A Successful Gospel-Centered Ministry - Part One

April 13, 2014 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: 2 Corinthians

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1–6

Transcript

A Successful Gospel-Centered Ministry-Part One

2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Pastor Randy Smith


 

John MacArthur called the passage we have before us, "Paul's Magnum Opus of Christian ministry." The text specifically deals with Paul outlining his priorities for Christian ministry as he is defending himself before his critics. Yet as we learn this passage, we will see that there is direct application for all of us as each of us are also called to be Christian ministers.

It usually goes like this. We come to Christ for salvation. We immediately learn and understand that He calls all of His followers to be His servants that minister in His name. It's at that time that we hit a roadblock. What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed do? By faith we talk the first step. We then go from the shelf of serving self to active ministry for Christ. Great! Then we get frustrated, discouraged or overwhelmed in our service and we return to the shelf and find ourselves back to the inactive place where we once started.

So how do Christians do successful ministry? And how do Christians persevere in successful ministry? I can't think of a better and more practical passage than "Paul's Magnum Opus of Christian ministry" to answer those questions.

1. Gospel Transformation (3:18 - review)

As you can see in your sermon outline (the first of five points), successful ministry starts with personal gospel transformation. In other words, before you can minister to others, you need to be personally ministered to by God. It's a review from last week, but I believe it is the necessary starting point.

Over the past three weeks we've covered in detail the greatness of the New Covenant. We learned how the Israelites used to fear the almighty, blazing, holy, consuming glory of God. They couldn't even gaze upon it in a secondary sense as it reflected off Moses' face. They feared it and rightly so because of their sins in the presence of God. Yet in the New Covenant we learned that Christ made atonement for all of our sins. We have been covered in His righteousness. We do not run from God's glory. We can enter into God's direct presence and desire His glory and love His glory and live for His glory. This is the privilege we have been given. And this is the wonderful expectation God has for His children.

Therefore if we conclude that Christians continually live in God's glorious presence, it is natural to conclude that Christians are continually beholding God's glorious presence. And if we are beholding God's glorious presence as we gaze upon Him in Scripture reading and meditation and church attendance and prayer and Christian fellowship, it is natural to conclude that we will become what we behold. Think about that! Living in God's holiness. The Holy Spirit within us. The result should be lives that become more holy! Right?

Of course this doesn't happen overnight. There is a progression to this process and all of us need to respect the stage where God has us and where He has our brothers and sisters in Christ based upon our years walking with the Lord. What matters ultimately is the growth. What matters ultimately is the progressive nature of this holy and glorious transformation.

This is what Paul gets at in 3:18. "But we all, with unveiled face [saved with eyes to see and desire the glorious Lord], beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being [passive - God doing the work within us] transformed [how?] into the same image from glory to glory [God's glorious image becomes progressively stamped within us], just as from the Lord, the Spirit [our holiness is a work of the Holy Spirit].

So what I am saying is this. Sometimes we struggle. Sometimes we backslide. But all genuine Christians understand the privilege and desire to be regularly living in the presence of the glory of our Holy God. And if that is the case, if we truly are saved and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we will throughout our Christian life give evidence of it by becoming more holy in a progressive way as, verse 18, the Spirit transforms us from "glory to glory."

Think of it this way: The word "transformed" in 3:18 is from the Greek verb "metamorphoo." It is where we derive our English word, "metamorphosis." When I think of a metamorphosis, I think of a butterfly. Before Christ, you lived for self. You were a slave to sin and Satan and your spiritual state in the eyes of God was like an ugly caterpillar. But due to Christ's work on the cross, you are now a beautiful butterfly in His eyes. And while that is your nature positionally before Him, you have the ability with Him to be transformed practically to be more like Him too. As God is the epitome of moral beauty, His children should (should I say will) be growing into that beauty as we behold our God and undergo an ongoing beautiful metamorphosis by the power of the Holy Spirit. Practically speaking, all Christians are moving from an ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly as they mature in their faith.

Another way to think about it: Do you want to go to heaven? I mean, do you really want to go to heaven? Let's remember that heaven is a place of perfect holiness. That means as we delight in beholding God's glory now, it is as if we are, verse 18, "beholding [Him] as if in a mirror." Heaven will be direct exposure to the fullness of His glory. Why there and not here? Because we still have sin. Yet the split second Christians die, they are instantly transformed to be as righteous as Christ. Now we are declared as perfectly righteous as Christ. Then we will be made as perfectly righteous as Christ. If you are in Christ, this will be your state into all of eternity.

Therefore I have to conclude with two statements. One, we can think of our time here on earth as we are being made more holy like God only as preparation for our future existence with Him. And two, if you really want to go to heaven and be as holy as God throughout all of eternity, isn't it safe to assume you'd desire it right now as well?

Another way to think about it: In his first letter to the Corinthians church, Paul made in clear in chapter 6 that those who seek not to pursue holiness, Spirit-driven transformation only give evidence they are not really saved. Verse 9, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?" He goes on to warn those who live in sinful lifestyles without the desire to repent. Verses 9-10, "Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." Among true Christians there is not perfection, but there is evidence of transformation. This leads to the hope for all of us, verse 11, "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." People whom the Spirit of God changes give evidence of the changes by spiritual transformation.

This should encourage you. That whatever sin you might be struggling with, there is Gospel power by God's grace for you to be an overcomer. This is the promise from God and this is the work He performs in the lives of His children. So when professing Christians think they can't change even with God's help or worse become more of a heathen after they come to Christ, something, somewhere along the line was short-circuited.

You say, does seeing people converted bring you the greatest encouragement? This is so wonderful, but in my years as a pastor I can't say "yes." The reason is because I can't see the heart. I rejoice with them. I baptize them. But I've also see such people walk away from the Lord, giving no such evidence they were really saved.

What encourages me the most is when I see genuine Christians being transformed to become more like Christ. I am not talking about adding an outer veneer of religion. I am not talking about self-reformation. I am not talking about adding to an already long list of rules or becoming more moral. I am talking about evidence that someone has indeed been in the presence of Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit is being transformed internally to think and act more like God.

I am talking about wholesale changes in lifestyles where fear is cast to the wind and submission to God is not held back and the opinions of the world are irrelevant and the heart's only consuming passion is to know Christ and be more like Him. As Paul said in 3:18, the veil has been lifted and we now that the, 3:17, "liberty" to want God and allow God to make us like Himself. To put all things, even our lives into His hand, and permit Him to take us where the road leads believing with all our hearts that when He cuts the ties to all the idols we cherish for support, affirmation and security, we will be thankful when we arrive through the journey at His particular destination.

1 John 3:2-3, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

The Gospel message is simply this, are you all-in for Christ? And if so, how are you being transformed? The only Gospel that saves in Christ is the Gospel that transforms to make us like Christ.

And why did I start here as I promised today to talk about successful Gospel ministry? Because our Savior wants you to be a disciple of His before you ever become a minister of His. Because our Savior wants your heart before you offer Him your hands and feet. And because our Savior wants your ministry for Him to overflow out of a life where He is presently ministering to you.

I don't think we are going to get through our entire five-point outline this morning!

2. Gospel Resolution (4:1)

Let's go to the second point. From Gospel Transformation we go to Gospel Resolution.

Look at 4:1, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." Verse 1 starts off with a "therefore." The "therefore" is a concluding statement based upon all that Paul just argued in chapter 3 regarding the glory of the New Covenant. "Therefore, since we have received this ministry." What ministry? The same ministry in a sense that has been given to all of us. That we as Christians have the privilege to show others the greatness of the New Covenant - the veil of unbelief removed, liberation to follow God, gift of the Holy Spirit, transformational living into God's holy image - through our words and actions.

So what we see is whenever Paul contemplates the greatness of the New Covenant, it first transforms his life (as we learned in point 1), but then provides convictions in his ministry of it (as we see in point 2 with a resolute heart). 3:12, "Therefore having such a hope, [conviction >] we use great boldness in our speech." 4:1, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, [conviction >] we do not lose heart." We do not lose heart!

The way I see it, there are two primary errors for the professing Christian called to be a minister for Christ. One is we do absolutely nothing. We're lazy. We feel inadequate. We're too busy with other things. The other error is we start serving and then quit. We're discouraged. We're unappreciated. We're persecuted. We're unsatisfied with the results. Either way we are not ministering and either way, regardless of the means, Satan has proved successful to decommission us from our Lord's service. The first error is having no heart. The second error is losing heart.

Can you lose heart in Christian ministry? I promise if you don't think so, you have never ministered in Christ's name to people. Look at what this church did to the apostle Paul? Let your eyes drift down to some key words in verses 8 and 9 - "afflicted…perplexed…persecuted…struck down." Enough to make anyone either cower in a corner in fear or wave the white flag in surrender. Yet Paul never lost heart. Look at verses 8 and 9 again and see his resolute heart. "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." As a matter of fact, Paul not losing heart bookends this section. In the middle we read Paul's rejection (4:2-6), sufferings (4:7-15) and death (4:16-18). It starts in 4:1, "We do not lose heart." It ends in 4:16, "Therefore we do not lose heart."

Did he ever lose heart? I'm sure, like all of us, he had temptations to along the way, but we do know he faithfully persevered by God's grace to the very end. "The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:6b-7). May that be our dying testimony as well.

My friends, I don't excuse this behavior and in many cases it's sin against the Lord, but if you serve in Gospel ministry there will be loads of opposition. Even Jesus Christ faced it! And since staying disengaged is not an option, it's wise to ready yourself right now to be prepared for the pitfalls toward discouragement and armed with reasons to persevere with a resolute heart.

So what are the pitfalls? What are the things that make you want to just quit, lose heart when you are actively engaged in ministry?

You are ministering to 7-year-olds. You sent hours preparing your lesson. After a couple minutes it seems no one is listening. You review the lesson and no one can even remotely tell you what they learned the previous week. You spend much of your energy dealing with behavior problems. Only a couple parents completed the homework assignment with their children. Few parents ever say "thank you." Some parents doing nothing in the church themselves never seem to be pleased with you.

At what point do you say, "Who needs this? I'm not getting paid. There are no results. No one appreciates me. I quit!" You lost heart.

Perhaps you sing in the praise team here at church. You come here on Saturday mornings to practice. You rehearse your lines. You look forward to assisting in the worship of our risen Christ on Sunday morning. However, when the service starts over half the people are not even in their seats. Many are not singing. Some are totally disengaged. The volume of the few voices of the other women around you seems louder that the hundreds of voices in front of you. No one encourages you, but they find it easy to find problems with the song selections, instrument choices and volume of the music.

At what point do you say, "What am I doing? No one seems to take seriously the command to worship the Lord in song. They won't miss me. This is a waste of my time. I quit!" You lost heart.

Perhaps you are trying to share your faith at work. You try to start up a little Bible study that meets on Thursday mornings. Many people who profess Christ vow to come, however their attendance is very inconsistent. They only pop in when it's convenient for them. Few come prepared for the study. Your teaching is often challenged. A few people don't even care to learn, but they come continually to just pour out their burdens on you. The boss refuses to promote your study although he does promote other activities in the office in the name of diversity.

At what point do you say, "What am I accomplishing? These people are draining me and wasting my time. If this is what it means to serve the Lord, you can count me out. I quit!" You lost heart.

I can provide scenario after scenario until I am blue in the face, but I think you get the point, and regardless of your ministry I think you can write your own script along these lines.

So the potential to get discouraged and frustrated and burnt-out and persecuted is real. It's always been that way in Christian ministry, and it will always be that way in Christian ministry until our Lord returns. So we need to get involved, and while I do not excuse it, we need to get used to it. If we serve, if we are genuinely New Covenant servants that get engaged in the lives of real human beings, there will always be the temptation to lose heart. So how do we overcome it?

Just within this section of Scripture I draw this conclusion: Almighty God has fulfilled all His promises in the New Covenant. This is the most worthy cause to be fighting for. He has poured out His Spirit to give me all the assistance I need. As I gaze upon the glory of the Lord, I am aware of noticeable transformation in my life. This is evidence of His presence. He is with me and He wants to use me to transform others. What an honor to serve the living God regardless of the visible results. All that I have in salvation and ministry is a result of His mercy. I must show that same mercy I have received to others. This ministry is not mine, it is His. I'll give all the problem people to Him. It's not easy, but God will allow me to persevere if I keep my eyes on Him through the heartaches of service. He is using me as He wills, and while I serve others He is in making me more like Himself in my own transformation process. Therefore, how can I lose heart?

Today we covered Gospel Transformation that leads to Gospel Resolution. When we next pick up this passage, we'll see how that leads to Gospel Personification (point 3 - having the right character) which leads to Gospel Conversion (point 4 - understanding that Gospel change in others is God's responsibility) which leads to Gospel Proclamation. So once we have spiritual conversion evidenced by transformation, a resolute heart, God's character and motives and a right theology of God's work, then we are prepared to do the ministry to which He calls us to do.

 

More in 2 Corinthians

March 8, 2015

Optimistic Admonitions

March 1, 2015

Severity In Weakness

February 22, 2015

Signs, Sacrifice, and Sorrow