2 CORINTHIANS 9:1\u20135<\/b><\/p>\n
Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready<\/i><\/p>\n
(2 Cor. 9:3)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In these verses, Paul explains his reasons for sending Titus and others ahead of him to Corinth. While he assumed the Corinthians would act faithfully, he was realistic about how people behave. Sometimes they have good intentions, but they delay putting their plans into action. Paul wisely knew that his people in Corinth would need to be directed in the affairs of stewardship. Even though he had boasted about their willingness to serve, he did not take a \u201chands-off\u201d approach in the government of the affairs at Corinth. He made no naive assumptions about them.<\/p>\n
There are good lessons in this account for all Christians, as well as Gospel ministers. First of all, just as Paul had confidence that the Corinthians would do the right thing, he did not forego the necessary means in making sure they actually did the<\/i> right thing. Likewise, while God has promised that the Christian will grow in holiness and spiritual maturity, He does not leave us to ourselves assuming we will do right. God provides means for our sanctification. Through the Word and the promptings of the Spirit, through rebuke and exhortation, preaching and teaching, He urges us on in our pursuit of holiness and service. He warns us and chastises us, all with the full knowledge that those who are truly His will persevere. God has designed the Christian life to be active, to be filled with self-examination, exhortation, and instruction. It is not passive and presumptuous.<\/p>\n
Gospel ministers should not assume that their flock will remain in green pastures all on their own. While ministers maintain a healthy confidence in their people, they still exercise their duty to warn, exhort, instruct, and, yes, check up on the progress of their flock. They are intimately involved in the lives of their people, not because they have no confidence in the promises of God, but because they are faithful to exercise the means God has given for the growth of His people in holiness and service. The faithful minister, like Paul, maintains confidence but takes practical measures in making sure the people of God are remaining faithful to their calling. And Christians in general should not be presumptuous themselves, but they should take heed to attend the means God has given them for the promotion of holiness.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Jeremiah 11\u201313<\/p>\n
1 Timothy 4<\/p>\n
God has provided means for sanctification: prayer, Bible study, worship, preaching of the Word, pastoral shepherding, personal interaction among Christians, teaching, exhortation and admonishment. Are you diligent in pursuing holiness by taking advantage of these means? If not, start implementing them in your life today.<\/p>\n
For further study: Phil. 2:12\u201318 \u2022 1 Tim. 4:12\u201316 \u2022 James 2:14\u201326<\/i><\/p>\n
friday<\/p>\n
october<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2 CORINTHIANS 9:1\u20135 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready (2 Cor. 9:3). In these verses, Paul explains his reasons for sending Titus and others ahead of him to Corinth. While he assumed the Corinthians would … Continue reading “AN ACTIVE MINISTRY”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}