Living with Integrity?

Father, we confess before you that we often deceive ourselves.

We confess before you that we can deceive ourselves so often

it can become such a habit that we no longer are aware of our self-deception.

We confess before you that often we have many motives,

even for a single action, that we're blind to

and that some of those motives aren't very good.

And Father, we confess before you that given how we are inside,

that sometimes we think you're like this,

that we sort of make you in our own image.

Father, we need your help.

We need you to speak into the center of who we are, speak to our heart.

We need, Father, your Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart,

open the eyes of our heart to who we are in light of your word,

in light of your love and grace and mercy.

So, Father, we ask that you would do this wonderful work of your Holy Spirit

and your word in our lives this morning and for the rest of our lives.

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

Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

So, for...

I do other things outside of what I do on Sunday morning.

I don't just sort of work Sunday morning.

And sometimes I've been involved in different leadership teams

and organizing events.

And for quite a few years, I was part of this team,

leadership team that was doing a wide range of events all across the country.

And one of the problems I had with being on that leadership team

was a particular group of people.

I mean, you know, I think it was Bill Hybels who said

that whenever two or more people are together, there is friction.

And that's always true.

When there are two more together, there is friction.

But in this particular case, there was a group of people on the leadership team

that had several agendas,

other than just really trying to do a good job,

to work together to produce really effective events

that would further the kingdom,

that would bless people,

that would bring God glory.

They had a whole pile,

or at least several other very powerful agendas.

And most of the agendas

were all around themselves looking good

and themselves getting more and more power.

And one of the hard parts,

it's not only hard to deal with people

who have that as their motive,

especially when they won't acknowledge it,

but the other thing which was really hard

is that it was such a deep part of who they were

that they had these motives of,

you know, we're going to be on top,

we're going to be the ones who are most important,

we're going to be the ones who look good.

It was so deeply ingrained in them, those motives,

that they had a hard time believing

that everybody else on the team didn't have the same motives.

So they were always quite combative

because it just never,

it was, those motives of seeking power

were so powerful in them,

they just couldn't imagine that some other people,

they didn't have that motive.

That, no, actually, I don't care,

I don't have to be up on front.

No, I don't care, my logo doesn't have to be on that.

Like, I just want to have something.

It was really hard for them to understand that.

A few, quite a few years ago now,

I had a person who I thought was a friend,

I thought was like a person

who had the same type of desires as I did

to be able to preach and understand the Bible

and they offered to come alongside me

to give me some advice

so that I could preach better.

And every time I met with them,

I was depressed afterwards.

I was really depressed.

And then after I had been doing this

for four or five or six weeks

because I'm a slow learner,

it started to dawn on me

that they actually were trying to hurt me.

Like, it wasn't just that

they were speaking truth into my life

and I was having a hard time facing the truth.

They were actually trying to hurt me

and they were actually trying

to undermine my confidence in the Bible

and they were actually trying to turn me

in a very, very, very different direction.

They had a motive in terms of their action

which was in fact very hurtful to me

and I ended up having to have

a bit of a confrontation with them.

I mean, we could multiply these examples.

Many of you probably at school or at work.

How many of you, if you're at school or university

and you're doing a group project

and how many of you have had to deal

with a person doing a group project

where they basically have two motives

or three motives?

One, do no work.

Two, take all the credit for the work.

Three, get a good mark from your work.

And it's really hard to deal with somebody like that, right?

Many of us have been in workplace situations

where you can tell that the person involved

that you have to work with,

all they want is to take credit

and all they want is promotion.

That's all they want.

And they'll do whatever they have to

to get that promotion,

to get credit for good work

and to make sure that the bad work falls

and is seen somewhere else.

We're always having to deal with people

who have, in many cases, bad motives

and often unconscious motives.

There's many of us,

one of the things that happens as you grow older,

if God is kind to you and you have some growth,

is you realize maybe how there's things,

maybe from your past,

how you're raised as a child

or something that happened

in the early days of your marriage

that affect all of your motives

and everything that you do

and you've been blind and unconscious to it.

So does the Bible have anything to say about this?

Does the Bible have anything to say

that's helpful and insightful

about the role of motives in our lives?

Well, we're going to look at a passage in the Bible

that actually has an awful lot to say about motives.

In fact, very, very important and wise things.

So it would be a great help to me

if you would turn in your Bibles

to 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

And I know it sounded,

when Amanda was reading the text,

you were probably thinking,

good grief, you know,

he went there, didn't go here.

What does this have to do with my life?

But, you know,

it's like a lot of things in the Bible

that maybe at first glance

it doesn't jump out at us,

but as you look at it more closely,

you'll see that, in fact,

the Bible has very profound

and powerful things

to say about motives.

What motives should be

and how they should be grounded.

What are the right type of motives

that we should have?

So we're going to look at that.

We're going to begin

three verses before

where Amanda read.

We're going to begin

at 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 12.

2 Corinthians 1:12

And, you know,

one of the things to remember

when you're looking at this,

you know, the text,

is that it's a letter.

Paul began at verse 1.

He ended at whatever

the last verse is in chapter 13.

And when scholars study this,

they say that verse 12,

in particular,

is sort of a bit of an introduction

to what he's going to be talking about

right through till the end

of chapter 7.

Sort of gives you a bit

of a big picture overview

of some of the themes

that he's going to be talking about.

And so listen to verse 12.

For our boast is this,

the testimony of our conscience

that we behaved in the world

with simplicity.

And some of your versions of the Bible

have a different word there.

We'll talk about that in a moment.

I'll say it again.

For our boast is this,

the testimony of our conscience

that we behaved in the world

with simplicity

and godly sincerity,

not by earthly wisdom

or fleshly wisdom,

but by the grace of God

and supremely so toward you.

Very short, powerful, packed verse.

And Paul is going to be unfolding this,

especially in the next few verses

that come after.

Some of that part that Amanda read

that we found confusing.

But in fact,

all the way through,

it's going to be a continuing theme

that he's going to keep trying

to explain and unpack.

And so obviously,

I can only give you

a bit of an introduction.

But the first thing is,

if you could put up the first point,

that would be great.

In Jesus,

God's grace will lead me

towards good,

honest,

humble,

simple,

transparent motives

for each thing that I do.

That's the thing

that Paul is trying

to communicate here,

that the Bible,

the Word of God

is trying to communicate.

That in fact,

we don't have to listen

to the Dalai Lama

to learn about

how good motives,

although maybe we can learn from him.

We don't have to listen

to Jacques Derrida.

We don't have to listen

to Rousseau.

We don't have to listen

to the columnist

and the citizen.

That in fact,

the Bible itself

has profound teaching

about what it means

to become more like Jesus.

Like what it is

that God's plan

and intention is

for your life and mine.

And so what the Bible

is saying,

I'll just read,

I'll look at,

I'll say the point again

out loud,

but I'll just read the text again.

For our boast is this,

the testimony of our conscience

that we behaved

in the world

with simplicity.

And that can also mean

like a type of

a singular,

pure motive.

In other words,

that what he's saying is

he doesn't have

53 motives,

18 of which

he's unconscious of.

and 15 that he wants

to hide

and the rest he's sort of

willing to make public.

That he's not having

a whole pile of motives.

That there's a type

of purity

and singularity

and simplicity

to his motives.

A type of coherence

to them.

In other words,

motives that fit.

Like one of the things

that's going to be developed here

that to bring glory

to God

and to do good

for people,

in fact,

at a deepest level,

never contradict each other.

Like to bring glory

to God

and to do good

for people

don't contradict.

It can sound

for us as human beings

as if it's two motives

but properly understood

they're,

in a sense,

it's a type of singularity.

It's a motive,

it's a group of motives

that they fit together.

They're not rubbing

each other

the wrong way.

You know,

it's not like

when,

you know,

maybe,

you know,

somebody comes,

you know,

I don't know,

you know,

you come home late,

your teenager comes home late

and like way,

way late

and they have several motives

when they talk to you.

Their fundamental motive

is they want you to go away.

They want to try

to make you quiet

before you dig too deeply

into what exactly went on

and why you're so late

and they want to make

themselves look good

and they want to make you

look bad

and there's a whole pile

of different motives

that are going on there

and they don't want

to tell the truth.

Get the picture,

okay?

That's not what this

is talking about.

So,

for our boast is this,

the testimony of our conscience,

we behaved in the world

with simplicity

and it has this cluster

of ideas

of purity,

of coherence,

consistency

and godly sincerity,

a sincerity

that comes from God.

Not by earthly wisdom

but by the grace of God

and supremely so towards you.

So,

you see this?

It's what the text is saying

is that as God's grace

has a deeper and deeper role

and hold in our lives,

as God's grace

forms my mind

and forms my heart

and forms my will

and forms how I see the world

and how I hear the world

and how I understand the world

as God's grace,

which only,

of course,

means that you're getting

closer to Jesus

and thinking about

what he did for us

on the cross

and who he is

and his love for us,

is that as Jesus

comes closer to us

and we get closer to Jesus,

one of the byproducts

of that

will be

that our motives

become

good motives,

that they're honest,

that there's a humility

to our motives

because there should be

a greater concern

for the other

and a greater concern

for God

and that they're simple,

you know,

more like a dog's motives,

you know,

dogs just want to be fed,

padded,

you know,

they're not like cats

trying to plot

how to take over

your home

and the rest

of the universe.

Like,

you know,

did I just say that?

Yeah,

become more like a dog,

less like a cat.

Sorry,

there's no comment here

about you cat lovers.

You have your own reasons

to love cats.

Anyway,

simple,

transparent motives

for each thing that I do.

That's what the Bible

is saying here.

It's a very,

very simple thing,

a very,

very powerful thing.

And it helps to explain,

once you understand this

as a bit of a key,

it helps you to understand

some of the confusing things

that are going on

in the letter,

right from the beginning

of the letter

and on and on and on,

is that Paul is trying

to demonstrate

to his hearers

what his motives actually are.

He's saying,

one moment,

you've misunderstood me.

I'm acting in a way

which is for your good.

I'm acting in a way

which brings glory to God.

I'm acting in a very

consistent way

and I'm keeping my word.

If you understand it,

like I'm letting you know

what I'm doing,

I'm only doing things

to love you

and I'm only doing things

that magnify the grace of God

and try to make the grace of God

more operative amongst you.

So,

like jump ahead

to chapter 2,

verses 1 to 11.

And if you sort of

understand verse 12,

you can start to tease out

a little bit

about what's going on

in some of these confusing texts

in the Bible.

See,

that's the thing about the Bible.

There's often,

you don't have to sort of think,

oh,

I need to read this quote

from somebody else

to try to understand the Bible.

God himself

usually provides

the way to understand it

within the text itself.

But look at verses 1 to 11.

For I made up my mind

not to make another painful visit

to you.

Because he'd had a previous visit

that had been very painful.

It had been painful

because he loved them.

He had to confront them.

He'd had to confront them

about some things

that they were doing

that were just deeply wrong.

Like,

a man was sleeping

with his mother

and he had to confront them

about that.

People were using

the law courts

to rip each other off

and he had to confront them

about that.

Not because he wasn't honest,

not because he wasn't humble,

not because he wasn't good

or loved them,

but because those things

are just wrong.

Okay?

I'll go back.

For I made up my mind

not to make another painful visit

to you.

For if I cause you pain,

who is there to make me glad

but the one whom I have pained?

In other words,

he wants to be with them.

And I wrote,

as I did,

so that when I came

I might not suffer pain

from those

who should have made me rejoice.

For I felt sure

of all of you

that my joy

would be the joy of you all.

For I wrote to you

out of much affliction

and anguish of heart

and with many tears

not to cause you pain

but to let you know

the abundant love

that I have for you.

And then he goes on

to another issue

like that some of the people

that he had to deal with

there had in fact

been repentance

and amendment of life.

And he's revealing here

that his goal

had always been

restoration of relationships.

His goal had always been

that grace is extended.

Not judge,

not that,

you know,

you messed up once

and it's one strike

and you're out of my life

for the rest of your life.

That that's not the way,

no, no,

there's going to be grace.

There's got to be grace.

The goal with grace

is to restore relationships,

to restore people,

to get people back

on the right path,

to build relationships.

So in verse 5,

now if anyone has caused pain,

he has caused it not to me

but in some measure,

not to put it too severely,

but to all of you.

For such a one,

this punishment

by the majority is enough.

So you should rather turn

to forgive and comfort him

or he may be overwhelmed

by excessive sorrow.

So I beg you

to reaffirm your love for him.

For this is why I wrote,

that I might test you,

not in terms of like test,

like a laboratory.

It's testing,

it's as if you're trying

to walk across

a pot,

you know,

some water that's frozen,

you're testing the ice.

So it's not like

a malicious superior

type of testing.

It's just making sure

that it's nice and solid.

You're going to go across it

first

so that the people behind you

can go across it

and they won't get

their feet wet.

So that's the type

of testing that's meant.

For this is why I wrote,

that I might test you

and know whether you

are obedient in everything.

Anyone whom you forgive,

I also forgive.

Indeed,

what I have forgiven,

if I have forgiven anything,

has been for your sake

in the presence of Christ

so that we would not

be outwitted by Satan

for we are not ignorant

of his designs.

Why?

Because the devil,

he's the accuser,

he's the slanderer,

he's the destroyer,

he's the ruiner

of relationships

and that's what he does.

He blasphemes.

He makes us doubt God.

He blasphemes

and makes us want

to take the place of God.

And Paul is saying,

I understand that the devil

never misses church

and never misses a time

you get together

for your Bible study

or your prayer meetings.

I'm aware of that.

And that's why we need

to be rooted here

in grace

and in the gospel.

That's what's going on.

And so we see

it's a deep teaching

in the Bible.

It's a very,

very important teaching

in the Bible.

Now, actually,

it's not just that Christians,

of course,

have problems

with mixed motives.

and one of the things

is that the text

is going to,

as we go on

in weeks and weeks,

is going to try

to confront us

of motives

that we didn't realize

that we have.

But the text

has also hinted

at something

that touches

on a great Canadian fear.

It's a great Canadian

and American fear

that affects Christians.

You know,

a few years ago,

the Da Vinci Code

was really popular

and it's like 30 million books

or something like that.

I read the book

after it sold 20 million copies.

I took it out of the library.

It was really

a poorly written book.

I'm not just saying

that to diss it,

but it wasn't really

a very well-written book,

but it sold so many copies.

And part of the reason

I think it sold

so many copies

is it touched

on a deep fear

that people have

about the Christian faith,

that the Christian faith

is based on lies

and a desire for power,

that it's not honest,

that it's inauthentic,

and they've hurt people

and the Christian faith,

I mean,

there are all those priests

and the pedophiles

and it's all those guys,

you know,

who head up,

you know,

they're all against gays

while they're having sex

with male bodybuilders

and, you know,

like that.

I'm not making stories up.

Those are things

that have happened

over the last few years,

right?

Ted Haggard.

And so many people

in our culture,

they have this sense

that you can't trust

the Bible,

you can't trust

the Christian faith,

that there's been lying

that's going on,

there's been hiding

that's going on

and you can't trust it

and I think people

like the Da Vinci Code

partially because

it expressed a lot of that

and so here there's

a bit of a full disclosure.

What we call

2 Corinthians

could really be called

4 Corinthians

because

Paul wrote

at least four letters

to the church

to the church in Corinth

and only two of them

are in the Bible.

So is this

evidence

of

something really bad?

Well first let me

just show it to you.

If you turn in your Bibles

to 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 5:9

chapter 5

verse 9

1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 5:9

verse 9

it says this

I wrote to you

in my letter

whoa

I wrote to you

in my letter

not to associate

with sexually immoral people

and we won't go on

about what it is

I just want to bring

that out to you.

So in 1 Corinthians

he mentions

that he wrote

an earlier letter

and if you just now

turn back to the text

that we're looking at

2 Corinthians chapter 2

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

I sort of combined

several letters

in my explanation

of the text

but if you look again

at verses 1 to 3

chapter 2

verses 1 to 3

for I made up my mind

not to make another

painful visit to you

for if I cause you pain

who is there

to make me glad

but the one

whom I have pained

and I wrote

as I did

so that when I came

I might not suffer pain

from those

who should have

made me rejoice.

Now here's the point

you know all that stuff

which is a bit confusing

I went to Troas

I went to Macedonia

like really careful

Bible scholars

when they look at

all of that stuff

they can piece together

things

and the letter here

you just have to

trust me on this one

that the letter here

that it's referring to

can't just be

1 Corinthians

so in a sense

you could say

there's Corinthians A

then 1 Corinthians

Corinthians A

that's Canadian

eh?

I'm sorry

Corinthians A

1 Corinthians

Corinthians B

and then 2 Corinthians

so what's going on here?

Are Christians

like what's the Christian

claim here?

Should we be worried?

When I was preaching

a class

teaching a class

on Monday

I began

one of the things

I began with

was this

if they found

one of those other letters

should it be in the Bible?

For instance

well here's the thing

if you could put that up

on the screen

it would be very helpful

Paul's writings

are not in the Bible

because they are Paul's

you just have to understand

what Christians

are claiming

it's a very transparent

honest

simple

understanding

okay

but sometimes

people don't understand

what Christians claim

Christians aren't claiming

that there's something

inherently special

about Paul

we aren't claiming

that

Christians aren't claiming

that like our poets

our philosophers

our mystics

our hymn writers

our philosophers

they're better than

Muslim and Buddhist ones

you know

because we have ones

who are more inspired

and are

being able to think

about God

better

and are able to reach

higher into God

and to understand

God better than all those

that is not a Christian claim

no well instructed

Christian who's read

the Bible

who's listened to Jesus

should ever believe that

Christians don't believe

that somehow

our poets

and our philosophers

and theologians

are somehow better

at reaching up to God

no

we believe

that we cannot

possibly know

anything true

about the infinite God

and unless

the infinite God

speaks to us

we could not know

anything true

about him

so what Christians

claim

is that at the end of the day

when you read the New Testament

what you're really listening to

is the teaching of Jesus

because you're listening to

Jesus

who spent

many many years

three years

and then some other time

after the resurrection

three years

teaching the apostles

and then

the New Testament

basically goes back

to the apostolic witness

the test

that it ultimately

comes from Jesus

but it's making

a deeper type

of claim

with this

because it's claiming

that Jesus just isn't

the best of the prophets

the best of the mystics

the best of the philosophers

the best of the theologians

the best at trying

to figure things out

Christians believe

that Jesus himself

came from heaven

outside of earth

and time and space

and the entire created order

and that God does a miracle

in the womb of Mary

and by an act of creation

God the son of God

the second person of the Trinity

one of the

that God who's responsible

for creating

and sustaining

the entire universe

that God

the son of God

in the form of that

a fertilized egg

created in the womb of Mary

that God

enters his creation

he comes from outside

into this created order

so Paul's writings

are not in the Bible

because they are Paul's

some of Paul's writings

are in the Bible

only because

they are some of the words

that God wanted

in his word written

see at the end of the day

Christians believe

that God used

all sorts of different

human means

in the sense

there's always a dual

authorship of the Bible

and that God used

human means

but at the end of the day

Paul who

who knows

maybe Paul wrote

a hundred letters

maybe he wrote

three hundred letters

maybe he wrote

four hundred letters

if Paul was somehow

the greatest philosopher

and poet

and theologian

and we were making a claim

that he's better at reaching

God than somebody else

then every one of his writings

should be in the Bible

but we're not making that claim

we're making a claim

that in a sense

Paul is no different

than Balaam's ass

who braid

and braid

and braid

but God was able

to make that ass speak

and that out of all

of the writings of Paul

some of them

are the actual writings

that God wanted to have

in this book

which is how he speaks

to us

as human beings

so there's nothing evil

or anything going on there

that it was just all part

of God's providence

of working through the church

and working through

early Christians

to make sure

that the words

that he wanted

spoken

and recorded

for our good

would be there

so

2 Corinthians

is in the Bible

not because Paul wrote it

at the most fundamental level

but because we believe

that it was the words

that God himself

wanted to speak to us

now

some of you might say

well George

that's sort of

you know

that is a little bit

interesting

but

so here's the thing

you're making this claim

George

that

if you get closer

to Jesus

you're going

to end up

having pure motives

George

how pure

are your motives

like George

just be honest

with us

for a second

when you get up

front and preach

like do you want

people to like you

do you preach

George

so maybe

in the hope

that there'd be

a bigger congregation

like do you want

a bigger congregation

because it helps

your ego

George

when you preach

do you want

to make it look

like you're smart

George

when you preach

do you want

to make it look

like you're nice

George

when you preach

and lead the service

are you actually

doing it for our good

and for God's glory

or some of these

other things

working

how's it going

with you George

in other words

George

are you just

trying to pull

a religious

fast one

on us

without people

noticing

because George

I'm going to

really be honest

with you

yeah

you know

I know

I need to have

better motives

and yeah

you know

I know

that people

with bad motives

have messed

my life up

and I know

that I've actually

maybe messed

some other people

up because

I've had

mixed motives

George

but you know

what if you're

just giving me

a whole pile

of religious advice

and that's all

it is

and I don't

know George

you know

my profs

give me advice

my mom

gives me advice

my friends

give me advice

I'm getting

beaten up

with advice

George

I don't need

to leave here

with more advice

I mean

George

if you have

to have

all these

pure motives

and all that

to get close

to Jesus

then I don't

understand

how anybody

could ever

become a Christian

I don't even

know why

you'd want

to become

a Christian

I mean

trying to

articulate

things like

that are not

bad things

but good

things

and it

really gets

at something

which is

really really

can be

easily missed

you know

because the

fact of the

matter is

I didn't

have pure

motives

when I

called out

to Jesus

to be my

savior

and my

lord

and if

you're here

thinking that

you have to

have pure

motives

before you

can call

out to

Jesus

to be

your

savior

and lord

I'm going

to tell

you right

now

stop

waiting

for

pure

motives

because

actually

that's

just

the

devil

trying

to

confuse

you

and

twist

you

you see

what the

text is

talking

about

is

something

that

comes

after

grace

that

constantly

needs

grace

but is

still

dependent

upon

grace

that the

text

is all

talking

about

grace

not

more

rules

and not

more

advice

that in

fact all

of this

advice

and everything

is all

trying to help us

to understand

something that

God does

for us

not something

that we need

to do for

God

look at

the text

again

go back

to 2

2 Corinthians 1:15

Corinthians

chapter 1

verse 15

because I

was sure

of this

I wanted

to come

to you

first

so that

you might

have a

second

experience

of grace

it's a

funny

expression

I'm not

going to

talk

about it

it's

caused

lots

of

mischief

in the

church

throughout

the

years

but it's

sort

of

neat

verse

16

I wanted

to visit

you

on your

way

to

Macedonia

and to

come

back

to you

from

Macedonia

and have

you send

me

on my

way

to

Judea

I know

that's

all this

back

and forward

stuff

here's

the thing

was I

vacillating

when I

wanted

to do

this

do I

make

my

plans

according

to

the

flesh

ready

to

say

yes

yes

and

no

no

you know

at the

same

time

in other

words

is he

actually

you know

is he

a guy

that's

yeah

yeah

I want

to do

this

but

really

I'm

trying

to do

this

I'm

trying

to do

that

actually

before I

read these

next three

verses

could you

put them

up on

the screen

please

could you

all say

this with

me

because

this is

the heart

of the

passage

this is

the heart

of the

passage

these are

good

verses

to

memorize

and we're

going to

say them

out loud

several

times

together

I was

going to

try to

give you

points

but I

have no

points

better

than this

why can

I

how can

I

adorn

God's

word

better

than

God's

own

word

has to

be

read

slowly

to try

to get

it in

the

different

steps

but this

is an

explanation

of God's

grace

and who

you are

and how

you become

a Christian

and how

you grow

as a

Christian

that's

dynamite

you should

memorize

this

and I've

only changed

two words

in it

in the

original

language

it keeps

saying him

and you

can lose

who the

him

have

taken out

and it

is God

who

establishes

us

with you

in Christ

and has

anointed

us

and who

has also

put his

seal on

us

and given

us his

spirit

in our

hearts

as a

guarantee

it's a

very very

powerful

text

so what's

the text

saying

remember I

was saying

at the

beginning

that as

you get

closer to

Jesus

there's

going to

be simple

transparent

what Paul

is saying

is that

God is

simple

and transparent

in fact

the problem

for human

beings

is that

God is

too simple

for us

to understand

we are

we are

my mind

is not

just a

singular

mind

my mind

is 15

hummingbirds

all

overdosing

on Red

Bull

and if

my mind

is 15

hummingbirds

overdosing

on Red

Bull

how can I

understand

the simplicity

and faithfulness

and consistency

of God

and the

whole point

about the

Christian

revelation

is that

it's a

public

open

revelation

God

doesn't

call

the

illuminati

the

special

anointed

ones

who know

the

decoder

key

to

interpret

the

Bible

God's

word

is

open

it's

transparent

it's

public

it's

a

public

revelation

anyone

who has

ears

to hear

anyone

who has

eyes

to read

can hear

and

understand

it's

to be

read

and

proclaimed

openly

in the

church

it's

to be

studied

from

cover

to

cover

in our

Bible

studies

and so

what the

Bible

here is

telling

us

is that

God

has

made

promises

notice

this is

how

Christianity

is so

different

than

Buddhism

Buddhism

is very

popular

on

university

campuses

and in

secular

culture

and part

of it

is because

of our

profound

cultural

despair

and cynicism

that anybody

will ever

keep their

promise

nobody

believes

their

employers

will keep

their

promises

so many

of us

are either

have had

divorces

and products

of divorces

and breakups

and separations

from family

members

and we

don't think

things hold

together

we don't think

people keep

their promises

and there's a

profound cynicism

and so this

message that

Buddhism

that what we

have to do

is to kill

all desire

is very

powerful

and speaks

very differently

but you know

underneath this

fear that no one

keeps their

promises

is a desire

that people

will keep

their promises

there's a

sense when you

go out on a

really really

really beautiful

day

some of the

beautiful days

we've had

this last

few days

I've kept

going out

outside

and thinking

gosh God

you are so

good

this is such

a beautiful

day

you are so

kind to us

and somewhere

in all of

our souls

there is a

sense or

longing

no matter

if we're

an atheist

or an agnostic

or a Buddhist

or a Hindu

or a Muslim

some sense

that such

a beautiful

day

such a

glorious

day

a day

when maybe

our bodies

are feeling

really good

and we've

been properly

caffeinated

and properly

fed

and there's

some sense

that the

world is a

world of

promise

that promises

are real

that they're

not just us

projecting them

on the

created order

but it's

some hint

that we are

getting in

our minds

and our hearts

and our souls

that there is

a creator

there is one

we can know

that there is

some type of

promise

of even

greater

and even

more

there are

some hints

in our

longings

and yearnings

that there

is something

greater

that our

longings

and yearnings

fit with

and the

Bible is

saying that

whatever promises

that we have

this sense

it's saying

the Bible is

not saying

kill all

desires for

promises

it's saying

follow this

desire for

promises

one of the

things that

can help

you in

evangelism

and one of

the things

that's so

scary about

evangelism

is the word

evangelism

get rid of

the word

evangelism

just think

bearing witness

to Jesus

and one of

the things

which is

very interesting

is every

person has

some sense

that there's

some promises

some great

hope

some great

longing

and they

might not be

able to

articulate it

and they

won't put it

in Christian

terms

but at the

end of the

day

all longings

all yearnings

are connected

all true

longings

and yearnings

all true

hopes

all true

hopes

find their

yes in

Jesus

everyone

say this

with me

again

for all

the promises

of God

find their

yes in

Jesus

that is

why it

is through

Jesus

that we

utter our

amen to

God

for his

glory

and it

is God

who

establishes

us

with you

in Christ

and has