A Meek Ministry – 2 Corinthians 9:14-10:3

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Welcome to Kootenai Community Church Adult Sunday School. Let's open in prayer. Father, it is your word we look to for wisdom and for grace.

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Your Holy Spirit can use it in our lives to change us, to make us more like your Son, and that's what we ask for today.

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As we study, as we diligently look into these things, might you make us more like the

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Savior, and Father, that we might do the things in this world which will draw attention and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the

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Father. We ask for your illumination this morning as we study these scriptures, and we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

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So we're back into 2 Corinthians, and I left off in April at verse 13 of chapter nine.

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So what I'd like to do is we'll do a little review, and we're gonna read all of chapter nine this morning to kind of reacquaint ourselves with this section of scripture.

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This is the last chapter before Paul gets ugly.

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Actually, he doesn't really get ugly, but he begins to defend himself against the false teachers that are inhabiting the city of Corinth, and misstating the scriptures and misstating

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Paul's position, and bringing false accusations against him. So chapter nine finishes up the giving, which is deeply on Paul's heart, or strictly on his heart, but it's really on Paul's heart because of the great famine, the great difficulty that was going on in Jerusalem that we talked about and we looked into.

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So let's start with chapter nine, verse one. 2 Corinthians chapter nine. For is it superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints?

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For I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

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But I have sent the brethren that are boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, that as I was saying, you may be prepared.

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Lest if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to speak of you, should be put to shame by this confidence.

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So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead of you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, that the same might be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness.

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Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.

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Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

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And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

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As it is written, he scattereth abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness abides forever.

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Now he who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

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If you will be enriched in everything, you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

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For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

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Because of the proof given by this ministry that they will glorify God for your obedience, they will glorify

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God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all.

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While they also by prayer on your behalf yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

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Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. So we looked at chapter eight, which was the beginning of the giving chapter in this, where Paul reminds the

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Corinthians, and in chapter nine here he reminds them of their previous excitement to send a gift to Jerusalem, the

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Jerusalem saints who were in such dire straits. And then for whatever reason, we remember that whether it was because of the false teaching of the teachers there or just the tendency for people to put things off, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

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You know, that's been my model for many years. More than likely it was a combination of both, but they just didn't put the gift together for the saints in Jerusalem, and there was great need there.

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So Paul stirs them up, reminds them, reminds them that their early preparations had actually caused people throughout

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Macedonia to, wow, the Corinthians are doing this, let's do this too. And he reminded them of their zeal, he reminded them of the need, and then he reminds them to, that it was a bountiful gift that they were going to give and it needed to continue to be a bountiful gift, and he wanted to caution them against covetousness, which is the main thing that can destroy giving, is covetousness, taking rather than giving.

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Then there's the famous remembrance verse, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully, reminding them that they could give.

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And then the section where he reminds them again that if they purpose in their heart to give out of love for the saints in Jerusalem, God will make their gift enough.

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He will supply the need, he will supply the seed, so that it will reach out and minister to the

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Jerusalem church who will then praise God and pray for them. There's this beautiful cycle in the

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Christian church when we help one another, that prayer, and we're gonna talk a little bit about prayer, just a little bit, but later on, but when we need prayer and when we give prayer, it's a beautiful and wonderful cycle of care that goes throughout the

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Christian church, both locally and even in a local area, and even a more regional area where people pray for one another, they hear about their needs, and this is what was going on here.

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The Jerusalem saints, most of them would never meet the people in Corinth, but they could pray for them. And sometimes we say, well, you can at least pray.

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That's the first thing you can do. All those other things are details, because God will move.

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So, with that little bit of an introduction, I'm gonna just jump into verse 13, because that's the last verse we left off.

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So verse 12 says, for this ministry, for the ministry of this service, is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

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And then verse 13, because of the proof given by this ministry, they, in Jerusalem, will glorify

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God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all.

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When we propose, when we are saved, when we trust Christ, and he comes into our lives and begins changing things, our confession of the gospel is our lifestyle, what results after that.

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And so the confession of the Corinthians in the gospel, their confession of the gospel was doing what

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God told them, and what he told them through Paul was to give to the Jerusalem saints, and they were indeed doing that.

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We've all heard the old saying, put your money where your mouth is. This was the Corinthians, this was in Corinth, the genuine

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Christian church, if much maligned, because of the disgusting and strange nature of life in Corinth.

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And because of their previous participation in some of those things, the saints at Corinth had come out of base, crass paganism.

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Corinth was a byword for people outside that city, especially the Jews in Jerusalem. And it was unbelievable that the

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Christians could live there. How can you even live in a place like that? We've said that. How can you even live there?

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It's not as easy as you think to just up and move from some, well, you all know that.

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Many, especially those of you that have moved, you know that. But it was unbelievable they thought that Christians could live there, much less come from there.

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There's nothing quite like doing that tells a story about who someone is. The claim of the

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Corinthians to be Christians was proven to the naysayers by their obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ.

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They demonstrated their Christianity. One of the ways they did was when they sent this generous gift to the needy

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Christians in Jerusalem. The word for proof we looked at was a Greek word from which we get the word document.

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It documented their Christianity. They documented the fact that they were true believers. They had likely never met any of these

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Christians in Jerusalem, and as I said, they probably never would. There are many people for whom you have prayed and sent money and help to, and you'll never meet them on this side, but you will meet them.

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And that in itself can be an enticement and an encouragement. And these Corinthians would meet these

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Jerusalemers and these Jerusalem saints in eternity. Yet they sacrificed for them out of their love for Christ and their obedience to the gospel.

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The word translated contribution is koinonia, a Greek word from which we get the idea of participation or communion, bringing together.

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This was a beautiful opportunity that drew distant churches together in Christ, and the contribution wasn't just to Jerusalem because it had an effect on everyone who learned of it.

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When you hear, when we hear of good things being done by people, it affects us. It kind of spurs you on a little bit as well to do those same kinds of things for needs in your area, in your family, in your relationships.

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Often it takes the acts of someone else and obedience to the gospel to show others just how desirable and how beautiful obedience is to the gospel.

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Yes, the word teaches, it teaches it, and that is enough, but to see it in action adds strength and depth to just how wonderful and how beautiful obedience to the gospel can be.

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And so all who saw this happen glorified God. This is most excellently described, as I mentioned six weeks ago in James chapter two, two verses 14 through 18.

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What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?

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Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm, be filled, have a nice day.

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I added, do you have a nice day? And yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

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You have, even so, faith if it has no works is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, you have faith and I have works.

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Show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by the works. And indeed the Corinthians showed the saints in Jerusalem and all the places around about them, especially in Macedonia and Achaia, their faith by their works.

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They sent money and it stirred the rest of the people up. And so then in verse 14, moving on finally, it says, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

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What is it, what is it that happens to us when someone does something for us, a kindness, a blessing, a benevolence?

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It draws us closer to them, even if we don't know them. When the saints in Jerusalem received this gift, they gave back the precious gift of prayer for those who contributed.

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And it caused them in Jerusalem to desire to know them, to know those people in Corinth, to know these distant brothers and sisters in Christ who sacrificed for their need.

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All of this was accomplished because of the exceedingly fantastic grace of God that was working in those believers in Corinth.

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God uses people to meet the needs of people. He does, have you ever been used to meet someone's need?

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Raise your hand if you've ever been used to, no, we'll play participatory Sunday school. You have, everyone in here has been used by God to meet someone's need, it's a blessed, is it not more blessed to give than to receive?

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It is, it really is, it really is. He uses people, this has been the blessed side effect, this has,

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I should say, the blessed side effect of uniting people in Christ. One of the great demonstrations of the grace of God in the world today is when we take care of each other, when the

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Church of Christ loves one another by action, by doing, by caring, by spending themselves on one another.

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They will know we are Christians by our love. And what is love? It's not that fluffy candy cane or cotton candy stuff that floats, it can be that, but that's a side effect, it's a doing, it's a decision to meet the needs of someone else regardless of what happens by the direction of God.

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Any questions on verse 14? Comments? Verse 15, and thanks, this is how the chapter ends,

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I love, maybe this was a really good place to end the chapter, you know, we all know, though, that they're arbitrary, but not like the

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IRS is arbitrary, but arbitrary, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

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What do you think Paul was, what gift do you think Paul was talking about there? His Son, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, the gift of eternity, the gift of salvation, everything pales into almost insignificance compared to that.

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And Paul ends this section by declaring the wonder of the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ, a simple statement, but one that would not have been lost on any of the hearers.

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All of them, all of them were beneficiaries of the gift of salvation that Christ had brought. Everything else pales when compared to that gift.

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The gift of Christ is actually, is essentially the basis of all Christian giving.

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It is the perfect example for our imperfect expressions of our love for others and for God.

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But remember, even though our gifts may scripturally be stated as nothing in this world, by comparison to what

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God has done, He still chooses to reward us in eternity because of our obedience.

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Doing something that He put into our heart to do with the resources He gave us and His causation caused it to happen to bless others, but we get rewarded.

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That doesn't seem fair. But God is good. And there's one of the countries

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I traveled to, and I think I've heard it elsewhere too, when you would say that, God is good all the time, and they would respond, all the time,

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God is good. Any questions about chapter nine or verse 15? Well, we're gonna read chapter 10 here in a minute.

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So the Corinthians did follow through and assemble their gift. They put it all together. It was unaffected by covetousness.

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It was bountiful, it was ample, it was excellent. It was only a few months after Paul penned 2

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Corinthians that he wrote Romans. In Romans, he said that the Christians of Macedonia and Achaia, including

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Corinth, had made a contribution to the poor saints in Jerusalem. That's in Romans chapter 15, verses 26 and 27.

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Paul and his delegation then traveled back to Jerusalem from Corinth through Macedonia and Asia Minor, and you see that in Acts chapter 20, verse 3, verses 3 through chapter 21, verse 19.

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The leaders of the Jerusalem church evidently received the gift gladly. That's in Acts chapter 21, verse 17.

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So in Romans 15, 25 through 27, we have this. Paul says this, but now I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.

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For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them.

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For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.

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And then in Acts chapter 21, verse 17, which I mentioned earlier, after we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

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The Jewish brethren there received Paul gladly and his travelers, his fellow travelers, with the gift from Achaia and Macedonia.

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So closes the chapter that teaches more about giving than probably any other single section of scripture. We see

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Paul reminding the Corinthians of their intention to give to Jerusalem. Intentions are good.

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Actions are better. He challenges them to pick that intention back up that they had dropped a year previous and make good on it.

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He describes the principles of giving. Giving is voluntary. It is voluntary.

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And when you find people trying to browbeat you into giving, that is not scriptural. Do the teaching, say what the scripture says, the

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Holy Spirit will do the rest. It was one of the things that my boss spent years trying to beat into my head.

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You know the Holy Spirit did just fine before you came along, Razor. So he will, he will cause his saints to do the things that are necessary to take care of one another.

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And we can trust him for that. He describes his principles, it's voluntary, it's sacrificial, it's motivated by God's grace.

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It is an act of worship. Giving is an act of worship. You are worshiping the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit when by God's grace you give to someone else. It is an act of worship and it is an evidence of love.

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It is an evidence and an outworking of love among other things. It must be done, it should be done out of a heart of joy.

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Grudging giving I suppose is better than no giving at all, but joyful giving is just an unbelievable blessing. It's a delight.

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It should be done out of joy, out of a heart of delight, and it will elicit the thanksgiving from other believers to God.

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And that is where the thanksgiving goes, that is where the thanksgiving goes. If we're giving so that we can be famous, if we're giving so that we can be special, if we're giving so that we can be lifted up, just don't do it.

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Wait until God has moved your heart to give out of joy. The giving that is done in secret is the most amazing stuff that happens.

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There is so much that goes on even in this church, especially in this church, behind the scenes that many of us will never know about on into eternity that makes the ministry here possible.

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What a blessing it is that there are people like that, who when God moves their heart they just do it. You know, the little

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Nike thing, they just do it. Paul is so encouraged with the

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Corinthians that they're going to make good on this desire to bless the saints in Jerusalem and he stands ready to receive that gift and take it to them in a manner that will inspire confidence in everyone and he does it as a trustworthy emissary.

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Finally, Paul makes reference in the end to the greatest gift of all, the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ from the

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Father. Now with that, that closes chapter 9, let's look at chapter 10, let's read that together. Second Corinthians chapter 10, 18 verses.

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Now after saying thanks be to God for this indescribable gift, his indescribable gift, he says,

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Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent.

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I ask that when I am present I may not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.

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For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

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We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

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And we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete. You are looking at things as they are outwardly.

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If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ, let him consider this again within himself that just as he is

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Christ, so also are we. For even if I should boast somewhat further about our authority which the

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Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I shall not be put to shame. For I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters, for they say,

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His letters are weighty and strong, but His personal presence is unimpressive and His speech contemptible.

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Let such a person consider this, that when we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also indeed when present.

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We're going to stop there because we're not going to get that far anyway. But we're going to look at a little overview of chapter 10 and then we're going to dive in.

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We've got some time. So now comes the section of 2 Corinthians that most people would likely have put at first.

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I've got to defend myself first. Got to make sure people know who I am and what I am so that the message

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I bring will have some authority. The Holy Spirit did not direct Paul to do that. He went through the encouragement to giving, the mention, the showing of God's ability to supply every need and did all of those things.

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And now 10 chapters in, he begins to defend himself about the things that are going on in 2

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Corinthians. This is Paul's defense and it occupies most of the last three chapters. We don't have the list of charges that the false apostles brought against Paul, but we can surmise what they were by his responses.

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They obviously accused him of being two -faced. He was bold when absent, but meek when present, they said.

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They were charging him with the timidity of being someone who would say something in a letter but never say it face to face.

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Today, the keyboard warrior. And you see that often, horrifyingly often in social media, how it unleashes the beast in so many people.

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They'll say things that they can get away with having never met someone that they would never say probably, never say face to face.

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This is what they were accusing Paul of. He lets them know in no uncertain terms that though he was a humble man given to reasonableness and kindness, he could be severe when necessary by letter or face to face.

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They challenged his conduct and his motives. He was accused of being less a child of Christ than those in Corinth, as if there are degrees of Christianity.

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That's a false understanding of the salvation, degrees of Christianity. Well, have you had the second breakfast or blessing?

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I'm mixing up the hobbits. Yeah. They were accusing him of that to some degree.

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He carefully and patiently explains to them his pure motives and the fact that Christ had saved him.

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It's often when we get somehow, our convoluted thinking gets mixed up where we begin to think we're actually partly responsible for our salvation.

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Hey, look what he got. That's what we think. No. Paul reminds them that Christ saved him.

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There wasn't a light came out of heaven and said, Paul, would you use your free will? And he knocked him off the horse and said, go to Jerusalem and wait.

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At any rate, getting way off the track here. They challenged his conduct and his motive. They accused him of being less a child of God than they were.

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And as if I said, if there's degrees of Christianity. He carefully and patiently explains to them his pure motives, the fact that Christ had saved him and made him one of the apostles.

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They had apparently mocked his personal appearance. They challenged his claims to authority. He explains that personal appearance means very little to him, but the authority

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Christ invested in him was very real and only very rarely brought to bear.

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And you'll notice, brought to bear to build them up. By the way, we'll talk about that when we get to that. When authority is used properly, it is used to build up.

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It is used to correct and help. It is used to bless. It is never used to tear down.

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If authority is used to tear down, it's a wrong application. That's tyranny. That's not authority.

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Christ invested him with this very real authority, and he very rarely brought it to bear. Paul answers these challenges with the authority of the

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Holy Spirit and continues to set this recalcitrant church on the right path. John MacArthur's commentary on 2

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Corinthians gives an excellent historical narrative. I'm going to read that. Showing the situation at Corinth, how it led up to this likely final letter that Paul wrote to them.

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Now bear in mind, we have two letters that he wrote to them. We know of probably four, but only two are canonical.

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Only two the Holy Spirit believed necessary for us in the church. So here's what he says in his commentary.

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After founding the congregation and building it up for about 20 months, in Acts chapter 18, you can see that,

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Paul left to minister elsewhere. Following his departure, word reached him that serious problems had arisen in the

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Corinthian assembly, motivating him to write a non -canonical letter to correct them. And he talks about it in 1

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Corinthians 5, 9. Reports of further difficulties, 1 Corinthians 1, 11, as well as some questions about which the

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Corinthians wrote to him. Remember, they wrote questions and we saw that in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and also in 1

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Corinthians chapter 1. Reports of further difficulties, as well as some questions about which other

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Corinthians wrote to him, prompted Paul to write a second letter. He talks about that. That is 1

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Corinthians. That is the second letter that we know of. And we studied that. Soon, however, an even greater problem arose.

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Self -styled false apostles invaded the Corinthian church, vigorously assaulting Paul's ministry, his apostolic credentials, and his character.

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They sought to destroy his reputation and set themselves up as the authoritative teachers in Corinth.

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So the Corinthians would believe their damning lies. They believed their false teaching. Paul responded to the threat with the sternly worded letter known as the severe letter, which we do not have, spoken of in 2

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Corinthians 2, 3, and 4, which brought about the repentance of the majority of the

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Corinthian assembly. The severe letter, like the letter Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 5 and 9, was not included in Scripture, and the letters have never been found.

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They are known to have been written only by the apostles' references to them. But even though he acknowledged the repentance in the church,

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Paul was wise enough to know that the false teachers were still a force to be reckoned with. The general repentance of the congregation had likely only driven their poisonous stream underground.

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There, some bided their time, hoping to rekindle the rebellion against Paul. In the meantime, they surely conducted more subtle warfare against him.

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To stamp out the last traces of the rebellion, the apostle launched a search and destroy mission to root out the remaining pockets of resistance at Corinth.

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His attack was two -pronged. The preliminary bombardment, as it were, came in the last four chapters of this epistle.

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The final assault came when Paul visited Corinth a couple of months later, spoken of in 2

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Corinthians 12 and 13. The last section of this epistle, then, is addressed to the recalcitrant minority, namely the false apostles and their remaining deluded followers.

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And unfortunately, the church has, from time immemorial, been riddled with false teaching and false followers.

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And even today, we know of it. We see it happening again and again. We see supposed leaders stepping back from the truth and the sufficiency of Scripture to spout humanistic nonsense as though it were gospel.

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And that is what Paul is going to stand against, and we'll talk about how that can be used today. So, verse 1,

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Now I, Paul, myself, urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am meek when face to face, but bold toward you when absent.

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That's a little bit of sarcasm there. Oh, I'm meek when face to face, but bold when absent. Here, Paul transitions to the sterner portion of this epistle.

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He does not flaunt his apostolic authority here, but rather he urges the Corinthians, and he uses some interesting words in that urging.

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Two of these words are translated meekness and gentleness. Meekness comes from a Greek word that means controlled or restrained power.

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Protes. It doesn't mean wimpy, do whatever you want. There's a welcome sign on my back.

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Please wipe your feet here. It means someone who has power and controls and restrains that power for others' benefit.

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Picture a draft horse safely encased in its harness and bridle. Do we really think that a 180 -pound man can tell a 2 ,000 -pound percher on what to do?

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But he does. That horse is meek because its strength is controlled.

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It's controlled and directed. All of that power that Paul had was directed by the

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Holy Spirit for good. The second word, he says, I urge you by the meekness and gentleness, by the way, of who?

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Of Christ himself. He was appealing to the Savior. This is who

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I am, Paul says. These are the things that I have learned. Some of the things that I have learned from the Savior is to be meek and to be gentle.

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We need more of that today. It is derived from a Greek word which elsewhere in Greek literature has been translated as sweet reasonableness.

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Not a guy when he can't figure out where he's going and he won't ask for directions. It describes an idea of leniency.

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Even one has the ability to pronounce a sentence and carry it out. This is a judge who is sweetly reasonable with what he must do to the person that he is pronouncing sentence on.

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That's what Paul was doing. Paul had the authority given to him by Christ himself as an apostle of God to do whatever was necessary to promote the gospel and to put down the kinds of things that were happening in the

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Corinthian church. He says, I did it by meekness and gentleness, controlled strength and sweet reasonableness.

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Paul was fully capable of thundering down God's wrath on the Corinthians far more than they really even realized.

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But he would not do that. Further, they accused him of being meek when he was face to face with them. They were not using this word in its classic understanding of controlled strength, but rather they were using it as a pejorative.

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Paul was a wimp. He was a chicken. They said he was a chicken when he was face to face, but as soon as he got away from the people he had to face, his courage returned.

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In this transition verse, he puts that to rest by reminding them that his demeanor was the same as that of the

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Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ, by his own words, Christ could have called down 10 ,000 legions of angels.

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Actually, it would have only taken one angel, but the statement was to show what kind of authority

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Christ had. He could have called down 10 ,000 legions of angels on the heads of the Roman authorities when he was on the cross, but instead what did he do?

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Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. When Christ describes himself, that is the word he uses.

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In Matthew 11, when he describes his character, one of the few times, if not the only time that it happens, he calls himself, he picked out the word meek.

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I am meek and lowly. The same word is used here. This combination of words describes the inward character of restrained strength coupled with an outward demonstration of gentleness among people who know that you could have done something different.

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That's what Paul starts out this section with, the final section where he's going to begin to set these false teachers straight.

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I appeal, I urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. He's going to use that same meekness and that same gentleness as he urges them to come back to Scripture.

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We're going to see as this whole section has a continuity that has been struck down by people who want to utilize, especially verses 3 and 4 to make a lot of money writing books,

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I think. He says, I ask that when I am present, I need not be bold with the confidence with which

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I propose to be courageous against some who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.

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He doesn't want to have to use that boldness. He's coming to Corinth and he's going to do some things that are necessary, but he doesn't want to have to use.

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He would rather use meekness and gentleness. He would rather his authority be used in that manner.

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But he can do what is necessary if they won't accede to that. It's a remarkable thing that those who are actually capable of being confrontational as necessary, who are spirit -led, would rather not do that.

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Paul, by virtue of his conversion and the grace that the Holy Spirit spent in his life every day, spent on him and spent in his life, was loath to treat other people unkindly.

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He would rather draw men to Christ than drive them. And he would rather encourage them to change their behavior than command it.

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Indeed, only the former will last. Only drawing and only encouraging will last. Because people who change under compulsion do not really change.

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Often they change. It's like the little boy who his mother said, sit down, we're in traffic. Sit down, we're in traffic.

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And so then she reached over and she pushed him down in traffic. And he said, well, I may be sitting down, but I'm standing up on the inside.

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That's the kind of change that can happen by compulsion and force. There were some who were accusing

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Paul of being worldly. That is, they regarded him as someone who walked according to the flesh. And that's what he talks about here.

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All these people had to do was a little research into Paul's history, and they would find out that he was certainly willing to stand for what he believed.

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He stood before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 23. He stood before Roman governors in 24 and 25.

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King Herod, Agrippa, Acts chapter 26, and even the emperor in Acts chapter 25 through 27.

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Further, he rebuked those quickly who proclaimed false doctrine.

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Look at the book of Galatians. And he even rebuked Peter, that great apostle, when he went astray from the gospel teachings in Galatians chapter 2.

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That is spoken of, chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. Paul called on people to repent rather than rebuking them.

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And if the Corinthians would repent of these false accusations, then when he was able to be with them, he would not have to be bold against them.

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The Lord had given him authority, and he chose either not to use it or to use it very sparingly.

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And later in this letter, he will remind them of that. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 10, he says,

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For this reason I am writing these things while absent, these hard things while absent, so that when present

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I need not use severity in accordance with the authority which the

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Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down. So Paul was always careful to make sure that what he was doing was building up.

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Even if he had to be harsh or difficult, it would be for the purpose of building up. And so you see that he's very seldom that way.

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Earlier in the epistle, he told them that he did not peddle the word of God. He did not market it for his own earning.

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He did not take advantage of anyone. He wronged no one. His conscience was clear.

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And in this statement in verse 2, he makes it clear that if the rebels do not mend their ways, he will wade in and he will do what is necessary.

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I don't want to have to come. Don't make me come to your room. You know, send him to the room, tell him to clean it up.

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Don't make me come down there. That's kind of what he's saying here. He doesn't want to have to. Because it's different with one person.

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A whole body. It's just, it's a difficult thing. What a blessing it is to serve here.

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What a blessing it is to serve here amongst the body who obey this word. And basically, what we're doing today is just a

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Bible study together. None of this kind of harsh stuff has to be done, and it's wonderful. So, any questions or comments about verse 2?

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Verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. These two verses, three verses, and some following, have been used to manifest some of the silliest stuff that has ever come down the

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Christian pipe. Did you walk through the hedge of thorns when you came in? We trimmed that puppy up really nice.

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So, I'm not going to get too far into that. What I'm going to talk about is what the Scripture says, what the truth is here.

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Paul uses the word for flesh here in two ways. First, he speaks of the fact that he is a human being and he walks in a body of flesh.

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But the point he wants to make is that he does not have to live out the fleshly tendencies that his fallen human body has, especially in the spiritual realm.

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The carnal flesh would have required him to be bold, confrontational, and angry from the start.

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But Paul did not war according to the flesh. And he knew that dealing with rebellious people, including possibly some believers, would require him to apply all the grace he had received from the

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Holy Spirit. So, he did not war, as it were, with the Corinthians in a fleshly manner. This was also possibly a rebuke of those who accused him of walking in a fleshly way.

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Now, the word for war here, it's stratumai. And so, the word strategy, we get the word strategy from this word, comes from a root which means an encamped army.

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This was a very carefully Holy Spirit chosen word. We do not war according to the flesh.

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They wanted to make war on him? Well, he was an encamped army on the doors of the Corinthian church.

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There's no mistaking Paul's intent here. If the Corinthian rebels would not recognize his apostolic authority, and if they would not understand his desire to motivate them, stimulating them, or provoking them to love and good deeds, as the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 10, then he would meet their opposition with a firm resolve.

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The resolve of an encamped army. One that would not be moved. It would be well for all of us to remember that every single one of us is a soldier in the battle for truth.

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This is what is at stake here. Not some ethereal ground or territory.

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What is at stake here is the truth. The truth is being assaulted. Paul did not need ideology.

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He did not need human ingenuity or any other method to deal with the Corinthians. He only needed the mighty weapons

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God had given him, which were spiritual in nature. He needed to resort to Scripture. And thus he does.

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And so then he says, and I'm going to continue on here and we'll go back through all of these if necessary. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful, the destruction of fortresses.

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The only divinely powerful weapon we have been given is the

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Word of God. And it is not to be wielded indiscriminately or incorrectly. It is to be studied and used according to its own internal direction.

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Study the Word carefully with an eye to correctly understanding it and properly expounding it and living it.

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2 Timothy 2 .15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed of what you have achieved, accurately handling the

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Word of truth. Number two, build into your life the principles the Word teaches.

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2 Peter 1 .5 -10 Now, for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence.

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And in your moral excellence, knowledge. And in your knowledge, self -control. And in your self -control, perseverance.

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And in your perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love.

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Agape. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short -sighted, having forgotten his purification from former sins.

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Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.

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So those are the, in 2 Peter chapter 1 we see the principles to build into your lives. Some of them, to build into your lives.

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And then number 3, joyfully and willingly, and Jim has been talking about this in Hebrews. Move on from the basics to solid, the solid food of the

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Word. Hebrews chapter 5, 11 -14. Concerning him, we have much to say.

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And it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

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And you have come to need milk, and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

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But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. When you, say you're a piano player, and you practice diligently, and maybe those of you who play the piano are musically inclined here know, often what you practice is scales.

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Part of that is to keep your familiarity with the keyboard and the chords and all the theory, and to strengthen your fingers.

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And if you do that, and you do it regularly, you practice to know, you can continue to play.

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But if you go without playing for several years, or so, you have to come back to milk.

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You have to come back to musical milk. But move on from that. Get the milk done, and move on.

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And that's what Paul's telling them. You've come back to milk. Stop it. You need to move on. And number four is to recognize that scripture is the true and proper change agent, by the grace of the

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Holy Spirit in your life. 2 Timothy chapter 3, all scripture, all scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

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So that the man of God may be adequate and equipped for every good work. Hebrews 4 .12, for the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two -edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

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And Romans 1 .16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the

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Jew first, and also to the Greek. So we're going to finish with verse 5, or verse 4, and we'll take up verse 6 next time, but closing out here, this is the weapon

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Paul is referring to. The word of God. And the warfare he refers to is that of combating unbelief and wickedness.

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And he'll tell us that. It's like, sometimes when people come up with these false doctrines,

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I say, did you read the next verse? Because it tells us what the previous verse was pointing out.

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And in this particular case, we'll leave that, it'll be kind of like, part 2 comes later on.

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The fortresses are defined in verse 5 as speculations, anti -scriptural thoughts, philosophies, theorems and theories, viewpoints and religions.

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This is not territory or positions given over to demonic possession. It is the prevailing worldview that dismisses scripture, dismisses

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God, dismisses the gospel, dismisses Christ, and elevates humanistic ideas and ideals, whether they be psychology or science improperly applied.

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That is what the battle is. It's the battle between truth and error. And the world has the corner on error.

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We happen to, by God's grace, have the corner on truth. And Paul, as he is relaying this to the

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Corinthians, he does not do it arrogantly or brashly or unkindly, but he does it with a quiet, possessed element of authority that they,

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I'm sure they can see in this letter, I don't want to have to be severe when I come. Please, sort this out.

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And then he tells them that this is a warfare. And what is causing it is that they have been living exactly in the manner that they have accused him of.

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They have been living according to the flesh. And they have allowed these false philosophies to come in, and they need to be weeded out.

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And Paul is hoping to do some of it, if not all of it, with the letter, and finish it up when he comes to Corinth. And he will do that.

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Any comments or questions on verse 5, 4, I mean, before we close? Okay, let's close.

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Father, we thank you that knowing we would need weapons to live the life you have given to us.

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You gave us the greatest weapon of all. The Spirit, the Word of God, applied by the

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Spirit of God in love. And Lord, as we do that, people will praise you, they will honor you.

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There will be some who will shake their fists and call the mountains down upon them. But your children, your people, will rise up and call you

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Mighty One. And we will do that today. Thank you, Lord, for what you're teaching. Thank you for your truth that you've given to us unvarnished and perfect and sufficient.