2nd Corinthians 11:16-28

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Second Corinthians, Chapter 11. So we’re going to be we’re going to pick up in verse 16. We started the first half of this chapter last week, but first the second Corinthians Chapter 11. Interesting passage of scripture Paul is going to get into, and he starts off really tongue in cheek in the way he presents what he’s what he’s about to discuss with us. It’s a he’s really getting to our identity in Jesus, which I think is a is a beautiful passage in light of recognition. This is baptism Sunday because baptism Sunday is all about identifying in Jesus as Jesus has given his life for us. So we respond by giving our life back to Him, finding new life in Christ because he’s become that sacrifice for our sins. It’s all about identity in baptism. And so today it should be all about identity. And Paul is going to talk to us specifically about identity as it relates to the battle that all of us have regarding pride and humility. If you study in the very beginning of the Bible from the Book of Genesis, what you discover with Adam and Eve from the beginning, there was this war with within us, against God for this position of self autonomy, as if we want to usurp the position that God has in all of creation, especially over us. Who is this creation and declare ourselves to be God? That is not biblical, that is not godly, that is not good.

You didn’t create you for your purpose. God made you for for His purposes. And so when we rebelled against God and our self made pride and try to elevate ourselves over the position of God and live for our glory rather than than His. It is destructive. And Paul is really identifying that today in the situation that he is addressing in the Church of Corinth. And and you’ll see this this theme that Paul is reminding us of. This has been the battle for mankind from from the beginning. And you see throughout scripture the reminder of that when we humbly come before the Lord and we choose to live our lives in light of Him as we surrender ourselves. There is incredible blessing in that not just for your lives, but but also for people around you. A God made you strong, and when you use your strength for your glory, it will destroy life. But when you use your strength for His glory, it not only is a blessing to you, but a blessing to people around you. And just by way of reminder, I mean, you can find this is not an exhaustive list, but you can go throughout Scripture and just see the blessing of a humble life before the Lord to the benefit of others. And God hears when when we’re humble and praying before Him, they they enjoy the humble, enjoy his presence.

God delivers them from trouble. They are the objects of His concern. God will lead and teach them their they experience His grace. They have wisdom. They will lead long and prosperous lives. The humble will be exalted and honored. So there’s tremendous blessing in Scripture. And then you see juxtaposed to that the the position of pride and where that leads Scripture repeatedly warns against it. A pride is the first sin. God hates pride. Pride is expressed in boasting. Pride leads to persecution of the righteous by the wicked. Pride is found in evil speech. Pride is in the lives of the wicked and especially false teachers. Pride will be especially prevalent in the last days. I mean, Proverbs says like this very plainly in chapter 11, verse two, When pride comes, then comes disgrace. But with the humble is wisdom. So why does pride lead to that? We’ve generally said it already that that pride is about self autonomy. It’s about individual glory, elevating yourself above others, really at the expense of others. And when you make the purpose of life all about you elevating yourself, the only position to go from there is down right. You live in your glory and you don’t find your the strength of what you’re seeking or you don’t reach what you desire. It just it leads to a a downfall. But humility. Humility is about surrendering your identity to your creator. And using self for his purpose because you understand you didn’t make you, and therefore the purpose of your identity is not found within you, but without you or outside of you and found in him.

And you know, as I thought about this, one of the one of the incredible thoughts, I think even in our culture today, that when we just because of the position we have found ourselves or the trajectory of our culture now, I mean, even in these two terms of pride and humility, there is a there’s a thought that I just have had resonated with in my mind that the man saying this sounds shocking in our culture, but I don’t mean it to be maligning or attacking anybody. But but it’s the reality. And I think it’s important just to remind us as God’s people, that the way that we choose to live our lives in light of the Lord is just going to be different than the world. Right? When we want to identify in Jesus, it’s going to be different in the world. And saying something like this can be shocking. Pride is not a virtue. Pride is not a virtue. Somehow in our culture today, we’ve even created a month about that. And it’s not it’s not about trying to attack or malign people. It’s just to simply recognize where did we get to the place where that becomes when we start to celebrate the idea of pride, when the Bible is very clear.

That it’s not something that we should identify ourselves in. It’s not a virtue, and that should not be shocking to us. But yeah, that’s that’s where we are as a culture today. God didn’t create us for self autonomy. But for his glory. And finding our identity in him and living for that purpose. In fact, in modeling after Jesus and Philippians two, it says this Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. That’s pride. That’s all about yourself. It’s arrogance. But in humility. Count others more significant than your selves. Now there is I don’t have time to dive into all this. There is a sense of false humility. But but we’re talking in terms of biblical humility, someone that confidently finds their identity in God, which is the only reason then you can serve others. Proud people do not have the benefit of doing that because they need others to make them feel important, because they’re elevating themselves, because they see life about their glory. And so they need the constant reminder from others what makes them so special? But people that walk in true biblical humility. We are able to live a life of service to others because they have found their true identity and the reason they were created through through their creator and not just as a creator, but also a Savior who pursued them with his life and gave his very life for for them. John Piper says it like this.

The basic reason for this is not hard to find. Humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow. We can expect to find humility applauded in our society about as often as we find God applauded. And in our culture today, we typically find if you want to find the purpose of your life, look deeper within yourself, look, look further within yourself. But it’s no wonder, as as a society, we tend to struggle. And this is not in every case but with depression, because when we we look deeper within ourselves. What we find is that we can’t satisfy ourselves because we weren’t created for ourselves. It’s not until you look outside of yourself. Looking to the one who created you that you discover meaningfulness. And the second Corinthians, Paul is laying this out for us. The pride of the religious leaders and where that leads to. Against his position of humility demonstrated in his weakness. And it is it is incredible how Paul, he builds this up. We’re going to see this in these passes where he builds this up or it almost looks like he’s about to go toe to toe against these religious leaders fighting in the exact arena that they’re in. But all of a sudden, he just turns course. And it’s it’s profound how Paul does this, but he starts off in in this first passage, verse 16 to 18, we’re going to see this together.

How pride destroys. Look at this. I repeat, let no one think me foolish. He’s saying, just as he started at the very beginning of this chapter, he talked about this, this idea of foolishness. He’s back to repeating this again. So I repeat, let no one think me foolish. He doesn’t want to be perceived as being foolish. But even if you do, he’s okay with it, right? Except me as a fool. That’s fine, Paul. Saying you guys have already been in this arena. I’m about to go toe to toe with these people. And since you’re familiar with these religious leaders, I’m just going to step onto the same platform that they’re that they are on. Right. I’m going to meet you where you’re at, which, by the way, is very wise when you engage people in this world with with the Lord as you go in in this world and you represent God, it’s it’s finding mutual ground with people as a basis for discussion is important. And that’s exactly what Paul is doing here, except me as a fool, so that I may I too may, may boast a little what I’m saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would, but as a fool, since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. So, he says in verse 18, Look, since since the religious leaders are already used to doing this with you, I’m just going to go ahead and jump on this.

And this is where we’re going to start from in this discussion. But but he says something interesting in verse 17, and I’ve heard people ask questions about this passage. You know, he’s saying he’s saying this, but not as the Lord would say. This show is about to teach us something that Jesus doesn’t want us to know, like, is this contrary to what what Christ would say? And that’s not that’s what Paul’s saying here. He’s not saying, look, I’m going to teach you something, not biblical. God would never say this. I’m just going to say this. That’s not what he’s saying. But what instead what he’s saying is, look, Jesus hasn’t directly taught this this type of way, but but but he’s going to teach us. It doesn’t make what he’s about to say is ungodly. He’s just saying that this isn’t a direct teaching from Christ, but he is teaching in light of Christ. Does that make sense? So this is still a godly thing. He doesn’t hear Jesus specifically say this, but he’s still teaching the truth of Christ. That’s what Paul is saying. He’s done this a few times in his letters. You’ll see Paul say this. I’ve never heard Jesus say this specifically, but. But this is godly according to what Christ desires for us to know.

And this is what Paul’s saying in this passage. And then he goes on to explain, and this is what you guys are are used to verse 19 for you gladly bear with fools being wise yourself. This is kind of like a really a mic drop moment for the Apostle Paul saying, that’s fine, I’ll step in the platform of being fool. I mean, you guys are just used to put up, putting up with fools. You guys think you’re so smart. He’s using what we call sarcasm, right? The circumstance when you say the opposite of what’s really true in order to make a pointed statement, this can be one of the most cutting ways to to make a direct hit in really what you’re trying to communicate to people. Or this is not something that should just be characterized by the life of a Christian. But but Paul here just sees it as important because the crowd has become dull to where these religious leaders are taking them. And Paul’s just trying to shock them back to life. You want me to talk like a fool? Fine. I’ll talk like a fool. You guys are used to putting up with fools. Think you’re so smart. That’s what he’s saying. This. This passage. Then he goes on in verse 20 and he tells them how for you bear it if someone makes slaves of you. Or devours you. Or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or strikes you in the face.

To my shame, I might say we were too weak for that. And Paul’s looking at these guys and saying, Look, you guys are so used to putting up with foolish things. You’re putting up with people that have enslaved you, that have exploited you, that have entrapped you, that have dominated you. They’ve publicly humiliated you, and they’ve even smacked you in the face. And why would you put up with that? Even even if it’s under the guise of religion. I mean, why would you. That doesn’t make it better. In fact, it’s worse. And you think this is godly? And Paul’s beginning to shape here. Really the identity of the religious leaders. Why would someone behave like that towards you? And why do you think that’s so great? And why do you keep putting them on a platform? They’re exploiting you. Not for you. But for yourself. This religious system they’ve brought to you is all about their boasting. They’ve come under the guise of religion as if it looks humble, but in reality they are pursuing their individual glory and taking advantage of you to do it. Don’t you see Paul saying pride? How it even destroys. And Paul even tells us in the very next verse, verse 21, at least the first half, he’s saying, good on you for tolerating that. I guess I wouldn’t even put up with that. Why do you think that’s so beneficial? And in fact, in Galatians chapter two, verse four, Paul writes in Galatia, he’s dealing with the same type of religious people.

Paul had these individuals follow them throughout his ministry. These are Jewish religious leaders that go around and they start to tell people why not why they shouldn’t listen to the Apostle Paul. He’s such a bad leader, why they should listen to them. They start to make argument for what makes them such great Jewish religious leaders that they need to belong to and obey the law and elevate these individuals. And Paul, he’s made the case against them constantly. It starts in the Book of Galatians. That’s one of the first letters the Apostle Paul writes, and it says in chapter two, verse four, religious people. They will spy out your freedom and Jesus. And they will try to enslave you. And it’s all about man made boasting and pride. You do this work? So that you can look good to yourself and to others and be able to boast yourself in your arrogance before God. And Paul saying, Fine, you want me to play there? We’ll play there. But I just want you to consider what this leads to in your life. This is all about you. It might be hidden under the name of God, but it’s still all about you because it’s about your performance, your works, your glory, what you’ve done. So then Paul says.

Second half of this. First he wants to teach us about. The power of humility. At the end of the day, these religious people will put themselves first and look for themselves alone. But he wants us to consider the power of humility and look how he does. This is this is incredible. Paul begins by defending his Jewish upbringing. He goes on from this verse 21, he says, But whatever anyone else dares to boast of, I am speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast of that. And then he begins in the same place that they are. Right? These Jewish leaders come in, they’re like, Look at me. We’re we’re more Jewish than Paul. And now Paul is having to defend his Jewishness. That is incredible. Paul is defending his Jewishness. You can think there there is no one more Jewish than Paul. Paul tells us that in Philippians chapter three, that’s how he starts in Galatians chapter one, verse 13 to 23. If you read that, Paul, Paul tells us he was to the point he was so zealous, he was persecuting the church. I mean, if you just read Acts Chapter eight of Paul talks about how how zealous he was for the Jewish faith, and he says in verse 22, Are they Hebrews talking about the religious leaders? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. So here’s what Paul is saying.

I mean, there’s there’s a few different types of Jewish people in Paul’s day. There’s Hellenistic Jews, which means that they’ve embraced Greek culture. And Paul is saying, I’m not those. You wouldn’t know how Jewish I am. I’m so Jewish. I’m Palestinian, Jewish. And I speak Hebrew. I’m not Greek speaking Jew. I’m Hebrew speaking Jew. Right. My ethnicity, I am definitely an Israel. As far as my devotion to Jewish law, I’ve been circumcised of the seed of Abraham. You don’t get any more Jewish than this. That’s why that’s what Paul is saying there. So these guys that think they’re better than me and nobody’s going to top that. And then Paul goes on from there. He begins to share a little bit further about his position in Jesus. And he says, he says in verse 23, and then he goes on, Are they servants of Christ? I am a better. I’m talking like a mad man. Paul recognizes how crazy this is with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings. There’s an essay on the end of that, right? And you think, How far are you willing to go for Jesus? And Paul doesn’t said in one time I was beat and he and he wore his medal for the rest of his life. You know how valiant he was. There’s there’s an ass there. And often near death. And five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one.

And he goes on three times. I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked a night in the day I was adrift at sea. And have you ever you ever read the Book of Acts? You know, the Book of Acts ends with this or gets as it gets to the end. Paul is in this shipwreck at the end of Acts, and that shipwreck is not even has not even happened in this timeline when this letter is written. So Paul gets shipwrecked even even another time after this. So he’s been shipwrecked at night. In the day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys and in dangers from rivers and dangers from robbers and dangers from my own people. And you think when Paul talks about dangers from rivers, let’s say, in this this passage like or on these journeys, when you read about dangers in rivers, you might ask why in the world what’s so dangerous about a river like rivers? Don’t hunt people. Really. That’s not a it’s not a thing to be afraid of. But you remember in Paul’s day, if you wanted to cross a river like you might be in a region and think, well, I know they built a bridge. I heard at least 15 miles upstream. And there’s another there’s another bridge 15 miles downstream. But I’ve got to walk a day down and a day back up just to be able to cross where I am on the river.

And so you’re left with deciding, are you going to make that journey and that rickety bridge that someone may have built, or are you just going to cross the river? And if you’re traveling in the spring, that’s difficult. And if you’re off a typical beaten path, maybe it’s a smaller caravan that you’re with. I mean, people, bandits would hang out in the woods and rob you. Yet Paul went on these journeys for the sake of the gospel, and he was in danger for my own people and danger from the Gentiles and danger in the city and danger in the wilderness and danger at the sea and danger from false brothers and toil and hardship though many sleepless nights and hunger and thirst, often without food in cold and exposure. Now, this is, I think, incredible what Paul does here. And he starts off in saying, you know, I’m going to boast about how how great I am. And he starts to relate himself to the religious leaders. Right. And here they are in their pride, talking about all the things that make them great. And they’re coming in and saying, look how Jewish I am. I’m super Jewish, right? This makes me so good. You should you should listen to me and they start to brag. And we’ve seen in previous chapters, they talk about how eloquent they are in speech and how attractive and charismatic they are when they’re before people.

And look at Paul, he’s poor. You don’t want you don’t want what Paul’s like. How could God be with that? Look at this guy. He’s struggling, right? That can’t be godly. And now when Paul comes to this place where he really starts boasting about himself, you know what he does? He doesn’t talk about things that he doesn’t talk about his accolades, the things that make him great. He talks about his suffering. Paul talks about a suffering and that would if you’re reading this story in this first century, that would give you a moment of pause, wouldn’t it? You’re like, okay, Paul, you’re going to tell us how great you are. Let’s fine, let’s let’s hear it. And then he starts to describe all these horrible things. You’d be like, wait a minute. What, what? How does this how does this make you great? And you think of all the things Paul could say. He could say, you know, I was educated under Gamaliel, the greatest of the rabbi of my day. That’s who taught me directly, directly of the Jewish people. I was the elite of the elite. I persecuted the church. You want to know how Jewish I am? That’s how that’s how much I push things forward. And then he could have even gone on from there. And when I followed Christ, I mean, just look at the cities I’ve gone to and the churches that have been built and established.

He could have all day long just been bragging about his journeys and the success that he saw. But what does he do? He chooses to find his identity in suffering. That. Is incredible. Because in finding his identity in his suffering, Paul is starting to help us understand how much he wants his life to be aligned with Jesus. Because Jesus did the same thing for us. It’s not about putting himself before anybody. It’s about making his life a servant to the one who came as the greatest servant that we could find. Freedom. And Jesus even told his disciples in Matthew, chapter ten, verse 16, It’s where really He ordained the first disciples. The first apostles to send them out is a night he spends in prayer, and then he points the first 12 to go out and represent the Lord. You know what Jesus says to them right after this? This celebratory moment where Jesus picks his first 12. He says, now go die. I mean, that’s essentially what he says. And this is going to be hard and here’s how it’s going to be hard. And he tells them he’s like, I’m sending you out a sheep in the midst of wolves. So, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues.

And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Verse 21. Brother will deliver your brother over to death, and the father, his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my namesake. And then verse 25, it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called you the master of the household Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household? That’ll take the wind right out of the party line. Everyone, this is great. We picked them. Okay. You know, here’s what’s before you. He shares this. This struggle with him. In fact, Paul. Paul’s going to go. And we’re going to see more of this next week. And I would say next week we get the privilege of talking about the third heaven, what that even means. And I think next week, as we lean into the next the next section of this passage, there’s a lot of people that use what next week will be in Chapter 12, beginning of Chapter 12. Paul continues this theme. Many people pick that as really a life verse. But. But Paul wants us to see in this. That identity in Jesus is not about boasting in you. Identity. And Jesus is found in your willingness to surrender to.

And the reality is there is there is a struggle. There is a struggle in that. There is a battle in that. There is even suffering in that. How? How can the believer do that? And Paul Paul says these last couple of verses and I’ll tell you how in just a minute. But second Corinthians Chapter 11, he goes on and says, Verse 28. And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches who was weak. And I am not weak. Who is made to fall. And I am not indignant. It’s Paul saying. You want to know what my boasting is? It’s seen in my humility. I am a servant of Christ, and that is the way I desire to be labeled. When you think of me, think of servant, not my accolades. That’s where and when I read this passage. One of the things that’s so incredible to me is if Paul goes this this entire list of all the things that he’s gone through to suffer for the Lord. And then he says, and then apart from all that, you want to know what really weighs on me? It’s the church. It’s God’s people. I’ve gone through all of this in Corinth. You know what? I carry on my heart most of all? It’s you. That’s you. And when I read this passage, this always reminds me of a meme. I don’t know.

But when I think about being in ministry as a pastor. Right. Who said pastoring a church is stressful? I’m 42 and I feel great. That’s that’s you know, you think about you could go through physical things but but in life and you know this you can’t really weigh emotional mental suffering or the struggle just where you’re at physically. Sometimes you see what people go through, but emotionally, mentally, not always. And let me just say this. I’m not using this meme as like an I’m a pastor. Feel bad for me. I don’t. Let’s not care about that for a minute. But but let me say this to you. God calls all of you. To shepherd somewhere. God calls you to minister to the hearts of people around you. And when you carry the heart of Jesus for them, you wear that. You wear that? And it’s a battle and it’s a struggle. But it’s it’s also a reflection of what Christ has done in you and what Christ wants to do through you. And it’s it’s a beautiful picture that Paul paints. That even as this church has not been the easiest for Paul to work with. In fact, I would say the Corinthian church was probably the worst church in the New Testament. He never quit on him. He never gave up on. And I think for Paul, his only reason for that. It’s because he didn’t find his identity in his own self made pride.

He found his identity as he humbly walked with Jesus. I guess the same is true for us. We will not do or be who God calls us to be, or what God calls us to do in this world without that. Without really finding our identity in Jesus and humbly walking in it. So at the end of your notes, there’s just a couple of blinks there, a few blinks. I want you to be able to fill out. If you picked up notes this morning as we humbly identify in Christ, let me just give you five advantages that we find in that. Number one, these will not be on the screen, but. Number one. We get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You know, I tell this to us every once in a while, but you can endure incredible adversity as long as you have hope. And with Christ, you have a hope that never ends. We can we can get we get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s a love where Paul went with at the end of this passage and just describing everything that he went through in his life. And the reason I think he did that is it is difficult to fake your following for Jesus when you’re suffering. It is difficult to fake a following of Jesus when you suffer for it. Let me ask it another way. How do you know your faith in Jesus is genuine unless it cost you something.

Anyone can follow Jesus when it’s easy to follow Jesus. It’s not until your pursuit of Christ really costs you something that the genuineness of your relationship with Jesus supersedes anything else in life. That’s that’s what that communicates to you and you impulse saying this look church, these other people, they’re just taking advantage of you. When it gets hard, you know where they’re going to be. They’re going to go. They’re gone. But I’m not I’m not quitting. And here’s how, you know, I’m not quitting because I have given my life for this. And look what I’ve gone through. And I am not about to turn away now. And the reason Paul does this is because he’s he’s found his identity in Christ. And therefore, because of that, he gets comfortable with being uncomfortable when inside has peace. You can live for the Lord and we find that peace through Christ, power, Christ presence, Christ promises. He’s always with you. God knows where you are. He knows what you need. And he is not going anywhere. When you choose to rest in your position in Jesus because of his promise and his presence, that that becomes your hope because you know you will never lose. And so no matter what you go through in life, you can you can get comfortable with being uncomfortable because, you know, in Christ, you win.

We’ll talk more about that in just a minute. But then but then point number two, in your notes, we respond with empathy and hardship. We can respond because of that with empathy in hardship. So the blink is empathy there. When your life feels like it’s barely surviving and in chaos, it’s difficult to think beyond yourself. When you feel like your lack, when you’re not adequate, like you’re looking to other things to help you feel important, to survive, to sustain anything you can write because you’ve been taught, look within yourself. It’s all about you. What makes you happy? Maybe not you specifically, but culture teaches us that. But when you find your identity in Jesus. God who pursued you, who created you, who gave his life for you when you surrender to that, his promise, his presence in your life and find your identity there. You find your life filled in in him. And then not only not now, now, are you not looking to the things of this world to fill your life. Now you can look beyond you to bless other people because you’ve found everything that you desire and need within Christ. And therefore you can be empathetic towards others. That was not the religious people. Religious people you saw described in verse 20 and their pride. They were enslaving people and trapping people. They were taking advantage of people. Because it was about them. Number three, we see ourselves as victors, not victims.

We see ourselves as victors, not victims. I know in our culture today it is getting more and more popular to just wear a label of a victim. And I’m not saying in life we are not victimized by certain things. I want to be sensitive to to that. I know we go through difficult things in life, but but I do want us to know in Jesus that we are ultimately victors in this world. Proud people. It can only ever be victims because they they find their boasting and accolades and things. And if they lose those things because their identity was there, once they’re lost, they are just in constant suffering. They’re forever victims. But people that find their ultimate identity in Jesus, they may lose some things in this world, but they know in Christ. None of it is ever lost. They know how the story ends. You and Jesus are are a victor. And this is where Paul rested his life. Number four is this We find strength to take responsibility. And I would say even in Paul’s case, even extreme responsibility. I mean, Jesus told us in the beginning when we’re created. He told Adam and Eve, go into this world and bless, take responsibility of life around you and let the goodness of Christ come through your life to bless people around you. That’s that was God’s desire for all of creation. Because as we find our fulfillment in him, our satisfaction, our identity in him, we can then live for His glory in this world.

And take responsibility. You know, Paul said it to us last last week, right? As a spiritual father, he wanted to present us to Christ as a pure virgin to Jesus. Paul has taken responsibility of the Church of Corinth when the Church of Corinth didn’t even want him around. And he endures that hardship. And number five is this We are dependable. We’re dependable. Because your identity is resting in Jesus and you find yourself secure as a victor, then you’re you’re you become reliable in your pursuit for the sake of Christ, to the benefit of of others, because you don’t need the things of this world to to find your significance. You found all that you need in Christ, and you get to be present for His glory and goodness. Can I can I just tell you, when I first moved to Utah, right before I moved to Utah, I actually came out here and I did a demographic study of our state. And I wanted to find an area in our state that had the least, least percentage of evangelical Christians of anywhere that we could put a church. And population as far as population density goes. We landed here in Lehigh and I did a study in our general area thinking there had to have been a church that has come here before.

Like why is there why is there not a freestanding Christian church in our Valley Evangelical Church, a mainstream Christian church? Why can not find? And as I did a study, I started to recognize there had been people that had come to Utah and attempted. And for whatever reason, they weren’t here. And as I started to say, I know that we can’t control everything that happens to us in our life. And so there’s some reasons that some churches aren’t able to sustain here. But as I continue to study, I found there were other reasons, and I wouldn’t say they were necessarily godly reasons. And as I started to study them, I began to realize if the Lord would allow me to come here to do ministry. There are two characteristics I needed to carry in in my demeanor as I live for the Lord here. One. I needed to have godly character. And the other. I needed to be committed. I needed to really come come to the place where I was going to be willing to give my life no matter the cost. I needed to be committed. And one of the things that I had noticed is individuals would come here and try to see a church but hit a hard spot and get discouraged and quit. And it just so happened, I grew up as a poor kid with a single mother in West Virginia. So God, God gave me a lot of grit growing up.

And I realized in that moment that God, without me even knowing it. How prepared my heart for a place like Utah. And I had just determined that day as I was studying that whatever happened, I was going to have character and commitment. And one of the things I found so important about commitment is I realized when I share the gospel with people and people give their lives to Christ. People in doing that may turn their back on their friends and family. Or at least their friends and family might turn their back on them. And when they make that kind of decision for Jesus, I want to be there for them. If they’re willing to do that for Christ, I want to give my life to serve. God’s people. Can be a people of character and commitment. We can walk with that empathy in this world because we’re victors, not victims. We carry that responsibility. We can be dependable, dependable, not because of ourselves. But because of him. He’s dependable. And when I think about this story of the Apostle Paul and all the characteristics that we learned about our lives, if we if we were willing to humbly walk with Jesus and find our identity there. This is not to come before the world boasting or bragging. It’s just to choose to live this life for God’s glory. One of the stories that ties all this together for me is in Chapter 16.

Chapter 16 is where the Apostle Paul goes to the to the Philippine jail. You can actually still Google this today. The jail that Paul was in, in Philippi still exists. You can look it up online. Don’t do that right now. If you want to do that later, you can. But in Act 16, this is where Paul goes to jail. And I don’t know about you, but if I were ever thrown in jail for my faith in Christ, it tells us in the story that Paul was singing to the Lord and worship and praying. Right. And when I read that, I’m thinking, I already know what he’s singing and praying. Right? He’s he’s praying. Lord, I just want to go home. Just let me out of this place and I just want to lay in my own bed. I just want to eat a warm meal. And he’s singing. He can sing in some kind of song about Lord set me free, you know, just whatever the song is, he’s probably making it up, but he’s singing it. He’s praying. I could just picture that, right? Because if I were in jail, that’s what I would be singing and praying. And then in Chapter 16, all of a sudden, an earthquake happens and it tells us the doors to the jail bust open. And Paul has freedom. And if you’re like me, you would see that you’re praying.

You’re like, wow, prayer works, right? And you’re like, Hey, I’m out of here. If you’ve got anything with you, you just grab it and go, You’re just trying to pull everybody with you. We’re free. Let’s go. Right. And it tells us Paul’s not there by himself, but Silas is also with him. And they’re praising the Lord in jail. And but but here’s the interesting thing about this story. Paul’s got his his freedom, and he can get up and he can just go. And as he starts to go, he looks out and he sees that there’s a Roman that’s guarding the jail and he draws a sword to take his life. Because the law in Rome is if you lose a prisoner, you must give your life in exchange. And he just knows, because the earthquake and the jail is open, those prisoners are gone. What Rome’s going to do to him. So he’s about to end his life. They’re. And here’s Paul. Looking at his freedom. Looking at this jailer. I’m looking back at the jail. Freedom. Jailer. Jail. And you know what he does? He goes back into the jail. He turns and goes back into the jail. Would you do that? That is incredible. And why did Paul do that? Why would Paul give his life? Who knew what was going to happen to him? But he. He turns his back on his freedom. And he walks back into bondage joyfully.

Why would he do that? And Chapter 16, verse 30. You see what the jailer says. He sees Paul still in jail and he knows his life is spared. And he’s heard Paul praying and singing. And he goes to Paul and he asks the question, What must I do to be saved? You know, the Bible tells us. It’s your kindness, Lord, that leads us to repentance. It’s the law of the genuine love. The kindness that leads us to repentance. And when he sees Paul, he sees someone that only proclaims what he believes. But he lives what he believes. And if we’re to Paul. Paul, why? Why would you do this? Why would you explain yourself? Why would you give your life for this cause? And I think Paul would say to us, and I think even record it for some Philippians chapter two. He would say. When my life was in danger. Jesus went into bondage for me. So they could be made free. And knowing your life was in danger. I chose to go back into bondage for you. So that you could be made free. That’s what humility does. And the only way that’s discovered. Is the gospel. It’s not looking for adequacy of life within yourself. But to understand the adequacy for your life is found outside of yourself and the one who gave his life for you and in Jesus. Nothing in your life is lost because of the goodness of Christ.

2nd Corinthians 11:1-15