Understanding Ministry - 7

Most of you are already aware that a significant section of the second Corinthian epistle of Paul as a defense of his ministry. He actually begins the defense at the end of chapter 2 and it continues well into chapter 6 and on our part. We have most recently examined chapter 3 and therefore would normally be ready for chapter 4, and indeed I was working in chapter 4.

All throughout this week I kept having this nagging sense that perhaps we had not addressed chapter 3 as appropriately and as helpfully as possibly, we should have. My concern is that we may have missed the forest for the trees. You know what that means, don't you, that we may have endeavored to examine so many details that we lost sight of the main purpose for which Paul by the spirit of God, wrote this chapter. This easy to do that because of the many details of this chapter of comparison between the old of the new covenant very important details.

They are true. So we need to understand. It is a doctrine that is not very often examined and is found here in this portion of needs. Therefore, to be to be examined. While it is before us. Yet, it is possible to get bogged down in miss what Paul is trying to communicate in the writing of these words and so today I want us to take another look at chapter 3.

By way of summary and to focus upon the ministry, understanding ministry, which was Paul's purpose for writing this chapter was to help the Corinthians to understand why he was a minister of the new covenant and what it was that he was endeavoring to accomplish in that task and how it was that he was confident that he was in the place where God had put him and that he was accomplishing good things for the kingdom of God.

So today were looking at chapter 3 under the title of understanding ministry.

Someone might say, why are you talking about the ministry, which is fairly specialized for the whole congregation, most of whom are not ministers of the several answers to that question, but I suppose the easiest one is to say, why did the Holy Spirit of God lead Paul to write these words about ministry to an entire church, most of whom were not ministers. Obviously, there was a purpose for that purpose. That was directed by the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, along with all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that all of us might benefit and be more godly servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and so what Paul wrote in chapter 3 as needed was needed in his day, but it is also needed in our day as well. I think you will see that it is very appropriate. All Christians need to have a proper understanding of biblical ministry and there are certainly aspects of this that are applicable to the lives of every child of God, whether he is a gospel minister in the in the specialized sense of the term or not. So going back to chapter 3 there are five areas that I wish to address in the first one is credentials for ministry versus one, two and three and in all of these were going to look at what Paul said and why. He said it and then how it applies to us today. So in the beginning we we see Paul addressing this question of credentials for ministry. Do we begin again to commend ourselves.

He says in verse one, or do we need, as some others epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you when he goes on to say you are our epistles of commendation and he elaborates upon that now. Why did Paul address this particular question is credentials for ministry. Well, it is because the critics in Corinth were questioning Paul's credentials his authenticity. Whether he was in fact a genuine minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The critics in Corinth recall are sometimes indicated by the term false teachers. Other times, by term, which we have coined in our day, which was not used in the Bible but is nevertheless a good description of who these people work and it is the turn Judaizers.

They were Jews who claim to have embraced Jesus Christ but they were stuck in the Old Testament, they were stuck in the old covenant and they were trying to take everybody there trying to take believers in Jesus Christ back into the old covenant, and in order to do that one of the things they needed to do was to undermine people's confidence in the ministry of the apostle Paul who doing just the opposite.

He was doing was pointing out that the old covenant has served its purpose, and now we are in the new covenant era more glorious covenant did what the Judaizers were teaching. Gotta go back to the law of Moses. You gotta go back to keeping the law, you gotta be circumcised. You gotta keep the dietary law if you're going to be saved. If you're going to be pleasing to God. They were undermining confidence in the ministry of the apostle Paul by questioning his credentials. So what does Paul do to address this problem. While he says as we saw in verse one that he has something better than letters of commendation. Apparently these false teachers were carrying with them letters of recommendation that had been formulated somewhere somebody had had to given those to them and they were caring them and said this is our credentials.

This this is what proves that we are authorized ministers, but have you ever seen Paul's letters of commendation. Has he ever shown them to you, raising questions, raising Paul said we don't need letters of commendation to you, you Corinthian Christians you are our letters epistles of commendation written in the hearts of flash by the spirit of God, not with pen and ink. What Paul is saying is that the existence of Corinthian converts in the existence of a church of the Lord Jesus Christ and the city of Corinth is itself a recommendation of the authenticity of Paul's ministry and he says my commendation, which is you living epistles living Christians giving evidence of being saved by Christ. You are open for public examination, known and read by all men. Anybody can come and check out whether there are in fact genuine believers in Corinth and if there is a genuine church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the city and therefore your changed life, having been rescued out of heathen idolatry and lifesaving business and and plucked off the road to eternal destruction and placed on the road to heaven on the straight way that is Jesus Christ. You are our epistles.

You give evidence of belonging to Christ in you, give evidence of spiritual life within you created by the spirit of the living God, and that is my evidence, that is my credentials that I am a apostle of Christ. I am a minister of the gospel of Christ.

Let's what Paul said to the critics in his day. How does all of this apply to us today will certainly ought to encourage us to be less impressed with human credentials and more interested in spiritual fruit. That's the point of what Paul is saying here is not that there's no place for human credentials is not that there's never any place for letters of recommendation. They all have their place in the proper time and way but but those are those are valuable only when there is not an opportunity to examine something that is far more important, namely spiritual fruit in the lives of living people who have been changed by the word of God, ministered, empowered by the spirit of God. Paul therefore is teaching all of us here to be less impressed with that which is humanly produced. As these letters of recommendation were produced by human beings and given to these teachers and they were that the credentials the letters were not were not were not valid they were.

They were not authentic. They were not. They were not portraying that which was actually true. I don't know whether the people who wrote them were deceived about the true nature of these people and what they believed and taught, but wherever the breakdown came these letters, which they carried of human commendation were not communicating the reality of their validity as ministers of Christ, for in fact they were not we should cause us to look at such human commendations very carefully because they don't always communicate what you think that they are communicating, so we should be less impressed with spiritual client without human claims rather superficial claims and more attention given to spiritual fruit.

Now, not too many of us go around examining letters of commendation and not too many of us are tremendously overly impressed by things like higher diplomas that indicate somebody has has completed successfully. A higher degree of of learning and in you in university or seminary or something to get all these things have their place but you don't always communicate what we need to know we should we should look at those things that we should look beyond those things to what is more important give more attention to spiritual fruit, but many times we are overly impressed with a different form of human credentials. I don't know if you ever get Christians over the success syndrome as a way of evaluating whether something is of the Lord are not mentioned it before but it comes right into this passage again. If I had a dollar for every time somebody is said some said to make all they must be doing something right over there. Look at the way they're growing.

I'd be a rich man but that's not a valid indication of the work of the Spirit of God.

Don't you understand that, don't you understand the Jehovah's Witnesses point to the same thing we must be abroad look at the way were growing, but you understand that the Mormons point to the same thing we must be of God, look at the way were growing. Look at all the new churches that were planting across the world. Isn't that evidence that we are from God.

Now that's not what the ideas is that those numbers don't prove that and they don't necessarily prove the sound ministry of God's word even when the claims are made in reference to what is identified as an evangelical Christian ministry. It may not be evidence of a work of the Spirit of God but of something else. Instead, the success syndrome. We gotta get over this business of idolizing celebrities in fame and wealth and using worldly standards of success were stuck on that is part of the culture in which we live in this. This is an area where the world has crept into the church that we most of the time don't even realize that's what it is that this is in fact the world making itself known in the church we talk about worldliness in the church were usually thinking about things of allowing sinful activities to come in to the church release to come it to be allowed in the lives of people who are part of the church are not challenging those in not threatening them sinful activities like immorality, adultery, and so forth and just letting those things lighted course will certainly are evidences of worldliness in the church. But what about this.

This culturally focused adulation upon fame and glitter denying tell you that I read somewhere recently that about 25% of millennial's believe that they are going to become famous and just this week I think my wife would read somewhere that that that what a number of millennial's looked at as as the most desirable job.

What kind of job do you want with not not not millennial's with young people younger than millennial's when when you become an adult. What what job do you want and the biggest number of them said they wanted to be a YouTube personality that was good to be there job now folks, don't tell me that this this idolization of fame and success hasn't permeated the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and that becomes the standard by which most people evaluate things and Paul said no, no, no, examine with spiritual fruit. Look at the lives of people whose lives have been changed by the ministry of God's word owned by the spirit of the living God and look for that if you want to see evidence of spiritual credentials for a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ right credentials for ministry. Number two confidence in labors. That's verses four through six.

Apollo seems to be shoring himself up drunk trying to true up to restore his confidence in the ministry that God has given him. He says in verse four and we have such trust or that word trust could be confidence through Christ toward God goes on from there and why is Paul addressing this question of confidence in labors wetware has his confidence God will criticisms foster self-doubt and criticisms promote self-examination. Paul wasn't immune to that he was he was being bombarded by the criticisms of these Judaizers and it caused him to wonder, am I really apostle of Christ in my really a faithful minister of the gospel of Christ. I thought I was but hear all these people who say I'm not and it caused him. Paul and some measure of doubt and some measure of self-examination, which is not a bad thing. Actually, self-examination is a good thing.

So what did Paul teach in this area of the confidence he had in his labors.

Well he pulled pulled from what we've already looked at in verses one, two and three to say that the fruit of the lives of the Corinthians, bolstered his confidence.

That's what verse four is saying and we have such confidence through Christ toward God.

That is, leaning back, reaching back into verses one and two and three, particularly verse three and the spiritual fruit represented by the Corinthian believers. If all goes on to say that his confidence is not in his own ability is not full of confidence because he knows that he's a good speaker.

He knows that he's a good administrator.

He knows that he has a good personality. He knows that he is able to persuade people is not looking at any of those things to give himself confidence that he could do the job of the work of a minister he saying my confidence is not in myself.

Verse five. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant so his confidence is not his own ability but it is in the fruit that God has given and that's assured Paul that God had called him, in fact, it's interesting in verse six, you have a verb that is past tense, and you have one that is present tense.

Verse six of God, who also made us past tense sufficient as ministers of the new covenant might not as a letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives present tense the spirit gives life.

What's the significance. There Paul is looking both at the past and at the present, combining them together to give himself confidence in the ministry or two to shore up his confidence in the ministry when he thinks about the past. He says God made us sufficient ministers of the new covenant.

When did God do that on the Damascus Road. If you asked Paul. Paul when were you called to ministry. He would say the same place where I was saved it all happen together.

One time on the Damascus Road.

Christ struck me down Christ convicted me of sin. Christ remove the blinders from my eyes. Christ shown me that he was in fact Jesus the Christ was in fact the Messiah of God, the very one. I had been persecuting. He showed me the truth about salvation through Jesus the Christ and him alone and that very same time, he said I'm going to make you an apostle to the Gentiles. He called to ministry the same time that he saved that's in the past when Paul could look back at a time when he was very sure that God had called him into gospel ministry, but now the assaults are coming now he's being battered now he's being weighed down. How does he know that he's not mistaken about what happened in the past. How does he know that his memories not faulty. How does he know that he's not miss understanding what happened to him at that time will again it's because of what's going on now the spirit gives life.

That's what's been happening in Corinth in Philippi in all over the place. Just go to all the places were Paul has preached the gospel administered and left churches behind and you will see all the places where the Spirit of God has been working through the ministry of the apostle Paul to produce life again again again again again the spirit is giving life and that is what gives him confidence to go on. No I'm not mistaken, I'm confident that God is called me and God is still using the number of houses apply today. Well, certainly people who are ministry today need to seek the confirmation of God's call. But that's not always easy to identify.

Most most minister stick would have a Damascus Road experience to point to two. How do I know that I been called of God. Well, the same way Paul did look for evidences of spiritual activity in your life and the lives of others that you are ministering to someone has said this is very simple and simplistic, but there's a lot of truth in it. It takes two things for man to know that is truly been called to preach number one. He has a.desire to preach the word and number two God raise the people who desire to hearing and some men have a powerful desire to preach God's word.

But somehow God doesn't seem to raise up anybody you want to hear what they had to say probably this the call. That's a bit simple but that's getting at what Paul is looking at here and this is what were talking about.

Look for evidences that God is using your labors to change hearts and lives to speak to the needs of man that men and women testified that their finding help from your labors summer coming to faith in Christ because of your labors Chris is a growing in grace because of your labors. That's what you need to be looking to have confidence in ministry. Number three comprehension of truth. That's verses seven through 11. That's one of the sections that I think we got it bit bogged down in so we'll skip lightly over it and try to pick out the essence of it comprehension of truth what is Paul addressing in the section. Please addressing the Arab Judaizers, who are teaching the necessity of Mosaic log while keeping what they were doing. They were relying upon the old covenant, polished here showing that the old covenant, though it was given by God and appropriate in its time and place is not where we need to be looking today for truth about salvation and about the life that Christ gives it's not found in the old covenant law keeping, but rather in the new covenant, which is the fulfillment of the old, in fact in it. This struck me as I was thinking about this Jesus Christ basically was nonessential, and whatever the Judaizers were teaching LL claim to believe in Jesus that this that's who they were, by definition, they work.

They were Jews who said they had trusted Jesus, but they were still stuck in the old testament and they were teaching Mosaic law, dietary laws, keeping of the law of Moses in order to please God. And when you think about what they were teaching you realize that even though they said they believed in Jesus. They didn't even need Jesus to teach what they were teaching.

It would've been the same with or without him. Frankly dear. This dear that keep class keep that these circumcised fathers dietary regulation and on and on it goes, and what does Jesus Christ have to do with that. Well, not much except we we say were Christians and we we refer to him once in a while, but frankly he is pretty far removed from what were really emphasize enough why did I bring that up because I think it's pretty evident that that's what was going on here but I see a lot of the same thing going on in various areas of so-called Christianity today. Some of those people who like to get out knock on doors and come to your door, start there. Born-again Bible believing gospel gospel, believing people who will do this as well, so it's not everybody who knocks on the door but you know the people who regularly make the rounds in, knock on her door, and they want to want to talk to you about about their religion and perhaps offer you a paper to call the watchtower something like that. For example, or other literature of this kind and listen to what they had to say and tell me wouldn't it be when Libby saying exactly the same thing with or without Jesus Christ you think about it you if you know what's being taught, they can pretty much teach there whole system of of doctrine without any necessity of even introducing Jesus Christ because he really isn't necessary and what their teaching. They just sort attack him on to say that their Christian that they don't need Jesus Christ to teach with their teaching. See that's what Paul is finding among these false teachers of his day.

So what does he do to address this problem.

Will he teaches at the old covenant was glorious in its time and place.

Please don't denigrate it, but that the new covenant is far more glorious and therefore we need to move on from the old to new asked, is for more glorious because of the life-giving activity of the Holy Spirit verse eight because the new covenant provides necessary righteousness in Christ. Verse nine the old covenant and provide because the new covenant is permanent. The old covenant was temporary. The old covenant was designed to be temporary and preparatory for the new it was to prepare people for the coming of Christ and the ushering in of the new covenant. Now that that has occurred. Now the Christ has come, we don't dangle back in a sense I think you could say that's the main reason for the whole writing of the book of Hebrews.

Don't go back to all go back to go back to Moses. Don't go back to the old covenant. That's then this is now. That's before Christ.

Christ is come don't go back. It was a great temptation to people in this day Paul is saying the new covenant is the fulfillment of what God gave the old covenant to prepare for an Christ is the conclusion of the old covenant and the climax of the old covenant and this is what the whole thing was designed. The pointer was to Jesus Christ. And when you miss that you miss everything you not only miss the glory of the new covenant, you miss the real meaning of the old covenant listed all talking about comprehension of truth what is the point we better understand these truths. If were going to help people is not just enough to say I'm going to preach you better know what to preach, you better be willing to study better be willing to study all your life to understand as much as possible the relationships and the nuances and and how to relate the old covenant to the new covenant properly and to preach Christ as supreme in all this number for conversion of sinners verses 12 through 16 in this section, Paul is teaching that the old covenant, Jews are blinded by spiritual darkness, and therefore human persuasion is able is unable to dispel the darkness that it's not it's not sufficient to do that now in chapter 3. He's emphasizes the spiritual darkness of the Jews. His own national people.

But as we come to chapter 4 he broadens that out to include everybody. Chapter 4 he talks about people who are in darkness whose minds the god of this world has blinded their their hearts, their minds so that they can't see the truths of he broadens it out to include everybody so will keep that in mind as we address what Paul is saying in chapter 3, and will broaden it out not just Jews but sinners.

Everybody is blinded by spiritual darkness and because it is a spiritual darkness. There is not enough human ingenuity. There isn't enough human persuasion. There is not enough human personality. There are enough human techniques in all the world to dispel that darkness. It's a spiritual darkness and it can only be lifted by the work of the Spirit of God supposed teaching in the section of the old covenant without Christ engenders spiritual blindness is not only is true that the Jews are blinded, but the very old covenant that they're looking to and hearing read when Moses is read, it just seems to thicken the veil over their hearts because there stuck on this old covenant and they view that as the permanent one instead of the temporary one.

They view that as the totality of God's revelation to mankind.

This is our religion. This is what God gave us and it just seems to sink them deeper and deeper into spiritual darkness which darkness this section tells us is dispelled only by faith in Christ when they turn to the Lord, the veil is lifted.

In Christ, the spiritual darkness is dispelled, but only in Christ and Paul makes it clear that, therefore, the most important thing to help people is gospel proclamation. That's what he opens the section with verse 12. Therefore, since we have such hope. The hope of the new covenant we use great boldness of speech.

What is that we preach the gospel of Christ without apology. We appreciate with confidence that this is the thing that God will use to save sinners, we understand it's the only thing the God will use to save sinners and so we preach Christ and Christ alone. We need to understand this today. It's not just for Paul's day. We need to understand the reality of human nature all men are blinded spiritually, all men are dead spiritually. All men therefore are hopeless spiritually is not that people learn down at the bottom of the well and we can throw the rope that they can latch onto. We can pull them out. That's the ministry that some people have.

The problem is that there at the bottom of the well and they're dead. You can say you could throw down 100 rope say Get a hold of it they did. Unable to lay hold of the rope which you need is somebody can resurrect them to life and bring them out of that well and that takes something that not that I can't do that you can't do, and that nobody else can do no matter how gifted they may be humanly speaking, we need to understand the reality of human nature. Everybody is dead in trespasses and sins. Everybody is blind to spiritual reality and, therefore, to understand the impossibility of conversion by human means I can't save a single soul, and neither can you. I can't save my children, neither can you, don't we wish we could. I can't save my friends and neighbors, and neither can you. That's impossible. Jesus taught that and in various ways. In one way. In particular, but it seems the slide by and people miss it, but you remember when the rich young ruler came to Christ and Christ dealt with him in the disciples watching all this, and then he turned away because he had great possessions and the disciples said with incredulity will then who can be saved if this man can't be sick as he was a good man.

He was a good man. He seemed to be up. From a human standpoint, human evaluation, he seemed to be a great candidate for salvation.

He was a ruler of the synagogue, he, it was very moral and upright from a human standpoint. He kept the law course from a divine standpoint he had that was the problem. He thought he had the head but from human evaluation.

He was out he was an excellent candidate for salvation in Jesus Christ turned him away. He turned himself away from Christ. He went away sorrowful and sorrowful sorrowing because he had great possessions and the disciples said to Jesus, will then who can be saved.

I don't understand is who could be saved. When Jesus say these powerfully important words with man.

It is what impossible impossible but with God. He went on to say all things are possible.

Who can be saved with men. Salvation is impossible. I remember many years ago I used to be in Facebook discussion with Prof. and University. I think in Maryland I never met him but just got in contact with him by Facebook and he was interested in religion and and he was a Lutheran and we got a discussion about this.

He had misunderstood this parable and so I took the time to explain it to him.

He still wasn't convinced. So I got out on my shelf. I have Lenski that the Lutheran commentator and I pulled down Lenski and I quoted to him what Lenski said about this which was exactly what I just said he understood that apart from a divine miracle of God. It made it impossible for people to be saved. Nobody can save themselves. Nobody can save anybody else, and he finally got it. I don't know whether he got it to the saving of his soul, but he finally got it said I never saw that before and he went on to tell other people. Among his liberal friends and he was a flaming liberal progressive. He went on to say something like. I found a conservative who is honest, I don't think he thought he found one before that, but he had to acknowledge that what I said was true.

That's what the Bible taught did he acknowledge that I was being fair and honest with him. Yeah, it's easy to overlook that. But this is what Jesus taught. This is what the Bible teaches.

Nobody can be saved apart from the intervention of Almighty God. It takes the power of God he takes as much power of God to save your son or daughter as it took to create this universe, who then can be saved with man, it's impossible, but praise God, but with God all things are possible.

And he does this regularly saves people regularly by the miracle of spiritual resurrection. So were talking about the conversion of sinners and because this is true, we must not rely on the Mac and on human mechanisms for ministry success.

Give ourselves fully to the essential work of gospel proclamation. That's where the power is. So let's act like it, but light let's act like we believe that instead of say well yeah yeah that's good but I gotta do this to. I got add that to a vendor. The other two to make the successful will all that demonstrates is that you don't really believe that the power is completely in the gospel of Christ, empowered by the spirit of God. You think somehow it's in this combination of your human cleverness, combined with the preaching of the gospel and put those two things together, you're going to have success in its amazing I must say one more thing I get myself in trouble here. I see a lot of this in the so-called new Calvinism that seems to become very popular in our day, who seem to understand the doctrines of grace, but seem to miss this because, in spite of everything. There seems to be this reliance upon the foregoing to be successful. We got to be.

Otherwise we can't attract people for going to be successful.

We've got to got to add this technique going to be successful. Got at that technique, so will have all these these modern techniques that are necessary and, of course, along with that were to preach the word of God, and you put those two things together and will have success. And again from a human standpoint that's often what appears to be happening, but I'm not convinced that there's any more spiritual fruit anymore eternal success in that approach from somebody who is reformed that it is from somebody who's a rank Arminian whose are doing exactly the same thing in relying on exactly the same technique. I'm sorry but that's just the way I look at a call me an old fuddy-duddy. If you want to but I think that's what Paul is saying we got to rely upon the word of God, the gospel of Christ, empowered by the spirit of God. If that alone doesn't do it, and sometimes it doesn't. Paul gets into that into the next chapter.

It's because God didn't intend to do it. You got to understand the God sovereign in all of these things and it's up to him whether he's going to empower his word to make it successful or not we get impatient we are going to be successful. One way or another thank you I'm not going to be. I'm not in the past or some little pedal in church I'm going to be successful. And so I'm going to do all this to produce the aura of success and I believe the gospel and act like it rely on it. Okay well I did the same thing I did before he got to the end of my time and I haven't got to the end of my subjects on the NAFTA Scott skip point number five. Here's a conclusion there is certainly a word in this chapter for preachers, both active and aspiring, and I pray that God is at work calling men to ministry from our congregation. May he do so, and this needs to be understood by all who aspire for ministry. But there's plenty here for all believers. You and everybody sitting here on up here today. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, and these true should guide your areas of service wherever you serve God make sure that you are relying upon the gospel of God to achieve whatever spiritual success that you desire to achieve and these true should guide your supportive ministry. Make sure that the ministries that you get behind the ministries that you support the ministries that you get involved in our gospel centered not just give lip service to the gospel, but actually demonstrate that they are relying upon the gospel of God, and that alone because you do believe, don't you. The God's work done. God's way, will accomplish God's purpose and I can say that same thing another way, God's work done is God's way always brings God's approval. If God is pleased what difference does it make if men are pleased or impressed or not, but if were going to have the power of God would have to act like we are showed up to none but God alone. We must renounce human error even when that air comes to us from other believers that we know and love. We must say no I'm sorry but I'm going to do it God's way, you won't be as big as we are. I don't care I wouldn't do it God's way, you will be successful as we are. I don't care to do God's way and when we stand before him in the final judgment will let him be the judge of who actually was successful who actually pleased him. That'll be the day that matters in the only one that does. Shall we pray the father. There is much to learn and we recognize it so easy for us to imbibe the philosophies that are close but not quite centered in Christ in your word word stirrup within us a true faith to believe what your word teaches what you want sense to act that way in our Christian lives and labors as we ask in Jesus name