Are We Talking about the Same God?

Father, the scripture text warns us that the God of this age can blind our hearts.

And Father, your word tells us that we, by our human efforts, cannot stop this.

Father, we call out to you.

We ask for your mercy.

Father, you see us as we really are.

You see the unseen presences as well.

And we ask, Father, that you would gently but deeply and powerfully pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

That you would, Father, shine the light of your gospel in the center of who we are.

That Jesus would truly be our Savior and Lord.

That you would make us disciples of Jesus, gripped by the gospel, who are living for your glory.

Father, this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So, this week, so all week, I'm looking at the scripture text.

And on Friday, I have a conversation with somebody at one of my favorite coffee shops.

I've had several conversations with this person.

And they make a point of telling me that they just watched a television show this week.

And in the television show, it revolves around a person that is the Antichrist.

And God keeps telling people to try to kill the Antichrist.

And the Antichrist is a very sympathetic figure.

A bit obviously conflicted.

But, you know, we like conflicted figures.

But a sympathetic figure.

And God's trying to, is telling people to go and kill this person.

And so my friend tells me this.

And she says, I hate this.

You know, I hate, I hate the way it seems that God's always telling people to kill other people.

And so, you know, for many in our culture, the way they understand and the way we understand who God is,

there's something very common in our culture today.

That for many people in our culture, they fear that the God that religious people talk about

and that even spiritual people talk about, that his, or I guess in our culture, they'd say her or it or whatever,

but that, I'll use Christian language, that the God that religious or Christian people talk about,

that if you get close to him, where you listen to him or you read his scriptures,

that all he's going to want to do is ultimately have you kill people

or do other really, really bad things towards you.

And it's so interesting that I had this conversation after I'd been thinking about the scripture text all week

because it was one of those times where the scripture text that I'd been thinking about all week

really helped me to be able to explain to her, talk to her about her particular fears.

So it'd be a great help to me if you would open your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 to 6.

2 Corinthians 4:1–6

And I don't know if you noticed it, but there's some stuff in this text of the Bible

that really addresses our fears and helps us in conversations like this.

And let's be honest as well.

This isn't just a fear that goes on outside of the church,

but many Christians at different times in our lives, maybe some of you here this morning,

you fear that if you get too close to Jesus, if you take the Bible too seriously,

that it's going to call you to do things that's going to hurt you,

that's going to make you less of a person.

It's going to belittle you.

It's not just a fear that there's outside, but many of us at some level have that deep type of a fear as well,

that if we trust God's word, if we trust Jesus, it's going to hurt us.

And so it's almost as if we want to say, don't be too close to Jesus.

Well, we know that you're not allowed to say that.

That's not the right thing to say.

And so we're conflicted as well, if we're honest.

So let's look.

And actually, it's interesting because the text at first glance,

and this often happens with the Bible,

at first glance, the text doesn't seem as if it's going to be very helpful.

But actually, right off the bat in 2 Corinthians chapter 4,

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

it says something very, very powerful and very, very helpful.

It's one of those things that it doesn't look helpful,

but it actually is helpful if we stop and think about it.

Because it begins like this.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,

we do not lose heart.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,

we do not lose heart.

Now, you know, it has that word therefore there.

I know I'm going to lose you as soon as I make a grammar geek type of moment,

but it just means it's following on what had just been said before in chapter 3.

And if you were here last week or you just happen to know the Bible,

it's talking about new covenant ministry.

It's talking about a type of ministry,

which isn't just something that is all about things you just do to the outside of your body,

learn to do this and learn to do this.

And I don't know, learn to sing like this and all.

It's not about it.

It's that there's a type of that God is doing something through his Holy Spirit,

through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the Holy Spirit,

that actually touches us at the level of the heart,

that changes our hearts, gives us live hearts,

that writes on our hearts, that changes our relationship with God.

And that's the ministry that he's talking about.

But notice how it goes.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

Why is that significant?

It doesn't sound like it's going to help us, but why is it very significant?

If you could put the first point up, that would be great.

Our culture and our time were very confused about these things.

But there can be justice without mercy.

There can be justice without mercy.

But there can be no mercy without justice.

There can be justice without mercy.

There can be no mercy without justice.

One of the things which is so wonderful about the Bible,

and is as you read it, and it's not just the Bible,

it's the words of Jesus that are recorded in the Bible,

that as you read the Bible, justice is always highly valued.

The Bible never, ever, ever tells us to disregard justice.

It never tells us that we should do something and choose injustice over justice.

It never says that, well, you know, some people think this is justice,

and some people think this is injustice, and, you know, we don't really have you.

Just do whatever is going to work best.

Just be practical.

No.

Justice is a high, high value consistently taught in the Scriptures.

It's always taught that you pursue justice and you flee injustice.

It's a very, very high value woven into all of the Scriptures.

But in our culture, what we often think of is,

what we think of sort of justice is,

well, we sort of want justice for other people,

but we don't really want mercy for ourselves.

What we want is a pass.

What we want is to be, in a sense, almost as if the rigors of justice,

that that bright light of justice isn't shone into our heart,

that there's just, or into how we live our lives,

is that there's just a basic acceptance that in every case,

we have a valid excuse and we need to be given a pass.

But the Bible here, it's very, very fascinating.

With its emphasis on mercy, unless we understand that in the biblical world,

you can have justice without mercy.

Many of us have faced a boss or a teacher or somebody

and they've been just to the level of the law, letter of the law,

and we wish that they'd show us some mercy and they didn't show us any mercy.

That happens all of the time.

But when the Bible talks about mercy,

it's assuming that there's perfect justice.

And that mercy is something, in a sense, deeper than justice.

They're both perfectly in God,

so you can't really talk about one being deeper.

But from a human point of view, you can.

That God is completely and utterly just.

And sometimes, in fact, he's always merciful.

And mercy, when it's shown in the presence of justice,

justice always requires sacrifice by the one who's showing mercy.

If I want to show somebody mercy because they've stolen from me,

justice says, you've stolen from me.

Justice says, you've stolen $1,000 from me, or $5,000, or $50.

And justice is just very clear and frank about that.

And maybe it's something that I could call the police on.

But if I was to show them mercy,

if I have some sense that this is a particular case

where I am to show mercy,

then true mercy in that case will maybe mean

that I have to swallow the loss of a lot of that money,

maybe all of that money.

And I think that's one of the reasons why in our culture

we have a great problem with this whole idea of mercy.

Because we, on one hand, always want there to be justice,

but when it comes to us, we don't like this idea

that we've actually done something terribly, deeply wrong,

that a debt of some type has to be paid and satisfied,

that we might be in such a weak position.

So we want a pass.

But the Bible doesn't say,

therefore having this ministry because we've been given a pass.

It says, therefore having this ministry by the mercy of God,

we do not lose heart.

If you could put the next point up, that would be great.

If the first point was that there can be justice without mercy,

there can be no mercy without justice.

The second point is that we think that justice is our greatest need.

But God in his mercy knows that mercy is our greatest need.

God in his mercy knows that mercy is our greatest need.

We want rights.

God offers justice and mercy.

And in fact, it's beyond that.

We're going to be talking about this quite a bit in a couple of weeks.

But one of the things which is so wonderful about the cross of Jesus

is that in the cross of Jesus,

God is constantly perfectly just.

But mercy triumphs in a sense over judgment and God's justice.

And God shows mercy to us in the person of his Son

at great cost to himself.

He shows us mercy.

He sees you and me perfectly.

He sees us with perfect justice.

And with his perfect justice in his eyes of love,

he sees that by justice alone,

we are in deep trouble.

And because he loves us,

he offers mercy.

Now, some of you might say,

George,

I don't know what to think about that.

You know, here's the thing I wonder about with that, George.

I mean, that sounds,

I mean, I have to think about it,

you know, justice and mercy.

And I have to think about it.

But, you know, George,

you know, sometimes,

you know, you're saying that the cross,

there's perfect justice and perfect mercy.

You know, George,

one of the things I notice about spiritual people

is they often just say contradictory things

and then they just say it,

you know,

as if somehow contradictory things

can just both be true at the same time.

And, you know,

they sort of smile

and it's just spiritual.

You know, like, George,

I've read Kahil Gibran

and it's just a whole pile

of contradictory things

written in a certain flowery type of tone

that looks spiritual.

But if you actually look at it,

it's just nonsense.

I didn't really mean to insult people

who like Kahil Gibran,

but I'm actually going to probably stick

by what I said.

And then other people say,

you know, George,

the thing about religious people

is they're full of contradictions.

They say one thing for others,

but they're really trying to do

very, very different types of things.

And so, George,

like, I can't remember everything

about the scripture text

and I forgot my Bible

and I'm just listening to you,

but didn't when you read the Bible

just a few minutes ago,

2 Corinthians 4,

didn't the Bible contradict itself

just within a couple of verses?

Didn't it say we don't preach ourselves,

but didn't it also say

that we commend ourselves?

Like, isn't that just sort of a,

you know, George,

it's just so full of contradictions

it doesn't really make sense.

Well, that, I mean,

maybe you did notice that.

Is the Bible contradicting itself?

Is what many people say

about spiritual?

I mean, often it's very true

that spiritual people

will just say

completely contradictory things

that don't make any sense,

but because it's spiritual

they can say it.

Like, is that,

is the Bible like that?

Like, look down at verse 5.

For what we proclaim

is not ourselves,

but Jesus Christ is Lord

with ourselves for your servants,

as your servants for Jesus' sake.

But look up at verse 2.

So it says we have this ministry

by the mercy of God,

and I'm talking about

how mercy implies

that there's justice.

If there's no justice,

there can't really be mercy.

Verse 2,

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.

So what's going on here

in the text?

What's going on in the text?

Well,

it's very, very interesting.

This text is looking

very, very deeply

into our human hearts,

and it's noticing

a profound temptation

that we have.

And the profound temptation

that we have, in fact,

is to do things

in an underhanded way

by cunning

and to tamper

with God's word.

Tamper with God's word,

in the original language,

the image is that

if they were selling you

alcohol,

they'd put lots of extra water

in the alcohol.

So they buy, you know,

10 liters of alcohol,

and they know

they can make more money

if they could sell 30 liters,

so they put 20 liters of water

in with the 10 liters,

and then they sell it,

and they've only paid

for 10 liters.

They sell, you know,

I mean,

that's what tampering means.

It means watering down.

It means changing.

So in fact,

actually here,

the Bible looks

into our human hearts,

and it says,

listen,

whatever this new covenant

ministry is going to be,

before you,

you have to know

that there's something

you have to renounce,

and there's something

you have to pursue.

And what you have to renounce

all of the time,

because it's going to be

a bit of a tendency

within us,

you have to renounce

disgraceful,

underhanded ways.

And by the way,

it doesn't mean

that there's

non-disgraceful,

disgraceful,

underhanded ways.

It's looking at

these two words

that describe one reality,

that anything you do

that's underhanded

is also disgraceful,

it's shameful.

It's something you should

be embarrassed about.

It's something that you

should want to

publicly apologize for.

It's something you should

want to amend your life.

And it's saying,

human beings

can be very underhanded,

and they can practice

cunning.

Cunning is using

all of your abilities

in such a way

that you come up on top,

and the other person's

definitely in a lower position.

And so it's,

in fact,

specifically warning us.

It's warning me.

It's warning you.

George,

there's ways for you

to live,

and ways for you

to talk,

that are underhanded,

and that are cunning,

and that just tamper

with God's word.

And George,

you need to renounce those.

But here's just a bit

of a gut check for us,

a bit of a time out.

For those of us here

who are followers of Jesus,

one of the things

that we need to do

is to pray

that we recognize

when we start

to go down that path.

Because nobody ever wakes up,

you know,

probably nobody wakes up

in the morning

and says,

I'm going to be really

underhanded and cunning today.

I think I'm going to be

really underhanded

with my wife.

That's my plan.

Or with my boss,

I'm just going to be

as underhanded and cunning.

Most of us don't think

that way when we wake up.

But we do things

that might sort of involve,

we just,

it starts to,

we drift to it, right?

And so there's a profound

gut check here

for all of us

that that can be something

that goes on in our lives

and in a sense

as an invitation

for you and me

to pray,

Father in heaven,

help me to recognize

when underhanded,

cunning,

and tampering

seems like the way to go

and I start to walk

down that path.

Help me to recognize it

and help me to run from it,

to renounce it.

And the text is saying

that whatever this new ministry is,

this new covenant ministry,

there's not only something

we renounce,

but there's something

that we pursue.

And that's the second part there.

So read it again,

but we have renounced

disgraceful,

underhanded ways.

We refuse to practice cunning

or to tamper with God's word,

but,

now here's the thing

that we're to pursue,

but by the open statement

of the truth,

we would commend ourselves

to everyone's conscience

in the sight of God.

What that's saying

is that our goal

is the open statement

of the truth.

Open statement

of the truth.

And the truth here

is the gospel.

The truth here

is who Jesus is

and what he's done

through his son.

The truth here

is not just who Jesus is

and what he's done for us

in the work of his son,

but how that fits

into the whole counsel of God

and how the person

and death of Jesus

and his resurrection

helps us to understand

the whole counsel of God.

But the thing

that you and I

are to pursue

is that we are to be

as open as possible

and as clear as possible

that clarity

and openness

is our friend.

It's to characterize

people who follow Jesus.

not mystical gobbledygook,

not contradictions

and you just sort of smile

and say,

well, it's just spiritual.

No, that there's this

task set before us

that we are to try

to be as open as possible

and as clear as possible

about what the truth is.

And when it says

commend ourselves,

what it's meaning

is that that's our goal.

What we should pray

is that when people

talk about our church

or when they talk about you,

they might say,

well, you know what?

I think often

some of his ideas

are kooky.

But you know what?

He's open about them.

He's clear.

Like, he's not hiding things

or she's not hiding anything.

I don't always agree with them,

but you know what?

It's open.

It's clear.

And that's the reputation

that we're to try to have

in the community.

The goal isn't commending ourselves.

The goal is open statement

of the truth.

And it's an open statement

of the truth

which respects people's consciences.

This is a very, very important part of it

that there's this sense

that there's to never be

any type of coercion,

any type of manipulation.

Just, I was only ordained

about three and a half, four years,

and one of the senior priests

in the Diocese of Ottawa,

and I was in the Diocese of Ottawa

at the time,

he gave me advice

about how to do a funeral.

I'm not making this up.

And his advice was,

so you have to do a funeral.

Before the funeral service,

talk to family members

and try to find a touching story

because the point

of your funeral sermon

is to tell several touching stories

to get people to cry.

And when you've brought tears

to their eyes,

your sermon's been a success.

I'm to be underhanded,

cunning,

and manipulative.

And when I succeed

at being emotionally manipulative,

I have become a success.

Isn't that ridiculous?

It's not respecting the conscience

and the integrity of people.

And, you know,

some universities now,

when they talk to,

to like chaplains,

I have to be careful,

but I'm, I, I, this is,

I don't want to name

the specific university,

but a university that I know,

they just asked the chaplains

to come in.

And they had,

the university wanted

the chaplains to sign a thing

saying that they would do

no proselytizing

and no coercion.

And the chaplain that I know,

he was offended.

He said,

what, do you tell

all of your professors

and all of the faculty

that they're not supposed

to use coercion?

Like, why are you singling me out?

Why is it that you think

that I'm going to do coercion?

So he said,

I'll sign the thing

about coercion.

Like, that's like a no-brainer,

but it's offensive.

And you have to take out

the proselytizing part.

Because surely a university

is a place where you talk

about ideas with the,

with the desire

to convince and persuade.

And they,

after some pushback,

they, they relented.

But it shows how the,

how the world views us.

But, you see,

here the text is

that we are to,

by the freedom of conscience,

means that we respect

the integrity of people

and their own pace.

So it's a very,

very powerful teaching

for us as Christians.

But some of you might say,

well, George,

that's very, very interesting.

And I,

I'm glad that the text

is wanting,

encouraging you

to respect the freedom

and conscience of people.

And,

and for those of us

who are here,

there's, you know,

not only is the text

telling us

that we're to pray

that we walk away

from any type

of emotional manipulation,

any type of coercion,

anything like that,

that we're to flee it.

But it's also

that we should pray

that we can be open

and be clear.

And that's a,

we should pray for that,

that we can be open

and we can be clear

when we speak.

But,

but some will say,

George,

I don't know,

you know,

maybe you just really

have to do a lot more praying.

But whenever you speak

about the gospel

and what Jesus did

for us on the cross,

it's not really clear to me.

So I guess,

George,

you just really need

to do a lot more praying.

Well,

I do need to do

a lot more praying

and you can pray

that I can be more,

I'm more,

more clear.

But,

is it just a matter

that if we get

more and more

and more clear

then that people

will automatically

just want to trust Jesus?

If we try to share

the gospel

or talk about Jesus

with our friend

and we get tongue-tied

and we go away

should we feel depressed

that we've been

such a failure

at attempting

to share Jesus?

Because if we just

were clearer

they would come

and they would

give their lives

to Jesus.

Well,

the Bible talks

about that.

And in fact,

it's this very next bit

that helped me

to also talk

to my friend

about this idea

that God

wants people

to kill people.

Did you notice

it's verses 3 and 4?

And even if our gospel

is veiled

it is veiled

to those who are perishing.

In their 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.

It's sort of a dense text.

Look at it again

in verse 3.

And even if our gospel

is veiled

it is veiled

to those who are perishing.

In their 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 for some of you

when you hear this

all sorts of things

are going through your head.

Some might be offended by it.

Here's the thing

which

if you could put up

the next point

that would be great.

what I said

to my friend

is

I said

you know

we've had lots of

conversations about God

and this is a bit

of a persistent theme

for you.

You tell me

you don't believe in God

and then you

also tell me

that the God

when you talk about God

God's always

wanted people

to do horrible things

and then you say

you don't believe

such a God exists.

I want you to know

I don't believe

that God exists either.

Like if that is the God

that's the only option

on the table

I'm an atheist.

But here's the thing

I said to her.

I actually expressed it

a little bit.

I said the God

that you think exists

wants people to die.

But the God

who is revealed

in the Bible

dies for people.

That's what I said to her.

Because I'd been reflecting

on this text all week.

the God

that you

worry exists

and you don't believe in

is a God

who wants people

to die

who gets people

to kill people.

The God

who's revealed

in the Bible

is a God

who dies

for people.

It's a completely

different God.

Completely

and utterly

different God.

and

I mean

we didn't talk

for very much

longer after that.

It's just often

really a matter

of leaving seeds.

But you know

for many people

in our culture

they don't make

a distinction

between Christianity

and Islam

and Hinduism

and stuff.

They just see it

as religious people

or spiritual people

talking about God

and the newspapers

and everything

are filled

with atrocious things

being done

in the name of Jesus

or in the name

of Muhammad

or in the name

of some Hindu God

or in the name

of Buddhism.

It's filled

with honor killings

and shame killings

and for many people

in our culture

they make no distinction

between any of these things.

They just see it

as religious people.

But the Bible here says

that there's a God

of this age

and for many people

in our culture

what they're afraid of

when they think of God

is what they're really

afraid of

is the devil.

For many people

in our culture

when they talk

if you let them

talk a little bit

about what God

is like

and what he does

what they're really doing

is describing the devil.

They're not describing

the God

who's described

in the Bible.

And that's why

it's so interesting

that the Bible says

it's the God

of this age

that he blinds people.

And here's the next thing

if you could put it up there

Andrew

that would be great.

There's a profound

and I know

it's going to be

a bit of a shocking thing

to some of us

and it sounds like

an arrogant thing

but let me just

put it out there

and then I'll tell you why

and rather than

being arrogant

I mean it's always

possible for us

to take anything

and be arrogant about it.

I mean I know people

who get arrogant

about how good

they are at fantasy football

like really?

Come on.

That's just fantasy football

you know

like that doesn't mean anything

you know

but oh well

you know whatever

the ranking is.

Anyway

so we can be arrogant

about anything

but this in fact

it's not arrogant

it's the complete

opposite of arrogance.

We share the gospel

with people

who are veiled

and blind.

In other words

we share the gospel

with people

who are wearing

blindfolds

and underneath

the blindfolds

the devil

has blinded them.

And that's the context

within which

we always share

the gospel

not just in this culture

but in every culture.

And it's a very

very powerful image.

It's an image

that when we hear it

we realize

that it means

that we have to

constantly be on our knees

in prayer.

I mean

in a sense

in that conversation

that I had on Friday

what matters

on one hand

it matters

that I tried to be clear

about who Jesus is

and how he's different

and how the Bible

is different

than what she fears

God is like.

But equally important

is that afterwards

I pray for her.

Because it's not

just a matter

of my having

wonderful examples

and being very clear

and being good

at rhetoric.

although I'm to try

to have an open

statement of the truth.

But

God has to do

a work in her heart.

But some of you

might say

George

my

whoa

you know

George

are you saying

that you can see

but I can't

that

that you're

I'm blind

but you're not

well let's just

first of all

this is not a completely

I mean this is actually

talking very much

about what normal

human experience

is like.

I mean don't we all

have times

where we realize

in all of our lives

you know we can say

about somebody

you know they're so smart

they're so confident

how can they be blind

to this?

Right?

You know how is it

that we can have people

who are just

you know they're so good

at reading people

and they're so good

at reading their boss

or they're so good

at reading their co-workers

but they're blind

when it comes to their kids.

Like we could go on

and on and on

it's a very very common

thing that people

can have great understanding

about lots of different things

but in certain areas

of their lives

are completely and utterly

incapable of seeing.

That's a human phenomenon

and the Bible says

the same thing's going on

with us

and what's going on here

if you were to say

to Paul who wrote this

that you're being

very very arrogant

in the original language

there's all of these

all of these hints

in the language

that goes back

in Paul's own biography

because Paul

if you go back

to the book of Acts

three times

in the book of Acts

it's talked about

how Paul becomes a Christian.

Paul was a very very bad man.

Paul was a man

that you would not want

to have as your friend.

I guess he would be a man

that you wouldn't want

to get into his bad books

because he might contribute

with other people

to have you killed

or beaten

or thrown in jail

but he was not a good man

and he was converted

and his whole story

of conversion

is the revelation

of something

covering his eyes

that he's kicking against.

It's Paul would say

listen

I did not become

a Christian

because I was

such a brilliant intellect.

I was blind

and veiled

and God had to shine

his light into mine

into my heart

and this is to be

this text

is a profoundly

humbling text

for a Christian.

it's not George

because you have

a really good

IQ

AQ

EQ

or education.

You

George

were completely

and utterly

dependent upon

God

and his mercy

doing something

in us

and all of this

language of shining

and all of this

language of

all of this

language of seeing

it's not

it's not talking

about mystical

experiences

it's talking

about understanding

right

that's how we

often use it

in language

if you're trying

to help a kid

with a math

problem

and I was

really good

at math

I wasn't very

good at helping

my kids

with math

because

you know

if people

who are good

at math

you just

look at the

equation

and you see

it

it just

makes sense

and so

for people

who are

really good

at math

trying to

help somebody

who's not

good at math

you just

look

it's obvious

can't you

see it

and they

just can't

see it

and the

language there

means understand

and that's

what it's

talking about

here

and it's

it's

all of this

text is

saying that

in a sense

what I have

to say to

my friend

or anybody

else

is listen

I definitely

am not

claiming

that I am

better at

seeing things

than other

people

and I am

definitely

not telling

you that

it's a

result of

my superior

intellect

or anything

like that

that led

me to

become

Christ

I am

one blind

beggar

telling another

blind

beggar

where they

can go

for someone

else to

make them

see

that's

what evangelism

is

that's what

bearing witness

to Jesus

is

it's

one

blind

beggar

telling

another

blind

beggar

where you

can go

for someone

to freely

make you

see

and live

so it's

very very

humble

before we

read verse

six

Andrew

could you

put the

scripture

text up

that I

have

I've

forgotten

to do

this

if you

get nothing

else out

of this

sermon

other than

saying this

verse

several

times

this is

such a

beautiful

verse

it is

so worth

memorizing

could you

say it

out loud

with me

please

for God

who said

let light

shine out

of darkness

has shown

in our

hearts

to give

the light

of the

knowledge

of the

glory

of God

in the

face

of Jesus

Christ

want to

say that

with me

again

please

for God

who said

let light

shine

out of

darkness

has shown

in our

hearts

to give

the light

of the

knowledge

of the

glory

of God

in the

face

of Jesus

Christ

so

so

so

beautiful

look at

look at

verses

five

and six

for what

we proclaim

is not

ourselves

but Jesus

Christ

is Lord

with

ourselves

as your

servants

for Jesus

sake

and then

verse six

so what

the Bible

is telling us

if you could

put up the

point

Andrew

and then

we'll flip

back to the

verse in a

moment

but you put

up the

point

we are to

share the

gospel

but only God

can illuminate

the human

heart

see one of

the temptations

we have

is we have

these temptations

to try to think

that if we just

emotionally manipulate

people

if we just

practice a

certain type

of technological

or aesthetic

cunning

or maybe

that if we

just try to

water down

God's word

in some type

of way

then they

can come

to faith

but no

no

the Bible

tells us

that only

God can

shine in

our hearts

our goal

is to be

as opened

and transparent

as possible

and to try

to be as

clear as we

possibly can

be with

whatever

the gray

matter is

that God

has given

us

and God

has given

some of

us

very very

good gray

matter

and some

of us

it's not

quite as

good

and some

of us

our gray

matter

used to

be sort

of so-so

but it's

getting weaker

and weaker

all of the

time

but to the

extent that

our gray

matter works

at all

we're to try

to be as

clear as we

possibly can

always knowing

that only God

can illuminate

and this

for those of us

who are Christians

this one of the

things about this

verse which is

so powerful

is it takes a

whole burden

off of you

parents

parents

I mean

there's things

that we can

do to help

our children

become Christians

there's definitely

things that we

can do

but the end

of the day

the burden

of having them

become a

Christian

is not what

you can

carry

only God

can do it

I mean

it might mean

you have to

get down

on your

knees

and pray

it might

mean

your life

has to

be maybe

a little

bit more

consistent

with

the gospel

but it

could be

that even

after you

do all

of those

things

all you

can do

is pray

all you

can do

is pray

God is

not asking

us to

carry the

burden

of changing

hearts

only he

carries that

burden

he can

easily

carry it

and we

can pray

and we're

called to

pray

and then

pray

and then

pray

some more

for our

children

and pray

for our

neighbors

and pray

for those

that we

know in

the office

trusting

that God

has maybe

put you

in your

office

or your

neighborhood

or your

community

your specific

job is that

you are there

to pray for

the people

who are around

you that

they will

come to a

saving faith

in Jesus

that they

will know

what it

means to

be made

right with

God

and God

has called

you to

that vocation

and maybe

he will

give you

an opportunity

to say a

few words

all it might

just simply

be is that

I follow

Jesus

or on Sunday

I go to

church

or I read

my Bible

or that I

pray that

might be all

that you

have to say

it's all

part of a

team project

of bearing

witness

but

only God

can illuminate

hearts

we're called

to share

but only God

can illuminate

can we say

this verse

again together

for

is it up

for God

who said

let light

shine out

of darkness

has shown

in our

hearts

to get

the light

of the

knowledge

of the

glory

of God

in the

face

of Jesus

Christ

another thing

which is so

powerful about

this particular

text

is that

he quotes

the creation

story

and this

is very

very

very

important

you know

I've

mentioned

a little

bit

off and

on

over the

last few

weeks

but for

what the

text is

saying

is that

the very

very

same

God

who's

there

and creates

all things

and begins

in Genesis

the Genesis

account of

the creation

story

God

says let

there be

light

and then

there's

light

he separates

the light

from the

darkness

and the

very

same

God

who

creates

all

things

is the

same

God

who

shines

in our

hearts

to bring

us to

Jesus

it's not

two

gods

here's the

thing

I've shared

this with

you before

the University

of Ottawa

the Globe

and Mail

the National

Post

the CBC

and Hollywood

they're all

committed to

something which

is completely

and utterly

incoherent

they're committed

to the

the idea

that everything

that exists

exists because

of pure

chance

and then the

survival of the

fittest

therefore love

each other

that's

incoherent

everything that

exists is a

result of

blind chance

the survival

of the fittest

therefore we

have to have

human rights

and care for

each other

it's incoherent

in our

culture

the way

things come

to exist

is through

evolution

specifically

understood in

such a way

to exclude

God

and the

way we

are to

live our

lives

is to

not hurt

people

and when

we die

we go to

a better

place

and all

three of

those things

are completely

and utterly

incoherent to

the other

one

and the

only reason

that nobody

sees it

is because

everybody says

it

it's the story

of the emperor

in the new

clothes

so there's

this deep

incoherence

at the center

of the modern

project

and the

bible here

has this

deep and

powerful

coherence

the very

same God

who on the

first day

of creation

said let

there be

light

is the

same God

who sends

his son

to die

upon the

cross

who is

the God

of perfect

justice

and perfect

mercy

without violating

his justice

by being

perfectly

just

he shows

an even

greater

mercy

so that

God

does

what

human

beings

cannot

do

to

make

human

beings

right

with

himself

in the

person

of his

son

and his

death

upon

the

cross

and the

same

God

who

creates

is the

one

who

sends

his

son

is the

one

who

shines

in our

hearts

and is

the

one

who

will

make

the

new

heaven

and

the

new

earth

it's

a

deeply

coherent

understanding

of what

God

is doing

in the

person

of his

son

it's

one

of the

reasons

why

at

truest

and

deepest

level

as we

draw

near

to

God

it

will

not

hurt

us

but

free

us

because

God

is the

creator

of all

things

and

his

design

and

intent

was

that

we

would

fit

in

his

created

order

knowing

that

we

are

creatures

reconciled

and at

one

with our

creator

that we

would live

in a

way

that the

creation

we

experience

the

created

world

as a

blessing

and so