Albert Speer was a
leading Nazi and close friend of Adolf Hitler.
After the war he was imprisoned and tried at Nuremberg. He immediately started attending the services
that were organised by the Lutheran chaplain, Henry Gerecke. He seems to come to real faith in Jesus. Speer was sentenced to twenty years
imprisonment in Spandau prison. During
that time, he spent his time reading theology books. Near the end of his life he looked back on
his conversion and said that he could not explain what happened to him when he
accepted Christ, even though many times he had tried to explain it.
The good news of Christ-crucified
is that the Son of God gave His life for sinful people. He did all that was necessary to make wicked
people clean. He has given His people
the Holy Spirit so that we can be made more like Jesus. One day we will see our loving Saviour face
to face and on the joyous day He will reward us for even the smallest things
that we have done in His name and for His glory. This is good news!
But in the apostle Paul’s
day there were false-teachers who were distorting this good news. While Paul preached Christ-crucified these
false-teachers said that you got right with God by obeying rules, and that it
was never God’s will for His people to suffer.
We see these same two false-teachings today. Many people think that the way to heaven is
based on what we do rather than accepting what God has done for us in
Christ. Many ‘prosperity gospel’
preachers will tell you that it is always God’s will for His people to be
healthy and wealthy.
So, let us begin by
affirming that the cross of Christ is the only way to be made right with God.
1.
The cross of Christ is the only way to be
made right with God (1-4)
Paul labels the
false-teachers ‘super-apostles’. He’s being
sarcastic. These men boast about having
great spiritual experiences. They have
mastered the speaking techniques that were so admired in that culture. They look impressive. But they have a different spirit, a different
gospel and a different Jesus.
Paul worries that the
Corinthians will be taken in by these false-teachers. ‘I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve
by his cunning, your thoughts will be led away from pure devotion to Christ’
(3). It is interesting that in Genesis 3
the serpent beings by twisting God’s word and then simply denying God’s
word. ‘Did God say?’ ‘Surely you will not die!’ The ‘super-apostles’ were twisting and
denying the good news about Jesus!
The serpent is happy for
you to try to make yourself good enough for God by ‘obeying rules’! ‘Be a good person.’ ‘Go to church.’ ‘Pray.’
‘Be nice.’ But if that is what
you think puts you right with God then you are denying God’s Word! Solomon declared that ‘there is no-one who
does not sin’ (1 Kgs 8:46). Jesus said
that no one is good, but God alone (Mk 10:18).
Paul explained that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(Rom 3:23).
There
is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.
There is no guilt that Jesus’ blood cannot cover. When Jesus completed His work on the cross He
cried, ‘It is finished’, which means that there is nothing for us to add. But if you don’t think you need His
forgiveness, and if you don’t want His Holy Spirit to begin a work of making you
more like Christ then there is no hope for you.
Jesus said that He came not for the righteous but to bring sinful people
to repentance. If you are simply
depending on being good, then your good works will lead you to hell.
2.
Gazing upon the glory of Christ is the
only way we can change (5-11)
My hope is that all of
you know that good news, but the question is, ‘is this grace changing us?’ In particular do we want to make much of
ourselves or do we want to make much of Jesus?
Do we seek to draw attention to any good we do or do we point to His
goodness?
The ‘super-apostles’ were
boasters. Paul wants only to boast in
Jesus. ‘Isn’t it amazing that Jesus
would leave heaven, live a life of perfect love and die an excruciating death
for someone like us?’ ‘Isn’t Jesus so
kind that He would allow us be His ambassadors in this world?’ ‘Isn’t Jesus so generous that one day He will
reward us for even the smallest and most imperfect act of obedience—like giving
a cup of water to someone in His name?’
While the super-apostles sought
to line their pockets with the Corinthian’s cash, Paul refused to charge them
for his ministry. Although he had the
right to ask the Corinthians to support his ministry he worked among them for
free. Why? He worked among them for free because he
wanted to show them that the good news is free.
He wanted to show that he was different from the ‘super-apostles’.
Ironically the
‘super-apostles’ criticised Paul for this.
Do you know that Barak Obama can charge four hundred thousand dollars
for an after-dinner speech? Well the
‘super-apostles’ boasted that they could charge big fees to have people learn
from them. So, who looks more
impressive—Barak Obama or a man who supports his ministry working a part-time
job making tents? The ‘super-apostles’
saw Paul’s humility as evidence that he was a spiritual nobody.
But Paul is following the
example of Christ who made himself nothing, took the nature of a servant and
humbled himself to death—even death on a cross.
Paul is compelled by love (11).
I am an arrogant
man. I like to be the centre of
attention. I like to be told that I am
great. I want to boast of any good I
do. So, how do we change? One of the most important verses in this
letter goes as follows: ‘And we all, with unveiled face; beholding the glory of
the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to
another. For this comes from the Lord
who is the Spirit’ (3:18). We become
like Jesus as we gaze upon His beauty!
Look at the lovely person
of Jesus going around doing good. Look
at the suffering Jesus dying for you in love.
Look at the risen and conquering Jesus inviting you to Himself. Remember that He promises to be with us even
when dearest friends desert us. He
delights in you, despite all our imperfections and sin. He makes much of you, holding you to Himself
as a dearly loved child. He sees us when
no one notices us. May Christ so work in
our hearts that it gives us more joy to boast in Him rather than boast in
ourselves.
3.
Be careful who you listen to (12-15)
‘Their end corresponds to
their deeds’ (15). Those are chilling
words for the ‘super-apostles’. Paul
sees Satan himself behind their ministry.
He calls them false-apostles and deceitful workmen. It can be hard to spot a false-teacher. The ‘super-apostles’ masqueraded as servants
of righteousness. ‘Satan himself
masquerades as an angel of light.’
I am not saying that
every television preacher is a false-teacher but there are parallels between
what the ‘super-apostles’ and the ‘the prosperity preachers’ you see on
‘Christian’ television. Both have no
place for suffering in the Christian life.
Be careful who you listen to!
God calls us to come
singing, ‘Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.’ God calls us to behold the glory of Jesus and
let His Holy Spirit make us more and more like Him. God holds His children close to His
heart. Then in the coming ages those who
trust in Christ alone will display the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness
towards us in Christ.
Conclusion
Henry Gerecke was the
Lutheran chaplain to the prisoners at Nuremberg. When Albert Speer and others started coming
to his chapel services he wrote, “I felt sure that others’ prayers were with me
because it was not possible to win them to the foot of the cross without the
intersessions of God’s people.” Prayer
and the message of the cross. There was
also great love. It was not easy for
Gerecke to love these men. His two sons
had served as soldiers in American army during the war and he had been an army
chaplain. But he asked God’s Spirit to
give Him God’s love. At one stage,
because of his age, he was given the opportunity to quit being chaplain at
Nuremberg and go home to his wife, who he had not been for over two years. The prisoners wrote to his wife asking for
her to encourage him to stay. ‘During
this past month he has shown us uncompromising friendliness … in these
surrounding in which … we find only prejudice, cold distain or hatred.’
As we have been looking
at this section of 2 Corinthians we have been thinking about doing God’s work
God’s way. The way to do God’s work is
to pray, love and be clear with the truth.
That is what we see in the ministry of the apostle Paul. We see his love and devotion to the truth in
these verses. Read his letters and you
will see the great emphasis he puts on prayer.
It’s so exciting because it is a ministry that we can share in. We can pray.
We can love because we have been first loved in Christ. We can be clear about the truth as we boast
of what Jesus has done for us!
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