Transcription
[Music] [Music] Well, church, grab your Bibles this morning and turn to Second Corinthians chapter three. Second Corinthians chapter three. We continue on in our march through Second Corinthians, and we're looking at a message this morning entitled, "What's So Great About Christianity?"
"What's So Great About Christianity?" is the question. And it's a question that comes out of the very fact, church, listen, that as Paul was ministering, uh, in visitation but also in letters to the church at Corinth, there were those that called themselves Christians. They were those who claimed to be in the ministry. They were those who said that they had the authority to speak to the body of Christ. And in their self-proclaimed declarations, they were saying, in the same breath, "Paul is an imposter. Stay away from Paul." They're saying that Paul shouldn't be listened to, that he's preaching a gospel of grace, but he's forgetting to tell you that you need to keep the law. Paul is telling you that you can be saved and put your faith in Jesus, and the merits of Christ will save you alone, and that is wrong. They were saying they were undermining the very gospel of God that Paul was preaching. And they, listen, they sought to do that by attacking his call and attacking his person. It's no different in our day. If you can't beat the message, then what do you do? You go after the messenger. If you don't like somebody for whatever reasons, you attack them. Why? Because if it is a biblical ministry, then it's bulletproof. Listen, the message is bulletproof. But listen, the downside to ministry is that we are humans. And yet God, in His wisdom, has chosen to use humans. It is amazing to me the gospel is so precious and so perfect that I think God would have been completely justified in calling angels to administer His gospel. But He's called human beings.
So, "What's So Great About Christianity?" comes actually through this argument that is taking place in Paul's life. Second Corinthians chapter three. Follow along with me. Verse one. We'll go down to verse three today. That's all we can handle. It says, in verse one, "Do we begin again," Paul says, "to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is of the heart."
What is so great about Christianity? Church, listen up. It has often been said that Christianity and, and a few other religions are the three great religions of the world. They'll say, "Christianity, Judaism, and Islam." I find that highly offensive. I, I completely disagree with that. Christianity is not one of the great three religions of the world. Those other two may be religions, but Christianity is the only relationship. Listen, the other two are attempts. Listen, though they be very similar in many ways, and of course, very different in many ways, what they come together and unite upon, that is Islam and Judaism, is that if you just work hard enough, you may attain heaven. If you just try hard enough, and if you just earn enough points, you may make it into heaven. By the way, all the cults have that in in agreement. If you just make it, um, by your merits, you'll get in. Christianity is exactly opposite of all of that. Christianity is not based upon our merits. It is not based upon our performance. It is not one of the three great religions of the world. It stands absolutely radically alone. The Christian message is that by us putting our faith in Jesus Christ, by the way, the very faith is a gift given to us by God, that if we put our faith in the finished work of Christ alone, plus nothing else, like the thief on the cross, then you too will be with Him in paradise. Salvation is all based upon what Christ has done.
So, what's so great about Christianity? We'll see arguments this morning, but it is absolutely a faith that stands completely alone. I like what C.S. Lewis wrote in *Mere Christianity* that he became a Christian for a lot of reasons, but one of them was, and I'll quote him exactly, "We use different language these days," but Lewis says that when he studied all the religions of the world and he studied Christianity, it was just queer enough whereby no man could have invented it. Think of that for a moment. And don't you think it's rather interesting that people who traffic the world peddling another gospel, try to convince you at your doorstep that they are Christians too, but you just need to add our books, or your name on our ledger, or, uh, be schooled or baptized in our ministry, then you'll be guaranteed heaven? Listen, no way. And so Paul was under attack by those Judaizers who were coming out of Jerusalem, saying, "Don't believe in Paul. He's an imposter preaching this cheap gospel of grace." Rather, and this appeals to the human flesh, "Believe in God and work your tail off, and then maybe you'll make it into heaven." That's heresy, my friends. That is heresy.
So, what's so great about Christianity? Number one is this. Mark it down. It is obvious to the believer. What is so great? Number one about Christianity, it's what you and I would attest is that it's absolutely obvious to the believer. Look at verse one. He says, "Do we begin again to commend ourselves?" You can understand and hear the brokenness in his heart. And there's a bit of sarcasm obvious because of its origin. Mark that down. Christianity, what's so great about it? It's obvious to the believer because of its origin. Paul is saying to the Corinthians, "Do I need, do we as ministers need again to commend ourselves to you?" What is he saying to them? "Guys, wake up." He's saying he's got his smelling salts and he's waving it in front of the Corinthian believers. He said, "What's wrong with you? You've seen the power of God in our lives. People are coming and saying that we're not of God. What have you seen, believer? Christian, it is obvious that when you put your faith in God, when you put your faith in Christ, listen, just keep this to yourself for now, but how many of us during the course of years first came into contact with the gospel? Was it through Christian radio? Was it Christian TV? Was it reading a Gideon Bible in a hotel? Was it busy visiting a church? How did you meet Jesus? And was there not a ministry, and were there not others in that ministry that affected your life, and the gospel became increasingly obvious to you? And that today you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're pressing on even into a new year? Why? Because it is so obvious.
What's so great about Christianity? It is obvious. When Paul says, "Do I need letters of commendation? Do I need some sort of approval to prove to you Corinthians that what I preached to you was of heavenly power?" He's being a bit sarcastic, but yet in it, there's a brokenness to it. He had his detractors, these Judaizers that were seeking to undermine the word. Commend here in verse one is a powerful word. It means to announce. So, I want you to read that portion of that verse with that in mind. "Do we begin again to announce ourselves, or proclaim ourselves, or promote ourselves?" The word also means, "Do we begin again to sell ourselves to you?" And I like this because, listen, church, this is very personal stuff for any one of us who minister the word of God. If the word of God is coming out of our mouth, then we need to leave that to the work of God, the Holy Spirit. If I need to preach the Bible and then go visit your house every day and put a little tracking device on you to make sure that you're walking right with God, and that no bad words come out of your mouth, and that you know, uh, this is going on, you don't go over 55 miles an hour, and all this stuff. Listen, that is that is human power, human influence, and that is cult-like. And Paul's not into that. He is saying this: the power of God is in the word of God. Paul said, "I preached it to you. Do you need a letter of recommendation from me to announce to you that this ministry has been of God?" He's basically saying to them, "Look at yourselves and see if there's been a change." That is powerful stuff. And I know right well that in this message, they're in a church, in any church, there are those who come to church faithfully every week, and they're they're as lost as Satan. They're no closer to the kingdom of heaven. They've been Christianized. They speak Christianese. They can even maybe give a sermon, but they've never been saved. They've never been born again. And that is a great danger. I know that's true in every church to some degree. But there are those who understand what's being said here. When Paul is announcing, "Do I need a recommendation? Do you need a record?" Listen, I would hope to God, and we'll get into it more in this message, that I would never have to seek out a letter of recommendation from your life or from others as to if this church is of God or not. If I had to request that, I would rather resign and go back to making money where I came from than do this. Think about it. Either what we're doing is real, or it's not real. It's either of human effort, or it's not. Well, how will we know? Good question. He's going to answer that very, very soon. What standard or what requirements would qualify both Paul and us? It's interesting in Proverbs 27, verse 2, the Bible says, "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." I want you to keep that in mind. We're not looking for anyone else, Paul is saying, for approval, and we're not even looking to ourselves for approval. He's got a very beautiful, heartwarming response to, "Where do you get approval, Paul? If you are truly an apostle and a minister of God, then where do you get the approval? Where is the evidence?" He'll answer that soon enough. In John chapter 10, verse 37, listen to this. It is amazing to me that Jesus was being attacked by His detractors. They were those saying that Jesus was not of God. They were those saying that Jesus was an imposter. The scribes and Pharisees were saying this. In John chapter 10, verse 37, listen to this: Jesus says, "If you do not, if I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do, though you do not believe Me, listen, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." Jesus is saying, "You guys don't like the message I'm preaching, scribes and Pharisees, salvation by faith, by turning from your sins and coming to the Messiah, okay? If you don't like my message, then look at the miracles that are being done, and for that alone, will you believe?" Christianity is obvious in its origin.
Number two, and its authority. It's obvious because of its authority. Going on in verse one, he says, "Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you?" It was completely normal in those days. In fact, Paul did it himself, that whenever a minister went, or even a physician, even an architect in those days, if they went from one community to the next, they would carry with them letters of recommendation. In other words, it would be like a resume. Who'd you worked for before? These guys, okay? But Paul is saying this: when these guys were coming, many of them had falsified letters of commendation. And so he's making this very amazing thing about authority. What authority is it? God's authority or man's authority? And the ultimate thing is this: He's going to stress it over and over again. It's changed lives. Changed lives. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, the Bible tells us there. Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirits, that is, human spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart." The Bible does this. And there is no creature hidden from His sight. Notice, "no creature hidden from His sight" is directly connected to the power of the word of God. The Bible. The Bible has this ability. All authority is in the Bible. Again, Charles Spurgeon said into his class of preachers that he was schooling in England many years ago, Spurgeon said, "Make sure that your sermons are full of Bible, and you'll never fail." Why? Because the Holy Spirit uses the authority of the word of God. And by the way, God calls us as Christians to use His Bible, both private and public. But regarding the context of what we're looking at, Paul was a minister of the gospel. The Bible went out and ministered to people. And in Jeremiah 3, verse 15, the Bible says, "I will give you shepherds according to My heart, says God, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." The word of God. So, Paul, listen, with all the attacks, Christian man, all you have to do, all you have to do is be, um, listen, I'll just pick on the guys for a second. Guys, are you married? Then you have a flock. At least, at the minimum, it's your wife. How do you minister to your wife? The Bible says in Ephesians to wash her with the word of God. Think of that. And then if you have kids, you have no business venturing into other ministries unless you've reached your kids for Christ, unless you've reached your kids with the gospel. Water them, wash them with the word of God, minister to them. You are to give them the word of God, ministering to them knowledge and understanding. Absolutely critical. Very important. Now, Paul is an apostle, and he is very careful to give them the word of God. Why? Because he knows what's going to generate results. Mom, Dad, you give your kids the Bible, and look, they may look, they may go through their trying years, they may go through all the stuff that they go through, but in time, they will remember. In their most often, it's a time of hardship, maybe it's even, God forbid, but when they're locked up behind bars, those verses will come back to them and rescue them. It's the authority of the Bible. Give them the Bible, and you'll never fail. I cannot tell you enough how content I am in this fellowship. From the very beginning, it didn't matter if we had 10 people or 10,000 people. It's never changed. It's only been the Bible. Go through the Bible, let the results be to God. That's why, listen, I say this lovingly. People have always said along the way, "Well, you know what? I'm going to leave. The church has gotten too big. What am I supposed to do with that?" Well, okay, gosh, let's just take some people out back and shoot them, and we'll keep the numbers down. As though it was my fault that the church has grown. Well, I remember when we were smaller, and that was a blast. It was a blast, and I loved it too. But you know what? It's different. Look, God never gives up on us. From from size of an infancy to our teen years to our old years, as people or as a church, big, small, God doesn't care how big a church is. He just wants to know, is the word of God going out in that church? Are people's lives being changed by the word of God? That's the key. Well, it's too big. Okay. You know what? Listen, if, if the church is too big, that's God telling you, "Get involved." A big church. Look, I came from one of the biggest churches in America, and it always felt very small. You want to know why? Because from the very beginning, they tell you, "Get involved." And that church felt very small. Yeah, granted, we had 20, 25 friends in a gigantic church, but we made those friends by ministering to one another in the big church. Think of that.
It's obvious to the believer. Thirdly, because of its influence. Christianity, what's so great about it? Is that it's obvious by its influence. He says, "Or letters of commendation from you?" Paul is saying, "I've ministered to you. The fruit is obvious. And I'm going to go minister to other people. Do I need letters from you, Corinthians, to tell other people that, 'Hey, you should listen to Paul. We like him, and he's cool'?" Paul is saying, "Are you crazy? It's either of God or it's not." Here's the greatest thing of all: Our lives bear witness that we've been ministered to by God through people who led you to the Lord. How did that happen? That person, those people, influenced you, didn't they? How did you come to Christ? Take a deep breath and think about that for a moment. I heard somebody, is actually talking to one of the owners of Salem Radio, that's a massive radio network, you know, nationwide. And we got on the topic about the effectiveness of radio ministry. And the guy told the story, I'll shorten it up. He said, "People constantly call the 'Through the Bible' radio station, you know who I'm talking about, J. Vernon McGee, and they'll say, 'I've, I have been still ministered to by Dr. McGee. I'd like to speak to him, please.'" Well, I don't know, has it been 10, 15 years? He's been in heaven. You better have long distance on your dialing. "I'd like to speak to Dr. McGee, please." That is precious, though he's dead, the ministry of the word of God continues on. It is awesome. What an influence. Listen, there's no influence like that in the entire world. I wish time would allow me to go into this. I'll simply just say this: the influence of Christianity, the Bible, the word of God, and the Christian as an individual, nothing comes close to it in all the world. Nothing. No other religion, no other faith system. Why? Because it's beyond us. The influence is not of us. And I love it. In Acts chapter 17, verse 6, the Bible says that regarding Christians, "These are they who have turned the world upside down." Was how they were being criticized. Man, when I wrote that verse down, it's not on the screen, don't even look. I just put it down right here in my notes a little while ago, so it's not going to be on there. Acts 17: They, the critics said, "These Christians are turning the world upside down." And I thought, "How far we have fallen as a 21st-century church." I mean, church, not you, church in the world. The church, listen, there's enough. We've got bigger churches, the biggest churches that the world has ever seen in America, massive, 10, 20, 27,000 people attending some churches in America. And is the church, you judge, is the church making an upside-down or right-side-up changing effect in America today? No. What has the mega-church produced? I don't know. Not much. Think about it. Change lives. If lives are changed, our nation will change. It's not going to happen in the White House or in the State House. It's got to happen in God's house. That's where the change, as it takes place.
Number two is this. Verse two. Number two, what's so great about Christianity? Is that it's obvious to the observer. Uh, this is fun stuff. If you're going to be serious about Christianity, who ought to be the ones who, uh, say something about your faith? I'm not talking about they're going to say, "Oh, my neighbor, he's a Christian. He's wonderful." They might just say, "My neighbor is a Christian, and he's a jerk. He's always praying. He's always saying, 'Praise the Lord.' He's always bringing us cookies when we're sick or something." I don't know. I'm making this up right now. But you know what I'm saying? They may not say, "Oh, they're so sweet. They're Christians." They might criticize you. But when they criticize you, the criticism might be a glorious critique. Think of that. Obvious because of the example. He says, Paul says, "Hey, you Corinthians, you are our epistle." You say, "What's an epistle?" I'm glad you asked. An epistle is a writing. It's a letter. It's a story. It's an account. Paul is saying, "Listen, you Corinthians, you are the ones being written before the world as an example." Every one of us will go home from this geographical position soon. You're going to be going home. And think about it. Wouldn't it be awesome to maybe have like Google Earth over the building, and you guys all have like little beeping lights, and you're watching Google Earth, and all these lights just start leaving this place, and you all start going to all your places, and these lights are lighting up? And where you go, you are examples of Jesus Christ. Paul is saying, "I don't need a badge or a happy face to feel better about the ministry. All I have to do is look at you Corinthians." Now, you guys, if you were with us in First Corinthians, that's a huge thing. That Paul is saying this is one of the most goofed-up churches in all of the Bible. They were messed up, to say the least. And Paul says to them, "You guys are amazing. You guys are examples. You are an epistle being written by God." Because that's what the word of God does in your life. Church, the more you take in the Bible, the more you take in the word of God, are you reading your one-year Bible? As you take it in, watch the change. It's going to happen week after week, week after week, month after month. And you will be completely different people starting January 1st than you will be December 31st. That's the power of His word. Can I say this lovingly? It's not the power of this church. It's not the power of any one of us. It's not the power that I might think I have. That's ridiculous. It's the power of God's word. It's an example. Um, I'll do this quickly. It's kind of embarrassing, but I need to do this. There's two things I'm going to do today. I'm going to tell you one thing and then show you another. Um, I was recognized in Washington D.C. as a pastor who stands out front and takes the hit and gets written up in the newspaper and cursed at on the internet and all this stuff. And so Pastor Jack and I, they had me, no, no, listen. And they had 500 pastors there from all over America. And I, they called me up there, and there were senators and congressmen there, and it was very, kind of cool. But it was very embarrassing. And yet I thought, "Lord, how can I..." That was very nice. What they said. Uh, they may believe it, but I don't, because I know the truth. You see, what do you mean? I'll tell you what I mean. I got up there, and this is what I said. I wrote it down right here. I said, "What can I say to this? The people at our church are in love with Jesus. They love the Bible, and they love living out their faith in the community. They are the ones who have made me look very good this day, and that's the truth." Think about it. I am only a channel. Standing near. I'm like a tube. And out comes from me, out comes from me the word of God, which is very fun, too, because it's not my word. It's His word. So it comes out unto you, then you go and live it out and are being radical witnesses and examples for Jesus. And so I'm there, "Oh, you know, this pastor, and this, and..." And I'm thinking, "What a bunch of knuckleheads." So I couldn't wait to get up there and say, "It's everybody at home. I talked about you doing Christianity because that's what you do." And so Paul and I agree with Paul. I don't need a letter. I don't need an announcement. I don't need a certificate. All I have to do is look at you. And unborn children are being saved rather than aborted. I look at, I look at you, and truck drivers across America are getting the gospel. I look at you, and I see people feeding the homeless. I look at you, and your clothing people who have nothing. I look at you, and you're the ones who, by your generosity, are feeding people who pull up to the church on a daily basis and need groceries. I look at you, and you guys are the ones providing the opportunity for the gospel to reach tens of thousands of people every day, five days a week, in radio programs across America and around the world. You're doing that. Don't ever think for a moment, "Oh, look, oh, look." And let me, let me speak on behalf of others. "Oh, look, there's Pastor Rosales. So there's Pastor Reese, or there's Pastor Greg Laurie, or there's Pastor Chuck Smith, or there's Pastor Swindoll." And, "Whoa, look at them." Are you kidding? Only tubes that have been used to get people in touch with the word of God. And those people have made something happen. And tragically, tragically, the pastor or the evangelist is recognized at times like a rock star, and they have nothing to do with it. They should be the most humbled people in the entire equation, because it is a miracle God at work in you. It's an example that, in my opinion, the observer has got to deal with. It is awesome to think.
And then there's the commitment. Look at verse two. "Written in our hearts." The commitment of that. Simply this: the ministry is a two-way street. There's the giving, and there's the taking. The taking and the giving of a loving relationship that cannot be denied. The third thing is this: that it's obvious because of the effect. What is the effect? He says in verse two, that the ministry through the Corinthian believers, the ministry through the Chino Hills people here, or the Calvary people, whatever you are here right now, I have to say that because we're so blessed. I mean this. We're so blessed here. What I said, whatever you are here right now, because a lot of people attend this church, not this service, the next two services. You know why? Because most of them are over at the Catholic church right now. I meet them every second and third service. They're Catholics, but they want the Bible. So they come here. It's, they go to mass at the first service, and then they come here by the hundreds at the second and third service. And I meet them in the foyer or in the courtyard after every service. They, they want the Bible. They want more Bible. There's that interaction that the word of God is preeminent, and there's an effect. He says, "Known and read by all men." Look at this. The effect, "known and read by all men." The observer is watching. Listen, Christian, you know this, but I want to encourage you this year. The observers are watching you and I. They'll never read a Bible. Perhaps you are the only Bible that they're reading all year long. They're going to look at you every day at work. "Hey, uh, you were late again." "Uh oh, so what?" "Well, are Christians supposed to be late to work?" Have you noticed the standard they hold you to? It's it's fantastic. "Hey, man, I saw you drive by me. You're going 80 miles an hour in a 50." "I thought you're a Christian." "I am a Christian." "Have you noticed that?" "Hey, dude, I heard you talking on the phone. It sounds like you hung up on your wife. What's the deal, man? I thought you were a Christian." The world's going to do that. You say, "I don't know if the world's..." They're doing it to you. They are doing it to you. And I love it. It's a good thing to work in the world. It's a good thing to be surrounded by a bunch of pagan, ungodly. It's good. Why? You know what, man? Keeps you on your toes. It's good. It's very good. "Known and read by all men." First John 4:17 says, "Love has been completed or perfected, worked out among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we." What in this world? Hello, Christian. As we go around tomorrow, as we launch out into work tomorrow, those that we work with should be able to say, "You know what? There's a lot about you reminds me of Jesus." And that'd be great. That's our target. That's our goal. That they mistake you for Jesus. First John 4:17. "Known and read." There's no greater investment than to be with Jesus. Look at Acts 4:13. The Bible says, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, notice the effect, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained." They didn't go to Harvard or graduate from Talbot Theological Seminary or Liberty. They marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Listen, everybody. Are you guys, are you guys awake? Listen, this is exciting to us. How do you live the absolute most perfect potential for God in His plan in your life? Listen, I'm not disparaging education. It all depends on who you're being educated by. Education could be dangerous. But know this: you will never go wrong, and you'll never be led astray, and you can guarantee boldness and effect if you're educated by Jesus. Spend time with Jesus. Unplug from the world. Get alone. Shut the curtains. Hide out with Jesus. Physically, if need be, get on your knees, get on your face, call out to Jesus. Make it a habit. Don't launch out without His power upon you. It's all important.
And then third and finally, it is this. What's so great about Christianity? Is that it's obvious to the Redeemer. Let me explain what that means. The Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. This way, it's obvious. What, what do we mean? It's obvious to the Redeemer. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ, and here's, here's what you cannot separate. Watch, everybody. Jesus Christ is the origin of Christianity. Christianity simply means those who follow Christ. To be a Christian means to be a Christ follower. If you're a Buddhist, you are following Buddhist teaching. You are Buddhist. If you are a, you are following the example of Muhammad. If you're a Christian, you're following the example of Jesus Christ. Okay? That is called Christianity. And listen, don't ever judge Christianity by one person's actions. In fact, don't judge Christianity by those who say they're Christians. Judge Christianity by what it teaches, and then take what it teaches and match the mandate up against those who are following Christ. You see, Jack, I thought you said in the opening that it's us having our faith in Him, and not what we do. That's right. It's not what we do that earns us a place in heaven. But if we are really Christians, following Jesus, then what He does is that He gets inside us, and He begins to reach out through us. Jesus Christ begins to live His life by the Holy Spirit out of our lives. It's never of us. What are we supposed to do but be yielded to Him? Surrender to Him, letting Him live through us. It's obvious to the Redeemer this way. Obvious because of His work in us. He says, verse three, "Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ." Man, Paul is nailing it. He's saying, "Jesus is the one." Church, you're going to want to write this down. I think it's extremely beautiful. He's saying, "Jesus is the one that is writing your life's story. Jesus has your plan." Clearly, Jesus Christ owns you. That's your property of the living God. And that is an awesome thing. John 17:21, we're almost done. John 17:21 says there, "As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one as We are One. I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect or complete in one, and that the world may know." There it is. "That the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." Church, listen, God cannot lie. The Bible says that as the Father loves the Son. Okay, listen. When I get done saying this, act Pentecostal for a second. Act like, act like you love this stuff. Jesus is saying, "As the Father has loved Me, so the Father loves each and every one of us, exactly like that." [Music] [Applause] [Music] That is a biblical fact and truth. But we walk around with, "I'm a Christian. How's life? So hard. How's your house? How's things going? So difficult." We're Christians. Does anybody love you? Just God. That's all. The Bible declares, as God loves His Son, God loves you. We need to meditate. You know what? We could honestly do for the next 52 weeks. We should do a message just on that verse alone, because it's going to take us that long to get that. Don't ever think nobody loves you. That may be true, but God loves you. Okay? It's His work.
Secondly, look, it's a work ministered by us. Paul is saying, "Ministered by us." God loves you. God's reaching you. But the amazing thing is, God uses people to minister to people. It's amazing. Jesus Christ, really by the power of the Holy Spirit, has commissioned His followers to minister His gospel truth to the world. Minister. All right. To, for me, this is where the message begins. It begins in the ending. This is exciting. Will you all look at me? Verse, verse three. Look where it says here, "ministered by us, not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God." This is amazing. Watch this, church. The Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14, is the very one, the Helper, the Paraclete, the one who comes alongside the Christian and then indwells the Christian and empowers the Christian to live the Christian life. All right, listen. It's a work that's done by God. It's His work. Watch this. When he says, "It's not by ink." There are those that are that were walking around saying, "Look, everybody, don't listen to Paul. Did he bring you letters of recommendation? No. Then he's an imposter." See, we've got letters of rec, of recognition and recommendation. Follow us. And they were giving false doctrine. You know, people are suckers for that stuff. "Oh, uh, I got a letter from the most honorable, Right Reverend Father Pastor Billy Bob." Wow. Ink. It's just ink. Don't trust in it. Paul is saying, "When God goes to work, church, listen, when God goes to work, He doesn't use ink." I got this quote from Plato. It's kind of cool. Listen to this. Plato said, "A good teacher does not write his message down in ink. Over time, ink fades, but he writes his message down on the heart of his student." That's good, huh? Well, listen to this. It's obvious because of the work. His work. A work. Look at the end of verse three. "Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is of the heart." The tablets of stone have multiple meanings. Watch this, church, because I know where you're thinking. It's exactly what I'm thinking, and no doubt we can apply that. But watch. There were those who carried about a stone of approval. It had like a, a crest or a logo on it. "Hey, see, I'm sent to you guys by..." And they would pull out the stone that was embossed on it, the, the company card. You do it today with a company card. "I come to you in the name of DuPont." "Oh, really? Show me your card. Who are you? Can I get in touch with you again? Who do I tell them?" "Send me. Here's my card." Back in the old days, they would hand you a stone. Paul is saying, "Do I need, do we need stones with embossed markings on it to qualify the ministry?" No. God does something greater than all that. He doesn't write on stones. He doesn't even use ink. Don't you love Paul's philosophy of ministry? Paul is saying, "Hey, God writes on the heart." How do you, how do you combat that? I'm out of time. I'm going to end this way. Watch this. Ten commandments written on the heart or written in stone. Stone. Listen. Hear me out. I say this reverently because there's a ministry for it and of it. Could you ever get the Ten Commandments inside your heart? If I beat you with the Ten Commandments, would it ever get inside your heart? Even if you attempted, first of all, could you obey them? No, you can't. But if you tried and you did, what if you kept nine of the ten? According to the Ten Commandments written in stone, if you broke one, you're guilty of them all. It's like a guy climbing up a cliff on with a chain. Oh, man, I'm doing good. I think I'm going to set an Olympic record. He gets all the way to the top, and the last link at the top breaks. How many of those links have to break for the guy to fall? Anybody? Only one. The law cannot save you. The Ten Commandments were never given to save. They can't write. The Ten Commandments can never go from stone onto your hearts. It doesn't have the power to do that. It only stands as a bulwark, standing there as a sign pointing to perfection, but it can't get you there. So the Bible comes along, or the New Testament comes along. In fact, it's not, let me correct that. It wasn't even the New Testament. In the book of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, in the Old Testament, God said the law was not going to work. I'll prove it to you in a moment. The tablets of stone, the recommendation, it's got to be of the heart. I'm going to tell you a personal story. We'll come to the conclusion of this. I put this here for a purpose. This is the second thing I wanted to share with you. I'm holding my hands right here, something that I know that people would love to have. People have strived to get this, to be able to say they have it, to put on their wall, and just to look at it, maybe position their desk in such a way that when you're looking at them, you have to see it. For what reason? To that you might know how spiritual I am? To let you know how qualified I am? To convince you of what this is? Cool. Watch this. What I'm going to show you here came in the most wonderful ways. Having been schooled at Calvary Costa Mesa over the years, and then the ministry in Chino Hills, starting home fellowship, and then God bless, and it was already in the works. And then what happened was this thing got out of hand, and a lot of people started coming, and a lot of things started going on. And as I was trying to find a pastor to take this work over so I could continue my career at Baxter Healthcare, Pastor Chuck was encouraging us, "Well, you know what, you got to go through all the process. These people are riding here, us here at the church, they want it to be a church." And I said, "Well, that's great. Find a, find a pastor for it, and that's fantastic." And I really told him that. And that went on for a year. And then one day, this arrives in the mail. This is an ordination certificate from Calvary Costa Mesa. It's got my name on it, Pastor Chuck's signature, a few other guys. It came in the mail. I opened it up, and I said, "What is this?" Now, that may burst your bubble because you want, maybe I should wear a robe. I should come out here, you know, "Welcome, godly people." Look, I don't know. Here's the deal. When I asked Pastor Chuck why, what's, what's going on? What is with this? He said, "You know, and I listened to his answer. He said, 'Listen, it's not our job to ordain anybody. We can't do that.' You hear what Paul's saying? It's not with ink. But he said, 'Jack, we would be fools not to recognize what God's doing at Chino Hills. It's the fruit that has caused me to send you this ordination.'" I want you to think about that for a minute. It has nothing to do with the ink. It has to do with what's coming out of it. What's coming out of the ministry that is on that certificate, on that ordination diploma there. It's announcing. It says right there in John 15, that this is given with the hope and the recognition that the fruit of Jesus Christ abides forever. Whenever the word of God goes out, when the Bible goes out into your heart, you never have to worry about it abiding forever. It will. It will change your life. It'll change everything about you. And so this is very, very good news. I want to end with this verse. Ezekiel 11 and Jeremiah 31. This is remarkable. It's not written on tablets of stone. The work that God wants to do in your life has got to be of the heart. That alone makes Christianity a standalone. Ezekiel 11: "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them." Jeremiah 31: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel." Now watch this. It's with the house of Israel first, but it's the exact same covenant for the Gentiles. How is a man saved? How does, how does a man go to heaven? What did Jesus tell a Jew named Nicodemus? What did He tell him? "You must be born again." You and I, Jew or Gentile, you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. He goes on, verse 32, Jeremiah 31: "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." What the law could never do in your heart, a love relationship, what Jesus Christ does, and He writes His law on your fleshly, soft heart, and you are born again. You desire now, welling up with inside you, "I want to follow God. I want to know God more. I want to pursue Him." And the proof of that happening are changed lives. And no letter, no stone, no document can make that a reality. Only God's calling. Amen. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You. Thank You. I thank You, God, for the validity, for the authenticity, for the reality of Your word, the Bible, alive, sharper than any two-edged sword. And Lord, I pray right now that perhaps there's somebody here today, they have been well acquainted with religion. They can quote the Ten Commandments upside down, back and forth. They can quote chapters or verses of the Bible. They've logged more church hours than anyone else. But in private, in the bulk of their time, consciously, there's no presence of God in their life. There's no dialogue in the heart. There's no conviction or encouragement of the soul. There's that uncertain, wavering about eternity. Will it be okay with me? I think I've done better than I've done bad. And there's that justifiable insecurity. Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, I pray right now that we wouldn't go one step further into this new year without a heart tonight, or today, I should say, making sure that their walk and relationship and eternity is right with You. Right now, right where you're at. If your relationship with God is uncertain, it's for this reason you've not fully submitted to His absolute Lordship of being your Redeemer and Savior. Your sins, the Bible says, have separated you from God. And I'm asking you right now, right where you're at, to face your sins, to face your lying, or your pride, your self-reliance, whatever it may be, lust, anger, I don't know. Does, I don't need to know. He knows. And you would say to Him right now, right where you're at, "Lord God, cleanse me, wash me. I see, and I'm reminded today, I'm a sinner, and I need the love of Jesus. I need to be washed by Your beautiful, righteous blood, by Your merit and Your marriage alone, Christ Jesus. I surrender today. I come broken, unable to save myself, and I come to You asking for Your forgiveness. And now I ask, Lord, that You would write Your word on my heart. Cause me today to be born anew, that I would today live a brand new life for You." [Music] Take what I've heard today and make it a reality of my life. I trust and commit my life to You, Jesus, for I believe that You died and rose again from the grave. [Music] Father, for those that are making that prayer today, I ask You, God, that You'd overwhelm them with Your great power. They may not feel anything right now in their flesh, but in the matter of moments, their minds are going to be changing, their attitudes will be changing, the way they see the world will be changing. And I pray that, Lord, You would reveal Yourself more mightily to them. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen. [Music] You.