LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://vvchristianchurch.net

Issue # 379 June 27,  2010

LAUGH

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

June 27, 2010

"What Do You Expect?"

2 Corinthians "True Comfort" Series (Part 11)

Text:  Chapter 11

"What do you expect" is usually just a sarcastic retort.  When it is a real question, it is a good one.  What DO you expect? 

I've titled this 2 Corinthians series:  "True Comfort".  Now let's combine the two titles.  "What do you expect will bring you true comfort?" 

What do you expect will bring you true comfort?

Focus:  Our expectations affect our level of satisfaction.

What you expect will affect your level of satisfaction.  What do you expect out of life?  What do you expect out of the Christian life?  What do you want out of life? 

Q:  What Is Your Definition Of A Blessed Life?

To have a loving spouse, and spacious house?

Gainful employment, with lots of enjoyment?

A reliable car that takes you far?

Children who mind and a dog that is kind?

Friends who are near and health that is here?

Comfort and ease and rarely a sneeze?

Planned vacations of long-lasting durations?

Early retirements with little requirements?

Savings secured so no worries procured?

The Bible tells us, The first shall be last, and the last shall be first (Matthew 20:16)

The first five minutes of heaven will turn values upside down.

So there is something more important than OUR definition of a blessed life, that is God's definition of a blessed life. 

God's Assessment

There are two epitaphs of the Bible I want to throw into sharp contrast:  I want to contrast a two word assessment with another contrasting two word assessment.  Both of these two word assessments are accurate and true, because they come from God, and they are God's final headline assessment.  What are these assessments? 

1)       "Well Done" (Matthew 25:21, 23)

      "Well done good and faithful Servant" (Matthew 25:21, 23)

2)       "You Fool" (Luke 12:20)

      'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' Luke 12:20

GRAVESTONE:  Here Lies the Fool Who Believed Life Was All About Him, and All About Now.

I enjoy vacations as much as the next guy.  I enjoy those moments of fun and relaxation as much as anyone else. 

We All Need A Break Once In A While

According to tradition when the apostle John was overseer of the church in Ephesus, John's hobby was raising pigeons..... On one occasion another elder passed his house as he returned from hunting and saw John playing with one of his birds. The man gently chided him for spending his time so frivolously. John looked at the hunter's bow and remarked that the string was loose. "Yes," said the elder, "I always loosen the string of my bow when it's not in use. If it stayed tight, it would lose its resilience and fail me in the hunt." John responded, "And I am now relaxing the bow of my mind so that I may be better able to shoot the arrows of divine truth."

We cannot do our best work with nerves taut or frayed from constant pressure. When Jesus' disciples returned from a strenuous preaching mission, their Master recognized their need for rest and invited them to come with Him to a quiet place where they could be refreshed (Mark 6:31).

Hobbies, vacations, and wholesome recreation are vital to a well-balanced, godly life. We lose our effectiveness by keeping our lives so tightly strung that we are always tense. If it seems we can't relax, Jesus may be inviting us to take a break--to "come aside . . . and rest a while."

Dennis J. De Haan, Our Daily Bread, "Let's Take A Break" October 30, 2005

Vacations help us to be more effective

The "Sabbath" principle is for our own good.

But now lets stack up what we consider the blessed life to look like, with lives that God really does bless.  2 Corinthians 11 has an autobiographical summary of Paul's life.  Let's read it and learn from it. 

I.        It Is Not About Me and Not About Now (2 Corinthians 11 and the whole Bible)

2 Corinthians 11:1-33 (NIV) ¹ I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. ² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. ³ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. ⁵ But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." ⁶ I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. ⁷ Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. ⁹ And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. ¹⁰ As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. ¹¹ Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! ¹² And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. ¹⁶ I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. ¹⁷ In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. ¹⁸ Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. ¹⁹ You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! ²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. ²¹ To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! What anyone else dares to boast about--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸ Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? ³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. ³² In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. ³³ But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

There you go.  The blessed life.  Where do I sign up?

II.       Watch Out For Dangerous Angels of Light (11:14-15)

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

WHY DANGEROUS? 

They are dangerous because everything they say sounds "good" masquerading as angels of light, they deceive.  Heresy is not dangerous when it all sounds wrong.  Heresy is dangerous when it has the veneer of good, and presents itself as "light" but has some wrongful twist in it that takes us away from the truth, or turns us from God.   Many were falling for the false teachings, and wrongful attitudes because on the surface it looked good, the rhetoric was good, and the performances were attractive or entertaining. 

HOW DANGEROUS? 

2 Corinthians 11:4 (NIV) For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

The whole counsel of God was not taught, instead, it was being replaced by something false that tickled the ears, but was dangerous, and defiling.  The exact nature of the false teaching is difficult to determine.

A.      "Take It Easy" Is A Terrible Life Motto (Luke 12:19; Proverbs 20:4; 24:30-34)

Luke 12:19 (NIV) ¹⁹ And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'

"Take It Easy" is great for breaks, but it makes a terrible life motto.  It makes for terrible employees, and a lousy work ethic.  If it becomes a motto in life, it is the mantra of the "sluggard."   The Bible clearly teaches that this is the way of the fool.

Proverbs 20:4 (NIV) A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

Proverbs 24:30-34 (NIV) ³⁰ I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; ³¹ thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. ³² I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- ³⁴ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

B.      The Fool Glories In Self  (11:1, 16, 17, 19, 21)

            "Foolishness", "fool", and "foolish" are key words throughout this section (11:1, 16, 17, 19, 21).  When you treat yourself as the center of your universe, you become a fool.  We are not the center of anyone's universe.  This is a case of mistaken identity.  The wise person glories in God.  That is why throughout this section, Paul keeps referring to himself as the fool.  He has had to speak about himself way more than he is comfortable doing.  The reason he does this is that the false, "super-apostles" have talked themselves up with boasts and comparisons, and commendations, and he needs to get the Corinthians to see the truth about them, and their false accusations against Paul.  He is showing them how their great sounding teaching is filled with lies and holes.

The very reason Paul keeps referring to even these boasts as foolish, is what we need to get a hold of.  God is the center.  Life is all about God.  Our lives are to be all about God's glory, not our glory.  Our lives will be most satisfied that way.  Self is never satisfied when self becomes the center.  That is why these false apostles are blasted out of the water, their whole system is self serving. 

The Power Of The Principle of Delayed Satisfaction

We also need to get a strong grip on "It's Not All About Now".  We need to get a strong grasp on the power of delayed satisfactions.  So much of life now teaches these eternal concepts.  I'm like anybody else.  If I let my flesh dictate to me what I filter in my thinking and behavior, here is what happens.

·       VACATION MODE:   I take it easy.  I go on vacation mode, even when I'm not on vacation.  Vacation mode is dangerous.  Vacation mode is sleeping in.  Taking it easy.  Letting the disciplines slide.  Watch out!  I'm in trouble, and I end up sliding into a not so nice, selfish person.  Not a nice person to live with.  I get short, and irritable, and selfish.  You say, that's how I get when I don't sleep in.  I'm not talking about how much sleep we get.  I'm talking about the first things first principle.  I sleep in the night before.  I go to bed earlier, so that my morning commitments get the priority they deserve.  If I have a late night, I still don't sleep past my alarm.  I use the quote of Jesus, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God".  Only I change the quote, "Man does not live by sleep alone, but by the word of God.'  If the intake of God's word should get priority over food, then the intake of God's word should get priority over sleep also. 

·       FOOD:  Speaking of food, I'm like anyone else.  I can slip into the "all about me, all about now" mode as it relates to choosing foods.  It is an area I need to watch.  I do better spiritually, when I do better with the little things physically.  If I get selfish and lack discipline in the food department, soon, other departments start to show it also.  That's me.  I'm learning how to manage me.  I have to learn to say "no".  It is not all about me, or all about now.

·       HEALTH AND EXERCISE:  It also relates to physical health and exercise.  I don't make it all about having the perfect body, and exercise becoming my God, but neither do I say, "oh, what does it matter, I'll do what I want."  The "I'll do what I want" is the "easy" way, the tendency, so, I attempt to fit exercise into my routine, whether I feel like it or not. 

·       CHARACTER OR FEELINGS:  I guess a lot of this boils down to moving away from the "feelings" driven life to the "Character" driven life.  I don't do something because I feel like it, I do it because it is right.  We must learn to do things out of our character, not feelings.  Feelings will say, "It is too much work...just take it easy.  I don't feel like it."  And so the lie takes the easy route. 

·       MONEY MANAGEMENT:   I can slip into the "all about me, all about now" mode as it relates to managing my spending.  I want this, and I want that.  I have to learn to say no to things I want.  Years ago, I made a commitment to pay off my credit card every month.  I don't pay interest on credit cards.  If I don't have the money, don't buy it.  That is learning the power of delayed satisfaction.  It is a good way to live.  If you don't have it, pray for it.  Save for it.  Work for it.  Don't buy it on easy payment plans.  There is nothing easy about it.  It is like walking down into the Grand Canyon.  It is easier to get down there.  But with interest payments, it is like they give you a heavy back pack to try to walk yourself back out. 

·       LEADERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS:  Why do you think that being good managers of your household, that includes family and finances is a biblical leadership requirement?  Because, it demonstrates some of the basic understanding, practically applied, that we DO UNDERSTAND it is "not all about me and all about now".

Paul points them in the opposite direction.  We all need to be repent and be redirected when life becomes too much about self.

III.       Compassion Is Costly (11:23-29)

Many lawyers will tell you that if you have suffered an injury, you deserve compensation.  If you trip and fall on an uneven sidewalk, or spill hot coffee, or slip in the store, you should be compensated.  That just isn't the way Paul looks at life.  He expects to suffer.  In fact he sees it as an investment.  Paul understands that compassion is a costly investment.  

The Bible is clear in many places that if you want to be serious about your faith, it will cost you difficulties of many kinds.  That is why Jesus defines discipleship as carrying a cross, and self denial.

A.      Compassion Is A Choice (not a Feeling)

Why does Paul do it?

He doesn't have to suffer as much as he does.  He could take it easy.  But he chooses to do this.  Why?  Because of "his concern for all the churches" (11:28).  He loves these people.  He loves them like a father loves his daughter and wants to present her as a blameless beautiful bride to her husband (11:1-2)  Most people can relate to Paul's compassion at this level.  It is a different cultural way of looking at things.

He gives a simpler answer earlier, as to why he is willing to pay the price of suffering.   He tells us why he chooses the way of suffering.  His love for Christ compels him.

2 Corinthians 5:13-15 (NIV) ¹³ If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Why does Paul do it?  He's compelled by love.  He was compelled by the love of Christ to have compassion on others.  So much that people who didn't understand his motivation accused him of being "out of his mind"(5:13).  He no longer lives for himself, because he has learned Life is not all about me, and not all about now.  It is love that makes these sacrifices, and it has nothing to do with feelings.  It has everything to do with World View. 

If we really believe that life on earth in our lifetime is only a short blip on the screen compared to the reality of eternity we will experience, and that there really is a coming judgment, and there really are two eternal destinies, one of misery separated from God forever, and one of joy in relationship with God forever, then our worldview affects how we live now!  What we REALLY believe affects what we do.  This world view, if we really believe it moves us to compassion.  And compassion is costly.  People who have a different worldview will clash with us. 

Even when there is no clash of worldviews, our own priorities cost us.  We sacrifice our time, our money, our choices, because of love.

In the Natural

We understand how this works in the natural playing field.  Don't we make sacrifices because of love, too?  In the natural, because we love our kids it costs us time, energy, and finances to see our kids through to being healthy adults.  This sacrifice is exponentially amplified when you understand the supernatural.  In the supernatural playing field, this cost is exponentially more than these natural bonds of affection.  Here is why, because in the supernatural, the costs are the costs of war, and spiritual warfare is deadlier and costlier than earthly war.  We have an enemy, and he's playing for keeps.  There are casualties of war, sometimes among those on our side.  But we also have a good savior and commander and chief who also plays for keeps.  Following him, and loving like him, that is how we tear down enemy strongholds.  We rescue those caught in the lies.  We try to bring as many as we can with us to heaven. 

Compassion is costly.  Compassion is a choice  Compassion is not a feeling.  It translates into action because of what we believe. 

Although compassion is a choice, not everything we experience is what we choose. 

B.      Weakness Is Not My Choice, but boasting In God's Strength Is  (11:10, 12, 17, 18, 21, 30)

Nobody chooses to be weak.  Paul didn't choose his weaknesses.  In fact, next week we will be studying how he repeatedly cried out to God for God to take his weakness away.  However, he discovered something.  God uses weaknesses in us when we learn to depend on God.  So, here, Paul is boasting...not like the "super-apostles" boasted in themselves, but He is boasting in God, and how God uses even his weaknesses.  

We need to learn to aim our lives around the love of Christ as the center that compels us. 

When I was in High School there was an old song by Larry Norman called "Shot Down" and it goes,

 

"I've been shot down, talked about

Some people scandalize my name

But hear I am talking 'bout Jesus just the same

I been knocked down kicked around

But like a moth drawn to the flame

here I am, talking 'bout Jesus' just the same"

Like a moth drawn to a flame, we will experience hot persecutions, a difficult scorching, but as we keep aiming our lives around the light, here we are talking about Jesus just the same. 

(C) Jim Hammond

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