II Corinthians for Beginners, this is the fourth lesson in the series,
Apostolic Ministry. We're going to cover II Corinthians chapter 2 all the way
to chapter 7, a lot of reading today so I encourage you to have your Bibles out so
that we can read along together. Last week we talked about the Apostolic
Explanation regarding the accusation that Paul was being fickle and insincere
because he had changed his travel plans without advising the people at
Corinth without advising the church there. And briefly I explained to you
that he had interrupted or excuse me he had intended to visit the Corinthian
church first in his travel plans but when he heard of trouble there he wrote
a letter and gave them a revised travel plan which would delay his coming. We
find out that they changed their behavior based on the letter that they
received from him but they found out about his original plan his original
travel plan and then accused him of insincerity.
He writes then a second letter and describes his original plan but explains
that his change of travel plans was done in order to give them time to respond to
his letter. So he was going to go, found out that there was trouble in that
church, he writes to them, I Corinthians, exhorting them, reprimanding
them, and instead of going to visiting them right away as was his
original plan he holds back to see what will be the result of the letter, how
will they respond to my letter. And so he reminds them of his work among them
which was above reproach and the fact that as an apostle of Jesus
he's not insincere and his
work and the miracles that he's performed are a confirmation of this. God
doesn't send somebody who's insincere and hypocritical to go and do
miracles and to speak the Word of God. So at this point in the letter he's going
to leave off the explanation and move towards a description of his ministry
and a comparison of his ministry to that of the false teachers who have come
among them and we we get the sense that they're the ones that are kind of
promoting this negativity within the church concerning Paul. So he explains
himself, he tells them I didn't go when planned because I wanted to see how
you would react to my letter I was you know giving you time. And now he's going
to address them, actually the main issue and that is the teachers who have crept
into this congregation and started undermining his authority and his
teaching. So we pick it up in chapter 2 beginning in verse 12 he writes, "Now when
I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the
Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding
Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia." So here in
addition to not wanting to hurt them with an early arrival an early visit he
explains that he was also looking for his young assistant Titus and he
travelled through Macedonia looking for him. In these days we
call somebody and say have you seen Titus let me call a couple of
congregations find out or we send Titus an email or we do that in
those days there was none of this if you couldn't find him you had to go look for
him and in person and that's what he does. And of course this is another
example of the suffering he experienced as an Apostle. Remember in the previous
letter he was talking about the the suffering that he goes through
as an Apostle for various reasons, well this is another reason for suffering, the
fact that he was anxious the anxiety that he felt for the welfare of his
fellow workers. We continue in verse 14 he says, "But thanks be to God, who always
leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of
the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God
among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one
an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who
is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God,
but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of
God." So here he kind of builds a bridge in order to compare the ministry his
own ministry with the ministry of these false teachers. A beautiful imagery here
and a comparison based on Greek ideas and culture. The Greek games remember
when we first studied a little bit of the geography the Isthmus the Isthmus
Games based on the location of Corinth, second only to the Olympic
Games. And so in the Greek games you would see the winners wear a laurel
wreath that was scented and so the winner would run through the crowd or
around the track and take as we call today a victory lap and
the idea is that the crown the wreath that he was wearing that the part
of the winner was wearing had a scent to it you know the smell of success the
smell of a victory if you wish. So Paul uses this familiar imagery to describe
the ministry of the Apostles. He says God leads them everywhere to
show the victory of Christ and the gospel as well as their lives all of
these things says are like an aroma that people are
aware of when they come in contact with the Apostles. For those, and he makes a
a comparison, he says for those who accept the gospel
that aroma of Christ that good news of the gospel the lives and the work of
the Apostles all of these things create an aroma a sweet aroma because the
gospel and the Apostles are talking about forgiveness and joy and fellowship
and love and eternal life, that aroma is sweet to those who believe. But
for those who reject the gospel the aroma is of death because it speaks of
condemnation and suffering and disobedience and
separation from God. So Paul is able to accomplish several things with
this one passage, first of all he describes in Greek terms the effort of
the gospel the effect rather of the gospel on believers and non-believers, he
also describes the kind of life and influence that the Apostles have
wherever they go, and he encourages the brethren to a
lifestyle that is compliant to the image of the aroma
of Christ. If this is what we do he says, if this is the effect that we as
Apostles have wherever we go then you also have to have or should have this
effect this aroma your own lives should have this kind of aroma for those that
come in contact with you. And he also sets the stage for a comparison of his
ministry and teaching against that of the teachers there in Corinth that are
causing the trouble. And so we pick it up again this time in chapter 3.
The first comparison he makes is this: the ministry of Law versus the ministry
of the Spirit. The first comparison he makes as I say
is that his ministry is that of and by the Holy Spirit and their ministry is of
the law so in verse six he says who also made us adequate as servants of a new
covenant not of the letter but of the spirit the letter here is the letter of
the Law. So he says our ministry right that we are administering if you wish is
not of the letter of the Law but of the Spirit, for the letter kills right, the
Law what does the Law bring? It brings death, it brings to us the knowledge of
sin and death he says. So for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. What
does the Spirit do within us, what is that some people say you know
so I received the Holy Spirit when I was baptized but I mean I can't
do any miracles and I can't speak in tongues and I don't have
special knowledge through the Spirit other than what I learned in the
Word, exactly what does the Spirit do for me?
Well Paul tells us in Romans 8 that if the Spirit that is in Christ is in you
then the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will raise you from the
dead that's why it's important to have the Holy Spirit; not to perform miracles
or do those things those days are past. No no it's important to have the Spirit
of God within us because if through the power of that Spirit that we'll raise
from the dead and that's what he's talking about here. So he says they're
preaching that you need to be, you know the false teachers, they're
preaching that you need to be circumcised before you can become a
Christian. These are ceremonies and duties that belong to Moses in the Law.
Paul is preaching the gospel of Jesus, the gospel of the Holy Spirit that gives
life and renewal, Paul is administering the substance, the power; these other
teachers were only talking about the forms, the rules, the traditions. These
things never had the ability to give anyone any
power. In the Old Testament it was very ornate, it was very elaborate, the
sacrificial system, the temple, all of that, the priests it was all very grand, it
was awe inspiring if one could see it. But it didn't give anybody and no one
received forgiveness, forgiveness was just booted down the road until
Jesus came. Nobody ever went to the temple and received the gift of the
Holy Spirit. Those things that occurred in the Old Testament were merely
a shadow of the things to come, they were merely a preview of the things to
come, they were the form but they weren't the substance and Paul
is saying these teachers, they're teaching you the forms all over again.
I'm teaching you the substance, I'm giving you the power that these things
only spoke of. And so their ministry of the Law and Moses is incomplete he says
without Christ. Let's read verse 15 he says, "But to this day whenever Moses is
read, a veil is over their heart;" His ministry is the final work of God.
Beginning with Moses but finished by Christ and resulting not in more law
circumcision, food laws, special days, that's not why Christ came to give us
more rules. Christ came to give us freedom.
He came to free us from sin and all of these things. In verse 17 and 18 he says,
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Freedom. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as
from the Lord, the Spirit." Their ministry did nothing to improve their lives,
meaning their ministry these false teachers, their ministry did nothing to
improve the lives of the Corinthians. His ministry brought them freedom, freedom
from what? Freedom from the curse of sin, freedom from condemnation, freedom from
death. That his ministry brought them that and gave them the power to be
transformed into the image of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. The
Law could never do that, the Law could never make me want to do what is right.
That was the weakness of the Law, the Law was there simply to point out what you
did wrong. The commandments what were they there for? To make you a better
person, of course not, the commandments were there to show you you're a sinner.
The laws were there to show you you're failing before God, the difference
between you and God, the difference between you and perfection, the Law
never gave you any power, the Law never gave an individual the thirst to do what
is right and good. But the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God gives the believer a
hunger and a thirst for righteousness, I know I can't be perfect but I want to be,
I know I can't be exactly like Jesus was in all of the
situations, you know turn the other cheek and be patient and bear
suffering without anger and the desire for revenge. I see how
Jesus is and I want to be like and even though I know I can't be like Him
I want to be like Him, that's the work of the Spirit in me. The Law on the other
hand never gave me that kind of desire. The Law never gave anyone the thirst to
do what is right. The Law gave one a sense of angst, a sense of incompleteness,
a sense of yearning, waiting for the day to be finally released and it's Christ
who finally came to release us, to satisfy this. Well what does He say,
blessed are those who what hunger and thirst for righteousness, what will
happen to those people, they'll be satisfied.
That's what Christianity does. My hope is that my hunger and thirst to be like
Christ is finally going to be satisfied one day when this old sinful body
finally falls away and I'm finally free to be in that glorious body
that will enable me to be like Him, as much as I have wanted it but couldn't
have it in this fleshly body. The Law never gave anybody that desire or that
hope, that's what he's arguing here why are you going back to laws and
rules and why are you doing that for you're going backwards. He also says in
comparison that his ministry is right there out in the
open, he's not sneaking around trying to get his ideas behind people's
back, no my ministry is out in the open.
Chapter 4 he says, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy,
we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of
shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the
manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as
Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Light
shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the
Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." These other
teachers were crafty and they spoke behind Paul's back trying to destroy him,
Paul carries on his ministry out in the open before all men and God with a good
conscience, that's what he says. Whenever the gospel is hidden it is so because of
the sin of men not because he hides it, it's not his fault some people don't
believe, they don't believe because they'd rather stay in sin, they'd rather
stay in the darkness, that's why they don't believe, that's why the gospel is
quote hidden from them, it's not that God is hiding it and doesn't want them
to have it is that they hide themselves in the darkness. Another comparison he
makes, he said his ministry causes persecution. Let's read what he says
about that, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing
greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in
the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for
Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also
believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will
raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are
for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may
cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not
lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man
is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is
producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for
the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal." He doesn't say it here but the implication is that these false teachers
have never really suffered any persecution because of their message.
They cause persecution but they don't receive any persecution. Paul describes
its length his own unworthiness to preach the message and the suffering
that he has endured to do this ministry which these others have not experienced.
How do you know the legitimacy of the teachers, well this group of
teachers are never persecuted and avoid all persecution, this teacher over here
has been beaten and whipped and imprisoned and nearly killed
for preaching the message and continues to do so. Which one of these guys do you
think is sincere. Paul always has this comparison of the quality of his
ministry with the false teachers in view but he
makes other points along the way as well for example the suffering of the
ministry is destroying his body he says but the suffering is also making his
spirit much stronger. Have you ever suffered for Christ have you ever been
rejected because of your faith have you ever been slighted or undercut because
of your belief have you ever been left out because you believe and people don't
want to be with you? That hurts, but when you think about it and when you pray
about it aren't you rejoicing, that you have been given the privilege of
suffering a small part of what Christ suffered. Paul says also all ministries
will be judged, all ministries and ministers will be judged, he says, "For we
know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling
from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed
while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be
unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit
as a pledge." A pledge: we have the gift of the Holy Spirit it's a pledge, it's a
guarantee that when the time comes we will be resurrected. Imagine if the
gospel says, you know what you repent, you're baptized and don't
worry about it I'll give you the Spirit down the road 50 years from
now. But God says no you come to me now I'll give you the Spirit now you're
guaranteed you have the Spirit if you're in Christ you have the Spirit, if you die
now that Spirit will resurrect you when the Lord comes, if you die 50 years
from now that Spirit will resurrect you when the Lord comes, that's the
the pledge. He continues he says, "Therefore, being always of good courage,
and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord- for
we walk by faith, not by sight- we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to
be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also
have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be
recompense for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad." So Paul uses this idea that his body is
decaying as a bridge to build his next idea that he is anxious for the final
outcome of death to materialize and his eternal life begin with God. But he uses
this idea to remind them of the fact that along with death comes judgment and
everyone will be judged according to what they have done or not done. Again
the implicit suggestion is that he looks forward to this time because his works
and his ministry are legitimate and good but his detractors may not be able to
say the same thing about their ministry. Yes he's saying you may be succeeding
now, you may be undercutting me now, you may be having some success and drawing
the brethren after yourselves with the teaching but the day is going
to come when all of us will be judged and our ministries will be judged and
then we'll see who had the legitimate ministry, then we'll see who are from God
and who are not from God. Another thing or another comparison he makes he says
his ministry is one of reconciliation with God that's what he's working
towards he doesn't say it here but he's saying and theirs isn't, theirs isn't.
Pick it up in verse 11 he says, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade
men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are
made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to
you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an
answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we
are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are sound in mind, it is for you. For the
love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all,
therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer
live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore
from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we
have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no
longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature; the old things
passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word
of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God
were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him." So Paul is proud of his ministry because
it serves God's purpose in bringing people to Christ and they should be
proud of him as well for doing this ministry. He reviews God's ultimate
purpose and he reminds them that his ministry is in line with the purpose of
God. Remember I'm not kind of going into every sentence what he's
saying I'm backing up and looking at the big picture argument here, he's comparing
his ministry to theirs. Again here the implication is that Paul's ministry is
in perfect accord with God's ministry and that is to reconcile people to God
through Christ by the preaching of the gospel. He's happy and he is proud to do
this and they should feel that way too, not the false teachers, the church. You
should be proud of us he says, we're doing God's work, we're doing God's work
in God's way, we're living according to God's will you should be proud of us not
trying to undercut us. Again the implied comparison is that his ministry
brings man and God together, their ministry divides the brethren and also
separates them from God. If you go back to trying to use the Law to justify
yourself then you've fallen away from grace. If you think that not eating pork
is going to make you pleasing to God you've lost it, if you think that
being circumcised will be the thing that saves your soul then you've not
understood the gospel. That's what he's saying to them don't go back to that. And
then in chapter 6 he tells them that his ministry is sincere, he's
not a liar, he says, "And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive
the grace of God in vain- for He says, 'At the acceptable time I listened to you, And
on the day of salvation I helped you. 'Behold, now is 'the acceptable time,' behold,
now is the day of salvation." He doesn't say it right here but in brackets he's
saying, so don't go back, you've been saved you're saved now today, don't
don't go back to not being saved don't go back to the things that have no power
to give you the Spirit. He goes on, "giving no cause for offense in anything, so that
the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves
of servants of God, and much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in
distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in
sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in
the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by
the weapons of righteousness for the right hand the left, by glory and
dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as
unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put
to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
as having nothing yet possessing all things." He's talking about his ministry
here he's talking about himself, the idea is the world the unbelievers have beaten
me and kicked me and tried to kill me but they have not succeeded. I'm alive in
Christ no matter what they do to my body is not going to change that. And the fact
that he endures all of these hardships is another reason to demonstrate his
sincerity. If I didn't believe this stuff was true I would
have quit a long time ago. The first time they decided to beat me for preaching
the gospel I would have gotten the hint and I would have left town but
no he said I persevered through all of it, why? Because it's true. Ever heard
that term, you drive by and it whoops there's an accident there
and you're driving by and it's just human nature you want to
see what's going on and you happen to go by when it just happened and you look
over and they haven't brought yet the body bags they haven't covered
over but there's perhaps dead people or people seriously injured and you see
blood or whatever and you go oh I don't know why I looked at that like
I cannot unsee that, it's pressed into your brain now you that image is
there you kind of regret that you
even looked. Well in the opposite way Paul is saying I have seen the Lord, I
have understood the truth, I cannot unsee it, so beat me, whip me, shame me, do
whatever you want to me I can't unsee and unknow what I have seen and know. So
not only did Paul preach but he acted in such a way that his conduct supported
and confirmed his message. Even though they suffered all forms of hardships and
humiliation they never did anything that would cause the brethren to doubt their
sincerity. There's no reason to begin now he says. This may be a way for
Paul to remind them of their conduct under duress and the conduct of these
false teachers to see which one by his conduct proves to be sincere. So after
having reviewed these six areas of ministry and comparison Paul is going to
finish the section with an exhortation to his listeners. He gives two
exhortations, he begins one he stops and then gives a second and then combines
the two into one exhortation in order to finish the chapter. So the first
exhortation begins in verse 11, open your hearts, that's the first exhortation, open
your hearts. "Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart has
opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own
affections. Now in a like exchange- I speak as to children open wide to us
also." Open your hearts to me as an Apostle is what he's saying. This is just
an emotional plea that they be reconciled and fellowship in love with
him. Somehow they've become his enemies, why? Paul says that his love is not
restrained, it is they that are holding back from loving and having
fellowship with him. And then the second exhortation, "Do not be bound with
unbelievers;" he says, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what
partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light
with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial or what has a believer in
common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with
idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell
in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
'Therefore come out of their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch
what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you
shall be sons and daughters to Me,' says the Lord Almighty."
So the second exhortation is don't be bound or united to unbelievers. He was an
ambassador for Christ trying to bind them to himself and through this bind
them to Christ according to God's plan. That's what he was trying to do. And he
encourages them not to unite or bind or yoke themselves with unbelievers who
would take them away from Christ. Now in context Paul is referring to false
teachers and other pagans in the church. He's saying to them, stay with the
believers, stay with him, don't join yourself to
these false teachers, they're not believers, not true believers because
they're not preaching the truth. That's the contextual that's the that is
what he is talking about here okay. Now the wider and general application of
this verse can include business partners, friends, even marriage partners because
the principle remains true, what business does a believer have yoking
themselves with an unbeliever. They were uniting themselves to false
teachers and he tells them that they have no
business doing this just like the temple doesn't belong with the temple of idols.
In other words the temple in Jerusalem has nothing to do with the temple
of idols, and righteousness doesn't belong with lawlessness. As a general
principle this can be applied to mixed marriages which I have seen done or
heard people teach on but this is not the point in the passage. Paul is
not talking about marriage here he's talking about ministers. So you have to
be careful when you're interpreting a passage, you have to interpret the
passage and arrive at the conclusion that Paul was arriving at for the people
he was talking to. He's not talking about marriage here he's talking about false
teachers don't be bound up with false teachers and then he makes examples,
does the temple in Jerusalem is it linked with is it a
sister temple to the temple of idols? No he says. There's a believer should he
willingly bind himself somehow to someone who doesn't believe these two
things don't go together. Now in I Corinthians 7:12-13
Paul talks about if the unbelieving partner in a marriage
consents to live in peace then let these two, believer and unbeliever, let
them remain married. It isn't the ideal but God blesses the children of these
marriages and reminds the believers that they have an opportunity to reach their
partner so long as they're willing to remain. So Paul talks about marriage
in I Corinthians, in II Corinthians he's talking about being united to
unbelievers, you can make the application to marriage but it's a secondary
application. That's all ok. The third exhortation: let us all become
united and holy. He says, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Make room for us in your hearts; we
wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. I do not speak
to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die
together and to live together. Great is my confidence in you; great is my
boasting on your behalf. I'm filled with comfort; I'm overflowing with joy in all
of our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but
we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God,
who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by
his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he
reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; and so that I
rejoiced even more." Remember two things I said at the beginning of my lesson:
he changed this plans, he wrote them a letter and he didn't visit right
away, he wanted to see what they would do, that was one thing, and the other thing
was he was traveling he was trying to find Titus he didn't know where Titus
was and here he says I finally found Titus ok and lo and behold when I found
him Titus told me that you received my letter and that you responded to my
letter positively and so here he's saying oh that made me feel so good. "For
though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret
it- for I see that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while- I now
rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the
point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God,
so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that
is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to
salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what
earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what
vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what
zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves
to be innocent in the matter." Here he's simply commenting on how they reacted to
his first letter. "So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the
offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on
our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. For this reason we have
been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy
of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For if in anything
I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke
all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the
truth." Can you imagine it here? He's saying to both I'm writing to these guys
I'm telling you they're gonna be ok I have confidence they're going to respond.
And Titus may be saying well I don't know, it's Corinth you know those people,
yeah they're bad people you know maybe that was the conversation and now he's
saying I finally met Titus and he told me yeah they did respond and Paul is
saying I told you, that's the cut-down 21st century version of this but ok, one
last section. "His affection abounds all the more toward you," meaning Titus
towards the Corinthians, "as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you
received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice in that in everything I have
confidence in you." So let's all be united and holy the final
exhortation encourages them to receive his sincere love and affection and
continue to pursue holy and pure living which is one of the objectives of his
ministry to them. He wants them to be united in love and holy in their contact.
In the balance of the chapter he finishes the story about Titus that he
began in chapter 2 as I mentioned. This is a way of closing out this particular
section of his letter in a natural and personal way, about Titus he says he was
ill and depressed but finally met up with Titus who brought news of the
reaction of the Corinthians to his first letter. He reviews how he felt about
writing the letter in the first place and the joy he
experienced when Titus reported their repentant attitude.
He even recounts how Titus was excited about their great attitude and effort to
change and this leads him to a final word about how he rejoices with them and
has confidence in then because of their change and their attitude that's in
verse 16. This ends the passage about ministry the comparison of his and the
one conducted by the false teachers. He ends on a positive note assuming their
good intention and this sets the tone for the next subject which will be
fellowship. So Paul reviews his own ministry and sets it alongside the one
being conducted by those who oppose him. He is saying to them judge me by my
works not just by my words, and I think that's always a valid way to judge
individuals to determine their sincerity not just ministers but any brother or
sister. We are saved by faith but we demonstrate the sincerity of our
faith by our works because faith wants to and rejoices in and is eager to work
for the Lord. Okay well a little over time I apologize for that
there's the reading assignment for next week: II Corinthians 8:1-9:15.
That's our lesson for today, thank you very much for
your extended attention, I appreciate it.