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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 16
17 September 2006
Ye Are the Epistle of Christ
(Message
delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Sep 10,
06)
Text: 2 Cor
3:1-3
Usually, when we go to a new
workplace, we feel more confident with a letter of recommendation as it
speaks well of ourselves and introduces our credentials so that we may
be welcomed warmly.
Concerning spiritual matters
and sound doctrines, it is easier for us to welcome new preachers,
teachers or pastors with a letter of recommendation from the leaders of
our mother church. How about the apostle Paul?
Paul’s Apostleship
The
apostle Paul did serve “the Lord with all humility of mind, and with
many tears” (Acts 20:19), and he was not ashamed to write about
himself as “the least of the apostles” (1 Cor 15:9), and then “less than
the least of all saints” (Eph 3:8), and then “chief” of sinners (1 Tim
1:15). Therefore, only when it was necessary to contend for God’s truth
against false teachers, false prophets or false apostles (2 Cor 11:13)
as well as to authenticate God’s Word through his preaching, teaching
and writing ministry (1 Cor 14:37; 2 Cor 2:17, 12:19, 13:3; 1 Thess
2:13; 2 Thess 3:14; cf. Eph 2:20; 2 Peter 3:15-16) did Paul mention his
apostleship as we can see in his epistles to the Corinthians and to some
other churches.
To the Corinthians, Paul
defended his apostleship as “an apostle of Jesus Christ
through/by the will of God” (1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1). He wrote to
them, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you
in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Cor
12:12), “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus
Christ our Lord?” (1 Cor 9:1) The most convincing proof of Paul’s
apostleship is the conversion of believers in Corinth, a city notorious
for sexual immorality: “are not ye my work in the Lord? If I
be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the
seal (token/proof) of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord”
(1 Cor 9:1-2).
My dear
friends, are you and I the token of a new life in Christ, transformed by
God’s inspired Word the Bible, which has been completed and perfectly
preserved for us today?
Letter of Recommendation
The apostle Paul was not new
to the Corinthians as he founded the church in Corinth in his second
missionary journey (Acts 18). He wrote to them, “for in Christ Jesus
I have begotten you through the gospel” and “for the seal of mine
apostleship are ye in the Lord” (1 Cor 4:15; 9:2). Therefore, Paul
did not need to recommend or introduce himself nor to have any letters
of recommendation to them or from them (2 Cor 3:1).
It is a blessing and joy to
welcome God’s servants whom we have known without any doubt, suspicion,
or reservation as long as we all have the same mind, the same
convictions, and the same stand based on God’s perfect Word alone!
Heart-to-Heart Ministry
Our Lord Jesus does love His
sheep, saying “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep, … and know my sheep, and am known of mine,”
but the hireling “careth not for the sheep” (John 10:11, 13-14).
Paul,
constrained by Christ’s love (2 Cor 5:12), wrote to the Corinthians, “Ye
are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all
men” (2 Cor 3:2). Paul did not preach, teach or write to them just
for the sake of preaching, teaching or writing, but his heart was for
them and they were in his heart, not like those who “glory in
appearance, and not in heart” (2 Cor 5:12). Paul wrote to
them, “I thank my God always on your behalf,” and “I write not
these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you,” and “for
out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with
many tears,” and “For we are not as many, which corrupt
the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God speak
we in Christ,” and
“O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is
enlarged,” and “ye are in our hearts to die and
live with you,” and “… I love you not? God knoweth,” and “…
for I seek not yours, but you … I will very gladly spend and
be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be
loved,” (1 Cor 1:4, 4:14; 2 Cor 2:4, 2:17, 6:11, 7:3, 11:11,
12:14-15). Truly, constrained by Christ’s love, Paul was so concerned
for the salvation and spiritual growth of the Corinthians that he did
not spare his life for them. What the Lord had done and written in his
heart “Christ speaking in me”(2 Cor 13:3), Paul passed to the
Corinthians with a desire that their lives might reflect what he
preached, taught and wrote (God’s Word) to them. That is what Paul meant
when he said, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts.” And
many have read and known Paul’s loving heart and the fruit of his labour
through the lives of the Corinthians.
May Christ’s love constrain us
so that what we do for others comes from our heart and touches their
heart according to God’s Word.
Ye Are the Epistle of
Christ
The Corinthians were not only
Paul’s epistle, but also the epistle of Christ as he also said, “Not
I, but Christ” (Gal 2:20). “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ” (2 Cor 3:3), or we may
recite literally word for word, “Being manifested/known that you are the
epistle of Christ.” My dear friends, can others know that we are the
epistles of Christ? What does it mean?
Like a
mirror reflecting exactly the light it receives, to be the epistle of
Christ is to reflect the life and the Word of Christ in our lives, “He
that saith he abideth in him (Christ) ought himself also so to
walk (to keep on walking), even as he (Christ) walked”
(1 John 2:6). Many people have not read God’s Word the Bible and many
others might have read it but not properly or have been misled, then can
they read God’s Word when they come into contact with you and me? How
can we be the epistle of Christ?
A New Heart:
We have learnt from God’s Word that the human heart is too depraved and
corrupted to be improved or changed by men and that it needs to be
cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and be created new in
Him. The first and most important condition for you and me to be a
living epistle of Christ is to be born again and to have “fleshy
tables of the heart” (v 3). That is the fulfilment of God’s
promise, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a
new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of
their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh” (Eze
11:19). That is the gracious work of the Lord in the lives of those who
commit their hearts to Him with trust and obedience. God’s Word cannot
grow in a stony heart, in a proud, arrogant, stubborn, doubtful,
faithless, and sinful heart. This stony heart is to be taken out first
in sincere repentance and submission, and then a heart of flesh is
given, a humble, meek, gentle, teachable, and faithful heart which
thirsts for God’s Word like a newborn baby.
Written with the Holy Spirit:
One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to write God’s Word in our
new heart in Christ. He speaks to us and writes in our heart when we
read God’s Word or when we hear God’s Word from His faithful servants, “I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts”
(Heb 8:10). Then let us give our heart to the Lord, “My son, give
me thine heart, and let thine eyes
observe my ways”
(Prov 23:26), and humbly receive God’s Word with our full obedience and
submission so that He may freely write God’s Word in our heart. It means
we are to truly live by God’s Word, “Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), “by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4), and
“let the word of Christ dwell” in us richly (Col 3:16).
The Epistle of Christ:
If we are not born again and thirsting for God’s Word like a baby, we
can never be the epistle of Christ. If we do not give our heart to the
Lord, live by God’s Word, grow up in God’s Word, and fully submit
ourselves to the sole authority of God’s Word, how can the Holy Spirit
write God’s Word in our heart? We can be sure that those who dare judge,
doubt, criticise or question God’s Word can never be the epistle of
Christ. My dear friends, shall we not appreciate the gracious work of
the Holy Spirit writing God’s Word in our dedicated and submissive heart
and transforming us into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ?
It is a great privilege and
blessing to be the epistle of Christ, reflecting God’s Word and Christ’s
life so that others may read Christ’s epistle through our lives:
It is a holy epistle
as our Lord is holy. If we do not live a holy and godly life separated
from sin, self, worldliness and wrong doctrines, we fail to be the
epistle of Christ. Do others acknowledge that God is holy and His Word
is holy in our lives? Are they convicted of their sins when they contact
us? The wicked king Herod “feared John, knowing that he was a just
man and an holy” (Mark 6:20).
It is a living epistle
as our Lord is the living Word of God. It is not written with ink in
“tables of stone” (2 Cor 3:3; cf. Exod 24:12; 31:18), but with
the Spirit of the living God in our new heart in Christ. Are our lives
with all our activities a living epistle of Christ?
It is the gospel of
Christ as the
Bible says, “Only let your conversation (life and conduct) be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27). Can sinners read
the good news of Christ’s death for their sins and His resurrection for
their justification through our lives and words?
It is a loving epistle
as God is love. Do others see God’s holy love in our lives? Love that “rejoiceth
not in iniquities, but rejoiceth in truth” (1 Cor 13:6) God loves
sinners and desires them to repent to be saved but God hates sins,
unrighteousness and ungodliness. If we compromise God’s truth and
holiness for the sake of love, it is not God’s love, but human love.
It
is a comforting epistle
as our Father is “the God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3). Can others
get some encouragement and comfort from us in their troubles and trials
of life?
It is a warning epistle
as God’s judgment is true and sure upon those who reject His love and
His truth (2 Thess 2:10-12). Can sinners and backsliders get some God’s
warnings through our lives?
It is a hopeful epistle
as our Lord Jesus is our hope and His coming is our hope (1 Tim 1:1; Tit
2:13). Can others see we are not building our home on this earth but in
heaven and looking forward to the coming of Christ?
Conclusion
My dear friends, we can never
be the epistle of Christ without a new heart in Christ, the gracious
work of the Holy Spirit and our full submission to God’s Word. Can
others read the holy, living, loving, comforting, warning, and hopeful
epistle of Christ with His gospel of salvation through our lives? May
God be gracious unto us and help us reflect Him and His Word wherever we
are. Amen.
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