Calvary Baptist Church - Canyon Texas - David Crump, Pastor

2 Corinthians 12:1-4

Paul is boasting in his ministry because the church in Corinth was listening to false teachers. So Paul has spent the majority of 2 Cor defending his message and ministry.

Paul is talking about himself.

He had a vision or was taken up to the highest level of heaven and saw visions and heard things that he could not tell.

It must have been magnificent.

2 Corinthians 12:5-6

Paul says, he will not boast about it, but will boast in his weakness.

We often cover our weaknesses and put our strengths out front.

2 Corinthians 12:7

We don’t know what Paul’s thorn was.

Lust, enemies of the gospel, headache, ear ache, blindness – all conjecture.

Maybe it’s better that we don’t know.

Paul's thorn was given to him to keep him from being conceited.

If Paul needed something to keep him from pride, don’t we all?

It caused him real suffering.

The term means harass, buffet, was used about a blow to the face.

It was brought by a messenger of Satan.

We struggle with this.

The thorn was given to Paul for his good – to prevent him from pride.

But it was brought to him by Satan.

Like Job, Satan was allowed to test him, but God established the limits.

Satan intended it for harm, but God intended it for good.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Paul pleaded with God to take it away.

Paul did not want this, but God allowed it to stay in his life.

But Paul was to rely on God's sufficient grace.

Satan intended it for harm, but God intended it for good.

What is the good for Paul here?

He learned to rest on God’s grace.

He felt his need for God and relied on Him.

God's power is made perfect in our weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:10

Have you had a thorn in your flesh?

Has there been something in your life that you have pleaded with God over and over again to heal, or fix, or remove?

The lesson from Paul is that God may leave the thorn, but he will supply the grace to carry you.

In the end, I think the moral of the story is we need God.

We don’t feel like it.

There is a part of us that rebels against that. We don’t want to need God.

But we all do.

When we have a thorn in our flesh, it reveals the truth to us: We need God.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. – Acts 17:24-25

God is not the fairy that we pull out of our back pocket to sprinkle fairy dust on our problems.

He is not there only for our times of trouble.

In Colossians, Paul writes, he is the creator and sustainer of all things – apart from him, nothing would exist. What does exist would crumble. We need God.

2 Corinthians 3 - Moses' face shone after he received the OT Law, but his glory faded.

The new covenant - faith in Jesus brings forgiveness of sins - that glory is ever growing.

We are being transformed more and more into the glory of the image of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4 - God has shone the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ in our hearts.

Now, it's like we are ordinary clay jars with something extraordinary inside - the glory of Christ.

We are ordinary people, look ordinary, have struggles, common, nothing special on the outside.

But on the inside, there is something extraordinary, a treasure, from God.

It has a preserving affect on us. We face all kinds of trouble, but are not destroyed by it.

Paul is describing the difference that Christ makes in the life of a believer.

The follower of Christ is being transformed to be more like Jesus Christ.

The follower of Christ is a common person with common problems, but they have been changed forever on the inside. They will never be the same.

Paul will continue to talk about the effect of believing in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

11-12 - Paul is defending his ministry to people in Corinth who are listening to false teachers who have "who is Paul?" we have letters of recommendation from important people.

"Knowing the fear of the Lord" - Paul knows that his work will be judged by God, so he wants to be faithful

13 - perhaps Paul and his associates were accused of being out of their minds.

14 - Because they had received Christ's love, they were compelled to show Christ's love.

Christ's love motivated or compelled Paul in his ministry.

Throughout the history of the church, the church has failed over and over again.

When the church fails, it is almost always because it failed to be compelled by the love of God.

Love is the compelling reason we give, minister, invest in other people's lives.

"One died for all, therefore all have died" - Christ died out of love for people, to set them free from sin and death.

Christ's love for Paul resulted in Paul loving people.

Has Christ's love for you resulted in love for people?

15 - He died so that we might live for him.

Christ's death on the cross - the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known.

The innocent laid down his life for the guilty.

The hero who sacrificed himself so others could live.

He did it out of love for us.

That, now is our motivation for living in the life he gave us.

He died for us, now we should live this new life for him.

16 - Regarded Christ in the flesh - looked on his lowly humanity and disregarded his glory.

Likewise, we should not look on other believers and see all their faults, but recognize that God has done and is doing miraculous work in their lives, just like he is doing in ours.

17 - Remember - the effect of believing in Jesus Christ.

"New creation" - something new, created out of nothing, completely new and completely different

"old has gone" the "new has come."

18-19 - God reconciled us to himself through Christ.

Reconciled - exchanged.

The great exchange of Christianity - because we could not do anything to save ourselves,

We were enemies of God, but through Christ, God made an exchange: our punishment to Christ so that we could be forgiven.

His perfect lift to us so that we could have a new life.

THEN God said, now that I have done this for you, go do this in the lives of others.

Tell them about how to go from living for yourself and being an enemy of God to being reconciled, forgiven, given a new life.

20 - We are ambassadors of Christ - "presbyters" or "elders," representing Christ to others.

Doing his business - "living for him"

Imploring people, "be reconciled to God" - He has made a way for everyone to come to him.

21 - God made Christ, who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus was perfect. He was the only one who could pay our debt - everyone else had debt of their own.

He died the death we deserved so that we could be made new.

Corinth had problems – dissentions, immorality, and quarrels between believers

1:10 Paul appeals to them to get along b/c they are quarreling about whose teaching they follow: Paul’s or Apollo’s.

5:1 Sexual immorality - A man had taken his father’s wife – and they’re proud of it.

6:1 Christians were suing Christians in the church

6:12-20 There was sexual immorality

8 Confusion about eating food sacrificed to pagan idols

11 Lack of order in worship – attention hogs

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Their quarreling showed they were immature.

They were not ready to grow in their faith.

They would not mature until they learned to love each other instead of arguing with each other.

Their quarreling showed they were still worldly.

Their quarreling showed that Jesus’ love had not changed their hearts.

12 Spiritual gifts – the variety and purpose – to build up the church

14 How to practice spiritual gifts

Right in the middle of those is the love chapter.

It shows that the church functions when its environment is love.

It shows that spiritual gifts work only within the constraints of Christians loving each other.

It shows that without love, spiritual gifts don’t work, they cannot build up without love.

The love that is NOT 1 Corinthians 13 love:

• Eros – Sexual desire. Self-centered love, always grasping, always seeking its own satisfaction

• Philia – Brotherly love. An affection or friendship. A family’s love for each other.

Agape – used here. Outside the NT, this word was rarely used, but had a cold connotation, like esteem.

The NT writers took it and gave it deep, full, rich meaning.

They used it to describe God’s love: self-sacrificing love, a love that is a decision of the will and, therefore it does not have to be earned, cannot be lost. A stubborn love. A loving devotion.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Paul would write: you can have the highest extreme of spiritual gifts, but without love you would produce nothing, gain nothing, and be nothing.

“If” and “all” are used 5 times to show if you have

matchless eloquence, profound insight, immeasurable knowledge, tremendous faith;

even if you’re the greatest martyr known to the Christian faith;

if you don’t love people, your eloquence is useless,

if you don’t love people, despite your great knowledge and faith, you are nothing

if you don’t love people, your giving and sacrifice means nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Love is

• Patient – long-tempered, not quick to take offense

• Kind – loving and merciful

• Does not envy – not jealous of others

• Does not boast – does not try to impress others by words or show

• Is not proud – not conceited or arrogant, does not have inflated ideas of its own importance

• Is not rude – does not treat anyone unfairly

• Is not self-seeking – does not insist on its own way

• Is not easily angered – not irritable or touchy, is not quick to take offense

• Keeps no record of wrongs – does not carry grudges, does not harbor resentment

• Does not delight in evil – does not take pleasure when bad things happen to others

• Rejoices with the truth – is glad when truth prevails, not siding with evil, but goodness

• Always protects – endures in trouble, is supportive

• Always trusts – believes, is not suspicious

• Always hopes - never loses faith

• Always perseveres – persists in suffering and adversity, never ceases, never gives up

• Never fails – love will go on expressing itself throughout time and eternity

Matthew 21:1-11 – Palm Sunday

The gospels reveal to us Jesus’ identity.

They show Jesus to be not just a man, not just a savior, but the rightful king over everything.

He shows his power and authority over disease (heals blindness, leprosy, raised dead).

He shows his power and authority over creation (calms storms, multiplies food)

He shows his power and authority over spiritual powers (casts out demons)

He shows the supremacy of his wisdom, his teaching caused people to marvel at his authority.

We read Matthew 17 this week where his appearance changed to reveal his true nature.

His face and clothes shined out light, physically showing the glory of his power and authority.

Matthew 21:1-3 Jesus was worshipped as king – his glory, power and authority are finally recognized by people.

The rightful King has the right to everything in creation.

Matthew 21:4-8

Jesus was announcing that he was indeed a king, but not a warrior-king.

He rode in on donkey’s colt, showing he was a meek king – a king of peace.

We rejoice at the king of peace – had he come as a warrior king to destroy the enemies of God, none would survive.

Matthew 21:9-11

Hosanna – save us – an exclamation of praise.

Jesus rode in like King Solomon was announced as king.

Cloaks and palm leaves spread before him, paying homage to the king.

We understand the actions of this crowd this way: they did not understand the true kingship of Christ. They were looking for a political leader who would lead Israel to greatness.

They wanted a political and military savior.

Even today many people call themselves Christians but don’t know Jesus well enough to understand his lordship or his demands on their lives.

Praises of the masses are good, but true followers of Jesus truly submit to Christ's will.

True followers allow Jesus and his word to have full authority in their lives.

Jesus is the true king. Is he your king?

The New Testament speaks of a clashing of two kingdoms.

It tells of a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness.

Jesus referred over and again of the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

Jesus was tempted and baptized and then began his public ministry.

When he first began his public ministry, Matthew 4:17 says,

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’”

The kingdom of heaven is the rule and the reign of God.

Jesus referred to the kingdom of heaven drawing near with his teaching and preaching.

The world has been under the dominion of the enemy since the fall of man.

From that time until now, everyone has been born into a fallen world, born to fallen parents.

Every man and woman has been under the curse of sin because every one of us also choose to sin.

Choosing to sin reveals our sinful nature and it reveals that we were under the rule of the enemy.

But when Jesus came, he introduced a new rule under the rightful ruler.

He came announcing that God was restoring his rightful rule and reign.

“The kingdom of heaven is near.”

“[There] is a theology of cosmic warfare – a theology centering on the unveiling of the long-hidden mystery of Christ and his church. It means the overthrow of the ancient powers that have long held the creation captive through sin and death. It means the triumph of a resurrected Messiah over every principality and power hostile to the reign of the Creator. It means that God is keeping his promises to his anointed King. It means war.” Russell Moore, Dean, SBTS

Matthew 13:1-9 Parable of the Four Soils

Jesus is the sewer.

The seed is the gospel.

The four soils are four different responses to God’s word.

Seed along the path Eaten by birds

Seed along rocks Withered away

Seed among thorns Choked out

Seed on good soil Produced a crop

Matthew13:10-17 – God does not waste his Word on people who do not listen.

But God pours out his word, truth, wisdom (secrets of the kingdom) to those who receive it.

vv. 14-15 Ignoring God’s truth results in a hardening of heart.

If you do not respond to God’s word, there will be a hardening of your heart that drives away or makes what little understanding you did have.

You are responsible for how you respond to God’s truth.

Matthew 13:18-23

Along path Did not understand the message, evil one took it away

Along rocks Received message, but fell away when trouble came

Among thorns Received message, but worries and wealth made it unfruitful

On good soil Received and understood message and produced crop

When you hear a parable, you cannot analyze it to death.

Parables have a central theme or point.

It is not good Bible interpretation to read into them more than they mean.

However, allow me some latitude today because I believe the point is still biblically sound.

Jesus is the sewer.

His gospel is the seed.

We are the soil.

The plot of ground is on the earth.

It is territory that is under the control of the enemy.

Jesus is scattering his seed – or spreading his message of the gospel – in enemy territory.

Under the enemy, there was barren ground,

But in the kingdom of heaven, there is life and fruit.

Barren, fruitless, once-cursed ground comes to life and produces a crop that is 30, 60, or 100 times what was planted.

Jesus came into the world to restore a kingdom that was usurped.

Jesus was and is infiltrating and plundering enemy territory.

He plunders enemy territory by freeing people from the enemy’s grip of sin and death.

Jesus declared war on this usurper.

He brought this truth to you – he died to set you free from your sin and release you from the enemy’s grip.

He suffered for your sin because he loves you and to set you free.

He died so you could live.

He was resurrected, showing himself to be the victorious king.

His sacrifice was accepted and everyone who believes in him will have a new life.

Everyone who believes in him takes up his cause, producing a crop 30, 60, or 100 times what was planted.

We don’t realize it, but the people around us who do not know Christ are under the control and the curse of the enemy.

When you tell someone of what Jesus has done in your life, you are carrying on Jesus’ mission to bring God’s rule and reign into the lives of people who were captives in enemy territory.

We are in a war – a clash of kingdoms.

The enemy has a hold on the people around us

But our King is the King of Glory – He will defeat the enemy and free those long held captive.

He does this by empowering His people with the boldness of his Spirit and the message of his savior.

His people overcome the enemy by his Spirit and by speaking his word.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Romans 16:20

When you read Matthew, you cannot forget the importance of this story.

You must grasp the depth of the problem that Jesus was born into.

Since the fall of mankind, demonic powers have ruled over the creation.

Christianity agrees… this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. – C.S. Lewis

This “enemy occupation” of creation came when the man, Adam, was deceived by the serpent. Adam was given dominion over the creation, but surrendered it on that day when he chose the temptation of Satan over obedience to God.

Paul wrote in Romans that all of creation, not just Adam, not just mankind, was affected by Adam’s sin. All of creation is waiting for the restoration of God’s appointed rulers.

19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. – Romans 8:19-21

Creation is under bondage to Satan because creation’s appointed rulers (mankind) follow him.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. – Ephesians 2:1-3

This is the world that Jesus was sent into, born into.

He would be born of a woman, born under the same curse of sin as the rest of mankind.

Before Jesus ministry started, he was first tested.

After he was baptized, but before he taught or healed or served, he was tested.

Jesus would be tempted by Satan, like Adam was.

The temptation and the choice to sin overcame Adam – and all of creation suffered.

To restore God’s order of creation, a man would have to overthrow Satan’s rule over creation.

Matthew 4:1-4

If Satan could tempt Jesus to sin, he could solidify his rule over creation.

He could thwart God’s created order.

If Jesus sinned, mankind would be forever lost, creation would never escape decay.

v. 3 – Satan did not tempt Jesus at his baptism or in the temple, but when he was needy and alone. He is a crafty, scheming enemy. He tries to take you subtly.

v. 4 – Jesus was in need of food. Satan tempted him to use his power for himself.

Jesus’ response – he was dependent upon God, not just food, not just his own power.

Jesus knew this was not the time or the way for him to have food.

He was there to fast, to experience fully what it is to be human, to experience extreme hunger and weakness.

Adam had been tempted by Satan to be like God.

Here Jesus was tempted to show his God nature, but he would not.

Matthew 4:5-7

The second temptation, Satan tempts Jesus with these doubts: would God protect him? Was he really the prophesied Messiah? Would he prove it or trust God’s timing?

Matthew 4:8-11

The third temptation Satan tempted Jesus to rule over the earth.

God’s plan was for Jesus to rule over the earth.

Satan’s temptation: skip the pain, forget God’s plan, worship me and I’ll make you ruler.

God’s plan was for Jesus to rule over creation by first giving his life.

As you read Matthew, you will continue to see him overcome the enemy.

You will read about him defeating demonic powers, demonstrating his authority over nature and speaking of his crucifixion as casting out of the ruler of this age.

Now is the time for judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. – John 14:31-33

I want to remind you as we read in Matthew this month that Jesus is the King of Glory. He is the triumphant King, the victorious King. He defeated Satan. He overcame temptation and all the powers of darkness. When you are tempted, Jesus, the victorious king stands ready to help.

Hebrews 4:15-16