[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfreda, Georgia. This is the next message in our series in the book of 2 Corinthians, entitled, We Faint Not.
[0:14] Take your Bible, if you would, and open it to 2 Corinthians 2. We do have an evangelist, Brother Pete Young, I believe is the name, visiting with us.
[0:24] Would you just stand up there, Brother. If you're glad to have him tonight, say amen. He is visiting all the way from Cincinnati. And so glad to have him with us here tonight. And I'm sure awful happy to have the Snowed family.
[0:37] I turned around to Brother Jeff and I said, are the Snoweds going to come to church tonight? Because I didn't see them. But I think they came in right on time. All right. Take your Bible. 2 Corinthians 2.
[0:49] Let's read from verse 12 down to verse 17. The Bible says, Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother.
[1:04] But taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia. Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the Savior of his knowledge by us in every place.
[1:17] For we are unto God a sweet Savior of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the Savior of death unto death, and to the other the Savior of life unto life.
[1:30] And who is sufficient for these things? 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.
[1:43] Father, I pray that you would take these few short minutes and help this passage speak to our hearts and come to life to us. I pray, God, that you'd help us to recognize open doors. I pray you'd help us to realize that we have victory in you.
[1:55] And I pray, dear God, that you would help us, that we would handle your word correctly. And I pray, God, you'd bless this church. Thank you for the Snowed family. Thank you for every missionary that's here. God, I pray that this would be a blessing as they go forth as missionaries.
[2:10] In Jesus' precious name, amen. You know that by now the Apostle Paul has really had a rough relationship with the church at Corinth. He's a missionary pastor.
[2:21] He has gone to Corinth. He spent 18 months there getting the church started. And you know that there's now been more than one letter already written to them and more than one visit already made to them.
[2:31] And the church has got all sorts of problems. There's all kinds of things going on in the church. And Paul's pretty upset about it. He's spent the first chapter saying, hey, I really did try to do what I said I'd do.
[2:43] And I know you're kind of doubting me, but I really did try to do what I said I would do. Then he's trying to remind them that they ought to forgive a guy. And he gets down here and he's been kind of discouraged talking until he gets to this verse.
[2:57] And here's what he says. The first thing is, God opened doors for me. Why don't you write that down? God opened doors for Paul. God opened doors for Paul.
[3:07] In verse 12 it says, a door was opened unto me of the Lord. And remember, things have been kind of bleak. Things have been kind of dreary. Things have been kind of bad. In chapter 1 and verse 8 he said, I don't want you to be ignorant of our trouble.
[3:20] We've been pressed out of measure above strength. And so much that we despaired of life. We had the sentence of death in ourselves. The church had been challenging him. Circumstances were out of his control.
[3:32] There were problems in the church. The apostle Paul, the apostle Paul has got an open door here. But it has a lot of issues in the place.
[3:42] And in verse 13 he says this, I got over here to Troas and I was looking to meet up with Titus. So I could find out what's going on in your church. And I can't find my buddy. I can't find the guy that I sent to speak to you.
[3:52] And I'm discouraged. I'm discouraged. I want you to realize, two or three things before you get through this passage tonight. God opens doors. Amen. But when God opens doors, that doesn't mean that there's not problems.
[4:06] The apostle Paul comes down in this verse. He says, God opened a door for me. There was a door opened here. There was an opportunity opened here for me to be able to preach the gospel. It is God that opens doors for us to preach.
[4:17] It is God that causes people to really listen and really be saved. Let me just give you a few verses. And you won't have time to look them up. But in Acts chapter 14 and verse 27, the Bible says that Paul returns from his missionary work.
[4:31] Back to Paul and Barnabas. They go back to the church at Antioch. And when they get there, they got all the church together. And they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he, God, had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
[4:43] Sometimes when you're trying to win souls to Christ, you think it's you that does it. You think it's how smooth you talk and how good you know the verses and how well you communicate the gospel. And without a doubt, all that's true.
[4:54] And we ought to work at that. But it is God that opens the door of faith. It is God that deals with our heart. In 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 8, Paul said, I've got open doors. I've got opportunities.
[5:06] But with them I have obstacles. 1 Corinthians 16, 8. I will tarry at Ephesus unto Pentecost for a great door. An effectual is opening to me.
[5:16] And there are many adversaries. I think in our churches today, I think in your life you'd say an open door is where God opens the door. It allows people to hear the gospel. It allows me to do my ministry.
[5:27] It allows me to be a blessing. But everything is going along smoothly. But that's not what's happening. The apostle Paul says, I've got an open door. But boy, I'm telling you, I've got an open door. But there are a lot of adversaries.
[5:38] In Colossians chapter 4, verse 2, you ought to pray for open doors. You ought to beg God for open doors. It says in Colossians 4 to continue in prayer. Verse 3, with all praying for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance.
[5:54] That God would open a place where we could speak, a place where the gospel could get through. And we could explain the mystery of Christ to them. Our church ought to pray, God, help us have open doors.
[6:05] I don't know if you ever do this. I give out gospel tracts. I leave gospel tracts everywhere I go. You could track me by my tracts. I promise you. Today, we were sitting in the waiting room for the baby to be born.
[6:18] And Chris goes in the bathroom. And he comes back out and said, Dad, that was a weird place to leave the gospel tract. He's talking about family violence. I said, I figured they might need a gospel tract. Got a little family violence going on.
[6:28] So I put one on the top of the thing. And I put one way back in there. Because when they move that one, they'll find another one a little bit later on. Sly smart. You've got to pray God opens doors. It's God who makes a guy read a tract.
[6:40] It's God who makes a guy hear the gospel. It's God that opens the doors. But we need to recognize God's open doors more than obstacles. Could I challenge you to realize Paul's having a rough time?
[6:52] Could I challenge you to realize Paul had a lot of rough time? Could I challenge you to realize that there are large obstacles, but there's a God who opens doors. And we need to be watching for that and anticipating it.
[7:03] Second thing I want you to write down quickly. Look if you would in verse 14. Paul had victory no matter the circumstances. Paul had victory no matter the circumstances.
[7:13] Hey, I've been under pressure. I've been pressed out of measure. I've been to the point of wanting to die. I came to this town and even Titus, my buddy, who I was looking forward to spending time with and getting an update on from the church home.
[7:25] I was looking forward to that. And he's not even here. And Paul's kind of sounding discouraged. When he sounds a little bit discouraged, all of a sudden he stands up and says, Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.
[7:41] Thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Are you in the middle of a mess? You've been trying to serve God and obey God and giving and praying and working.
[7:53] And you wonder sometimes if it's worth it. And you wonder if God's going to use you. And you wonder. Here's what Paul said, man. He said, I'm down. I've been under the pressure. I've been pressed out of measure. But above what my strength was able to handle.
[8:05] I had the sentence of death on me. But thanks be to God, I always triumph. Thanks be to God, I always triumph. It is impossible for the victor not to have the victory.
[8:17] We are in Christ. He is the victor. We are in Christ and he is the victor. By the way, in 2 Corinthians 1.20, all of his promises are yea and amen.
[8:30] You remember that verse? For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him amen unto the glory of God by us. Every promise, everything our God says is true. You can count on it.
[8:41] You can trust it. We have a great God. Romans 8.37, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 1 Corinthians 15.57, thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[8:56] Therefore, hey, hang in there. Be steadfast because what you're doing for God is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15.58. John 16.33, John 16.33, Jesus said, These things have spoken to you that in me you might have peace.
[9:12] That in me you might have peace. In the world you are going to have tribulation. In the world you are going to have problems and troubles and adversaries. But be of good cheer.
[9:24] You're in me and I have overcome the world. You are in me and I have overcome the world. Now here comes something really exciting and wild that you need to look at.
[9:40] Look at verse 15. Look at verse 15. For we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish.
[9:51] Paul's real audience is Jesus. Paul's real audience is Jesus. Whether people get saved or not, Paul is preaching for Jesus.
[10:03] Some have called it the audience of one. Paul said, When I preach and there are lost people and they don't get saved, it's a sweet saver to Jesus. And when I preach and they get saved, it's a sweet saver to Jesus.
[10:15] You see, the whole point is when I'm preaching, I may be speaking to you, but I'm really speaking to him. Because it's all about what he wants. It's all about how he wants me to live. And the truth is I'll spread, I'll preach the gospel and I'll teach these people and I'll share what the Bible says.
[10:28] And they may accept it and they may reject it. That's not really my responsibility. I'm supposed to please him. Paul said, Hey, I'm doing the right thing. And it's a sweet saver to our God.
[10:39] Do you know that, did you know that you ought to, we live for one person. Did you know we live for one person? One person's opinion of us is all that matters.
[10:50] One person's the person, it's our goal to please him. One person. It's a sweet saver to Jesus. Not the church, not the pastor, not the husband, not the wife. But I want to serve Jesus.
[11:02] I want to please him. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10, the Bible says, Do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
[11:16] You know, our goal is to please Jesus. Our goal is to please Jesus. Did you know that your goal is not to be a good husband? Your goal is to please Jesus. By the way, when you're pleasing Jesus, you will be a good husband.
[11:27] Amen? It'll work that way. In Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 10, your Bible says, Proving what is acceptable, pleasing what the Lord loves.
[11:39] Proving what's acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. You see, Paul said in Corinthians, he said, Hey, it's a sweet saver in his nostrils.
[11:51] Whether they get saved or whether they don't get saved, I'm worried about pleasing him. I'm preaching to all of you, but I'm worried about pleasing him. Paul said, he said, we ought to seek to please God, not men. Paul said, we ought to prove what's acceptable to God, not us.
[12:04] That we ought to prove what's acceptable to God. Colossians 1.10, we're to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. We're to walk worthy. It ought to be like the whole time. It's like, God, is this what you want out of me?
[12:15] Is this how you want me to live? Jesus, is this what you're looking for? Lord, work in my life and help me to serve you and to honor you. I want to please you more than I want to do anything else in this world. I want to live a life that pleases you.
[12:25] 1 Thessalonians 2.4, the Bible says, But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our heart.
[12:40] We walk to please him. 1 Thessalonians 4.1, how you ought to walk and to please God. Paul said, I want to teach you how to walk and to please God. Now, let me just stop here and show you something. There's a truth intention.
[12:52] You know, I'm already pleasing to God. God already loves me and I already have everything in him. And he's already excited about me and he's already pleased with me and he already loves me. And he could be no happier with me than he'll ever be.
[13:05] He could be no more pleased with me than he'll ever be. He's 100% pleased with me, but I'm supposed to please him. I'll never take advantage of the fact that I know by grace he's pleased with me.
[13:15] And I know by salvation he's pleased with me. Betty and I have been married a little while. And I can tell you that Betty's pleased with me as a husband. She stated that all many times in 39 years more or less proves that she's been pleased with me.
[13:29] But I can tell you that though she's pleased, there are pleasing things that I can do. You get the difference? Though she is pleased, there are pleasing things that I can do. And though I know that God loves me and I know that my sins are forgiven and I know I'm a new creature, I don't always live up to that.
[13:44] And I want to be. I want to be who I am. I want to do like who I am. You see, I am a Christian. And because I am, I do. But I want my practice, I want my walk to get in line with that.
[13:57] To the individual, it might be a different result when Paul preaches. But he's doing what Jesus wants. Do you realize that when you share the gospel, some people are going to reject you?
[14:09] Do you realize the majority are going to reject you? But your goal is not to please them. And some of you want to make the gospel where everybody will like the gospel, but it's impossible to make the gospel where everybody likes it.
[14:20] Then you become a man pleaser. So you just got to tell the truth. You're a dirty, rotten sinner. You deserve to go to hell. The Bible says in Romans chapter 3 verse 10, there's none righteous. The Bible says all of sin comes short of the glory of God.
[14:32] The Bible says the wages of sin is death. You just got to tell the truth. You just got to tell the truth. You say they don't like that. And we need to kind of dumb it down and make it nicer and make it sweeter. Paul said, I'm not preaching to them.
[14:43] I'm preaching to him. And it's a sweet saver to him. It's a sweet saver to him. Some of them will go to hell and some of them will go to heaven. And he even said, boy, this is tough.
[14:54] It's tough. Even as a man, it's tough. Look at what he said in verse 16. To the one we are the saver. To the one we are the saver of death. The flavor of death.
[15:04] The sweet smell of death unto death. And to the other, the sweet saver. The sweet flavor of life unto life. Who is sufficient for these things?
[15:16] We take the gospel. We share the gospel. Who is sufficient? In chapter 3 verse 5 he said, our sufficiency is of God. I could never do the ministry God's given me if God didn't work in me.
[15:28] If God didn't show his power. The first thing you've seen is that God opens doors. The first thing you've seen is that God opens doors. The second thing you've seen is that God always makes us victorious.
[15:39] In Christ we always have the victory. When everything else is falling apart and the whole world thinks it won't work. And no matter what happens in the election. No matter what happens in the world. No matter what happens when I preach.
[15:50] No matter what happens when I raise my support. No matter what happens, I'm a Christian. And I will always have victory. Because he is the victor. And I am in him. Third thing.
[16:00] Paul says, I use the word of God sincerely. Look at you at verse 17. For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God.
[16:13] In the sight of God speak we in Christ. Underline, we're not like the guys that corrupt the Bible. That word corrupt there. That word corrupt there is a word that speaks of peddling it.
[16:26] Being a con artist. It's the idea of somebody who uses the Bible to make money. It's the idea of, well, just about every church in the country.
[16:37] It's the idea of about every preacher everywhere. It's all about, hey, y'all need to send me some seed faith money. If y'all send a little bit. If everybody put a hundred bucks in. In fact, if you'll give $10,000 towards our building project.
[16:48] I can promise you, God's going to give you $100,000. Y'all need to just trust Jesus. Go ahead and give the money. Hey, if you'll send in a $500 bill. If you'll send in a $5 bill. If you'll do, if you'll just send whatever your faith will allow you to.
[17:00] God's going to bless you. Paul said, I'm not in that business. I'm not in that business. I preach what it really says. I preach what the Bible really says. I don't preach that. Paul knew that it was God working in him.
[17:14] Now listen to this. This is a pretty tough thing. Boy, as a preacher, you know, as a pastor, what you want is the church to grow. You want to figure out every way to make things happen. You want more people to come to church. I need to be cooler.
[17:25] You know, I need to get real cool. I need to, I need to be able to, to just make people love me and fall in love with my personality. But here's what Paul said, man, I preached to him. Some of them, it's going to be death.
[17:36] And some, it's going to be life. Who can handle this? Oh, God is sufficient. And here's what Paul said. It's not me. It's God. And there's only one way we build a work. Look, if you would, in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, by the grace of God, I am what I am.
[17:52] But his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I. But the grace of God, which was with me. The grace of God.
[18:03] But if I teach a Sunday school class and God uses it, it'll be the grace of God. Now, that's no excuse for not working as hard as you can. Paul said, it's grace, but I worked harder than everybody. It's grace, but I worked harder than everybody.
[18:14] It was grace. Hey, a missionary, you're on, you're raising sports, you're on deputation. You can't say, well, if God wants me to get the field, in his grace, he'll provide the money. Paul said, by grace, I am what I am.
[18:24] But I did work harder than everybody else. But it's grace that did it. It's two sides. There it is again. Those two ministries. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 29. Paul knew it was the power of God.
[18:35] He said, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. God's working in me. God's doing the work in me.
[18:45] It was the effectual working of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 7 that made Paul the man of God that God could use. Paul's ministry wasn't even based on how good he could talk or how smart he was and how he knew how to turn a phrase because he was trained in one of the best schools of his day.
[19:04] He was an extremely wise man. He spoke in several languages. He said he spoke in tongues more than you all. That doesn't mean he spoke in jibber-jabber more than everybody else. It meant I know more languages than all of y'all put together.
[19:17] So I know more languages than you guys do. Paul was a very smart man. But guess what he said when he went down to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1? When he went to Corinth, guess what he said? He said, I, brethren, when I came to you, I did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
[19:33] He said, I didn't come in here being the best, most polished speaker you've ever heard. I didn't come in here with wisdom that all the Greek philosophers would know. I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
[19:47] So all I knew was this, that you died and you sinned and you deserve to die and go to hell, but Jesus died to pay your price. And I came preaching one thing, Jesus. Verse 4, he said, Paul simply lifted up Jesus crucified.
[20:11] You could accept it or you could reject it. But Paul was going to tell you the truth. He did not corrupt, use wastefully, try to make money off of the Bible. He didn't change the truth or the Bible to get a crowd or a following.
[20:24] He simply said what God said. He simply preached the book. It's a pretty simple thing. Sometimes it's a pretty embarrassing thing when somebody comes up and says, really, there wasn't that much in your sermon.
[20:38] It was just a bunch of Bible. And anybody could, I mean, really, it's just what the Bible said. That's all you said is what the Bible said. I mean, there was nothing cute. There was nothing. I mean, you didn't say a new thing. Do you know, no preacher ought to be. It's not our job to be saying new things.
[20:50] It's our job to be saying the old thing to new people. It's our job to be sharing God's word. That's our job. So here it is. Paul said, things have been going rough.
[21:02] And I've been a little bit discouraged. And some of y'all hadn't cared about me. And I've been under a great deal of pressure. I've gotten to the point I wondered if I was going to live or not. I had the sentence of death on myself.
[21:14] But God opened me a door to preach. God opened me a door to do ministry. It's not you that does it. It's God that does it. And Paul said, by the way, even though God opened me a door, Titus wasn't where he was supposed to be.
[21:24] And I couldn't find Titus. I was a little bit discouraged about that. But thanks to God who always makes me triumph. In Christ, he said. Oh, we look at it. He said, triumph in Christ. Because our victory is in Christ.
[21:35] It's not in us. It's not in our ministry. It's not in our power. It's not in our wisdom. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul said, let me just end this by telling you. I'll end this chapter by saying this to you. I didn't play around with the Bible.
[21:48] I just preached it. I didn't change it. I didn't fix it. I didn't try to come up with cute ways of saying it. I just preached Jesus. And not for money, but for truth.
[21:58] You know what? God will use every one of us. Do you want God to use you? Some of us are going to be preachers and missionaries. Some of us are going to be Sunday school teachers. Some of us are going to work in children's church. All of us ought to be discipling somebody else and teaching somebody else.
[22:11] All of us ought to be sharing the gospel with other people. And he will do great things in your life. Why don't you trust him? You might have been sitting back and saying, I really can't do much witnessing.
[22:23] I really can't do that. That the discipleship. But I really can't teach the Sunday school. And you've got a whole bunch of reasons why you can't be used. And I would agree with you. You look like somebody who just couldn't do it.
[22:35] But you might could if you realize this. That it's God who opened the doors. And you might could if you just knew that victory is not in you. It's in Christ. And you might could if you knew you didn't need to fix anything.
[22:47] Just preach what he said. And let him do something. You can be used. You can be used. God has a plan for you. Trust Jesus. Father, I love you. And I thank you for the chance to preach your word.
[22:58] I pray that your people tonight would honor you by trusting you to open doors. Would honor you by knowing that you work miracles in their lives. That would honor you by trusting your Bible to get the job done.
[23:09] And I'll give you great honor and glory and praise for what you do. God, show yourself tonight. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. If the Lord spoke into your heart. I ask you to find a place. Up here at the front to pray.
[23:21] And say, God, I'm going to trust you. And God, I'm going to trust that you will open the doors for me. And God, I'm going to trust you that in the darkest valley. In the hardest times of my life. And when things aren't going right.
[23:32] That I will always triumph in you. And I can trust you for that. And I can just trust your simple word. I don't have to fix it. I don't have to do anything else. I don't have to make money with it.
[23:42] I don't have to be cute with it. I just got to preach it. And you'll do it. Once you find him. Maybe some of you haven't been doing the ministry God has laid out for you. And tonight's your night. And you ought to say, God, use me.
[23:53] Do something in my life. Use me in the ministry. For your honor and glory. It's time to leave the excuses and trust him. Father in heaven, I love you. And I praise you. I pray you to work in your people's lives.
[24:03] I'll give you all the glory and all the praise. In Jesus' name. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.