As Prime Minister, David Lloyd George answered the question, “What is our task?” by saying, “To make Britain fit for heroes to live in.” As I read that quote this week a number of things came to my mind. At first I thought, “Good answer. I wonder if that came from him or some speech writer.” Then, I began to wonder how it was received, as a true and inspiring statement or some political line with no depth to it? Yet finally, I thought, “At least he was asking and trying to answer a question that we ask too little.”

Too many times it seems that in every area of life we are content to surge ahead in doing things without ever really stopping to ask the question, “What is our task?” or “What should we be about in trying to achieve our goal?” Instead, we feel good about ourselves if we are busy. Busyness must mean we are achieving something is no doubt a thought that (subconsciously at least) controls our actions.

Specifically in the church in North America, I wonder what we might do differently if we came to the Scripture asking what it is that God has outlined to be our task(s) as his people. Though the answers would be many, I believe that in our text this morning Paul gives us some central elements as to what are our tasks or what should be central elements of what we are to be about as those people who have been called out from among the world and gathered together as the people of God.

Therefore, what I want to do this morning is first to walk through the text to see what it is that Paul is saying here. Then, we will look at Paul’s actions both from his perspective (i.e. what it is that he’s doing) and the Corinthians (i.e. what it is that they should be doing in response to Paul’s actions). Finally, I will then try to summarize the teaching of the text and seek to make application to where we are today. Thus, let us first turn to understanding the text.

The text divides somewhat neatly into three sections: verses 1-2, 3-10, and 11-13. Therefore, let us begin by looking at our first section. In verses 1-2 …

Paul appeals to them to hold fast to the gospel they have received (1-2)

As you no doubt remember from the early weeks in which we studied this book, Paul writes much of this book defending himself against the attacks of some false apostles who had the Corinthians’ ears. However, Paul does not defend himself simply because he wants others to think well of him or was on some ego trip. It doesn’t appear that Paul would have had too much trouble sleeping just because someone didn’t like him. The reason Paul’s defense of himself and his ministry was so crucial, however, was because Paul’s ministry was the proclamation of the gospel. Therefore, if the Corinthians rejected Paul very likely they would come to reject his message instead, which would mean they would be rejected the gospel, the only hope of salvation. Thus, Paul writes and fights ardently to defend himself and his ministry.

And it is in that setting (of fearing that some of the Corinthians might reject his message) that Paul writes verses 1-2 in which he says, “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (1-2).

Obviously he is continuing the theme of laboring as an ambassador of Christ and working together with him to seek the reconciliation of men to God, for he begins with the line, “Working together with him.” But his appeal is that they not receive the grace of God in vain. In that, I believe, Paul is saying, “You’ve heard the gospel and professed to have believed. Do not now throw away your hope in the gospel by rejecting me and that message. Do not show that God’s grace in bringing the gospel to you through me has been in vain.” This is a plea not to let go of the gospel but to hold fast to it.

But how does Paul make the appeal to them? He points out just how privileged they are. He quotes Isaiah 49:8, a text in which God is proclaiming a day of great deliverance from exile for his people. He paints a picture of his servant delivering them from exile in Babylon and bringing them to Zion where they will dwell with God as his very own people. He proclaims this coming day of salvation. Paul therefore, proclaims, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” That is, Paul wants them to understand that they are benefits of God bringing about this promise through Jesus Christ.

Do you see, Paul knew that Isaiah’s promise meant more than simply Cyrus’ decree that the Israelites could leave exile and go back to Jerusalem. He knew it was a promise that men from every nation would be free from the bondage to Satan, sin, and death and dwell with God through his son Jesus Christ. And Paul is saying, “You have been made those people – God’s people. And you have received that salvation.” So Paul pleads with them not to receive it in vain. He knows that if they do not hold fast to the gospel until the end, they will show themselves never truly to have been saved. Indeed, he had already written to them in his first letter, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). Therefore, Paul appeals to them not to receive the grace of God in vain, to hold fast to the gospel, in order that they might indeed show themselves to be children of God.

You could imagine a race in which somehow you knew that one had been chosen to win as the champion, and you did not know who. What you did know, however, was that the one who would be the champion would run to the end, never stopping to walk. And the race starts with hundreds of runners running this race of several miles, and one of the runners is your brother. So after many hours of running and several runners stopping to walk along the way, you find your brother near the end, only a mile to go. He’s leading, and yet there are some shortly behind him. And then come all of these hindrances to him continuing to run. Trees are on the track, a pain is piercing his side, and he’s thirsty.

In that situation, were you running alongside of him for that last mile you would not sit still and say, “Well, I know if he’s really to be the champion he won’t stop running to walk, and so I’ll just wait and see.” No, rather you would yell, telling him at every point to press on. At every sign that he might be tempted to pull up and walk you would encourage him to run. You might even say to him, “We both know that the champion of this race will be one who runs to the end without ever stopping to walk even one second. Therefore, do not show yourself to be one of those who will not win this race by stopping. Show yourself to be the champion by running every second. Do not stop. Show that you’re the one who is to win.”

That is very much the role of Paul in this text, one standing alongside of the Corinthians pleading with them to hold fast to the gospel and not to reject it now because these men have come alongside of them to tear down Paul. He is saying, in essence, “You know God’s people are those who hold fast to the gospel firm until the end. Therefore, show yourselves to be what I truly believe you are: children of God. Do not receive his grace in vain. Hold fast to the gospel.”

Is our task as the church to be any different with one another? I do not think so. Such is why the author of Hebrews writes in 3:12-14, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Thus, Paul appeals to them to hold fast to the gospel.

Then, in our second section …

Paul appeals to them to see how he commends his ministry to others (3-10)

In verses 3-10 Paul shows the Corinthians what he does to show his ministry to be genuine, true, and not that which is questionable. He writes, “We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (3-10).

Thus, Paul shows them that he makes it his goal to allow no one to be suspect of the gospel or to reject it because of him, his actions, words, etc. Paul knew that men like these false apostles troubling the Corinthian church were looking for areas in Paul’s life to show that his message must be illegitimate, and so Paul says that he puts “no obstacles in anyone’s way so that no fault may be found with our ministry.” That is, he did not live a life pursuing sin and contradicting the message that he preached. Instead, he gives us the four things he did to commend his ministry. He endures in his ministry through difficult outward circumstances (4b-5), lives a life of godly character (6), labors in the power of the Spirit (7), and presses on through the “ups” and “downs” of life and ministry (8-10). In these ways, Paul labored to show his ministry to be genuine and beyond being questioned by others.

It seems that the church thrives during many times when you think it might be at its weakest. During times of persecution the church actually seems to grow. In the last century there have been more people killed for the cause of Christ than in the previous 1800 years and there has been more missionary outreach in the last century than in the previous 1800 years. In fact, Tertullian (an early church father) remarked that the blood of the martyrs is the seed bed of the church, pointing to the thriving nature of the church in such times.

However, I believe that which is most damaging to the church is not persecution of any kind, whether it be physical, slander, or even killing believers. The most damaging thing for the church is the world having a reason to laugh and mock the absurdity of what we preach because of the lives of many displaying hypocrisy. The moral failure of a pastor in town is much more damaging than a pastor being killed for preaching the gospel.

Paul knew that and wanted to give no reason for others to question his message. Therefore, he lives a holy life, enduring no matter what came against him or the struggles he faced. Finally, then, in the last section …

Paul appeals to them to have the affection for him he has for them (11-13)

Paul writes, “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also” (11-13).

This is Paul’s heart clearly seen. He addresses them by name to show the seriousness and earnestness with which he writes. Then he notes that he has been completely honest with them and has given them no reason to withhold their love from him. If they choose not to love him, it is simply because of themselves. Therefore, Paul pleads with them as a spiritual father to widen their hearts to him. Paul appeals to them to love him as they should, even as he loves them.

And so to answer the question, “What is our task as God’s people?” we find some central themes to that answer in this text: to hold firm to the gospel, live lives that commend the gospel rather than hinder our message, and to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and thereby show others that we are disciples of our Lord. Such tasks must be central to living obediently before our Lord. So, how do we apply this text, then, specifically to ourselves. Let me note a few things.

We need to be aware of the attack on the gospel in every age and hold fast to it in this one

It’s easy for us to think that things were better or worse in different ages. We might think there was no sin in the fifties but life was just like “Leave it to Beaver” or that things were much worse in the sixties than they are today. But it would probably be helpful to understand that every generation faces similar evils. We might think we’re unique in that we’re a visual generation – so were the Israelites. That’s why they had a golden calf. We might think we’re unique in that we’re caught up in sexual immorality – so were they. That’s why sexual immorality is spoken of so much in Scripture. And yet we need to go the other way as well. We might think that the Corinthians were unique in that the church was challenged to give up and question the gospel because of the culture and people around them pressing on the foolishness and arrogant message they perceived it as. But we know better, don’t we? Some of us have already tasted this and will taste it more. In fact, I guarantee you that your mind will hear such from the culture and take in the attacks. Therefore, we are foolish if we do not think we need to equip our minds and hearts with what is true consistently so that we might hold fast to the gospel.

I remember one day sitting at my desk meditating on the Scripture when I found myself telling the Lord in prayer, “I believe.” Now, it wasn’t as if I did not believe before. But as I meditated, I found the Scripture strengthening my heart in standing on what was (and is) true. I have been amazed at how powerful the word is as it serves as an anchor to my soul. And I am amazed at how many times I am surprised by my struggles of faith when I am not consistent in meditating on the word. It is like a man amazed his car doesn’t run without gas. Does he not know that power comes by gasoline and gasoline is in your car only when there is some in the tank? And do we not know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God? The gospel is the means by which you initially came to repentance and faith, and the gospel is the means by which you will be able to continue to repent and believe. May we therefore be a people constantly meditating on and renewing our minds to the truth of the word of God. Such must be the case if we are to be found holding fast our confidence firm to the end.

We need to fight for enduring holiness in our lives

Paul says he puts nothing in anyone’s way. He gives them no reason to think suspect of the gospel, and he knew people would be looking. So, too, we must resolve to live holy lives. But what does it look like?

Summarizing Paul’s four categories in verses 4-10, we see that we must endure in the faith regardless of the difficulty of our outward circumstances, living godly lives by the Spirit’s power, and pressing on through the ups and downs of life.

Our default thinking, it seems from my own experience, is that difficulty in obedience is a license for disobedience. That is, if something becomes difficult, you are free to give up in your pursuit of holiness and walk in unholiness. Thus, we ask ourselves, “Am I really expected to avoid looking at pornography and half-clothed women when they are so easily seen? Am I really expected to endure in working hard in my job when my boss is so difficult seemingly lazy himself or those around me are slacking off? Am I really supposed to stay with my husband when he’s so difficult to live with and my own happiness is a daily battle? Am I really supposed to report everything necessary on my taxes when the government is already over-taxing me and no one around me seems to be honest? Am I really supposed to seek to share the gospel when numerous people will hate and speak ill of me for declaring Christ is the only way to salvation? Am I really supposed to be willing to die before I would dishonor the name of Christ before wicked men?” The answer is, “Yes.” We are really supposed to obey no matter the difficulty of our outward circumstances. I am not here arguing today that your circumstance is not difficult, even 100 times more difficult than anything in my own life. But for all of us, obedience is commanded. And one way we commend our ministry and message as that to which men need to give ear is by living lives of endurance in holiness through difficult times, holding fast to the gospel we preach and living the kind of lives demanded by that message.

We need to be a people who have great love for one another

The Corinthians’ problem in the first letter and this one was a lack of love for their brothers and sisters. In 1 Corinthians 12-14 they were striving to see who was most spiritual without seeking how to minister to one another. Paul, therefore, says that if you have all the gifts in the world and have not love they profit you nothing. And in our text today, seeing others criticize Paul the Corinthians begin to narrow their affections for him, though Paul loves them dearly.

I can recall several instances even in my childhood stand out to me as reminders of the evil nature of my heart. One of them is a conscious thought as an eight year old of wanting to distance myself from an unpopular boy in the class who wanted to hang around me very much. He was come to me and I would walk from him. And one day I even stood by watching with my heart wrenching within me as one of the guys I did hang out with beat him up on the playground. Even recounting that story now makes me hurt and wish I could go back and change it. What a lack of love for my neighbor and selfish arrogance in my heart! And yet I think we repeat that same lack of love as adults – Christian adults – as we fail to love our brothers and sisters as ourselves, as we fail to hear their struggles and joys that we might walk with them through them or as we fail to fight for them (even when it means fighting against them – i.e. confronting) to live holy lives.

Therefore, may we this day resolve in our hearts to consistently meditate on the gospel that we might be strengthened in it, to put no hindrance to the message before others by living holy lives and enduring in holiness, and by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as we seek their profit and benefit as dearly as we do our own. And may we show that resolve as we come to the table. Amen.

APPEALS OF AN APOSTLE AND A CALL TO US

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