Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO: How many of you remember entering the workforce?

When you applied for your first job as a accountant, engineer, mechanic, etc., you likely felt a bit of anxiety, right?

Can I do this?

I felt that way when the hospital sent us home with our first child… it almost feels wrong!

But eventually you came to the place where you could say legitimately that you are an accountant or whatever.

There is a similar challenge when it comes to disciple-making or ministry.

It is helpful for us to remember that the apostle Paul faced some criticism from some in the Corinthian church.

In fact, in his absence, there were others who came to Corinth claiming to be preachers of the Word, but many of them were actually false teachers.

With so many people claiming to be someone, how would you know who was legit?

Many of the Judaizers and other teachers actually carried letters from other well-known and respected folks declaring their legitimacy.

Their legitimacy was supposedly through the testimony of men.

That was one criticism against Paul.

Since he offered such a coarse rebuke of the Corinthians, some were offended and began asking, “Who are you that we should listen to you? Do you have a letter from Peter or John?”

Paul’s writing reflects these criticisms- you see in v. 1 how he begins with some rhetorical questions.

(READ v.1)

This is to help set the stage for his reply- a reply which you and I can evaluate our own role as a disciple-maker.

Let me just preface this with another reminder, and that is that we, as followers of Christ are all called to the Great Commission.

In the book of James, we are instructed to

So this morning, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide located in your bulletin as I walk us together through Paul’s response and challenge you to take a real honest look at your life as a follower of Jesus.

Today we are asking the question, “Are You Legit?”

Let’s learn together.

The first indicator is:

Legit Disciple-Makers Produce Fruit (2)

Lets read v. 2 again (READ)

I love this response- “You are our letter!”

In other words, Paul is telling these folks to look around!

The Corinthians were once enslaved by their sins, but there is a notable difference!

This is reflected in Paul’s first letter to the church- let me remind you of what Paul wrote in...

The reality is that Paul’s legitimacy was not from a letter written by another man that he would carry with him, but rather was the letter of the Corinthian lives that were transformed and all who saw them could see the difference.

ILL: We had some plants come up this spring in our garden- I don’t know enough about plants to tell what they are by their leaves.

But, as they grew, they started to produce little sunflowers.

You know what? that fruit/ flower testified to the legitimacy of those sunflower plants.

So it is with us.

You and I wear the title of disciple-maker because we have been called to it by God.

The evidence that we are living it out is in the fruit that we produce.

Now, I want us to get real honest: where is our fruit?

Is there evidence in your life that you are a legitimate disciple-maker?

As a church, are we sending our missionaries?

Are we commissioning ministers?

As individuals, are we walking others into a closer relationship with Christ?

Can we look at our relationships and honestly say that we are producing authentic Christ-followers?

Parents, are your children walking closer to Jesus because of you?

For Paul, the Corinthians were his letter of commendation/ legitimacy.

Who is yours?

Legit Disciple-Makers Produce Fruit- Are you Legit?

Discuss: Who is your letter of legitimacy as a disciple-maker?

The next indicator is:

Legit Disciple-Makers Emphasize Spiritual Change (3)

Look with me to v. 3 (READ)

Notice that Paul shows the Corinthians that they are not only his letter, but they are his letter written by Christ!

IOW, the authority of any man cannot compare with what is evident in the life change of the Corinthians because of the Gospel, Christ’s own authority.

He makes another comparison with tablets of stone.

That should draw us back to the tablets of stone which Moses delivered, authored by the same God.

However, the law cannot save, nor was it ever intended to.

In Paul’s day, there were those who insisted that salvation was Jesus + works, and their emphasis was on all the things we must do.

Morality is important, but it cannot stand alone.

Paul was explaining that we are changed not by a set of rules written down for us to try and keep.

Instead, he draws back to God’s promise in

This new covenant is one which works NOT from the outside in, but from the inside out.

So, Paul emphasized a change life brought on by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The external morality was a reflection of a spiritual redemption.

So, we must again look at our own disciple-making:

As a church, are we leading people to real life change by addressing their heart?

Or do we focus only on the external?

As individuals, do we challenge people based upon their relationship with Jesus?… either He is Lord or He is not.

Discuss: What does it mean that God has written on our hearts?

How does that change differ from simply being moral?

Legit Disciple-Makers produce fruit, and emphasize spiritual change.

Finally, we see that

Legit Disciple-Makers Rely On God (4-6)

Here is where we see Paul address the notion of adequacy.

If you remember in chapter 2, he asked “Who is adequate for these things?”

Let’s read 4-6 again (READ)

There are 2 realities that we must pick up on in this section:

We are not adequate in ourselves.

It does not matter how many letters you have from men, how many degrees you have on your wall, or how much practice you have speaking in front of people.

Friends, we are all just a bunch of sinful, broken people who have been redeemed by the grace of God!

God’s Word tells us that there in none who is good.

So in a sense, that feeling you have about not being good enough to make disciples has some level of validity.

But that’s where this second reality is essential:

Our adequacy is from God!

We see here two ways we are made adequate- 1) We are made adequate to stand before God.

It is by grace we are saved through faith not of works so that none should boast.

2) We are made adequate to carry out the work we’ve been called to.

Now, before you roll your eyes and mutter under your breath about how cliche that sounds, let me explain how this works.

First, I want to draw you back to Jesus’ words in the Great Commission.

Most of the time, we start with the command to Go Make Disciples, but just before that we see:

[Therefore Go…]

ALL AUTHORITY.

That means that there is no realm of life in which Jesus Christ does not have complete and perfect power.

Next, I want to point you to Jesus’ words regarding how He would give that power to us in order to accomplish the command.

Therefore, you and I, having surrendered our life to Christ, have received the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit which lives in us that enables and makes adequate you and I so that we can GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES.

Church, if we refuse to take up this mission- if we are convinced that we are simply not able to make disciples, then we are in absolute rebellion against God, calling Him either a liar or a wimp.

It is His promise of His power that enables us to carry out the mission.

So, I’m going to once again ask for you to be honest with yourself:

Are we making disciples?

Are you legit?

As we pray in a moment, if you cannot honestly answer that you are a legitimate disciple-maker, I am asking you to repent.

To confess your apathy, your selfishness, your rebellion to God this morning.

Perhaps the reason you are not making disciples is because you have never truly surrendered your own life to Christ.