The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 38; 2 Corinthians 4: 1-4: "Paul's Ministry Motive"

The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 38; 2 Corinthians 4.1-4 Paul's Ministry Motive and Battle in the Unseen World We've turned the corner-2020 is behind us, 2021 is just beginning. The last Lord's Day of 2020 and the first one of 2021 were taken up with us talking about hope: the absolute conviction that what God says is going to happen, will happen. It is impossible for it to be otherwise. I had several great opportunities to play catch with the Lord this past week. As Kitty says, whatever I preach, the Lord has a way of putting me-and her-in situations where we can live it out! Giving the Lord my troubles and anxieties and receiving his peace-there's no greater way of handling any and all problems thrown at me! I also praise the Lord for being able to THRPLGREP my thoughts, especially in the aftermath of the certification of the electoral college and the riot in D.C. In the midst of all these things, I continue to discover that I don't have to get wrapped around the axle about anything that comes my way. The Lord strengthened me in some very difficult circumstances this week. To God be the glory! So now, let's do a little catch up to remind us where we've been in Paul's Corinthian correspondence. Remember how Paul got to the place where he found it necessary to write the letter we're studying. What we call 2 Corinthians is actually Paul's 4th letter he wrote to them. How involved he was in their lives! Let me offer a quick timeline. Paul initially visited Corinth and God commissioned him to start a church in that most wicked of cities in the Roman empire. It was like the Las Vegas of the 1st Century: "To Corinthianize" carried with it the idea of sexual immorality. Paul labored in Corinth for about a year and a half. By the power of God, a church was established. After Paul moved on to do more missionary work, he caught wind of their spiritual condition. He sent the Corinthians 2 letters. Unfortunately, the first one he wrote to them is lost. But the second one he wrote to them is what we call 1 Corinthians. As we studied this letter awhile back we discovered marvelous truth. Truth about disunity and other sins. Paul also taught them, and us such things as what a godly marriage looks like, church order and discipline, and the resurrection of the body. He sent the letter to the Corinthians, confident that the Lord was going to use it to help them, and us, be the church God called them, and us to be. At the end of 1 Corinthians Paul informed them of his travel plans. So they needed to get ready for his visit, in part so that he could collect the gift they promised to give the starving Jewish Christians in Judea. What a great gesture to show unity in the body of Christ-to have a largely gentile Christian congregation give help to a largely Jewish Christian congregation. Unity among Christians has always been a priority with the Lord. But Paul's plans did not work out the way he wanted. As news often does through the grapevine, Paul got a further word that the disunity in the church he warned them about to get right, now showed itself in a very ugly way-some false teachers were in the process of taking over the church and at least one leader in the church was captivated by them. He was deceived and influencing others in the deception. So how did Paul respond to this? Drop what he was doing, quickly change his travel plans and deal with the issue in person. He arrived with spiritual guns ablaze, taking no prisoners. He was full of zeal for the Lord! And thinking that things were in some semblance of order, Paul left and continued his missions work in Ephesus. Until he received a report that things were not any better, but worse. So Paul sat down and wrote a 3rd letter. Scathing. Impassioned. Tear stained. Calling for the church to take care of this leader who was tearing down the church. Sending this letter by the hand of Timothy, Paul waited for some kind of a response. He was heavy hearted over this, weighed down by all that happened. His labor in the Lord might have been in vain after all. The last thing Paul wanted to see was the church become a haven of false teaching, after it had been built on the true gospel of Christ. One day, news came. Great news! Church discipline was done and the leader repented of his sin. The other leaders in the church were zealous-so much so that they continued to shun this one who had once caused division. So, Paul sat down to write a 4th letter-the one we call 2 Corinthians. Remember how Paul told the church to forgive the repentant man and accept him back into the fellowship so the enemy would not do any more damage to their unity. And that is a lesson for all of us. Sin is real. And church discipline is a good thing. Painful but good. In the physical world there are times when we get hurt, sometimes severely. In the Emergency Department at the hospital, the trauma docs and nurses inflict pain. But the pain is necessary in order to facilitate healing. Same thing in the Body of Christ. We all need help to live the way Christ would have us live. Whether it be sexual immorality, idolatry, divisive spirit, pick a sin, we need to help one another overcome these things that are poisonous to the soul and harmful to the church. The Lord Jesus gave us a way to deal with the painful, often tearful process of church discipline. When done right, church discipline is a glorious thing. The sinning brother or sister is brought to repentance, the church is made more pure, and unity is restored. And God is glorified! It truly is an awesome thing to be a part of what the Lord Jesus is building-his church! Back to the story. With the good news of church discipline having done its work, there is still the battle for what I referred to earlier as Paul's dissed authority. Remember the theme of 1 Corinthians-it was disunity. And the 2 hooks we can hang our thoughts on when we think of the Corinthian correspondence are these: 1 Corinthians is disunity. 2 Corinthians is dissed authority. In this letter, Paul is putting forth the defense of the authority that the Lord gave him for building them up not tearing them down. He reminds the Corinthians that the mark of a true spiritual leader is one of humility, hardship, and horrendous, painful experiences. And here is where the contrast is huge. The false teachers promoted themselves, using all the tools of the day at their disposal to amass followers. They were flashy. They had it all together. But their teaching and even lifestyle was, in Paul's words demonic. We will see that later on in this letter. So, in 2 Corinthians 3, Paul gave a description of the vast difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. He delighted to tell them that the true work of God was his writing his ways on the hearts of the Corinthians. And Paul was grateful to have had a hand in this. The life giving, eternal, spiritual ministry is the thing of life God used Paul to produce in their lives. And Paul would declare: "You are our work in the gospel!" In essence, Paul received assurance that he was doing what the Lord called him to do because the Corinthians held to the truth of the real gospel, not a different gospel of the false teachers, with their satanic authority. And it was all because of Jesus. Paul was set free to serve the Lord in the freedom of the New Covenant-as were the Corinthians, and all true followers of Messiah Jesus. He described it this way in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18--Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. It is this spiritual reality that Paul stood on. The New Covenant and all that goes with it is what the true apostle thrived on in contrast to the false teachers the Corinthians encountered. This was the basis and the incentive for Paul to push on, regardless of what came his way. In our passage for today, 2 Corinthians 4.1-4, we will see Paul's motive as to why he serves the Lord the way he does. Because Christ by his Spirit was in the process of transforming him from glory to glory, Paul was indeed, free. Free to engage in authentic ministry with no pretense. We will see his authenticity in vv.1-2. It mattered not to Paul how people would respond. He was going to remain faithful to the Lord, giving the gospel to sinners and serving divine truth to the saints. All of this so that God would be honored and glorified. Of utmost importance is Paul's motive for ministry-why he served the Lord the way he did. Paul was undeterred in his task. He was absolutely unstoppable. Now, was he a super saint? Nope. Paul was a man of flesh and blood like you and me. Paul was a man who needed Christ and was saved. Like you and me. So what made him the powerhouse that he was for the Lord? We will find out today. And my encouragement and challenge to us is that we can be the same powerhouse for the Lord as Paul was. In different ways to be sure. But the power that was in Paul is the same power that lives in every true follower of Christ. We will also see today that though Paul has been set free to serve image bearers of God he knew there were many obstacles which tried to hinder him and his friends from accomplishing what the Lord wanted of them. We will see Paul's awareness of an unseen enemy and how he works, in vv.3-4. So, let's first look at Paul's ministry motive, in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2: Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. We find in the first part of the first verse what fuels Paul's motivation to serve the Lord the way he does. This is the heart of what makes Paul and his friends tick. See, they have received an assignment from God himself, sourced in his mercy. Paul and his friends never outgrew God's mercy extended to them. They knew the truth of what God saved them from. Paul especially was very much aware of his natural spiritual condition. In Paul's B.C. days, he was separated from God. He was a son of wrath, ripe for judgment. He was on his way to eternal destruction. Like every person who ever lived, save one-the Lord Jesus. Now, doubtless, Paul knew that God did not have to save him. He did not then, nor does he now have to save anybody. We know from Scripture that God's motivation to do anything is one thing: to glorify himself. And he could glorify himself in displaying wrath, showing his blazing purity and consuming all sin and sinners alike. He could have prepared hell for not only the devil and his angels but for all of us. And God would be perfectly justified in doing so. But. Gloriously, God chose to display more of himself than only his wrath and his blazing purity. He also chose to display his tender mercy by providing salvation. And that salvation is found in Christ alone. Paul discovered this and never got over it. For Paul, no price was too high, no task too menial, no sacrifice too great. Paul was profoundly grateful for God's salvation. And he was going to show his gratitude by how he lived his life, not merely speaking words. It was out of his personal gratitude for God's mercy found in Christ that gave Paul daily, renewed motivation to serve the Lord. I imagine Paul waking up every morning praising the Lord and with wide-eyed wonder, anticipating what the day would hold. And in what ways Paul could display his gratitude for God's gift of eternal salvation. And that encourages me. And challenges me. We are at the beginning of 2021. How many of us are looking ahead to this year and are convinced that only the happiest days are ahead of us? Me neither. And that is true for any year. For any of us who have lived even a little while, we know that every year can bring profound highs-which last only small span of time at best. And we also know every year can bring profound lows-often lasting much longer than our highs. The key to not just surviving but even thriving in 2021 is to not to hang our expectations on good circumstances in this next year, in any year, for that matter. This will only lead us to severe disappointment and even despair. But we are renew and refresh our minds and hearts in God's salvation found in Christ alone. I think of the prophet Jeremiah and his personal testimony about God's mercy. As he literally watched his beloved Jerusalem being overrun by ruthless, bloodthirsty Babylonians, Jeremiah writes these words in Lamentations 3.22-23: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Can we say that? That God's steadfast love-literally, his covenant loyalty to his people-never ceases? Can we say with conviction that his mercies never come to an end? Can we say his mercies are new every morning and his faithfulness to you is great? If you cannot, why not? He has not changed. He remains the same, yesterday, today and forever. As it's been said, "if God seems far away, guess who moved?" The Lord continually invites us to draw near to him. When was the last time you did that? Would to God that this would be our holy habit-to draw near to the one whose mercies and faithfulness are new and eternal. I had us spend a little time exploring Paul's motivation for serving the Lord, for everything flows from it. Because of his profound gratitude for God's mercy in salvation, Paul now declares: We don't lose heart. Literally, "we do not lose our enthusiasm in our service for the Lord." Nothing could discourage Paul. Why? Because his motivation was not found in anything the ministry could give. It was not found in ministry results. It was not found in his personal satisfaction or happiness as he served God. No, his motivation was God given, even as the lyrics of a song recorded a number of years go tell us: "The world didn't give it to me and the world can't take it away." And let me offer us a challenge. Ongoing discouragement in the life of a Christian means that we have placed our hope in something or someone other than the Lord and his mercy in salvation. The world cannot give joy. The most it can offer is happiness. And it certainly did not, nor cannot give mercy. Now, having said this, hear me well before we move on. Let's be realistic. Temporary discouragement is common with all of us. And so is temporary anxiety. But these things do not identify us as followers of Jesus. Discouragement and anxiety come to all of us. But as with any temptation, we are to use the weapons and tools the Lord has given us to combat discouragement and anxiety. As Paul told us in Philippians, the key to overcoming temptation begins with exercising our will to rejoice in the Lord-in who he is, and in his mercy regarding salvation. And because Paul was so profoundly grateful for the Lord's mercy, he was able to live his life and conduct his service to precious souls with authenticity. As we read in v.2, Paul lived his life to please the Lord. Alone. He was not about to take shortcuts in his ministry by using what the false teachers were using, who were trying to win the Corinthians over to their ways. Paul and his fellow servants were not going to use disgraceful, underhanded ways to amass a following. They were not going to twist God's word to make it more palatable to the untrained. Instead, Paul and his friends were after one thing: to commend themselves to one's conscience with the plain teaching of God's word. Now, we know what our conscience is: it's that place in our life that tells us what is right and what is wrong. This was Paul's aim. But the aim of the false teachers' was anything but. It could have been a focus on good works, since the false teachers were probably those who said that in order to be a Christian one had to convert to being Jewish. The false teachers' aim might have been a feel good, mystical religion or a whole host of things. But true Christianity aims at the heart-the conscience. And how important is it for the church, in general to heed these words. We spend far too much time, energy and resources aiming at the entertainment factor, and not at the conscience of people. Indeed, what does the true gospel deal with? Good feelings? One's best life now? How about the conscience? The writer to the Hebrews tells us the most important thing a worshiper of God needs is a cleansed conscience. Now there is much we can and should say about this. But let's leave it there. The bottom line is Paul's ways and the ways of the false teachers were poles apart. The false way was, and still is, putting a priority on what works. What makes people feel good. Tragically, the primary aim in many local churches today is one's emotions. But the true way was and still is, the plain teaching of God's word aimed at the conscience. Now, having seen what makes Paul tick, today let's see just one of several obstacles that try to stand in the way of accomplishing the ministry the Lord gave him. Today, we will deal the unseen enemy. Paul calls him the god of this world. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. What was never far from Paul's mind in his ministry was the working of the god of this world and his activity in the minds of those who do not believe. Evil forces, directed by Satan do an effective job at preventing a non-Christian from seeing the truth, described by Paul as the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the very image of God. What a description Paul gives here, both of the gospel and the action the enemy performs to prevent unbelievers from responding to it! Now we can spend all day on these verses alone. But let me give you two points as we look at the spiritual battle over souls. The first has to do with the gospel itself. It is proclaimed. Communicated from one person to another. The witness gives the gospel. It is plainly given to a precious soul, aimed at the conscience. When it leaves the mouth of the witness, and heard by the one without Christ one of two things happen. Either it is received or it is rejected. And whether one receives or rejects the gospel depends on the spiritual condition of the one who hears it. That may seem like an obvious thing and it is. But there is something absolutely crucial at play here: the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And that is the second point. The Holy Spirit's precious ministry cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to whether or not someone receives the gospel and is eternally saved. Jesus told us this in John 16:8-11. He promised to send the Holy Spirit and without him, I dare say, no one is able to receive the gospel. The Scripture gives us the condition of every unsaved person: no one is righteous. All of us have become corrupt. We are dead in our sins. Separated from God. The truth is no one on their own comes to God. But now, the glorious ministry of the Holy Spirit has come. If it were not for the Holy Spirit's ministry no one would be saved. Here is how the Lord Jesus describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit, again in John 16:8-11: And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me-the sin of unbelief; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer-righteousness by faith; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged-the sure knowledge of the danger the sinner is in if he or she does not repent and believe the gospel. In other words, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is a continuous conviction in the life of the sinner. Right now, the Holy Spirit is bringing conviction to the heart of every person who needs Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And amazingly, the Lord has given every one of us the ability to respond to his convicting work. This is the dignity God has given to us. We have the ability to make real choices when it comes to responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Those who respond to his work see their need for Christ. And when they do, they will respond to the gospel in repentance from sin and faith in Christ. But tragically, those who refuse to respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit leave themselves open to the blinding work of the god of this world. Now, we need to understand this in degrees. Some people receive salvation in Christ the first time they hear the gospel. Apparently, Paul did. Of course, when one gets knocked to the ground by the sheer power of the majesty of the Son of God, it is a little difficult to refuse! But with others, it takes awhile. But the danger is, every time a person refuses to respond to the Holy Spirit's conviction, and rejection of the gospel, spiritual blindness happens. Another way to "look" at this is by way of the hardening of the heart. And the more one refuses the Spirit's conviction and rejection of the gospel, the more blind and hardened the heart becomes. And we may be wondering at this point-can a person get so hardened that he is unable to repent and believe the gospel? Through a number of Scriptures, I am convinced the answer is, tragically, yes. However, with each person is different. God is sovereign. He alone knows the ultimate destiny of a person who fails to respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The Old timey preachers used to call it, "sinning away your day of grace." On the other hand, as Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise-as in the promise of his coming to rule, reign and judge the world--as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. The bottom line here is that since the Lord has not put any of us on the "need to know roster" of who has sinned away their day of grace, we need to continue to proclaim the gospel regardless of how a person responds. And let us remember and never forget two things. First, the Holy Spirit has already gone before us. He has been at work convicting the heart of the precious soul before you, who needs Christ. And second, every unsaved person is in various stages of spiritual blindness and the hardening of the heart. So every time we encounter someone who needs Jesus, we are literally entering a battle for their soul. Plead with them. Proclaim it plainly. Aim for their conscience. And let me recommend the materials of a man named Ray Comfort. In his book, "The Way of the Master," he tells us that the conscience of one who needs Jesus must be addressed. Or the gospel will have no effect. Again, we could spend all day on this. But when we present the gospel, we need to proclaim it God's way. Finally, let me remind us of Paul's commitment to doing gospel work, God's way, with full knowledge that the god of this world was also at work for the souls of people. Remember when we first began the Corinthian Correspondence many months ago, that Paul entered Corinth with one thing on his mind as he tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:2: to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. But what kind of message was this? What did Paul expect would happen to those who he preached to? Did he have high hopes that the gospel would be received? You tell me! Here is Paul's view of the gospel: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing . . . we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block, literally a scandalous thing--to Jews and folly-or moronic--to Gentiles. Paul knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if anybody would repent and believe the gospel, it would be because of the power of God. It would not be clever gimmicks. It would not be "repeat this prayer." It would not be to entice people with the notion of having one's "best life now." Because Paul never outgrew his gratitude for the mercy of God. Because he aimed his gospel at the conscience of people. Because he proclaimed it as plainly and straight as possible, with sure knowledge that the Holy Spirit was already at work, that is how Paul fulfilled his ministry. And now it is our turn. I mentioned last week that there are at least 3 major issues that have lept from 2020 to 2021: Covid, racial tension, and a fundamental transition of the kind of government we will be living under. All 3 have converged on our country and culture. Its effects have powerfully arrested millions of hearts. And with every issue, what is the cure? With covid, even more than the disease itself it's the fear that goes along with it. Many people believe that getting covid is an automatic death sentence. Racial tension is ratcheted up to a fever pitch. White supremacy, Critical Race Theory all serve to severely divide us. The lurch from our so-called experiment in a representative form of self-government to that of socialism in ever increasing degrees has panicked so many of us. Again, what is the cure? It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel that sets people free from fear of anything or anyone in creation, so that we fear only God. It is the gospel of Christ that brings severely divided people, regardless of the source of division, into harmony and unity with one another under the Lordship of Christ. And it is the gospel the enables the church of Jesus Christ to thrive regardless of what system of government in which the church is planted. So, if the gospel is the cure, who are the only people on the planet qualified to proclaim it? You and me. Listen! Do you hear him? Isaiah did. When the prophet saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. When he saw the seraphim so aware of the majesty of God they covered their faces with their wings and he heard them continually calling out to the other saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And when Isaiah experienced the foundations of the thresholds shaking at the mighty voices of the angels while the temple filled with the smoke of his presence, he had a salvation moment. He pronounced, "Woe is me! I am undone!" "I deserve the wrath of God!" I am a sinner! Is there any hope for me? My eyes have seen the King." At that confession, a messenger of God flew to him, and cleansed him. "Your guilt is taken away. Your sin is atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." My friends. Have you experienced the mercy and forgiveness of God found in Christ alone? If you have then you have the only cure for all our ills. Because our ills lie, not in our culture but in the hearts of the men, women, young people who make up the culture. God is calling you and me who know Christ to proclaim his gospel. He is calling us to call all people to repentance from sin and faith in him. We are to proclaim it plain, aiming at the sinners' conscience. But we proclaim him not because we are religious. Not because we are church folk. Not so that we can make the world a better place. We proclaim him because we have never outgrown the wonder of his mercy in saving us. As we look at our country, our world, may we make Jeremiah's testimony our own: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." And with our hearts freshly kindled with awe and wonder as to how he could save even you, even me, then let's faithfully follow him, committing ourselves anew and afresh to him, with no price too high, no task too menial, no sacrifice too great. All for the love of our Lord and Savior.