2nd Corinthians ā Wayne Barber/Part 24
By: Dr. Wayne Barber; ©2006 |
Working Together With God ā Part 1. Working together with God involves immediate caution, a window of opportunity, and a lifestyle. |
What is Involved in Working Together With God
Turn with me today to 2 Corinthians 6. Weāre going to begin a new mini-series in our studies of 2 Corinthians, as you see what Iāve been doing. Iām going to entitle this āWorking Together With God.ā That ought to thrill your heart today and the message is specifically, this is part 1, āWhat is Involved in Working Together with God.ā So as we enter into chapter 6 I believe you canāt put away what weāve already studied. Itās just a flow like the current of a river. I donāt know if youāve ever been in a canoe on a river or a raft and youāve seen how that current carries you down the river. The Ocoee River was about 45 minutes from Chattanooga, and we would go there quite often. It was a class-4 whitewater river. As you know, in the Olympics, thatās where the Olympic kayaking took place on that river. Just not far from where we lived. And it was just really awesome.
Every year when Iād do my camp at Dayton, Tennessee, at Bryan College, weād always take about 500 kids up there and weād rent every raft on the river. Can you imagine? And there were 500 some kids going down that river that particular day. Thereās one place on that river that I really love. The first time he did it I didnāt, but we have a guide in the raft, you have a helmet on, you have the life vest on and when he says, āOkay, everybody out of the raft.ā Thatās a little tricky when youāre in white water. But he said, āKeep your feet in front of you and keep your hands behind your head and just let the current carry you down.ā
He wanted us to feel the strength and the movement of that current. And as we got over into that water it was just awesome. You thought it would take you straight down the river. It did, but its own path. It would pull you over here, over to here, because that current doesnāt run the way you think itās going to run and itās sort of an adventure as you ride the current of that river.
Well, thatās the way it is when you study Scripture. Itās like getting into the current; the Holy Spirit of God begins to carry you to what He wants you to know. Many times youāre reading through Scripture thinking, āWhy didnāt he address this, and why didnāt he answer that?ā And God says āItās none of your business. I want you to know what I want you to know. Now get in the current of My river and let Me take you where I want to take you.ā
This river began for us in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 when we discovered that God is the God of all comfort. Now why would Paul bring that up? We know from the context of what weāve studied that the church of Corinth has not been a pleasant experience for Paul. Theyāve eaten his lunch. Theyāve falsely accused him; theyāve done everything you can think of. The legalists had gotten in there, the false doctrine had gotten into the church, so the apostle Paul ran to the only place he knew to run and thatās to the God of all comfort. Thatās a beautiful picture of how we ought to be every day in our life.
Well, when weāre persecuted and because weāve been submissive to Him, He is the God of all comfort. And thatās when you discover that for the first time in your life perhaps. This current took us through the truth, beginning in 1:12, of how important it is to let your walk match your talk. You see, when youāre falsely accused as Paul had been, the beautiful thing is when your walk matches your talk and youāre living to please God and youāre not living to please men. What happens is that you can hold your head up. Your conscience does not condemn you when people falsely accuse you. You donāt have that inner turmoil inside of you because you know that God knows, and thatās okay.
Well, on our journey we learned in chapter 3 that, just like the apostle Paul, that we are servants of a new covenant. Thatās the most beautiful words I can say to you today. In Christ Jesus we are servants of a new covenant. We saw that because of this Christ has come to live in us in the person of His Spirit and our adequacy is no longer of ourselves. This is where we have to learn, itās a complete change in mind, itās a renewal of the mind. Nothing in my life depends upon my ability when it comes to the Christian life, but it depends upon my availability and your availability to the One that lives within us.
Christ becomes our adequacy in the new covenant and as we begin to see this and understand it and rejoice in it, the current carried us right into chapter 4, and we learned how to live without losing heart. What do you mean by that? Well, as we studied, going back to the flesh never reaps anything. Thereās nothing there. Itās empty, itās fruitless, thereās nothing there. And so we learned that because Christ lives within us and He is our life, and ministry is received, not achieved and all of a sudden we begin to experience this mighty journey of walking with Him and then we can live without losing heart. We donāt become faint-hearted because we trusted our flesh.
And as we rounded the corner in the current in this river of 2 Corinthians we rounded the corner of chapter 4. We came into that beautiful, beautiful, long deep-watered area of chapter 5 when we learned how to conquer the fear of death. Death is not an enemy to the believer. Jesus conquered death; He conquered sin, death, and the grave. And so in Christ we have our victory and we donāt have to fear it. We donāt have to necessarily look forward to the act of dying, but we certainly can look forward to what happens after death.
And then we came into that beautiful deep pool of being ambassadors for Christ and we saw the message that we have: that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and at the moment of salvation we die, thereās a death, and thereās a newness of life that we enter into when Christ comes to be our Lord and our Savior.
Well, that brings us in to what weāre going to be looking at today. What a journey weāve been on. Isnāt it interesting how the current carried us over here, carried us over here, carried us over here. You say, āWell, youāre not talking about this topic and youāre not talking about that topic.ā Thatās exactly right. I donāt impose upon God what He knows already is the need of people to hear. I just come to His Word and let His current carry us to where He wants to carry us and I promise you, whatever needs you have, at some point He will address in His Word.
Well, as we get ready to dig into our text today, Paul says in 6:1, āAnd working together with Him.ā I want those words to just ring in your heart, just to thrill your soul, āworking together with Him.ā Now remember, heās following the thought of that long stretch that we went through as ambassadors for Christ, being ambassadors for Christ, having been given the ministry of reconciliation.
Paul understood that taking the message of the gospel to people, now he could reason with them, but he understood as weāve covered already, that only God could persuade the hearts of men. This cannot be done by man alone. This is Godās business; salvation is of God. Itās a joint effort and we get to work together with Him. Itās that yoke. Now, I donāt want you to ever miss this. This is what itās all about. Jesus is right here, weāre right here. And He leads us through life. Itās a beautiful, beautiful thing: working together with Him.
I mean, look at those words, āworking together.ā Itās one word in the Greek, sunergeo. And it means together. Sun means weāre so together with Him nobody can separate us from Him. And ergo means to work, to labor. And this is very much like the phrase that Paul himself used in Colossians 1:29. And Paul says this, because a lot of people get on me all the time. āWayne, this grace message sounds passive to me.ā And Iāve been saying this for years, folks, if you think itās passive, you havenāt got it yet. God will absolutely wear you out. He wonāt burn you out, but Heāll wear you out. This is the busiest life you could have ever had in your entire life. Listen, this is what Paul says in Colossians 1:29, āAnd for this purpose also I labor, strivingā and some people stand up and say, āBless God, Wayne finally got it,ā but they didnāt finish reading the verse: āI labor, strivingāāhow do I labor and how do I strive, listen carefullyāāaccording to His power, which mightily works within me.ā Do you see the difference?
You see, a lot of people bring that striving labor ethic out of the workplace into their Christianity and they donāt have a clue what theyāre talking about. We work together with Him. I donāt live in my strength, I live in His strength. Working together with Him is a 200% relationship: 100% my willingness to get into His Word and renew my mind so His Spirit can transform my life; 100% my willingness to submit and yield to Him in each and every given situation of my life; but itās 100% His power and His presence that enables me as I yield to Him in the various situations of my life.
Just think about it. Yoked together with Him. With Him. I want you to catch those words āwith Him.ā We are āwith Him.ā Sometimes in a message I wonder maybe I donāt say it right or something and it just kind of goes āthatās good, whatās next?ā With Him, with Him. You say, āWhat are you talking about?ā Let me just show you that little term āwith Him,ā how we are identified with Him. With Him; weāre never apart from Him, never.
Romans 6:4, āTherefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk [with Him] in newness of life.ā Romans 6:5, āFor if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.ā Romans 6:8, āNow if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.ā Romans 8:17, āand if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.ā First Corinthians 6:17, āBut the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.ā Ephesians 2:6, āand raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.ā Colossians 2:12, āhaving been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.ā Colossians 3:4, āWhen Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.ā Second Timothy 2:11, āIt is a trustworthy statement: For as we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.ā
āWith Him,ā I tell you what. Thatās enough right there to just get on the altar and thank God for the rest of the week, that weāre with Him. You say, āWayne, you still havenāt touched me yet.ā Well, you canāt understand working together with Him until you understand how Heās placed you with Him. How many of you know who Tony Evans is? Heās one of my favorite preachers and I enjoy hearing him when I can. I met Tony and have been there at his church and he always told the illustration that he was the chaplain of the Dallas Mavericks.
And he had four tickets to every game. His family would go with him and when the family didnāt go, he would call his buddies. And he would make up those four tickets; maybe three of his buddies would go. And he said every time he would tell this story as an illustration, and Iāve heard him preach it many times, heād say, āYou just come and remember you are with me. So donāt let anybody bother you when you get to the arena. Just tell them youāre with me and everything else will take place.āā
Well, Iāve heard that story, but then I got to live it. I was out there visiting with him, and he called us up at the hotel, and he said, āWayne, letās go to the ballgame tonight. Theyāre playing the Denver Nuggets.ā And he said, āNow listen, when you get there, you park in a certain place.ā And I said āWell, okay.ā He told us what to do. Well, we got down there, traffic was busy, and we started to come in and the policeman with a big badge said, āYou cannot park here.ā And we said, āWait a minute. Weāre with Tony Evans.ā āOh,ā he said, āyouāre with him. Okay.ā And he moved the barrier and we pulled in just a few yards from where you walk up the steps to go into the arena. It was an awesome place to park.
Well, we were going to go over and get our tickets. About that time Tony was standing over here and he said, āGuys, come on, youāre with me. You donāt have to go over there to get a ticket. I got your ticket.ā We walked up and he let us in. I said, āTony, Iām hungry, Iām about to starve.ā He said, āYouāre with me, would you relax?ā Got on an elevator, went down two floors, walked into a big banquet room and it was free. All the food you wanted. The manager of the team was there and a lot of the wives of the players. And Iām thinking this is nice.
Well, it came time for the game. I said, āLetās go. I want to get out there and watch them warm up.ā He said, āWayne, youāre with me.ā And we walked out a special door and guess who was in front of us? The Denver Nuggets and the two teams were together. I used to think I was tall when I played basketball. Man, I played center when I played basketball in college. I couldnāt even start as guard anymore. Iām too short. These guys, I was looking up at them. Their chin was above my head. And they walked out and you could hear all the people clapping as they introduced the team and then we walked out. People were still clapping.
I found out who sits in those chairs down by the floor. And it was awesome: right down by the floor. We were ten feet from where the playing was taking place, on the second row. And man, it was just awesome. All of this took place because we were with him.
Now I want you to get this. Somehow Iām going to fail if you donāt get this. Youāre with Him. Now the next time you start bad-mouthing your circumstances, the next time you start bemoaning your circumstances, remember something: you are with Him. Itās one thing to be with Tony Evans at the Dallas Maverick basketball game. Itās another thing to be with the King of glory that walks with you everywhere you go, that youāre never alone. No matter what comes your way, He lives within you. You are with Him and because of that you get to work together with Him. Do you see the picture? Every day of your life lived on this earth is for a reason. and itās not to get fat and lazy and see the world. Itās because God has made us His ambassadors in this world and we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. He has moved in, we are with Him; we get to work together with Him.
And Paulās trying to get this point across to the hard-headed Corinthians that had caused him so much pain in his life. You see, thatās the whole message of living grace: Christ in you. You are with Him. You canāt, He never said you could; He can, He always said He would. Christ in you and you get to work together with Him. So letās venture into our text today.
Working together with God immediately involves a caution
Three things are involved in working together with God. The first thing is that working together with God immediately involves a caution. And before you even get too excited about it, thereās a caution that Paul throws up. And he says in verse 1, āAnd working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.ā
Now letās break those words down and make sure weāve got an understanding of what they mean. The word ānot,ā he says, ānot to receive the grace of God,ā itās the words me eis, but it means ānot in any single way.ā Paul says, āwe urge you not to in any single way to receive the grace of God in vain.ā The word for receive is the word dechomai, which automatically changes the picture. This is the believer; this is somebody who is so excited about the grace of God and salvation. It means to receive with expectancy. Thereās another word in the Greek that is translated āreceive or to take hold ofā and itās the word lambano. And lambano is just a āoh, thank you, I appreciate it,ā and dechomai is, āoh man, this is awesome.ā To receive with eagerness. Dechomai is that eager, willing, expectant reception of something.
The word for āvain,ā when he says ānot to receive the grace of God in vain,ā is the word kenos. Now kenos literally means āempty.ā It means without any content in it whatsoever. Here in our text it means āfruitless, without any success, without any evidence.ā In other words, itās of no use whatsoever. Now you understand ādonāt receive the grace of God to where it bears no fruit.ā Donāt receive the grace of God to where itās empty and without substance in your life.
Now listen, Christ is the grace of God, thatās the well, thatās where all the grace comes from, is out of Him. And we must remember back in chapter 3 that Paul showed us that our adequacy because of the grace of God is now in Christ. Everything we need is in Him to live the Christian life. We canāt live it, but He can, and He lives within us. So everything that we need: He is the grace of God.
As I said earlier, we canāt, He never said we could; He can, and He always said He would. Youāve got that down really well. He lives in us, the grace of God lives within us. Now understand, weāre with Him to do through us what we could never do ourselves. Dick Woodward who is with International Cooperative Missions, he is their mouthpiece, he is their voice, he is their radio teacher, is paralyzed from the neck down. Now if you tell somebody that they canāt, but God never said they could and theyāre full of energy and full of themselves, you havenāt gotten anywhere.
But this man understands this truth because he can do nothing but open his mouth. Thatās all he can do. And he wrote down these four principles of his life. Iāve heard him on an interview and itās awesome. He says, āIām not but He is; and Iām in Him and He is in me. I canāt but He can; and Iām in Him and He is in me. I donāt want to but He wants to; and Iām in Him and He is in me. I didnāt but He did; because I was in Him and He was in me.ā
And thatās it: grace is the enabling power of Christ in us working through us. Now when that happens, when Iām a yielded vessel, when Iām a conduit through which Christ can do His work, it never turns up empty. It always bears fruit. It doesnāt end up vain as you understand now what heās saying. What Christ does through us is spiritually successful and it will not burn on judgment day, and we talked about that in chapter 5. Weāll all stand before Him and have our works judged and tested by fire.
So now, with this understanding, what does Paul mean when he says to believers who have received the grace of God with great eagerness and he says, āDonāt receive the grace of God in vainā? You see, grace is good, it is received with eager expectancy, but how many believers receive Godās saving grace with outstretched arms but are wasting the opportunity in the times in which they live to allow that grace to work through them and in the context persuading others in the ministry of reconciliation?
Actually, theyāre of no use to God at all. Can you imagine a believer who is so excited about receiving Godās grace but not willing to live in it? Not willing to die to the flesh daily by saying yes to Him? You see, Paul has covered this before. We know exactly what heās talking about. Galatians 2:20-21, and you know this very well because Iāve quoted it so many times, āI have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.ā
Paul could have easily have said, āI do not receive the grace of God in vain.ā You see, a lot of people will welcome grace within their lives, but then they donāt allow it to do its deep work within them and transform them daily. By saying ānot to receive the grace of God in vain,ā in this context Paul is saying, āDonāt waste the opportunity that God has given you in the days while youāre here on this earth.ā You are an ambassador for Christ. His grace is within you. Donāt receive the grace of God in vain. Be an ambassador for Christ, live in His adequacy and let Him persuade men while the time is near.
Donāt get so excited about His coming to live in you that you do not live daily so that He can live through you and touch others. Donāt miss the point that Godās grace is so that we might see others reconciled to Christ. So many people havenāt gotten this yet. They still think that Jesus comes to live in them to make them healthy and wealthy and whatever else you can add to it because Heās all about down here. And thatās so foreign to Scripture. God is leaving me and you on this earth for one reason: so that we might be recipients of His grace, we might be transformed by that grace, enabled by its power to be His ambassadors as we worship Him and glory in Him; His ambassadors carrying with us wherever we go the ministry of reconciliation.
People say, āWayne, youāre not evangelistic.ā Well, if Iām not then I donāt understand what Iām talking about. That is evangelism; that is missions. Weāre not here for any other reason. You say every morning you wake up, ask God, āWhy did You let me live another day? God, I donāt deserve to live.ā Every time you take another breath say, āGod, why are You allowing me to take another breath?ā And God says, āBecause Iāve got a purpose for you. Youāre My ambassador and you have within you the ministry of reconciliation.ā
You say, āWell, Iām a little puzzled here. How can a believer receive Godās grace in vain?ā Thatās easy. If youāll remember back in 5:15 it tells you the purpose of having received it to start with. It says, āand he died for all, that they who liveāānow listen carefully and he speaks of the ones who have received His graceāāshould no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.ā Thatās pretty clear. When a believer chooses to live only for themselves, when they choose to react to their circumstances instead of respond to the grace of God in the midst of it, when they choose to be so full of themselves and they donāt have their focus on why it is that God is allowing them to live to start with, and why God has given them this life in Christ while here on this earth, then at that very moment they have received the grace of God in vain. And thatās a sad, sad thing.
Iāve been there, surely youāve been there. I just pray that if youāre there this morning that you understand that Godās grace is still there and youāre still useable but only to the degree that youāre willing to yield and obey Him. God does not work through vessels that are full of themselves. No, sir, so if there are fleshly agendas here this morning, then understand that youāve received the grace of God in vain. Youāve got to lay those things down and let God be God in your life. Thatās what itās all about. We have an opportunity in this age in which we live and the only way to be fruitful is to allow Christ, the vine, to produce that fruit through us as branches and our responsibility is to abide in that vine, not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Working together with God involves a window of opportunity
So working together with God involves a caution, a huge caution. Be real careful that you realize when you start living for yourself youāre not working together with Him. But secondly, it involves a window of opportunity.
Weāve got to see this life while weāre here on this earth as a window of opportunity. He says in verse 2, āfor He says, āAt the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped youā; behold, now is the āthe acceptable time,ā behold, now is āthe day of salvation.āā And anytime that you see an Old Testament Scripture you have to remember that there were immediate circumstances that the Scripture would apply to, but as you look at prophetic Scripture you have to look far beyond what was just the immediate and the obvious because the actual is much deeper. And Paul picks up on this.
From the 40th chapter of Isaiah all the way through is a prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He quotes from Isaiah 49:8 and his point in using this Scripture from the Old Testament is to get them to understand the urgency and the privilege of living in the time in which they were living.
The word ātimeā in the phrase āacceptable timeā is the word kairos. Now thereās another word for ātime,ā chronos. Iāve got a chronometer right here and Iām watching it. Thereās nothing like a clock-eyed Baptist. Thatās chronos. Kairos is season or opportunity; thatās what the word means. So he says at the acceptable time, acceptable season, at the right opportunity. āI listened to youā is a prophetic verse here.
The word āacceptable timeā is further identified in the verse. What is the acceptable time or the favorable time? Itās the day of salvation. Now that can be applied in a physical way, immediately to Israel, but youāve got to look far beyond that. Heās telling them of the promise that was made to Abram who became Abraham and was passed to Isaac and to Jacob and then Jacob became Israel and you know the story. Heās looking beyond what they would possible see themselves. So this acceptable time, or this favorable time is the day of salvation.
Let me read it again, āfor He says, āAt the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped youā; behold, now is āthe acceptable time,ā behold, now is āthe day of salvation.āā Now Paul picks up on that and brings it into a future spiritual sense that weāre living in today. The first time the word āacceptableā is used in verse 2 is the word dektos, and dektos refers to that which is the object of divine approval and intent. In other words thatās a time that is scheduled or intended. The second word for āacceptableā is euprosdektos. It lengthens the word with two other words and that means āwell accepted.ā Boy, you just pushed this out of sight when he says, āThis is the favorable time.ā The word ābehold,ā he says, ābehold, now is the acceptable time,ā ābehold, now is the day of salvation,ā means, āstop what youāre doing, stop it, stop it, stop it right now and look around you at what youāre missing. Now is the favorable time.ā
Make sure you get the picture here and Iām not sure I can adequately explain it. Isaiah 49:6, back up in the context there, he talks about his servant, who is Christ, is not just going to bring salvation to Israel but to all the nations of the world. He says in verse 6, āHe says, āIt is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel.āā Thatās too small of a thing, itās much bigger than that, āI will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.ā Salvation will come to all the nations but at great price and cost to the servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 7, āthus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One, to the despised One, the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes shall also bow down; because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.ā
And then it comes, ābut this salvation will be at an acceptable time.ā Just like Iāve always been at the right time to rescue you and to deliver you, there will be a future deliverance and it will come at the right time. Verse 8, āThus says the Lord, āIn a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You; and I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages.āā But what youāve got to see is beyond that. Thereās coming a day of great salvation, greater than this deliverance from their captivity, greater than anything else, itās going to be their spiritual salvation and it will come at the right time, a favorable time.
Now the Lord Jesus picked up on that term and, oh, if youāre not excited yet, strap your seat belts on. In Luke 4:16-21 Jesus does an amazing thing. Verse 16 says, āAnd He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.ā Now, wonder what the Son of God is going to read? Think He knows the Word? Verse 17, āAnd the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was writtenāāthe word āfoundā means He knew exactly where it was, just turned right to it. He knew exactly what He was doingāāThe Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.āā That acceptable time; that acceptable time. āAnd He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, āToday the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.āā The time is here: now is the acceptable time. Now is the favorable time.
Paul picks up on this promise and what heās trying to tell them is really simple but you have to go around the block to make sure everybody understands. Heās trying to say, āYou are living in that favorable time. Salvation is not going to come through the Law like the false teachers talk about. Itās going to come through Jesus Christ; only through the Servant that will die for you.ā
He wants them to pay attention to the fact that theyāre living in that favorable time. The window of salvation by grace is wide open to both Jew and to Gentile. The false teachers were still trying to get the Corinthians to go back up under law and he said, āDonāt you do that! Donāt you do that.ā Just like he said to the Galatians, āDonāt you receive the grace of God in vain. If you go back to the Law, thatās your flesh, thatās your performance and it will never produce anything. Itāll be vain; itāll be void. It will end up empty at the judgment seat of Christ. Be fruitful in the acceptable time. Live out the grace that God has put within you.ā
Paul is pressing them to realize the urgency of the time in which they lived. You know, folks, this is what excites me about it. Weāre still living in that favorable time. How do you know? Because He hasnāt ended it yetāwhen He comes back for His church. Weāre still on this earth, and Iāll tell you what, think about for a second the people that you know right now that donāt know Christ. And you think, āI canāt ever do anything there.ā And God says, āListen, Iām the One who takes care of persuading men, but I want you to be My ambassador. I want you to be enabled by My grace. I want you to be a vessel so that while youāre here on this earth, in this season, in this opportunity, donāt squander it, donāt throw it away. Let it be fruitful.ā
Be fruitful; let Christ in you bring about that which He would say is success, when people are persuaded of their reconciliation to God. And I believe God is saying to us in the 21st century to be fruitful, fruitful. Donāt play around with this message of grace. Youāre here for a time; be useable to God in that time. And thatās going to affect our evangelism in this city and this state, thatās going to affect our missions around the world, thatās going to affect our giving, thatās going to affect everything that we do because weāre not here for any other reason. Weāre strangers just passing through. God says, āI want to use you while youāre here. Stop squabbling, stop being unreconciled to each other and get busy about what I have put you on this earth to be.ā Thatās what Heās saying to us, folks.
Donāt receive the grace of God in vain. How can we be reconcilers of men if we canāt even be reconciled to each other? You see the point? So thereās caution. Why is there caution? Because there is a window of opportunity and Paul does not want them to squander the grace that has been so beautifully to them. Donāt receive the grace of God in vain for now is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time.
Working together with God involves a lifestyle
And finally, it involves a lifestyle to back up what we say. You know, everybody wants to point a finger when it comes to this. You canāt do that. You canāt look at my life and I canāt look at your life. Youāve got to look at God and let Him look at your life and my life. You can always tell someone by the way he lives his life whether or not heās received the grace of God in vain. You can tell whether or not he has realized the open window of opportunity in which he lives. You can tell very easily whether or not heās working together with God in being His ambassador with the ministry of reconciliation.
Do you know how you can tell it? The way you can tell it is not by the hardships he has to go through. No sir, thatās akin to all of us. But itās by the way he handles them and by the godly response that he has to them. Christ in him, this person who works together with God, who has not received the grace of God in vain, who understands the season of opportunity that heās in, that it not only requires the words to reason with men, it requires a life that backs up those words. You can always tell.
Christ enables that person to live in such a way that does not discredit His ministry. And heās going to explain that, āgiving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God.ā You see, itās not in what happens to him as much as in his heart, his response to the Lord of always willing to be the wrong one when it comes to relationships, of always being willing to totally depend upon God when it comes to circumstances, giving no cause for offense in anything so that the ministry will not be discredited.
Paul says, āgiving no cause for offense in anything.ā That needs to be understood today. Itās a present-active participle. Present tense means itās a consistent lifestyle. In other words, the active voice is used there, which means Paul did not intentionally, because of any agenda that he was aware of in his flesh, give offense in anything that he did. You see, this has a lot to do with oneās motive in what he does. James tells us in the book of James we all offend in many ways. How do you balance those two things? I canāt live that way.
Hereās what heās trying to say: when Christ lives in us and weāre seeking to please only Him and let Him deal with our fleshly agendas down here and weāre saying yes to Him, we donāt have to worry about this, because by intent we would not intentionally offend anybody. But I promise you that your life will offend; but it wonāt be because you intended that to happen.
I told my wife one day, āI think I could stay in bed for a week and offend somebody about every hour, even if I was asleep.ā You canāt take that and say nobody can live that way. Youāre going to be an offense. Jesus, the gospel, is a stumbling block to the Jews and itās an offense to the Greeks, itās foolishness to them. So there is an offense there, but itās not an intentional offense because weāre out of the way. We have died to whatever it is, our personal feelings, our whatever it is weāre holding on to and weāre just seeking to let Jesus be Jesus in us so that we can be ministers of reconciliation, so that we donāt discredit the ministry that God has given to us.
We no longer live unto ourselves, āgiving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited.ā The ministry he talks about is the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of being an ambassador for Christ. The word ādiscreditedā is the word momaemai, which means to find fault or to find blame. Itās in the aorist tense, at any time, in the passive, which means ānothing we do with intent has caused anybody to discredit who we are and what we represent.ā Again, none of us are perfect and we will offend, but itās not my intent, thatās not the heart of the matter. And then he says, ābut in everything commending ourselves as servants of God.ā
Boy, this excites me. This is what itās all about folks. āOh, Brother Wayne Iām getting old.ā Isnāt it funny? Iām 62 and Iām talking about old, other people being old. My Mama when she was right at 70 she was saying, āThese old people just bother me.ā And at my age, itās all relative, isnāt it. Folks, listen. Thank God Heās letting you breathe today. I love you and Iām so glad youāre here today. Iām so glad weāre together, working together, working together with Him. Isnāt that awesome, and weāve got a mission out there. I tell you what, so much of our time is spent with people who are so full of themselves theyāve received the grace of God in vain and theyāre not being about the purpose for which God gave them here on this earth.
[ā¦] Read Part 24 [ā¦]