Who Should I Be?
Growing a Heart for Evangelism • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Introduction
Introduction
In our passage this morning, we find Paul explaining his actions as an apostle or “sent one.” We are also sent to this world with the message of the Great Commission. Let us learn from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Where does evangelism come from? In the Bible, we see Jesus speaking of Himself to those who are like lost sheep. Today, those that Jesus has left behind are to give the Gospel to the world. Evangelism comes from the heart that has experienced the salvation that only Jesus brings. Paul told the Thessalonian church,
For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Do you have a heart for evangelism? In our series this fall, ask God to grow your heart to bring the message of salvation to the lost around you. Our hearts are evil, yet God can work through us to see the lost come to Jesus.
Will you let God grow a heart for evangelism in you today?
A heart for evangelism has several motivations in the Bible. In Is 12, we saw the motivations of God’s wrath and God’s greatness. In Matthew 28:16-20, we learned about the motivation of following the direct command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. In our passage this morning, we find another motivation, the love of Christ.
The passage in verses 11-21 carries the momentum of previous verses behind it. The ministry of Paul was one that had been given him by God’s calling on his life. He is defending his apostleship here with the divided church at Corinth. Verse 7 of chapter 4 points to the nature of the persecution that he had faced for the glory of God.
Chapter 5 begins with Paul addressing the future home of the saved. He is talking about the inner struggle of each Christian (4:16) and that this is connected to the coming life eternal (5:4). One day, there will be a presence with God but not in this present body. While here, we are motivated by the coming judgment.
Verse 11 of our passage contains a “therefore” that connects back to the key verses in 9 and 10. There is terror from coming judgment. Again, for the third week in a row, we see a connection to eschatology or “last things.” There is coming a day when we will have reckoning before God for what we have done in this life.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
What then should be the description of the job of the believer? We find in our passage two principles about what we must be involved in here on earth. The center of all that we do is God Himself and contextually here His reconciliation.
Declaration
Declaration
The reconciliation of the world to God was accomplished in Jesus. Paul calls the church to action! Today, respond to the call to be a diplomat on the front lines of the spiritual war! Two identifications are called for by the Word of God today.
1. We Persuade Men
1. We Persuade Men
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
There is a day coming when all people will stand before God. For those who have rejected them, they will stand before a Great White Throne before being sent to the Lake of Fire. For those who have received Jesus, they will stand before a judgment seat that will judge their actions rather than their sins. Paul tells us in verse 11, because of the coming judgment, the mission of believers is persuading men.
How has Paul done this in his ministry? Verses 11-13 give us the description. Paul is willing to do whatever is necessary for the Gospel to be seen among the lost people in the world. The goal is not making men happy but convicting them of sin and pointing them to Christ.
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Paul has been visible to God and to the people of Corinth. When he was doctrinal and teaching, they saw him. When he was doing things that no one else would do without God’s leading, they saw him. He was willing to suffer for the Gospel because of those lost and those growing around him.
What would make Paul come out of his comfort zone in his ministry to the lost world? The reason for his actions before is the love of Christ. It is not his love for Christ or the love of those he goes to. It is the love of Christ for the world. The love of Christ is the dominating influence in the life of the believer who is obeying God. This is what pushes him or her forward. We are who we are because of the love of Christ! Paul tells the Ephesian church what his prayer is for them,
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
The rest of verses 14-19 show us what the love of Christ is and what it does. Paul tells the believers that we can figure out some truths based on the love of Christ. The first of these is that the death of Jesus for all means that all men are dead. All men everywhere are dead in their sins.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
The action of Christ is that He died for all people. This is what gives us the ability to have a relationship with a perfect and holy God. There must be a death for the world’s sin. Jesus establishes a new situation through His death.
Verse 15 gives us another truth that because He died, we ought to live in Him. We owe a debt to the Jesus because He took our punishment. The love of Christ constrains us because we have been given new life, not for our good or glory, but His! Are you living for Jesus?
Verses 16-17 tell us what has happened in salvation. When you place your faith in Jesus alone for your salvation, you become something new. There has been a change from fleshly to spiritual! Our life should clearly show Jesus!
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The word “creature” shows that something new, not previously in existence, is now living. This is the same thing that God did in Genesis. Now, by the death of Jesus and His Resurrection, mankind can become something new, a reconciled friend of God.
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
The heart of the passage, the love of Christ, is found in verses 18-19. One of the most comforting portions of Scripture I have yet preached on. Verses 18-19 tell us about reconciliation. Reconciliation is the restoring of friendship. In the Garden of Eden, Adam had friendship with God. He walked with Him and He talked with Him freely. But sin has removed the friendship that we have with God. Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden and lived out their lives in the rest of the world.
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Here we see that God has restored the relationship through His Son. Jesus willingly came because God wanted friendship with His creation, mankind. The death of Jesus is the extension of God’s reconciliation.
God is not reconciled, nor does he reconcile himself, but he himself reconciles us or the world to himself
God has served us with reconciliation. God was in Christ and brought the world back into fellowship with Him. There is now no excuse for those who do not know the salvation of God. This passage is parallel to Romans 5.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
A key word can be missed in verse 19. This reconciliation is of the “world”. While some will say that the context dictates a specific group of people in this phrase, I do not find that here. This word and usage is found in other places showing a general atonement or mankind as a whole.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God reconciled us. There was not a counting of sins or a listing of merits. No, there is a hopeless condition and a heavenly solution. God has come as a man to die for men. Christ reconciled the world to God. That is what we persuade men of! As John Chrysostom said,
Seest thou love surpassing all expression, all conception? Who was the aggrieved one? Himself. Who first sought the reconciliation? Himself. ‘And yet,’ saith one, ‘He sent the Son, He did not come Himself.’ The Son indeed it was He sent; still not He alone besought, but both with Him and by Him the Father; wherefore he said, that, “God was reconciling the world unto Himself in Christ:” that is, by Christ.
Church, we persuade men. We are to convince others of their sin. We are to make them know the change that Jesus can have in their lives. We persuade men that the world has been reconciled to God.
2. We are Ambassadors
2. We are Ambassadors
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The second identification of the believer is an “ambassador”. This is a word used only in two places in the Bible. The other place is in Ephesians. There we see that Paul calls himself an ambassador.
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Here in 2 Corinthians, Paul includes us as those who are ambassadors. What do we know about the work of an ambassador in the Roman world? An ambassador is not based in his own country. He must go to the place where he is called and move about there among the people. There were ambassadors sent to the foreign empires and the barbarian tribes. Especially as the invasions got worse, the Romans would send diplomats to the tribes in Europe to influence their settlement.
Paul tells us that we are ambassadors. There is a spiritual war occurring. Good and evil are in conflict. Sin and righteousness are against one another. Mankind was born in sin but Jesus has offered reconciliation.
There are many that will tell you that you must do something to earn your way to heaven. There is a world system that will reward you for actions that you take for the “greater good”. People are quick to applaud the charity of others for those “less fortunate.” But the Bible here is clear, the war has already been won.
We are ambassadors sent into the enemy country to make clear that victory means peace. Empires throughout history have made that claim countless times in countless wars. We are to proclaim to the world “Be ye reconciled to God” because of what Jesus has done!
Verse 21then turns to a central truth of the atonement. This is the death of Jesus in our place. We call this doctrine the “vicarious atonement.” We see here a reminder us of
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Christ became “sin” in His death on the cross. This is mankind’s choices and deeds contrary to the law and character of God. His vicarious atonement for us is here the becoming of sin.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
We have a job to speak peace to the world. Romans 5, the parallel passage, begins with the peace won by Jesus. That is the identification of the believer, the diplomat on a peace mission in enemy territory!
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
All of this is because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Never get over the greatness of this! Never cease to be amazed. John Chrysostom, preaching on this passage,
For a great thing indeed it were for even a sinner to die for any one whatever; but when He who undergoes this both is righteous and dieth for sinners; and not dieth only, but even as one cursed; and not as cursed [dieth] only, but thereby freely bestoweth upon us those great goods which we never looked for; (for he says, that “we might become the righteousness of God in Him;”) what words, what thought shall be adequate to realize these things? ‘For the righteous,’ saith he, ‘He made a sinner; that He might make the sinners righteous.’
The first identification of the believer is that we persuade men. The second is that we are ambassadors or reconcilers speaking peace. We have the motivation of the love of Christ and the message of His salvation. Are you speaking peace to the lost world? They must know what Jesus has done for them.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The reconciliation of the world to God was accomplished in Jesus. Paul calls the church to action! Today, respond to the call to be a diplomat on the front lines of the spiritual war!
The war has been won! Jesus died on the cross and rose again. He sits on the right hand of God the Father in heaven. We are in enemy territory speaking the good news that peace is available. All of this is because of the faithful work of Christ for the entire world.
Sinner, Jesus did it all for you. He loved you enough to give His life for your sin. He died for you on the cross of Calvary. On that day, when the situation seem hopeless because the Son of God was going to die at the hands of sinful men, there was hope. That hope was that the death of Jesus, far from being out of His control, was in fact the plan of Redemption from God. Jesus died for you. He asks you to believe on His finished work to take away your sins. Only His death and resurrection can save us from our sins.
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Believer, who should you be today? Who should I be? Paul is clear: we should be persuaders and ambassadors. The story is told of an old hymn we sometimes sing,
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Five: Motives for Ministry (2 Corinthians 5:9–21)
In 1858, Frances Ridley Havergal visited Germany with her father who was getting treatment for his afflicted eyes. While in a pastor’s home, she saw a picture of the Crucifixion on the wall, with the words under it: “I did this for thee. What hast thou done for Me?” Quickly she took a piece of paper and wrote a poem based on that motto; but she was not satisfied with it, so she threw the paper into the fireplace. The paper came out unharmed! Later, her father encouraged her to publish it; and we sing it today to a tune composed by Philip P. Bliss.
I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might’st ransomed be,
And quickened from the dead;
I gave, I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou given for Me?
This hymn asks a question about our identification with Jesus, what have you given for Him? Believer, are you a persuader and ambassador to men? Have you given your time? Have you given your treasure? Have you given your speech? Have you given your life?
What will you do today with the message of God’s reconciliation of the world? There is a new relationship waiting for any that will come to Him in faith. Will you take that good news today as diplomats in enemy country?
Paul says “we are”…He was a persuader and an ambassador. Paul had grown a heart for evangelism through the love of Christ. Have you? Give the Gospel faithfully today!
