2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6
The Life of Paul, Message 19
By Pastor Brian
Fort Bend Community Church
2015.03.15
ENCOUNTER Service
Introduction
Ministry is hard. Everyone feels the heaviness of the ministry. Everyone feels that weight of what it takes to serve God. What is adequate for these things?
1. Pastors and ministers
2. Elders and deacons
3. Small group leaders
4. Worship leaders, Sunday school teachers, youth and children workers
5. Disciple people
Many people shy away, because they feel they can’t do it. It is too much.
This morning I would like to share with you something about the ministry which God has laid on my heart for a long time. Something that really excites me.
I was first confronted by this truth during my first year first semester in the seminary. Dr. Richard Strauss came to DTS to speak in the annual Bible conference. 4 messages during chapel. 20 minutes each. These messages were speaking directly to me and deeply impacted me. I am still affected by it today. Whenever I am down or think about quitting, the same passage of Scripture comes to my aid and lift me up. Who is adequate for these things? I want to share with you the same passage this morning.
2 Corinthians 2:14-6:10 probably is the single most important passage on the Christian ministry. Yes, the ministry is difficult and impossible but not if we understand the aim of the ministry correctly. The ministry is weighty but not if we know the correct power source. The Great Commission is hard but not if we understand the glory of the ministry.
This morning I pray that God will speak to you just through this passage just as He has spoken to me more than 36 years ago.
“Father, we commit this time to you. I ask for wisdom and clarity to deliver what you have laid on my heart and I pray that you would give each listener a desire to do what your Word has said. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”
The Background of the Passage
It was during the lowest moment of Paul’s life. He was depressed and down. Oh yes. Even the giant of faith and the writer of the Holy Bible does have moments of doubts and sorrow. When things are not going right, when we are not finding solutions to our problems, when we are not able to find the way out of our difficulties, we get discouraged and depressed.
Paul’s lowest moment came in his relationships with his followers in Corinth. They were a constant source of grief to him. He founded the church and labored in their midst for 18 months (Acts 18:11). But after he left Corinth
, the church began to split and had all kind of problems. Paul wrote the First Corinthians to them in Ephesus to expose theirs sins and denounced their wrong doings. But the opposition began to gain strength and they challenged Paul’s authority so he made a quick trip to Corinth. But that was an unpleasant experience. The opposition insulted him, belittling him. He returned to Ephesus and sat down to write an extremely harsh letter to them demanding for their repentance. And he sent the letter by Titus and he waited for the response to come in Ephesus. This second letter was lost to us.
This was Paul’s lowest moment. He himself wrote about this moment, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not that you should be made sorrowful, but that you might the love which I have especially for you.”
Paul was depress. Down. Tears. Lack of energy for work.
The situation got worse. When it rains, it pours. A riot broke out in Ephesus against him. He had to leave prematurely from Ephesus and went north to the city of Troas. And that’s chapter 2:12 begins.
“Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord…” Troas was right there for him. A beautiful opportunity to preach the Gospel. There was freedom in the city of Troas to preach the gospel to everyman. It was a preacher’s dream. But there was only one problem. Paul was depress. He could not concentrate. All he was thinking about was that situation in Corinth and the possibility of losing those people to the false teachers. He tried to preach but he felt he was a walking disaster.
“I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother.” He was very depress for the reason that Titus had not come. Paul had no zeal for his ministry, no joy in his service. He was burdened in his spirit. The ministry now became a very heavy load for him, paralyzing him with worries and self-doubt. What about they had rejected his letter, refusing to repent? What if they had rejected his apostolic authority? Was he going to lose them? What is he going to do?
It doesn’t sound like the man who wrote Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.”
Or Romans 8:37, “For in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved me.” Or Philippines 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” It doesn’t sound like the same man. Sometimes it is easier to preach than to live it.
You may find yourselves in the same situation as Paul. You wanted to serve God. You commit yourself to love Him. But here you are, seem trapped by the tyranny of time. After many years of hard work, you finally got your degree. You got your first job. The taste of your first paycheck is sweet. You married your sweet heart. And you started a family. Kids keep you very busy. And between your work, the kids’ music lessons, and annual vacation, you try your best to serve in the church. You may be a Sunday school teacher, a D-Group leader for the youth, or a small group leader. You wanted to be disciple and to disciple someone. But life is very busy for you.
And slowly ministry does not seem to excite you anymore. There is the lack of impact you perceive of no results in many things you do in the church. Meetings after meetings… one retreat is done and next year is the same. Why are we doing this? Boredom, lack of progress… then comes the discouragement. There are conflicts and personality difference. You begin to get hurt. Who is adequate for these things? You are ready to quit and become a spectator. Why serve? Why do ministry? You quit.
That is what Paul did. Paul quit. He left Troas and went on to Macedonia. But things didn’t come easier in Macedonia. You can’t run away from your problem. Look at 7:5, “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.” I don’t know what he is exactly talking about here. The conflicts may be opposition from the non-believers or from the Jews. May be disharmony within the church of Macedonia. May be some physical problems resulted from worries, headache, stomach pain… The fear of losing the Corinthians never go away.
This was the lowest point in Paul’s life as recorded in the Bible. Pressure from within and from without. Afflictions from every side. Emotional down and depress. No energy to go on.
Then suddenly, the whole situation changed dramatically. The tone turned 180 degree. Read 2:14.
“But thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ.” What a change. Paul leaped from the valley of depression to the mountain top of glory. He was so excited and so overwhelmed with joy. He did not even tell us what happened, what triggered the change. He finally told us after 4 chapters in Chapter 7 verse 6. “But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoice even more.”
Paul was a human being. He is like anyone of us. He was thrilled when he was accepted and longed for. He saw the impact of his ministry. He saw God was at work, changing the lives of the Corinthians. They repented and turned around for him.
Between 2:14 to 7:5, Paul penned down one of the most beautiful passage in the NT on the glory of the ministry. It is personal and heartfelt. It has inspired many great books written on the nature of Christian ministry. Why do we serve? What are we doing in ministry? What is ministry? How great is the work that we do serving God?
Today we have just enough time to pick up two points from 2:14 to 3:6. We are going to answer two questions:
1. What is ministry? What is the aim or the goal of ministry? Why do we serve?
2. Where does the power come from when we serve? How do we find strength to serve and to make disciples against all odds? Who is adequate for these things if ministry is so hard?
Let us begin with 2:14.
I The Nature of the Ministry, 2 Cor 2:14-17
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.
What kind of ministry is this? Paul said that this is a triumphant ministry. A ministry that fights spiritual battle and wins. It is a ministry of life and death. Thanks be to God, He is the commander-in-chief. He always leads us in triumph.
We serve in a triumphant ministry of life and death. It is no small thing.
Obviously Paul is using the Roman triumphant march as a backdrop of his figure of speech. It was essentially a parade through the central street of Rome, prepared for the victorious successful general who had been the commander-in-chief of a victorious triumph. The priests burning incense, the state officers, then the displace of the captives in the ballet, then the general leading his army in the triumphant march. The smell of the incense reminds the victors of their sweet conquest; but the same smell serves as death signal to the captives that the end is near. Death.
This is our ministry. This is what we are doing, telling people about eternal life and e=eternal damnation. If the gospel is accepted, it means eternal life. If it is rejected, it marks eternal death. This is the work that we are doing. In making disciples, we are changing life with God. He always leads us in triumph. The difference is huge. Following Christ and not following Christ, changing the way we live and not changing the way we live are the difference between life and death. This is what we do in ministry. This is what you are doing in ministry. It is of ultra-important. We are here to change life.
Look at 3:2. “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” We are working with people. People with flesh and blood. You are our letter, known and read by all men. We are in the business of changing life. Look at your own life, examine who you were before know Christ and what you are right now. Someone has ministered to you and helped to change your life. And you are ministering to the youth, to the children, or to another adult. They are your recommendation letter written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to present them “perfect before god.” (Col 1:28) The success of the church depends how much we have infected changes in people’s lives.
Crowd of people does not mean success, neither is a beautiful building nor a huge budget or expanding missionary program or successful youth program. The real test is whether life is being changed, whether the people are demonstrating the character of Jesus Christ in their home, in their job, in the school. That is what really counts. That is the goal of the ministry. That is what the ministry is all about.
This is what keeps me going when time gets tough. When I see the people I work with have changed in their value system, in their understanding of God, in their knowledge of God’s will, in their walk with God, it is worth all the troubles in the world.
If one of you change a little bit of your life for the sake of Christ because of this message, it is worth all the work and hours that were put into it. It is the change in my life, the change in your life that really excite me about the work of the ministry. Do I like the pressure in the ministry? No. Do I like the lack of success in the ministry? No. Do I like the hard work? No. But if for the change and transformation in your lives and my life, the answer is yes. This is the motivation. This is the goal of every ministry.
If you are discouraged in the work that you are serving in the church, don’t look at the program itself. But look at the people your program helps. Look at the change you have helped them to make. Don’t just look at the Sunday school attendance number, but look at the students. The changes they have made because of the Sunday school class is what the ministry is all about. You will begin to see the excitement in your labor again. It will re-vitalize your desire to serve Him more, to do more.
Illustrations:
II. The Power of the Ministry, 2 Cor 3:1-6
The second question: if our work is changing life, how can we do it? It is not easy to change anyone’s life, is it? I have tried to change my wife for thirty-some years to no avail. I have not succeeded even in changing her hairstyle. It is very difficult to cause someone to change. If this ministry is of life and death, who is adequate for these things?
Who is capable to bring sustainable and abiding changes in people’s lives?
3:5 is a key verse. “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” Our adequacy is from God. What does this mean?
The word, “adequate” means “sufficient, competent, able, and big enough.” Who is able to do these things?
1. We put up the effort but the life changing results come only from God. Our adequacy is from God. The growth of the ministry comes from God. God opens doors and He uses us to change life. Not that we are adequate to consider anything as coming from ourselves, our adequate is from God.
2. Our adequacy is from God makes us humble. There is nothing to boast in ministry. We are weak but God is strong. This is Paul’s major ministry philosophy: power in weakness. Until we understand and admit that we are weak, God’s power won’t come through. Our adequacy is from God.
3. Practically, it means…
This verse is the power source of Christian service. The Apostle Paul goes the distance, runs the race with all that he has with a single focus—to testify to the Gospel. He brings changes to people’s lives. And we always admire his dedication and his all-out effort. No reserves; no retreats; and no regrets.
So who is adequate for the ministry? Who can serve Him? No one can if we say we can with our own native ability. I can’t do it with my own strength. I can’t meet the expectation.
But if you are feeble and frustrated, feeling your own limitations in serving God, God is here for us to rely upon him. He can do it. Our adequacy is from God.
Conclusion
Who is adequate for these things? No one is adequate except those who has a clear understanding of the aim of the ministry and draw power from the only adequate source—God. So next time when I am down and ready to quit, please remind me that I am here to change life and there is power available for me through Christ. And if this excites me in the ministry, I hope this will do the same to you.
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