Just a little over two months ago, I had the honor of preaching my father’s funeral service, and our text today was the same text I used for that message. My dad was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and his memorial service was an amazing celebration of faith and family. It was a wonderful time of worship together. Of course, it was difficult emotionally, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope! My dad has now experienced the culmination of God’s promises of eternal life. What an amazing thing to think about!
We are excited to welcome back the Executive Director of Lifeword Media Ministries to Temple Rogers today! Through Donny’s leadership, Lifeword continues to expand its gospel outreach around the world! He’ll be speaking this morning about how the responsibility to carry the gospel to the world lies on the shoulders of each and every believer. Later at the Lifeword Rally, he will share all about the work of Lifeword and the impact that our partnership can have in reaching the lost!
In our message this morning, we’re going to explore the fourth chapter of Second Corinthians. In this chapter, Paul encourages believers to be the couriers of God’s promises to everyone who will receive this message of grace. In the first section, he shows himself and his companions as an example of how to do this work of ministry; and then, in the second section, he encourages us to keep on working for the Lord—even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
When it comes to our Christian walk, we want instant spiritual maturity. We want all our sinful desires to just magically disappear. We don’t understand why the war between the flesh and the spirit continues to rage inside of us. We struggle to see God’s plan at work in our lives as we flounder in mediocrity—mediocrity in our prayers, mediocrity in our Bible reading and study, mediocrity in witnessing and mediocrity in ridding ourselves of all the sin that weighs us down and trips us up. The problem is that there is nothing about spiritual growth and maturity that comes quickly. We need to think about discipleship more like a crock pot, not a microwave!
In our text today, we’re going to be introduced to the concept of the New Covenant—God’s promise to all mankind that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This new covenant can be summarized in the message of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). We will pick up where we left off last week in 2 Corinthians 2. Paul is still referring to the “stern letter” that he had written to the Corinthian believers. We learn from other passages that it was Paul’s disciple, Titus, who delivered the letter to them. Remember, Paul didn’t want to go there himself because he did not want his visit with them to be filled with conflict and difficulties. Titus was to go to Corinth, deal with the issue and then meet Paul in Troas, but as we’re about to discover, Titus never showed up in Troas and this worried Paul.
Every human relationship is dependent on communication. If communication between two people is good, then there is mutual confidence and trust. When that trust is broken, there is conflict and suspicion. In our text today, we discover that Paul is addressing a situation of broken trust between himself and the believers in Corinth. When dealing with this kind of situation, it is important to remember that we cannot control other people’s actions, only our reactions! We see in this passage, some of the ways that Paul responded to the situation happening in Corinth.
The power of the Holy Spirit of God brings us hope in the midst of suffering! What a glorious blessing it is to know that there is Someone who is in control of all things and that someone is Jesus! All the events and situations of our lives–the good, the bad, and the ugly–are being used by God to make us into the people that He wants us to be.
As we’ve considered this concept of renewal, we have noted that renewal requires consecration (i.e., being separated to or belonging to God). Renewal also requires confession (i.e., agreeing with God about the sinfulness of your attitude and actions). And we noted that renewal will result in commitment in our sermon last Sunday. Today—as we complete our study in Nehemiah—we will see that renewal requires consistency (i.e., doing something in the same way over a long period of time). So, in this study, we’re going to focus on that concept—consistency in our walk with God—because there is no other way to sustain a spirit of revival.
In Nehemiah 9 and 10, the people covenanted together to “observe and do all the commandments of the Lord.” Now in Nehemiah 11, we see the result of this covenant and how it impacted the lives of these people. Many people pay lip-service to following God—or committing wholly to Him—but commitment to God does not come without effort and sacrifice. As we pray each time before studying God’s Word, we must be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
After restoring the broken-down wall of Jerusalem, the restored exiles needed spiritual direction and renewal—they needed revival. In our study last week, we noted that this process of renewal begins with hearing and obeying the Word of God. In today’s study, we will focus on the role of confessing sin in the renewal process, as well as the attitudes that foster a repentant spirit and the product of confession.