October 5, 2008
Evening Service

II Cor. 2

 

Review:

1. Paul started this second letter to Corinth on a basis of thanksgiving.  How that God is our Comforter, and that we should also be a comfort to others.
2. Then he tells of his troubles in Asia.  How that God delivered him, and that their prayers certainly helped. 
3. In verses 19-24 Paul said, 2Co 1:19-24  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.  (20)  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.  (21)  Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;  (22)  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.  (23)  Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.  (24)  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

 

2Co 2:1-17  But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.  (2)  For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?  (3)  And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.  (4)  For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. 

• The first letter Paul wrote concerning all the problems they were having, was sometimes pretty sharp.
• It was said of Jesus one time, “that never a man spoke like this man.”  That was when He was talking to the average middleclass people.  He never cut them down, but tried to lift them up, and give them hope.  However, He did speak harshly to the religious leaders.  Calling them hypocrites, liars, children of their father the devil, oh yes, He got pretty upset with them many times.
• So now Paul is saying I want to come again unto you with joy in my heart, and I want you to be joyful also.  This same Paul said this, Phi 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  And again;  1Th 5:16  Rejoice evermore.     We should be rejoicing always.

(5)  But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.  (6)  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 

• Paul is referring to the man that was committing fornication in chapter 5 of the first letter.
• This man’s punishment was given to him by many, and it was sufficient. 
• Now notice Paul’s attitude toward this person.

(7)  So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.  (8)  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 

• In the first letter Paul said “to turn one over to Satan.”
• Turning one over to Satan, or to ex-communicate someone, is for the purpose of getting them to forsake their sin, and want God more than the sin.  Come back to the church with a repentant attitude.              Notice what Paul says;

(9)  For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.  (10)  To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 

• This gospel that we’ve been given to share with the world is a message of love, forgiveness, patience, understanding, and sacrifice.  Thinking of others more than yourself.  That’s the message from God, and those are His expectations for His people.
• Jesus said in chapter 6 of Matthew,  “if you are not willing to forgive men their trespasses, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive you your trespasses.” 
• That sure is not hard to understand.

(11)  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

• When we are living for Christ, and are full of these graces, Satan has nothing to do with us.  He can not overcome FAITH, LOVE, MERCY, FORGIVENESS.

(12)  Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,  (13)  I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.  (14)  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. 

• Bro. Steve shared with us this morning how that man describes God Almighty.  They use the terms, omniscience, omnipresent, and omnipotent.   Then they tell you what each of these terms mean.
• Do you remember how Jesus described God?  God is Spirit.  John described God by saying, God is love.   Drawing a conclusion on these statements, I can say, God is the Spirit of love.
• It was not only said of Jesus, “never a man spoke like this man,”  but that He spoke as one having authority, and not like the Scribes, and the Pharisees.
• Jesus said in another place;  Mat 12:39-42  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah:  (40)  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  (41)  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.  (42)  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
• Every Lord’s Day, and every Wednesday we proclaim this Lamb of God, this Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,  who is greater than Jonah, Solomon, David, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Peyton Manning, oh yes, even Peyton. 
• So why aren’t people beating down the door to get in here to hear about this marvelous Person? 
• Because they love the things of the world, more than the things of God. 

(15)  For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:  (16)  To the one we are the savor of death unto death;

• Our message is what God wants us to preach, to some eternal life, and to the lost, the second death, the lake of fire.

and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?  (17)  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

• This was one of the things that Paul tried to correct by his first letter.  False teachers.  He says we are not like those people, but we are sincere, and we speak God’s will, in the Name of Christ.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US TO PREACH, AND TEACH, IS A MESSAGE OF JOY, LOVE, FORGIVENESS, AND SACRIFICE.

 

HOPEFULLY ALL CAN SEE THAT WE DO THIS IN ALL SINCEREITY, WITH GOD AS OUR HELPER, IN THE NAME OF JESUS OF NAZARETH.