A Vision Of DESPERATION
Series: Vision Series 2016
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 12th November 2016
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Good evening, everyone. Great to be in church with you tonight. We're three weeks into our
00:00:04 --> 00:00:09 vision series and three weeks into this new orientation in our church, and there's a whole
00:00:09 --> 00:00:14 heap of benefits, one of which that in preaching now, when I'm not restricted to a particular area,
00:00:14 --> 00:00:19 I've got a headset, I actually worked half a kilometre in preaching at 9.30 this morning,
00:00:19 --> 00:00:25 so it's doing good for my health, hopefully as it is for us as a church as well. Let's pray before
00:00:25 --> 00:00:31 we jump in to vision series number three. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for what you have
00:00:31 --> 00:00:39 been doing in us as a church. We want to pray, Lord, that you'll continue to reform our hearts.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:47 We ask that we might treasure the Lord Jesus above all things. We pray, Lord, now as we look at your
00:00:47 --> 00:00:54 word that it would not just be an intellectual exercise in any sense, Lord, that we would love
00:00:54 --> 00:01:01 you, that we would love your word, that we'd be obedient disciples of yours. Help us to see your
00:01:01 --> 00:01:08 worldview in all things and for our lives to be conformed to it and be shaped by it. Lord, if
00:01:08 --> 00:01:14 there's any call of obedience, may it be a sense of joy, not duty, because of what we have in the Lord
00:01:14 --> 00:01:20 Jesus. So send your spirit now so that we might love what you love and hate what you hate, and we ask
00:01:20 --> 00:01:28 it for your glory. Amen. Possibly the most devastating statistic that comes out of the 20th century
00:01:28 --> 00:01:37 is the fact that Adolf Hitler exterminated six million innocent Jews in concentration camps,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:42 and that's to say nothing of the Poles and the Gypsies and the homosexuals. And what makes this
00:01:42 --> 00:01:52 information far more terrifying is the fact that Hitler did not succeed in his mass murder by himself.
00:01:54 --> 00:02:01 Nor did he recruit thousands of extermination helpers from the planet Mars.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:12 The majority of Hitler's assistants in genocide were recruited from the pews of Germans, Lutheran,
00:02:12 --> 00:02:20 and Roman Catholic churches after they'd been told by their clergy to obey the civil authorities of
00:02:20 --> 00:02:28 their day. And so you've got to ask the question, why did Lutheran and Catholic Nazis go about their
00:02:28 --> 00:02:37 daily routines of extermination? Why didn't they stop? Why didn't they repent? Why didn't they just go,
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 isn't this different from what we read in the Bible or what we've been doing at church?
00:02:44 --> 00:02:50 And part of the answer is they've been led to believe in a cheapened form of God's grace that
00:02:50 --> 00:02:56 would save them. Now please don't think that this is my interpretation of history. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
00:02:56 --> 00:03:02 was a German theologian who was head of a seminary for the Confessing Church. He was imprisoned by the
00:03:02 --> 00:03:13 Nazis in 1943. He was hanged by them on the 9th of April in 1945 at Flossenberg Concentration Camp,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:20 two weeks before it was liberated by the American troops. And he was at the heart of writing what is
00:03:20 --> 00:03:26 known as the Theological Declaration of Barmen in, it sounds like it's written in a pub, doesn't it?
00:03:26 --> 00:03:33 Theological Declaration of Barmen. He wrote that, it might have been, in 1934 with Karl Barth,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:43 which called Christians in Germany to oppose Hitler's national socialism. And very few actually did.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:53 And it was in this context that in 1937, Bonhoeffer wrote this book called The Cost of Discipleship.
00:03:53 --> 00:04:04 And the first line of the first chapter says, cheap grace is the deadly enemy of the church.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:13 He writes, in such a church, the world finds cheap covering for its sins. No contrition is required,
00:04:13 --> 00:04:18 still has any desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without
00:04:18 --> 00:04:25 repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, grace without
00:04:25 --> 00:04:33 discipleship. In other words, grace alone does everything. It's all the work of God.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:43 Everything therefore remains as it was before, Nazi uniform and all, Auschwitz and all.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:51 And Bonhoeffer describes how this cheapening, this preaching of a cheap grace led to German
00:04:51 --> 00:04:57 Christians believing in the 1930s that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour
00:04:57 --> 00:05:05 or so on a Sunday morning to go to church to be assured that my sins are forgiven. One hour,
00:05:05 --> 00:05:10 Sunday morning, Sunday morning, forgiven, off you go back to Auschwitz.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:19 Now, according to Bonhoeffer, this thinking in Germany in the 1930s is that the passage,
00:05:19 --> 00:05:25 like the one that was just read out for us tonight from 2 Corinthians 5 and 6, is not for normal
00:05:25 --> 00:05:34 Christians. This is a passage for the select few like the Apostle Paul and maybe some missionaries.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:42 And Bonhoeffer suggested it's that kind of thinking that was the cancer that made it possible for
00:05:42 --> 00:05:52 Lutherans and Catholic church members to become Nazi guards. And what Bonhoeffer called the church in
00:05:52 --> 00:05:58 Germany to in the 20th century is what the Apostle Paul called the Corinthian church to in the 1st century
00:05:58 --> 00:06:05 is what I would call us to today at St. Paul's in the 21st century. It's 2 Corinthians 6.1.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:11 As God's co-workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 Over the past two weeks, I've been unpacking our vision statement.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 In view of who we are as a church, we aim to be united in our desperation for the world around us
00:06:22 --> 00:06:28 to encounter Jesus and in our desire to represent the diversity of Chatswood. And I preached on what
00:06:28 --> 00:06:34 unity looks like, unity in Christ. I've looked at what diversity looks like for us and talked about
00:06:34 --> 00:06:39 it last week as a trans-cultural church. And over the next two weeks, I want to focus on that part of
00:06:39 --> 00:06:43 our vision statement that reads, desperation for the world around us to encounter Jesus.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:49 That part of the vision says something about us, which is my focus tonight, and also something about
00:06:49 --> 00:06:55 our world, which I'm going to focus on next week. And what has been put in front of us already in the
00:06:55 --> 00:07:06 last two weeks, and again tonight, is effectively a worldview. And it's a worldview that trumps all other
00:07:06 --> 00:07:14 worldviews. It shapes, clarifies, it defines what we value, what we treasure, how we live,
00:07:14 --> 00:07:23 day by day, 24-7. It is God's vision of all things for all time, and how we fit as part of God's vision
00:07:23 --> 00:07:29 for all things for all time. It's God's global plan, his global agenda. We see it again in 2 Corinthians 5
00:07:29 --> 00:07:36 and 6. And like last week, where we got a graphic picture of the end of all things from Romans 5,
00:07:36 --> 00:07:42 we get a similar end of picture, graphic picture of the end of all time in 2 Corinthians 5.10. Look at it.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:48 This is how... Open your Bibles. That'd be great if you haven't got your Bibles open. 2 Corinthians 5
00:07:48 --> 00:07:52 verses 10 to 6.10.
00:07:56 --> 00:08:01 This reveals, 2 Corinthians 5.10 reveals how high the stakes are for people right now.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:07 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him
00:08:07 --> 00:08:13 for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. That is, what that's clearly saying is
00:08:13 --> 00:08:20 that God will hold all people accountable for their life. Notice that the judgment seat of Christ here
00:08:20 --> 00:08:27 is universal. We must all appear. That's everyone. No exceptions. And notice too that while it is
00:08:27 --> 00:08:37 everyone, we will all be judged individually. Each one must give an account. Each life will be exposed
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 for what it is. And my mates and my family and everyone else is not going to be there saying,
00:08:41 --> 00:08:49 oh, come on, give him a break. Romans 2 verses 5 to 11 gives a vivid account of what that day will look
00:08:49 --> 00:08:55 like. It says, because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath
00:08:55 --> 00:09:01 against yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 God will give to each person according to what he has done. And then we read
00:09:06 --> 00:09:13 that there are only two outcomes for the final reckoning with the Lord Jesus. It's in verse 7 of
00:09:13 --> 00:09:19 Romans 2. It says, to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:25 he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking who reject the truth and follow evil,
00:09:25 --> 00:09:31 there will be wrath and anger, there will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil,
00:09:31 --> 00:09:36 first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:43 See the description there? The description is stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
00:09:44 --> 00:09:51 self-seeking, and you reject the truth and follow evil. That is a great description of what the Bible
00:09:51 --> 00:10:02 refers to as sin. Sin is a universal problem. Sin is not just for the bad people of this world,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:09 the criminals, the axe-wielding people. It's a problem here for the clean, middle-class people
00:10:09 --> 00:10:17 who are deeply committed to their nice boy and good girl wickedness of pride and unbelief and indifference
00:10:17 --> 00:10:22 and ingratitude and impurity and greed and comfort and personal ambition.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 Romans 3 says that everyone has sinned and has fallen short of what God requires of us.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:37 And the terrible consequences of that kind of life is what Romans 2 verse 8 calls wrath and anger.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:42 And let me tell you, you go to any commentary, you go to any sermon on this,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:51 on what wrath and anger looks like, and there is no one, no one, who has ever overstated the terrors
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 of what those words mean.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:01 You see, Paul painted a picture of eternal life in the first part of Romans,
00:11:02 --> 00:11:06 sorry, in the first part of 2 Corinthians 5, verses 1 to 9.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:12 And eternal life is infinitely wonderful to imagine.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:16 Eternal life of the presence of Jesus is infinitely beautiful to contemplate.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:22 And if eternal life with God is the most glorious reality that you could ever imagine,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:33 eternal life without God is the most appalling reality that you can ever imagine.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:41 It is a Holocaust.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:50 I remember watching Band of Brothers, it's a war thing, World War II,
00:11:50 --> 00:11:58 and I remember the scene, the most gripping, gripping part of the whole series for me
00:11:58 --> 00:12:03 was when they, the American troops, walked into a concentration camp
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 and liberated the concentration camp.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 It's a TV series, right?
00:12:09 --> 00:12:15 They were so graphic in revealing, trying to capture the horror of the American soldiers
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 walking in liberating concentration camp.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:22 I remember watching the scene, and I remember bursting into tears as I watched it,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:26 realising this is a graphic picture of what happened in real life.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:34 And even that doesn't grip what this wrath and anger looks like.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:40 Revelation 4.11 is probably the most graphic New Testament statement
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 of the eternal suffering of the unrepentant sinner.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:43 It says,
00:12:43 --> 00:13:04 And so Paul writes in verse 11,
00:13:04 --> 00:13:14 Now, the fear of God is a right motivation, but it isn't our only motivation.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:23 You see, the fear of hell and of God doesn't actually give proof that you actually treasure Jesus,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 that you actually love God.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:31 But we do not, but if we do not believe in our hearts,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:35 the awful truth of the enmity that exists between us and God,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 and all its terrifying consequences, that God will hold us accountable for that,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 and his judgment will be right, it will be true,
00:13:44 --> 00:13:48 then I believe, with Bonhoeffer, that our love for Christ will be shallow,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 and it will be flawed.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:55 Without the fear, my love for Christ will be taken for granted,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 it will be passionless,
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 and my entry into all the joys of the eternal kingdom,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 into the presence of God in heaven,
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 will just be the next thing I expect him to do for me.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:12 That is, without the fear, cheap grace is the result.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:16 And so friends, may we believe and feel the horror of eternal condemnation,
00:14:16 --> 00:14:20 and may we flee from it into the loving arms of Jesus,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 where there is no condemnation.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 And so what follows from here is,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:29 are verses that are rich in the wonder of God's love for us,
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 and his plan of redemption of all things in Jesus.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 Verse 18, 2 Corinthians 5, 18,
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 And again in verse 19,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:45 God was reconciled the world to himself in Christ.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:53 To reconcile is to render two parties to be no longer opposed to each other.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57 It is to win over from hostility into friendship.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:02 It is to make two opposites consistent and compatible.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 And these verses say that it is God who has done that.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 He has taken the initiative to reconcile us to himself.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 It's the work of God.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 Verse 18, all this is from God.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:18 Verse 19, God was reconciling the world to himself.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 Again, verse 21,
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:27 The initiative, the momentum, the purpose of reconciliation are all from God.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:34 Does God here, does something about the sin that causes the enmity between us,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 that causes the division?
00:15:36 --> 00:15:42 And verse 19 is a preliminary explanation of how the reconciliation is brought about.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:47 It says, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 not counting men's sins against them.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 How is that possible?
00:15:54 --> 00:15:59 How is it possible that God would not count our sins against us?
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 He's not just going to ignore it.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 That wouldn't be righteous.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 It wouldn't be right.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 It wouldn't be fair if he just ignored it.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 And so verse 21 describes how it's possible that God doesn't count our sins against us.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:16 It says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 In other words, there's a swap that's happened.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 This is a picture of an account book.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:33 Verse 21 says that my sin is not put to my account,
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 but put to Jesus' account instead.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:42 My account of sin, my record of sin has been put by God
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 to the account of his sinless son,
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 and Jesus has taken my place,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 and he's borne my sins on his body on the cross.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 It means that he's been judged in my place.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 He was made sin.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:01 The sin of the world has been placed by God onto his son, the Lord Jesus.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 And not only is my sin placed to Jesus,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:11 but his perfect, unblemished record has been put into my account.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 I cannot be condemned because there is no debt.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 There's nothing.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 I'm not guilty.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 It's like I woke up this morning,
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 and my bank balances,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 which got a whole lot of red there all over the place,
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 and all of a sudden I wake up
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 and I've got billions of dollars to my name.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 I look at the account.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 It's like, it's ridiculous.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 It's got Steve Jeffrey written on top of it.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 That's not right.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 The bank's made a mistake,
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 and Gina Reinhart wakes up this morning and goes,
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 what the?
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 Where did it all go?
00:17:45 --> 00:17:45 No.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 The accounts are being swapped,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 and it's not a mistake.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 It's a deliberate plan of God.
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 That's what happens when you become a Christian.
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 You bring all of your sin and your moral bankruptcy to him,
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 and he receives them,
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 and he counts them to his son, the Lord Jesus.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 And Jesus' perfect record is given to me.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 I have perfect standing with God.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:17 And the reconciliation of the world to God
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 happens through the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 The word world in verse 19 is staggering,
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 and let's not forget about this point.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:29 It says that what God did through the death of his son
00:18:29 --> 00:18:34 on a hill just outside the city walls of Jerusalem around AD 33
00:18:34 --> 00:18:38 concerns the reconciliation of the whole world to its maker.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 That is the extraordinary claim of the New Testament.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 It is the claim of verses 14 and 15.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 We are convinced that one died for all,
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 and therefore all died,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 and he died for all.
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 Jesus' death and resurrection has universal significance.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 It crosses all generations and all cultures.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 You don't need anything more than Jesus,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 but you can't have anything less than Jesus.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 Understand what that passage is saying.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 We are convinced that one died for all,
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 and therefore all died,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 and he died for all.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 In other words,
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 he's not one way to get to God.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 He is the way to get to God.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25 There is no reconciliation without God
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 outside the person of Jesus.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 The religions of the world
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 are just not another form
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 at all.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 There is only one way.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 It's an exclusive claim here.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 Everyone needs to receive the benefit of reconciliation
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 to God through the Lord Jesus.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 And can I just say,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 if you're someone sitting here right now
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 in this room,
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 and if you're someone who does not trust
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 in the Lord Jesus,
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 then I want to say,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 suggest to you that the stakes
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 could not be high for you right now.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 It says in chapter 6,
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 2 Corinthians 6, verse 2,
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 now is the time of God's favor,
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 now is the day of salvation.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 So I want to implore you,
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 as the Apostle Paul does here,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 to be reconciled to God
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 through Jesus tonight.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 Tomorrow is the devil's timing.
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 God's timing is,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:19 right now,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 is the day of salvation.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 If that's you,
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 I'd love to talk to you tonight
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 after the service.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:26 I'd love to do that.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 Now,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 that's the message of reconciliation,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 is what God has done
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 and can only do
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 through the person of the Lord Jesus.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 This message reorientates
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 and changes the course of your life.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:38 Those who receive
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 the message of reconciliation
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 are now given
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 the ministry of reconciliation.
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 And this is what God
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 can only do through us.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 Okay?
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 Message of reconciliation
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 is what God does through Jesus
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 and only through Jesus.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 The ministry of reconciliation
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 is what God does through us
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 and only through us.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 And the stakes
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 couldn't be high for us too.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 God calls those
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 who are reconciled to God
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 to attend to this matter,
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 to be desperate
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 for the world around us
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 to encounter Jesus.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 Verse 20,
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 we are therefore Christ's ambassadors
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 as though God
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 were making his appeal
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 through us.
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 Verse 18,
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 all this is from God
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 who reconciled us to himself
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 through Christ
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 and gave us
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 the ministry
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 of reconciliation.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 The ministry is given to us,
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 not Christ,
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 not the angels.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 Verse 19,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 and he committed to us
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 the message of reconciliation.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 That's given to us,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:32 not Christ,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 not the angels.
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Verse 20,
00:21:34 --> 00:21:34 again,
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 we are therefore Christ's ambassadors.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 God were making his appeal
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 through us.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 He does it through us.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:39 Not Christ,
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 not the angels.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:41 Verse 20,
00:21:42 --> 00:21:42 he makes,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 verse 20 makes our ministry
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 very clear.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 We are Christ's ambassadors.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:49 Now,
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 our ambassador's job
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 is a really distinguished one.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 We speak
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 and we behave
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 on behalf
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 of a sovereign power.
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 We represent
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 a sovereign power
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 and the honor
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 of that sovereign power
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 is at stake.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 We do not make up
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 what we want to say
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 and what we want to do
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 as an ambassador.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 And that is
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 an overwhelming thought.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 In his death,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 Jesus represented us.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 In his absence,
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 we represent him.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 And so,
00:22:20 --> 00:22:20 if you've received
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 the message of reconciliation,
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 you then have
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 the responsibility
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 of the ministry
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 of reconciliation.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 See the connection
00:22:28 --> 00:22:28 in verse 15
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 of 2 Corinthians 5?
00:22:30 --> 00:22:30 He,
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 that's Christ,
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 died for all
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 that those who live
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 should no longer
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 live for themselves
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 but for him
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 who died for them
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 and was raised again.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 As a recipient
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 of the message
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 of reconciliation,
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 my whole life
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 is now
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 redeployed
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 to the diplomatic service.
00:22:52 --> 00:22:52 I speak
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 and I live
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 in such a way
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 that Jesus
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 looks like
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 the magnificent treasure
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 that he actually is.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:01 and this means
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 that those
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 to whom
00:23:03 --> 00:23:03 we represent
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 Jesus
00:23:04 --> 00:23:07 individually,
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 wherever we work,
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 our families
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 and connections
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 and whatever it is,
00:23:11 --> 00:23:11 but also for us,
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 corporate as a church
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 here in this community,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 they make their judgment
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 about Jesus
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 by what they observe
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 in us.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 And so,
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 I'm convinced
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23 that the ministry
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 of reconciliation
00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 cannot be exercised
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 in a detached
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 or a cold manner.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 The language
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 that is used
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 here in 2 Corinthians
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 is deeply emotional
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 and passionate.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:36 Appeal,
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 implore,
00:23:38 --> 00:23:38 persuade
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 and that's why
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 we have deliberately
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 included the word
00:23:42 --> 00:23:42 desperate
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 in our vision statement.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 It's an emotive word.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 It's meant to be
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 an emotive word.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49 We are meant
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 to feel something
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 in such a way
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 that we are,
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 we are meant to,
00:23:54 --> 00:23:54 when we read
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 that statement,
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 meant to feel something,
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 it meant to drive us,
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 to move us
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 in some direction
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 and it's just as emotive,
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 if not quite as emotive,
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 as what I wrote
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 in our core value
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 of local and global impact
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 back in 2009.
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 If you get the
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 Vision 2020 booklet
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 and look like,
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 read it down,
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 you will read
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 something like this.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 In fact,
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 you'll read exactly this.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 As a church,
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 we are committed
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 to the whole church
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 pursuing a
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 wartime mindset,
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 relating to the
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 Holocaust
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 of perishing people
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 and the use
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 of our resources.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:34 That's why
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 the Apostle Paul
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 says,
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 I don't regard
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 anyone from a
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 worldly point of view
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 anymore.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 He sees the horror,
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 the reality
00:24:44 --> 00:24:44 of what people
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 are confronted
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 with in Jesus.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 When you see yourself
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 as an ambassador
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 to the Lord Jesus,
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 chapter 5,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:52 verse 20,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 and as God's
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 co-worker
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 in chapter 6,
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 1,
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 I think there's
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 an inevitable
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 drivenness
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 about our service.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 And I think
00:25:02 --> 00:25:02 that if you are
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 casual,
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 if you are laid
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 back,
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 if you are
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 comfortable,
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 if you're happy
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 just to meander,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:07 to cruise,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 to warn,
00:25:08 --> 00:25:08 to dawdle,
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 then I would
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 encourage you
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 to take another
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 look at the
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 grace of God
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 to you.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 And have you
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 embraced a
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 cheap grace?
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 look at
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 Paul's lifestyle
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 here in
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 verses 3 to
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 10.
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 This is the
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 lifestyle of a
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 desperate
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 ambassador
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 who is the
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 honour of his
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 great treasure,
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 the Lord and
00:25:34 --> 00:25:34 Saviour,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:35 is at stake.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 It's a lifestyle
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 that commends the
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 greatness and the
00:25:38 --> 00:25:38 glory and the
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 wonder of the
00:25:39 --> 00:25:39 Lord Jesus
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 to the world.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 And this is the
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 lifestyle of
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 ambassadors.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 So when you
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 read through this
00:25:45 --> 00:25:45 list, you
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 ought not have
00:25:47 --> 00:25:47 the High
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 Commissioner to
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 New Zealand
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 in mind when
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 you think about
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 your diplomatic
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 service.
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 Think about
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 diplomatic service
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 you're working
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 for President
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 Trump in a
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 hostile Muslim
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 environment.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 Think about
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 that, or maybe
00:26:03 --> 00:26:03 Mexico.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 Think about
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 that, the
00:26:06 --> 00:26:06 difficulty
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 associated with
00:26:07 --> 00:26:07 that.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 So it says
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 in verse 4,
00:26:09 --> 00:26:09 chapter 6,
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 rather, he
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 says, rather
00:26:11 --> 00:26:11 than being a
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 stumbling block
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 and discrediting
00:26:13 --> 00:26:13 the ministry
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 and of the
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 Lord Jesus,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 he says,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 rather as
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 servants of God,
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 we commend
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 ourselves in
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 every way,
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 in great
00:26:19 --> 00:26:19 endurance, in
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 trouble, in
00:26:20 --> 00:26:20 hardships, in
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 distresses, in
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 beatings, in
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 imprisonments, in
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 riots, in
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 hard work,
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 sleepless nights,
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 in hunger, in
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 purity, understanding
00:26:27 --> 00:26:29 patience and
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 kindness, in the
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 Holy Spirit, in
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 sincere love, in
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 truthful speech, and
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 in the power of
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 God, with weapons
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 of righteousness, in
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 the right hand, and
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 in the left.
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 In other words, the
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 Apostle Paul is
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 saying, when you
00:26:43 --> 00:26:43 have reconciliation
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 with God, through
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 Jesus, you can
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 lose everything
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 with joy.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 It's all joy.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 Let me take you to
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 the bulletin
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 blurb.
00:26:55 --> 00:26:55 This is in your
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 vision booklet, and
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 I know you've all
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 read it, but let me
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 just show it to you
00:27:00 --> 00:27:00 again.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 I quote from John
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 Stott's book, The
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 Radical Disciple, and
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 this is what he
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 wrote.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 This is the last
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 book that John, not
00:27:11 --> 00:27:11 this book, sorry,
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 Radical Disciple is
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 the last book that
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 John Stott wrote,
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 after a long and
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 stellar ministry.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 He says, Christianity
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 offers life, eternal
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 life, life to the
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 full, but it makes it
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 plain that the road
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 to life is death.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 Life through death
00:27:30 --> 00:27:30 is one of the
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 profoundest paradoxes
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 in both the
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 Christian faith and
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 the Christian life.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 The radical,
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 biblical perspective
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 is to see death not
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 as the termination of
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 life, but as the
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 gateway to life.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 In short, the
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 Bible promises life
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 through death, and
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 it promises life on
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 no other terms.
00:27:56 --> 00:27:59 What we are doing in
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 this vision series, as
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 we do every vision
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 series, is I'm asking
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 St. Paul's to die a
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 little more to self.
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 That's what we're
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 doing.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 And the paradox of
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 this life through
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 death has profound
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 implications for the
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 life of discipleship,
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 and Jesus himself
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 puts it even more
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 bluntly than John
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 Stott, when he
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 says, then he
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 called the crowd to
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 him along with his
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 disciples, and he
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 said, whoever wants
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 to be my disciple must
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 deny themselves, take
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 up their cross, and
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 follow me, for whoever
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 wants to save their
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 life will lose it.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:39 whoever wants to lose
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 their life for me and
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 the gospel will save
00:28:41 --> 00:28:41 it.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 The condemned
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 criminal on the way to
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 execution is the
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 dramatic image that
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 Jesus chose to help
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 his disciples to
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 understand what it
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 meant to be his
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 disciple, what it
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 meant to be his
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 follower.
00:28:58 --> 00:29:02 What he expects of
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 those who call on
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 his name.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 And Dietrich Bonhoeffer
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 wrote in the Cost of
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 Discipleship, when
00:29:07 --> 00:29:10 Christ calls a man, he
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 bids him to come and
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 die.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 Now, Jesus' words here
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 about, which is the
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 same as Bonhoeffer, about
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 saving and losing our
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22 life, is not restricted
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 to martyrdom, although
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 throughout church
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 history it has been
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 that.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:28 But the word life
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 there equals self.
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 And so to paraphrase
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 Jesus a little bit,
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 it would be something
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 like this, whoever is
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 determined to hold on to
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 themselves and to live
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 for themselves, will
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 lose themselves.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 But whoever is willing
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 to die to lose
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 themselves, to give
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49 themselves away in the
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 service of Christ and in
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 the gospel will, in that
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 moment of complete
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 abandon,
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 they will find
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 themselves.
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 And they will discover
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 their true identity and
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 their deepest satisfaction
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 and joy.
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 You see, Jesus promises
00:30:05 --> 00:30:09 true self-discovery at the
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 cost of self-denial.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 True life at the cost of
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 death.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 death.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 That's what 2 Corinthians
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 5.15 says.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22 Jesus died for all, that
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 those who live should no
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 longer live for themselves,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 but for him who died for
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 them and was raised again.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 That we might no longer live
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 for ourselves.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 In other words, as Jesus
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 says,
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 you,
00:30:37 --> 00:30:41 when you embrace Jesus,
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 you cannot serve something
00:30:43 --> 00:30:43 else.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 That Matthew 6 reading,
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 you cannot serve two
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 masters.
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 You cannot be
00:30:48 --> 00:30:51 the diplomatic service
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 for two sovereigns.
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 So let me just, there's
00:30:57 --> 00:30:59 masses of implications for
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 this, for us, to do with
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 our idols, and we're going
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 to get to that in a moment.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 But one of the biggest
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 sovereigns, one of the
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 biggest treasures, one of
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 the biggest masters that
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 competes with Jesus for
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 our allegiance in a
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 materialistic Western
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 society is money.
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 In fact, Jesus was
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 explicit with it in Matthew
00:31:18 --> 00:31:20 6, before there was a
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 materialistic Western
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 society.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 He says, you cannot serve
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 both God and money.
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 Jesus could have picked a
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 billion things, but he
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 chose money as the rival
00:31:30 --> 00:31:32 affection for our hearts
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 and our allegiance.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 He put money up there as
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 the major alternative
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 treasure and affection
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 for our heart.
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 The alternative God to
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 be worshipped, the
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43 alternative God to idol
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 that demands our
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 allegiance.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 Money has a hole in us
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 because we trust it to
00:31:48 --> 00:31:50 deliver what only God can
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 deliver to us.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 Purpose, significance,
00:31:53 --> 00:31:55 worth, identity, and
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 that's why it captures our
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 hearts so much.
00:31:58 --> 00:32:02 It is so easy for us to
00:32:02 --> 00:32:04 give our money to what is
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 our Savior, what is our
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 Lord, what is our hope,
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 what is our happiness, our
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 meaning, our significance,
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 our security, our identity.
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 My ongoing battle, I've told
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 you this many, many times, my
00:32:16 --> 00:32:18 ongoing battle is the temple
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 called Bunnings.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:22 I find it terribly easy to
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 pay homage there too often
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 with my money in exchange for
00:32:27 --> 00:32:30 tools or things that I can use
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 my tools on.
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 Why is that?
00:32:33 --> 00:32:38 It's because my identity, part
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 of my connection is a sense of
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 identity for me about being
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 useful and practical.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 That's a real issue.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 That's the idol.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:47 I was affirmed as a young
00:32:47 --> 00:32:50 person in skills that I had to
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 do things practical and to
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 work hard.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:56 And so I find it easy to spend
00:32:56 --> 00:32:58 money on what fuels that part of
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 my identity.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:03 Now, some of you think of
00:33:03 --> 00:33:05 Bunnings and go, Bunnings.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 I mean, I've convinced my girls
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 it's the greatest shop in the
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 world.
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 But there are other things.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:17 Let me tell you that goes even
00:33:17 --> 00:33:19 slightly deeper and slightly more
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 personal for me.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:23 When I was in my early stages of a
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 teenager, someone said something,
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 someone very close to my heart,
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 someone who I tried to get
00:33:28 --> 00:33:30 approval from in one way or
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 another, said something
00:33:31 --> 00:33:35 incredibly derogatory about me,
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 about my appearance.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 And I still remember where I was.
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 This is a long time ago, in early
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 teens.
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 It was a long time ago for me.
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45 I mean, I'm forgetting all sorts of
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 stuff, but I don't forget this one.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49 I can still remember where I was.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 I can still remember the tone in
00:33:51 --> 00:33:51 which they said it.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 And I can still remember how I felt
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 when they said it.
00:33:53 --> 00:34:04 And that means that if I'm not careful,
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 I can spend an enormous amount of money,
00:34:08 --> 00:34:11 easily drop money on things to do with my
00:34:11 --> 00:34:11 identity.
00:34:14 --> 00:34:16 Sorry, about my appearance.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19 Easy to spend money on my appearance.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:28 Even back in the days, it's seen me go from a
00:34:28 --> 00:34:31 progression from a flanny wearing, you know,
00:34:32 --> 00:34:36 Bogan country guy to wearing pink shirts.
00:34:36 --> 00:34:40 There's been a transition for me.
00:34:41 --> 00:34:43 I used to, even when I worked,
00:34:43 --> 00:34:46 even when I wore a uniform to work for the
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 national parks many, many years ago,
00:34:49 --> 00:34:52 I used to get comments from people about how I
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 used to wear the uniform compared to how everyone
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 else used to wear the uniform.
00:34:54 --> 00:34:58 I was concerned about how I looked because
00:34:58 --> 00:35:02 something cut me deep in terms of my identity.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:07 And so it's very easy for me to spend money where my
00:35:07 --> 00:35:09 identity and my idol's attached.
00:35:12 --> 00:35:17 And so the question is, is, sorry, and it is for you too.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:20 I'm just giving you an example.
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 It is for you too.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:24 If you're someone who says, well, I don't spend any
00:35:24 --> 00:35:29 money at all, you know, I hang my tea bags on the,
00:35:29 --> 00:35:32 you know, clothesline to dry them out so I can reuse
00:35:32 --> 00:35:32 them.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:35 You know, you're really, really frugal.
00:35:35 --> 00:35:37 You squirrel all your money away in investments and stuff
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 like that.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:41 You have an idolatry that has to do with security.
00:35:42 --> 00:35:46 You want to control your world via your investments.
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 So security is your idol.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 You have the same issue, just a different idol.
00:35:52 --> 00:35:54 So the question is, is my identity wrapped up in Christ
00:35:54 --> 00:35:57 or in who I am in him or because of people think I'm
00:35:57 --> 00:36:01 useful, practical in the way that I dress or my appearance
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 in some kind of way?
00:36:04 --> 00:36:07 Well, in one level, it's both, which is why the battle
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 rages for me.
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 Every time I go to Bunnings, every time I go down to
00:36:09 --> 00:36:13 Westfield, the battle rages for me in a way that it doesn't
00:36:13 --> 00:36:16 rage for me, as I've said before, if I go into spotlight.
00:36:16 --> 00:36:19 There's no battle for me there.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:22 I'm not tempted to part with my money in spotlight.
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 It's just not me.
00:36:27 --> 00:36:31 For some of you, it will be the bookstore or for your education.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:37 I know people who finish one degree and do another degree and then finish that degree
00:36:37 --> 00:36:39 and just keep going on and on and on with education.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:46 And they buy libraries and libraries of books and resources because at some point in their
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 life, they've been made to feel stupid.
00:36:47 --> 00:36:55 So there's identity wrapped up in there and so they'll throw money at trying not to be made
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 to feel stupid.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:05 For some of us, it's philanthropy because you've been affirmed in giving money away.
00:37:05 --> 00:37:09 And so ironically, the very thing that I'm calling you to do tonight is the thing that
00:37:09 --> 00:37:13 might challenge your idol or affirm your idol.
00:37:13 --> 00:37:19 Well, the point is what I'm saying is that money reveals what we truly treasure.
00:37:19 --> 00:37:24 And it seems to me that if we do not have the freedom to joyfully give our money away
00:37:24 --> 00:37:28 in eye-popping proportions, it's because something besides Jesus is our functional Lord and Savior.
00:37:29 --> 00:37:34 We're giving our money to some other God, some other Savior, some other Lord.
00:37:35 --> 00:37:38 And so how do we break the power that money has over us?
00:37:38 --> 00:37:42 Is to see the gospel of the Lord Jesus, see everything that we have in him and to realize
00:37:42 --> 00:37:45 the thing that we're putting our money into will not give us the very thing that we need.
00:37:47 --> 00:37:51 You can have all the money in the world, a GFC here, so you don't have security.
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 Jesus offers you security for eternity.
00:37:57 --> 00:37:59 He's the one who gives you what you need.
00:37:59 --> 00:38:03 Radical generosity is not a different subject than knowing and being known by God through
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 the Lord Jesus.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:07 Radical generosity is a value that displays the wonder of the gospel.
00:38:08 --> 00:38:11 Paul puts it like this in 2 Corinthians 8, a couple of chapters later than what we've been
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 looking at.
00:38:12 --> 00:38:17 The Corinthians are failing to follow through in their commitment to raise money for ministry.
00:38:17 --> 00:38:20 And he says, see that you also excel in the grace of giving.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:25 I'm not commanding you, but I want a test and sincerity of your love.
00:38:26 --> 00:38:30 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich here, for your sakes
00:38:30 --> 00:38:32 he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
00:38:32 --> 00:38:39 Every single person sitting in this room tonight has set their heart on something.
00:38:40 --> 00:38:45 And whatever it is, you will do anything for it, you will pay any cost for it, anything
00:38:45 --> 00:38:47 to maintain it, sustain it, reclaim it.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:51 And Jesus Christ came and died for us.
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 And why would he do that?
00:38:53 --> 00:38:56 At least one answer is that you and I are his heart's treasure.
00:38:56 --> 00:39:04 Every other treasure in this world will insist that you die, that you purchase it, that you
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06 sacrifice in order to obtain it.
00:39:06 --> 00:39:11 I have spent copious amount of money in Bunnings over a very long time.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 And before that it was Mitre 10.
00:39:12 --> 00:39:14 Over a very, very long time.
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 Very, very long time.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 And in clothing stores.
00:39:18 --> 00:39:20 Over a very, very long time.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:28 And not one single cent that I've spent has ever, ever dealt with the identity issue.
00:39:29 --> 00:39:29 Ever.
00:39:33 --> 00:39:39 Every other treasure will insist that you keep purchasing, that you keep sacrificing in order
00:39:39 --> 00:39:42 to give you what it cannot give you.
00:39:43 --> 00:39:46 And Jesus is the only treasure that died to purchase us.
00:39:46 --> 00:39:51 And so the way that we break the hold of money over our lives and the other treasures and
00:39:51 --> 00:39:55 the idols of our lives is to think about the radical generosity of Christ to us.
00:39:56 --> 00:40:02 To dwell on the infinite value of Jesus until we get the freedom to joyfully give generously.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:08 And when we see Jesus dying on the cross because he so loved the world, that he so loved you,
00:40:08 --> 00:40:11 then only then and only then will we love him.
00:40:11 --> 00:40:17 When we see that we are his greatest treasure, then he will become our greatest treasure.
00:40:18 --> 00:40:21 And the advice of the Apostle Paul here is don't sit down with a calculator.
00:40:21 --> 00:40:23 Sit down with the cross.
00:40:25 --> 00:40:26 Think about Jesus.
00:40:27 --> 00:40:33 What he did, what he's given, what he has promised until it causes us to be generous like he is generous.
00:40:34 --> 00:40:38 Now let me tell you, this is so essential for us on a very practical level right now as a church.
00:40:38 --> 00:40:42 For us all to grapple with.
00:40:42 --> 00:40:48 The vast majority, the financial resources of this church come from 20% of our people.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:51 And when I say vast resources, I mean the vast.
00:40:52 --> 00:40:53 20%.
00:40:53 --> 00:40:57 We are heavily weighted to a very small portion of people.
00:40:57 --> 00:41:04 And that's why I do not believe that the 12% increase of giving that we're looking for for next year,
00:41:05 --> 00:41:07 that's just to pay the bills that we currently got.
00:41:09 --> 00:41:14 Or the 70 that Jimmy told us about that we're seeking to raise next week,
00:41:14 --> 00:41:17 I don't believe either of those goals are impossible.
00:41:20 --> 00:41:21 Why?
00:41:21 --> 00:41:24 Because we've already got the money.
00:41:25 --> 00:41:26 That's the good news.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:33 The bad news is it's in your pockets and wallets and bank accounts.
00:41:33 --> 00:41:34 That's the bad news.
00:41:35 --> 00:41:41 All it would take is for the majority of us to be captured by God's vision of all things
00:41:41 --> 00:41:43 and for Jesus to be our greatest treasure.
00:41:43 --> 00:41:44 And so here's what you do in the next week.
00:41:44 --> 00:41:47 is as we head towards Vision Sunday,
00:41:48 --> 00:41:52 is to get your Vision Series devotion, devotion booklet.
00:41:53 --> 00:41:56 I'm so grateful for Sam for putting these together.
00:41:57 --> 00:41:59 And what I want to encourage you to do is to grab this,
00:42:00 --> 00:42:02 go to number 1, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
00:42:03 --> 00:42:04 Five in the next seven days.
00:42:04 --> 00:42:06 1, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
00:42:09 --> 00:42:10 Pour over them.
00:42:12 --> 00:42:13 Pray over them.
00:42:14 --> 00:42:19 And having done that, plan to take one step further in treasuring Jesus.
00:42:19 --> 00:42:27 I'm asking you, as a church, to take one further step to dying to self.
00:42:29 --> 00:42:29 That's it.
00:42:30 --> 00:42:33 If you're currently not giving, start giving.
00:42:34 --> 00:42:36 If you're a regular giver, start giving regularly.
00:42:36 --> 00:42:40 If you're a regular giver, but you're only giving a really small portion of your income,
00:42:40 --> 00:42:45 which is standard practice across churches in our country,
00:42:46 --> 00:42:50 take a step towards getting into God's ballpark of the 10% at least.
00:42:50 --> 00:42:52 And if you're a regular and you're a proportional giver,
00:42:52 --> 00:42:56 take a step towards extravagant giving beyond 10%.
00:42:56 --> 00:42:58 I don't believe it's ever meant to be a limiter.
00:42:58 --> 00:42:59 I think it's meant to be a starting point.
00:43:00 --> 00:43:04 I firmly believe that our experience in giving will be joy
00:43:04 --> 00:43:08 when we see and we savour Jesus as our greatest treasure.
00:43:08 --> 00:43:12 And I believe the way we do it is by making things like,
00:43:12 --> 00:43:16 passages like Philippians 3, 7 to 8, more and more real for us.
00:43:17 --> 00:43:18 In my words again,
00:43:18 --> 00:43:43 Yeah, I love that last bit.
00:43:43 --> 00:43:45 I have suffered the loss of all things.
00:43:45 --> 00:43:48 He's not moping about it.
00:43:49 --> 00:43:51 He's saying, actually, they're rubbish.
00:43:52 --> 00:43:56 In order that I might gain more and more and treasure Jesus more and more.
00:43:57 --> 00:44:04 We are united in our desperation for the world around us to encounter Jesus.