A Servant's Heart in a Heartless World
Introduction
Follow as I read 2 Corinthians 6:3-13:
“We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.”
It is a tragedy to dishonor a cause to which you have vowed allegiance. A soldier asleep on guard duty, a corporate officer with his hand caught in the financial cookie jar of the company, or a government official who sells secrets to the enemy are examples of shameful behavior that betrays one’s family, peers, country and self. Worst of all, such a person breaks faith with those who entrusted him or her with great responsibilities and privileges.
It is no different in the kingdom of God. Just think of the fact that no one now names a son Judas, simply because of the disgrace that is attached to that name by the one who betrayed our Lord. Paul was determined that his life never become a Judas-like life. He did not want to betray the great trust placed into his hands by the Lord.
Every one of us who claims the name of Christ must realize that we have had a great trust placed into our hands by the Lord. We who are saved have been adopted, through the blood of Jesus, into the family of God and, thus, we are called sons and daughters of God. We are servants of God and possess in our bodies the Spirit of God. We are ambassadors for Christ and have been given an enormous responsibility to uphold the high and holy standards of our great God and King!
Yet, so many Christians fall by the wayside. So many make commitments the Lord that they never keep, and perhaps never meant to keep.
It is said that the Spartans were perhaps the greatest soldiers of all time. The Spartans were trained and disciplined to a razor's edge as a fighting machine. One Spartan mother captured the spirit of the Spartan courage when she sent her son into battle by handing him his shield and saying, "With this, or upon this ‑ no more, no less." She meant by that statement that he was to win the victory "with" the shield or die in battle and be carried from the field "upon" the shield ‑ but under no circumstance was he to turn and run from his responsibilities! This is the way Paul viewed the Christian life – like a Spartan soldier.
In the passage I just read to you Paul made mention of four things that are necessary for any believer to be true and faithful as a servant of God. In this scripture we discover the kind of heart that is necessary to serve God faithfully in what appears to be heartless world. In this passage Paul is getting to the heart of the matter about being a faithful Christian.
Let’s begin by looking at …
I. The Pressure on the Servant
Look at 2 Corinthians 6:3‑5: 3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
The servant of the Lord must be willing to face the pressure that comes with being a follower of Jesus. After all, the One we follow was constantly pursued by Satan and by religious leaders of his day. They sought to lead Him astray of catch Him in the midst of some misdeed. To follow Christ is to endure hardship.
A. Internal Pressure
Paul speaks of the patience, tribulation, needs and distresses in verse 4. The sense of tribulation and the need for patience is an internal thing. The distress that comes from needs is also something that we feel. To live the Christian life, one must be prepared to face the internal frustrations that come with the walk we have with Christ. I think of Jesus with His disciples, and the times He said, “How long will I put up with you!” He spoke this way because the lack of faith in saw in His followers frustrated Him. He felt the frustration in his heart and mind.
I have been a minister of the gospel for fifty years, and I can tell you that every preacher I know deals with internal frustrations even more than with external frustrations. I don’t mean that some of the things the preacher faces aren’t originated from outside himself, but the real battle is in not allowing how these things cause one to feel inside creates a sense of giving up! Listen, Christian, you will have to deal with internal frustrations and the need for greater patience if you will serve God effectively through the years.
But, note something else Paul said…
B. External Pressure
Paul went on in verse 5 to mention the external pressures he and other Christians were dealing with in is day. Look at that list:
Stripes
Imprisonments
Tumults
Labors
Sleeplessness
Fastings
Wow! Doesn’t that have a tendency to make you ashamed that you complained about a worship service being too long! Honestly, our external problems are real, but here in America we will seldom, if ever, have to deal with even one of the issues that Paul mentioned in this list. External pressures exist for every Christian, and we can never fully serve Him as we ought unless we learn to deal with these problems in faithfulness and faith.
Paul began 2 Corinthians 6 by saying that we are workers together with God, and he penned,
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
You see, one must accept that the time you are in right now is God’s accepted time for faithfulness and the needed time for a witness to this world. We cannot do what He demands of us in our generation unless we are willing to face these pressures correctly. And that leads us to…
So, first we must overcome the pressures against us, but now let’s note the second issue…
II. The Persuasion in the Servant
Note 2 Corinthians 6:6‑7:
by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by [a]sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
A. The Determination
Where do we get the persuasion to be faithful under all these pressures we face as believers? We must have a counter balancing pressure that pushes back on the evil and the worldly generation in which we live. Paul mentions the manner in which we overcome in verses 6 and 7.
Where do we get the energy to be faithful under all these pressures we face as believers? We must have a counter balancing pressure that pushes back on the evil one and the worldly generation in which we live. Paul mentions the manner in which we overcome:
Purity
Knowledge
Longsuffering
Kindness
The Holy Spirit
Divine Love
These enable us to do what we are called upon to accomplish. Think of those who were burned at the stake or drowned because they refused to deny Christ or God’s Word, how did they do that with dignity and a bold witness to the truth? They had to have the list of virtues that Paul mentions in this text. If we are to be faithful, we must maintain the assets God grants us to overcome the enemy.
B. The Dynamic
What is the dynamic that makes our piety and faithfulness possible? Paul mentions it specifically in verse 7 – “the power of God”. You see, it is not our power that creates success but rather it is the power of God available to those who will trust Him and obey Him. We don’t know what we are capable of doing because we are so often dependent only own ourselves. Without Him, I can do NOTHING! With God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. The secret of success in God’s work is no secret – it is wide open for us to see every day! Our strength is not capable of doing God’s work, but His strength is not limited to our weaknesses. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know, and God wants us to know, that no barrier, no hardship, no enemy, and no threat is bigger than our God.
Let me hasten to the next point…
III. The Paradoxes for the Servant
Now see 2 Corinthians 6:8‑10:
8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
A. Positives
Glory and dishonor
What does this mean? It entails the fact that the true servant of Jesus is loved and hated, honored and dishonored, spoken well of and often spoken ill of by people and authorities. We are called liars even when telling the truth, as evil even when doing good and hated even when we are acting in love. Let me share something extremely important with every believer – you must be willing to suffer rebuke even when you are seeking to do good, or you will never make it as a faithful servant of Christ.
Some years ago, a man in the church I pastored seemed to turn a cold shoulder to me. He had been a friendly, kind and active person in our church. I wondered what had happened to him, and one day I got the chance to ask him. After pressing him for an answer, he finally said that he and his family were angry with me because I had kept his daughter from getting one of the church scholarships to a local Baptist college. I was shocked. I had done nothing of the kind and I said, “Sir, I am embarrassed to tell you, but I didn’t know that your daughter was even in college and I have never once met with the scholarship committee.”
I sought out the facts and learned from my associate pastor, who dealt with scholarships and other matters, that the young lady had been turned down by the scholarship committee because she had not attended Bible study anywhere near the time required to qualify, nor had she ever been on a mission trip, which was also a requirement to be considered for a scholarship. So, I had my associate pastor meet with the man to tell him the truth of the matter and to let him know that I never attended, met with or ever had any activity with the scholarship committee. That member of our church never believed me, nor did he believe my associate. No matter what the truth was, he had made up his mind, and so had his family, and no facts were going to get in the way of his anger.
Now listen to me carefully. If you are troubled by people lying about you, saying things behind your back, criticizing your work, you will never, ever, ever, be a real servant of Christ. You must have the hide of an alligator and the heart of a dove in order to serve God faithfully.
When a person serves the Lord, there will be days of glory. There are times when you will be praised, applauded, and patted on the back. However, there will be days when you will be criticized, ridiculed and stabbed in the back. If you can’t handle both sides, you will never truly serve on God’s side! The applause must never make you proud and the attacks must never make you angry or discouraged. That is the calling of a true servant of the Lord.
B. Negatives
Paul speaks of the negative side of serving as sorrow. Of course, he speaks of rejoicing as well. Paul is actually pointing out that we must learn to turn the negative into the positive. In our sorrow, as Peter tells us in his first letter, we must endure the negative in order to obtain the joy unspeakable and full of glory! If you will endure the negative, in due time a joy will come over you that cannot be described.
Now, the last point…
IV. The Pinnacle of the Servant 6:11‑13:
"11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open."
In verses 11 through 13 in 2 Corinthians 6, Paul shares the pinnacle of being a true servant of God.
A. Paul's Open Heart
When you serve God through thick and thin, when praised or plummeted, or when honored or hounded, you will learn the joy of an open heart. To open your heart to serve God and others, you discover the true joy of being the servant of the Lord. After all, our Lord opened His heart to us even while we were sinners. He heart burst apart on the cross for you. That is the love we must have for the Lord and others, if we will be true and faithful servants.
B. Plea for the Corinthians to Open Their Hearts
In verse 12 Paul out that the Corinthians had restricted their affections. In other words, they had closed up their hearts to Paul and to the important work of making the gospel known to everyone. What a shame.
Back when revival meetings were held regularly, I witnessed some amazing changes in people as they came daily to worship. I have been in revivals where the hearts of people burst wide open with love. I’ve seen people walk across a church to throw their arms around someone with whom they had experienced some personal hardships. Oh, what weeping and joy followed! I’ve witnessed people standing in a church to ask someone in the congregation for forgiveness, and watched as the two families hugged, wept and prayed together. I am almost brought tears now as my mind goes back to some of those days of joy from the past. Always, (I do mean always) when that king of open-hearted love was expressed, the salvation of lost people followed! God’s love is not radiated from closed hearts. People holding grudges cannot send forth the love of God to people who need Jesus.
C. Picture of Christ
In thinking of the open heart, we need only think of Jesus.
Jesus endured the Pressure
Jesus practice the Piety
Jesus accepted the Paradoxes
Jesus lived on the Pinnacle of love and an open heart
I can hear the Savior cry out from the cross, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” What manner of love is this? It is the love we are to have and to reveal in our lives as He works through us.
Conclusion
There was a little boy who literally loved football. He especially like the halfback at the local college in the town where he lived. His dad took him to every game, so the little guy knew all the players and they knew him. He promised that one day he would be a great halfback too.
One day the boy was involved in an accident and needed blood. The team heard about it and went to the hospital. It was discovered that a tackle from the team had a blood type that the boy needed, so the player donated it.
After the lad was better, his dad said, “You are better now, so I’m taking you to the last game of the season.” He then said, “You will get the chance to see the halfback you love, the one you want to like when you grow up.”
The little boy said, "No daddy, I can't be a halfback now, ‘cause I have a tackle’s blood running through my body and I'll have to be a tackle when I grow up."
Well, you and I have been saved by the blood of Jesus, we need to start acting more like him every day. This means to be His people, in season and out of season. It means to show His love in faithful service, whether our service is recognized or never mentioned. It means loving others, even if they don’t always love you!