Boast in the Lord | 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 | 06/21/26

If you've ever been in a position of

authority before,

how do you respond when someone opposes

your authority?

What do you do? What do you say?

That's Paul's dilemma in our passage

today in 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Before I read our text, I want to give

you some context.

So, remember that way back after Paul

sent the letter of 1 Corinthians to the

Corinthian church, he sent Timothy to go

check on that church, and Timothy found

out very quickly that that church still

had a lot of problems. And so, Paul went

in person to Corinth to visit them, to

visit the Corinthians and check up on

them, but that visit didn't go well,

either.

You see, Paul was most likely verbally

attacked by the leader of this anti-Paul

faction within the church, who had been

spreading lies about him. And this

anti-Paul faction was heavily influenced

by these so-called super apostles. These

were a group of men who were traveling

around to different churches claiming to

be sent by Christ, claiming to be

apostles,

but preaching a false gospel and

opposing Paul and his authority. We're

going to learn a lot more about them

this morning and in the weeks to come.

By the time Paul visited Corinth, most

of the Corinthians believed those lies

and opposed him. And so, Paul left, and

then he sent them his painful letter,

the letter that we don't have, calling

them to repentance. You might remember

that back in 2 Corinthians chapter 7,

2 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

most of the Corinthians repented in

response to that letter. They were

convicted by it, and then they took

drastic steps to make things right with

Paul.

But there were still some holdouts.

There were still some people in the

church who opposed him, who were still

listening to the lies of those false

apostles. And so, now Paul, now that

he's finished talking about the

Jerusalem offering, Paul is now

addressing those holdouts. He's

addressing that minority in the

Corinthian church who are still opposing

him and his authority.

In our passage today, Paul's going to

defend his authority as an apostle and

show why the false apostles have no

authority at all.

Let's read our passage today, 2

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 10, starting in

verse 7.

Look at what is before your eyes.

If anyone is confident that he is

Christ's, let him remind himself that

just as he is Christ's, so also are we.

For even if I boast a little too much of

our authority, which the Lord gave for

building you up and not for destroying

you, I will not be ashamed.

I do not want to appear to be

frightening you with my letters. For

they say, "His letters are weighty and

strong, but his bodily presence is weak

and his speech of no account."

Let such a person understand that what

we say by letter when absent, we do when

present.

Not that we dare to classify or compare

ourselves with some of those who are

commending themselves, but when they

measure themselves by one another and

compare themselves with one another,

they are without understanding.

But we will not boast beyond limits, but

will boast only with regard to the area

of influence God assigned to us to reach

even to you.

For we are not overextending ourselves

as though we did not reach you. For we

were the first to come all the way to

you with the gospel of Christ.

We do not boast beyond limit in the

labors of others, but our hope is that

as your faith increases, our area of

influence among you may be greatly

enlarged so that we may preach the

gospel in lands beyond you without

boasting of work already done in

another's area of influence.

Let the one who boasts boast in the

Lord. For it is not the one who commends

himself who is approved, but the one

whom the Lord commends.

Do you know anyone who's just like a

little bit too preoccupied with their

own authority?

I don't know if you've never met anyone

like that before. Someone who just like

loves being in charge.

They like telling people what to do just

a little bit too much.

You know, in my experience, those same

people are often the most defensive of

their authority.

If they perceive a threat to their

authority, sometimes they can respond

pretty harshly because they're afraid of

losing it.

On the flip side, think about this.

Who's the best authority figure you've

ever had? You've ever been under?

Maybe it was a teacher, a boss, a

pastor, a parent.

My guess is they probably didn't make a

big deal out of their authority, did

they?

Like you respected them

and you followed them because you were

inspired by their character. You were

inspired by the way they lived their

life, not not because they like waved

their authority card around all the

time, right? I mean, if you're like me,

you probably get suspicious of people

who defend their own authority.

You wonder if behind that defensiveness,

there's like a an unhealthy need for

control.

Well, before we try to understand our

passage, it's worth the asking the

question, is that Paul? I mean, he's

spending this entire passage defending

his authority. Is it Is it because he's

afraid of losing it?

Is it because Paul is a control freak?

And beyond Paul, like here's the bigger

question and it's one that our our my

generation in particular is wrestling

with right now and that is

is authority even a good thing at all?

Is authority even a good thing at all or

is it at best a necessary evil that we

should always be suspicious of?

Well, we're we'll answer that question

in a bit, but let's start with Paul. Why

did Paul feel the need to defend his

authority and was he justified?

The first thing we have to remember is

that Paul was an apostle. Jesus himself

appeared to Paul and called him to this

unique role with a unique level of

authority. Paul didn't apply to be an

apostle, he was appointed an apostle by

the risen Jesus Christ.

And then second, don't forget that Paul

planted the Corinthian church himself.

Like this is his own church. He's their

spiritual father. And so, if If Paul,

if you were Paul, a true apostle, and

you knew that there were false apostles

trying to undermine your authority over

a church that you planted with your own

blood, sweat, and tears,

can you see how it might actually make

sense for you to defend your own

authority?

Especially when you know those false

apostles are trying to use their fake

authority to lead people away from

Christ.

Let me explain it another way.

Imagine for a moment you're a doctor.

Let's say you're an an oncologist, all

right? Uh you've gone through years of

medical school, all your certifications

are up to date, you've been practicing

for decades treating cancer. And so, you

have a patient, we'll say her name is

Susan. I don't know, I just picked a

random name. So, if there's any Susans

in here, I'm not trying to target you,

okay?

Her name's Susan. She has a serious but

treatable cancer, which you have been

successfully treating for several months

now with radiation and chemotherapy.

But one day, Susan comes in for a

checkup, and she says, "Doctor,

I've actually stopped my chemo and

radiation because last week I met this

guy in the Walmart parking lot, and you

won't believe it.

He gave me this chocolate milk that

cures cancer."

And so, you're clearly, by your facial

expressions and response, not okay with

this. So, Susan says,

"Well, well, before you say anything,

Doctor, just wait. Trust me. He knows

what he's talking about. He's been

perfecting his recipe for the last 20

years."

Right? And then she says, "You know, he

actually told me I probably shouldn't

even go to see you anymore because he

says that you don't have the same level

of training that he does."

Now, if you were a good doctor,

would you just accept that and let Susan

walk out that door?

Or would you defend your authority as a

medical professional not to not to heal

your pride, not to save your pride, but

to save Susan's life?

We need to be clear from the start.

Paul's not a control freak who's afraid

of losing his authority. Paul's

defending his authority because the

Corinthians need it and without his

authority they will be led astray by

these false apostles.

So, let's go back now and see exactly

how Paul defends his authority starting

in verse 7. Paul says, "Look at what is

before your eyes.

If anyone is confident that he is

Christ's, let him remind himself that

just as he is Christ's, so also are we."

Paul's probably quoting the false

apostles here. They claim to be sent by

Christ very confidently in order to

undermine Paul's authority. And so,

Paul's responding, "Hey, those guys,

they say they're sent by Christ, but we

actually were sent by Christ."

Verse 8, he says, "For even if I boast a

little too much of our authority, which

the Lord gave for building you up and

not for destroying you, I will not be

ashamed."

So, what's this boasting about?

We we read a lot about boasting in this

passage. There's a lot more about

boasting in the rest of this book. Well,

let's go back to that scenario with the

doctor, right? You're you're that

oncologist and out of love and concern

for Susan, you want to prove that your

authority is legitimate. What what would

you do?

Well, you'd probably pull out your

diplomas, your awards, testimonies from

past patients, anything that would

convince Susan that you're a more

legitimate medical authority than

chocolate milk guy, right?

But in one sense, can you see how like

in the process of doing that, that would

kind of feel like boasting?

Pulling out all your accolades and

credentials.

Desperate times call for desperate

measures and as we're going to see,

since the false apostles are boasting in

their fake authority, Paul is going to

counter them by boasting in his true

authority even though he knows it might

seem a little excessive to the

Corinthians.

He would rather boast a little too much

in his legitimate authority if that's

what it takes to protect them from the

false apostles.

But notice what else Paul says in this

verse about his authority because he

makes a pretty big distinction between

his real authority and and the false

apostles fake authority.

First he says is that his authority was

given to him by the Lord.

The false apostles claim that too, but

they're liars. Jesus didn't appear to

them on the road to Damascus.

And second, he says that his authority

is for building the Corinthians up, not

destroying them.

Last week we saw that the false apostles

built up arguments against Paul in order

to destroy the Corinthians, but Paul

does the opposite. Paul destroys those

arguments in order to build up the

Corinthians.

The false apostles use their fake

authority to destroy, but Paul uses his

real authority to build up.

Since authority is one of the main

themes of our passage this morning,

let's take some time to build a theology

of authority, starting with that

question I asked earlier.

Is authority good?

Is authority good or is it a necessary

evil we should be suspicious of? And

then we're going to take it a step

further with a second question, and that

is is spiritual authority good?

First, is authority good in general? And

then, is spiritual authority good?

Well, to start answering those

questions, we have to begin with the

source of all authority, and that is God

himself. God is the source of all

authority. All authority belongs to him,

but he loans out that authority to in

different measures and in different

seasons to every single one of us.

As Romans 13:1 says, there is no

Romans 13:1

authority except from God, and those

that exist have been instituted by God.

In that passage, Paul was talking about

governing authorities. That's one form

of authority the Bible talks about, but

it's not the only one. The Bible talks

about the authority of parents, the

authority of pastors, the authority of

apostles like Paul, which is the focus

of our passage this morning.

So, to answer our first question, is

authority good? The Bible resoundingly

answers, yes. Yes, authority is good.

Even though authority is abused far, far

too often in our fallen world, as a

whole, it is a gift from God for our

good.

God uses authority to promote

righteousness and prevent evil in this

world. Now, what about spiritual

authority?

Well, we don't have spiritual

authorities like apostles in the church

today. That was a unique office uh with

unique authority for a unique season in

the in the history of the church.

Uh but God has still given churches

spiritual authority today in the form of

pastors and elders.

God has called local churches to be led

by elders, men who meet the biblical

qualifications laid out in 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1.

Titus 1 · chapter mention

And while elders are not apostles and do

not have the authority of apostles, they

do have a measure of authority as

under-shepherds under Jesus. Listen to

what Peter says about elders in in 1

Peter 5 chapter 1.

He says, "So, I exhort the elders among

you as a fellow elder and a witness to

the sufferings of Christ, as well as a

partaker in the glory that is going to

be revealed, shepherd the flock of God

that is among you, exercising oversight,

not under compulsion, but willingly, as

God would have you, not for shameful

gain, but eagerly, not domineering over

those in your charge, but being examples

to the flock."

Elders are called to exercise oversight,

authority over local churches. And I

like that passage that I just read

because it's almost like an expansion of

what Paul just said about authority in

verse 8 of our passage.

Remember, positively, Paul said that

spiritual authority is for what? It's

for building up. Building up the church,

but Peter, he gets more specific. He

says, "Elders are called to build up the

church by willingly and eagerly

shepherding and exercising oversight and

leading by example."

And what did Paul say that spiritual

authority is not for?

Said it's not for destroying. It's not

for tearing down. Again, Peter gets more

specific with that. He says, "Elders are

forbidden from serving under compulsion

or for shameful gain and from

domineering over those they shepherd

because all those things would destroy

instead of building up."

We have six elders at our church. Jason

Trapp, David Frederick, Craig Frisky,

Mike Birchfield, Brad Mortensen, and

Kevin Conan.

Those six men have been entrusted with

the responsibility to lead and shepherd

this church for our good.

You know, maybe there's men in this room

whose names will be added to that list

one day. I don't know.

Could you see yourself being an elder

one day?

If not, that's okay. Shepherding is not

for everyone. It's It's not easy. It's

not for the faint of heart. Elders are

like spiritual first responders who show

up for their sheep on some of the worst

days of their lives, and it gets messy.

They are men who lead like Christ, who

use their authority to serve and not to

be served, and they are men who will do

anything to protect the sheep that Jesus

has entrusted to them.

There's a reason why Paul says that

anyone who aspires to be an elder

desires a noble task. I hope that more

men in our church will aspire to this

task.

But what if you're not an elder? What if

you're a sheep?

Well, we have a responsibility, too.

Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders

Hebrews 13:17

and submit to them, for they are keeping

watch over your souls as those who will

have to give an account. Let them do

this with joy and not with groaning, for

that would be of no advantage to you."

So, here's the question.

Church, are we obeying this command? Are

you obeying this command? Are you

submitted to the authority

the spiritual authority of a local

church's elders?

You know, that passage I just read is a

big reason why we practice something

here at West Hills called church

membership. Our elders need to know who

they are responsible for, who they will

have to give an account for. And what's

so helpful about membership is that it

clarifies who is and who isn't under our

elders' authority.

And the way I explain this in our West

Hills 101 class is that if you were an

actual literal shepherd, like you owned

a couple hundred sheep, wouldn't you

want to know which sheep were yours and

which sheep belonged to your neighbor?

You could probably imagine that if you

didn't know which sheep belonged to you,

it might be kind of difficult to solve

some problems. There could be some

issues that arise.

So, when someone becomes a member of a

church, they're making a covenant.

They're saying, "This is my church.

These are my elders, and I want want

their spiritual authority in my life."

And the elders are making a covenant

back with them. They're saying, "This is

our sheep, and we will keep watch over

his soul, over her soul."

So, what does that mean for us?

Well, if you're already a member, that

means you've already done this. You've

chosen to place yourself under the

authority

of our elders. If you're not a member

here yet, uh but you're new to the

church, you're still getting to know us,

there's no rush at all. Uh we're just

glad that you're here. Whenever you feel

ready to learn more about membership, we

do this thing called the West Hills 101

lunch, and we'll explain more about

that.

But if you've been attending here for

years

and you're not a member yet,

I just don't want to encourage you

gently that you might actually be

missing out on the full gift of

spiritual authority.

You might be missing out on that gift.

Now, I recognize that just by being here

on Sunday morning and by participating

in the life of the church, you're sort

of informally under the authority of the

the

It's kind of like when you're a kid and

you go over to your parents' house,

right? Your friends' parents

Yeah, sorry. You go over to your

friends' your friends' house, right?

Your friends' parents, they have a

certain measure of authority over you

while you're in their house, right? But,

it's not the same level of authority

they would have if they were your

parents, is it?

Until you make that covenant and say,

"This is my church. These are my elders,

and I want their spiritual authority in

my life." you haven't fully and formally

placed yourself under their spiritual

authority.

Now, I know a few of you might hear that

and think, "You know, that's actually

okay with me. I I can be my own

spiritual authority. I'd rather not be

under someone else's spiritual

authority, to be honest."

But, are you sure about that?

Are you sure about that? I mean, even

setting aside that commandment in

Hebrews for a moment, are you sure that

you might not actually be missing out on

something that's for your good?

Imagine that years from now

you get trapped in sin.

You stop coming to church. Your faith is

flickering like a candle.

In that moment,

wouldn't you want elders who feel a

responsibility before the Lord

to bring you back to Christ, to pursue

you, to chase you down in love?

I'll speak for myself. I do.

I don't trust myself enough to think

that I could never be hardened by the

deceitfulness of sin. And I sleep better

at at night knowing that if God forbid I

stray from Christ, our elders will not

let me quietly slip away into

self-destruction.

I know that they will use their

authority for my good.

One reason why you might have a hard

time submitting to spiritual authority

could be because you want to maintain

your own spiritual autonomy.

But, there's another possibility, too.

If you've seen spiritual authority

abused before,

it can be really, really hard to trust

it again.

If you've seen it abused before, it can

can really, really hard to trust it

again.

We actually see an example of spiritual

abuse in 3 John verse 9.

John writes, "I have written something

to the church,

>> [clears throat]

>> but but Diotrephes, who likes to put

himself first, does not acknowledge our

authority.

So, if I come, I will bring up what he

is doing, talking wicked nonsense

against us. And not content with that,

he refuses to welcome the brothers and

also stops those who want to and puts

them out of the church."

We don't know exactly who Diotrephes

was, but it seems likely that he was an

elder of a local church who abused his

spiritual authority. He didn't like

John, he didn't like John's companions,

so much so that when members of his

church wanted to support them, he put

them out of the church. He

excommunicated them from membership.

That is spiritual abuse.

It happened 2,000 years ago, it's been

happening ever since. Spiritual abuse is

a terrible reality.

I want to say that if you've experienced

in the past, I am so sorry.

It's a terrible thing to go through.

It's also understandable if because of

that you struggle today to submit to

spiritual authority.

You know, for one thing, that's why

we're led by a plurality of elders here.

Our elders share their authority equally

with one another to create

accountability.

We don't want that to happen here. But,

if you've experienced spiritual abuse in

the past, remember that the exception

doesn't prove the rule.

The exception doesn't prove the rule.

I think Satan loves the evil of

spiritual abuse because it makes it so

difficult for people to receive the gift

of good spiritual authority, of healthy,

righteous spiritual authority.

If you struggle with spiritual

authority, if you struggle to trust

the leadership of this church or another

church, I want you to know that our

elders are here for you.

I want you to know that they would love

to earn your trust and they're willing

to walk with you through that process

for as long as it takes.

To sum up the last few minutes,

authority is good.

And spiritual authority in particular is

good and every single one of us needs

it.

So, with that out of the way, let's go

back to our text.

Uh verse 9, what does Paul say next? He

says, "I do not want to appear to be

frightening you with my letters.

For they say his letters are weighty and

strong, but his bodily presence is weak

and his speech of no account.

Let such a person understand that what

we say by letter when absent, we do when

present."

So, the false apostles, they're trying

to undermine Paul and here they're

trying to do so by saying, "This guy

talks a big game in his letters, but

he's he's nothing in person." That's

what they're saying. He tries to scare

you from a distance, but but he's not

the same person face-to-face.

They attack his physical appearance

first. "His bodily presence is weak."

And then they attack his skill in public

speaking. They say his speech is of no

account.

As we learned last week, the false

apostles, they have a worldly idea of

what power and authority are supposed to

look like and Paul doesn't match that,

so they undermined him by mocking him.

They make fun of him.

And so, in verse 11, he basically

responds, "You're wrong.

I am the same apostle in person as I am

in my letters."

Verse 12,

"Not that we dare to classify or compare

ourselves with some of those who are

commending themselves. But when they

measure themselves by one another and

compare themselves with one another,

they are without understanding."

So, these false apostles, they are

constantly comparing themselves to one

another. They're constantly competing

with each other, trying to see how they

measure up to each other in order to

commend themselves and boast in their

own greatness. That's what they're

doing. And they're doing it all by

worldly standards. They're doing it by

appearance, by outward gifting, not by

holiness, not by Christ-likeness.

And so Paul says they are without

understanding.

They're fools. They're like a like a

bunch of kids who dressed up as apostles

for Halloween, decided they were the

real thing.

Over the next couple of chapters, Paul

is going to compare himself to them.

Not to compete with them, but for the

sake of a proof proving his own

legitimacy.

But he's not going to do it according to

to their worldly standards. Paul won't

boast in himself, he will boast in the

Lord's work through him.

So let's talk about comparison for a

second.

Anyone here struggle with comparison?

Do you struggle with comparison, with

comparing yourself to other people? Is

there someone in your life, in your

home, in your job, in your extended

family, maybe even in this church

who you are constantly comparing

yourself to?

Who you are constantly measuring

yourself up to?

When you outperform them in some way,

it fills you with pride. You feel like

you've made it. You feel like you

matter, like you're worth something.

But then when they outperform you,

it hurts.

You might smile and congratulate them,

but inside

you feel like a failure. You envy them.

You feel less than.

Church, that kind of comparison is a

hamster wheel.

It's exhausting and it gets you nowhere.

In the book of John,

after Jesus' res-

Right after he restores Peter and tells

him how he'll one day be martyred for

the gospel, Peter looks over at John and

he says, "Lord, what about this man?

What about John? How do I compare to

him? What's his calling compared to

mine?"

And do you remember what Jesus says to

him?

"What is that to you?

Follow me."

That's his response. What is that to

you? Follow me.

If you struggle with comparison,

if you're on that hamster wheel,

here's the good news.

Jesus is the way out.

Jesus is the way out. If you're a

Christian, he has bought you with his

blood. He has filled you with his

spirit. He has gifted you uniquely to

serve his church, and he has called you

to follow him, to follow his unique plan

for your life to bring him glory. And if

all of that is true, then what is it to

you how Jesus chooses to use someone

else?

Here's the thing.

Comparison, comparing yourselves to

others, it's not going to change how God

has gifted you. It's not going to change

what he's called you to. It will only

lead to pride when you succeed and

insecurity when you fail.

Because really pride and insecurity are

just two sides of the same coin.

So, what's the answer?

Embrace how God has uniquely gifted and

called you and follow Jesus.

Fix your eyes on him. Worldly comparison

is pointless because no one else on this

planet has the same gifts and the same

calling that you do.

Let's keep reading, verse 13.

Paul says, "But we will not boast beyond

limits, but will boast only with regard

to the area of influence God assigned to

us,

to reach even to you.

For we are not overextending ourselves

as though we did not reach you.

For we were first We were the first to

come all the way to you with the gospel

of Christ.

We do not boast beyond limits in the

labors of others."

So, what's going on here?

Well, basically, the false apostles,

they were boasting beyond limits. They

were overextending themselves by

claiming to have an authority over the

Corinthian church that they didn't

actually have, that they were making up.

They didn't start the church. They

weren't sent by God to minister to the

church. They just showed up one day and

started acting like they were in charge.

Paul, on the other hand, was sent to

Corinth by God.

He and his companions, Silas and

Timothy, they planted the Corinthian

church. They baptized the first

Corinthian believers there.

You know, Jesus himself even appeared to

Paul in a vision while he was in Corinth

encouraging him to keep going, to keep

ministering in Corinth.

So, Paul's saying, "Those false

apostles, they have no right to boast

over you. I'm the one who brought the

gospel to you."

Verse 15,

"We do not boast beyond limit in the

labors of others.

But, our hope is that as your faith

increases, our area of influence among

you may be greatly enlarged, so that we

may preach the gospel in lands beyond

you without boasting of work already

done in another's area of influence."

Paul's dreaming about seeing the gospel

go even further, to spread even farther,

but it has to start with an increase of

faith in the Corinthian church. Because

with greater faith, this minority in the

Corinthian church will see the false

apostles for who they are and will stop

listening to them.

And once that happens, once the

Corinthian church is fully united behind

Paul and his authority, then his

influence can grow among them so that

the gospel can spread even further than

Corinth,

to places it hasn't reached yet.

Or in other words, Paul wants to see the

church in Corinth become like a like a

like a base camp for future missionary

journeys out west, but he can't do that

as long as the Corinthians are divided

and are listening to lies. And

I think there's something really

important for us here today.

I'll tell you what it is. It means that

if we allow ourselves as a church to be

divided,

whether because of false teaching and

distrust of authority like the

Corinthians or because of something

else,

it will slow the spread of the gospel.

Let me say that again. Church, if we

ourselves to be divided, it will slow

the spread of the gospel.

You know, that would be a bummer for a

lot of reasons, but I think it'd

especially be a bummer because of the

area that we live in.

Have you ever driven through other parts

of this country like like the Midwest or

the South?

There are churches literally everywhere.

Including many healthy churches that are

preaching the gospel, and praise God for

that.

But guess what?

That's not what it's like here, is it?

I mean, by God's grace, there are some

healthy churches in the Bay Area

preaching the gospel. There are are far,

far less than there are in most of the

rest of the US.

We are on the front lines for the gospel

in our country. And I know many of you

were born here, and this is all you've

ever known, but but I wasn't. Neither

was my wife. Like, we were born and we

come from places where there are healthy

churches like on every street corner,

okay?

We chose to come here because we saw the

need, and we were so excited by the

opportunity for the gospel.

We're not the only ones, either.

A couple weeks ago, I met a pastor who

moved here from out of state with his

wife and five kids to try to revitalize

a church in this area in the Bay Area

that's down to 10 members.

Like, he and his he he was joking about

it. He's like, "When my family and I

come to church, we literally double the

attendance."

But isn't that awesome?

Do you want to see more of that in our

area? Cuz I know that I do.

When we commit to unity, when we commit

to financial generosity, when we commit

to being bold for the gospel in our

lives, in our homes, in our workplaces,

we will see Jesus exalted more and more

in the Bay Area. We will see the gospel

spread.

In our last two verses, Paul's going to

sum all of this up.

Verse 17, he says,

"Let the one who boasts boast in the

Lord. For it is not the one who commends

himself who is approved, but the one

whom the Lord commends.

Verse 17, Paul is quoting the prophet

Jeremiah, and I want to read that

passage to you.

Jeremiah chapter 9 verses 23 and 24.

Jeremiah 9:23

Thus says the Lord,

"Let not the wise man boast in his

wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in

his might, let not the rich man boast in

his riches, but let him who boasts boast

in this,

that he understands and knows me,

that I am the Lord who practices

steadfast love, justice, and

righteousness in the earth. For in these

things I delight, declares the Lord."

Our natural tendency is to boast in

ourselves.

It's to boast in our wisdom, our might,

our wealth.

Or like the false apostles, it's to

boast in our gifts and abilities. Our

natural tendency is to commend

ourselves.

You know what I'm talking about? Like we

set our own standard for what success

is, and then when we reach that, we give

ourselves a pat on the back, don't we?

You know, if you're not a Christian,

you need to wrestle with this reality,

that one day when you die,

everything that you have been working

for your entire life, everything that

you boast in, will be gone.

It will be gone.

And on that day, you will stand before

God to give an account for how you used

the life that he gave you.

We will all, one day, stand before our

God to receive either commendation or

condemnation. But listen, this is

important. It will not be according to

our standard.

It will be according to God's standard.

Do you know what God's standard is?

Do you know who will receive

commendation from the Lord? As Jeremiah

said, it's the one who knows the Lord.

This is important. Not the one who knows

things about the Lord.

Not the one who has an impressive resume

of things he's done for the Lord. The

one who knows the Lord. The one who

knows Jesus not just as a good teacher

or as a great moral example, but as

their king and as their savior.

That is the one who will receive

commendation

from the Lord.

And to the rest, Jesus will say,

"I never knew you. Depart from me."

Do you know why we can have hope?

I'll tell you why we can have hope. I

want to go back to what God just said

about himself in Jeremiah 9. He said, "I

am the Lord who practices steadfast

love, justice, and righteousness in the

earth."

That's good news for us because there is

no place we see that more clearly than

the cross. It is God's steadfast love

for us and his justice towards our sin

that sent Jesus to die a death he didn't

deserve on that cross. Why? So that

through his sacrifice, we could be made

righteous.

We could receive a righteousness that we

could never earn with a lifetime of good

works.

Do you want to receive Jesus's

commendation one day?

Do you want Jesus to look you in the eye

after you die and stand before him and

say, "Well done, good and faithful

servant."

If you want to hear those words, then

you must know Jesus as your king, as

your ultimate authority. Not a good

teacher, not a great moral example, but

as your king. You must bow the knee to

King Jesus.

And you must also know him as your

savior.

The king who took off his crown and came

to this earth and died the death you

deserved to save you from your sin.

Know Jesus and believe in him as your

king and as your savior,

and you will receive that commendation

from him.

Church, here's my final encouragement to

you. It's simple. Boast in the Lord.

Boast in the Lord. Don't boast in your

gifts.

>> [snorts]

>> Boast in the one who gave you those

gifts. Don't boast in your good works.

Boast in the one who prepared those good

works for you beforehand.

And don't boast in yourself.

Boast in the one who died and rose again

for you.

Let's pray.