full
Finding Comfort in the Crucible: A Journey through 2 Corinthians
Pastor Josh Massaro delivers a powerful message centered on the theme of finding constant comfort in the crucible of life's trials. He emphasizes that true comfort is not found in the absence of struggles but in the presence of Christ and the support of our community. Drawing from 2 Corinthians, Pastor Josh highlights Paul’s unwavering commitment to the Corinthian church, encouraging believers to open their hearts to both the gospel and one another. He explains that genuine love and authenticity in ministry involve confronting challenges without condemning, and that the comfort we receive from God enables us to comfort others. This sermon urges listeners to reflect on their own lives, to embrace the power of godly sorrow, and to recognize the transformative impact of their passion for God on those around them.
Pastor Josh Massaro delivers a compelling sermon focused on the theme of 'Constant Comfort in the Crucible,' drawing from the depths of 2 Corinthians to explore the nature of suffering and God's comfort amidst trials. He emphasizes the importance of being a faithful ambassador for Christ, reflecting on the struggles faced by the Apostle Paul as he ministered to the Corinthian church. Through the lens of personal integrity, love, and commitment, Pastor Josh invites listeners to embrace their roles as ministers of the Gospel, asserting that true comfort comes from understanding one's identity in Christ and sharing that comfort with others. The message encourages believers to confront their struggles with faith, reminding them that they are never alone in their trials, and that God, the 'God of all comfort,' is always present, ready to provide solace in times of distress.
The sermon also highlights the paradox of experiencing comfort in the midst of hardship, as illustrated by Paul's life, which was filled with persecution yet overflowing with joy. Pastor Josh encourages the congregation to open their hearts to the truths of the Gospel, to recognize their role in God's plan, and to engage in the transformative process of sanctification. He challenges listeners to consider how they can actively minister to those around them, demonstrating the love and comfort they've received from God through their actions. By engaging with the community and sharing the message of reconciliation, believers can play a pivotal role in spreading God's comfort and love to a world in desperate need of hope.
Ultimately, this sermon serves as a call to action for all believers, urging them to step into their identity as ambassadors of Christ. It is a reminder that in every trial, there is an opportunity to experience God's comfort and to extend that comfort to others, fostering a community built on faith, love, and mutual support.
Takeaways:
- True comfort comes from a relationship with Christ, even amidst life's crucibles.
- Paul emphasizes the importance of authentic love and selflessness in ministry.
- Being an ambassador for Christ requires integrity, commitment, and a focus on the Gospel.
- In trials, we should strive to comfort others as God comforts us.
- God's comfort in our trials allows us to share that comfort with others.
- Authenticity in our relationships fosters deeper connections and genuine affection among believers.
Thank you for joining our podcast. Visit our website at https://middletownbaptistchurch.org/
Subscribe to our YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@middletownbaptistchurchde5091
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MBCDelaware
This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
Transcript
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh:My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh:I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh:Now, come along.
Pastor Josh:Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Pastor Josh:If you have your Bibles or your phones or whatever you like to find your scriptures on, let's go ahead and open those up to Second Corinthians, chapter seven.
Pastor Josh:And as a former teacher, and in many ways still a teacher, I know the importance of review.
Pastor Josh:Sometimes when you go through things for a long time, there is a tendency in our human nature to forget what we've already taught on, what we've already looked at, what we've already learned.
Pastor Josh:And then sometimes when we're trying to build upon those truths, we have a weak foundation, and we can kind of not be as strong in our application of those things that we're talking about.
Pastor Josh:So what I would like to do here this morning, before we begin Second Corinthians, Chapter 7, I would like to go back in Second Corinthians and highlight a few of the main thoughts that we put our trust in so.
Pastor Josh:So that we can then build upon that when we get to this chapter in Second Corinthians.
Pastor Josh:And so so far, what we have learned is that Paul is explaining how he has been a faithful minister in the midst of difficulty.
Pastor Josh:Second Corinthians is written from the heart of a trial.
Pastor Josh:It's written through the heart of actually multiple trials.
Pastor Josh:The title of the sermon this morning is the Constant Comfort in the Crucible.
Pastor Josh:We're going to talk about what a crucible is here in a few moments.
Pastor Josh:But the theme that we see is that there is constant comfort in the crucible.
Pastor Josh:And so what we can see here in this case is that Paul is explaining how a minister can be faithful in the midst of difficulty.
Pastor Josh:And so you have to remember what Paul has been dealing with so far.
Pastor Josh:What has he been dealing with when it comes to ministering to the church at Corinth?
Pastor Josh:Well, they've questioned a lot about Paul.
Pastor Josh:They've questioned his motives, they've questioned his actions, they've questioned his decisions.
Pastor Josh:And when it comes to whether or not he would visit them or not visit them.
Pastor Josh:And so essentially what Paul is doing is he's defending himself, but really he's defending the truth.
Pastor Josh:Because what these people have done essentially in the church at Corinth, they said this Paul we don't trust you, so we don't trust your message.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul's heart is not, well, you need to like me.
Pastor Josh:You need to like my message.
Pastor Josh:You need to respect me.
Pastor Josh:Paul's heart is all about the Gospel.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul's like, well, I'm going to do everything that I can so that you can see the truth of who Jesus is, so that you can see the truth of what it means to know him and to rest in his love.
Pastor Josh:And so what Paul is essentially doing here in this passage is he's saying this, open your hearts to me, but more importantly, open your hearts to the truth of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:And so what he says is this.
Pastor Josh:You have as a Christian, a new life.
Pastor Josh:Go back with me to Second Corinthians, chapter five.
Pastor Josh:You should be in Second Corinthians seven.
Pastor Josh:So you can just track back to Second Corinthians, chapter five.
Pastor Josh:What does he tell us?
Pastor Josh:He says that you now are an Ambassador, verse 20.
Pastor Josh:You are an ambassador for Christ.
Pastor Josh:He says, if you are a believer in Jesus, if you have faith in him, if you are a child of the king, you are an ambassador.
Pastor Josh:What's an ambassador?
Pastor Josh:An ambassador is someone who represents their king, their leader, to another place, a foreign place.
Pastor Josh:And so essentially what Paul is saying is that you are an ambassador.
Pastor Josh:You are a representative of God in a foreign land.
Pastor Josh:Now, what's that foreign land?
Pastor Josh:This earth.
Pastor Josh:The Bible says that we should not love the world, neither the things in this world.
Pastor Josh:Right?
Pastor Josh:We even saw that in chapter six of Second Corinthians.
Pastor Josh:He says, don't be unequally yoked with the world.
Pastor Josh:He says, don't love this world.
Pastor Josh:Love your Savior.
Pastor Josh:Love the one who sent you.
Pastor Josh:So he says, you're an ambassador now.
Pastor Josh:And you now have a goal, a purpose, a mission, and that is to bring people to the reconciliation of God.
Pastor Josh:Teach them what it means to be reconciled to God.
Pastor Josh:Teach them what it means to know him and be a new creation.
Pastor Josh:And so if you just go a few more verses up, verse 17, he says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation.
Pastor Josh:Old things are passed away.
Pastor Josh:Behold, all things are become new.
Pastor Josh:That is your credentials to the job description.
Pastor Josh:You have a job as an ambassador, and you would say, man, I don't know if God wants me representing him.
Pastor Josh:I don't think I'm qualified.
Pastor Josh:Well, if you are in Christ, you are qualified.
Pastor Josh:That's your qualifications to the job.
Pastor Josh:That's your job description.
Pastor Josh:You are now a new creation.
Pastor Josh:Old things are passed away.
Pastor Josh:You've changed.
Pastor Josh:That's not what you're living for anymore.
Pastor Josh:You're living for him.
Pastor Josh:And he even says here in Second Corinthians, chapter five, we live by faith and not by sight.
Pastor Josh:And so he says, to be a faithful minister, to be a faithful ambassador, you have to live in Christ.
Pastor Josh:You have to believe in who he is and what he can do for you so that you are a new creation.
Pastor Josh:And so, Second Corinthians, chapter five, new creation.
Pastor Josh:You're an ambassador now.
Pastor Josh:Now, what's an ambassador's job?
Pastor Josh:Well, we already talked about the big picture, like, represent my king.
Pastor Josh:But what specific actions do I need to take to be an ambassador?
Pastor Josh:Well, he says you have two jobs.
Pastor Josh:You need to be the one who brings the message.
Pastor Josh:So you have a message of reconciliation, you have the message of the gospel, and therefore, you are ministering that gospel.
Pastor Josh:So you have a message that you are to minister.
Pastor Josh:What does minister mean?
Pastor Josh:It means to serve.
Pastor Josh:It means to give.
Pastor Josh:It means to present.
Pastor Josh:And so you all are ambassadors.
Pastor Josh:If you're a Christian this morning, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are all ambassadors.
Pastor Josh:Which means you're all ministers, you say?
Pastor Josh:Well, ministers.
Pastor Josh:I thought you're the only minister here today.
Pastor Josh:You and Pastor John and Pastor Carlos.
Pastor Josh:No, I mean, we are vocationally in the pastoral ministry, Pastor, but all of you are ministers.
Pastor Josh:All of you are called to serve.
Pastor Josh:And what are you called to serve?
Pastor Josh:You're called to serve people with the message of reconciliation, the message of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:So you could have a side note to this.
Pastor Josh:We're all messengers of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:Okay, so messengers of the gospel, that's all of us.
Pastor Josh:So you guys are all ministers as the gospel ministry calls you to be.
Pastor Josh:So then what happens is this.
Pastor Josh:Second Corinthians, chapter 4.
Pastor Josh:Paul says, this is what's going to happen when you are in that ministry.
Pastor Josh:Lest we think that everything's going to run smoothly, lest we think that, hey, once I am a new creation, then everyone's going to like me and that everyone's gonna agree with me.
Pastor Josh:Paul says in Second Corinthians, chapter four, verse eight, he goes, you wanna know what it's like?
Pastor Josh:You wanna know what it's like to be faithful to the Lord?
Pastor Josh:He says, well, we're troubled on every side.
Pastor Josh:We're perplexed, we're persecuted, we're cast down, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
Pastor Josh:You would say, well, that doesn't sound very attractive.
Pastor Josh:I don't know if I want that life Well, I left out some words there.
Pastor Josh:He did say that they were troubled on every side.
Pastor Josh:But what did he say?
Pastor Josh:Yet not distressed.
Pastor Josh:He said, we are perplexed.
Pastor Josh:We are confused, but not in despair.
Pastor Josh:We're persecuted, yes, but not forsaken.
Pastor Josh:God has not forgotten about us in the midst of what we are doing for him.
Pastor Josh:And then he says this.
Pastor Josh:Yes, we are cast down, but we are not destroyed.
Pastor Josh:And so what Paul says is, look, the life of a minister, a life of a faithful minister, is not going to be easy.
Pastor Josh:But you can have the constant comfort in the test, in the crucible.
Pastor Josh:You say, well, how can that be?
Pastor Josh:Because you're really speaking about a paradox, right?
Pastor Josh:You're speaking about this thing about God wants you to have comfort, but then he's going to bring you all these struggles.
Pastor Josh:Like if I went to you and I say, hey, you know, I just want to give you some comfort, and I started just bringing difficulties to you.
Pastor Josh:Or, I need you to do this, and I need you to do this, and I need you to go out here and do that.
Pastor Josh:You would say, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Pastor Josh:I thought you were wanting to bring me comfort.
Pastor Josh:And all you're bringing me is hardship.
Pastor Josh:All you're allowing in my life is hardship.
Pastor Josh:Well, I want you to go a little bit deeper in this study.
Pastor Josh:Go back to the very beginning in Second Corinthians, chapter one.
Pastor Josh:It's interesting that this is where Paul starts.
Pastor Josh:Now, I've kind of worked a review of the opposite.
Pastor Josh:Usually you start at the beginning and work your way to where you are.
Pastor Josh:I've worked from where we are back to the beginning.
Pastor Josh:And what do we see here at the very beginning?
Pastor Josh:Paul says something very, very interesting, something that's vital for a minister of the Gospel.
Pastor Josh:He says this in verse number three, the third verse after his greeting.
Pastor Josh:After Paul's greeting, he says, okay, now I'm gonna get down to business.
Pastor Josh:This is the first thing I'm gonna bring to you.
Pastor Josh:He says, blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies.
Pastor Josh:And then here's this phrase.
Pastor Josh:And I want you to think about this phrase, because this has really helped me understand the character of God.
Pastor Josh:He says, the God of all comfort, the God of all comfort.
Pastor Josh:Not just comforting us in the good times, not just comforting us when we're where we need to be.
Pastor Josh:He comforts us in all the areas of our life, and then he gives a purpose to that comfort.
Pastor Josh:He says, God's comforting you.
Pastor Josh:And how he comforts you is through a lot of different things.
Pastor Josh:But ultimately it's through knowing what he has done for you and knowing what our hope is at the end.
Pastor Josh:Knowing that ultimately we have a relationship with him.
Pastor Josh:And then he says, you get that comfort given to you.
Pastor Josh:And then verse four, who comforted us in all our tribulation, all of our trials, all of our tests.
Pastor Josh:Folks, I think it's important to realize that God has not forgotten about us.
Pastor Josh:Even if we're tempted to think that, hey, in this trial, he has forgotten about me.
Pastor Josh:No, we.
Pastor Josh:We have to go back to the truth of the Word.
Pastor Josh:Not our feelings, not our experiences, but the truth of the Word.
Pastor Josh:And he says, in all our tribulation, why?
Pastor Josh:So that we can feel good about ourselves.
Pastor Josh:No, it's not what he says.
Pastor Josh:This is different than what we would expect.
Pastor Josh:We would expect.
Pastor Josh:The comfort comes so that we can feel good.
Pastor Josh:He says, yes, there is comfort, but why is there comfort?
Pastor Josh:So that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.
Pastor Josh:It's the selfless love agape that he wants us to show.
Pastor Josh:You get comfort so that you show comfort.
Pastor Josh:We receive the comfort of God so that we can comfort others.
Pastor Josh:Why so it says there, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Pastor Josh:The only way that you can love a Christian, the only way that you can love the unsaved, the only way that you can love your family, the only way that.
Pastor Josh:That you can be the minister that you're called to be is to rest in the comfort of God, but then to turn around and to display that comfort to others, to give them the truth of God, to give them the peace of God, to give them the gospel message of transition from darkness to light, that transformation that we can all have.
Pastor Josh:And that is the comfort of God seen as a minister of the Gospel.
Pastor Josh:And so what we go back to, we go back to second Corinthians, chapter seven, and we're going to see Paul basically picking up in that thought.
Pastor Josh:Paul has this long parenthetical thought from chapter two to chapter seven, and now he's kind of picking that thought back up.
Pastor Josh:You guys are against me.
Pastor Josh:You need to open your hearts to the message of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:And so he's trying to show them what it means to rest in the love of Christ.
Pastor Josh:And we're in verse two.
Pastor Josh:We looked at verse one last week.
Pastor Josh:Verse one was that new walk, sanctification.
Pastor Josh:Some of you remember that sanctification, that new, that new life means that there is a new path.
Pastor Josh:And then I'm going to grow in that path.
Pastor Josh:But then he says, Verse 2, Receive us, receive our message.
Pastor Josh:Love us.
Pastor Josh:And he's talking about him and those that are around him, preaching the message.
Pastor Josh:And then he gives the reasons why.
Pastor Josh:He says, this is what it means to be a faithful minister.
Pastor Josh:Says, we have wronged no man.
Pastor Josh:We have corrupted no man.
Pastor Josh:We have defrauded no man.
Pastor Josh:So what is he talking about here?
Pastor Josh:He's saying this.
Pastor Josh:To be a faithful minister of the gospel and to display the comfort of God to other people, we must live with lives of integrity, love and commitment.
Pastor Josh:He says, hey, we've wronged no man.
Pastor Josh:We have corrupted no man.
Pastor Josh:We've defrauded no man.
Pastor Josh:We've been honest.
Pastor Josh:We've lived with integrity so that you can see what it means to be different.
Pastor Josh:He says, there is a distinct difference from the way that you live in Christ and the way that you live in the world.
Pastor Josh:And he says, Corinthian church, you're used to people living in the world, and those are the people that you're listening to.
Pastor Josh:Those are the people that you're loving.
Pastor Josh:And he says, instead, love those that are different.
Pastor Josh:Love those that have the righteousness of Christ in their life.
Pastor Josh:He says, basically this.
Pastor Josh:We have kept our testimony to you, so trust us.
Pastor Josh:Trust us with the message of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:These other people that are preaching a false gospel, they're not honest with you.
Pastor Josh:They're not committed to you.
Pastor Josh:And so I'm going to tell you here this morning to be a faithful minister, which that's all of us, a faithful ambassador of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:And for us to be able to comfort those that need that comfort, we must then live lives of integrity, love and commitment.
Pastor Josh:Verse 3.
Pastor Josh:He says, I speak not this to condemn you.
Pastor Josh:Says, I'm not trying to come here to condemn you.
Pastor Josh:You think that that's what I'm here to do?
Pastor Josh:You think I'm here just to tell you all the wrongs that you're doing?
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm not here to condemn you, for I have said before that ye are in our hearts.
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm doing this cause I love you.
Pastor Josh:I'm telling you about all these struggles in your life and the dangers of these struggles because I love you.
Pastor Josh:And then he goes to show a little bit more about that love.
Pastor Josh:He says that ye are in our hearts to die and to live with you.
Pastor Josh:That shows his commitment.
Pastor Josh:He's like, we're here to live with you and we're here to die with you.
Pastor Josh:To.
Pastor Josh:To.
Pastor Josh:To be somebody who is going to comfort another.
Pastor Josh:We have to prove that we are people of integrity, that we are people of love and that we are people of commitment.
Pastor Josh:Why?
Pastor Josh:Because God gives us that comfort in his integrity, in his holiness, in his love and his commitment to us.
Pastor Josh:Folks, it is all wrapped up in this.
Pastor Josh:To be a faithful ambassador, we must be Christ like.
Pastor Josh:To be Christ like means to live a life of integrity above the cares of this world, above the lies of this world and to say, you know what, we're gonna live honestly before man so that we can be a testimony, not so that people will love us, so that people will love Christ.
Pastor Josh:So it's that integrity.
Pastor Josh:It's that love.
Pastor Josh:It's agape, folks.
Pastor Josh:If we can wrap our minds around anything, it's that God has called us to love him with everything and to love others with that agape love that is sacrificial.
Pastor Josh:Love our world, if one lie of this world is devastating to marriages and to families and to churches, is that love is an emotion.
Pastor Josh:Love is a selfish thing, folks.
Pastor Josh:That is not biblical love.
Pastor Josh:Biblical love is what can I do for this person even if they don't bring anything back to me?
Pastor Josh:It's a choice.
Pastor Josh:It's a commitment.
Pastor Josh:And so therefore Paul says, I'm committed to you.
Pastor Josh:This isn't fly by night.
Pastor Josh:I'm not just swinging through Corinth and saying, hey Corinth, give me your love offering and let me give you a little, you know, shot in the arm and we're going to leave.
Pastor Josh:He says, no, we're committed to you.
Pastor Josh:We'll live with you and we will die with you.
Pastor Josh:Folks.
Pastor Josh:That's the truth.
Pastor Josh:The truth is that a minister of the gospel that wants to be an extension of the love of Christ much show that same commitment that Christ had with us, right?
Pastor Josh:Jesus said, I'm going to come and I'm going to live a perfect life.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to live amongst my followers.
Pastor Josh:And not only am I going to live amongst them, but I'm going to sacrifice for them.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to serve them right.
Pastor Josh:Jesus washing the disciples feet, Jesus taking that humble form of a servant, then ultimately, in obedience to his father dying on the cross for our sins, that is the perfect act of love that Jesus displayed.
Pastor Josh:And so therefore we are to follow that.
Pastor Josh:Paul is saying we have to follow that.
Pastor Josh:So what is Paul doing here?
Pastor Josh:Paul is sharing his heart.
Pastor Josh:He is authentic.
Pastor Josh:I want you to see here this morning.
Pastor Josh:If you want to minister to people around you and impart comfort and the truth of God, we must be authentically showing our love.
Pastor Josh:I put it this way, in my notes, authenticity affords affection.
Pastor Josh:What does that mean?
Pastor Josh:That means this.
Pastor Josh:When I'm authentic with somebody, that's when we see real affection happening.
Pastor Josh:If I'm surface level with everything, there can't be any depth to our relationship, right?
Pastor Josh:That's with a spouse, that's with our friends, that's with our church members, that's with the unsaved, that's with Christ.
Pastor Josh:If everything's on the surface level, like, if I'm not authentic with you, like, oh, yeah, I'm just gonna tell you what I think you want me to say.
Pastor Josh:And I'm just gonna tell you a little bit about who I am.
Pastor Josh:How is that ever gonna work?
Pastor Josh:Like, what if I got married to my wife and I said, okay, I'm gonna keep a lot of secrets from you.
Pastor Josh:I will tell you what you need to hear or what I feel like I want you to hear.
Pastor Josh:There's never gonna be real affection happening there.
Pastor Josh:True, deep affection.
Pastor Josh:And that's when it comes to those that were ministering to the gospel.
Pastor Josh:Folks, if I had a new person come into our church here this morning and they say, hey, I wanna know about Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh:I wanna know what it means to live the Christian life.
Pastor Josh:And I just tell them a little bit.
Pastor Josh:And I go, oh, well, you know what?
Pastor Josh:Be like me.
Pastor Josh:I'm plastic and I have no problems in my life.
Pastor Josh:And that one day you can be like me.
Pastor Josh:Folks, let me tell you, we're all messed up.
Pastor Josh:And we all have struggles, and we all have the flesh, and we all have issues.
Pastor Josh:And if there's anyone that says that they don't have that, there's a major problem with their authenticity.
Pastor Josh:Look, I'm not here to tell you that I'm a unrepentant sinner, but I'm gonna tell you that I'm a sinner saved by grace just like everybody else.
Pastor Josh:And so therefore, it's that authenticity.
Pastor Josh:Paul says, yeah, I have struggles, I have issues, but I'm here to live with you and die with you.
Pastor Josh:It's the authenticity that matters.
Pastor Josh:Cause that affords affection.
Pastor Josh:And so what we can see here is that Paul is saying, I'm tested, but I'm here.
Pastor Josh:And so I want to go back to that idea of a crucible, constant comfort in a crucible.
Pastor Josh:What is a crucible?
Pastor Josh:Well, literally, it's a container that is used for heating a substance to a high temperature.
Pastor Josh:And so it could be used in metallurgy or something like that.
Pastor Josh:Like, it's a test, right, to see if something is good.
Pastor Josh:Or see if something is valuable or trustworthy.
Pastor Josh:And so figuratively speaking, a crucible is a severe test or a trial, something that is testing us in the most deep form.
Pastor Josh:So Paul is being tested here.
Pastor Josh:The people that he's willing to die for, the people that he's willing to sacrifice everything for, are questioning whether or not he's a good guy.
Pastor Josh:And it would be very easy for Paul to say, you know what?
Pastor Josh:I'm.
Pastor Josh:See ya.
Pastor Josh:Macedonia would like me.
Pastor Josh:Antioch would like me.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to forget you guys.
Pastor Josh:But no, he says, I'm here to live and to die with you.
Pastor Josh:And so I'm going to tell you here.
Pastor Josh:Paul confronts them out of love.
Pastor Josh:He didn't want to condemn them.
Pastor Josh:You see that there in verse three, he says, I speak not this to condemn you.
Pastor Josh:So part of this authentic love is going to be confrontation.
Pastor Josh:Paul confronted the Christians there in Corinth, but he did not want to condemn them.
Pastor Josh:And so what we can see here is a biblical truth, that there can be confrontation without condemnation.
Pastor Josh:Problem is, sometimes when we want to confront, we condemn folks.
Pastor Josh:It's not our job to condemn somebody.
Pastor Josh:That's the job of the Lord.
Pastor Josh:And one day there will be people who are condemned for their rebellion.
Pastor Josh:But ultimately, for us, there is a responsibility to confront.
Pastor Josh:So Paul says, I'm confronting you in love, but I'm not condemning you because I'm part of this.
Pastor Josh:Like Paul, Paul says, I struggle too.
Pastor Josh:I have issues too.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul is sharing his heart.
Pastor Josh:And so as ministers of the gospel of truth, which I hope at this point you think that you're part of that.
Pastor Josh:As ministers of the gospel of truth, we must be honest to those who need the truth, right?
Pastor Josh:We have to be honest.
Pastor Josh:And honesty is sometimes a difficult thing to do.
Pastor Josh:When we were at the men's retreat here this weekend, by the way, we're gonna have some testimonies at the end of the service about how God really worked through that.
Pastor Josh:And the speaker was a fantastic speaker.
Pastor Josh:And he spoke about friendship.
Pastor Josh:You don't hear a lot about that.
Pastor Josh:Biblical friendship.
Pastor Josh:And part of biblical friendship is telling a person the truth sometimes.
Pastor Josh:Sometimes it's a difficult truth, but the truth nonetheless.
Pastor Josh:If I love someone, I'm gonna tell them the truth.
Pastor Josh:If I don't care about them, I don't care about them.
Pastor Josh:And I'm not going to tell them the truth.
Pastor Josh:And the truth is that what Paul does here is he shows his love by speaking the truth.
Pastor Josh:Guys, you're on the wrong path.
Pastor Josh:Guys, I want you to fix this Guys, this is what God would want you to do.
Pastor Josh:And it's done in a way of love, and it's done in a way of sacrifice.
Pastor Josh:And so, folks, as ministers of the gospel, we must be honest to the people, the very people that need our honesty, that need the truth.
Pastor Josh:Where is the truth found?
Pastor Josh:We all know this.
Pastor Josh:Come on.
Pastor Josh:This is.
Pastor Josh:If you've been in Middletown Baptist for any amount of time, you know the truth is found in the word of God.
Pastor Josh:It's not found in my opinions.
Pastor Josh:It's not found in a movement.
Pastor Josh:It's not found in anything else outside of the word of God.
Pastor Josh:Jesus has sanctified them by thy truth.
Pastor Josh:Thy word is truth.
Pastor Josh:And so we must point to people the truth of Scripture.
Pastor Josh:And so he is bold here.
Pastor Josh:He says, Verse 4.
Pastor Josh:See this with me.
Pastor Josh:So there's integrity, there's love, there's commitment, there's honesty.
Pastor Josh:But then we see here that there's boldness in this.
Pastor Josh:You cannot avoid the fact that as a minister, an ambassador of the gospel, we have to be bold in what we know about God.
Pastor Josh:He says, great is my boldness of speech towards you.
Pastor Josh:He said, I've been strong with you.
Pastor Josh:The Bible never tells us to be weak.
Pastor Josh:The Bible does tell us to be meek.
Pastor Josh:Meekness is not weakness.
Pastor Josh:Meekness is strength under control.
Pastor Josh:But the Bible never tells us to be weak because weakness eventually is going to get to a point where we.
Pastor Josh:It's a selfish thing, right?
Pastor Josh:Well, I just don't want to do that because that's going to make me look this way or I'm not going to do this because that's going to make me have to feel something here.
Pastor Josh:The Bible says here very clearly.
Pastor Josh:Paul says, great is my boldness of speech toward you.
Pastor Josh:But then he says something interesting here.
Pastor Josh:He says, so I've come against you really strongly.
Pastor Josh:He said, I've had some negative things to say about this church.
Pastor Josh:But he doesn't just condemn them and say, you guys are all failures.
Pastor Josh:He says, no.
Pastor Josh:What does he say?
Pastor Josh:He says, and great is my glorying of you.
Pastor Josh:Meaning he's proud of them for the things that they have done for the Lord.
Pastor Josh:It's not all negative, folks.
Pastor Josh:One of the elements that we can get to in our lives and very, very much a trap within speaking the truth, is that everything becomes negative, right?
Pastor Josh:I just pick, pick, pick, and just everything is negative about that person.
Pastor Josh:What Paul says is, yes, there are some things that you need to change, but also I'm very proud of many of the things that you've been doing.
Pastor Josh:Now, the King James word is glorying, right?
Pastor Josh:There's a.
Pastor Josh:There's a selfish pride and there's a biblical pride, right?
Pastor Josh:So, for example, like, if my children do something, well, I'm happy for them.
Pastor Josh:I'm glorying in the fact that they did well, maybe in school or maybe in sports or whatever.
Pastor Josh:And it's not like I'm prideful, and I brought that about.
Pastor Josh:I'm just thankful to the Lord for what they're doing.
Pastor Josh:And that's what Paul is saying here.
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm thankful, I'm excited, I'm happy that you have some good things going on in your life.
Pastor Josh:He says, these are good things.
Pastor Josh:So it's a lot of times what we do is this.
Pastor Josh:We only condemn people, we only challenge them, but yet we don't give them what they are doing well for the Lord.
Pastor Josh:Someone I heard recently says, you know, we need to give a compliment sandwich, right?
Pastor Josh:Tell someone something good about them, and then come to the point where you have to tell them the truth about something that might be difficult, but then end it with, hey, there are some really good things happening here.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul doesn't want to suck the life out of these people.
Pastor Josh:He wants to give them hope in Christ.
Pastor Josh:He says, there are evidences here that you are following Christ to some degree, but you need to change in some areas.
Pastor Josh:And so he's bold in his business, but he's bold in his boasting as well.
Pastor Josh:He's not ashamed of his people.
Pastor Josh:He's not ashamed.
Pastor Josh:Like, I'm so excited to call Middletown Baptist Church my church.
Pastor Josh:I gotta tell you, when I go to other places and I see other churches and I see good things going on there, you know what it makes me do?
Pastor Josh:It just makes me want to think about my church.
Pastor Josh:Like, I just, like, man, I can't wait to get back to Middletown Baptist Church.
Pastor Josh:And there's something to be said about the fact that I glory in Middletown Baptist Church.
Pastor Josh:We're at the men's retreat, and I see other churches and I'm like, hey, there's a pastor, and he's talking about how good his church is.
Pastor Josh:You know what I don't do?
Pastor Josh:I don't go and say, well, you know what, man?
Pastor Josh:I wonder if that church is different than mine.
Pastor Josh:Maybe.
Pastor Josh:Maybe the grass is greener.
Pastor Josh:I say, well, their church is good.
Pastor Josh:Great.
Pastor Josh:My church is even better.
Pastor Josh:I'm excited for that.
Pastor Josh:Because if your heart's not where you are, there's a big issue.
Pastor Josh:And so what Paul says here in this case is like, yes, there are some issues, and I've had to come down on you, but I also am bold in my glorying of you.
Pastor Josh:And so God works through Paul to challenge the church through confrontation, but not condemnation.
Pastor Josh:And so, despite the many trials that Paul faced from within and from without, he found joy and comfort in the good news of the Corinthian Church.
Pastor Josh:And so he says, I'm exceedingly joyful.
Pastor Josh:You see that in verse four.
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm glorying you.
Pastor Josh:I am filled with comfort.
Pastor Josh:Remember, he's saying this in the midst of physical trials.
Pastor Josh:Okay, we're gonna be in Second Corinthians, chapter 12 here, just in a relatively short amount of time.
Pastor Josh:And if you remember, Paul is going through something that's a thorn in his flesh, seeks thrice three times to have that removed.
Pastor Josh:That's right.
Pastor Josh:That's right.
Pastor Josh:Now that's happening in this scene of his life.
Pastor Josh:Paul has been persecuted.
Pastor Josh:He's been beaten, he's been.
Pastor Josh:He's been forgotten about.
Pastor Josh:He's been left for dead.
Pastor Josh:He has his own people rejecting him.
Pastor Josh:But yet he says here.
Pastor Josh:What does he say?
Pastor Josh:His testimony in the difficulty is this.
Pastor Josh:I am filled with comfort.
Pastor Josh:I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
Pastor Josh:I like how he says our like.
Pastor Josh:He.
Pastor Josh:He identifies as like.
Pastor Josh:It's.
Pastor Josh:It's our struggle, it's our problem, it's our pain.
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm though.
Pastor Josh:I'm going through this pain.
Pastor Josh:He has two elements that characterize his life.
Pastor Josh:Comfort and joy, Comfort and joy and tribulation.
Pastor Josh:How can he do that?
Pastor Josh:Second Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 3.
Pastor Josh:God is comforting him through this, but God is using other people as well.
Pastor Josh:And that's the amazing thing here you see it.
Pastor Josh:He says verse four, for when we were come into Macedonia, Macedonia is another place.
Pastor Josh:So he says, when I traveled to Macedonia, which Macedonia is the place that he went to instead of Corinth, that they got upset about.
Pastor Josh:This is why they're mad at him.
Pastor Josh:He's using that.
Pastor Josh:And he says, when we went to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest.
Pastor Josh:He's like, we were struggling in Macedonia, but we were troubled on every side.
Pastor Josh:We see him repeating those struggles.
Pastor Josh:He said, we were troubled on every side.
Pastor Josh:So basically the thought here in the original Greek is like, I was surrounded.
Pastor Josh:I was surrounded by trouble.
Pastor Josh:I don't know about you, but there's probably been a time in your life where you felt that, not maybe physically, maybe you did have trouble all around you.
Pastor Josh:I can't get out of this but maybe you know what he means by the spiritual trouble around every side.
Pastor Josh:Every which way I turn, I see an issue and I can't get out of this.
Pastor Josh:And that's what Paul is describing here.
Pastor Josh:And maybe that's you right now.
Pastor Josh:Maybe you're like, I can't find a way out.
Pastor Josh:Paul says it's not about finding a way out.
Pastor Josh:That's the irony of all this.
Pastor Josh:I think sometimes as Christians, we think, well, trouble comes, I gotta find a way out.
Pastor Josh:That's not what he's saying here.
Pastor Josh:He says, I've got trouble on every side.
Pastor Josh:My flesh had no rest.
Pastor Josh:We were troubled on every side.
Pastor Josh:Without were fightings, meaning without is an old way to say on the outside, there was fightings around me, so people were fighting against me.
Pastor Josh:So these are talking about struggles from the outside in.
Pastor Josh:And we have a lot of those, right?
Pastor Josh:Maybe you have issues at work, maybe you have issues in the home.
Pastor Josh:Maybe you have issues with people that you come across in your life.
Pastor Josh:He says, so there was problems on the outside.
Pastor Josh:And then he says, within were fears.
Pastor Josh:So we see that he's struggling in two fronts.
Pastor Josh:Outside conflicts coming against him and inside conflicts that are coming out.
Pastor Josh:Like, internally, I am complete with fear.
Pastor Josh:I'm gonna tell you, one of the things that we struggle with in our life, whether we admit it or not, is the fear.
Pastor Josh:The fear of man, the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of isolation, the fear of whatever.
Pastor Josh:And sometimes what Satan does is he works in our hearts on the inside and the outside from two different fronts.
Pastor Josh:And he says, okay, if I can't get you to be afraid of what's coming from the outside, I'm going to get you to be afraid from what's coming on the inside.
Pastor Josh:And some of you might relate with that.
Pastor Josh:Some of you might say, I'm not afraid of any man, but I'm afraid of what's going on in here.
Pastor Josh:I'm afraid of what's going on in here.
Pastor Josh:And folks, the Bible says that there are going to be those external struggles, but there's going to be internal struggles.
Pastor Josh:And Paul says, I've got problems on the outside.
Pastor Josh:I've got problems on the inside.
Pastor Josh:And he says, but.
Pastor Josh:But I'm filled with comfort and I'm exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
Pastor Josh:And so he says how God brought the comfort.
Pastor Josh:God brought comfort to Paul by hearing about the work of God with other people.
Pastor Josh:And so he finds joy.
Pastor Josh:And a part of that joy was the good news for the from the Corinthian Christians.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul is saying that God can comfort us in the midst of outward conflict and the midst of inward conflict.
Pastor Josh:But how does it come to us?
Pastor Josh:Well, it comes to us through different circumstances.
Pastor Josh:Verse 6.
Pastor Josh:Nevertheless, God, he gives the credit to God for this comfort.
Pastor Josh:Nevertheless, God that comforteth those that are cast down.
Pastor Josh:And I just want to tell you that.
Pastor Josh:And just a side note here, okay.
Pastor Josh:God can and will comfort those who are cast down.
Pastor Josh:That word, cast down, that phrase, cast down, it just means to be defeated.
Pastor Josh:It means to be downcast, in despair.
Pastor Josh:Some of you might have said, you know what?
Pastor Josh:In my life, that's me.
Pastor Josh:I'm cast down.
Pastor Josh:I'm in despair.
Pastor Josh:In some degrees, maybe I'm even hopeless.
Pastor Josh:God has a heart for those.
Pastor Josh:If we come to him in faith, if we come to him and plead for his grace, the Bible says that he comforts those that are cast down.
Pastor Josh:He says, God that comforted those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus.
Pastor Josh:So he says, this guy named Titus comes and visits me.
Pastor Josh:And what is he talking about here?
Pastor Josh:Well, this is actually Titus, one of the people that worked with Paul.
Pastor Josh:He comes.
Pastor Josh:Titus comes and tells Paul about the Corinthian Church, about what's going on in their life.
Pastor Josh:And he says, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation or the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you, meaning this.
Pastor Josh:Paul was encouraged.
Pastor Josh:This.
Pastor Josh:When you guys see this, this is going to be amazing.
Pastor Josh:Paul was encouraged from Titus because Titus was encouraged by the Corinthian Church.
Pastor Josh:So indirectly, the Corinthians who are causing Paul, you know, they're upset with him right now.
Pastor Josh:He said, hey, there was a time where you comforted me by comforting Titus.
Pastor Josh:You didn't know that you were.
Pastor Josh:But you were comforting Titus.
Pastor Josh:Titus came and comforted me.
Pastor Josh:And that's the fulfillment of what happened right in Second Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 3.
Pastor Josh:So when I receive the comfort of God and I comfort another person in that, I don't know who that means is gonna feel the comfort on the next ripple.
Pastor Josh:And the next ripple.
Pastor Josh:Folks, we don't necessarily always know what God is doing in our life, but all we do is obey him.
Pastor Josh:And we see it played out here in this case that Titus was encouraged by the Corinthian Church.
Pastor Josh:And ultimately, Titus encourages Paul in the midst of one of his darkest moments.
Pastor Josh:And he says so not by just Titus coming, but by the consolation of the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you.
Pastor Josh:When he was told, told us of your earnest Desire, mourning and your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoiced the more.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul hears some news about the Corinthian Church.
Pastor Josh:What was that news that encouraged his heart?
Pastor Josh:He says this that they were earnest in their desire.
Pastor Josh:Their desire for what?
Pastor Josh:Their desire for the truth of God.
Pastor Josh:You know, that is what is going to encourage other people.
Pastor Josh:The more you are on fire for God, the more that is a blessing to other people that desire what God wants for them in their life.
Pastor Josh:Now, if your desire for God makes someone upset, that's an issue on their heart, right?
Pastor Josh:Don't be afraid.
Pastor Josh:Don't shy away from the passion that God gives you for the call of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:Never be ashamed if someone kind of squashes your excitement for the Lord.
Pastor Josh:There's been times in my life where I wanted to tell someone about what God is doing in my life, and they're like, oh, that's great.
Pastor Josh:That's wonderful.
Pastor Josh:I'm like, well, maybe I shouldn't be as excited for that.
Pastor Josh:Folks, never, never quench the move of the spirit in another person's life.
Pastor Josh:You might not be feeling it at that moment, but be excited for them in that moment.
Pastor Josh:Join in with their joy, join in with their desire.
Pastor Josh:And what we can see here is one of the ways that we can comfort.
Pastor Josh:Because a lot of times.
Pastor Josh:What do we think about when we think about comfort?
Pastor Josh:Well, me just coming alongside of you and going, hey, I want to comfort you.
Pastor Josh:Have a great day in the Lord.
Pastor Josh:Okay, well, that's great.
Pastor Josh:But remember, actions always speak louder than words.
Pastor Josh:It's our actions that can comfort people.
Pastor Josh:And so one of the actions of the Corinthian Church was that they were passionate.
Pastor Josh:They had earnest desire.
Pastor Josh:Our passion for the Lord can encourage others who are seeking the same thing.
Pastor Josh:Let me tell you, some of the most encouraging moments of my life is when I see other people serving God and other people excited about His Word and Bible studies starting and people saying, hey, Pastor, I was studying this week and I was watching this video and.
Pastor Josh:And God really got ahold of my heart here.
Pastor Josh:Man, that gets me excited.
Pastor Josh:That encourages me.
Pastor Josh:Whether you know it or not, being at the men's retreat and having 300 men or whatever it was, you know, singing out to Jesus and singing praises to him and guys getting up and giving testimonies, man, that encouraged my heart.
Pastor Josh:And they didn't even know who I was.
Pastor Josh:And the truth is that the more passionate you are for Christ, others will be encouraged by that.
Pastor Josh:A little while back, one of my former students Colton Gideons came, and he's on deputation to be a missionary to Spain.
Pastor Josh:And I can't tell you how much it encouraged my heart to see a young man that I saw grow up in Christian school.
Pastor Josh:Now he's going out to serve the Lord.
Pastor Josh:I mean, he didn't know this, but, man, I was like, in tears because I'm like, man, God's faithful, and the faithfulness of others encourages people.
Pastor Josh:So what I would say to you is this.
Pastor Josh:If you want to be an encourager, don't just speak encouragement.
Pastor Josh:That's one thing you should edify, speak things.
Pastor Josh:But, you know, you can say something and not mean it.
Pastor Josh:One of the things that you can do to encourage other people is have that passionate desire.
Pastor Josh:But then we see something else here.
Pastor Josh:He says, you're mourning now.
Pastor Josh:Is Paul saying, I'm happy when you're mourning.
Pastor Josh:Like you lost someone in your life and I'm glad that you're crying?
Pastor Josh:No, he's talking specifically about the mourning over sin, their conviction.
Pastor Josh:He says, I'm so happy to see that you're broken over your sin.
Pastor Josh:Now, that's kind of weird for us to think about, but that is a beautiful thing to see people broken over their sin because that's what brings revival.
Pastor Josh:That's what brings change.
Pastor Josh:And so one of the ways that we can encourage other people is by understanding the pains and the sufferings of sin in our life and mourning over that to get to a place where we can be passionate for God.
Pastor Josh:And so he says part of encouragement is for individuals to recognize the power of sin in their life and overcome the power of sin by the power of God.
Pastor Josh:And so, folks, I would encourage you to embrace that conviction in your life, get right with God.
Pastor Josh:Because when you get right with God, that affects other people.
Pastor Josh:Now, it's not riding on your shoulders.
Pastor Josh:Like, it's not like, well, you had to do this for other people or they'll never get close to Christ.
Pastor Josh:But you never know who you're going to influence.
Pastor Josh:You never know who you're going to comfort by that time where you walk forward and you kneel at the altar and you get that right with God.
Pastor Josh:Whether or not that person even knows your private sin, your change in your life in that revival will affect other people around you.
Pastor Josh:You know, I've dealt with things in my own life personally that I never told my children, but my children were positively affected by the change that happened in my life through the conviction of the Spirit.
Pastor Josh:Like, I gotta get rid of this.
Pastor Josh:This is stealing away My desire for my children.
Pastor Josh:So therefore, I gotta get rid of it.
Pastor Josh:This is stealing away my desire for the Lord, so I gotta get rid of that.
Pastor Josh:People might not ever know that decision that you make, but the change in your life will be manifested and will encourage others.
Pastor Josh:So I would say this.
Pastor Josh:The mourning over sin, the brokenness over sin, will cause people to be encouraged, just as Paul was encouraged.
Pastor Josh:And then we see, he says, your fervent mind toward me, your fervent thoughts.
Pastor Josh:He says, your fervent mind towards me, your desire, your passion, your thoughts of me.
Pastor Josh:And so what I would say here in this case is just thinking of others.
Pastor Josh:Thinking of others in the midst of our life.
Pastor Josh:Selflessness, Right.
Pastor Josh:Selflessness is such a need in our culture today.
Pastor Josh:Why?
Pastor Josh:Because the opposite side is preaching pride.
Pastor Josh:Pride, Satan, from the very beginning.
Pastor Josh:Pride.
Pastor Josh:It's all about you put yourself first, only help people that help you.
Pastor Josh:And that's the total opposite of what is an encouragement.
Pastor Josh:An encouragement is, I'm going to help you, even if you don't deserve it, even if you don't ask for it.
Pastor Josh:One of the things that I was encouraged by our speaker at the men's retreat.
Pastor Josh:I'm probably stealing some of the guys thunder when they're gonna give their testimonies.
Pastor Josh:Well, I got up here first.
Pastor Josh:So is this.
Pastor Josh:He said, you know, an acquaintance says, I'm here for you.
Pastor Josh:If you need me, let me know.
Pastor Josh:He said, a friend is, I'm already there, you know, And I was convicted by that.
Pastor Josh:Because a lot of times in my life, people that I love, I say, hey, I don't want to impose.
Pastor Josh:If you need me, just call me.
Pastor Josh:He says, you know, a true friend is someone that's like, hey, I'm already there.
Pastor Josh:I'm already putting you first.
Pastor Josh:I don't care what time of the day it is.
Pastor Josh:I don't care what kind of sacrifice this means for me, folks.
Pastor Josh:That's what it means to care for somebody else.
Pastor Josh:And so therefore, he says, hey, you're fervent in mind toward me.
Pastor Josh:It's that selflessness.
Pastor Josh:It's that humility.
Pastor Josh:And so as much as we wanna beat up at the church at Corinth, there are some really good elements here that Paul says that encouraged me.
Pastor Josh:You're not left without hope.
Pastor Josh:You still have God working in your midst.
Pastor Josh:And so that's all Paul is trying to do.
Pastor Josh:He's trying to convince them and speak boldly to the place of, hey, get back on path to being an ambassador for Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh:Do what you've already done before.
Pastor Josh:And so what I would say is this.
Pastor Josh:Paul had a real confidence and hope because Titus brought him a good report on how things were going in Corinth.
Pastor Josh:Paul saw.
Pastor Josh:Paul witnessed the fruit of his ministry through the church at Corinth.
Pastor Josh:Folks, we're not always going to see the fruit, but sometimes when we do, that's the greatest comfort.
Pastor Josh:God confirms in our heart that we're doing the right thing.
Pastor Josh:And so our faithfulness to the Lord is an encouragement to others.
Pastor Josh:If I could summarize it any which way, I could say it this way.
Pastor Josh:When the greatest encouragement that you can have for another individual, the greatest comfort that you can bring to another individual is by staying faithful to the Lord.
Pastor Josh:Because if you're staying faithful to the Lord, you're gonna be faithful to them.
Pastor Josh:If you're gonna be staying faithful to the Lord, you're gonna love them properly.
Pastor Josh:And so what I would encourage you is this.
Pastor Josh:Like, you know, I think a lot of times we're looking for outward displays of, you know.
Pastor Josh:And that's sometimes what's manifested by the love of God.
Pastor Josh:But it's an inward change.
Pastor Josh:It's always an inward change.
Pastor Josh:And so how can we have constant comfort in the crucible, in the difficult life?
Pastor Josh:It's putting our focus off of ourself and putting it on Christ and others.
Pastor Josh:That's really what it is.
Pastor Josh:I'm never going to find comfort if I'm just sitting and focused on my test all the time.
Pastor Josh:Like, woe is me.
Pastor Josh:This is my problem.
Pastor Josh:I've got this issue.
Pastor Josh:And all I can do is think about me and think about how I can't find comfort.
Pastor Josh:You know what?
Pastor Josh:Let's.
Pastor Josh:And this is what's happened in my own life.
Pastor Josh:The more I start trying to comfort others, the more I'm able to get my eyes off of my issue and start seeing the comfort of God.
Pastor Josh:And I go back and I rehearse how God has been faithful to me.
Pastor Josh:Folks, I would encourage you to think about that, Paul.
Pastor Josh:That's what Paul's doing.
Pastor Josh:He's going back to.
Pastor Josh:And he says, God, you've been faithful to me here.
Pastor Josh:You're going to be faithful to me now.
Pastor Josh:You're always going to be faithful to me.
Pastor Josh:You're always going to comfort me.
Pastor Josh:That's where the comfort is found, by seeing the truth of the situation.
Pastor Josh:You say, well, I don't know if God's been faithful to me.
Pastor Josh:Have you seen my life?
Pastor Josh:You know, what God's taken away from me?
Pastor Josh:Well, maybe he hasn't taken away from you.
Pastor Josh:Maybe God's allowed something to be taken away from you.
Pastor Josh:Well, you don't know what's going on in my life.
Pastor Josh:You know, I went to the doctor's this week and that news was not what I thought is comforting, folks.
Pastor Josh:Let me tell you, when you struggle with that, this is something that I was learning at the retreat and it's been formulating in my mind recently.
Pastor Josh:When we are tempted to think about these circumstances as the source of our comfort, where do we need to go?
Pastor Josh:We need to go to what the Bible says is the foot of the cross.
Pastor Josh:The moment you start thinking that God has forgotten about you, go back to see what Jesus did for you.
Pastor Josh:He went to the cross, hanging on that cross, thinking of you.
Pastor Josh:And if you think about what Jesus did for you on that cross and you still think he forgot about you, and he still think he's not comforting you, you've got some major issues.
Pastor Josh:You're not trusting in what he did on that cross because that's everything that he needed to do to prove his love for me.
Pastor Josh:So instead of thinking, well, you know, I had a really bad day today, you know, my boss went off on me and you know, God doesn't love me, say, no, no, he does love me.
Pastor Josh:Look what he did for me.
Pastor Josh:He died.
Pastor Josh:He sent his only begotten son for that is what Paul is saying.
Pastor Josh:It's all about the gospel.
Pastor Josh:And that's where he ends it.
Pastor Josh:He goes, you know, so that I rejoice all the more.
Pastor Josh:I can rejoice all the more here.
Pastor Josh:And then he's going to bring about in this next passage of scripture, godly sorrow that works repentance.
Pastor Josh:And you're never going to be able to walk with Christ.
Pastor Josh:You're never going to be walking with him in his truth, if you're gripping onto this world and not falling into a place of repentance and humility.
Pastor Josh:And so Paul is trying to get us to look back to the cross.
Pastor Josh:He's trying to get us to look to the truth of the gospel.
Pastor Josh:And that's what he's talking about when it comes to being a minister here.
Pastor Josh:And so this was Paul's life in the ministry.
Pastor Josh:If, if it was a life of great blessing, it was also a life of conflicts.
Pastor Josh:It was a life of fear.
Pastor Josh:It was a life of people coming against him.
Pastor Josh:But what we can say through the life of Paul is that he says here, I'm filled with joy, I'm filled with comfort.
Pastor Josh:We see this throughout Paul's writings.
Pastor Josh:Look at Philippians look at the whole book of Philippians.
Pastor Josh:The theme is, what joy.
Pastor Josh:He's in prison.
Pastor Josh:Contentment.
Pastor Josh:He has nothing, except he's got Christ, which means he's got everything.
Pastor Josh:And that's the same thing for you to hear today.
Pastor Josh:I don't know what you have in your life.
Pastor Josh:I would be tempted to say that most of us are not where we have zero in our life.
Pastor Josh:Even if you're at the bottom of what our culture says, you still most likely have a place that you can lay your head.
Pastor Josh:You got here today, whether you drove or not.
Pastor Josh:Someone took you.
Pastor Josh:That's transportation.
Pastor Josh:Most of us are going to have a meal today.
Pastor Josh:If you don't have a meal, come by and talk to me.
Pastor Josh:I'll get you a meal.
Pastor Josh:Okay?
Pastor Josh:But so many times we love more, we want more, we desire more.
Pastor Josh:But, folks, if we had none of that and only Christ, it's still enough.
Pastor Josh:It's still enough.
Pastor Josh:And so may we be those faithful ministers to show people that's the comfort of God.
Pastor Josh:The comfort of God is knowing Christ.
Pastor Josh:The comfort of God is having the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Josh:The comfort of God is knowing that there's something more to this world.
Pastor Josh:That's the comfort.
Pastor Josh:The comfort is not getting out of it.
Pastor Josh:Like, if, like, Pastor, we need some counseling.
Pastor Josh:We got an issue in our life.
Pastor Josh:Usually, like, well, we didn't get out of the issue.
Pastor Josh:So therefore, this is a failure, folks.
Pastor Josh:Is Paul a failure?
Pastor Josh:I don't think so.
Pastor Josh:Was.
Pastor Josh:Was Peter a failure?
Pastor Josh:No.
Pastor Josh:There was parts of his life that were failing, but he wasn't defined by his failures.
Pastor Josh:Was Jesus a failure?
Pastor Josh:No.
Pastor Josh:We know that, but yet did God remove all the pain and suffering from their life?
Pastor Josh:No.
Pastor Josh:And so the directive is not run away from the problem.
Pastor Josh:The directive is run to Christ in the midst of the issues in our world.
Pastor Josh:So I would encourage you today to think about this.
Pastor Josh:Yes.
Pastor Josh:Can God take away your struggle?
Pastor Josh:Yes.
Pastor Josh:Can God take away your trial?
Pastor Josh:Yes.
Pastor Josh:Will he?
Pastor Josh:I don't know.
Pastor Josh:But what I do know is he can bring you the comfort and walk with you through it and give you that constant comfort in the crucible.
Pastor Josh:You're in a big, long test.
Pastor Josh:So the Bible says, actually it's a life of tribulation.
Pastor Josh:And sometimes those tribulations can be felt more than others.
Pastor Josh:Sometimes that heat of that crucible is heated up a lot more than it normally is.
Pastor Josh:But what I will say is that there's that constant comfort that you can find in knowing Christ and resting in him.
Pastor Josh:And then what does he say here?
Pastor Josh:First Corinthians chapter 1, verse 3.
Pastor Josh:Comfort others.
Pastor Josh:As you have experienced that comfort, comfort others.
Pastor Josh:And as you comfort others, guess what?
Pastor Josh:Your mind is going to be off of your struggles, and your mind is going to be on the comfort of how God comforted you so that you can comfort others.
Pastor Josh:And you're rehearsing in your mind what God has done for you, and then you're just living in that cycle of comfort.
Pastor Josh:You know, our world today is all about comfort, right?
Pastor Josh:Get the most comfortable bed you can find.
Pastor Josh:Get the most comfortable car you can find.
Pastor Josh:Speaking of cars, we have a person in our church who remains nameless that has a Tesla.
Pastor Josh:Some of you know what a Tesla is.
Pastor Josh:Okay?
Pastor Josh:A couple weeks ago, I had the biggest test of faith in my whole life.
Pastor Josh:I got in this Tesla, and he says, okay, I'm gonna let you drive it, but you don't really have to drive it.
Pastor Josh:Just turn the key, we're gonna plug in this place, and you just sit back, take your hands off, take your feet off, and just look at the road.
Pastor Josh:And I was as scared as I've been in a long time, especially when I got up to an intersection.
Pastor Josh:It was like.
Pastor Josh:And I'm like, are you sure this thing's gonna stop?
Pastor Josh:And he's like, yeah, it's gonna stop.
Pastor Josh:And I'm like, wow.
Pastor Josh:I'm putting a lot of faith in the designer right now.
Pastor Josh:It was actually a spiritual lesson for me because I'm realizing, you know, that's how we are in our own life.
Pastor Josh:And by the way, we got there and it changed lanes, it sped up, it slowed down, it read when other people were coming.
Pastor Josh:And that was a weird thing.
Pastor Josh:But I thought about that from a spiritual sense, like, our world is looking for comfort.
Pastor Josh:Our world is looking for automation.
Pastor Josh:And I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing.
Pastor Josh:Different people have different opinions.
Pastor Josh:But in our life, that's a picture of what it means to have the comfort of God.
Pastor Josh:You can sit down in the presence of God, you can say, you know what?
Pastor Josh:I don't know how to get there.
Pastor Josh:I'm probably going to mess up.
Pastor Josh:But, Lord, I'm going to take my hands off the wheel, I'm going to take my foot off you give me the guidance.
Pastor Josh:Now.
Pastor Josh:This isn't like, let go and let God.
Pastor Josh:I don't do anything in my life, you know, I just sit in my couch and hope God makes me a missionary.
Pastor Josh:That's not how it works, right?
Pastor Josh:God stirs our heart and brings us to a place, right?
Pastor Josh:He stirs us To a place where we have to go preach the message of the gospel so there's action involved with it.
Pastor Josh:But what I will say is it's faith in God, it's trusting in him.
Pastor Josh:And so our world is looking for comfort in the wrong places.
Pastor Josh:Our world is looking for automation in the wrong places.
Pastor Josh:What we do is we say, yes, Lord, I'm willing to give my life over to you and give you everything.
Pastor Josh:I'm willing to sit in the driver's seat, but I'm allowing you to drive.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to trust you that you're going to do this right for me.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to trust you.
Pastor Josh:I'm going to trust you that this is the right comfort that I need in this time.
Pastor Josh:And so I don't think comfort is a bad thing.
Pastor Josh:I think God designed us to seek after comfort, but a different type of comfort.
Pastor Josh:What Satan does is, and the world always does this is he tries to twist what God has created as perfect and put us to a place of fleshliness, right?
Pastor Josh:So you see this in many areas.
Pastor Josh:You know, physical relationships.
Pastor Josh:God created those things for a good purpose, but yet the world has skewed that for evil.
Pastor Josh:Music, art, all of these things.
Pastor Josh:Entertainment, God created those things for us to enjoy.
Pastor Josh:But the world has twisted it.
Pastor Josh:Satan has twisted it.
Pastor Josh:Same thing with comfort.
Pastor Josh:God created us to desire after comfort, but not the fleshly comfort, the comfort of God in the midst of our difficulty.
Pastor Josh:So seek after that comfort today.
Pastor Josh:As Paul says, open your hearts to the comfort of God so that when you receive that comfort of God, that you can comfort others so that they can comfort others.
Pastor Josh:Folks, I'm going to tell you, as a church, if we put others before ourselves and ultimately put Christ at the top, we're going to have issues.
Pastor Josh:But Christ will be with us in the midst of the crucible.
Pastor Josh:So the constant comfort in the crucible is Christ.
Pastor Josh:That's it.
Pastor Josh:It's walking with him.
Pastor Josh:And so this morning, I encourage you to think about that and meditate upon those truths.
Pastor Josh:When you go through your trial, your crucible, I'm going to ask if you're able to stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays this morning.
Pastor Josh:So want to give you an opportunity to respond to that.
Pastor Josh:There's a couple of different areas of response.
Pastor Josh:You could say this.
Pastor Josh:I need that comfort right now.
Pastor Josh:Not feeling that comfort.
Pastor Josh:What I say is, get your eyes on Christ.
Pastor Josh:Get your eyes on Christ.
Pastor Josh:Get your eyes on others so that you can comfort others as he comforts you.
Pastor Josh:Man, the Corinth Church.
Pastor Josh:They didn't know that they were comforting Paul, but they comforted Titus and Titus comforted Paul.
Pastor Josh:And Paul ultimately said, hey, you got a lot of issues, but that's a blessing.
Pastor Josh:Are you that faithful ambassador?
Pastor Josh:Are you that faithful minister?
Pastor Josh:Are you that faithful person like Paul that had integrity, had honesty, had love, affection, that authenticity, that commitment?
Pastor Josh:Are you committed to the gospel message so much that you're willing to say, you know what?
Pastor Josh:I don't care if people accept me.
Pastor Josh:I don't care if people love me.
Pastor Josh:I want to find my comfort in God, not in those around me.
Pastor Josh:Maybe this morning you just need to rededicate your life to that ambassadorship.
Pastor Josh:Maybe you need that comfort.
Pastor Josh:Maybe you need to show some comfort.
Pastor Josh:How selfish is it to hoard all the comfort of God and never show that to other people around us?
Pastor Josh:What can we do?
Pastor Josh:What can we say?
Pastor Josh:What can we sacrifice for another so that the comfort of God can be spread to those around us?
Pastor Josh:Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, work in hearts and lives.
Pastor Josh:If there's someone here today that needs to know you as Savior, I pray that today can be the day in which they can have that constant comfort in knowing you as Savior.
Pastor Josh:We're thankful for the cross.
Pastor Josh:We're thankful for your commitment to us.
Pastor Josh:And I pray that you work in our hearts and lives this morning.
Pastor Josh:In Jesus name, Amen.
Pastor Josh:As the music plays, do as the Lord leads here today.
Pastor Josh:If you need Jesus as your Savior, if you need to know what it means to trust in the cross, what it means to trust in the resurrection of Jesus, put your faith in him today.
Pastor Josh:We have folks up here that are willing to give you that message.
Pastor Josh:Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh:I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh:If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Pastor Josh:You can also email me directly at joshmasaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates.
Pastor Josh:Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh:God Bless.
Pastor Josh:Have a wonderful day.
