2 Corinthians 1:1 (Introduction to 2 Corinthians, part 1, Jeff Kliewer)

We'll keep it within the parameters, but I am excited to be back and just thankful for God's Word. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. We're going to be in 2 Corinthians for the next several months. Let's pray.

A Prayer for the Study of 2 Corinthians

Gracious God and Father, we do thank you for your Word. We thank you that it's living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. We thank you that you are still wielding that sword in the world, and the gospel is running forth now more than ever in the history of the world.

The work that you have done to bring the gospel to Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and China and India, Papua New Guinea, all the islands in the Pacific, all within the last hundred or hundred and fifty years.

I thank you, Lord. And we thank you again for sending Neil and Lois to us this morning. What a privilege we have. Lord, thank you for this. And now, Lord, we pray as we turn our attention to 2 Corinthians, that you would open the eyes of our heart, that you would train us in righteousness.

Help us to learn at your feet this morning. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Courage is knowing that it might hurt and doing it anyway. Stupidity is the same. And that's why life is hard. I don't know who said that, but I saw it on Facebook, and I thought that was a clever and helpful comment, because sometimes we don't know the end result, and courage and stupidity could each lead us into suffering.

Imagine yourself in the year AD 48. You live in a small rural town in Turkey, southern central Turkey, called Lystra. You're a teenager. The year is 48 AD. And a man comes into town with his traveling companion, and begins to proclaim Jesus Christ.

Not only so, as he comes into town, he lays hands on a crippled man who you've known your whole life. You have seen this guy, and you've probably helped him from time to time, maybe given him some money.

But when this man comes into town and lays hands on him, the crippled man is healed. And so all the town rallies to the town square, and you're watching as they begin to worship him, and proclaim that he is Hermes, and his friend is Zeus.

But before long, some rabble-rousers from Iconium come, and stir up the crowd against this very person. And just like that, on the turn of a dime, the same people who were at one moment about to worship him falsely, stone him, leave him for dead, drag him out of Lystra, and leave him in the hot sun.

Yet his friend, and those who are listening to his teaching, rally around him and pray for him, and he rises back up. Now, courage or stupidity? He goes into the very city that stoned him. After a day, he goes on to Derby, but after Derby, he returns to your town to preach the gospel again.

Your name is Timothy. As a teenager, this is the first introduction you've ever had to what Christianity really is. And it's a beautiful prototype. And before this man named Paul leaves your town, he tells you again and again, reaffirming, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

And then he departs. You don't see him again for many years, but your grandmother Lois, she believes this message of Paul. The story of Jesus and how he died on a cross and rose from the grave. And before long, your mother Eunice, she believes.

And listening as a young, early teen, maybe still a child, you hear this message of Jesus in the year AD 48. Before long, you become a believer. Put yourself in Timothy's shoes. Imagine that this is you.

You've grown up in Lystra. And now you are among the believing few in this city. You begin to gather and have church. By the year AD 51, the stranger returns. Paul, now on his second missionary journey, comes back through Lystra.

And he notices this young man named Timothy. There was something different about Timothy, some bravery, some courage, some mark of discipleship, some fruit of the Spirit. Paul notices Timothy and talks to Lois and to Eunice, the grandmother and the mother of Timothy, and says, I want to take him with me.

Imagine moms and dads, grandmoms, what it means to say goodbye to Timothy in a moment like that. To become a missionary with Paul is not a vacation. You've seen, all you've known is that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

Well, Timothy goes as a missionary with Paul, and they go on into Europe for the first time, the Macedonian call, and then down into Athens, and finally into Corinth. And Timothy is there to witness the birth of the church at Corinth.

And so we come to this book called Second Corinthians. We're going to open a new study of a new book of the Bible. And what we have in this book is our opportunity to be discipled by Paul. This is our chance to be Timothy.

Of all of Paul's 13 letters, this one is the most transparent about his personal life. This one is where he lays out his heart. And we see the pattern of Paul. We take note of the pattern. We just quoted as we were visited today by missionaries from Papua New Guinea.

And Philippians 3 .17 says, take note of those who live according to the pattern that we saw in Paul. Well, many of us have seen a pattern of watered-down Christianity. We have seen something that's cultural.

Maybe perhaps if you grew up in the South, where everybody goes to church, you thought Christianity is what you saw on Sunday, and the rest of the week, which had no bearing on what was done in the church.

A cultural Christianity, that's what you had modeled for you. But the book of Second Corinthians is our opportunity to be like Timothy. To go to the source and say, this is what Christianity really is.

To see for ourselves a pattern of what it's like to be a Christian. That's what we're going to do. I think this is the moment in our church where we need Second Corinthians. To go to that next level of maturity.

That next level of ministry in the new covenant. The book of Second Corinthians is really Paul defending his own ministry. It's his defense of his apostleship. But along the bones of that skeleton, it's fleshed out with so much meat.

So much flesh. As Paul is talking about a particular subject, he'll kind of take a bunny trail like I do when I'm preaching. I go on these side trails. Well, Paul will take a bunny trail and explain things about the new covenant.

And what it means to have the veil lifted to see the gospel of the glory of Christ. He'll talk about giving. And he'll defend his apostleship. There's so much rich fruit in the book of Second Corinthians.

So turn with me if you're not there already. Today we will really only do two verses. But I want to spend most of my time introducing the book. Because I have one big goal here this morning. I want to whet your appetite to desire Second Corinthians.

To learn from it that you would have a desire after today to study this book. And to learn at the feet of the Apostle Paul. So it's an introduction. And my goal is real modest. It's just that we would want to study this book.

And to pour ourselves into it in the coming months. So we'll break down those first two verses. Let me read it.

Paul the Pattern for Christian Ministry

Paul.

An apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. And Timothy our brother. To the church of God that is at Corinth. With all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

And the Lord Jesus Christ. So first note the word Paul. Paul introduces himself. And this is of course a salutation. As the form of the letter in the Near East at this time. Was to give a salutation. Where you give the author first.

You don't sign off at the end of the letter. You begin with who's writing. And then to whom you're writing. And then some kind of blessing. Some salutation. Grace to you and peace from God. So this is the introduction.

The salutation of the letter. But he begins Paul. And we need to stop and pause. And think about Paul as the pattern of ministry. Because here in 1st Corinthians.

We're in 2nd Corinthians.

But in 1st Corinthians. He said imitate me as I imitate Christ. As Christ came from heaven. And suffered in our stead. Paul was willing to lay his life down. For the sake of the gospel. He was following that pattern.

And were to follow Paul's pattern. To imitate Paul. So how did the Church of Corinth begin? Paul planted the Corinthian Church. And established it by three personal visits. And at least four letters. So we have 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

But 1st and 2nd Corinthians are not the only letters. That Paul wrote to Corinth. He came into Corinth for the first time. With Silas and with Timothy. Preaching the gospel. And the church was born. He was the first one in.

And he met Aquila and Priscilla. And began to share the gospel with them. And the church was born in Corinth. He moved on to the next place. But he received word. At the beginning of his third missionary journey.

When he was still in Ephesus in Asia. He received word that there was trouble. In the Corinthian Church. So he wrote them a letter. We don't have that letter. We don't have that letter. But if you look in 1st Corinthians chapter 5.

Verse 1 to 19. Especially verse 9. He tells them that he wrote them about a particular issue. He dealt with an issue in a letter. Now we don't know what that letter was. Except that it was dealing with the same subject matter.

That we see in 1st Corinthians chapter 5. So that is a lost letter. The book of 1st Corinthians then is really the second letter. That he sends back to them. To deal with the problems that he's hearing about.

And it's a whole list of things. We'll get into them in a later in the sermon. A whole number of things that were going wrong in the church. So because of this he writes them a letter. And then follows his letter to Corinth.

At some point when he was in Ephesus. At some point he left and spent a week or two in Corinth. It's what's called the painful visit. That he references in 2nd Corinthians. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2.

Verse 1.

For I made it my mind not to make another painful visit to you. So at some point he made a painful visit. Where he went and dealt with the problems in the church. And then returned. Probably to Ephesus.

So that was the second visit. Then on his third missionary journey. He crosses over back into Europe. But doesn't go to Corinth. And he intentionally stays away from Corinth. Because there's still rebellion in the church.

There's still trouble in the church. He writes them a letter. And after he sends it. This is according to 2nd Corinthians 7. 5 to 9. This letter is so harsh. It's so strong that he actually regrets having sent it.

He's worried that they're going to rather than receive it. Turn against him completely. Throw him to the side. And go on with the false teachers. That were in Corinth. Good news comes when he's in Europe.

Titus comes and brings news. That the church in fact has received his teaching. They have repented of the things that they were doing. And so now he writes the book of 2nd Corinthians. Sends it on ahead of himself.

Promising to come to them soon. Which he does do on that third missionary journey. So long story short. Paul planted the church in Corinth. But sometimes we think about the work of a missionary. As to go proclaim Christ.

Move on to the next place. That was certainly the case with Paul. He was traveling from place to place. But even though he moved on. He carried the Corinthians in his heart. And he continued to work for them.

He continued to write them letters. And go back to visit them. To see that they would be established in the truth. To help them overcome. One of the things that Paul models for us. Is maturity. A willingness to suffer.

He sets a pattern for us. There's a poem that I like. And I think it's an adaptation of a poem. That wasn't a Christian poem. But someone changed it around. But I want to read it to you. As I think it describes Paul.

And the sufferings that he went through. As a pattern for our lives.

Here's what it says.

When God wants to drill a man. And thrill a man. And skill a man. When God wants to mold a man. To play the noblest part. When he yearns with all his heart. To create so great and bold a man. That all the world shall be amazed.

Watch his methods. Watch his ways. How he ruthlessly perfects. Whom he royally elects. How he hammers him and hurts him. And with mighty blows converts him. Into trial shapes of clay. Which only God understands.

While his tortured heart is crying. And he lifts beseeching hands. How he bends but never breaks. When his good he undertakes. How he uses whom he chooses. And with every purpose fuses him. By every act induces him.

To try his splendor out. God knows what he's about. When we picture the ministry of the Apostle Paul. He's moving in triumphal procession. From place to place. But as he goes. He's suffering terribly.

Someone once told me. If you want to keep the attention of the people. When you're preaching. Talk about suffering. Talk about trouble. Talk about affliction and struggle. Because as Job talks about. All of us are born for adversity.

We're all going through pain at some point in life. One of the things that Paul models for us. Is not just the maturity of knowledge. But the maturity of suffering well. Maturity is suffering well. Paul has learned.

To suffer for the sake of the gospel. So he is a model for us in this book.

So moving on.

Apostolic Authority and the Super Apostles

The first thing.

Paul.

A pattern. For us. We look to Paul. And imitate him. As he imitates Christ. Number two. An Apostle. Of Christ Jesus. An Apostle. Of Christ Jesus. Why does Paul begin so many of his letters. By indicating that he is an Apostle.

Well, we need to understand. What was an Apostle? And what authority did that come with? He cites himself as an Apostle. Because his Apostleship. Grants him the authority. To speak. For God. To lead the church.

To write scripture. To oversee the writing of scripture. And this is particularly important in the book of Corinthians. Because after Paul left. Others came in behind him. And began to claim authority that did not come from God.

Contradicting Paul. Pushing Paul to the side. They claim to be super Apostles.

Paul.

Known to be an Apostle. Was not all that elegant. Or eloquent. He was not the greatest orator. He did have knowledge. But the super Apostles. Things were going well for them. As they came in teaching.

They had wealth. They had prosperity. And they had the ears of the people. They were impressive people to listen to. And they began to push Paul to the side. And deride Paul. And look at his suffering.

As some kind of curse from God. Think of Job's three friends. When he suffered.

Paul.

Wherever he goes. He's beaten. And kicked out of town. But the super Apostles.

Oh, no.

They had it all together. They were prospering. And so there's a threat in Corinth. To the authority of Paul. Well brothers and sisters. We live in a day. Where the authority of Paul. Is questioned. Every which way.

Paul was the one who came and wrote 13 books. After Jesus died and rose from the dead. Explaining the meaning of the death, burial and resurrection of the Christ. Teaching that Christ is the only way.

And he touches on all kinds of subjects relating to anthropology. Human sexuality and gender. And all kinds of issues are dealt with in the writings of Paul. More importantly. He is the one who expands for us.

A theology of God. Who is God? Who is Christ? Why has he come? All of these things are written for us in the writings of Paul. And so there is in our day. An attempt to throw Paul to the side. Paul is like a punching bag.

Nobody wants to listen to Paul. But here's the question. Does he carry with him? Apostolic authority. So here are four indicators that Paul is an apostle. And therefore speaks for God. And in the writings that the Holy Spirit oversaw.

Those actual writings are authoritatively from God.

Number one.

Apostles. Were decided before birth. Galatians 1 15 to 17. Paul says he was set apart before he was born. Apostleship is not something that people take upon themselves. Jesus chooses his apostles. He had 12 followers.

12 disciples that were designated apostles. One of them. Betrayed Christ. And hung himself. Which leads us to the second qualification. We're told in Acts chapter 1. When Judas was being replaced. That the replacement for Judas.

Needed to be someone who had been with Jesus during his earthly ministry. And had seen him resurrected from the dead. And so they chose Matthias. So where does that leave the apostle Paul? He answers that question.

In 1 Corinthians 15. Verses 8 to 11. He describes himself as an apostle that was abnormally born. During the time that Christ walked the earth. And then died and rose. Paul was adamantly against Jesus.

And once the church was born. Paul persecuted the church. But God. Being rich in mercy. Visited him on the road to Damascus. And there on the road to Damascus. Paul had a direct encounter with the living Christ.

The resurrected Christ. And was at that time commissioned to become the apostle Paul. Chosen before he was born. And all of the opposition he had to the gospel. Was part and parcel of God's plan. Number three.

The working of undeniable miracles. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12. We'll learn that the signs of an apostle. Include undeniable miracles. So that even the handkerchief of Paul. Was taken to sick people and they were made well.

The super apostles couldn't do that. Today's super apostles. Who fly on 70 million dollar jets from place to place. And pack stadiums. And claim to do miracles. Can't do apostolic signs. And the things that are claimed are spurious.

And dubious. And far from. The undeniable verifiable miracles. That were performed at the hands of Paul. As well as the other apostles. And these were marks of apostleship on Paul. And fourthly. Often missed and underrepresented.

1 Corinthians 4 9. The call to apostleship. Is like a death sentence. To be treated like Christ. For the sake of Christ. To make up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. In the body of the apostle.

The very sufferings that the super apostles look at. To blame Paul and to diminish him. Are one of the marks of his discipleship. What he endured for the sake of the name. Evidently according to 1 Corinthians 4 9.

Mark him as an apostle. How so? Because as this apostle goes into Corinth.

And on.

To the next place to Ephesus. From place to place. Everywhere he goes. He's treated as the scum of the earth. He endures beatings. And three times in the book of 2 Corinthians. He recounts the sufferings that he undergoes.

But God comforts him in those afflictions. And this is how it testifies to the Christ. Because as he continues through those things. Even delighting in those sufferings. He declares that Christ is worthy.

That the Lamb of God that he serves is worthy. Of any suffering that he would undergo. In the flesh. Think about that. There are many things that we value in this life that aren't there. We value watching.

Sports or TV enough to pay outrageous Comcast bills.

Don't we?

We're willing to pay the price in order to get something that we want. And that's true of all areas of things that we value. We show what we value by what we're willing to pay. And not just financially.

Paul is willing to pay with blood. To be beaten within an inch of his life. Three times receiving the 39 lashes. Which are enough to kill a man. Beaten with rods. Shipwrecked.

Hunger.

Thirst.

At danger from bandits. Danger in every turn. That suffering that he's willing to endure. Proclaims that Paul says Christ is worthy of this. Christ is worthy of this suffering. And so his apostleship is confirmed by the death sentence that he's under.

At that time when Paul came to Corinth. There was a saying in Rome. Kaiser Kurios. Caesar is Lord. Declaring Caesar as the embodiment of the culture. As the perfect man. And as the emperor over the land.

The master.

The Lord.

The ruler. Paul came in with a different message. Not Kaiser Caesar Kurios. But Christo Kurios. Jesus is Lord. He came in proclaiming Christ. And today Caesar is a salad dressing. And Jesus is still King.

Jesus is King. And Paul's suffering attributes to that. Third, move on in the text with me. We've already seen Paul as the model. His apostleship as his authority. And now third, the will of God. This is so important.

I wish I had time. To preach 10 sermons on this subject. But we're only doing two verses as it is. If we did that we'd be in the book like MacArthur for like four years. And I'm not prepared to do it quite like that.

The will of God is so important. Brothers and sisters. Here's how you know if you're a mature Christian. How you suffer. Maturity is suffering well. And by well I mean that you glorify God in your suffering.

You're willing to accept your suffering. As not just coming from the hand of the person who's hurting you. But even from the hand of God. That God has a will for your life. That's not tossed back and forth by the wind.

It's not subject to the whims of other people. But any suffering that you endure. Is according to the will of God. That God has a purpose in the suffering. That he allows to come into your life. A mature Christian receives the sufferings that God allows into their lives.

Knowing that God has a plan and a purpose in that suffering. And that he's working all things together for good. So we need to understand the will of God. The will of God. There's two senses in which the will of God is used in Scripture.

We're told here in 2nd Corinthians 1 .1. Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. What does he mean by the will of God? There is the secret will of God.

One.

Or the second use of philema, the Greek word for will. The second use is the prescriptive will of God. The prescriptive will of God is what we have in the Scriptures. God's will that we are to live by.

It is prescriptions. It's a moral code to live by. It's direction in life. It is what the Scripture reveals that guides us in our thinking. Even if God doesn't tell us when we go to the supermarket to choose 2 milk or skim milk.

That's not in the Bible. Yet we have the Scriptures and we make wise decisions as by the renewed mind that we have from the Scripture. We make the best decision we can led by the Spirit. So the prescribed will of God is what's revealed for us in Scripture.

The other use is the decree of God. His sovereign will. Peter uses each of these twice in his epistle. In 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 17. These are all in your notes. We're just not going to have time to go into them.

But you can look them up later. And in verse 4 19 chapter 4 verse 19. Peter speaks of the will of God that you would suffer. Now the Bible doesn't prescribe that you go suffer. Don't go do that. Don't go make yourself suffer.

That's stupidity. We talked about that earlier, right? Courage versus stupidity. You don't go seek out suffering. Like mess with the bully so he'll punch you in the face. But we're told in Peter that it's the will of God that you suffer well.

That's the thelemma of God. Peter also uses it prescriptively in chapter 2 verse 15 and chapter 4 verse 2. Paul likewise uses both ways. Either of the sovereign will of God that cannot be changed no matter what we do.

He has a sovereign decree. How do I know that? Paul talks about it in Ephesians chapter 1. In the Trinitarian work of God, we're told chapter 1 verse 5. That the will or plan of God was that we would be adopted as sons and daughters.

God elects by according to his will, according to his purpose. And then we're told in verse 9 again that it's the Son who accomplishes our redemption on the cross. We're told this is the will, the thelemma of God.

It will happen. It's absolutely certain to happen. And then in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11. This one I will ask you to turn to. I know we're running short on time. So we're going to wrap it up shortly and finish this next week.

But I do want you to see this before we move on. It says in Ephesians 1 11. In him, we have obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of.

There's our word, his will. What did Paul say? All things. What does that include?

Everything.

Everything that happens including our suffering. So in the context of Ephesians 1, the Father elects those for whom the Son will die. That the Spirit will apply this work in us. The Trinitarian work of salvation is all.

Four times he says it. 1 1, 1 5, 1 9, 1 11. It's all the Thelema, the will of God.

The will of God.

The sovereign will of God. Which cannot be resisted. I have discovered this truth in Scripture from Paul. And from Peter. And found this truth to be the most maturing theological foundation that I've ever encountered.

It has changed the way that I endure suffering in my own life. Understanding that the will of God includes my suffering. Not that the thing itself, suffering itself, and sin, and pain, and the death and disease that we encounter in this world.

Not that those things in themselves are good. But that God in his overarching sovereign purpose uses those things for a plan. For a reason.

For a purpose.

It's changed the way I live my life. And this explains the maturity of Paul. This explains 2 Corinthians. And this is the secret. Everybody wants the secret of the Christian life, right? One of the secrets of the Christian life is that God has a sovereign will.

The Thelema, as he uses it here. He has a decree that he is accomplishing a work that includes everything that happens under the sun. As we understand that, we approach our sufferings differently. So I'm going to actually close a little early today.

I didn't get to get through my notes, but you know where I'm going next week as we move on. The big idea that we're starting with. The book of Corinthians. And we'll get more into the background of why this book was written in the way it was next week.

But we have Paul the author. He's our pattern. We have the opportunity to be like Timothy. To sit at the feet of Paul and see the pattern as it was originally laid down. To look into his personal life and to learn even as he imitates Christ.

Number two, we have the apostle. The authority of the Word of God behind everything that he says. We trust in the Word of God. And number three, the will of God. To understand the Thelema. The maturity that we need comes from trusting in the plan of God.

So let's close in a word of prayer. Worship team, we'll call you up. And let's pray for this study. You know, we're about to embark on several months. We're going to devote Sundays, Sunday mornings, every week.

To opening this scripture and looking into it. Some of us will be transformed by it. Because we're looking with spiritual eyes to see. To behold his glory and to be changed from one degree of glory to another.

Others of us might not be transformed by the hearing. Because we're not truly hearing the Word. So let's pray for that right now. That each of us will have eyes to see. And be transformed to maturity through the Word.

So God, we come to you now. We thank you. We were only able to get a few words into the first verse. But already so much depth, so much treasure. Help us to value it like gold. To taste it like honey.

Lord, I pray that you give us as a congregation eyes to see and ears to hear. Give us the new heart that's sensitive to your Word. And I pray, Lord, that 2 Corinthians will accomplish a great work in this church, God.

That each of us would learn from the pattern that we see in Paul. Followed by Timothy. God, we pray that you would move us toward maturity through the study of this book. Help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we thank you for it. We give you all the praise in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's stand and sing.