‘The Significance Of A New Creation’--XXIII—2Corinthians 5:9--6:10...
14. The PRACTICAL REALITIES Of MINISTRY-B—2Corinthians 6:3-10...
Part B of point 14 in the series.
No matter what we do for a living or how we worship together corporately, much more is required to bring about the actuality of ministry than may be perceived/considered/grasped.
A true Christian receives a new nature.
Need:
*The key to our verses is 2Cor. 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Paul clarified the significance of being a new creation in Christ to the Corinthian church.
There is great significance to being a new creation in Christ.
14 significations/signifiers of being a new creation in Christ.
Previously we have found that A new creation is significant in its New...
1. PLEASUREs(5:9)
2. RECEPTION(5:10)
3. PERSUASION(5:11)
4. OPPORTUNITY(5:12)
5. SOUND INSANITY(5:13)Risk
6. LOVE(5:14-15)
7. CONSIDERATIONS(5:16)
8. NEWNESS/Creativeness(5:17)
9. RELATIONSHIP--Reconciliation(5:18-19)
10. INSTRUMENTATION/Mediation(5:20)
11. RIGHTEOUSNESS(5:21)
12. VIEW Of VANITY(6:1)
13. URGENCY(6:2)
Attention:
Incompetent to Competent:
There was a time in my brother’s life when he was considered the ‘black sheep of the family.’ He was in many aspects a rebel.
He had become an alcoholic & was the source of the divorce from his first wife, the mother of his three children.
In fact things were so bad with my brother that my father & mother actually excluded him from their will. He was unfit to handle any financial concerns of the family, even though he was the first born. His ‘ministry’ as a son was compromised.
*However eventually he came to his senses & ‘repented’ of his erring ways. Seeing his repentance Momma & Daddy wrote him back into the will & re-established him as executor. He again became trustworthy in their ‘kingdom’ & with ‘kingdom’ matters.
My brother’s commendation/competence was reestablished.
So the responses of Christian family(ministers) are to commend their ministries before God.
We will see that Paul & Timothy commended apostolic ministry to the Corinthian church thru a list of Practical Realities within which they operated.
The significance of how being a new creation in Christ is played out in the Practical Realities of Ministry.
We are going to examine the significance of these Practical Realities one-by-one in their manifestation as Commenders of God-ordained Ministry.
14—A new creation is significant in the...
PRACTICAL REALITIES Of MINISTRY-B(6:3-10)
So far we have looked at the role of...
A. OFFENSE & BLAME(6:3)...as well as...
B. MINISTRY COMMENDATIONS(6:4ff.)(CONT...)
i. (6:4)Patience—cheerful endurance & constancy
ii. Tribulations—pressures
iii. Needs—forced subsistence
iv. Distresses—narrowed circumstances
v. (6:5)Stripes—officially sanctioned punishment
vi. Imprisonments—(officially sanctioned removal from society)
vii. Tumults—chaotic/unstable lifestyle
viii. Labors—physically/mentally taxing work
ix. Sleeplessness
x. Fastings—prayer & fasting
xi. (6:6)Purity—living uprightly
xii. Knowledge—personal, of God & His way
xiii. Longsuffering—refrain from wrath/revenge/vengeance
xiv. Kindness—Useful moral goodness
xv. The Holy Spirit—
xvi. Sincere Love—Unhypocritical
xvii. (6:7)the Word Of Truth—God’s unfailing word
xviii. The Power Of God—God’s ability
xix. The Armor/Weaponry Of Righteousness—protection
xx. (6:8)Both Honor& Dishonor
xxi. Both Evil Report & Good Report
xxii. Perceived as both Deceivers & Genuine
xxiii. (6:9)As both Unknown & Well-known
xxiv. Perceived as Dying but Actually Living
xxv. Chastened, but not killed
Continuing our look at MINISTRY COMMENDATIONS we find a 26th Commendation in 6:10.... 14—A new creation is significant in the...
PRACTICAL REALITIES Of MINISTRY--B(6:3-10)
B. MINISTRY COMMENDATIONS(CONT...)
6:10—“as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, & yet possessing all things.”
Again & finally Paul & Timothy’s “ministry” is commended in contrasting ways depending upon the heart-set of those who observe it.
A 26th Commendation as ministers of God...
“as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”
Comes in their being regarded “as” “sorrowful,”...
...while at the same time being regarded as “always rejoicing.”
The “sorrow” comes to God’s ministers...
a.—in your being wrongly perceived.
b.—in your being wrongly received.
c.—in giving of yourselves to the chagrin of those who choose not to believe, i.e.--by our ‘infringing upon’ & ‘restricting’ the ‘rights’ of unbelievers.
d.—in your presenting a dissenting message to the lost world.
e.—in your being openly persecuted.
f.—in your being surrendered to the biblical God—He Who is mere hearsay & foolishness to unbelievers.
2Tim. 1:7-11—“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power & of love & of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us & called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose & grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death & brought life & immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, & a teacher of the Gentiles.”
Fleshly people see the Christian minister’s hardships & assume great “sorrow” is attached to it...
BUT...Flesh does not see the continually inner joy of the saint because such “rejoicing” is spiritually discerned(1Cor. 2:14).
Christians do not find cause for “rejoicing” in the things of the world, but find much cause for “rejoicing” in the overall declaration(verbal & non-verbal) of truth.
As a Christian, you find continual cause for “rejoicing” thru loving commitment to your heavenly Father.
As a Christian, you find continual cause for “rejoicing” thru witnessing someone’s miserable slavish life to sin, become transformed into contented satisfaction & freedom in Christ!
As a Christian, you find continual cause for “rejoicing” thru knowing that your future is certain & both you present & future are immersed in God’s perfect love.
God’s Good News in Christ is indeed Good News!
“As”3X(See :8, 9)—wv—
“Sorrowful”—lupew—Present Passive Participle—1) To make sorrowful; 2) To affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow; 3) To grieve, offend; 4) To make one uneasy, cause him a scruple. Lupeomai is the most general word, meaning simply to grieve, outwardly or inwardly. Strong—from luph[Sadness]; To distress; reflexively or passively--To be sad.
“Yet”—de—Conjunction—1) But, moreover, &, etc.. Strong—a primary particle(adversative or continuative); But, &, etc..
“Always”—aei—Adverb—1) Perpetually, incessantly; 2) Invariably, at any & every time: when according to the circumstances something is or ought to be done again. Strong—from an obsolete primary noun(apparently meaning continued duration); “Ever,” by qualification--Regularly; by implication--Earnestly. Used 8X.
“Rejoicing”—cairw—Present Active Participle—1) To rejoice, be glad; 2) To rejoice exceedingly; 3) To be well, thrive; 4) in salutations--Hail!; 5) at the beginning of letters--To give one greeting, salute. Strong—a primary verb; To be “cheer”ful, i.e. Calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation(on meeting or parting)--Be well.
Argumentation:
*Mat. 5:10-12—“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile & persecute you, & say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice & be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
1Cor. 2:14—“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
*Jer. 29:8-14—“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets & your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD. For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you & perform My good word toward you, & cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace & not of evil, to give you a future & a hope. Then you will call upon Me & go & pray to Me, & I will listen to you. And you will seek Me & find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, & I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations & from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, & I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”
Jeremiah is known as “The weeping prophet.” Why? because he had a message of doom for his own people, which God compelled him to deliver. Since that is the case, then why would he prophesy in the first place? Because the God who loved him, was the God whom he loved.
Ps. 100:1-5—A Psalm of Thanksgiving.—“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, & not we ourselves; We are His people & the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, & bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
Col. 3:15-17—“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; & be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching & admonishing one another in psalms & hymns & spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
2Cor.1:3-7—“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies & God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation & salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation & salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.”
Illustration:
My first car was a 1969 VW Beetle/I used to change the oil in it at home/The VW had a reusable oil filter(oil strainer) consisting of a fine wire mesh/It was held onto the bottom of the engine by 6(?) -10mm double-threaded screw stems(no heads) secured by cap nuts, which had to be removed in order to remove & flush the reusable filter/I would inevitably sheer-off one or more of the screws bringing me great ‘sorrow’/They were intentionally made of a softer metal than the engine so that you wouldn’t damage the engine by over-tightening/But I would rejoice knowing that my car would soon have fresh clean oil in it!/SORROWFUL Yet REJOICING
At times, You may become frustrated at work—You may have stripped a bolt while changing the oil...You may have pricked your finger with the needle as you are quilting, etc. But in your Sorrow you simultaneously Rejoice knowing that the work(ministry) you are involved in is God’s work! It is ultimately helping others in their relationship with God thru Christ! Problems/Difficulties do not make you stop...You continue in the work!
?Do the SORROW & REJOICING declared thru your ministry commend your ministry as born/borne of God...
...OR does it negate it?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
*Obviously some ministries are more fraught with difficulty than others, because they are all tied to spiritual relationships & the hardships of physically sharing the Good News.
Action:
14—A new creation is significant in the...
PRACTICAL REALITIES Of MINISTRY-B(6:3-10)
Today, we have looked at the significance of...
B. MINISTRY COMMENDATIONS(6:4ff.)(CONT...)
xxvi. (6:10)Sorrowful yet Rejoicing
We have previously looked at the significance of...
A. OFFENSE & BLAME(6:3)...as well as...
&:
i. (6:4)Patience—cheerful endurance & constancy
ii. Tribulations—pressures
iii. Needs—forced subsistence
iv. Distresses—narrowed circumstances
v. (6:5)Stripes—officially sanctioned punishment
vi. Imprisonments—(officially sanctioned removal from society)
vii. Tumults—chaotic/unstable lifestyle
viii. Labors—physically/mentally taxing work
ix. Sleeplessness
x. Fastings—prayer & fasting
xi. (6:6)Purity—living uprightly
xii. Knowledge—personal, of God & His way
xiii. Longsuffering—refrain from wrath/revenge/vengeance
xiv. Kindness—Useful moral goodness
xv. The Holy Spirit—
xvi. Sincere Love—Unhypocritical
xvii. (6:7)the Word Of Truth—God’s unfailing word
xviii. the Power Of God—God’s ability
xix. The Armor Of Righteousness—protection
xx. (6:8)Both Honor& Dishonor
xxi. Both Evil Report & Good Report
xxii. Perceived as Deceivers yet Genuine
xxiii. (6:9)As Unknown & Well Known
xxiv. Perceived as Dying yet Actually Living
xxv. Chastened, but not killed
Part ‘B’- subpoint xxvi. only! of point 14 presented 05/21/2017am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE.(SE Ave. ‘A’)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
