The Consecrated Life of a Servant

0:59John Owen was extraordinarily gifted. That much becomes clear as soon as you begin to study his life and his writings. But I want you to consider the analysis of Alastair Begg, whose own ministry has blessed the church for the past 50 years. He writes, What gave John Owen success in ministry was not so much his oratory skill, nor his ability. Evangelistic zeal, nor even his love for the people he shepherded. John Owen was used mightily by God in all these ways because he was a man characterized by personal holiness. People flocked to hear John Owen preach because he reflected God's character.

1:57Assuming that we are preserving and proclaiming the biblical message of reconciliation, the most crucial aspect of our ministry of reconciliation is our own personal holiness. Because how we go about the ministry of reconciliation will either help or hinder our gospel witness. Paul and his companions understood this, so by the grace of God, they sought to ensure that no one could find fault with their ministry. Today in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, we're going to learn that servants of God lead consecrated lives which reinforce their gospel witness.

2:52In the previous section, last week in chapter 5, we learned that we are God's ambassadors, imploring others to be reconciled. To God. We have this amazing privilege, not because we're worthy of such a calling, but because God has graciously included us in his work. And in this case, God's work was appealing to the Corinthians to be reconciled to God, not in the sense that most of them were not believers, but in the sense that they were not living in step with the gospel.

3:28Which meant, take a look at verse 1, the Corinthians were in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain. Now, what does that mean? Well, to do something in vain is to do something without effect or without results. Some of the Corinthians were rejecting Paul's message, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they were turning aside to a different message, one that urged them to return to the Old Covenant law. The problem is that the old covenant law couldn't save them. It revealed God's holy and righteous standard. It pointed them to the Savior that they needed, but the law couldn't save them because they were unable to keep it perfectly. Paul says it so well in Galatians 2.15.

4:22He says, we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. So what they needed was the grace of God. But by turning back to the old covenant law, they were rejecting the message of grace and receiving a message of works.

4:59And as Paul wrote in Galatians 2.15, by works of the law, no one will be justified. That's why Paul appealed to them not to receive the grace of God in vain, not to hear the good news of grace-based righteousness and then return to the bad news of works-based righteousness. So in verse 2, Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah, whose ministry called the people to repent and persevere in a time of peril brought on by their own rejection of God's word.

5:38Now, do you get those emails from companies that you have ordered from in the past or somehow got added to their mailing list one way or another? Some of those companies email me nearly every day advertising some kind of flash sale, as they call it. And it's a sale with offers that are only Good for 24 hours to promote action, to get you to think, if I don't buy this today, I'm going to miss out. The problem with those deals is that they happen basically every day.

6:15So, after I got about 10 or so of those emails, they accidentally trained me to see their email and say, no big deal, there will be another opportunity tomorrow. Well, the reason Paul quotes Isaiah is because God's offer isn't like that. His offer is a one-time deal that expires either when Jesus returns or when we die, whichever comes first. And friends, we don't know when we'll die. We don't know when Jesus will return. We don't know that we'll always be open to hearing and receiving the message of grace. That's why Paul quotes Isaiah. And that's why the author of Hebrews says in chapter 3, but exhort one another every day as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

7:32See, the Corinthians needed to repent and put their hope back in the gospel of grace. They shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that they could just do that anytime. That all seasons of life are equally favorable for hearing and receiving the word of God. J.C. Ryle, in his classic work, Thoughts for Young Men, wrote this: Tomorrow is the devil's day. Today is God's. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are or how holy your resolutions might be, so long as they are fixed for tomorrow. Do not let the devil mislead you.

8:21Friends, there is not a better time to receive Christ. Now is the favorable time. Today is the day of salvation. Don't say that you'll do it once you graduate, once you get established in your career, once you get married, once you have children, once you get your life in order. In every season of life, there is one reason or another not to receive Christ. Some reason to keep on living for yourself, some reason to put off thinking about eternity.

8:58And so I appeal to you as. Paul does, not to receive the grace of God in vain. Don't allow yourself to become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Jesus stands ready to save you. He's already done all the work in his life and death and resurrection. All that's left is for you to receive him through repentance and faith. Don't receive the grace of God in vain. Let's take a look at verse 3. Paul says, We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry. But as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way.

9:55Now, the first thing that I want you to notice here is that Paul says they put no obstacle in anyone's way. They don't do anything, they don't say anything that would discredit their message or their ministry. Medical professionals are familiar with what is called the Hippocratic Oath. And in the Hippocratic Oath, medical professionals promise first and foremost to do no harm. If your goal is to bring healing to someone, Whether physically or spiritually, then step one is to not make things any worse, to do no harm. And Paul is saying that they put no obstacle in anyone's way, they do no harm.

10:48But I want you to see that Paul doesn't stop there as if the sum total of the Christian life was not doing spiritual harm to people. No, he goes on to say this: take a look at the text, but as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way. So, not only do they not harm people, they positively commend themselves in every way as servants of God. So, to return to our medical analogy, you are disqualified from practicing medicine if you are bringing harm to people, if you're placing obstacles on their path to a healthy life, if you are Dr. Death from the now famous podcast.

11:38But doing no harm doesn't qualify you to practice medicine. If you want to be a medical professional, you have to do more than simply not hurt people. You must positively commend yourself by studying medicine and then by putting that knowledge into practice by helping people heal. That's what Paul is saying. He's saying not only are they not disqualified from gospel ministry because they don't place obstacles in the path to spiritual health, but positively they are qualified for gospel ministry because they commend themselves in every way.

12:20And how do they commend themselves? Well, beginning in verse 4, Paul presents their credentials in three broad categories: their endurance, their holiness, and their humility. Let's consider each in turn. Look at the last half of verse 4 where we see their endurance. He says, by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger. In this verse, Paul highlights all that he and his team have endured to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. The fact that they went through so much and they never lost heart, they never got too scared and turned back is truly remarkable.

13:22Every time they got knocked down one way or another, they got back up and they pressed on. Sometimes they got knocked down. By acts of nature like storms and shipwrecks. But most of the time, they got knocked down by those who opposed the gospel. You see such a picture of this in Acts chapter 14. Paul is in the small town of Lystra preaching the gospel, and Jews come in from outside and they oppose him, they stone him, and supposing that he is dead, they drag him out of the city and leave him there. But listen to what Luke records in Acts 14.

14:06But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derby. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Just let that sink in for a moment. Paul is stoned and dragged out of the city because his opponents think that he's dead.

14:51And I'm telling you right now: if I was stoned and left for dead, I am laying there until the medical carton. Shows up to take me to the airport and put me on a plane back home. I am absolutely not going to do what Paul did. What did Paul do? He gets up and he goes back into the same city. The next day, he goes on to other cities to preach and to make disciples. Then he returns again to the cities that he had previously preached in, including Lystra, where he was stoned and left for dead.

15:34Why would Paul and his companions endure through this kind of affliction, this kind of hardship? Only love for God, love for the gospel, and love for the people to whom they preached could lead them to endure that kind of affliction and that kind of suffering. There is no other possible motive. Paul is saying they weren't preaching in pursuit of money or fame or a comfortable lifestyle. They preached out of love for God and others, and their endurance commended them as true servants of God.

16:19Let's jump down now to verses six and seven, where we learn about their holiness. He writes, by purity. Knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, by truthful speech and the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left. There's no doubt that Paul and his team endured a lot of suffering to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. But not everyone who suffers suffers for righteous reasons. And even those who suffer for righteous reasons don't always suffer righteously.

17:08Over the summer, I listened to a podcast about the Waco siege in 1993, which was a 51-day standoff between law enforcement and a cult known as the Branch Davidians, who had barricaded themselves in a compound outside of Waco. And the Branch Davidians were led by a man named Vernon Howell, who had taken on the name David Koresh and claimed to be the Christ. Well, the Son of God, he was not. And that became obvious not only through his failure to fulfill any of the prophecies about the second coming of Jesus, but also through the awful reports of spiritual, physical, Sexual abuse inside the compound.

18:05I was 11 years old when the Waco siege dominated the nightly news every day for nearly two months. And yet I still remember thinking: this man cannot possibly be sent from God. Why would an 11-year-old boy who knew nothing about the Bible's commands regarding spiritual leaders think that? It's because an unholy man claiming to represent a holy God is a contradiction. Nobody needs to be told that. It's self-evident. People should not, and most people will not, listen to a spiritual leader who doesn't lead a holy life.

19:06But Paul and his companions, they did lead lives that were fit for service to a holy God. Their lives were marked by the fruit of the Holy Spirit, by a commitment to speaking the truth in love, by the power of God manifested in how they fought a spiritual war with the shield of faith in their left hand. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, in their right hand. Everything that Paul and his companions did pointed to the fact that they led holy lives and their holiness commended them as true servants of God.

19:54Let's take a look now at verses 8 through 10, where we see their humility. He writes, Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise, we are treated as impostors and yet are true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold, we live, as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing everything. Paul and his companions had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate humility.

20:43They were dishonored by Jews and Gentiles alike. In fact, when we get to chapter 10 in a few months, we'll see that even some of the Corinthians said that Paul's presence was unimpressive and his speaking ability was average at the time. Best. They were slandered and gossiped about. Misinformation about their ministry and their motives was spread even in the church. They were treated as impostors, even though they were the real deal and preached the true gospel, unlike the false teachers.

21:21They were treated with contempt because they suffered so much to the point of death, which led others to question whether they had God's approval. They were sorrowful but chose joy. They were poor and yet made many rich. They had nothing on this earth and yet had eternal rewards to look forward to. So many people looked at them and seemed to say, if these guys were really sent out by God, then they wouldn't be going through all this.

21:54And if they were real men, they would stand up and defend themselves. But Paul and his team demonstrated a supernatural humility, entrusting themselves and their ministry and their reputations to God. Let me remind you of all that Paul has said about their conduct so far in the letter. It's mentioned in nearly every chapter. Chapter 1, verse 12, for our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we be Behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity. Chapter 3, verse 2, you yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all.

22:48Chapter 4, verse 2, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And then chapter 5, verse 11, but what we are is known to God, and I hope is also known to your conscience. In all these verses, what is Paul saying? He's saying, God knows who we are.

23:32We know who we are. And you know who we are. We don't have to defend ourselves with our words or our fists or anything else. They could have chosen the path of pride. They could have chosen to defend themselves in a worldly way. But instead, they chose the path of Jesus, the path of humility. And their humility commended them as true servants of God. Church, everything we do has the potential to help or hinder our gospel witness. The way we respond to hardship and suffering reveals whether our hope is in Christ and in the world to come, or if it's really in this world.

24:30The choices we make to turn from evil and to walk in holiness reveals what we believe about God and His holiness. The way we respond to persecution and slander reveals whether we have supernatural power from the Holy Spirit to allow God to defend and justify us. When we compartmentalize our lives and act as though some choices are spiritual and some aren't, we're putting obstacles in front of people. We're giving them cause to find fault with our message and our ministry. Everything we do has the potential to help or hinder our gospel witness.

25:19What is your life communicating to the watching world? Let's pick up in verse 11. Paul writes, We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return, I speak as to children. Widen your hearts also. Paul and his team had done everything possible to earn the trust of the Corinthians. They loved them in word and in deed, as evidenced by what Paul has written to them. They opened their hearts wide to them. The Corinthians, however, hadn't reciprocated that open-hearted love. It wasn't because of anything that Paul and his companions had done. The Corinthians were simply withholding their love from them.

26:26And that only happened after Paul and his team left Corinth to share the gospel and plant churches everywhere, and after the false teachers had moved in behind them. That's no coincidence. Over the past eight months, we've had the opportunity to observe how time and distance erode relationships. In the absence of regular face-to-face interaction, suspicions increase and Trust decreases. Where we once assumed the best and made charitable judgments about others, time and distance tempt us to assume the worst and to make uncharitable judgments about other people.

27:17So, when Paul and his team left a city like Corinth, limitations in travel and communication meant that months could pass by before they would hear from each other, and years could pass by before they would ever see each other again. Do we suppose that this had no effect on how the Corinthians thought about Paul and his team, especially when you had these false teachers there who were questioning their message and their ministry and their motives? So, Paul appeals to the Corinthians as a loving father would appeal to his children. He asks them to widen their hearts.

28:07They had given the Corinthians no reason to doubt them. As we saw in the previous section, they had commended themselves as servants of God through their endurance and holiness and humility. These were godly men who only wanted the best for the Corinthians. Why should they be suspicious about Paul and his team? Church, these verses provide an excellent opportunity for us to consider our own posture toward leadership, especially leadership in the church. Sometimes when I'm driving, I'll see college students in their cars with angsty bumper stickers on them like question authority.

28:57Does that attitude have scriptural support? I can find nothing in scripture that suggests that we treat authority, especially recognized leaders in the church, with suspicion. I do find commands to pray for them, to give double honor to elders who rule well, to remember them and imitate their faith, to obey and submit to them. But I can find nothing in scripture suggesting that we should treat leaders, especially leaders in the church, with suspicion. In the church, we often highlight the qualifications and responsibilities of spiritual leaders, and rightfully so.

29:49But we must remember that there are also plenty of teachings about our posture toward spiritual leadership. The relationship between church leaders and church members shouldn't be marked by suspicion. It shouldn't be characterized by an attitude of distrust. It is to be a warm and loving and familial relationship. In the church, we are fathers and mothers and children. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are all a part of the family of God. And the way that we relate to one another in the church should not mirror the way worldly people relate to authority.

30:42In the church, our relationships, and particularly those between leaders and members, should be characterized by open-hearted love. That posture commends all of us as servants of God before a watching world. If you're here today and you're not yet a follower of Jesus Christ, it may be the case that professing Christians have placed one or more stumbling blocks in front of you on your spiritual journey. I've known many people who have cited that as the reason that they reject the Christian message.

31:29If that's where you Are, I am truly sorry that you've experienced Christianity in that way. Followers of Jesus Christ are called to live lives of endurance and holiness and humility, like we talked about today. And I am sorry that you haven't seen that. At the same time, I encourage you to consider the countless number of professing Christians, including many here today, who are seeking to live those kinds of lives. We see our own sin, we see our need for forgiveness and transformation and salvation, and we look to Jesus Christ. We believe that He is who He claimed to be, the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us, who rose from the dead to defeat sin and death so that through faith we could be reconciled to God.

32:36And so, if you, like us, see your sin and your need for salvation, then we urge you to place your faith in Jesus Christ today. Don't put it off any longer. Now is the favorable time. Now is the day of salvation. Receive Christ and His work by faith. And if you're here today and you profess to follow Jesus Christ already, then friends, let's make sure that we don't receive the grace of God in vain. How would we know if we have?

33:24We'll just go back to chapter five and what we talked about last week. Are you controlled by the love of Christ? Are you living for Him, or are you living for yourself? Are you living a life that is marked by endurance and holiness and humility? If not, now is the favorable time. We urge you, I urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Don't allow yourself to become hardened to the deceitfulness of sin.

34:04Because servants of God lead consecrated lives, which reinforce our gospel witness. Let's pray. Our Holy Father. We pray to you, freshly aware that you are unlike us. You are perfect in every way. Your standards are perfect. None of us matches up to your holy and righteous law. And yet, you have called us, as we saw last week, to be your ambassadors, to represent you here on this earth, and to urge, to implore others to be reconciled to God.

35:14And so, Father, we pray that you would help us in that work. And if I can pray it, I pray that you would help us help ourselves in that work by leading lives that commend us as servants of God. I pray that we would lead lives of endurance and holiness and humility so that the watching world would not be distracted, they would not stumble over our lives, but could clearly hear the message of the gospel. And, Father, we pray for some who have even heard that message this morning. We pray that they would receive.

36:01The person and work of Jesus Christ today. We pray that they wouldn't put it off, thinking that there will be a more favorable time later, that the day of salvation will come for them again later. We pray that they would receive Christ by faith today and be reconciled to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.