Lesson this morning is in 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. The subject of this chapter, it just
keeps building as you go through chapter 3 and chapter 4, is about
the ministry of the gospel. The Apostle Paul had been slandered
and he'd been criticized by his enemies as though his part in
this work was of no value at all. They discounted him, the
fact that the work was even there. The fact that these people believed
what they believed. The fact that this thing was
established in this world should all have been accredited to the
Apostle Paul and the work that Christ has designed to do through
him. But these men discounted the
Apostle Paul altogether. They just took him totally out
of the picture of that church. They criticized him, and they
slandered him, and they acted as though his work was of no
value at all. And they kind of set Paul before
this church as a light-hearted man who put no value in his words. According to their criticism,
he said one thing and did another. He talked about love, but he
didn't love. He talked about mercy, but he
wasn't merciful. He talked about an interest in
them, but he obviously had no interest in them because he wasn't
there. He was somewhere else. And so Paul defends himself and
defends his work and assures his people of his love and interest
for them and in them. Those who minister the gospel
to men and women You must be clear on the critical issues
concerning the salvation of God's elect. You've got to be clear. Yes, I could fill every pew in
here if I wanted to avoid those issues. I could, and men do. We'd have to tear down our walls
and build bigger walls and the work would never be done if you
lay aside those issues, those critical issues. But Paul told
Timothy to study. study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth." We're not sent, contrary to popular opinion,
to make men and women feel better about themselves. You may very
well feel worse when you leave here than you did when you come
in. I'm not here to make you feel good about yourself. but to plainly declare the gospel
of God's sovereign grace to you. And as a preacher or ambassador
of God, I must at all times do two things before men. I must
insist on these two things. First, I must declare and insist
on my station and calling of God. If I'm not God's servant,
then my words are no more than my personal opinion. Now that's
just so. If a man gets up on TV this morning
and he says, I'm a messenger of God. If he's not a messenger
of God, then his words have no more weight than the guy down
in the bar. It's just an opinion. It's just his personal opinion.
If I'm not God's servant and called in sin of God on purpose
to you and speak to you in His stead, then my words carry no
authority. they carry no consequence. You
see what I'm saying? I know what it is when I have
to insist on my station. I know Paul said in one place
in here, he said, I can't quote him exactly, but
what he's saying is that it was almost foolish on his part to
try to establish himself. He felt of humility about that. He was
humbled to have to, you know, when I talk about being an ambassador
of God, you think that doesn't humble me? You think I don't,
you think I just take that for granted? And this is what Paul's
telling these people. And he goes on to tell them.
Now who is sufficient for these things? If I'm not called of God to this
station, then I have no basis for speaking to you. I have no
authority over you, nor anything spiritual to give to you. In
the 10th chapter of Romans, two of the four questions asked by
the Holy Ghost to the church, two of the four questions. How
shall you hear without a preacher? How shall he preach except he
be sent? So first of all, I must be clear
on my calling and insist that I'm here on God's behalf and
have His message to you. And then secondly, I must be
clear that I'm just a man and have no power of myself to do
anybody any good. Seem like a contradiction, no.
But it's not. We have this treasure, Paul says,
in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be
of God, and not of us. The preacher's goal, my goal,
is to glorify God through the preaching of Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. If God saves everybody in a place
or no one in a place, God must be glorified. His truth must
be declared. Now with these things in mind,
let's look at our text here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning
in verse 1. Do we begin again to commend
ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles
of commendation, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation
from you? Ye are our epistle, written in
our hearts, known and read of all men. Now, in 1 John chapter
4, John is telling the church how to know the difference between
God's preachers and those who are self-appointed and are not
called of God. He tells us how to know the difference. 1 John 4, verse 5. Speaking of the contrary, speaking
of those who are not called of God. He said, they are of the
world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth
them. Now let's just talk about that
for a minute. A worldly man, being of the world, fallen, depraved,
ignorant, walking in the vanity of his mind, he follows the way
of the world. Isn't that what Paul said in
2 Corinthians? I mean, in Ephesians chapter
2 when he's talking about you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sin? that you walked according to
the course of this world? You walked according to the prince,
the power of the air? That's how you walk. That's how
worldly men walk. That's how worldly men think.
And worldly men receive it. His way is the way of natural
logic. His way is the way of the rudimentary
or basic principles of men. His way is the way of free will. Each man determining his own
destiny. His way is the way of compromise. It's okay to compromise. It may
be between a husband and a wife, but it's not between you and
God. His way is the way of compromise, and His way is the way of shaving
off the sharp edges. His way is the way of reward. and wages. And they may differ
on their ideas of church government. They may differ on their styles
of worship, whether to have one pastor or a presbytery. But the
principles by which they believe and what they preach is the same.
It's the same. They are of the world. They're
like-hearted and like-minded. They are of the world, and the
world heareth them. That's what John said. They have
the respect of the world, the affection of the world, and the
ear of the world. Verse 6, John said, we are of
God, born of God, called of God, taught of God, sent of God. We are of God. Now, he that knoweth
God, here is us. In the exact same way that the
world hears those men, recognizes what they're saying, what they're
saying seems right and reasonable to them, and they receive them.
In that same way, that man who's born of God, he recognizes God's
man by what he preaches. He recognizes his setting forth
of the character of the living God. And those who know God,
hear Him. They hear Him. Hereby know we
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Now turn with me to
1 Corinthians chapter 1. What we're talking about is these
people being within themselves His letter of commendation. They couldn't deny Him. They
couldn't deny what He preached. They couldn't deny His love.
They couldn't deny anything about Him. Because they were His epistle. And it was written in their hearts.
Now watch this. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. Unto the church of God, which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, call
to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name
of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Even, verse
6, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. What happened? That testimony
that Paul preached and declared to them, that testimony of Christ,
was confirmed in them. Not just to them, but in them. His testimony, which is the Gospel,
was heard, it was received, it was embraced, And it was rejoiced
in. And Paul was received as God's
ambassador, and they were treated by God's ambassador as children
of God. Now, he said, do I need some
other form of credentials? Would it matter if I come to
you and said, the president sent me? The Southern Baptist Association
has granted me permission to come to you. I'm here on their
authority. Would that make a difference? Do I need some other form of
credentials, Paul says? Do I need as worldly religion
letters of commendation to you or from you? You yourselves are
my letter of recommendation. Written in our hearts, known
and read of all men. Verse 3. Forasmuch as ye are
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered
by us, written not with ink..." Now, I want you to pay attention
to the wording of this verse. Paul said, "...ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistles 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. Paul ministered this Gospel to
them. The Holy Spirit did the work
in their hearts. And this is what I've been trying
to teach you for months and months and months. The Holy Spirit of
God works in conjunction according to His own design, according
to His own purpose, through the ministry of the Gospel. And that's
how men are called, that's how men are matured, that's how men
are saved. The gospel ministry is shrouded
with all sorts of superstitious ideas and notions. But the truth
is that God the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with His ambassadors
to call out and confirm God's elect, to mature God's elect,
to feed them, rebuke them, correct them, and exhort them, and preserve
them unto the end. Paul said, Ye are the epistles
of Christ, ministered by us, written with the Spirit of the
living God upon your hearts. Verse 4, And such trust have
we through Christ to God concerning this work. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything of ourselves. I don't picture myself
writing this epistle on your heart. Paul said, not that we're
sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our
sufficiency is of God. It's of God. My friend, salvation
is a divine work. This whole idea about this work
being in the minds and hearts of men and men making decisions
and men determining their destinies and all this kind of nonsense,
I'm telling you it's not of God. Not of God. This work of salvation
is a divine work. It calls right up front. It calls
for divine intervention. It calls for divine regeneration. It's a divine work. And its beginning
is from eternity in God's purpose and grace. It was there when
sinners were chosen to be beneficiaries of the blessings of God. It's
according to His own purpose and grace given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. We're blessed of the Father with
all spiritual blessings, with all the provisions of grace according
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
And in the fullness of time, Christ appeared and accomplished
our redemption, fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf,
and gave Himself for us. And then, as He Himself told
His disciples, God raised Him from the dead, and He ascended
to the right hand of God, where He sits upon that throne as the
surety of God's everlasting covenant of grace. And He, having ascended
to this glorious throne, sits there expecting till His enemies
be made His footstool. And He sits there that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, for by grace are
you saved through faith. And that faith not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of
works lest any man should boast." So the work of the ministry is
a work ordained of God. It's not a work that evolved
through the ages. It's not a work that was designed
by the church. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Providence is ruled
and arranged to this end. Now you just think about that. I'm talking about providential
things in this world that we don't even give a thought to
unless they come up in the news. All being arranged to this end
for the calling out of God's election. Creation is preserved
to this end. Listen to this statement. This
is in Romans chapter 8. The earnest expectation of creation
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. All creation
is preserved to this end. The giving of the Holy Spirit
is to this end. What did He tell those group
of men that He called to go forth and testify for Him? What did
He tell them? You go to Jerusalem and you stay there until you
be endued with power from on high. The giving of the Holy
Spirit is geared to that end. The church is established in
this world to this end. Paul said the church of the living
God is the pillar and ground of the truth. Salvation is not
just giving assent to a doctrine. It's not just learning a doctrine.
Yes, you must hear a doctrine. Yes, you must give assent to
that doctrine. But it goes past that. It goes
past that. You must believe and rest your
soul upon the Christ of doctrine. Salvation is not just giving
assent to a doctrine. It's a heart work. It's a divine
work. It's an effectual work. It's
a life-changing, mind-changing, heart-changing work. And we are
ministers of Christ. We know more than most that we
are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves,
but our sufficiency is of God. Now listen to this, verse 6,
Our sufficiency is of God, who 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. Only God can make a man an able
minister of the New Testament. Only God can. Now you can decide
to preach. Any one of these kids in here
can make a decision to preach. I'm going to go preach. And you
can go to seminary. And they'll teach you how to
preach. They'll teach you what to say. You come out of seminary
and you go out there and you join some organization and they'll
get you a church. And you get up there in the pulpit
and you can preach and preach and preach and preach and preach.
But nothing's going to happen unless God the Holy Spirit accompanies
you. And if He hadn't sent you, He's
not going to accompany you. I don't care what you know. I
don't care who you are. I don't care what your desire
is. Only God can make a man an able minister of the New Testament. And this is not talking about
the second half of the Bible. People carry around this little
book called the New Testament in their pocket. That's half
a Bible. It's not talking about the second half of the Bible.
This is talking about the New Covenant which is not new, but
newly revealed, newly manifested. And this covenant is God's everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And Jesus Christ is
our covenant head and representative. He is the surety of this covenant. And by virtue of His accomplishments
and God's purpose and power, He's the mediator of this covenant.
Hebrews 9, verse 15. And he is the testator of this
covenant. What's that? That's the guy that
makes sure that what this last will and testament was goes to
whom it was sent. He's the testator. Nobody else
is going to get it. It's going to go to his heirs.
It's going to go to those predestinated under the adoption of children.
And he's going to see to it. He's the executor of the will
of God. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me to do thy will, O God, by the which will we're
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Brethren, ministers are God's
ambassadors who are reading and proclaiming to the heirs of Christ
the benefits of God's everlasting covenant of grace. Now, I'd just
venture to say, if something come out in the newspaper, and
somebody died, some wealthy man, some billionaire, made himself
rich in the oil market, and he died, and a list of his heirs
was in the newspaper, and somehow, magically, your name appeared
there as one of the heirs, I'd venture to say, you're going
to go over and listen to the will, wouldn't you? I might get something. I'm going.
I'm going. I have an interest in this. If
your name wasn't there, you wouldn't bother to go, would you? That's
what preaching is. It's the reading of the will
of God. And we find ourselves in that
message. We find ourselves in that text.
Who allows us to do that? God the Holy Spirit. Galatians 4, verse 6. Because
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. No more servant, but a son, and
if a son, an heir of God through Christ." Now, I can't look at
men and women and tell you who are and who are not chosen of
God, and I don't have to. I don't have to. God has made
me an able minister of this new covenant by accompanying my message
with the Spirit of the living God. He knows who's chosen and
who's not. He knows who's to be given faith
and who's not. And He's able to effectually
cause those people to know it. According to I Thessalonians
chapter 1, what constitutes a knowledge of our election is the gospel
coming in power and in the Holy Ghost, and such a one becoming
a follower of God's messenger and the Lord, so that every man
called of God in effectual power by the Holy Spirit becomes an
example to all that believe. All that believe. And as such,
we also may know, as Paul did, their election of God. Now next
week, the Lord willing, we're going to get into this a little
deeper. We're going to look at the comparison. There was a glory
that attended the giving of the law. There was a glory. Moses came down and had put a
veil over his face. There was a glory there. And
there's glory when this thing of Christ is revealed in the
hearts of His people. And Paul said there is such glory
in this thing that goes on in the hearts of God's elect, such
glory that accompanies that work of redemption in Christ, that
the other seems like it didn't have any glory at all.