Sermon Tone Analysis

*COURAGE FOR THE CONFLICT*

/2 Corinthians 4:1–5:8 /

The key theme of this section is repeated in 1 Corinthians 4:1 and 16: “We faint not!” Literally, Paul said, “We do not lose heart!”

There were certainly plenty of reasons for discouragement in Paul’s situation, yet the great apostle did not quit.

What was it that kept him from fainting in the conflicts of life?/

He knew what he possessed in Jesus Christ!/ Instead of complaining about what he did not have, Paul rejoiced in what he did have; and you and I can do the same thing.

*We Have a Glorious Ministry(2 Cor.

4:1–6)*

“Therefore, seeing we have /this kind/ of ministry” is the literal translation of what Paul wrote.

What kind of ministry?

The kind described in the previous chapter: a glorious ministry that brings men life, salvation, and righteousness; a ministry that is able to transform men’s lives.

This ministry is a gift—we receive it from God.

It is given to us because of God’s mercy, not because of anything we are or we have done (see 1 Tim.

1:12–17).

The way you look at your ministry helps to determine how you will fulfill it.

If you look on serving Christ as a burden instead of a privilege, you will be a drudge and do only what is required of you.

Some people even look on service as a punishment from God.

When Paul considered the fact that he was a minister of Jesus Christ, he was overwhelmed by the grace and mercy of God.

His positive attitude toward the ministry had some practical consequences in his life.

*/It kept him from being a quitter (v.

1)./*

He confessed to the Corinthians that his trials in Asia had almost brought him to despair (2 Cor.

1:8).

In spite of his great gifts and vast experience, Paul was human and subject to human frailties.

But how could he lose heart when he was involved in such a wonderful ministry?

Would God have entrusted this ministry to him so that he might fail?

Of course not!

With the divine calling came the divine enabling; he knew that God would see him through.

A discouraged Methodist preacher wrote to the great Scottish preacher, Alexander Whyte, to ask his counsel.

Should he leave the ministry?

“Never think of giving up preaching!”

Whyte wrote to him.

“The angels around the throne envy you your great work!”

That was the kind of reply Paul would have written, the kind of reply all of us need to ponder whenever we feel our work is in vain.

*/It kept him from being a deceiver (vv.

2–4)./*

“But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor.

4:2, nasb).

Paul was certainly alluding to the Judaizers when he wrote these words.

Many false teachers today claim to base their doctrine on the Word of God, but false teachers handle God’s Word in deceptive ways.

You can prove anything by the Bible, provided you twist the Scriptures out of context and reject the witness of your own conscience.

The Bible is a book of literature and it must be interpreted according to the fundamental rules of interpretation.

If people treated other books the way they treat the Bible, they would never learn anything.

Paul had nothing to hide, either in his personal life or in his preaching of the Word.

Everything was open and honest; there was no deception or distortion of the Word.

The Judaizers were guilty of twisting the Scriptures to fit their own preconceived interpretations, and ignorant people were willing to follow them.

If Paul was such a faithful teacher of the Word, then why did not more people believe his message?

Why were the false teachers so successful in winning converts?

Because the mind of the lost sinner is blinded by Satan, and fallen man finds it easier to believe lies than to believe truth.

The Gospel “is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor.

4:3–4).

Paul had already explained that the minds of the Jews were “veiled” because of the blindness of their hearts (Rom.

11:25; 2 Cor.

3:14–16).

The minds of the Gentiles are also blinded!

Those who are lost (“perishing”) cannot understand the message of the Gospel.

Satan does not want the glorious light of salvation to shine into their hearts.

As the god of this age and the prince of this world (John 12:31), Satan keeps lost sinners in the dark.

The sad thing is that Satan uses /religious/ teachers (like the Judaizers) to deceive people.

Many of the people who today belong to cults were originally members of Christian churches.

*/It kept him from being a self-promoter (vv.

5–6)./*

The awesome fact that Paul had received this ministry from Christ kept him from being a quitter and a deceiver; but it also kept him from being a self-promoter (2 Cor.

4:5–6).

“We preach not ourselves!”

(2 Cor.

4:5) The Judaizers enjoyed preaching about themselves and glorying in their achievements (2 Cor.

10:12–18).

They were not servants who tried to help people; they were dictators who exploited people.

Paul was certainly a man who practiced genuine humility.

He did not trust in himself (2 Cor.

1:9) or commend himself (2 Cor.

3:1–5) or preach himself (2 Cor.

4:5).

He sought only to lead people to Jesus Christ and to build them up in the faith.

It would have been easy for Paul to build a “fan club” for himself and take advantage of weak people who thrive on associating with great men.

The Judaizers operated in that way, but Paul rejected that kind of ministry.

What happens when you share Jesus Christ with lost sinners?

The light begins to shine!

Paul compared conversion to Creation as described in Genesis 1:3.

Like the earth of Genesis 1:2, the lost sinner is formless and empty; but when he trusts Christ, he becomes a new creation (2 Cor.

5:17).

God then begins to /form/ and /fill/ the life of the person who trusts Christ, and he begins to be fruitful for the Lord.

God’s, “Let there be light!”

makes everything new.

*We Have a Valuable Treasure(2 Cor.

4:7–12)*

From the glory of the new creation, Paul moved to the humility of the clay vessel.

The believer is simply a “jar of clay”; it is the treasure /within the vessel/ that gives the vessel its value.

The image of the vessel is a recurring one in Scripture, and from it we can learn many lessons.

To begin with, God has made us the way we are so that we can do the work He wants us to do.

God said of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15).

No Christian should ever complain to God because of his lack of gifts or abilities, or because of his limitations or handicaps.

Psalm 139:13–16 indicates that our very genetic structure is in the hands of God.

Each of us must accept himself and be himself.

The important thing about a vessel is that it be clean, empty, and available for service.

Each of us must seek to become “a vessel unto honor, sanctified [set apart], and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim.

2:21).

We are vessels so that God might use us.

We are /earthen/ vessels so that we might depend on God’s power and not our own.

We must focus on the treasure and not on the vessel.

Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure (see 1 Tim.

1:11; 6:20).

God permits trials, God controls trials, and God uses trials for His own glory.

/God is glorified through weak vessels./

The missionary who opened inland China to the Gospel, J. Hudson Taylor, used to say, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on Him being with them.”

Sometimes God permits our vessels to be jarred so that some of the treasure will spill out and enrich others.

Suffering reveals not only the weakness of man but also the glory of God.

Paul presented a series of paradoxes in this paragraph: earthen vessels—power of God; the dying of Jesus—the life of Jesus; death working—life working.

The natural mind cannot understand this kind of spiritual truth and therefore cannot understand why Christians triumph over suffering.

Not only must we focus on the treasure and not on the vessel, but we must also focus on the Master and not on the servant.

If we suffer, it is for Jesus’ sake.

If we die to self, it is so that the life of Christ might be revealed in us.

If we go through trials, it is so that Christ might be glorified.

And all of this is for the sake of others.