being shipwrecked and beaten and in prison, and not even 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:27.940 knowing if he's going to survive. 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:35.460 He tells us in chapter one of this book, Paul's gone through a lot, not even be able to eat, no clothing, no shelter. 00:05:35.460 --> 00:05:38.660 I mean, he has faced all the struggles, this is a tough dude. 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:47.900 But then he says in the reality of his interaction with God's people in that struggle, his heart gets to that place of infliction and 00:05:47.900 --> 00:05:52.980 anguish and tears. 00:05:53.900 --> 00:05:59.920 Adversity affects all of us, especially when it's relational, that cuts the deepest. 00:06:00.780 --> 00:06:05.130 I would say probably the wounds that cut the most deepest, can I even say that? 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.630 The most deepest, that's not even grammatically correct. 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:13.370 It's when people are closest to you, their wounds hurt the worst. 00:06:14.440 --> 00:06:21.600 Paul wants the church just to be aware of this, but he's identifying the struggle of 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:28.820 conflict and then he goes on in verse five and he's saying, "Even as it affects me," here's what's also important, 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:37.660 he says, "Not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you." Paul, 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:39.860 in this moment, he's still selfless. 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:49.920 He still wants the church to realize, through all the hardship that he's facing, his thoughts are to let go of himself and consider 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:51.360 the wellbeing of everyone else involved. 00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:57.420 This affects me, but as it affects me, my heart is still about you. 00:06:58.640 --> 00:07:05.580 What does God desire to want to do through you and work through you? 00:07:05.760 --> 00:07:12.820 So conflict doesn't have to be this black eye, but it can be a powerful way that the beauty of the gospel works through all 00:07:12.820 --> 00:07:13.180 of us. 00:07:13.260 --> 00:07:20.340 I think out of anywhere, out of anywhere, we can see the beauty of conflict resolve, 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:22.060 it's got to be among God's people. 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:27.320 Because we have the hope of the gospel, the forgiveness of Christ being lived through our lives. 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:34.880 So if anyone should know how to walk through this moment, it's got to be God's people, because 00:07:34.880 --> 00:07:39.620 we've experienced the grace of Christ in our own lives and having our soul forgiven in Jesus. 00:07:40.140 --> 00:07:47.240 Through that, the reconciliation of a relationship to Christ, as Christ has given himself completely for us while we were enemies of him, it tells us 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:49.720 in Romans chapter five, verse 10. 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:56.860 So Paul, I think though he recognizes what conflict can produce, he's still boldly engaging this moment because 00:07:56.860 --> 00:08:02.100 he knows the hope of what the gospel presents and the beauty it can demonstrate before the world. 00:08:02.140 --> 00:08:09.220 The hope that we have because of Christ, in the midst of that kind of adversity, that we walk different than the world walks in 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:09.880 those moments. 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:18.420 Which is why he goes on in verse five, he says, "Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, 00:08:18.640 --> 00:08:25.820 not to put it too severely, to all of you." Paul's saying, "Look, as a church, we don't run away 00:08:25.820 --> 00:08:26.620 from conflict. 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:33.640 That's not what God has called us to do, but we need to begin to realize that when one person within the Body of Christ starts to hurt, 00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:39.780 it affects all of us." We may not recognize fully how it completely would affect us. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:46.940 But when someone goes to this part that Paul's referring to and affliction and deep anguish, they're in tears, in that 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:52.460 moment it might sideline them from exercising the gifts that God has given them, to bless the Body of Christ. 00:08:52.640 --> 00:08:56.850 So in doing, when one is affected, all of us can feel the repercussions of that. 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:06.520 So Paul is saying, for us, it's not about avoiding it and he's 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:10.790 also certainly beginning to recognize, look, and we don't need to be obsessive about this. 00:09:11.020 --> 00:09:18.020 We don't need to say now, because conflict can affect all of us in some way, that we all just need to start obsessively 00:09:18.020 --> 00:09:20.560 looking for conflict and go out and just start killing it. 00:09:20.920 --> 00:09:26.490 There are places in life where we can tolerate the tension in relationship, because we're not all the same. 00:09:27.780 --> 00:09:32.370 Matter of fact, living in the Christian community, being a believer now, I think longer than being an unbeliever. 00:09:32.800 --> 00:09:39.840 I've just found that there's a lot of quirky personalities in the Body of Christ and that's a nice way of saying, "Look, all of you are weird." 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:47.020 All of us have something about us that just make us, some aspect that only a mother can 00:09:47.020 --> 00:09:52.500 love and we need to be able to give grace to one another in that. 00:09:53.520 --> 00:10:00.820 We're not trying to make clones of our preferences, but we're trying to see in the life of each other, what is it Jesus desires 00:10:01.140 --> 00:10:07.020 for the benefit of the body, to his glory and his blessing of the world, the relationships around us. 00:10:07.340 --> 00:10:09.270 What does Jesus want to do with us and through us? 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:18.100 So Paul, he's saying, "Look, there's this way it affects all of us, but point number two, we need to approach conflict with a godly heart." This is where 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:25.260 he says in verse six, "For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough." So Paul, in this moment, he's 00:10:25.260 --> 00:10:32.640 thinking about a specific issue and this person, that's a part of the body here, part of the church in Corinth, that 00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:35.800 most likely he's had some sort of repentant heart. 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:43.580 He's saying to the church there, "For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough." So the church has responded to what's happening within the 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:45.900 body of Christ here towards this individual. 00:10:47.020 --> 00:10:50.820 So Paul, in this moment, he's acknowledging a few things by this verse. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.700 One, he's saying, "Look, you don't sweep it under the rug. 00:10:54.780 --> 00:11:01.900 When Christians talk about conflict, we don't just sweep it under the rug." When there's active sin within the Body of Christ, you don't just ignore 00:11:01.900 --> 00:11:05.200 it and move away from it and turn a blind eye and act like it's not there. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:10.660 We don't just pretend, that's not what Christian community is about. 00:11:11.560 --> 00:11:17.240 But at the same time, when he's talking about this punishment by the majority is enough, he's saying also, "We're not bulldozers. 00:11:17.300 --> 00:11:18.950 We're not pushovers and we're not bulldozers. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:27.920 We don't come in steamrolling people, that's not what we're about." But rather, the 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:33.880 beauty of being a follower of Jesus, is God gives us a place to be open with our failures. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.160 Some people in this world, they walk around with their sin, they don't know what to do with it. 00:11:39.180 --> 00:11:46.170 They try to cover it up, they try to eventually perform enough good works, that they can tolerate the bad things they've done in life. 00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:54.540 Try to make excuses, try to just move away from the negative things and shine a spotlight on all the great things they 00:11:54.540 --> 00:11:58.860 do, to say, "Look, doesn't this make me lovable enough." That's the way the world tends to deal with these things. 00:11:58.880 --> 00:12:02.220 But as believers we've learned, in Jesus, we don't have to do that. 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:05.020 We can bring it straight to Christ. 00:12:07.260 --> 00:12:10.590 You see, in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, they didn't know what to do with their sin. 00:12:10.680 --> 00:12:17.650 They ran and hid from God, they covered up themselves with fig leaves, they tried to pretend like there was nothing wrong, but Jesus is the one that pursued them. 00:12:19.280 --> 00:12:22.340 Jesus has demonstrated to us, that in him we have a place to take our sin. 00:12:23.920 --> 00:12:29.300 When we screw up, we could be honest with that, because we're not trying to impress people with who we are. 00:12:29.920 --> 00:12:34.530 We're trying to make our lives impressed by who Jesus is, because he's the one that transforms us. 00:12:36.540 --> 00:12:43.780 So we can screw up, we can just say, "Look, I can acknowledge this, because I'm not trying to put this image of perfection before 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:51.260 you in my identity." But rather we can take it to Christ and 00:12:51.260 --> 00:12:58.160 be honest with it, and find healing and forgiveness and restoration in relationship. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.860 But Paul, when he is describing this in this verse, he uses this very interesting word. 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:09.250 He says and I highlighted it here for us, "For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough." This punishment, could you imagine? 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:14.420 You come to church on Sunday and I want to teach you, hey guys, great topic today. 00:13:14.420 --> 00:13:19.490 We're going to talk about conflict, we're going to talk about church discipline and I want you all to learn how to punish someone else. 00:13:20.520 --> 00:13:24.900 That is a strange word to be using in a passage like this. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:32.220 When Paul uses this word punishment, what makes it very interesting, is that this is the only time in the New 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:34.440 Testament that this Greek word, punishment is used. 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:41.310 There are other Greek words that we translate in English as punishment, but this particular Greek word, this is the only time it's used in all of the New Testament. 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:44.280 When we understand this word, we have a better understanding of what Paul is saying. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:51.320 Because I will often tell you, even as parents, when you're raising children, that your goal as a parent is not to punish 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:51.780 your kids. 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.520 When they do something wrong, it's not to punish your kids. 00:13:56.640 --> 00:13:59.520 What you should be interested in as a parent, rather than punishment is discipline. 00:14:00.380 --> 00:14:07.540 Because what you're interested in your child is the type of person they're becoming, the character that they will ultimately display. 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:13.160 As a parent, you're thinking about the end goal of your child and you want to nurture that heart through proper discipline. 00:14:13.160 --> 00:14:17.680 Discipline doesn't always have to be bad, but you want to see them develop into great human beings. 00:14:18.260 --> 00:14:24.220 Hopefully godly human beings, surrender to the Lord, but you want see them bless the world rather than tear the world apart. 00:14:25.300 --> 00:14:27.140 So rather than punishment, we think about discipline. 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:31.890 When I say that now, we got to deal with the fact that Paul is talking about punishment in the Body of Christ. 00:14:33.260 --> 00:14:36.190 If you look up, if you do a word search in the New Testament for the word punishment. 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:43.500 You'll find in the New Testament, that when the Bible uses the word punishment, it usually is dealing with the government punishing someone as 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:46.640 a wrongdoer, it's used in terms of Jesus and the gospels. 00:14:47.640 --> 00:14:54.700 It's also used in terms of an unbeliever facing the judgment seat of Christ, but it 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.980 is not used in terms of a New Testament, Christian. 00:15:00.520 --> 00:15:01.540 So why does Paul use it here? 00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:06.940 Well, this particular word that Paul is using is in connection to citizenship and Rome. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:15.500 He's talking about, he's borrowing a word that is used for citizens in Rome, when they come before officials, because of 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:16.460 something wrong they've done. 00:15:17.420 --> 00:15:22.260 Now what makes that unique and understanding is that not everyone that lived in Rome, that was a part of Rome, was a citizen of Rome. 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:28.760 In fact, it was considered a very prestigious title to be termed a citizen in Rome. 00:15:29.800 --> 00:15:37.340 So this was unique, but there was certain privileges granted to Roman citizens when they were faced with charges 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:40.100 that wasn't given to everyone else that lived within Rome. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:48.080 They received this preferential treatment and they got due process in the law that wasn't always granted to non-citizens. 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:59.120 So there was this particular way, that when a citizen came before local authorities for some kind of charge 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.290 brought against him, that they were treated right. 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:05.740 So what Paul is saying in this text is, "Look, he is one of us. 00:16:07.280 --> 00:16:15.220 This person is one of us and we need to meet them where they are, according to what they've done." We're not about overpowering 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.500 them, we're not about destroying them. 00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:18.840 We're not about getting the upper hand. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:25.920 That's not what the community of Christ is about, this domination over others, but we're 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:27.300 about meeting them where they are. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:34.860 The hope is that they awaken to what they're doing. 00:16:36.640 --> 00:16:41.720 That they're mindful of the repercussions of which they are bringing. 00:16:43.920 --> 00:16:51.040 In fact, if you study in scripture how the Bible calls us to approach one another, when you know, a brother or 00:16:51.040 --> 00:16:57.140 sister in Christ is just actively walking contrary to Jesus, it's a very humble approach. 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:02.850 It's not about lording over people, it's not about smacking in the face and telling them to wake up. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:12.420 Peter says, "Unless you too would also be tempted to sin, approach humbly graciously." Probably 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:17.760 one of the best passages on it is Matthew chapter 18 versus 15, 16 and 17. 00:17:17.800 --> 00:17:25.460 It describes it like this, when you know a brother or sister in Christ is struggling in that way, but you come to them humbly and 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:26.440 it's verse 15. 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:33.760 Then in verse 16, if they didn't listen, go grab another believer in Christ and meet them where they're at and just speak 00:17:33.760 --> 00:17:35.410 in to their lives. 00:17:35.860 --> 00:17:37.860 If that doesn't work, get the Body of Christ. 00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:46.480 What we do here is so sacred and we're talking about life forever in Jesus and what God wants to do in you and through you is 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:52.680 far more important than anything that can be tempted by this world, this other path for you to follow. 00:17:53.320 --> 00:17:58.200 So Paul is just wanting us to recognize this, the Body of Christ in this moment got involved. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:18:03.080 One of the things I love about this passage, is Paul never tells us what the problem is. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:05.080 Do you notice that? 00:18:05.540 --> 00:18:07.580 Some people speculate as to what it could be. 00:18:07.580 --> 00:18:14.800 Some people think in first Corinthians chapter five, that there's this passage where Paul's dealing with sexual sin in the church among a believer 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:17.500 and perhaps it's that. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:21.540 Perhaps that's what Paul's addressing here, he's saying that this person, that we've handled it. 00:18:21.540 --> 00:18:28.580 So we need to walk different in how we treat this person, we're not here just to beat people up, or we're not trying to dominate them, 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.040 it's not our purpose. 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:32.940 Some people speculate, that's what it could be. 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:36.780 I don't agree with that, I don't think that's what they're dealing with in this passage. 00:18:37.080 --> 00:18:42.440 I think what they're dealing with in this passage is someone who's become vindictive towards the apostle Paul. 00:18:43.580 --> 00:18:48.370 I think this has been a personal attack on Paul, that's why Paul talks about his own anguish and his own struggle in this passage. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.750 The Body of Christ has just stood up and said, "The way you're treating Paul, it's not right. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:02.240 It's not helpful, it's not godly, it's not good." So 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:08.360 when we think about what we desire as a church, our goal is different to the world's goal. 00:19:08.360 --> 00:19:10.960 World's goal has this cancel culture mentality. 00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:18.360 You see somebody do something wrong and especially against you, that the way the world teaches it, is now you have a platform to shame 00:19:18.360 --> 00:19:21.000 them, to promote yourself, to make you look better than them. 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:23.740 I think that's probably the general definition of cancel culture. 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:27.810 If it's not, just take my definition, it's the right one, but that's the way we treat people. 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:33.200 That if someone does anything wrong in this world, then that gives me the platform to act just as nasty back. 00:19:33.320 --> 00:19:35.730 But I'm the righteous one here, because I'm the one that's been wrong. 00:19:36.020 --> 00:19:39.250 So it doesn't matter how venomous I get in response. 00:19:39.540 --> 00:19:45.880 I get to leverage where I'm at now, because they've done wrong to make me look good, because they're awful, let's shame them, everybody jump on board. 00:19:47.580 --> 00:19:49.440 That's not Jesus' heart at all. 00:19:52.800 --> 00:19:59.800 Jesus' heart is still for lives to be turned to him and this what Paul is saying 00:19:59.800 --> 00:20:00.740 in this passage. 00:20:01.100 --> 00:20:07.570 That we're not here to become legalist, we're not here to conform people to our preferences. 00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:15.840 We just want to see people walk with Jesus and help people see the need for what Christ can do in their lives. 00:20:17.020 --> 00:20:21.220 I love when Martin Luther, I think I've brought this quote up before, but when Martin Luther... 00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:26.290 This a beautiful picture of Martin Luther, where he gets his hair done and but I got to... 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:34.280 But Martin Luther, when he was brought before religious leaders of his day and he was accused of wrongdoing, 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:35.760 this is what he simply said. 00:20:35.840 --> 00:20:42.460 This is important for all of us, he says, "Unless I'm convinced by Scripture in plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:49.140 I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right, nor safe. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:50.160 Here I stand. 00:20:50.260 --> 00:20:51.280 I can do no other. 00:20:51.580 --> 00:20:52.160 God help me. 00:20:52.600 --> 00:20:52.800 Amen. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:56.040 What's the Lord say? 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.140 Where can my heart align with Christ? 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:07.550 Number three, then Paul says this, verse seven and eight he says, "Reconcile with a repentant heart. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:14.940 Reconcile with a repentant heart." This is where Paul gets to in this passage, he's saying, "Look, what you've done as a body, in order to meet this brother or 00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:22.240 sister in Christ where they are, it's sufficient, you've pursued the heart." So he goes on, he says, "So you should rather turn 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:26.400 to forgive and comfort him or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 00:21:26.800 --> 00:21:33.900 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him." Paul, in this passage, he gives us three ways to respond. 00:21:35.080 --> 00:21:42.660 As a church, the Bible certainly says to us, "Our heart should always be open to forgive." We 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:45.660 should always extend that hand of forgiveness to people. 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:52.900 Jesus was asked, "How many times should we forgive?" He said, "70 times 7." Which is a way of saying, no one can keep track of that number, just 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:55.520 forgive as long as you're able to forgive, carry that heart. 00:21:55.760 --> 00:22:01.700 It's reflective of who Jesus is to you, but we don't experience full forgiveness until reconciliation takes place. 00:22:02.280 --> 00:22:09.580 You can always extend that heart to forgive, be willing to forgive, but the full embracing of forgiveness doesn't happen until reconciliation takes 00:22:09.580 --> 00:22:09.960 place. 00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:13.850 But we, as God's people should always be willing to extend that hand of forgiveness. 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:22.640 Corrie Ten Boom said it like this and Corrie Ten Boom, if you don't know about her, she was taken into a concentration camp, her and her sister, 00:22:23.040 --> 00:22:28.540 they helped lead part of setting Jewish people free during Nazi Germany. 00:22:28.580 --> 00:22:30.570 She and her sister were eventually caught, put in a concentration camp. 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:38.380 She watched her sister tortured and died there and then she went on to minister to the soldiers 00:22:39.820 --> 00:22:42.700 that were responsible for what Nazi Germany became. 00:22:44.580 --> 00:22:49.780 She helped them in their own personal recovery, because of what they had gone through. 00:22:49.780 --> 00:22:56.820 But she says this, she said, "Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free only to find out the prisoner was really me." 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.980 That's what a lack of forgiveness has the tendency to do within our lives. 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:09.220 We feel like it becomes our responsibility to carry the vengeance and she began to realize that it really, it 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:10.700 destroys you more than anyone else. 00:23:12.260 --> 00:23:17.000 Now when you think in terms of forgiving, what God desires for us, forgiveness is not forgetting. 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:21.180 I think that's important to know, forgiveness is not forgetting. 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:24.340 In fact, forgetting can be one of the most destructive things that you could do. 00:23:25.520 --> 00:23:32.940 Now if you know someone in your life that you forgive, but they struggle in an area and forgetting it, set them up to repeat the same pattern, 00:23:33.020 --> 00:23:34.350 that's not helpful for anybody. 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:37.370 Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. 00:23:37.520 --> 00:23:44.750 I know when the scripture tells us that, when we sin Jesus separates our sins as far as the east is from the west and that's true, he does judicially. 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:49.460 Judicially speaking, what I mean is he doesn't hold that against you anymore. 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:56.540 If you see your life before the court of law and God is judge and jury, when God thinks about your sin, if it's been forgiven for him, he separates 00:23:56.540 --> 00:23:58.080 as far as the east is from the west. 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:05.640 But God's also all knowing and all knowing means he doesn't really forget anything, he remembers and knows all things, but he doesn't 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:06.720 hold it to your account. 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:10.660 That's the idea of what forgiveness represents and forgiveness is not avoiding. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:13.980 It's not avoiding the problem. 00:24:15.580 --> 00:24:22.660 In fact, I think because of Jesus it gives you a place to talk about it, confront it, meet it where it's at, to not 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:28.380 be a pushover, but at the same time not be a bulldozer and steamrolling people. 00:24:29.780 --> 00:24:34.740 Forgiveness is really no longer taking the responsibility to hold something over someone. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:43.380 You deal with it, so you can move on, because God cares too much about you to let you become 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:45.550 trapped in a heart of bitterness. 00:24:48.120 --> 00:24:53.320 God is big enough to handle it, which is why we're able to deal with it and then turn it over to the Lord. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:58.520 Paul says, "Forgive." Then he also says, "Comfort." We've talked about this idea of comfort, comfort isn't coddle. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:05.480 Comfort, really it is to nurture, it carries the idea of nurturing where someone is, but at the same time, strengthening them. 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:09.700 It's to say, "God still wants to do a work in them. 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:14.040 I don't want to make them a prisoner to their past, if we've been reconciled in relationship. 00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:21.540 But they need freedom to run and to live as God has called them to live." And then he says, "To reaffirm your love with him." This doesn't mean 00:25:21.540 --> 00:25:28.680 become best friends, just because you had to struggle with somebody, doesn't mean if you want to forgive them that you got to become besties 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:30.380 in that moment. 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:37.460 But you do need to reaffirm a love towards them that gives them the opportunity to continue on to what God's called them to. 00:25:38.780 --> 00:25:44.620 To be the Body of Christ, to do as God has created his church to do. 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:52.980 Then Paul goes on from there and he says this in verse nine and ten, he says, "For this is why I wrote, that I must test you and know whether you are obedient in everything." I 00:25:52.980 --> 00:26:00.110 love this, Paul saying, "I know what I'm saying is not easy," but it's a good way to see where your own maturity is in the Lord. 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:07.340 Because the very thing that we struggle to do in our own personal relationships, Jesus has done for you and 00:26:07.340 --> 00:26:12.380 to not carry this attitude of grace into this world, becomes hypocritical to your own faith. 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:17.360 But the reality is, we all struggle because we're all people and it can become personal. 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:21.260 When it becomes personal, we get all emotional and we get very focused on us. 00:26:21.260 --> 00:26:28.300 We think internally and we say things like, "Catch me outside." We got to work through that and so Paul is saying, "Look, there's a place of maturity in 00:26:28.300 --> 00:26:35.300 the life of the believers, you learn to process this." CS Lewis, he gave us this quote, he says, 00:26:35.540 --> 00:26:42.580 "Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive and then it's a 00:26:42.580 --> 00:26:49.700 whole different story." But Paul is saying that, "Look, this becomes a place for you to measure where your growth is in the Lord. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:58.520 To see the kind of heart you're carrying in this world, because relationships aren't always easy." But then he goes on 00:26:58.520 --> 00:27:02.960 in an encouraging way and says in verse 10, "Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:10.160 Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ." Is about what Jesus wants to do in all 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:10.420 of us. 00:27:12.280 --> 00:27:15.970 When he is saying this in verse 10, he's saying, "Look, we're in this together. 00:27:17.780 --> 00:27:18.890 We're going to do this together. 00:27:19.080 --> 00:27:24.720 This is difficult, this isn't easy, but God is maturing us through this and what he ultimately wants to do. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.760 Let's not let Satan leverage this in verse 11, but man, let's fix our eyes on the greater work that God wants 00:27:31.760 --> 00:27:34.160 to call in all of us. 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:39.230 So on that journey, we get to see where our maturity is and we are in this together. 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:45.440 So in point number four in your notes, stay humble. 00:27:47.580 --> 00:27:51.890 Stay humble by remembering who you are apart from Christ. 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:58.180 Paul, he is going to start sharing a little bit more about that humility in verse 14, but I want you to see this in verse 12. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:05.820 He just reminds us again of the effects that conflict has in the Body of Christ, he says this, "When I came to 00:28:05.820 --> 00:28:12.900 Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:16.390 spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. 00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:23.380 So I took leave of them and went to Macedonia." Here's what Paul's saying, in Corinth there were a lot of people at one point that hated Paul. 00:28:23.860 --> 00:28:28.260 They rejected Paul and Paul had to deal with that and he didn't run from it. 00:28:29.020 --> 00:28:36.300 He visited them and he found them malicious and then he left and so then he wrote a letter and he sent Titus 00:28:36.300 --> 00:28:37.240 to check on the church. 00:28:38.840 --> 00:28:43.700 Then Paul was waiting in Troas for Titus to return from that, to let him know how the church is doing. 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:52.280 He's saying to us in the story, as he's in this town of Troas, he can't even focus on what God can do in him and through him in this town, because he 00:28:52.280 --> 00:28:57.480 is bearing the weight of knowing how Corinth might feel towards him and he just wants to hear it. 00:28:58.700 --> 00:29:05.820 The story goes, or the thought is that at the end of the year, when the last ships were coming in to the area where Titus 00:29:05.820 --> 00:29:09.520 or where Paul was in Troas, that Titus wasn't there. 00:29:09.620 --> 00:29:16.660 So rather than wait through the winter until the spring, when Titus might return again from Corinth, Paul just jumped on a boat and got out and 00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:18.800 dodged, he's like, "I got to move on. 00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:25.900 I got to get to Macedonia, clear my head and keep doing ministry." So Paul is bearing that weight and had an effect, even in 00:29:25.900 --> 00:29:27.980 how he's trying to reach a town that's not even in Corinth. 00:29:29.840 --> 00:29:36.960 But then he says this, he gives us the thought of humility, he brings this back to his own struggle and how he's had to walk through this and 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:44.760 then he gives us this thought, he says, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and 00:29:44.760 --> 00:29:53.100 through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere." Paul 00:29:53.100 --> 00:29:57.270 says something interesting in verse 14, he's painting a picture here. 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:02.450 I want you to know we're reading from the ESV this morning, the ESV translation. 00:30:02.600 --> 00:30:08.850 I actually disagree with the ESV in how they chose to translate this from Greek, with that word leads. 00:30:08.860 --> 00:30:10.900 I'll talk about it in a minute, but here's the picture Paul's painting. 00:30:12.340 --> 00:30:19.350 When a Roman general would go into battle and he was victorious and he would come back to Rome, there would be a parade, 00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:20.380 a big parade. 00:30:21.360 --> 00:30:28.640 People would even build platforms to stand on to see this parade, because it was a grand time to celebrate that 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:29.360 Rome was victorious. 00:30:30.580 --> 00:30:38.060 When the general would return into the streets to lead the parade, he would be in the front being 00:30:38.060 --> 00:30:39.730 pulled by an elaborate chariot. 00:30:39.820 --> 00:30:44.100 Sometimes that chariot would be led by elephants rather than horses and this was to get your attention. 00:30:44.520 --> 00:30:47.680 Then behind him would be the soldiers that were victorious in battle. 00:30:48.020 --> 00:30:52.960 Behind the soldiers then would become those that were prisoners of war, those that were captured in battle. 00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:57.740 Then behind that would come the priests and the priest would be waving incense in the air. 00:30:58.140 --> 00:31:05.640 The reason was, is that if the streets were too packed and you could not see the parade, the thought was, at least as the priests were waving the fragrances, 00:31:06.060 --> 00:31:08.100 at least you could smell the smell of victory. 00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:17.360 There was this place of celebration that would go through the streets and at the end of the parade, sometimes what was practiced was they would take the 00:31:17.360 --> 00:31:21.720 prisoners, they would become slaves or they would be slaughtered right then and there. 00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:27.280 That's the picture Paul paints here in verse 14 of his position. 00:31:28.580 --> 00:31:32.400 But what's interesting and I think one of the reasons translators have such a difficult time with this. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:37.520 That when you think about that kind of parade, Paul is not describing himself in the parade as the general. 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:44.680 Paul's not even describing himself in this parade as one of the soldiers representing the general. 00:31:45.660 --> 00:31:53.000 Paul rather in this passage is describing himself and what it looks like in this verse, as one of the captives who 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:54.800 have been conquered by the general. 00:31:56.420 --> 00:32:02.380 So when translators come to this section of scripture and they realize Paul's describing himself as a prisoner, they don't know what to do with it. 00:32:03.580 --> 00:32:10.760 This word leads as [foreign language 00:32:05] in Greek and it can carry 00:32:10.760 --> 00:32:17.480 the idea of simply leading, unless it follows a direct personal object, which in this sentence it does. 00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:25.490 When it follows a direct personal object, the way the word translates is as a captive being led. 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:33.520 So if you go with the traditional way of translating this sentence, what Paul is saying about himself is not that he's simply 00:32:33.520 --> 00:32:37.600 being led, but that he is a captive being led and now you got to deal with that. 00:32:39.080 --> 00:32:43.540 Why in the world would Paul be calling himself a captive that's being led? 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:51.960 I think it's because through this struggle, relationally, Paul is coming to this place of humility, of recognizing his own heart before the Lord, so that 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:58.800 he responds properly to others who are enemies of Christ, or living as enemies of Christ by their poor behavior. 00:33:00.860 --> 00:33:04.040 I think Paul, in this moment he's realizing who he was apart from Jesus. 00:33:05.360 --> 00:33:12.560 First Corinthians 59, Galatians chapter one verse 13, Paul says of himself that he was the persecutor of God's 00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:16.230 people, he was the enemy of Christ. 00:33:17.180 --> 00:33:20.900 In first Timothy chapter one, verse 15, he was the chief of sinners. 00:33:21.180 --> 00:33:28.440 That's how Paul sees himself, but he realizes as he battled against the Lord, God was victorious 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:29.440 over his heart. 00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:38.480 God brought him in and God called him his own and he now sees himself as a slave 00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:41.610 of that king, which is a far greater king to serve. 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:50.520 In that, Paul comes to this place of humility, because he realizes we all struggle and he, more than anyone, was 00:33:50.520 --> 00:33:57.460 a great enemy of Christ, but Jesus conquered him and he is a good king. 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:08.300 That same heart that fought for Paul is that same heart he wants to demonstrate towards others, even 00:34:08.300 --> 00:34:09.580 though they may fight against him. 00:34:10.980 --> 00:34:18.920 Because he realizes who he was against Jesus and he wants that same transformation, even of his enemies for 00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:19.830 the cause of Christ. 00:34:23.120 --> 00:34:30.120 When we think about staying humble, it's this reminder in our own hearts of who we are apart from 00:34:30.120 --> 00:34:30.639 Jesus. 00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:39.000 Which gives us grace to respond to anyone that we interact with in this world, even when they oppose us, because 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:40.340 of who we are apart from Christ. 00:34:41.580 --> 00:34:48.620 Paul goes on and he says it like this, "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 00:34:49.080 --> 00:34:53.330 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. 00:34:53.500 --> 00:34:54.679 Who is sufficient for these things? 00:34:55.219 --> 00:35:02.300 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:09.300 sight of God we speak in Christ." Paul is saying, "Look, we're going in this world, just sharing 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:16.300 this aroma and not everybody's going to embrace it." Some people are going to smell that victory and only think of death, because they represent the 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:17.250 people of death. 00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:21.410 But other people are going to smell that and think about the goodness of Christ. 00:35:22.120 --> 00:35:29.380 It's not our job on how the chips fall, but it's us who are called into this world to lift 00:35:29.380 --> 00:35:35.940 up that fragrance of the goodness of this king, that they can find freedom in him, that is our role. 00:35:36.020 --> 00:35:43.100 So our attitudes, many people may have, verse 17, different approaches on why they're doing what they're doing and they call it as representing Jesus when 00:35:43.100 --> 00:35:43.740 it's not. 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:51.020 But we want to be people of sincerity knowing the responsibility we carry, because we've been commissioned by 00:35:51.040 --> 00:35:56.160 God and that we speak in the representation of Christ, that's our goal. 00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:03.310 Man, even in enemies of the Lord, what is it God can do in you and how can I be a part of communicating that? 00:36:04.060 --> 00:36:11.060 It's not my job to change your heart, but to demonstrate the goodness of this king that does change hearts, that your heart might have that 00:36:11.060 --> 00:36:11.420 freedom too. 00:36:13.580 --> 00:36:21.120 The way we can carry that posture, even when people might rail against us, is 00:36:21.120 --> 00:36:28.200 to remember we're not fighting for what people think about us, we're living 00:36:28.200 --> 00:36:30.940 for what people can think about Jesus. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:41.180 To the world it matters what you think directly about them, because to them, the only thing that matters is self, they're 00:36:41.180 --> 00:36:42.060 gods of their own world. 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:50.580 But to believers, it's Jesus, because we've found our complete identity in him and 00:36:50.580 --> 00:36:55.680 to remember who we are before Christ, but now who we are because of Christ, it is incredible. 00:36:58.020 --> 00:37:05.060 There's a story of Hudson Taylor who was speaking in Melbourne Australia and it says that there was 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:08.360 someone that came up to introduce Hudson Taylor to the world. 00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:15.300 They're seen before this church, all these great and grandiose things he's accomplished in China and went on and on with this list. 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:24.300 Finally, when Hudson Taylor got in front of the crowd, he said, "Guys, I am but a small servant in the hands of a great master." 00:37:24.600 --> 00:37:31.840 Hudson Taylor just spoke to the reality of that moment, in recognizing his life is only what it is because of the grace of God that's been made known 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:32.940 in his heart. 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.400 Humility is such an important part of the life of the believer. 00:37:37.460 --> 00:37:38.110 I'll give you one more illustration. 00:37:38.500 --> 00:37:45.500 There was a young lady who from America, she went to Germany, she wanted to visit, she was a pianist, a great pianist and she wanted to 00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:47.040 visit Beethoven's museum. 00:37:47.060 --> 00:37:54.660 She got to the part of the museum where they had the piano that Beethoven composed some of his greatest works and 00:37:54.660 --> 00:37:56.700 she asked the guard could she play the piano? 00:37:56.920 --> 00:37:59.360 The guard said, "No." She said, "Okay. 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:06.620 If I give you this much money, can I play the piano?" The guard said, "Yes." So she got up there and she played the piano and she walked 00:38:06.620 --> 00:38:13.860 away and she said, "Yeah, it was great to play, but I bet all of the great pianists in the world play this piano." The guard 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:14.980 said, "No, not really. 00:38:15.820 --> 00:38:22.020 Most of them come to this piano and think they're too unworthy to even touch it." Typical American, right? 00:38:22.540 --> 00:38:24.520 Sorry. 00:38:26.300 --> 00:38:33.360 But that's the point with Jesus, what a gift, what a gift to even have a place 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:40.380 to discover who we are and a God of such incredible grace and to have the privilege 00:38:40.380 --> 00:38:41.680 to live for him. 00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:48.880 As our life has transformed in him to offer that same opportunity to other people, knowing that we all, at some 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:54.980 point or another are an enemy of Jesus, but it's only by his grace that we find his freedom. 00:38:55.600 --> 00:39:01.260 Charles Spurgeon said it like this, "If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him. 00:39:02.040 --> 00:39:09.620 For you are far worse than he thinks you to be." I'm not here to impress people, but 00:39:09.620 --> 00:39:12.410 I am here that our hearts would be impressed with the greatness of Christ. 00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:20.640 It's that grace that gives us a platform to go out in this world and approach the conflict, because the goodness of what Jesus has 00:39:20.700 --> 00:39:23.740 brought in us, knowing that same goodness he can deliver to others.