Am I Ever Enough?

Father, we ask that you would continue to gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Father, we confess before you that what we most need is not more rules to remember with our mind

or more rules to embrace with our will or more rules that we would long that we could follow.

But what we need most of all, Father, is for you to write your words of instruction and your words of love

and your words of everlasting kindness upon our hearts.

And we confess before you that it is only you who can do this by your Holy Spirit.

So we ask, Father, that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit into our hearts

and write your very words in the center of who we are.

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

Please be seated.

I know this isn't a very good beginning.

Is my mic, I'm fine?

It feels like my, okay, it's drooping.

So if for some reason something's doing, just wave at, if it's going really wonky, just wave at me and we'll switch it.

But I'm going to do something which might be a little bit foolish this morning.

It won't be the first time and it won't be the last.

And one of the things which I'm, what might be a little bit foolish is that John, when he was reading 2 Corinthians,

he said something, or he read something, I should say, that might to some of you sound like it's a really, really, really lovely image.

In fact, it's an image that you think, that's a really lovely image.

It's just exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

Maybe none of you heard that.

But it's very easy if you were going to look at it and even read at it.

He might say, that's a really, really lovely image.

And here's where I might be being a little bit foolish.

Probably every single one of you or most of you misheard it.

And in fact, it's not a lovely image.

It's an insulting image.

And so why am I going to tell you that and try to have you look at it and see why it's insulting?

One of the reasons I'm doing it is that when I was in first year university 100 million years ago,

my first year philosophy professor, he knew the Bible better than I did.

And he was also an atheist.

And I think probably his personal mission statement was to make sure that people who followed any religion

would follow no religion by the end of his philosophy classes.

And he was always bringing up things in the Bible.

And here I'd been going to church all my life.

And I'd been a Christian for a few years.

And I'd go, wow, I didn't know that was there.

And I would be gobsmacked.

And it's an Irish expression.

And I wouldn't know what to say.

So I want to have that happen to you folks.

So there's an image that is in the text that John just read

that many of us might think that sounds like a really, really wonderful image.

Maybe I'm going to quote that.

I'm going to write it on a mug.

So every day when I drink coffee, I can be reminded of I'm going to put it on the mirror.

The problem is you still might want to do it after I've explained to you.

But it's actually an insulting image.

And probably when Paul's first hearers were hearing the Bible, they went,

it's not what they were hoping that he was going to say.

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

2 Corinthians 2.

And it's going to be, I'm going to start reading at verse 14.

2 Corinthians 2, verse 14.

2 Corinthians 2:14

And just while you're turning to that, you know, there's a couple of,

there's many cool things.

I haven't talked much to you about the book of 2 Corinthians.

It looks fancy, like it's, you know, it's in a Bible.

And this used to have sort of like a gold stuff at the end.

And it's nice thin paper.

It looks very fancy.

But this, you know, part of the thing which is so cool about this letter is,

you know, we think of, you know, in part of the way that the culture understands

how the Christianity expanded,

that the image that goes to a lot of our minds in Canadian culture

is the Crusades or the conquistadors coming to South America.

And they come with armies and they sort of bind people.

And that's when people think of Christianity jumping continents

or coming to a new people group.

That's what a lot of people in our culture tend to think of.

It's violent and it's exploitative.

And there's no question that some things like that happen.

You can't deny it.

But in fact, it's not actually the way that Christianity

has generally grown across the world.

One of the things which is so interesting about this letter

is it was written about seven years after Christianity jumped continents.

It jumped from the Middle East, or really what you'd almost call Africa.

It jumped to Europe.

And if you go back and read Acts 16,

you get an historical account of the first Christians coming to Europe.

And they don't come with a big army.

It's four blokes stepping off a gangplank of a ship.

And in Acts 16, when you read about Paul putting his foot down in Philippi,

you are reading of the account of the first Christian setting foot in Europe.

And then a little bit later on,

when you hear him talking to Lydia,

and then Lydia becomes a Christian,

you are reading the story of the first European Christian.

Lydia.

Either a single woman, because she's widowed,

or a woman with a husband who remains pagan.

But it's probably in terms of the context,

a single woman in Philippi becomes the first European Christian.

And shortly after that,

because there ends up being great persecution,

the violence in Christianity jumping from Africa to Europe,

the violence comes not from Christians, but from pagans.

And so they violently attack the Christians.

Paul's put in jail.

Acts 16 tells you the story.

And then he leaves,

and he goes down the coast of what is now Greece.

And he goes to Thessalonica,

and then he goes to Berea,

and then he comes to Corinth,

probably just a couple of months after Christianity has jumped to Europe.

And when Paul comes to Corinth,

there are no Christians.

It's a culture and a society completely organized around paganism.

In fact, one of the things,

Paul doesn't talk about this very much in this book,

but it's something which is really interesting,

important in 1 Corinthians.

Just get your mind around this.

For the average person in Corinth,

just put your mind back in this.

If I was in Corinth in the year 50,

and I said to Louise,

I had to go to the temple to worship,

what it would mean in many cases

was I was going to the temple to have sex with a priestess,

because that's how you worshiped.

Or you'd go to have an animal killed,

or do some other type of act,

or to do some type of magical incantational act.

And in a culture which was completely and utterly unified around paganism,

Paul comes with no power,

and a small group of people,

and he starts to proclaim Jesus,

and people come to faith.

And so this letter here of 2 Corinthians,

this is written just a few years

after Christianity has first come to Europe,

and it's come to a center that Paul had been at for 18 months.

He's come and gone a few times,

and that's the context of this letter.

So for many of the people who are hearing this letter,

they probably were Roman soldiers.

Many of them might have been Roman soldiers,

or at least they're very familiar with how Rome does things,

and how this mighty empire does things.

And they're listening to it as Romans,

from a pagan perspective.

They've now become Christians.

Maybe there's seekers in the congregation.

When we listen to the text,

we tend to think of Europe as Christian.

We have all these false conceptions

about how Christianity has entered into other places,

and we also listen to it with a Hollywood perspective.

So 2 Corinthians 2, 14-17,

let's read it,

and then I'll explain how we must hear it.

But thanks be to God,

who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession,

and through us spreads the fragrance

of the knowledge of him everywhere.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God,

among those who are being saved

and among those who are perishing,

to one, a fragrance from death to death,

to the other, a fragrance from life to life.

Who is sufficient for these things?

For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word,

but as men of sincerity,

as commissioned by God,

in the sight of God,

we speak in Christ.

Now we'll just sort of pause.

Here's the problem with this image.

I just watched a Hollywood movie last night on Netflix.

What is one of the ways

that Hollywood likes to end its movies?

Think of a lot of the Star Wars movies.

Think of,

how does Hollywood like to end a lot of its movies?

The hero comes back,

and there's a big gathering,

and everybody's applauding.

Or if not like that,

then shortly afterwards,

there's some ceremony to just sort of reward

the great hero.

And Hollywood loves to end movies

with the hero or the heroine returning,

and people applauding and celebrating.

And so for many of us,

when we hear about this triumphal procession,

we think of it in terms of Hollywood terms.

But thanks be to God,

who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession,

because that's how we would like to be welcomed,

wouldn't we?

Show up to work,

everybody stands and applauds.

It might get embarrassing

after it happened the 15th time,

but the first couple of times would be good,

and it would be nice

if they surprised us that way occasionally,

just with applause.

You know,

we come home from work,

or we come back to see our wife and our kid,

and they applaud, you know?

Way to go.

So glad you're home.

I mean,

if Hollywood does it all the time,

it's speaking to something deep within us.

Now,

I was going to do a visual thing

to try to communicate this,

but the reason I didn't

was I was worried

I would fall off the stage

and break my neck,

and that would really ruin the image,

and it would ruin the sermon,

and it would ruin my life.

But the way you have to understand this text

is not from Hollywood.

Paul is at the end of a Roman procession.

He's been defeated,

and he's the captive,

and he's in shackles.

So if I was not worried

about falling off this stage,

I would have had somebody

put something on my hands like this,

and I would have had somebody

put something on my feet,

and I would have tied one end

of the thing between

to the chain or the cord

between my hands,

and I would have walked like this

with my Bible.

You can see why I didn't want to do it.

I might forget that I'm wearing it,

and next thing I know I trip,

and I'm down on the ground.

That's the image.

Paul is at the end of the procession,

and he's been defeated.

In a sense, the image is the Roman army is gone.

It's conquered.

It's captured people,

and people are all cheering,

and they're all having a variety of responses,

usually mocking at the people

at the end of the parade

who've been captive.

One of our deepest fears is failure,

and one of our deepest fears of all,

in fact, if Hollywood wants to try to really

try to tug on our heartstrings,

it will show lots of Americans.

I mean, it's American movies.

That's fine.

Canadians would do the same thing

if it was a Canadian thing,

and they would show them defeated

at the end of some alien procession

walking along in chains,

and it would be like a dagger to our heart,

and that's the image that Paul has shared,

and he says,

thanks be to God.

In fact,

this, once you understand

that that's the image that he's using,

but thanks be to God,

who in Christ always leads us

in triumphal procession.

You know, some of you have gone to university

or are going to university.

What is one of the claims

that Nietzsche makes about Christianity

is that it's a slave religion,

that it teaches us to be servile?

What does Ayn Rand say about Christianity?

That it's a slave religion,

that it teaches us to be servile,

that it teaches us to be doormats.

What is it that many people

in the business community

and just in the world in general,

what is one of the things

that they say about Christians

is that it teaches to be servile,

that teaches to be slave?

What is the fear of many people in Quebec,

many francophones,

about becoming a Christian?

And while they think back

to how for many, many years

the Roman Catholic Church,

whether they're remembering it correctly or not,

had taught the people

to be completely and utterly servile.

It's a deep fear of many people

that that's what the Christian faith does.

It's a deep fear

and it's a deep human fear.

And here it is that Paul seems to celebrate it

because he says,

thanks be to God,

who in Christ always leads us

in triumphal procession.

Now, how is it

that Paul would use such an image?

See, one of the things

that the Bible is going to tell us

is that we are in far deeper trouble

apart from Christ

than we ever possibly imagined

and that God had really originally made us

for far greater glory

than we could ever possibly imagine

that can only come through being in Christ.

So how is it

that an image like this

could be something that looks

that we would actually want to embrace?

Let's go back to another Hollywood image.

We're zombies.

We have the zombie virus.

And maybe it's like,

you know,

one of the hard parts

for people who have dementia

or people who have Alzheimer's

is in the early stages

when they realize

they have enough of self-possession

of their mind

to realize that their mind is going.

But let's say

in the beginning of a zombie virus,

we start to realize

that we're becoming zombies

and we don't have the courage

to cut our head off

or impale our face on a pole

because that would be really hard.

But we know we're becoming zombies.

And then somebody

wrestles us down

and defeats us

and plunges within us

a needle

and squirts something

that not only will it stop

the zombie virus

but reverse it

and start to have us process

not towards becoming

more and more a zombie

from death to death.

But we'll reverse the process

that now

it is going from

life to life.

We were a zombie

on the way

to becoming a zombie

and someone

defeats us

wrestles us

to the ground

because there's enough

of a zombie-ish

in them

that when we see them

we start to think

of how tasty

their brains are

and their blood.

I'm saying this in church

that's fine.

You guys all watch

or know of zombie movies.

But somebody

defeats

our attempt

at aggression

wrestles us down

and because they love us

their defeat

is because they love us

the injection

is because they love us

and as the zombie

fighting vaccine

enters our body

we start to realize

that the process

is reversed

and maybe

we still have to

have our hands

shackled

and maybe

they want to

keep us

right with them

all the time

so we don't get

reinfected.

But as we walk along

we start to be

so thankful

that we are

no longer

going from

zombie-hood

to zombie-hood

from death

to death

but that our

destiny

is from life

to life

and only

an image

like that

makes sense

of what Paul

is saying

and that is

exactly

what Paul

is saying.

That is

exactly

what Paul

is saying.

He's going

to unpack

the gospel

as the letter

goes on.

It's his second

letter to Corinth.

He's already

told them

many many things

about the gospel.

It's only that

that makes sense

to this particular

text.

And you see

in other words

if you code up

the first thing

that would be

great.

Christ defeated

sin.

Christ defeated

death.

Christ defeated

hell.

Christ defeated

me

to save

and deliver

me.

Christ defeated

sin.

Christ defeated

death.

Christ defeated

hell.

Christ defeated

me

to save

and deliver

me.

that's the gospel.

That's the gospel.

And Paul, the image,

it's a bit of a complicated image,

but let's go back to the text,

but thanks be to God,

who in Christ always leads us

in triumphal procession

and through us,

spreads the fragrance

of the knowledge of him everywhere,

for we are the aroma of Christ to God.

And pause.

All of this language of fragrance and aroma,

Greek people who are getting this letter,

when they read the Tanakh,

what we call the Old Testament,

they would have read it in Greek.

And if they,

and maybe this is one of those things

that Paul would have preached,

and in all the way through the book of Leviticus,

when it's describing the different sacrifices

in the Old Testament

that have us make,

that whereby we have peace with God,

and there's,

and part of it is,

as it's burned,

as it's a sacrifice,

and it's burned,

and there's a,

there's an ode,

all of this is the language

of a successful sacrifice

that reconciles us to God.

So it's a very,

very interesting image,

because Paul is,

is playing with images

that would have been something

that was meant to be read slowly.

Paul is picturing himself

as being so glad

that he's in change,

and he's being led in triumph

by Jesus.

And as he's being led in triumph

by Jesus,

he's using this imagery

that he's,

that what matters about Jesus

isn't that Jesus can have big biceps,

or that he's really good,

like in zombie imagery,

he's really good at banging zombies

on the head,

and killing them,

or anything like that.

It's the image that,

that what brings about,

that his triumph,

is his successful act

as a sacrifice.

A sacrifice that comes from God,

that reconciles us to God.

And,

and then the image is that

it's as if this odor,

it's,

it's this aroma

of the successful sacrifice

that's,

it's going up to God,

and he can smell,

he knows that his son

has triumphed

by the death of himself,

the complete opposite

of what we think is triumph,

that,

that my,

that Jesus' defeat of death

comes from his death,

that Jesus' defeat of sin

comes as his death

bearing my sin,

that his defeat of hell

is that it's because

he has died

bearing my sin,

defeating death,

that hell is conquered,

that hell is conquered,

that when Jesus

entered into what is death,

he tasted everything

there is to taste of death,

with nothing left over,

including whatever it is

that we might imagine

that hell is,

and there's nothing

that Jesus did not experience

in terms of sin

or in death

that he has not triumphed over.

When I put my faith

and trust in him,

it is my defeat

of my desire

to be like God.

It is my defeat

of my desire

to be completely

and utterly

sufficient

in and of myself.

It is my defeat

from all of those desires

that take me from God,

and not only

is it my defeat

of these desires,

it is my sharing

in his victory.

And the image here

is of this successful sacrifice.

There's an aroma

of this successful sacrifice

and the same aroma

and fragrance

is what comes into me,

into my lungs

and comes out of my mouth

as bearing witness

to Jesus

as the one

who has defeated sin,

who has defeated death,

who has defeated hell,

and who has defeated me,

and he can do it for you.

No one is too bad.

No one is too broken.

No one is too unimportant.

No one is too important

or too good.

And then it has this

ongoing image.

Go back to verse 15.

For we are the aroma

of Christ to God

among those who are being saved

and among those

who are perishing.

To one a fragrance

from death to death,

to the other a fragrance

from life to life.

Who is sufficient

for these things?

For we are not like

so many peddlers

of God's word,

but as men of sincerity

and as commissioned by God,

in the sight of God,

we speak in Christ.

See,

one of the reasons

I let you know

that you probably

were mishearing the image

is because I don't want

to be a peddler

of God's word.

Peddlers of God's word

would make you think

that your Hollywood image

was correct.

And I don't want to be

a peddler of God's word.

One of the things

you should pray

for your Bible study leaders,

for your Sunday school teachers,

for the professors at Ryle,

for me,

for Daniel,

for anyone who has

any type of,

for the youth group ministry,

for young adult ministry,

for any type of ministry,

is that we not be

peddlers of God's word,

but we try to honestly

bring out God's word

as the gospel

that it really is.

Please pray that

for us.

But just think it

for a second.

What this is saying,

well, okay,

let's a bit of a test.

How many people,

I don't want to

shout out the answer.

One of those things

you can talk about

at coffee afterwards.

What percentage of Ottawa

do you think

went to church this morning?

Like, you know,

let's say all of a sudden

we ask the National Security Agency

or Russia

or China

or any of the other people

who are monitoring

the tracking devices

that we all carry with us

and keep charged,

knowing as our phones

and our iPads

and all those other

electronic things.

You know,

we carry them around.

We very conveniently,

just to help the NSA

and Apple and Google

to be able to market things to us

and know where we are,

we keep our tracking devices

nicely charged.

So,

tomorrow morning,

you know,

somebody hacks

and they,

it was revealed

where everybody actually was

on Sunday morning

and it,

you know,

I don't know what,

I don't know,

4%,

I don't know,

what do you think,

5% of Ottawa,

the next 100 people

you meet tomorrow at work

who are over the,

you know,

do you think 4 of them

went to church somewhere?

Not all good churches necessarily.

I don't know what the percentage,

it would be a very small percentage.

I don't think any of us

disagree about

that would be small,

definitely the minority,

a huge minority.

So,

do you think

from the perspective of Ottawa

and Apple and Google

and the government

and NSA,

et cetera,

et cetera,

do you think,

what do you think

they would think

about the claim

that what I just said

to you a few moments ago

about Christ defeated death

and Christ defeated sin,

Christ defeated death,

Christ defeated hell,

Christ defeated me

to save me

and deliver me.

If I was to tell them

that all of the things

that are going on

in the city of Ottawa,

that what I just said

was more important

because only what I said

has eternal consequences.

And all of the other things

that are being said

on YouTube

and Twitter

is just chaff.

They'd think I was insane.

And I'll be honest,

it really sounds

pretty insane,

doesn't it?

But that's what

the Bible's saying.

The Bible is saying,

verse 15,

for we are the aroma

of Christ to God

among those

who are being saved

and among those

who are perishing

to one a fragrance

from death to death

to the other

a fragrance

from life to life.

Who is sufficient

for these things?

For we are not like

so many peddlers

of God's word,

but as men

of sincerity

is commissioned

by God

in the sight of God

we speak in Christ.

But notice here

that Paul himself

realizes that it sounds crazy

because, you know,

however low

the church attendance

is here today,

however low it is

that people might,

and even many Christians

would sort of balk

at thinking

that whatever comes

out of a Christian's lips,

that if what comes

out of their lips

is some type

of bearing witness

to Jesus,

that that has

eternal consequences,

it sounds a little bit crazy.

It would have even

sounded crazier

in Corinth.

I don't know

how big the church is.

I don't know.

The city was like

100,000 people.

I don't know.

Maybe there were

1,000 Christians.

Maybe there were

400, 300.

We don't know.

It was a very small

number of people.

It would have

sounded even crazier.

Paul is aware

of the fact

that it sounds crazy.

It sounds crazy

not only because

he's just described

to these Romans

who are used

to seeing victory parades,

that the way

to understand him

is that he's

the captive

in shackles

and chains

at the end

of the parade

because he's defeated.

And that's probably

not how they woke up

that morning

wishing that Paul

would say something

to them

that would encourage them.

So he's given them

this counterintuitive image

and then he's saying

that what he says

when he proclaims

the gospel

and what ordinary people

when they proclaim

the gospel,

that that actually

has eternal consequences

in people's lives.

It sounds crazy.

And probably people

are saying

who do you think

you are?

Like why is it

do you think

that what you say

is so important?

And Paul understands

that.

That's why he says

in verse 16

who is sufficient

for these things?

He knows it sounds crazy.

Who is sufficient

for these things?

And then he begins

to answer it.

Let's look and see

what he says.

Chapter 3 verse 1.

What's Paul's answer?

Are we beginning

to commend ourselves again?

So he's going to say

no, no.

This isn't just about

me commending myself.

Or do we need

as some do

letters of recommendation

to you or from you

as if you can somehow

go to a degree program

that once you finish

the course

and get the tattoo

or the ring

on your dominant hand

that somehow

you're not qualified

and competent to do this

because you have

somebody else

who said you are.

You yourselves

are a letter

of recommendation

written on our hearts

to be known

and read by all.

And you show us

and you show

that you are a letter

from Christ

delivered by us

written not with ink

but with the spirit

of the living God.

Not on tablets

of stone

but on tablets

of human hearts.

And I'm going to talk

about this more

next week

because Paul's going

to sort of jump

to another image

and then after that

which is the text

for next week

he's going to

unpack that image

a little bit more.

but what he's saying

here

he's not commending

himself

and in fact

he's even making

the issue harder

because he's saying

what I'm saying

is that there is

a way

what has to happen

is something

has to be written

on our hearts.

Something

has to be written

on our hearts

and that's something

that has to be

written in our hearts

has to turn

our hearts

from going

from death

to death

because every person

you meet today

will die

with no exception.

I mean

unless Jesus

comes back

and you know

the rapture

and all that stuff

but you know

in and of who we are

by ourselves

every one of us

will die

from death

to death.

Aren't you glad

you came to church today?

I could give you

all these uplifting thoughts

and

and Paul

is going to say

you know what

let's make this

even harder

it's not just a matter

of writing

you know

being able to write out

some rules to follow

you know

listen if you just

if you do this

exercise program

you're going to live longer

if you eat this

oh come on

get some fiber

and veggies

in your diet

and cut out

all that sugar

you'll live longer

you know

you'll live slimmer

and all that

we don't mean

something has to be

written on our hearts

and Paul's going to

return to this

but I just want to see

he's in a sense

doubling down

could you put the next

part up

I'd like you to read

verses 4 to 6

with me

such is the confidence

that we have

through Christ

toward God

not that we are

sufficient

in ourselves

to claim

anything

as coming

from us

but our

sufficiency

is from God

who has made

us sufficient

to be ministers

of a new covenant

not of the letter

but of the spirit

for the letter

kills

but the spirit

gives life

could you just put up

the next point

and we're going to go back

to the scripture sentence

in a moment

just notice that

the fundamental direction

of the text

at the end of the day

I hope you don't

I mean

this is a helpful thing

to remember

I've just taken

two little bits

out of the text

to help you to understand

the basic flow

of the argument

but it's the text

I hope you remember

as a follower

of Jesus

I mean

I'm also dying

right

I'm also dying

and

in fact

it's one of the

most powerful things

in 2 Corinthians

in a little bit

in a couple of weeks

he's going to talk

about our

you know

our body

getting older

and getting weaker

and an eternal

weight of glory

that's inside

you know

that we're like

jars of clay

that are cracked

and easily broken

and will break

and that somehow

within us

through the gospel

we are being prepared

for an eternal

weight of glory

beyond imagination

but for now

I'm dying

and you all know

that I'm not necessarily

the best at doing

a whole pile of things

part of getting older

if you mature

a lot of people

don't get any smarter

as they get older

they just get older

a lot of people

don't get any wiser

as they get older

they just get older

you know

those of you

who are closer

to my age

stop just listening

to music from the 70s

like there's new music

out there

okay

like

like try something new

you know

anyway

but

you know

I'm not

I'm not confident

in a whole pile

of things

and

what this text

is saying

is that

I'm not

the things

I'd have my confidence

in

and the things

that I think

might make me

sufficient

are enough

for things

that most of the time

I'm going to idols

and what it means

to grow as a Christian

is to be able

to understand

this phrase

which I think

is up there

my confidence

through Christ

my sufficiency

from God

my confidence

through Christ

and my sufficiency

from God

my confidence

is not

that

I don't know

I can be

you know

I'm above average

intelligence

I'm pretty good

you know

relatively speaking

at organizing

my thoughts

you know

maybe I have

some natural

speaking abilities

you know

maybe I'm

on the right side

of church history

in terms of growth

and decline

or maybe

I don't know

I'm just me

and those can be

my confidences

they shouldn't be

my confidences

and what's going

to make me sufficient

is that I get

to wear a collar

it looks like

a Javex bottle

it's been stuck

on a black shirt

you know

that's not my

sufficiency

it's not any of those

types of things

it is my confidence

to grow in

in life

is to understand

that my confidence

comes to me

through Christ

and my sufficiency

comes from God

could you go back

to the scripture text

please

say the text

with me again

you'll see that

I'm not making this up

it's not me being clever

it's in the text

read it out with me

please

such is the confidence

that we have

through Christ

toward God

not that we are

sufficient

in ourselves

to claim

anything

as coming

from us

but our

sufficiency

is from God

who has made us

sufficient

to be ministers

of a new covenant

not of the letter

but of the spirit

for the letter

kills

but the spirit

gives life

it's a very

very very

very powerful

idea

I mean one of the things

that just

not only is my confidence

to come more and more

through Christ

but my sufficiency

you see

one of the things

that's so nice about this

I don't know if Daniel

DeGrossier is still here

he's still here

he gave a talk

on sharing the gospel

Daniel

you're completely

incompetent

to do that

Daniel

you're going to speak

at church on Wednesday

you're completely

and utterly

incompetent

you are not enough

we should bring

the Sunday school

teachers in here

right now

you are incompetent

I am incompetent

do you know

how freeing

it can start

to be

to realize

that you aren't

sufficient

if I share

my faith

and I almost

mentioned a couple

people's names

let me tell you

there's all sorts

of times I think

ah

what a stupid

thing to say

or

ah

why didn't I say

that

I have a bit of

dent

in my forehead

from doing things

like that

you know

I'll never be

sufficient

in and of

myself

but God

takes

our

stumbling

attempts

to bear

witness

to Jesus

and the

sufficiency

comes from

him

only God

can write

on your

heart

in a way

that turns

your heart

from a zombie

heart

to a living

heart

from a bound

heart

to a free

heart

heart

that's going

from death

to death

to a heart

that's going

from life

to life

only God

can do that

you are

never

ever

ever

ever

in and of

yourself

able to

do that

that's what

the Bible

is telling

us

and when it

says the letter

kills

we're going to

talk about

that more

later on

it's really

just saying

what we

don't need

is more

things that

we need

to do

more ways

to lose

weight

more way

to put

on muscle

more ways

to make

more money

more ways

to save

money

more ways

to be

better

consumers

more ways

to have

everybody

like

we don't

need a whole

pile of

things written

down like

that

we don't

need more

tattoos

what we

need is

only God

can write

in our

hearts

can we

say this

text again

together

out loud

please

such as

the confidence

that we

have through

Christ

toward God

not that

we are

sufficient

in ourselves

to claim

anything

as coming

from us

but our

sufficiency

is from

God

who has

made us

sufficient

to be

ministers

of a

new

covenant

not of

the letter

but of

the spirit

for the

letter

kills

but the

spirit

gives

life

just in

closing

is this

only

spiritual

no

it's

not just

about

being able

to tell

people

about

Jesus

one of

the

problems

with

pornography

and

I

got

really

helpful

correction

from a

couple

of

weeks

ago

when I

happened

to

mention

pornography

this is

relevant

by the

way

I

don't

have

a

hobby

horse

around

it

but

it's

very

very

relevant

is

that

I

only

talked

as if

only

men

have

problems

with

pornography

and

I

apologize

to

those

women

present

who have

problems

with

pornography

and

one

of

the

problems

with

pornography

is

that

it

makes

us

feel

not

enough

one

of

the

problems

for

a

wife

or

a

husband

to

find

that

their

spouse

is

looking

at

pornography

is

that

it's

a

big

dagger

in

their

heart

they

worry

and

wonder

why

they're

not

enough

why

aren't

they

sufficient

for

their

spouse

and

one

of

the

worries

that we

have

as we

get

immersed

in

pornography

or even

as we

become

aware

of the

fact

that

even

if we

ourselves

maybe

have

gotten

out

of

pornography

and

it

isn't

doing

something

to us

that

maybe

the

people

that

we're

dating

and

that

we

want

to

marry

and

we

worry

that

if

we

get

into

that

marital

relationship

that

after

they've

been

filling

their

minds

and their

hearts

with

pornography

that

we

won't

be

enough

and

it's

not

just

in

areas

of

pornography

I'm

using

pornography

as an

example

because

it's

a

human

problem

that

we

worry

about

being

enough

and

this

text

is

talking

about

something

eternal

but

it's

a

very

powerful

lesson

it's

not

limiting

our

confidence

in

Christ

through

Christ

and

our

sufficiency

from

God

it's

not

just

limiting

it

these

are

huge

statements

it's

not

just

limiting

it

to

Christian

ministry

types

of

things

and

then

the

rest

of

it

sucks

to

be

you

for

the

rest

of

your

life

it's

not

that

way

it's

a

big

statement

and

here's

the

problem

Genesis

3

human

beings

want

to

be

like

God

and

as

a

result

of

that

desire

to

be

like

God

they

become

separate

from

God

it's

why

we

need

a

savior

and

ever

since

then

we

have

a

hard

time

understanding

where

we

are

on

the

enough

and

sufficiency

scale

because

here's

the

thing

many

of

us

and

this

is

one

of

the

things

that

happens

with

pornography

and

it's

not only

that

but also

other

types

of

failure

is that

we

demand

we

start

to

almost

make

an

not

part

of

the

way

we

try

to

deal

with

it

is

by

trying

to

almost

make

an

idol

out

of

us

being

enough

in

the

other

person's

life

or

sufficient

in

the

other

person's

life

but

you

know

what

we're

never

sufficient

and

enough

in

another

person's

life

because

we're

creatures

not

the

creator

like

if

I

try

to

become

everything

to

Louise

statistically

I

will die

before

Louise

if

you

saw

how

I

ate

and

she

ate

I'm

going

to

die

long

before

Louise

and

I

am

never

sufficient

in

another

person's

life

in

the

way

that

part

of