Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: Do you know what it is to feel very very weak, to sense your frailty, to reach the end of yourself, and to go beyond the end of yourself, and to find that there is actually a power that comes from the spirit of God within, which is supernatural, a power which enables you to do that which is naturally impossible to you, and which you figured would never happen.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to encount the truth with Jathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad that you're with us today in Jonathan. You know, I'm sure that we have some listening today who would say, yes, I I have experienced that. I know what that is like. We may have others who would say, no, I that's not been my experience. How could that be my experience?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, it's an experience I think the Lord gives us in increasing measure as we go on in the Christian life and as we walk with him. And you know, if we haven't experienced it, we will. Uh the Lord has a way of bringing us to a point of dependency through different seasons of the Christian life. And as as we reach those points where we we really feel, you know, I'm at the end of myself. I I don't feel I have anything left in the tank as it were. I don't know where to go from here.

We we discover in fresh ways that the Lord has power of plenty by his spirit to release within his people through our union with him. And as we discover that, I think it becomes a faith building, faith fortifying uh moment in the Christian life. And it and and those can be real seasons of growth as well. So I I would encourage those who are listening who are maybe walking through a season of challenge in the Christian life in some measure or other and you're feeling like, yeah, I am really getting to the end of myself here.

Approach that prayerfully and in a faith filled way and look to the Lord to see what he might do as he releases his power within you by his Holy Spirit.

Steve Hiller: We're going to continue to look at this today from 2 Corinthians chapters 12 and 13 and continue a message entitled Christ in you. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: I often think to myself in looking at the Corinthian correspondence that one of the most remarkable things about Paul's ministry in this place is that he doesn't give up on the Corinthians. You know, you try and put yourselves into Paul's shoes and imagine yourself into his situation. Dealing with the Corinthians must have been so discouraging, so discouraging. It's not simply that the believers at Corinth didn't very much appreciate Paul. No, no, it wasn't that. Many despised him. They despised him. Although they he brought them the gospel, they dismissed him as weak and ineffective. They turned to other teachers.

They thought up all kinds of criticisms against him. They decided that Paul wasn't worth their time. And the sin crisis at Corinth were just dreadful. I mean, it's dreadful. Lawsuits among believers, mistreatment of the poor, gross sexual immorality, factions, rivalries, so much more. And you know, with all that going on, it would have been very understandable to me if Paul had looked on the situation and said, I'm done. I I've had it. But it doesn't. He he perseveres. He perseveres in grace, extending the gospel to the Corinthians, seeking to shepherd the Corinthians. And he perseveres also in strength, not compromising on the truth, not backing down on the call to repent.

And Paul tells us here the secret to that perseverance. He makes it clear how this is actually possible. Here it is. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is flowing through his life and through his ministry, not despite his weakness, but rather through his weakness. And you know, as we reflect on this, we see the shape of the gospel shining through it. Even as Jesus submitted himself to weakness and faced death on the cross, the Lord raised him to life again in great power. And Paul's life and ministry as a servant of God is shaped by the cross and by the resurrection, resurrection power even through weakness.

Now, as we reflect on this, let me ask you, do you know anything of this in your own experience as you seek to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know what it is to feel very very weak, to sense your frailty, to reach the end of yourself, and to go beyond the end of yourself, and to find that there is actually a power that comes from the spirit of God within, which is supernatural, a power which enables you to do that which is naturally impossible to you and which you figured would never happen. Do you know what it is to watch the battery drain as you serve, to hear the little engine whir and strain and to think I am nearing the end of my capacity.

Here I am nearly finished. I can't do this anymore. I can't persevere with these people. I can't witness in this context. I can't teach this Bible class anymore. I can't serve my small group anymore. I can't volunteer in this area one more day. But you know, the battery is the battery is dead. And then to find at that very point of weariness and of weakness, another power kicks in and a season of fruitfulness follows. You reach the end of yourself and then God does something supernatural. That's the shape of the Christian life and of Christian service.

That that's what it is to know the life of Jesus within us by the Holy Spirit. We find resurrection power to serve even in the midst of weakness. If it happens that today you are feeling weak in your service of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you feel weak serving him in the context of your family or among your colleagues at work, weak in your witness, weak in your attempts perhaps to teach the Bible in a context where the Lord's called you to do that, weak in your attempts to serve your small group to encourage others in the faith, to serve in whatever area of ministry it is you serve, to look to Jesus for that resurrection power, to to call upon him, to give you perseverance, to do in and through you that which you simply cannot do on your own.

And And as we do that, he provides and he shows himself strong. And we discover that his life within us is the only strength we need. Christ in you, Christ in me. What will be the evidence? What will be the experience? First, it will be resurrection power to serve. That's what we see from Paul's own example. But now as Paul turns to address the Corinthians and the life of Christ at work within them, Paul points us to another feature, another demonstration of the life of Jesus within the believer. And it is this. It is repentance that will lead to life transformation.

Repentance for life transformation. You know, Christians are messy people. I don't know if you've noticed that, but we are. I mean, I'm messy, you are messy, the church is messy. It would be just lovely if from the moment of placing our faith in Jesus our lives simply became tidy and sin became just a distant memory. But it's not like that. And I think you're probably well aware of that. We surprise ourselves by the lingering messiness of sin in our own lives and in the lives of other professing Christians and indeed in the life of the church corporately.

And and the messiness and the tension arises from the fact that while we are saved from the judgment of God through faith in Jesus, while we are placed into a new situation and a new relationship with the Lord by faith, we are adopted into his family, while we are given the spirit to change us from the inside out, we still live in this fallen world and we still have this sinful fallen nature within and there is tension as a result of that. There is turmoil. And it's, you know, two steps forward, one step back all the time and it's just messy.

We are a conflicted people and we are very imperfect in our sinfulness. And Paul, he's acutely aware of this reality at Corinth. He He knows that these are genuine believers, at least most of them. He is treating them as such. He's speaking to them as such. And yet he is very aware of all the sin at the church in Corinth. And he knows that dealing with that sin is going to take time and it's going to be a messy process. And so he's bracing himself for the fact that things may be messy when he comes to them again.

Notice the concern that he expresses at the end of chapter 12 and verse 20. He says therefore I fear that perhaps when I come, I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish, that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity of sexual immorality and sensuality that they have practiced.

There has been a lot of mess at Corinth, a lot of sin. There's been a lot that has been shocking to the onlooker and displeasing to the Lord. And what's interesting is that Paul has not written off these people as being unbelievers. He hasn't said, look, there's been so much sin among these professing Christians and my analysis is at the end of the day that none of these people are actually converted. My My analysis is that this isn't really a church at all. Now, I don't think it would have surprised me or surprised you if Paul had said something like that, but he didn't.

No, what he says to them is essentially this. He says there's sin there. You got to address it head on. You got You got to repent of it thoroughly. You've got to deal with the issues and then you got to move forward in the Christian life and in Christian ministry. That's Paul's approach here and it 's his attitude. But you know, the question still arises with all the mess here and with all the history, how can these Corinthians know? How can anyone know if these people are actually true Christians? You know, the Corinthians may have been asking that of themselves.

And it may be that you sometimes quietly wonder that about yourself. I don't know. Am I really converted? Have you ever asked that question of yourself? Given how messy my life is, given how sinful I still am, have you ever wondered that as you've observed sin in your own life, as you've considered your failures perhaps? Have you ever wondered that as you've looked on at others who called themselves Christians and perhaps behave very very badly? See, I think we can ask the question, can't we? We sometimes do. And perhaps some at Corinth were asking the question.

Well, now Paul has help for them and he has a test for them, a means of examination and evaluation.

Steve Hiller: Well, you're listening to Jonathan Griffiths here on Encount the Truth and we'll get back to the teaching in just a moment. But we'd like to extend a special invitation to all our listeners in the greater Toronto area. On Monday evening, October 19th, Jonathan will be hosting a special event for listeners at Tyndale University in Toronto. You can get more information at our website encountthetruth.org. Enjoy a warm evening of fellowship with other encount the truth listeners. Get encouragement your walk with Christ and learn more about the reach and impact of the ministry. That's Monday evening, October 19th at Tyndale University in Toronto.

Again, get all the details and register at encountthetruth.org. Let's get back to the message. Again, here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, now Paul has help for them and he has a test for them, a means of examination and evaluation. And as we get into this, you know, I find myself thinking back to the rather grim days of the COVID pandemic when so often, you know, we'd have a little sniffle or a sore throat or a headache and we would then have the question, have I got this thing or am I in the clear? Am I healthy or not? And a quick COVID test would reveal the answer, you know, yes or no. Well, here is the means of self examination.

Here is the test that we can apply to see if we are real Christians. Verse 5. Paul says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail to meet the test? Well, the test is this. Is Jesus Christ living within you or is he not? That's the key issue. If Jesus lives within me, then I am saved. And if he does not, then I am not yet saved. If Jesus Christ lives within you by his Holy Spirit, then you are a saved person.

And if he does not, you are not yet saved. And by the way, if you reach the conclusion that he does not yet live within you, you need to be saved. You need to come to him through faith, trusting in his promises of salvation, turning from sin, receiving his offer of life. You need to do that if you never have. But the key issue is whether or not Jesus Christ lives within. But how are we going to know? How will we know? What does this test look like of which Paul speaks? What evidence will determine the result?

Well, notice the following verse, verse 7. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong. What's Paul saying? He's saying that the evidence of Christ within will be that the Corinthians begin to do right and not wrong. He He's indicating that the evidence of Christ living within them will be that there is a response to the call of God through the apostle to repent of sin and to start to do the right thing. Verse 7. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong, not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right.

You see, what Paul is saying here is actually very very simple. The evidence that Jesus Christ lives within the believers at Corinth will be that they respond to the challenge of the word of God through the apostle and they start to do the right thing and they stop doing the wrong thing. If there is repentance, not sinless perfection, Paul is I think pretty realistic about that at this point, but a genuine response to the word of God. If there is evidence that the spirit of God within has moved these Corinthians to address sin in their lives, well, that will be evidence of salvation.

If there is no response to the word of God, no dealing with sin, no repentance of hearts, no acknowledgement of the things that Paul has raised, if they don't care and they don't want to know, then Paul will have to with a heavy heart conclude that these are not people in whom the Lord Jesus Christ lives by his spirit. Because you see, the spirit of God produces repentance within. Now, this is not a one off once and done sort of thing so that we repent once of sin when we come to Christ and we never need to address it again in our lives.

It would be lovely if that were true, but it is not. The truth is that we need to on an ongoing basis repent daily and continue to address sin. And Paul wants to see that these very flawed and failing believers are responding to the word of God and showing evidence of repentance in their lives in an ongoing way. He needs to arrive in Corinth and see that the quarreling and the jealousy and the anger and the hostility and the slander and the gossip and the conceit and the disorder and the impurity and the sexual immorality and the sensuality have been repented of and are being repented of.

That's why he's written this letter with the authority that God himself has given him. He's written it that there would be a call for response and that he might see a response. Verse 10. For this reason, I write these things while I'm away from 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 and not for tearing down. So Paul is longing to see a positive response of repentance as the spirit of God is at work in the hearts and lives of these believers as evidence that they are genuine Christians.

That what he wants to see. And he wants to see them aiming for something very very different going forward. He doesn't want them simply to say no to the sin. He wants them to say yes to something else. He wants to see repentance that leads to transformation. Notice it with me. Verse 11. Here's the transformation. Finally, brothers, rejoice, new attitude. Aim for restoration once sin has been dealt with. Restore those relationships. Comfort one another. Agree with one another. Live in peace. And as you do that, the God of love and peace will be with you.

Rather than all that awful stuff, that ugly stuff, conflict, nastiness, slander, sin, rather than all that, Paul wants to see this stuff, harmony, restoration for those who have sinned and repented. He wants to see evidence of life transformation which only the spirit of the living God can achieve. He wants to see evidence that Jesus Christ lives within these people. He wants to see that they have passed the test. Friends, repentance is a very very hard thing. Do you find that? Turning from sin is hard. It's a daily thing. It's something that we need to do unfortunately over and over again.

It's actually only something that the spirit of God living within us can achieve because in and of ourselves we are unable to turn from sin and we cannot say no to sin. But responding to the word of God by saying no to sin and addressing it, not just tolerating it and indulging it, that is the mark of being a Christian. It's the mark of someone in whom the spirit of God is living and working. You know, it's the two engines again really. My frail strength will fail at the first hurdle. But there is now this other power within, this other engine.

And the Lord Jesus Christ can do by his spirit that which I cannot, that which you cannot. As we reflect on these things together, it may be that you're listening and you're thinking I've never actually repented of sin. That's becoming This just becoming clear to me as I listen. I've never made this response of heart. I see today that I need to. And if that's you, the step you need to take today is to make that initial response to the Lord Jesus Christ. That initial response of repentance and of faith and of trust, you see that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary for you to pay the price of your wrongdoing.

And he rose again in victory over the grave to give you a new life, to give you a transformed life. And if you will but come to him today trusting that offer of forgiveness and longing to live a new kind of life, he will empower and enable that within you today. So let me ask you directly, will you receive that life even today? Will you receive the forgiveness that Jesus offers you? Will you turn from sin today? And will you trust him? For those of us, we're we're believers. We've been walking with Christ maybe for a short time, maybe for a very very long time.

But you know, as we talk about this test, this matter of repentance, we start to feel a little uneasy. Maybe we feel challenged. Maybe we feel rebuked because we know we haven't addressed sin in our lives as we ought to have addressed it. We've allowed things to fester or linger or go unchecked. Maybe it's in the relational realm. Maybe it's in our even our attitude to others within the church. Maybe it's in the words we're saying. Maybe it's in the realm of sexual behavior as it was for so many at Corinth. Maybe it's something else.

And today you're hearing the word of God from 2 Corinthians. You're receiving a challenge to respond and repent and the test of genuine faith for you and for me will be this. Will we respond to the word of God? Will you with the help of the Holy Spirit turn from sin and say no to it and make the changes with his help that are needed? And let me tell you the changes that are needed will only ever be made by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ living within you and working through you. You won't do it on your own and nor will I.

But as we hear the challenge of the word of God and we look to the Lord Jesus Christ and we say to him, Lord Jesus, will you make these changes within me that are needed? Will you help me to be that which I cannot be on my own? Will you do this within me today and will you demonstrate to me for my reassurance and to those around me that you are indeed living within me? All this is beyond me. But Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you are strong when I am weak. Thank you that your life is powerful within even to bring about transformation where it is so sorely needed.

I wonder if any of that resonates with you. And I wonder if that is the need in your life even today. Our father, we're reminded again of our utter dependency upon you and our need of you each and every hour. We want to thank you that in and through our weakness we discover your strength as your children. We thank you for their resurrection power that is at work in us as believers. And we pray, Lord, that we might know and experience your power and your grace, power to say no to sin, power to say yes to godliness, power for transformation that will be visible to us and to those around us.

We pray that you would do the work in us that needs to be done, the work in each individual as we've reflected. And as many throughout this place are conscious of particular things that need to be addressed, we pray, Lord, that you would do your work. And our father, we're conscious that in serving you we are helpless and hopeless without your strength. But we pray that in the days to come and in the season to come we might know your strength to serve, that we might honor you and that we might glorify you as your children and as your people.

For we pray these things with thanksgiving in Jesus' name. Amen.

Steve Hiller: Amen. And maybe as you've been listening to today's broadcast, you're thinking more about what it would mean to be in a relationship with Jesus. Maybe you still have questions about that. You'd like to know more about how you can know Jesus and begin a relationship with him. I hope you'll contact us here at Encount the Truth. Our toll free number is 1 833 99 Truth. That's 1 833 998 7884. Or again, you can come to our website encountthetruth.org. Well, whether you listen to Encount the Truth on the radio, online, or through the app, it's all made possible through your generosity.

And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book called Gentle and Lowly, The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. And Jonathan, I know that this is a book that you've read, you've picked out for us this month. What did you take away from this book?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, thanks Steve. It is a book I've read and appreciated. I've got others to read and I'm planning to read it again. And I've appreciated it so much because it reminded me of things that I knew to be true, but I don't always remember and don't always live in the good of. I think that the default mode of our hearts and our sinfulness is to think that God is keeping some kind of scorecard of our obedience and he's more pleased with us when we do better in the Christian life and are more faithful and and more fruitful in our service of him.

And Gentle and Lowly reminds us that God's heart toward us is a heart of grace poured out in the gift of his son and given daily through the presence of his Holy Spirit within our lives that God loves us, that he's merciful toward us, that he's a compassionate father, that he's a gentle shepherd. And we need to be reminded of these things because we don't naturally believe that they're true. But when we're reminded of them and we take hold of them, we're encouraged to walk with Christ in in joy and in faith and indeed then in obedience.

Steve Hiller: Well, we want to send you a copy of this book. Again, it's called Gentle and Lowly is our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at encountthetruth.org or when you call 1 833 998 7884. It might be easier to remember as 833 99 Truth. And again, our website is encountthetruth.org. You can also write to us at Encount the Truth, P.O. Box 5513, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3M1. Or in the US, Encount the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004. For Jathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Bretta, I'm Steve Hiller.

Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.