2 Corinthians - True Ministry

Was there ever a time in your life when everything seemed to go wrong? I mean everything. Your plans fell apart, people didn't show up you were expecting, nothing seemed to work out. There were opportunities, but there were also obstacles and problems. Well, that's the kind of experience Paul had at Troas. But from it, he gained some marvelous blessings that he shares with us in 2 Corinthians 2:12-17.

"Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from there into Macedonia." Let me pause to say there in Macedonia, he did meet Titus, and he picks up that story in 2 Corinthians 7:5 tells how Titus came to him from Corinth.

"Now thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ." That's a great statement. He always leads us in triumph in Christ. "And maketh manifest the savor," the fragrance, "of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that are perishing: To the one we are the fragrance of death unto death; and to the other the fragrance of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many," and here I think he's referring to the Judaizers, this crowd of troublemakers who had gotten into the church at Corinth, "we are not as many, who corrupt," or who pedal, who adulterate, who make merchandise "of the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."

He is describing an experience of life sort of tumbling in. Now we have these experiences on occasion. Well, when life is tumbling in, when all around you is shaking, lay hold of some very wonderful, encouraging affirmations. There are three of them here: God is leading you. That's the first affirmation. God is leading you in triumph. That's the second affirmation. And God is using you as He is leading you.

Now, it's all found in this paragraph, and we're going to look at it now in detail. Affirmation number one: God is leading you. Paul had been at Ephesus, and according to 1 Corinthians 16:9, God had opened for him a door of ministry at Ephesus. But then he went to Troas, and at Troas, he was hoping to meet his brother Titus. You'll recall he had sent Titus over to Corinth to straighten out the problems. Well, the Apostle Paul waited at Troas and Titus did not show up.

Now, God opened a door of ministry at Troas. We aren't sure what this is, but apparently, a real opportunity came to Paul at Troas for the sharing of the Gospel. Now, there are those who say opportunity is the leading of the will of God. If you have the opportunity, that is the will of God. Paul didn't think so. Paul had opportunities to serve God at Ephesus, but he left. He had an open door at Troas, but he had no rest in his spirit, so he left and went across to Macedonia.

Now, you must remember that back in those days, they didn't have modern communications such as we have. Paul couldn't phone the pastors of the various churches and say, "Have you seen Titus lately?" He couldn't contact the local lost and found department and say, "I've lost a friend." He was concerned about Titus and he was concerned about Corinth. If you want to turn over to 2 Corinthians 7:5, you'll find that the story was completed. "For, when we were come into Macedonia," 2 Corinthians 7:5, "our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings," there were always enemies on the outside, "within were fears."

Now this is the great Apostle Paul. This is Paul who said that he was content in whatever state he was. This is Paul who says, "I can do all things through Christ." Here's Paul who had written "the peace of God passes all understanding." Paul was having fears down inside. "Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus." So Titus and Paul did meet somewhere in Macedonia, possibly at Philippi. And all the while, God had been leading Paul.

You see, if your heart is right with God, no matter what your feelings may be, God is going to lead you. Our Lord promised this, didn't He, in John 7:17 where He said, "If any man is willing to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Now, if you're willing to do the will of God and you're praying and you're seeking His face, God will guide you.

Now, the circumstances may not look like it. God does not always lead us in the easiest way, or the shortest way, or the most comfortable way. But here's a great affirmation to lay hold of when there are fightings without and fears within. Affirmation number one: when life is tumbling in, remember, God is leading you.

Now affirmation number two: God is leading you in triumph. Verse 14: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph," always leads us in triumph. Paul is using here an illustration that everybody in Corinth understood. The Roman Empire was a magnificently organized thing. The military system was amazing, the legal system was astounding, it was a great piece of man-made work.

And in the Roman Empire, they had a special parade called the Roman Triumph. Whenever a commander-in-chief won a complete victory on foreign soil, at least five thousand of the enemy were slain and new territory was gained, when he came back to Rome, they put him in a golden chariot, they surrounded him with his victorious soldiers and the captives that he brought home—some of the famous people who were taken captive—and some of the loot that he brought home.

And they would have a parade. And this parade followed a regular route in Rome, ended up down at the Coliseum where they would throw some of the captives to the lions and entertain the people. And surrounding this parade and in the parade would be the priests with their incense. Now that's the picture.

Paul sees the Lord Jesus Christ as the commander-in-chief. He came to foreign soil, this earth, and He won a complete victory at Calvary. He absolutely defeated the enemy. Colossians 2:15: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it," that is, in His death, burial, and resurrection.

So the Lord Jesus Christ is the victorious general, the Captain of the Hosts of the Lord, and He is leading us in a victorious parade. You and I are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory. He has won the battle and He's leading us in the parade. Now, there are other people in this parade. There are unsaved people in the parade, those who are perishing. He compares them to those who were led off to the Coliseum and thrown to the lions.

He's talking here about a great victory won by the Lord Jesus Christ. The commander-in-chief came to foreign soil and won a complete victory. Instead of killing five thousand of the enemy, He brought them life. You remember in Acts 4:4, in the early church, about five thousand had come to be saved. And new territory was gained as the Lord Jesus reached into the hearts of people and changed their lives.

Now, we're a part of this conquering, triumphant procession. And the savor of His knowledge is the incense. Remember I said in this parade, the priests were there burning their incense? Well, the knowledge of Christ is the incense. It's the fragrance. And this fragrance of the knowledge of Christ doesn't mean anything to unsaved people. To them, it's the fragrance of death because they're lost. But to us, it's the fragrance of life. And so you and I are being led in triumph by our conquering general, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, Corinth didn't look like triumph. There were divisions and dissensions and there was defilement and there was a need for discipline, and Paul wasn't sure how things were going. It didn't look like triumph, but it was triumph. Affirmation number one: God is leading you. Affirmation number two: God is leading you in triumph because of the cross of Calvary.

Affirmation number three: God is using you as He leads you. You see, you are the fragrance of Christ. This is one of the many pictures of the believer in the New Testament. You are the fragrance of Christ. Wherever you go, you are sharing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul said, "we aren't peddlers of the word of God, hucksters." That's the word in verse 17. "We are not as many who peddle the word of God, who make merchandise of the word of God."

You know, there are people who use the Bible and use religion just as a means of making a living. They aren't sincerely interested in ministering and helping people; they're just religious hucksters, they're just religious peddlers. This is what happened when these Judaizers came in.

They were adulterating the word of God, they were making merchandise of the word of God, they were not sincerely preaching it. Paul says, "I'm like the fragrance of Christ. As I go from place to place, I am spreading the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a blessing to those who are saved and it's a means of reaching those who are lost."

Now, my friend, I don't know what kind of circumstances you are in today, but if life is tumbling in around you, just remember this: God is leading you. You may not see it, you may not feel it, you may not understand it, but if your heart is sincere, God is leading you.

And God is leading you in triumph. You're a part of God's great victory through Jesus Christ. And God is using you as He leads you. Look for opportunities to be the fragrance of Christ. Look for opportunities to share the word of God. And remember, your job is to please God, not to please people. Just to please God and to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in your ministry and in your life.

There were in the city of Corinth a great many religious leaders and there came into the Corinthian church a group of false apostles, a group of men who claimed to be something they really were not.

In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul warned the Corinthian church: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent," Satan, "beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ," the single-hearted devotion that belongs to Jesus Christ. "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."

In other words, Paul is saying, "When I came to Corinth and founded the church, I told you the truth, and you've given me nothing but trouble. In come these false apostles, these counterfeits, these religious racketeers with another Jesus, another Gospel, another spirit, a different experience, and you accept them."

Now he goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 11:13: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers," imagine that, Satan has ministers, "also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness."

Now in this paragraph, 2 Corinthians 2:17-3:6, Paul is spelling out to us the characteristics of a true spiritual ministry. Now, you need discernment today. There are a great many people who are quoting the Bible and using the Bible and claiming to be teaching the Bible.

And thank God for those who are true and sincere and called of God. We thank God for everyone who is involved in ministering the word of God with sincerity and truth, but alas, there are those who are counterfeits, who are not true, they are false, and we must be careful in distinguishing that which is true and that which is false.

What then are the characteristics of a true minister of God? Well, the first one is sincerity. 2 Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not as many, who corrupt the word of God." Now that word corrupt means they make merchandise of it; it's only a business for them. They couldn't make it doing something else, and so they got into some kind of ministry and they've got some followers, and all they're doing is making merchandise of the word of God. Hucksters, peddlers. "But as of sincerity," sincerity where? Before God. "But as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."

Now, 2 Corinthians 3:1: "Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?" You see, these false apostles, these religious racketeers were peddlers of the word of God. To the one we are the savor of death unto death, to the other the savor of life unto life. Then he cries out: "And who is sufficient for these things?"

You see, as I'm sharing the word of God now, this is a matter of life or death. This word that is going out can bring life to those who will believe; it could bring condemnation to those who reject it. This is serious, serious work.

Well, these religious racketeers simply peddled the word of God. They didn't feel that there was anything serious about it. It was just a means to an end, just a way of making a living. Now Paul says, "I don't need these human commendations." These people who had come into Corinth had letters of recommendation from some of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. And they said, "You know, Paul was not even a part of the twelve apostles. You know, Paul did not have his Christian training in Jerusalem."

In fact, God kept Paul away from Jerusalem and away from the apostles until he went for a visit at one time. "You can't really trust Paul," they were saying, "because he doesn't have letters of recommendation." Well, Paul couldn't get those. Paul had been in prison and out again, Paul had been chased from one city to another, Paul would have had a rough time getting letters of recommendation from anybody important. And God doesn't need that, does He? God had put His seal of approval on Paul's ministry.

So the first mark of a real spiritual ministry is sincerity. Sincerity before God. The motive is to honor God. We speak in the sight of God. We live as before God. We are not out to impress men. We have nothing to hide. That's what Paul's saying.

Now the second mark of a true minister of God, not only sincerity but love. 2 Corinthians 3:2: "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." They were in his heart. Several times in this letter, Paul says that. 2 Corinthians 6:11: "O ye Corinthians, our speech to you is candid, our heart is wide open." 2 Corinthians 7:3: "I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and to live with you." Paul said, "I love you so much, I'd die for you. I'm living for you, serving you."

Paul had come to Corinth, he loved these people, and he didn't need a letter of recommendation from somebody else. Corinth was his letter of recommendation. They were living letters, living epistles that could be known and read of all men. Love. He did not exploit them.

Now, it's so easy in ministry to exploit people. There are some preachers and missionaries and Sunday School teachers who exploit people. When you exploit somebody, you use them to build you up. But when you serve people, you are willing to give of yourself to build them up.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul describes in verse 20 the ministry of these false teachers: "For ye tolerate it, if a man bring you into bondage," telling you what to do all the time, "if a man devour you," eat up your income, "if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face." One of the marks of true ministry is love. Paul said, "I love you people, and I'm not out to exploit you. I'll live for you, I'll die for you if I have to."

Now in 2 Corinthians 3:3, there's a third mark, a third characteristic of a true minister of God: transformed lives. You know, when God is really at work in a man's life, a woman's life, lives will be transformed. "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart."

As we study 2 Corinthians 3, we're going to see the contrast between the Old Covenant ministry and the New Covenant ministry. And here's one of them. In the Old Covenant, God wrote His law on tables of stone, but today He's writing on the heart. Under the Old Covenant, it was wrong to kill, but Jesus said, "Don't be angry in your heart." Under the Old Covenant, it was wrong and still is wrong to commit adultery, but Jesus said, "Don't lust in your heart."

Transformed lives. A true minister of God writes the word of God on the heart and lives are changed. It's not a legalistic ministry of thou shalt, thou shalt not. It's a transforming ministry where the Spirit of God, the power of God's grace goes to work in people's lives.

Finally, divine sufficiency. Verses 4, 5, and 6. You see, these false apostles and these religious racketeers depended upon their own resources. They didn't give glory to God, they didn't depend upon prayer. Paul says this: "And such trust have we through Christ toward God: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us sufficient," or able, "ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."

What's he saying? "I depend upon God. My sufficiency comes from God." You see, back here in 2 Corinthians 2:16, Paul had cried out, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Who is sufficient for a ministry of life and death? Well, he said, "our sufficiency is of God."

Religious racketeers and religious hucksters don't depend upon God's sufficiency. Oh, they've got it made. They've got talent, they have special abilities, they have experience. God says through Paul, we don't depend on those things. A true minister of God gets his sufficiency from God, and that's the way God gets the glory.

Now, these are the marks, the characteristics of a true minister: sincerity, love, transformed lives, and divine sufficiency. Paul was misunderstood by men, but he was understood by God. And as we read this letter and see Paul open up his heart, we say thank God, thank God for a true ministry of sincerity and love and transformed lives, a ministry that depended upon God's divine sufficiency.