Study in 2 Corinthians

Study in 2 Corinthians Presentation 17

Apostolic Profile Chap 12v11-13v14 Presentation 17

Introduction As Princess Diana’s marriage began to fall apart she gave a famous TV interview. She said she wanted to be understood since much of what had been reported had given a distorted picture of her marriage. She wanted to set the record straight. When we are publicly criticised we often want to speak out in a way that we might not do naturally, because we feel that no one else is fighting our corner. We believe there are issues at stake that are bigger than our personal lives. Paul was in this position and felt a fool that he was obliged to share so much of his private life and appear to blow his own trumpet but because no one else was speaking up for him he had no alternative. He was driven to it cf. v11 Presentation 17

Introduction O Paul describes himself as a ‘nothing’ this may have been a description used by his critics but he is happy to embrace it because he knows that all that he has accomplished has been through the grace of God. However, he is not prepared to be considered inferior to the ‘super apostles’ who had wormed their way into the Corinthian fellowship. There is a note of sadness in all that Paul has to say because of all people the Corinthians should have recognised that it was as a result of his ministry that there was any church in Corinth at all. If anyone should have defended him to these newcomers it should have been them. Their silence causes him to deliver a final threefold defence of his apostleship. Presentation 17

Paul's Endurance Verse 12 is important first because it provides a helpful tool for understanding and evaluating miracles. In many cases miracles in the N.T. were designed to authenticate the special role which God gave the apostles. In Acts, Luke tells us that the apostles did great signs. Does this mean others did not work miracles? No. Nor does it imply that the age of miracles is past. But on the basis of v12 it is legitimate to conclude that the extraordinary quality and number of miraculous events recorded in the book of Acts was a special feature of the apostolic age. The apostles were supernaturally endowed in a way that ministers and missionaries today are not. Presentation 17

Paul's Endurance Secondly, v12 makes clear that miracles were not the chief characteristic of an apostle. Paul says, ‘these things... were done among you with perseverance’. Perseverance was particularly in evidence in the life of the apostles. Things had been so bad for Paul in Corinth that he had packed his bags ready to leave when God told him to stay. He endured months of stress and danger. This quality of perseverance was as much a mark of apostleship as were the miracles which the ‘super apostles’ boasted about. The super apostles may have captured people’s attention with flashy exhibitionism but the miracles of which Paul speaks were born out of suffering and adversity, when he was stretched to the limits. Presentation 17

Paul's Endurance When considering qualities of Christian leadership, perseverance is clearly more important than working wonders! Being ‘faithful unto death’ is the all important thing. Do not look to the number of healings a person has performed but at the scars they bear for Christ. Do not ask how many demonstrative gifts they can display but how much true grit they can demonstrate. The way in which a person copes with adversity is a far better index of their spirituality that a barrow load of captivating stories about miraculous answers to their prayer. Presentation 17

Paul's Integrity Paul now describes a second quality of apostolic leadership - integrity. Paul's opponent’s had castigated him for failing to charge evangelistic fees. His integrity was challenged. His response is illuminating. Paul says, ‘ I am your spiritual father. What father would demand payment for parental services rendered to his children?’ v13-15.... Part of the parental role is to save for one’s children’s future- health care, education, marriage etc. Can you imagine the fright children would get if their parent presented them with a bill at the end of each week? Fees for washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning, shopping, nursing, taxi service to school...etc? The child would turn round in horror and say, “but you are my mum, my dad, don’t you do these things because you love me”. Presentation 17

Paul's Integrity Do you see Paul's point? He did not want to profit at the expense of his spiritual children. Paul is not suggesting that full time teachers and ministers in the church should not be supported. He makes clear elsewhere that, ‘the labourer is worthy of his hire.’ Some congregations take advantage of their pastors some have been expected to work for peanuts. An attitude that is a disgrace to the gospel. Some are invited to preach in distant congregations and are not given travelling expenses, leaving them out of pocket. Presentation 17

Paul's Integrity Paul implies that there are circumstances when it’s wiser for the preacher not to take money thus leaving his integrity intact. If a preacher on a street corner passed the hat round so that his hearers could express their appreciation he has immediately reduced the gospel to the level of a street performance. The preacher loses all credibility when it is obvious to all concerned that he is only doing it for the money. There are people around who are more interested in exploiting that serving. Contrast that with Paul's comment in v15.... Indeed, if the occasion demanded it Paul would lay down his life for the Corinthians. Presentation 17

Paul's Integrity Some of Paul's opponents had attacked his integrity from a different direction. They accused him of tricking the Corinthians. ‘Oh he’s very plausible when he says he’s not interested in money. He never passes the plate round himself. Instead, the bill is brought after the event by a colleague. He knows that people don’t read the small print’. They could have made Saul’s largesse sound like some of the free gifts we are offered today; the gift is ‘free’ but administration costs, packaging, and postage comes to £19.99! Paul responds in v17-18... his messengers were falsely accused. They had not, as had been reported, come to extort cash! Quite the reverse they operated precisely the same fiscal policy as Paul. Presentation 17

Paul's Authority The principle emphasis at the close of Chap. 12 is upon Paul's personal authority to discipline the church. He asks, ‘Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you?’ v19. You might think that is exactly what he has been doing. Paul says, you are wrong to think so v19-20… The cancelled visit to Corinth appeared to give substance to his detractor’s claims that he was basically a weak man. But Paul insists that when he does arrive they would get a shock. Paul has defended his apostleship not because he was anxious to win the Corinthians acceptance but because he knew they needed his help. Presentation 17

Paul's Authority Paul affirms, ‘its for your strengthening' and not for the sake of my own reputation that I am coming. It was not Paul but the Corinthian church who were in the dock. If they failed to acknowledge his apostleship, he would be forced to authenticate it by enforcing apostolic discipline within the church. It may be that excommunication that was in Paul's mind. Whatever his meaning , what is clear is that he was prepared to use his apostolic authority. Though this he would do reluctantly. The issue was a serious one which is why he spells out what the consequences would be of their failure to respond to his appeal. Presentation 17

Paul's Discipline DISCIPLINE WAS PAINFUL Paul did not relish the exercise of discipline v20-21... Some people in positions of leadership take great delight in publicly humiliating those who have opposed and offended them. However, it hurt Paul to think about disciplining the church he loved. He was emotionally bound up with this people and he felt that Corinth would break his heart before they would again cheer it. He knew he would be sorely humiliated if he found the immorality and dissension among them that he had begun to anticipate. Presentation 17

Paul's Discipline THE AUTHORITY OF DISCIPLINE Paul's reason for quoting Deut.19v15 which was a piece of Mosaic legislation that required any accusation to be substantiated by more than one witness would appear to as follows. Paul is saying, ‘I have already given you two warnings and this letter constitutes a third. There is now no excuse, if there is no response then judgement will follow’. Paul was not prepared to postpone the necessity of moral surgery indefinitely. To do so would have been to increase their risk of harm. Presentation 17

Paul's Discipline THE CROSS AT THE HEART OF DISCIPLINE Paul reminds them of the Christian paradox in 13v3-4which lies at the heart of the gospel and which formed the kernel of his apostolic ministry. He is saying that ‘the strange blend of humility and glory which characterised Jesus who was crucified in weakness but raised in glory, is also reflected in me. I have no ambition to make an impression, but impressive I will be, when God power is exercised through me when I am dealing with those who are opposed to my gospel’. This is why he would rather they sorted themselves out before he arrived cf. v5... Presentation 17

Paul's Discipline Paul encourages them to begin self-examination. Not morbid introspection. Richard Foster gives this advice: “There must be a definite termination point in the self-examination process. Otherwise we can easily fall into a permanent habit of self-condemnation. Confession begins in sorrow but ends in joy. There is celebration in the forgiveness of sins because it results in a genuinely changed life”. We should all test ourselves to determine whether or not we are genuine believers. Will we find hypocrisy in our profession? It is best to discover that while there is still time for God to do a genuine work of grace in our lives. Self-examination is also necessary for the true believer exposing the sin which needs to be rooted out. Presentation 17

Dealing With Sin Paul wanted the immorality and dissension which was tearing the church apart to be dealt with before he arrived. Why? Because self-examination is always to be preferred to examination by others. If we examine ourselves we have no need for others to examine us and so expose ourselves to the possibility of church discipline. It is best for the Christian to deal with his backsliding lest by continuing down the slippery slope he falls into some gross sin which will earn the public rebuke of the church. Presentation 17

Dealing With Sin The thrust of v6-8 seems to be, ‘I wish you would recognise my apostolic office, that is, admit that I have passed the test and as such recognise my authority over you and that you would therefore take the necessary steps to deal with these offenders before I actually arrive in your midst’. What matters to Paul is not his reputation, not what others think of him but their spiritual welfare. God had given him authority not to build a little kingdom for himself where he would reign as Paul the ‘super apostle’ but to build them up into a Christian church which would be worthy of the name and submissive to Christ’s rule. Presentation 17

Dealing With Sin The aim of authentic Christian ministry, to present others as mature in Christ and to see them stand on their own spiritual feet. It is not to make others dependant upon the leadership emotionally or in any other way. Any parent knows they succeeded in their parenting role when they have equipped their children to live godly lives independently of them. So too, the Christian leader knows he has succeeded when those who have been under his care can function fruitfully as mature believers without needing others nodding approvingly over their shoulder all the time. Presentation 17

Conclusion Paul was not reluctant to let go of the church at Corinth but he wanted her to be able to stand dependant solely upon Christ and not upon ‘super apostles.’ They were in danger of becoming worldly in their thinking, of mistaking secular success and power for spirituality. Where there is a false understanding of spirituality it is not long before sin begins to surface in a quite gross and ugly manner as in Corinth. Paul wanted his beloved Corinthians to discover that their spiritual growth was indissolubly tied to a growing sense of weakness and inadequacy, an honesty about their limitations and difficulties and by their refusal to wear the hypocritical mask of this world’s super hero's. Presentation 17

Conclusion Their maturity and ours also requires a rejection of proud self-sufficiency and to grasp the lesson of strength out of weakness. Grasping this drives us to the cross and causes us to cry to God for his grace. George Mathesonwrites: “My God I have never thanked thee for my thorn. I have thanked thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Thou divine Love, whose human path has been perfected through sufferings, teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the value of my thorn”. Presentation 17

Study in 2 Corinthians