Bibles this evening once again
to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6. 2nd Corinthians chapter 6. We then, as workers together
with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of
God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee
in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored
thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Give him no offense in anything
that the ministry be not blamed. but in all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God in much patience, in affliction, in necessities,
in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in
labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by
long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and
dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and
yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold
we live, as chastened and not killed. as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing,
and yet possessing all things. I'm going to repeat what I said
last week at the beginning of my message, and that is that
the ministry of the gospel, the gospel of Christ, is a work. We see the apostle speaks of
workers. The ministry of the gospel of
Christ is a work, and we work in this work. Every believer
is engaged. Every believer is in the work
through preaching, witnessing, teaching, praying, giving. Every
believer. We all have the same goal, and
that is the glory of God and the salvation of sinners. But
in saying that, that all believers, we all are in this ministry together. I believe that this passage of
scripture speaks especially to those men that God has set apart
for the work of the ministry. And that's the way we will look
at it once again. We saw last time in verses one
and two, Paul's instructions to all gospel ministers as workers. By the word all, notice he says,
we then as workers together with him beseech you also that you
receive not the grace of God in vain. We all, Paul includes
the ministers at Corinth with himself and those who traveled
with him. And I pointed out three things
to us. First of all, all gospel ministers work together. He said,
we are workers together with him. And we saw, as we looked
at 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9, where the apostle had
made this statement before, that we are workers together with
God. And he referred to himself and
Apollos, himself planting and Apollos watering. Now we are
workers together with God. We are subordinates, of course.
But that's the first point I wanted to make, that all gospel ministers
are workers together, workers together with him. And second,
all gospel ministers are not to receive the grace of God in
vain. And I pointed out that this is
not the grace of God that brings salvation that he has referenced
to here. This is not the grace of God
that brings salvation. God's grace is not an offer.
God's grace is powerful in bringing salvation. God saves those whom
he has chosen. It is an effectual work. But the grace of God here that
Paul mentions that we are not to receive in vain is the gifts
of the ministry. Those gifts that God gives unto
men qualifying us in the gospel ministry. We're not to take these
gifts and wrap them up in a napkin. And this explains one of the
parables of our Lord. We didn't look at this last week,
but let's go back, if you will, to Luke chapter 19. We will not
read the whole parable, but just the beginning. But in Luke chapter
19, Verses 12 and 13. He said, therefore, a certain
nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom
and to return. And he called his 10 servants.
Now these servants in this parable represent men who are called
into the ministry. They're gospel ministers. Receive
not the grace of God in vain. These gifts that you are given,
just like in this parable, they were given certain talents. It
says in verse 13, he called his 10 servants and delivered them
10 pounds and said unto them, occupy till I come. Now the word occupy, According
to John Gill, it means make use, make use of the ministerial gifts,
exercise them, lay them out, trade with them, occupy till
I come. And when God calls a man to preach,
he's not calling him to a life of ease. If any man desire the
office of a bishop, he desires a good work. And yes, God qualifies,
God gives us the gifts for the ministry, but we are not to receive
them in vain. We have a responsibility to occupy,
to use them, to study, to give ourselves, as we saw last week
when we looked at that passage concerning Timothy, that he was
to give himself to reading and to meditation and those things. Now the third thing back in our
text, first of all, All gospel ministers are workers together.
We're workers together with Him, that is, with Christ. Secondly,
all gospel ministers are not to receive the grace of God in
vain. And third, all gospel ministers
are to work in this, that is, God's day of salvation. In this dispensation, there's
not going to be another There's not going to be another dispensation. We have that old dispensation
and now this dispensation that Paul refers to as the fullness
of the times when the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the
times was made flesh and came into this world. When he comes
again, then we will all enter into the eternal state. There'll be no more preaching,
no more preaching of the gospel. So all gospel workers are to,
in this day, in this dispensation, now, today, is the day of salvation. And so we are to preach the gospel
and beseech men to be reconciled unto God. Now tonight, I want
us to look at Paul's instructions to all gospel ministers as to
their conduct. We looked last week to all gospel
ministers concerning their work, but now their conduct in verses
3 through 6. And again, I want to say that
these words apply to all believers, but they especially apply to
men who are called to the gospel ministry. They apply to all believers. For instance, if you look back
in 1 Corinthians, keep your place here, but turn back just a few
pages to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. This applies to all believers, not
just to the ministers, but to all believers. Verse 31, Whether
therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all
to the glory of God. That's not just speaking to preachers.
It's speaking to all believers, all of God's children. Whatever
we do, eat or drink or whatsoever, do all to the glory of God. Now
notice, give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles,
nor to the church of God. even as I please all men in all
things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many,
that they may be saved." So these verses we're looking at tonight,
yes, they apply to all believers, but especially apply to the man
that God has set apart in the gospel ministry. Now, as in many
places in the letters of Paul, we have a negative and then a
positive. And usually in that order, first
the negative and then the positive. And the negative here is found
in verse three. Giving no offense in anything
that the ministry be not blamed. The gospel message, the gospel
of Jesus Christ is offensive to the natural man. It is. It's offensive when men hear
who God is and who they are, and the only remedy for sin is
through the sacrifice, the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Man cannot save himself, that he needs God to intervene in
his life and do something for him, something he cannot do for
himself. It is naturally offensive to
the natural man, to the man without Christ. The gospel. The gospel
is offensive. But what Paul is here saying,
that we, those of us who preach the gospel, we should not give
offense by Our conduct and in our characters. We must avoid
actions. You know, if people come into
this place and they come and they hear me preach and I preach
the gospel and they get mad at the message, at the gospel, that's
one thing. But I do not want to offend people
by my words or by my personality or anything like that. That's
what the Apostle is speaking of here. The gospel itself is
offensive, but we must avoid actions and words and habits
which offend and naturally hinder the success of the gospel. You
know, in the law of God, back in Leviticus, this is found in
chapter 19 and verse 14, this is one of the commands that God
gave. Now you wouldn't think, you wouldn't
think this command would be necessary. But knowing mankind, humankind,
knowing the depravity of man, God gave this command. He said,
thou shalt not curse the deaf. Here's a man who can't hear anything,
and here you are, and you just curse him. Now you would think
there would not need to be a command to do that, wouldn't you? But
God commanded not to curse the deaf. And then he said, nor put
a stumbling block before the blind. Here's a man who's blind
and, you know, he's kind of feeling his way along and you put a rock
in front of him to make him fall down. You would think if we didn't
know the wickedness and the evil of men's hearts, we would believe
something like that would never be necessary to give a command.
But God saw that it was. Thou shalt not curse the deaf,
nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy
God. I am the Lord. And John Gill's
comment on this verse, where the apostle said, giving no offense
in anything that the ministry be not blamed, he said, take
all possible care. to lay no stumbling block in
the way of the hearers of the gospel." Take all possible care to lay
no stumbling block in the way of the hearers of the gospel.
And Brother Mahan, in his commentary, he pointed this out. He said
there are persons who are awaiting all opportunities to reproach
the gospel and discredit the ministry of the word. People
are just waiting, just watching for any excuse not to believe
and not to trust Christ, not to obey Christ and not to follow
Christ. There are people who are looking
for any excuse they can find And if they can find one in the
preacher, then that's what they're going to use. Now that's the
negative. Giving no offense in anything
that the ministry be not blamed. But now, the rest of these verses,
four through ten, these are all positive. First, the gospel minister
must conduct himself in patience. Verses 4 and 5. But in all things
approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, much
patience in afflictions and necessities and distresses and stripes and
imprisonments and tumults and labors and watchings and fastings. Patience is a grace. Now you
never pray for patience, do you? You never pray for patience because
you know from the word of God, tribulation worketh patience. But patience is something that
is a grace and it is a grace that we all need and especially
every gospel minister needs a great deal of patience. For the sake
of Christ and his gospel, he must patiently bear, without
murmuring and without anger, these things which the apostle
mentions here. He will pass through some of
these things. And Paul, as you look at this
list here, he says, But in all things approving ourselves as
the ministers of God in much patience, then he names these
things in which we must exercise patience in afflictions, necessities,
distresses, strikes, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watchings, and
fastings. You look at that list and you
can find passages of scripture where the Apostle Paul experienced
every one of these things. Every one of them. Patience. Keep your place here, but I want
you to go back to Matthew chapter 11 with me just a moment. You know, John the Baptist, he
was shut up in prison and Here in Matthew chapter 11, verse
2, we read, now, when John had heard in the prison the works
of Christ, now, he heard the works that Christ was performing,
miracles, miracles, opening the eyes of the blind, opening the
ears of the deaf, healing those that were lame. I mean, miracle
after miracle. And here he sits in prison. Think about this. Here this man
of God, this servant, this minister of the gospel, here he sits in
prison. And yet he is hearing that the
Lord Jesus Christ is working all of these miracles. And he sent two of his disciples
unto him, and to say, Art thou he that should come, or do we
look for another? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and show John. Now you go back and you show
John again those things which you do here and see. The blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel
preached to them. Now don't miss this next verse. And blessed, blessed is he Whosoever
shall not be offended in me." John's in prison. The Lord's
working these miracles. I mean, with just a thought,
John could have been delivered from prison. But no, he remains
in prison. And our Lord says, blessed is
he. You know, sometimes this patience,
that's what I'm talking about. A gospel minister needs patience
as he goes through these things that Paul We all know that God
could deliver us immediately. He has the power, no question
about it. And yet, our Lord said, blessed
is he who is not offended in me. Not offended in my action.
Not offended in my providence. Not offended in my watch care. over you and your situation. Blessed is he who is not offended
in me." So that's the first thing we're told. The gospel minister
must conduct himself in patience. In patience. Secondly, the gospel
minister must conduct himself in pureness. Notice in verse
6, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness,
by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the
power of God. His patience has to do especially
with outward things. The minister's patience that
he needs has to do with outward things. But his pureness, it
has more to do with inward things, his motives, His motives must
be pure in preaching the gospel. He must not be seeking self-aggrandizement. He must not be doing the things
that he does, as the apostle Peter says, for filthy lucre's
sake. His motives must be pure. His knowledge, his knowledge
in the preaching of the gospel must be pure. It must be sincere. That is the unadulterated word
of God. Pureness. Not to be mixed. The Word of God is not to be
mixed with other things. Now, having said that, no man
is able of himself. No man. No man is able of himself
to manifest the kindness and the love unfeigned that Paul
is calling for here. But He does so in the power of
the Holy Spirit, and only in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Notice that verse again. By pureness, by knowledge, by
long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God. In Himself, no
man is sufficient for this ministry. But notice the third thing, the
gospel minister must conduct himself armed in righteousness
on the right hand and on the left. Look at the last part of
verse 7. By the armor of righteousness
on the right hand and on the left. Now some believe that this
refers to the whole armor of God. But seeing that Paul uses
the right hand and the left hand, I'm of the opinion he's speaking
about the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith. The
minister of the gospel, he must be armed in righteousness, he
must have the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And
then he must have the shield of faith. And we see these weapons
are both offensive and defensive weapons. Offense, yes, the sword
of the spirit, preach the word, the instant, in season, out of
season. but also defensive, the shield
of faith to ward off the fiery darts of Satan, the temptation
that will come his way. And then the gospel minister. Fourth, the gospel minister will
experience many paradoxes. Now I've counted these, there's
nine paradoxes. that the gospel minister is surely
to experience, and believers as well, but especially, as I
said, this refers to those men who preach the gospel. Number
one, he will experience both honor and dishonor. Notice what he says there. By
honor and dishonor. Some men, some men will receive
the gospel minister with honor, will respect him, will speak
well of him for Christ's sake. And at the same time, other men,
they will speak evil of him. They will charge him with contempt.
And as the Apostle Paul said, they were considered as the off-scouring
of all things. Just the filth of the world. By honor and dishonor. Paradoxical,
isn't it? The same man. He knows honor
by those who love Christ and he knows dishonor by those who
hate Christ. Number two, he will experience
good report and evil report. It was the gospel minister's
person first When I said honor and dishonor, we're talking about
His person, but now we're talking about His message. He will experience
good report and evil report. Some will receive the message,
the gospel of Jesus Christ, with joy and thanksgiving, while others
reject it, and not only reject it, but say all manner of evil
against it. Paul was charged, we know, with
teaching. He was, as I said, he experienced
all of these things by honor and dishonor, by good report
and evil report. You know in the letter of Romans,
I think it's four or five times, he mentions things that people
said about him, said that he was teaching. One of those things
was he They accused him of teaching that we should sin. The more
we sin, the more grace we receive. And you remember how he answers
each and every one of those false accusations. God forbid, God
forbid. Yes, evil report and good report. And number three, he will be
acclaimed a true minister of the word by some and a deceiver
by others. by honor and dishonor, by evil
report and good report, as deceivers and yet true. He will be acclaimed
a true minister of the Word of God by some, and others will
say, well he's nothing more than a deceiver. When a faithful preacher
of the gospel is called a deceiver, I said a faithful preacher of
the gospel, when he is called a deceiver, He is merely experiencing
what his master experienced. Because that's what they said
about Christ. You find this in Matthew 27.
When they went, the religious leaders went to Pilate to beg
him to put a guard on that tomb. And the thing that they called
Christ was, we remember that deceiver. That deceiver said
he would rise from the dead in three days. So when a minister
of the gospel is called a deceiver, he's just experiencing what his
master experienced. Number four, he is both well-known
and unknown. This is a gospel minister. He's
both well-known and unknown. He's well-known by God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father loved Him
with an everlasting love and chose Him in Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ knows His sheep, and they know Him. The Holy Spirit
knows them, quickens them, and indwells them, but the world
does not know them. They're both known and unknown. And number five, He is both alive
and dying. A paradox, isn't it? To be both
alive and to be dying at the same time. But it's true, of
all men, it's true of gospel preachers. Look back to 2 Corinthians
4 and verse 16. He said, for which cause we faint
not, but though our outward man perish, we're dying. The outward
man perish. Yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. But preachers are not immune
to diseases. Gospel ministers, they're not
immune to diseases. They're not immune to old age
and infirmities. Paul, we know that he was exposed
to death in a number of ways, but he lived And he would do
so until his race was ended. And that's the same of every
gospel preacher, both alive and at the same time dying. Dying
outwardly the flesh, but the inward man is renewed day by
day. And then number six, he is not
killed, but chastened. He's not killed, but chastened. as chastened and not killed. Now, if this chastening here,
if this chastening here refers to that which men inflict, it
will not end in their death until God's appointed time. If this
chastening here refers to God's chastening, then it is for his
profit. You know that passage in Hebrews
chapter 12? Let me read that. That all chastening. Hebrews chapter 12. And verse 6. For whom the Lord
loveth, he chasteneth. and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whether all are partakers, then are you bastards and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for
our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless,
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. So the gospel minister is chastened
but not killed. And number seven, the gospel
minister is always rejoicing and yet sorrowful. Always rejoicing. That is, he's always rejoicing
in Christ, in His person, in His righteousness, in complete
salvation in Him. But at the same time that he
is rejoicing in Christ, he is sorrowful. He's sorrowful, first
of all, for what he sees in himself. And he's sorrowful for what he
sees in God's people. It seems many times the disinterest
that God's people have. He's rejoicing in Christ, but
at the same time sorrowful. And the eighth thing, he's making
many rich while he himself is poor. That is by his ministry,
the ministry of the Word of God. He's the instrument that God
uses in making men rich. Under his ministry of the word,
men are stripped of their self-righteousness, their pretended riches, and they're
appointed to the true riches of God. That is that righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. John Gill made this comment.
He said, it is, generally speaking, the lot of Christ's ministers
to be poor in this world. And there are some reasons for
it. why it is and should be so, as that they might be maintained
by the people, which is the ordinance of God, that it might appear
that Christ's kingdom is not of this world, that the faith
of men might not stand in the riches of the world, but in the
power of God, that ministers might not be above their work,
nor neglect it, nor drop it, and that they might not be ensnared
and encumbered with the things of life. You know, riches, everyone
wants to be rich, but for a believer, it's one of the most dangerous
things for a professed believer to be wealthy in the things of
this world. As the Apostle Paul said, we
fall into many temptations. And then the last thing, the
ninth thing. The minister has nothing, but
he possesses all things. He has nothing, but he possesses
all things. Did you know it's truly when
a person gives up everything for Christ. When a person is
enabled by the Spirit of God to give up everything for Christ,
that's when that person has all things in Christ. Having nothing
and yet possessing all things. When you have Christ, you have
all things. And without Christ, it doesn't
matter how many things that you have of this world. They're just
sayings, and one day you're going to leave them behind. But having
Christ, I want to close by turning to 2 Peter, just a moment. 2
Peter chapter 2, or chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3. The apostle says, according as
his divine power hath given unto us all things, all things. He's given unto you, child of
God, minister of God, he has given unto you all things that
pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue. If you have all things,
You have everything. You have Christ. You have all
things. Everything. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here this evening.