WHERE IS SUFFICIENCY
2 Corinthians 2:16-17 (KJV)
To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:1-5 (KJV)
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
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 fleshy tables of the heart.
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
I trust that you remember that I said last week that a major them running through 2 Corinthians is a contrast between the Apostle Paul and certain false teachers, I believe them to be the Judaizers.[1]
Throughout this epistle you will see Paul
Explaining[2] his ministry or
Rebuking the others
Ordinarily, I think the right approach to accusations is to do as King David did, and leave them to God.
· We probably deserve far worse than our accusers are saying
· Our friends don’t need our defense and
· Our enemies won’t be convinced by our defense
But I think at least one reason God led the Apostle Paul to defend himself so vigorously in this epistle is to answer
· all the opposition of
· all the critics of God’s preachers of
· all time.
Most of preachers, pastors and evangelists, etc. really do want to serve God and love people.
But not a one of us is perfect. We make mistakes.
Rather than trying to explain ourselves or defend ourselves or point out all the things the accusers did and said wrong, I think we can just point to the book of 2 Corinthians.
· It will do a perfect job of defending a honest man of God and
· It will do the same with putting the others in their place
Notice that the passage we’ve come to consider this morning is framed with the subject of sufficiency.
2 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)
To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2 Corinthians 3:5 (KJV)
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Here is one of the most paradoxical aspects of the ministry; a preacher must never be confident in himself.
He ought to have confidence – but never in himself.
He must find his confidence, his sufficiency in God.
God’s call upon his life
God’s gifts at work in him and
God wisdom through the Word of God
· He has to be confident that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him
· He has to be confident that the Bible is infallible
· He has to be confident that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness
Because if he is not confident in God he will almost certainly find his confidence in the wrong things:
· Personalities
· Programs or
· Progressivism
I just heard of a young pastor, in his late thirties or early forties I would guess, who resigned the church he was pastoring because he felt like a failure.
The strange thing is, the retired pastor who planted the church is still there and says he was doing an outstanding job.
The retired pastor offered to help him if he thought he needed it.
It just didn’t matter.
This younger man wasn’t accomplishing what he believed he should, counted himself therefore a failure, and has now left a congregation in need.
All because he did not know where to find his sufficiency.
Paul said his sufficiency was not in himself, but in God.
Now the passage we have before us deals with Paul’s “commendation” or his credentials as an apostle and preacher of the gospel.
Notice
*I. HIS PREVIOUS COMMENDATION
2 Corinthians 3:1 (KJV)
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
Notice the word again.
What I think he is doing to taking them back to the first time he came to town.
Acts 18:1-8 (KJV)
After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
· He came to town
· He preached the Gospel
· The Jews opposed him but
· They got saved and baptized
He described that first visit in
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (KJV)
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
For the record, you and I know that he was officially sent out of the church in Antioch to do the work of church planting.
He wasn’t a lone ranger.
He did have authority for what he was about.
The point he is making here is that nothing has changed.
Some people believe the gospel
Some people oppose the gospel
And his credentials make no difference one way or the other.
· He doesn’t need to give them his credentials
· He doesn’t need to ask someone else to give them his credentials and
· He doesn’t need for them to give him new credentials.
His ministry is the same as it was way back when he first came to them.
*II. HIS CURRENT COMMENDATION
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (KJV)
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
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 fleshy tables of the heart.
Here’s where that whole,
· Our friends don’t need our defense and
· Our enemies won’t be convinced by our defense
comes into play.
The point he is making is that they knew in their soul he was a man of God.
They had been changed eternally, due in no small part to his ministry among them.
· There were those who disagreed with him
· There were those who made accusations against him
· There were those who would never accept him
But the believers in Corinth knew him to be a man of God.
There is finally
*III. HIS HEAVENLY COMMENDATION
2 Corinthians 3:4 (KJV)
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
I want to mention again that the Apostle had been sent out of a local church.
Acts 13:1-3 (KJV)
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
He was fully commissioned by a local church for his ministry.
But
· His trust
· His confidence
· His sufficiency
was through Christ to Godward.
And it was because he found his sufficiency in God he could confidently endure the accusations that were leveled against him.
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