Global Success

Gracious Lord, I pray that you would help us through your word tonight

and by your spirit, give us a glimpse of not just our present life,

but our future.

And I pray that we would walk out of here transformed, changed,

and deeply in love with the Lord Jesus.

And we ask it for your glory. Amen.

Keep your fingers in 2 Corinthians 5.

And also, if you can flip back a couple of books into Romans 2,

that would be really helpful.

A young police cadet was taking his final exam

at Hendon Police College in North London

before being unleashed on the British public.

And one of the questions in this exam paper was,

you're out on a patrol in outer London

when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street.

Upon investigation, you discover that a large hole

has been blown in the footpath

and a nearby block of flats is on fire with people trying to escape.

Beside the blast site is an overturned van.

Inside the van, there is a strong smell of marijuana.

The occupants of the van, a man and a woman,

are half naked and injured.

You'd notice that the woman is the wife of your divisional inspector

who happens to be away at the moment in the United States.

A passing motorist stops to offer assistance

and you recognise him as a suspect in an armed robbery case.

Then suddenly, a man runs out of a nearby house

shouting that his wife, who was expecting a baby,

has gone into labour due to the explosion.

Another man, who's been blown into the adjacent canal,

is crying out for help because he can't swim.

And by now, a crowd of onlookers has formed

and there's a risk of a second explosion.

Then comes the question.

Bearing in mind the provision of the Mental Health Act,

describe in a few words what actions you would take.

The officer thought for a moment

and then picked up his pen and wrote,

I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd.

Let me just get a little bit serious with you just for a moment.

2 Corinthians 4 and 5,

which we've been looking at in our mission month

over the last three weeks and today the fourth week,

is designed by the Apostle Paul through God

for us Christians not to take off our uniform

and mingle with the crowd.

He doesn't want us to lose heart.

That's the purpose of 2 Corinthians 4 and 5.

You see there, you can imagine it,

the stakes are pretty high when in a moment like that,

a police officer takes off their uniform

and decides to mingle with the crowd.

And I think what the Apostle Paul has been trying to tell us

in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 is the stakes are astronomical

if the Christian takes off their uniform

and decides to mingle with the crowd.

That is, if we lose heart.

We got a glimpse of exactly how high the stakes were last week.

We only looked at it very quickly in chapter 5, verse 10.

And I've included it again this week.

And I want to dig a little bit deeper

because the stakes are enormous when you look at this verse.

So if you've got your Bibles open, have a look at it there.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 10.

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ

that each one may receive what is due him

for the things done while in the body,

whether good or bad.

That's how high the stakes are.

It's saying there that God will hold us accountable

for how we've lived.

Notice that the judgment seat of Christ is universal.

It says, we must all appear.

That is, everyone.

No exceptions.

We will all give an account to the Lord Jesus for our lives.

And notice too that while it is everyone,

we'll all be judged individually.

Notice that each one must give an account.

That is, it won't be me sort of being able to hide in the crowd

at that point.

It will be me and God,

no one else giving an account for my life.

All of my life will be brought to bear.

And you won't be there to say,

stand with me in that moment

and sort of prop me up and put an arm and say,

look, he wasn't such a bad bloke after all.

Romans 2, if you've got your finger in that,

just flick over there

because I think it gives a vivid account

of what that day will look like.

A little bit clearer than verses,

chapter 5 and 10 here.

It says in verse 5 to 11,

because of your stubbornness

and your unrepentant heart,

you were storing up wrath against yourself

for the day of God's wrath

when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

God will give to each person

according to what he has done.

There's the connection with 2 Corinthians 5 and 10.

And then we read that there are only two outcomes

for the final reckoning with the Lord Jesus.

Verse 7,

To those who by persistence in doing good

seek glory, honor, and immortality,

he will give eternal life.

But for those who are self-seeking

and who reject the truth and follow evil,

there will be wrath and anger.

There will be trouble and distress

for every human being who does evil,

first for the Jew,

then for the Gentile.

But glory, honor, and peace

for everyone who does good.

I see the description there.

It says,

Stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,

self-seeking,

who reject the truth and follow evil.

And that is, I think,

a really helpful description

of what the Bible calls sin.

Sin is a universal problem.

It's not just, if you like,

for the so-called bad people.

It is a problem for everyone,

even us clean, middle-class people

who are deeply committed to nice boy,

good girl, wickedness,

of pride and unbelief

and indifference and ingratitude

and impurity of mind

and personal ambition.

God will hold us accountable for that.

And that is why Romans 3 says

that everyone has sinned

and fallen short of what God requires.

No one has lived a perfect life

except Jesus.

And the terrible consequence

of a life of sin

is what Romans 2, 8

calls wrath and anger from God.

And that is referring there

to eternal punishment.

And in all the reading

that I have done,

let me say that no one

has overstated the terrors

of what wrath and anger

from God actually mean.

Last week,

the Apostle Paul painted a picture

from early in 2 Corinthians 5

painted a picture of eternal life.

Eternal life is infinitely wonderful

to imagine.

Eternal life in the presence of Jesus

is infinitely beautiful to contemplate.

And it's hard for us to get a glimpse of it,

but think of a moment in your life

when you were bursting

because you were so happy.

Think of a moment.

Surely there's at least one.

And multiply that a thousand times

and let it increase continually

for all of eternity

and you got just some sort of a notion

of what eternal life with Jesus

would be like.

And so if eternal life with God

is the most glorious reality

that we could even hope to imagine,

eternity without God

is the most appalling reality

that you could possibly imagine.

If heaven means that I'm raised

with a body fit for life

of joy and peace

and painlessness and beauty

that will never end

in the presence of God,

then hell means that I'm raised

with a body fit for eternity

of torment away from God.

The suffering will never kill the body.

It will just go on and on and on and on

and no horror of suffering

in human history

will be compared with it at all.

That's as close as I can get to it,

what it will mean.

Revelation 14.11

is probably the most graphic

New Testament judgment,

a statement, sorry,

of the eternal suffering

of those who are unrepentant sinners.

It says,

The smoke of their torment

rises forever and ever.

There is no rest,

day or night.

The point of all this

is that when we read

2 Corinthians 5.10,

we're not just meant

to sort of skim over it.

We're actually meant

to feel something

and we're meant to shudder

is really what we're meant to do.

To paraphrase a quote

from John Piper,

he says,

we need to feel

that we were once

as close to hell

as we are in the seats

that we're now sitting on

even closer.

Its darkness like vapor

had entered the soul

and was luring us down.

We must believe and feel

that just like a rock climber

who has slipped

and perilously hangs

on the edge of a cliff

with his fingertips,

so we used to hang over hell

a mere heartbeat

from eternal torment.

The Bible says,

it is a dreadful thing

to fall into the hands

of the living God

and for the first 22 years

of my life,

I was but a heartbeat

from that.

For half of my life,

I was a heartbeat

from that.

And so it says

in verse 11,

since then we know

what it is to fear the Lord.

He's speaking to people

who are Christians here.

He says,

we try to persuade men.

The fear of God

is a right motivation,

but it isn't our only motivation.

The fear of hell and God

is no proof

that you actually love Christ.

But if we do not believe

in our hearts

the awful truth

of the enmity

that is between God

and us

and all the terrifying

consequences

that go along with that,

then our love for Christ

will be shallow

and it will be flawed.

Without the fear

my love for Christ

will be taken for granted.

It will be passionless.

And all those joys

that I spoke about last week

of the eternal kingdom

in the presence of God,

I'll just come to expect it

to be the next thing.

It's kind of a given

that that's the next thing

that I'm going to get.

And so let us believe

and feel the horror

of eternal condemnation

and flee from it

into the loving arms of Jesus

where there is no condemnation.

We are told in verse 14

that fear of judgment

is not Paul's only motive.

He says,

because Christ's love compels us.

And these verses

that flow on from that

are just rich

with the wonder

of the love of Christ for us.

Verse 18,

have a look at it.

God,

who reconciled us to himself

through Christ.

And again in verse 19,

God was reconciling the world

to himself in Christ.

To reconcile

is to render two parties

to be no longer

opposed to one another.

It is to win over

from hostility

and enmity

into friendship

is to make

two opposites

consistent

and compatible.

And these verses

say that God

took the initiative

so that we would not

be rendered

separated from one another

for all of eternity.

God took the initiative

to reconcile

us to himself.

It is all the work of God.

See it there in verse 18.

All this is from God.

See it in verse 19.

God was reconciling

the world to himself.

Again in verse 21,

God made him

who had no sin

to be sin for us.

What it's saying there is

that we are opposed

to God

living a life of sin,

living for ourselves

and God took the initiative.

It was the initiative,

the momentum,

the purpose

of reconciliation

are all from God.

God does something

about the sin

that has caused

the enmity

between us and him.

Verse 19

is the preliminary

explanation

of how this reconciliation

is brought about.

Have a look at it.

God was reconciling

the world to himself

in Christ,

not counting men's

sins against them.

And verse 21

describes

how it is possible

that God doesn't

count our sins

against us.

It says,

God made him

who had no sin

to be sin for us

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

The end of verse 19

says that God

doesn't want to count

our sins

against us.

Frankly,

we don't want God

to count our sins

against us.

And so picture here

if you like

an account book.

The account book

has written in it

everything that I've said,

everything that I've done,

everything that I've thought,

all that I am,

everything.

That's a pretty frightening

thought really.

And verse 21

says that

my sin

is not put

into my account book

but it's put

into Jesus'

account book

instead.

My account

of sin

has been put

by God

to the account

of his

sinless son.

Jesus has taken

my place

and he's borne

my sin

in his body

on the cross.

It means

that Jesus

has been judged

for my error,

for my sin.

He was made sin,

the sin of the world,

that terrible burden

and offence to God,

all the hostility

and enmity

and filth

that separates

me from God

and for all of us

from God.

Everything that is

the reason

that I deserve

eternal punishment

has been placed

by God

onto his son

the Lord Jesus

and the Lord Jesus

willingly accepts

all that wrath

and anger

from God.

He is judged

for my

and for our sin.

On the cross

he suffered

the torment

and cried out,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me

so that I might

not never

have to utter

those words

for all of eternity?

but not only

is my sin

put into his account

but his

perfect

unblemished

righteousness

is put into

my account.

I can't be

condemned

if I trust

in Jesus

because there

is no proof.

There is no debt,

there is no

badness and sin

written up

in my book.

I open the book

on the day of judgment

and it reads

perfect righteousness.

No wrong.

The only thing

that I contribute

to my reconciliation

with God

is the sins

for which I must

be redeemed.

In a trivial way,

it's kind of like

the day I married Nat,

not that that

was trivial.

As I exchanged

rings with Nat,

I got a ring

and I put the ring

on her finger

and I said,

Natalie,

with this ring

I wed you.

With all that I am

and all that I have,

I honour you.

What I'm saying

there in that moment

is that everything

that's mine

is now yours.

The problem

with that was

after five years

as a student,

that included

a hex debt,

a car loan

and $2,000

that I had to borrow

from my father-in-law

in order to have

a honeymoon.

And I said to Nat,

it's now all yours.

All that I have,

all that debt

is now yours.

That's a trivial way

of putting it,

if you like.

That's what happens

when you become a Christian

or another moral,

realistic way

of putting it,

it's like getting

Nathan Tinkler's

bank account

and changing

the name

at the top of it

with Bill Gates

and getting

Bill Gates'

bank account

and putting

Nathan Tinkler's

name at the top of it,

a big swap

has happened.

All the debt

and the bankruptcies,

nearly there,

has been swapped.

So that Bill Gates

takes the bankruptcy

and Nathan Tinkler

gets the bank account

and the richest man

in the world.

That's what happens

when you become

a Christian.

You bring all your sin

and moral bankruptcy

to him

and he receives it

and he counts them,

God counts

all of that stuff

to the Lord Jesus

and Jesus'

perfect record

is given to me.

And my friends,

if you're a Christian,

it is to fill you

with the wonder

and the gratitude

and the thankfulness

and the humility

that the death

of one man,

the God-man,

Jesus Christ,

would bear the infinite penalty

as a substitute

for everyone

who repents

and trusts in him.

and it is essential

for your confidence

in his finished work

of reconciliation

that we see

the centrality

of the Lord Jesus

in it all.

Notice in verse 18,

it is all through Christ.

Verse 19,

it is in Christ.

The reconciliation

of the world

to God

happens through

the death

and resurrection

of Christ.

It is something

that has happened

in history.

It is something

that is finished

and we have no part

of it.

And the word world

in verse 19

is staggering.

It says

that what God did

through the death

of the Lord Jesus

on a hill

outside the city walls

of Jerusalem

in around 30 AD

concerns

the reconciliation

of the entire

human race

to its maker.

It is the extraordinary

claim of the New Testament.

It is the claim

of verses 14 and 15

in 2 Corinthians 5.

We are convinced

that one died

for all

and therefore

all died

and he died

for all.

Jesus' death

has universal significance.

He is

the reconciler.

There is

no reconciliation

with God

outside of Jesus.

You don't need

anything more

than Jesus

but you can't

have anything

less than Jesus.

And this message

of reconciliation

with God

through the Lord

Jesus Christ

is our message

for the city

of Chatswood

and beyond.

That's what

mission month

is all about.

The stakes

couldn't be high

my friends.

Separation

from God

for all of eternity

and torment

or coming to Christ

and living for him.

Eternal life

in his presence

and he calls us

with a real sense

of urgency

in 2 Corinthians 5

and 6

to attend

to this matter.

If you're not

someone who trusts

in the Lord Jesus

then I want to say

with all humility

and with gentleness

but with deliberateness

the stakes

could not be higher

for you right now.

As chapter 2

verse

chapter 6

verse 2 says

now is the time

of God's favour

now is the day

of salvation

and I implore you

as the Apostle Paul

does for us

in these verses

to be reconciled

with God.

If he has

at all

twinged your heart

tonight

do not ignore it.

Come and speak

to me

or speak to Sam

or Rob

or a friend

who's brought you

here tonight.

Attend to the matter

right now.

So the message

of reconciliation

of what God

has done

and can only

do through Christ

the ministry

of reconciliation

on the other hand

is what God

can only do

through us.

And so this bit

is for those

who receive

the message

of reconciliation.

This is what

God is calling you

to.

The message

doesn't just

shape our future

it actually

shapes our

present as well.

So verse 20

we are therefore

Christ's ambassadors

as though God

were making

his appeal

through us.

The main thrust

of verse 20

and onwards

is that what

Christians

the ones who

have been

reconciled

must do

if the message

of reconciliation

is to be heard.

That is the message

of reconciliation

is our ministry

of reconciliation

to the city

of Chatswood

and beyond.

This is what

God does

through us.

Verse 18

All this is

from God

who reconciled

us to himself

through Christ

and gave us

the ministry

of reconciliation.

The ministry

is given to us

it's not given

to Christ

it's not given

to the angels.

Verse 19

And he is

committed to us

the message

of reconciliation.

It's given to us

not Christ

not the angels.

Verse 20

We are therefore

Christ's ambassadors

as though God

were making his appeal

through us.

He does it through us

not Christ

not the angels.

Then again

in chapter 6

verse 1

As God's fellow workers

we urge you

not to receive

God's grace

in vain.

We do the urging

not God

yes God does it

through the Holy Spirit

but it is

our responsibility

it is our task

it is our voice

it is our tongue.

Verse 20

makes our ministry

very clear

we are Christ's ambassadors.

And as an ambassador

that job is

quite distinguished

as an ambassador

the honour

of the Lord Jesus

is at stake

that is an

overwhelming thought.

In his death

Jesus represents us

and in his absence

we represent him.

And so if you have

received the message

of reconciliation

then the ministry

of reconciliation

is yours.

It's not just

reserved for people

like me.

It's yours.

Everyone who's

received the message

of reconciliation

has been given

the ministry

of reconciliation.

See the connection

in verse 15?

He

Christ

died for all

that those who live

should no longer

live for themselves

but for him

who died for them

and was raised again.

As a recipient

of the message

of reconciliation

my whole life

has now been

redeployed

for diplomatic service.

I speak

and I live

in such a way

that makes Jesus

look like the treasure

that he actually is.

And Paul shows us

in chapter 6

verses 3 to 10

that being an ambassador

is hard work.

So when I talk

about diplomatic service

don't think of

High Commissioner

in New Zealand

for instance.

Think of being sent

to a hostile

foreign country

to speak on behalf

of your sovereign government.

Let's have a look

at it there

in verses 3 and 4.

We put no stumbling block

in anyone's path

so that our ministry

will not be discredited.

Remember

we represent

the Lord Jesus.

Our lifestyle

and our message

are to be consistent

with each other.

It is absolutely essential

because if the ministry

is discredited

the message

is discredited

which means

that the Lord Jesus

is discredited.

That's an overwhelming thought.

Verse 4

rather

that is rather than

being a stumbling block

and discrediting

the ministry

and discrediting

the Lord Jesus

as servants of God

we commend ourselves

in every way

and how does he

commend himself

in his service?

By taking off

his uniform

and mingling

with the crowd?

Have a look

in great endurance

in troubles

hardship

and distresses

etc.

etc.

etc.

As one

former minister

or current minister

actually said

the ministry

of reconciliation

is sheer

hard work.

Claypot expectations

from earlier on.

Sheer hard work.

It's not being

an ambassador

for the Lord Jesus

when it feels right

or when it seems

like the correct time

or when you think

people are going

to receive

what you're going

to say

favourably

or when a

positive response

is guaranteed

or when it's convenient

it shapes

your whole life.

I loved

hearing the story

recently

of an elderly

Christian man

who was dying

of cancer

and his main

concern

was to die

so well

around his

carers

and his nurses

and his doctors

and his families

that Jesus

looked great

to them.

That's what

shaped his life.

An ambassador

of the Lord Jesus

right to the end.

He hadn't

lost heart

in the troubles

and distresses

and hardships

of life.

He hadn't

taken off

his uniform

and mingled

with the crowd.

And so

friends

St. Paul's

I want to

ask you

do the

ministries

and particularly

this is for you

if you're

in leadership

in any

capacity

at St. Paul's

do the

ministries

of this church

make clear

the need

and the

message

of reconciliation.

I'm not

asking

did they

start

with the

purpose

of the

ministry

being clear

I'm asking

has it

continued

or has

there been

a loss

of heart

along the

way

maybe

the

relationship

connection

has become

central

rather than

the message

of reconciliation

or maybe

the maintenance

of the ministry

structure

has in fact

consumed the

focus.

I can tell

you that for

me

one of the

sure signs

that I'm

starting to

disrobe my

uniform

is

when I

go about

activities of

ministry

and I

don't shed

a tear

for those

who are

lost

Christ.

Or it's

possible to

year in

and year

out

just keep

the

clogs

moving

balancing

the

budgets

making sure

people are

turning up

running out

the programs

week in

week out

week in

week out

and we

do it

to make

ourselves

comfortable

rather than

do it for

those who

need to hear

Christ.

Where we

can be more

concerned about

the look of

this thing

and the fact

that it's

probably got

three tons of

water in it

on a wooden

structure and

will it

possibly stand

up and put a

hole in the

building than

what it's

actually here

for and

celebrating what

happened tonight.

friends our

mission statements

written on the

back wall of

our church

there tells

us that we

exist for

this message

and for

this ministry.

St. Paul's

exists to know

Jesus, to

treasure Jesus

and represent

Jesus and it

is not just

meant to be

written on the

walls, it's

meant to be

written in

our hearts

and to be

shaping our

lives.

I believe the

more deeply

we feel how

undeserved and

free was the

grace of the

Lord Jesus

Christ that

plucked someone

like me at

the age of

23 from the

flames of

eternal misery

the more we

will treasure the

Lord Jesus and

the gift of

grace that we

have in him.

And the more

that we treasure

the Lord Jesus

I believe the

harder we'll

work, the

less we'll

regard everyone

from a worldly

point of view,

we will see them

as people in

need of Christ

and the

freer our

love will be

in representing

the Lord Jesus

to those who

need to

experience his

mercy.

Let's pray.

Gracious

Father I pray

that you would

reshape our

priorities as we

have gone

through 2

Corinthians 4

and 5

over this

month of

refocusing

again on

your global

agenda and

your plans,

the mission

that you've

entrusted to

us.

Lord if we

have been

tempted either

individually or

corporately to

take off our

uniform and

mingle with the

crowd, encourage

us in heart I

pray as again

we hear the

message of

reconciliation.

Help us Lord

to be humbled,

to see that

we've contributed

nothing.

There's no good

and better people

but that we're

all in deep

need of

reconciliation

with you

and we

thank you for

what you've

done for us

in the Lord

Jesus.

May it shape

our lives we

pray day by

day.

Amen.