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Church is a Banquet, Part 1

Delight in Grace / Grace Bible Church / Rich Powell
The Truth Network Radio
June 24, 2024 10:00 am

Church is a Banquet, Part 1

Delight in Grace / Grace Bible Church / Rich Powell

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June 24, 2024 10:00 am

When the Church is the Church, She is beautiful! What glory God receives when a messy group of people from different backgrounds come together under the cross in love and unity! In 2 Corinthians 7:13-16, Paul joyfully commends the church of Corinth for being what God made it to be.

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Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. When the church is being the church, she is beautiful. What glory God receives when a messy group of people from different backgrounds come together under the cross in love and unity. In 2 Corinthians 7, 13 through 16, Paul joyfully commends the church of Corinth for being what God made it to be.

Let's listen as Pastor Rich unpacks today's passage. There is a nifty little app for your smartphone. It's called Cloak. The app's tagline is Incognito Mode for Real Life. And it offers its users the ability to avoid anyone they'd rather not run into. Cloak links to your accounts to uncover the locations of these undesirables on a map.

And thereby empowering you to give them as wide a birth as possible. If none of those creeps are around, Cloak flashes the message, all clear. There's nobody nearby.

Author Mark O'Connell concludes that Cloak works, but that might not be a good thing. He writes, all clear, there's nobody nearby, reads like such a strange, sad message. Such a lonely thing to have achieved through technological control of our social environments.

Looking at that screen makes me want to place my phone face down on my desk, go out into the street and walk around until I bump into someone I know. We're created in God's image and we were designed for community. And what greater community is there on the face of the planet than the church that God has established, his ekklesia, his called out ones, we who are vitally connected to each other because we are vitally connected to Jesus Christ. And we know when we think of the Corinthian church, what's the first thing you think of when you think of the Corinthian church?

What is it? Corruption. A church riddled with problems. A church riddled with real people. And yet it is the church. So what we have here then is a church where there is trouble. There is trouble in the Corinthian church, there's no doubt about that. As we begin with an overview, as we look at this paragraph here, verse 13 is astounding. All the emotion that is wrapped up in that verse and it's all good stuff. Paul is overcome with emotion about the people in this church.

Good emotions. This church riddled with problems and corruption. And yet it is the church. And though there is trouble in the church, Paul had to send what he calls a severe letter. We find that earlier in this chapter.

Look at verse 8, chapter 7 verse 8. Even if I made you sorry with my letter, you were sorrowful because of the letter that I sent you. It was a severe letter. It was an apostolic letter. It was a letter of correction.

It was a letter of pointed truth and a requirement for action. And the one who was the messenger of this letter was Titus. Paul sent Titus to the church and then Titus was going to go back to Paul. Now Paul was already busy in ministry.

In Ephesus and then he went on to Macedonia. Keep your finger there in chapter 7 because this becomes a nail biter for Paul. Look back at chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians. Chapter 2. Look at verse 13.

He was in Troas. Verse 13. I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother.

But taking my leave of them, I departed from Macedonia. And it's right there. There is a break between verse 13 and 14 of chapter 2. And in that break, this is what happens right here. This paragraph, verses 13 to 16 of chapter 7 is the break that happens between verses 13 and 14 of chapter 2. Because if you remember in chapter 14, Paul goes into this great doxology of how Christ always leads us in triumph.

What happened? Paul went to Macedonia. He was looking for Titus. He wanted a report back from Titus. What happened at the Corinthian church? Did they receive my letter? Did they receive Titus and did they receive my letter?

Did they take the necessary action? This paragraph shows us what happens. So in chapter 7 here, look with me at verses 5 and 6. For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest.

That just sounds exactly like chapter 2 verse 13, doesn't it? But we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts.

Inside were fears. Verse 6, nevertheless, God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus. What happened? Chapter 7 verse 13. Therefore, we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoice exceedingly more for the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

What happened? The Corinthian church received Titus, as the text says, with fear and trembling. What does that mean? They humbled themselves.

That's what it means. They humbled themselves under the biblical authority of the apostles' truth. They humbled themselves. And they received Titus as a messenger from the apostle.

And they took the necessary corrective action. The church submits. The church corrects. And then because of that, Paul, Titus and the church are refreshed. And the church rejoices. As the text says here, verse 15, as his affections are greater for you, as he remembers your obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. Good things happened at the Corinthian church.

Here's what happened. Something messy had turned into something really good. You know what that sounds like? That sounds like a great meal, doesn't it? Because before you have a great meal, you have to make a huge mess. That's what we always have to clean up after the meal, right?

But in the kitchen, there's a lot of hard work going on. And a mess is being made. But something messy in the Corinthian church had turned into something really good. Because as the text tells us here, Titus, Paul says of Titus, his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

What an amazing statement, isn't it? His spirit has been refreshed. Where ought that to happen on this earth but in the church of Jesus Christ?

His spirit has been refreshed by you all. We begin this morning with a question, what is the church? Many people ask that question, what is the church?

Let me use this metaphor this morning. When the church is the church, it is a banquet. When the church is the church, it is a banquet. What do I mean by is?

It's not a political statement. When the church is the church, when the church is doing what Christ commands with the mind of Christ. And sometimes that is hard. And Paul mentions it here, he spoke truth. When he was with the Corinthians, he spoke truth. When he had to write them a letter, he spoke truth. But all the time, it was loving truth.

But when the church does what Christ commands and the church does it with the mind of Christ. And Christ came full of grace and truth. It's not just truth. Truth without love is nothing but a blunt instrument.

And love without truth is nothing but hypocrisy. So Christ came with grace and truth. And when the church is full of grace and truth. And it does what Christ commands with the mind of Christ.

Others more important than yourself. Then the church becomes a banquet. And we find that. Look at all the emotion that we have revealed to us in verse 13. Let's read the verse again.

Look at all the emotional words in there. We have been comforted in your comforted. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for Titus. Because in his spirit he had been refreshed by you all. That's an amazing verse, isn't it? He had been refreshed by you all. So he was comforted.

That's the word parakaleo. To come along side. That's what happens in a church. When the church is the church.

People are coming along side each other. There is joy. That's the word kara. He rejoiced exceedingly. That is a sense of delight. There is a delight in the people of God. And then he says at the end of verse 13. His spirit had been refreshed by you all. Refreshed simply means rest. Rest. You've been listening to Rich Powell. The lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him. The one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m. We'll be right back.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-06-25 15:31:27 / 2024-06-25 15:35:33 / 4

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