Following the Follower VII: Two key Temptations to Battle

Holding Fast to the New Covenant in 2 Corinthians 4

Welcome to the Whole Council Podcast. I'm Jon Snyder, and Chuck Baggett is on vacation this week. And so we're going to look together at the next section of Scripture, where Paul describes how he follows Christ.

And we're looking at this in 2 Corinthians 2 -6, just taking time only to hit some of the high points. But our purpose of looking at it is so that we can see how is it that we follow Paul as he follows the pattern of Christ.

And Paul has been describing at the end of chapter 2 these difficult times, which really bring him to write from the end of chapter 2 through chapter 6, the longest autobiographical section that we have on the Apostle in the New Testament.

And then you remember that in chapter 4, verse 1, Paul starts the chapter with the word, therefore. And when we read the Apostle Paul, his logical connections are so significant. It's not the same, perhaps, when you read 1 John or the book of James.

But Paul gives us such clear arguments, and they lead to conclusions and applications. And so the word, therefore, one of Paul's favorite words, is of great significance for us today. So he starts the passage, chapter 4, verse 1, in 2 Corinthians by saying, therefore.

And what he's about to say is that based on what I've said in chapter 3 about the superiority of the new covenant, there are certain things that I refuse to do in the ministry. Or we could apply it to a parent in pointing a child to Christ, or pointing a Christian son or daughter to continue to walk in Christ, how to apply the realities of their Savior to their life.

Or you could think of a Christian worker as a witness at work, a Christian discipler or mentor. I can't think, really, of any act of spiritual service that is interpersonal. That chapter 2 through 6 doesn't apply to.

Rejecting Craftiness and Adulterating the Word of God

So Paul backs up and says, because of the superiority of the new covenant, and I, having been made a minister of this, and having received the very mercies of the new covenant that I talk about, I refuse to do some things.

And he says in verse 2 of chapter 4 that he has renounced the things hidden because of shame. Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God. And we've already talked about how in attempting to help people, in attempting to point our children to Christ or to see a church grow, there will always be the temptation to kind of cut corners.

Maybe we could say to become crafty behind the scenes. And we use methods that aren't quite upfront. And if people maybe understood all that was going on behind the scenes in our leadership meetings or, you know, in the way that we're thinking about things, they might be disappointed because they see that craftiness.

Paul refuses that kind of craftiness. He refuses to adulterate or to water down, adjust the message that God has given him. And, of course, as a parent, as a pastor, as a person who's witnessing to those who maybe seem indifferent, there is always the temptation.

The lie is presented that if you would simply adjust the message a little and keep the core the same, that you would be more effective. And so Paul says, I refuse to do that as well. But what I do is I manifest the truth.

I commend myself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Well, that's where we were last week. Now this week, we're going to pick up with that. And I want to say that as wonderful as that determination is, as wonderful as that resolution is, that because I have been called by God to serve a church, a family, to serve as an individual Christian, as a member of the new and greater covenant, I don't lose heart.

I don't despair and give in to those temptations. That's a wonderful boast and resolution, and it's the right one. But how do you hold the course? Because I think that as an individual Christian, the older I get, the more that resolution is under attack.

There are so many reasons that sound so reasonable to begin to adjust, to adjust our expectation of the Word of God, of the gospel in the hands of the Spirit. And so if we don't have confidence in that new covenant and that God is accomplishing His perfect will, then we begin to fish about and to search for some method that's better, a message maybe that seems more palatable.

So Paul says, I don't lose heart. How do we not lose heart and find ourselves doing things that later we're embarrassed of? And how do we hold to that confidence that allows us to manifest the truth and commend ourselves and our message to people in the eyes of God?

And for that, we need what Paul had.

Chapter 3.

It's not enough to study Chapter 3 and to agree with that. There must be this continual return to Chapter 3 or the content of Chapter 3, that the new covenant is so superior to even the best of the old covenant and that a sight of Christ is so transforming that I will not lose heart.

It is sufficient for everything that we face today. Well, the way that it will be tested fundamentally, Paul gives us two key areas, and they are the same areas for us. And they're found in verse 3 through verse 12.

We're going to look at the first area, but let me mention both of them now. In verses 3 through 6, we find that Paul mentions the apparent ineffectiveness of the gospel. And so the argument might be something like this.

If you really do represent the living God, Paul, and if your God is the only God, and if his son, Jesus of Nazareth, has provided something as wonderfully complete as you say it is, then why do so few Jews embrace it?

Why do so many Gentiles mock it? And so the answer, there's a number of answers that are possible, and we'll look at those. But that's the first area. When we are sharing the gospel, when we're pointing people to the Word of God, to Christ, whether it's our kids or co-workers or folks that attend the church, and it seems that it has no real impact.

The enemy comes alongside of us and sows seeds of doubt. Maybe it's not all that we say it is. And so we need to be prepared for that. Second, in verse 7 through 12, Paul mentions here a series of hardships or sorrows or tribulations, you know, very difficult circumstances that he lives in.

And in passing through these difficult circumstances, it is demonstrated to everyone who is watching that Paul himself is a spiritual weakling, that he is not up to this task. And yet, by passing through them and holding the course of faithfulness, Paul's weakness becomes this great billboard for everyone to see that the God of Paul, the Savior that he preaches, is infinitely strong.

So, the apparent ineffectiveness of the gospel, why are people not embracing it in mass, and the sufferings and the hardships and the difficult circumstances that come in following Christ in this life in which we are displayed as weak.

Both of those will tempt us continually to kind of give up our resolution to boast in the new covenant truths and to not lose heart. Well, let's look at the first of those in verse 3, 4, 5, and 6. And I'll read those verses and then we'll just hit the high points today.

And next week, we'll pick up with verse 7. So, in the New American Standard, we read in verse 3 of 2 Corinthians chapter 4,. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The Veiled Gospel and Spiritual Blindness

Well, let's just take a few moments and look at some of the high points here. Paul points out that the new covenant is just as great as he has said it is in spite of the paradox of verse 3, and that is so many are rejecting it and so many can't seem to find it.

It seems that they are veiled to the greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so this apparent failure of the gospel to be embraced by the masses raises the question. And Paul's answer is very simple.

In verse 3 and in verse 4, he points out that yes, many fail to see this glorious beauty of the plan of salvation as it is presented in the person or through the work of Christ who is the image of God in whose face the glory of God, the realities of God are so perfectly expressed.

Paul says it is because, not because the message itself is flawed, but because the people are blind. I mentioned that when we feel that our efforts to point people to Christ are ineffective, there are a number of options for why.

There are questions that ought to come to your mind if you care. If there's kind of a hyper-Calvinism that creeps in, a fatality, then really it doesn't bother you very much. But I think if you have a biblical balance with the sovereignty of God, yes, but also the responsibility of man and the heart of Christ that wept over Jerusalem, then you do ask yourself questions.

One option for the ineffectiveness of your witness could be the message. You might be sharing a truncated gospel. And I think that that's a very important thing, especially for us as American evangelicals, to ask ourselves, am I sure that I'm saying the same things that Christ said?

Or am I simply presenting kind of the clichés that I grew up reading in gospel tracks, gospel t-shirts, or bumper stickers? Do I have the full picture that the Bible gives of the great work of the triune God in redemption?

And so when I'm talking about the hope of humanity to somebody, I'm not just giving them clichés. I'm not just saying that God loves them and He has a great plan for their life, but I'm giving them that great mountain range of truths.

Of course, we don't give it to them all at once, but as God grants us wisdom and as we have opportunity, piece by piece we unfold the indescribable glories, the majesty of God, the depth of our need, the beauty and unexpectedness of His love, the sufficiency of salvation in every way perfectly suited to people just like us.

So are you aware of the small print of the new covenant in such a way that you are enabled to piece by piece pull out treasures from the vault of Christ and show them to the people you work with, show them to your kids, show them to the people sitting next to you at church?

So when we look at the message, we have to ask ourselves, are the conversions that we see which don't stick or are we seeing an ineffectiveness in our witnessing because we have the wrong message? It may not be that, but that is a question we need to ask.

Second, it may not be that the message is wrong. You might have the right message, but it might be the wrong method. Perhaps you are trying to bring these truths to the people in your home or workplace or church or town in a way that is really more based on the world's wisdom than on the scriptural pattern.

And we want to be clear. Or you could come at it from kind of a fatalistic perspective where you just throw out a few truths and walk away. You don't plead with the sinner. Paul pled with the sinner. You don't make sure that you lay before them, by the grace of God, clear arguments.

So we want to make sure that our methods are biblical methods, and that will take some real time if you're going to search the scripture and see how Christ and the apostles in the gospels, in the book of Acts, how it's explained in the epistles.

How did they bring the truths of God from one person living on those truths, bringing it to the next person? And I would suggest that 2 Corinthians 2 -6 is a great place to start where Paul talks about how he commends these truths to people who really have never heard of them before.

A third option.

The Messenger, Human Blindness, and the God of This World

So the message may be right or wrong. The method may be right or wrong. But what about the messenger? Part of the method and message is the person that brings the gospel. And if our lives are contradicting what we say, then we have no reason to blame the gospel and to doubt the effectiveness of this great work of redemption if God chooses not to use someone whose life is a living contradiction of the very things that we're talking about.

So we can talk all about holiness. We can talk all about the humility of Christ, the superiority of the new covenant, of the greatness and majesty and sovereignty of God. But then if we live under our rule, if we live captivated by our worth, if we are in love with everything the world is in love with but just a slightly cleaned up version, then why would anybody be interested in what we have to say?

So one of those three things or all three might be wrong and might be at the heart of our ineffectiveness. But there is at least one more option. And that's what Paul speaks of in verse 3 and 4. And that is that the God of this world is very busy blinding the hearts of humanity.

Now, sin, by its very nature, its great weapon against us is deceit. It's the half-truths. It's the lie that looks so reasonable. And here the great impact of sin's blinding is that humanity doesn't get it.

They might agree that Christ is an admirable teacher or a great model. They may even quote all the Reformed doctrines and they love the Puritans. But God knowing the heart would have to say, but you don't know my son and I don't know you.

There has never been that real knowledge that a person has eyes opened. It's always been a surface level kind of acquaintance with Bible facts or maybe an open rejection. But whether you are a raging atheist or a church member who can't wait for the sermon to get over, you have not seen the beauty and the indescribable glory of God in the face of Christ.

You have not seen the light rising on the horizon of your dark life, penetrating the gloom of a heart that is so self-deceived, it would prefer the light not come in. It's what John 3 says, where Christ is talking to Nicodemus and John continues and he explains that the light came to the world, Christ, but men reject Christ.

Why?

Because morally we love darkness. We would prefer God not expose us as we really are. And so we stay away from the light. So there is that natural tendency in the self-centered, self-serving, natural man.

That's the way we're all born. That we prefer to believe the lie that we're the center of the universe. And anything about Christ that is offered to us that doesn't jar with that, we're okay with. But as soon as someone brings the truth of Christ as king, as everything, then it offends us.

And apart from the wonderful work of God, we will always run from it. And Paul says, again in verse 4, that the God of this world continually blinds the minds of people. Why is the enemy called the God of the world?

It's not that he is a God. It is that he is treated as a God. He is a false God. He is the usurper. He is a false king. He is the pretender. Promising us things that only our creator can give. Offering us everything that God really is, but offering it to us the way we want it, at half the price.

And then never really being able to give it to us. He is treated as a God. He is given the allegiance, the loyalty, the trust that really belong to the living God alone. And we hand it over to the enemy who constantly feeds us with the very lies that we find believable.

And we're blinded. And we don't see the beauty of Christ. Now, Paul uses very precise language there. If we were to put it in the vernacular of today, I would say it would look something like this. You show up at church.

You have a Bible. You've heard these stories before. It's not that you disagree with the preacher. You're not anti -Christ. You feel that you're probably a Christian because after all, you're not a Hindu, you're not a Muslim, and you're not an atheist.

So I'm a Christian. I show up at church occasionally. And when I sit there and I hear these things, I don't necessarily disagree with them. I have no argument with this preacher, with this Bible. But you look next to you, and maybe there's a man that you know is a businessman in town, and maybe you're a businessman.

Or there's a wife sitting on the next row over, and her kids go to the same sports fields that you go with, and your kids know each other, and they're friends. And you know she's a reasonable person. You know that he's a reasonable, successful businessman.

And you look at them, and while the preacher talks, they are absorbed. They get it. They think that this talk about Christ is wonderful. It's life and death. They think it's worth risking everything. And if you're honest, you would say, I just don't get it.

I don't get why you're so excited about this sermon, why you think this church is worth going to. I don't see what it offers. Because you're blind. There's a great poem that says, there's a line in the poem that says, Let the blind man hold that the sun is but a fable men believed of old.

Simple picture. Great description of us. Apart from our eyes being opened, we prefer this darkness. The enemy is glad to give us the lies. We don't get it. We don't get the big deal. Why are people so excited about Jesus?

And we are like blind men who are arguing with people who can see, who tell us what the sun is. There is this orb in the sky. It's massive. And they tell us all the facts, how many earths you could place in it, what it's made of, how it puts out the heat, how much heat, how far away it is, and how it affects life here on the planet.

And the blind man at the end of all the explanations says, you're joking, right? This great big ball of burning gas, and it's that far away, and that's why our planet has life. Let the blind man hold that the sun is but a fable men believed of old.

We know differently. So there's a blindness within. And Paul is saying, that's the reason why the gospel that is as good and better than I can explain it is not to be blamed for the unresponsive lives of many.

Christ Jesus as Lord and Our Bondservants for Jesus' Sake

Now, Paul goes on in verse 5, and he says another really important thing. He goes on to explain, because Christ is as great as I just said he was, he is the glorious heart of the gospel. He is the image of God.

So Paul says, for or because of that, we don't preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus is Lord. If Christ is as great as he says he is, we don't need anything else to bring to bear on the dark and deceived lives around us.

There are many other things we can say about the Christian life, but when you think of the evangelism, the great heart of evangelism is to look to Christ, who he is, what he says about us, why he had to die, what has he provided?

How do we know it's true? So Paul says, for we preach Christ. Now, another reason for the little word for there. Paul doesn't change his tactics, his methods, his message. He doesn't think that he should adjust it just because in the previous town, he was beaten and left for dead.

And now he comes to the next town and people are rejecting it. Some are embracing, but many are turning away. Paul doesn't give into the temptation to adjust the message or the method. Why not? Because he said, they are rejecting Christ.

We preach Christ, Christ Jesus as Lord, not ourselves. If I was preaching myself, if I was preaching my methods, this is what we offer you. This is how we're going to fix your life at this church. Well, then I would have to adjust that.

But what they're rejecting is Christ. And Christ is everything. And I cannot adjust the message of Christ or the method that Christ sends me with. So four, verse five, four, we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus is Lord and ourselves as your bond servants.

Let me ask a simple question. Are you a biblical messenger in your home? Are you a biblical messenger in your Sunday school class? Are you a biblical messenger on the pew? Are you a biblical messenger at school, at work, or from the pulpit?

And you might say, well, of course I am. I don't teach things that go against the scripture. Well, let's check ourselves. Do you point people to Christ or to a hundred other things your church presents?

What is it that attracts people there? Do you offer them Christ and nothing but Christ because he's so perfect? He's so everything. What an altogether lovely one. What an only one. Samuel Rutherford said from prison in the 1600s in Scotland.

Do you think of that? When you think of Christ, are you so captivated by Christ that when you get a chance to talk about your church, you tell people about the Christ of your church and not all the programs you offer?

So do you really talk about Christ? Second, to be truly biblical, you have to have the second half of the message. We preach Christ as Lord, the King to be obeyed. Yes, we don't adjust him to fit the modern desire, but we also have another part of our message.

We preach ourselves. That sounds strange. Well, look what Paul says. We preach ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus' sake. A bondservant, a willing, voluntary servitude. I am willing to serve this family for life.

I am willing to serve the King Jesus. I gladly accept the service of this King forever. I'm a bondservant. But here he doesn't say I'm a bondservant of Christ like he does everywhere else. He says, I've told you about Christ, the King, the Lord, and I've told you I am your servant.

I am a bondservant of the people of God for Jesus' sake. Let's stop and think about the paradox there. Every believer has been entrusted with the greatest treasure, the truth about God, and the second greatest trust, ministry to souls.

If you are a believer, then you are a believer because you have embraced, you have been handed over to the gospel, Paul says in Romans 6, and this has altered you, and you now have these truths to take to the world, and God has trusted you with the truth about him, and he has trusted you to bring it to souls.

So he has trusted you with the care of people whose souls will last forever. There is no greater trust than these things. That's quite an honor. Not only that, but he has sent you for Christ's sake, not that Jesus needs anything, but on behalf of Christ, as the representative of Christ, so that all that you do in speaking to your children, in praying for them, in repeating truths a thousand times to them, in talking to the people you sit next to at work, at lunch, he has given you this task, and you can do it for love of the king, ultimately, and Christ accepts that, and when you see the king face to face at the end of time, that will not be a small matter.

That is a great honor. But the paradox is this, that people like us get to have these honors, and the way that we actually accomplish them is that we gladly accept the lowest of positions on planet Earth.

We are slaves for the sake of Christ, for his honor. We are slaves for the good of other people. We lay aside our personal rights. We never lay aside God's rights and adjust him, but we lay aside our personal rights, and we humbly bring truths to people, no matter how costly it is, as long as the cost is to my personal right, and not the claims of my king.

I have no complaint. I am voluntarily the bond slave of these people, of the people of God, as I am bringing the truths to them. What an amazing picture of a balanced messenger of Christ. Are you a balanced messenger of Christ?

Christ the king. Me, your slave, for the glory of Christ. Well, let's bring it all together, because in verse 6, he gives more of his argument, and he says, the reason we're able to do this, the reason I'm the bond slave of you people, and the reason I do it for Christ's sake, and I don't lose heart, and I don't adjust or adulterate my message, or change my methods, in spite of the fact that blind people aren't receiving it, is because verse 6, for God who said, light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

In other words, Paul doesn't have to adjust anything, because the living God gladly opens eyes. So, blinded men and women and children can be rescued by this gospel, and will be rescued by this gospel, because the infinite and almighty God has sent us with a message, like he sent Paul, to our children, to our co-workers, to the church, to the neighborhood, and we know that we represent the one being who can open eyes, and overrule the blinding impact of the enemy and of our sin nature.

So, there's no reason to despair, no reason to adjust. If we were on our own, there would be every reason to constantly be adjusting ourselves to fit the world, to fit what my kids want. I'm different when they're age 15 than I was when they're age 7.

I'm trying to convince them that church is a good thing. It's up to me. No, Paul says, you've been made a minister, a servant of your children. You're bringing the truth to their souls as a person who has enjoyed the blessings of a new covenant.

And in that new covenant, God does give new hearts the new birth. He opens eyes. He saves. You're an evidence of that. Paul was an evidence. I have been conquered. I've been rescued from the dungeon of sin's lies.

My eyes were opened, you know, literally, physically, the great miracle as he was heading to persecute Christians, and Christ meets him on the road in that vision. Paul knows the Christ he serves, who is Lord, is able to save every sinner.

There's none too blind. And so Paul doesn't lose heart. Now, it's wonderful for us to read this passage. I was reading it for my quiet time this morning, thinking about church needs, thinking about my own soul.

Why am I not moving forward more quickly in sanctification? Should I settle for where I'm at? And I look at these things, and it just changes everything about how I approach things. You will either approach the Christian life when you think of helping other people, and that will either be fashioned by the needs around you or by the unalterable, giant truths of what God has done and is doing.

And if it's the second, like it was for Paul, then the great realities of what God has done and is doing will enable you to hold the course, but you will have to revisit those continually, or the pressing needs around you will begin to refashion your message and method, and your life will start to show it.

Well, next week, we'll pick up with verse 7 and see how Paul deals not just with the apparent ineffectiveness of the gospel, but how does he hold the course when loving Christ and telling people about Christ brings so much difficulty into his life.