2 Corinthians - Part 2 (5PM)

i mean just act like we're doing it then they have to follow they follow because i i sure will get after [Music] the perfect is is [Music] [Music] people who were shhh so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] it's [Music] [Music] [Music] the savior of the world was [Music] is [Music] [Music] i'm fine is [Music] the ground began to shake the stone was away his only love could not be overcome now death where is your stake a resurrected king has you defeated [Music] he's [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] some see just a wooden crossbar i can see the grace of your redemptive plans some say this is foolishness but you have shown the world you're wise in all your ways some will say this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] holy love [Music] and says power of god forever [Music] [Music] this place belongs to history but i can't see yes i can see [Music] [Music] the greatness of your victory [Music] this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] [Music] this changes everything [Music] [Music] is [Music] this changes [Music] [Music] this changes everything [Music] the perfect together is hello church welcome back to pm gathering and for some of you you are actually tuning in to the part two of the sermon okay so it's really great to see all of you here physically now i want all of you here to actually say hi to people online by looking at that camera can all of you wave and say hi hello online people hello hello okay so my name is vinnie and it's been a while since i last saw you from this stage and i'm one of the church ministers apprentice and i'm currently leading tgg monash and sunway and assisting usgg now we have just entered phase three and that allowed us to host more people in this building so i would like to encourage all of you to keep coming back okay to keep coming back physically here as well as people online please come and join us nothing beats this physical experience even though we're all messed up so as we begin this gathering let us first commit this time to pray to our heavenly father let's pray happy father thank you for the new covenant that you have you have established that we now can be your people permanently with the renew with the renewed hearts and the new hearts that you have given us may we strive to bear the image of your son with every opportunity that you've given us please allow us as a church to bless you to bless your name in all the suffering that we're going through as christians now if we want to boast in anything as christians we can only both in our weaknesses so that you are always the lord and the god of our lives you are always exalted above everything else in jesus name we pray amen all right so today we will be resuming our church in trouble series our pastor in training daniel lou is back to continue this series with us by covering the book of second corinthians today now second corinthians is a is a it's a follow-up letter uh to the corinthians church after the first corinthian so if you are new with us or you did not manage to join us last week i would encourage all of you to go and check out our crc youtube channel because there you'll be able to check out all of our previous sermons do also click on the subscribe button give us a like so that you can get instant update from us whenever we upload a new video now as for corporate people of god we have been learning the importance of apostles teaching since the book of galatians jesus appoints apostles including paul himself to proclaim this message of the gospel hence the sure sign of a faithful church is the preaching of the apostolic gospel now what got every church in trouble as we are we all saw that it's in fact that they have been deviating from the apostle gospel so that's what the apostle paul has been trying to preserve in the current in the current church and trying to restore that gospel to that church so church let's take this time to recall the summary of our apostles teaching by reciting the apostle creed the apostles creep together so let us stand and affirm our faith in the words of the apostles creed we believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth we believe in jesus christ his only son of the lord he was conceived by the power of the holy spirit and was born of the virgin mary he suffered under pontius pilate he was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again to judge the living and the dead we believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of the saints the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body and a life everlasting amen please be seated now the word holy catholic church here does not refer to the roman catholic church it only means the true christian church of all time of all places now i would like to also take this chance to highlight that crc upholds this apostolic gospel in the very preaching and life of the church so here you go you have seen this pyramid before some of you some of you it may be your first time looking at this i would like to explain a little bit more of this um pyramid okay so the darkest part of oh okay i'm looking the darkest part of the darkest red the lowest part of the pyramid actually shows us that that is our foundation okay so the lowest tier does not mean is the least important okay it means that that's the foundation that all the members and all of our leaders are building upon now this foundation is has the same color as the one on top right christ so this means the apostle gospel is no different from the gospel of jesus christ the apostles represent christ they act in christ's name so when we receive the apostles teaching we receive christ to deny the apostolic teaching is to also deny the whole christian faith now paul fought really hard to preserve his rank to preserve his authority in the book of corinthians so that the current church could continue being the true people of god now this pyramid can be found on our website and under the about us section under the hater who runs crc so it's very sad it's important that every member in this church subscribes to this apostle nature of the church so that we can make it a point that this is what we uphold we put it in our membership materials we put it in our membership readings as well now speaking of membership next week itself carc family is growing okay therapy family will be expanding bigger officially so we are actually we're going to witness around 15 to 20 candidates swearing is quieter in it as member now i would like to invite two candidates okay kaylee and jeremy we our first interview kaylee first i would like to get um her thoughts about her membership classes as well as maybe the reasons of why she wants to be a member hey kaylee okay so share with us a bit about over your experience in all of the membership classes that you've attended uh if if i can describe it in one word it would be life-changing because i've done too many things from the membership course it's really hard for me to just pinpoint one to tell you guys about it but i think the biggest thing membership did for me was it gave me a bigger perspective of the church and particularly a bigger perspective of crc and i never really thought about the church as um i always you know approached it in a very consumeristic very individualistic way even my motives to go into membership was because i want to serve the church and i want to you know contribute in some way but i never really had this view of the church's authority and how it holds the keys to the kingdom and it is the manifestation of god's kingdom here on earth so that really blew my mind and every membership course it was just like um i realized how self-centered my view of christianity was and how small it really was i wasn't appreciating the pedigree of crc how we have a heritage going back to the reformers the protestants um the early church fathers even all the way to the apostles and the new testament church so um yeah it just expanded my view of life of christianity to god's eschatological plan and purposes of fulfilling the church nice okay okay so you know some of us are looking at you right now and we're kind of like wondering right how old were you when you joined the membership classes oh it was three years ago i was almost 15 when i joined membership 15 yeah yeah so you were the youngest in the class then yeah yeah who was the oldest i bet is someone out there okay so you know just just fun fact i was the youngest in my membership badge as well back pain hey bad okay um but i was 19 years old so you beat me oh well okay so looking at you know how young you were you were you know grasping all these big concepts right uh i'm pretty sure it's pretty overwhelming as well but it's very encouraging for you to see that for me to see you growing all the time and now you are also the youth leader in this church right yeah yeah yeah okay now i got the chance to serve alongside you last year tell us a bit more about the youth ministry in crc oh so um i i first came to youth ministry crc youth when i was 13 actually and that's where i was converted or so i heard the gospel and then um yeah it's five years later i'm one of the youth leaders as well and doing youth ministry i would say is really a privilege because um you get to be involved and part of this very formative process in a youth life and you know the youth years are really an important time in their lives and um it's really where you get to shape their minds and their hearts to be passionate about what's really worth being passionate about and not waste their lives slaving over their studies or just you know going from one fleeting pleasure to the next into the next so i'm i i was saved from that directionless and passionless life and so now i want to um help others be passionate about who is worth the only one worth being passionate about which is jesus christ okay so you know you were also leading a small group right all good small group yeah okay um so youth will be on saturdays at 10 a.m and this small group will be on the weekdays so we have tuesdays and fridays small groups okay so even though any youth right now just call them and go hayley please please leave yes my new friend or something like that yeah okay thank you so much kaylee all right now i'd like to invite jeremy we have a very nice shirt there yeah this is a ugg shirt for cam who designed that i was teresa [Laughter] i purposely wore this shirt just for her thank you yeah no okay so tell us a bit more about you know your christianity or who you were before you joined crc so very briefly uh i was a sunday school kid so kind of just grew up in church but it was only until i was about 19 or so that i actually understood what christianity was about and that was you know through good bible studies you know thinking about god's word since then then i was in canada for five years studying and working and while i was there you know part of setting down a new country new city i've visited a number of churches so like anglican nutrient presbyterian and even one called vineyard church as well yeah okay so um do you join crc after you came back or did you actually join us even before that already yeah so actually the first time i visited crc was way back in 2012 and actually if you if you're guys if you go to a washroom you can see my back in the picture over there right by the sink yeah so it was actually the first corinthian series uh so i guess we've come full circle now with first corinthians last week and i guess you know since i came back i actually settled down in buggy yeah so shout out view yeah yeah check that out winnie i guess we go way back as well right yeah i was actually in buggy so i was right beside him in the picture and then i moved to usgg in fact speaking of 2012 i actually knew you all the way till then we were actually attending a conference called word works and we were actually figuring out the book of testimonials together yeah and we're all like uni students yeah yeah he's like which book came first and now we are yeah still young [Laughter] okay so since you you said you've been too many churches before vineyard church that's right and so why do you decide to settle down in crc uh i think that's a great question and i think one that all of us here should think about as well in terms of why why saturn in the church so a phrase i have in mind since you know my early days of christianity was that jesus christ is lord and it actually sounds pretty simple right jesus christ abu dhan right but what i've found across you know malaysia and canada is that it's a phrase that's easier said than done and a lot of people were you know just kind of like sunday christians and what that means is that their christianity was just going to church on sundays and what that looked like unfortunately is that you know jesus wasn't really lord and now i say this because it's important to understand why i settled down here so in crc i found that you know it's a church that is unashamed in how it glorifies god we see that in how it calls and challenges the church to live for god rather than themselves and what that'll look like is that rather than you know a message about spiritual positivity you know like a lot of what we have uh it actually challenges you causes you to think about the reality of who we are under christ i saw someone saying we are beggars and that's that's true you know we are sinners before god wholly dependent on him and practically what that would look like is a ministry that would call and challenge people to put off their own self to expose darkness right that's what we learn in ephesians and i think that's that's a ministry that's you know going strong here in crc um as a whole i think it is a faithful church doing faithful work and that's you know why i want to be a member here you know to be part of this church to grow alongside it to serve alongside it for clang valley and malaysia as a whole okay that's very encouraging thank you thank you thank you all right church so you have heard from these soon-to-be members so remember to be there on time next week next sunday for a combined gathering at 8 00 a.m okay at 8 a.m and then followed by the swinging ceremony at 4 30 pm now to those who wish to sign up for the next batch of membership you can still do that it's still not too late by emailing to that email there yep that email and all you can actually contact daniel lou for more details now i would like to invite barn to read with us from the old testament now if you don't have a bible please raise your hands and the officer will be able to pass you a copy hi good evening church my name is barnabas i am from kapong gigi so i'll be reading from isaiah 49 verse 1 to 13. everyone have your bibles okay so this passage was actually addressed to the jews in babylon in the time of exile with this prophecy isaiah was encouraging them to return to the promised land by faith in god's faithfulness and his grace so this sinful idolatrous israel can be confident in the lord because god is their redeemer and he has chosen israel to be his in this time of favor that we will see later and or this day of salvation god will save his people from their affliction and restore them to himself we know that this passage is ultimately fulfilled in the new testament in christ jesus death and resurrection and jesus christ jesus is god's mighty hand and outstretched arm who has saved his people from the torment of sin and death and in second corinthians a paul would appeal to the corinthian church to not receive this grace of god in vain since it is the power of god for salvation to those who believe so isaiah 49 1-13 listen to me o coastlands and give attention you peoples from afar the lord called me from the womb from the body of my mother he named my name he made my mouth like like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand he hit me he made me a polished arrow in his quiver he hid me away and he said to me you are my servant israel in whom i will be glorified but i said i have labored in vain i have spent my strength for nothing and vanity yet surely my right is with the lord am i recompense with my god and now the lord says he who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring jacob back to him and that israel might be gathered to him for i am honoured in the eyes of the lord and my god has become my strength he says this it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of jacob and to bring back the preserve of israel i will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach the end of the earth thus says the lord the redeemer of israel and his holy one to one deeply despised abhorred by the nation the servant of rulers kings shall see and arise princes and they shall prostrate themselves because the lord who is faithful the holy one of israel who has chosen you thus says the lord in a time of favor i have answered you in a day of salvation i have helped you i will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land to apportion the desolate heritages saying to prisoners come out to those who are in darkness appear they shall feed along the ways on all bear heights shall be their pastures they shall not hunger or thirst neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them for he who has pity on them will lead them and by springs of water we'll guide them and i will make all my mountains a road and my highways shall be raised up behold these shall come from afar and behold these from north and from the west and these from the land are signed this is the word of the lord thanks be to god church let us stand i don't know about you but it's such a privilege to be able to see one another in the flesh and together together as god's church to sing to one another to sing to god and to be able to encourage one another in christ so as we sing together today we see that god in his wisdom has made the cross to be foolishness to the world that is perishing and yet it is god's power to save us to become his people his church that is called servant and so now we no longer boast in ourselves and we count all of our gains as loss pouring contempt on all our pride and boasting only the theology of the cross [Music] when i survey the wondrous cross [Music] on which the prince of glory died my riches gained i count the [Music] see from his is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] that i may truly live all the way all who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name [Music] that were [Music] love so amazing so the [Music] across [Music] and find that i may truly live [Music] [Music] draw near and bless your name on the wonderful cross oh the one that falls for us [Music] oh the wonderful cross and bless your name [Music] please be seated all right so the cross of christ is truly glorious indeed now i got a chance to teach his sunday school children about this wondrous cross and emphasizing christ crucified now christ has now risen as king i taught the kids and now we have to submit our whole life as his people and we now have to carry the cross and follow him so here's an artwork of a sunday school mind glue look how wonderful is that i feel like printing this right behind here because it captures the whole i'll say biblical theology of of christ's life at first he foretells his death then he really did die as king and then he resurrected as god's risen king now i would like to show you a snippet of our my junior's class last week and i was asking them a question about jesus resurrection as king and so the question was when jesus was crowned as king after his resurrection what did it look like so check it out for you is jesus when he became king right what does that look like he was in a cliff he was in a what [Music] how about the rest that's me and yes i see your hand for a very long time already when jesus was crowned as king did he look like this no oh it doesn't look like that how does it look like no no no no no here and i see your hand let's let's like uh give k and a go yup [Music] it looks like a boy crown like like has circles on the edge and like it's golden yeah because golden is not valuable then sober okay so that's interesting thought okay what else when jesus was crowned as king what does he look like he look like um does jesus actually have like really thick and nice gold looking clothing on him no no okay okay does he actually have a crown yes that's a crowd it's transparent it's transparent oh wow i didn't know that part of the bible really okay oh well because i can't see the crowd so do you see people bowing down to him when he was crowned as king no no one was what were the people doing then um oh man okay so that's very interesting some of your thoughts later we will be reading when jesus was crowned as king what actually happened do you see many many people bow down to him you see an actual crown being put put on his head or there's nothing at all okay okay so there's julius class as you can see invisible crown transparent crown and sound and when yeah yeah yeah yeah that means long live the king that's what he means so i have to interpret that you know oh yeah that's what you mean okay so it's so great to see how enthusiastic these kids are in learning about god so we thank god for the junior's classes okay now let me just tell you the juniors classes have expanded as well previously we had only one junior class and now we have to create another junior's class to accommodate the size of the class so in total we have two juniors class two senior classes and two taught classes so church please please pray for us as you know we're recruiting more equipped sunday school teachers please please pray as well that we have a better organization in the team as we are reaching out to more kids in church so starting from the 10th of october if you know any kids any of your nephew needs and all starting for the 10th october we have a new series coming up it's called god's unstoppable mission so we're covering the book of acts and teaching them that they have a mission to do and that is to speak the gospel to their friends so do follow us on youtube as well as instagram crc kids for more exciting news now besides crc kids right we also have real fun in learning about the bible for university students and that is tgg one now tg1 is catered to [Music] pg-1 is catered to college students and first-year students not me and there you get to be equipped on the bible as well as to be educated with god's worldview now how it works is you know we'll be teaching them the fundamentals of christianity they will graduate after a year and they will go into their university small group now i have a tgg1 member here with me right now and i would like to ask her a few things about tgg1 now we have singtong here hi everyone say hi oh okay everybody say hi to you okay oh oops oops i'm supposed to oops let me turn this on for a while so that you can hear us huh hello you can hear yeah can hi church oh hi [Music] okay you can hear now okay that's good now sing tong is not up on stage here with us because she's actually all she's tuning all the way from sarawak kuching any kuching people here oh really okay there you go you got a buddy here by the way sing song you've been joining us since the start of the pandemic right and the church did not get to to meet you physically so many people here in church is it is actually their first time seeing you so do tell us more about yourself first uh okay so hi church my name is singh tong and i'm from tgiy currently so i'm a year two business student in monash university majoring in accounting yeah like as sweeney said i'm at east malaysia so i joined tg1 and crc like during the pandemic like i can't believe that you know i have yet to meet any of you i know even you winnie but it's really amazing that you know like i feel like i know you some of you guys for so long already because of this unity that we shared in the gospel and i was like all this well i like heard stories from my gg members telling me how how amazing the building is you know like the even the decorations which has like technological significance to it yeah advice i've never seen myself so i really look forward to the day i wish i can meet all physically which is coming soon actually because i'm coming back in like two weeks time uh so hopefully we can like get her in church physically very soon okay so you're finally graduating from tga one right after a year so we would like to know a little bit more about your experience there so do tell us oh uh yeah so i joined tg-1 in my first year of uni so it's actually just like slightly past one year ever since i joined there so like not gonna lie when i first joined tg1 i was a super blo like christian you know i didn't take christianity seriously at all like all these years despite calling myself a christian so at that time i had i joined my uni christian fellowship and also had their bible study group together but even all that were really new to me so if you can imagine right the first series that i had in cgi was the systematic theology so you can imagine how new would all that be for me you know where there will be like in-depth study and reading some concepts like sin church scriptures and so to upload christian like me back then like these terms though not very foreign because i was raised in a christian household but the idea of like going deep into it it's just so intimidating right that is like something distant and big brain level for the seminarians or pastors yeah turned me back then up yes but it's only that after two or three times joining tg01 i started to appreciate the things that is being given to us then like the teachings that we have because i realized that you know um these teachings are actually pretty fundamental to the christian faith and like nothing fancy means you're extra it's really just what you should have known as a christian yeah just that all this while i have a very simplistic idea on what christianity is uh so but i would say it's not really just about covering the content per se in tg one but it's really getting it fully and understanding like what are the basic basic doctrines of christianity that so we can be rooted in it so it's like only after going through like this extensive like teachings on the theology right it exposes me like how i've been viewing theology very simplistically like all this well i realized i have been present presumptuous even in my gospel understanding yeah so i think i can give you guys like you know a lot of examples of what i've learned and been corrected in cg one uh admittedly like i've learned a lot of things like during my time there like in a year but i think here are the top three things are basically uh so first is the understanding of the church uh during my early time in tgg one yeah so suddenly back then right like i understand church is just a tradition uh which christians do you know we go to sunday just to pray and like sing yeah definitely like there was no sense of where this is actually again god's people um to worship him as we gather together and so i still remember during the systematic theology series that we read on the doctrine of church and that mind-blown moment when i saw i read it in the old testament that there's already a plan and god's designed to gather or redeem people of his you know to worship him in mount sinai yeah and it's like really i would say it's really teaching us like this that gets me to see can you understand what christianity is all about and even like understand why am i still joining a church and even committing to a gg like despite being virtual right you know i had to like log into zoo and i'd be there at the same time not being able to meet anyone but i still um it's really the understanding behind that keeps me going in tgg-1 as well yeah then i would say the second thing which i which was pretty important for me that i learned from tg1 is the view on scriptures yeah so i know you know i used to okay so sorry i'm just like talking a lot about my me back then because just really like to show you like uh how much i've i've learned from tg1 yeah so you're not used to like never understand like why why do we need to read the bible all the time as christians you know i always see it as an add-on that a christian should should need um you know the bible just add on to us yeah as long as you like believe in it it's already enough you know it's fine bible again to me last time was just for the pastors and teachers yeah so it's only like after going through the doctrine of scriptures um in tg one uh we are being taught that the bible is actually the word of god meaning that it should be authoritative authoritative over us yeah and it's also inerrant meaning that it's without error and that really puts me to question my attitude towards that scripture and how should i be you know taking it seriously right now yeah so that's why i say that all the things we learned in tgg1 are really important for all christians to know because they really help us to see like our confidence is christianity should not be coming from what we think or like per se by the scriptures instead like what god had already revealed um in his word and having said that right it's only getting this high view of god which is the yeah another important thing that i learned from tgg one which is yeah really the high view of god and his scripture and seeing how horrible my attitude towards him was back then and drives me to like take this opportunity that we have in chigo and really seriously uh to study the scriptures the dog trains um the biblical theology as well um very seriously yeah okay that sounds great man it sounds so encouraging i feel like i missed out big time like in my childhood just because i didn't manage to join tgg1 so those of you please please if you are a college student right now or your first in your first year please go check it out okay now i also want to know how big is cg1 now i heard stuff right i think it's one of the biggest ggr desks so yeah we have around like 50 of us weekly yeah 15 or 50. 50 like 5-0 5-0 that's actually very big so how do y'all actually manage it oh so usually like we will gather as a big group first like for the lectures but we also like have discussion and a bible study where we were brought into like smaller groups and we have like um our group leaders to lead us so yeah so teaching a lot of group leaders but okay now i know you've already said a lot you've already shared all you pour your whole heart out you know to explain to us of what you have learned into you want but last thing is you know we have a lot of people here right now and they want to hear from you why would you want to recommend tg1 to them uh yes i hope you already heard from my reflections just now um basically right um the things you know we do in teaching is really about like knowing god so you won't be like become over simplistic and you know instead like really learn the theology from the bible and that will shape the way we think and live and mature as a christian and as i said i first joined tgy when i was a relatively new and blurred christian and i've learned much ever since about the bible and christianity so teaching really teaches the things which are fundamental and essentials you know to one in a christian phase that needs to be equipped with yeah and then we can have a full appreciation of god's wisdom and who it truly is okay so last one last one okay which is what is the upcoming series in tgg1 oh so usually like chijion will repeat this delivers every year and since i'm graduating very soon i think you guys can somehow get the hint on what will be coming up next uh which is basically in two weeks time we're having systematic technology again yay yeah it's the exact same series which i started with yeah that keeps me going until now okay all right yup thank you so much singtong thank you so much now i need you to be there first for a while because i'm going to get you to pray right after this but you can see on the slides details on the slides so please invite all your friends it's not too late to sign up it's happening on the 16th of october okay now pass the time to singtang now yep there you go and she will be praying for all the gigi's in church and she also will be praying for the faithful teaching and preaching in church as well all right dear church do join me in prayer dear heavenly father i thank you that we are able to gather as a church once again today to worship you and hear the faithful preaching of your word so that we may continue to be strengthened as your church we are thankful that you have revealed to us this glorious gospel of yours one that is centered on the cross of your son we pray that we can continue to stand firm and not deviate away from this true understanding of your glory and blessing that we have in your cross-centered gospel we thank you for the many church leaders we have in crc here from eldon robin my other robin pastor in training jerome and danielle are the gg leaders and also many more ministers who are pastoring over your flock we pray that you will grant them wisdom to equip the congregation if your apostolic teaching that we may be strong in your spirit and growing maturity into your son's likeness sharing the same goal in mind that roots in this theology of the cross as your people just as how we started as a small and young church 30 years ago we thank you for the christ centered and god glorifying ministry we have here it makes your church i'm stronger until today we pray that crc will continue to be strong in you as we glorify you in our mission in the many years to come may we continue to preach your gospel boldly and preserve this cross-centered ministry seriously despite the many hardships we face we acknowledge that there will be constant persecution towards your church as they strive to do your ministry but which will undeniably weaken us in our flesh very pray that god despite the many trials we pray that you can get us to see sufferings as indeed a great blessing to many of us because your church we are sharing in christ's suffering as well from true our sufferings may they help us to be comforted and encouraged by you and you alone only god and is your spirit's power that is strengthening and working in us when we find our full sufficiency by living out as your church in this nation here in clan valley and malaysia may we continue to embody in our very being this proclamation of your truth with integrity as your servants of the gospels as we speak in christ we pray for your gospel growth and our continuous faithful labor they may both in you alone with endurance and patience in this mission in growing your church until you come again i repeat all this in your son's name amen all right a man church people so let us think to god and not forgetting sing to one another as well of our lord's glorious reign [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] grace from the shifting shadows of the earth we will lift our eyes through him somewhere rejoice rejoice one voice of christ rejoice and those will never change [Music] [Music] [Applause] one voice [Music] [Applause] [Music] know [Music] is [Music] [Applause] rejoice rejoice [Music] every turn one heart one voice o church of christ [Music] [Music] [Applause] now church we we are god's elect we're saved not by our own works for we are only jars of clay we're feeble we're weak depraved and unable to save ourselves but thanks be to god 4 he has saved and redeemed us from our spiritually dead selves and made us alive to be able to serve him so indeed not to us not to us but to god alone who deserves all the glory for his faithfulness and steadfast love to his church [Music] not to us but to your name alone be all the glory the glory forever your faithfulness instead fast love receive the glory the glory belongs to you [Music] all that we've accomplished you have done for us [Music] [Applause] and we exist to bring you pleasure oh god not to us [Applause] not to us but to your name alone beyond the glory the glory forever [Music] the glory belongs to you [Music] only by your mercy can we come to you though we deserve your judgment you are called us by name so we glory in the cross of christ they made us yours forever they're joined our lives together to say love to us not to the glory forever for your faithfulness instead fast love receive the glory the glory belongs to you [Music] not to us not to us but to your name alone be all the glory the glory forever the glory belongs to [Applause] [Music] [Applause] indeed all the glory belongs to our lord who gives us all things that we need in order to be acceptable before his sight please be seated hi church it's me again i'll be reading from another old testament passage exodus 34. if you just arrived and you don't have your bibles with you please raise up your hand and the ashes will pass you on so exodus 34 verse 1 to 10 and we will also be reading from verse 27 to 35 immediately after so in this chapter i mean in this passage moses was called by god to go up to the mountain and he will establish a covenant with moses and israel this covenant will be governed by god's law the ten commandments the process of speaking with god and receiving commands from god moses face started reflecting god's glory and was shining because of israel's heart of stone moses put a veil over his face to signify the separation between the holy god and his sinful people moses understood that the law that god has given will not give them life but condemnation due to their hardness of heart so in second corinthians chapter 3 uh verse 7 to chapter 4 verse 6 paul was comparing this glory of his ministry which is the ministry of the spirit to moses ministry which is the ministry that brings condemnation paul calls the corinthian church to recognize his ministry that is of the spirit of christ and warns them that the gospel is veiled to them who could not recognize it exodus 34 verse 1 the lord said to moses cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and i will write on the tablets the words that were on the first which you broke be ready by morning and come up in the morning to mount sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain no one shall come up with you and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain let no flocks or herds grace opposite the mountain so moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and he rose early in the morning and went up on mount sinai as the lord has commanded him and took in his hand two tablets of stone the lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the lord the lord passed before him and proclaim the lord the lord a god merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin but who will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the father's own children and the children's children the third and the fourth generation and moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped and he said if now i have found favor in your sight oh lord please let the lord go in the midst of us for it is a stiff neck people and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for your inheritance and he said behold i am making a covenant before all your people i will do marvels such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation and all the people among whom you are they'll see the work of the lord for it is an awesome thing that i will do with you verse 27 and the lord said to moses write these words for in accordance with these words i have made a covenant with you and israel so he was there with the lord 40 days and 40 nights he neither ate bread nor drank water and he wrote on tablets the words of the covenant the ten commandments when moses came down from mount sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with god aaron and all the people of israel saw moses and behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him but moses called them and aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him and moses talked to them afterward all the people of israel came near and he commanded them all that the lord has spoken with him in mount sinai and when moses had finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face whenever moses went in before the lord to speak with him he would remove the veil until he came out and when he had when he came out and told the people of israel what he has commanded he was commanded the people of israel would see the face of moses that the skin of moses's face was shining and moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him this is the word of god the new testament reading will be taken from 2nd corinthians chapter 3 first one to chapter 4 verse 15. now let me give you a little context of what's going on here so you've read just now in exodus 34 that the paul calls that as the ministry of death it reflects god's glory and you can see moses face is radiating but the israelites couldn't see moses face directly because of their hardened hearts okay so that requires a veil covering his face now in second corinthians chapter three to four since what leads to death is really quite glorious how much more will this new carbon ministry this ministry of the spirit how much more glorious that is so that's that's what paul is trying to argue so instead of being on moses face radiating god's glory now we see that god's glory is revealed on jesus face and through that we get the light we we get that very glory being shined to our hearts so later on you'll be able to see that as well in the passage this glory will last forever it won't be like the glory that moses received in the old testament his glory will not lead to death but it would lead god's people to being transformed into a perfect glory through suffering okay let me read verse one chapter three verse one are we beginning to command ourselves again or do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you you yourself are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all and you show that you are a letter from christ delivered by us written not with ink but with the spirit of the living god not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts such is the confidence that we have through christ toward god not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us but our sufficiency is from god who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the spirit for the spirit kills but spirit for the letter kills but the spirit gives life now if the ministry of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the israelites could not gaze at moses face because of his glory which was being brought to an end will not in the ministry of the spirit have even more glory for if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory indeed in this case what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it for if what was being brought to an end came with glory much more will what is permanent have glory since we have such a hope we are very bold not like moses who would put a veil over his face so that the israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end but their minds were hardened for to this day when they read the old covenant that same veil remains unlifted because only through christ is it taken away yes to this day whenever moses is read a veil lies over their hearts but when one turns to the lord the veil is removed now this now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom and we all with unveiled faith beholding the glory of the lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the lord who is the spirit therefore having this ministry by the mercy of god we do not lose heart but we have renounced disgraceful underhanded ways we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with god's word but by the open statement of the truth we would command ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of god and even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of christ who is the image of god for what we proclaim is not ourselves but jesus christ as lord with ourselves as your servants for jesus sake for god who said let light shine out of darkness has shone to in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to god and not to earth we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not driven to despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed always carrying in the body of death of jesus so the life of jesus may also be manifested in our bodies for we who live are always being given over to death of jesus sake so that the life of jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh so death is at work in us but life in you and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written i believe and so i spoke we also believe and also we speak knowing that he who raised the lord jesus will raise us also with jesus and bring us with you into his presence for it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of god this is the word of the lord okay i have a discussion question for you and here is a question why is the ministry of the spirit more glorious than the ministry of death things the secrets is so [Music] [Music] um me crowd so [Music] [Music] cheers [Music] [Music] [Music] way [Music] [Music] moon and stars [Music] his blood out [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] his only love cannot be now death where is your state a resurrected king has surrendered you defeated [Music] [Applause] we sing hallelujah [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] some see just a wooden crossbar i can see the grace of your redemptive plans some say this is foolishness but you have shown the world you're some will say this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] [Music] i [Music] your mercy meets this place belongs to history but i can't see yes i can see [Music] [Music] here i know the greatness of your victory and here you know the place where love and mercy meet some will say this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] is [Music] this changes every day [Music] [Music] okay that's test okay everyone let's get back to our seats okay can i assume that you guys have had the chance to listen to am also right cool no okay that's not cool um okay i need to start off with this um i'm a bit frazzled now you can't see it probably from the mask um yeah so today's sermon it's not yeah i'm not really happy with it it's not fully finished um i went back just now uh what part of what i wanted to do so let me just explain what happened uh so i went back i wanted to uh you know explain it in terms of the themes uh accordingly which is what i want to do this morning when i went back and i started to work on it some more it just didn't quite come together the way i thought it could so i rearranged stuff again eventually what we have now is sort of like chronological explanation of the text just because um so for example i want to explain the apostolic ministry and i wanted to choose certain passages that i could talk about but then i realized once i choose that i need to explain the context and i can't explain this without that and it just all linked together so that threw me off quite a bit as well as there were certain parts of saint corinthians i hadn't quite pulled together completely yet um and plus saint corinthians as i've said this morning was not easy for me so that all took time and uh i just want to say i'm not completely happy i'm sorry to the church i'm sorry to our elder i'll give what i can as much as i can and and hopefully the rest of you can beat corinthians for yourself let me pray first god thank you for tonight we can meet again even an mco restrictions have loosened a little bit so we can still gather to encourage one another onto his love and good deeds i asked for forgiveness that tonight's talk is not as well as i wanted to i can't give you as much glory as i can but i pray that i will still be able to do a decent enough job with what i have so that all of us can benefit from your word i pray that after this we'll all be able to continue dig deep into the scriptures and grow in your knowledge name jesus be praying amen all right so what we're what where we're at now and your your outlines might be changing just because i played around with the headings again uh we are at under minister they the oppos the true opposite ministry which is where we stopped this morning we're continuing there we're going to talk about the attributes of it so this is what i initially intended i wanted to just choose so i explained this morning how second corinthians the main theme really is uh paul defending uh his ministry but not not so much for his own sake but really the defense of his ministry his cross-centered ministry is the defense of the gospel okay that's why depending on situations it's uh sometimes necessary to defend the ministry especially if the ministry is being faithful to not defend the ministry is to eventually compromise the gospel so for paul's sake his gospel is christ-centered crucifix cruciform shaped whereas the people wanted something else people wanted him to speak better people wanted him to speak in a way that uh would you know puff them up a man centered gospel uh people wanted him to do also things that are against what the gospel really is the offense of the gospel so he would have to defend him and explain it you have to explain every part of it so that they understand from the scriptures from the gospel that this is the nature of ministry as well as life and so here is very important orthodoxy orthopraxy are connected orthodoxy is troops orthopraxy is your life so practice they are all connected and so as you read corinthians first the second first corinthians as you know it's just dealing with lots of ethical issues you know prostitution uh choosing leaders all that already you can see how intertwined theology and life is and that's how you should be treating all of life when you even when you study a book like romans you can't just read it as oh orthodoxy doctrine without affecting your life it needs to always be together and uh in second corinthians we also have that same idea too where we're putting it together so he has to defend his ministry he has to explain his ministry and he will often use phrases like i commend myself or am i commending myself uh i want you to boast of me not because ultimately he wants to boast in men but because that boasting mature boasting boasting in the end god is a sign of maturity that if you can boast in the crucified ministry the only reason why you can boast in it is because you trust god you see god's work in this crucified ministry and that's what's going on here and so today's outline what we'll do is we will go through the so in the in headings that you have true apostolic ministry and i will go through the chunks that we can think through about those things what the pattern generally is paul will talk about himself his ministry his boldness and then go into certain topics again so we'll get into the two covenant ministry and then after that we'll get into himself again and then he'll go into uh another topic again and that's how it's going to work until vienna chapter seven after that chapter eight and nine it's about money and then 10 to 13 is about the kind of confrontation i don't have 10 to 13 ready uh even 89 is a bit tricky uh so we'll do what we can all right so i've explained this morning but just for those of you who probably forgot i haven't been this morning um one of the marks of a true apostolic ministry or a true minister is as paul explained here one who is sincere and holy and lives by the grace of god the key passage in second corinthians which is the key theme is saint curtis 1 12 to 14. first corinthians 1 12 here you have for our boss is this so even he's boasting you remember last week in first corinthians he says don't boast the man so the fact that he'll be boasting is interesting and when you read his books you'll find that he's eventually boasting god our boss is this that the testimony of our conscience that we behave in in the world with the holiness and sincerity of god and so this is a genitive of origins so it is from god it is a holiness that comes from god a sincerity that only god gives through the spirit to those who belong to him those who have the mind of christ first corinthians 2 you you know the plan of god you've been changed by him you too will have this sincerity um to be able to obey god and to be able to live out this cruciform life the holiness and sincerity of god not by fleshly wisdom because fleshly wisdom will perish man centered but ultimately by the grace of god who energizes us every day and supremely soul towards you so just a note here from garland what this sincerity means the sincerity just doesn't just mean um you know being sincere although there's a sense of it but the root meaning here do we have the slide root meaning of the word translated sincerity refers to something examined by the light of the sun and found pure okay so just think about light sun examine under it and you're found pure so paul is found to be truthful and honest when he says i'm sincere means after examining i am what i said i am i'm as honest to you as i am and i have been i have not fooled you i have not tried to trick you i have not been fleshly in any way i am completely sincere towards you in wanting to know wanting you to grow in christ and wanting you in growing in the knowledge of the gospel spirit contends that the word does not connote so much an absence of duplicity or hypocrisy as a fundamental integrity and transparency it can be compared to innocence paul knows however that he will be judged by the light of the son of god and will be found pure because he is transformed into his likeness so that's the first sign of a apostle a spirit-filled apostolic ministry or you know a a faithful ministry the second one is uh in 2nd corinthians 1 17 17 to 22 17 to 2 11. you study carefully there's an interesting part here uh especially when you study carefully paul's argument but paul here is defending himself against his apparent bacillus means you double think you like yes and no at the same time you're not sure you can't decide you break promises you're not faithful and so that issue came up as i explained this morning with him changing his mind was i vacillating when i wanted to do this do i make my plans according to the flesh and here the flesh means you know based on my own desires based on my own wants and needs ready to say yes yes and no no at the same time now notice how paul responds so what is very clear is on the outside he did like that he did say he would do this and then he did change so how is he going to respond to that um and what is it how should we therefore judge him we think through this look at how he responds this is going to be a little bit different from your translation your translation also works but this just makes a little bit clearer in the greek but god is faithful okay to the question of are you vaccinating aren't you vaccinating aren't you unfaithful he says but god is faithful so that our word to you has not been yes and no for the son of god jesus christ whom we proclaimed among you surveillance and timothy and i was not yes and no but in him it is always yes and you're thinking wait what what does that do with anything now at first glance you're thinking if you think about it that's you know that's pretty normal but you have to think about very carefully what you're saying at the very least he's saying even if i'm not faithful god is faithful although he's not gonna say that he's not gonna say i'm not faithful he's saying you think i'm unfaithful well god is faithful and god who works in me who uses me to speak the word of god to you which has been fulfilled which is faithful will make sure that i am faithful so that's really what's the argument here but god is faithful so that our word to you has not been yes and no the word here um is logos in the greek and this word here is not just talking about the promise he made or the plans he gave he's actually going back to first corinthians 1 if you remember the word of the cross first corinthians 1 17 to 18 now this is what he wrote for christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of word lest the cross of christ be emptied of its power for the word of the cross so here he's talking about you you're saying that i'm unfaithful you're saying i'm vaccinating well what about the word that i spoke to you the word of the cross was that unfaithful it is not because the word of god the son of god that i preached to you is the fulfillment of all the old testament promises so paul is linking his own trustworthiness to god to god's trustworthiness and to the word he preached before at the very least he is saying i'm not a liar when i preached to you was i lying i've always been for you even if in this case i've changed my mind it's not because i'm a liar it's not because in terms of character i'm of the flesh but as you argue later it's because i love you it's because i care for you so that's why he's really rooting uh he's how he's really arguing here he's rooting his own faithfulness to partly history what he's done and also to god um paul's argument is god is faithful god's faithfulness will guarantee and has guaranteed my word paul's word to them the son of god whom he preached among them has not been a yes and no but in him it's always been a yes and that's how god's promises has always been a yes in him which is why we can now true christ utter our amen to god this means that paul's word or means paul's character cannot be easily seen as unfaithful or vaccinating just because he changes plans there must be something more you can't just label it that way furthermore in verse 21 and 22 of chapter one it is god who confirms you so the main subject is god god guarantees faithfulness at the same time god confirmed so i changed the word from establish to confirm just because it's connected to um first corinthians 1. remember how in first corinthians 1 6 and 8. the same word is used god confirmed the gospel through the giving you the gift and god will confirm you to the end and so he is saying that furthermore it is god who confirms you and i in christ and has anointed us both with the holy spirit so that both of us all of us our hearts are changed we have the spirit as a seal as a guarantee and if i am spiritual i cannot be fleshly or at least i am not fleshly toward you okay that's why he's arguing now of course we know that a christian can be because the corinthians themselves are fleshly they are behaving that way but paul himself is arguing from that that he's not and especially in his actions he's not god is faithful i have preached the gospel to you i am now writing this letter to you the spirit is in me i have the spirit i am faithful i am being changed so how can you say that i am fleshly rather he explains here then chapters chapter 1 23 24 the reason why he changed his mind all this by the way is talking about um what we need to look for when we look for a minister or a faithful christian on an apostolic ministry what kind of person do we want to look for in the end we look for people who are spirit-filled people who love god who have the sincerity of god um and who have the holiness of god in dealing with the church in dealing with people we're looking for qualities beyond just the surface um yes and no stuff we're looking for the heart where they care for god and his sheep god's people and the sheep so second corinthians 1 23 24 but i call god to witness against me so notice how god's subject again it was to spare you the eye refrained from coming again to corinth not that we loaded over your faith but we work with you for your joy for you stand firm in the faith so paul is very clear here just now as how he mentioned you and i um god confirms you and i together at this like same level now he's also saying it we don't lord it like we're not here to load it over your favor wait for your joy this is again paul understanding his place although paul has the authority to he's the apostle he's their father but he understands that as a christian ultimately everybody is filled by the spirit and the goal for christian is each and every one of your faith is built up you see this in second corinthians 13 10 for this reason i write these things while i'm away for you that when i come i may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the lord has given me for building up in the end christianity is um personal a personal faith it's not not corporate but it is a personal individual faith that god has chosen and the goal for all pastors all christians is to make sure that each and every one of us are growing in that faith and so to be a a spirit-filled apostle spiritual minister we have to have that sensitivity to make sure that our goal is to grow people's faith even if it means to take uh to tear down some people to discipline some people the goal should always be to build up so patience and wisdom are necessary for doing the apostolic ministry for doing any ministry that involves growing a christian in the end paul decided not to take the this take disciplinary action too soon he decided to change his plan instead of going back soon he decided not to so that the church can grow take a longer time to grow and maybe repent because if he takes actions too early the church will be destroyed most likely most most of them so what paul does instead is not going against what he was tasked to do by god so people are thinking he's not trustworthy he's actually doing what is necessary for the church to grow um he's trying to preserve the church he's crying to grow god's church so contrary to what the corinthians were thinking the opponents were saying he's actually being spirit-filled in his difficult decision even the circumstances he didn't have airplane or that even his difficult circumstances to love the church to be responsible in preserving the church as much as he can before he exercises discipline against the people chapter 2 1-4 says for i made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you but if i caused you pain who is there to make me glad but the one whom i have pained and i wrote as i did so that coming i might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice now this is not really about him not wanting to feel pain he's saying if i come here and i paint all of you then where is the church going to be the church will be destroyed what is really concerned about is the building up of the church he wants to give them time um before time for them to repent to consider that's why he left to write this letter to ask for the obedience that's why he will say later i'm writing this to test your obedience so that you'll prove that you are loving to god you are loving to me and you belong to the church verse for for i wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that i have for you so even the letter for paul to write is out of love the severe letter to rebuke them shows his care and also his desire for them to repent and so we see here love is the goal is to build up even if it's difficult and we see this definitely coming out in verse 5 to 11 there's an example here of how his mission his goal is to be a servant to build up god's church in the end even if it means disciplining them so chapter 2 5 to 11 there's the example of the person whom they finally excommunicated now if anyone cause has caused pain he has caused it not to me so this is referring to um the person who rebelled against him when he went to the church he went against him and so after that severe letter they finally excommunicated him if anyone calls me pain it's not cause it to me but in some measure not to please ability to all of you because of what he's done he's heard the churches all of you for such one this punishment by the majority is enough so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow so some scholars think that this probably can't be the first conditions five person because you know that person is that bad how can he suddenly repent we're not sure exactly how but from what paul is saying it does seem like the person is repenting has repented the whole church has taken this plain action and he's repented and so to make sure that that person isn't excessively overwhelmed by excessive sorrow paul now says to affirm your love because the goal has been verse 9 the goal has always been to test you to know whether you are obedient in everything the obedience here is not ultimately the poor although it is that because paul is their father in christ paul is the apostle when they are obedient to paul they are obedient to god and so he says to test you to carry out this thing if you remember your first corinthians 5 to purge the evil so that they can prove themselves to be truly christian uh that's how paul can be sure that they are a true church and so the testing of obedience here is what a minister needs to do too to make sure that the flock is obedient to the teaching of the gospel to god and uh that's what we see here too the obedience that paul is testing for is the obedience towards god at the same time when we look at verse 10 anyone whom you forgive i also forgive indeed what i have forgiven i have forgiven if i have forgiven anything has been for your sake in the presence of christ again you see paul not taking it personally paul is a man who is ultimately whose heart belongs to god who has his mind on the building of the church even though in the previous visit the rebel the person in the church caused him a lot of pain immense pain argue ridiculed him most likely paul is not slow to forgive paul is not slow to build him up because in the end it's not personal this is what it takes to be a minister an apostle for god representative it's not personal it is ultimately we're here to serve god so make sure that you forgive him and if you've forgiven anything i have forgiven also for your sake because you have verse 11 that's ephesians 6 make sure that satan doesn't come and destroy the unity of the church but we are not ignorant of his designs in the end a minister needs to have this single mindedness towards god the goal to love the church to build them up to do whatever it takes to build them up uh as for paul to change his plans travel plans um to work for the church even to miss out on an opportunity that god has given him so that he can build up the church even that control us um he needs to be faithful he needs to be wise he needs to be single-minded for god we need um classes like this we need church members like this this is how we're gonna be able to build each other up and this is how you know this is a real christian ministry it is not filled by fleshiness it's filled by love for god his truth and the church that's the cross-shaped ministry that you have here in other words we need pastors we need members of church to treat god's church like it's god's church not theirs in the end ultimately it's god's church you have a responsibility to love it to protect it even if it's yours okay we need next part of uh what you need in a possible ministry or a minister is a person who's willing to be a slave and an aroma of christ i've talked about this a little bit this morning but i've got a picture here i couldn't find the roman trifle uh like i couldn't find the picture with a slave because that's what really is going on here so it's again they've won the victory they're parading people are celebrating and you're supposed to have slaves behind them uh they've captured um and that's what paul is saying this is what it means to be a minister to be a slave of god to be captured first of all because you were once an enemy of god where one's enemy is god but now we are captured by him and then now we serve him so that's in second corinthians um 2 verse 14 thanks be to god who in christ always leads us in triumphal possession and through us spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere but we are the aroma of christ to god among those who are being saved among those who are perishing so here in this image the tribal process image we've got four points at least that paul wants to make he gives this image to show first of all the reality is god in christ has defeated all enemies so the fact that he will use this imagery who in christ always leads us to trump possession gives you the idea that god even in this world in christ has won the victory in this world but it's defeating satan what is defeating us even though we don't feel like it but you have a god who's parading a god in christ is parading this world who is using his slaves to be fragrant to be aroma in this world it gives the idea that god has won in this world remember psalm 2 he's the one who's won it all of course in the end he's now as we know from first corinthians 1 using the cross to slowly defeat his enemies to secure their doom and also to save his own people so the second point of using this imagery is that it gives the idea that god in christ is parading through the cities of his victory news through his captives so now which are christians this imagery gives reminds us who we are we were once enemies of god now we are captured by him to do his work christ is the victor he uh he uses us now a little bit like ephesians 4 he rose up got the captives and now he uses his people to fill the earth this depiction also captures rightly the unglorious nature of being a christian being an apostle being a minister so the imagery is that we're slaves we're kept we're captive and that's what it looks like to be a christian you're essentially a slave it's not glorious you have treasures in jars of clay the christian's glory is now one that is hidden it's a cruciform one it looks ugly it is one that's like christ when he went to the cross and finally this picture also gives us the i the understanding that that there is an assurance of a final salvation so if christ has won it all he will eventually in the end there will be a final salvation there will be a final defeat of all the enemies the metaphor may also fit paul's assurance of god's final rescue so here we have here the prisoners of war being exhibited before the crowds and usually in that time you have two choices one you execute the slaves or you show mercy to them and of course for christians we know that this final parade will end with salvation so paul makes us two images here on one hand you have this thank god that god always parades around using slaves like us to spread his glory he also uses the imagery of a fragrance of aroma what we have here is a mixture so on one hand we are shown to be captives but on the other hand we are shown to be very active captives we are going around spreading the fragrance of god burning incense being like incense being a smell an aroma of life those who are living who are being saved in the aroma of death to those who are perishing and this is the role and the task of a apostle and a minister you have to preach it faithfully to be this person who will be preached the cross of christ clearly who will both be hated both at the same time beloved by those who belong to god and so this is where he asked in chapter 2 verse 16b who is sufficient for these things okay who is sufficient to be a slave of god to be parading around to be his aroma no one can unless they have been changed unless they have been changed by god they've been called by god they've been renewed by the spirit to be faithful to be sincere um to be holy and that's what paul is doing and that's what paul is telling the corinthians that they need to be this is the nature of christian ministry this is what we ought to be but we are not verse 17 like so many peddlers of god's word but as men of sincerity repeats again as from god saved by god in the son of god we speak in christ the idea of being in christ here means they are saved by christ they are not united with christ and us are gifted by christ to serve are we beginning to command ourselves again do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you so this is him again uh responding to the accusations people are saying at that time paul always talks about himself uh where is his letter of recommendation because in that culture in that time um for corinth they have this culture of recommending people and how you know you're a good speaker is because you're being recommended and so if you're recommending yourself then you're probably a very bad person so are we beginning to recommend ourselves again and paul says we don't have to you are our letter of recommendations written in our hearts to be known and read by all and you show that you are a letter from christ ministered by us written not with ink not with the spirit of living god that but with the spirit of living god not on turbines of stone but on tablets of human hearts so what we have here is that you are a letter from christ where is the ink it's not written by ink it's written through the spirit where is it written it's not on heart of stone so this is the when he says your title is a stone it's first of all of course pointing to the torah but it's also using saying that your hearts are not stoned anymore you're not heart of stone it is written on human hearts you have been changed may regenerated and you are our letter of recommendation who why do we need people to recommend when people they are belong to the world they do not understand the ministry of god do you understand you know what the ministry is about you should know from the spirit from god's wisdom that i am an ambassador of god such is the confidence that we have true christ before god true christ here shows that it is only true christ through his calling his salvation that he has this confidence before god not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us but our sufficiency is from god so here again paul's posting is ultimately from god to be able to do what he's doing the crucified ministry can only come from god this faithfulness the zeal can only come from god who has made us sufficient to be the ministers of a new covenant not the letter but of the spirit for the letter kills but the spirit gives life he's saying here he's only able because the spirit himself works in him to change him to empower him to preach the gospel if you remember your first corinthians 2 6 16 that's the same idea to the spirit now has come upon us come upon the paul team to give them the mind of christ so that they now can do this people who don't have the mind of christ cannot preach the gospel and so here he's talking about the ministry that they have is ultimately spiritual and it's ultimately of a different glory than this world and it's in fact much more glorious this is where he paves the path to talk about the new the two covenants here uh the mystery of a better carbon covenant first of all it's of a different nature than the world it can only be judged by those who have the spirit and it is far far more glorious uh the quote here i mean sorry the illusion here is to jeremiah 31 ezekiel 36 passages you guys already know i'm going to read out to you jeremiah 31 31 behold the days are coming declares the lord when i will make a new covenant so that's why it's referring to the mystery of the new covenant with i'll make a new covenant with the house of judah house of israel not like the covenant that i made with their fathers on the day when i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt my covenant that they broke that was their husband because lord what is the covenant that i will make with you with the house of israel after those days because lord i will put my law within them i will write it on their hearts and i will be their god and they will shall be my people and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying no the lord for they shall all know me from the least to them to the greatest declares a lot for i will forgive their iniquity and i will remember their sin no more ezekiel 36 is referring to that's the ministry of the spirit ezekiel 36 25 i will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and all your idols i will cleanse you i will give you a new heart and a new spirit i will put within you now remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and i'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules you shall dwell in the land that i give to that gift to your fathers and you shall be my people and i will be your god this is the difference between the ministry of the spirit and the ministry of the letter paul uses these two imageries the letter kills the spirit gives life the letter kills because it is unable to change our hearts and paul talk about how the old covenant is not useless it has its glory but compared to the new competitive ministry of the spirit it pales in comparison the law itself is not a bad thing the law itself is spiritual but it is unable to change our hearts it was always meant to point towards this greater glory in the spirit that we have which is why he talks about the mystery of the new covenant now that comes to permanent glory now if the ministry of death carved in letters of stone came with such glory when you look at the old covenant you can't think about it negatively you must see it as glorious that's how the old testament puts it for many of us we have a negative view on the law we think it is bad it's terrible no the law is actually very good it's very great it is spiritual it shows us what god wants the problem is it cannot change us and that's why it's anticipating the ministry of the greater glory they can changes that can give us real change from the inside changes shape us to be like christ whilst we now live the cruciform life before christ returns now the ministry of death carved in letters of stone came with such glory that the israelites could not gaze at moses's face because of its glory which was being brought to an end will not the ministry of the spirit have even more glory since the so he's referring back to jeremiah 31 ezekiel 36 god has already promised that there's going to be a new covenant and there's going to be a new dispensation and if the old testament already had a covenant with such glory then the new has to be even greater but if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation the ministry of righteousness must far overflow in glory indeed in this case what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it for if what was being brought in and came through glory much more with what is permanent than glory so here you can see i put the highlights there just differentiate between two uh ministries you have the ministry of you have all covenant ministry which is called the ministry of death now you've got to understand why it's ministry of death it's only a ministry of death because it came with laws that couldn't changes the problem is sin the problem is us unable to follow the law remember romans 7 the law is good but sin in me came alive when the lord king and he killed me the law was carved in letters of stone but not on human hearts the law is glorious yet at the same time the law only could lead to condemnation because of our own moral failures and so the law was only a temporary guide and she learned from galatians it was a guardian and it would have been brought to an end looking forward to the ministry of the spirit the new covenant who is glorious and will change us we put the law into our hearts so that we can become fully god's people paul's point is if the glory accompanies something that leads to death if gloria completely suddenly leaves death how much more glory will accompany the ministry of the spirit that leads to life um the glory of god revealed in the face of christ that shines in our hearts is far greater he will never be abolished and looking at it does not lead to death but allow believers to begin the transformation into that perfect glory so i'll show you the old testament text exodus 34 remember if you accepted before it's better if you could read the whole thing remember that god so what we have here especially when paul is referring to it in second corinthians verse 3 verse chapter 3 verse 7. he says here if the ministry of death came with such glory that the israelites could not gaze at moses basis referring to this particular incident right in exodus 34 when moses came down this was after the golden calf incident god constituted them as a nation moses was up there with the lord right after that at that moment they rebelled quote unquote uh and god wanted to destroy them god destroyed the covenant but moses mediated for them interceded for them so that god is patient with them god allows them to live god writes a new covenant with them the tablets of law and then moses comes down and so exodus 34 29 when moses came down from mount sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with god so this is the glory this is the glory that represents god so god is much much glorious if you remember in exodus 19 20 when israelites came god's glory shook mountain smoke god's presence here of course it's not exactly the same but here you also still have moses coming down with the laws this is representing god's law god's covenant and moses faced sean at this point moses represented god's presence with the people but study aaron and all the people of israel saw moses and behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him so this is what moses was referring sorry paul was referring to he came with such glory that they couldn't see they couldn't gaze at his face but moses called them called to them and aaron and all the leaders of congregation returned to them and moses talked with them so this is significant because it's saying that god is present right after god promised before or threatened to not go with them now god as we knew his promise moses with them god is with moses with them and he is speaking to them and gives them instruction of the law after all the people of israel came near and commanded them all that the lord had spoken with him in mount sinai and when moses had finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face whenever moses went in before the lord to speak with him he will remove the veil until it came out now this is the incident that paul is referring to uh and this is actually quite tricky because a lot of commentators if you read i think you read five you can find five different interpretations because what's clear is in the old testament he doesn't say why moses doesn't say why he put on the veil but when you read paul he says he puts on the veil so that they cannot see what's being brought to an end look at your second corinthians chapter 2 verse 13 you'll see that it says here since we have such a hope we are very bold not like moses who kept putting on a veil over his face so that the israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was to come so know your old testimony doesn't say that but this is what paul is saying and so commentators have disagreed and have given different options what is it really saying uh how did paul make this decision but i think if you read the old testament carefully you have to ask actually why why does paul cover his face why doesn't he just let god's light shine brightly one option is people are saying because if he lets the glory shine people will die i think that's one legitimate option although the problem is people he has brought people to speak to him and they haven't died um the other option is that the reason why he closes it is a form of judgment against them because they are sinful people and moses didn't want them to see god's glory so even though god was present with them but moses would after speaking to them the law of god to bring them the commands of god cover his face so that they would not continue to see the glory because of their sinfulness this could be connected to how they they might die uh these theories can be put together but what we have here is thinking very carefully paul reading the old testament thinking that moses covered it uh moses covered it because he didn't want them to gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end uh here's what i think i think that moses knew that this glory was not going to last he knew that the most this glory was not going to last because the people were sinful just think about the golden cough incident right after he goes up they're all sinful um and so on one hand yes he has come down before god um he himself has an intimate relationship with god he goes to the tent he can see god face to face his face will shine but as he comes out the people are sinful so people are afraid of him most likely because also they are sinful and paul knows that this will not last and this is only temporary and paul himself looks forward to that day when god's glory will truly come upon his people and so in verse 13 when he says it's not like moses who kept putting a veil on his face we are different we have this ministry of permanent glory now through the spirit working in us we can become like god in the old testament there was only one person there was only moses the rest are too sinful they couldn't even behold the glory of god properly what you have here is a greater ministry a much greater glory a glory that has penetrated to our sinful hearts and has given has been has come to everyone this glory that's changing us from um us not having the glory of god romans 3 23 now through this message now through the gospel now to the crucified king and i'll show you soon we can have this glory this is why verse 12 says we are very bold when you read this variable the boldness here refers to the boldness of preach the gospel the boldness to be clear the bonus to be sincere when you say sincere go back to chapter 1 verse 12 again we are since we have such a hope that we have this glory through the cross truly looking to christ we are very bold we don't meddle with the word we don't become palestine we preach become the aroma of life to those who are living come to a stench of death to those who are dying that's what's really going on here he's saying we have this glory through the gospel through the crucified messiah we're going to be very bold even if it means being rejected because that's the only way to be changed that's the only way to be saved in verse 13 who kept putting a bail on his face so the putting on the bells his face i just changed it because he's talking about his putting the veil verse 14 but their minds were dark and that refers to the israelites this is referring to especially their sinful hearts right after at the scene very clearly in the golden calf incident and also using isaiah's six they were hardened mines were they're blinded eyes were darkened until this day they still when they read the old covenant they have this veil covered so this bell in verse 14 refers to the inability c okay i've got my diagram there you can take a look at it if you want to i just drew stuff there um [Music] this veil is the wheel that is in their hearts this um their hardened hearts they still have that veil so that they cannot trust in christ they cannot see they cannot obey christ and be saved they read the old covenant as if it was something that can be achieved through the law but not through christ so verse 14 the same veil remains unlifted because only through christ is it brought to an end how is it true crisis brought to end true seeing christ who is the fullness of god in his crucified form he's crucified and resurrected king through seeing that that as god truly understanding your sin on the cross as i remember uh hopefully you remember from first corinthians choosing a sin on the cross choosing glory in christ choosing the only way you can have glory is truly crucified messiah can you remove that veil from your heart so verse 14 because only true christ is the veil brought to an end yes to this day whenever moses is read a veil lies over their hearts and they're talking about present day jews also but when one turns to lord and this lord refers to indian christ you can see the parallel i drew the lines there when one turns to the lord because it's only true crisis is brought to end the veil is removed now the lord here is the spirit it's a bit tricky he's not saying that the spirit and jesus are the same person he's saying here the lord is identified with the spirit the spirit gives us new life the lord is the spirit remember acts 2 they are very closely connected the spirit is the lord's helper he serves the lord serves christ and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom the freedom here refers to removing of the veil when you have the spirit coming to you renewing your minds helping you to see christ to turn to christ then you have freedom so you have two things going on here if you turn to christ you'll be able to see god's glory you'll be able to be changed but the only way to do that is you have the spirit and we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of god are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to another this refers back to the old testament image with moses when he went to the temple and he could speak to god face to faith he could be whole god story that's why his face shone moses therefore is a type for us we now are able to see god face to face in the image of christ and become like god in christ this comes from the lord of the spirit uh that again is a translation change pretty important this comes from christ the lord of the spirit so here again shows you the close relationship between christ and the spirit so the turning to the crucified king here is to be able to see god's glory review to see our sin see our judgment to see the glory that god has and we need to be able to see the christ to be able to see who we are changes us so that we can become like him and because we can see this we can be very bold verse 12 of chapter 3 and then in chapter 4 verse 1 therefore having this ministry by the mercy of god we do not lose heart so this ministry refers to all he's been saying from chapter 2 14 to 3 18 which is the ministry that parades around in the trifle procession this ministry of being the aroma of christ this ministry of preaching the crucified christ this ministry of being his slave to preach the crucified christ since we have this by the mercies of god by the spirit working in us and it is only true seeing christ that we are saved we do not lose heart we renounce disgraceful unhanded ways we refuse to practice cunning or temple with god's word but by open statement of truth uh we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience inside of inside of god so again this is him telling the corinthians that this is the shape and nature of christian ministry he's preaching the crucified christ it is being what god wants us to be it is portrayed in loving suffering preaching the gospel veil in cruciform life having true power in god and not like the world not like the flesh and verse 3 if we preach this gospel if it's veiled to people it is well to those who are perishing because they have no spirit because they do not have the mind of god in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel and of the glory of christ so here he's telling us there's no point trying to please the world they have available their hearts satan is blinding them we on the hand need to preach the clear gospel and to not be afraid to be bold to stand firm to have this glory of christ and to become this glory of christ but what we proclaim is not ourselves but jesus christ as lord with ourselves as your servants for jesus sake so again here you have the cruciform you have first corinthians three we are servants for you for god who said uh light will shine out of darkness so here again it's a translation change so in your versions esp says let light shine on darkness but in the greek it's actually a future tense light will shine out of darkness and it's referring to isaiah 9. it's referring to genesis 3 8 genesis 1 and isaiah 9. genesis 1 verse 3 talks about god creating light you know let light shine and he creates light in darkness and you can use that to refer to how god is showing light in our hearts but at the same time um if you want to use this future sense a better passage to look to is isaiah 9 and that's a messianic passage isaiah 9 was 1-7 but there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish in the former time he brought into contempt the land of zebulun in the land of naphtali when latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea the land beyond the jordan galley of the nations the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has the light shone so here he's saying in the old testament when god promised that there will be light shining through people in darkness it has been it is being shown now on us in the face of christ through this shining of god's light on us we can now be changed we can now see the gospel we can now believe in him um and this light in isaiah 9 of course eventually lands at the messiah seeing the messiah as god incarnate seeing the messiah who brings his kingdom in and submitting ourselves to him isaiah 9 6 for to us a child is born to us a son is given and to the government and government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of david and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the lord of hosts will do this this is the glory that we have is the gospel that we have that we ought to be preaching that we need to be bold in but this now is something we have in jars of clay chapter 4 verse 7 but we have this treasure this gospel of the glory of christ that we can truly be changed we can have a glory that will last that is better in the old testament that we are glory that changes us from the inside it becomes makes us like god makes us prepares us for heaven we have this treasure in jars of clay he's telling them that the nature of ministry now is going to be a hidden one and it's done so so that god's power can be shown we have this treasure in just a place to show that the surpassing power belongs to god and not to us the gospel working in us such that we are still obedient to god such that we still belong to gospel such that we will still continue preaching the gospel even though we are persecuted verse 8 we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not driven to despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed this is what a christian should be facing and yet the more he faces this and the more he doesn't he continues to persevere the more you see the power of god at work in us always carrying in the body the death of jesus so that the life of jesus his holiness his life as well as his the his determination to obey god to preach the gospel may also be manifested in our bodies for we who all who live are always given being given over to the death of jesus sick so that the life of jesus also may be manifested in our mortal bodies um i just got this diagram this table for you just to show you the emphasis here um so one commenter points this out and he says notice the parallel between [Music] um the emphasis of always the first one always constantly so he's saying that this is the nature of christian ministry it's not sometimes you get persecuted this is what a christian should expect uh in verse chapter 4 verse 11 we who live are always being given over this is the same word also used earlier when he talks about the triumphal procession thanks be to god who always leads us to triumph possession this is the uh the nature of christian life now that we have this treasure in jars of clay that we will live this cruciform life to show the power of god working in us changing us and also changing others as we live out this life we're always carrying around this dying being handed over to death so that life can be shown god's life can be shown and so saint corinthians chapter 4 verse 12 so death is at work in us but life in you so here it goes back to chapter one again death is working enough uh we are suffering we're persecuted so that you can be confident and when you receive that comfort you can also suffer through the same sufferings that we suffer so that you can comfort others since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written i believed and so i spoke we also believe in service work so here this is leading to psalm 116. i don't have it on a slide but you can take a look at it some 116 okay how some 116 plus 10 but if you read the context carefully you see that this same context is talking about the sum is under suffering is persecuted [Music] psalm 116 3 and 4 the snares of death encompassed me the pangs of shield laid hold on me i suffered distress and anguish then i called on the name of the lord oh lord i pray deliver my soul so paul is using this psalm because this psalm is in the midst of distress also cries out to god verse 10 i believed even when i spoke i am greatly afflicted and so here is talking about the christian this is a paradigm for christian life that you will be afflicted you will be given over but you trust god and this god is the god who will deliver you from death psalm 116 verse 8. you trust that this is the god who'll save you who delivered you from death this is the spirit of the faith that we have a cruciform faith and paul is quoting from ii corinthians 4 13. verse 15 for it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more people it may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of god so the goal of paul has always been to preach the gospel to die that life may be given to them and then through them more people will be saved and glory be given to god so we don't lose heart we keep preaching this gospel we keep giving glory to god but though our outer self is wasting away our inner life is being renewed this other self and inner life in inner self i've got this to explain to you this description what paul speaks of here is uh here is who one is perceived to be from the standpoint of outward appearances so he's not talking about this you know dualism you know there's two parts of you that's the flesh there's the spirit he's talking about here the perspective from the outside you look like you're dying but from the new creation perspective you're living because you're becoming more and more into the glory of god you're becoming more and more like christ you're becoming more life is in your bodies the true life so it's spoken from perceived to be from the perspective from our appearances so it constitutes more than just the physical body certainly this aspect of the apostle's life is wasting away from the persecution paul suffers the term here the good term a present passive verb refers to something being spoiled or destroyed through the corrosion of some kind but the inner self here is this person's renewed by the spirit who has that permanent glory he's been renewed day by day for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparisons so we're still back at the topic of glory we have this glory that's in us um that is eternal that is in the future has begun now we have that in just a play we are now being persecuted because that glory really is about changing us from the inside to be like god to be like christ and the more we're persecuted the more we suffer for it in this hostile world the more we're sanctified as we look to we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen but the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal but we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed we have a building from god so this is the posture the mindset of a christian that even if we die now we know there's eternal glory waiting for us there's a building from god heaven the resurrection and so we don't care in the end whether we live in this world or we die this building is a house not made with hands it is eternal in the heavens in this tent to be grown longing to put on our heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it on we may be found naked but while still while we were still in this tent to be grown being burdened not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further close so that what is mortal may be swallowed by life so here's talk about the christian we're longing for that resurrection even now we're not longing for this world we're longing to enter heaven and be closed again to receive the glory that is from god and now he who has prepared us for this very thing is god who has given us the spirit as guaranteed the spirit changes us the spirit helps us see first corinthians 2 6 16 he gives us the mind of christ to be able to see this truth to be able to teach us how to live and so coming back to chapter 5 verse 6 what is it to be be an apostolic ministry to be a faithful minister of christ to always be courageous to preach the gospel to live out this life and knowing that being at home in the body we are away from the lord so here he's not saying that god is not with us but he is saying we are not glorified yet as long as we're here we're not glorified yet and we live by faith not by sight yes we are courageous to live out this life and we'll rather be away from the body and at home with the lord but at the same time verse 9 we also make it our aim whether we are away or at home to be pleasing to him verse 10 is very important for we shall for we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil this one is referring to the judgments that even christians will go to so he's not just talking about the judgment seat for everyone this is talking about even for christians you will be judged this is the judgment of whether you'll be rewarded this is first corinthians 3 whether you your work should be burnt up or not whether you are in this world whether you're with god or not you make it your aim to please him because there will in the end be a judgment uh even for christians uh to plan out whether you have the reward of god or not first corinthians 3 whether all your works be burnt up whether you'll be serving god whether you will be rewarded for your service to god this is the eternal glory that we are already guaranteed this is what we're looking forward to um and this is why we're doing what we're doing even on earth you don't just sit here and do nothing because you're looking forward to this glory that has already begun in you they will finish at the end they will finish with a final judgment from christ and so 5 5 11 what is also a christian a christian devil is controlled by the love of christ he's someone who knows the fear of the lord a christian is someone who still fears god fears christ as lord and messiah knowing the fear of lord we persuade others but what we are is known to god and i hope it is known also to your conscience so this is again paul talking in the end it's vertical what we are is known to god but i hope also for corinthians you guys will see that we are the true apostle ministry we are not commanding ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us when you think about it what is this boasting this boasting is not in the end in any fleshliness this boasting in the end is god is in god in his work in the spirit so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart but if we are beside ourselves it is for god if we are in our right mind it is for you paul is saying because he's a little bit out of normal he's now talking about he's commending himself he's building himself he's saying the only reason why i'm doing this is for your sake so that you can see that we are worth boasting about if you're besides ourselves it's for god if you are in our right mind it is for you but the love of christ controls us because we have concluded this that one has died for all therefore all have died and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sick diet and what's grace so the love of christ here doesn't refer although i mean it cannot refer to our love for god but if you look at the context right just after that verse 14 15 he talks about the love that christ shown in his death for us so that we can no longer live to ourselves but to live for god and that's telling the corinthians stop being fleshly be fully sanctified for god just want a quick clarification here that all here is not saying every single person in this world because in the end verse 15 those who are saved those who will live again who are raised are those who are who christ died for so those who live might no longer live for themselves it's christians it's referring to christians not referring to every single person so that all here could refer to qualitatively or not necessarily quantitatively all even if you take the quantitative all you need to take the in the end the stance in the end verse 15 where only the christians only those who no longer live for themselves anymore are the ones who christ died for and are going to be raised so chapter 5 verse 11 therefore knowing the fear oh sorry i repeated myself from now on therefore we regard no one according to the flesh so again verse 16 talking about how you don't judge people based on the flesh you judge people based on the spirit based on the cross first corinthians 1 to 4. you live this life differently in holiness not with human wisdom but with god's wisdom even though we once regarded christ according to the flesh so he's talking about how paul himself used to hate christ until he was given a spirit how the corinthians probably the same too even though we got people according to flesh in the past we do not regard him thus any longer verse 17 therefore if anyone is in christ he is a new creation the old has passed away behold the new has come and all this is from god who true christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in christ god was reconciling the world to himself not counting their treasures against him and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation so here verse 19 makes it very clear when god reconciles us to him he entrusts us all of us christians with the ministry of reconciliation everyone here is in full-time ministry everyone here you are supposed to live out the cruciform life life of preaching the gospel clearly this is the mission that's been given to you to us all so that we can continue to be a fragrance of god in this world therefore we are ambassadors of christ all of us christians on campus university at home as a parent as a child you are to proclaim the gospel god making his appeal through us and so we implore you on behalf of christ so here he's he says so much already now he's confronting the corinthians you'll be reconciled to god now this is interesting here because on one hand they're supposed to be christians and so this gives you some insight on what is reconciliation really most of us we think reconciliation is just oh i believe in jesus i'm saved but here reconciliation is not just forensic paul understands reconciliation same way as he understands righteousness as ethical too at this point the corinthians they are still worldly they are still very much in touch with the world and very much engage with them very much worldly paul is saying be reconciled to god change repent change your way of thinking reconciliation for christians is not just a forensic thing and i said this say it again it is ethical so those of you who are living sinful lives be reconciled to god the cross is true saves you but if you are saved you need to live it out be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of god so again this is not just forensic this is ethical working together with him then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of god in vain for he says in a favorable time i listen to you and in the day of salvation i have helped you this one isn't from isaiah 49 i don't have the verse put out but you can take a look at it again and this verse is interesting because when you read isaiah 49 you would expect on the one hand it's calling the corinthians to repent to be reconciled to god but on the other hand when you read verse 3 and 4 he doesn't quite talk about the corinthians he talks about himself and so you need to work out how paul is using this quote on one hand yes he is saying now is the time of salvation isaiah 49 makes it very clear 0.99 is a servant song so 0.9 versus one listen to me all coastlines and give attention you peoples from far apart the lord called me to my call me from the womb so this is the suffering sermon from the body of my mother he named my name he made my mouth like a sharp sword the shadow of his hand he hit me he made me a polished arrow in his quiver he hid me away and he said to me you are my servant israel in whom i will be glorified but i said i have labored in vain i have spent my strength for nothing and vanity yet surely my right is with the lord and my recompense with my god and now the lord says he who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring jacob back to him and that israel might be gathered to him i'm honored in the eyes of the lord and my god has become my strength he says is it too light to think that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of jacob and to bring up the preserve of israel i will make you as a light for the nations and my salvation may reach the end of the earth so here god in the old testament promise that the messiah will come even to the nations to the ends of the earth and that's what definitely is applicable for the corinthians thus he says thus says the lord the redeemer of israel and the holy one one deeply depicted despised abhorred by the nation the servant of rulers kings shall see and arise princes princess and they shall post themselves because of the lord who is holy the holy one of israel who has chosen you so there will be a time where all the enemies will bow down but now is the time verse 8 in a time of favor i have answered you in the time of a day of salvation i have helped you i will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land so this is the promise and paul is calling it say now now is the time to repent but at the same time for them to repent here is to repent and turn back to paul to be proud of paul's ministry so here again paul is seeing himself as an extension of the messiah we've seen him doing this before he's quoted the same passage he's talking about he himself being taken to the nations in book of acts and here he's saying as a representative paul who preaches the gospel the cross of christ you need to be reconciled to me and this is how you understand verse 3 and 4 onwards this is what a christian looks like this is what an apostle looks like be reconciled to me put on the cruciform life like me too you put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found within our ministry but as servants of christ we command ourselves in every way be proud of us chapter 1 verse 12 this is the life the cruciform form of the christian by great endurance in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots labors sleepless nights hunger this is the circumstances that we live in christians live in but at the same time in that circumstance verse 6 is how we live this is the power of the spirit by purity knowledge patience kindness the holy spirit genuine love by truthful speech and the power of god that changes us to make us like him with weapons of righteousness here it's most likely referring to the ephesians weapons of righteousness and this this is the center of this whole list uh basically we are people who are now made righteous isaiah 59 for the right hand and for the left and as we arises and we put on these attributes true honor and dishonor true slander and praise this is what will happen to all of us we will have honor we'll have dishonor we'll have slander we'll have praise we are treated as imposters and yet are true this is a true authentic sign of you being a christian as unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing this reminds you of first corinthians four paul is the same thing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing everything we have spoken freely to you corinthians our heart is wide open you are not restricted by us but you are restricted in your own affections so here paul makes it very clear what's stopping you is not me it's you right it's in your own affection so he's calling them to repent and turn back before he finally goes back to corinthians and finally exercises the final discipline here's his final call for them to repent and see what he's been saying that this is authentic christian ministry and to repent come to him as children the father why don't your hearts also this is definitely a reference to ezekiel 37 sorry luke 36 jeremiah 31 and he wants them to be continually be completely holy so verse 14 onwards is that mystery of reconciliation being fulfilled be reconciled to god means do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers here okay many people use this for not dating non-christians which i think is fair enough but um in this context referring to the unbelievers the false teachers in their midst hawk in fact calls them unbelievers ready stop being unequally yoked with them for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness if you're a holy person stop this is similar to verse corinthians 5 he says do not associate with the brother who continues to become unrepentant don't associate with them what fellowship has lied with darkness but the court has christ with balean or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever what agreement has the temple of god with idols for we are the temple of the living god as god said i will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and i will be their people i'll be their god and they should be my people uh this is quoted from leviticus 36 11 to 12 uh and also ezekiel 37 27 this is talking about how god is creating a new temple a holy people through us in the old testament and now we're fulfilled we are now that holy priesthood the holy temple to be god's holy light in this world remember your first corinthians 3 do not destroy god's temple if you destroy it god will destroy you we are created to be a holy people in this world stop being unequally yoked with unbelievers in the church he's not talking about he's talking about these unbelievers as in the false teachers purge the evil out of you and be god's holy people therefore go out from the midst and be separate from them so this is quoted from isaiah 52 11 says lord and touch no unclean thing in the context of isaiah 52 god has come god has saved them says go out leave babylon go to jerusalem leave the wicked place then i will welcome you and i will be to him a father so this is second samuel 7 and you shall be sons and daughters to me says the lord almighty since we have these promises beloved let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit bringing holiness to completion in the fear of the lord so again what you see here is even for christians salvation doesn't just mean justification salvation means sanctification means finishing bringing that holiness to completion in the fear of god living out holy lives living living out cruciform lives every day and so being christians require us to be like that um what makes us in line with apostle ministry be a faithful minister is that we're constantly living up these holy lives in a crucified form to god and to his people [Music] so give me a second uh chapter seven verse two so the slice i think yeah it's a bit messy here uh you probably need to refer to your bible paul continues here to defend himself to explain himself we have wrong no one we have corrupted no one we are true christians this is the true authentic ministry we have taken advantage no one i don't say this condemn you for i sit before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together i'm acting with great boldness towards you i have great pride in you i am filled with comfort you know affliction i'm overflowing with joy so here he now backs track in order to finish the convincing so he you can see him rhetorically trying to get them to repent and what here just before he goes to the issue of money he now finishes up with the news he's gotten from uh titus about their repentance so this repentance again you have to take it with um well we gotta both take it generally by the same time pictures it's not complete repentance yet because of what you see in the letter um what this repentance means they have kicked out uh they exclamated that person or don't pause ask them to welcome him back but this is a repentance that they have shown at least their ego at least they have the spirit at least they will be willing to accept paul and to be obedient again first five for even when we came into macedonia our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn fighting without and fear within the god who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of titus um and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you as he told us of your longing your mourning your zeal for me so that i rejoice still more or even if i made you grieve with the letter i do not regret it though i did regret it well i see that that letter grieved you though only for a while as it is i rejoice not because you were grieved not because you were grieving to repent but because you were grieved into repenting uh for you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us so there's two kinds of great guys one is a grief that doesn't lead to repentance but there's a grief that leads to repentance and that's what we're after but godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death perceived earnestness this godly grief has produced in you but also what earnestness you clear yourself so here on he's doing his final bit to ask them telling them to return to him and to explain all of it and in verse 16 he will talk about how he has complete confidence in them so after he's done this bit now he's moving on to talking about the issue of contribution about money and i'll talk about this as much as i can i wish i had more time to work this out um but this one what you'll see here is he constantly talks about money in through the theology of the cross um in the end we're living to serve people believing to serve god's people our lives are being used for god for his glory for the building of the church and money should be something that we are willing to give up to god for the benefit of his uh church in chapter 8 verse 107 what you'll see is he gives an example of a group of people the macedonians who are excel in giving so take a look at it in chapter eight verse one onwards we want you to know brothers about the grace of god that has been given among the churches of macedonia now take note this grace of god is not salvation this grace of god is explained in verse 2 this gift of god so the grace of god has been uh can be a few things in the bible usually it's referred to salvation but this grace is the grace to be generous the grace to live the cruciform life to grace two verse two verse three onwards but in a severe test of affliction the abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity or simplicity on their part so here three things to think about i'm one they're in a severe test of affliction so they talk about persecution um they're in a tough time but the grace of god that's given to them remember the grace of god that was given to paul he says i live by the grace of god this sincere honest love for god this grace of god was given to them also such that even through this severe testing this affliction there was abundance of joy and at the same time the extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity or simplicity um the the word is actually the same word in chapter 1 verse 12 this single mindedness that god has given them the grace even in this tough time to give to one to serve god's people verse 3 they gave according to their means as i can testify and in fact beyond it so they are poor they're being toughed out but the grace of god it gives them the eyes to see it teaches them all that you've learned from chapters one to seven paul wants the corinthians to have this mindset also and especially with the use of the money they get beyond their means of their own accord begging us earnestly for the grace of taking part in the relief of the saints so in your bibles it says honestly for the favor but the word is actually grace they other words they want to be part of this opportunity to take uh to be to unite the churches together they have the global church in mind the universal church and this is not as we expected but they gave themselves first to the lord and then by the will of god to us accordingly we urge titus that as he has started he should complete among you this act of grace but as you excel or you overflow in everything in faith in speech and knowledge in all honestness and in our love for you make sure you excel in this also so for christians we can excel in being gracious in having the grace of god in us verse 8 to 15 paul clarifies he wants to make sure that he's not doing this forcefully he wants to make sure that they're doing this out of their hearts out of a transformed renewed mind verse 8 i say this not as a command but to prove by earnestness of others that your love is genuine for you know the grace of our lord jesus christ so the example for all of us christians in the end what is the reason we should give is because we were given christ we were given eternal life for you know the grace of our lord jesus christ that though he was rich he was talking about um well i mean yes he's turned so physical but more like spiritual rich um yet for your sake he became poor physically and also just living on this world so that you by his poverty might become rich this rich is not physically it's not wealth it's spiritually so that you can have the spirit and you can be saved and in this matter i gave my judgment that this benefits you who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it so now finish doing it as well okay when you read this you're thinking how come i feel like he's being forced but this is sanctification this is calling you to be what you're supposed to be to serve god's people to be willing to give it uh to serve god's people finish doing it as well so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your complete completing it out of what you have but if the readiness is there it is acceptable according to what a person has not according to what he does not have so again he's asking not for them to give without having giving according to what they can with the readiness of heart with a bigger view of the gospel and of the world than they have but i do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened but as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need and they may be fairness so this one he's quoting actually verse 15 from exodus so it's interesting how he uses the exodus to teach with the teach how we should live in the old testament god has already taught his people and how we should live and here he's telling the corinthians to apply that same wisdom um how we should be so it's taken from exodus 16 11 and 21 the episode it's the feeling of the manna and also feeding them with quail exodus 16 11-21 and the lord said to moses i have heard the grumbling of the people of israel say to them at twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall eat shall be filled with bread then you shall know that i am the lord your god so here god wants him to depend on him listen to him and to be obedient and god will provide for them so verse 13 in the evening quail came up and covered the camp and in the morning dew lay around the camp and when the dew had gone up there was on the face of the wilderness fines like things so that's the manner they saw it they didn't know what it was but moses said that this is the bread from heaven and so verse 16 gather of it each one of you as much as he can eat you shall each take an alma according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent and the people of israel did so so here is the instruction that is going to be used later on here you have the wisdom so you can take but if you can take extra in the end you give the extra to somebody else so that all may be filled or may have so they all may be equal and all may serve god together that's the wisdom that god wants his people to live in um to have this equal love for each other uh equal life verse 17 and the people of israel did so they gather some more some less but when they measured it with an omer well so that's a measuring tool whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever get little had no lag each of them gathered as much as he could eat and moses said to them let no one leave any of it over till morning of course here from here on they still rebel so this is the verse that's being quoted in verse 15 of saint corinthians as it's written whoever gathered much more um had nothing left over and whoever get a little had no lag this is god's vision for his people not everyone should have equal same property not communism but we should have love for one another in this case he's saying verse 14 if you have extra give it to them you don't need it because there will be a time in the future where you might need it and they will you they might have an abundance and you lack and they will have to share with you this is the christian spirit in the end we're using the welfare god is given to us the property is given to us for service to love one another to build up the church this is the wisdom that god has given to us even in our management of our properties now things we should live out this cruciform life life of love life of service to one another and in chapter nine so let me finish up chapter 8 16. so but thanks be the god who put into the heart titus the same earnest care i have for you but he not only accepted our appeal but he himself so he talked about how his plans with titus sends him over he explains them how uh he needs to make sure that there are people there to make sure that they are trustworthy uh they will handle the money well so verse 21 for we aim at what is honorable and not only in the lord's side but also in the sight of men so he sends reliable people over and he calls in the end the church to finish up the giving verse one of chapter nine for it is superfluous to me to write to you about the ministry of the same so he's talking about this no he knows that they will know why they need to give but i know your readiness of which i boast about you to the people of macedonia saying akaya has been has been ready since last year so he continues to tell them about the need to give and he's boasted to others and he wants to make sure that they keep to it they excel in this grace they excel in this life of loving others verse six the point is this whoever souls sparingly will also reap sparingly whoever souls bountifully will also read bountifully most people take this use it as a prosperity gospel of churches say if you give more you get more you you reap you give less you give get less but if you read the context it's not that look at verse 12 you will see what you're supposed to reap you're not supposed to read money you're supposed to read more thanksgiving to god so this generosity god wants them to give is supposed to reap a thanksgiving to god verse 12 but the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the same but it's so overflowing in many thanksgiving to god by the approval of this service they will glorify god so we can't use this verse to prove tax or giving so that you can receive more prosperity rather you should use this verse to talk about love love for god love for his people by the approval of this service they will glorify god and because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for of all others for they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of god upon you so he's now also praying that they will have this grace that's given to them by god to give to have their lives changed um chapter 10 to 13 i don't have much here but what you have here from here on his he he goes all out to confront uh whoever is still rebelling against him and especially super apostles in the church and whoever is attached to them um you see in verse one him saying you know i treat myself by the meanness and gentleness of christ this is what they say um about him i am humble and when face to face with you but both towards you so they're accusing him like oh this guy in front of people he's not very you know fantastic when he writes letters he can write but he cannot so paul now has to deal with that he now talks about how he's going to come back and discipline them carry out this discipline um and he will use the weapons of christ so christians we have power now he's not going to talk about his authority his power his authority to build up which will sometimes require him to tear down uh verse 3 though we walk in the flesh we are not waging war according to the flesh the weapons we have the power we have is not of the flesh but the weapons of warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy and strongholds destroy somehow this is going back to your first corinthians again when he says i'm going to come back i'm going to test you with your power this power is in the end the part of the gospel to save and to destroy the power to take down lovely opinions raised against knowledge of god and to take every thought captive to obey christ being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete so notice how there's that clause when your obedience is complete the power of god exercise in the church to now exercise discipline so this is clearly talking about discipline of the church with those who are on board um and so here he continues to boast um but he talks about boasting not in the way that the super apostles would he boasts in his weaknesses he finishes up saint corinthians with the theme of the cross um he knows in the end chapter 10 verse 17 which is quoted from jeremiah 29 let the one who boasts boasts in the lord and so for him to boast to play the game he will play it but at the same time he will boast in his weaknesses so they can again elevate god god's word for them in verse 18 of chapter chapter 11 since many balls according to flesh i too will boast for you gladly bear with fools being wise yourselves for you bear it if someone makes slaves of you or devours you or takes advantage of you or puts on air so he's contrasting these people with himself he is sincere before god these people are the evil ones so here he starts to shame them shane into repentance like how he does in chapter four that's right in first corinthians chapter four um and he boasts now about all his credentials as a servant of christ in verse 23 onwards are they servants of christ i'm a better one i'm talking like a madman with far greater labors far more imprisonments with countless beatings and often near death five times i received at the hands of the jews the party lashes last one three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned three times i was shipwrecked you have to ask how is this person still alive the answer is by the grace of god by the power of god working in him a night in a day i was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers dangers from robbers dangers from my people dangers from gentiles danger in a silly danger in the wilderness at danger at sea dangers from false brothers in toil and hardship to many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure and apart from other things there is daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches that include the corinthians who is weak and i am not weak who is made to fall and i am not indignant if i must boast i will boast of the things that show me show my weaknesses so he continues to boast about the things that he cannot boast i mean no people will be impressed by to show you that he is a genuine true servant of god that he's doing this solely to serve god by the power of god even verse 9 or starting from verse 7 so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the great surpassing greatness of the revelations a thorn was given me in the flesh a messenger of satan to harass me we don't know what this is some people say it's a sickness some people say some illness or something basically it's something that hurts paul that continues to make him weaker to keep him from being conceited three times i pleaded with the lord about this that it should leave me but he said to me my grace is sufficient for you this is the christian life that in weakness we are strong therefore i will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of christ may rest upon me for the sake of christ and i am content with weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities but when i am weak in my body and yet still serving god i am strong so now finally he continues to give that final warning i've been a fool you forced me for i ought to have been commanded by you or i was not at all inferior to super apostles even though i am nothing so now he finally in verse 12 and 13 talks them in a little bit more in although not very grammars where he talks about his signs like i have shown you the signs okay about from the apostles why do you still do that to me so finally verse 14 onwards he warns them he's the third time he's coming back um so they will repent and in chapter 13 verse 5 onwards he tells them to examine themselves to test themselves whether they are in the faith he is worried here generally whether they will truly be saved or not so here you see paul again not presuming to know everything but at the same time trusting god his warning again is for them to change at the same time i think he knows there will be some who are not christians but at the same time this letter ends with blessing verse 11 finally brothers rejoice aim for restoration comfort one another agree with one another live in peace and the god of love and peace will be with you greet one another with a holy kiss all the saints greet you the grace of our lord jesus christ the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all let me pray oh god we thank you for this time we can sit together and to hear your word ask forgiveness for not being able to explain second corinthians as well as i should but i do pray that at least the message of the cross the message of the cruciform life the glory that you have in christ the life that you want us to live now in weakness to show your glory is clear to all of us and that should shape the way we live shape the way we think about all of life how we should live now in this world as people have given the ministry of reconciliation who have responsibility to now preach the gospel to have the boldness speak your truth to tell people about this glorious truth you have in the cross help us think very carefully about how that should look like in our lives how we should do so boldly knowing that this life is meant to be lived for you and suffering which is good for us good for us just like jesus until we see you again let me just replay church let us stand and sing in a response to the message preached to us and may we imitate our brother and apostle paul who boasts not in his works but he boasts in his weaknesses so that god may be elevated and glorified as faithful so to god indeed and not us to receive all glory together not to us but to your name alone be all the glory the glory forever for your faithfulness and stead fast love receive the glory the glory belongs to you all that we've accomplished you have done for us and any fruit we harvest [Music] and we seem to bring god not to us not to us but to your name me all the glory the [Music] receive the glory the glory belongs to you only by your mercy can we come to you though we deserve your judgment you have called us by name [Music] us but to your name behold the glory the glory forever [Music] not to us but to your name alone be all the glory the glory forever to you [Applause] [Music] may god be glorified in our lives lived holy for him please be seated so we're indeed children of this glory and we glory in the cross of christ now god has shown us his grace and shone into our hearts so that we can finally be courageous bold and be unashamed of this new life in him so now what better way to respond to the sermon they we've heard than to support the church financially now we have seen from chapter eight to nine all christians giving is carried out in light of god's gracious gift of the gospel so church let us remember his grace by giving to church diligently cheerfully unselfishly now get the ashes right now to pass the back around and i hope you'll be generous in your giving and not out of pressure not out of compulsion not out of guilt or any sort of economical reasons but just purely out of a thanksgiving heart to the lord please be willing to give as a child of light to serve the church now give according to what you have not more not less and if you prefer online transfer we got a qr code right here for you to scan and people online you can also scan the same qr code now i'll give you some time to do that before i officially end the gathering together gathering by reflecting with your respective group growth group members uh on what you have learned from the sermon today so here's a discussion question for you actually two discussion questions how is your life right now reflecting the glory of god and have you been living out this cruciform life like paul the apostle i hope you have an identifying discussion and stay safe and i'll see you all next week at 8 00 am 8 00 am okay good night church and is [Music] so [Music] [Music] do people who with me so so [Music] [Music] so [Music] it's [Music] a perfect way [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] of is curse [Music] [Music] is [Music] the ground began to shake a stone was rolled away his only love could not be overcome now death where is your stick a resurrected king has friended you defeated [Music] is [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] some see just a wooden crossbar i can see the your grace plans some say this is foolishness but you have shown the world you're wise in all your ways some will say this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] holy love says [Music] and the power of god [Music] [Music] [Music] yes [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] the foreign of your victory and here you know the place where elf and mercy meet some will say this place belongs to history but i can see yes i can see [Music] this changes you

Channel: Christ Evangelical Reformed Church | CERC Malaysia

Views: 561

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: cerc, cerc malaysia, christ, evangelical, reformed, church

Id: M2i6Y5ttL6Q

Length: 215min 20sec (12920 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021