2nd Corinthians ā Wayne Barber/Part 22
By: Dr. Wayne Barber; ©2006 |
Well, first of all, an ambassador, we want to look at his selfless heart. His selfless heart. Verses 14-15, āFor the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. |
The Character of an Ambassador for Christ
Turn with me today to 2 Corinthians 5, and weāre going to be looking today beginning in verse 14 and going down through verse 17. Weāve been talking about being ambassadors for Christ and this is part 2 of that little mini-series in the midst of this study through 2 Corinthians. And todayās message is entitled, āThe Character of an Ambassador for Christ.ā Whatās he like? Whatās his character? What do you look for in an ambassador for Christ?
Let me just get you into this by reviewing a little bit. But itās such a wonderful thing when a believer realizes that part of his assignment here on this earth is to be an ambassador for Christ, an official representative of Christ, wherever he goes, whatever he does. And as an ambassador for Christ he carries with him a message. Not a message from man but a message from God. And this message has the power in it, the power of the gospel. For Paul said, āIām not ashamed of the gospel for in it is the power of God.ā The power to save souls. Can you imagine? Weāre ambassadors on a mission. And everywhere we go we carry a message from God thatās able to transform peopleās lives. The responsibility of an ambassador is to simply share this good news with all who will hear about the Christ that lives within him. And then he allows Christ to make His appeal through him to the lost people around him. All we do is reason with them, but God makes His appeal.
Second Corinthians 5:20; weāre not even there yet, and yet that verse carries us right along. Itās like the current of a river. It says in verse 20, āTherefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,ā and here it comes, āas though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.ā Paul as an ambassador for Christ was totally unafraid to speak truth in the face of whoever was hostile. It didnāt bother him; death was not a problem to him. He says in 4:13, āwe also believe, therefore also we speak.ā He understood the awe, the divine respect, the honor for the Lord Jesus who lived within him. He lived to persuade men never to please men. It says in verse 11, āTherefore knowing the fearā that word means awe, respect, honor, āof the Lord, we persuade men.ā
Now we saw the last time how Paul understood that two-fold responsibility in persuading men. He knew that he could only convince men, he knew that, he could reason with them. But only God could convict them. You say, āShow me that in Scripture.ā Oh, Iām so glad you asked. Romans 15:18 says, āFor I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.ā God did that. He didnāt do it, he just reasoned with them in the Scriptures, but God the Holy Spirit brought these people to conviction.
You see, Paul lived in the power of Godās Spirit. He told the Corinthians in his first epistle, āI donāt come to you with eloquence of speech and with wisdom. I come in demonstration of the power of the Spirit of God.ā He knew that God knew how he was doing what he did. It says in verse 11, āTherefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,ā and then he makes that statement, ābut we are made manifest to God.ā Boy, thatās powerful. He knew that God knew and thatās what kept him going. Men criticized him, they thought he was nuts, but he knew that God knew.
But the problem he had was not with God at all. The problem he had was with the believers there at Corinth who wouldnāt even stand up and defend him in the face of his accusers. Verse 11, the last part of it, āand I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.ā He says, āWeāre not again commending ourselves to you. But weāre giving you an occasion to be proud of us so that you will have an answer for those who will take pride in appearance and not in heart.ā
Oh, the grief that comes to a person who wants to be an ambassador for Christ, a person who represents Christ, a special representative with a message that can transform lives. The grief is that the very people that are persuaded by the God that lives within this individual who is an ambassador, theyāre the very people that will not stand and open their mouths to defend him, and he canāt depend upon that. Heās got to know that God knows and thatās good enough.
Last part of verse 12 says, āthat you may have an answer for those who take pride in appearance, and not in heart.ā I donāt know a lot about the living translation so Iām not putting my stamp of approval on it, I just donāt know a lot about it, but I do like the way they translate this verse. It says in verse 12, āAre we trying to pat ourselves on the back again?ā Is that what Iām doing? He says, āNo, weāre giving you a reason to be proud of us so that you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart before God.ā
I can only imagine what spectacular things these false teachers use to so convince these people that they wouldnāt even open their mouths to defend a true servant of God like the apostle Paul. Does this remind you of anything that is going on in the 21st century? The spectacular versus the sincerity of heart? Paulās humility and his total devotion to Christ stood out in stark contrast to what these false teacher, those who were criticizing him, those who were tearing him down, those who had so enamored the people there in Corinth that they wouldnāt even speak up for Paul. What a difference in the two groups. And heās made reference to this all the way back to chapter 1 if you follow it through.
So he says to them, āFor if we are beside ourselves, it is for God.ā In other words, if we appear to be nuts, if we appear to be crazy by the way we live, if the devotion of our heart, if the sincerity of our motives, if this somehow bothers you, the fact that weāre not tied to this world but weāre anchored to the Lord Jesus Christ, then so be it. Weāre not living to please you. We donāt have to have you understand us. We know that God understands. Weāre living to please him.
But then he says, āif we are of sound mind, it is for you.ā What he says is there are some things you do understand that weāre doing. You understood the message we preached. Take these things and use them to defend us in the face of those who are trying to tear us down and not giving us credibility.
Well, Paul did not draw attention to himself or to manās ability in what he did. Thatās why he says that in Romans. He said, āI would not dare speak of anything that Iāve done. I would only speak of what Christ has done.ā He always pointed to the adequacy of Christ, never to the adequacy of his own, that heās come up with something. But again, the believers at Corinth couldnāt seem to get it. They were so infatuated with the way the world does things, that if it looked good on the outside that seemed to appeal to their flesh. Well, nothing new under the sun, is there?
Well, today Paul is going to show us what it means to have character which is so different from the false teacher, so different from those who use church and use Scripture for their own gain. I want to show you the character of an ambassador for Christ and heās continuing again to draw that line between the humble sincerity of a true servant of God and those who are only out to get a crowd and then to fleece a crowd. He tries to make the difference and heās trying to tell the Corinthians, āWhy canāt you see the difference? God knows, I just wish that you could know.ā
Well, there are three things about the character of an ambassador for Christ and I want you to just be asking yourself the question, Iāve had to go through the pain of asking myself this and now you have to suffer with me. Are you an ambassador for Christ?
An ambassador for Christ has a selfless heart
Well, first of all, an ambassador, we want to look at his selfless heart. His selfless heart. Verses 14-15, āFor the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.ā Whereas the false teachers who were critics of Paul were spectacular in their methods, drawing attention to themselves, Paul wasnāt that way. Paul and his team were much more concerned that all that was done, we sang it awhile ago, is done out of the love of Christ which motivates them, and for the spiritual benefit of others.
He says in verse 14, āFor the love of Christ controls us.ā Now I want you to make sure you understand this phrase. The word ācontrol,ā sunecho, which literally means āto hold together,ā but figuratively in the sense that weāre using here, it means to control, to constrain, or to compel. It comes from the Greek word sun, which means ātogetherā and the word echo, which means āto have or to hold.ā The picture here is that something is constraining and helping a person to where heās so focused that nothing else, thereās no room for anything else. Godās love has so captured the individual.
We sang awhile ago, āLord let Your love surround me, saturate me.ā This is what the idea is. When you start living in the love of Christ, it focuses you. It pushes out all the fleshly garbage that is there and suddenly it gives you a direction in life. The actual love of Christ is not a quality, itās who God is, was operating in Paul, constraining him, controlling him, holding him together, causing him to live the way he lived. No wonder he said in Ephesians, āThat you be strengthened in the inner man so that you might comprehend what is the length and the breadth, and the depth, and the height of Godās love,ā because itās going to be that love that is going to focus you. Itās going to be that love thatās going to cause all the flesh that is dropped to the side, itās going to be that love that is going to give you the motivation that you do everything for the benefit of others.
The love of Christ is a selfless love; itās not human. Itās not anything like a human love. Itās so divinely different. He gives an example here. He says Christ has so unselfishly loved the world that He died for all, for the love of Christ controls us. And then he said, āIām going to build a point here:ā āhaving concluded this, that one died for all.ā By saying, āhaving concluded this,ā Paul uses the word krino, which means āto make a judgment about something.ā In other words, by mentioning what Christ has done for us on the cross, heās bringing up the supreme example of what this love is. And heās made a determination here that this love is whatās going to focus his life and this becomes the foundation of the point that heās making.
It can be translated āthat as,ā āthat as one died for all.ā Christ paid a debt He didnāt owe when mankind owed a debt it could not pay. āOne died for all.ā Now itās important in this phrase, āone died for allā to realize that Christ did die for the sins of the whole world, not just the elect. I understand what people are saying. No, the elect are the ones whoāve experienced it, but youāve got to move away. He died for the sins of the whole world. āShow me that in Scripture.ā Thank you for the challenge. First John 2:2, āand He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.ā We understand that He died for the sins of every man that was ever born. But does that mean that every man that was ever born is going to receive it? No! It does not.
The phrase ātherefore all diedā in verse 14, āthat one died for all, therefore all died,ā has the definite article right before the word āall.ā Now you have to stay with me, donāt let me lose you here. āTherefore, [the] all died,ā and by using the definite article, heās referring to a particular group. Everybody that He died for is not going to receive that. He wishes that theyād be saved, but He doesnāt will it to happen. He knows that a lot of people will reject that. However, thereās a particular group that has died with Him. āFor the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all [the] died.ā
Anytime you see a definite article in Greek, it identifies something and itās trying to tell you something. When itās not there it qualifies, but when itās there it identifies. This group that has died with Him is referred to in verse 15. We find out who these people are. It says, āand He died for all, that they who live [thereās the ones heās talking about] should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.ā
Now these that live are the believers that are the ones who now, because of having been crucified with Him, theyāve died with him. Perhaps you donāt understand this: itās salvation. You died; thatās why Paul says, āIāve been crucified with Christ. Iām not the same person anymore. That old man that I used to be is dead, itās gone.ā And now what he says here is those who have been set free, those who liveāand you canāt live unless youāve been to the cross and at the cross you die so that you might be raised to walk in the newness of lifeāthe people that have been crucified with Him are now free from the selfish old life that they used to live. Theyāre set free from its power; it doesnāt have to control them anymore. The love of Christ now controls them. Living selfishly for oneselfāand this is tough for a believer who sometimes lets his flesh rule his lifeāitās the mark of a nonbeliever.
A person that lives selfishly, only for himself, is an unbeliever. Itās habitual in his life. Verse 15, āand He died for all, so that they who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.ā Paul and his team lived for Christ and not for themselves, and this meant in order for them to do that they had to die with Christ, to the old person that they used to be. Christ in them had given them a brand new motivation in which to live. You see, a person that doesnāt know Christ has none of this in his life.
āWell, Iāve seen selfless people out there that are pagans.ā Listen, if you could milk it down and they stood before the divine standard of God, you would see a selfish agenda hidden in there somewhere. Christ in us is what gives us the privilege of never again living for ourselves. You see, when you are saved youāre not just set free from sin. Youāre set free from yourself. Itās self that is causing us all the problems and He separates us from it. He breaks its power and puts a new motivation within us. Itās the very heart of God.
All that they did now, Paul and his team, was for the benefit of others because they lived for Him and they lived through Him. First John 4:9 says, āBy this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.ā Godās love in them, and His love in us, is a selfless love and that causes a divine motivation to do what we do only for the benefit of others. Now what a contrast, what a contrast to the false teachers who were the critics of Paul in Corinth. The very people wouldnāt even defend the apostle Paul.
Look at the difference in the heart of what they did. Verse 15, āand He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves.ā Now, use this as a subjunctive moodāI know this sometimes doesnāt appeal to some people but Iām just going to quit saying that. Iām just going to go onāthe subjunctive mood means āitās iffy.ā In other words, youāre going to have Christians, like at Corinth, many of which have never chosen to yield to the One who is that love. And therefore theyāre not controlled and constrained by His love. Theyāre moved and controlled by their flesh. They have chosen to go back and submit to its power which is such a mistake. Itās such an error.
This means that it goes on today, doesnāt it? There are a lot of believers in the church of Jesus Christ to this day that still live for themselves. Get all you can, can all you get, sit on the can and poison the rest. Itās that selfishness; itās that self-motivation that salvation has set us free from. So if youāre living selfishly, youāve had to make a choice to do that because the divine nature youāve partaken of that Peter talks about, the very nature of Christ, lives within you and His nature is to live not for yourself but for the benefit of others. And a person who lives for themselves is a person who is negating the power of God and the constraining, controlling, compelling power of His love to motivate them in life.
Well, He who died, He died for all āso that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.ā So if youāre a true ambassador for Christ today there is a selfless motivation in your heart. You donāt live for yourself; you live for the spiritual benefit of other people. And thatās not because of who you are, thatās because of whose you are and who He is in you. Thatās Him, thatās who He is. When Christ is ruling your life, thatās how you know because you never think of yourself, youāre thinking of other people, youāre thinking of Him, and youāre allowing Him to be who He is in your life.
And when youāre around people like that it just overwhelms you, doesnāt it? Iāve been in Romania so many times. I got to thinking about when we went to a church and the Communists, when they would come to the services under Communism, they let you know who they were. Iāve shared a little of this with you before, where this particular church, a guy had dark glasses on in a night service with the lights that werenāt bright to start with. You know, under Communism they didnāt have any light, street lights or anything. And here he is wearing sunglasses in the service. And sat there and just stared at me. And I preached to him that whole night. I didnāt even look at anybody else. I got his eye and stayed right with him and preached about the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and what the gospel is all about.
Well, that was the night that we left and the secret police were right behind us, on our bumper, no lights, four of them in the car. Quite a story but I wonāt go into that right now. What happened after the service, they had a member of their service that knew that an American was coming to preach the gospel and they just said, āWhat do Americans like to eat?ā There was no food in Romania. When the government and propaganda people would come through, theyād put boxes in the store room windows to make it look like there was food but they were all empty. They didnāt have anything. People would stand in line four blocks long just to get a loaf of bread.
And this man had gone a hundred milesāyou have to understand, no money, theyāre poor as they can be; they took up a little offering to get him some gasoline moneyāheād had to go 100 miles to buy food for us. Now thereās one thing I hate to eat. Iām sorry, I just donāt like it, and itās liver. I donāt like liver. But this little fellow had gone to find something that wasnāt rotten, something that was edible for us. They didnāt have any refrigeration or power and electricity and so stuff would just spoil.
And he brought potatoes back because he said Americans liked French fries. But he had gotten chicken livers. It was the only thing he could find and they came back and fried up those chicken livers and didnāt have anything else. And we had French fries and chicken livers and mineral water.
But thatās all we had, but I tell you what, because of the sincerity, they wouldnāt eat. They set us down first. We said, āNo, no, youāve gone to the trouble. You sit down and eat. Weāll eat last.ā āNo, you eat first, youāre special to us.ā And there wasnāt enough food for everybody and we saw that and they were offended if we didnāt eat. And that was the best chicken livers I ever put in my mouth. You know why? Because of the sincerity and the purity of their heart. Thatās what an ambassador for Christ is. The love of Christ compels him. The love of Christ constrains him. There are a lot of people who still live constrained by their flesh and thatās why there is all the garbage that takes place in peopleās lives.
An ambassador for Christ has a special discernment
Well, the second thing he mentions here about the character of an ambassador for Christ is his special discernment. He doesnāt see people like everybody else sees them. He sees them differently; he sees them through the eyes of the Lord. He doesnāt observe the world the way the world observes the world.
Verse 16, āTherefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh.ā Now that ātherefore,ā keys right off of the verse. The love of Christ has so changed us, we donāt see people the same anymore. He says, āwe recognize according to the flesh.ā The word ārecognizeā there is the word oidamen. Eido weāve looked at several times in this study. It means āto perceive something clearly.ā It means āto intuitively know something.ā Paul saw men as either sinners separated from God, or he saw them as believers who have died with Christ and now who live constrained by His love.
He didnāt see the nice cars that they had in the garage like the world sees. He didnāt see how big their house was and what subdivision they were from. He didnāt see how successful they were in the world. He didnāt look at their talent and their ability. He could care less how well they could do something on their own. He didnāt see them the way the world saw them, he saw them through the eyes of Christ because the love of Christ constrained and compelled him.
People were either lost and bound for an eternal hell or they were saved and there was no in-between. There was no gray matter. God helps us to see people for the way He sees them. Not for whether they are black or white or anything in an ethnic way. He looks at peopleās hearts and a person who is an ambassador for Christ, compelled and constrained by the love of God, sees through that old outer, spectacular stuff that the world is so enamored by and sees the hearts of people.
Paul lived to persuade man, and I want to tell you, he says in Romans 1:14, āI am under obligation.ā āI wake up every morning as if Iām up under a debt both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.ā He saw everybody, no matter where he went, kings or paupers, it didnāt matter. He saw everybody as a candidate to hear the message that could transform their lives. God had so changed him and God was so changing him that he saw through Godās eyes.
āTherefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.ā Go back to that little phrase, āfrom now on.ā Now be really careful of that word āfrom now on,ā hence to mislead us and make us think that Paul had just come to that conclusion. The word is the word apo, and it does mean that thereās been a separation from a former way of thinking, but it in no way specifies the time that this took place. Paul didnāt just wake up one morning and decide, āIām tired of looking at people the way the world looks at them. Iām going to change today. Iām going to start looking at them the way God looks at them.ā Heavens, no. Once he died with Christ, which is what salvation is, at that moment he got the mind of Christ, and at that moment his heart was changed. At that moment the love of God came to live within him and at that moment he was separated from ever again looking at men the way he used to look at men.
āTherefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.ā Now, in the phrase āeven though we have known Christ according to the flesh,ā Paul points back to the time he didnāt know Christ in a spiritual way and he realizes he once lived the way he sees now is the wrong way to live. He refers back to a day when he was thinking of Christ the way men thought of Christ. He thought of Christ as a mere man. He estimated Christ from His outward appearance until that day in Acts 9 when he met Him on the Damascus Road and he was blinded for three days, and son, he never saw Him again that way.
Thatās why he said earlier, āI know the fear of the Lord. Iāve been in His presence. Iāve been in the third heaven for goodness sake. I know who He is. I donāt see Him the way I used to see Him. I donāt see Him as a human being. I see Him as a God-man and I see Him as the Lord of my life.ā āTherefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh.ā Paul had been there and done that. I like that last phrase, āyet now we know Him thus no longer.ā
When a person is an ambassador for Christ he lives to persuade men of the life-changing power of Christ who died for him and them, so therefore everyone is a candidate. Everyone is a candidate and he does not regard anyone the way the world regards them. Theyāre either lost, bound for an eternal hell, or theyāre saved, living in the love of Christ, constrained by His love, or theyāre saved, having made the foolish mistake of letting their own flesh compel them rather than the heart, love, and motivation of Christ within them. He saw them as either lost or saved.
So his selfless heart, he didnāt live for himself. He couldnāt. The love of Christ constrained him. He lived for the benefit of others. His special discernment was that God now let him see the world from Godās eyes and Godās point of view, not from menās point of view. You know, we could bring a movie star here, we could bring a sports figure, we could bring somebody that the world thinks is up here somewhere, and I guarantee you there will be people at this church, in every church, not just ours, that would be so enamored. And they could know this much about the gospel and stand up and act as if they were preaching and everybody would applaud and just love the spectacular. They love the heroes, they see from fleshly eyes, but there would be many others and hopefully more than that who would see through it and they would understand how God is looking at this individual.
The book of James, he says, āWhat are you doing? Man, youāre putting the poor people in the cheap seats and youāre putting the rich people in the good seats. Is that the love of God?ā You see, thatās what happens when people start looking at the flesh. Have you ever made this statement, āBoy, if so-and-so ever gets saved, God could sure use himā? Have you ever made that statement? God could care less about that individualās ability, that individualās talent, God could care less. God is only impressed when He looks at me and you and sees Himself. And when you see a person that the world, they clap and applaud because of how spectacular they are, ask yourself how you see them. Can you see through the veneer? Can you see through the fake and can you see the heart like God gives that discernment to an ambassador for Christ? How would he know who to share with if God didnāt give him the discernment to know and to see through? He doesnāt look at people the way the world looks at them.
An ambassador for Christ has a spiritual change
But then thirdly, and finally, the spiritual change that has occurred in an ambassador for Christ. He says in verse 17, and youāve heard how many times this verse? I wonder if youāve ever heard it in the context and the flow of 2 Corinthians? I hadnāt until I studied it. āTherefore,ā whatās the āthereforeā there for? I know, youāre going to get that part. Why is it there? Because of the selfless heart that God has given him, constrained by the love of God who cannot do anything for his own benefit, always looking out for the benefit of others, and then you see that discernment. He starts seeing people and heās overwhelmed at the lostness of people, but heās also overjoyed at the believers heās around. And I tell you, ātherefore,ā making a point here.
āTherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.ā In this world of 21st century, we have, I believe, the most watered down idea of what Christianity is in the history of Christianity. We have the most flimsy, egotistical view of salvation that I know Iāve ever seen in my life. And Paul is going to help them define āwhat is a believer.ā Therefore, what is a believer? Who is an ambassador for Christ?
āTherefore,ā and then he opens it up to anyone and everyone who claims to be a believer. āTherefore if any manāāit doesnāt matter if youāre a preacher, teacher, it doesnāt matter who you areāāif any man is in Christ.ā He says if anyone is in Christ. Now why would he say āin Christ?ā You know, itās amazing how many people are religious and still havenāt seen this. They donāt understand that when theyāre born into this world, theyāre born into Adam. Youāre either in Adam or youāre in Christ. And when you become a believer, then you are taken out of Adam. Anybody who is in Adam fears death because after death comes the judgment and judgment means eternal separation from God.
But when a person is taken out of Adam, itās salvation. Heās put into Christ. Thatās what salvation is. When you receive the Lord Jesus Christ you realize youāre a sinner born in Adamāyou live for yourself; youāre controlled by yourself; youāre compelled by yourself; everything the flesh wants, you pursueābut when you become a believer, God has taken you out of Adam and He has placed you into Christ. And when He places you into Christ, not only are you in Christ, saved forever, but Christ is in you.
Paul says in Romans 6:3, āOr do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?ā Let me explain that to you. If I had a big bowl up here today and it was a clear bowl and I put red dye in it and I took a white cloth, and I put that white cloth in that red dye and I submerged it, itās baptized into it. Weāre now in Christ. But something else has happened that youāve got to understand. The moment Iām placed into Christ, the moment the white cloth is put into the red dye, something happens to the cloth. Not only is the cloth in the dye, but the dye is in the cloth. Heās a brand-new creature. Thatās what heās talking about here.
If anyone is in Christ, if anyone who has died and that means that at salvation you die, the old man is gone. You are a brand new creature. āIf any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.ā The word ānewā is kainos, qualitatively, totally brand new. Your wife has never seen anything like you before because the old you is gone. Youāre a brand new creature. Your Mama, your Daddy, your husband, your children, theyāve never seen anything like this. What a radical change has come in your life because youāre not the same anymore. Not only are you now in Christ, having been taken out of Adam and all that condemnation is gone now, but now youāre in Christ and Christ is in you. Totally brand new.
āTherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.ā The word ācreatureā means ācreation.ā God has made you what you are as a believer. God has come to live in you. And Paul continues to explain, āthe old things passed away; behold, new things have come.ā The āold thingsā is the word archaios we get our word āarchaicā from it, āthat which was from the beginning.ā
Now I know there are many things that you could add to this list and I understand that, but the narrow context that heās talking about has been those false teachers and the difference between a believer and a true ambassador for Christ and their heart. What is the one thing that marks the old things that were from the beginning? Listen, what we used to be in Adamālisten carefullyāwhat we used to be in Adam was devoid of any possibility of ever living for the benefit of somebody else and that old way of living we have been now set free from. Itās gone when we become a believer; new things have come.
Itās lost its power to control us. Itās lost its power. I tell you, if youāre miserable here today for any reason, Iāll tell you why. Because if youāre burdened, thatās something different. But if youāre miserable, your flesh has compelled you. Your flesh has controlled you and God set you free from its power. He set you free.
False teachers who live day by day selfishly peddling the Word of God for their own personal gain, more interested in their spectacular ways of getting a crowd and fleecing a crowd than in the people who came to hear them and the hearts and the life change that could come into their lives, they show this selfish love. And itās amazing how the Christians in Corinth couldnāt see the difference. They still hadnāt got it. If weāre going to be an ambassador for Christ, weāve got to get a handle on this. The old life of living for oneās self has perished in the believer, gone forever.
āTherefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. A brand new way of living has come when you say yes to Christ which is the way you received Him, and when you say yes to Him, His Spirit, which is the Spirit of love, produces His character in you and all of a sudden the world looks differently, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, people are sweeter, itās incredible how you see people. Youāre seeing them the way God sees them, not the way you want to see them. And weāve been set free, free.
Iāll tell you, down here on this earth Iām so grateful Iāve been set free from the penalty of sin. But even more than that, because I havenāt yet understood all of that, even more than that, Iām so thankful Iāve been set free from Wayne. It was a long time before Simon Peter understood that he was set free from Simon Peter. He could give up his nets in a minute, but he couldnāt give up Simon Peter. And thatās what salvation does for you and me. It allows us to live compelled by His love.
We live by faith, yielded to Godās Word, and the world looks at us as if weāre crazy and people who take it for granted their Christianity and still live after the flesh look at us as if weāre crazy and God says, āSon, keep on going. I know what youāre doing and I know why youāre doing it. I set you free from what you used to be and the world hasnāt got a clue whatās going on in your life. But you keep on living, son, you live for Me and if you live for Me, youāll live for the sake of other people, selfish people. Selfish people have no clue about what salvation is all about.ā
God says, āIāve set you free from that lifestyle. Youāre free now to live for Me and for the sake of other people.ā And anytime that you see that old self raise its head, you know itās there and it will be critical, it will be judgmental, it will be so arrogant as if it actually thinks it knows what God is doing. But thank God for the grace of God.
You know, most of us have lived long enough to understand and appreciate this. But Iāll tell you the younger generation scares me. They canāt see beyond their own arrogance, and I guess thatās the way God designed it, you reckon? Iāve thought about it. When I finally could travel, Iām older and donāt feel like it. If I could have done that back when I was 30 and had the ability, I would be a mess by now. I guess God just designed life that way; isnāt that funny? Get a motor home and canāt even feel like putting the gas in it. Use it as an extra closet or something.
The character of an ambassador for Christ: he has a selfless heart. This may take years for this to generate but I believe when he begins to see God and he begins to let Jesus be Jesus, the love of Christ constrains him. He has special discernment. He just doesnāt see people the same way. Heās not enamored because somebody is rich and heās not put off by the fact that somebody is poor. He sees people and he sees hearts because heās been spiritually transformed. Heās been radically changed. Heās a brand new creature.
So my question to you is: Are you an ambassador for Christ? My Uncle Jake, when I was growing up, I loved him. We got a phone call one day when I was about 10 or 12 years old, somewhere in that area and said Uncle Jake had gotten saved. And the first thought I had was, āRight. Thereās no way heās going to get saved. Thereās no way.ā He was rough as a cob. And we never could go on vacation, never had a car that would go 25 miles outside the city without breaking down. And we finally got an old car that made it and we went on a vacation. A real vacation and went to to see Uncle Jake.
And at that age I was real interested. Is he really different? Well, he walked out the door, Iāve never forgotten this, I didnāt know this verse at that time, he walked out the door, hair combed, clean shaven, I think he wore a tee shirt his whole life. I donāt think he ever even owned a real shirt, but it was clean. And I remember as a young boy sitting there for three days on that weekend, listening to him talk, and never hearing a cuss word come out of his mouth. And I didnāt understand the radical change that verse 17 is trying to say to us.
āBrother Wayne, I know I used to drink and now Iām saved and Iām still struggling.ā I know that is going to be a problem. But I want to tell you something. Thereās a radical change that comes. We canāt be an ambassador for Christ until first of all weāre a child of God. My biggest fear is that weāre living in a generation that so many people have joined the church and missed Jesus by miles. Billy Graham said, āIf I could just believe that 20% of all the crusades that Iāve ever done were saved. If just 20%, I could go to bed at night and sleep. They came forward, they made the signal, but their life never showed up.
You see, where thereās a root, thereās going to be fruit. Yes, the Corinthians took a while. Where are you today? Are you an ambassador for Christ? Whatās your heart like today? Do you see people like God sees them, or the way youād rather see them, the world sees them? Is there a radical transformation in your life?
[ā¦] Read Part 22 [ā¦]