THIS MINISTRY
2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (KJV)
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God
Our passage this morning is going to take us back all the way to
Refers us to 2 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV)
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
He said that they had been made “able ministers.” Now, Paul said, seeing we have this ministry. What ministry? The one he had been made an able minister of.
Seeing we have this ministry of:
· The spirit rather than the letter
· The gospel rather than the law
· A relationship with Christ rather than a religion of ceremonies
Seeing he had this ministry he had two responses:
· We faint not and
· We have renounced hidden, dishonest things
And he goes on from there in verse two to describe how he has renounced them.
*I. NOT WALKING IN CRAFTINESS
2 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)
not walking in craftiness, …
The word craftiness means cunning, or subtilty – in a negative sense trickery.
Because of the context we automatically read into the word the negative connotation.
But we might gain some insight into the passage by thinking about the word in a more positive sense.
The first definition Strong’s Concordance gives is adroitness, which is “the skillful and active us of one’s hands.
I, for instance, have a trade.
I am, by trade, a journeyman Ironworker/welder.
Pastor Caleb and Pastor Bohannan have a trade.
They are, by trade plumbers.
Others are carpenters, pipefitters, painters.
When someone is good at their trade, they are often called “a craftsman.”
So, one time on a job I made a mistake. Another, more experienced ironworker, corrected my mistake and consoled me with these words, “The sign of a craftsman is the ability to hide his mistakes.”
We are going to make mistakes. We are only human. “The sign of a craftsman is the ability to hide his mistakes.”
The Apostle Paul said, when it comes to his ministry, he had renounced the practice of hiding his mistakes.
A whole lot of what passes for ministry today is artificial.
It’s a show. It is meant to impress people and make them think it is flawless.
They give the impression that, if you will just follow them, do as they do, you can be flawless too.
In 1 Kings 14[1] the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem and took from the house of God the shields of God Solomon had made. King Rehoboam replaced those shields, not with gold but with brass.
The scholars say that he did it to fool the people. If the sun shone on those brass shields just right, and if the people didn’t get too close to them, they could pass for those shields of gold.
He could fool the people that either:
· He had not lost Solomon’s shields or else
· He had not lost the wealth to replace them
Way too much of Christianity today is based on the show – people’s impressions of us.
The ability to hide our flaws, look like we are something we are not.
Let me just say, if the Christianity you practice at church today, doesn’t make it to you job, or more importantly, you house, it’s just a show.
You’ve learned the “craft of Christianity”, and not the “Christ of Christianity.”
We renounced those hidden things by
*II. NOT HANDLING THE WORD DECEITFULLY
2 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)
nor handling the word of God deceitfully;
In other words, he did not corrupt the Word of God.
Two of the words I found connected to handling the Word deceitfully were
A. To corrupt
The idea of corruption is to separate a body into parts so that it is rendered putrid[2]
This reminds me of those who take passages out of context to prove their doctrines.
· The Mormons
· The Jehovah’s Witness
· The Seventh Day Adventists
Each of them have built entire systems of doctrine on certain key verses.
They don’t really know the Bible – they know their key verses and they have been taught them so often that they really don’t get that they have to fit into the context of the immediate passage and of the Bible as a whole.
You and I have to be careful of the same thing.
Maybe we haven’t built systems of religion – but we can frequently build our own preferences upon a favorite verse that makes sense to us, but not in the context of the passage where we found it.
B. To adulterate
To mix with a baser material.[3]
2000 years ago, coins were usually made of solid valuable metals.
A gold coin was worth its weight in gold, because it was its weight in gold.
Sometimes, when finances were low, an Emperor would mix a little something else in with his coins so that they looked the same and weighed[4] the same, but they were definitely not worth the same.
Those coins were adulterated.
There was someone in Paul’s day who was adulterating the Word of God by adding things of lesser value.
The Jews had done that with their traditions.[5]
Some people today do that same thing by adding to the Word of God, the culture of the world.
· Take the world’s songs and add Christian words
· Take the world’s atmosphere[6] and bring it into the church house
· Take the world’s habits, and practice them as Christians[7]
· Take the world’s interests and turn them into Christian clubs[8]
We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty by:
Not walking in craftiness
Not handling the Word of God deceitfully
But instead,
III. COMMENDING OURSELVES TO EVERY MAN’S CONSCIENCE
2 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God
In other words, you just tell the truth as God has revealed it to you and let people respond to it as they are led.
This has been a Baptist principle for just about as long as we can find things written by Baptists and Anabaptists.
Everyone has a right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience.
· No one should be forced to go to a certain church
· No one should be forced to baptize their babies
· No one should be forced to observe communion a denomination
A person ought to have the right to hear the Word of God and do with it as they deem proper.
With this one caveat – they need to hear the Word of God honestly before they make up their mind.
[1] 1 Kings 14:25-27 (KJV)
And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.
[2] Websters 1828 Dictionary, “To change from a sound to a putrid or putrescent state; to separate the component parts of a body, as by a natural process, which accompanied by a fetid smell.”
[3] Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, “To corrupt, debase, or make impure by an admixture of baser materials; as, to adulterate liquors, or the coin of a country.
[4] Close to.
[5] Matthew 15:1-6 (KJV)
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
[6] Darkened rooms, blue lighting, flashing lights, etc
[7] Drinking, cigars, etc.
[8] Christian biker clubs, etc
