2 CORINTHIANS 1-22005 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Corinthians 1-2

Amen. 2 Corinthians 1, let's read together starting in verse 12. It says this, For our boasting is this,

the testimony of our conscience, that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God and more abundantly toward you.

Verse 15.

And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit, to pass by way of you to Macedonia, and come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be yes, yes, and no, no?

But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in Him was yes. For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.

Verse 23, Verse 24,

Not that we have dominion over your faith, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. Chapter 2 verse 1, But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?

Let's

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning and this opportunity to understand from your word what you would say to us. God, we ask that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Lord, that you would empower us and open our eyes that we might see the wonderful things that are in your law. God, we ask that you would instruct us and correct us, that you would encourage us and lift us up this morning by the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Not just because we're so great and so special, but he comforts us so that we'll be able and empowered and enabled by him to comfort those around us. We learned, even despite our flesh, that it's not about me, but it's about what God wants to do through me. And so we looked at that and as we continue on now, the Apostle Paul continues on sharing his heart with the Corinthians.

Now, 2 Corinthians is a very personal letter of the Apostle Paul. As he's writing to this church, this family, he's sharing very much his heart. Now, many doctrines or many epistles and letters of the Apostle Paul are full of doctrine and full of teachings and full of correction as we saw in 1 Corinthians, as we see in Galatians and Ephesians and so on and so forth. Much doctrine and much

much application and things like that. But in 2 Corinthians, it's a little bit different of a book in that we see, more than in any other book, the heart of the Apostle Paul. As he defends his ministry because the false apostles have risen up and are throwing false accusations against him and claiming that he's doing things with bad reasons and bad motives. And he...

by just simply sharing his heart and what he is about and what ministry is about. And so this book is a great opportunity for us to understand the heart of the Apostle Paul, to learn from it, that we might ourselves learn what ministry is all about and how we are to live the right heart that we should have.

Paul is writing this and he's specifically in this portion that we're looking at today dealing with some of the things that those false teachers and false apostles are teaching and sharing and proclaiming. They were coming against him with three accusations. You might remember last week, to get back into the background again, the apostle Paul had written to them 1 Corinthians and then

Here we have 2 Corinthians. In between, it's very possible that Paul had visited Corinth and done some ministry there, done some work there because of some corrective issues that needed to be taken care of that were left over that they hadn't really responded to out of 1 Corinthians. So he went there, he dealt with it, tradition says, and then he went back to Ephesus where he had been for some time.

But then he received word back that they still hadn't dealt with the issues and hadn't corrected the situation. The person who was involved in sin was still leading rebellion and causing disruption and trouble within the body. And so Paul, it is said, wrote another letter in between 1st and 2nd Corinthians. And this letter was very harsh and directed specifically to the situation of problems that were at hand. This letter

letter was delivered by hand of Titus who brought back word to Paul and he said that hey they received it they've corrected the situation they've done the things it was very hard and they sorrowed they cried it was very tearful but they repented and they turned from their ways and now they're walking right Titus also brings back word however that most of them have repented and they're doing great but there's some that are being raised up within the body that are talking and saying things that they ought not to accusing you Apostle Paul and

and calling you a false apostle and not truly to be trusted or worthy of faith or trust. So the Apostle Paul sends back 2 Corinthians to them. He first shares with them about comfort and suffering and reminds them of what they're going through and what the Corinthians are going through as well. But now he begins to deal with some of the things within ministry that they're accusing him of. Now, the false apostles...

They're talking very bad about Paul. There's three specific areas that we see in here that they are bringing against Paul or that they're accusing Paul of. Number one, we find in verse 12 that they were accusing him of having hidden motives. Hidden motives behind his actions. Hidden things, a hidden agenda behind the things that he did. Number two, we find they were accusing him of having hidden meanings behind

hidden messages between the words that he says. And that he's not saying exactly what he means, but he's saying this. He really means something else and he has some ulterior motive or something behind the scenes that he's trying to accomplish for his own gain. They were saying he has these hidden meanings, these hidden messages within his words and so he's not to be trusted. And then the third area is

that they were accusing him of is being a flake, really. They said, look, his word cannot be trusted. He changed his plans, so why would we even trust his ministry or his teachings or anything else that he says? They say he's not trustworthy because of these three things, these false apostles coming against the Apostle Paul. Now, as we get into this portion of Scripture today,

I want to make clear in our minds the difference, because there is a difference between what these false apostles were doing and what the Apostle Paul was doing. The Apostle Paul had written to the church and had taken some steps to make correction within the body of Christ there at Corinth.

He had to correct some situations that were going on. Now, the false apostles, they're coming against Paul in what might seem much the same way, but instead of being corrective, what they're doing is they're judging the Apostle Paul and sharing their judgment, proclaiming their judgment to the church. And there is a difference that we need to understand between the idea of judging and the idea of correction.

Now, within the body of Christ, sometimes situations happen where you're with a brother, you're with a sister, you're with someone else who is a believer. And you notice some things. Hey, you're not supposed to lie like that. Or you're not supposed to cheat. Or why are you involved in this sin or that sin? And what very often happens, I'm sure that you've heard it before, why are you judging me?

The person responds, why don't you know the Bible says don't judge? In fact, anytime I share something, you know, sometimes God gives me opportunities at work to share and people will say, well, doesn't the Bible say not to judge? We need to understand, Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, what is judging all about? What really is judging? If I see you involved in sin and I share with you, hey, brother, sister,

This is involved in your life. This is going on. Are things okay? Are things right? What's happening in your life? Is that judging? Well, turn with me now to 1 Corinthians 4.

Back to 1 Corinthians, Paul has dealt with this issue before, but to refresh our memory, to remind us, there's a difference between judging and correcting. He deals with it specifically in verses 1-5, but let's pick it up in verse 3. 1 Corinthians 4, starting in verse 3, it says this, But

But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this. But he who judges me is the Lord.

Verse 5, Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.

The Apostle Paul tackles this subject of judging. And he starts off by saying, look, it's a small thing, I don't care. You want to judge me? Paul says, so what? Courts want to judge me? So what? He says, I don't even judge myself. Why? Well, he says, I know of nothing against myself, but that's not what justifies me. That's not what makes me right before God.

What makes me right before God? Well, he goes on to say, look, he who judges me is the Lord. He's the judge. I'm not the judge. He's the judge. And so, I don't need to be worried about people judging me or you judging me or courts judging me or even judging myself because he who judges me is the Lord. He explains why, though, in verse 5. He says, okay, since this is the case, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes.

Why until the Lord comes? Well, what he's saying is, you and I, right now, we're not equipped to be adequate judges. We're not equipped. Because we have limitations based on our own wicked, evil, vile heart. We don't see things as God sees things.

We are not in a place to judge because we don't have all of the information. We don't understand not only that, but we are often led astray by our own thoughts and our own desires, our own heart. So Paul says, judge nothing until the appointed time, until the Lord comes, who, when He comes, this is what's going to happen. He's going to bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels, or literally, the motives of the heart.

And then he says, then each one's praise will come from God. So Paul says, look, don't judge anything now. Now is not the time to judge, but wait. Because there's going to be a time when he comes back, when the Lord comes back, that he is going to reveal the things that are in darkness and the motives of people's heart.

So, judging, as Apostle Paul is talking about it, is not correcting a sinful situation, but it's trying to decide or trying to come to a conclusion about the dark and secret things and the motives. Something that's going on within someone's heart that you and I cannot see and cannot understand. The Apostle Paul says, look, here's what judging is. It's

claiming someone has the wrong motives. You don't know man's motives. It's claiming or saying that someone has the wrong heart in a situation or in a circumstance. The reason behind why things are done. That is judging. Dealing with sin, however, is not that. Dealing with sin is dealing with issues, actions, things that take place that are

that are tangible, that happen and go on, and that the Bible speaks against. Paul is not saying we're not ever to correct. We're not ever to approach. We're not ever to deal with things because we can't judge. No. He says, don't judge in the areas where

You have to make a decision about what they're thinking or what their heart is doing or what they're saying. That's not for us. We're not to do that. That's not anything we're to have a part of. But if they're doing something wrong, he says, know this, there's no right way to do a wrong thing. If someone's in sin, if I'm in sin, then I'm in sin and I need to be corrected. And it's not judging if it's something that's specifically spoken against in the scriptures. Because then it's not...

me judging, it's the word of God doing its work. That's what 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says the word of God is for. It's for correction. It's for training in righteousness. So it's God's word doing the judgment and not you or I. And so that is the key. That's the difference between judging and correction. Judging is trying to determine or saying that someone's heart is wrong out of place, that they have wrong motives.

But correction is saying, look, here's the actions. Here's the overflow. Here's what is seen and visible. And it's not according to what the scripture says should take place. Paul demonstrates this by the very next chapter, chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians. Because he deals with the situation, sexual immorality within the church. And he says you need to deal with it. The Bible says this. God says this about sexual immorality. So take care of it. Take steps. It's not that you can't take action immediately.

but you can see the overflow, you can see the actions, and you need to bring correction into their lives. That's what spiritual leaders are called to do. That's what you and I are called to do as God brings us into contact with people that He desires for us to disciple and encourage and to train up within our homes, within this place, wherever the case may be.

God says, train up people and lead people. Correct where it needs correction, but don't judge. That's not for you. That's not for this time. That will be revealed later. Motives we cannot determine. Now, this is important because within a church, for some reason, it's not good, but it happens very often.

And we think it very often. We have these feelings and these thoughts. That it's spiritual to talk negatively about people. That it's spiritual to bring someone aside and say, you know, I'm really concerned about this person. I don't really think they have the right heart in this or that. You know, they raise their hands in worship, but I don't think they really mean it.

They do this or that. They serve in this way, but you know, I don't know. I've seen them in other places and so I don't think that's really what they're supposed to be doing. I don't think they're right in this. We should pray for them. We have this feeling many times, confess it, it's okay, that to talk negatively about people makes us

spiritual or more mature. Well, I'm mature so I can handle talking about people in this way or in this circumstance. No, we're not called to judge people's motives, people's hearts. And so it doesn't matter if you use your really spiritual voice or your appearance of maturity, talking about leaders, talking about fellowship, talking about Apostle Paul, whoever, negatively, never makes you more spiritual. It's never a good thing.

It's not right. And so if you're doing that, you need to stop. Colossians chapter 4 verse 6 tells us that let everything that you say, let your speech be with grace. And I love that. I share this a lot because what is grace? Well, grace is getting things that you do not deserve. We looked at that in much detail last week when we say grace to you.

He says, let your speech be with grace. What does that mean? Well, when you talk about people, it's not spiritual to talk negatively about them. You know what the mark of spiritual maturity is? Talk wonderfully about them in such a way that they don't deserve it. Talk so great about them that they just would be blown away because they don't deserve to have such great, nice, wonderful things spoken about them. That's the mark of a spiritual leader. That's the mark of a spiritual mature person. But instead of talking negatively in that sense,

And judging people's hearts, we speak with grace. Grace that people do not deserve. That's how the Apostle Paul, as he shared with people, he saw people as the finished work, the finished product of what they could become in Jesus Christ. And that's the same way that we need to look and talk about people. So,

Let's get in together. 2 Corinthians, back there, chapter 1, verse 12. What does he say? He says, The first accusation that the false apostles were bringing against Paul was,

was that he had hidden motives

That there was more to his actions than there seemed. He had a hidden agenda that he was trying to accomplish something for himself. But Paul responds to that and he says, look, our boasting, or another word for that is, our rejoicing is this. What is it that we rejoice in? Well, we rejoice, he says, in that we conducted ourselves in the world and then at the end he says, even more abundantly to you, we conducted ourselves in a way

that our conscience is clear. Paul says, my conscience was perfectly clear. The way I've lived, especially among you guys in Corinth, he says, I know everything's okay. My conscience is clear. There's nothing bothering me. I didn't have false motives. I didn't have this or that going on behind the scenes or something shady here or there. There was nothing to burden or to bother his conscience. And so he says,

That's our rejoicing. That's our boasting. Hey, great joy comes from having nothing on your conscience. Great joy comes from the things that the Apostle Paul is talking about here. He says that's our boast. That's what we rejoice in. It's that there's nothing on our conscience. We did everything uprightly to the best of our ability as the Lord laid things uprightly.

So Paul's response is, I have nothing on my conscience. And you know why? Well, he goes on to explain to us why nothing was on his conscience. This is why he says, clearly, I did not have hidden motives. He goes on to say the first thing, simplicity. Simplicity.

Why didn't I have anything on my conscience? Because we conducted ourselves in simplicity. We lived our lives in simplicity. What does simplicity mean? Well, the opposite of simplicity is duplicity. Simplicity, meaning simple, clear, uncomplicated, easy to understand. Paul says, look, we lived in simplicity. We weren't acting and putting on a great show.

doing things physically on the outside while inside we're thinking something completely different. We weren't having these other motives or other intents that we would do these things so that somehow we would gain something

He says, look, our actions represent what we truly feel. When we clean the toilet, it's because we believe God said clean the toilet. When we wash feet, it's because we wanted to wash feet. It's not because we were trying to establish something or make you feel a certain way about us. It's just God said wash feet, so we wash feet.

Paul says, when I did this, when I did that, the actions that I did, I conducted myself in simplicity. That what I did was because that's what I believe God wanted me to do and so that's why I did it because I love God and I love you and there's no other reason, there's no other motive. You don't have to read things into it. It was uncomplicated and very clear. I did what God put on my heart. Simplicity. So important.

He goes on to say another reason, godly sincerity, which goes hand in hand with simplicity. That it was sincere, it was genuine. He wasn't acting. It wasn't because, you know, I know I'm supposed to do that, but inside, you know, he's dying. I hate serving these guys. It was genuine. It was out of a genuine love, a genuine love for the Corinthians and for God. It was not some big plot to accomplish his goals.

He says also it's not with fleshly wisdom. It wasn't with man's thoughts or man's thinking or man's wisdom because we know that's totally unreliable. But he says it was instead by the grace of God. Paul says a wonderful thing here. He says, look, by the grace of God, my conscience is clear and my heart is sincere.

Can you say that this morning? By the grace of God, my conscience is clear and my heart is sincere. The things I do, the actions that I take, the conduct, the way I live, is because that's the way that God has spoken to me. And that's what God has said. And I do it out of love for Him and out of love for those He's called me to serve. So when I do something, I don't mean something else by it. Paul was genuine. He was simple. He was honest.

Something we would do well to pray for ourselves. That God would give us a simple heart. Because you and I know we do have hidden actions. Hidden motives behind the things, right? Guys, we mow the lawn to get a good dinner. No, I'm just kidding. We do things to get something else. Not because that's what our heart is to do, but because we have these other motives, other desires, other things going on within. Duplicity. Duplicity.

as opposed to simplicity. The second thing that they accuse the Apostle Paul of is found in verses 13 and 14, and they accused him of having hidden meanings, or hidden messages, hidden motives behind the things that he said. Not just his actions, but they said the things that he says, they're not really what he means. Now Paul's response is, hey, we were not writing any other things to you

Paul says, you don't have to read between the lines. We weren't trying to say something else. What I wrote is what I wanted to say. And that's what I wanted you to read. And that's what you understood. So don't try to go back and figure out, well, what was he really saying when he said that? What did he really mean by that?

You know, it's like, we've got to be careful with this, guys, right? Oh, you look really nice today, honey. Well, what have you been saying about yesterday then, huh? There's nothing between the lines. What I just mean is, you look really nice today. That's all I meant. Sorry. Paul says, look, there's no hidden message. There's nothing else I'm trying to say. What I wrote to you is what I meant to say. What I shared with you, that's what I wanted to say. So don't try to read things into it. I wasn't trying to say something else. Hmm.

I'm sure that we've been accused of this and I'm sure that we've all done it. That's why, you know, we say, I love you, right? And someone else will go, what do you want? It's true, right? Oh, honey, I love you. Okay, what do you need from me now? We have these motives, right? We say these things because we say them to get something back for ourselves oftentimes.

and it should not be. But Paul says, look, that wasn't the case for me. I wrote to you and I said exactly what I wanted to say. That word understood is to know accurately or well. He says, you know exactly what I said. You know it well. And I wasn't trying to say anything else.

And you and I need to learn from the Apostle Paul not to have those hidden meanings and messages behind the things that we say. Romans chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, Paul talks about a group of people like the false apostles who were saying things

but they had other thoughts and other things in mind. In verse 17, he says, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine of which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

It is a shame, but there are those within the body of Christ, today, just like there was false apostles back in Paul's day, that say things to serve their belly rather than the Lord Jesus. That say things to accomplish something, to get something, that deceive people by smooth words and flattering speech. And they deceive the hearts of the simple. Paul says, watch out for them. But he responds to the Corinthians, and he says, that's not what I was doing. You guys know me very well. You understood exactly what I was saying.

So don't read things into it. It does seem to us many times spiritual to talk negatively about people and to say these kind of things. But whatever your motive behind saying those things, don't be deceitful in your words, saying one thing and meaning another.

It's not something that a Christian should be doing. Now, so Paul is dealing with these accusations. He says, number one, look, I didn't have hidden motives behind the things that I did. I didn't have hidden meanings behind the things that I said. And then the third area that he deals with is really the rest of the passage that we're looking at. It's verses 14 all the way through chapter 2, verse 4.

Because what the false apostles were saying is that Paul's word cannot be trusted because he changed his plans. He's a flake. He's wishy-washy. Why should we believe his ministry and the things that he says and the teachings that he taught? They said, look, he changes plans. He cannot be trusted. But in verses 15 and 16, Paul begins the explanation here, saying, look, I'm not a flake.

I didn't do this just to do it. I didn't just say things that came out of my mouth. But this is what God orchestrated. This is what God did. In verses 15 and 16, he says this, "...and in this confidence, I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea."

Paul here says, look, here is my plan. Here is what I plan to do. And he explained this to them actually in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verses 5 through 7 as well. Where he says, here is my plan. I am going to be here and there and then what I want to do is I want to go to Macedonia. And he says,

Now, Macedonia was an area that was north of the city of Corinth. It was where Thessalonica was, where Philippi was, and those areas. And so Paul says, look, I'm going to go to you guys first, then I'm going to go up to Macedonia, minister up there, and then I'm going to come back down to you

so that you can send me on my way to Judea, where I'm going to go to Jerusalem. Now, this, what he's talking about and making reference to, takes place in what we know as Paul's third missionary journey. And you can look at that in chapters 18 through 20, specifically what deals with this area of Paul's travels and Paul's ministries there, his trips.

So, his plan was to go to Corinth, to go up north to Macedonia, come back down, spend time with them, and then go on his way to Jerusalem. But, what happened was, things changed. It didn't exactly work out that way. He did pass through on the way, but,

But then he was not able to come back. Things changed and he took a different route to Jerusalem. And so he was not able to go back as he originally had intended and said. And so as a result, this is why the false apostle said, well, look, he said he was going to come back, but he's not coming back. We shouldn't trust him. Their obvious thing was, well, you should trust me instead and appoint me as all-powerful ruler and then everything will be fine. So verses 17 through 20, though, he explains why.

why he didn't come back. He explains his intentions. In verse 17, he says, Paul says,

He asked the rhetorical question, when I planned this, did I do it lightly? No. Did I say this and make these plans without really ever intending to follow through? Have you ever done that before? Paul goes, look, here's what I did not do. I didn't tell you that I'm going to come back so that I wouldn't have to share you with the bad news and then later that way I could just send you by letter and tell you, oh, sorry about the bad news, I'm not going to be able to come back.

He says, I didn't have these double things going on. I didn't change my plans lightly. I intended to come back to you. I wanted to come back to you. He says, otherwise I would have said, hey, don't call me, I'll call you. He intended. He had every intention of coming back. He says, I didn't do it lightly. He goes on to say, did I plan it in the flesh? Was it, you know, by my own wisdom and thinking? My strength? No, it wasn't any of those things.

the result of those things, if it were true, that he had planned that way and planned by the flesh and had those thoughts and those motives, then he said the result would be yes, yes, and no, no. Which means, yeah, I just kind of say whatever comes out and that's what it is. And sorry, you know, I just didn't mean to say it like that. He says, no, I didn't just throw things out there. Yes. Well, wait, no. Okay, wait, wait, yes. No, wait. Huh? Okay.

He's all, I didn't just throw these things out there just because I had to say something and...

I planned, I intended, I wanted to come back to you guys. I love you guys and I wanted to continue on the work. In verse 18, he goes on to say, but as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. He compares himself and he says, look, just as God is faithful, our word was not yes and no. We didn't just lightly change our plans, but God changed things. God had something different in mind. I believe God wanted me to come back, but he didn't.

had other plans. Now, in verses 19 and 20, he goes on to shift the focus a little bit. And he says, yes, I did plan to come to you, and then now I'm not able to. And so you're accusing me of saying yes and then no and having this wish-washy plan, but that's not true. I didn't have that heart, I didn't have that mind. But in verses 19 and 20, he shifts the focus and he says, but...

Despite all that, don't worry about me. Look at Jesus. Look at God. He says in verse 19, So Paul says, whatever you think about me, whatever, that's fine. But Jesus Christ is not that way. God is not that way. He's not wishy-washy. He's not flaky. In Him, it's yes. And then in verse 20, he says,

For all the promise of God in Him, all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, amen, to the glory of God through us. Now, I would encourage you to take verse 20 of chapter 1 and spend some time on it and meditate on it this coming week. The promises of God

are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. He is the fulfillment of God's word. He's God's revelation to us. Paul shifts the focus and he says, don't look at me, look at God.

He is the ultimate yes. He is the ultimate fulfillment. He is the ultimate promise. He is the one that you can trust and rely upon. And it's His plan. It's His work. It's not about me, Paul says. It's not about my plans. I didn't do it lightly, but His promises are yes. His promises are amen. His promises always come to pass. And Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of those things. Going on to verse 21. Verse 21.

He says, Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. In verses 21 and 22, as he's shifting the focus now, it's not about me, but it's about God. He says, Look, it's God's work. It's God's work. It's not my work and it has nothing to do with me, Paul would say. How does he say that? Well, he says, Now he who establishes.

an anoints. Who is he? It's God. He's God. He says that right there at the end of verse 21. It's God. It's about God. He is the one who is in control. He is the one who has put me here and you there, Paul says to the Corinthians. It's God who establishes. Now, this is very comforting because look at what God does.

Paul shares with us four things about God. What does he do? He establishes us, he anointed us, he sealed us, and he's given us the Spirit of God. These four things, Paul says. Now, the first one is present tense. He establishes us. That's a continuing work. God is continually, always at work in establishing us, in drawing us closer to him, in rooting us, and grounding us in him.

He's establishing us. He's solidifying our faith in Him. He's setting us apart. He's helping us grow. Now, Paul shares this to let them know, look, it's not about me. I don't have to be there to establish you. It's God who is establishing you. Yes, I couldn't make it back. Yes, the plans changed. But it's okay because it's God who's doing the work. Then the other three, though, are past tense. He's anointed us. He's sealed us. And He's given us His Spirit.

He's anointed us. He's called us. He's empowered us to serve Him. It's past tense. It's already done. It's taken care of. Same thing, He's sealed us. Jesus has put us in His Father's hand where no one can be stretched away. We're sealed in Jesus Christ, in Him, in His Father's hand. And then He's also given us the Spirit. Now this is great because Paul doesn't just say that God does these things, but he also gives us an area that we can prove that

that these things are true in our life. And how is that? Well, any of us can say, well, I'm anointed. And we could ask you, well, how do you know? How do you prove that? It's not something visible. I don't see any oil on your forehead. You might see some on mine, but that's not anointing. That's just, you know, whatever. But how do you prove that? The establishing, the anointed, the sealing.

Well, Paul says the fourth thing is he's given us his Spirit as a guarantee. The Spirit in our lives is the guarantee that God is doing these things and has done these things. The Spirit of God in our lives proves that he's establishing us, that he has anointed and sealed us and given us his Spirit, the work of God in our lives through his Holy Spirit. It's the proof that God is at work in us. And what is that proof? What is the evidence? Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23, you know it well, love.

The fruit of the Spirit is love. When there is love overflowing and growing and abounding in our lives, we know that the Spirit has worked. We can confidently know beyond a shadow of a doubt He's establishing us, He's anointed us, He's sealed us, He's given us His Spirit. That's the proof that God has given to us that we can know that we are saved, that we can know that we are with Him, that we have a right relationship with Him. It's the proof that He's given to us. So when there's love abounding in our lives, because the love that the Scripture teaches

teaches about. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is not a natural love. It's not a love that this world or you and I can do naturally. It's only a love that comes from God. And so Paul says, look, the proof

That all this is true, what I'm saying to you, that God is establishing you, is the fact that love is at work within you and that you're growing in love for those around you and that God is doing a work of love in your heart. And where we need to be concerned as Christians is when the love of God begins to get cold in our lives. That's where we need to be worried. That's where we need to be concerned when we don't have a love for people, when we don't have a love for the lost, when we don't have a love for God.

Now, the interesting thing in all of this, these four things that he shared with them, what is our part in these four things? It's very simple. Our part is to receive.

Simply to receive. What do we do in the establishing? We just be established. What do we do in the anointing? We just be anointed. What do we do in the sealing? We just be sealed. What do we do in the giving of the Spirit? We just receive the Spirit. We simply receive what God is doing. It's not about us. It's not about Paul establishing the work or anybody establishing the work here. It's about God doing the work in our hearts. And we just simply receive.

How do we receive? By drawing close to Jesus and saying, Lord, I want to receive all that you have for me, all that you want to do. Asking him to be in our lives, to fill our lives. We receive the work of God. Then in verses 23 on through chapter 2, verse 4, he shares his last point, and that is this. The reason I did not come to you...

was to spare you. It was for your good, Paul would say. In verse 23, he says, He said, I didn't come because I wanted to spare you as for your good. Well, to spare them from what?

the situations that were going on, remember, the sexually immoral man leading rebellions and things against them. He says, I didn't want to give you another corrective visit and have another sorrowful time together as he will go on to talk about. I had to spare you this. I didn't want to come and have to rebuke again and deal with these situations. He goes on in verse 24, not that we have dominion over your faith, but

but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. So Paul says, look, we're not the Lord. It's not that I didn't come to spare you because we're your Lord and we didn't want to have to beat you. No, you stand by faith in God, but you're our fellow workers and we're to come alongside you. And sometimes that means to correct you, to share with you what God's word says. And so I didn't come so that I could spare you

I've already done it and we've written a letter. That's enough for this situation. So I didn't come again. Then in verse 1, he goes on to say, He says, The indication there being that there was another visit, a corrective visit. I'm not going to come to you again in sorrow, in dealing with these things, in dealing with this situation. I didn't come again.

I didn't want to come to you again in sorrow. But instead, well, before we get there, verse 2, For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? Paul says, look, you need to understand, my joy is you guys. My joy is seeing you.

Walk with God and hearing about what God is doing to you. That's my joy. So if I come and have to make another corrective visit, another sorrowful time, then who's going to make me glad? Because the people that make me glad are you.

And instead of being overjoyed and overflowed with all that God is doing, now I'll be burdened with sorrow because of what you've done and what you have not done and the corrective things that we had to take care of. So I'm waiting. I spared you so that we wouldn't have to deal with this and prolong this and continue on this situation and this suffering.

Verse 3, he says, And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you, all that my joy is the joy of you all. And verse 3, he explains to them then, Look, I didn't come to you so I could spare you. I didn't want to add sorrow upon sorrow. So here's what I did. I wrote to you the letter.

I wrote to you the letter. Remember, he sent it by the hand of Titus. That's what we've been talking about. I wrote to you the letter for this reason, that I could, when I come to you,

Come not in sorrow, but in joy. I wrote to you the letter to give you time so that you could correct these things and that when I come, that it would be a time of rejoicing and a time of joy instead of dealing with problems and situations. I wrote to you in visiting so that you would have time to put these corrective things in place so that when I get there, we can simply enjoy our time of fellowship rather than dealing with these issues.

You know, Mario was watching the Hallman's residence while they were away. And every day he'd call me, hey, when are they coming back again? Because he wanted to make sure he had enough time to clean up the house after all the parties that he threw. I'm just kidding, he didn't. I'm just kidding.

But you get the picture. You want to know, okay, when's mom and dad coming back? Or when's so-and-so coming back? You want to have time to clean up so that when they come, everything's taken care of. You can just enjoy the fellowship, the relationship. That's what Paul says. Look, I didn't come to you again because I didn't want it to come and be another big sorrowful time. Instead, I wrote you the letter, so take care of those things. And then when I come to you again, oh, it'll be a great time. It'll be a time of blessing, a time of rejoicing as we get to see God continuing His work.

And then in verse 4, we learn really the heart that we need to have in this area of correction. Paul says, Paul says,

I wrote to you this harsh letter and it was hard and it was dealing with corrective things. But I didn't write it joyfully. I didn't get excited about how much it was going to hurt or how painful it would be. I didn't rejoice at making you sorrowful. He says, look, I did it with much anguish, much affliction, anguish of heart, with many tears. That was how I felt about this letter.

It was not an enjoyable thing, but it was something that had to be done. And he says, I didn't do it to grieve you either, to make you feel so bad and to make you more sorrowful. That wasn't my purpose. The ultimate goal was that I would be able to demonstrate for you the love that abounds for you. Paul says, I'm just demonstrating the love.

the love that I have for you in this. I'm not trying to grieve you, but I do love you. And so I need to say these things and take care of these things because of this great love that I have for you. And I don't do it with great joy and with a lot of excitement. No, it's with much affliction and anguish of heart and many tears. It's a hard thing, he says, to correct those you love and to bring these things to their attention and to deal with these situations. It's a hard thing. It's not an enjoyable thing. It's not a fun thing. It's not an easy thing. It's a very difficult thing.

And so he says, I did it this way. And this is the heart that you and I need to have. The difference between judging and correction. Judging, trying to determine, trying to accuse of what's going on behind the scenes. The heart, the motives. But Paul says, in this correction, yes, I had to deal with it because it was sin. It was not right. But it's not something enjoyable. And that's a great rule of thumb. Look, if you enjoy correcting people, you should not be doing it. If it brings pleasure to you, then you should not do it.

We do have times where we need to correct. All of us. Correction needs to take place. Now, it needs to happen on all ways, right? It needs to happen to us. We receive correction as well as sometimes God calls us to apply or to give correction. We look at the Apostle Paul's example here and we have such a great example. He was in a great position. Why?

Well, here's what we can learn from the Apostle Paul. Four things that we can take away from here today. Number one, no hidden motives. Let there be no hidden motives in your heart, in your actions, in the things that you do. But act and live in simplicity and sincerity, doing the things that God has put on your heart. You know, if you are here serving and you're doing things, but it's not in your heart to do it, then don't do it. If you are...

Trying to do things that are not in your heart, that's duplicity. It's actions, but they're not representing who you truly are or what you truly feel or think. You need to have a simple approach to life. Do what God puts on your heart. Simplicity. No hidden motives. Number two, no hidden meanings in the things that we say. When we have to deal with a situation, let's talk about it. Let's deal with it.

But not beating around the bush, not saying something else and meaning something else. Or when we talk to people, saying things in order to get some type of favorable response. It would be like if I came up to you after service today and said, Oh man, I just really felt that the message wasn't that good today. With the intent that you would go, Oh, I thought it was great, Jerry. You did a good job. Pat on the back. And I go, Okay, that's a hidden meaning. That's a hidden motive. Right?

Say this so I can get this response. Say this so I can accomplish this. You know, yeah, things have just really been tight financially today. I'm hungry. Are you hungry? You know, can you buy me lunch? Having hidden meetings, hidden things in our hearts. It gets much worse than that, guys. You know your heart just like I know mine. We do things. We say things in order to get some type of response, to get some type of thing that benefits us. So no hidden motives.

No hidden meanings. Now, Paul said, this is how I was. This is how I lived. And it left him in a position that when correction needed to take place, he was ready. He didn't have to deal with all these other things in his own life. He says, I've done the best I can. I've lived with God. I've walked with God. Corrective things need to take place. Okay, it's not a fun thing. It's not an enjoyable thing. But let's do it. And he gives us two things. Point number three, as we close off this, is the purpose. The purpose that he corrected.

was ultimately for joy, for restoration. That when they come, they can enjoy their fellowship together. Not to add sorrow upon sorrow. And many times, let me tell you, that can be a temptation to add sorrow upon sorrow when you're involved in correction. And to pile it on and to pile on the guilt and the things. That is not right. That is not good. Paul says, hey, I didn't come because I didn't want to do that to you. I'm going to wait. Deal with it. And the purpose, the result,

should be joy. That we can come together in fellowship and restoration between you and I. And then the fourth thing, he says, you need to have the right attitude. I had the right attitude, Paul says. Look, I came and I did this not with fun or excitement, but it was with

affliction with anguish of heart and with many tears. And it was not to grieve you, but it was to demonstrate how much I love you. You know the Proverbs says that open rebuke is better than hidden love. Because an open rebuke shares and demonstrates your love. But if you see situations and problems and you do not rebuke, you do not correct, then there is a lack of that love that you have for them. Because love overcomes fear,

the fear of having to approach and deal with situations. Love needs to be our motive. And when it is time, we need to correct, to demonstrate our love that abounds for those that God has entrusted to us. So we need to be like Paul. No hidden motives, no hidden meanings. Correct with the purpose of joy and restoration, having the right heart, not to grieve, but to demonstrate love. One last thing I'd like to share with you, it's

but a little bit off where I was going, the direction I was heading. Meditate on this and think about this. Has God been speaking to you lately? Has He been putting things in your heart as you've been listening to messages or reading in your devotions or sharing with friends? Has He been saying specific things to you as Paul was sharing with them specific things? Paul wrote to them specific things so that when He came,

They'd already be taken care of. It'd already be in order that they could enjoy fellowship with one another. Listen, God is speaking to you things. If you're walking with Him, He's always going to be speaking to you things. So take heed to them. Be obedient to them and put the things in order that when He comes, it may be in joy for you. That you don't have things...

When God comes and He wants to do a work, ooh, I've got to take care of this. I've got to deal with this. I've got to deal with that. No, as God is putting things on your heart now, be prepared now. Set things in order now that when He wants to work, you'll be ready, that you'll be blessed. When He comes back, you'll be ready. You'll be blessed, not concerned. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for us this morning. God, that we would have these traits like the Apostle Paul.

Lord, that you would give us simplicity of heart, Lord, that we wouldn't have these actions that we do when we mean something else and trying to prove something or receive something. God, I pray that you would help us to live out the life that you've called us to live in sincerity, complete love for you and those around us. God, I pray that you would help us not to have hidden meanings and messages in the things that we say, but God, that you would help us, Lord, to be honest. Lord, that you would help us

Not to have ulterior motives and other agendas, but Lord, that we would simply pass on your word and the things that you share with us to those around us. God, I pray that you would help us. Lord, if situations come up and you call us to correct and encourage, Lord, I pray that you would help us. Keep us from the trap of laying on burdens and bringing sorrow upon sorrow. But Lord, may our purpose be to restore, to bring joy, restoration of fellowship.

And God, I pray that you would help us to do things with the right heart. Lord, to demonstrate our love for you and for those around us. That it wouldn't be with joy, but with anguish, with affliction and many tears. God, that you would give us an overwhelming sense of love for those around us, those in need, those who are lost, those who are hurting. That we would be like you, Jesus Christ.

And Heavenly Father, I pray lastly for the things that you're putting upon our hearts. God, that you would help us to be obedient, to put those things in order, that we wouldn't let them continue on, but God, that we would deal with them. That when you're ready to do something, when you want to do something, when you come back, we'll be ready. It'll be in joy. We'll be blessed. Lord, because we've been obedient to the words and the things that you've been saying to us.

God, help us to follow you closely. Help us to imitate Paul as he imitates you, to walk with you sincerely, simply, wholeheartedly. Thank you, Jesus. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.