The Letter of the Spirit

All right, good choices. It's good to see a good

crowd here tonight. We were slim last week, only

five of us. Had a big storm come through and

a few people traveling, but it's good to see

everybody back tonight. We are going to be in

2 Corinthians, the very end of chapter 2, and

then into the first few verses of chapter 3.

2 Corinthians, chapter 2. Verse 17 is where we

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

will start. While y 'all are turning to that,

I'll mention that Miss Susan has brought a sack

full of vegetables back there, so please. Oh,

they're gone. Well, then praise the Lord. She's

already given them away. That's great. All right,

more to come, more to come. She's always working

hard getting those, bringing them to us. We appreciate

that. And also, another announcement while y

'all are turning to 2 Corinthians 2 is that for

Father's Day, we're going to have an all -men

-led service, different men taking different

positions, even a different preacher Sunday.

And so Jerry Toler has volunteered to preach

for us. No, we got somebody that volunteered.

On Father's Day, we're going to have a different

person bringing us a message, a different song

leader, and all men are going to be leading that.

And don't forget, after the service on Father's

Day, we want to have a feast, and so please come

and bring something good so that we can all celebrate

our fathers and the men of our church and have

a good time together. All right, 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. We'll start in verse 17, but before

we do, let's pray. God, we come to you and thank

you for a good day. I thank you for this church.

I thank you for these people. I thank you for

being good to us and letting us come together

to worship you tonight. I pray that your Holy

Spirit will be among us and in this place, dear

Lord, that you would speak to us tonight. That

you would help me to know the words that you

want me to speak, dear Lord. do any good in our

life, and Your Spirit has to work in us. And

so we pray, God, that You'll do that tonight.

I pray that You just would help us to be focused

and free of the worries and the distractions

and the things of this world. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. We started the book

of 2 Corinthians. Paul was dealing with a little

bit of discipline in regards to one that had

to be disciplined in some way. But then following,

talking about that, he followed it up with love,

saying, okay, once that person has been disciplined,

it's enough. And so now you need to... Help restore

that person. You need to love that person. You

need to let them know that, look, they did wrong,

but it sounds as though they had repented and

they had changed. And Paul says, look, don't

ostracize them from this faith community. We

don't want them to live in sin, but you don't

want to keep beating people over the head. So

you need to love on sinners, and you need to

welcome them back into the fold. And last week,

we kind of shifted gears a little bit. I'll refresh

on that since most of you weren't here. Paul

talked about being a pleasing aroma, a good fragrance,

that he and those who were with him were the

fragrance of Jesus Christ. That's just kind of

symbolic language saying, look, we represent

Christ and we're something sweet and pleasing.

When people see us coming, they are glad to see

us. And we all know what it's like to have a...

pleasing aroma. We like to smell things that

smell good, not things that smell bad. That's

why in our homes we have potpourri. That's why

we wear deodorant, because we don't want to put

off an unpleasing aroma. It is not good when

you are around an unpleasing aroma, whether it

stems from something you buy or a person you

buy. Nobody wants to be next to an unpleasing

aroma. And so spiritually speaking, we want to

make sure that we are a pleasing aroma. Are we

the fragrance of Jesus when we are near people?

Are people glad to see us? Do we bring some joy,

some pleasure to their life at our presence?

Or do people dread to see us? Are we an unpleasing

aroma? Somebody that people say, I want to keep

my distance from them. And so that's what Paul

talked a little bit about in the verses we looked

at last week. And so we are picking up right

where we left off. In verse 17 of 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. For we are not like the many who market

God's message for profit. On the contrary, we

speak with sincerity in Christ as from God and

before God. So Paul is not in this for the money.

He says, look, I serve God. I preach to you.

I minister to you because I love you. This is

not just a way for me to make a living. This

is not a way for me to bamboozle you out of your

money. I do this because I love God and I love

you. So Paul says, I'm not in this for a profit.

Now there were other teachers and preachers of

his day that certainly were. They were in it

for the money. They were in it for the fame.

And things have not changed. As Ecclesiastes

reminds us, there is nothing new under the sun.

There are certainly plenty of preachers today

who are in it for a profit, some of which who

have no desire whatsoever to preach and teach

God's Word accurately. Now, they may say good

words. They may even preach good sermons. But

their desire is to figure out a way to trick

people out of money. And there are plenty of

those preachers that have existed, and there

are plenty of them who exist today. There are

some who are just as corrupt and evil as can

be. And they take the gospel of Jesus Christ

and they twist it to figure out a way to get

money from people. And there are other people

who perhaps they are Christians and perhaps they

too preach a good message. And maybe they're

not trying to trick people, but maybe they just

view ministry as a career. That they do it, it's

money in it, it's away from you, it's just a

job. And even that, even though it may not be

as evil as those who are just trying to steal

money from people essentially. Even that is not

the kind of heart or the kind of attitude that

Paul thinks that leaders should have or that

Paul is saying that he has here. He says, look,

I don't serve for the money. I serve for Jesus

Christ. I serve because I love you. And he does.

You can tell that from his letters. Now, sometimes

he's harsh with his recipients, but always out

of love. No different than when you have to get

on to a child or discipline a child. It may seem

harsh to the child. But you don't do it out of

hatred. You do it out of love because you want

to make sure that that child is going to turn

out to be okay. And so we see that Paul has a

great love for the people that he writes to,

whether it's the people of Corinth or the people

of Philippi. Different letters might have a little

different tone. Some are a little harder than

others. or a little harsher than others, some

like Philippians, or speak very kind, pretty

much all kindness to the people of Philippi.

It's very beautiful, but you see Paul's heart

in his writing, and that's what he's saying here.

Look, we come to you as a fragrance of Jesus

Christ. We come as servants of Jesus Christ.

We love you, and we're not taking advantage of

you. And remember, we talked about at the beginning

of the book that it almost looks as though Paul

is having to make a defense for himself, and

we'll see that as we get into chapter 3 too.

It's almost as though Paul is writing, trying

to defend himself, possibly from some other teachers

or preachers that have come in. And he's trying

to establish himself as being better, in a sense,

if we can use that word, than those, because

he cares for the people. He cares about doing

the work of God. He cares about the people. And

so Paul is making that point here at the end

of this verse. All right, chapter 3. It kind

of begins to shift gears here in chapter 3. Are

we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do

we need, like some, letters of recommendation

to you or from you? Now, here's that idea of

Paul kind of making a case in defense of himself.

He says, what, are we commending ourselves? No,

Paul's not commending himself. He's making a

point, but not in a sense of, of being proud

and boastful. It doesn't sound like Paul's saying,

we are so great and we have led you and I'm the

best. And that's not the heart of which Paul

is saying it. But he is making these points that

he has been faithful to God and faithful to them

and a good example to them and has been there

to teach them and to preach to them and to see

them to come to Christ and to nurture them in

Christ. And he says, look, do we need... Like

some, letters of recommendation to you are from

you. He's saying, look, you know who I am. You've

heard me preach. You've seen me minister to you.

You have come to Jesus Christ through the work

that has been done through us. So why would you

doubt me now? Do I need to get a letter of recommendation?

Now, you understand what that is. Anybody that's

applied for a job or applied for maybe a variety

of different things, there's usually a section

on there where they want some references. They

want you to give them a list of people that they

can call and talk to or maybe ask for a letter

from them so they can say, hey, is Jimbo a good

guy? Is he dependable? Is he trustworthy? And

so we see that in our jobs today, letters of

recommendation. And that's what Paul's talking

about here. Look, I'm writing this letter to

you. When I come see you again, when I write

this letter, do I need to get other people that

you know of? Do I need to get Aquila and Priscilla

or Apollos or Timothy or whoever else they may

know? Do I need to get these people to send a

letter for me? And he says, this is absurd. You

know who I am. We are not those who need to get

a letter of recommendation to give to you. And

he says, we are not like some who need that letters

of recommendation to you are from you. And he's

saying, look, I shouldn't have to bring you a

letter of recommendation, and I don't need you

to give me a letter of recommendation. Because

the work that God does through us, through me,

Paul, and those who are with me, that is enough.

And that's what he alludes to as he continues

on in verse 2. You yourselves are our letter,

written on our hearts, recognized and read by

everyone. It is clear that you are Christ's letter.

produced by us, not written with ink, but with

the spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets,

but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. So what

does he say? You are our letter. He says, I don't

need a letter to show my work because my work

speaks for itself. Now, a letter of recommendation

or a resume can only tell you so much about somebody.

Now, we can all make a resume, and we would all

probably look pretty dang good on our resumes.

Because when you make a resume, a letter of recommendation,

you put the best of the best on there. You're

going to put your best picture on there. If I'm

going to make one, I'm going to put links to

the best sermons on there, if there are any.

I want to put the best information on there.

We can make ourselves look good on a resume or

on paper. But what really matters in our life

is what's the work product we do. I don't know.

I probably wouldn't be a good boss if I run a

business because I don't know that I would pay

too much attention to resumes. I'd want to see

your work. If they come in and hand me a resume,

I'd say, show me your work. Show me what you've

made. Show me what you've built. Show me what

you've painted. Show me what you cook, whatever

it is that I'm hiring for. I want to see your

work because anybody can talk a good talk and

look good on paper. But our work should speak

for itself. And it does. And that's what Paul

says here. You yourselves are our letter. That

is to say, God has worked through you. Your lives

have been changed. It is evident that God has

worked through us. That God is using us. That

we have been faithful to God. Because you. Because

God has changed you. And so when people see you

and the work that the Spirit has done through

you by us, God has used us to do that. He says,

look, you're our letter of recommendation. So

when people ask about Paul, oh, what about Paul?

What is he teaching? Is he really teaching the

truth about Jesus Christ? They can say, oh yeah,

look at those people in Corinth. Look at the

way the Spirit has moved. Paul went and he preached

to them, and look at how God has begun to work

in their lives. Paul says, I don't need a recommendation

to give to you, and I don't need a recommendation

from you, because the evidence is in the work

that God has done through us for you. And listen

to what he says in verse 3. It is clear that

you are Christ's letter produced by us. Now,

Paul is not taking any... Credit for this here.

Don't misunderstand what he's saying. He's not

somehow implying that he had anything to do.

He's saying, look, God used us to minister to

you, but it's Christ that's done the work in

you. You are Christ's letter. The way you live,

the things that have happened in your life have

come through Jesus Christ, and so you are a representative

of Jesus Christ. Not written with ink, but with

the Spirit of the living God. So he says, look,

we're not talking about just writing things on

a piece of paper. We're talking about a life

that's changed because the Holy Spirit has come

and dwelled in you. Then he goes on to say, not

on stone tablets, but on tablets that are hearts

of flesh. Now, I think he's certainly... kind

of preparing for his later argument that we're

going to get to probably next week, where he

talks about the law. Part of this has got to

be talking about the law, talking about things

written in stone. But he also may be recalling

in Jeremiah chapter 31, where it talks about

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

that God's going to give us a new heart, or in

Ezekiel, I don't remember the chapter, where

he talks about that he's going to remove our

heart of stone. And so we're not going to be

those who are of the letter of the law. It's

not got nothing to do with the letter of the

law. It's not got anything to do with anything

written in ink. He said the real change in your

life has come through the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and it has changed your heart. It has been written

on your heart. And so whatever your heart is,

is evidence of who your Lord is. So what about

us tonight? What's in our heart? Well, there

may be some things that shouldn't be there. Now,

even for the Christian, there are sometimes some

things in our heart that shouldn't be there.

And we might need to recall those words from

Jeremiah chapter 31. I believe it's Ezekiel chapter

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

36 maybe. And refresh ourselves with those promises

that God, certainly he made them to Israel there,

but they're applicable to us too. That what God's

real desire is. is not for us to be a people

that follow the letter of the law, but for us

to be a people whose hearts are really changed.

That was always the intent and the purpose. We

see that in some of Paul's other writings. In

Romans, if you want to turn there, you can. You

don't have to. But in Romans chapter 7, Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention Romans 7:8

chapter 7 verse 8, He says this, but sin, seizing

its opportunity through the commandment, that

is through the law, produced in me every kind

of covetous desire, for apart from the law, sin

is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law,

but when the commandment came, sin sprang to

life and I died. So I discovered that the very

commandment that was meant to bring life actually

brought death. Now what does he mean when he

says all that? What he means is this, is that

God gave the law. He gave the commandments, the

Ten Commandments and a lot of other commandments.

And the commandments are God's standard. They

are what God calls us to. Okay? You don't need

to lie. You don't need to steal. You don't need

to cheat. You don't need to get your friend's

wife or your friend's husband. You need to keep

God first. You need to love Him with all your

heart. You don't want to worship any idols. All

these laws that God commands us. And if we live

by the commands of God, then we are godly and

righteous people. If we live by the law. But

there's a big problem with that. We can't live

by the law. We failed. And that's what Paul says

here. The law essentially brought his sin to

light. And so when you read the law, then you

say, oh my, because I've sinned in these ways.

I've broken this law and that law and hundreds

of them, hundreds of times in my life. And so

the law makes us aware of our sin and the wages

of sin is death. And so the law brings with it

some condemnation. Because it's not anything

that we can live up to for ourselves. And that's

the idea, I think, that Paul is kind of conveying

here in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. That God is

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

wanting to change our hearts. And how is he going

to do that? Well, not through the law. The law

tells us what God's commands and desires are,

but we are unable to fulfill that. And so he

sent Jesus Christ, praise the Lord. And Jesus

Christ, the Son of God, came, and he fulfilled

everything the law required. He never sinned

in any way. He was completely faithful and obedient

to God all the way to death on a cross. And he

was victorious because God raised him from the

grave. And because of what Jesus did, The Holy

Spirit indwells in us. Because of what Jesus

did, what was talked about in Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

31, occurs that God begins to change our heart.

That God begins to remove our hearts of stone

and he begins to get to the core of what really

matters. And it's not words that are carved into

a piece of stone. But what really God wants to

do is he wants to change our hearts and our attitudes.

And that's the idea, I think, that Paul is talking

about here in 2 Corinthians 3. That God brings

the Spirit into us through Jesus Christ, the

Holy Spirit, and begins to change our hearts.

Verse 4. We have this kind of confidence toward

God through Christ. It is not that we are competent

in ourselves to consider anything as coming from

ourselves, but our competence is from God. He

has made us competent to be ministers of a new

covenant. Not of the letter, but of the Spirit.

For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces

life. Well, that's kind of what we just talked

about there. That the law only brings condemnation.

If we look at the law, we know we broke the law,

then we know we are doomed to die. But God wants

to work through the Spirit, through the Holy

Spirit, through Jesus Christ. so that we will

not die to our sins, but we will have eternal

life through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Now, Paul certainly recommends that he has no

power to do the Lord's work. He says here, we

are competent. Because God gives us the ability.

That might be another way to say it instead of

competence. He has the ability. He's not incompetent.

We see people sometimes and they just don't have

the ability to do things. They're incompetent

in some things. Well, Paul was certainly a competent

minister of the gospel. He was certainly a competent

speaker. He had the ability to do the work that

God called him to because God gave him the ability.

And so he knows that all the work that's been

done amongst the Corinthians, anything that he's

done there or anywhere else that he's done, any

ability that he has, it comes because God has

given it to him. And the same is true for you

and I. That sometimes there may be things that

God calls us to. There may be opportunities that

God puts in our path. And you may say, I don't

have the ability to do that. Well, you may very

well have the ability to do it. Because God doesn't

say, I want you to do this just so you'll go

and do it and fail. Now, we may fail, but it's

probably going to be because we're not trusting

in the Lord. There are some times that we take

on things on our own power. We take on things

with a bit of pride. And when that occurs, we

begin to fail. But when we are like Paul here

and have a heart like Paul and say, God, I don't

have any ability on my own, but God, if you call

me to this, whatever it may be, then God, I'm

going to trust that you give me the ability.

And if God calls us to do something, then we

don't need to make excuses. Now, when we do something

that is... good for the kingdom of God, we also

don't want to be one who takes glory for ourselves.

We don't want to say, boy, look how good I did.

Look how good I did at preaching or teaching

or singing or whatever it is. Because any ability

that we have, it comes from the Lord. So any

good that comes from us, it comes from God. Now,

God could use any variety of means to reach people

in the world. He could work miracles every day.

He could send signs into the sky. He could appear

to people in any way He chose to. But God chooses

to do His work almost entirely through people

in some way, shape, or form. God chooses us.

Now maybe some of us are called to be preachers

or some are called to be teachers or some are

called to help the... neighbor down the road

or whatever it is. There are lots of ways that

we can share the love of Jesus Christ. There

are lots of things that we can do. But we cannot

do anything unless God gives us the ability to

do it. And if God calls us, He gives us the ability.

So we need to listen to what Paul says here.

Is our work evidence? that we are really followers

of Jesus Christ. Does our work speak for itself?

If we were going to make our Christian resume,

we probably would make ourselves sound pretty

good. But what about our works? What about the

way we live? That speaks a lot louder than any

of those words on the page. But Paul says, my

work speaks for itself. Good or bad, that's true

for us. Our life, our works speak for themselves.

They speak for us. They speak for what's in our

heart. But we want to be those who seek to live

in the ability that God gives us to serve Him

in the ways that He has called us to serve Him.

And we want to be those like Paul who are the

fragrance of Jesus Christ. That as we enter into

the world that people can see the love of Jesus

Christ through us. And it will be something sweet

for them. But what we do not want to be. Is one

who has that good Christian resume. That preaches

that good talk. Boy we wave our Christian flag.

And yet we go out into the world. And we bring

with us a stench. That nobody wants to hear.

I mean nobody wants to see. That nobody wants

to smell. That nobody wants to be a part of.

That damages the kingdom of God. So we want to

be those who are good representatives of Jesus

Christ and the kingdom of God and a pleasant

aroma to those we encounter. Let's pray. God,

we come to you tonight. We thank you for these

good words. And I pray, dear Lord, that you would

help us to be competent, that you would help

us to trust in you, to be able to serve you and

to live for you, dear Lord, and to be able to

be like Paul, dear Lord, and speak with confidence.

that our works speak for themselves, dear Lord.

And maybe there are some works in our life that

are not good. Maybe they speak in a bad way about

us, dear Lord. I pray that you'd forgive us of

those things. I pray that we would repent. I

pray that we would seek you. I pray that we would

examine our lives to see if we are somebody that

is faithfully and accurately representing the

love of Jesus Christ or if we're turning people

off from Jesus Christ, dear Lord. Are we one

that people want to be? Are we a pleasant fragrance?

Are we a despicable odor, dear Lord, that people

would rather keep their distance from? I pray,

God, that you would help us to look at our life

and change our hearts, dear Lord. That's what

we really want. That's what you really want,

dear Lord, that we are not just a bunch of Christians

following some letter of the law, but that we

are a people who really seek you and whose lives

have been changed and whose hearts have been

changed. And God, that only comes through Jesus

Christ. So if there is one here tonight or one

who is listening online that does not know Jesus

Christ, I pray that even now they would repent

of their sins, they would ask you to forgive

them, and they would put their faith in Jesus

Christ to live for Him. And I ask these things

in Jesus' name. Amen.