A BOAST WORTH PROTECTING
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 28, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; June 28, 2020 from 2 Corinthians 1:12-14
Theme: We should conduct ourselves with integrity in the present, because we will be one another’s cause for rejoicing in eternity.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
I guess I thought, at the time, that what it said was pretty profound. It was apparently from a quote originally attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes. And of course, I still understand the point that the creator of this little magnet was trying to make. Our Christian faith needs to be brought down into the everyday area of action—how we live, how we work, and how we treat people. We don’t want to have our heads in the clouds so much that we don’t translate our Christian faith into the ‘shoe-leather’ of practice. But I have long since become cautious of that old saying. I have come to believe that the problem is never that we are ‘too heavenly minded’ to be of any ‘earthly good’. Rather, the problem is that we don’t have the right understanding of what the Bible teaches us about our heavenly home; and that we don’t think enough of how our hope for heavenly glory is to impact our daily living right now.
Really, our problem is that we don’t let ourselves become ‘heavenly minded’ enough! We will never become the ‘earthly good’ our Lord wants us to be until we become more genuinely ‘heavenly minded’ than we are.
Consider some things that the Bible tells us about this. In Colossians 3:1-4, for example, the apostle Paul wrote;
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
Our focus is to be fixed upon the heavenly realms, where our Lord Jesus is. And we’re to keep our focus there so much that we consider life to only really begins for us when Jesus returns for us and glorifies us like Himself.
Or consider Philippians 3:20-21; where Paul said,
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:20-21).
Do you know what the Greek word for citizenship is? It’s ‘politics’. We live on earth, but we’re to have our main citizenship in heaven! Our politics would be a lot better if we did! And we’re to do so because we eagerly wait for Jesus to come and transform us into His own glory.
Or think of 1 John 3:1-3. The apostle John wrote;
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:1-3).
John is telling us that—at this very moment—we are already adopted by God through faith in Jesus; and are already His official sons and daughters. We may not look like it on the outside presently; but when Jesus returns, we will be transformed into His glory forever. And if we have this as our present “hope”—if we keep this as our sure and certain outlook and expectation in life—then we will live lives of holiness right now! We will want to live today more like what we are destined to one day be transformed into!
Or think of what Paul wrote in Titus 2:11-14;
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).
So; I hope you can see, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that we shouldn’t worry about becoming so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good. Far from it! We should instead be constantly thinking about our heavenly destiny—about the day of the Lord’s return, and of how He will transform us into His glory and take us to dwell with Him eternally. And we need to let that expectation impact our lives. We won’t be very much earthly good in His service until we do.
And this is true with respect to our relationship with one another as fellow believers. So long as we focus on earthly matters, we will always have a hard time getting along with each other. We will divide ourselves over external and temporal things. (I don’t know if you’ve noticed; but we’re dividing ourselves from one another an awful lot of that nowadays.) But if we focus on ‘the day of the Lord’ as we should—me looking ahead to how you will be brought into the glory of Christ; and you looking ahead to how I will be brought into His glory with you—then it will transform the way we behave toward each other now. It will impact how we love each other.
When I think of this, I remember something that Paul wrote to his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. He deeply loved them; and in his first letter to them—in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20—he wrote;
But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20).
Just think of what Paul was saying! When he got to heaven, what would be his great sense of reward? What would be his ‘crown of rejoicing’. He would certainly rejoice in the fact that he himself is glorified. He would certainly rejoice in the rich inheritance he will share with Jesus. But he said that his ‘crown of rejoicing’—his ‘victory wreath’, if you will—will be the sight of his beloved brothers and sisters in the presence of Jesus glorified and rewarded by Him!
Just think of it! We will actually become the cause of one another’s eternal rejoicing in the day when we are together with Jesus!
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Now; I’ve been sharing all this to prepare our hearts for this morning’s passage in 2 Corinthians. We have begun working our way through this wonderful New Testament letter—a letter that is filled with encouraging passages in which the apostle Paul opens his heart to his brothers and sisters in Christ.
Look with me at one of those passages. In 2 Corinthians 1:12-14, Paul—writing along with his ministry partner Timothy—penned these words;
For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:12-14).
Please give special attention to those last few words; where Paul tells his fellow Christians, “we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Don’t let yourself pass by those words too quickly. They speak of a ‘heavenly’ focus; and they express one of the greatest motivations we can have for serving one another in Jesus’ name in the church family.
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You know, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; heaven—our future home—is a place of perfect love. We will have the kind of perfect agape love for one another that Jesus has for us. I will never be jealous of you if you receive greater honor and glory than me; and you will never be jealous of me if I receive a different ‘Well done!’ from the Lord than you. We will love each other so much—and so perfectly—and so unselfishly—and so sinlessly—that we will thrill at the sight of one another being eternally blessed in the presence of Jesus. We will rejoice to see each other exalted, None of the temporal, external differences that we allow to stand between us now will matter at all then. The only thing that will matter to us then will be the pleasure that our Lord will have in the glory that He displays forever in one another. And if we have built into one another’s lives now—if we have spent our time and energies seeking to help one another grow now in Jesus in anticipation of that day of glory—then we will be one another’s ‘crown of rejoicing’ then.
We will be—if I can put it in the words of Paul—one another’s eternal ‘boast’.
I believe that this was the kind of attitude that was behind Paul’s words in this morning’s passage. He was telling the Corinthians that he looked forward to them being his ‘boast’ in heaven one day—and he being theirs. And because he looked forward to that day, he lived carefully before them in the present. He worked hard to be the real thing to them. He wanted nothing that he did to, in any way, impede their growth in Jesus—or cause them to, in any way, stumble. The hope of heavenly glory made him careful how he lived toward them. He wanted to protect his eternal ‘boast’ in them.
And this is the great lesson that this passage is meant to teach you and me. It is meant to show us—by Paul’s example—that we should conduct ourselves with integrity toward each other in the present, because we will be one another’s cause for rejoicing in eternity.
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Now; this was a very important matter to Paul at the time that he wrote this letter. Back in 1 Corinthians 16, Paul had told his brothers and sisters that he was planning to come and visit them. But because of circumstances outside of Paul’s control, he was not able to keep his promise to them. And because there were already some tensions growing in the Corinthian church against Paul, this had caused some to question his integrity and consistency.
But by the time he had written these words, good news had come to him of how the majority in the Corinthian church loved him and trusted him. And so; he was writing with great joy. And it became an opportunity to express how their shared hope of heavenly glory affected the way that he sought to behave toward them.
In verse 12, for example, he wrote; “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.” And this shows us that, if we look ahead to being one another’s ‘crown of rejoicing’ in heaven, we will be …
1. CONDUCTING OURSELVES WITH INTEGRITY (v. 12).
Do you know what ‘integrity’ means? It means that all the parts of who you are are united and fully ‘integrated’. There is no division in you. You don’t divide your life up into ‘compartments’; so that you live one way ‘here’ and another way ‘there’. And Paul sought to be integrated toward all people—and especially toward the Corinthians. He didn’t live a double life. He lived with integrity before them.
Now; don’t be put off by the fact that Paul speaks of his ‘boasting’ in this. He doesn’t mean this in a negative kind of way—as if he was bragging on himself. You might think of him as speaking of his confident ‘defense’ of himself. His conscience—that inner testimony of right and wrong that God has put into all of us—bore witness before God that he had conducted himself with genuine integrity. He had done so both before the whole world, and particularly before the Corinthian believers.
And how did this work out in action? He mentioned four things.
First, he said that his conscience affirmed to him that he had behaved himself with ‘simplicity’. Some translations have this as ‘holiness’; and some have it as ‘sincerity’; but the idea is that he was not someone who had to constantly keep track of what story or report he might have given to this person as over against what he might have said to that person—that there was no ‘duplicity’ in him; but only ‘simplicity’. And you know, brothers and sisters; if we’re going to be dwelling forever together in heavenly glory—if we’re going to be the cause of one another’s eternal joy—then we ought to be honest and real with one another. We shouldn’t try to say one thing to one member of the body of Christ, and another thing to another member.
Second, he said that his conscience affirmed to him that he had behaved with ‘godly sincerity’. The word ‘sincerity’ here refers to something being ‘judged’ by holding it up to sunlight. They say that in ancient times, pottery that had been broken was sometimes temporarily disguised by filling in the cracks with wax. So; when someone bought something in the market—if they were a wise buyer—they could hold it up to the sunlight and see where the cracks were. Paul was saying that he had no ‘cracks’. You could hold his life up to the sunlight and see that it was a life of integrity. We need to live that way too. It doesn’t mean that we can’t have cracks. We all are a little cracked here or there. But we’re to be honest about it with one another before God. We’re not to try to live in front of each other as if we were perfect—as if the cracked places of our lives were not really there. We need to let it be known that we’re trusting God to heal the broken parts of our life.
Third, Paul said that his conscience bore witness that he had not tried to operate on the basis of ‘fleshly wisdom’. Back in 1 Corinthians 2, he said;
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
Paul was a very learned man. But when he came to the Corinthians, he didn’t try to put on a showy display of intelligence before them or impress them with a bunch of human philosophy and impressive scholarship. Instead, he spoke the word of God plainly to them. If we truly love one another as we should—and if we truly want to rejoice in one another in the day of glory—we won’t try to impress one another with mere human wisdom. Instead, we’ll talk plain truth to one another from God’s word.
And finally, Paul said that his conscience before God affirmed to him that he conducted himself by ‘the grace of God’ toward his brothers and sisters. He was a sinner saved by grace—just like they were. In 1 Timothy 1:15-16, he wrote;
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
None of us are going to rejoice in heaven over how wonderfully moral and worthy each other was. And certainly, none of us will brag about how worthy we made ourselves of the glory of the Lord. Not at all! Instead, we will all be rejoicing over the grace of God through Jesus Christ. As it says in Revelation 7, we will be
a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10).
And so, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; in light of the fact that we are going to—one day—be the cause of one another’s rejoicing in heaven, let’s live like it now! Let’s walk with integrity toward one another—in simplicity; and not in duplicity—in honesty; not in dishonesty—in humble wonder; not in human wisdom—and in the grace of God; and not self-righteous pride.
We need to be people who act toward one another with full integrity—inwardly, outwardly, intellectually, and spiritually.
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Now; this worked out for Paul not only in his conduct, but also in his communication. Sadly, as Christians, we are sometimes more concerned with integrity in our actions than we are with consistency in our words. If we were completely honest about it, we’d have to admit that there have been many times when we have tried to manipulate people by saying or writing one thing in one context, and saying and writing something else in another context. We sometimes craft our words toward each other, or alter our report of the facts, in order to hide what we really mean or think. We sometimes send out mixed messages—by design.
The Bible teaches us that one of the ways that we need to behave toward one another is by practicing truthfulness toward one another in our words. This is especially important when we think of how we are destined to be glorified together and to be the cause of one another’s eternal joy in Christ. As Ephesians 4:25 says,
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another (Ephesians 4:25).
And this teaches another way that we need to conduct ourselves with integrity toward one another; that we need to be …
2. SPEAKING WITH CONSISTENCY.
In verse 13, Paul wrote, “For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand.” This also was important to Paul; because some had been accusing him of being one way in his letters and another way in person. “For his letters,” some were saying, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Corinthians 10:10). Paul wanted to assure his brothers and sisters that he wasn’t one kind of man in his letters and another kind of man in person. Paul wanted to assure them that he didn’t say and write one thing to one set of believers, and another thing to another set of believers.
Consistency in our speech and in our communication is an important thing to give to one another if we are going to be rejoicing in each other throughout eternity. If we are speaking God’s word faithfully to one another—and are truly open and honest with one another in love—we will always be consistent in what we say and what we write and what we communicate.
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And finally, note that if we are truly treating one another as we should in the body of Christ, we will be …
3. FOCUSING ON OUR MUTUAL JOY IN ETERNITY.
In verses 13-14, Paul wrote; “Now I trust [or you can translate that, “Now I confidently hope and expect”] you will understand, even to the end (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
The Corinthians knew this in part. Their acknowledgment of it was incomplete. But Paul wanted them to keep in mind toward himself and Timothy—just as he and Timothy acknowledged toward the Corinthians—that they truly will be one another’s ‘crown of rejoicing’ and ’cause for joy’ on the day of Jesus’ return. That’s how we need to view one another. And what a difference it would make in our conduct toward one another if we will!
Dear brother or sister; there is probably another brother or sister in your life right now with which you are having a struggle. They are redeemed by the Lord Jesus, and so are you; but you are at odds with one another in some way. It may even be that you don’t like them. But what a difference it would make if you were to acknowledge before God that they are destined to bear the glory of Jesus—just as you are—throughout eternity. All of their imperfections will be taken completely away from them—as will all of yours; and they will be made spotless and blameless in the sight of Jesus—as will you. They will eternally be the delight of our Savior who has redeemed them for Himself by His own precious blood. He is looking forward greatly to having them in His presence forever. And the angels of heaven will fall before God and praise Him for the glory that He will pour out upon them forever more. You will share that glory too. And in the perfect love of Jesus, they will adore you—and you will adore them—in the reverent love of our Lord Jesus forever!
Keeping this in mind cannot help but transform the way that you think of them right now. You absolutely will rejoice in them forever. Begin rejoicing now! You absolutely will celebrate the grace of God upon them throughout eternity. Begin celebrating now! Won’t that go a long way in helping us to forgive one another’s temporary faults? Won’t that go a long way toward uniting us together in mutual joy and thanksgiving to the Savior?
Let’s not be so earthly-minded toward one another that we cease to have the heavenly view of each other that we should. In fact, let’s be more heavenly-minded about each other than ever before; so that we can truly be more earthly good to one another right now.
Because our eternal boast in one another something worth protecting!
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Download the audio version of this sermon HERE.
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