Share the Gospel

Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know our hearts better than we know our own hearts.

And you know how easily we flatter ourselves and deceive ourselves.

And Father, you know how we slightly or maybe even in a very big way turn from some of the very hard things you say to us because it offends our pride.

So, Father, we ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit upon us at this time and grip us with the gospel.

And as you grip us with the gospel, may your word come and minister to us at the very deep level of who we are.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

I was going to say this earlier, but I forgot.

I thought this is the place that we worship regularly on a Sunday morning at Church of the Messiah.

We never, every five weeks, there's a different stage up front.

This is the beginning of the stage for the next play.

So, Charlie and I and others had to sort of try to figure out how the service was going to work.

There was some discussion about pulling the curtain across to hide the stage.

But I wanted to keep the stage as it is because, you know, at the end of the day,

Jonathan and Daniel and Daniel aren't being ordained to just like live in a little tiny church ghetto where we're not in the world.

Like, we gather in worship and we gather to receive from Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit grace.

But we do that to live in the world and to share the gospel.

And in some ways, this stage always reminds us that while we're here to worship,

we worship amidst cars going by and condos and business and in a very theater where other things have gone on.

And that's the world that we live in to represent Jesus and to proclaim the gospel.

So that's why we left the stage as it is.

There was a feature article on CBC just a short while ago.

It was, I think it was just two months ago, and it was a report.

It was covering a report by a major heritage organization in Canada that said that within the next five to ten years,

9,000 churches in Canada will close.

9,000 churches in Canada will close.

That's one-third of all churches that own buildings will close.

That's their estimate within the next five to ten years.

I just recently became aware of a private set of work about what the attendance is like in the Anglican Church of Canada.

We're part of a worldwide Anglican body and a North American-wide body,

but we're not part of the Anglican Church of Canada.

But the point is, the statistic is that between 2007 and 2017,

the average Sunday attendance in the Anglican Church of Canada dropped by 50%

at the same time that the average age in attendance on Sunday morning went up.

In Ottawa, the last time there was a census that talked about religious affiliation,

there are now more people in Ottawa who identify themselves as having no religion

than there are Protestants in the city of Ottawa.

More people who are called nuns, N-O-N-E.

More people in Ottawa who are nuns than are Protestants.

And we all know that we live in a culture

where for very many people, maybe the majority of people,

they'll do anything to get help other than go to Christianity.

Maybe they'll try yoga, they'll try all sorts of different spiritualities,

but the very last on the list will be trying Christianity.

Because I think for many people in our culture,

especially in elite culture and in entertainment world,

Christianity and the Christian heritage of the country is what causes trouble.

To be a Christian is to be a part of the enemy,

part of the problem that has to be rectified by something else.

So now that I've cheered up Daniel and Jonathan and Daniel,

in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen,

and we'll continue on with the service.

I mean, that's the world that we live in, you know, isn't it?

And so it's very, very easy to be discouraged and to lose heart in today's world.

And it's not just the fact that we're, you know, as a pastor,

I'm very conscious that I'm the away team.

I'm on part of the away team.

You know, that means if you watch playoff hockey or basketball,

like when you're in the other stadium,

they're all waving the towels and stuff like that,

and the sound system's all cranked up to help the other team.

And it's not cranked up to help me at all.

And that's the culture, that's the world we live in.

And it's very easy to get discouraged.

And that's on top, of course, the normal things that can discourage us

about just getting tired or being sick.

But we live in a time and an age in Canada

where it's very, very easy to be discouraged.

And what I'd like to do in a few minutes is just to press into this.

Because one of the things which is so fantastic about the Bible,

it's very counterintuitive.

When I try to talk about things with my non-Christian friends,

I have to keep telling them that it's very counterintuitive

that the Bible is regularly pressing into issues.

In fact, the big problem for Christians is

we get those type of stats and we just want to shut down.

We want to think about something else.

We want to have a few happy thoughts.

We don't actually want to press into the issue.

And we don't want to press in to the state of our heart.

But the Bible actually, if we follow the Bible,

if we listen to the Bible, the Bible will press into those issues.

It'll say, let's look at those issues.

Let's go a little bit deeper into them.

And that's what we're going to look at today.

There's a passage in the Bible.

It was the passage that Alexander read that presses into this.

So if you have your Bibles with you,

if you would turn in your Bibles to,

it would help if I had the right text open,

2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 to 6.

2 Corinthians 4:1–6

2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 to 6.

2 Corinthians 4:1–6

And we're going to look at that text of Scripture

because the Scripture deals with losing heart.

It deals with discouragement.

And at first glance,

it might seem that reading something like this,

this text is written to a group of Christians

in a place in what we now know of as Greece.

And it was written in the late 50s.

That's the 0000 50s.

So it's almost 2,000 years ago.

And yet, it might seem very, very odd

to go to a text like this.

We, of course, as Christians go to it

because at the end of the day,

we believe that Jesus died on the cross

and rose from the dead.

And when he rose from the dead,

he triumphed over sin and death

and all hostile spiritual powers.

And he was vindicated as the one who reveals God.

He is vindicated as the one

who can connect us to God.

And so we as Christians,

we just believe Jesus.

And Jesus believes the Bible,

so I believe the Bible.

It's as simple as that.

I'm a very, very, very simple-minded guy.

Jesus told me to believe and trust the Bible,

so I believe and trust the Bible.

But even apart from that,

for those of us who haven't quite figured out that stuff,

it actually makes a lot of sense in some odd way

to go to look to such an ancient text.

Because if you think about it for a second,

I mean, one of the things that we Christians feel badly,

especially those of us who are over a certain age,

an age which I will not specify.

You can specify it yourself.

We remember a time when we weren't the away team all the time,

where there'd be at least some type of grudging respect

towards the church and towards Christian things.

But this letter is written at a time when there was no...

I mean, Paul was writing to a group of people

who were definitely the away team.

And it was a very, very similar situation.

Like, you know, in our culture,

all the smart people know that Christianity is wrong.

I mean, in fact, that would almost be a criteria

to be a smart person is to know that Christianity is wrong.

And that's exactly what was going on in Corinth.

Like, all the smart people knew that there were many gods, not one.

Like, that's what all the smart people knew.

And all the smart people knew that for men of means,

well, you had to have a wife, of course,

for reasons of inheritance.

But, gosh, you can't hold a man down to one woman,

so you'd have to have probably a concubine on the side.

And when the man is on a military campaign,

a young man, a young boy, for your sexual satisfaction,

that's what all the smart people knew.

That's what, in a sense, the Globe and Mail, the National Post,

the CBC, University of Ottawa, Toronto, McGill, politicians.

That's what everybody knew.

That's just the smart way to live.

Christians are weird.

And so we hear these words from Paul

in actually a very funny way,

in a very similar type of cultural context to us.

And here's what Paul says.

He's just finished talking about what he calls

New Covenant ministry,

the type of ministry that comes from the fact

that Jesus has created a new people,

a new way of following,

of being connected to God,

to have God be your king.

And so in verse 1 of chapter 4,

he says,

And just want to pause right there,

because I just want to pause there.

That's a really, really, really important way that this begins.

It begins by the Bible recognizing that we lose heart.

That's what it's saying.

Paul knows the people there,

and he knows that there are many times that they lose heart.

Another way to translate it is that they are discouraged.

Some of your Bible translations might say that you are in despair.

And the Bible,

Paul, God, ultimately, who's the ultimate author of this,

he knows that you and I,

many times,

have to deal with discouragement

and losing heart.

And the thing which is so wonderful about this,

especially when it's going to be about,

in the context about being a Christian in such a world,

well, actually, if you could put up the first point, Andrew,

that would be very, very handy.

The Lord knows the true state of your heart better than you do.

The Lord knows the true state of your heart better than you do.

So, pray with openness and honesty.

I mean, on one level, I would say this to a non-Christian,

because as you know, I mean,

I think it was the Pew Research Center that,

a few years ago, they did a statistic.

And I'm not saying people shouldn't laugh at this,

but it's very interesting,

that a third of atheists pray regularly.

And in fact, the fact of the matter is,

is if you actually press in to get to know

some of your non-Christian friends very well,

you might, to your shock,

discover that they pray more than,

those of us who are Christians,

you might discover, to your shock,

that your non-Christian friends pray more than you do.

It's very counterintuitive to us.

And I would encourage a non-Christian,

if they ask me for advice,

just to pray openly and honestly to God.

Obviously, it's a very different thing to pray to a God,

whatever that means,

than it is to pray to your Father in Heaven.

But for those of us who are Christians,

this text is a very important reminder

to just pray.

To be honest,

that you're discouraged,

that you're downhearted.

And in terms of the original,

in the original language,

however this is captured,

losing your heart or discouragement or despair,

the opposite of it is courage.

The Lord knows that there's all sorts of things in your time,

there's all sorts of times in your life

and long seasons of your life

where you're lacking in courage to live as a Christian.

So just pray about it.

Now, I could end my sermon right here.

And, but part of the problem is,

is that that almost sounds like a bit of a truism.

And it actually, in some small way,

like, it's almost like a platitude.

I mean, it's very true.

I don't mean it as a platitude.

And the Bible's very serious,

but it's a little bit of a platitude, you know,

almost that, oh yeah, okay,

fire off a little prayer and go on.

But you know what?

It doesn't really get at what's going on in the world.

And it doesn't really get at

what actually causes us to lose courage.

And so the Bible presses in

to talk about some very, very, very uncomfortable truths

connected to our pride.

And it doesn't just sort of say,

okay, just fire off some prayers to God

because he knows you're discouraged.

Have a good day.

God loves you.

God is good all the time.

No, it says, okay, okay,

you can, whoa, whoa, you can do that.

Good.

But let's press in a little bit more

because there's other things going on

at the very center of whom you are

that God wants to deal with.

So what Paul does very next is,

after that, he starts to give us some,

to get at this heart issue of pride,

he starts to give us some instructions,

first by telling us what not to do

and then telling us what to do.

If you look at verse two,

here's how the Bible continues.

But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.

We refuse to practice cunning

or to tamper with God's word.

But by the open statement of the truth,

we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience

in the sight of God.

Now, just sort of pause here for a second.

One of the big problems is, as you all know,

or maybe it's just,

I'm probably just vastly more wicked

than most of you here.

But one of the big problems I have regularly

when I read the Bible

is I think about how this applies to other people

other than me.

I'm very, very, very good at seeing

specks in other people's eyes

while I walk around with a log in my own eye.

And, you know, I can't remember what psalm it is.

Charlie would know what the psalm is.

But there's a very powerful psalm

that people should meditate on.

I think it's either 12 or 13,

how we flatter ourselves too much

to detect or hate our own sin.

And one of the things which we often do

when we're discouraged

is we flatter ourselves.

Legends in our own mind.

While functionally we act without courage.

But what this text is saying here,

the first couple of ideas

about we refuse to,

we have renounced disgraceful

and underhanded ways.

And that's a very, very good translation.

A very, very literal translation of it

is the secret things of shame.

That we either,

we refuse to act out of the secret things of shame

or we refuse to do those things,

the secret things of shame.

That's sort of a more literal type of translation.

And the thing which is very interesting about this,

you see,

is it actually presses in for us to recognize

that one of the things

that we have to struggle with

when we're discouraged is shame.

You see, if you're in a room

and you're the only person who thinks one thing

and everybody else,

if they knew what you thought,

would say that it was wicked,

it's easy to start to have a sense of shame.

And it's,

and a lot of really bad behavior

flows out of us not dealing with shame.

In fact, a lot of times

the people who are the best

at making condemning statements

and looking like they have puffed out chests

and are really strong,

often it doesn't come out

of a firm belief in the gospel,

but because they have

a deeply hidden sense of shame

that leads them to bravido.

But of course,

other things of shame

can make us very, very timid.

The next two things,

because all of us would say,

well, who on earth

would ever want to practice cunning

or to tamper with God's word?

But the idea behind cunning

is actually the end justifies the means.

And that's, of course,

a very, very powerful problem

in the church.

I mean, if I can just sort of

use some music

or use the service

or some other types of things

to manipulate you,

that's all right,

because if you give your life to Jesus,

the end justifies the means.

And tampering with God's word

is the same basic idea

as paring it down,

to water it down,

to hide certain things.

It's like saying,

let's not talk about

the different things

in the Old Testament

because there's all sorts of things

in the Old Testament

which are very offensive to people.

Don't talk about certain things

about sexuality

or about money

or about forgiveness

because that's going to offend people.

If you talk about things like that,

you're going to offend people.

And so you don't want to talk

about those things.

You water it down.

You hide it.

You don't bring it up.

You stick on very safe topics.

And those are all

very, very, very powerful forces

that when we organize

our worship services

in our small groups

that we just avoid

lots of topics.

We water things down.

We smooth things over.

We pretend certain things aren't there.

We talk about sins

that everybody agrees are sins

like slavery,

but we don't talk about things

like abortion

where we're going to say

some very, very different things

than the rest of our culture.

Because we, in fact,

have things which are eating away

at the courage of our lives.

And so what the Bible says here,

that was the first bit,

but he says,

what do you do in the opposite?

Look at verse 2 again.

We have renounced

disgraceful,

underhanded ways.

That's the things

which come out of shame.

We refuse to practice cunning,

that is,

where the end justifies the means,

or to tamper with God's word.

Another way to put it

is to be God's spin doctor

or to water things down.

But instead,

by the open statement

of the truth,

we would commend,

it says here ourselves,

what it means is our message,

ourselves as God's messengers.

We open statement of the truth

to everyone's conscience

in the sight of God.

And I think to my

non-Christian friends,

they'd be very surprised

to see that the Bible's advice

is that you always respect

the integrity of human beings,

and even those who disagree

with you very strongly,

and you respect their conscience,

you respect the integrity

of who they are,

and you don't manipulate,

you don't hide things,

you don't do things

that are coming out of shame,

you act in a way

which is clear

and straightforward

and public.

And I think

many of my non-Christian friends,

I know they'd be surprised at that

because it's not how

they experience Christians,

whether rightly or wrongly,

it's not how they often experience this.

But that's actually

what the Bible is saying.

But for people

who are very tempted

to say,

well, you know, George,

you don't talk about this

and this and this

and this in church

because you want to attract seekers,

you want to attract,

you want to make the gospel

attractive to people,

and by making the gospel

attractive to people

in a very, very compelling format,

and who Jesus is,

not the church,

and there's all these

different things that we say

and we say,

that's the way you go.

You don't talk about

these awkward things

like the very, very next things

which are going to be said

because, in fact,

it would be a very,

you know,

about a year ago,

there was a young woman

that I'd shared the gospel

with several times

and out of the blue,

when I was talking to her,

she asked me

if I thought

she was going to go to hell.

And I have to confess

I wasn't prepared

for the question.

And I sure hope

I didn't look like

a deer in the headlights

just before it gets hit

when I tried to answer

that question.

But I did the best I did.

I didn't deny it.

I didn't say,

no, no,

I don't think you're going

to go to hell.

I tried to deal with

this hard truth.

But these very next things

that Paul does,

the Bible takes us

in a very, very hard direction

almost immediately.

It's almost as if,

okay,

we're all agreed

we're not going

to water things down.

Yes,

we're all agreed

we're not going

to be spin doctors.

Yes,

we all agreed

that we're not going

to live out of shame.

Yes,

aha,

okay,

then look at verse 3.

And even if our gospel

is veiled,

it is veiled

to those who are perishing.

In this case,

it means that they're already,

unless something happens

from outside,

they're going to

perish eternally.

Verse 4,

in that case,

the God of this world

has blinded the minds

of the unbelievers

to keep them

from seeing the light

of the gospel

of the glory of Christ

who is the image of God.

And I could just imagine,

I was just sharing the gospel

with this fellow

named Mark

on Saturday.

Got in the way of me

actually working

on my sermon

for today.

And I can just imagine

if I said to him

that passage

and he'd say,

you actually think,

George,

that when you talk

about certain types

of things

that I can't see it

or I can't understand it,

that my mind

can't grasp it?

And are you actually

saying, George,

that there is

like a demon

that's making my mind

blind

so that my mind

is dark?

And I could just picture

so many of my friends

they'd smile and say,

George,

I'm way smarter than you.

And I see the crappy car

you drive.

I'm obviously vastly

more successful than you.

I'm way better

at making money.

I'm way better

at managing money.

And I'm way smarter

than you.

And you actually think

that there's things

my mind can't grasp

and that my mind

is darkened

and blinded

by a demon?

And I think

what I would say

to my friend

is,

before I answer

that question,

can we look

at the next two verses?

And then can I just

share with you

what I think they mean?

And because

they're my friend,

they'd probably

give me the time.

And if you look

at the next two verses,

there's something

very, very glorious

but very humbling

which is said.

Verse 5,

for what we proclaim,

for what we proclaim

is not ourselves,

but Jesus Christ

as Lord,

with ourselves

as your servants

for Jesus' sake.

Notice this,

what we proclaim,

what I am to proclaim

is Jesus Christ

is Lord.

I am to proclaim

that there was a man

in history

by the name of Jesus.

It was one of the most

popular Jewish names

for boys

at the time

that Jesus was born.

But in the case

of Jesus,

his name literally

is true

because Jesus

means God saves

and it literally

is true.

This man

named God saves

is the man

who will save us.

And this man

who lived in history,

who lived

a perfect life

and died upon the cross

and was buried

and on the third day

rose and then

ascended into heaven.

This very same man,

he is the Christ.

And what does that mean?

That means that

all of the overarching

story of the Bible,

it means that

for a thousand years

of all of the

prophetical writings

and all of the Psalms

and all of the laws,

that every law

finds its fulfillment

in him.

Every type

finds its fulfillment

in him.

Every promise

finds its fulfillment

in him.

Every hero

finds its true hero

in him.

Every riddle

which the Bible

poses to human beings

that do not seem

to be able

to be answered,

he is the answer

to every riddle.

Every promise,

prophecy type,

everything in the Bible

all finds their fulfillment

in him.

And when he died

upon the cross,

when he lived

his sinless life

and died upon the cross,

he did everything

that needed to be done

to make me right

with God.

He did everything

that needed to be done.

Every wrong,

every shame,

every accusation,

he dealt with it

in his person,

taking it in my place.

And after he had not only

taken all of those

terrible things away

from me,

I couldn't stand

before God

because I haven't done

very many good things

in my life.

You might think

I've done a few good things

in my life,

but I haven't done

that many good things

in my life.

But Jesus not only

takes all the bad

things away,

I am clothed

with his perfect life

of obedience

and I stand

before God

not because of anything

I have done,

can do,

or will do,

but all because

of him.

He is the Lamb

of God

who dies

and is in my place.

And by his rising

from the dead,

that is why we know

that he is Lord.

He is God with us

and I am here

to proclaim that.

And here's,

and they might say,

okay, George,

that doesn't deal

with the demon thing

and that doesn't deal

with what you think

about my mind,

but the next bit does.

You see,

this is the weird thing

about God.

This is the important thing

about the text.

One of the main reasons

I get discouraged

is I think it's about me.

One of the main reasons

I get discouraged

is I think it's about us.

I think if I could just be,

if I could just be more winsome,

if I could be more scholarly,

if I could pray more,

if I was just more effective

in communication,

if I could listen better,

if I just could listen

to the Holy Spirit better,

if I,

if I,

if I,

if I,

but the Bible here

cuts the ground

completely out from under me,

but not in a way

that completely destroys me.

What it says is,

George,

all God is asking you

to do is stand

on your hind legs

and say what you just said,

that there's this

man Jesus,

that he really did live,

that all of the promises

for over a thousand years

find their fulfillment in him,

that he is the one

that God has provided,

his life is for you,

he has done this,

he is Lord,

you just tell people that,

and when you tell people that,

sometimes what happens

is this,

verse six,

for God who said,

let light shine out of darkness

has shone in our hearts

to give the light

of the knowledge

of the glory of God

in the face of Jesus Christ.

What does that mean?

I'm going to call you Charlie,

is that all right?

Charlie,

you're a smart guy.

Most people here don't know

he has a math degree

from UBC.

You have to be smart.

You can't just sort of

guess the answers

to do that,

okay?

And you were in,

like,

last years of high school

or was it university

when you became a Christian?

Second year university.

Second year university.

Charlie,

I have terrible news

to tell you.

You did not become

a Christian

because you were smart.

You did not become

a Christian

because you were holy.

You did not become

a Christian

because you engaged

on a spiritual quest

and you figured

those things out.

You know,

Charlie,

you are like me.

Before,

one day,

as somebody was saying

to you,

to Jesus Christ as Lord,

God said to Charlie

the same thing

he said on the first

day of creation

when he said,

let there be light.

And God the Father

said to Charlie,

let there be light.

And light from God

pierced the veil

and pierced the darkness

and came into your heart

and into your mind.

And Jesus Christ

became your Savior

and Lord

and it had nothing

to do

with your smarts,

with your ability.

And it's the same thing

that happened to me.

And if any of you

here are Christians,

there is nothing

at all

that you can be proud about

or boast in

because it had nothing

to do with your smartness

or your wisdom

or your seeking

or your searching.

Some simple Christian

pronounced

and shared with you

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

and God

does a miracle

in you

that you

cannot do

for yourself.

God said,

let there be light.

And light from God

pierced the veil

and pierced your darkness

and pierced your blindness.

So what would I say

for my friend?

Am I saying these things

about you?

You know what?

They

this was a darkened mind

and I didn't think

myself out of it.

God did a miracle.

And if you feel

any stirring

within you,

that's a sign

that the light

of the glory

of God

in the face

of Jesus Christ

is shining

into your heart.

Brothers and sisters,

this Daniel,

Jonathan and Daniel,

I just gave you

the great news

that a third

of all the churches

in the country

are going to close

within the next

five to ten years.

But here's what

I want to tell you.

God is still

on his throne.

He is still sustaining

everything that we see.

He has everything

under his control.

There are people

in Ottawa

that are just waiting

for some duffer

like you

or you or you

or you or you

or you

to share

that Jesus Christ

is Lord.

And you do it

and God does

a miracle.

Because only

he can save.

You can do nothing.

Isn't that good news?

The pressure is off.

And he knows

how discouraged

you get.

He knows how you

can share and share

and share and share

and that nothing

seems to happen.

But you know what

he says is just

continue to proclaim

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

as clearly,

as honestly,

as humbly

as you possibly can.

If you could put up

the final point

to summarize this.

It's a prayer.

Lord, make real

to my heart

that it is only

your gospel

and only your power

that makes me yours.

And as God

makes it real

to our heart,

so help me

to pray for the

perishing

and share the gospel

with humility,

clarity,

and courage.

that

all I can do

is to share

that with you

and with each

of us here.

Could you please

stand?

Let's just bow

our heads in prayer.

Actually,

could you all,

I'm going to pray,

could you all pray

this with me?

If the Lord

has put it on your heart

to pray this with me,

could you pray

what is above

on the screen

with me

if it is with you?

And then I'll just

say a closing prayer

and then Bishop Charlie

will get up

and we're going

to make these guys

deacons.

So let's pray.

Lord,

make real

to my heart

that it is only

your gospel

and only your power

that makes me yours.

And so help me

to pray for the

perishing

and share the gospel

with humility,

clarity,

and courage.

Father,

pour out the Holy Spirit

upon us.

If there are any here

who do not yet know

Jesus,

may this be the time.

Father,

shine.

Just may they know

Jesus as Lord.

Reveal Jesus as Savior

and Lord to them.

And Father,

thank you that you

know our hearts.

Thank you that you

know how easily

we get sidetracked

as if it's all up to us.

Thank you,

Father,

so much

that at the same time

that you humble us

that it's nothing

about us,

you reassure us

of your great love

for us

and your great power.

So Father,

we ask that you

would make us

disciples of Jesus

who are gripped

by the gospel,

learning to live

day by day

for your glory

in this city

and to the ends

of the earth.

And all God's people

said,

Amen.