MPC, 22nd July 2001.2 Corinthians 6:3-7:2 - "Suffering Servants"
Phil Campbell MPC, 22nd July 2001.
If you've been following the sports news this week, you've got to feel a bit sorry for Justin Hodges, haven't you?
19 years old, up and coming Winger for the Broncos. Signed a three year contract to play with the ROOSTERS NEXT YEAR. And when he heard about it, Wayne Bennett DUMPED HIM ON THE SPOT. He's out of the team. Got his marching orders. And off he goes.
Which gives him something in common I guess with the losers on BIG BROTHER. Voted out, one by one. Or on Survivor. It's the big thing on TV these days, every show you can think of, you get to VOTE SOMEONE OFF. You are the WEAKEST LINK. GOODBYE.
And then comes the walk of shame. You might know how it feels yourself. You might still remember how it felt to get dropped from the cricket team. Or sacked from a job. Or rejected by a friend.
It's a terrible feeling isn't it. I'm not sure quite why we like to watch it so much on TV. But if you have a look at our passage in 2 Corinthians this morning, you'll see Paul the Apostle knew exactly how it felt. He knew it first hand. And you might have noticed over the last few weeks. These Corinthians he's writing to, they're Christians who were converted, who actually became Christians through Paul. He came to Corinth, THEY LISTENED. They put their faith in Jesus. Committed themselves to living for Jesus and not for themselves.
And yet now they've found something better. Or they reckon it is. Now they've found something more impressive. Or they say it is. The Corinthians have found a new bunch of leaders who've come to Corinth with a message that sounds similar to what Paul said. But it's fundamentally different.
And so they've dumped him. They've held their TRIBAL COUNCIL and they've VOTED HIM OFF. They're holding up their oval shaped cards and on each one there's written one name. Paul. PAUL. PAUL. PAUL.
The Corinthians have decided they can do better with somebody else. You can tell when people go cold on you, can't you. When they avoid you down the street. When all you get is a half polite hello. And it's like that with the Corinthians and Paul. He's loved them like a Father. Still does. And have a look at what they've done. Read from verse 11. Paul's speaking from the heart.
He says "We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you." He's talking about himself and Timothy when they came to Corinth in the first place; so what's changed? He says "We're not withholding our affection from YOU - but your are withholding yours from US." You don't want to know us any more. He says, "As a fair exchange, - I speak as to my children - open wide your hearts also."
Friends, Paul's not just a bit worried cause these Corinthians have got a few new ideas. He'd broken hearted cause his children have thrown him out and locked the doors. After all he's given, after all he's sweated on them, after all his prayers for them, after he's poured out his life in the ministry of the gospel, he's been dumped. Which is why Paul here has to do two things. Not things that he likes to do. But things that he HAS to do. First of all, he defends his own ministry. And second, he warns them about who they're getting attached to.
It's an awkward thing to have to say the sort of thing Paul's saying. Cause it's saying the sort of stuff that should have been obvious. And the last thing he wants to be doing is patting himself on the back. I can tell you, the stuff he's saying about himself here is the stuff the CORINTHIANS should have been saying themselves. They should have known better. But have a look at what he says. As he spells out to them the marks of his GENUINE ministry.
And make sure you notice as we do that the marks of the genuine apostle and the marks of genuine Christian ministry aren't necessarily things the world's going to think are glorious. But they're things GOD thinks are glorious.
Read from verse 3. Paul says, if you've stumbled, it's NOT BECAUSE OF ME. He says, I've bent over BACKWARDS to not put a stumbling block in anyone's path. So WHO HAS? Look ahead a bit to verse 2 of chapter 7; he says, Make room for us in your hearts, because WE HAVE WRONGED NO ONE, WE'VE CORRUPTED NO ONE, WE'VE EXPLOITED NO ONE.
So what's gone wrong? Because SOMEBODY HAS. It's like there's a tug-of-war going on for the Corinthians. There's subversion going on. And if they're honest about it they'll know, it's not from Paul's side.
Back in chapter 6. We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Verse 4; "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way.
Now what's he say? Does he say "We commend ourselves with our good references from our mates and our high powered qualifications and degrees and our prosperity and our obvious success? Does he say we commend ourselves cause we came and fixed all your problems? Does he say we commend ourselves cause NOTHING EVER GOES WRONG when you're a genuine apostle?
Funny, isn't it. He says the opposite. He says we commend ourselves to you BECAUSE WE'VE copped exactly the same sort of things JESUS DID.
Read it. The middle of verse 4. We commend ourselves in our great endurance. It hasn't been easy, but we've stuck with it. He says "We commend ourselves in troubles and hardship and distress; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work; in sleepless nights and hunger. We've seen it in the book of Acts. The way the genuine apostles follow along in the footsteps of Jesus, and get treated exactly the same. But they keep going. Cause they're preaching the word of life. And they want people to hear it.
The genuine apostle doesn't breeze through life without hitting tough times. He's got troubles and hardships and distress and sleepless nights like everyone else. But the thing the genuine apostle does, is he ENDURES.
And not only that, he's GODLY in the meantime. See what Paul's like in the middle of all that? Verse 6. And it's THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. It's the POWER OF GOD that makes him like this. Cause I can tell you, it certainly isn't natural. He's beaten and thrown in prison, he's cold and he's hungry; he hasn't had a decent night's sleep for months. But at the same time, he's committed to PURITY. And UNDERSTANDING. And PATIENCE. Gee, with me they're the FIRST THINGS to go. And KINDNESS. With the help of the Holy Spirit he's facing this stuff with SINCERE LOVE, he says there in verse 7, and with TRUTHFUL SPEECH.
Which are all the things that God uses as weapons. Paul calls them the weapons of righteousness. These are the BIG GUNS. Don't try to take shortcuts. God's weapons are purity. And patience. And kindness. And honesty. You might feel like you get walked over sometimes, but keep at it. Because those are the weapons of God. And Paul's stuck with it. Even when things haven't seemed fair.
He's kept his integrity. Even when he's been accused of being a phoney. Even when his integrity's been unfairly questioned. And it's tough when people do that to you. But Paul's been through the lot, and he's still being Godly. Read from verse 8. Through glory and dishonour. Bad report and good report. Even though he's been genuine, he's been regarded as an imposter. Even though they've known him, they're pretending they don't - known yet regarded as unknown; dying, let we live on - he's poured out everything he's got, but he keeps going; beaten, he says, but not killed, sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich, having nothing, yet possessing everything.
That's the picture of the genuine apostle. Paul's copped the lot. And he's left with nothing. Except he's got everything he wants because he's looking to heaven. Paul's given up his every ounce of pride, his every personal preference; he's made himself poor so other people can gain the riches of the gospel. That's what an authentic apostle looks like. That's CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. And the Corinthians have decided they don't want to know him. Paul, you're a LOSER. The weakest link. Goodbye.
Keep reading the letter and you find out why. Sorry, Paul, you're not such a good speaker as these guys. They're impressive. Sorry Paul, you've got things a little bit wrong. God WANTS to bless us with health and wealth in this life, you just need a little bit more faith. Just pray this special prayer each day for 30 days and you'll be RICH. Sorry Paul, God doesn't want us to do it tough. He wants us to do it EASY. And they'll add a few little Jewish rituals here, and a few little pagan bits and pieces there, and the whole thing looks pretty darn good.
See, the trouble with the Corinthians is, THEY'LL TRY ANYTHING. You name it, they'll try it. Stewart pointed out those verses from chapter 11 a few weeks back. Paul says, any new thing that comes along, they go for it in a flash. Which is a sure sign there's a problem, isn't there? Friends, can I say to you, we're not meant to be RESTLESS ANYMORE. It's no different today. So can I say to you, when you've found the truth of the gospel, there's no other truth to find. Stick with it.
There's that little book that's come out. It's called the PRAYER OF JABEZ. All about a bloke in the Old Testament who prayed; and God made him prosper. So the book says, if you pray that same prayer EVERY DAY FOR 30 days - everything that's wrong will come RIGHT. Your business. Your family. Your relationships. The SECRET OF FINDING GOD'S BLESSING.
Let me tell you, if you've put your trust in Jesus, the path behind him might be tough. But there's NOTHING ELSE YOU NEED. There's nowhere else to look. And I don't care if they're advertising the PRAYER OF JABEZ books on 96.5 Family Radio or not, you know as soon as you hear about it, YOU DON'T NEED IT. Even if you could turn God on like a tap just by praying some little magic prayer every day. That's NOT WHAT DISCIPLESHIP LOOKS LIKE.
But the Corinthians throw themselves at whatever else comes by. Prostituting themselves. With terrible consequences.
Which is why Paul has to say what he says in verses 14 to 18. He says BE CAREFUL WHO YOU JOIN UP WITH.
Now in some Christian circles these couple of verses are pretty well worn. Especially verse 14. He says to them, DON'T BE YOKED TOGETHER with unbelievers.
It's a picture of a bullock team. Unevenly matched. Unequally yoked. One pulling all the weight, the other pulling backwards.
I used to walk the kids to school when they were little, and I'd be holding hands with Maddie and we'd be walking up the hill. And I'd be doing all the pulling. She'd always be dragging back the other way.
That's the picture Paul's painting. Uneven yoking.
And often you'll hear people applying it to marriage. If you're a Christian and you're choosing a partner, MAKE SURE YOU CHOOSE ANOTHER CHRISTIAN.
Can I say to you, it's incredibly good advice. Because if you're a Christian married to a non-Christian, you'll know that it's tough. And I know if you're in that situation, you'll know how it feels to plow round in circles, with one ox doing all the pulling and the other one digging its heels in. If you're in the harness already, Paul says back in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 you need to stay as you are. But it you're choosing a partner now or if down the track you're going to be, THEN CHOSE A CHRISTIAN. And don't be tempted otherwise. And I know that almost every Christian I know who's walked into that situation, they'd want me to say to you if you've got the choice, DON'T DO IT.
Now having said that, can I also say I don't think Paul's exactly talking about MARRIAGE here. It's the same principle. And it still applies. But he's talking about something else, isn't he?
I mean, if you're looking at your bible there, take away they gap between verse 13 and 14 and take away the little heading they've put there in the NIV bibles, and you can see it runs straight on.
And it seems to me in the face of what he's saying about true and false apostles, and the fact these Corinthians are looking for something new, it's a very specific warning to them. To be very, very careful as Christians that these new things they're pursuing aren't actually going to lead them somewhere they don't expect. Because it's quite possible that new teachings that sound spiritual are actually deceptions of the devil himself.
Friends, these are hard words. But if you read all the way through this letter and you get to chapter 11 you'll see that's exactly Paul's warning. That if the devil's going to deceive you, he's not likely to turn up in a red suit and horns. He's more likely to dangle a carrot. A new sort of Christianity. A so-called Christianity that's focussed on THIS WORLD. Instead of Jesus. A so-called Christianity that's ever so subtly different. That tells you about the CHRIST FORCE WITHIN YOU, instead of the Christ who rules all of creation. That tells you about the victories YOU CAN WIN. Instead of the victory JESUS HAS WON ON THE CROSS. That tells you about the SECRET PRAYER OF JABEZ and things are going to be easy. Instead of the NARROW ROAD where things are going to be tough. And so often it sounds so good. That you don't even realise you're not looking at Jesus anymore. You're just looking at YOU.
Paul says to us here in chapter 6, BE CAREFUL. Don't yoke yourselves with people like that. Don't tie yourself to false teaching and a false gospel because it's the work of the devil. And what do righteousness and wickedness have in common. Absolutely nothing. What harmony is there between Christ and Belial, he says. Belial is the Hebrew word for WORTHLESSNESS. And that was one of their names for the devil. The worthless one.
See, friends, as Stewart told us a few weeks ago, we've got to learn to spot TRUE VALUE haven't we. To tell the difference between what's valuable. And what's worthless. What's genuine. And what's a fake.
Sometimes it's hard to spot. But we've got to be looking. Because GOD IS OUR GOD. And we're his people. And we've got to take seriously the task of being FAITHFUL. And sticking to the gospel. And living lives of integrity.
Paul says here in chapter 7 verse 1, because we've got these promises of God, because we've got the GOSPEL, then we need to purify ourselves. From everything that contaminates body and spirit. That we need to get serious about living holy lives. Avoiding the rubbish that's offered by those false gospels. Getting ready for heaven. Training. Perfecting our technique.
I was learning a new piece on the guitar. I played it over and over and over and over again. Everyone was complaining. Not AGAIN. But I kept at it. And at it. Until I finally got it right. Athletes do the same. Keep working at the tiniest movement. Until it's perfect.
Paul says this. He says, be like that. Stick with the gospel. Work at perfecting your GODLINESS. Chapter 7 verse 1. "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS out of reverence for God." Even when things are tough. Like for Paul.
See, I reckon sometimes we use tough times as an excuse for UNGODLINESS. Ever do that? Get back at God a bit. Swear at him? Or get drunk? Or get BITTER?
The genuine apostle that the Corinthians are rejecting is an apostle who faces trouble and hardship and distress with love and patience and kindness. He's genuine. And they call him a fake. There are fakes around, they call 'em genuine. They've got everything back to front.
Friends, be careful you don't make the same mistakes. Be very careful, because exactly the same traps are still around. And it's just as inviting to be unequally yoked with unbelievers who look just like the real thing. Except they've got a different gospel.
Can I say one more thing to finish. And that is we catch a glimpse here, don't we, of what TRUE MINISTRY is meant to look like. And I want to urge you to KEEP ENCOURAGING THOSE WHO LEAD HERE IN OUR CHURCH to be like that. To be godly. To persevere in the hard times. And to not be the sort of Christian leaders who have to live the terrible lie of pretending all the time that everything's glorious. Ministering to people is always going to have its disappointments and it's sleepless nights. That's reality.
But the best remedy for it, the best encouragement, is the thing Paul's longing for here. For ministers and their churches to hold one another in deep affection. To open our hearts to one another. As you look around other churches, it's incredibly sad it's such a rare thing, isn't it? It's more often open hostility. Criticism. Gossip. Dissatisfaction. Faithful ministers being DUMPED like the apostle Paul. Instead of encouraged with open hearted love. Friends, I thank God that this church isn't like that. But it's something we need to keep working at, isn't it? At loving one another as we hold on to the gospel together. And work at living holy lives out of reverence for God.