Highly Recommended, Part 3

get through a message in about
15 pages of notes. Today, I have 25. If you know,
I do. We’re going to do just a brief
flyover for the sake of those who haven’t been with us. We’re
we’re in Second Corinthians, chapter six. And what we’re looking
at is Paul’s wrap up to this great subject of the Christian
ministry. We started in chapter two, verse
17, back at our 10 year anniversary. We’ve been plowing forth in this
passage ever since. Felt like God had called us back
to this to consider the great subject of ministry. And so we
find ourselves here in chapter six once again. For the sake of those who haven’t
been with us, essentially what Paul gives us here is a call. to the proper use of grace. Look there in verse 1 of chapter
6, where he says, we urge you not to receive the grace of God
in vain. It’s a plea. It’s a call to the
right use, the right appropriation of God’s grace. We’ll come back
to that in a moment. But essentially, what Paul does
from here is give us four undergirding pillars for this appeal to reconciliation. Four elements of which this great
call to reconciliation rests. If you would, let’s pick it up
in verse 1, where Paul writes, and working together with him,
we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he
says, at the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the
day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable
time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry
will not be discredited, but in everything, commending ourselves
as servants of God, in much endurance, in affliction, in hardships,
in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in
labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge,
in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons
of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and
dishonor, by evil report and good report, regarded as deceivers
and yet true, as unknown yet behold well-known, as dying yet
behold we live, as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful
yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having
nothing yet possessing all things.” Paul began, by reminding these
Corinthian believers that they were in a cooperative effort
called the ministry. Yet he calls out to those in
the Corinthian church, as we saw, and he calls out to them
to plead with them not to misappropriate the good grace of God. In verse
one, he says, we urge you We’ll fall down on our knees again
and beg you if we must do not receive the grace of God in vain.
And that passage seized our attention. It’s the main thought of the
entire section here, all the way down through verse 10. Everything
else in this great passage is subordinate to that one statement.
We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. It’s a
stunning thought. It’s absolutely a thought that
has to stop us and give us pause to consider what possibly could
Paul mean. Because if he’s writing to the
Corinthians, Christians at Corinth, that it appears that grace is
something that we can lose hold of. As we began to look at that,
we discovered that can’t be the case. Something must be softened
in this statement. We urge you not to receive the
grace of God in vain, because either vain isn’t vain or grace
isn’t grace, or this reception isn’t quite reception. And that’s
where we ended up. That we believe that the God in view is the God of
Scripture. The grace in view is the very
grace of God that brings salvation. But to receive the grace of God
in the gospel message is to receive the grace of God for salvation.
And so something else must be meant there by receiving. And
it is the humble, repentant reception of the good news of Christ by
faith that is desired. But as Paul looked out over the
landscape of the Corinthian church, he saw many who had not truly
and genuinely received the good grace of God. They had received
it in a casual manner, in a half-hearted manner. They hadn’t truly appropriated
God’s grace. And in that sense, they had received
it in vain. It was empty to them. It was
worthless. It was pointless. So, Paul looks to them one more
time. and he pleads to them, we beg
you on behalf of Christ, as he had said in chapter 5, verse
20, be reconciled to God. I’ll beg you if I have to, Corinthian
believers, be reconciled to God. The plea essentially is a reminder,
much like the parable of the sower, that the seed of the gospel
is going to fall on a variety of different kinds of hearts.
What Paul was doing was calling out to these possible unbelievers
to cultivate their heart and to drink down the truth of the
gospel into the rich soil of their hearts and to receive it
gladly and to appropriate it fully. Paul will go on in the
Corinthian epistle to point out to them that they are to examine
their hearts, test yourselves to see whether you are in the
faith. That’s essentially what he’s doing here at the outset.
As we began to look at this call to the proper use of grace, we
saw that there were four undergirding pillars to this plea. The first
one was a summons. The first point, rather, was
that this summons to grace is made in cooperation with God,
that we work together with him. Look again at verse one, working
together with him. This is an astounding thought.
And for any human ever to come across these words, we must be
dumbstruck. We must be given cause to pause
and ponder and be in awe that God would include us in the gospel
ministry. When we as believers make this
magnanimous plea, to unbelievers, to receive by faith the message
of the Gospel, we are acting in partnership, in cooperation
with God. We cooperate with God. If you’re
reading along and you’re reading in your scriptures and your particular
version has those words with him in italics, you know that
they’re not there in the original. But as we looked at this, we
saw that that is a great addition. That is a great clarification,
because based on the context and everything that Paul has
said up to this point and everything that he will say, We are in cooperation
with God. Second Corinthians 518 says all
these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation. Second Corinthians
520, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an
appeal through us. Secondly, We saw that this sweet
summons to grace is not only made in cooperation with God,
but it is the declared moment of opportunity. When we come
to a unbeliever, perhaps to someone who even professes Christ, but
has not yet appropriated the grace of God, when we come to
them, we know that it may very well be the opportunity, and
I mean that singly, the very opportunity for them to close
with Christ and to appropriate the grace of God in their life.
Look at verse 2. For he says, at the acceptable
time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day
of salvation. What Paul does is look back into
his Old Testament and sees upon Isaiah 49.8 and quotes it here
in context, pointing to the fact that when we make this call,
When we work with God and cry out to those who do not know
Christ to receive the grace of God. We do so in a very poignant moment
in their life, one that may never be repeated. We talked about
what a heart that should give us for the lost and what a seriousness
and a zealousness to reach out to those who do not know Christ.
Thirdly, We saw that this sweet summons to grace is not only
made in cooperation with God. It is not only the declared moment
of opportunity, but thirdly, it comes from a devotion to our
calling. It comes from a devotion to our
calling. Look at verse three. We urge
you not to receive the grace of God in vain, giving no cause
for offense in anything. So that the ministry will not
be discredited. We are watched, as my godly predecessor Samuel
Davies said nearly 300 years ago, we are watched by those
who are of opposite tendencies. We’re not watched by friends.
We’re not scrutinized by those who love our Gospel and seek
to serve our God. We’re watched by those of opposite
tendencies. We are under daily examination.
Your Christian life is under perpetual scrutiny. We saw here
the great cause to live an impeccable life, giving no cause for offense
in anything. Not living foolishly or or carelessly
or casually, but scrutinizing our life before others have the
opportunity to so that our life becomes a testimony and not a
liability to the gospel. Point four. And this was where
we’ll settle in this morning when Paul gives this Sweet summons
to grace. He says that it is made in cooperation
with God. It is the declared moment of
opportunity. It comes from a devotion to honor
our calling. But fourthly, it is attended
with our commitment to serve. It is attended with a commitment
to serve. Look at verse four. We urge you not to receive the
grace of God in vain, but in everything, commending ourselves
as servants of God. Every part of our life becomes
an advertisement, as it were, for the gospel. Jeremy Taylor, the great Puritan,
said it this way, Great is the force of godly example to our
earthly ears, to our human ears, especially in our 21st century
lives where so much ego is put out there. This sounds so arrogant,
doesn’t it? Commending ourselves. Look at
me, Paul says. Jeremy Taylor said, however,
great is the force of godly example, both to the believer to provoke
him to further obedience, to the unbeliever either to bring
him to a liking for religion or to condemn him. Our lives
count. Our lives must count. Paul wasn’t
afraid to stand up and be counted. Paul wasn’t afraid to stand before
others and say, join Philippians 3.17 in following my example. And it’s with that that Paul
lays out this great list of every corner and facet and area of
his life whereby he was proposing, suggesting, that his life was
an example to be followed. And as we begin to look at this
list, I suggested that the breakdown, we could do this technically.
But essentially, he says there’s some negative elements, difficult
things that come into my life whereby I seek to live an exemplary
life. And there are some great things,
some blessings, graces that come into my life whereby I seek to
be a great example to the saints and to others by rightly appropriating
these graces as well. We’ve looked at some of them.
Paul had already said, commending ourselves as servants of God
in everything. But now he seems to lay out. Some would be convinced that
he has addressed everything. He certainly produces a lengthy
list, if not exhaustive. Paul says, we commend ourselves
as servants of God in everything. And the umbrella grace, if you
will, initially offered there is much endurance, much endurance. This is a man who had been through
much, who had been asked by God to undergo great trials and difficulties
in his life. And the first thing he says,
The first part of that everything of verse 4 is much endurance. We saw flowing out from that
many other areas where Paul had been tested. Afflictions. Those
pressures from within. Pressures from without. Hardships. That general word that just meant
difficulties that come into our life, especially because it’s
a fallen world. The sweat of the brow. Distresses. The pressures that come that
literally place us between a rock and a hard place. But not only
does Paul say that there are circumstantial difficulties,
he says there are difficulties from persecution. Look at the
bottom of verse at the rather beginning of verse five, commending
ourselves as servants of God in beatings. Here we begin to
get into Paul’s persecution. He begins to talk about it, quite
frankly, whether it’s blows from fists or whips or rods, whatever
the case may be. We’re called to endure and we’re
called to exemplify our walk with Christ in those things,
commending ourselves as servants of God in beatings, in imprisonments,
in tumults, just the tumultuousness that life as the Apostle Paul
brought and life will bring us similar tumults. Just naming
the name of Christ puts us in a difficult spot. Paul says there are circumstances
through which we must persevere for the sake of the gospel. Circumstantial
difficulties, difficulties from persecution, dedication, difficulties,
difficulties that are brought on simply because we are absolutely
devoted to this call and to this service. He says not only Do we commend ourselves in the
midst of our difficulties, but these labors that we’re under
working night and day, as Paul often did in sleeplessness and
hunger, Paul said, all of those things we point up. As part of our lives that are
exemplary, we call out to the grace of God because we don’t
want those things. And our response to them to trip
up anybody, nothing. But Paul also said there are
positive aspects that come into our lives as privileged servants
of God. Graces and gifts that come into
our life. Virtues, if you will, manifestations
of the divine presence in our own life given to us by God as
kind of a flashing neon sign. That says, look at this servant.
Spiritual qualities, graces by means of enablement by God. Look at verse 6. Paul said, in
purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit,
in genuine love, in the word of truth and the power of God.
First of all, purity. A life that is pure, holy in
both senses. Not only integrity, but also
a purity of mind, a purity of purpose and motive. This is not
a double-minded man. Not only that, but knowledge.
We looked at that and it’s beyond just practical knowledge. It’s
beyond just a knowledge of how things work. It’s wisdom. It’s
applied knowledge. This is a wise man, a godly man,
a knowledgeable man. And finally, before we take up
new matter, patience, which is quite different, isn’t it, than
endurance? Endurance is just that godly
grace of tenacity and the ability to just knuckle under even the
most harsh treatment. Patience. Patience, we might
even say, is even more difficult because it has to do with people
and how we deal with people and how we bear with them and show
them long suffering and not just toleration. That’s what the world
gives, right? The world tolerates everybody.
I don’t want to be tolerated. were to show patience, loving
kindness and grace and goodness in the midst of that. But there are more graces that
Paul calls us to consider for the gospel ministry. He says,
first of all, this morning, we are to be commending ourselves
as servants of God in kindness, kindness. We know what the word
means, generally speaking, but it isn’t exactly the sphere where
we live, is it? One defined it as graciousness,
the opposite of severity. It is sympathetic kindness or
sweetness of temper which puts others at their ease and shrinks
from giving pain. Goodness in action, said another. Kindness is that virtue. that indicates a general goodness
where we show ourselves kind and sweet and pleasant and useful
to others. It’s not a virtue until we let
loose and shed it on others. You can’t be kind in a vacuum. You can’t be kind by yourself
unless perhaps others judge the fact that you stayed home an
act of kindness. In kindness, said another, we
trace the consciousness in the apostle Paul of an effort to
reproduce the graciousness which Paul observed as a characteristic
attribute of God and Christ. Did you hear what he said? He
said Paul noticed something about Christ. He noticed something
about God. And he said, that’s what I want.
That’s how I want to be. Christian kindness is a logical
conclusion of walking with Christ, isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be? When
Paul wrote to Titus there on the Isle of Crete, and he reminded
Titus to remind the saints of how they were to conduct themselves
in this heathen society, not unlike our own, In fact, this
passage just after the election, I brought it up as a reminder
to us of how we’re to conduct ourselves in the midst of government
with which we may not agree. Paul wrote to them and he said,
remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be
obedient, to be ready for every good deed. To malign no one. To be peaceable, gentle, showing
every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish
ourselves. And he takes us back to our pre-Christian
days. And he says, you used to be just
like them. And if it were not for the grace
of God in your lives, if it were not for God intervening, there you would be. For we also
once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved
to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and
envy, hateful, hating one another. Remember? Maybe it was just me. But when the kindness of God,
our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us. And Paul said, that kind of kindness
has to be reduplicated in my life. Paul said, I want that. This kindness that signifies
the gracious love of God for mankind. It is the kindness that
God gives in His blessings. It’s graciousness of God and
it’s His goodness, which is always ready to give and bestow to others. One described it as benevolence,
a disposition to do good, just as God is even said to be kind
to the evil. Now, notice this goodness, this
kindness is not something that people in their unregenerate
state are very good at. In fact, Romans says there is
none who does good. Even an act of kindness done
from an unrighteous man is done from impure motives. It cannot
possibly be inherently good. They want something in return.
They’re trying to impress somebody, perhaps even God. Where else
would one get the argument that when we get to heaven, we can
tell them, I was basically good. I was a good person. But it is true of God. God is
kind. Paul, in writing to the Romans
throughout this epistle, he begins with it at the start in Romans
2.4, Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and
tolerance and patience, not knowing that it is the kindness of God
that leads you to repentance? Here is this loving God pleading
with wayward hearts. Romans 11.22 echoes the same
thought. Behold, then, the kindness and
severity of God. It is an attribute of God. But
it should be true of His children. It should be duplicated again
in us. Galatians 5.22 says that it’s
one of the fruit of the Spirit. Correct? Love. Joy, peace, patience,
kindness. Colossians says that we are to
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility. This kindness by one was described
as a sweetness of spirit, a sweetness of spirit that is always ready
to give. A grace pervading and penetrating
the whole nature, mellowing there which would otherwise have been
harsh and severe. Do you remember who we were?
Do you remember who you were? Do you remember what you’re like
without the grace of God? We still have our days, don’t
we? What Paul is saying here is that
ministry should also be marked, commended, by kindness, kindness
to all. And this is so basic to the discussion
of the Christian ministry that it’s sad and really due to the
poor condition of our even our saved hearts. That it even needs
to be said. But it even needs to be placed
in focus. Wasn’t this one of Israel’s ongoing struggles, the
neglect of the basics? Micah 6.8, He has told you, O
man, what is good. And this was constantly the echo
of the prophets, wasn’t it? Justice, mercy, kindness. He has told you, O man, what
is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice,
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. And don’t
be misled. When He says to love kindness,
He’s not saying sit back in your easy chair and let others do
kindness to you. saying love, kindness, love the
privilege that you have as a child of God to reach out to the saints
and to reach out to the lost and to do kindness. I remember reading in my earliest
Christian days, people don’t care how much you know until
they know how much you care. Kindness opens the door, doesn’t
it? Secondly, this morning, We are not only commending ourselves
in kindness, but we are to be commending ourselves in the Holy
Spirit. Verse six in the Holy Spirit. Now, for some reason. You get
people that want to try to be fast and cute and. Think too
much when they come to the scriptures and they said, is this the human
spirit that has been made holy? And the problem was that they
felt like to stick the Holy Spirit this far down in this great list,
as good as it is, why didn’t he start with the Holy Spirit?
Or if you want to do it the other way, why don’t you end with the
Holy Spirit? But to put him in the middle seems disgraceful
because of that one road. It’s scarcely credible that Paul
would place the Holy Spirit in a list of human virtues and in
a subordinate place, neither first to lead nor last to sum
up all the rest. OK. The other option is that it means
to be empowered by the Spirit himself, and that’s the clear
meaning of the words that natural treatment of this passage would
say that it is the Holy Spirit and it is in the power of the
Holy Spirit is a direct reference to the third person, the Trinity
at work in our lives. It is by manifestation of the
Holy Spirit dwelling in us that we are able to do anything. To
place it here on the list isn’t disrespectful to the spirit of
God at all when you consider the strength of this list. In
essence, what you could say is is the Holy Spirit is at the
very heart of ministry. It’s the very heart of. The virtues
that we possess in ministry that commend us in ministry. It is the Holy Spirit by whose
influence we are inspired to ministry in our whole life, our
conduct, our minds, our hearts. What one called the impulses
and promptings which Paul traced to the general guidance of the
Holy Spirit. Here’s how it went. When we talk
about the general guidance of the Holy Spirit, remember, Paul
is marching across Asia. And it says in Acts 16 that they
pass through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And
you’ve had countless people take a stab at what on earth he meant.
Was there a light, a flashing light, an arrow? Who knows? We
don’t know. All Paul says, he attributed
clearly to the Holy Spirit. Okay, then we can’t go that way.
We can’t turn right. Let’s go left. And after they
came to Mycenae, they were trying to go into Bithynia and the Spirit
of God, Spirit of Jesus rather, did not permit them. We’re not
given any other detail. But Paul says his ministry was
absolutely guided, steered, if you will, quite literally by
the Holy Spirit from its earliest moments. Paul’s
ministry was under direct influence of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 13,
nine were recorded where Paul there was filled with the Holy
Spirit shortly after his conversion, and as such, it becomes a cornerstone
of Paul’s teaching that the Holy Spirit is to be the source of
divine enablement for the Christian ministry. Romans eight, we are
to walk according to the spirit. Galatians 5.16, we walk by the
Spirit. Galatians 5.25, if we live by
the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. And that is because
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is to be the source and the spring
of every spiritual need for the believer. Every spiritual need. Think with me, if you would,
for a moment. The Holy Spirit provides the
sure and confident access to the Holy Father. Ephesians 2,
18, through him, we both have our access in one spirit to the
Father. Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
we have our access in one spirit to the Father. The Holy Spirit
is the provider of all the necessary, everything necessary, rather,
for ministry, the giftings, the graces. You know, the passage
as well in 1 Corinthians 12, 7, to each one is given the ministration
of the Spirit for the common good. We’re all portioned out
a measure of the Spirit with various giftings for the common
good. Just later there in the same
chapter, Paul says, one in the same spirit works all these things,
distributing to each individually as he wills. God makes the decisions. It’s not like you can cry out,
Oh, give me such and such a gift. It’s the Holy Spirit. Paul said
that was absolutely a core of his ministry and it’s a core
of his teaching. The Holy Spirit, he goes on to
say, is the great instructor who always graciously works through
us. We’re merely conduits. Romans
5, 15, 19 in the power of the Spirit, I have fully preached the gospel
of Christ. Paul would have considered it
absolutely worthless, a waste of time to go out on his own
power. But with the Holy Spirit, he
was mighty by God. First Corinthians two thirteen.
which things we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom,
but in words taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts
with spiritual words. The Holy Spirit, Paul said, is
the great instructor who works through us. The Holy Spirit is
the great means of a healthy prayer life for all the saints,
right? With all prayer and petition
at all times, pray in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the very sphere
and core of our worship. That speaks of Paul, Paul speaks
of this in Philippians three, three, that we worship in the
spirit of God. It is the Holy Spirit. Who empowers
us to endurance in ministry, it is the Holy Spirit. To which point conducting a ministry.
Without the direct influence and energy of the Holy Spirit
is as absurd as trying to run a car. without gasoline, to drive a sailboat without so much
as a breeze, a flashlight without batteries. Thirdly, this morning, we are
to commend ourselves in the course of our ministries by these various graces, not
only purity and knowledge and patience and kindness, not only
even in the Holy Spirit, but he says, in genuine love. We
are to be commending ourselves as servants of God in genuine
love. This is to be our calling card yet another. Love is to be the great calling
card of the Christian. God deeply wants this virtue
duplicated in his people, most importantly, in the lives of
his servants for the sake of the gospel. He wants us to be
a loving people. Now, any wedding you go to, they’re
going to read a passage. And I’ve done this from time
to time. And they’re going to tell you that this passage is
about the bride and the groom and their love for one another.
I’m here to tell you this passage is not about the bride and the
groom. It can be. I mean, it could go that far
as well if they’re both in the faith. But this passage, first
and foremost, is not a husband wife verse. It’s a you and I
verse. It’s a church verse. First Corinthians
13, love is patient. Love is kind and is not jealous. Love does not brag. It is not
arrogant, does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own. It
is not provoked. It does not take into account
a wrong suffered. Oh, that would revolutionize
the church, wouldn’t it? Does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. It’s not a wedding verse. Not
exclusively, for sure. What kind of love is he talking
about? It’s Christian love. It’s not the affection so much
that’s exercised towards the just and the unjust, but that
which springs, as one said, from the special relationship of the
believer to God and their brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s church
love. It’s the saints’ love for one
another. But God is not willing here to settle for cheap imitation,
and there are plenty of those. He wants the real thing. He wants
genuine love. Real, deep, vibrant, active love. And just as He said in Romans
12, 9, that love be without hypocrisy, here He states it in the positive.
That we are to commend ourselves in genuine love, which means
there’s many false imitations out there. Love is supposed to
be unhypocritical, unfeigned. It’s supposed to be real, sincere,
genuine, if you will, not faked, not phony, not partial, not half
hearted. The goal of our instruction poll
told to Timothy is love from a pure heart, a good conscience
and a sincere faith. The trouble is we’ve gotten pretty
good at faking it, haven’t we? One Puritan said it is difficult
to express how ingenious almost all men are in counterfeiting
a love which they do not really possess. They deceive not only
others, but themselves while they persuade themselves that
they have a true love for those whom they not only treat with
neglect, but in fact reject. And you know what I’m talking
about. You keep somebody at arm’s length, you greet them, you greet
them pleasantly and it never goes any further than that. You never love them. You never
practically serve them. You never practically care for
them. It’s fake. That’s what God calls it, and
He says if we’re going to have a ministry that pleases and honors
God, if we’re going to have a ministry that is used to glorify God,
we must have a love that is genuine at its core, unfaked. Love, said one, that is not entirely
genuine, mixed with insincerity or self-seeking, is not Christian
love. It falls short of that pure love
by which the servant of Christ should be animated. Unhypocritical
love ought always bind together those who are brothers and sisters
in Christ. We are to love one another deeply
and profoundly, and it is to issue forth in deeds A.W. Pink said it this way, love
is the badge of Christian discipleship. You want to show somebody that
you love Christ? Love one another. Love is the
badge of Christian discipleship. It is not knowledge, nor orthodoxy,
nor fleshly activities, but supremely love, which identifies a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mark of a true Christian
is love, and that a genuine, active love, not in words, but
in deeds. Fourth this morning, we are to
commend ourselves in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine
love, in the Word of Truth. In the Word of Truth. The Word of Truth And shortly
after here, the power of God or signs of God’s presence with
his servants. And here is the word that conveys
God’s truth to humanity. It is the gospel of reconciliation,
which Paul started this discussion with. Remember, it is the ministry
of reconciliation, reconciling out of the world those that do
not know Christ to God. And the great means of that is
the word. Jesus spoke of it, sanctify them
in the truth. Your word is truth. Paul spoke
of it to Timothy, calling the scriptures and the great gospel
of the Lord, the word of truth. In Colossians 1.5, Paul tells
us that the word of truth is the gospel. It is the gospel,
the gospel, it’s in its purity and integrity. The Word is by nature truthful. The Gospel is by nature the very
truth that unbelievers desperately need to hear. And we have been
tasked by God’s good grace, having been saved, we’ve been given
the privilege to participate in this ministry to share the
Word of Truth. Paul, very clearly and simply
has here in mind the gospel message that reconciles sinners to himself. Through the substitutionary work
of his own son. The apostle had always preached
quite faithfully the message in its entirety, the whole counsel
of God. In our Institute class on Wednesday
night, we’ve been drinking quite full of a little
book by Martin Lloyd-Jones, Preachers in Preaching. Martin Lloyd-Jones
touched upon this very truth in the course of his book. He
said, while men believed in the Scriptures as the authoritative
Word of God and spoke on the basis of that authority, you
had great preaching. But once that went and men began
to speculate and theorize and the eloquence and greatness of
the spoken word inevitably declined and began to wane. He’s speaking
of the course of history and what caused this great demise
In the preached word, he goes on to say, you cannot really
deal with speculations and conjectures the same way as preaching had
formerly dealt with the great themes of the Scriptures. What
themes? He said the moment you consider man’s real need and
also the nature of the salvation announced and proclaimed in the
Scriptures. You are driven to the conclusion
that the primary task of the church is to preach and proclaim
this, to show man’s real need and to show the only remedy and
the only cure for it. The word of truth is that we
are desperately, if we are outside of Christ, we are desperately
and hopelessly. In need of a savior. We cannot
do anything to commend ourselves to God. We cannot earn our way
into heaven with good deeds. We desperately need Christ. We
desperately need the Savior. Paul says, and this is the word
of truth. This is the gospel. This is God’s
plan of redemption unfolded in His gracious goodness to us in
time. And Paul said by this, by the
right handling of the truth of God’s Word. We are to commend
ourselves. As servants of God. There’s more. Next Lord’s Day, we’ll take up
the power of God. And God willing, we will close
up this great section on ministry with the power of God and watching
God’s power at work. on behalf of the Apostle Paul.
Let’s examine our hearts before him. O merciful God, we humble ourselves
before You and we know that we are not fully what we should
be. Lord, we know that we have much
need of Your sanctifying grace in our lives so that we could
commend ourselves as servants of God Father, grant us the grace
to build ourselves up in the faith, to grow in kindness, to
flourish in our use of the Holy Spirit, to manifest the kind
of love that you would have us to and to always hold forth the
very words of life as truth. Lord God, examine our hearts.
Bless the remainder of our day for your glory. It’s in Jesus
name that we pray. Amen.