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Father, thank you for this morning, that we can gather on Sunday, corporately, to join our hearts, our minds, in fellowship, but ultimately in worship of the living and true God. We thank you for that awesome privilege.
We are all worshiping beings, but we thank you that you've opened our eyes to see the truth when we were blind to it, so that we can worship you. Help us to do that this morning, and help us as we open the Word of God together, to be teachable to you, to the Spirit of God, who is the author of the divine scriptures.
In Christ's name we pray, amen. In his lectures to my students, Charles Spurgeon writes the following. The first part might be a little difficult to follow because he's writing in a time during Victorian England, so the language is a little bit tough, but you'll understand his point as we get to the end of this paragraph.
Spurgeon writes this, a graceless pastor is a blind man elected to a professorship of optics, philosophizing upon light and vision, discoursing upon and distinguishing to others the nice shades and delicate blendings of the prismatic colors, while he himself is absolutely in the dark.
He is a dumb man elevated to the chair of music, a deaf man fluent upon symphonies and harmonies. He is a mole professing to educate eaglets, a limpid elected to preside over angels. And after that, here is Spurgeon's conclusion.
When a preacher is poor in grace, any lasting good which may be the result of his ministry will usually be feeble and utterly out of proportion with what might have been expected. Let me read that one more time.
When a preacher is poor in grace, any lasting good which may be the result of his ministry will usually be feeble and utterly out of proportion with what might have been expected. So you say, great, this does not apply to me.
He's referring to pastors and preachers. But in our discussion this morning, as I finish this series on grace that we've been doing and discussing, when I use the term minister, I'm not referring to a professional minister, somebody who is in vocational Christian work, a preacher, a pastor, a missionary.
I'm referring to everyone who is a genuine believer. Because when God saves you, and by his sovereign grace, since we're discussing about grace, by God's sovereign grace, when he saves you, by that same sovereign grace, he enlists you into his service.
So when I'm using the term minister in our discussion this morning, I'm not referring to a full-time pastor or missionary or preacher. I'm referring to every one of us who is a Christian. So the saying, to take Spurgeon's words, when we as ministers, as Christian ministers, as those who serve, are poor in grace, any lasting good which may be the result of our ministry will be feeble and utterly out of proportion with what we expected.
So so far in our discussion on grace, we've discussed the topic of grace in terms of our sanctification. So we said that we readily admit that we are justified by God's grace. Romans 3 actually talks about that very clearly.
Great little passage there in Romans 3, 21 through 28, which is kind of like the kernel of the gospel, where Paul says we have been justified freely by his grace. And we would readily admit, too, that in terms of our glorification, our ultimate glory being saved from the presence of sin, we are glorified by grace.
But somewhere in the middle, we get lost sometimes, and we realize that maybe our sanctification might not be by grace, but yet the Bible says it is by grace. And we discuss that that does not mean living by grace.
That does not mean that if I read my Bible, oh, I am not living by grace, because the Bible is the word of grace. If I'm praying, that does not mean I'm not living by grace. I'm actually living by grace when I pray, because in prayer I'm dependent upon God.
So sanctification, the whole of our Christian life, from justification to glorification, is to be lived by grace. What we're going to talk about today more, everything we've talked about thus far, is in terms of our own growth in sanctification, being made more holy, being made more like Jesus Christ, growing in Christlikeness.
That is what sanctification is, to be set apart unto holiness, or to become more Christlike. That's what we've been discussing about. Today, as we finish this, we're going to discuss how we can be ministers, how we can serve others, be ministers of grace.
And what's important to realize initially is that everything we've discussed in our last three sessions relates directly to being a minister of grace. Let me illustrate. If you're living your Christian life not by grace, if you're living your Christian life not by grace, but by the performance treadmill, meaning that you feel based upon your works you warrant some blessing from God because of what you've done, not for the sake of justification again, but for the sake of sanctification, then you will not be able to minister grace to others.
If for example you are a legalist, you're living your Christian life based upon a man-made set of rules, and as a result are critical and judgmental of others who do not follow your man-made set of rules, then you will not be able to be a minister of grace.
If you are not clothing yourself, as we discussed last week, with garments of grace, with those clothing that we discussed in Colossians 3, compassion, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, then don't expect to be a minister of grace, especially if you're doing those things because you feel if I do those, I deserve God's blessing.
But what did we discuss last week from Colossians 3? You do those things, you clothe yourself with those attributes, those qualities, in light of who you are in Christ because the text says we were chosen by God, we are holy and beloved.
So if you're running the performance treadmill, I'm living the Christian life based upon works and because of that I deserve God's blessing, you're not going to be able to be a minister of grace. If you're attached to legalism in any way, shape, or form, you won't be able to be a minister of grace.
If you're not clothing yourself with those garments of grace, compassion, humility, forbearance, forgiveness, and the rest, you will not be able to be a minister of grace. So let me give you a working definition to be a minister of grace.
Again, the term minister, for those of you who are just arriving, I'm not referring to a professional pastor, somebody who is paid in Christian vocational work or a missionary. I'm referring to every one of us who is a genuine believer.
When God calls you to salvation, he calls you automatically to be a servant. You're enlisted not only as a child of God, but you're enlisted as a servant of God. So, working definition of a minister of grace.
To be a minister of grace means to be a dispenser of grace to others. That's the first part. Here's the second part. Not in your own fleshly energy, but in the power and strength of God, which is his grace.
We define grace, initially in our series, as God's power and strength in our weakness. And that definition applies, of course, to salvation, justification per se. We were powerless, Romans 5, we looked at, to save ourselves, so God and his power saved us.
In the same way, in our sanctification, we are powerless, so we need to live it by the power of his grace and the Holy Spirit. So let me repeat it. To be a minister of grace means to be a dispenser of grace to others.
But it's not done by your flesh, in the energy of your flesh. It's done in the energy of his and the power of his grace. On that, Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Grace Awakening, says the following. He kind of poses a warning.
And again, he's not talking specifically, as I am not here, to professional ministers, to pastors who are in Christian vocational work, but to everyone who is serving in any way, shape, or form. And he says the following.
To all who are engaged in ministry, a warning is appropriate. Every project you undertake can be accomplished your way or God's way. The energy source of human strength is impressive and logical and effective.
It works. Initially, folks cannot tell the difference. A ministry built by the energy of the flesh looks just like a ministry built by the energy of the Spirit. Let me repeat that. A ministry built by the energy of the flesh initially looks like a ministry that's built by the energy of the Spirit, initially.
Externally, he says, I warn you, it looks the same, externally. But, internally, spiritually, down deep in the level of motive, you know in your heart, God didn't do it, you did it. There is no glory vertically, and equally tragic, there is no grace horizontally.
So he addresses the issue of motive, which we had discussed, it's good by way of review, in our initial study on grace and the performance treadmill. It's not that we don't perform, per se, that we don't seek to do good works.
Actually, Paul says to Titus 2 .14 that God redeemed us, that we might be a people zealous for good works. He also says in Ephesians 2, does he not, though we are not saved by works, Ephesians 2 .9, we are saved unto good works, Ephesians 2 .10, which God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them.
So that's not the issue, that we don't work, that we don't work out our salvation. The issue is what is our motive, as Swindoll highlights here, in this sense, in terms of ministry to others. If it's to say, I'm doing it to get a pat on the back from God, or to get a pat on the back from somebody else, then my motive is in question, I'm doing it by the flesh.
Let's look at some verses on this, in terms of being a minister of grace. Let's turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 9 through 10. So to be a minister of grace, as we turn there, is not only to serve others, to be a dispenser of grace, but to do it by the power of God's grace also, not by the power and in the energy of our own flesh.
Let's see if somebody can read that, verses 9 and 10. This is the Apostle Paul. Who would like to read that? Tony, go ahead. Anthony? Thank you. So you see there, Paul is working, but the question is, how is he working?
Of course, initially he understands, where he describes himself in verse 9, twofold way, the least of the apostles, first of all, and secondly, unworthy to be called an apostle. Of course, verse 10, he highlights by way of contrast by the word, but, but by the grace of God, I am what I am.
And then he says, continuing in verse 10, as Anthony read to us, we see him working here, the Apostle Paul working. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of these, though it was not I. Sounds confused there, the Apostle.
What are you trying to say, Paul? I worked harder than any of these, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. It's very reminiscent of Galatians 2 .20, don't turn there, where Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ, right?
And because of that, I no longer live. But Christ lives in me. So he makes it very clear, I no longer live. But then he continues in the same vein, the life I live, I live by faith. So it's both in, he's working here harder, he says, than any of these, but to be a minister of grace, because he is who he is by the grace of God.
How does he do that? But it was the grace of God that is with me, his power working through me. Let's see a couple of more on this. Turn to the second epistle of Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7.
Of course, when we preach sermons here, it's expository, but a lot of times in the Sunday school, we do kind of a thematic topical. But I do try to, at least in our verses that we look at, to give you a little bit of the background and context so you understand where we're coming from.
Before we read this verse, Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 and beginning actually in chapter 3, he's distinguishing between the old covenant ministry and the new covenant ministry. And therefore, he says in chapter 4, verse 1, therefore, since we have this ministry, which ministry?
The new covenant ministry, the ministry of the spirit that does not bring condemnation. So he's talking about ministry here in chapter 4. And notice what he says. Somebody else read verse 7. Laura, you got it?
Thank you. Thank you. So we have this treasure in jars of clay. Why does Paul say we have this? What's the purpose in the text? What's it say? To show forth what? The power of who? Of God. To show forth the power of God, that it belongs to God and not to us.
So Paul is not saying that he doesn't minister. He ministers, as we saw again in 1 Corinthians 15, working harder than anybody, any of the apostles. But here he highlights that we have this ministry, as he says in verse 1 of chapter 4, 2 Corinthians, to ultimately show it's a theocentric thing because you can be a minister of the grace of God, doing it in the power of your own flesh, and then the temptation will be that you want to get the glory.
You want to get the pat on the back, whether it's from God or from others. But we want to show that it is from God. The power belongs to God. One more verse upon this. Let's turn to Colossians 1, which is in the front of your bulletin every Sunday.
You ought to know that by heart. But we're going to read verse 28 and 29. Maybe we'll start putting 29 on the bulletin. This is an important aspect to what Paul is saying here. Colossians 1, let's read both verses 28 and 29.
Mark, thank you. Okay. So verse 28 says what we do. What do we do? What's our primary purpose? Who do we proclaim? Christ. And it's at the front end of the sentence in the Greek, so good job in the translation.
Him we proclaim. Some translations say we proclaim him. No, it's him we proclaim, the emphatic on Christ, which if we will look at the context, verses 15 through 20, Paul highlights one of the great Christological passages in the New Testament.
And we do that ultimately that we may present everyone mature in Christ. This is what we are to do, and this is what we are to be as a church. This is our mission. Pastor Mike, I think, preached on this when we were our first Sunday at the Seventh-day Adventist.
But notice in verse 29, 28 is what we do, what our purpose is. 29, Paul talks about how he goes about doing this. Is he working? Oh, yeah. He's not just sitting idly by. He is still a minister of grace.
But remember what we said, 2 Peter 3, when it told us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, the beginning of that epistle, Peter says to make every effort to add these virtues one to the other.
So notice verse 29, two key words in the Greek for this I toil. Toil is the first word. It literally means to grow weary, to grow tired and exhausted. It's to work to the extent where it has worrisome effort attached to it.
And then the second word you'll see in verse 29 is the word struggling. It's where we get the English word to agonize. Paul is saying agonize. Actually, the literal meaning was to enlist yourself in the marathon games.
Agona, which are the games. It means to agonize. It requires effort and tiresome toil. But notice he doesn't end there. For this, I told struggling with all my energy. No. For this, I toil. Struggling with all his energy.
Dynamics. Dynamics. That he powerfully works within me. So here, Paul is a minister and we are all ministers again. As long as you are saved by the grace of God, you are enlisted not only as his child, but as a servant of God.
You are to minister his grace, but in his power, which powerfully works within you. Now, you can do it in your own flesh, but it's going to be a facsimile of the real thing. And not only, as I mentioned earlier, will you be tempted to seek to get the glory, but it's not going to last because serving others, again, the focus is being a minister of grace is done unto others.
It can be taxing if you're serving people. And it's not going to be for the long term if you're doing it by your own strength. All right. Before I look into any, we're going to look at five areas this morning of how and where we can be ministers of grace.
Any comments or questions so far in terms of what it means to be a minister of grace, dispensing grace, doing it in the power of God's grace and not in our own flesh. All right. Five areas. And you'll see in the scriptures the connection with grace that we can be ministers of grace.
The first area is in our speech. So for this, turn with me to Ephesians four, verse twenty nine, how we can be ministers of grace. Again, this is towards other people, servants of grace. We can do this first and foremost in our speech, what we say to one another.
Ephesians four, twenty nine. Who would like to read that? Ferdie, nice and loud. Okay. That I may give what to those who hear. Okay. Notice the contrast. So he's talking about our speech, our talk. I remember as a young Christian when I was studying this, what I did was I came up with four questions to help me in my speech towards others based upon this passage.
So the first part of the passage says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. So the question based upon that command is, is what I'm going to say be corrupting talk? Second part. But in contrast, only such as is good for building up or some translations say for their edification.
So the second question is, is what I'm about to say to this person going to edify them? Will it build them up or in contrast, tear them down? As fits the occasion. Proverbs talks about a timely word. How apt is a timely word?
Does it fit the occasion? You could say the right thing the right way, but the wrong time. So as fits the occasion. And finally, that it may give grace to those who hear the person who's hearing what I say.
Will it? Will I be a minister of grace by what I say to them? And sometimes when we're here on the Sunday morning, you know, rushing between Sunday school and Pop Providence and Sunday morning service, you know, there's a quick hello.
How are you? But sometimes you might engage in deeper conversation because of the situation warrants it. And as you do that, Ephesians 429 should be in your mind and you're praying, Lord, help me to be a minister of grace.
As I talk to this person, I love Proverbs 16, 24. Don't turn there, but you can just listen. Gracious words. I love this. Gracious words are like a what? Honeycomb. You want to finish it off, Corey? Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
What a beautiful metaphor about gracious words. So one area that we can definitely be ministers of grace is in our speech, what we say to one another. Okay, area number two. Evangelism. Evangelism. So the first one really relates to one another.
The one another is in Scripture. Ephesians 4. Ephesians is a great book on ecclesiology. So that relates how we talk to one another in the body. But how about in evangelism, in terms of giving the gospel, preaching the gospel to unbelievers?
For this, let's turn to Colossians chapter 4. We're going to look at verses 3 to 6. Colossians 4, 3 to 6. And again, in this text, you will see the term grace as it relates to us ministering the gospel to the lost.
Colossians 4, 3 to 6. And notice as we read this, the beginning part, Paul is being personal. He's talking about himself in terms of his evangelism. And then he addresses the believers at Colossae in saying how you also can be gracious in evangelism.
So who would like to read that? Colossians 4, verses 3 to 6. Go ahead. Thanks, Scott. Thank you. So again, he highlights, he asks for prayer specifically from the church in Colossae in saying that God may open a door, that I may make it clear to declare the mystery of Christ.
And then he continues in verse 5. He addresses them now, walking wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of your time. And here it is. This is speech again, but speech not just towards one another in the body, but speech in the context is evangelism towards outsiders, declaring the mystery of Christ.
Let your speech always, not just sometimes, always be gracious. Now, question, does that mean that when I'm presenting the gospel that I need to, so to speak, waffle and kind of minimize the content of the gospel to a lost person?
Why or why not? Ah, very good. That I may make it clear. So the answer is no. You want to be clear about the content of the gospel. But it's in your presentation of the gospel how you go about doing that.
Let your speech always be gracious. You want to be clear. You want to make sure the content of the gospel is clear to them. And, of course, the Holy Spirit will have to open their eyes. And then what is the ultimate purpose?
Season with salt. Notice the purpose clause. So that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So typically in evangelistic circles and evangelism, you know, you have all these trainings about how to go about doing evangelism.
You have all these programs. And it's almost like a cookie cutter thing. So you take it. I mean, does the content of the gospel ever change? No. We shouldn't change it. We ought to make it clear, as Corey highlighted from the text.
But my interaction with each person might be, you know, they might have questions. Not everybody has the same question. So we need to walk in wisdom and be gracious in responding to them as we declare the gospel, to be a minister of grace.
So we need to speak the truth, the truth of the gospel, which means we don't avoid talking about sin, the holiness of God, that God is just in judging a person because the person will never see their need for the Savior if there's nothing to save them from, from their sin.
That would have to be very, very clear. Let your speech always be gracious, season with salt, so that you may know how to answer each person. Let's think through on this a little bit. The ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ during his incarnation.
Think through maybe of some examples of his evangelistic encounters with people. How did he talk to people? Any examples come to mind? Okay. He always talked about his prayer for them. Okay. Very good.
Joni? Okay. Okay. Yes. Excellent. So Joni highlighted very well the contrast in the gospel of John between his encounter with Nicodemus in Chapter 3, right, and his encounter with the Samaritan woman in Chapter 4.
Two ends of the spectrum, so to speak, of society. One who is very ultra-religious, knows the law, Nicodemus, a teacher of the law. And then we have the Samaritan woman and with her immoral lifestyle.
And he still talked about who they need to believe in, in the Lord Jesus Christ, but his approach was different because of their different backgrounds. Now, go ahead. Sorry. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Good observation, Christina. She mentioned that just for the sake of recording the Pharisees, he was very direct with them, and I think we discussed that. We did when we talked about legalism and how he was talking to them like, you brood of vipers, you fools.
I mean, it seems like, well, it wasn't written at the time, but Christ could have used these words of Paul, right? Let your speech always be gracious. Was he so ungracious to them? So to be direct and bold with somebody means to be not gracious?
Not at all. Somebody else had their hand up. Stephen. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Excellent. The rich young ruler, yes, whom it says the Lord loved him, but yet he knew he needed to repent of his money because he was a rich young ruler.
Piggybacking on that, that and also the teacher of the law in Luke 10, a lot of times Christ, when he would be posed with a question in both those cases, Luke 10, the teacher of the law, that's the story of the Good Samaritan, which is you read little children's Bible books and be good to your sister.
That wasn't the point that Jesus said the Good Samaritan. The context calls that the guy asked him in both situations, the question was, what must I do to inherit eternal life? It's a salvific question, a question about eternal life.
In both instances, Christ responded, gave a question to a question. His answer to their question was with a question, the rich young ruler, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He says, good teacher, right?
Christ says, why do you call me good? There is no one good but God alone. The teacher of the law, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Christ turns to him because he knew he was a teacher of the law.
How does the law, what does the law say? He asked him. So a lot of times in conversing with people in terms of evangelism, being a minister of grace is to ask questions the way the Lord does. And not only that it's how we say it, but also the content is being a minister of grace because the gospel, Paul says in Acts 20 to the Ephesian elders, it is the gospel of the grace of God.
So when I'm giving the gospel, preaching the gospel to somebody who is lost, I'm highlighting the sovereign grace of God that you cannot earn your salvation. You cannot merit it in any way, shape, or form.
But it's only by God's grace that you can be saved. So very important to be a minister of grace as we give the gospel. Okay, three more areas. Third one. So not only in our speech towards one another, but also in our speech and preaching the gospel.
Third area I have here, and we will see from the text, serving the church body with your spiritual gifts. Serving the church body with your spiritual gifts. And for this, let's turn to 1 Peter 4, verses 10 to 11.
So another way you can be a minister of grace, and you'll see the grace of God highlighted in this text as it relates to spiritual gifts, is by serving the body with your spiritual gifts. 1 Peter 4, two verses, 10 and 11.
Corey, thank you. Thank you. So we see there the connection that Peter makes of receiving a gift, a spiritual gift for service, as each one has received a gift, as good stewards of God's varied grace.
As I highlighted earlier, we're saved by God's sovereign grace, and when he calls us to salvation, to become his child, he also calls us to be his servant, and that is also by his grace. And it's by his grace, we don't have the time to go into 1 Corinthians 12, a larger exposition of spiritual gifts, but it's also by the grace of God.
And it's to be done for the edification of the body. Now, I'm going to have some of the ushers to pass out. We have put together at BBC a test on how to determine your spiritual gifts. Why are you laughing?
Now, I wonder when Peter wrote these under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, how in God's green earth did the early church determine their spiritual gifts without any of these tests? Let me give you a simple rule of thumb.
This is not the point of the discussion, but how do I know what my spiritual gift is? And we can look at the list another time in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, easy way to remember it, 12, 12, 4, 4.
But here's the two things you can go by. First of all, are you blessed when you minister this gift of yours? And second of all, are others blessed within the body? But what I want to highlight for our discussion, being ministers of grace, is what is the motive?
OK, what is the motive we should have? So let's discuss this together. What motivation, since we're talking about motives, it's not just doing, it's not just what we're doing, but why we're doing what we're doing as it relates to grace and being a minister of grace and growing in grace.
That's our discussion, being a minister of grace. So why are we to serve one another with spiritual gifts? From the text, what are some motives that you see there? OK, good. It's been given to us freely.
Remember, she's highlighting it's by the grace of God, by God's very grace. Since God has given it to us freely, we are to administer it to freely, serve freely. Very good. What other motives? Yes, to glorify God.
Notice how he builds up on that. Thanks, Flo. I mean, he gives a lot of motives, but it kind of like builds and builds and builds and builds like a foundation getting to the top. In order, that's the ultimate clause that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory, dominion forever and ever. So. To serve the body with your spiritual gifts, one of the ultimate motives is to glorify God. When I don't serve the body with the gifts that I've been given freely by God's grace.
It's a missed opportunity to glorify God. OK, so that's very theocentric to glorify God. Also, because we've been given it freely, we're to serve freely. What other motives do you see? Yes. Excellent point.
You see what Andrew pointing out in verse 10, the term stewards, that we are stewards of this grace that God has granted to us. So that gives a tremendous motive to dispense the grace of God as we are stewards.
Very good point. It's the Greek term. It's really a manager of a household. And it literally means that I am using something that I've been given by somebody else who owns it. I mean, everything we have is owned by God.
OK. Psalm 24. So in this case, God has given us his grace for the sake of serving with the spiritual gift that he's given us. And we're to be stewards of it. So to not to use it is to not be a good manager of what he's granted us.
Very good. Let me highlight two more. So because it ultimately glorifies God, it's theocentric. It's freely given to us. We should be freely granted to others. Also, because we are to be stewards of what God has given us.
Another reason is it's a command. As each one is received again, use it to serve one another. Actually, in the Greek, the command is serve one another. So we are exhorted, commanded literally, in the body to serve one another.
And it's also other. It's theocentric, but it's not. It's other-centric. It's focused on other people. When you serve other, the service is what? For others. So now we're talking about growing in grace, not being legalist about it, not running the performance treadmill, putting on the garments of grace, for what sake ultimately?
To minister to others. To give to others. And when you serve others, the focus takes off from self, from the unholy trinity, me, myself, and I, right? And you focus on others. Because you're thinking, how can I serve the needs of my brother or sister in Christ?
It says, use it to serve one another. I mean, we could go into a whole study on the one another's of the New Testament. So another area that we can be ministers of grace is to serve the body with our spiritual gifts.
Two more areas as our time draws to a close. Fourth area, generosity in our giving. Generosity in our giving. Let's turn to that, for that, to 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8, verses 1 to 3.
Chapter 8, verses 1 to 3. Who would like to read that? Will, thank you, brother. Thank you. So you notice the term, the grace of God here is used, beginning in verse 1. Is it in reference to salvation?
No, it's in reference to their generosity. Verse 2, in giving, and it continues in verse 3, they gave according to their means and beyond their means of their own accord. Now, the New Testament principles of giving are found in these chapters, 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8 through 9.
So if somebody asks you, well, what can I learn about giving? These are the two chapters you turn to, 2 Corinthians, Chapters 8 and 9. But notice that, Will, if you could also read the motive in terms of the grace of God highlighted here.
Read also verse 9, if you will, Will, in this chapter. Yes, please. Thank you. This is not a proof text verse for health, wealth, and prosperity. I was looking at the context. I remember when I was in seminary back in the 90s in Dallas, I wanted to visit one of these health, wealth, and prosperity churches.
So I went to visit, some of you may or may not have heard of him, Robert Tilton. So he quoted this verse and make it completely out of context, talking about this is why Jesus left heaven, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, and the text is talking about the riches of being in heaven, the glory of heaven, yet for your sake he became poor, the incarnation.
Why? So that you become wealthy. No, the context of Paul's writing here to the Corinthian church, as we saw earlier on in chapter 8, is in their generosity and giving. In the way that the Lord gave of himself, this should remind you of Romans 8, he who did not spare his own son, but graciously gave him up, will he not graciously give us all things?
And this is Paul's highlighting, because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in giving of himself, when it comes to giving, it should be done by grace. And of course, notice this attitude of being a giver in verse 6 of chapter 9.
Verse 6 of chapter 9. Let me read that if you guys are there. Chapter 9, verse 6. I think I have the wrong verse. No, verse 7. No, beginning in verse 6, I'm sorry. Verse 6 and 7. The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart. And watch this. This is being a giver because of grace. Not reluctantly. Ah, really I have to give. Or under compulsion. Not because I have to. For God loves a cheerful giver.
We are to give generously and cheerfully because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the final area where we can be a minister of grace is, and I purposely finished with this one, when others go through affliction.
When others are going through affliction, how can you and I be a minister of grace? Turn back in the same book, 2 Corinthians, to chapter 1. 2 Corinthians, chapter 1. Before we read this, I'll give you a little background here.
Paul wrote 2 Corinthians as a defense of his apostleship. His apostleship was under attack by what he calls super apostles or false apostles in the course of the book. And they were trying to discredit his apostleship and his ministry.
So he writes this as a defense. So there are people who are trying to cause him harm. So he refers to that often in the book of 2 Corinthians. And notice, let's begin in chapter 1, verses 8 -10. Who would like to read that?
Who hasn't read? Verses 8 -10, 2 Corinthians 1. Wes, you got that? Okay, go ahead. Thanks, brother. Thank you. So, based upon the text, upon what Paul himself is writing, with the affliction that he experienced, and notice how deep the affliction was, how deep the struggle.
Notice in verse 8. Beyond our strength, that we, that includes the Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul, notice what he says, despaired of life itself. He was going through some deep waters. But my question is, based, the answer is in the text, why was he going through this affliction?
What was the ultimate point? What does Paul himself say there in the verses? Excellent. Verse 9. To make him, to make us rely not on ourselves, to make us trust not on ourselves, to make us, as he said later in verse 10, said our hope, not on ourselves, don't rely and depend on ourselves, but on God.
So as we minister, as we are ministers of grace and serve other people who are going through times of affliction, that is what we are coming alongside to help them with, is to help them not rely on themselves through the difficulty, but to help them rely on God.
But what I want to point out to you, before Paul, this is significant, the order in which Paul opens this letter is very, very significant. So here in verses 8 through 10, that's why I had us read that first, he highlights what he himself went through, that he himself might rely on God and not on himself.
But before he writes this reason, he writes another reason that's not so self-focused, but it's others focused. Notice in verses 3 to 4, and I'll read that for our sake. 2 Corinthians 1, earlier in the chapter, he begins like this.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I love this description of our Lord, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction. Why? Purpose. So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
So yes, Paul is saying I've gone through this affliction so that I, myself and we might not rely on ourselves, but on God. But before he mentions that, to begin this letter, he says that the purpose of affliction is not so much for self, for our growth and maturity, it is, but it's to minister to others.
So when you are going, you are going through a difficult time through an affliction, a lot of times we ask, Lord, what can you help me learn from this? And that's a good question to ask. Not why, Lord, why am I going through this?
I mean, Scripture is clear. Counting all joy, James 1, if you face trials of many kind, no, when you face trials of many kind. Jesus says, John 16, 33, in this world you will have tribulation. Jesus said it and we're like, why is this happening to me?
So it is a good question to ask, not why, but what do you want me to learn from this in terms of my own growth and maturity? But another question to ask is, Lord, how are you going to use this, not in my life to grow me, but also to use it to minister to other people who are in affliction?
The term affliction is a strong word in the Greek text. He mentions it here at the beginning in the verses 8 through 10 about four or five times. It means to be crushed as in grapes. You know when they make wine, they take the grapes and they put them in this big wooden bowl and you go around stomping on them to crush the grapes.
That's the idea. It's to be pressed like the grapes are, to be squeezed to the point where you're crushed in spirit. That's how deep this affliction is, to be crushed in spirit. Notice, if you will, just a couple of chapters after 2 Corinthians 4, chapter 4, verse 8 and 17.
I'll read those for us for the sake of time. Chapter 4, verse 8, he says, uses the same term, and this is why he uses a contrast. We are afflicted in every way, but not what? Crushed. Verse 17, for this light, momentary is the same word, affliction.
So notice a couple of things. This gives great perspective, eternal perspective. This affliction is light. It's not heavy. And by the way, it's momentary. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us, in contrast to light and momentary, an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
So this is affliction. Why do we go through affliction? God wants to make us more like Christ. He wants us to grow more in grace. But another reason, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1, why we go through affliction is so that when we go through that, we never know when or how it's going to happen.
We may be able to minister grace to others who are going through a similar affliction. I had the privilege, I don't always, I miss opportunities to do that myself. I could tell you of all the failures I've had.
But recently I was aware of that opportunity in my own life. And years ago, my wife and I, we had a hard time having children. My wife had a hard time bearing children. And in the process, we lost our first one.
She birthed in our home early on, before Isabella. And then after the two girls, I thought at one point I was going to be a single dad because my wife fainted on me. She had bled out so bad. So I never knew what was going on.
I knew that God had some purpose, obviously, based upon Scripture to grow our faith and to strengthen us. But in terms of how am I going to use this to minister to others, a few months ago I was running around doing errands, and I thought to stop by one of my friend's homes.
My friend John, some of you met at the Shepherds Conference. His brother's wife was expecting to have a baby. But that's not why I stopped by. I was in the area. Let me stop by and say hello. And I go to the door, and I could see both he and his mom were distraught.
And I'm like, what's going on? What's the matter? They're like, oh, my brother's wife, her water broke. But it wasn't just her water. She started bleeding. And her life was at risk, and so was the baby's life at risk.
So I said, okay, we got together. I said, let me just pray for you. So I prayed for them and prayed for the brother. Anyway, that was a couple months ago. This past weekend at a Fourth of July celebration, I happened to see his brother, just by coincidence, right?
Not by divine providence, of course. Of course it was. And as I was talking to him, I asked him to share with me his struggle, what he went through with his wife. And then I shared with him our struggle with what we went through.
And the Lord brought to mind Job. I said, you know, you should treasure and cherish your bride and your children every day that you have them, because you almost lost them both. And I said, when Job lost his health, his children, and all his possessions, what did he say in Job 121?
The Lord, naked I came from my mother's womb, I told him, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. So I said, now you can praise the Lord because he preserved, he protected your wife and child.
But if he hadn't, we still praise the Lord. Ministers of grace, that's what we are called to do. Let me close with this. Bridges in his book, Transforming Grace, which I've quoted quite a bit in our series, says this, quote, ministering to one another in time of need, watch this, is an important means by which the Holy Spirit mediates his grace to us.
And then he talks about why a lot of times we're willing to minister to other people, we're willing to be ministers of grace to serve other people, but sometimes we're hesitant maybe to allow other people to be ministers of grace towards us in our time of need.
And he kind of discusses that and he says why we are hesitant to let others serve us in this way. He says, quote, we want to appear that we have life under control. We want to appear that we are successfully dealing with temptations to sin and that we are successfully dealing with the difficult circumstances of life.
The times when we need an extra measure of God's grace are often the times when we are most reluctant to let other people know we need it. Let me repeat that. The times when we need an extra measure of God's grace are often the times when we are most reluctant to let other people know we need it.
So my encouragement is let's minister grace to one another and let's be willing to receive other service towards us in our time of need. Let me pray. Father, thank you for this time that we can briefly look at the word and see the theme of grace not only for the sake of our salvation and justification, but for the sake of our growing sanctification.
Help us, Lord, to continue to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to not think that we have merited any temporal blessings in our sanctification because of the work we've done.
Help us not to live by man-made rules, but only by rules that you have outlined in Scripture. And we do that out of love for you, not because we have to, but because we want to. Help us, Father, to continually dress ourselves with the garments of grace and help us, even within this body, to be ministers of grace to one another.
And even as we preach the gospel in evangelism, to do that. Help us to serve one another as good stewards of the grace that you have given us. Ultimately, why? For the sake of your glory. In Christ's name we pray.
Amen.