Authentic Life

Trudeau is the 23rd and current Prime Minister of Canada.

He came into office in 2015 after what is regarded as a landslide victory.

Overwhelming majority of people supported him as Prime Minister.

During his first three years as Canada's Prime Minister,

he did very little wrong in the eyes of his supporters.

More recently, his popularity has dropped so far,

it looks like in the upcoming elections, his party will lose its majority.

From pop star popularity to looking like losing his majority in less than four years.

And the one reason is a secretly taped phone call.

This man who had a rock star following among progressives for championing clean government,

was using his power according to this phone call to let a major Canadian firm avoid criminal charges on bribery and fraud.

He even demoted his Attorney General who was standing against him on this issue.

And since the news broke of this, nearly two-thirds of Canadians,

two-thirds supported him and now two-thirds are disapproving of the job that he's doing.

He championed transparency and the end of corruption in government.

And now for all the rhetoric, he appears to be no different than anyone else and his popularity has plummeted.

How can he be trusted when he says one thing and there's evidence of him doing something totally different?

And so two-thirds of Canadians are now saying this man lacks integrity.

And we're abandoning him.

That's the core issue as we jump into our passage today in 2 Corinthians.

The Corinthian church and those who are influencing them away from Paul

are saying that the Apostle Paul says one thing but does another.

He said he was coming to Corinth and he didn't show up.

And so the rumor is circulating that Paul's heart's divided.

Yes, he loves them and wants to see them and bless them,

but no, maybe not as much as he loves his own convenience or he loves some other church.

That is, is Paul's heart a yes and a no?

Is it divided?

It's divided towards the Corinthians.

And so the relationship with this church is a breaking point.

Paul is the, is the apostle who started this church at Corinth.

You can go into Acts 18 and read all about that.

The gospel was preached.

People became Christians.

Deep friendships were made.

Bonds of Christian love were formed.

And when Paul moved on to his next part of his journey, his opponents moved in.

And they started to drive a wedge between Paul and the church.

They criticized both Paul and his message.

It got so bad that the church he founded started to believe that the apostle Paul was worldly,

insincere, cowardly, weak, a theological deviant who preached a false gospel.

And the apostle Paul is now seen as the imposter.

A false apostle, corrupt and only in the religious business to exploit people.

He's seen as a fake, someone who talked tough in letters, but was a wimp in person.

And this church is in danger of walking away from Paul and walking away from the authentic good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They can't see it.

That's what's at stake for them.

And so Paul's fighting for it.

Now, the major thrust of what he says to them in this section right through to chapter 7 is,

trust me because I am the authentic apostle with the authentic gospel.

Paul's defense of his character here takes us right to the heart of what it means to be a Christ-like leader,

but also what it means to be a Christ-like follower of Jesus.

Now, I don't want to spoil the surprise, but his basic answer is,

trust me because I imitate Christ.

My life aligns with Jesus' life.

My pattern for life is Jesus' pattern for life.

My life authentically displays his message because it follows the pattern of Jesus' life who gave him the message.

Now, the great beauty of this passage is that it doesn't just call us to an impossibly high standard of living,

which it does,

but it throws us back to rest in Jesus who has met that standard for us and empowers us to live it.

This is such a great passage for us, I think, on a number of fronts.

Firstly, because in Australian culture, we pride ourselves on pulling down our leaders.

It's part of our DNA, if you like, a tall poppy syndrome thing.

It's probably in our DNA because of our convict heritage.

Our history didn't start with a search of bold new lands to form new communities.

We started with a search for a new jail to hold people, the criminals.

That's where we began as a country.

And it means that we are very quick to judge leaders and impute motive.

We are horrendous for it in the political stream, but it's basically right through life.

Secondly, it's important because we do live in a time where there is a great deal of institutional skepticism,

and especially in regard to the church.

The failure of leaders who are held high and respected, who have fallen, spectacularly has eroded trust.

There are many instances where the Christian church has spectacularly failed the integrity test.

And this world needs to experience Christians whose life and lip are in sync because they will not even hear the beauty of the Christian gospel

until they see attractive Christians and attractive Christian churches.

And so in this passage, Paul highlights three marks of his life and ministry to show that it's authentic.

They are also three marks of an authentic follower of Jesus.

So first of all, in verses 12 to 14, he says that he has a transparent sincerity.

So if you've got a service outline, you can see my three points there.

If you want to go on the app, it's there in front of you.

But either way, have the text in front of you.

You're going to need it.

Two Corinthians 1, verses 12 to 14.

Now, this is our boast.

Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in our relations with you with integrity and godly sincerity.

We have done so relying not on worldly wisdom, but on God's grace.

For we do not write to you anything you cannot read or understand.

And I hope that as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

So, strangely, Paul starts his defense of his character by boasting.

Seems a little odd.

Odd way to start.

Not what I would do necessarily.

Not so obviously.

Most of us would start with boasting more subtly than this.

Doesn't appear to be a good way to start.

That's because for us, boasting has an entirely negative connotation.

Is there any such thing as good boasting?

Positive boasting?

And yet, most of the time that Paul uses the word boasting in this letter is, in fact, a good thing.

For Paul, boasting centers on what God has done in Jesus for us and in us.

It's about boasting in God's grace and its work in his life.

Everything he says here is based on the premise that he is what he is by the grace of God.

Not because he's nice.

Paul's identity has been totally reshaped by his encounter with the Lord Jesus.

He has been rebooted by the grace of God in Jesus.

His world view, his decision-making processes, how he relates, have all been completely realigned and reorientated by the unconditional love that God has extended to him in Jesus.

He is not perfect.

That's not what he's saying.

But he is deeply different.

Deeply different.

It's expressed so well by John Newton, the author of the classic hymn Amazing Grace.

He stated,

I am not what I ought to be.

Ah, how imperfect and deficient.

I'm not what I wish to be.

I abhor what is evil and stick to what is good.

I'm not what I hope to be.

Soon, soon, I shall put off mortality and with it all sin and all imperfection.

Although I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor hope to be, I can truly say that I am not what I was once.

A slave to sin and Satan.

I wholeheartedly join with the apostle and declare by the grace of God.

He may have added,

I boast by the grace of God.

I am what I am.

By the grace of God, Paul is saying here,

I have a clear conscience in front of you, Corinthian church.

Now, in the New Testament, the conscience is the highly sensitive, if somewhat unreliable instrument,

that convinces us of the gap between the way that God designs us to live in the Bible and how we are actually living it.

We've all got a conscience.

We've all got a conscience.

Every one of us.

Some of it's seared.

Some of it more sensitive.

And some of us, we even give them names, like mine's called Natalie.

Our conscience is set off when we don't live in line with what we believe to be right.

Our conscience can easily be desensitized and hardened through sin as we habitually ignore sin,

as we habitually ignore our conscience being pricked through the word of God.

Notwithstanding, when we become Christians, the Holy Spirit immediately, immediately starts to do a repair job on it.

With the result that it's actually possible to have a clear conscience in specific situations and specific issues.

If we examine ourselves honestly before God, in the light of his word, and I did joke when I said Natalie, but I am serious.

Before God, in the light of his word, and in the presence of others,

it is possible to speak with a quiet confidence and a real humility about our life like Paul does.

The burden of a troubled conscience is a weight, a weight to carry on the heart.

You don't have to live long at all to start accumulating that weight.

We can all think of situations where in the quietness of our hearts and our minds,

we wonder if we're being, it could have been different if I had acted differently or spoke differently or behaved differently or my attitude was different.

We wonder if that situation might not have turned out the way that it did.

As a Christian leader, it isn't hard to second-guess yourself and to second-guess your conscience,

partly because your life is on display.

What is particularly hard is when others join with you in second-guessing yourself.

I think that's particularly difficult.

You become very aware that people are assessing your every decision.

And apart from those things, there is the burden for people's souls.

I'm very mindful that I make decisions that impact on people's lives.

And I live a life that negatively or positively impacts the clarity by which people see the beauty and the integrity of Jesus.

I'm very conscious of that.

Not just gathering on Sunday, but even doing my shopping in Westfield.

Even walking from here to school.

There's not a moment in my life that I'm not conscious of the fact that my life is on display

and people assess the beauty and the integrity of Jesus by me.

The New Testament makes it clear, this is also a weight on it,

makes it clear that Christian leaders will be judged more harshly for their lives.

So the thing that I look forward to about resurrection,

my own resurrection in Jesus when I die,

is the immediate weight that I carry,

that immediately, in that moment, in a twinkling of an eye,

that weight and that burden that I have for the glory of Christ

and for the good of the church and for the souls of people being gone.

I'm loving it.

I'm looking forward to it.

You're looking forward to fixed bodies.

And, you know, I look forward to that more than I look forward to not having an insulin pump attached to me 24-7.

I have a rip about that.

It's the burden.

Boom, gone.

Standing perfected in Christ.

No longer carrying the weight.

And yet, with that burden,

you and I can enjoy it right now in measure.

Have a look at verse 12.

I want you to look at verse 12 with me.

Paul writes here about his conduct in the world.

Now, the word he uses for conduct here is a very specific word.

It's a big picture word.

Big picture word.

He's not saying here,

guys, I've got a clear conscience on every single thing that I've ever done,

ever said, ever imagined.

He's not saying that.

He's not suggesting for a moment that he's managed to reach a state where he is so good,

he doesn't do anything wrong anymore.

He's saying,

Corinthian church,

step back.

Step back and have a helicopter view.

Look at my life.

Look at my life.

Look at every area of my life.

Step back and see it is in sync

with the gospel.

He's saying,

I have a transparent sincerity,

a godly sincerity.

What you see is what you get.

There's no mask where I'm hiding my relationship with Christ.

What you see in me is truly me.

He's not saying for a moment that he needs to grow and he needs to change.

He needs to repent.

He's not saying that at all.

He's saying that if you take a look at my life broadly,

you will see that I am in step and moving forward with the word of God.

There's not a quarter of my life that you can't overturn and see.

There's the gospel influencing it.

Jesus is the one who produces in us this straightforwardness,

this integrity and wholeheartedness that isn't always trying to impress

or trying to manipulate or trying to dominate

or trying to flatter

or trying to constantly make excuses.

Now, this is, I know, one of those really obvious statements,

but I think I should say it anyway.

The advantage of sincerity is that by its very nature,

it's very hard to fake.

That's an obvious statement.

It's not possible to fake sincerity.

We may not be able to describe the elements,

but we know sincerity when we see it.

I'm so glad that I see it in this church.

I talked about Nick earlier,

but we were recently celebrating a servant of St. Paul's,

one of our servants here,

and people were asked to submit words

to describe this person and what you appreciate about them.

I wasn't asked,

but when I was hearing the words being described,

the one word that dropped into my mind immediately

was integrity.

Integrity.

I don't know if you've met those people.

I've had two very significant mentors,

one at the moment,

he's 75,

my previous mentor is now in his early 80s,

and I sit with them and I just go,

I want to be you.

I just,

not what you do,

but your character just oozes integrity.

Don't you want to be that person not known for what you do

or what you've got,

but who you are by the grace of God?

The second mark of Paul's authentic Christian life

is in verses 15 to 22.

And here he displays a dependable flexibility.

This is the section where he talks about his travel plans

and the issue that's kind of come up

and the imposters are trying to push on the church

and saying,

you know,

this is where Paul lets everyone down.

He answers passionately in verses 17 to 18.

Was I fickle when I intended to do this

or do I make my plans in a worldly manner

so that in the same breath,

I say both yes,

yes and no,

no.

But as surely as God is faithful,

our message to you is not yes and no.

In other words,

what he's saying here is our planning and our preaching

are not fickle.

They are not double-minded.

They are unified.

They are yes to you.

Our life and our ministry is a resounding yes,

yes,

yes,

yes to your joy,

yes to your holiness,

yes to your faith and your hope

and your love and your peace and your power.

Paul's focus,

he says,

is for the good of the church,

grace had shaped a God-shaped dependability in Paul.

You could count on him to spend himself for the good of the church.

You can count on him to put the gospel and its priorities first.

And he says this inevitably means there's a need for flexibility

because times,

there are times when priorities need to be reordered and shifted

so as to serve the gospel.

Now this is not an excuse for being disorganized or unreliable.

It's actually a sign of instability to either not make plans

or to make plans you immediately regret.

And Paul's saying here,

I am utterly dependable.

My yes is my yes.

It's not a yes,

no.

I immediately thought of this passage of the Vicar of Dibley.

You know,

I don't know if you watch this show.

Don't recommend it for its ecclesiology or for its theology.

But parish council,

and there's a man there,

I forget his name,

always goes,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

yes.

Yes,

it is no.

So why is Paul and gospel people,

why are they so dependable?

Because God is dependable.

Look at verse 19.

For the son of God,

Jesus Christ,

who was preached among you by us,

by me and Silas and Timothy,

was not yes and no,

but in him,

it has always been yes.

For no matter how many promises God has made,

they are yes in Christ.

Paul's saying,

I'm not divided.

My heart's not divided for you,

because God's heart is not divided for you.

If you belong to Jesus by faith,

then everything God could possibly give you for your good,

he has signed over to your account in Jesus.

Ephesians 1,

every spiritual blessing is yours in Christ.

Present promise.

Now,

all of God's purposes and plans and promises in the Old Testament,

to save a people for himself,

to make them his forever,

find its fulfillment in Jesus.

He is the only one.

Jesus Christ is the only one,

who ever lived a truly authentic life.

He was sinless.

He drew people to himself,

because of his outstanding character and power.

In his time and throughout history,

many people have attempted to find fault in his life and failed.

Many people have attempted to do it.

Only two people,

I've said this before in history,

have lived such exemplary lives,

that their own contemporaries started to ask not who they are,

but what they are.

Jesus and Buddha.

And Buddha spent a great deal of his time convincing people,

I am just a bloke like you.

But not Jesus.

Only Jesus declared that he was much more than human.

Jesus declared that he was God himself,

coming to this world,

to rescue us from our constant sin and failure.

Jesus,

people in his time,

they loved him for who he was,

and for the good that he did,

but they hated him for what he declared about himself.

As God the Son,

as God the Son,

he took on flesh,

became like us,

jumped into all of our brokenness and our sin and our rebellion,

to rescue us.

He obeyed the Father.

He kept saying,

yes,

yes,

yes.

He declared,

not my will be done,

but your will be done,

Father,

in the Garden of Gethsemane,

right before his arrest and execution.

He's obedient and he's faithful and he is dependent in taking the sin of the world to the cross.

That's why all the promises of God find their fulfillment in him.

He is the yes,

because he said yes to them all.

All the promises of God for the good of his people focus in Christ.

He confirms them,

he secures them,

and as it were,

he purchases them for all who belong to him on the cross.

Every single sinner,

every single one of us who doesn't have a clear conscience,

who comes to Christ with all of our needs,

finds God coming to them in Christ with all of his promises.

When a person,

when a sinful person meets the Holy God in Jesus,

what they hear is,

yes.

They do not hear,

try harder,

pull your socks up.

They hear,

yes,

do you love me?

Yes.

Will you forgive me?

Yes.

Is all my guilt and shame wiped away?

Yes.

Yes.

Will you accept me?

Yes.

Will you change me?

Yes.

Will you give me power to serve you and obey you?

Yes.

Will you keep me and uphold me and restore me when I fail?

Yes.

Will you show me your glory in your presence forever and make me whole and new and clean and lift every burden from my life?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Does it help if I say it a bit louder?

Will that push it down into your soul and set you free?

All the promises of God,

all the blessings of God in the heavenly places are yes in Christ Jesus.

He is the decisive yes to all who believe.

And verse 21 declares that God hasn't just told us to be like Jesus.

He has intervened powerfully to make us like Jesus.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.

He anointed us,

set his seal of ownership on us and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit,

guaranteeing what is to come.

In other words,

because God has declared a decisive yes to me in Jesus,

my determination with the strength that he gives me is to say yes to him in every area of my life.

There's not a stone unturned where he ought not be a yes in my life.

That's what it's saying there.

God enables us to obey and commit and follow and get up when we fall down to stand against the accusations of Satan,

who's constantly whispering on the air,

you're not worthy,

you're not worthy,

you're not worthy.

Paul is saying because God has declared a decisive and eternal,

eternity altering yes to me in Jesus,

I delight to live in such a way that I'm constantly saying yes,

yes,

yes to him.

Paul's saying to this church in Corinth,

you look at my life,

you point out one area in my life where I'm saying a no.

No.

And he's saying sometimes that means plans will change

because I'm saying yes to him.

That's the only reason the plan will change,

because I'm saying yes to him.

The third Jesus-like mark of Paul's life and ministry,

and therefore for the Christian life,

is 1.23 to 2.11.

There's probably two in here,

but I'll make it one,

because I'm running out of time.

It's a robust love.

This is getting to the core issue of why Paul didn't come back to Corinth,

when he said that he would.

23.

I call God as my witness,

and I stake my life on it.

That's pretty serious.

That it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

Not that we lord it over your faith,

but we work with you for your joy,

because it is by faith you stand firm.

Then down to chapter 2, verse 4.

For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart,

and with many tears,

not to grieve you,

but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

You see, Paul knew that if he showed up again,

what he was going to have to do in that moment

was he was going to have to confront and correct them again,

and at a time when they were still healing

from the previous wound he inflicted on them,

his previous painful visit,

as he describes it in this letter.

Verse 24 says that his real aim

is that they taste the real and solid joy of the gospel.

That's his aim.

He chose not to come

because it would negatively impact on their joy.

Paul is urging them here to see the seriousness

and the satisfaction of the gospel.

He's urging them to see both its gravity

and its gladness.

That's what robust love looks like.

If you love the people of your church family,

those who you are sitting beside,

who you are serving and serving with,

then you are preoccupied with

and even weighed down by

the responsibility of leading,

pushing, prodding them

into joy in Christ.

And it includes loving them enough

to say hard things

about the choices

and the attitudes

and the actions that they make

that are deflecting them

from real joy in Jesus,

which is God's yes to them in Jesus.

when you have a brother and a sister in Christ

where in an area of their life,

they are not overturning a rock

and they're saying no to Jesus

and you ignore that in their life,

it's revelation

that you don't love them.

That's what Paul's saying.

Paul had thought about his change of itinerary

lovingly and carefully

because he's working for their great

and lasting joy in Jesus.

Instead of showing up,

he wrote a gut-wrenching,

heartbreaking,

tear-stained,

love-soaked letter.

The 16th century French theologian

and church reformer John Calvin

is very perceptive

in what he writes about these verses.

He says,

he writes,

there are many noisy scolders

who display an amazing favor

in denouncing

and raging against other people's faults

and yet are untouched at heart

so that they seem to take pleasure

in exercising their own throats and lungs.

But it belongs to a godly pastor

and I would add there

to a godly Christian too

to weep within himself

before he makes others weep.

To suffer in his own secret heart

before he gives any open sign

of his wrath

and to give himself more grief

than he causes others.

That's authentic ministry.

That's authentic Christian living.

This is the robust love

that God has shown us

and the robust love

that he calls us to live out

amongst each other.

We see further evidence

of this robust love

in verses 5 to 11

where Paul addresses

a situation in Corinth

where a member of the church

had sinned spectacularly

and publicly

and hurt Paul enormously

but also hurt the whole church.

And the amazing thing here

is a tough old Paul

who insisted on church discipline

now says to his brothers and sisters

guys enough's enough.

He wants this whole church

hurt by sin

to experience the healing

of repentance and forgiveness.

And so Paul's robust love

does not mean that sin

is swept under the carpet.

It doesn't mean that

well to love them

is kind of just to ignore the issues.

He says issues are brought out

they're dealt with.

That's what happens on the cross.

Full display of a sin of the world

is on the cross

as God loves us

in an unimaginable way.

You see discipline

has the goal of repentance

and restoration

and deeper

and authentic relationships.

So Paul is

neither taking the easy way out

and ignoring sin

nor is he self-righteous

and condemning the sinner.

The lack

it's a mark of Christian

this is a mark of authentic Christianity

mark of authentic Christian leadership.

The lack of church discipline

the lack of holding each other accountable

to gospel priorities

allowing sin to reign unchecked

giving permission to bad behavior

turning grace into an excuse

for leniency

and inactivity

and coasting

is a sign

of a lack of

love for God

and for each other.

It flows out of a shallow grasp

of God's

love for wretched sinners like us

and what it cost him

to restore us into relationship

with himself.

And we allow it to reign

ultimately

because we are not sure

that we have a yes

or a no

from God.

Friends,

our greatest need

your greatest need

my greatest need

in fact I would say

this world's greatest need

is to look

to the Lord Jesus

to follow

the Lord Jesus

to enjoy

the Lord Jesus

to rest

in the Lord Jesus

as God's

decisive

yes.

God's

decisive

yes.

So

firstly

can I encourage you

to pray for your leaders

pray for me

pray for

your leaders

in this church

that we would do

just that

pray that we would

walk closely with Christ

and make that

a priority

higher than anything else.

A Scottish pastor

Robert Murray

Michelle

famously said

that what my people

need from me

more than anything else

is my godliness

my godly sincerity

my walk with Christ

whatever your

expectations

are of me

if that

is not

your highest

expectation

can I encourage

you to have a

gospel priority

with life

whatever you

think that my

role is

and the role

of your leaders

are

if that

expectation

is not

primary with you

can I encourage

you to rethink

your gospel

priorities

pray for us

and plead

with us

that we might

commune with Christ

but

for you

are you living

in the fullest

enjoyment

of God's

yes to you

in Christ Jesus

have you

said

yes

to all

of God's

yes to you

I'm not

asking

whether your

theology

is sharp

I'm not

asking how

long you've

been at church

or whether

you're part

of a community

group

or you're

serving

or I'm

asking

have you

said

yes

is there

any of God's

yes to you

which you are

saying no

or maybe

or a not

now

that is

have you

fully surrendered

to him

that is

is there

inconsistency

in your life

I'm not sure

of you have

thought about

this but

in Exodus

20

where we have

the 10

commandments

and if you've

been around

church for a while

you're familiar

with those

third command

do not take

the name of

the Lord

in vain

we automatically

think well

that's about

swearing

it's got

nothing to do

with swearing

at all

nothing to do

with that

whatsoever

it has

everything to

do with

saying he

is my God

and living

totally

different

that is

what it is

to take

the Lord's

name in

vain

is to

align

yourself

with him

but not

live it

in life

that's what

the third

command is

it's about

his glory

being at

stake

right now

think of

one area

of your

life

a particular

circumstance

a sin

a relationship

that you are

currently saying

no

maybe

actually

not now

think of

one

look to

God's

decisive

yes to

you in

Jesus

until it

changes you

to be like

Jesus

leave behind

the no

and the maybe

and the not

now of

your unbelief

pledge

yourself

to a

holy

dissatisfaction

until you

know

the fullness

of your

yes in

Christ

Jesus

and your

joy

overflows

I'm going

to invite

Nick up

he's going

to play

for us

and sing

to us

in the

background

while we

take this

moment

and let

it sit

I want

you to

pull out

your device

your paper

your notepad

take your

service sheet

grab a pen

that one

area of

your life

that circumstance

that sin

that relationship

potentially you've

been saying

no no no

to Jesus

on that issue

for 20

30 40

years

it might be

a maybe

it might be

a not

now

today is

the day

to decide

to pledge

yourself

to a

holy

dissatisfaction

in that

area

until you

know

the

fullness

of

your

yes in

Christ

Jesus

and overflow

with joy

I don't

know the

full details

of this

song but

I believe

Sam wrote

this song

that Nick

is now

playing

and we

only discovered

it this

morning

and I

went

yes

yes

yes

let's sing

that

and you

reflect

when he's

done

we'll move

on but

right now

it's time

for you

to reflect