(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

In the preceding verses Paul made claims about himself. He could never cheapen the gospel because he was God's ambassador and living in the closest relationship with Christ. At this point he pulls himself up. He doesn't want to be like his opponents. This was just what they were doing - recommending themselves. His observations can be dealt with under three headings: Their letters, Paul's letter and Christ's letter.

(B) Their letters.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2Cor3v1.

After Paul left Corinth men began visiting the fellowship with letters of introduction written by themselves or letters of recommendation written by leading members of the Jerusalem church. Paul called these individuals, "super-apostles." 2Cor11v5. He accused them of being false apostles for preaching a different gospel. 2Cor11v13 and 2Cor11v4.

However, the letters carried by the false apostles made a very favourable impression on the Corinthians. Some may have questioned why Paul did not come with equally glowing references. The church at Jerusalem had never recommended him!

There are two things to note:

(1) People are often impressed by self-publicity.

Sometimes it may be necessary to blow your own trumpet. Even Paul thought so because he was driven to write to the Corinthians detailing all he endured for Christ's sake. See 2Cor11. When education was reorganised in West Suffolk in the early 1970s we all had to re-apply for jobs in the newly created comprehensives. So I wrote out all I had accomplished in my first 6 years of teaching for the benefit of the newly appointed headmaster, Mr Pullan. His attitude toward me changed after he read my curriculum vitae!

The advertising industry knows the power of self-publicity. Manufacturers praise their own products. Carlsberg advertises its product as probably the best lager in the world. This slogan sticks with people. It increases sales. Carlsberg is the name you think of when you fancy an ice cold lager on a hot summer's day.

Plainly we need to be wary of self-publicity. It might not be true! Undiscriminating people will be taken in. This is true in:

(a) Schools. Teachers who promote themselves and give the impression that they have mastered new methods and new technology are not always as cutting edge as they lead others to believe. A lot of teachers are nowhere near as good as they say they are!

(b) Christian work. Charities, missions and churches all engage in self-publicity. Things are not always what they are painted to be in brochures, on websites or at special meetings. Some pastors succumb to temptation and exaggerate God's blessing on - or the success of - their ministry.

(2) Letters of recommendation have value.

Paul wrote such letters himself. In Romans16v1 he commends Phoebe and in Phil2v19to24 he does the same for Timothy. The church at Ephesus wrote a letter commending Apollos to the church in Achaia (Corinth). See Acts18v27.

Testimonials or references are still used by employers to recruit staff - although not as much as once was the case. Although they are obviously of value letters of recommendation have to be treated with caution because they are only as good as the people writing them. It has been known for an unscrupulous headmaster who wants to get rid of a colleague to write him a good reference to expedite matters.

The letters recommending the "super-apostles" were written by leaders of the legalistic Judaistic faction in the church at Jerusalem. This group wanted to turn Christianity into a new, radical branch of Judaism. I can imagine the sort of thing they would write: Brother David is one of our foremost scholars and an intensely spiritual man. His teaching is Scriptural and respected by Jews of all persuasions. His area of expertise is reconciling Judaism and Christianity. Brother David is a gracious, distinguished and God-fearing leader of the Jerusalem church.

Yet according to Paul brother David and his ilk were false apostles because they preached a different gospel - a gospel of works and not faith.

Sadly the resume of brother David could be written of many a leader of a legalistic church. It could be written of the man who banned me from his mission hall for injecting a little humour into my sermons. It could be written of those hyper-Calvinist Africaners who excluded blacks from their churches.

(C) Paul's letter.

Paul wrote sarcastically to the Corinthians: Or do we need, like some people letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2Cor3v1. He is asking, tongue in cheek, do I really need a letter of recommendation to you.

He went on to affirm: You yourselves are our letter written on your hearts and read by everybody. v2. Some old manuscripts have: 'written on our hearts' and others have: 'written on your hearts'. I have chosen the latter because it makes more sense.

In my last school at Debenham boys and girls left at 16 and went to neighbouring high schools to take their A levels. The leavers always came back late in the Autumn term to receive their GCE certificates. I can remember one boy coming up to me and saying: "The teachers at X reckon I was lucky to have had such a good Geography teacher here at Debenham." I have to say he sounded as though he couldn't believe it! I asked him why his new teachers sang my praises so highly but he had no idea - nor had I! I must admit that the exam results gained by my pupils were no better than those of other departments in the school. I did eventually find out the reason for my high reputation. My pupils knew more Geography than the other students starting the A level course. My pupils were my letter of recommendation.

There are three points to make:

(1) The church at Corinth was Paul's living letter of recommendation.

The Corinthians may have been imperfect in many ways but:

(a) Their lives had been transformed. Paul wrote in his first epistle: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. 1Cor6v9to11.

(b) They were strong in faith. See 2Cor1v24.

(c) They were richly blessed with spiritual gifts.

(d) Many of them were lively, enthusiastic Christians keen to participate in worship. If anything they were too enthusiastic. See exposition on 1Cor14v26to40.

(2) A church is the best testimonial to its leaders.

When my brother finally retired from his 32 years of ministry at the Grace Baptist church in Clapham it was clear from the numerous contributions at his farewell service how well, with God's help, he and his wife had done. The love the members of the church had for Paul and Ruth was evident for all to see.

What are the key requirements for successful leadership? I believe the five most important are to:

(a) Teach well.

(b) Value and appreciate everyone.

(c) Encourage people to develop their gifts. The members of a church need to be trusted, guided and appreciated.

(d) Set a good example of humility, self-control, kindness and generosity of spirit.

(e) Depend on God - committing everything to him in prayer.

If a church leader meets these requirements he will never need letters of recommendation!

(3) A church should be known and read by everyone.

A church isn't a secret society or an exclusive club. It should be active in the community and known by the community. It is in this respect that many small rural churches like my own fail. When a church shrinks in size and is no longer attended by many folk in the local community it becomes almost irrelevant to that community. Twenty years ago when our pastor and several others lived in the village and we were able to organise holiday clubs and youth clubs for children our impact on local people was that much greater.

Charles Spurgeon said a church should be open for inspection to the:

(a) Intelligent who want to learn more about Christianity by mixing with its representatives.

(b) Interested who want to know what progress is being made, what good works are in hand and what new initiatives have been undertaken.

(c) Inquisitive whose main interest is to find fault. So every fellowship should be careful not to provide ammunition for Christianity's critics.

(D) Christ's letter.

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. v3.

Paul now describes the church at Corinth as Christ's letter. He is the author of their salvation. Paul and others were like scribes or secretaries who take a letter down. In other words they were the instruments by which Jesus saved and renewed the Corinthian Christians. He likens the Holy Spirit to the ink in which a letter is written. The Spirit was the means by which Christ's truth was impressed on the hearts and lives of the Corinthians.

However the writing was not done on tablets of stone but on men's hearts. It is easier to make an impression on tablets of stone than on human hearts! Men's hearts are very difficult to write upon.

To some extent this is where Paul's analogy breaks down. If we are Christ's letter of recommendation the letter owes something to our response to Christ's truth and the Spirit's enlightening. Paul neglects here the responsibility of the Christian to behave in a way pleasing to Jesus.

So what should Christians be like if they are Christ's letter of recommendation? Here are a few suggestions:

(1) Readable.

Christianity is not a private matter. This is what the increasingly vocal and militant opponents of Christianity in Britain advocate. We can have our Faith but we mustn't share it. There must not be any public expression of it. Christians can never be closed books or secret documents or even personal letters read by the few. Rather we should be more like those letters of resignation written by politicians that are released to the newspapers so that they can be read by everyone. There is no way Christians can keep quiet about Jesus. It is part and parcel of our Faith to go into all the world to make disciples of Christ.

(2) Legible.

There are several ways to make a letter illegible:

(a) By poor handwriting. Poor handwriting is difficult to read. Some Christian are very difficult to read. Their profession is indistinct. They are one person with their Christian brothers and another person altogether with their worldly companions. So it is almost impossible to make them out. They make no decisive stand about anything. All options are left open.

(b) With blots and smudges. Nothing distracts the attention like a large blot. A smudged sentence may well obscure its meaning. Large and obvious flaws of character do spoil our witness and reduce our effectiveness. My witness as a Christian during my career as a teacher was undoubtedly spoiled by a hot temper and spirit of retaliation. I cannot contemplate my career with much satisfaction because of the many blots and smudges.

(c) Through neglect. We have all come across an ancient letter that has become faded with age and neglect. It is difficult to read. Sometimes the truths that were so vivid in our early Christian years begin to lose their meaning and impact. Our enthusiasm for the gospel and zeal at speaking about Jesus fades. We become less careful about our Christian walk and our standards drop. We begin to do things that we would never have done in the infancy of our faith. It becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish us from the world.

A letter is difficult to understand if:

(a) There are omissions. For example, lack of punctuation in the original Greek made Paul's letters very difficult to translate into English. The absence of a comma can still make a big difference to the sense of Scripture. See comments on, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

So the lack of sympathy or courage or grace or sound judgement will impair a Christian's witness and make the truth he or she stands for harder to comprehend.

(b) It lacks clarity. Sometimes letters are ambiguous. They may be like those manuals that tell you how to set up a new computer or get the best out of a mobile phone - difficult to understand.

In one of the schools in which I taught a clergyman came in to give assemblies. He was too clever by half! No-one ever knew what he was getting at. He spoke in mysteries. It was almost as if he thought there was some merit in being obscure. I have to say I am sure some Theologians share this weakness. They seem to think that it would be letting the side down if anyone besides other Theologians understood a word they wrote.

Letters of recommendation or references can be and are forged. They may not come from whom they are said to come. A job seeker might wrote his own references and pass them off as written by someone else.

There are plenty of people who claim to be Christians who are not living letters written by Christ. There has been no work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Such individuals claim to be Christians for what they get out of it. They peddle the word of God for profit. People through the ages have had ulterior motives for claiming to be Christians. On the Day of Judgement they will be shown up for the forgeries they are.