Light Shining out of Darkness

Intro

There are some tasks and objectives in life that, if we are being honest, seem hopeless and perhaps even pointless. Trees are delightful in the heat of summer when their leaves provide shade on my patio, but now those same leaves and I are engaged in a great struggle for dominance over my yard. They are the bane of my existence. I rake and bag these leaves with care, admire my clean lawn, go into the house for a glass or water, come back outside— and my yard is blanketed with newly fallen leaves. In fact this happens so quickly, and with so many leaves spread to every corner of the yard, that it doesn’t seem possible that these leaves are merely falling from the trees but must also be springing up from the ground! It is like what happened to the five loaves and two fish is happening to my leaves---miraculous multiplication! And so the process of raking leaves feels hopeless, and meaningless.

Theirs not to make reply

There

Theirs not to make reply,

   Theirs not to reason why,

   Theirs but to do and die.

Theirs but to do and diInto the valley of Death

   Theirs but to do and die.

   Into the valley of Death

   Rode the six hundred.

Truthfully, many human endeavors are marked by seeming futility against overwhelming obstacles or opposition, and it is easy to lose heart, to become convinced of the hopelessness of a cause. Countless would-be inventions and innovations lie undiscovered on the trash heap of history because an inventor or entrepreneur grew dispirited in the face of difficulty. A young, brilliant but jealous and depressed army officer who despaired of his advancement and his nations cause, lost hope, and Benedict Arnold infamously deserted to the British Army. We could look at numerous examples of despair in the face of difficulty, and yet there is no greater opposition in the world than that of the forces of evil ranged against the Christian who would proclaim his savior. And yet in , Paul will say twice “therefore, we do not lose heart.” So we must look to the word, for encouragement and strength that can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die.

A

Into the valley of Death,

A declaration of the glorious and powerful gospel.

Rode the six hundred.

If you were such a soldier, how could you fail to lose heart at such a hopeless and pointless

Pray

Read Text

In this passage, Paul alternates back and forth between considering the glorious nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and considering what our conduct should be as ministers of that gospel

a reminder: ministry is not exclusively the message delivered from the pulpit. As Paul articulates in chapter 5, the church has been given the ministry of reconciliation—appealing to an unbelieving world.

The Character of the Gospel

1. The Gospel of Christ is Glorious

“Therefore” assumes a context… ‘in light of these things’

“Since we have this ministry”

What is this ministry?

This ministry is the ministry of the new covenant which is the gospel of Jesus Christ

2 Corinthians 3:4–9 NKJV

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 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, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

2 Corinthians 3:7–9 NKJV

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

2 Corinthians 3:7-9

the glory of the law—and it was glorious because it revealed the character of God— pales in comparison to the glory of the new covenant in Christ.

the law was a shadow, the fulfillment is Christ

moreover, the law did not come as a means of obtaining righteousness, but as the standard to reveal and condemn our sinfulness!

therefore by the law comes knowledge of sin

therefore when the law came I died

therefore, by the deeds of the law no man will be justified

If Paul refers here to the law as the “ministry of death” and the “ministry of condemnation”, then how marvelous to our desperate ear must be the declaration of Christ: “for God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” ()

“as we have received mercy”

we do not speak of the ministry of the gospel as an academic theory, but as those who are included in its saving power.

Our Conduct in Gospel Ministry

1. We do not lose heart

1854-Crimean War, Charge of the Light Brigade during battle of Balaklava

600 British cavalry ordered to attack an impregnably defended Russian fortification

It was a hopeless, pointless, futile suicide mission—and it met a disastrous end

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die.

Into the valley of Death,

Rode the six hundred.

-Alfred Lord Tenyson

The remaining British soldiers could have hardly failed to lose heart and to despair in their mission after watching their officers send 600 of their companions in so hopeless an assault.

Yet in the Christian life we are expected to face unrelenting opposition in the face of gospel ministry.

Hebrews 11:32–38 NKJV

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

Hebrews 11:32

Paul himself understood the brutal demands of gospel ministry in a fallen world

2 Corinthians 11:25 NKJV

Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

2 Corinthians 11:24–27 NKJV

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11:24

2. We proclaim the Word of God faithfully

gospel ministry leaves you vulnerable and exposed, it is not just physically demanding but spiritually exhausting

—> But we have a ministry so glorious that we endure these things by the power of God without losing heart!

2. We proclaim the Word of God faithfully

Paul insists that his handling of the word of God has been faithful and truthful, without any attempt to deceive or twist the gospel to his benefit

Kenya experience

the word he uses for “craftiness is “panourgia” means crafty, cunning, treachery

it is the same word Paul uses in

2 Corinthians 3:13–18 NKJV

unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 11:3–4 NKJV

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

my university experience

consider the “Christian authors” of our day

The good minister of the word commends his teaching to those of clear conscience and before the eyes of God before whom he must divide the word of truth rightly.

nor do we preach ourselves—verse 5 should be a life verse for every Christian minister

The Character of the Gospel

2. The Gospel is Veiled to the Unbelieving (v. 3-4)

This is not due to any lack of clarity in God’s word, but in a blindness of the hearer!

It could be no clearer! —> it is only this blindness that prevents them from seeing the light of the glory of Christ who is the very image of God!

“The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clearness of the gospel, for the sun is no less resplendent because the blind do not perceive it.” -John Calvin

The law, which points to Christ, is veiled (3:14-15)

The natural man cannot receive or know the things of God ()

Why? Because the unbelieving are dead in sin, and are blind to Christ.

I was blinded by my sin

Had no ears to hear Your voice

Did not know Your love within

Had no taste for heaven’s joys

The god of this world (in this present evil age) has blinded the perishing.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NKJV

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

3. It is only by the power of God that the truth of the gospel is revealed to those who are being saved. (6-7)

God alone could call forth light out of the nothingness in

It is God alone who can penetrate our blindness with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ

We understood bondage to sin as freedom, and enslavement to death as liberty in life

The light of the gospel needed to penetrate the deepest darkest dungeon before we could even realize that we were not free.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

We may now well understand Paul’s meaning in verse one “as we have received mercy.”

What knowledge! the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!

Our Conduct in Gospel Ministry

3. Ministering as Jars of Clay

Treasure—the inestimable worth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord.

how often humans pursue treasure that is of no value in comparison to the surpassing treasure of knowing Christ.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods.”

Housed in jars of clay—what a disparity!

Clay jars are inherently

inexpensive, common—they are not unique, not worthy, not valuable, they are made of earth

fragile and delicate

common

This truth corrects the proud and encourages the weak

Paul understood this

least of the apostles ()

least among the saints ()

chief of sinners ()

John MacArthur-he finds as he grows in sanctification, it is not so much the frequency of his sin that is diminishing, but the grief that the sin causes him grows greater and greater the more he knows of God’s holiness.

In other words, our knowledge of just how earthern these jars of clay are only grows as we grow in Christ.

Yet we persevere—in God’s power, not our own!

we are not crushed because HE was crushed for us

we are not forsaken because he was forsaken for us!

Conclusion

Paul ends where he began (vs. 16-18)

do not lose heart

proclaim Christ faithfully

recognize you are a jar of clay—that the power belongs to God!

—> Therefore we endure temporary affliction which is for a moment, knowing that the treasure at work in us is producing an eternal weight of glory! Christian, take heart! Gaze upon the light of the glory of God in the face of your savior, Jesus Christ!