2 Corinthians 3, the Apostle
Paul ended chapter 2. He ended chapter 2 in verse 17
by saying, for we, meaning him and the other apostles
and any man that God has called to preach the truth, for we are
not as many which corrupt the word of God But as of sincerity,
but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. He put a separation between those
that preach the truth and those that don't. True preachers and false preachers. He said those that corrupt the
Word of God. All right, now let's read the
first six verses in chapter three. He said, Do we begin again to
commend ourselves, or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation
to you, or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle,
written in our hearts, known and read of all men, For as much
as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit
of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables
of the heart. And such trust have we through
Christ to God word. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter
killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." Now, I am for education. Alright, I am for education. I believe education is good and
important, even when we're dealing with the things of the scripture.
I believe it's important to know how to read and know how to read
well. I believe that's important. I
believe it's important to know a little bit about the English
language. It's punctuation. Isn't that important? It's important
to know that when we see a period, what he is saying is over. That's it. Said, done, period,
right? It's also important to know that
when we see a comma or we see a colon, what he is saying is
not finished yet. Don't just stop right there.
Keep reading. He's either going to add to what
he's saying or he's going to explain what he's saying. Isn't
that right? Those things are important, extremely important. I believe that if a man is going
to preach, he needs to have a general understanding of how to study. I believe he needs a general
understanding of how to gather research, how to make an outline. All that's
important, extremely important. I believe it's important to understand
the history in certain events. Sometimes it helps us understand
the context of what a person is saying. You enter in to really
what he's saying and why he's saying it when you understand
the history of what all is taking place right there. But can a
man be educated into the gospel? Can a man be educated into the
gospel? And does completing a series
of courses and receiving a certificate, does that put a man into God's
ministry? The answer is absolutely not. We are not educated into the
gospel. We can be educated out of the
gospel, but we're not educated into the gospel. Now, how does
this work? How does this work? Because as
far as this world is concerned, when it comes to preaching and
pastoring a church, the first thing that pops into everybody's
mind, wanting to know your qualifications, if you're qualified to do this
is, where did you go to school? Religious college, it's called
seminary. My answer every time is, I didn't. Every time. I didn't. That appears to this world to
be such a humiliating answer to have to give. I didn't. I thank God for that answer.
I absolutely thank the God of heaven for that answer. I'm going
to show you why. Go with me to Ecclesiastes chapter
1. Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and look
with me at verse 18. For in much wisdom is much grief
and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. What he's saying is ignorance
is bliss. That's what he's saying. Ignorance
is bliss. Ignorance to what? Religion. Ignorance to anything. Turn on
the news. Turn on the news. The more you
learn from that news, the more your sorrow will increase. Especially in religion, though,
especially in religion, the more a man knows about religion, man
wants to go into school and start studying religion. He wants a
doctorate in divinity. He wants to be an absolute master
of divinity. So he goes into religion and
he wants to study religion. The more man knows about religion,
the more sorrow it will bring him. the more bondage it will
put him under, the more confusion it will bring to his mind. We're going to see this in just
a minute, but the Apostle Paul said, I have determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Period. Outside of that, I don't want
to know it. I really don't want to know it.
Turn over to Ecclesiastes 12. Ecclesiastes 12 verse 12 says,
and further, by these, my son, be admonished Of making many
books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Verse 13, he said, do you want
to hear the conclusion of the whole matter? Fear God and study
His Word. Fear God and study His Word. Look with me at Acts chapter
4. Acts chapter 4, verse 8. Then Peter, filled with
the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done
to the impotent man, by what means he's made whole, Be it
known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole. This is the stone which was set
at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Now when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that
they had been with Jesus. It was clear to them that Peter
and John had not been to formal religious college. That was clear
to them. It was also clear to them that
they had been with Jesus of Nazareth. They were repeating exactly what
he said. He clearly spent time with Jesus
of Nazareth, repeating everything he said. None of God's preachers
recorded in the Word. None of them went to seminary
and got a degree in religion but one. Only one, the Apostle
Paul, and this is what he had to say about it. Look with me
at Philippians 3. Philippians 3 verse 4. He said,
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, If any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more. Circumcise the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ, Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I may know him in the power of
his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. Saul of Tarsus learned from Gamaliel,
the professor at the religious college. The Apostle Paul learned
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Same man, two completely different
sets of credentials. Two completely different sets.
Before God would use Paul, he had to count all of his previous
credentials, dung. And we know, you know, we know
a much more crude word for that. That's what it is. It's just
junk. It's just junk. Anything that
is of man is no good. Paul said it's dung. So he had
to throw it all away. And when people say to me, when
they ask the question, where did you go to seminary? I truly
do say, thank God I didn't. Thank God, he did not cause me
to have to undo all that stuff and go through all that throwing
away of all that stuff. Thank God. Alright, well, how
then are God's preachers prepared to preach? How are they prepared
for this calling? How do they know what to say? What gives them the confidence
to stand up and teach? What makes them qualified to
be listened to? Why would somebody come and sit
down and listen to a true preacher? Go with me to John 6. John 6, verse 45. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. God's preachers are taught by
God. God's hearers are taught by God. All of God's people are taught
of God. All of God's people, we are all
taught of God. He puts his word in the preacher. How do we know what to say? He
puts his word in us. He puts his word in the preacher.
He puts his word in the hearer. That's how the hearer knows if
the man he's listening to is a true preacher of God. If he's
not preaching the word, he won't listen to him. He'll leave. God's Spirit confirms in the
heart of all of God's people, this is of God. This is of God. You don't need to see a certificate
of seminary completion from me, and I don't need to bring a certificate
with me when I go out from you saying that I'm qualified to
do anything. This congregation says he's qualified,
you know, to go out, and I've got the letters from the We don't
need that. God's Spirit confirms to the
heart of God's people, this is of God. It's all of God. Now,
God's Spirit also confirms to His people outside of God, this
is nothing. This is absolutely nothing. If
it's not of God, it's not anything. Now, go with me back to 2 Corinthians
3, and I promise you that was not just the introduction. We're going to see Paul say what
I just explained. I went in reverse order, all
right? He just finished saying in chapter 2 verse 17 that we're
true preachers, they are false preachers. Chapter 3 verse 1,
do we begin again to commend ourselves or need we as some
others epistles of commendation to you, a certificate? letters of commendation from
you? Do we need paperwork to prove
this?" He said, God's Spirit would prove
this. God's Spirit will prove to you that God has called me
to preach, and God's Spirit will prove to me that God has called
me to preach. When I first started, I kept
asking and wondering and thinking, has God called me to preach?
I'll do it, but has God called me to preach? And then it came
time, has God called me to pastor? I'll do it, but has God called
me to pastor? Has God done this? If it's not
of God, I don't want it. I don't want to do it. Paul said
in verse 2, you are our epistle, you're our certificate. written
in our hearts, known and read of all men." You're our confirmation. The fact that you have latched
on to Christ and you need to hear about Christ more than you
need anything else. He said that confirms to God's
preacher that he's been called to preach. And it does. It does. The fact that God has brought
people who need to hear the gospel confirms to a man I've been called
to preach. And when a believer hears a man
preach the person of Christ, when he hears that person, God's
Spirit speaks through the message and he convinces that child,
that man is called to preach. He hears God's voice through
his word. I'm yours. You're mine. You're
paid for. You're clean. You're free. God's people hear that. And that
confirms to them, that man has been called to preach. So verse
2, he said, You are our epistle written in our hearts, known
and read of all men. Forasmuch as you are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written
not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables
of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." Everything that
God produces in us and through us, everything we do, we're not
doing it for law, we're doing it for love. Every bit of it. And such trust have we through
Christ to God. All of our confidence is through
Christ to God. Every bit of it. Christ did all
the saving. Christ did all the calling. Christ does all the
preaching. That's my great desire when I
stand is that God will allow me to sit down And the Lord Jesus
Christ will stand up and speak to His people. That's my great,
great desire. If there's any true preaching
being done, Jesus Christ is doing the preaching. We're just tools. We're just vessels. If He does
not speak by His Spirit, through His Word, then His preacher won't
profit anybody, anything. Nothing. Verse 5 says, Not that
we are sufficient of ourselves, to think anything as of ourselves,
but our sufficiency is of God. God calling a man to preach,
that does not make that man any more special than any other believer.
It doesn't make that man any holier than any other believer.
It doesn't make him any more sufficient than any other believer. Our sufficiency, all of our sufficiency,
both to preach and to hear, is of God. If God doesn't do it,
we'll never hear it. If God does not say it, we'll
never preach it. And I'll just quote to you, you
can just listen to 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10 says, But by the
grace of God I am what I am, And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it were I
or they, so we preach, and so you believe." Our ability to
preach the gospel, our ability to hear the gospel, is of God. It's all by the grace of God. So he said at the end of verse
5, Our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." What that
means is, we are not preaching doctrine. That's what it means. Men go to seminary to learn doctrine,
and then they come out and they preach the doctrine they've learned.
You can't learn in seminary what God's true preachers preach.
We are not preaching doctrine. We're preaching a person. We're
preaching a person. We are not just preaching a five-point
outline. We're preaching a person. You hear this term, the doctrines
of grace, that's fine. That's been around a long time
and we know what people talk about Calvinism and they're talking
about things like that. The scripture actually says it
is the doctrine of Christ. Doctrine means words, teaching. This right here is the doctrine
of Christ. These are the words, the teaching
of Christ. And if all we have is the letter
of grace, if that's all we have, those five points, if all we
have is the letter of grace and just the organized knowledge
of grace, then we're going to kill the whole thing. I heard
a message Brother Henry preached one time titled, Will Calvinism
Kill a Church? I know exactly what he means.
You hear that and you think, what are you talking about? If
all we have is the letter of grace, then we're going to kill
the whole thing. If it is just written on the
mind, and if it's not written on the heart, we're going to
kill the whole thing. But if God will send His Spirit,
That's what Paul is saying. The preaching, the hearing, it's
all by God's Spirit. And if God will send His Spirit
and reign in our hearts, it's going to produce life. And every
soul that receives that life is going to say, this is all
of God. Every single one. This is all of God. The preaching,
the hearing, the believing, every bit of it. It's all of God. And
it is, isn't it? All right, you're dismissed.