Authentic Love

Good morning, everyone. It would be great if you had a Bible in front of you, and so stick your hand up if you need one of those.

We've also got some service outlines so that you can follow along where we're heading, and it'd be great if you could take some notes.

It's a fairly lengthy text, and so it'd be good to make it easy for you to follow along if you had some notes in front of you,

and at least have the Bible passage open in front of you to see where it's coming from, what we're talking about.

The greatest danger to the church is not from without, but from within.

It's been repeatedly demonstrated in church history.

Probably one dramatic example is that of the German Protestant church in the last century.

The Bible was so undermined that very few pastors saw it as the infallible Word of God,

and they had lost as a church the centrality of the gospel.

There were remarkable exceptions, like the courageous pastor Martin Nehomola.

In 1933, he preached on the occasion of Martin Luther's 450th birthday about how tragic it would be

if the devil filled German minds with the delusion that what they needed was not the grace of God,

but the courage of Martin Luther.

The very next evening, in an eerie fulfillment of his own preaching,

20,000 Christians under the umbrella of the German Evangelical Church,

led by bishops and church officials in full regalia,

gathered in the newly completed Berlin Sports Palace.

And after singing,

Now we thank thee all,

we thank,

now thank we all our God,

a German pastor,

Joachim Hossenfelder,

announced that he was implementing the infamous Aryan paragraph in his diocese

that dismissed all Christian Jews from church office effective immediately,

aligning the German Evangelical Church with the Nazi Party.

During the evening,

it was also announced,

among other things,

that Nehomola was suspended,

that the Bible was from now to be examined

for all its non-German elements,

that is,

cut out all Judaism,

and that a proud,

heroic Jesus

was to replace the model of the suffering servant

who died on the cross for the sins of humanity.

The speech

was interrupted

again and again

with the applause

and the cheers of 20,000 people.

Not a single bishop,

not a single church leader

stood to disagree.

The state church had imploded from within

and people's salvation was at stake.

This is very similar to the picture that's happening here in

the book of Corinth that we're looking at at the moment.

Paul had started this church of Corinth,

the gospel was preached,

people became Christians,

deep friendships were made,

the bonds of Christian love were formed,

and when Paul moved on,

opponents moved in

with a different gospel.

They started to drive a wedge between Paul and the church.

They started to criticize Paul's life

and Paul's message.

And it got so bad

that the church he founded

started to believe that Paul

was the false guy.

He was worldly,

insincere,

he was a coward,

he was weak,

he was a theological deviant

who preached a false gospel.

Paul,

the founder,

was now treated

as the imposter,

a false apostle,

corrupt,

and only in the religious business

in order to exploit people.

He was seen as the fake one,

someone who talked tough in letters

but was a wimp face to face.

And the Corinthian church

in this letter

is in danger of walking away from Paul,

walking away from the authentic good news

of Jesus Christ.

They can't see that.

They think they're just being progressive

but that's what Paul's fighting for here.

Their very eternal life.

And the major thrust of this letter

is a call for them to trust him

because he's the authentic apostle

with the authentic gospel.

Paul's defense of his gospel

and his ministry

and his character in 2 Corinthians

takes us right to the very heart

of what it means to be a Christian leader

but also what it means

to be a Christ-like follower

of the Lord Jesus.

Paul is making it explicitly clear

what it means to be part of God's family,

the family that God has called together

through the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

So the section that we're dealing with today

in chapter 6 verse 11

through to 7.16

and especially closing off

at verse 1 and 2 of chapter 7

is the climax of Paul's defense

of his ministry

that he started in chapter 2 verse 14.

And this section begins

with a plea from the heart

to return the love that he has shown them.

Have a look at chapter 6 verse 11.

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians

and open wide our hearts to you.

We are not withholding our affection from you

but you are withholding yours from us.

As a fair exchange,

I speak as to my children.

Open wide your hearts also.

All that Paul has written

and know this,

what he is about to write

comes from a heart of love.

These pages are wet with Paul's tears

as he sees and he hears from this church

walking away from the gospel

and away from salvation in Jesus.

So there are three things I want to see

and if you've got your sermon outline

in front of you there,

you'll see this on your page.

Three things I want to see

from this passage today.

Firstly, authentic love is tough love.

Secondly, how authentic love leads to salvation.

And thirdly, an exhortation for us

here at this church

to practice authentic love.

So firstly, authentic love is tough love.

In closing off this section of the letter,

Paul opens his heart.

He pleads with this church

to return to him in the authentic gospel.

He says the same thing in chapter 7,

verses 2 to 4.

Make room for us in your hearts.

We have wronged no one.

We have corrupted no one.

We have exploited no one.

I do not say this to condemn you.

I have said before

that you have such a place in our hearts

that we would live

or we would die with you.

I have spoken to you

with great frankness.

I take great pride in you.

I am greatly encouraged

in all of our troubles.

My joy knows no bounds.

So these are not the words

of a man looking for revenge

against the church

that has caused him grief upon grief.

This is him calling them back

to love him as he has loved them.

But the second thing he does

is he calls this church

to abandon the false teachers

and their false gospel.

And Paul's words here

are very strong.

They are tough.

They are black and white,

but they come from a heart of love.

See, the key is in verse 14.

Do not be yoked together

with unbelievers.

Now this verse

is commonly thought of

as a warning

against marrying unbelievers

or entering into

contractual relationships

with non-Christians.

It's not.

That's not what this verse is about.

It is a command

not to be yoked together

with those in the church

who oppose the truth.

Unbelieving religious people

in the church.

This whole letter

to the church of Corinth

helps us to see

that the unbelievers here

that has been referred to

are his opponents

within the church.

Paul's gospel message

is incompatible

with their false gospel.

You can't meld the two together.

They're opposed to one another.

And Paul's gospel,

the authentic Christian gospel,

as I said two weeks ago,

is the good news

that God sent his son

into the world

to live a perfect life,

to die as a substitute

for sinners,

to absorb the anger of God,

to turn it away from us,

to take away our guilt

and our shame,

provide the gift

of right standing before God,

and to give eternal joy

through faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

alone,

apart from any works

of obedience,

on our behalf.

So what Paul is saying here

is the stakes

are very high.

Those Corinthians

who persist

in siding

with Paul's opponents

will in effect

renounce

their own salvation.

That's what they're doing.

Now this is,

let me just say,

this is not a call

from the Apostle Paul here

to split theological hairs.

seeing those

who disagree with you

in the church

as unbelievers.

Church history

is tragically full

of theological

hair splitting.

Neither is this

a command

to bar

unbelievers

from the church.

I mean,

church is the best place

for unbelievers

because they get

to hear the word

and be loved

by the followers

of Jesus.

Jesus.

This is a fight

for eternal life.

We are to disassociate

ourselves

from complicity

with those

who would attempt

to spread

a false gospel

within the church.

it means

to disassociate

with those

who insinuate,

even insinuate,

that reconciliation

is not all of God

and that you can make peace

with God yourself.

Also,

with those

who suggest

that the substitutionary

death of Jesus

on the cross

in which God

made him

to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in him

we might become

the righteous

of God

for even those

who would declare

that that's not enough

to withdraw

from people like that.

It means

to reject

liberal,

moralizing

theories

of Jesus'

work of salvation.

It means

to reject

the kind

of Christianity

that wants

to read the Bible

with a pair

of scissors

and cut out

anything

that's too hard

or offensive.

It means

to reject

a salvation

by works

sentimentality

that if you

do your best

you will make it

and that good people

will find their way

in the end.

It means

to reject

the modern

abomination

on the church

that is doing

untold damage

to the poor

and the vulnerable

around this world.

The thing

called

the prosperity

gospel.

gospel

and one

of the major

opponents

of it

over the

number

of past

decades

has been

a guy

named

Benny Hinn.

You will

see him

on TV.

In the past

few weeks

he has

indicated

that he is

now rejecting

the prosperity

theology

and I can

only hope

that his

repentance

is genuine.

Paul's

love

for this

church

at Corinth

is not

weak.

it

doesn't

turn

a blind

eye

to

error

and

sin.

His

love

for them

means

he

confronts

it.

It is

an

authentic

robust

tough

love

that is

willing

to call

out

error.

Now

none of

us

like to

be the

recipient

of it

even

when we

know

it is

for our

own

good.

Maybe

you

remember

a parent

saying

to you

this is

going to

hurt me

more than

it hurts

you.

I have

got to

say

I never

understood

it as

a kid.

When

you are

holding down

a child

so they

can get

a vital

injection

that you

know

that they

need

but your

heart is

breaking

as they are

kicking

and screaming.

Paul's

authentic

tough

love

is also

expressed

in a

letter that

he wrote

to them

that we

don't

now have

but he

refers to

here in

2 Corinthians

4

in our

it was

actually

4 Corinthians

the letter

sorry

3 Corinthians

the letter

which doesn't

exist

which we

now call

2 Corinthians

which is

actually

4 Corinthians

fourth letter

to this

church.

And it's

expressed

in this

letter

he called

the

stern

letter

he writes

a stern

letter

to them

to try

and point

out

the wrong

and to

stir up

their

allegiance

to the

true

gospel.

Let me

remind you

what Paul

says

about that

letter

in chapter

2 verses

3 and

4

I wrote

as I

did

so that

when I

came

I would

not be

distressed

by those

who would

have made

me rejoice

I had

confidence

in all

of you

that you

would share

my joy

for I

wrote out

of great

distress

and anguish

of heart

and with

many tears

not to

grieve

you but

to let

you know

the depths

of my

love for

you.

In our

modern

context

we want

to define

love as

leniency

and freedom

and Paul's

words to the

Corinthians

church here

seems harsh

uncompromising

and unloving

but all

of his

suffering

on behalf

of this

church

is in

reality

a reflection

of a

deep

love

for them.

So what

does it

lead to?

What does

his tough

authentic

love lead

to?

This is

my second

point.

From what

we understand

Paul probably

sends this

letter

with Titus

from somewhere

to the

Corinthian

church

from somewhere

in Asia.

He then

sinks into

a deep

depression

that this

letter

his harsh

letter

might turn

against

Paul

might cause

them in

fact the

church to

turn even

more against

him

because of

the harshness

of his

letter and

his ministry

with them

would therefore

be ruined

forever.

That's his

concern.

And according

to chapter 2

verse 13

he had hoped

to meet

Titus

with news

of the

response

from the

church of

Corinth

in Troas.

But Titus

didn't show

up

and Paul

descends

into a

depression.

Then we

skip to

chapter 7

verse 5

and we

read that

Paul crossed

over on

over into

Macedonia

struggling all

the way

with external

conflicts

and internal

fears.

This

harsh

letter

has

got him

really

worked

up.

Finally

Titus

arrives

comes

with the

news

from

Corinth

in

verses

6

and

7

the

letter

worked

Paul

it

worked

and

Paul

writes

these

rich

words

in

verses

8

and

10

of

chapter

7

even

if I

cause

you

sorrow

by

my

letter

I

do

not

regret

it

though

I

did

regret

it

I

see

that

my

letter

hurt

you

but

only

for

a

little

while

yet

now

I

am

happy

not

because

you

were

made

sorry

but

because

your

sorrow

led

to

repentance

for

you

became

sorrowful

as

God

intended

and

so

were

not

harmed

in

any

way

by

us

godly

sorrow

brings

repentance

that leads

to

salvation

and

leaves

no

regret

but

worldly

sorrow

brings

death

so

the

Corinthians

this

church

experienced

the

godly

sorrow

and

as

verse

10

says

that

it

was

over

the

way

they

had

fallen

for

Paul's

opponents

and

the

way

that

they

had

mistreated

Paul

they

repented

of

believing

a

false

gospel

it's

the

grief

of

regret

over

a

past

sin

and

it's

called

godly

sorrow

notice

in

verse

10

that

the

opposite

of

godly

sorrow

is

not

feeling

no

sorrow

at

all

but

feeling

worldly

sorrow

sorrow

this

is

crucial

this

is

a

really

important

point

you

can

feel

sorry

for

something

in a

worldly

way

which

leads

to

death

so

what

we

need

to

do

is

we

need

to

distinguish

godly

sorrow

from

worldly

sorrow

what's

the

difference

between

those

two

worldly

sorrow

sorrow

is

when

you

feel

sorry

for

something

you

did

because

it

starts

to

backfire

on

you

leads

to

humiliation

or

it

leads

to

punishment

worldly

sorrow

is

a

reflex

of

a

proud

and

fearful

ego

pride

will

always

regret

making

a fool

of

itself

it's

the

one

thing

pride

doesn't

want

to

do

it

doesn't

want

to

make

a

fool

of

itself

and

fear

will

always

regret

acts

that

jeopardize

comfort

and

safety

feeling

sorry

for

something

that

we've

done

simply

apologizing

is

in

itself

no

sign

of

a

virtue

at

all

apologizing

for

a

mistake

is

not

in

and

of

itself

a

sign

of

a

good

thing

it's

not

virtuous

in

and

of

itself

godly

sorrow

is

the

reflex

of

a

conscience

that

has

wounded

god's

ego

godly

sorrow

grieves

that god's

name

has come

into

disrepute

the focus

of godly

sorrow

is god

godly

sorrow

is

owing

to god's

word

putting

a

finger

on

sin

in

our

lives

worldly

sorrow

is

owing

to the

attitudes

of

people

whose

praise

we don't

want

to

lose

we can

feel

extremely

sorry

for

something

we've

done

if

we

detect

that

the

people

around

us

think

it's

stupid

or

silly

or

reprehensible

the

word

of

people

not

god

become

the

criteria

of

guilt

and

shame

in

worldly

sorrow

Paul

said

at the

end

of

verse

7

at the

beginning

of

verse

9

that

he

rejoiced

over

what

the

Corinthians

had

experienced

he's

saying

here

that

godly

sorrow

is

a

good

thing

but

it's

like

saying

pain

is

a

good

thing

we

don't

really

mean

that

pain

all

by

itself

is

a

good

thing

we

mean

that

in

a

world

where

you

can

bleed

to

death

it's

good

to

feel

pain

when

you

cut

as

I

experienced

a

couple

of

weeks

ago

it's

good

to

feel

pain

when

you

cut

it's

good

to

feel

pain

before

the

tumor

becomes

inoperable

it's

good

to

feel

pain

before

the

infection

leads

to

gangrene

godly

sorrow

is

to

sin

what

pain

is

to

a

disease

of

course

there

are

guilt

and

shame

feelings

that

are

unhealthy

just

like

there

is

pain

that

is

psychosomatic

it

does

not

signal

any

real

disease

there

is

such

a

thing

as

false

guilt

and

false

shame

but

real

guilt

and

real

sorrow

is

good

and

it

should

not

be

avoided

instead

of

running

from

them

we

should

face

them

head

on

admit

the

disease

and

seek

a

deeper

cure

in

Christ

rather

than

just

the

fridge

or

revenge

why

is

godly

sorrow

good

because

it

produces

repentance

verse 9

says

that

Paul's

joy

was

not

based

merely

on

the

guilt

that

the

Corinthians

had

felt

but

on

the

repentance

it

produced

yet

now

I

am

happy

not

because

you

were

made

sorry

but

because

your

sorrow

led

you

to

repentance

and

then

in

verse

10

it

states

the

general

truth

godly

sorrow

brings

repentance

that

leads

to

salvation

the

first

thing

to

notice

is

that

repentance

is

not

identical

with

grief

and

sorrow

over

sin

they're

not

the

same

thing

repentance

is

a result

of grief

and sorrow

over

sin

to

feel

sorry

to

feel

grief

or

guilt

or

regret

over

a

past

sin

is

not

the

same

as

repenting

repentance

is

the

change

of

attitude

or

behavior

that

comes

when

you

feel

remorse

over

a

sin

I

think

it would

be wise

to say

that

godly

sorrow

is

the

first

step

of

repentance

repentance

follows

and

completes

the

change

of

heart

the

test

of

whether

our

sorrow

is

of

God

or

is

of

the

world

is

whether

it

actually

produces

change

that's

the

test

between

worldly

sorrow

and

godly

sorrow

repentance

is

turning

away

from

and

renouncing

one

way

and

pursuing

another

repentance

is

literally

a

180

degree

turn

I

used

to

do

this

I

have

been

confronted

by

my

sin

and

now

I

am

going

to

do

this

my

attitude

and

my

behavior

heads

this

direction

in

verses

7

and

11

Paul

describes

the

change

he

heard

about

in

the

Corinthians

CA

writes

it

their

indifference

to

his

presence

had

turned

to

longing

their

rejection

of

his

authority

had

turned

to

zeal

and

he

lists

a

whole

range

of

other

things

does

not

immobilize

you

into

the

pits

of

depression

it

is

temporary

and

it

brings

change

it's

temporary

and

it

brings

change

notice

that

last

phrase

in

verse

8

I

see

that

my

letter

hurt

you

but

only

for

a

little

while

it's

temporary

you

see

if

the

feeling

of

sorrow

and

guilt

over

past

sin

hold

you

in

its

grip

so

long

after

the

sin

is

past

so

long

after

you've

had

an

attitude

or

an

action

then

it's

not

the

grief

of

God

it's

the

grief

of

the

world

if

you

cannot

forgive

yourself

from

a

past

sin

that

is

worldly

sorrow

not

godly

sorrow

if

satan

cannot

keep

you

from

regretting

your

sin

then

he

will

do

his

best

to

keep

you

from

enjoying

your

forgiveness

if

he

fails

in

his

attempt

to

keep

you

from

grieving

over

sin

he

will

do

his

best

to

turn

your

godly

grief

into

an

ongoing

bondage

of

unwarranted

guilt

and

shame

godly

sorrow

throws

us

to

the

foot

of

the

cross

for

mercy

to

the

foot

of

the

cross

and

the

victory

of

Christ

won

for

us

over

all

guilt

and

shame

which

leads

me

to

the

salvation

that

godly

sorrow

produces

what

is

the

evidence

that

their

faith

in

the

lord

jesus

is

genuine

the

answer

of

chapter

7

verse

10

would

be

there

is a

path

that

leads

to

salvation

and

there

is

a

path

that

leads

to

death

the

way

to

test

your

faith

is

to

test

which

path

you

are

on

the

path

that

leads

to

salvation

is

not

the

path

of

sinless

perfection

it

is

the

path

of

godly

sorrow

and

genuine

repentance

an

all

of

life

ongoing

activity

godly

sorrow

genuine

repentance

verse

10

godly

sorrow

brings

repentance

that leads

to salvation

and leaves

no

regret

godly

sorrow

is

good

godly

sorrow

produces

repentance

and

therefore

godly

sorrow

leads

to

salvation

so

can

you

identify

a

sin

that

god's

particularly

pointing

at you

in your

life

right now

through

his

word

is

there

a

particular

sin

that

he

is

causing

you

to

grieve

over

right

now

or

is it

just

more

comfortable

to

say

a

confession

a

general

one

and

just

rattle

off

the

tongue

and go

there

you

go

confession

is

done

with

for