*below are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

 

When Things Aren’t Working | 2 Corinthians 4:11-14

 

Have you ever had trouble with your computer?

Dan Rosandich shows a repairman talking to a customer after repairing his computer and the repairman says:

Dan Rosandich

I advise not to eat jelly doughnuts while working at your keyboard anymore.

Who knew that dripping sweet jelly into the connected hardware of your computer would cause problems?

Maybe you are that person in your family or at the office or among your group of friends that is always asked for help when someone’s computer is not working (I’m that guy).

If so, here’s a list of fake excuses I came across that you can use for fun:

• Your flux capacitor is broken
• The Ethernet tubes are leaking
• There was a glitch in the Matrix
• You need to release some pressure in the Ethernet hose
• I think you might have cable mites

Possibly the most annoying thing in the world is when you ask someone to come help you with your computer and suddenly the computer starts working again when they get there.

That doesn’t happen with me and computers, but it does happen when I ask my dad to listen to a noise with my car.

For three weeks my car could sound like a gang of chipmunks has been having an 80’s hair band party in the engine but my dad could crank it up and it would probably purr like a kitten.

• Sometimes computers don’t work
• Sometimes cars don’t work
• Sometimes life doesn’t work

Sometimes things feel so out of whack in your life that you think you will absolutely lose your mind.

And sometimes things are so difficult in your life that you just lose heart.  

What does it mean to lose heart?

It means that you become so deeply discouraged that:

• You lose courage
• You lose confidence
• You lose a sense of purpose

And losing heart means you also gain some things:

• You gain a pessimistic attitude
• You gain a demoralized attitude
• You gain a defeated attitude

So, what can you do when you lose heart?

When he was about 30 years old, the Apostle Paul was saved by God and began to follow Jesus.

For the rest of his life – about 30 years – he was beaten and imprisoned and tortured and robbed and shipwrecked and left for dead over and over again.

30 years of pain and danger and unimaginable stress simply because he loved and followed and made much of Jesus.

Paul’s life seemed to never be working.

Nothing was ever going right.

He should have been the most pessimistic, demoralized, defeated person on earth.

But he wasn’t.

Paul should have lost heart the moment he woke up every morning.

But he didn’t.

Why?

Let’s find out.

Listen to 2 Corinthians 4, beginning with verse 11:

11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Paul is basically repeating what he just said in the previous sentence.

Why do we repeat things?

When I was in seminary, I used to go to this Mexican restaurant in downtown Wake Forest and one of the waiters was a super guy and when he brought the plate to the table he always said:

“Hot plate, hot plate, hot plate!”

Why would he repeat it three times?

To warn me so I wouldn’t get burned.

Parents, why do we repeat things to our kids?

Because sometimes we have no idea if their hearing is working through the buds of ear in the nite of fort.

Sometimes we repeat things because we don’t know if people actually heard us the first time.

Jesus sometimes strategically repeated one word – truly.

Over and over again in the gospel of John we see Jesus repeating the word “truly”.

Here’s one of those times:

John 6:47

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

The word for “truly” in the original language has the vibe of firsthand knowledge.

So, Jesus wasn’t just giving catchy spiritual soup for your soul.

He was saying as the Son of God, the very God of very God, that what he was about to say originated with him in heaven and is super, crazy important.

Paul doesn’t seem to be repeating here as a warning.

And he doesn’t seem to be repeating because they weren’t listening the first time.

He seems to be repeating this because it is crazy important.

Why?

Well, he’s repeating that every single day of his life he wakes up facing the real danger of being killed for his faith.

We might wake up stressed out for a number of different reasons, but to my knowledge none of us wake up to that.

But dying for his faith was a daily reality for Paul and it was a daily reality for Christians in the early church.

Stephen Neill

Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life.

But again, why is Paul repeating that testifying to his faith might cost him his life?

Because it was his passionate belief that because of Jesus Christ it was all worth it!

Every morning it was worth it to face death.

Why?

Because Jesus would be manifested.

In other words, every day that he risked his life to preach and teach and share the gospel other people were going to see and hear about Jesus and every day some of those people might be saved and Paul is saying:

“It is so worth it and with joy I will do it all over again tomorrow!”

He had every reason to lose heart every day because he faced death all day long for being a follower of Jesus.

But he didn’t lose heart – or if he did, he would quickly apply the gospel paddles to his heart and shock it back to life.

You see, Paul could not get over the simple reality that Jesus, the Son of God, the very God of very God, loved him.

How much did Jesus love him?

This is how Paul described it to the folks at Galatia:

Galatians 2:20

…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Paul couldn’t shake that Jesus loved him and died for him.

And he couldn’t shake getting up and talking about Jesus everywhere that he went.

And I am so glad that he got up every morning and faced the danger of death to talk about Jesus.

Why?

Listen to what he says next:

12 So death works in us, but life in you.

Paul was being beaten and tortured and imprisoned and faced death all day every day because even though he never met me he was courageously convinced that I needed to hear the gospel.

Please don’t underestimate that if it weren’t for that death-defying brown-skinned, middle-eastern man you would not be a Christian.

Paul faced death every day to make sure the gospel got to people like me and you.

He faced death so that other people could be saved.

What about us?

What are we facing so that people can be saved?

Timothy Brubaker is a Christian educator and leadership trainer in Rwanda.

He describes an area in southwest Rwanda where missionaries have gathered for spiritual renewal since 1942 and on the far end of this area is a cliff where some previous missionaries stuck a long slab of wood that has been nicknamed “The Plank”.

“The Plank” sits about 30 feet off the surface of a lake below.

Brubaker notes that many times he has approached the plank to the cheers and jeers of his young children to give it a try but as of two years ago he has never jumped.

But he describes how his friend Jeff handles “The Plank”.

Timothy Brubaker

He steps onto the plank, walks a few paces, pulls himself up into an overhanging tree, climbs even higher, turns backward, and launches into a backflip as he springs out over the water.

Then Brubaker says this:

Timothy Brubaker

This is a picture of how I want to live – not carelessly, but confidently – springing with confidence into every situation that the Lord brings into my life…

We probably all need a little more of Jeff’s confidence in our lives when it comes to facing things so that people can be saved.

Paul is saying, “I know I might be killed today in this town for my faith, but that is a fair trade if I get to preach the gospel before I’m killed.”

That sounds like crazy talk, right?

So, why does Paul feel like that?

Because Jesus loved him and gave himself up for him!

That is the only fuel his life runs on.

Paul was pressed and stressed and perplexed and persecuted and struck down, but he was not crushed under the weight of those things.

Why?

Because he was saved and because people were being saved.

I’ve been pressed and stressed and perplexed this week and maybe you have been too, but if you have truly surrendered to Christ, then you are not crushed today.

Why?

Because Jesus loved you and gave himself up for you!

Now, you might be thinking:

“That sounds like good theology, but you don’t know what I’m going through.”

“That sounds like good stuff for some guy back in the day of Bible times, but I’m in 2019, so, I need something more real.”

Listen to what Paul says next:

13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak,

What does Paul mean when he says, “the same spirit of faith”?

It could have a few applications, but I’m just going to give two.

Paul was again writing to the folks in Galatia and maybe with a hint of sarcasm asked them this:

Galatians 3:2

…did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Did the Spirit of God take up residence in your life because you followed some religious rules and ceremonies?

Did the Spirit of God take up residence in your life simply because you prayed a sinner’s prayer and filled out a slip at the church and were baptized?

Or did the Spirit of God take up residence in your life because by faith you believed in the gospel and you are looking to Christ as your only hope?

In other words – the only way a person is saved is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

So, if our faith in Christ all came to us the exact same way, then the life we live in Christ is exactly the same even though all the circumstances might be different.

My faith and your faith and Paul’s faith are the same faith because our faith is in Christ.

Therefore, even though Paul’s danger of being killed and our danger of being ignored by our spouse are not the same thing we have the same faith in Christ as our help.

Even though Paul’s danger of being killed and our danger of being grounded by our parents or exhausted from caring for a sick family member or picked on by our friends or passed over by that college or downsized in the company or stuck on the bench or persecuted by getting pickles on our hamburger at the fast food joint that we specifically did not order are not the same, we still have the same faith in Christ as our help.

So, how is the power of Paul’s faith in the face of danger the same kind of faith that we can have?

Well, Paul is quoting the words of the Psalmist:

Psalm 116:10

I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.”

What does that mean?

John Newton

Through many dangers,

toils, and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace hath brought me

safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The faith that we believe in and we speak about is proven faith.

Faith that is living in the before and after love of God.

The before love of God that started before the foundations of the world and created us and sent his Son to die for us.

And the after love of God in that we can keep looking back that today is the day after yesterday and God saw us through yesterday and we woke up this morning with brand-new mercy and brand-new compassion and brand-new love and brand-new grace.

Brand-new grace that John Newton said would lead us home.

What does that mean?

Listen to the next thing Paul writes:

14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.

I’m going to read a portion of what Paul wrote in his first letter to the folks at Corinth.

Try to mentally settle into this and listen and chew on and marinate on these words from Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:13

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;

1 Corinthians 15:14

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

 

1 Corinthians 15:15

Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

 

1 Corinthians 15:16-17

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

 

1 Corinthians 15:18

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

 

1 Corinthians 15:19

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

If Easter is not real, then we are ignorant and foolish and this building and this campus and our tithes and our offerings and our missionary support and our church history and your church membership is completely and totally and absolutely worthless.

And we have every reason to be mocked and ridiculed by non-Christians for believing in and following Jesus.

But don’t miss that one little word that Paul kept using – if.

Let those two letters ring for a second in your mind – if.

• If the Son of God was crucified and stayed dead
• If the tomb that Jesus was buried in was not found empty
• If the body of Jesus of Nazareth is still in a cemetery
• If the disciples of Jesus did not meet the risen Jesus
• If the disciples of Jesus did not talk with the risen Jesus
• If the church wasn’t started because of the risen Jesus

You catching the vibe?

You have to work super hard to ignore the biblical, historical, practical and spiritual truth surrounding the realities that cancel out those “if’s”.

Which is why Paul did not leave us swimming in a letter of “if’s”.

Listen to verse 14 again:

1 Corinthians 15:14

…if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

Now listen to verse 20:

1 Corinthians 15:20

But now Christ has been raised from the dead…

• Jesus, the Christ is risen from the dead!
• Jesus, the Christ is alive and seated at the right hand of God!
• Jesus, the Christ will return again just as he has promised!

Are you ready for the return of Jesus?

Are you right with God?

Hours before he was executed by Roman soldiers, Jesus said this to his friends:

John 16:33

In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

Be of good and great cheer and take courage because Jesus has overcome the world!

So what – what does Jesus overcoming the world have to do with your life today?

And maybe more specifically – what does Jesus overcoming the world have to do with your life when things aren’t working in your life?

When we say that Christ is risen from the dead and that he has overcome sin and death we are not promoting some cute Spring fairy tale that gives us a reason to dress in bright clothes one Sunday a year and eat a bucket of chocolate crème eggs.

When we say that Christ is risen from the dead and that he has overcome sin and death we are promoting that Jesus, the Son of God, the very God of very God, truly died on a cross outside of Jerusalem and was truly buried in a tomb and that he was truly alive three days later just as he said!

Christ is risen from the dead and he has overcome the world!

C.S. Lewis

He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so.

Why is everything different?

Listen again to what Paul said:

14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.

Everything is different because trusting in the resurrection of Jesus means that all those “if’s” from Paul are only “if’s”.

• Our preaching is not in vain
• Our faith is not in vain
• Our faith is not worthless
• We are not still in our sins
• Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished
• We have not hoped in Christ in this life only
• We are not to be most pitied by men

Why?

Because Jesus was raised from the dead and those whose who are in Christ will be raised too!

How can we set that down into real life today and this week?

Christina Fox is a wife and mom and counselor and author who has noted that she has struggled with depression her whole life.

How has she found hope for her despair?

How does she fight through her despair and not lose heart?

This is what she says:

Christina Fox

This life is not trouble free. Jesus did not sugarcoat what it means to follow him. Life will be hard. But our hope lies in what Christ has done: he overcame sin and death.

Christina Fox

Jesus took on all our sin, shame, and sorrow at the cross. He bore the weight of our guilt and punishment. He suffered the torment of separation from God that was rightfully ours.

Christina Fox

But because he was sinless, the grave could not hold him. When he rose from the grave he conquered sin and death.

Christina Fox

Through faith in his complete work of redemption, we have the hope of eternal life forever in a place where there will be no more sorrow and tears.

Christina Fox

There’s more. Not only do we have the hope of forever, but we have hope right now. Because of what Jesus accomplished for us, we have been adopted into the family of God.

Christina Fox

He is our Father. We are co-heirs with Christ. All of God’s promises are for us. Depression may come and visit me again. As Jesus said, we will have sorrow in this life. But I know in whom I hope.

Christina Fox

When despair weighs heavy on my heart, I need to “take heart” and remember that Jesus “has overcome the world.”

Christina Fox

And because he overcame the world and conquered sin and death, I know he can resurrect hope in a heart filled with despair.

Dear Christian, when things aren’t working out…

When our hearts are filled with despair…

May the grace of God help us keep looking in the mirror and say a few words to our minds so our eyes can see us do it.

And may the grace of God help us keep shouting a few words to our hearts when we feel overwhelmed with the needs and hurts and pains and sins and evils of this world.

And what are those few words we need to preach to ourselves?

Here they are:

Do not lose heart!

Christ is risen from the dead!

He has overcome the world!

 

 

Dow Welsh | April 7, 2019 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-courage-you-need-in-lifes-uncertainty

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/hope-for-the-despairing-heart

 

 

So have you ever had any trouble with your computer trouble? You computer Dan Rosen Ditch shows a repairman talking to a customer after repairing his computer and the repair mint. Says this to customer. I advised not to eat jelly doughnuts while you're working at your keyboard anymore. Who knew that's sweet jelly falling into the accessory hardware of a computer would mess anything up. Maybe you're the person in your family or at work or among your friends that is always asked to fix the computer, right? You're you're the guy or the gal that's called when something's wrong with the computer. I'm that guy that you just thought I'd give you a fun list that I came across of excuses that you khun start using when you were helping people with their computer. They're not real excuses. They're fake excuses. But there will be fun to use things like this. Yeah, I think your flux capacitor is broken. You're going to have to get that fixed or the Ethernet tubes are leaking or there was a glitch in the matrix. Or you might need to relieve some pressure in the Ethernet hose. If you don't anything about computers. These are only funny toe like five of us. Okay, And then the last one, I think you might have some cable mites. Thank you. Cable likes. There's no such thing, but that's fun in anyone. Just used that. You know, I think my phone's not working. I'Ll bet you got cable nights. See where it goes. Possibly the most annoying thing in the world is when your computer is not working and you ask that person to come over and help you with the computer. And suddenly what happened? It's the computer starts working again, right? Yeah, that's that's really annoying. Now that never happens with me and computers that it has always happened with me and my dad and cars. Always, always. I mean for weeks, my car can sound like there's a band of chipmunks having an eighties hair band reunion inside of my engine. And then my dad will go All that craziness that I've heard for three weeks. My dad, I'll crank it up and it'll it'LL purr like a kitten, you know, like like nothing has ever happened. You know, never been there where where you asked me to come Help and whatever was broken suddenly works again. You know, sometimes our computers don't work. Sometimes our cars don't work. And sometimes life doesn't work right? Sometimes things feel so out of whack and our life We just feel like we're about to lose our minds. And sometimes things are so difficult in our lives that we really do just start to completely lose heart. Does it mean to lose heart? Well, it means that all of a sudden you lose courage. You become so deeply discouraged that you lose courage and you lose confidence. You lose a sense of purpose. And you don't just lose something. You gain something, you gain an attitude of pessimism. You gain a demoralized attitude. You gain a defeated attitude. That's what losing heart will do. So what can you do? What can you do when you lose heart? The Apostle Paul he was saved when he was about thirty years old. Got saved him. He began to follow Jesus. And for the next thirty years of his life, he was beaten. He was tortured. He was imprisoned. He was shipwrecked. He was left for dad over and over and over again. For thirty years, he experienced pain. He experience unimaginable stress, all because he loved and proclaimed and followed Jesus. Paul's life seemed to never be working. There was never anything that was ever going right. The Apostle Paul should have been the most pessimistic person, the most demoralized person, the most defeated person that any of us have ever heard about. But he wasn't Paul had reason after reason after reason. Tto lose heart. He should've woke up every single morning and immediately lost heart just because of his life. But he didn't. Why? Well, let's see if we can find out. Listen to second Corinthians, Chapter four, beginning with verse eleven, Paul writes, For We who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Paul is basically repeating the Senate's that he just used and why do we repeat things when I was in seminary used to go to this one Mexican restaurant downtown and and Wake Forest, and there's a super cool waiter there that I can always try to get his table. When he would bring the food over, he would set it down. He say, amigo, how Play Hot plate, Hot plate every single time. Three times He said hot plate. Now, why would he do that? Well, he didn't want me to burn myself. Now, we we warn people of things. We repeat things because we want them to know. Hey, this is important. This is a warning. You really need to pay attention to that parents water. We repeat things to our kids. Well, we repeat things to our kids because we're not really sure if they're hearing is working through the *** of ear in the night of Fort. You know, we just we just don't know if they're actually really hearing anything that we're saying. We repeat things because we're not sure if people heard this the first time. Jesus. He actually strategically repeated something over and over again. And he repeated, just like this one word. And that word is truly over and over again. And the gospel of John, We see Jesus saying, truly, truly, Here's Here's just one of those places. John, Chapter six, Verse forty seven. Truly, truly. I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. The word for truly in the original language has this idea of a firsthand knowledge. So Jesus isn't just tossing out some spiritual chicken soup for your soul. Okay, he is saying from firsthand knowledge. He's saying, What I'm about to say to you is coming from heaven like it's coming from me through heaven to you. So you really need to listen. This is important. And there he says, what he who believes has eternal life, he who believes in keeps believing, has eternal life. That's that's important. So, Paul, does it seem to be repeating something as a warning. He doesn't seem to be repeating something because they weren't paying attention the first time. It seems that the idea is he's repeating something because it's really important. It's something that they need to listen to. And what is he repeating? Well, he's repeating that every single day of his life he faces death for the gospel. Every single day of his life, he wakes up with the stress of knowing that that might be the day that he's killed for his faith. Dying for his faith was a daily reality for Paul, and not just for Paul, but really, for most of the people that were part of the early church, Stephen Neale once wrote this. Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life. Kim patches. Hey, we we'd love you to come join our church. By the way, you might have to die. If you ever tell anybody, you go to our church. And yet that was pattern of life. But again, why is Paul repeating that? Why's Paul repeating that he might in testifying to his faith lose his life? We're the reason he was doing is because he was very passionately believing that it was worth it. He believed that everything about Jesus made it worth it, that every morning when he woke up facing death, it was worth it. Why Paul said it was worth it because Jesus was going to be manifested. Does that mean what means that Paul, When he got up every day, he he knew that he was risking his life to preach and teach and share the gospel. But he also knew that in doing that that people were going to hear about Jesus and some of those people might get saved. And so that became worth all of it. And Paul would go to bed at night and say, Boy, this was rough Almost almost was killed today for the Gospel. But you know what? If I could do that again tomorrow and somebody could be saved and I'll do it all over again in the morning, can't wait. He had every reason to lose heart because he faced death all day long every day. It never went away, But he didn't lose heart. And if he did lose heart it it seemed that he quickly grabbed the gospel paddles and and shocked his heart back out of losing heart. It seemed that Paul found a lot of joy and what it means to be say, it seems, that he couldn't get over the simple reality that Jesus, the son of God, the very Godof very Goddess Spurgeon said that that Jesus loved him. Jesus loved him. How much to Jesus love, Paul? This is what he's saying in Galatians Chapter two, Verse twenty Pulse is the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Paul couldn't shake that. Jesus loved him and died for him. And Paul couldn't shake that because Jesus loved him because Jesus died for him. He should probably talk about that. He couldn't shake that. He needed to sell everybody. He could that Jesus saves. And I am so glad that Paul got up every morning and faced death for his faith to tell people about Jesus. Why am I so glad? Listen to what he writes next. Verse twelve. So death works in us, but life And you? Paul was being beaten. He was being tortured. He was being in prison. He was facing death all day, every day. Because even though he had not met me, he was courageously convinced that I needed to hear the gossip. Please don't ever underestimate that this brown skinned Middle Eastern death Define man is the only reason you're a Christian. See, he did not want the costal to stay where it was because he was too great and it was too grand. And it was two glorious. It had to get out. What about us? What we're facing so that other people could hear the gospel. Paul faced death so that people like me and you could be saved. What what are we facing so that other people could be saved? Timothy Brubaker is a Christian educator and leadership trainer and Rwanda. He writes about a place in southwest Rwanda that since nineteen forty two, a lot of missionaries go to at least annually just for a time of retreat and renewal. And in that area in the Southwest there is a cliff, and that cliff overlooks this lake. And sometime years ago, some previous missionaries took a very long slab of wood, and they stuck it on the edge of that cliff, and they call it the plank, and the plank sits out about thirty feet above the lake. And Brubaker said that many times he has gone and walked out to the plank, and his younger children behind him are cheering him and jeering him along toe tried out jump off. But as of a couple of years ago, he still had not jumped off. But he did share how his friend Jeff handles the plank Sweetie rights. Jeff steps onto the plank, walks a few paces, pulls himself up into an overhanging tree, climbs even higher turns backward and launches into a backflip as he springs out over the water. There's always that guy, right? Brubaker goes on to say this. This is a picture of how I want to live, not carelessly but confidently springing with confidence into every situation that the Lord brings into my life. You know, we probably all need us. Christians are a little more of Jeff's confidence. It's in our life when it comes to making sure that we're facing something so that people can be saved so that people can know that Jesus saves Paul saying Here, look, I know I might be killed today in this town. That might happen. But you know what? It's a fair trade If I get killed today, fair trade. If I get to make sure that they hear the gospel before I'm killed, that's crazy talk, right? I mean, this is this is very strange and very weird. And and why would would Paul talk like that? Why would Paul feel like that when he talked that way? And he felt that way because Jesus loved him and gave himself up for him. That was the on ly fuel that Paul's life ran on. Paul was pressed. He was stressed. He was perplexed. He was persecuted. He was struck down. But he was never crushed under the weight of any of those things. Why? Because he was saved. You're saved. He was saved and people were being saved. I've been pressed this week. I've been stressed this week. I've been perplexed this week and I'm thinking some of y'All have too. But if we've truly surrender to Jesus Christ, weaken be pressed and stressed and perplex weaken be struck down. But the very nature of what it means to be in Christ the very nature of what it means to be surrendered to Christ means this. We can't be crushed. We can't be crushed. Why? Because Jesus loved you and gave himself up for you. Now you might be thinking that sounds like good theology, But But you don't know what I'm going through. That sounds like neat stuff for for some guy back in Bible times. But I mean, it's two thousand nineteen. I need something for real. For now. Listen. It pulses next in verse thirteen, but having the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed therefore I spoke. We also believe, therefore, we also speak processes that the same spirit of faith. But what does that mean? But this is probably a number of applications I'm just going to use to this morning. And the first is looking back at his letter to the folks at Glacier in Galatians, Chapter three verse to Paul asked him a question, and he ask it with what feels like a hint of sarcasm. This is this is what he asked. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? It's like what Paul is saying is this Did the spirit of God take up residence in your heart because you followed some religious rules and some religious ceremonies? Is that how the spirit of God got in your heart? Did the spirit of God take up residence and your heart simply because you prayed a sinner's prayer and sign the card at the church and got baptized? Is that is that how the spirit of God came into your or to the spirit of God come into your life because God pursued you with the gospel and you believe by faith in the gospel and you are trusting and Jesus as your only hope. That's what he's asking. In other words, the only way a person is saved by grace alone, through faith alone through Christ alone. And so don't don't miss the math here if all of us come to Christ in the same exact way. In other words, if if we all come to faith in Christ by faith in Christ, then that means we all have the exact same faith, even though we're not all in the exact same circumstances. Paul's faith and my faith in your favorites. It's the same faith because that faith is in Christ. It's in Christ too. So how does that flush out? Well, Pole, he was in danger of being killed for his faith. Okay, unless there's something I don't know, most of us don't wake up to that. So So Paul, he was in danger of being killed for his faith. We're in danger of being ignored by our spouse. Okay, not really the same thing. Okay, But it's the same faith in Christ that we have to help. May I think through all the moments of life you know, Paul, he's he's in danger of being killed for his faith. And, you know, we're We're in danger of being grounded by our parents. You know, we're in danger of being exhausted by caring for a sick family member. We're in danger of having that college pass over us. We're we're in danger of having the company down sauces. We're in danger of being stuck in the fast food place with pickles that we didn't order, you know, having to figure out what in the world we're going to do. So we have different dangers. But here's the thing. We still have the same faith in Christ to help. It's it's not a different faith. And supposing you we got We have the same faith in Christ. It's the same. It's the same power. And so how is the same powerful faith that Paul had to survive waking up to death every day, death for his faith? How in the world does that have anything to do with us today? Well, Paul's quoting the words of the psalmist here, someone sixteen Burstyn, I believed when I said I am greatly afflicted, So Paul saying we we believed and we spoke because we were afflicted. No. How does that kind of make a connection with our minds? I'm going to ask John Newton to kind of help us think through what it means that we believe because we were afflicted. This is what you write through many dangers through many toils through many snares. I've already come. I've already come. His grace hath brought me safe thus far through all of those dangers, tolls and snares and it will be grace that will lead me home. See, the faith that we're talking about believing in is proven faith. It's it's not fluffy faith. It's it's proven faith. It's faith that has experienced the before and after love of God, the before love of God, meaning that before the foundations of the world, God loved us before the foundations of the world. God created a plan to create us before the foundations of the world. God created a plan to save us, so there's before love. And then there's after thie after love of God means this. But today is the day after yesterday and yesterday God saw us through the dangers and the toils and the snares. And this morning his mercy was brand new. His grace was brand new. His compassion was brand new and that Grace and that mercy in that compassion will lead us home. What kind of home are we talking about? Listen, what Paul writes next, there's fourteen knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. I'm going to read from Paul's first letter to the folks in Corrin. First Corinthians fifteen. I'MA start with Verse thirteen and read through nineteen, and then we're going to jump down to twenty in just a moment. But I want you just kind of fiddle in for a second and try to chew on this and and marinate on these things that Paul saying Okay, first Corinthians fifteen, beginning with verse thirteen. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised first fourteen. And if Christ has not been raised than our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we're even found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise. If in fact, the dead are not raised for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. Then those also have fallen asleep in Christ. They've perished, if we have hoped. And Christ in this life only we are of all men, most to be pitied. I'm going to try to connect this to the next few weeks. If Easter is not really then we're ignorant and foolish people. And this building in this campus and our ties and our offerings and our support of missionaries and your church membership is completely and absolutely worthless. And non Christians have every reason to Marcus and ridicule us for believing in and following Jesus. Don't miss that one little word that Paul used over and over again. Just just those two letters. If if pulse is if the Son of God was crucified and stayed dead if the tomb that Jesus was buried in was not empty, if the body of Jesus is still in a cemetery. If the disciples of Jesus never met the risen Jesus, if the disciples of Jesus never talked to the risen Jesus, if the church was not started because of the risen Jesus. You get the vibe here of the ifs, so you have to work super hard to ignore the biblical and historical and practical and spiritual truth surrounding the realities that cancel out those ifs. She pulled. It wants to stay in the ifs. He didn't want to write a letter about ifs. So he did listen to verse fourteen again. And then we're going to jump twenty if Christ has not been raised than our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. And the first twenty. But now Christ has been raised from the dead. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Jesus Christ is alive and he's seated at the right hand of God. The tomb is empty and Jesus is coming again. Justice, he said, Are you ready? Are you ready for the return of Jesus? Or are things right between you and God? A few hours before he was executed by Roman soldiers, Jesus said this to his friends John, sixteen. Thirty three. In the world you have tribulation but take courage. I have overcome the world. Beef could cheer be of great year. Take courage Jesus says I have overcome the world. But so what? What does that have to do with you? And maybe more specifically, what does it have to do with you when your life is not working? Right? What does Jesus overcoming the world have to do with you when everything is falling apart and your life isn't going the way you want it to go? When we say that Christ is risen from the dead and that he has overcome sin and death were not promoting some cute spring holiday where we can all dress up in pretty clothes for one Sunday of the year and eat a bucket of chocolate cream eggs. Now, Chuck, cream eggs is fantastic. I'm all about that, right? No. When we say that Jesus has risen from the dead and that he has overcome sin and death, what we're saying is we are promoting Jesus, the son of God, the very gods of very God. And we're promoting that he truly lived and he truly died. And he was truly buried in a tomb. And then three days later, he was truly alive. And that he has risen and he is alive right now. Christ is risen from the dead and he is over. Come your world. He's ever come your despair. He's overcome your depression. He's overcome the evil and the sin in your world. Just listen this He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met fault and beaten the king of death. Everything is different because he has done so. Why is everything different? What? Why is everything different because of this Easter story? Listen again, What Paul said knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. Everything is different because trusting in the Easter story trusting in the resurrection of Jesus means that all of those ifs by Paul are only ifs. It means that our preaching is not in vain. It means that our faith is not in vain. It means that our faith is not worthless. It means we are not still in our sins. Is that when you need to own the resurrection of Jesus means that right now I am a sinful husband and I am a sinful father and I'm a sinful pastor and I'm a sinful son. I'm just a sinful dude all the way around. But because of Jesus Christ, I am not in my since my sin is not being held over me. That doesn't mean Mastin is okay. It just means that when I stand before God, I will hear the words not guilty. Because Jesus has overcome the world. Because Christ is risen from the death, it means those who have fallen asleep in Christ they have not pierced. It means that we have not hoped in Christ and this sanctuary on Lee. And it means because Jesus is risen because he has overcome sin and death. It means we're not to be most pitied by the people of the world. It means that we should have pity and sympathy and empathy own the world because we are victorious. Jesus was raised from the dead and those who were in Christ, they will be raised two. It's not hokey theology. It is a guarantee based on an empty tomb and a risen savior. So how can we sit that down into real life a little bit? How can we set that up down into end of this week days, April seventh, two thousand nineteen. How do we take this theology and put it into our life today? Christina Fox is a wife and mom, counselor and author, and she has said by her own admission that she has struggled with depression her whole life, her whole life. That's where you all here. There was that me. I was like right that I was like, Man, I got a cooze, Man, this part's going to be really cool here in just a second. Great Christina Fox says this about how she deals with losing heart, how she deals with despair. This life is not trouble free. Jesus did not sugarcoat what it means to follow him. Life will be hard, but our hope lies in what Christ has done. He overcame sin and death. Jesus took on all our sin, shame and sorrow at the cross. He bore the weight of our guilt and punishment. He suffered the torment of separation from God that was rightfully ours. But because he was sinless, the grave could not hold him. When he rose from the grave, he conquered sin and death through faith and his complete work of redemption. We have the hope of eternal life forever in a place where there will be no more sorrow and tears. But then she goes on, there's more. Not only do we have the hope of forever, but we have hope right now because of what Jesus accomplished for us. We have been adopted into the family. Oh God, he is our father. We are co heirs with Christ. All of God's promises are for us, just for us. They're here for us. And she says this depression may come and visit me again. As Jesus said, We will all have sorrow in this life. But I know in whom I hope and what does that do? She tells us when despair weighs heavy on my heart, I need to take heart way. We lose heart. That's great, because we did take heart. I need to take heart and remember that Jesus has overcome the world so light, she tells us. And because he overcame the world and conquered sin and death, I know he can resurrect hope in ah, heart filled with despair. Dear Christian, When things were not going right in life, when your heart is full of despair, may God give us the grace toe, look in the mirror and say a few words so we can see it with our own eyeballs that the's words exist. And may God in his grace give us the strength to shout to our hearts in the middle of the moments that were overwhelmed with the needs and the Hertz and the pains and the sins and the evils of this world. And what are those few words that we need to say in the mirror? What are those few words that we need to shout when we're feeling overwhelmed? What are those few words that we need to preach to ourselves? He hears those words. Do not lose heart. Christ. It's risen from the dead. He has overcome the world. Do not lose heart. Christ is risen from the dead. He has overcome the world.