Sermon Tone Analysis

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Introduction
One of my favorite books, you’ll probably guess is a C.S. Lewis book.
In the sixth book (not the first) of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician’s Nephew, one of my favorite moments in prose happens.
Aslan the lion—who represents Christ—sings all of the world into being.
It’s a stunning scene.
Watching the whole scene is a man, Uncle Andrew, whose heart is not moved by what he hears and sees.
The scene wraps up like this:
The scene wraps up like this:
“the longer and more beautifully the lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring.
Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.
Uncle Andrew did.
He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song.
Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to.
And when at last the lion spoke and said, "Narnia awake," he didn't hear any words: he heard only a snarl.
And when the beasts spoke in answer, he heard only barkings, growlings, bayings, and howlings.”
Need
Need
Lewis reminds us that there are those that are completely blind to God’s glory.
For us to see life as it really is, we need have our eyes opened to the truth.
But this morning, we need to see that being transformed by the grace of God changes our standing before God in such a miraculous way that now we are free to be bold truth speakers.
Now we see that what people around us need is not just to be nicer.
Now because of the gospel, light has come into our dark worlds and we are seeing things as they actually are.
And so we proclaim Christ as Lord and we empty ourselves out for those around us.
This is a radical change that Paul is talking about.
But just like some in this room, the church at Corinth still had its doubts.
Background
For these first seven chapters, we are walking with Paul as he makes it plain to the church at Corinth that he is a true apostle, called by God, and empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit.
In this part of his defense (or what is sometimes called an “apology” - not as in “I’m sorry”, but as in a defense), he is moving on in his discussion from presenting the betterness of the gospel that he’s preaching to showing exactly how he has been faithful as a preacher or herald of that gospel.
In chapter four, he’s going to explain why—even though he’s suffered tremendously—he is comforted by the knowledge that he is preaching a beautiful gospel that is completely worth it, even in the face of suffering.
In chapters five and six, he’ll go on to make even clearer what this gospel is and what it means to be a part of ministering in this new covenant.
In our section today, Paul is arguing that the dawn of the New Covenant is the dawning of something much bigger.
It’s the dawning of God’s new creation.
In spite of the rejection of his gospel, Paul doesn’t lose heart in his ministry because through his ministry God is bringing the beginning of the new creation in our fallen world.
Why?
Because the light of the gospel has dawned in the face of Christ.
So in the new and better glory of this new covenant of Christ, God’s glory is on full display without a veil.
Jesus displays God perfectly.
But many do not see and exult in the glory of God reflected in Jesus Christ.
Does that mean that Paul’s message or credibility was undone by those rejections?
This was a real question for Corinth.
Outline
Paul’s main point in this section is that: Even in rejection, Paul endured with integrity, specifically because the New Covenant of Christ means God is forming a new creation that could break any spiritual darkness.
In our text, Paul gives us three different effects of the new and better covenant of Christ.
Paul’s main point in this section is that: even in the face of spiritual blindness, Paul could endure with integrity, because in the New Covenant of Christ is forming a new creation that could break any spiritual darkness.
We endure with integrity.
2.
The natural state is spiritual blindness.
3.
We preach the light of Christ and the love of others.
So, let’s look at the first few verses...
Body
1.
We Endure with Integrity (1-2)
Explanation
Because we are transformed by the Christ, we endure with integrity.
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.
We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
Remember that we are in the middle of Paul’s discussion.
He’s tying this text to what has come before it.
He has said that:
(ESV) — 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 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.
So we have been transformed.
The Spirit’s work, in Christ, has removed the veil of the Old Covenant and brought us full-faced into the better New Covenant.
“Therefore”, because of that transformation, which Paul reminds them is entirely based on God’s abounding mercy, we endure.
God called Paul into this ministry.
The word he uses there for ministry is diakonos.
He’s pointing out that he’s been called—through mercy—to serve the church.
His ministry is service.
So, with that anchor of truth, he can endure.
Endure what?
He’s going to go into detail in the next two sections about the kinds of trials we can all endure.
But, he has suffered a character assault of the highest order.
And he can endure it, without shame, because the God of the Universe has mercifully removed the veil.
Paul, who was once far off, has been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Now, that is a source of courage to face trials.
Kent Hughes said: “the combination of this mercy and the astonishingly surpassing glory of his (New Covenant) ministry heartened him and kept him from losing heart.”
[On a side note: doing ministry can—at times—leave you open to deep seasons of discouragement.
Laboring in love for the sake of others in their darkest moments can leave you terribly disheartened…but the key is to do it based on the alien power of God’s mercy in the gospel of grace]
Yet there’s a second effect as well: he is not only energized to face trials.
Now he can be completely honest—full of integrity—about what is and is not the truth.
There is a hint here that the folks at Corinth who are opposing Paul are not acting with integrity.
Paul alludes to the fact that they are the negative characters that he is now free to avoid.
Paul isn’t serving for money.
He’s not serving for fame.
Not for any human approval.
So, he was not going to tamper or literally “adulterate” the message.
Paul can stand unashamed before the Lord in Christ, so he has no reason to alter any part of the message.
Instead, Paul brought the open statement of the truth.
And he can stand without shrinking before God on that.
It would be easy here to spend a long time listing all of the ways that modern so-called churches twist the message of the gospel to gain fame, gain resources, or gain members.
But, instead let’s note: Paul labels that wrong.
We don’t massage the message.
All man-centered practices in the church are idolatrous and wrong.
Because Paul was transformed by the Christ, he endure with integrity.
And so can we.
Illustration
Right now cheating in sports are getting a lot of press.
College basketball, the World Cup, professional cycling, and the Olympics have all made major news because of competitors seeking an edge outside of the rules of competition.
But it’s not just in sports.
Our culture is filled with examples of politicians, of students, of businessmen, and of pastors who want to gain something outside of the bounds of the ethical bounds.
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