• As Paul has been winding his way to the end of this letter, he is expressing a form of accountability that we are all familiar with.

 
FINAL WARNINGS AND EXHORTATIONS
2 CORINTHIANS 13
1 This is the third time I am coming to you.

• Acts 18:1-11 - This was the trip to Corinth in 50 AD when Paul founded the church.
• Remember, he stayed there for about eighteen months that time and ministered in the city.
• Paul wrote his 1st letter to the Church in Thessalonica during that stay.
• 2 Corinthians 2:1-2 - The second trip that he alludes to here was the painful visit in the spring of ad 54, growing out of Timothy’s visit, when he went over and he found that things were not going well.

Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

• Deuteronomy 19:15 - In context, this is as people are being taught about life in the promised land.

2 I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient,

• Paul is expressing the idea of accountability here.
• He is warning them that he is coming to deal with those who are still refusing to repent of their sin.
• “You wait until your Dad gets home.”
• I’m coming to kick butt.
• I have used this approach many times over my years in ministry.

3 since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me.

• “You want to see Christ working in me? OK, I’ll show you!!!”

He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you. 4 For he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by God’s power.

• OK… so what does this “accountability” look like when Paul actually comes to town?
• It looks like everything Paul has been teaching previously in this letter.
• He comes in weakness rather than his own fleshly strength.
• He comes in God’s strength… which is Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?[1]
• Every time I come to a brother/sister in Jesus, I come with a humble heart.
• Will they give me their ear? Not if I come in condemnation… but in grace.
• I don’t avoid the hard conversation of their sin… it is what is… but I come with the Good News of forgiveness and repentance.

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.

• I am absolutely positive this is how Paul approached those who were still struggling with walking by faith.
• He reminded them of their identity in Christ.
• What does that mean that “Jesus is in you”?

6 And I hope you will recognize that we ourselves do not fail the test.

• If he comes with this exact message, he will be different than all the others who bringing condemnation.
• Then you can see that Christ is in us and we are listening to Him.

7 But we pray to God that you do nothing wrong—not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear to fail.

• Paul is going to walk by his flesh some times, but don’t let that distract you from what he normally does and what he teaches.

8 For we can’t do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 We rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray that you become fully mature.

• This is the journey of all believers.
• It is natural for us to respond to the Truth.
• We have been given the ability to discern truth even when lies have been disguised as truth.
• As we mature in our spiritual growth, we are able to see things in light of the Spirit that resides in us.
• You see what Paul… and this ministry does here.
• At the same time that we pointing out flesh patterns, we are expressing truth to them and confirming the faith they already have.
• We just keep reminding them who they really are.

10 This is why I am writing these things while absent, so that when I am there I may not have to deal harshly with you, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

• Paul would much rather have them see this truth in this letter rather than have to come and actually say it to their face.
• But sometimes you just have to have the face to face conversations.

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

• This letter is the result of dealing with a dysfunctional church but also encouraging them in their faith and maturity.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.

• This is a normal Middle Eastern greeting and goodbye.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.[2]

• The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
• This is a byproduct of walking by the Spirit together as a community.

 
PAUL IN MACEDONIA
ACTS 20
1 After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia. 2 And when he had passed through those areas (MAP - Illyricum – Romans 15:19) and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece (Corinth) 3 and stayed three months.

• This would be the Winter of 57 AD
• He stayed as a guest of Gaius Titius Justus.
• We know this because during his stay in Corinth, he penned his letter to the church in Rome.
• He thanked Gaius for hosting him at the end of the letter.
• The letter to Rome was requested by Aquilla & Priscilla who are ministering in Rome.
• There are many foreigners coming and going from Rome and they had the opportunity to share the Gospel with them.
• They asked Paul to explain the Gospel clearly in his letter.
• They explain the tension between the Jews and the Gentiles (meat eating and holy days)
• Paul pens the letter to Church in Rome.

The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria (Antioch), and so he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

• 7 men plus Luke (author)
• These 7 men had brought Paul the relief fund for Jerusalem from the respective churches.
• They wanted to accompany Paul to Jerusalem.
• All 8 men went to Phiippi and caught up with Luke.

5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas, 6 but we (Paul & Luke) sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days (unfavorable winds) we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

• Map of Troas

 
EUTYCHUS REVIVED AT TROAS
7 On the first day of the week (Sunday), we assembled to break bread.

• They meet on the 3rd floor of the insula/apartment.
• It’s lit with many torches and kind of smoky. (hot)

Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled, 9 and a young man (8-14 years old) named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking.

• Let’s actually blame it on the room conditions rather than Paul’s preaching.

When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.” 11 After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating,

• They fed the young boy!

Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left. 12 They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.[3]

• What do you think Paul talked about for so long?

The same thing we talk about every Sunday!

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Ro 2:4). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 13:1–13). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Ac 20:1–12). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• We start today with the 2nd part of Paul’s “Fool’s Speech”.
• Paul is continuing to explain his weakness.

 
PAUL AND THE FALSE APOSTLES
2 CORINTHIANS 11
32 In Damascus, a ruler under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me. 33 So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.[1]

• Paul had to escape the city in one of the lowest forms of exiting guarded city.
• There was no parade for Paul.

 
SUFFICIENT GRACE
2 Corinthians 12
1 Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

• Paul was “boasting” in the previous verses because that is what the professional speakers did.
• But Paul chose to boast about his weaknesses rather than his strengths which is totally opposite of the talented speakers.
• But now Paul is actually boasting about something positive.

2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows.

• Paul is referring to himself but speaking in 3rd person because he doesn’t want to talk about himself like the “super Apostles”/false teachers.
• The Jews of the day in apocalyptic literature believed that there was a heavenly Jerusalem, and that heavenly Jerusalem had a heavenly tabernacle or temple, and it was laid out like the earthly tabernacle or temple.
• In fact, Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews 8, saying that when Moses built the tabernacle, he did it on the basis of looking into heaven itself, seeing the heavenly tabernacle, and kind of sketching that out and using that as the design for the earthly tabernacle.
• So here, Paul is giving that kind of Jewish apocalyptic idea of making this trip to heaven, and it seems that when he describes this experience, he is snatched up into the very presence of God, right into the throne room of God in heaven.
• God also honored Paul by taking him to heaven, and then sending him back to the earth again.
• This marvelous experience had taken place fourteen years before the writing of this letter, which would place the experience in about the year 43 AD.
• This would be the period in Paul’s life between his departure for Tarsus (Acts 9:30) and his visit from Barnabas (Acts 11:25–26).
• There is no record of the details of this event, and it is useless for us to speculate.[2]
• That’s the significance of the third heaven.[3]

3 I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows--4 was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak. 5 I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

• Paul says the words are inexpressible because he does not want to focus on this story being about him and his experience.
• This is opposite of what the false teachers would have spoken about.
• The false teachers would have spoken about all the things they have experienced first-hand.
• It could also mean that God spoke words that could only be heard in heaven.
• If most people experienced this visit to heaven, they would have told people immediately.
• Paul waited 14 years to mention it.

6 For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me, 7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.

• The word “thorn” is actually referenced a few other times in the Scripture.
• In every case these refer to some form of opposition[4]
• It could have been a physical ailment: malaria, epilepsy or even an eye disease… or even a speech impediment.
• Possibly a psychological or mental health issue. Such as anxiety, depression or even sexual addiction.
• I personally believe that Paul is referring to his constant battle of teaching truth and being falsely accused by the Judaizers everywhere he went.
• When you look at this broader context in 11:22–12:10, if you’ll notice, the list is primarily talking about hardships involving persecution.[5]

8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

• God did not give Paul an explanation, but He gave him a promise.

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

• A beautiful ending to Paul’s “Fool’s Speech” is referring to his power is perfected in his weakness so the Good News could be advanced.
• When you get down to bottom and realize the only option you have is God… you are probably in a great spot.
• When you no longer have the ability to make the same unsuccessful choices… repeatedly…
• Then maybe it’s time to give up on you making the choices and let the holy living God who resides in you… to make your choices for you.

 
SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE
11 I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

• Paul is speaking to a minority in the Church at Corinth.
• The majority have already gotten on board with Paul.
• He’s just referring to a few people who have continued to listen to the false teachers.
• So Paul had to speak “foolishly” because that is what they have been attracted to.
• Paul is directly saying to them, “You should have already got in line and not made me deliver this foolish message.

12 The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles. 13 So in what way are you worse off than the other churches, except that I personally did not burden you? Forgive me for this wrong!

• What validated great speakers/teachers in the Corinth society (an even today) is the amount of money that was given to support their ministry.
• Paul did not do this.
• He did not take money from the Church in Corinth and they saw this as an insufficiency in Paul’s ministry.
• If he would have taken the money, he would have more credibility in society.

 
PAUL’S CONCERN FOR THE CORINTHIANS

• We can understand the whole structure of 2 Corinthians on the basis of them getting ready—getting ready by embracing his authentic ministry, getting ready by taking up the collection for Jerusalem, and getting ready by dealing with the false teachers in 10–13.[6]

14 Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

• Paul is not planning on changing his ministry ways.
• He wants to support and give to the Church at Corinth.

15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you., If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 Now granted, I did not burden you; yet sly as I am, I took you in by deceit!

• Paul is being sarcastic here.
• He is actually saying that he did opposite of what the false teachers did.
• He did not use their tactics… which they thought were honest.

17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those I sent you? 18 I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?

• He sent others to minister to them as well and they patterned their ministry after Paul as well.
• Titus and others did not take anything from the Church at Corinth.
• Everything Paul and his team of ministers did was done with integrity.

19 Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.

• Paul wanted to clarify that he was not defending his ministry or style of ministry.
• He was explaining how they have done ministry with authenticity and integrity.
• It was more about the ministry to the Church than it was about Paul’s personal ministry.

20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

• Paul is wanting the Church at Corinth to all be on the same page when he arrives.
• The Church is less than 5 years old.
• The Church is made up of many different house churches and many different teachings.
• He wanted them all in unison.

21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.[7]

• Paul is encouraging transparency and community.
• Moral impurity, sexual immorality and sensuality are not just Corinth’s issues.
• They seem to be every society’s issue.

This is a basic plea by Paul to stay focused on Jesus by the renewing of our minds.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 11:1–33). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 673). Victor Books.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[4] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[5] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[6] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 12:1–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• I start with asking the question, “What are you passionate about?”
• How does that affect your words or behavior?

 

• Paul focuses in on how he is weak in the sense of being persecuted, pouring his life out, [and] living a life that was really like a slave’s life in some ways in terms of the work he had to do [and] the type of life he had to live.
• And he does this “Fool’s Speech” to set his form of ministry, which is sacrificial, over against the false ministry of these interlopers in Corinth who are trying to stand up and present themselves as powerful people in the culture—people who have money, people who have position. Paul says that’s not really what Christian ministry is about.[1]

PAUL AND THE FALSE APOSTLES
2 CORINTHIANS 11
1 I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me!

• The process that he uses here is basically a plea. In verse 1 he’s going to say, “Come on, guys. Bear with me. Bear with me.” “Work with me here” is really what he’s saying.[2]

2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ.

• Paul wants to make sure that the Corinthians are doctrinally pure [and] that they are not getting off into theologically dangerous and destructive beliefs because of buying into the teaching of these false teachers.
• It’s actually the kind of jealousy where you feel very deep emotions because you are deeply interested in the welfare of someone.

3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!

• “You guys are not approaching this situation with these false teachers from a wisdom standpoint, from a biblical standpoint. You’re buying into their foolishness.”
• These are not valid Christian teachers who just differ with Paul in approach. He says that they are preaching another Jesus; they’re preaching under the influence of a different spirit, and they are preaching a different gospel than the true gospel.
• Often people use that word “tolerance” to say that we ought to accept everybody no matter what.[3]

5 Now I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

• someone who did not have extensive training.[4]

6 Even if I am untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have in every way made that clear to you in everything.

• He points out here that what he is especially good at is communicating knowledge or truth.
• He’s saying that “Even though I have chosen not to use flowery rhetorical ability here, I have taught you faithfully.”[5]

7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you.

• He actually uses missions funds from Macedonia to support his ministry in Corinth.[6]

9 When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.

• He does not want to be obligated to any power person in Corinth to promote their agenda.[7]

10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows I do!

• If you want me to boast about something, I’m going to boast about the fact that I’m not taking money from you.[8]

12 But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.

• Well, he says, “I’m going to carry out a pattern of ministry that makes what I’m doing and my gospel very distinct from the approach of these false teachers.
• I want you to see very clearly that we are not doing the same thing.
• It’s not simply a choice between gospel ministry A and gospel ministry B.”
• Paul says, “Their form of ministry is false.
• They are false apostles, they are deceitful, [and] they are just disguised as apostles of Christ.”
• And he says this fits their character perfectly.
• Whereas Paul himself follows the pattern of Christ, these false teachers follow the pattern of Satan.
• You can have people who come and minister in a church, and they’re using the right words.
• They present themselves as really concerned about righteousness, and yet, when you dig a little bit deeper in what is going on with them, there are red flags there that point to the fact that they’re really not authentic ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.[9]

 
PAUL’S SUFFERINGS FOR CHRIST
16 I repeat: Let no one consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool so that I can also boast a little. 17 What I am saying in this matter of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but as it were, foolishly. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I will also boast.

• The process here that he uses is direct confrontation. He is saying, “You guys are doing something that is inappropriate.”
• And it’s really a beautiful piece of rhetoric that he is using here, and he gets into a bit of sarcasm, actually, where he is saying things on the surface like he’s applauding them, but really, what he’s doing is he is chastising them.
• He is really confronting them very directly with how bad it is that they are welcoming these false teachers in their midst.[10]

19 For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools! 20 In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone is arrogant toward you, if someone slaps you in the face. 21 I say this to our shame: We have been too weak for that!

• A slave’s status was the lowest status in the culture—“if these false teachers eat up your resources; if they gobble down the resources that you have, then you applaud them. You think that that’s great. If they just swallow you whole, you think that’s a great thing.”
• So, in essence, in this whole section of 2 Corinthians, I think Paul is directly addressing that minority who are still interacting with the false teachers, and he’s really interacting and directing his comments toward those false teachers themselves.
• He never addresses them directly because he doesn’t want to dignify them, but he is always having his words aimed at those guys in the background.[11]

But in whatever anyone dares to boast—I am talking foolishly—I also dare: 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the descendants of Abraham? So am I.

• Paul is identifying with the false teachers.
• They must be the Judeizers that have persistently followed Paul’s ministry.

23 Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.

• Now Paul distinguishes the differences between them and himself.
• Power vs weakness.
• Paul is presenting that he is superior because of his weaknesses… pure foolishness.
• This is the whole Gospel… it is foolishness to the world.

24 Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.

• Paul is dealing with anxiety because of his passion for the Church.
• What search committee would present Paul as a candidate for church leadership based upon this resume?

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
30 If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying.

• Here is a man who had it all as a Pharisee.
• Gave it all up for a life of weakness and misery.
• He was beaten by both the Jews and the Gentiles.
• Around 400 AD, Augustine said there two kinds of pastors: those who cared for their flock and others who sit in it to gratify themselves by temporal honors and worldly advantages.[12]
• It happened in the early church. It happened in 400 AD and it is still happening today.
• Most likely, the ones who Paul is adamant against would probably never teach this passage.

[1] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[4] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[5] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[6] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[7] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[8] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[9] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[10] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[11] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[12] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.

• In 2 Corinthians 8–9, Paul is challenging the Corinthians to be involved in the ministry of giving.
• He is wanting them to take up the collection that is going to minister to the church in Jerusalem.
• The process that he carries out here is unpacking a number of OT passages that actually give principles for how a person or a church is supposed to give.[1]

APPEAL TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION
2 CORINTHIANS 9
6 The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

• This idea comes from:
• Proverbs 22:8 - The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.[2]
• Hosea 8:7 - Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. [3]
• You are going to get what out of it whatever you put into it.
• Romans study.

7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion (not by feelings or pressure), since God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. 9 As it is written:
He distributed freely;
he gave to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever. (Psalm 112:9)
10 Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

• “This ministry that you’re carrying out”—he’s talking there about the ministry of giving; of being involved in meeting the needs of other people.
• He says, “It is not only doing that—it’s not only meeting people’s needs—but it’s also having a bigger impact so that people are being made thankful to God because of the ministry that’s being stimulated in this context of faithful giving.”

13 Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

• They are using money as a tool for the advancement of the kingdom—it is a form of confession of agreeing that the good news of Jesus Christ is true, and their lives are manifesting the truth of the gospel by the way they are handling their resources.[4]
• It comes down to trusting the principle of the harvest.

14 And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

• We have much to celebrate because of what God is doing through you.
• Contribution statements
• Voice Message from Logan

 
PAUL’S APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY

• Now, in chapters 10–13, we hear a very different tone from Paul because he is confronting, and he’s even sarcastic at places.[5]
• He is confronting the false teachers.

2 CORINTHIANS 10
1 Now I, Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent. 2 I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are living according to the flesh.

• When Paul founded the church at Corinth, his purpose was to exalt Christ and not himself (1 Cor. 2:1–5).
• Christians usually grow the way they are born. If they are born in an atmosphere of dictatorial leadership, they grow up depending on man’s wisdom and strength.
• If they are born in an atmosphere of humility and love, they learn to depend on the Lord.
• Paul wanted his converts to trust the Lord, and not the servant; so he deliberately “played down” his own authority and ability.[6]

3 For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds.

• The language that he uses here is of a specific kind of warfare, and it is called siege warfare.
• In the ancient world, if you had a city, normally you built a large wall around the city as the major line of defense.
• And therefore, when you were fighting an enemy and you were going to capture a city, what you had to do is lay siege to the city.
• Ephesians 6:12 - 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.[7]

We demolish arguments 5 and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

• Notice that Paul’s emphasis is on issues of the thoughts.
• Theological issues are really critical in what is going on because people are going to live out of the way they think.
• So Paul talks about tearing down the wall of their ideas.
• Secondly, capturing the enemy soldiers was a second step in siege warfare.
• Paul says, “We take every thought captive, resulting in obedience to Christ.” And then he says, [essentially,] that once that happens, “What we are going to do is we are going to, in essence, prosecute the enemy soldiers.”
• Paul says, “We stand ready to punish every disobedient act once your obedience is complete.”[8]

7 Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

• He starts with “If anyone has convinced himself.”
• One of the ways that Paul refers to these false teachers is by using a very ambiguous idea of “anyone” or a certain person.
• He does not even do them the dignity of naming them; he just leaves it kind of ambiguous.
• And he says, [essentially,] “If these people are claiming to be from Christ, they need to consider the fact that we really are from Christ.”[9]

8 For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

• The false teachers were boasting about their own accomplishments.
• Paul is boasting in the Lord who gave him the authority over teaching the Corinthians.

9 I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters. 10 For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.” 11 Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present.

• Evidently, people were saying, “Yeah, Paul can write these really powerful letters.”
• And people get this response going through these powerful letters, but then they go on and point out he’s really “a pushover in person, and his public speaking is disgraceful.”
• Public speakers, and so much of that kind of professional speaker tradition was about looking good and speaking powerfully and being able to move people with your words.
• But they were often criticized as having very little content in their speaking.
• They just can really wow the crowd, but they really don’t have a biblical content and theological content in what they’re doing.
• In chapter 13, he’s going to point out that when he arrives in Corinth, the power of Christ is going to bring these people in line.[10]

12 For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

• He says that they are overstepping ministry boundaries; they’re getting into areas that they have not been assigned by the Lord.
• The boasting these opponents were doing involved them commending themselves in a way that they were standing up and they were bragging about their own accomplishments.
• Paul says they were classifying and comparing themselves to each other.
• And this is a human standard, where we’re tempted to kind of line ourselves up next to somebody else and say, “Look how great I am” by perhaps tearing them down.
• So you have the standards there very much on a human level.
• So what these false teachers are doing is they are comparing themselves by others who are kind of in their own league, and Paul is saying that’s really not an appropriate spiritual way to think about who is qualified for ministry.
• He actually calls these guys “clueless.”
• He says [that] when the false teachers are playing this comparison game with one another, it basically is showing that they are spiritually dull-headed.
• They really don’t get spiritual perception and discernment.
• So he is saying that this is not the right way to approach Christian ministry—to compare yourself with others.
• There’s another standard that needs to be in play, and that is what the Lord considers worthy of boasting about.[11]

13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We are not boasting beyond measure about other people’s labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry. 17 So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord., 18 For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends. [12]

• In other words, “Let’s not play this comparison game that these false teachers are doing.
• Let’s focus on the work of God and be faithful in the work that God has given us to do and allow the Lord to commend us rather than us trying to just brag about our own accomplishments.”[13]

[1] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Pr 22:8). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Ho 8:7). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[5] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 664). Victor Books.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Eph 6:12). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[9] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[10] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[11] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[12] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 9:6–10:18). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.

• Remember, he’s traveling through the area of Macedonia as he writes 2 Corinthians, and he’s going to use the Macedonians as a positive example of how to get this right.[1]

APPEAL TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION
2 CORINTHIANS 8
1 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia:

• What he wants them to see is that the Macedonians’ giving is an expression of God’s grace.
• The word we translate as “grace” at times could just simply mean attractiveness, charm, winsomeness, thanks, [or] thankfulness.
• It could speak of a gift or a benefit, it could speak of favor that someone gave to someone else, or it could speak of help.[2]
• But I think here it speaks of God’s ability to do amazing things through believers… in His strength.

2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

• He says it was a “severe test” that was the context that really prompted their giving.
• But they also were people who gave out of their poverty, which is very interesting.
• They didn’t have very much to begin with.
• They were in deep poverty, which means “rock-bottom destitution.”
• But their circumstances did not hinder them from giving. In fact, they gave joyfully and liberally![3]

3 I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, 4 they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, 5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.

• Giving was a normal aspect of piety for Jews.
• They had ultimately set a pattern for the Gentiles.

6 So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.
7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence and in your love for us—excel also in this act of grace. 8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

• One of things that is amazing when you think about the gospel and the way God initiated renewing the world [is that] it is counterintuitive to how we do things as human beings.
• It seems as Jesus would always do the unexpected.
• But what God is doing is He is setting up a way of taking over the world that is not by military might.
• It’s by transformation, and transformation that would make people servants to others and carry the gospel into the world in a way that is upside down.
• It’s by servanthood rather than by military might.[4]

10 And in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it. 11 Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality.

• Some people will interpret this as Paul was teaching communism.
• But what Paul was teaching was purely volunteerism which is not communism.
• Their giving was voluntary and spontaneous.
• It was of grace, not pressure.
• They gave because they wanted to give and because they had experienced the grace of God.
• Grace not only frees us from our sins, but it frees us from ourselves.
• The grace of God will open your heart and your hand.[5]
• What he’s talking about is being sensitive (or listen to the Spirit) to the needs of others so that when we have a surplus, we are sensitive to those needs that are out there so that their needs can be met by the way that God has blessed us.[6]

14 At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality. 15 As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.

• And the idea in that passage is even distribution: Make sure that everybody in the community has their basic needs met.[7]

 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLLECTION
16 Thanks be to God, who put the same concern for you into the heart of Titus. 17 For he welcomed our appeal and, being very diligent, went out to you by his own choice. 18 We have sent with him the brother who is praised among all the churches for his gospel ministry.

• The first brother who’s mentioned in verse 18 is a person who has been “universally praised throughout all the churches for his gospel work.”
• So this is someone who had a sterling reputation.
• He was deeply committed to the gospel, and he had been tagged by the churches to be a companion of Paul on this trip.[8]

19 And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gracious gift that we are administering for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We are taking this precaution so that no one will criticize us about this large sum that we are administering. 21 Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people.

• We should ask ourselves with regard to our handling of resources and our public witness, ‘Do we act with such sterling integrity that we allay suspicion of our motives and promote a positive witness before both a watching world and our God?’
• That’s the kind of integrity we need to have even in doing basic aspects of administration in ministry. [9]

22 We have also sent with them our brother. We have often tested him in many circumstances and found him to be diligent—and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker for you; as for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 Therefore, show them proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you. [10]
 
2 CORINTHIANS 9
1 Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you. 2 For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians, “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said.

• He doesn’t want the collection to be something that is still waiting in the wings.
• He wants it to be prepared so that the Corinthians are not shamed and he himself is not shamed because he’s been bragging on the Corinthians, [saying] that they would be ready.
• Evidently, he had even bragged to the Macedonians and said, “Hey, look. The Achaeans are going to do this; they’re going to follow through. They’ve been anxious to participate in giving since last year.”[11]

4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation. 5 Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.[12]

• He wants to set the Corinthians up for responding spiritually in a way that is out of generosity of spirit rather than out of stinginess.
• If Paul and the others had come to town eventually and the Corinthians were not ready, it might seem like they are grudgingly having to come up with some money to contribute.
• But if he can help them spiritually get ready, then they can give out of a generous spirit.

They can do it as an act of worship because they’ve been well prepared by [for] it.[13]

[1] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 655). Victor Books.
[4] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 655). Victor Books.
[6] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[7] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[8] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[9] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[10] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 8:1–24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[12] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 9:1–5). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.

2 CORINTHIANS 6
16 For we are the temple of the living God, as God said:
I will dwell
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.,
17 Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord;
do not touch any unclean thing,
and I will welcome you.,
18 And I will be a Father to you,
and you will be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty., [1]
 
2 CORINTHIANS 7
1 So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

JOY AND REPENTANCE
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted no one, taken advantage of no one. 3 I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.
5 In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I grieved you with my letter, I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it—since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while--9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. 11 For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been comforted.
In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. 15 And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you. [2]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 6:16–18). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 7). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• Let’s get a running start and backup a few verses.

2 CORINTHIANS 5
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

• A transformation has taken place.
• Do you recognize it?
• Do you turn back to your flesh for a season?

18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [1]
 
2 CORINTHIANS 6
1 Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.”

• Can you abuse grace? No
• Can you misunderstand grace? Yes
• I’m begging you… pleading with you.

2 For he says:
At an acceptable time, I listened to you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.
See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!

• All over Corinth the believers were spread out in the region.
• False teachers were numerous.
• Sexual sin was active.
• Paul’s followers have one foot in and one foot out.

 
THE CHARACTER OF PAUL’S MINISTRY
3 We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed.

• The purpose of this list that we find in this passage is they are marking his ministry as uniquely authentic because he is following along in the suffering of Christ.[2]

4 Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties,

• You think ministry is stressful?
• People ask me all the time, “What do you do with everyone’s ‘stuff’?” – It’s not my “stuff”.
• Good people around me.
• But I truly believe what I teach.

5 by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger,

• As Paul traveled around the Mediterranean area.

6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God;

• This is how we deal with all the “stuff”
• We can have all kinds of support ministry and tactics to deal with issues… but this, my friends, is where it is at… the power of God.
• Do not substitute programs, accountability and self-discipline for the power of God.

through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true; 9 as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see—we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed; 10 as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

• Compare this list of suffering by Paul and his disciples to today’s understanding of a “successful church”.
• Today’s church only reports the good.
• So Paul is saying that, really, the mark of authentic ministry are hardships.[3]
• I’m OK with being labeled “the little church that meets in the bar”, “the place that harbors sinners”, “the place that only teaches grace”, “the place that has no ministry programs”.
• Because I know the Truth and I know what I have in this little room and I am so thankful for you.

11 We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.

• Reciprocation was a huge understanding in the Corinth society.

13 I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us.

• Today, we want to do a quick survey.
• Give away videos
• Share stories in the room.

 
SEPARATION TO GOD
14 Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols?

• Paul is pretty straightforward here.
• This passage has always been interpreted as don’t marry an unbeliever.
• It is in reference to intimate/close relationships.
• Relationships that impact both parties.
• I encourage relationships with unbelievers as long as the believer is having impact on the unbeliever.
• I discourage relationships with unbelievers if the believer is being impacted by the unbeliever.

For we are the temple of the living God, as God said:
I will dwell
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
17 Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord;
do not touch any unclean thing,
and I will welcome you.
18 And I will be a Father to you,
and you will be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.[4]

• Paul uses several passages here from the Old Testament because God told the Israelites to remain clean and separated.
• You have been made holy!
• Holy – sanctified – set apart
• We are not like the world… we are aliens.
• We will be made fun of… we will be challenged… we will be called out.
• But remember who you are in Christ.
• You are the redeemed. You are the holy.
• The Lord God dwells inside of you.
• When you acknowledge your true identity… it causes you to desire different things than the world desires.
• It causes you to be focused on Jesus rather than yourself or the world.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 5:17–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Lexham Press.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (2 Co 6). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• Paul has spent the last couple of chapters explaining what authentic ministry is.

OUR FUTURE AFTER DEATH
2 CORINTHIANS 5
1 For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. 2 Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

• Can we talk about this life here on earth?
• I am physically limited by my flesh suit.
• Gravity… as the Holidays go on… so do the pounds.
• Think about life 3-4 years ago vs today.
• Pandemic came – quarantine came.
• Seclusion came – isolation came.
• Things changed
• We were at home in our comfy pants, Traegers, Netflix and devices.
• We got out for a season…
• But now we are crawling back into our holes again because it is easy.
• GMA Report
• Our bodies are groaning for something greater than all this!

5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
6 So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

• Difference between Judgment Seat and Great White Throne Judgment.
• Judgment Seat is for believers… based upon works. Those things we have done in the flesh vs the things we have done in the Spirit.

11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences.

• I’m telling you… you can’t be lulled into the ways of this world… devices… isolation… expectations.
• It is killing your kids… it is killing you.
• You aren’t even aware of what is happening but the alarms are going off all around you.

12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us (boast), so that you may have a reply for those who take pride (boast) in outward appearance rather than in the heart.

• The world is more focused on appearance and doing than they are spiritual side of themselves.
• You have to stop what the majority is doing and focus on the Spirit that lives inside of you.

13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

• Yes! The world is going to think you are stupid.
• Yes! You will be criticized.
• I’m going to choose to do things differently… even from those who are doing church!
• Spoke to a church staff about sabbath rest.
• Paul is appealing with believers to not listen to the false teachers.
• He wants them to live a life of authentic ministry.
• You fix dinner for your family and you are pleading with them to come to the table.
• “I only have 10 more minutes of this movie.”
• I’m begging you… quit playing games… quit chasing things that are irrelevant to what is happening around you.
• There are people who are spiritually and physically dying.

14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all (John 3:16), and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

• It is not about us.
• We focus on us… which is what the world points us to… then it brings anxiety, depression and disappointment.
• If we focus on Jesus… He is going to point you to others because that is authentic ministry.
• Doing things for others allows joy to rise to the top.

 
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.

• Worldly perspective… acts done in the flesh.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

• What passed away? Something died! It is gone!
• Your sinful nature… what was once natural to you.
• Now you have been made new.
• A transformation has occurred and most believers never realize it.
• Yes, they know they have salvation… but do they know this tent has a living God inside of them?

18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

• Crisis intervention… the ministry of sitting down across from someone and saying, “Jesus has already dealt with that.
• It has been reconciled.
• Let’s move forward.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

• We sit down with people and remind them of their identity.
• Police Chief walks in dressed in total uniform and everyone sees him for the police chief.
• The Police Chief is not his badge.
• I see you in a whole different perspective.
• Received and welcomed.

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.[1]

• This is past tense.
• It is already a done deal.
• You have been made righteous.
• You are reconciled.
• This is what we have to constantly remind ourselves and our families.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 5:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

• Paul has been writing about authentic ministry since 2:14.

THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL
2 CORINTHIANS 4
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.

• Not because he was funded, appointed or had the abilities.
• The reason for having ministry is because they have been shown mercy.
• His mercy happened on Road to Damascus.
• He did not give up when he was challenged in Ephesus.

2 Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.

• Once again, discrediting the false teachers based upon their own tactics and agendas.
• The reason for discrediting is not to constantly speak out against the false teachers but to show the difference between Paul’s ministry and their ministry.
• Paul is speaking more his credibility for a reason.

3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

• Some people are not going to see this Truth because they have been deceived from what is actually the truth.
• Think about it… one of the best ploys of the evil one (the god of this age) is to convince this world there is no absolute truth.
• We are watching a generation grow up writing their own narratives and declaring what truth is based upon what they want it to be.
• The Church is a huge part of this issue.
• There is a reason that people don’t want what the Church is selling because it is a false Gospel.
• It is based upon their own selves more than it is on Jesus Christ.

5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

• Paul constantly indicates the things that have occurred in his ministry… but it was never based upon what he did, but what Jesus did.
• Paul’s foundation of ministry is based upon Jesus.

6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

• I can produce numbers for the public.
• I can manipulate people to pray a prayer of salvation.
• There are ministries that survive on this standard.
• I’m not the one to question a person’s heart and whether it was just words or a real heart change.
• I used to feel pressure to sit next to someone on a plane or a ski lift and present the Gospel to a captive audience.
• Now I understand more of who I am in Christ and learning what I actually have as a child of God.
• With that, comes the removal of pressure to “save people”. Just tell them about the goodness of God.
• It is not my responsibility to save others… that is Jesus. The pressure is off of me.
• I’m just supposed to naturally be a light in the darkness.
• If they see the glory of God in me, maybe they will desire what I am sharing with them.

 
TREASURE IN CLAY JARS
7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

• Clay jars were used on the daily and often broke.
• They are to us almost as Solo red cups are.
• They were easily broken.
• But don’t focus on the clay jars… focus on the “treasure”
• The “treasure” is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• We are simply the fragile vessels to carry the Good News.

8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.

• Our flesh suits are the clay jars.
• We become broken… sometimes even shattered.
• Many times over, glued back together.
• We can suffer physically, but it still doesn’t stop us from living a good life in Jesus.
• We don’t understand why things happen like they do, but we have our faith that keeps us from giving up on life.
• We can be hated and isolated but we know He is always with us.
• We can come to the end of ourselves and know that there is still hope.

10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.

• Paul said he is willing to sacrifice his earth suit for the ability to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

12 So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.

• We may suffer and even die, but it is for the purpose of you finding eternal life.
• Braveheart – “Every man dies… but not every man lives.”

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, (Psalm 116:10 - I believed, even when I said, “I am severely oppressed.”[1]
we also believe, and therefore speak.

• It may seem as though I have nothing and suffered much which is true, but I also have much more than you can actually see.
• So let me tell you about it!

14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you.

• This is when we are done with the flesh suit (jars of clay) and we have our glorified bodies.

15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

• Did anyone ask you what you were thankful for this week?
• As we give more grace to more people, we will have more to be thankful for.
• We can continue to go down the “Cancel Culture” path and we will have less and less to be thankful for.
• We want justice more than we want grace.
• Trust me… at some point, you will want more grace than you do justice.

 
16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

• It gets harder and harder for me to do things every year.
• Putting Christmas lights on the house.
• Doing ski trips…
• Answering the phone… to whatever is on the other side.
• But every day… I have this inner motivation that wakes my soul to the daily adventure.
• I know in the midst of the hard work and hopelessness in the world that there will be opportunity to talk about Jesus.
• Every day, the Spirit inside of me (that raised Jesus from the dead) raises me up for the adventure of the day.
• I walk into meetings with people and have no idea what is going to unfold.
• I have no idea what the next phone call, text message or e-mail is going to include but I trust the Spirit inside of me.

17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

• I can fly Spirit airlines for $40 round trip vs $400 on the big jet airliner.
• It’s only 2 hours each way to Orlando.
• Then I saved me enough money to have Mickey Mouse ice cream every day!
• Mickey Mouse ice cream = incomparable eternal weight of glory?
• Momentary light affliction… I’m on whole 14?

18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.[2]

• This world’s focus is on what is seen.
• Prove to me by showing me.
• But the real world, the eternal everlasting, is based upon faith.
• If you have no faith… The Word of God is written by men.
• If you have faith… The Word of God is written by God through faithful men.
• It is the ability to see things from a spiritual perspective rather than human perspective.
• It takes more for person to believe in faith than it does for a person to believe out of sight.
• You can’t escape this world without suffering.
• And if that is all you see… you miss the glory that is all around you.
• Christ in us is the joy in a fallen world.
• Christ in us is the hope for dying people.
• Christ in us is the light for a dark world.
• Christ in us is the glory for a world that is killing each other.
• Christ in us is the answer for people who are searching.

“So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”
Stay focused on what is unseen.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ps 116:10). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 4:1–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

LIVING LETTERS
2 CORINTHIANS
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

• Paul is saying that “Really, even though it sounds like I’m starting to commend myself to you again, we really don’t need that, and you don’t need letters of recommendation to me or from me.
• We don’t need you to validate my ministry.
• You know why? Because you are our letter. You are our letter of recommendation.”
• “Look. What has been written on your hearts in the gospel is all the validation I need for my ministry.”[1]

 
PAUL’S COMPETENCE
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

• The false teachers were actually coming, and they were standing up publicly and saying, “Look how competent we are; look how qualified we are. We are great speakers; we are powerful leaders.”
• And Paul says, “Look, we’re not competent in ourselves as if anything is coming from us.
• Our competence comes from God, who made us competent as ministers of the new covenant.
• And it’s not of the letter, but it is of the Spirit.”
• Paul says that “my ministry is validated by the powerful work of the Spirit in your lives.”
• Paul is saying [that] when you look at Christian ministers, you can tell authentic Christian ministers by the impact that they have had on the lives of people.[2]

 
NEW COVENANT MINISTRY

• The purpose of this passage is for Paul to contrast his form of new covenant ministry to another type of ministry, and we might call it the “ministry of the glowing face,” where you have the leader who has been in the presence of God, and he is the focus.
• But Paul is not contrasting new covenant over against old covenant here as the primary thing he’s doing.
• He’s contrasting new covenant ministry—his type of ministry—to another type of ministry, so that’s the purpose of what he’s doing.[3]

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

• In secular Greek, the idea of glory could communicate fame or esteem or honor [or] even talk about a person’s reputation.[4]
• Exodus 34:29-35 - As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord., 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord. [5]

 

• katargeō. (cot-ar-geh-o) - This word, in the ancient world, could be translated as “to use up,” “to exhaust,” “to make ineffective,” “to invalidate,” [or] “to call something to be abolished or set aside.”
• Paul uses this word pretty extensively to mean something like “to be canceled” or “to be made inoperative.”
• Now, it’s been popular in recent years to render this word in certain English translations as “fade”—that it was a fading glory.
• But recently, scholars have shown that there’s no case in the ancient world where this word means for something to fade.
• It means that it has been made inoperative—the switch has been turned off; it’s been nullified—and that’s the way that I’ve translated the passage here.
  - In this passage, he’s using an argument from lesser to greater.
• This was a common rabbinic technique in which the rabbi would say, “If something was true in a lesser situation, it certainly is true in a greater situation and has greater implications.”
• So that is the type of argument Paul is giving here.
• He is saying that in that OT context in Exodus 34, Moses’ face was glowing, but the people of Israel didn’t get to keep looking at his face because he kept covering it up.
• He is saying, if that was the situation where God’s presence was manifested through glory there, (verse 8) “how could the ministry of the Spirit not be attended by glory to a greater degree?”
• In other words, if you had that in the old covenant, how could the glory of God not be manifested to a much greater degree in the new covenant?
• “For if the ministry characterized by condemnation [had] glory, to a much greater degree the ministry characterized by righteousness overflows with glory.”
• Well, what’s he talking about?
• Well, you had glory under the old covenant; it was just the face of Moses that was glowing.
• But under the new covenant, think about the fact that all believers manifest the presence of God.
• He’s saying that every believer under the new covenant knows the presence of God and manifests the glory of God.
• Manifest - clear or obvious to the eye or mind.
• So, whereas you had one person manifesting the presence and the glory of God under the old covenant situation, now you have glory to a much greater degree because all of us manifest the glory of God in the new covenant.
• Paul is saying here that under the new covenant, the glory of God is so much greater because it’s manifested among all the people of God.[6]

12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ.

• He says, “but their minds were hardened. For, to this day, when the old covenant is read, that same veil remains unmoved, because it can only be made inoperative by Christ.”
• Christ makes the veil over people’s hearts inoperative.
• He snuffs the glory snuffer, if you will;
• He takes that veil and rips it from people’s hearts so that they can have this open-face relationship with God and know the glory of God.
• He says it can only be made inoperative by Christ.[7]

15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at, the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.[8]

• What Paul is contrasting in the big picture here is that type of new covenant ministry to the false ministry of the false teachers in Corinth who are all about the leader of the glowing face.
• Real Christian ministry is about being transformed by the presence of Christ in a way that you then manifest the glory of Christ in the world.[9]

 

• It’s not “One day… when the glory comes”
• The Glory is here… here in this very room.

[1] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ex 34:29–35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 3:1–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.