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God Powered Ministry
January 6, 2019
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessel, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2Corinthians 4:7
Of all the churches that the Apostle Paul ministered to, the Corinthians were undoubtedly the most challenging. Paul had spent much time with the Corinthians on his first and third missionary journeys, and he loved them with fatherly love and was, therefore, willing to bear the burden of the Corinthian church patiently. When he writes to them here in 2nd Corinthians, it is about six months since the writing of 1st Corinthians. As opposed to the criticism found in that epistle, we see a much more personal letter. The apostle opens up to the recipients to give us much more insight into the struggles and challenges he and those with him have faced in their ministry to God.
"For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;" 2Corinthians 1:8-10
As we read through this book of 2nd Corinthians, we see the dominant message is the ministry of the Gospel of Christ is carried out by weak, frail ministers by the power of God. We see Paul very early on informs his readers of the hardships they have faced in Asia and assures them that the trial and suffering that they endured there was well above what he in his strength was able to stand and that it looked that it would have been better to have died. As they found themselves in such despair, God revealed to them that their trial was so they would learn to trust in Him and not in themselves. So often as ministers we see challenges, or hardships set before us and we begin to try to figure out how we will be able to fix them or figure them out ourselves instead of trusting in God, until we find ourselves totally overwhelmed and “insomuch that we despaired even of life” so God can remind us of his strength.
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 2Corinthians 3:5-6
Through the trial and hardships, Paul learned to trust in God, and with God's help, he was able to become a more effective minister. He expresses to them that they, the Corinthians themselves, are proof of the power of God to change lives, and their testimony was Paul’s testimony as well. The Lord was using him in ministry to bring the word of God in power to transform lives and win them for Christ. He had told them earlier in First Corinthians 2:4, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." God will supply all the needs of the minister, whether it be financial, healing, an open door, and even the Anointing with which to be effective, God will prove to be faithful. Brother B.H. Clendennen said, “ Show me a preacher who doesn’t pray, and I’ll show you a preacher who thinks he doesn’t need God.” Again we must learn to trust and depend on Him for all our need, and often He will put us through times of great trial to teach us to look to him.
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2Corintians 4:16-18
Through the journey along the way of ministry, we endure the test and trials the Lord brings us. In the midst of them, Christ teaches us of His great strength, power, and faithfulness. Furthermore, our outward weakness and frailty become more and more apparent to us and all those around us. Enduring these experiences, we learn to rely less and less on ourselves and more and more upon Christ the author and finisher of our faith. Paul writes as his weakness increased his inward man or spiritual life was growing stronger because he learned to depend on Christ. Paul had gained a heavenly perspective. Keeping his focus on Christ and eternity, those trials that had caused him to even despair of life could now be considered “light affliction.” Since his focus was kept upon Christ and not on the temporal trial and hardship, it was easier to have hope in the darkness and be an encouraging minister of the Word.
This experience gave Paul confidence that God would supply the strength and every need that he had. In Matthew 14:22-33, we see Jesus walking on water. Peter calls to The Lord and asks to be called out upon the raging sea. As Peter walks out to meet the Lord, he had no problem walking on water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus. The Bible says that the winds became boisterous, and Peter became afraid and began to sink. When the storm began to rage, Peter took his focus off of Jesus, looked at the trial before him and realized his powerlessness in the situation. The enemy will always try to draw our attention away from the sufficiency and power of God and cause us to focus on our weakness. When Peter began to sink, he cried out to the Lord, “Save me!” The Lord grabbed him by the hand and lifted him and said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.”
As we begin a new year of ministry, we enter knowing that there will be various challenges ahead that we must face. In those challenges, the enemy will attempt to divert our attention from God's strength to our weakness. But if we will trust God in those times, look to Him and rely on His power, like Paul, we will be able to consider the trials only light afflictions, as we see God doing continuous work in the ministries He has called us to serve.
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