Good morning. Welcome to Sunday School for March 13 at Nassau Baptist Church, Living an Authentic Christian Life. The inspiration for this one-time Sunday School class is a little booklet by a fellow named Ray Steadman. which is there in the back, and we have a few extra copies that if you'd like to take a look at the booklet afterward, we'll give you a copy. This is sort of a condensed version of some of the things that he talked about that I thought were pretty interesting. So we'll dig into that after we pray. Let's have a word of prayer together. Father, we thank you for this time and pray and ask that you might bless us as we seek to understand some of these things that this author has brought up. and that your Holy Spirit perhaps is teaching us. We pray and ask that we may be filled with the understanding that you would give us through Jesus Christ. We praise his name and thank him in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. Many churches keep records of how many converts they make, but fail to keep a ledger of how many people they drive away. Fairness would seem to dictate both lists should be kept. Many times churches drive more individuals away than they ever went to Christ, and often times it's the most zealous or orthodox Christians that are the ones that drive the most away. They may be Christians themselves, but the life they manifest as is phony as a $3 bill. We didn't want to dwell on that point, and to be honest with you, the author didn't really develop that as much as I would have liked, but I think in his book he probably does. So, if you wanted to mention an example at this point, if you're thinking of anything, fine, otherwise we'll move on. Any examples come to mind? Okay. Well, as I said before, what we'd like to discuss today by way of contrast is authentic Christianity as practiced by Christ himself and by the Apostle Paul. And by the way, is everyone attracted to authentic Christianity? No. Why? That's true. One is the aroma of life, the other is the stench of death. That is correct. Any other thoughts on that? That's actually one of the points that the author develops quite a bit. But can we base our lives on the model that Christ set for us? Let's look into a couple of scriptures together. Hebrews 2.18. Charlie, would you get that one for us? Someone else, could they take Hebrews 4.15? And then can someone else take 1 Peter 2.21? And let's go with Hebrews 2.18 first. Hebrews 2.18. For because he himself has suffered in temptation, he is able to help us to help those who are in temptation. So we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Good. Someone have 1 Peter 2.21? I'm going to give it to my friends. 1 Peter 2.21. For through this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. Good. So we can see that's not unattainable. In some Christian circles there's much talk about how in no eyes can we walk like Christ walked, but this scripture seems to indicate to some degree, at least, otherwise. Philippians 2, 5-8, I'll read that one. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. Being found in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Paul lived by the same principle, follow me as I follow Christ, and that's in 1 Corinthians 11. The first one and a half chapters of 1 Corinthians indicate that Paul was challenged by certain as to the authenticity of his ministry. They said he wasn't genuine because, number one, he wasn't one of the original twelve, and number two, some of his teaching went beyond the law of Moses. They insisted Paul's was a false Christianity, and one of the enemy's tricks is to brand the truth as a lie. But Paul describes an age of his ministry which bears five unmistakable qualities of Christianity that can't be counterfeited. They're not based on temperament and personality and such and such, so anyone can attain to them. And these are, number one, unquenchable optimism, number two, unvarying success, number three, unforgettable impact, number four, unimpeachable integrity, and number five, undeniable reality. 2 Corinthians 2.14 contains the first three marks of genuine Christianity. Can someone get that for us? 2 Corinthians 2.14. This author takes quite a bit of his text from that particular scripture. 2 Corinthians 2.14. I might have said 2.15. I meant 2.14. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere." Unquenchable optimism. Thanks be to God. One evidence of radical Christianity is a spirit of thankfulness even amid trials and difficulties, not a Murphy's Law mentality. Does anyone know what the Murphy's Law is? If something can go wrong, it will. That's kind of the worldly philosophy, right? Yes, I've quoted Murphy myself, I must confess. But the same spirit of thankfulness that's in that passage of Scripture is also reflected in all the letters of Paul, Peter, James, and John. Does anyone know what happens in Acts 16? You can look at it if you like. Do you remember the text of Acts 16? This was a story about the slave girl who was prophesied, basically saying, these men of the sermons of the Most High God were telling you the way to be saved. Sounds sort of orthodox, right? There was a problem there spiritually, though. So, what happened after that? Anyone? Steve? Well, Paul rebuked the demon Aaron, and he fled. the owners of the slave got mad and he and Silas were thrown into prison. Yep, and what were they doing in prison? Singing. There you go, exactly. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them. This was after being beaten. It says here, The magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten, and after they had been severely flogged." Does everyone remember what flogging did to a person? Yes, it did a real number on you physically. So they were probably beaten and pretty bloody, and here they are, praising God at midnight, singing hymns. That's pretty amazing, isn't it? Unquenchable optimism. The second point that the author makes is on bearing success, and this mark is closely linked to the first. And the quote from his scripture once again, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ. Notice the always. Not sometimes, not occasionally, but always. Not that Paul's plans and goals were always realized. He endured much hardship and pain, but the secret is that though our plans might be thwarted, God's will and plans will always triumph. Can anyone think of any examples of that happening to them in their own lives? You might have had certain plans and things, and then you saw something else happen that you understood was definitely the hand of God in your life. It wasn't what you planned, though, but it worked out for good. One of the passages that they give here to back that up, which is pretty interesting, we won't really look into it too much here, but Philippians 1, Paul is chained to guards in, I think it's a house prison of some sort. He's constantly chained to these guards. Does anyone remember what happens as Paul is chained to the guards? He gets to witness to all these different guards who are chained to him. And apparently, by the way, the book talks that these young men that were chained to Paul were apparently being groomed to be leaders of tomorrow in Rome. So, he had sort of a ready audience going right to the heart of the empire. That's a pretty neat thing here. It says here on that little commentary, God used Paul to reach the leaders of tomorrow through the guards, constantly chained to himself. No human mind could have conceived this. What do you think? Pretty neat, isn't it? John, let's read Philippians 4.22. This is evidence at the end of the letter of what happened. Anyone can read that if you like. 4.22, Philippians. John? Who are those of Caesar's household? They were the guards of St. Paul. Pretty interesting. Another aspect of the same principle would be aided by opposition. When missionaries are expelled from native lands, often times the result shows that the national church expands exponentially. After Pentecost, the Jerusalem church grew quickly. Why do you think God then allowed the opposition to rise? Why do you think God wanted them scattered? They kind of kept to themselves there in Jerusalem. The book says 2,000 to 5,000 in the church. That's a pretty good-sized church. But they all like hanging out together, apparently. So God allowed some opposition to rise and it spread throughout. I think it's Judea and Samaria, I believe it says in the text. Because Paul was a prisoner, Roman Christians were witnessing more frequently, and that wouldn't have happened probably if Paul hadn't been locked up. They might have let the professional, paid preacher do it. It's important that we make that really underlined and clear that it's God's plan to triumph. Always triumphs. Always in that processional. Well, we're not leading the processional. He's leading the way, his plans, his purposes. In a worldly sense, there's martyrs, there's people starving, there's bad things happening on a horizontal level. And yet that optimism with triumph mindset is having your mind on things above. God's plans and purposes. Let's throw this out as a question. What do you think, if you had a chance to ask Paul, Paul, what's been your greatest work, and Paul, we're standing here, what do you think Paul would say? Let's say if we could be in the same time zone he was and not have the fast-forward 2,000 years later. If you asked Paul, what's been your greatest work in the power of the Spirit, Paul, what do you think he would say? It's not a trick question, John. What do you think Paul would say if you asked him, Paul, what's been the greatest thing you've ever done? In the jail? No, just in your life in general. Oh, me? No, not you personally, Paul. If you had the chance to ask the Apostle Paul, what's been your greatest thing you've ever done? What do you think Paul would have said at that time? What do you think? Anyone else? I don't want to put him too much on the spot. He had faith and turned his life around because he was pretty tough. Yeah, perhaps, but I'm thinking of something else. Lucy, what do you think? Well, he probably thought the churches that were planted. Yeah, I think he would have said the churches, don't you? I mean, he planted a lot of churches. But in retrospect, what do you think happens to all those churches? Most of them are gone. Lucy, raise your hand. The book says that a number of the places where the churches were, even the city itself is in ruins. There's nothing left. So, that being said, I would venture to guess that the greatest work of Paul was those epistles, the letters. We have them 2,000 years later. That work has lived on for thousands of years and will live on as long as the Word of God stands, which is forever. I mean, of course, the truth contained in the letters, as well as the people that lived and died, but will live again, certainly are part of it. But as far as the impact on the Church of Christ, it certainly had a direct impact on the people he lived with, but continues to have that impact. generation after generation with the letters. Yeah, it's kind of an amazing thing. I think a fair amount of those are written in less than the most comfortable circumstances. I believe, wasn't Romans written from a prison? That's what I said, the prison. Yeah. But he converted all of those people. He converted the people and then he also, I mean, I don't know how many, Steve might know how many times Paul was put in prison, but it was a number of times before he's finally beheaded. Some of his greatest works were done there from the prison. I don't think that's how I would have thought things would have gone. I mean, if I were Paul, I don't think I would have planned that. But Paul wrote, Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ. The next point is unforgettable impact. And through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of him that sits in 2 Corinthians. Authentic Christianity leaves an unforgettable impression on those who encounter it. Christians are responsible for the impact they make for either good or bad. Those determined to die are pushed onward toward death by contact with authentic Christianity. Those seeking to live are helped on to life. Can anyone think of any examples of having witnessed that or been a participant in that personally? some from death to death, others from life to life. By the way, in the book, he gives the example of the procession. I'm sure everyone's familiar with the Roman procession, where the procession with the generals or commanders comes into the city after a victory, and in the front, you have the people who, though they're in chains and all, will be allowed to live, and they're apparently tossing rose petals, or they also have incense, etc. They're making sort of a big shebang, and they're thankful that they're going to be spared their lives. At the end of this same procession are the prisoners who are going to be executed or put in the ring, and they smell that perfume. That means one thing to them. That means death. That means they're going to be dying soon. So Paul's equating that with Christianity. We are the aroma of life to some and the aroma of death to others. Can anyone think of any particular examples of that in their lives, in interaction with other people? I can remember one myself, and this was years ago, and I don't even remember the context, but it was in Provincetown. I said something, and I don't remember even mentioning religion or something like that, but it was funny because it was in one of those little convenience stores in the west end of town, and this guy got very sort of stiff and said, I don't care about your religion, sir. And I just remember thinking, where did you get that from? But it was kind of funny how that was when I was a new believer. I must have said something that set him off, because it was, let's say, the mid-80s. But I just got a kick out of that. It was a strange thing. There's another scripture somewhere that talks about not giving your pearls to pigs. That's pretty sharp language, I'd say. That's the kind of thing, I don't know about you, but I like when I read those kinds of things in scripture sometimes. Because you're trying to make sense of some of the things that happen to you in your life, and sometimes it's really hard to understand. Why do some people resist and others, when they hear the gospel, they're delighted and they get saved. I think the rub is, from the opening paragraph there, how do we distinguish between being personally obnoxious and so personally driving people away for no need? just people smelling the gospel, the real truth, and it being a sense of death to them. That's really the rub, is to be able to distinguish what's just the offense of the gospel and what's just me being offensive. Yes. He doesn't develop that thought as well as I would like him to. Good morning, John. We're on page two and we're just about to go to point number four. Point four, unimpeachable integrity, 2 Corinthians 2.17. I'll read that. I'm like so many, we do not tell the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God's sincerity, like men sent from God. So that doesn't mean necessarily just pastors or other professionals, but all of us. And by the way, we don't sell the gospel. As an example, think of healing or prophecy ministries. The Word is to be taught in its fullness and not just a little subsection. I've noticed in the past at times, ministries that get off into one little area, be it healing or be it prophecy, they tend to become somewhat spurious. With prophecy ministries, you tend to have at times what people would call a newspaper mentality, where you have the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other. And I've noticed frequently with the healing ministries that you can have people saying, well, the miracle worker will be here next week and you can send in your prayer request and your hundredfold increase, etc. So that's one of the spurious sides of what they're talking about as far as integrity goes. But integrity is broken down here into four categories. Sincerity, sent by God, before God, and in Christ. In sincerity, the very least we should expect from ourselves as Christians is that we thoroughly believe and practice what we say. So why is it important that we practice what we say? That's what people see. Pardon me? That's what people see, that I can't believe what you're saying because I'm looking at what you're doing. I should speak louder than words. Yes. Which, by the way, none of us is probably 100%, but when we say something, we should fulfill what we say. John, you have a few examples like that, I think, posted in your shop, don't you? Keep your word. Keep your word. Be a man of your word. People, I think, understood that better than folks do nowadays. It's quite common not to even understand it at all. I don't want to do it. As Christians, I think, in this day and age, we probably could set an example just by that. Charlie, you're smiling. Do you think of something else, too? Well, I think that's pretty good. Sent by God means that this speaks of our purpose as authentic Christians. We are to have an end in view and a goal to accomplish. We don't witness as though witnessing alone were the goal. And we do it before God, which means an openness to investigation, to walk in the sight of other people. us to hide our sins behind a facade, but to walk before God requires total honesty with him and with ourselves because nothing is hidden from the Lord. So we speak in Christ and we're Christ's ambassadors as though Christ himself were making his appeal through us. What is an ambassador? What is an ambassador? In us as Christians, it's as if Christ is speaking through us by the Holy Spirit. It's as if Christ is making his appeal to people through us. Yeah, can you be a little more specific? The message is not their own and their authority is not their own. They speak with the authority of the one that sent them as well. That's us as believers. The fifth point is undeniable reality. And let's once again look into 2 Corinthians. Would someone like to get for us 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 through 3? And then just read it out when you get it. We begin to commend ourselves again. What do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from You yourselves are our letters of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. This is an open question as well. What does anyone think that that scripture is conveying to us? You yourselves are a letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry. Not written with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. Quite an example. Somewhat, but I'm looking forward to it. The fact that they've come to faith, the fact that they are believers. that they have responded to the message that Paul preached in faith in Christ. So the letters that they're looking for authority to be backed up by other men written with ink, my authority is that the results of my labor is pure conversion. The Corinthians have been radically changed, and there was no doubt about it, and if you were wondering at all what they used to be, you can just look in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9-11, the rogues gallery is what many of us were before we were converted, and what some of us still battle with occasionally, even to this day. But, becoming a Christian doesn't guarantee we'll live as a Christian. We have to make a choice before these virtues will be present in us. And we must continue to choose before the virtues will become a reality. But what is the undeniable reality at work here? That the changes God has wrought in us have no explanation other than that God himself is at work. So, the second part of the booklet, which we'll look into now, is the secret to that source of our sufficiency. What's the secret to the source of our sufficiency? Who is equal to such a task? Paul answers his own question in 2 Corinthians 3, 4-6. That says, Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are confident in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our confidence comes from God. He has made us confident as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Nothing comes from us. Everything comes from God. This confidence is ours in Christ. Our sufficiency is in God. To live this way means we draw our sufficiency from Christ or from God, not ourselves. Paul contrasts this new way of life against the old covenant, the dead written code or the letter that kills. What does that mean? What do you think it means when it says a dead written code or a letter that kills? Anyone? The law. Yep. Can you develop that a little bit, Charlie? The law is written down. You can't keep it out of your own strength. It doesn't deal with your sin. It doesn't deal with your sin, so that's why it's killed. Next question. Good news, good advice. I was talking about a few weeks back, too. That's fine advice, but the problem is I can't keep it. Good news is something that gives you the power to keep it. The Spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. This is the secret that produced the confident spirit that characterized and empowered Paul. Christ said, I am the vine, you are the branches, the part of me. You can do how much? Nothing. It was probably ten years after Paul's conversion before he began to live in the fullness of the New Covenant. And during this time, during that time zone, from God's point of view, Paul was a failure in living the Christian life. After his Damascus Road experience, he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ, Acts 9, 19-21. And over a period of time, Saul became more and more powerful and baffled the Jews by proving that Jesus is the Christ. There is a great difference between proving and proclaiming. Galatians 1, 15-17. Can someone read that for us? The author will show why he believed Paul was a failure at that time. Galatians 1 15-17. It shows what happened to him at that point in time. For he had set me apart before I was born, and was helping by his grace. was pleased to reveal his son to me, in order that I might reach him among the Gentiles. I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, before I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Does anyone know where you get in Arabia, by the way? Anyone? He probably studied the Old Testament law and prophets to see how this all fit in, since he was converted. When he came back to Damascus, he was greatly strengthened. And the Jews weren't responsive, by the way, at all to his arguments about proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ. What happened with the Jews and Paul? Can anyone remember any specific times or situations? Does anyone remember what happened when Paul would preach to the Jews? Yes, exactly. He wasn't an overwhelming success. They would become argumentative. I think at least once it started a riot, if I remember correctly. At one point he was let down through a hole in the wall to avoid a trap that was set to kill him if he went out through the city gates. I don't think that was a real high point in Paul's life. But later he stated that he thought it was the beginning of one of the greatest discoveries he ever made. Let's see if we can get that, Acts 9, 27-29. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing he was really a disciple. Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul and his journey had seen the Lord, and the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about framing Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him." Not exactly successful. Why do you think Paul was depending on himself and his background as a way to reach the Jews? He mentions that at one point, a Pharisee of Pharisees as to keeping the law blameless, etc. In every worldly sense it seemed like that would be the most natural ministry for the Apostle Paul. He knew all those people, he knew what it was to be a scholar, he knew what it was. If we were setting up a plan, we'd definitely plan it at Jerusalem. But also that he showed that in it, because there was nothing at the end, even though he had it all, it's kind of like you get the Gratial Medal of Honor and you give it away. It meant nothing to him in the long run. He's trying to prove to them that their striving in that direction had no value, or the cross of Christ. Paul saw himself as the one person who was eminently qualified to reach the Jews, and yet the Jews over and over again wanted to kill him. So what did the Lord say to Paul? At one point he said, they will not receive my testimony. So the Lord said to him, go, I'll send you far away to the Gentiles. And after he went away to Tarsus, the church had peace. That's Acts 9.31. He's not heard of again for ten years. Then an awakening breaks out in Antioch, and the church sends Barnabas to investigate. Paul, who had been humbled and taught by the Spirit by that time, all those years later, began to teach. And from there he launched into the great missionary thrust that spread the Gospel throughout the Roman world. So what made the difference? God's plan. Bingo. Exactly. God's plan. It wasn't the plan Paul had, I don't think. Actually, if you go and look back at the Gospels there, what taught Prophets are not acceptable in their own country. If you know them too well, you just can't believe this is true. Yeah. Do you remember what Paul said in the, I think it's in Romans, remember what he said about his countrymen? Yeah. He'd rather give up his own life for them. Yeah. He'd be willing to be cut off for their sake. Yeah. He really loved his people. He did. That wasn't God's plan. It's a mystery, isn't it? Certainly isn't the way we think it would go. The Corinthians wanted Paul to boast in himself, and his response is seen in 2 Corinthians 11, 30-33. Basically, a paraphrase where it says, When I became a basket case, I learned the truth that changed my life and explains my power. And then in Philippians 3, verses 4-8, he mentions some of those things again. Paul learned how to shift from the old covenant, which was everything for me and nothing from God, that is, my morality, my ancestry, my orthodoxy, etc., to the new covenant, which would be everything from God, nothing from me, that is, depending on the work of Christ within me. He's no longer highly qualified to be utterly useless, but is able to say, My sufficiency is from God, who has qualified me to be the minister of a new covenant. Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means that we're utterly bankrupt before some demand of life, and discovered to be a blessing to the forces that depend on the Lord, who gives us the strength. As I said, this lesson was from Authentic Christianity. It's kind of a Steve's condensed version of a condensed version, by Ray Steadman. Any questions or comments? Steve, would you like to close us in a word of prayer? Sure. Father, I do thank you that you have so kindly and graciously granted us new life in Christ's life that transcends. I pray that you would help us to set our eyes fully on Him. and that His Spirit would be at work in us, revealing in us the work of the Spirit, that your name might be glorified. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, folks.