 The title of our sermon this morning is Good Stewards of God's Grace. Good Stewards of God's Grace. This is part two of the second of two sermons now, looking at this text in 2 Corinthians, chapter six, verses one through 10, where Paul exhorts us from the text of Scripture to be Good Stewards of God's Grace. Now as we began to study this text in detail on the last Lord's Day, we first noted the primary point of this text from Paul's plea, from Paul's exhortation in verse one, where Paul says, we then, speaking of Paul, Timothy, Silas, his co-workers in the Gospel, we then, as workers together with him, with God, we also plead with you, beloved, not to receive the grace of God in vain. The Corinthian church, as this church has, the Corinthian church has been abundantly blessed with the grace of God and Lord Jesus Christ. Paul has been ministering to them, the word of God is being preached there, people are being saved, saints are being edified, the word of God is being glorified, the word of the Gospel is running. This is an evidence, a testimony, a proof of God's grace. They, the Corinthians, are in danger of squandering that grace, rendering the grace of God a common thing, rendering it ineffective, rendering it worthless in their own lives, rendering it ineffective or profitless in the church. They are in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain by giving in to sin, by giving in to error, by turning aside from the preaching of God's word to the preaching of lies, by giving in to deceit, by allowing themselves to be deceived, by turning themselves over to false teachers and false doctrines and error, by neglecting the word of God, by neglecting the commands of God, by neglecting sin in the church, by neglecting the word preached by Paul. The application of Paul's main point then, in chapter six, verses one through ten, is very clear, very direct. We are responsible for how we hear the word of God, for how we receive the grace of God. Don't let it fall on hard hearts, don't let it fall on stony ground, don't let it fall on rebellious wills, don't let it fall on an argumentative mind, on an argumentative heart. Don't let it fall on stubborn ears or blind eyes. We must be good stewards of God's grace and God mediates his grace through the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ applied to us by his spirit in the gospel. We must be good stewards of God's grace. Then, in point one on your notes, we looked at how that grace of God is confirmed by Paul from verse two. First, it's confirmed by Paul from the past. Paul quoting this text from Isaiah, written 700 years earlier as a promise in Christ, verse two, for he, God, says present tense, in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I've helped you. The next notice, it's confirmed for us in the present when Paul takes that text from the Old Testament and applies it now to their own day, to their own circumstances, where Paul says, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. This is the age of the dispensation of God's grace. This is the time in which God is pouring out his grace in his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now is the time of salvation, right? Now is the accepted time of God's favor. Now is when the Lord is building his church and building the people of God, holy stones, one upon another, a holy priest at a royal nation. Consider how God is pouring out his grace during this age and Paul exhorts us from that testimony, from that confirmation of grace given, we are not to receive the grace of God in vain. Then concerned with how the Corinthians then will benefit from the grace of God in the future, he reminds them, take heed, Corinthians, take heed, cornerstoneans, take heed, Christians, that you not receive the grace of God in vain. Don't receive the grace of God in vain. Take heed how you hear, how you respond, how will we avail ourselves of the grace of God by faith? Will we do that faithfully? Or will it run in one ear and run out the other? Will we be mere hearers of the word, deceiving ourselves? Or will we be doers of the word? That in essence, let me submit to you, is the essence of what it means to hear faithfully. You hear the word of God, you understand the word of God, you apply the word of God, you obey the word of God. Unless you believe in vain, unless you hear in vain, the word of God has to be applied in your heart and life. It's not as if by some magic potions sprinkled in your ear every Sunday that somehow by hearing and hearing alone, we are sanctified and cleansed or saved. The word of God must be applied by the spirit of God, and we are needy, dependent hearers. We have great need for the grace of God in Christ, mediated through his word by his spirit. The concern of the text must be our concern in our own context. Many of us won't face the same circumstances that we see Paul facing here in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. We're just not going to in this day and age praise God that we don't face all the things that we see here. So be assured we face our own difficulties, our own challenges, our own adversities. Be certain we may face some of these and as long as time continues to progress, it's more certain that more of these we will face. There's no question about it. We face our own difficulties as our brother was pointing out from Deuteronomy chapter 8 in the call to worship through giving. Our difficulty in this day and age is that we've built paneled houses for ourselves. We have great wealth and we tend to forget the Lord our God. We must take heed how we hear, take heed that we not receive the grace of God in vain. How are you receiving the grace of God? Take assessment from your own heart and mind, your own life. What does your Christian life look like? What does your faithfulness, your devotion to the Lord look like? Take stock, examine yourselves for a moment. How are you receiving the grace of God? Do you hear and obey? Or do you come on the Lord's day if you come to merely hear? Do you take action with what you hear in faith, trusting the Lord that He's going to take care of you and provide for you and strengthen you and supply you? He's the one who makes us sufficient for these things. Amen? Be good stewards of that grace of God. Take heed how you hear. God through Paul pleads with you, brother. He pleads with you, sister, not to receive the grace of God in vain. If you're in Christ, if you've turned from your sin to put your faith and trust in Him, I want you to consider with me for a moment how God has poured out on us amazing and abundant and lavish grace. If you're in Christ, then in the acceptable time of His favor, He caused you to be born again by His Spirit. Praise God, right? You've seen the work of that Spirit, the Spirit of God in your heart, haven't you? That work of God, that grace of God? If you're in Christ, certainly you have. He heard our pleas for grace and mercy in Christ. He heard your cry in repentance for forgiveness from sins, from help in overcoming sin. He's heard your plea in your battle with sin for help. And in the day of our salvation, in the day of our salvation, He forgave us all our sin. He cleansed us by the blood of the Lamb. He declared us righteous in His sight, set us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and adopted us as sons and daughters in the kingdom. Praise God. Now, if you're in Christ, if you turn from your sin and put your faith and trust in Him, then every day is the acceptable time of His favor toward you, the one who works all things for your good. According to the counsel of His will, His mercies are new every morning. And at any and at all times, we can come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and help and find grace in time of need. And Paul lays out so beautifully here in the context of the passage that we're studying. In case you sort of glazed over as we were going through it, consider with me what Paul's talking about here. Look at chapter 4, verse 14. We are promised in Him a resurrection from the dead. We will be raised from the dead as shortly as He was raised from the dead. We have an exceeding and eternal weight of glory awaiting us in heaven. Chapter 4, verse 17. We are promised the grace of glorification, heavenly bodies in chapter 5, verse 1. We have eternal communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 5, verse 8. To be absent from the body is to be present with Him. We have reward for our labor at the judgment seat of Christ in chapter 5, verse 10. We have representation in Christ. No longer representation in Adam, but representation in Christ by faith in chapter 5, verse 15. The substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 5, verse 15. Stankification, the growth and maturity and the conformity of God's people into the image of His Son in chapter 5, verse 15. New birth, regeneration, a new life, a new creation, behold, all things have become new in chapter 5, verse 17. Reconciliation, peace with God when formerly there was enmity because of our sin. In chapter 5, verse 18. The blessing of the Christian ministry, the word of reconciliation given to us in chapter 5, verse 18. The grace of imputation, the imputation of our sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ as He hung on the tree and the imputation of His perfect righteousness to you and I, if we're in Christ, such that we are seen as innocent in God's sight and not only as innocent as though we had not sinned, but righteous as if we obeyed every one of His laws perfectly, just as Christ did. That imputation in chapter 5, verse 19. The everlasting gospel to proclaim in chapter 5, verse 20. Propitiation, expiation, imputation, forgiveness, justification, perfect righteousness in chapter 5, verse 21. Every one of those theological words there absolutely laden down with the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to understand God's grace, you need to learn what those words mean. You need to think about those words and meditate on the scripture that teaches them. The grace of God has been thrown out of a fire hose to those who are in Christ Jesus. It has been lavished upon us. Paul then, he takes and applies that prophesied outpouring of God's grace and he applies it to this present time in our present context and he says, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time that God is pouring out saving grace in the preaching of the gospel. Will you and I, in the pouring out of God's grace during this time when Christ has died, will you and I be silent? Now is the time that God is pouring out the lavishing upon the saints, sanctifying grace in his church. Will we fail to profit from it? Will we neglect the means of his grace to us when he has given us such light? There will come a day. There will come a day when the time for that grace will come to an end. God says, my spirit will not strive with man forever. Your days are numbered. We must not receive the grace of God in vain. There were those in Corinth, as surely as there are those here in a group this size today, who never truly received the grace of God in the first place. They received the grace of God preached to them through the gospel. They received it in vain. The word of God is a seed to them on rocky soil. They received the grace of God in vain by failing to truly turn from their sin to trust Christ alone. You can do that, friend. You can do that today, right now. You can say I've had enough of this life. I've had enough of my sin. I've had enough of making a wreck of it myself. I've had enough of offending him, the one who made me. I've had enough of living this way. I want Christ. I want righteousness in him. I want to serve him. I want to worship him. I want to be with him in heaven. You can make that determination today, and I would submit to you that is receiving the grace of God with profit. Trust him and turn from your sin. Don't receive that grace of God in vain. There were those in Corinth, as surely as there are those among us, who because of sin or because of half-hearted devotion or who because of neglect, because of laziness, because of apathy, because of indifference, because of a lack of love, they receive present grace. They receive sanctifying grace in vain, and they don't grow. They don't mature in the faith. They don't fervently love. They don't fervently serve. They're building with wood, hay, and stubble. In fact, having now isolated themselves from the means of grace, having isolated themselves from the people of God, they begin to fabricate in their minds all kinds of arguments for why that doesn't make any sense and why that doesn't make any sense and why I don't have to do that thing or don't have to do this thing or don't have to read my Bible or don't have to pray or don't have to fellowship with the people of God or don't have to evangelize the lost. In other words, your deceitful heart will justify you in your sin if you let it. Don't receive the grace of God in vain. Don't build with wood, hay, or stubble. Hear the word of God. That, brothers and sisters, is the pathway to apostasy. It is the path to falling away. And that's the dangerous path here that Paul is warning the Corinthians about. First Corinthians 15-2. Listen carefully. You are genuinely saved, Paul says. If you hold fast, the word preached to you unless you believe in vain. Imagine that you're critical. You're in critical condition. You're in ICU at the hospital. Life-saving medication is being pumped through your IV. And as you lay there in that hospital bed, as long as that medicine makes it into your veins through your heart, through your mind, you are being healed. But you're laying in your bed in ICU and you've pulled out your IV. And you're holding it in your hands and the medicine is running out on the floor. You are receiving the grace of God in vain. That danger, that danger of receiving the grace of God in vain, of neglecting the grace of God was primarily fueled in court by false teachers. These false teachers had crept into the church. There was false teaching. There was error. There was opposition. And as a scheme of Satan, as a device of Satan to lure away the simple, these false teachers had two primary aims. One, they must first successfully undermine the conduct of the minister, undermine the conduct of the minister. Through number one, or by the means of number one, they would be able to successfully execute aim number two, thereby successfully undermining then the content, the content of his message. Discredit the messenger and you discredit his message. And this wicked plot in Corinth was having influence. It was gaining a foothold. It was deceiving many. People were being turned in the Corinthians, turn away from Paul, the Lord's apostle, and turn instead to follow these false teachers all will have been for nothing. And Paul knows it. Right. Paul told the Philippians in chapter two, verse 16, he told them, listen, hold fast the word of life. What's the word of life? It's the word of God, the gospel, the preaching of Paul, the apostle, the one who speaks the word of God. If they turned away from the word of life, it means death to them. Paul said, hold fast the word of life so that he may rejoice in the day of Christ that he did not run in vain or labor in vain. What would have made it in vain? It would have made it in vain if they had perished after all of that labor, that toil, those prayers, the tears that were shed. Right. That's what's at stake here. That's what's at stake here. If you do not hold fast, you will perish. But now listen, brother, sister, if you hold fast, if you strive, if you labor, it's a hold fast. Who is it that holds you when you hold fast by faith? The one who preserves us all, the one who can hold us. It's by faith in Christ. It's in the power of God. It's God who holds us. Right. Don't trail off. You hold fast knowing that he's able to hold you and that he will hold us fast. Fast. We hold fast by faith. We plead with you. We plead with you. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Brother, sister, do not receive the grace of God in vain. You lost young man. You lost young lady here today. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Hear the preaching of God's word and allow God's word to move your heart, stubborn heart. Hear the preaching of God's word and allow the spirit of God to cause you to be born again. Allow the word of God to lead you to repentance. Allow the grace of God to change you. Stop receiving grace of God in vain. So for the sake of the message, Paul now undertakes then in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, he undertakes the defense of the messenger. For the sake of the Corinthians, Paul now undertakes the defense of his conduct. What follows now in verses 3 through 10 really is a commendation of Christian ministry. Paul says in verse 4, we commend ourselves as ministers of God. But I want you to notice with me as we work through Paul's description, how this passage doesn't merely commend Paul, Timothy, Silas, and others as ministers of God, but how it magnifies the grace of God in the ministry, right? These passages, these verses magnify the grace of God. Point 2 on your notes, see the grace of God commended, the grace of God commended. Verse 3, Paul says this, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed. Amen. It's a staggering statement. Verse 4, but in all things, we commend ourselves as ministers of God. As we think about those two statements, and we allow the weight and the gravity of that to sink in to our consciousness right now, I want us to properly apply it. Paul does not say we commend ourselves as apostles. He doesn't say that, right? He does not intend to limit the application of this passage to apostles. He does not intend to limit the application of this passage to some fictitious clergy class. He does not intend to limit the application of this passage to false teaching, health, wealth, and prosperity teachers. He's not limiting the application of this passage. He says we commend ourselves as ministers of God. In other words, as those who serve on behalf of God. And who does that talk about? Who does that define? Defines all Christians, every Christian. We commend ourselves as those who attend to the needs of his people. That's what it means there to serve. In other words, this should serve as an example to anyone who serves God. We all have been given a ministry, the ministry of reconciliation. We all serve God in ministry. This would apply to every Christian. This example, this example of Paul given here in verses three through 10, is what every one of us should aspire to. Every one of us should strive for. As we walk through this text, I'm sure that you, like me, we can all think of pastors who have failed and failed miserably. And we can all remember, can't we? Or at least imagine the wake of destruction that that failure leaves behind. We can all understand and see. Some of us remember. Some of us on occasion still experience the ringing of that circumstance that Satan does to garner every drop of wicked effectiveness that he can from that falling. Those who have claimed to be ministers of God who are hypocrites. However, this text is not principally about them. This text is about you and I. This text should make you cry out, should make me cry out. God, make me a faithful man or woman of God. God, make me a faithful slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, make me a faithful servant. God, let it be said of me that in everything that I do, I neither give any offense. And in everything I do, I adorn the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and commend ourselves, commend myself as a minister of God. Notice two ways in which Paul commends his ministry here and magnifies the grace of God. First, Paul says, we give no offense in anything. You know, he says we give no offense. You and I know that the gospel in and of itself is offensive. When you preach the gospel and you preach it faithfully and you preach it in earnest, people are going to take offense. There may be some of you here today right now who are offended by what I'm saying. The gospel in and of itself is offensive to the Jews. It was a stumbling block. It was foolishness to the Greeks. Those on Mars Hill said, what is this babbling that Paul is doing? You can look at the verses that follow and reach the conclusion that many were offended when Paul preached the gospel. He's been beaten to an inch of his life. Paul is saying that we give no offense. Paul is saying by that that we don't contribute unnecessarily to the gospel's defensiveness by being offensive ourselves. Is it something I do now? You can hear the sound of my voice and you say the sound of that guy's voice is offensive. It's my voice. You can think to yourself, that guy, the way that he does this right. What is being spoken of here? We give no offense in anything. The word offense could also be translated as it is in some of your translations, obstacle or stumbling block. It causes a sense or it carries a sense of something that causes a fall. Something that causes a fall, specifically a fall into sin or a fall into error. You may not like the sound of my voice, but heaven forbid I should ever leave you into sin or error. The pastor should have the prayer on his lips that God, please, please kill me before I do anything that brings reproach on your name. From the example of Paul himself, you can discern here what is and what is not. This is referring to, right? It's not referring to someone to how someone feels about Paul. There were those who were offended with Paul's voice by saying his speech was contemptible. There were those who were offended with his appearance. The appearance of Paul is weak. His letters are strong. There were those who thought he was too harsh at times. There were those who thought he was too weak at times. Those who accused him of wrongdoing. Those who thought he was in error. But with a clear conscience before God, Paul could say here in verse three, we give no offense in anything. So it's not referring then to feelings, not referring to opinions, not referring to disagreements. Paul certainly had disagreements with people. It's not referring to disagreements. It's not referring to preferences. We need to learn how to handle our disagreements. We need to learn how to handle our preferences and love. Paul is referring here to sin. Matthew chapter 18 verse 6, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for that one if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Do you see what we're talking about here? Paul says, we give no cause for anyone to stumble so as to fall into sin or error. In anything, Paul says, meaning, neither in words nor in actions. John Owen said this, if a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than he built up in the day of his doctrine. I think of Paul's warning, for example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 regarding your perceived liberties. Listen to Paul's warning. Paul says, beware, let somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. In other words, you're practicing what you perceive to be your liberty and your liberty because you are flaunting it before those who are weak. Your liberty becomes a stumbling block to the weak one. Paul says, for if anyone sees you who have knowledge, eating in an idle temple will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols. Paul says, when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against the Lord Christ. We need to be careful with our perceived liberties. Sometimes it's not a liberty at all. Paul is saying we give no cause for sin or error in anything we do, whether by our words or by our actions. That is wondrous. Paul has a clear conscience before God. We give no offense in anything so that, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, consider the purpose so that our ministry may not be blamed. The Greek word there for blamed means to find fault. Can't find fault with Paul's ministry. In other words, we want to speak, we want to act, we want to live, we want to minister, we want to serve, we want to preach in such a way that no one could point a finger at us or point a finger at our ministry and say, that's the reason I'm not a Christian, right? That's the reason I'm not making progress in the faith. That's the reason you never said anything to me. That's the reason that's the reason those dear people fell away from the faith. That's the reason I made no progress. That's the reason I'm not being sanctified. Paul refrained from anything that would have brought reproach on the name of Christ. He refrained from anything that would have caused anyone Gentile or Christian. He refrained from anything that would have caused anyone to blaspheme the name of God. In Galatians chapter 1, there's this sobering confrontation that takes place in verse 11, where Paul with stands or confronts Peter to his face because he said to Peter, he was to be blamed. What in the world did Peter do to have deserved such blaming and confrontation? Well, before certain men came from James, those who were associated with James at the time, those associated with the church in Jerusalem, before those men came, Peter would freely sit and eat meals, fellowship meals with the Gentiles. But when those certain men came from James, Peter, it says there, withdrew and separated himself from the Gentiles. Why? Because he feared those men who had come. Those men, he says, who were of the circumcision, Jews who were professing Christ. In a fearful and scathing rebuke, Paul says that the rest of the Jews then played the hypocrite with him, says that Peter here is being a hypocrite. And the rest of the Jews played the hypocrite with him so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. Boy, how easy it is to be led astray. We are to be without blame in both our words and our actions. So let me ask you, and we want to clarify this, right? If I speak the truth and love to you from the Bible, I'm preaching to you what the Bible says, and I'm speaking the truth out of love for you, out of care for your soul. And I say to you, in effect, you're in sin. You're walking in a wrong path. You need to turn from your sin and trust Christ. You're being negligent. You're being disobedient. Be reconciled to God. Dear brother, dear sister, don't take the grace of God in vain. If I say those things to you and you become offended with me, what's the proximate cause of your offense? Is it Paul's word? Is it Paul's ministry? Is it my word, my ministry? Is it the Bible? The proximate cause of your offense is your own pride. Paul says we give no offense in anything. We're going to preach the whole counsel of God to you, and we're going to exhort you to turn from sin. We're going to exhort you to preach the gospel. We're going to exhort you to obey the word of God and love your brothers and serve in the church. You have to give credit where credit's due, but if you take offense at the preaching of God's word, Paul says we give no offense in anything. So, number one, Paul, by example, shows us what we must not do. We must not give offense in anything that our ministries may not be blamed. Number two, Paul, by example, shows us what we must do, what we must do, 2 Corinthians 6 verse 4. Paul says there, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God. Just as we are to give no offense in anything, either in words or in actions, we are to commend ourselves as ministers of God in all things, including words and actions. We commend, that word commend there, means that we present it as worthy of regard. We present it as worthy of imitation. Our words, our actions, the words and the actions of a faithful Christian, the words and the actions of a faithful minister, one who is faithful to God, those words, those actions are worthy of imitation. They are worthy of regard. They are worthy of confidence. Paul says that those among you who walk in this way, Philippians chapter 3, take note of them and follow them, for you have them as an example in Calvin's commentary on this passage. Calvin said this, for this is the artifice of Satan. This is the plot. This is the scheme, the ploy of Satan, to seek some misconduct on the part of ministers that they may tend to the dishonor of the gospel. For when he has been successful in bringing the ministry into contempt, all hope of profit is at an end. Hence, the man who wishes to make himself useful in Christ's service must devote all his energies to maintaining the credit or the honor of his ministry. Think about what Calvin is saying here and what Satan does here. Maybe you have, I have many times had conversations with a guy where he's an unrepentant sin and lo and behold, on the job, at school, at a family reunion, at a picnic, he comes across someone who, knowing that he goes to church, begins to ask him questions about the gospel. We all love that, don't we? We go somewhere and somebody asks us a question about the gospel. Hey, I've just noticed, right? I know you're a Christian. I know you go to church. I'm beginning to be convicted over my sin. Can you tell me how I can be saved? Yes, wow. Amen. But we've known many, haven't we, who upon that occasion, they themselves are living in unrepentant sin. I remember talking to one guy in particular, who on the job, I asked him a question when he has got a marijuana joint in his hand, despicably dishonoring to the gospel and how shameful it is for the Christian minister of the gospel to conduct himself in that way. Not just in that circumstance, many circumstances, right? When someone knows that you profess to be a Christian and yet you live in rejection of that profession. You profess to know him, but you deny him by your words, by your actions. You deny the power of God in your life. Paul says in all things, we commend ourselves as ministers of God. This is not the self commendation that Paul rebuffed at the beginning of chapter three. It's not that. It's not the self aggrandizing, self indulgent, self promotion that the false teachers were guilty of. It's not that. This commendation is that which comes by the grace of God, by his spirit in the strength of the spirit. It's that commendation which is self evident in the life and ministry of a faithful brother, a faithful sister, faithful minister. I want you to see with me from the text that this is that commendation which is expressed in verses four through 10, three through 10. Note the manner with me in which this commendation then is displayed. How is this commendation displayed? One is displayed through suffering. The grace of God through the spirit of God in the life of the believer in the life of God's minister is displayed through suffering versus four and five. Secondly, it's displayed through character, fruits of the spirit in the life of a genuine believer displayed in words and actions as they minister to the loss with the gospel and to the Lord's people in verses six and seven. And lastly, the grace of God is displayed or commended through contrast, contrast with the world, contrast with what this world thinks, contrast with worldly wisdom, worldly philosophy, contrast with what we know the Bible says with what God's assessment is, which is glorious versus eight through 10. So now consider with me how these characteristics that follow not only commend Paul, not only commend Timothy as ministers of God, but also how these characteristics of a blessed and godly ministry then magnify the grace of God in Christ to Paul. All of this, this, the grace commended in these verses, these circumstances, these circumstances are the divine proof. They are the divine evidence that Paul's ministry is genuine, that Paul's ministry is blessed of God, not that Paul was abandoned by God. Paul's ministry is blessed by God. It's not an indication that Paul is in sin or unfaithful. It's evidence that he is faithful and that he is a faithful minister of the gospel. This is evidence that his ministry is true. These are the marks which validate Paul's ministry as authentic. Do you see? First, I want you to see with me God's grace commended through suffering. God's grace commended through suffering. Look at verse four. Paul says, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God, how Paul, in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tummels, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fast things. I want you to know upfront here regarding verse four and those verses that follow, this experience that we see in these verses is not merely isolated to the apostle Paul. Now, we look at these verses and Paul went through it. He went through trial and adversity and difficulty, but this adversity, this difficulty, not merely isolated to Paul. For one, the church at Corinth, they themselves experienced many of these difficulties in their own Christian life and ministry. They faced severe persecution. They faced severe affliction. Many of them had their goods plundered, as Hebrews says, and they withstood that or endeared that, endured that joyfully. They suffered persecution and affliction, but to some degree, we have to understand this. To some degree, this is the experience of all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer what? Persecution. No genuine Christian misses out on all of these marks. Now, you may miss out on imprisonment, and if you do, praise God that you did. You may miss being beaten about the head and shoulders with rods. And if you do, praise God for his mercy and his grace, you may not. And other of these, you may experience to some degree or another. There are some of these that you absolutely should experience as a Christian ministering brother or sister. And you should be ready. You should be willing to do it if called upon to do it, right? I'm always just thrilled and encouraged and convicted and challenged by the notion, for example, that the apostles, after being imprisoned and beaten in Acts chapter 4, went away rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer that for his namesake. And you and I, apart from the grace of God through his spirit in us, would surely fail in that regard. But I pray by the grace of God afforded me by his spirit in me, by his spirit in you, that if that time were to come, you would stand fast. And I would stand fast and not only stand fast and represent well the Lord Jesus Christ's ministry, but that you and I can walk away from that rejoicing, right? The people of God rejoicing that were counted worthy by God to suffer such a thing for his name. They viewed it as a blessing from God. Not something to merely be feared, although I'm sure there is fear in there associated with pain, physical pain. No question about it. But praising God for the courage to overcome the courage to face it in grace. We need to be ready and willing, if the Lord so chooses, to praise him and to worship him in that way. The false professing Christian, the false professing Christian is the one who sacrifices nothing for Christ. It's easy to roll off his lips. Oh, yeah, I'd die for Christ. Easy to say. They don't sacrifice anything for Christ in this life. They won't overcome the fear of man to merely start a conversation with a neighbor or someone next to them or much less be dragged off to prison and beaten for the sake of Christ. In other words, it is a glorious grace of God to endure such suffering. But we need to be prepared and willing in daily life to suffer all of those little indignities that come with the minister of the gospel. We need to be willing to stand outside the camp with him and bear his reproach together with him for the sake of the gospel, the sake of his name. The one who truly serves him will to some degree face adversity. Paul says in verse four, we begin commending ourselves as ministers of God in much patience. In much patience means endurance in much steadfastness. Why would Paul need endurance? Why would he need steadfastness? Because he's facing adversity, because he's being persecuted, because it's difficult. Life is hard. Endurance. It's the inward fortitude, the discipline, the strength, the faith to remain faithful in the midst of adversity, in the midst of trial. Calvin said that patience is the regulation of the mind in adversity. I would add to that it's the regulation of the heart, the regulation of the mind, the resolve of the will, the determination of the believer in faith to endure and to endure in faithfulness. He says we endure in much patience, in tribulations, in affliction, or in distress. He says in needs, the word needs means pressed down, oppressed by the pressures of necessity. Under compulsion, you can think of circumstances, right in which Paul himself was under compulsion with no escape, so to speak. In Philippians chapter 4, verse 12, Paul said he had learned how to be abased. He learned how to be abased. He learned how to be hungry. He learned how to suffer need. Our difficulty, in our context, in our day, is learning the other side of what Paul says there in Philippians 4 verse 12. You and I, we must learn how to abound. We've got to learn how to deal faithfully with our abundance. We need to learn how to be full. Paul says he suffered. He commends himself as a minister of God in distresses that were immediately constrained, entrapped by adverse circumstances. It's Paul and Silas chained up in a dark prison cell at Philippi. That's distresses. It's the trouble in Asia in chapter 1 verse 8 that burned them among above measure, beyond strength, such that they even despaired of life. That's a distress. It's Paul, shipwrecked, floating about, spending a night and a day in the deep adrift at sea. That's a distress, something that constrains, entrapped by circumstances. He commends himself as a minister of God in stripes and imprisonments. Paul would say in chapter 11 verse 23 in stripes above measure, prisons more frequently. Five times, he received 40 stripes minus one. Three times, beaten with rods. Once Paul was stoned, enlistra, and left for dead. Paul was imprisoned in Philippi in Acts 16 where it says there that they beat him with rods and struck him with many blows, many stripes. It says there were laid upon them. Paul commends himself as a minister of God in tummels, in violent uprisings is what that word means. In riots, it's the multitude from enlistra in Acts 14 that all came together at once to sacrifice to Paul and to Barnabas, calling Paul Zeus, right? And then that same crowd stirred up by the Jews, gathered together to take him by force and stoned him in enlistra. Tummels, violent uprising, riots. There's the uprising in Philippi in Acts 16. There's the uprising in Thessalonica in Acts 17. A mob rose up against him in the amphitheater in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. The whole crowd in the temple in Jerusalem stirred up against him in Acts chapter 21. This guy caused riots. He commends himself as a minister of God in labors. You're just right. It's not, I commend myself as a minister of God in my thousand-dollar suit. I commend myself as a minister of God in the BMW that I'm driving, in the 4.8 million dollar building that seats 1500 and two Christians. It's not how Paul's commending himself here. Paul commends himself in labors. This is the commendation that we should all experience, hard work. The word means to toil to the point of exhaustion, to toil to the point of exhaustion. Might be tempted to say, I'm not going to go to group because I'm tired. That's even more reason to go. Commend yourself in exhaustion as a faithful brother, a faithful sister to minister your brother and sisters during the week. I'm tired. May it be for the gospel that you say that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 10, his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yes, not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. Paul is always careful to put credit where credit is due. I labored. I labored, yet not I. Paul has to confess, admit, it's the grace of God in me. I recognize it as hard as I'm laboring. That's the grace of God. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 8, we work with labor and toil night and day. And in 2nd Thessalonians, it's so that we might not be a burden to any of you. They're referring to Paul's work. So not only did Paul labor and labor and labor and labor with the brothers and sisters in those churches, with the loss with the gospel, but then not to be a burden on anyone. Paul supported himself with regular work. Paul was a tent maker. And so Paul would go get supplies to make tents. He would have to cut the leather and trim the leather and insert the rods and however you fold that thing up and you put it in a package so that, you know, it's like a six-person tent that sits in a box this size. Paul had to do all that self-service. And then he went and ministered to brothers and sisters in the church so that he wouldn't be a burden to any one of them. Right? He labored. It speaks of resolve. I will not live for myself but for him who died for me and rose again. And we know that our labor, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Labor, labor, labor, labor, labor. And all that labor certainly led to sleeplessness in verse four. Laboring night and day. Certainly sleeplessness goes hand in hand with that. Fastings. Here it means hunger. It means hunger. Paul was often just poor. Went without food. How is the grace of God commended then in these ways? How is it the grace of God is commended? It's the grace of God by which the believer, the minister of God, endures all these things. Apart from the grace of God in Christ, there's no way, right? No way that Paul makes it apart from the grace of God in Christ. Listen, in far lesser circumstances there's no way you and I make it. Apart from him we can do nothing. You don't do this. You don't make it apart from the grace of God. So if you set out to do this in your own strength, prayerlessness, faithlessness, and yes, yet you set out, I'm going to serve him and you're trying to serve him in your own strength, your own power, apart from faith in him. Good luck with that. I mean, how that turns out. Not going to, not going to work. It's only by the power that God supplies. He's the one who makes us sufficient for these things. Through it all, Paul remains steadfast. He endures. It's a life of enduring obedience, but also adversity, trial, tribulation, all of this, right? Reveals true character. It reveals who a person is and that by the grace of God, what you are in Christ, you are by his doing, by his spirit. These are the trials that Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7. These are the trials that test the genuineness of your faith. They test the genuineness of your faith so that it may, it faith may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, the evidence of your love, and you serve him by faith in these ways. It's easy to coast along when things are going well. Easy to relax in the recliner. Easy to lay your head on the pillow. Trial and difficulty reveal a person's character. Reveal the genuineness of a person's faith. What about you? What about you? Are you prepared to suffer? Easy to say. What's in your heart and mind? Are you prepared, if prepared to suffer in times of difficulty, are you prepared to sacrifice in times of ease when it's comfortable, when you have abundance, when there's that couch, that TV, that miniseries, that hot plate of lasagna, that are you willing? Are you willing? Talk about lasagna way too much. Are you willing? It's a sobering question, isn't it? Are you willing to sacrifice in those times? That's what it comes down to for you and I, right? Those are the circumstances in which we live, and minister once said it this way. Are you willing to come and break open your alabaster flask of costly oil and anoint the head and the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you willing to do that when you have such riches, when you have such grace and blessing? Where's your evangelism to the lost right now? When is the last time someone got tumultuous with you because you were loving them by preaching the gospel to them? Where have you poured yourself out and labored for your brothers and sisters in this church to the point of exhaustion? Have you poured yourself out for them in prayer? These are the things, brothers and sisters, that you and I need to consider in our context in this church, right? All of this, as Peter says, it tests the genuineness of your faith, but it reveals a true character, and character then is where Paul heads next in verses 6 and 7. God's grace commended through character. I'll get verse 6 now. God's grace is commended as the minister of God endures through suffering, but now God's grace to the minister is commended through the character of that one who serves him in this way, verses 6 and 7. Verse 6, by purity. Purity means integrity, holiness of life, holiness of thoughts and actions. In chapter 4, verse 2, Paul says, we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. That's purity. That's integrity. That's holiness. By knowledge, by understanding, by wisdom. Where does understanding and wisdom come from? It comes by his spirit through the Word of God. It comes from a heart, comes from a mind immersed in the Bible. Does this describe you? Does this characterize your life? Can you commend yourself as a good and faithful minister of God by purity, by knowledge? Knowledge of the truth and the fear of God is the foundation of Christian character, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. By long suffering, by forbearance, by patience, by kindness, by being considerate, being compassionate, being sympathetic, being warm. First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 11, Paul says, to the present hour we both hunger and thirst, we're poorly clothed, we're beaten, we're homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands, being reviled. What does Paul do? He blesses. Being persecuted, we endure, we're patient, being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all things until now. Paul was long suffering, Paul was kind. We commend ourselves as ministers of God by the Holy Spirit. In other words, by all these things that the Spirit of God produces in the heart and in the mind of a genuine believer. These are fruits of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit in the life of a Christian, the life of one who ministers for God. The Spirit produces all these characteristics. He says, by sincere love at the end of verse 6, not superficial love, not hypocritical love, not self-serving love, like serving as those with no genuine affections. It's self-serving, right? Self-evolved, self-indulgent love. This is a hiring, someone who's in it for the money or in it for what he can get from you, right? Sincere love, sincere love. By the word of truth, literally by truthful speech, not lying, but certainly also here, the gospel of truth. We do, we serve according to the gospel of truth. By the power of God, one who is reliant upon God, one who doesn't rely in his own strength. This cannot be done by ourselves. Paul endured by the power of God. Why was Paul mentioning that terrible trial that he went through in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 8? Why was Paul taken through that distress such that they were burned beyond measured, despairing even of life? The reason that Paul gave was so that they would learn to trust in God who raises the dead. We need to learn that, but we rely upon the power of God. This is referring to one, the minister who relies upon the power of God, the one who raises the dead. By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by a clear conscience, by holiness of life. Armor, the first one of my favorite references, war in the Christian life, battle in the Christian life. We don't have to come up with our own strength, with our own weapons in this war, in this battle. God provides them, right? God provides the weapons of our warfare, which are mighty for pulling down strongholds. There's the belt of truth. There's the breast plate of righteousness. There is the shield of faith. There's the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit. This is the full armor of the minister of God. Remember the story in Pilgrim's progress of valiant, right? Great heart and valiant and how valiant battle, three of them came upon him at once and he battled and he swung the sword until the sword cleaved to his hand and became a part of his arm as he fought, right? We battle with the weapons that God gives us, but then God's grace is then commended versus eight through ten, commended through contrast, commended through contrast. Look at verse eight. The minister of God commended, the grace of God commended in him through verse eight by honor and by dishonor. Notice that each of these begins with by dishonor and honor, but then as, as deceivers and yet as true, the world may say this, but here's the way it is, right? By honor and dishonor, by evil report and by good report. Men will revile you, men will persecute you, say all manner of evil against you, and there are those that stick closer than a brother to you and love you to the end, right? Those who think you're the best thing since sliced bread and those who dishonor you through, as one put it, cruel and unkind criticism. And notice how each of these next pairings begin with that little word as contrasting the world's opinions and God's truthful assessment of you. We must learn how to separate the two, right? To stand separate from this world's hatred and look for our commendation from God. As deceivers, that's the world's assessment, and yet true, that's the Lord's assessment. Men say he's not qualified, he's an imposter. He runs when he shouldn't be running, and yet he's called of God. As unknown and yet well known, unknown to men, unknown to the empires of this world, unknown to the movers and shakers, but known by God. As dying and behold, we live. Look at 4, chapter 4, verse 10, always delivered to death for the sake of Christ, always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, and yet behold, we live preserved by God. As chastened and not killed, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6, for whom the Lord loves, he chastened. Chastened, I would submit to you that Paul finds himself here highly chastened. We've been chastened. If you've never been chastened by God, you're illegitimate, the text says, right? We've been chastened. God scourges every son, letter to the Hebrews says there, scourges every son whom he receives. Hebrews says there, if you endure that chastening, God deals with you as sons. For what son is there, whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we've had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as the best of them, but he for our prophets, that we may be partakers of his holiness. That good fatherly chastening produces holiness. And no chastening seems joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Paul says as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, deeply concerned for all the churches, sorrowing, weeping. Paul says here in Second Corinthians that he wrote to them with much anguish in many tears. But he told the Thessalonians, 1st Thess chapter 2, verse 19, what is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? And he rejoiced in knowing that they were the Lord's sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. I often and largely do our help with the ministry in Haiti. I often think about the conditions of the people in Haiti. And struck by that, 80% of the country is without electricity, without running water, seldom if ever have even seen an appliance. And though Christians there may have nothing in the eyes of this world, yet in Christ they possess all things. We have much here in abundance, but should it be blown away in the wind? We are rich in spiritual blessings in him. Paul as poor yet making many rich. I would say also to conduct yourself as poor in this world and rich toward him. Reckon yourself, poor, to the materialistic things of this world, the temporal blessings of this world. Don't cling to them too tightly. Consider yourselves rich toward him. Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. I love this picture of the gospel ministry, the gospel minister from Paul. A beautiful mosaic. It, I don't know about you. It encourages me. It rebukes me. It compels me. It fuels me. It gives me hope in seeing Paul through these circumstances. Can you see how in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 1 through 10 in the ministry of Paul, the example of Paul, how this is one who has not received the grace of God in vain. Paul, you could say a 10 talent man, doing something with the grace of God for the name of Christ. You and I must consider this as it applies to us. When God gives such grace, when such grace is available by faith, right? That's Romans chapter 5 verse 1. We have access to this grace in which we stand by faith. To have access to that kind of grace, can we fail to trust him in our context? Can we fail to step out by faith and go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach? Can we fail to do that knowing that by faith in Christ such grace will be lavished upon us? When Christian was in the house of the interpreter in Bunyan's pilgrim's progress, he was led into a room where he saw a picture of a man hanging on the wall. Bunyan says, this was the fashion of it. His eyes were lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, the world was behind his back and he stood as if fleeting with men and a crown of gold did hang over his head. Then Christian said, what means this? He'd been hanging out with Yoda or just maybe, you know, grammar a little different that period of time. What means this? Christian asked. Interpreter said, the man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand. He can beget children, travail in birth with children and nurse them himself when they are born. And whereas you see him with eyes lift up to heaven, the best of books in his hand and the law of truth read upon his lips, it is to show you that his work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners. Even as also you see him stand as if he pleaded with men and whereas you see the world as cast behind him and that a crown hangs over his head, that is to show you that sliding and despising the things that are present for the love that he has to his master's service, he is sure in the world that comes next to have glory for his reward. We're citizens of that kingdom, amen? Sojourners and pilgrims here. In all this, we know that we're not sufficient for these things, don't we? We know that we're not sufficient. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 4, but we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant. Paul exclaims then in 2 Corinthians, chapter 6 verse 11, Corinthians, Corinthians, Cornerstonians, Christians, we have spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide open. If you are restricted, you're not restricted by us, brother, sister, you're restricted by your own affections. Our ministry cannot be blamed. We're not standing in your way. This is what Christian ministry looks like. We're laboring for your soul. We're preaching the gospel to you, but rather you are restricted by your own affections. Paul pleads with them in verse 12, open your heart to us. Open your heart to the word of God preached to you. Open your heart to the exhortation for the minister of God, the one who had preached the gospel. Open your heart to those who minister the word of God to you. The restriction, the difficulty lies not with us, but within your own heart. Do not receive this grace of God in vain. Labor for the Lord.