CONFIDENT IN GOD: The Basis of a Real Ministry
The Difference a Ministry of God’s Word Makes
2 Corinthians 2:12-3:1
Jerry A Collins
SCC
v It more
important to teach or evangelize?
v Is it the
knowledge of God or experience of God I seek?
v Is the Word
of God the truth or not?
INTRODUCTION:
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most
important thing about us (A. W. Tozer). And this is what
a ministry of the Word attempts to develop—your concept of God. We can define
the ministry as making known the knowledge of God vs
14. What we hope to do is capture the heart and minds of people with an
accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the God of the Bible. As you engage
people in life a primary concern of yours is explaining the knowledge of God
you have revealed to you in the scriptures. This knowledge will conflict with
so many ideas people have of God. Paul faced this on Mars Hill. This is the
difference a ministry of the Word of God makes because it is from this Word
that we make our case and explain he knowledge of our
God. And what does this ministry consist of? What are its priorities and
emphases?
ESTABLISHING BELIEVERS IN THE WORD CAN TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER
EVANGELISM
The
two verses 12-13 eventually link to 7:5 where the arrangement to meet Titus at
1. In this ministry people believe the gospel and are being saved
12. Linked together is ‘the gospel of
Christ’ and an ‘open door…in the Lord’. We do not know exactly what this door
was but a favorable opportunity has opened up for the gospel to be received
well, heard, and believed.
2. In spite of the opportunity the concern for believers takes
precedence 13. Titus was supposed to meet Paul with a report of the
response of the Corinthian believers to his sorrowful letter to them. Titus was
a no-show causing Paul no peace of mind, an inability to concentrate on the
open door opportunity. So he left traveling to
OUR MINISTRY IS MAKING KNOWN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THROUGH HIS WORD
14-15
Thanksgiving
should always be given to God and directed to him. There are two reasons this
is so with our ministry of the Word:
1. God who always keeps leading us in triumph in Christ 14a. This
suggests that in relation to Christ there is always hope for victory. This is
always the case. Serving on the side of Christ is never a losing proposition.
Even a despairing personal circumstance—like no rendezvous with Titus—will end
up being a good thing. God will see that anything related to the ministry of
His Son is successful.
2. God keeps manifesting knowledge of Himself through our ministry
of the Word 14b. The idea is that He is making clear who
He is through our ministry everywhere. God does not ask you to experience him
but he does demand that you know him. From God’s perspective this knowledge is
like a fragrance diffused everywhere in the world. That fragrance he says is
the knowledge of God in every place it is spoken and understood. So teaching,
preaching and discipling is
not so is we can have a following but so that the knowledge of God is
manifested.
3. Manifesting the knowledge of God in Christ is an offering, well
pleasing to God 15. God’s pleasure is always connected to the devotion given
to His Son. The ‘aroma’ is like an odor of a sweet smell. I remember our
apartment in
(1)
They will receive it as the means of their salvation, just as these Corinthians
had done through Paul’s’ ministry of God’s word. His preaching was the very
first ministry of the gospel there
(2)
Then it becomes a message that damns people who refuse to receive the knowledge
given in the gospel. Rejecting the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
leaves one with no other option to save them from their sin. So we learn that
our job is to proclaim the truth about God, His Christ, His Word and will, but
our job is not to convert anybody. When one believes the multiplying effect is
well pleasing to God and to the ones who have received that Word—they are saved
and thanksgiving given to God. Rejection does not necessitate convincing but
does leave one in a state of condemnation that only the HS is capable of
convicting them of.
KEEP A VERTICAL FOCUS IN YOUR MINISTRY OF THE WORD & GOD WILL
USE THAT MINISTRY
The
temptation will be to use the Word of God to lord it over people. You will use
it to make a name for yourself or to have a following or to get butts in your
seats. But the ministry of the Word is much deeper than that—the ramifications
larger.
1. This ministry makes a difference eternally 16. If someone
does not receive Christ the odor becomes a fume. They move from spiritual death
on earth to eternal death in hell. So our ministry of the Word becomes a fume
from death to death. When one believes they move from spiritual life on earth
to eternal life in heaven. So this word is a sweet smelling aroma form life to
life. What ramifications there are! This twofold consequence is staggering as
Paul declares ‘and who is adequate for these things?’ The answer is no one!
This becomes a major theme in the letter—1:9; 3:5-6; 4:7; 12:9—we are not
adequate in ourselves but it comes only from God. Yet He uses us anyway! But
there are those who use this ministry for self-interest.
2. There will always be those who merchandise the Word 17. They only
have a horizontal focus and ‘peddle’ the Word. They are hucksters who use God’s
Word for profit—false teachers who are diluting and distorting the Word
motivated by profit from it. If you serve people with the Word you will use the
Word and people to get what you want. If you serve God with the Word you will
give people the truth so they can have what they need. So our ministry of the
Word must always be ‘in the sight of God’ before it is in the sight of people.
You will be tempted to give people what they want to hear rather than the truth
God declares they obey!
APPLICATION:
1.
Disciple people don’t just settle for their salvation.
2.
Teach people the knowledge of God, not have an experience with God.
3.
Speak the gospel and don’t make it acceptable to people.