Who is Sufficient for Ministry?

I want to invite you to take out your copy of God's word and turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 and go to verse 16. We're going to pick up in the middle of the verse because last week I preached into verse 16, but I said we were going to complete the verse this week as we move from chapter 2 verse 16 into chapter 3 and verse 6.

That will be our study for today. And the question of today's sermon is who is sufficient? Who is sufficient? Recently we had here at Sovereign Grace our annual congregational meeting. Now we don't have a lot of congregational meetings here, but we do congregational meetings at least on an annual basis and the purpose of the annual meeting is to affirm the budget.

We ask the church to affirm what the finance committee has placed before you as how we're going to spend our money, how we're going to operate as a church. But we also ask during that meeting that you affirm the men whom God has given us as officers.

Now from a biblical standpoint, the church only has two offices. From a biblical perspective, the first office that has been ordained by God in the church is the office of elder. The office of elder is elder, also known as pastor, bishop, overseer.

All of those words in scripture are the same office. We call that the office of elder or pastor. In this church there are three men who have been ordained to that office and who continue to serve in that office and that is myself, Mike Collier, and Andy Montoro.

The second office that's given in the church is the office of deacon. The deacon is a servant of the body of Christ and that office is important in the church because it allows the ministry of the church to go forth as the deacons minister within the body to the body and serve as examples for the body.

And that office, along with the office of elder, has qualifications. If you don't know what the qualifications for the elder and the deacon are, go in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and you can read very clearly what the qualifications for those two offices are.

And then there are some additional qualifications in the book of Titus for the office of elder or pastor. But the reason why I bring out this reality of the fact that just a week or so ago we again affirmed the men for this position is because today as we look at the text that we're going to read, we're going to see that Paul is continuing his conversation about his own ministry and he's going to lay out some of the things that make him qualified.

Some of the things that make him sufficient for ministry. Some of the things that make him competent to do the work that he does. And we're going to see that not only should these qualifications apply to him, but they should apply to anyone who is in ministry.

Not because ministry creates a group of elite or super-Christians, but rather because the ministry requires that men give themselves wholly to this service and to do so by the power of Christ. So that is our subject for today.

Let's stand and read the text as we begin again in the middle of verse 16. And it begins with a question and the question is, who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity as commissioned by God in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

Now on to chapter 3. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all.

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us written not with ink, but with the spirit of the.

Living God.

Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant.

Not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Father in heaven, I pray that as I seek to give an understanding this morning of your word that you would keep me from error.

Lord, knowing that I am a fallible man and I am capable of preaching error, I pray that you would by the mercy that you have given to me thus far would continue to extend that mercy. Lord, give me the energy and strength to walk through this text.

Give me understanding and Lord, keep me from falsehood. I pray for the hearers, Lord. I pray that your spirit would be the teacher. I pray that he would take what is said from your word and apply it to the hearts of your people and those who are here today who belong to you, Lord, who have bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would be edified by your word.

And Lord, for those who have not yet bowed the knee to Christ, whether they be young or old, whether they be male or female, whether they be a part of this church or visiting this church. Lord, that they would recognize that there is only one name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And that is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Again, if you're a visitor with us this morning, you're coming in as we are studying verse by verse through this text and may feel like you're diving right into the middle of a conversation and some in some ways you are.

But just to bring you up to speed as to where we are, Second Corinthians is the one of the most autobiographical of Paul's letters as he is explaining his ministry and he's explaining the he's giving a defense and apologetic for his own ministry.

And he is continuing to work his way through his vexed relationship with the Corinthians. He had a difficult relationship with them, not the least of which was caused by a group of men who came in after Paul had left the Corinthians and had sought to call into question what Paul had taught them.

Paul will address these people later in the book. He will address them as what are some referred to as super apostles. That's the term that Paul uses here. Apparently, these men had a reputation for themselves.

They had built up an understanding of who they were and the value of their ministry. And they had sought to increase their stock in ministry by diminishing the stock of the apostle Paul. And in Paul's conversation in this letter, he has recounted his sufferings.

He has recounted his discouragement as well as his source of strength, which is knowing that Christ is the one who has triumphed and is leading Paul in triumphal procession. That's what we talked about last week, that that Paul is being led by Christ in this triumphal procession.

Christ has already won the victory. And Paul is now Christ's minister, having been taken captive by him to do his will, to minister his gospel and to be a fragrance of the gospel in the world. Paul is the instrument of Christ in the world.

He is the incense wafting out and providing to everyone a scent of the gospel. And Paul says, to some, this will be a scent of life unto life, and to some, this will be a scent of death unto death. And then he asks this question, who is sufficient for these things?

That question comes at the end of his explaining his ministry of being this aroma, this fragrance of the gospel. And so when he asked the question, who is sufficient for these things? We have to say, what things?

What things is Paul asking? Who is sufficient to do what? And the immediate context is the context of the one who has been taken captive by Christ and is now this fragrance of life unto life and death unto death.

And so what Paul is saying here is he's asking the question, who is sufficient for ministry? Who is sufficient for this gospel ministry to which Paul has been called? And the word sufficient is important.

Hakanos in the Greek is the word. And hakanos means competent. It means adequate. It means qualified. So if one might take it this way, Paul is asking the question, who is qualified to do this thing? Who is adequate to do this thing?

Who is competent to do this thing? And I must say that the natural answer is nobody. The natural answer, who is qualified for ministry, really no one, is what we would think the answer would be. And apart from Christ, that's true.

In fact, the reason why I'm going cross chapters is because Paul asked the question in chapter 2, verse 16, who is sufficient? In chapter 3, verse 6, he answers the question, well, verses 4 through 6, he answers the question by saying, he's sufficient because of Christ.

So to jump ahead a little bit in the message, that's the answer. He's not saying I'm, and again, this is Paul, he's not saying I'm not sufficient. He's saying, who is sufficient? I am, but I'm only sufficient because of Christ.

I'm only sufficient because of what Christ has done in me. I've had people say this before, and this is interesting, if you ever read the qualifications for an elder, or the qualifications for a deacon, some people read it and they say, no one meets this standard.

Because the first thing it says is that he be above reproach. And some people think above reproach means sinless. And if it meant sinless, they're right, no one would be qualified. No one's sinless, amen?

So when it says above reproach, it can't mean sinless, because then no one would qualify. And then there are the other things that it says, not a drunkard, not a reviler, not a swindler, not a one who is a lover of money, not all these things.

Like all this list, and somebody says, well, who in the world is sufficient to do this? And the answer is, only Christ can make a man sufficient. Only Christ can make a man able to do this thing. No man under his own power could do this thing.

No man under his own strength could do this work. So Paul here in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians is answering this question, who is sufficient? Who is sufficient? Who can we look to and say, this man or these men have been called to this task?

And Paul gives us three reasons why he and those associated with him, because he uses the plural pronoun we, he and those who are associated with him are sufficient in Christ. He gives three reasons why they're sufficient in Christ.

If you want them for your notes or whatever, here it is. He says, here's the three reasons why we are sufficient. Number one is because our ministry is sincere. Number two is because our ministry is fruitful.

And number three, our ministry is humble. And I would, I'm jumping ahead to the end now. We're not done, but I am going to jump. To give you the application of today, if in any way a minister doesn't qualify in these areas, that's an issue.

Because Paul is setting himself up as an example, and he's setting himself up as an example for all of us who would claim to be in gospel ministry. That our ministry is to be sincere. That our ministry is to be fruitful.

And we'll talk about what that means. And our ministry is to be humble. Because couldn't we say this? Couldn't we say if a man was insincere, meaning he's not doing it for the right reasons and with the right motivations, that certainly that would question his competency.

Or if a minister never bore any fruit in the ministry. Or if a minister was filled with pride and lacked humility. Those would be issues and areas to call into question his competency for ministry. So let's look at how Paul outlines what I have just said, as I believe he does for us, beginning in verse 17.

Verse 16, he asks the question, Who is sufficient for these things? Verse 17, he immediately answers his own question. In verse 17 he says, For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word. Let's stop right there.

When he says that we are not peddlers of God's word, that word peddler is an interesting word because it's translated differently in different Bibles. The King James Bible says corrupt. We are not corrupt.

And as I was doing my study this week of the original language, and I was trying to put together why it would be translated peddler in the ESV, and in other modern translations often use the word peddler.

And yet in the ESV, or rather the KJV, the King James version, it says corrupt. Why this difference? Because I don't know if you think like I do, but I would say there's at least somewhat of a difference between saying someone is a peddler, and saying someone is corrupt.

But when we look at this in the cultural context of the use of this word, the word does mean a peddler. The definition of the word, the word in the Greek is to engage in retail business. That's what the word means, to engage in retail business.

But there is an implication behind the word. And that is to engage in retail business with the implication of deceptiveness and greedy motives. So another word, other than peddler, could be a huckster.

Y 'all know what a huckster is, don't you? I want to thank God for someone this morning, and he's probably going to be surprised I'm going to mention his name. I thank God for Jesse. Jesse is an auto mechanic, and he's fair, and he's honest.

Because I've dealt with some mechanics that are hucksters, amen? Guys that know you don't, they know I don't know nothing about cars. And you give them your car, and they say, hey, your flugelbinder's broken, it's going to cost you $5 ,000, and you don't even have a flugelbinder,.

You don't even know what it is.

See, you got to know that you can trust a person if you're doing business with them, right? Brother Mike was a handyman, and every time he came to do work at my house, I knew I didn't have to question what he told me.

If he told me I needed this to do it, it needed to be done. Because I knew I was dealing with an honest man, right? That's not a peddler, that's an honest man. A peddler in this context is a person who is corrupt in their business.

And what would happen in the ancient world is that the peddlers would sell their goods, and they would do things to the goods that would make them worth less than what they were paying. For instance, those who were selling wine would often mix water with the wine so as to spread the wine out further and make the wine watered down.

And they would sell it as if it were good wine, but it was really watered down wine. So the peddlers were corrupt because they were peddling, they were selling for a high price something that wasn't worth what they were selling it for.

So the idea here is someone who is corrupt. The Latin Vulgate, I think, actually influenced the King James. And it often does. If you're familiar with the history of the texts, the Latin Vulgate was the Bible of the people of God for a thousand years.

From the time of its translation by Jerome in the 400s all the way to the time of the English-speaking world receiving the first Bibles during the time of the Reformation, the Latin Bible was the Bible of the church for a thousand years.

And at this point, the Latin Bible says the word adulterantes, which is where we would get the word adulterate, or to corrupt something. So the word here does have the implication of someone who is doing something in a way that is corrupt, in a way that robs the value of something.

And Paul says we are not peddlers of God's word. We are not in the habit of adulterating God's word. We are not in the habit of corrupting God's word for the sake of gain. The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the Puritans.

And the Geneva Bible had notes that were in it. It was like an early form of a study Bible. And the Geneva Bible says this. It says Paul is using a metaphor which is taken from hucksters who used to play the false harlot with whatever came into their hands.

I like that phrase, play the false harlot with whatever came into their hands. They were basically prostituting everything that came into their hands. And so Paul is addressing people who treat the word of God with contempt.

You understand there are people like that out there? You understand that there are people who use the word of God as a tool to either injure the people of God, or they use the word of God to fill their own coffers, their own pockets.

They use the word of God to become exceedingly rich. They use the word of God to damage others and build themselves up. They are in every way peddlers of God's word. Now, some, and I have to say this, some have taken this passage to argue that ministers are never to receive pay because the argument goes like this.

If a man is ever paid for ministry, then that man automatically becomes a hireling or a peddler of God's word. But that is not true. In 1 Corinthians, by the way, written also by the Apostle Paul, written to the same group of people, written almost, well, within two years of one another, Paul wrote these words in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

He says, The Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

He said again,.

The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living by the gospel. So people ask me sometimes, Do you ever feel bad because you are paid by the church? No, I don't, because this is my vocation.

This is what God has called me to do, and the church pays me for this. However, understand this. That should never be, one, my motivation for preaching, and two, it should never change what I preach. If I'm afraid to preach something because it may affect my pay, then I have ceased to be sincere in my preaching, and I'm more concerned with how people feel than I am with the word of God.

And I've had people over the years try to threaten me with that. Oh, you've got to make sure you make your givers happy. And I say, well, thank God I don't know who they are. I don't know who gives what.

I really don't, and that's part of the rules here. The elders don't know who gives anything. That way we don't have the opportunity to show anyone favoritism based upon what they give or don't give. That's part of a rule that we've set for ourselves, because it is our intention to preach the word of God without fear.

And if I have to fear that you're going to leave and take your money with you, then I might preach for you, or preach to you, in a way that's different than the way the word of God requires, and I can't do that.

The word of God requires that Andy and Mike and I preach with sincerity, and not ones who would corrupt the word of God for our own gain. And that's the next word we see in this text. Paul says we are not, oh, let me say this before we go.

He says we are not like so many peddlers of God's word. Know what he's saying in that like so many phrase? There's a lot out there. There's a lot of men out there who corrupt the word of God. There's a lot of men out there who mistreat the word of God, and they do so for personal gain.

We are not like them, Paul is saying. We are not like those who peddle or who corrupt or who adulterate the word of God. But they're out there. Let me tell you something, they're out there. You be careful when you turn on that television set and you listen to those preachers on TV.

They're not all bad. First time I ever heard John MacArthur was on the radio. And by God, he's a great preacher. By God's grace, he is a great minister of the gospel. And I'm thankful that he's on the airways.

I'm thankful that men are out there preaching the gospel. But there are dangerous men. There are men who are seeking your pay in their checkbook. Or your checks in their pay. They are seeking to peddle God's word.

They are adulterating God's word. And here's the number one thing you can always listen for. For the one who peddles God's word. Is he's not talking about sin. He's talking about all the way God wants to bless you.

I'll never forget when I heard the Texas guy, Joel. He was on an interview show. And the guy said, Well, why don't you ever talk about sin? Well, I don't like to focus on negative things. I don't want to focus on negative things.

Let me tell you something. If you don't understand your sin, you will not understand the gospel. If you don't understand why you need to be saved, Then why do you rejoice in your salvation? If you don't understand the wretch you were, You don't understand the value of the grace you have received.

John Newton understood it. And that's why he said, Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. We are not like so many peddlers of God's word. We can't be. Peddlers of God's word. Corrupters of God's word.

But, Paul says, But as men of sincerity,. And then he uses this phrase in the ESV. It says, as commissioned by God. And the King James says, as of God. In the side of God, we speak in Christ. Paul is basically saying this.

He's saying, we are not peddlers. We are not corrupters. But we're men of sincerity. Men who do not adulterate the word of God. Men who have pure motives. Men who do not do what we do simply for profit.

But rather we show ourselves being of God. Who speak in the sight of God in Christ. He's talking about his source and his motivation. His source is that he's from God. His motivation is that he's preaching for God.

And he's preaching in the sight of Christ. Every man who stands behind the pulpit. Every man who stands before the people of God. Have to understand at some level. That you're standing before God. Proclaiming God's word to God's people.

His sheep.

And how dare a man be willing to strike the sheep of God for personal gain. What a dangerous thing to consider it would be. That a man would be willing to hurt God's people on his own behalf. It would be like taking a man's wife.

And slapping her across the face. And expecting that man to glorify you. The church is Christ's bride. And the man of God is called to shepherd the bride of Christ. As the under shepherd of Christ. How dare we.

Mistreat God's people. With God's word. And how dare we mistreat God's word. The story of Charles Spurgeon. And not certain to it's accuracy. But sounds certainly accurate. Was that every time that he would ascend the stairs to his pulpit.

He would say. I need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit. That he would repeat after himself. I can't do this. Apart from the Spirit. This is too monumental a task.

I can't do this without the Spirit. I remember years ago I was in the truck with my dad. And I hope this doesn't in any way sound prideful. It does not intend to be. But I remember sitting in the truck with my dad.

I was driving. My dad was driving. I was with him. And I was talking to him about my call to ministry. And that God had called me into ministry. This was years and years ago. My dad was younger. And so was I.

He had less gray. And I had no gray.

And I said.

Dad.

This is different than being a doctor. Or a lawyer. Or an accountant.

I said.

Because if I mess this up. People's souls are in danger. This is not.

I mean.

If a doctor kills us. At least we got another life to live.

I mean.

That sounds simple.

Right.

I remember a doctor saying one time. He says. The best we can do is keep you alive a little longer. But one day it's going to end. We are here today dealing with what's forever. That's why this is so serious.

This is why Paul.

Or rather James says. Let not every man be a teacher. For teachers will be held to a higher standard.

Paul says.

We are not like men who do this in insincere. Corrupting motives. But in sincerity. We do it in front of God. For God. By God. In Christ. It's the only way to do it. It's the only way to do it. So that's first.

His ministry was sincere. Number two. His ministry was fruitful. His ministry was fruitful. Look at verse one of chapter three. He says. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? See Paul just proclaimed his own sincerity.

He says. We're not peddlers. We are sincere. But are we beginning to commend ourselves again? What's he talking about? He's basically saying to them. Do I have to prove myself to you again? Do I have to prove my ministry to you?

And you might think that's a weird question. It really is an interesting question. Because think of who Paul is talking to. Paul is talking to a church that he founded. Paul is talking to a church that he planted.

Paul is talking to elders and leaders and preachers who he taught.

And Paul is saying.

Do I have to start over? And reestablish for you who I am? Now why is this even a question? Again, his ministry has been called into question by these super apostles who have gone into Corinth. And we don't know where they're from.

We don't know who they are. But one thing we do know is they came with degrees. Now that's a little bit of an anachronism. But let me explain what I mean. These men had letters of recommendation. From where?

We don't know. And from whom? We don't know. But they came in with qualifications. They had their letters with them. And so Paul says. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

Paul says.

Do we need letters of recommendation? Now real quick. Letters of recommendation are not necessarily bad. Because letters of recommendation were actually things that we see at other places in the Bible.

Such as at the beginning of chapter 16 of Romans. Where Paul is sending Phoebe with the letter to the church at Rome. He says. I commend to you our sister Phoebe. A servant at the church at Cancria.

Right?

He commends her in the letter as the one who is delivering the letter. There's nothing wrong with commending someone and to do so in writing. We still do this today, don't we? If you know you had to go get a job somewhere.

In fact, several of you over the years have asked me to write you letters of recommendation. There have been times where I've done so for young people going to schools or colleges or things like that.

And there's nothing wrong with a letter of recommendation.

A letter of commendation.

That's not a problem. But Paul is asking this question. Do I need that from you? And here's what he says. He says, verse 2. You yourselves are our letter of recommendation. Written on our hearts to be known and read by all.

And you show that you are a letter from Christ. Delivered by us. Written not with ink. But the spirit of the living God. Not on tables of stone. But on tablets of human hearts. Paul says the Corinthians themselves are his letter of recommendation.

You want proof of ministry? Look at yourselves. Paul says. If you want proof that the ministry is effective. Look at where you are and you're there because of the ministry Christ did through me. Paul is proclaiming the fact that his ministry has actually borne fruit among them.

You want a letter of recommendation? Paul says look at yourselves. And you'll find a letter that's not written in ink. But is written on the heart. You'll find a letter that was from Christ. Delivered by us.

And then he says this interesting phrase. Not on tablets of stone. But on tablets of human hearts. Now this is sort of a jump ahead to. And it's going to be a few weeks before we come back to 2 Corinthians.

We're going to take a couple weeks off. But when we get back we're going to see that what Paul is doing in this little subtle statement. Is he's actually referencing something he's about to say about the new and the old covenant.

Because he says you're not written on tablets of stone. But on tablets of human hearts. The difference between the old covenant and the new covenant is the ministry of the spirit. The old covenant the law of God written on the stones.

The new covenant where's the law written? On the heart. And this is Paul. Because he's just in 3 or 4 verses. He's going to begin to talk about himself as a minister of the new covenant. Corinth was a new covenant church.

That had been planted by a new covenant apostle. Paul himself. And Corinth was itself testimony to Paul's ministry. The fruitfulness of Paul's ministry was shown forth by the existence of that church.

Ministry is known by it's fruit. In fact I would remind you of an important verse. You don't have to turn there unless you just want to. If you can get there quickly. Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. In the sermon on the mount.

Jesus is describing false prophets. And I want you to hear again what Jesus says about false prophets. He says beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit. But the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit.

Nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. You want to look at a ministry? Look at what it produces.

You want to evaluate a ministry? Evaluate what it produces. And I'm not talking about huge numbers. Though numbers aren't necessarily bad. I tease big churches a lot. Because there sometimes is some bad fruit in some of those big churches.

But there's nothing inherently wrong with having a big church. I mean again I go back to MacArthur. His church is a pretty good sized church. And he's preaching the gospel. Praise the Lord. What's his name here in town?

H .P. Charles. He's a preacher of the gospel. And he's got a big church. Praise the Lord. He's got a big church. If you're preaching the gospel and you've got a big church, then God's glorified in that.

If you're preaching the gospel and you've got a small church, God is glorified in that. It's not all about the numbers, but it is about this. Are lives being changed? Are people coming to know Christ?

Are people repenting of their sin? Are people trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are people fascinated with themselves? Are people fascinated with self-esteem? Are people fascinated with how much sin they can continue in so that grace can abound?

We talked about that in Sunday School this morning. The danger of that because we're in Romans chapter 6. I'm telling you something. Some ministries produce fruit that stinks. Some churches produce fruit that is ungodly fruit.

It's rotten fruit. It's dangerous. Paul says that his ministry is known among the people of Corinth. They are his letter of recommendation primarily because the fruit of the ministry that he has done there has been readily seen.

And it's good fruit.

You say, now wait a minute.

Corinth was a church of misfits and misbehavior. Yes, but God was still working there.

Amen.

And lest we think we're altogether better than them, we still struggle too. I do wonder though why churches name themselves Corinthian Church. I've seen a lot of like go to churches, especially in the south.

You'll see First Corinthians, Baptist Church. I'm like, eh. I can understand Philadelphia. But, you know. But the reality is Paul is saying there's fruit there and that fruit is testimony to the ministry of the gospel.