Examine Yourself to See If You Are in the Faith What is in Your Heart 2 Corinthians 3

Examine Yourself to See If You Are in the Faith

What is in Your Heart

2 Corinthians 3

To enter the ministry you must have knowledge

Knowledge of God’s Word

But if all you have is knowledge, your ministry will kill you and others

Only a heart filled with the Spirit will be able to give life and freedom

The heart filled with the Spirit will love people

The names of people will be written on the heart

The heart of compassion and love

Where mercy and grace are arms always stretched out with the strength of humility

No matter the pain, the hope is for others to experience the glory of God

When we minister by the Spirit, others will write our names on their hearts

Freedom will come from the Spirit

Who binds us together in love

It is what’s in your heart that matters

What is in Your Heart

2 Corinthians 3

It may be that the question…

 “What is in your heart?” is too familiar.

Maybe we push off the real

examination of what is in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 3 is a real look at the heart.

There are those in Corinth that

want to see Paul’s credentials.

When I entered the ministry I did

not have any seminary credentials.

I could not rely on a piece of paper to

tell others I was approved because

I had passed certain requirements.

I was ordained at age 19 or 20, not

because I had a passing grade in school.

I was ordained as an elder because I had

a testimony within the church and without,

(1 Timothy 3:7) of a man who was sharing the Gospel,

touching people’s lives in a positive Christ-like way.

 

At age 30, I was ordained as an elder

worthy of double honor. (1 Timothy 5:17)

I was ordained because I was

doing the work of a minister. 

My heart compelled me to serve the people

in the Church and outside the Church.

It was the people I served who

validated the process of elder and pastor.

The ordination certification gave me

the right to preform weddings and gave

me easier access when visiting hospitals.

 

The paper certificate made

very little difference in my life.

 What made the difference was the heart.

My heart was full of love for God and people

and in the hearts of the people was a love for me.

Later, I got my seminary degree.

 It was good for my discipline and the value of input

I got from the teachers even though, due to my

age and experience, the instructors looked up to me.

 

Paul in addressing the

Corinthians laid out his credentials.

Paul’s credentials were the lives

of the people he ministered to.

 

They were walking letters

testifying of the man Paul was.

The testimony was not written

on paper, but on hearts.

Paul’s ministry changed

hearts which changed lives.

On Paul’s heart were written

the names of those Corinthians…

Names connected to his affection and love.

Paul made it clear the Law of Moses was good.

Knowing God’s Word is important but

ministry is not a classroom of knowledge…

A certificate of passing grades.

Ministry is of the heart.

You need to know what you are doing

but if your ministry is not out of a loving

and compassionate heart, you missed it.

Paul goes on to emphasize the

importance of the Spirit in ministry.

 

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant —

not of the letter but of the Spirit;

for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

If we minister out of our knowledge it

produces a mechanical following of Christ…

Where we see pleasing God as dos and don’t as laws.

This type of ministry produced Pharisees.

The ministry of the Spirit is written on the heart.

It is ministry for compassion and

love, the heart, the seat of affection.

There is freedom because

the goal is not judgment that condemns.

The Goal is restoration.

As bad as things got in Corinth,

as strong as some rejected Paul…

Paul never stopped loving

and caring for the people.

Paul did not write them off.

  

Paul worked to restore his relationship

and their relationship with God.

The Bible says…

 “Train up a child in the way he should go

and when he is old he will not depart”

It is not just the educational knowledge

that will bring us back to the right way…

It is the training in love.

When a child knows that his

training came from a heart of love…

Where mercy and grace are arms always

stretched out with the strength of humility.

That child will not be connected just by

knowledge, but by a bond in the heart.

A bond that will want to return

to the place of acceptance.

Holy Spirit you are the Teacher.

Teach us all things.

Show us how to take your Word

beyond our head and into our hearts.

Lead us Holy Spirit from the heart.

May you write the names of others on our

hearts so we may love them as you love us.

Help us to love those who have

forgotten how much we love them.

Don’t let us use our rights to drive others away.

 Now the Lord is the Spirit,

and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory,

are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Spirit of the Lord transform us into the Lord’s

likeness with ever-increasing glory.

Here is my heart!

Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 3 NIV

3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant- — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.