This is a post written really to my single brothers in Christ (because I found the following status update on a friend’s FB page).  But, girls – ladies, I pray that you would pray for your brothers in Christ that they would treat their sisters in Christ as just that – sisters in Christ.

Here was a recent FB post on a believer’s FB page:

(so on Saturday I called up my ex-girlfriend)

her:  what do you want?

me:  it’s hot, and I miss your icy stares, your cold shoulder, and your generally frosty demeanor.

 

I know, it is st a joke Kim, but seriously – this isn’a type of joking that should come from Christian brothers – the Bible says to not let any coarse joking come out of your mouths (Eph 5:4)

Brothers, friends:

1.  I don’t know of too many women who desire to be joked about like this, to their faces or behind their backs.

2.  This kind of joking does nothing to build up the body of Christ (Eph 4:29)

3.  This would definitely not be the kind of joking that would be gracious to tell your wife in marriage, so why have the practice now as a single guy.

4.  Men who are married, please lead your single brothers to treat and think of women better than this.

I am married to a gracious man who never once joked with me like this – that is one of many reasons I knew he was marriage material.  He was respectful of me from day one.

Ok – rant over!  Back to your regularly scheduled blogging already in progress!

I am certain that these notes will not do this workshop justice; it was so rich with the grace and wisdom that come only from years of serving in the trenches of ministry.~Bekah

Paige Benton Brown: Relationships Required

She recommends Paul Tripp’s book, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, for a fuller explanation of much of what she discusses today.

This can be considered a General Directory for Ministry: The Christian-to-person ministry to which God calls all of us.

**There should be no relationships that are not ministry.

I. Person: Christ
How do we minister Christ to people?

1. “He is the journey and the journey’s end.” Boetheus.
Those who have the Son have life, and it doesn’t matter what else you have. If you don’t have the Son, you don’t have life.
If we are not ministering Christ to one another, we are not ministering at all.

HE is the Content of all ministry.
HE is the Cause of all ministry.

Ministry is not ours, it is Christ’s.
We are not results people. We are responsibility people.

We have a responsibility to be faithful and obey. The results of that are the responsibility of the God who sends us.
God uses our weakness. Why does God use us at all? His passion is for his people. He not only lavishes you with grace, He allows you to participate. As we minister, we learn and grow and mature. He allows us to participate because He knows it’s what’s best for us. 

See Philemon 6.

II. People:
He sends the Gospel to people wrapped up in people.

You can’t just be great with people, you have to be great with persons. Individuals.

“Let him love the Church. Just don’t let him see the faces.” Screwtape knew that we can get so busy “doing ministry” for people that we completely miss the genuine ministry to the person.

III. Posture:
Do ministry in the name of Christ. We work for him, belong to him and stand in his stead.

We must have his heart and mind. We must be full of grace AND truth.

The will of God for your life in one word: Christlikeness.

IV. Pathways: There are two basic pathways of ministry…
Public: Some are called and equipped to minister in a public capacity. This may be seen more.

Personal: All are called to minister in this capacity. But this is more intense.
Both are needed.

Proclamation and Conversation. Some are called to public proclamation, but all are called to and gifted for the personal relationship pathway. We have been given Christ and have been given persons. It is our job to be an ambassador of Him to them.

The public is not more important than the personal gifts and responsibilities.

People have the greatest influence on one another, but when someone comes to us with a struggle, we want to give people a book or take them to an event.

Don’t ask “For what am I responsible?” Instead ask “For whom am I responsible?”
Not just what they need or what they know, but who they are.

Personal relationships are an irreplaceable vehicle for God’s grace to individual.

Consequential necessity, according to the sovereignty of God.

We must be involved with people!

Don’t be so busy with PEOPLE that you are no longer ministering to PERSONS.

This is not a program or a group, but discipleship LIFESTYLE of ongoing personal ministry. And it is messy.

Don’t be like the Energizer Bunny by valuing the activity without considering the direction. When you spend time investing in individuals, where are you going?

Five Progressive Aspects of a Personal Relational Ministry Trajectory. In ANY relationship.

I. Initiating: Everything about God’s relationship with us is His initiative. He is the initiator. As His ambassadors, we move towards people. Jesus never told His disciples to “be available.” He told them to “Go.” Initiate people as people and not as players in your church or ministry. Get to know them for them and not for what they can do for you.
a. Obvious: Who is immediately around you? Don’t look for new people, look at the same people with new eyes.
Jesus sent Legion and the Woman at the Well back to their people. New testimony with the same people.
Look at your relationships you would have anyway. Are they radically different relationships different because of Christ? Not just interaction, but involvement.
b. Unobvious: Not just available to them, but actively pursuing them. Leaving the 99 for the one who will never come on their own. The ones who are gonna need it most are the ones who will never approach you.
Who needs to be approached who will never approach anyone else?

We are in the service of a Seeking Savior. He does not hang a shingle, but is the Hound of Heaven.

Summary of the Fall: Good things never “just happen.” We don’t wait, we don’t pray and make ourselves available and willing. We go.

2. Investing:  Involvement is often involuntary. Investment is voluntary. We are trying to figure out what “they” think about God. We enter into relationships trying to figure out if they’re going to be compatible. BUT what matters is what God thinks about them. And he thinks they are worth the investment.

1 Thess 2: Paul shared not only the Gospel, but his life as well. We show value by sharing the lives of other.

The foundation of ministry is not theology. It is love. Romans 8:38-39

It starts with His love for people. We can never say, “I just can’t love this person.”
We enter into their world to show that we love them.

Beware of Liabilities that Damage True Ministry:
1.The liability of technological counterfeits and distractions: The Internet is Social, NOT Relational. And not knowing the difference is devastating.

People want to express themselves, but they have no relationships in which they are safe enough to share. Be wise.

2. The liability of groups: Having a great community group is NOT the same as having great relationships. Be able to tell about the persons in your group and not just your group. Be in relationship with the individuals in your group.

3. The liability of fitting in: There is no ministerial way to sin. Do not compromise your integrity and Christ’s witness for a chance to be accepted.

Don’t reject the “wild” the categories. Be there.  IOW– Don’t reject someone or assume they aren’t interested in relationship with you or with Christ because they have a “wild” reputation. Even the wildest of party girls does more than drink excessively or sleep around. Who are the WHOLE people that we are loving? Get to know her and not just her reputation.

Follow His heart to the people and your heart will follow.

Investing in the lives of others will rearrange your life. We have to go all the way to people, and it will not be easy.

Sometimes we have to crawl in there and sit with them.

3. Investigation: How well do I know them? 
We are not getting to know people to see if we will love them. We are getting to know them BECAUSE we have committed to knowing and loving them.

A. Digging: Knowing theological truths about ALL people is not the same as knowing the individual. Ask, don’t assume. Ask and ask and ask and then listen and listen and listen. Know the facts about their lives. But the facts alone are not enough. Know the facts and know what they feel about them. Get beyond the first impression and ask followup questions.

Don’t jump to conclusions based on your experience. Look for them, the person. Don’t go looking for anything other than THEM, the heart.

Be willing to talk about what matters to them. We have to listen to find out what matters.

Not “Talk about something that matters.” but “Talk about whatever because YOU matter.”

When helping others learn to minister, give them questions to ask, not answers to give.

There are no kinds of people. There are just people.

B. Diagnosing: Do the digging, but also diagnose. If you just dig, you’re just nosy.

Figure out what’s really going on. People are not self-aware. You’re identifying with them.
4. Illustrating: They have every right to investigate us. They won’t know they’re doing it, but they’re looking at us to see Christ.

Are our lives teaching truth as much as our words?

His honor is attached to EVERYTHING that we think and say. Everything. We don’t get to say to people, “Only watch me on these days.”

Are our lives reinforcing what they know about Scripture, or are they eroding the Gospel?

5. Intervening: Often, when we have shown we care, when we have earned trust, we are invited into the situation. We will have the opportunity to intervene.

**I had to leave Paige’s workshop as she began to quickly explain this last point further, so I do not have notes past this. If you attended and were able to stay for the end, please add to this in the comments.

Don Carson

 

Revelation 21 and 22

 

This sermon is bound to be a review. Revelation 21 and 22 reference themes from throughout the Bible. Revelation rarely quotes the OT, but nearly every verse alludes to it.

 

The symbolism in apocalyptic writing seems strange to us, almost science fiction. Why did God choose to disclose huge chunks of Scripture to us in this form?

Imagine attempting to explain electricity to a pre-Stone Age tribe in Papua New Guinea. You would simply attempt to explain what it does, but they have no categories into which to put this information.

In the same way, how would we talk about the throne room of God? He uses symbolism because we are so without the vocabulary and categories with which to describe them. The symbolism opens the doors to the categories with which we can discuss the glory of the Father.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Sometimes we misunderstand this. Not guard your heart, choose your treasure. Whatever your treasure is, that’s where your heart will go.

If we are to treasure the new heaven and new earth, then we must hold a high evaluation of our destiny. We don’t treasure heaven much because we don’t have a right understanding of what the Bible actually says about heaven. There are no puffy clouds and harps. White night gowns don’t suit my complexion. This is not where I want to go.

But in Scripture, there is a multitude of descriptions of Heaven.

Hard work, challenges we cannot conceive. But FUN! Happiness! Not resting on clouds, knowing all things. We will not be omniscient. We will not know everything, but will have a new level of learning. If it takes me a million years to learn Mandarin, who cares?

1. What is New? (21:1-8)
   1. New Heaven and Earth, New Jerusalem
   2. Images are from Isaiah 65-66 and 2 Peter 3 and
   3. There was no more sea… Not hydrological statement, theological. The utter destruction of the end of chaos and muck and mire.
   4. Jerusalem, the city of the great king, the home of the Temple. This is a social vision. God has already gathered His people as the New Jerusalem. Cities represent the best and worst of humanity.
      1. “A Tale of Two Cities: The Harlot and the Bride.” There is a bifurcation of humanity, but at the end, there is only the New Jerusalem.
      2. The city is like a bride…
      3. God will dwell with them! All of the same language is used, pointing forward from the Old Covenant, in the terms of the New Covenant, coming to fulfillment.
      4. What does it mean? “He will wipe every tear from their eyes… for the old order of things has passed away.” This is not how it is now, but how it will be. The old order has been cursed with sin, despite all of the mediating grace of God, we are still under the curse. But after the earth is melted away, that is gone.
      5. I can’t imagine the pain and tears and horror represented by 3,800 women. But then… there will be no more tears, for the old order has passed away.
      6. What will no longer be there? Death and sorrow and decay. But what will be there?
         1. Isaiah 35– Everlasting joy and gladness.
         2. Revelation 7–
         3. 1 Corinthians 15– real connection, but spectacularly different.

This is weighty. Every phrase seems to hold a pause for us to consider the words and work addressed.

When Christ says, “It is finished,” on the cross, the wrath of God is satisfied. But that does not mean there is no more struggle. Satan knows his time is short, and he is filled with fury. We wrestle against powers of darkness because of this.

We have enjoyed in taste and anticipation the grace of the Gospel, but now we enjoy in consummation. He says, “It is done…”

Now he promises water for those who thirst: Isaiah 55 fulfilled. It is without cost for those who receive it, but it was not without cost for him who provided it.

21:7– He will be my son… Important symbolism which flows throughout the Bible. The identity and heritage is passed along from father to son. The son follows in the footsteps of the Father. We learn from our fathers. Son of God language is remarkable, because it indicates that the son is following in the footsteps of the Father. Now, there are no caveats; to the one who overcomes, I will be his father and he will be my son. Those who have overcome will so perfectly reflect God and His restored image that we will be like Him in every way we were created to be so.

We are His sons now, through adoption, but at this point, we haven’t been in the family long enough to reflect the family. We will look like the Father. No more apologies, no more tension.

As far as I can see in Scripture, there is no indication anywhere that people in Hell genuinely repent. The rich man and Lazarus. Still ordering around Lazarus from Hell and arguing with Abraham. Hell is full of people still shaking their fists at God. There are no friends in Hell. Get a bunch of sinners together with no common grace and all you have is back biting and division and jealousy and destruction.

Compared to this, the New Heaven and New Earth is polarized and beautiful.

What is symbolic about the New Jerusalem? (21: 9-21)

John focuses in on specific elements of the symbolism. Just as in Chapter 5 the Lion IS the Lamb, in Chapter 21, the Bride IS the City.

“I’m going to show you the bride…” and John is taken to a high mountain and shown a city. There are word pictures, not paintings. They would be laughable in mural form. They are word pictures that you’re not supposed to paint.

Marriage supper of the Lamb is a typology found throughout Scripture.

Apostasy= Adultery in the OT and NT. Ezekiel 16 and 23, Hosea…

Look to the details of the Lion that is the Lamb that is the Son that is the Bridegroom marrying the Bride that is the Church that is the City…

Intimacies and joys, even in marriage, is merely a picture of the rapturous intimacy to come between Christ and the Church.

If you are single, 50 billion years from now, the thought, “I was robbed,” will never occur to you. Your intimacy with Christ will completely overshadow all intimacy here.

It is a city, God providing. God supremely manifests Himself. Sparkling, refracted light. Stop and consider. Scripture is trying to find something to help us understand the brilliance of God’s glory.

Twelve Gates, 12 Tribes of Israel.

Twelve Foundations, 12 Apostles

12,000 Stadia= 1,400 miles

City built like a cube. There’s only one cube in the OT. The Holy of Holies.

This cannot be confused with the Jerusalem in the Middle East. The city of the great king, come down from heaven. Now the entire city is the holy place. No separated courts. The new city is the whole place the Lord dwells. Massive and room enough for all.

12 Tribes, 12 Apostles… 12 x 12= 144, completed family of God. All the people of God brought together.

What is missing from this City? 

1. 22- No Temple. The whole city is the most holy place. There is no mediating structure necessary. God is THERE.
2. 23- No sun or moon.
3. 25- No night.
4. 25- No gate

What is present in this city? 

Tree of Life. Leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Water of Life.

The Beatific Vision– The Blessed Vision of the Blessed One. We will see his face.

In Isaiah 6, the seraphim could not see His face. Isaiah cannot describe him. Ezekiel’s description of the chariot is incredibly detailed, but the one who sits upon it is indescribable. But we will see His face.

The culmination of everything is not to see loved ones gone before. It is to see God. Every picture, every taste we have of glory is to see His face.

This book ends in spectacular invitation. And so do we. “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

I deserve this lake of fire, but I long for the New city. I believe, help my unbelief.

Kathleen Nielsen

Scripture, when read rightly, will lead us to worship.

Revelation 4

Where?

There are a few different answers to this question.

We’re at the end of the Bible. The consummation of Scripture. Sometimes Revelation is so difficult for us because we don’t know the well the rest of the Bible. There are threads that run throughout the Bible that gather here.

We’re in the midst of persecution. The work of Nero, John is on Patmos. There is persecution and more to come. Understanding this helps us understand the purpose. Not just to give us answers about the end times, but to encourage the Church to persevere to the end.

We’re linked in to a blessed chained of recipients of this Word. Jesus is the subject and receiver and deliverer of the Revelation.
God is the initiator, to Christ, to an angel, to God’s servant John, to the church… The chain stretches far back to God and stretches forward all the way to us.

How do we know? The number seven represents perfect completeness. There are seven actual churches, but they represent the Church as a whole.

We are linked in to the source Himself.

We are blessed this morning as we are privileged to receive this Word!

We’re in Heaven! John hears the trumpet like verse of Jesus. John, in the Spirit, enters a door and sees the throne of God. Unlike Paul, John was given the words to describe this place to us. Heaven is not a far away, distant place. It’s just through a door, on the other side of the threshold. Men have been given opportunity to see this invisible reality in certain times throughout Scripture.
Apocalypse– unveil hidden realities. Both what is taking place right now and what happens in the future.

Who?

God, sitting on His throne. Apocalyptic literature speaks through pictures. We must ask What? first. Symbolic word pictures don’t distill our understanding but expand it. In heaven we can mix our metaphors and it doesn’t matter! These pictures that we recognize are put together in ways we don’t recognize so that we can wrestle through and ponder on them. Like a children’s picture book expands the mind of the toddler, so this expands our minds.
Throne: What does the throne represent? The throne is in the center. Everything exists in reference to the throne.  Mentioned 17 times in Chapters 4 and 5.

Six Layers surrounding and describing God:
Precious Stones: throughout Scripture. From Ex. 28 to Rev. 21. Precious Stones reflect. Natural stones, not cut and polished like today. They Shine forth God’s majesty.
Rainbow: Also reflects and displays God’s majesty. From Noah to now, God’s promise.
But they are not Jasper or rainbows… they “appear.” Still distant. The pictures must make due until we see Him face to face.
Flashing lightening and peals of thunder:
Seven Torches of Fire: 7 Spirits of God, the Holy Spirit
As it were, a sea of glass:
Four Creatures: Reflect most dramatically the being of the Lord God.
verse 8: What do all of these Layers tell us about God? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

24 Elders: Do they reflect earthly reality, or does earth reflect heavenly reality. Revelation is like a spiritual Copernican revolution, with Heaven as the center. We recall Solomon’s Temple, but it is a ‘likeness’ of Heaven. Earth is not the center of the universe. We see copies of heavenly things. We are to understand Heaven through the pictures we see on earth. They are all “other”

Why? Worship. verse 10. This is the only response to the scene which is revealed to us.
When? Now. Now then, now now.

Chapter 5:

Where? Same place.

What? The Scroll, heavenly book, rolled up, completely and perfectly sealed up. There is a drama unfolding with this crisis. No one is worthy to open the scroll! Why does John weep loudly at the prospect of the scroll remaining unopened? Look to the rest of Scripture.
The scroll in Ezekiel and the scroll in Daniel. Unfolding human history at the decree of God.
Writing on both sides of the scroll. Every last space was required for God’s decrees for the unfolding of human history. If the scroll would not open, human history could not unfold at God’s decree. What if there is no larger purpose for the days in which we live? John weeps at the prospect of a universe separated from its Creator.

Who? Jesus. But not called Jesus. Described in pictures: Lion of Judah, Root of David, Lamb standing as though it has been slain. Not a lion and then a lamb. Not a lion and a lamb. But the lion IS the lamb. When this time comes and the whole history of humanity is at stake, all things rest on a lamb that dies. The Gospel is the message of the cross.

Chapters 4 and 5 must go together! The Creator worshiped in 4 must go with the Redeemer worshiped in 5. Just like the lion and the lamb. One is not replaced with the other. We must have both in God.

When? Now. This is heaven now. Not a permanent state. A now in motion, moving history to its consummation.

Why? What’s the point of all of this? Worship, this time with the full drama of redemption being revealed. With the redemption of God’s people from every tribe and nation, worship can be joined by even us. Not just the creatures and 24 elders, but the saints and the children of God!

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Be careful that the Gospel never becomes so commonplace that we become stale.

Good theology should always lead to doxology and transformation!

How have you seen God in a new light? How have you been given a fresh vision of God this weekend?

How does that vision shed light on the path that you are now walking?

“The supreme need in a time of distress is a fresh vision of God.” G. Campbell Morgan

Matthew 17

In context:

Mt. 16:15 Who do people say that I am?
People thought highly of Jesus, but saw Him as one among many. Many thought He was a prophet, back from the dead.

Verse 21: There is first humiliation.  Jesus begins to reveal to them His coming suffering.

Then there is exaltation: Raised from the dead.

Peter’s theology, like the rest of the Jews, does not include room for a suffering servant.

Peter wants exaltation without humiliation, glorification without suffering, a crown without the cross.

But God uses death to bring life. There is no glory without suffering.

v. 24 Now, not only must He suffer, they must suffer.

But the pathway doesn’t END at the cross! Humiliation is followed by exaltation. It is true of Christ and it will be true of His followers.

v. 28 There are a select few who get a preview of the Kingdom in the next chapter. The Transfiguration is a foretelling of the glory of the King!

The Trans. takes place where Jesus went to pray. And the biggest revelations of God rarely happen in a crowd…

This all prepares them for the coming suffering and glory. Imagine them going through the suffering of Gethsemane without the glory of the Transfiguration. They could have been disillusioned. Or if they went to the Transfiguration and never experienced Gethsemane. They could have been overly exalted. They had to experience both, and Jesus was with them in BOTH.

Moses’s face was covered in glory so that he had to wear a veil, but even Jesus’ clothes were transfigured.

This was not a spotlight shining on Jesus. This glory shone from the inside out. For a moment, the veil was lifted and His glory was made visible to human eyes.

“This was not a new miracle, but the cessation of an ongoing miracle. The real miracle was that Jesus was able to cover His glory.”

What do those men who were with Him refer to Him?

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.”

Elijah and Moses reminded us that those who have gone on before. They are still alive! Moses representing, perhaps, those who have died before, and Elijah representing those who are caught up in the body.

What did they talk about?

Jesus’s departure, His Exodus. (Fitting that He would be talking to Moses about this)

The death of Christ, followed by his resurrection and ascendance. Through which God would deliver His people from the slavery of death! The picture is complete!

Cf. Luke 9– Moses and Elijah showed up while the disciples were dozing off. How could they sleep? First here and then in Gethsemane?

How do we sleep spiritually when God is working around us?

Peter knew this was significant, and he wanted to capture the moment. Had he already forgotten what Jesus had told him about His coming death? Or was he trying to prevent it? It was not time to stay there. Yet.

Why go back to the multitude below, where there was misery and unbelief? Stay on the mountain instead of going to Jesus’s death in Jerusalem. But Luke 9 says that Peter did not know what he said. He did not understand there is no glory without suffering.

God’s presence is represented in a cloud. In the OT at Sinai, it is a dark cloud, but here God’s cloud is bright and full of glory.

God interrupts Peter’s plan. He declares that Jesus is not one of three spectacular men, but He is the Son of God. And God says, “Listen to Him.” It is better to listen to Jesus than to be with Moses and Elijah, back from the dead. When He speaks, God speaks.

When you don’t know what to say or to do. 

When you are confused. 

Don’t just do what you feel. 

Stop and listen to Jesus.

When we hear the voice of God, we should fall on our faces. Not even the glory of Jesus put them on their knees, but the Word of God.

“They saw no one but Jesus only.” Because there was no one else needed. Everyone else was gone, but Jesus went with them.

Remember when those we admire, greater teachers and speakers of the Word do not go home with us, that Jesus does.

1. For those who are in Christ, His transfiguration points to our transformation.The purpose of His exodus was to make all things new and to provide transformation for us, past, present and future.
   1. Past Justification
   2. Present Sanctification
   3. Future Glorification– Transfiguration was a preview of what is to come.

It is as we fix our eyes on Christ that we are transfigured.

If you want to be like Jesus, you have to behold Jesus. There are no shortcuts. To be transformed, we must spend time with Christ. Gaze upon Him. Listen to Him.

1. The transfiguration encourages us on the mountain top and in the valleys. 
   1. Jesus led them high on a mountain. They are a taste and are to remind us of the coming eternal glory, to sustain us when we are in the valley and it feels as if those times will never end.
   2. Jesus went with them back down the mountain and they were immediately faced with situations in which people expected things from them that they did not have to offer. The glory was again veiled, but they never forgot.
   3. They were meant to see the circumstances in the valley in light of the glory they experienced on the mountain. 

Knowing that the God of the Mount of Transfiguration goes with us to the valley beings hope and encouragement and knowledge of the glory to come. He is with us.
Because of His exodus and glorification, our suffering in this world will be short and our future glorification will be eternal.

All is well in heaven and all will be well on earth. All because of Jesus.

Jenny Salt

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Direction: Having a “feeling” that we should go left when the GPS unit says go right. We feel like we know which way to go, but we so easily lose our bearings.

From where do we get our bearings for life? If we gain them from the world, we will be against the bearings of the Gospel.

2 Corinthians has a lot to say about boasting. The world says, “Boast in yourself, tell the world the good stuff about yourself.”

But the Gospel says, “Do the opposite.”

How does the Gospel lens shape our boasting?

The big picture of 2 Corinthians:

A painful, loving book. Paul loved these people and longed for them to be mature and to be strong in the Lord. But their relationship was not without its problems. The emotional intensity is not without its problems. Paul is having to defend himself to these people he loves.

These people are losing their confidence in Paul and seem to also be losing their confidence in the Gospel.

There are men coming in behind Paul, bringing letters of endorsement and much boasting, highlighting their superiority and heritage. They are “impressing” the people of Corinth by attacking and undermining Paul. And to dismiss Paul was to dismiss his message, because the Corinthian believers were looking at only the exterior. Paul had become an embarrassment to the Corinthians.

Paul is combatting the worldly way of thinking about leadership.

Boasting in the Gospel: 

1. Gospel stops us from boasting about things that make us look great (vv. 1-6). 
   1. The Corinthians were impressed by the boasting of the “Super Apostles,” so Paul boasts, but he boasts in the Gospel.
   2. “Go on boasting…” What has he boasted about previously? 2 Corinthians 11:30-33. Paul’s escape from Damascus. Why include it here? Is it escape? Espionage? High adventure? No, Paul was lowered over a wall in hiding in a garbage basket. Paul refers to a time of great humiliation. This situation could have been seen as pathetic cowardice.
   3. “A man in Christ…” Paul is speaking of himself in the third person. Talking of an experience given him by God, but creates difference between the person and the experience. We do this with experiences we are not proud of. Paul is distancing himself from a situation that was wonderful and amazing and would have made him look great to the Corinthians. Paul had these visions to encourage him to in very difficult circumstances, like the things about which he does boast, like floggings and arrests and imprisonments.
   4. We want people to think more of us than is warranted. We play down our weaknesses and lift up our strengths as though they are the norm. We use our blessings from the Lord to impress others to make us look good.
   5. Boasting like this is the way the world works, not the Gospel.
   6. Whitefield: he prayed that the Lord would protect him from the fiery furnace of popularity.
   7. God will not allow Himself to be talked about if he is spoken about in a way that brings glory to ourselves.
2. Gospel causes us to boast in our weaknesses (vv. 7-10). 

1. Paul is “lowered” in a basket.
2. Paul is “lifted up” to the third heaven.
3. Paul is “lowered” with a thorn.

A roller coaster… But great blessings can be turned into opportunities of great personal glory and (divine passive) God gave him a thorn to prevent this blessing from becoming a curse.

How can this thorn come from God and be a messenger of Satan?

1. God is Sovereign.
2. Things in this life are painful and we can see no good in them. They will not be a part of the consummated kingdom, but they are a part of this life now. And Satan loves to see God’s people suffer.
3. We cannot trivialize Paul’s thorn. We don’t know what it was, but we do know that it was painful, that it wasn’t good. But it kept Paul from being puffed up by his experiences with the Lord.
4. Paul looked for relief, but God gave grace. The thorn didn’t pin him to the ground, preventing him from serving. It kept him close to the Lord who promised sufficient grace.
5. In the midst of the suffering that comes, there is sufficient grace, continual grace. The more we recognize our own weakness, the more we see the strength of God’s grace.
6. Paul is no masochist. He’s looking at life through the Gospel. Seeing our best in Christ when we look at our worst.
7. There is a consistent witness of power made perfect in weakness.
   1. Example: John Bunyan. “Were it lawful, I would pray for greater trouble for greater comfort’s sake.”

I want to rely on myself. But when I am aware of my weakness, which is actually living in reality, the truth of God’s grace hits home. 

The Lord is not limited by what we bring to the table in our service to Him. In reality, we bring nothing. He brings everything and gives us opportunity to use them. “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to the cross I cling.”

Our God wants us to serve Him and live for Him, where He has us now, to bring Him glory.

Our God had a paradoxical life: Crucified in weakness but raised in strength.

“I’ve learned to kiss the wave that pushes me against the rock of ages.” Spurgeon