“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

A review from last week...

God in just a few short sentences lays out clearly for Paul what his calling was going to be and what his expectations were going to be

Paul’s rapid, dramatic change in the direction of his life meant that he was no longer of the ruling body but was now an enemy of the status quo and everything that it stood for.

The timeline is this…

Paul was born in approximately AD 14. By the time he was about 30 years old he was being called upon to change the world after being struck down blind.

He received his sight, went to the desert of Arabia and processed the whole of the Old Testament with Gospel eyes and a Gospel driven mind and heart.

Paul’s goal: To correct 4000 years of wrongs and to preach the Gospel of Christ to ALL for the next 50 years or so.

No longer would we live under the law but under Grace

The law was fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Christ.

No longer would death be our final destiny. But life eternal with Jesus Christ.

Grace and Mercy from God through faith in Jesus Christ was available to all weather Jew or Gentile.

Everything is Spiritual and the natural man cannot interpret Spiritual things

from 1 Cor 2...

1 Corinthians 2:11–16 NLT

11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Paul spent the rest of his ministry until he was in his 80’s spreading the Word, fighting apostacy and fighting for the very soul of every person alive or would be alive regardless of language, people group, skin color or nationality.

There was friction wherever he went. He was continually being chased, beaten or put in prison for believing and preaching in the resurrected Jesus.

Kind of an obvious question… Would you be put in prison for your faith? Would you be beaten for your faith? Would you be stoned for your faith?

Here is a twist on the question...

Would you lie and tell a ruler, guard that you weren’t a Christian to escape punishment? Would God forgive you?

I hope that I haven’t turned you into knots to badly.

I want to move to our main point...

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." - Stephen Covey

The main thing is “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed… This should be THE MAIN POINT...

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Our passage today is from 2 Cor 11 in the

2 Corinthians 11:1–4 NLT

1 I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

Here is the Big Idea… [ in parts… you can’t turn me off until the end]

Big Idea: Stay faithful to Jesus...

When most guys finish seminary there is a “spiritual drought.” I was no exception. For a few years you were so in this academic mode. writing papers, tasks, and defending that you loose contact with Jesus as you are trying to defend him.

I’ll just say it… Seminary is a Spiritual wasteland.

I’m supposed to be educated, tried and proven but yet mostly you feel empty.

Paul is anything but that...

2 Corinthians 11:1–2 ESV

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Paul has jealousy [with much zeal] prepared “one husband” - The Church. And we are to Christ as pure as a virgin.

Paul has worked, suffered beatings, punishment and every kind of terror for the Gospel. Christ is alive in Paul...

And Paul wants the church and every person in the church spiritually alive in Christ.

Now how can that happen if the Pastor is a Spiritual wasteland? Some new pastors just fake it until you make it… they never make it and pastoral ministry is a short-lived experience… And they take a congregation down with them.

I recognized that I was a spiritual wasteland after seminary and before I even got here I was reengaging in ministry. Relighting the fire that was simply ashes and dust.

Where is your faith. Do you have a zeal for it! Are you jealous about it or are you a spiritual wasteland?

I want to read verse 3 to you. Whatever you are doing stop and listen carefully. If the guy next to you has already fallen asleep nudge him or her.

2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV

3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul talked about this before in the last chapter listen

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 ESV

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

What does Satan use to draw people away from Jesus?

False teaching.

Lies about God. It’s what Satan used in the Garden of Eden, and it’s what he continues to use today.

Notice what Paul says about the serpent:

he uses cunning or trickery.

He’s very good at getting us to believe things that are false about God.

He’s good at getting us to believe half-truths and lies.

Let’s unpack that a bit, Satan uses… [Yes, satan and his minions] care about you, about this church, about our community. Any thing, any issue that draws us away for the Gospel is a win for satan.

Any issue… Even the Spiritual wasteland that was seminary. Even really good stuff...

Your volunteer efforts

Your giving of your time, talents and treasure

Meeting together to have fellowship, eating together, praying together

Really good stuff draws away from God. We will call all of those together.

Spiritual, as in warfare, Distractions, as in sin!

The BIG IDEA… Stay faithful to Jesus by clinging to His Gospel...

If you have any hope after seminary… it is in clinging to the Gospel. God has to give you a heart for people. AND A HEART for the Gospel.

Here is another time I want you to put down whatever you are doing and lock on to me...

Where is your heart? Is this an obligation, or is this devotion to Christ? Do you come here every week or every third week or every week that its convenient and you don’t have anything else to do.

OR

Is there an expectancy in your heart and your mind that you are going to meet the risen Lord, are you going to just sing a great song or are you going to be in the very presence of God Almighty worshipping him?

What is this that God wants… He wants us to “cling to his Gospel.”

As difficult and challenging and seminary was, as far as i was stretched and challenged. What he wanted me to be in not an academic… what he wanted to do is be a Pastor.

What does he want from you..?

Stay faithful to Jesus by clinging to His Gospel...

So when, not if, the temptation comes, when the flaming arrows come, when lies are told about you. When you are disappointed that your pastor is simply human. Remember..

Stay faithful to Jesus by clinging to His Gospel...

2 Corinthians 11:4 ESV

4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

In verse 4, “… if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus that the one we proclaimed.”

Listen up again...

“Different Jesus” come packaged in all kinds of different wrapping..

Really good things that draw your love and attention away from Christ become “a different Jesus”

Really good things that draw your time, your talents and your treasure away from Jesus is a “different Jesus.”

ANYTHING that you place ahead of your priority to worship in the fellowship of other believers is a “different Jesus”

There I’ve said it… No one has rushed the front to take me out and I haven’t dodged a tomato yet. Maybe I’m getting through...

Finally...

The 3rd and final part of the BIG IDEA...

Stay faithful to Jesus by clinging to the gospel and resisting false teaching.

Resisting false teaching???

Don’t let anyone tell you a lie against the truth that you know.

About the Gospel

About God, Jesus and The Spirit

About our time, talent and treasure COMMITMENT to the local church.

About our commitment to meet and regularly break bread, come into God’s presence and worship him

About our necessity to fellowship away from this building at this time and on this day.

I want to close the loop on the how wasteland that seminary can be… Here’s what “cures” the seminarian… Here’s what set me straight

Stay faithful to Jesus by clinging to the gospel and resisting false teaching.

Let’s pray!