“Sincerely, Jesus Christ”- 2 Corinthians 3:1-6- Kairo EM Worship

We live in a world where qualifications are needed for everything.
It seems like in everything, people want proof of your credentials and qualifications. We need proof for whether or not people are good enough, so we require letters of Rec.
When you apply for college, When you go for a new job, When you go on missions: you need a letter of rec.
People need proof for who you are and what you’ve done.
But how truthful and honest are letters of Recommendation. Are they really going to give you the full picture?
When people ask you for a letter of Rec, you know they ask you because they expect that you will say nice things about them. No one’s going to tell the WHOLE truth, right?

Letter of Recommendation for Mr. Smith
“While working with Mr. Smith, I have always found him
working studiously and sincerely at his table without
gossiping with colleagues in the office. He seldom
wastes his time on useless things. Given a job, he always
finishes the given assignment in time. He is always
deeply engrossed in his official work, and can never be
found chitchatting in the canteen (toilet). He has absolutely no
vanity in spite of his high accomplishment and profound
knowledge of his field. I think he can easily be
classed as outstanding, and should on no account be
dispensed with. I strongly feel that Mr. Smith should be
pushed to accept promotion, and a proposal to management be
sent away as soon as possible.

Regards,
Branch Manager

A second note followed the report:
“Mr. Smith was present when I was writing the report mailed to you today. Kindly read only the odd numbered lines for my true assessment of him.”

Regards,
Branch Manager
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How reliable are Letters of rec? Letters of recommendation were just as common back in Paul’s as they are today, perhaps even more common.
In fact, people were insisting that Paul present his in order to continue ministry among the Corinthians.


1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts

Our Lives are Letters of Christ (v. 1-3)
Letters of Recommendation in Rome
They actually played quite an important role in ancient Roman society.
These letters gained them hospitality, accommodations, opportunity to speak, and even reimbursement.
Like when Travelers visited a town, they would get letters of recommendation of people from that city in order to stay in the nicer inns instead of the ghetto ones.
Some parties would use it to introduce themselves to another party, in order to advance socially.
Many preachers and evangelists would travel around and introduce themselves with letters of recommendation from different churches.
We normally invite speakers like Ted Ewing and Dr. Wang, because we know them.”
Apparently some false teachers would just show up in town to speak. And because no one knew them, they would present these letters of rec. to prove their qualifications. Some were using letters of rec. to speak in the Corinthian church, and then asking the Corinthians to recommend them to speak in other churches.
Paul’s authority questioned is like UREGAMA questioned
IN our study of 2 Corinthians, I hope you guys remember that Paul’s authority/authenticity as an apostle/teacher is being questioned by some other false teachers.
They were possibly saying, “We have ours. Where’s Paul’s letter of rec if he’s a real teacher”?
EX: I grew up in this church, like some of you. I’ve been here since 6th grade, when I was 11. That’s 18 years ago! It’s like if one day all of a sudden we say to UREG and AMA, we’re not sure if you’re really servants of Christ. Can you prove it, perhaps provide a resume or letter?
So you can imagine Paul, when he says to them in v. 1, “Come on, do I really need a letter of recommendation to minister to you? In fact, do I need it from you?
If I needed one, I would ask you for it. I could get one for you, but it’d be from you!
The Corinthians’ are living Letters of Recommendation…
You are my letter of recommendation. You are the proof of my teaching.
Your lives are testimonies to the effectiveness and the authenticity of my ministry.
You are living proof that there is power in my ministry, God’s hand is in it, that it does bear fruit, that it is effective, that I am legitimate.
Do you really need a letter from me? You are my letters to you. Look at your lives!
(V. 2) People all over know about the Church because of the testimony about them, and they know that it’s a fruit of Paul’s ministry.
There’s a saying “Your life is the only Bible that some people will ever read”.
Meaning, that people see your life, and they will know if you are a Christ follower or not. They will see if Christ is really in your life.
This is more than a fluffy letter written that highlights the good things about you.
And according to Paul, their transformation and changed lives is seen by everyone, like a letter read by everyone.
And it’s living proof that Paul’s ministry is real, really from God.

…Written By Christ with the ink of the Holy Spirit
But Notice who Paul says is the writer of these letters. Not Paul, not the Corinthians. But Jesus Christ himself.
(3) You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God…
Christ is the writer, meaning that he is the one who moves through the ministry. Christ is the one who is producing fruit. Christ is the one transforming the lives of the Corinthians.
Christ writes in the lives of the people of Corinth, not Paul.
But Paul sees that Christ’s hand in their lives is the letter of recommendation for his ministry, and it’s like Christ looks down with approval: “This is my good and faithful servant, and through him I am powerfully at work. Just look at how I’ve blessed his ministry.”
EX: Ghost writer and recognizable ink
Let’s explore Paul’s analogy a little further. What do these letters look like?
How does Christ write these letters? He writes it on the hearts and in the lives of the Corinthians.
What does he write with?
(v. 3) “Not with ink, but with the Spirit of God.”
EX: Some people use a distinct ink, and you know who it is and who it’s from. When I was in High School, I received this secret admirer letter in the mail. It had a special kind of ink, and written in a special calligraphy font. I read it, and I was like dizzy because I had never gotten a letter like this before. But after doing some investigation, I found out that one of the girls in our church took classes on calligraphy. It was EVIE! Evie knew calligraphy and had a special calligraphy pen. But my secret admirer wasn’t Evie, Evie was the ghost writer. And after this first letter, an occasional letter would come in the mail, maybe 2 or three more. But once I saw that letter, with special ink and writing on it, I knew without a doubt, that it was the ghost writer! Written for someone else, the secret admirer.
The Holy Spirit is Distinguishing Mark of Christ in their lives because of Paul
Well the Corinthians were a living letter, written by a ghost writer. The HOLY GHOST writer! Jesus Christ, writing with the ink of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the distinctive mark, the recognizable ink, of Christ’s authorship. The Holy Spirit was the ink that Christ uses on the hearts and in the lives of the Corinthians.
They received the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Paul
It was evidence that Paul’s ministry was true, and the he was indeed an apostle of Christ. The evidence of fruit and change in their lives shows that Christ does commend and give authenticity and authority to Paul’s teaching.

Application
Church, would we be able to say the same thing is true of our ministry?
Leaders, Does Jesus commend us, write us a letter of recommendation, and say “Yes, I commend my servant. Yes, indeed he is powerfully ministering as my instrument. I am bearing fruit through him.”
Has he? Would the people of our ministry be genuine letters of qualification, giving testimony that God really does work through us and bless our ministry. Not just by the word of their testimonies, but by the letters of their lives? DO their lives bear witness?
This is food for thought, both for our leadership, but also for the people of this church.
What if UREGAMA, or any one from our leadership were put on the spot. What if they were to ask for our qualifications, to see if we really are true teachers from God. But instead of a mere letter, asked to see living proof of our ministry.
I’ll be speaking at a retreat in a couple weeks.
And so they came to check you guys out. To see how you live, how you talk with one another. In fact, they were to spend the week with you. To live with you. To see how you conduct yourselves as believers, if you live out what you’ve been taught. What you think about during the week, what you do in your spare time, how much time you spend doing godly things, and how much doing worldly things.
Let’s do some reflection: Would they see evidence of a transformed life? One that bears the fruit of the Spirit? Everyone consider your own life, but I also want the leaders to consider the Church:
Worship leaders, consider your team. Consider the congregation. Is Christ developing passionate worshippers through your leadership. Not just in music, but also in life.
Bible study teachers, consider the flock. Is Christ changing their lives by the truth in your teaching.
Prayer mtg leaders: Is Christ raising up prayer warriors through your leading?
TC leaders, consider your community, is Christ transforming them through your counsel?
Small group leaders, consider your small group.
Mentors, consider your mentees.
New Life Leaders, consider your club.
It really puts us into perspective, does Christ commend our leadership, by writing with the Holy Spirit in the lives of those we lead?
I think it’s easy to get comfortable with the fact that we are Christians, and meet in this Church building, and so we assume that the Holy Spirit is at work.
But sometimes we can become like the false teachers of Corinth, who operated in the church, but operated apart from Christ, on their own abilities, ideas, and strength.
See, realize that these teachers accusing Paul, were teachers! Some were even recommended by other churches and given letters to qualify themselves.
But what distinguished Paul’s ministry from theirs?
Paul’s ministry, who’s operation really belongs to Christ, is written all over with the ink of the Spirit. Their changed lives are the distinct, undeniable mark of Christ’s approval.
They are living letters of Christ. Are we written with the same ink?
4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (jack will talk about that)
Our Confidence is in the Competence of Christ (v.4-6)

It’s a lot of pressure isn’t it? That our ministries should be bearing fruit?
That there really is supposed to be evidence of the Holy Spirit’s transforming power?
That those we minister to ought to be living letters of Christ’s commendation over our ministry?
That spiritual growth is proof that this is a legitimate ministry of Christ?
Well, I think Paul understands the pressure.
And Paul can easily come off pretty confident up to this point in the letter.
He’s been talking about himself a lot and his ministry, and how God is using him. , since ch. 1,
And so I’d like to give Paul a break, and now I’d like to talk about myself, and how I can grow pretty confident sometimes as well when doing ministry.
Speaking at West Covina
EX: I was invited to preach at a 3-day revival rally in West Covina. And I’m not sure I’ve ever prayed so fervently for a message that I had to give. I mean I was praying about this thing weeks in advance, and praying really sincerely that God would give me the ability to speak truth to these high schoolers.
I gathered a team of 10 people and called them by phone and asked them personally to pray for the rally everyday leading up to the rally.
I fasted for 3 days, just praying for God’s power in ministry.
Well, came the weekend of the event. Totally like “God, I need your help.”
There were maybe 80-90 people there.
The first night I gave a message, and about 60-70 youth came forward to make commitments. We had a system to track how many commitments were made.
The next day, they were encouraged to bring their friends, and I gave a Gospel message, and about 50 more high schoolers made commitments to Christ.
I was floored! My confidence level shot through the roof.
Some of you are thinking, “Greg, you must feel really confident.”
I do! But it’s ok! See, because Paul was confident too!
And Paul doesn’t deny it one bit.
Instead he makes it very clear that he is confident, because God is competent.
Competence is from the Greek work ikanos, which means ability, capability, sufficiency. His God is able, his God is capable, his God is sufficient, and therefore in Christ, so is he.
Paul says “I’m confident in my competence, because I have a God who’s competent, and I’m confident in His competence.”
Remember I gave a sermon on humility, staying low, and talked about humility isn’t denying your gift, but pointing to the giver.
It’s not denying your ability, but acknowledging the one who makes you able?
Paul’s position exactly!
He says, “I don’t deny that I’m competent. I just acknowledge that Christ is competent, and that my competence is through him.”
And there’s where my confidence lies. Not in me, in my Lord Jesus Christ!
It’s not me who transforms you, it’s the Transformer.
It’s not me who writes these letters on your hearts, it is Christ writing on your hearts, the author and perfecter of your faith.
Paul has extremely high confidence in God, and when we can really understand the ability and sufficiency of God, then we really find a lot of confidence in what we do for Him, because we realize it’s not about what we can do, but what He can do, through us.
Speaking at UCR
EX: See I can get pretty confident myself sometimes. That revival rally I went to was off the hook. It was amazing what God was able to do that night.
Not too long after that, I was invited by UCR’s AACF, and they told me it would be great if I could preach the Gospel. SO I was like, dude, I just preached it at The Revival and it was awesome what God was doing through it, so I’ll just preach the same message again.
And so once again, I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed. I asked God to do the same thing and speak to the people through the message.
When I got there, there were probably 150 people or so, almost double the size of the rally in WC.
And so I preached it, just like I did before. Same message, same ability.
And at the end I asked if anyone wanted to make a commitment to Christ, and ALL OF A SUDDEN, about 2-3 people raised their hands to make commitments.
Our Confidence Grows
And my Confidence…. Grew!
Ok, maybe it didn’t right away, but as I think upon that time, I realize that my service to God is not about what I can do or what I can’t do.
My confidence grows when I come to the realization that my ministry is really not my ministry. That our ministry is God’s ministry.
I gave the same exact message according to the same ability that God gave me each time. God chose to work through different settings with different results.
God was not caught off guard by the drastically different responses.
Why? Because God will be competent to do what He wants to do.
And he will give us the competence to do just that when we choose to make way for him.
When I understand that my competence in serving the Lord comes TOTALLY from God, then I grow tremendously in my confidence in God.
My confidence grows because I understand that God will do as he pleases, and he will give us the right amount of competence/ability to do so, when we acknowledge that it’s his.
WE don’t need to be afraid.
We don’t have to be afraid to step up to what God entrusts us to do.
I’m not just talking to Core, or to just coworkers. But to all of us. When we talk about ministry, we mean service. And we are all called to be servants, we are all called to do ministry.
If we willing to be make way for God, not step aside, but make way by opening up our mind and heart so that he could be competent through us, then Christ can come and start writing in the lives of those we serve, and the Holy Spirit will bear fruit through us.
When we truly comprehend that this is God’s ministry, we don’t have to be afraid of what he gives us, Because it’s HIS ministry.
At the same time, we don’t have to be afraid of what he takes away, because it’s HIS ministry.
When we are faithful to be servants in God’s ministry, he may give, and he may take away, but it’s ok, we are confident that he will give us the competence to carry out HIS ministry.
CLOSING
I really want to close by testifying to what God was teaching me that first hand.
Before this week started, I knew that it was going to be intense. The hardest week of this semester.
I knew I was going to have a hard week before it began, Hebrew quizzes and Homework, long beach rescue mission, work, school, Kairo Sermon, UCI sermon, and Perspectives paper due.
So at the beginning of this week, I had already asked people to pray for me. A LOT of people. I asked Jeff, I asked Rich, Matt prayed with me, all the TC guys prayed for me, Monica was praying for me.
So I’m going through the week, cranking out this Paper, getting 33 pgs typed, working on the Kairo sermon, which was hard for me, but it started coming together, finding some moments to write the UCI gospel sermon…
And on Thursday, my computer freezes.
Like, it doesn’t work. It won’t start up.
Let me tell you that I’m not one who can just whip up sermons together. I like to take a full week to prepare, 2 if I can, but it takes a lot for me to prepare a sermon.
So I was super freaking out, but as I was praying, and it hit me really hard.
Friday, we take it to the Apple store, and the “Genius” at the Genius Bar is like, “Dude, it’s dead”.
This is God’s ministry, and He is sovereign over it. You are his people. He’s the one who writes on your hearts. Not me.
Nothing takes God by surprise. If he wants to take away the sermon I prepared, I need not fear. My Confidence is in Him. He’ll minister to you somehow.
And if he gets me my computer and my sermon back, well, still my Confidence is in him, for He is the one who makes us able.
So let us not step out of the way, but let us make way, by opening our hearts and our minds to his Competence and letting His Holy Spirit write on the hearts of his people through us.