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2 Corinthians 5 and Romans 1- Pastor Peter Spink · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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We're going to look at 2nd Corinthians chapter
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5 and I'm going to I'm going to jump in at verse
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14 for the love of Christ Controls us having
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concluded this That one died for all therefore
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all died and he died for all that they who live
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should no longer live for themselves But for
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him who died and rose again on their behalf Therefore,
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from now on we recognize no man according to
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the flesh, even though we have known Christ according
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to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.
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Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new
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creature. The old things passed away. Behold,
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new things have come. Now, all these things are
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from God who reconciled us to himself. through
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Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
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namely that God was in Christ reconciling the
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world to himself, not counting their trespasses
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against them, and he has committed to us the
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word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors
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for Christ, as though God were entreating through
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us. We beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled
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to God. He made him who knew no sin to be sin
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on our behalf that we might become the righteousness
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of God in him. Let's bow together for prayer.
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Gracious Lord, we ask that you would open our
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eyes, open our ears and hearts to the reception
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of your word, that by it we may grow in our Christ
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-likeness, that we may be prompted to serve you
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with our whole hearts, keeping our eyes upon
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Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
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who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
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despising the shame and a set down now at your
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right hand. For it's in his name that we pray.
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Amen. I want to begin this morning with a quote
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that's been attributed to that American author
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and humorist Mark Twain. He's reported to have
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said, the two most important days of your life
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are the day you were born and the day you discover
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why. Think about that. There's a lot of truth
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in that. The two most important days, the day
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you were born and the day you discover, for what
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purpose? The why. If we were to transform the
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context of that quote into a Christian setting
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and make the comment, the two most important
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days for the believer, I would maintain that
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they are the day you were born again and the
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day you discover what Paul calls the hope of
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God's calling. Why did God choose you and bring
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you to Himself? What is the purpose behind your
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being a child of God? You know, Paul states here
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very clearly that there has been a ministry more
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or less committed to you and me. We have been
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given a word of reconciliation. And why have
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we been given that? Because you and I bear the
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title of ambassadors for Christ. I remember on
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Tuesday reading through the program at Joe's
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funeral. I'll be honest with you, I didn't realize
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he had been on so many deployments, so many assignments,
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received so many honors. He was a Green Beret,
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Medal of Honor, Legion of Honor. I'm not sure
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that I have it right. But he had attained a very
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elite status, retiring with a full Colonel designation.
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But you know, if Joe were here this morning and
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I were to ask him, what honor do you hold to
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be the highest honor? he might say something
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like, being an ambassador for Christ. Through
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all of his military service, when he was serving
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his country, preserving, protecting, he was at
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the same time serving his Savior and Lord as
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an ambassador for Christ. Now what is an ambassador?
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That is the highest ranking diplomat. that there
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is among the government's service serving in
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a foreign country. You're deployed, so to speak.
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You're commissioned. You have a responsibility.
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You are under orders. You have the heart of this
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people that you represent before you at all times.
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You know, throughout the Scriptures, The children
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of God are given several different names. Here's
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one of them that we're going to be focused on
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this morning, what it means to be an ambassador.
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But think about it. In Acts chapter 1, you and
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I are called to be witnesses, are we not? Jesus
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said to his disciples, you will be witnesses.
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Stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit has come
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upon you, and you will be my witnesses to Jerusalem,
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Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
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On another occasion, he said to his disciples,
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some of whom were fishermen by trade, you will
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be fishers of men. You will be fishers of men.
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In the Sermon on the Mount, he called his followers
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the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
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Turn with me to Romans chapter 1 for just a moment.
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I want to just take an excursion there because
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we see in the example of Paul, the writer of
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2 Corinthians, his own personal testimony to
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this fact. Look at verse 1, if you have your
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Bibles with you. Paul, a bond servant of Christ
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Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the
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gospel of God. Now Paul recognized three things.
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He was a bond servant of Christ Jesus. He had
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been called as an apostle, and he had been set
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apart for the gospel of God. So here we see the
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messenger, we see the message, and we see the
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ministry that he has been called to. Now what
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I want you to relate to this is across the page
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there in your scripture, look at verses 14, 15,
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16, 17, and you'll see the correlation. Paul,
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a bond servant of Christ Jesus, in verse 14,
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I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,
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both to the wise and to the foolish. Paul realized.
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that when God called him, he had a responsibility
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to the Jews, his own people, to the Gentiles,
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that would be the Greeks and everyone else. The
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reason he realized he was under obligation is
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the truth that the gospel is what everyone, everywhere,
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under every condition, under every circumstance
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needs to hear. needs to receive the good news
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that there is hope in this world if your heart
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belongs to Jesus if your trust is in the God
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above Who loved you so much that he sent his
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only begotten son that whoever believed in him
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should not perish but have everlasting life Paul
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said I am a bond servant of Christ Jesus. I'm
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bound to him I serve Him, and I'm under obligation,
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I'm under orders to Jews and Greeks, to all people,
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because what they need is the gospel. He's been
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called as an apostle. For that, we see the corresponding
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response in verse 15. Called as an apostle, for
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my part, I'm eager to preach the gospel to you
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who are in Rome. You know, Paul... Started out
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down that road of Damascus toward Damascus of
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the mindset thinking that he was doing the will
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of God in persecuting these people who called
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themselves the way Later became Christians in
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Antioch, but he thought he was doing God's will
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but far from it He was struck down and the risen
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Lord spoke to him and said, Saul, Saul, why are
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you persecuting me? And his life was dramatically
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changed. He became a new creature in Christ,
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the very thing he writes about in 2 Corinthians
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chapter 5. So he's a bond servant who's under
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obligation. He's been called to be an apostle,
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one who is sent. And he's eager to preach. He's
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been set apart for the gospel of God. I love
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this in verse 16. Set apart for the gospel? Has
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he found his purpose? Does he know the why of
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his life? I am not ashamed, he says, of the gospel.
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For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
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who believes. To the Jew first, and also to the
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Greek. Paul was not ashamed. He would take his
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stance for the Lord. He would stand firm, cloaked
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in the armor of God, even when it meant suffering,
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pain, and trial. He was not ashamed. Let me just
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briefly comment on what I see here as four reasons
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that he is not ashamed of the gospel. We've mentioned
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each of these briefly, but in a different manner.
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First of all, he's not ashamed of the gospel
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because of the people it serves. Jesus said,
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I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
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comes to the Father except through me. No one,
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no one comes to the Father except through me.
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That means that the gospel, the intentions of
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God in the expansion of his kingdom are to reach
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the world so that every tongue and tribe and
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nation has had the opportunity to respond to
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the message of the gospel. Paul was not ashamed
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and he took the gospel as far as he possibly
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could and he commissioned along with the other
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apostles to take the gospel and go with that
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message. The second reason why he's not ashamed
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of the gospel is because there's no other power
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in the world that is able to do what the gospel
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does because of the power it shows. Consider
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for a moment. You and I were dead in our trespasses
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and sins. What does the gospel bring to you and
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me? Life. You and I were in darkness. What does
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the gospel bring to you and me when we come to
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Christ? Light. It brings truth. It brings wisdom.
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It transforms us from those who were certainly
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headed not to heaven, but it grants us through
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the forgiveness of sins, the confession of sins,
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a guarantee. That we will be with him none of
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his sheep are lost So Paul wasn't ashamed of
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the gospel because of the people it served or
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the power it showed but truthfully he wasn't
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ashamed because It's the only answer to the question
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How can God be both just and the justifier? Look
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the scriptures tell us the soul that sins it
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will die All have sinned. Unfortunately for you
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and me, we're part of that group. All. Don't
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you think? When it says all, it means all. It
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means everybody. All have sinned and fall short
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of the glory of God. It's no fun falling short.
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Just ask Clemson. I mean, Carolina yesterday.
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Watch that game. Fall short means you don't measure
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up. You don't make the grade. And if God were
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to mark iniquity, not one of us, not one of you,
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could stand before him with clean hands and a
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pure heart and say, here I am, Lord. I want to
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be on your team. We don't measure up. So now
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the word says that the soul that sins will die.
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We've got a problem. How can we possibly be justified
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and viewed as righteous in God's sight when the
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only thing that we bring to our salvation is
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the sin that makes it necessary in the first
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place. Is there someone out there who has lived
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a sinless perfect life who is willing to take
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your place and pay the penalty for you and me?
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and satisfy the demands of the law and the righteous
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wrath of the Father." I tell you, there's a beautiful
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verse from the Psalms, one of my favorite verses,
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Psalm 85 -10, that speaks about this. Loving
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-kindness and truth have met together. And in
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typical Hebrew poetic parallelism, the next line
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says, righteousness and peace have kissed each
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other through Christ as Paul says in 2nd Corinthians
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he became he who knew no sin became sin on our
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behalf so that we in turn might be made the righteousness
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of Christ in him he fulfilled the righteousness
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which God and the law required he offered himself
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on our behalf that you and I who were enemies
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of Christ may now be reconciled to God and find
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peace. Loving kindness and truth have met together.
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Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
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Paul was not ashamed to declare that message
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because it secured our pardon rather than the
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wrath of God. And so for the believer, there's
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now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
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Jesus. Now, with that as our backdrop, we return
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to 2 Corinthians 5 for this closing thought.
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Don't you want to share that message? Do you
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feel any obligation, as Paul did? Isn't that
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part of why God called you? You know, there's
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a general sense in which each of us has the same
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calling. we're to become like Christ. The purpose,
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the why, is that we be conformed to the image
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of His Son. There's also a more specific sense
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in which that call involves using the gifts and
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the talents and the uniqueness of each one of
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you in serving to stand for the gospel as witnesses.
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a Fisher of Men, as an ambassador, as someone
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who wants to take the message of the gospel to
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the world. The one illustration with which I
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will close is one that I found many years ago,
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but it's one that has stayed with me throughout
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many years of ministry. I can't pinpoint a message
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that I've preached here where I've used it, but
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undoubtedly I have. Maybe some of you will remember
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it. It revolves around a husband and wife who
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served with the Evangelical Alliance mission.
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It was called TEAM, T -E -A -M. And they had
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been called to serve in Indonesia. And when they
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arrived on the mission field, they discovered
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that Most of the people there believed, were
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pagans, and believed in idols and idol worship.
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And they knew that the ministry there for Christ
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was going to be a great challenge. But they labored
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on. They persevered. And they were used by the
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Lord to bring many to salvation. One day, Blanche,
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Blanche Nelson was the wife's name. was on her
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way by train to a village below where they had
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been ministering for a series of meetings there.
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And when she got to the train station, it was
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like everybody was in a celebration mode comparable
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to what perhaps we might find on the 4th of July
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here in the States. They were shooting off fireworks,
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they were just celebrating the day, and she asked
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someone, what's going on here? And what she was
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told was that a village, the very same village
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that she was going to, to hold meetings, had
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requested from that city to borrow a particular
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idol that was a god of fertility. and they had
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asked the city to send it to them in the hopes
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of being able through prayers to that wooden
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carved idol that many more children would be
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born. And it just became in her mind a reflection
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on how frustrating ministry and service can be.
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how people can be so blinded that they place
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their trust and hope and faith in a wooden statue.
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And she got at first very frustrated because
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this is what she had been up against for years
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there. I'm sure we've all experienced times when
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we feel like we're beating our head against the
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wall. trying to persuade someone or influence
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someone to turn from that kind of fantasy to
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the truth. She got on the train about halfway
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to her destination. Her mind began to change
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and it moved away from the frustration that she
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had felt and sometimes experienced in ministry
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to real conviction. Because she began to think
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to herself, when was the last time someone asked
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to borrow my God? I think you know what she meant.
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We realized there's no magic in laying hands
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on a child, a youth, and just transferring your
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faith to them. But what she realized was her
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presence and her calling was to stand beside
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the Apostle Paul and say, I'm not ashamed of
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the gospel. I'm called to be an ambassador for
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Christ. He's given me the word of reconciliation,
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and I'm not ashamed. And I need to be ready to
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give a reason for the hope that is in me. Because
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without the reality of Christ in a person's life,
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they're still under condemnation. but they can
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pass through death into life through faith in
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Christ. So I just leave that thought with you.
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How willing are we to accept this title of ambassador?
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How willing are we to share what it means to
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know the Savior? When's the last time someone
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asked?