Let's turn today to 2 Corinthians and chapter
12.
In our last study, we were considering how
the Apostle Paul was seeking to show the
things in which God had enabled him to
boast.
Not the type of things that the false
apostles were boasting in, that which the world
considers big and great, but that he had
suffered for the Lord's sake in various ways,
and been imprisoned and beaten, etc.
And he finally concludes with saying that when
he was in Damascus and the king was
trying to capture him, he had a most
inglorious escape, having to be lured in a
basket.
There was no miraculous lifting up of his
body by the spirit like Philip experienced, that
we read in Acts chapter 8.
No, he escaped in a very ordinary way,
and these are the things that he talks
about, the things in which he was humiliated
and humbled, his difficulties and his trials.
And he goes on in chapter 12 to
continue on the same theme, and he says,
Now I'll go on to visions and revelations
of the Lord.
He begins by saying it is not profitable
to boast, but I want to boast like
a foolish man, he says.
He's being sarcastic in the whole passage.
But coming on to visions and revelations of
the Lord, he says, He's obviously referring to
himself as we see later on in the
passage.
But such is his humility that he speaks
of it as a man whom he knew
more than 14 years ago, whether in the
body I do not know or out of
the body I do not know.
God knows such a man was caught up
to the third heaven.
Here was an experience that Paul had of
being taken up into the immediate presence of
God, the third heaven.
God dwells in the third heaven, and this
place is also called in verse 4 paradise,
which is now the place of departed spirits
of believers.
This is where Jesus said he would meet
the thief on the cross.
Now paradise, which was then in the heart
of the earth, has been taken up to
the third heaven.
The first heavens are the heavens that we
see, the stars in the sky and all
of space.
Beyond that is the second heaven, which is
probably the dwelling place of Satan and his
hosts, the rulers of the heavenlies.
And beyond that is the third heaven, where
God himself dwells.
And Paul doesn't know whether it was with
his body or without, just in the spirit,
but he says he was caught up.
And I know how such a man was
caught up into paradise, verse 4.
And he heard words up there when he
was in the third heaven.
But he says they were words which a
man is not permitted to speak about.
There is a lot of empty boasting today
among people who boast of having been taken
up to heaven, and who tell us fancy
stories about all their experiences.
Quite a contrast to the humility and the
genuineness of the testimony of the apostle Paul.
It's his humility which proves to us that
he's genuine.
He heard words, but they were words which
were inexpressible.
Words that a man is not permitted to
talk about.
And that's not surprising, for the atmosphere of
heaven must be such that there are things
that God speaks to a person which are
meant only for him.
There's something we can learn from this passage,
that God sometimes says things to some of
his servants which are not meant to be
shared with others.
They are meant only for oneself.
We read in Revelation chapter 10 about the
seven thunders, and John heard words being spoken
and he wanted to write, and the voice
said, Don't write, that's only for you.
Likewise, Paul heard words, but they were only
for him.
On behalf of such a man, he says,
I will boast, but on my own behalf
I will not boast, except in regard to
my weaknesses.
Paul says, as far as he's concerned, the
only thing that he can boast about are
his weaknesses.
Think of his humility, that he had an
experience about which he kept quiet for 14
years.
What a contrast to the situation with many
Christians today who have an experience and they
can hardly wait a week before they publicize
it and write a book about it.
But Paul knew that these are things to
be kept secret, and he mentions it only
so that the Corinthians will recognize that he
is a genuine apostle to expose the false
apostles who boast about empty visions.
That's the only reason.
If it were not for such a reason,
we would never even have known that Paul
had such an experience.
He never told anybody about it.
And there we see the attitude we should
have to supernatural experiences.
Quite a contrast to the way many Christians
boast about imaginary supernatural experiences today.
Dear brothers and sisters who are listening, remember,
here is an example we can follow.
Here was a man who said, follow me
as I follow Christ.
There are things a man can experience.
He needs to keep quiet about it.
If it's not going to edify another, the
only things that we are to share with
others are those which will edify them.
That which will merely exalt myself.
What is the use of sharing that?
If Paul had described all his personal experiences
which would not edify others, there was no
need to talk about them.
And he doesn't.
But he says, I will boast about my
weaknesses.
That he can talk about because all people
have weaknesses.
He wouldn't go into detail about his visions
and revelations because those things are given to
very few.
But he says, I can boast about my
weaknesses.
For he says, if I do wish to
boast, I shall not be foolish.
I shall not be guilty, for I shall
be speaking the truth.
If he wants to boast, he can boast
about genuine experiences which he has had with
God, but he won't talk about them.
But I refrain from this, he says.
I will not talk about it because, listen
to the reason, I don't want to be,
I don't want anyone to be influenced by
the wonderful character of these revelations to think
more of me than is justified by my
words or conduct.
He says, I don't want anyone to think
that I'm a great man of God and
that's why I want to keep quiet about
these visions and revelations.
What you have seen in me and what
you have heard from me.
In other words, you are to know the
type of person I am by my words
and my conduct.
What he sees in me and what he
hears from me.
These are the two things that manifest what
we are.
What people see in our lives and in
our speech.
And Paul says, you see my life and
you see my speech.
And you can assess me.
Beyond that, if I tell you about the
wonderful visions and revelations I have had, I
may exalt myself.
Paul was so afraid that people would think
of him more highly than they deserved to
think of him.
What a contrast to the attitude of many
Christians today who are actually more concerned that
other people should think less of them.
Than they deserve to be thought of.
Paul's attitude was exactly the opposite.
And that is the attitude of a humble
man.
That is the attitude of a spiritual man.
He's afraid to talk about personal experiences lest
other people give him extra credit and value.
As a man of God.
Just because of the revelations he has had.
And we learn something very important from verse
6.
That a man is to be assessed not
by the visions and revelations he has had,
but by his conduct and his speech.
Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know
them.
It is not by a man's gifts that
we are to evaluate him.
No.
This is the mistake in Christendom today.
We see a man who has great gifts
of prophecy.
Or a man who is able to cast
out demons.
Or a man who can heal the sick.
And immediately most Christians are impressed.
And on top of that, if that man
goes on to talk about the visions and
revelations he has had and the angels he
has seen and the times he has been
caught up to the third heaven, it's almost
as though that man has become a mini
-God to many Christians.
And here is where we have to be
extremely careful.
It's not by gifts that a man of
God is identified.
Jesus said, if you go by gifts, you
will be deceived by the false prophets.
You read Matthew 7 and verses 15 onwards
to verse 23 and you see very clearly
Jesus contrasting fruit with gifts.
By their fruits you shall know the false
prophets, he said.
And he goes on to say, there are
false prophets, many of them, who will come
to me in the last day and say,
Lord, we prophesied in your name.
Cast out demons and did miracles, but he
will say to them, I never knew you.
And so here again we see, Paul says,
I refrain from talking about my supernatural experiences.
The true proof of a genuine man of
God, that he refrains from speaking about his
supernatural experiences, which are not going to bless
others, because he does not want anyone to
think more of him than is justified by
his conduct and his speech.
And there is a good example for all
of us to follow.
Let's learn from God what we can speak
about, that which will edify others and that
which merely exalts ourselves, we are to keep
quiet about.
Let's turn now to 2 Corinthians 12, verse
7.
Paul has just said that he will not
boast in anything except in regard to his
weaknesses.
Verse 5.
He didn't boast about the miracles he did,
about the people he raised from the dead,
about the demons that were cast out through
handkerchiefs that touched his body, or the churches
he established or the scriptures he had written,
but his weaknesses.
And he goes on to give us a
revelation of something that happened in his personal
life.
He had fantastic revelations.
God spoke to him directly, he wrote scripture.
He was transported up to the third heaven,
but he doesn't boast in these.
He is honest enough to tell us in
verse 7, that because of the surpassing greatness
of the revelations, for this reason, to keep
me from exalting myself, there was given me
a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to buffet me, to keep me from
exalting myself.
And there we see that Paul was in
danger of spiritual pride.
Let him who thinks he stands take heed
lest he fall.
Every one of us is in danger of
spiritual pride, particularly those who have been most
gifted by the Lord, those who are most
used by the Lord, those who have more
revelations, and those who have had supernatural experiences,
are in great danger of spiritual pride.
Paul recognized that.
And he says, to keep me from exalting
myself.
God resists the proud, but he gives grace
to the humble.
And if God was to give Paul grace,
as he wanted to, it was necessary that
Paul should remain humble.
Otherwise, God would have to resist him.
God would resist even a servant of his,
when that servant becomes proud and puffed up.
And in order to help Paul to remain
humble, God gave him a thorn in the
flesh.
We don't know what that thorn in the
flesh was.
Perhaps it was a physical infirmity.
But whatever it was, it was a messenger
of Satan.
Sickness is a messenger of Satan.
It could have been a sickness.
It could have been some physical infirmity.
And this messenger of Satan kept on harassing
and troubling Paul to keep on bruising him
and hitting him.
And the purpose was, he repeats it again
in verse 7, it's mentioned twice in verse
7, to keep me from exalting myself.
And then Paul says in verse 8, three
times he asked the Lord to remove this
infirmity, to remove this thorn in the flesh,
to remove this messenger of Satan.
No doubt he rebuked it and tried to
cast it out in the name of Jesus
and did all types of things to it,
no doubt, but nothing happened.
He prayed three times and there was no
reply, and he prayed again, and the third
time he got an answer.
The Lord said to him, My grace is
sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.
And so, it's not that God didn't answer
prayer, but God's answer was no.
God always answers prayer.
The thing is, sometimes the answer may be
no.
Maybe yes, it may be no, but He
always answers every prayer.
He's a God who hears and answers prayer.
In this case, the answer was no.
I'm not going to remove the messenger of
Satan.
Now, sometimes we can think that if something
is from the devil, it accomplishes nothing.
It has to be removed from my life
altogether.
Not necessarily.
In this particular case, here was a messenger
that was obviously a messenger of Satan, a
thorn in the flesh, and yet, even though
Paul prayed desperately for its removal, God didn't
remove it.
God allowed him to have it and to
suffer with it because it was accomplishing a
purpose.
Even a messenger of Satan can be used
by God to accomplish a spiritual purpose in
His servant, to keep that servant from exalting
himself so that God can give him grace.
It's amazing to see how God can use
the devil's actions to serve His purposes.
This is the wonderful thing about the sovereignty
of the God whom we serve, that He
can turn the most wicked thing that the
devil seeks to do against you to spiritual
profit for your life.
And this is why we can always give
thanks.
There's nothing that the devil can do to
us which God cannot turn to our profit
if we humble ourselves and accept God's answer
in a particular situation.
Even sickness, though sickness is from Satan, all
sickness is from Satan because sickness is not
a good and perfect gift.
All good and perfect gifts come from the
Father above and therefore we know that all
sickness is from the devil.
But God may sometimes permit it to remain
with a purpose, a spiritual purpose.
And so, in such a case, the thing
to do is not to spend our lifetime
trying to get rid of that sickness and
not to condemn ourselves for any lack of
faith, but rather to humble ourselves and say,
Lord, you can heal me in a moment,
but if you don't, if it's your will
to keep this on me, let it accomplish
a spiritual purpose, maybe to keep me humble
so that I can get grace.
Paul's revelation of what he went through in
that experience has been a tremendous help to
suffering saints through the ages.
And because he's not told us what that
thorn in the flesh was, it applies to
every type of thorn in the flesh that
we can ever experience.
It may not be a sickness, it may
be a circumstance that just doesn't seem to
alter.
It may be some situation, a messenger of
Satan, and God can yet turn it to
the fulfillment of His purpose because He works
all things according to the counsel of His
will.
And He can make all things work together
for good to those who love God and
who are called according to His purpose.
And here the Lord told Paul, My grace
is sufficient for you.
God's grace is sufficient to overcome every single
situation, to make us overcomers in every situation.
And we're also told here that God's power
is made perfect in human weakness.
This is a very wonderful thing that many
Christians don't seem to understand, that God's power
is not manifested in strong personalities.
The strong personality has to be broken down
before God's power can be manifested.
God has to make a man weak.
Paul was a strong personality, a strong-willed
person, and God had to take him through
situations to break him down so that instead
of Paul's power, God's power is manifested.
You need to ask yourself if you're serving
the Lord as to whose power is being
manifested through your life and ministry.
Is it your power or God's power?
Your power needs to be broken down.
You need to be made weak.
And that's why God arranges circumstances and situations
for us where we are made weak so
that God's power can be manifested because His
power is made perfect in human weakness.
And if God's power is not manifested through
your life, there can only be one answer.
You are not yet weak enough.
You are too strong in yourself.
Let God break you.
And then you'll find His power manifest through
you.
Let God break you through the situations He
takes you through, through the people whom He
sends across to your path to break your
plans and to frustrate your hopes.
And as He humbles you and breaks you
there and makes you weak and helpless, His
power will be manifested through you.
And therefore, having understood this wonderful secret, Paul
says, I will now gladly boast about my
weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell
in me.
He says, My weaknesses are not something I'm
ashamed of.
I praise God for them because that's the
very way by which the power of Christ
dwells in me.
Therefore, he says, I'm content, not just content,
but well content, perfectly happy we could say,
with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses.
These are the instruments by which God makes
us weak.
Weaknesses, insults.
When you are insulted, that makes you weak,
small.
Distresses and persecutions and difficulties.
Are you experiencing distresses, insults, persecutions, difficulties for
Christ's sake?
These are the means by which God is
trying to make you small and weak so
that His power can rest upon you.
If only you could see that and humble
yourself under God's mighty hand and accept the
situation and the people whom He puts on
top of you, you would find His power
manifested.
And if you haven't found it in all
this time, it's because you have rebelled against
those circumstances.
You've complained and murmured instead of joyfully giving
thanks in those circumstances.
It is when I am weak, Paul says,
then I am strong.
When we can understand this, that it is
in weakness that God's power is manifested, just
like we considered earlier, it is in human
stupidity that God's wisdom is manifested.
Let him who thinks he is wise become
foolish.
Let him who is strong become weak.
Let God break you and make you weak
and His power can be manifested through you.
Paul says in verse 11, I have become
foolish.
All that he has been saying all the
way from chapter 11, verse 16 onwards, he
says, I am foolish.
I am speaking like a foolish man.
Remember that.
I am not speaking as a man of
God should speak.
I am just speaking like a fool.
Actually, I should have been commended by you,
he says, for in no respect was I
inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though
I am a nobody.
What is Paul's opinion about himself?
He says, I am a nobody.
Think of those four words at the bottom
of verse 11.
I am a nobody.
It is easy to say that the day
you are converted.
It is quite another thing to say that
after you have been taken up to the
third heaven, after you have raised the dead,
established churches and written scripture.
That is the greatness of the apostle Paul,
that at the end of all that he
could still say, I am a nobody.
The trouble with a lot of people is
after some time they have become somebody.
But Paul said, I am a nobody, even
though I am not inferior to the most
eminent apostles, he says.
The signs of an apostle were done in
your midst.
Signs, wonders and miracles with perseverance.
There was patience of character in Paul's life
accompanied with signs, wonders and miracles.
He was a true apostle.
Yet his opinion about himself is, I am
a nobody.
Here is an eminent example whose footsteps we
can follow in.
Let's turn today to 2 Corinthians 12.
Paul speaks here about the signs of a
true apostle which were manifested in him.
And the first thing he mentions is patience,
perseverance.
We have been more used to thinking that
the first marks of an apostle are that
he establishes churches or he does miracles.
And yet Paul, true to the teaching of
Jesus who said, by their fruits you shall
know them, speaks about patience.
The fruit of the spirit is love.
And the first thing mentioned about love in
1 Corinthians 13 is patience.
Love is patient.
And it says here, the signs of a
true apostle were performed among you with all
patience.
In all situations he manifested patience.
You remember when we considered 2 Corinthians 6,
he said the same thing there.
In all things, commending ourselves as servants of
God in much patience.
Perseverance under trial, enduring patiently, long-suffering.
This is the primary characteristic of a true
apostle.
And also, signs and wonders and miracles with
which God attests his ministry, particularly when it
is a ministry of evangelism among the heathen
who have never heard about Christ.
We read that it is in such situations
especially, that these signs and wonders and miracles
were done.
For an apostle like Paul was called to
establish churches in areas where people had never
heard about Christ.
And therefore these signs and wonders and miracles
accompanied him.
But patience as number one and above all.
In what respect, he says, were you treated
as inferior to the rest of the churches?
Except that I myself did not become a
burden to you.
And he says sarcastically, forgive me this wrong.
He is asking, in what way did I
treat you as inferior?
Only in one thing he says, that I
did not take a collection from you.
Notice the number of times he repeats that
in this episode.
And in his previous letter to the Corinthians.
Thereby seeking to show again the marks of
a true apostle, a true servant of God.
I did not become a burden to you.
A true apostle, a true servant of God
does not make himself a burden to other
believers.
Here for the third time he says in
verse 14, I am ready to come to
you and I will not be a burden
to you.
Again, a repetition of that.
We saw that a number of times in
chapter 11.
Here again, he says, I am coming the
third time and it will be just like
the first two times.
I will not be a burden to you.
And the reason is, I do not seek
you.
I do not seek what is yours, but
you.
Here is another mark of a true apostle
and a true servant of God.
He does not seek to get something for
himself from other believers, but he seeks them,
fellowship with them.
He seeks their eternal good.
He seeks their spiritual profits.
Here are wonderful phrases that a true servant
of God is manifested by.
Verse 11, I am a nobody.
Verse 12, All patience, and by signs, wonders
and miracles.
Verse 13, I did not become a burden
to you.
Verse 14, I will not be a burden
to you.
I do not seek what is yours, but
you.
Verse 15, I will most gladly spend and
be expended for your souls.
A man who can say these things genuinely
from his heart is a genuine servant of
God and an apostle.
It's an attitude that we see in the
apostle Paul.
The spirit of Christ.
Now as we look around, we find that
there are many Christian workers who seek not
so much fellowship with people as what the
people can give them.
They seek what is theirs, not them.
But Paul said, I do not seek what
is yours, but you.
He says just like in the natural world,
children are not responsible to save up for
their parents.
Have you ever heard of children saving up
for their parents?
Children supporting their parents, yes, but saving up
for their parents, no.
Parents save up for their children.
It's parents who care for their children and
he says, I am a father and I
care for you.
That's the mark of a spiritual father that
he cares for the children.
A person who is always seeking to sponge
off other people and take money from others,
he cannot be a father.
He's a hireling.
Paul was a true shepherd.
He did not seek anything for himself from
those to whom he ministered.
A mark of a true servant of God.
And he says not only that, I'm glad
to spend all that I have for you.
Not only I don't want something from you
for myself, but I'm willing to go one
stage further and say I'm willing to spend
what is mine in order to bless you,
to serve you, and to be expended for
your souls, for your spiritual profit.
That was the spirit of Christ that Paul
had imbibed.
If I love you the more, he says,
am I to be loved the less?
But be that as it may.
Again, a repetition of that phrase that comes
so many times in this episode.
I did not burden you.
It'd be interesting to see how often he
says that in the episode.
I did not burden you.
It's a spirit that comes through refusing to
be a burden to others, ready to carry
their burdens, but refusing to put his burden
upon them.
This is the mark of maturity.
A mature Christian is one who can carry
his own burden as well as the burdens
of others.
An immature Christian is one who cannot carry
his own burden much less carry the burdens
of others.
Paul could carry his own burden as well
as the burden of others.
Nevertheless, he speaks sarcastically, crafty fellow that I
am, I took you in by deceit.
But he says, you know, I have not
taken advantage of you through any of those
whom I've sent you, have I?
Can you say that I have taken advantage
of you in any way?
Have I used you for my profit or
gain in any way?
Not at all.
I have served you.
I have not taken advantage of you.
Here's another statement.
Listen to these statements.
I am a nobody.
Verse 11.
I did not become a burden to you.
Verse 13.
I will not be a burden to you.
Verse 14.
I will most gladly spend and be expended
for your souls.
Verse 15.
And I have not taken advantage of you.
Verse 17.
A man who can say this is qualified
to be a servant of God.
There are very few like that.
But think that if we can take Paul
as an example, we can become like him.
And not only Paul, those who were with
Paul did not take advantage of the Corinthians
either.
Paul was very careful, the type of person
who got onto his team.
He didn't just choose any Tom, Dick or
Harry to join him.
He was very careful whom he took onto
his team.
People who would not take advantage of others.
He did not advertise for workers.
He was very careful in his selection.
And if he found that somebody like Demas
was trying to gain something for himself, he
just chucked him out of the team.
That was it.
Those who were with me, he says, they
didn't take advantage of you.
I urged Titus to go and sent the
brother with him.
Did he take advantage of you?
No, Titus also had imbibed Paul's spirit.
Did we not conduct ourselves in the same
spirit?
What spirit was that?
The spirit of Christ who did not seek
his own, but gave up everything in order
to bless others and help others and bring
them to the place where he himself was.
That was the spirit that gripped Paul.
And that was the spirit that Paul imbibed
from Christ and that Titus imbibed from Paul.
For this is infectious.
This spirit, when we see it in another,
Titus got it from Paul.
The same spirit of I will not be
a burden.
I will not take advantage.
All this time, he says in verse 19,
you've been thinking that we are defending ourselves
to you.
How does it sound?
Does it sound as if we are defending
ourselves to you?
Actually, he says, it's in the sight of
God that we've been speaking.
And the only reason we've been saying this
is so that you accept the apostolic authority
I have so that you acknowledge that what
I'm writing is God's commandments and all for
your upbuilding, beloved.
He says, I'm not trying to project myself
as a great man before you.
I don't want that.
But so that you can accept what is
written.
Now, there's no need for us to speak
like that today because Scripture has already been
written.
Paul was writing in a day when Scripture
had not been written.
There was a necessity for that.
But not today.
For I'm afraid, he says, that perhaps when
I come, I may find you to be
not what I wish and may be found
by you to be not what you wish.
And he's talking about sin in their midst
that's not being judged.
That perhaps there may be strife in your
midst, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance,
disturbances.
I'm afraid that when I come again, my
God may humiliate me before you.
And I may mourn over many of those
who have sinned in the past and not
repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality which
they have practiced.
Notice Paul's attitude towards sin in the church
in Corinth.
He doesn't say you're just a bunch of
rotten sinners.
He doesn't say God's got to judge you.
Notice what he says.
God will humiliate whom?
God will humiliate me.
Because I'm your father.
A father is dishonored by the way his
children behave.
He says, I'm humiliated when I think of
the way you people are behaving.
And he says, I will mourn.
They're the ones who should be mourning.
But Paul says, I will mourn over those
who have sinned.
Another mark of a true man of God.
If you really want to know what it
means to be a man of God, a
servant of God, it's good to go through
this chapter.
Here is a revelation of Paul's inner life.
One who said, I'm a nobody.
Who would not be a burden.
And who mourned for the sins of others.
May God give us that spirit.
Then we can correct them.
Then we can build them up as part
of the body of Christ.
Let's turn today to 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
This is the third time I'm coming to
you, says Paul.
Every fact is to be confirmed by the
testimony of two or three witnesses.
I have previously said, when present the second
time, and though now absent, I say in
advance to those who have sinned in the
past and to all the rest as well,
that if I come again, I will not
spare anyone.
He is seeking to tell them that he
is going to come and settle matters there
because of the sin in their midst.
Why is he qualified?
And how does he have authority to deal
with their sin?
Because of what he said in chapter 12
verse 20 and 21.
That he considered their sin as that which
caused him humiliation before God.
He was concerned.
He mourned, chapter 12 verse 21, for those
who had sinned and had not repented.
Therefore, he could come and deal with them.
He says, I will not spare anyone.
Every fact is to be confirmed by the
testimony of two or three witnesses.
He is not going to take things by
hearsay, but where two or three witnesses stand
up and prove a charge, he is going
to accept it.
And he says, I am not going to
spare anyone.
This teaches us that the only person who
has the right to speak against sin in
another, is one who has mourned for the
sin of the other.
If I do not have the desire or
eagerness to mourn for the sin of another,
I have no right to judge them.
No right to seek to deal with it.
In verse 3 he says, since you are
seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks
in me, and who is not weak toward
you, but mighty in you, for indeed he
was crucified in weakness, but he lives because
of the power of God.
He says, when I deal with you, I
am not going to show any leniency.
I will not spare anyone.
And thus you will have the proof you
seek of the power of Christ who speaks
in me.
He says, you think I am very weak,
but when you come and see me dealing
with sin in your midst, despite my unimpressive
personality, and despite my lack of eloquence, when
you see how I stand against sin and
deal with it, you will have a proof
there of Christ speaking in me.
And it will not be in weakness, but
it will be mightily, it will be a
Christ of power.
And then he says about Jesus, a very
wonderful verse in verse 4, he was crucified
through weakness, but the power of God brought
him to life.
He says, we also are weak enough to
be crucified with him, but we live with
him by the power of God directed towards
you.
I am weak as he is weak, but
I am strong enough to deal with you,
for I share his life by the power
of God.
Here is a repetition of what we saw
in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, that God's power
is manifested in human weakness.
And Paul takes the example of Jesus Christ,
who was crucified in weakness.
He could have called 72,000 angels to
come and help him, to deliver him.
He had power to be free from the
cross, but he would not use that power.
He died in weakness.
And through the power of God, he lives.
And Paul says, this is the principle by
which we are to live as Christians too.
We are weak in him.
He says, because you Corinthians don't understand God's
way, that you think it is by a
manifestation of human power, that we are to
do the work of the Lord, like these
false apostles.
No, a true apostle is one who appears
weak and unimpressive, humanly speaking.
Remember this, as Jesus was weak, a true
apostle of Christ is weak and unimpressive by
human standards.
He is mighty with the power of God,
fearless against sin, standing ruthlessly against sin.
That is the proof of Christ speaking in
him.
Notice what he says, I will not spare
anyone who has sinned and who has not
repented.
Verse 3, that is the proof of Christ
speaking in me.
How do you know that Christ is speaking
through a person when he is ruthless against
sin and yet compassionate towards the sinner?
Ruthless against sin.
Weak in human terms, but living by the
power of God.
Are you willing to be that, unimpressive in
human eyes, weak and living only by God's
power which is directed against sin?
Then we can follow in the footsteps of
Paul as an apostle.
He says, you people are trying to test
me, but actually you should be testing yourselves,
he says in verse 5, whether you are
in the faith.
You don't understand what the true faith is
all about.
You confuse human soul power with the power
of the Holy Spirit.
You confuse human personality power with the mighty
power of God.
It's all confusion.
He says, test yourselves.
You haven't understood God's ways.
See if you are in the faith.
Examine yourselves.
You are examining me, whether I am a
true apostle, but examine yourselves.
Don't you recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus
Christ is in you?
Which Christ?
Not another Jesus which these false apostles preach,
but this Christ, spoken of in the previous
verse, who was crucified in weakness.
This is the Christ, the true Jesus Christ
who has come to live in you.
And he is going to manifest that spirit
in you again, of a willingness to be
crucified, to take up the cross and die
in human weakness, so that the power of
God may be manifested in you.
Test yourselves, he says.
See if this is the Christ who lives
in you, unless indeed you fail the test.
But, he says, I trust you will realize,
verse 6, that we ourselves don't fail the
test.
Now, he says, we pray to God that
you do no wrong.
He says, my desire is that you stir
free from sin, that you don't do anything
evil.
Not so that we may appear as having
produced a wonderful church.
Paul's desire is not that other people should
look at the church in Corinth and commend
Paul and say, oh brother, you've built a
wonderful church.
He says, no, I'm not bothered about the
approval of men.
He says, but I'm concerned that you should
do what is right and you should avoid
what is evil.
Even though people may reject us and we
appear unapproved, that's unimportant.
For we can do nothing against the truth,
he says in verse 8, but only for
the truth.
We cannot fight against the truth.
That is impossible.
We have no power at all against the
truth.
God, the Spirit, Jesus, the Father, they're all
on the side of the truth.
We cannot fight against that.
The best thing to do is to get
on the side of the truth and serve
the truth and support it.
And then we have God's almighty power on
our side.
If we stand on the side of the
truth of God's word, we'll have the almighty
power of God on our side.
We can never do anything against it.
God's truth will finally triumph.
He says, we're glad, verse 9, when we
ourselves are weak.
He says, we're not bothered if we appear
weak.
That doesn't disturb us, even if you appear
strong.
But what we are praying for, and here
is another mark of a true servant of
God that he prays something for those to
whom he ministers.
What does he pray?
He says, we pray for your perfection.
You've been justified.
We are praying that you will be perfect
Christians, that you will press on to perfection.
Many Christians are not interested in perfection.
Paul says, I pray that you will press
on to perfection.
For this reason, I'm writing these things while
absent in order that when present, I may
not use severity.
He says, I'm writing this so that you
respond to my letters so that I can
see that things have improved when I come
there so that I don't have to deal
with severity with anyone when I come in
accordance with the authority which the Lord gave
me.
The Lord gave Paul an authority.
He says, not an authority for tearing you
down, but to build you up.
The authority that God gives us as his
servants is not to tear other people down,
but to build other people up.
Everything that we say must be to build
other people up, not to tear them down.
And notice his burden for perfection coming through
again.
Finally, brethren, rejoice.
And notice what he says.
Aim at perfection.
What an exhortation.
Aim at perfection.
Be comforted.
Take courage.
Agree together.
And live in peace.
These are his closing exhortations.
Aim at perfection.
He says, we are praying for your perfection.
Verse 9.
Aim at perfection in your personal life.
Take courage.
Never, never be discouraged.
Agree together.
And live in peace.
And then God, the source of all love
and peace, will be with you.
This is how we can have God with
us.
When we aim at perfection and we seek
to live together in peace.
The God of love and peace shall be
with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the saints greet you.
And a concluding prayer for the Christians in
Corinth.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the love of God, the
Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
That's how Paul concludes.
And as we've gone through Paul's letter to
the Corinthians, we've seen how Paul has revealed
his inner life in this episode more than
in any other episode that he's ever written.
And that's why this episode is worthy of
very close and careful study.
Because it reveals the type of man whom
God can use more than any other episode
in the New Testament.
Many episodes teach doctrine, but here is an
episode which teaches what a man of God
should be like.
May God make us like Paul.