2 CORINTHIANS 12:11-212005 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Corinthians 12:11-21

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2005.

As we get into 2 Corinthians chapter 12, we're finishing off the chapter this morning, and just to take a moment looking at where we've been, you know, in 2 Corinthians, we see Paul's great love for these Corinthians. And even though they've done some pretty bad things toward him and been talking about him pretty nastily, Paul has a great love for them. And that's what we see here in 2 Corinthians this morning. We see Paul's love for them and

desire that they would be blessed and that God would be working in their lives. The Corinthians, much like maybe some people that you know, were not necessarily easy people to love. You have maybe some people in your life around you, some friends or family or neighbors or co-workers or maybe the person sitting next to you that's not so easy to

It's a little bit difficult to love that person. In fact, we know that it takes great strength to love those who do not love you. And that's what we see in the Apostle Paul this morning as we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12. His great love for them, even though, as he'll share throughout the chapter, that

The more that he loves them, the less that he is loved by them. And because they're coming against him and accusing him and ridiculing him and saying all kinds of things about him, the more he loves them, he says, the less I am loved. And it takes great strength. We see that in the Apostle Paul, this great love that he has for them. It's a love that only God can give.

And there's some people, and maybe you have them in your life, that every time you try to love them, you wind up getting hurt or something happens and it's just, they're just very hard to love, very difficult to love. There are people that if you get close to them, you end up or wind up in getting burned. And that's often what happens to some people that you don't really want to get close to them because you're afraid of what might result. Right?

I saw an example of that this morning as we were getting ready for service and a brother and sister in the Lord were greeting one another as we often do with a nice hug. And as they went in, they kind of both put their heads forward and sure enough, bonk, hit their heads pretty hard. In fact, I think we heard it from across the room. And so very...

Tough love, you might say, or difficult to love because from that point on they were like, I'm going to love you from a distance. I'm not going to be close to you because it's painful if I get close to you, if I try to love you in that way. There's some people, unfortunately in our lives, that we have that attitude or that heart towards. It's hard to love them because of the pain that it causes us.

Like this guy, Frank Kluwer in Australia. He's in Australia, so it's easy to love him from a distance instead of loving him up close. But this article caught my eye this week. The headline says, Power-Adjusting Man Leaves a Trail of Destruction. And here's what the story says. An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked.

leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building. Okay, so here's the picture, right? He wasn't a scientist. He didn't do this intentionally. He just had some strange combination of clothes and the weather was perfect. And as he's walking...

He builds up a 40,000 volt static electrical charge. And the employees in the building begin to smell something burning. And they look and there's all these scorched marks on the carpet. And they call the fire department. The fire department comes over. They cut the power. They think it's some kind of electrical short. They evacuate the building. And as this guy, Frank Kluwer, is...

His last name is Kluwer, but he had no clue. He was clueless, in fact. As he got into his car, he looked down and he saw a melted piece of plastic in the bottom of his car. And that's when he realized something was wrong. And so it says he went back to the firefighters to ask for help because he didn't know what was going on. And so the firefighters tested it with a...

no, not electro, a static electricity meter, and it registered at 40,000 volts. And some scientists in the article said, hey, that's just short of spontaneous combustion that his clothes would just instantly light up and fire, and then he'd really be in a panic. But this amazing thing that happened, right? A guy you want to love forever,

from afar, from a distance. Okay, don't get too close because sparks might fly. There might be some jolting things. It might be a little bit difficult or painful if I get too close to you. And unfortunately, there's people like that and there's attitudes that we have towards those around us. You get close to them and you get shocked. It makes you want to love them from a distance. You know, it's the idea of I love you as long as you stay away from me or stay out of my way or don't get near me or don't talk to me. Then I love you.

Now, as we look at the example of the Apostle Paul, we find a great example of how to deal with those who are hard to love, like the Corinthians, that although he loved them more, they loved him less. What should we do? And what should be our response to them? Well, let's check it out together. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, picking it up in verse 11, it says this,

Verse 1.

Verse 14, Now for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. But be that as it may, I did not burden you, nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning.

Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps? Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ, but we do all things, beloved, for your edification.

Verse 21. Verse 21.

Verse 1.

which they have practiced. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this morning and your word and this opportunity that you give us to hear directly from you. God, we ask that you would help us to clear our hearts and clear our minds, that you would give us ears to hear what your Spirit wants to say to us this morning. Heavenly Father, we open up ourselves to you, Lord, and we ask that you would glorify yourself in our hearts and in our eyes this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

The Apostle Paul, our example of a loving father towards the Corinthians. He starts out in verse 11 and he says that I've become a fool in boasting. And we've seen for the past few weeks that Paul has been reminding and saying over and over again, he's still convinced that boasting is a foolish thing. To talk about and to commend yourself is a very foolish thing because it will not help him abundantly.

accomplish his goal. It does not draw him closer to the Lord. It doesn't make him more like the Lord. It doesn't help him draw people to the Lord. And so it does not help him accomplish his goal. It's a foolish thing to do, Paul would say, but it had to be done. Now, we saw in chapter 11, he boasted about some unusual things. He boasted about the trials and the tribulations and all of the sufferings that he went through and the boat wrecks and the

the stonings and the beatings and all the whippings and scourgings and all the trouble and things that he faced. He boasted about and talked about those things and shared about those things to give us a balance, as we saw last week, that as God reveals things to our hearts, as God gives us ministry and opportunity and calls us to serve him in different ways, he will often balance it

with sufferings and persecution in our hearts and in our lives. That there's a balance to the extent of the revelation that we've received and the way that God has called us. There will be a compensating balance of suffering and things that we must endure, trials and tribulations, as we looked at last week. Paul shared with us the vision that he had received, the thorn in the flesh that he had also received, balancing it out so that he would be a faithful minister of Jesus Christ.

So Paul is boasting not about the wonderful things that God has done, not about the miracles that have taken place, but about the sufferings and the things that he's gone through to demonstrate the balance. Because the false apostles were there and they're boasting and commending themselves and talking about themselves, but they're talking about how great they are, how wonderful they are, and how you needed to hear what they had to say. And you couldn't be saved or you couldn't truly be spiritual unless you had what they had to offer.

But Paul, challenging them by being the example, says, well, where's the balance? You say you have this great ministry, this wonderful revelation. Where's the corresponding, where's the balance of the sufferings and things that you've gone through? Because they would not have such a balance because they were imbalanced

in the ministry for their own gain, only seeking their own. And so Paul says, look, I've had to boast not to defend myself, not because I felt insulted and I need to make sure I set the record straight, but because...

You forced me to do this because I had to give you the right example so that you could understand what a true minister is, that you could evaluate true ministry versus false ministry to protect the church and the gospel message. Paul has been sharing these things the past couple of weeks.

The false apostles came in preaching another Jesus, a different gospel, a different spirit. And the Corinthians received them. They listened to them. They said, hey, we need to give you some more pulpit time and you can share with us all your great secrets and we'll pay you for it and charge us however much you want. Man, we really need to hear what you have to say, you super apostles, as they called themselves.

And so Paul had to set the record straight. They ignored all of his previous warnings. And so Paul says, I can't let this continue. He gets down to their level, spells it out to them and boasts to them to give them the balance that they might understand. But at the end, he still concludes, boasting is a foolish thing. It's foolishness. It doesn't help me accomplish my goal.

He goes on to say, I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, even though I am nothing. Paul is not fishing for compliments here. He was showing how backward the Corinthians were. He had such a great love for them. And understand, he was back in Acts chapter 18. We saw his first visit to them. He spent 18 months there.

loving them and establishing the church and growing them, bringing many of them to salvation. And so he had great care and concern for them and served them constantly. He went out of his way not to be a burden to them as we've seen in the previous chapters.

In no way, he goes on to say, not even one iota, not even a little tiny bit, was he less than these so-called self-proclaimed super apostles that had invaded Corinth. Yet, the Corinthians were preferring them over the Apostle Paul, listening to their slander against the Apostle Paul. Then Paul says, I'm not behind them even a little bit, not even one iota, even though I am nothing.

Paul admits he's nothing. Now, again, he's not fishing for some compliments. He's not using false humility. He's not pretending to say that I'm nothing. He really means this. He does not have, as you might say, well, Paul just has a low self-esteem. No, that's not true. He has the perfect amount of self-esteem because he sees himself from God's perspective. He has an accurate understanding of himself.

Because the Apostle Paul knew that the only reason he was being used by God is because God intervened in his life. God interrupted his journey to Damascus. God revealed himself to Paul. If God had not stepped in, Paul would still be on the same track, still killing Christians, still forcing people to denounce the name of Christ, still persecuting the church. He would have been in big trouble.

Because he was on a destructive path, not only to the church, but to his own life. And so Paul always carried this with him, knowing that the only reason that he is a minister is because of what God did for him.

It has nothing to do with what he did for God. That's why in 1 Corinthians, the first epistle to this church, he says in chapter 15, verse 9, I am the least of the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Paul always kept this in his mind. He knew where he'd come from. He knew how it was God that delivered him.

And it had nothing to do with him. In 1 Timothy 1, verses 12-15, Paul shares something similar with Timothy.

He says,

He concludes that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. So in

The first epistle to the Corinthians, he says, hey, I'm the least of all apostles. Here in Timothy, he says, I'm the chief of all sinners. He understands, he recognizes, it's God who enabled me and counted me faithful and put me into the ministry. It has nothing to do with me. In fact, I'm not worthy of it. I don't deserve it because of how I used to be, the life I used to live, the sins I was involved in. He says, it's only by God's mercy and by God's grace.

only by God's mercy and by God's grace. And we would do well to remember that ourselves. You and I. The lives that we live, the best that we can accomplish without Christ. We've tried it. We've lived it. We've wasted a lot of years. It would be good for us to remember, put ourselves back in the right perspective.

We don't deserve any ministry and any opportunities, any blessings that God pours out upon us. It's only because of the grace of God and the mercy of God. He is wonderful to us.

And it's not because we are wonderful, it's because he is wonderful. So Paul, he says, I'm not at all behind them. God has put me into this ministry. He's made me an apostle, not because I am so great, like these false apostles are saying, but because God is so great and it's his grace and mercy that's evident in my life. Verse 12, truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

Paul goes on to demonstrate why they should have commended him instead of him boasting of himself. Because they knew it was before their eyes demonstrated that he truly was an apostle, that he was sent by God. That word signs that Paul refers to, signs are miracles and wonders by which God authenticates men sent by him.

So God says, I'm going to send someone, but they're not going to believe that I sent them. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to empower them supernaturally. They'll be able to work miracles and bring healings and do all these things. And so Paul says, these things, these works were in

in place. They were there. They were done in front of you. And so you ought to know that my ministry is genuine and my apostleship is real. Now, what are the signs of an apostle, as Paul makes reference to, the signs of an apostle were accomplished? Well, we could look at a couple of things. We could look in the book of Acts and see all that the apostles did and the things that took place. But if

You look back a little bit further, and you don't have to turn there, but Matthew chapter 10, Jesus is sending out the 12 disciples who become the apostles, minus Judas Iscariot, but as he's sending them out, he gives them power to perform signs.

to authenticate that they are sent by him. And what does he give them to perform? Matthew chapter 10 verse 8 tells us, These four types of signs that Jesus empowered them to perform, to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, and to cast out demons. Now,

Now, we see others as well, as we see throughout the New Testament, the speaking in tongues and the prophesying and all of the miracles that go along with the ministry of the Spirit. Paul is saying, look, you saw the signs by which God was proving he was authenticating our apostolic ministry, that we were sent to you by God and our ministry is real and genuine.

Another sign of this is, as Jesus tells his disciples, freely you have received, freely give. That was Paul's motive. As he was there, he freely gave to them and inspired, not inspired, but traveled places

Tried greatly not to be a burden to them. His idea, his desire was that he would not be a burden to them, that they would not support him. And he'll go on to talk about that even as he already has. So these signs of an apostle, freely you have received, freely give, with these miracles and things that are taking place. Now it is important to note as we mention this that signs by themselves are not enough.

just a sign or a wonder or some miraculous thing, that's not enough to authenticate a ministry. That's not enough to authenticate a minister to prove that they're called by God or sent by God.

How do you know? How do I know? Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 25. Jesus says very clearly that not everybody who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he goes on in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 7 and says that many will say to me in that date, Lord, Lord, have we not, notice, prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in

In your name. Didn't we do the signs? Didn't we have the miracles? In verse 23, Jesus says, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. There are those who practice lawlessness, who claim the name of the Lord, and God is at work. There are signs. There's wonders.

But they're lacking something. It's not the proof of a valid ministry. So what is then? How is Paul using that as proof of his apostleship? Well, it's very interesting to me. As you continue on in Matthew chapter 7, where Jesus is dealing with this, the very next verse says,

begins a parable or a story that you and I are very familiar with. Because verse 24, going on right after he says, I never knew you, even though you practice signs and lawlessness. So what's the proof? Verse 24, therefore, therefore,

What's the sign? How do you know? Well, there will be signs. There will be wonders. Those things will be accomplished. But they will be accompanied by something that is essential...

And that is, Jesus says, who hears my words and does them. They will be accompanied by a life that's lived according to the word of God. Remember the phrase,

magicians of the Pharaoh as Moses is sent to Egypt. And he would perform signs to prove that he was sent by God. And the Egyptian magicians would also perform the same signs. They'd throw down their staffs and they'd turn into snakes. And the same things would happen. God did a miracle and Moses showed the signs that the magicians would do it as well. To a point. And God, of course...

outranked them as far as his power is concerned. But you get the picture. They were able to do signs, but how do you know? How come they weren't sent by God? How do you know that their ministry wasn't real? Well, there was no word of God in their lives. They didn't have the word of God. They didn't live the word of God. They had the signs and wonders, but do not be deceived. That's not enough. The word of God must be present. The worst word of God must be done, lived out, carried out, obeyed, just as Jesus commanded.

And a life that is lived on the word of God, Jesus equates it to a man who built his house upon the rock. And that's the perseverance that Paul talks about in verse 12 here. Those who practice and live according to the word of God will be established and the last signs and wonders will accompany that life. And

And together, they authenticate the ministers. They authenticate the ministries that God has ordained and that God has put in place. Signs and wonders, along with the Word of God, being taught and lived out. It's important. Because we understand that in the last days, the Antichrist will come. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to perform signs and wonders. And many people are going to follow after him. But there will not be the Word of God. It will be just like the magicians there in Egypt.

There will not be the Word of God. And so signs are not enough. Now the Apostle Paul says, look, we did it with all perseverance. We persevered. We had the Word of God. The signs were done. You know our ministry is real. The Word of God came in and changed hearts and changed lives. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says, we resolved to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

He delivered the gospel message that their faith would be in God. It was accompanied by signs and wonders that they would know that he truly was an apostle sent by Jesus Christ.

Going on now in verse 13 of 2 Corinthians 12, he says, Paul asked the question, how are you different than the other churches that I started? Because I started a lot of other churches and I don't have half the problems with them as I have with you. It's kind of the idea that he's saying here.

He says, what's the difference? The only difference, he says, is I didn't let you support me. I didn't become a burden to you. You didn't have to provide food and shelter and clothing for me. You didn't have to provide all these things for me.

I provided for myself. And that was something that Paul determined to do as he began to minister in the region of Achaia, which is where Corinth was. He determined as he went into that region, I'm not going to be a burden to them. And most likely because it was a very affluent society there in the region of Achaia. They were very well off and they had a lot. And so Paul wanted to set the example. Listen, I'm ministering, I'm serving, I'm proclaiming, not for my own gain, but for your gain. I'm doing this for you.

I'm doing it because I love you and not because I have something to get out of it. I didn't let you support me. Now, he uses a little apostolic sarcasm again and he says, forgive me this wrong. Forgive me as if that was a bad thing that Paul would not be a burden to them. Now, the false apostles, they have no problem with it. Oh, we'll be a burden. Come on in. All right. All right. Who would like me to burden them?

Who can support me? Who can pay for me? You really need what I have to offer. Just give me a little bit of money. Just provide for this for me. Provide that for me. And then I'll be able to minister to you and to give to you. They were in it for their own gain. But Paul, to set the example, to make it clear, said, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to be a burden to you. Verse 14 says,

Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you, for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for their parents, but the parents for the children.

Paul says, the third time I'm coming to you. Now, the first time we see in Acts chapter 18, and that was when Paul established the church. He was there for 18 months. There in the book of Acts, we see that. The second time is not specifically written about. It's implied throughout 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and it's believed that Paul went again the second time in between the writing of 1st and 2nd Corinthians to

take care of some of these issues that he's been dealing with to put some correction in the church there at Corinth. So this is the third time that Paul is coming. Now,

He says, I haven't changed my ways. I'm still going to be the same. I'm not going to be burdensome to you. I'm going to continue to set the example, hoping to make it very clear that the ones that exploit you, those are the ones that you need to watch out for. The ones that are ripping you off and pulling the scams on you, those are the ones you need to watch out for. But the ones who come in like me, Paul says, and minister to you,

at their own expense, for your benefit and not for their own, those are the ones that you should trust. Those are the ones that you can tell they have a genuine ministry. So Paul says, I'm still not going to be burdensome to you. Why not? Well, because he views them as his children. He has a loving relationship with them as a father does with his children. He goes on to say, for the children ought not to...

lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Now my father says it backwards, the other way. I don't know where he's getting that from, but Paul says it's not that way. The parents lay up for the children.

And that's how it's to be. And so Paul has this relationship like a father. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 15, Paul tells him, you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but only one father. I was the one who went there. I begot you as I established that church and led many of you to salvation.

You can know that I'm your father spiritually. And so he says, I'm not going to be there to burden you and to get from you that you can lay up stuff for me, but I'm going to go and provide for you. Not that he would go and buy everybody dinner.

Maybe he could if he could afford it, but he means more spiritually, not financially. I'm going to serve you, not the other way around, not to be a burden to you, but to minister to you, to give to you. He goes on in verse 15, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. Do you see his love for the Corinthians here? He says, I'm glad, gladly will I go. And I'll spend and I'll be spent for you. I'll incur expenses. I'll become exhausted from serving you, from loving you, from giving to you, from ministering to you. I'll do it very gladly without complaining. Why? Well, because Paul loves the Corinthians. He has this great love for them. Even though

He says, the more that I love you, the less I'm loved by you. I loved you as a father. I provided for you spiritually without being a burden. I provided instruction and encouragement. But the more I do, the less you love me. The more I do, the more you resist me. Paul says there's this, it's not a balance this time, but the more I love you, the less you love me. But notice Paul says, I'm coming to you for the third time.

They're difficult. They're resisting. They're hard. They're inflicting pain. They're talking about Paul. They're slandering him and accusing him and saying all kinds of horrible things and mounting up resistance and groups against him. But Paul says, I'm going to come to you again for the third time. Not content to love them from a distance as we should not be either, but saying, I'm going to draw close and I'm going to love you.

In your midst, to your face, I'm going to love you. It takes great strength to love those who do not love you. And the question for you and I, as we look at this and understand what the Apostle Paul is saying and realizing the situation he's going into as he comes to them now for the third time, having been dealing with these hard and difficult things and having these people in the church that are against him, that are raising up groups and causing factions and distractions and all kinds of things within the body,

focused at, pointing against the Apostle Paul. He says, I'm going to come and I'm going to love you. I'm not going to be a burden to you. Even though the more I love you, the less I am loved. And as I look at my own life, and I would challenge you to look at your life. Because as we've seen through 2 Corinthians,

Every single one of us has been called to the same ministry that the Apostle Paul has been called to. That is the ministry of reconciliation. God has given to us the ministry that we might reach out and draw people to God. It's why we exist. It's why he's left us here. It's why he hasn't taken us home to be with him yet. Because he wants to use us to minister, to reach out, to reveal himself to those around us.

And so the question for you and I, as we see the example of the Apostle Paul is, will you love, will I love under these same conditions? When it's difficult, when people are slandering and mocking and ridiculing, when they're accusing us, will we still love them? Will I still love those who talk about me or who are rude to me or treat me bad or use me and abuse me? Will I still love them?

with the love that God has for me? Will I still be reaching out to them, not content to love them from a distance, like the man in Australia, 40,000 volts of static electricity in his clothing? Give me a hug, bro. I need to love you. It might be shocking. It might be devastating. It might be painful. But I need to love you as Christ loved you and loved me.

If it means that I'm going to bonk my head here and there, I want to love you. Even if it's difficult, even if it's painful, I want to follow the example of the Apostle Paul because I'm called to the ministry of reconciliation. And so Paul says, look, I don't care. It's not about me. I'm going to come. It doesn't matter if my feelings are hurt or if people talk about me or if it's painful to me. It's not about me. It's about you because I'm called to love you, to give to you, to serve you. That's why God has sent me.

And you and I, in the same way, God has sent us to our families, to our work, to our schools, to the neighbors, to the grocery store sometimes, wherever He sent us, that we might love those that He brings into our lives. And it might be painful sometimes, but how will we respond? I'll love you at a distance, as long as you stay out of my way, stay out of my life, or I'll embrace you. I'm coming to you again for the third time, Paul says.

Would we still be reaching out to them if they were talking about us and slandering us? Paul would. He did. He went to Corinth. He had God's love for the Corinthians. And they were more important than he was. So it's not about me. I'll love you no matter what. That's agape love, by the way. That's unconditional love. The love that God has for you and I. It doesn't matter if you love me back. It doesn't matter if you hurt me. It doesn't matter what you do. I love you. No matter what. No matter what.

We see this example in the Apostle Paul. We see this example in Jesus Christ, of course, who loved us even though it was our sin that crucified him and put him on that cross. We also saw this example a couple months ago as we watched the movie The Cross and the Switchblade, the life of David Wilkerson and the gang member, Nicky Cruz. David Wilkerson, just a country preacher, but sent by God to the gangs in New York. He's dealing with the hardest gangs, the most

Tough guys, vicious guys within the gang.

Nikki Cruz was the worst of the worst, they said. And for some reason, God put Nikki on David's heart. And so he would constantly just show up at his house or wherever he was at and just tell him, hey, God loves you. God loves you. God loves you. And one day, Nikki Cruz got so fed up with it, he said, you know what? You say that one more time, I'm going to kill you. And David said, you know, you could. And you could take your knife and you could cut me into a thousand pieces and lay them out all in the street.

But every single one of those pieces would still love you. And through some more time and a series of events, God got a hold of Nicky Cruz's life because David Wilkerson, he wasn't content to love him from a distance. I'll just pray for you back home in the country. No, he went there because God had sent him and he loved that one person and that person got saved. That's the example for us.

There's someone in our hearts and someone in our lives that God wants to use us to minister to. And it's probably not just one person. We need to be following the example. Jesus Christ, of course, the ultimate example. Paul and his footsteps, example for us. Let's love people with God's love. With the love that God demonstrates to us. Not from a distance, but up close and personal. Love.

Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says that God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He demonstrated his love. When we were enemies, when we were at enmity, when we were at war against God, he loved us and demonstrated that to us. And that's the same type of love that we're to have for one another.

Going on, verse 16 of chapter 12. Paul goes on and says, He says, okay.

I didn't burden you. I wasn't a burden to you. I didn't require that you pay my way or give me a salary or anything like that. But you still say, the false apostles are still claiming that somehow I caught you by cunning. That it was some trickery, that I had some plan or some plot or some con that I fooled you, I've tricked you now and now I can exploit you. That's what they're claiming about the apostle Paul. I'm trapping you for my own selfish ambitions.

is what they're saying. Paul says, I didn't do that. I didn't burden you. I didn't catch you by cunning. All I've done is love you and serve you. He asks them a question and challenges them in verses 17 and 18. He says, look, did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

Paul is challenging them to really think about what they're seeing and the claims that are being thrown around everywhere. Name one thing. That's the idea is what he's saying. Name one thing, one area, one time that I took advantage of you or was a burden to you. Name one. Was I a burden to you? Of course not. The answer is no. How about anybody I sent? Did anybody I sent exploit you or take advantage of you? Were they a burden to you? Titus and the brother I sent? No.

No. Paul says, didn't we all walk in the same spirit and the same steps and the same way? We weren't taking advantage of you. We weren't trapping you. We weren't exploiting you at all. All we did was we loved you and we served you. Verse 19. Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ, but we do all things, beloved, for your edification.

That word excuse in verse 19, it means to defend yourself. Paul is asking the question, do you think that we're defending ourselves to you this whole time as he's been talking about the ministries and the comparisons and the false apostles? Do you think I've been defending myself, he asks, as he's been boasting and dealing with these super apostles they call themselves? He's not defending himself.

Paul goes on to say, I wouldn't dare to do so. We speak before God. And it's Him we're trying to please. It's Him we're accountable to. We don't have the liberty to just talk and say whatever we want. We're speaking before God. So Paul says, I wouldn't dare to defend myself. So why is he writing these things? Why is he dealing with these things? For their edification, he says. We do all things, beloved, for your edification. Paul's problem with these false apostles was not something personal.

It wasn't that they had personally offended him and so he was trying to get back at them by slandering them, by mudslinging them like they were. That's not what Paul was doing. It wasn't some personal thing. In fact, it was quite different. Paul's problem with them was that they were preaching another Jesus, a different gospel, a different spirit. They were leading the Corinthians astray and the Corinthians were receiving it and putting up with it.

They were receiving it and saying, okay, another Jesus, all right, we'll follow him instead of the one that Paul preached. Instead of the one that was given to us with the demonstration of the power of God and the word of God. They were being led astray by these false apostles. And so Paul, to protect the church, to protect the effectiveness of the gospel message, he's been forced to boast. He's been forced to appear like he's defending himself, but what he's doing is he's establishing himself.

An evaluation tool. How can I tell? Real ministry, false ministry. Real minister, false minister. What appears to us as Paul defending himself is Paul showing the difference between genuine ministers who are sent by God and those who are out for their own gain. His purpose is so that the Corinthians will be built up and established in the faith and will not continue to be led astray. Not to vindicate himself or to defend himself. Verse 20 says,

Paul, why is he sharing these things? Why is he dealing with these false apostles? Well, he's been called by God.

He has an authentic ministry. He is a genuine apostle. God has sent him and as an apostle, God has given him authority to deal with problems in the church, to take care of situations and problems and things that arise.

And so Paul is writing ahead of time. And we'll see this next week as well in chapter 13. He's writing ahead of time that they would receive this correction and apply it. That when he visits them for the third time, it would not have to be a corrective visit, a hard, difficult visit because he's having to put back in place and rebuke and instruct, but that it would be a time of fellowship because they are in right standing with God.

Paul says, I'm writing these things to you. I'm doing these things because I have this fear. Again, as we saw a couple weeks ago, this phobia, something that really freaks me out. I'm writing these things to you, appearing to defend myself, but really defending the gospel and bringing you back into what you're supposed to believe.

to the ministers that truly love you. His phobia, his fear, what is it? He shares three fears, all dealing with the carnality of the Corinthians. And they're marked for us, as we see in verse 20 and 21, by the word lest. There's these fears. I'm going to come to you, but I have this fear of these three things. Now, carnality. Carnality.

as Paul will be making reference to the different areas. Carnality means to be controlled, to be ruled, to be governed by the sinful nature instead of the spirit. And so these are the things that take place. These are the things that Paul is afraid to find because of carnality.

The sinful nature being ruling and being governing in their lives and in the church. Now, notice as he mentions these things, he's not talking about he's spying on their homes. He's saying these things are happening within the church.

God has given me authority within the church as an apostle, and so I will have to deal with and correct these things. Fear number one, he says in verse 20, When I come, I shall not find you as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish. Fear number one is that I will still find you in carnality, and I will have to use the authority God gave me to correct you.

I don't want to come and find you still in your sins, still involved in these things, still going through all of the things that we've been discussing. I don't want to have to correct you. Paul has said this in the past. He's writing this and sending it ahead of him so that when he comes, they can have a blessed time of fellowship instead of corrective fellowship, bringing them back to where they're supposed to be. His second fear is,

He goes on to list some of the things that are taking place and that he is afraid that they will still be in place whenever he is there. They are contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbiting, whisperings, conceits, and tumults. He says, my second fear is this, that there's going to be evidence of carnality in you. Again, in the church.

I'm afraid that when I get there in the church, these things will be going on. These things will be in place. People will be experiencing and practicing these things. He is not spying on them at home or anything like that. These are things that were happening in the church and do happen within a church when the people are not governed by the Holy Spirit but are governed by the sinful nature. These are the things that we need to watch out for because they still happen today in this church and in all churches.

We can be governed by the flesh, the sinful nature, instead of the spirit. And every single one of these are completely the opposite of the love that we've been looking at in the example of the Apostle Paul, the love that we're called to demonstrate. John chapter 13, verse 35, Jesus talking to his disciples says, "...by this all will know that you are my disciples."

If you have love for one another. Love is to be the chief characteristic of a Christian, of a disciple, by which everybody looks and goes, man, you have a lot of love. You must be Jesus' disciple because of the love that you have and the love that you demonstrate.

These things are the exact opposite or demonstrations that there's a lack of love and instead of being controlled by the spirit, they're being governed by the flesh. What are they? Well, contentions, which is the idea of debates or strife and arguments, tension between brothers and sisters in the Lord. And that can often happen within a body, within fellowship, that there's contentions, there's head-buttings, there's things that go on.

Be it in a hug or not, there's tension and problems that happen between brothers and sisters in the Lord. And Paul says, I'm afraid that when I come, there's still going to be those things. Because if you look at the example of love, contentions has no place in the relationship that you and I should have for one another.

There shouldn't be tensions between us as brothers and sisters in the Lord. The second thing he goes on to say is jealousies. It's the Greek word zelos. Now, zelos is a word that means really envy. It grieves, not because another has the good, but because that I don't have it. It's the selfish type of jealousy or envy.

Seeing someone else blessed and say, why don't I get blessed that way? Why don't I get to do that? Why don't I get asked to do that? Or why don't I, I, I? The selfishness. And it often leads to contentions. It often leads to getting it at all costs for yourself. Selfishness.

through jealousy. Outbursts of wrath is the second one. Or the third one, my apologies. Outbursts of wrath, which are passionate and temporary characters of anger and wrath that are demonstrated. Passionate and temporary. Blowing up explosions. You've seen them. You know what he's talking about. We need to guard. Because these things are the characteristics of the flesh and not of the spirit.

Not the relationship that we should have for one another. Selfish ambitions, he goes on to say, use of those who seek their own, namely those who take bribes. This word is often used for. It's the idea of selfishness, of being self-willed, of receiving bribes or whatever you can do for me so that it's all about me, so that I get puffed up, that I get glorified, that I get my way. Selfish ambitions. Doing things

For our own purposes, for our own gains. Then he goes on to backbiting, which is defamation or evil speaking and how it's not right for us to talk evil about one another.

Within the body of Christ, it should not be, it should not happen, it should not take place. We often justify it by saying, well, you know, it's true. That doesn't justify it. That doesn't help the situation. Evil speaking, slander, backbiting, it has no place within the body of Christ. If you disagree, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Read it, study it, meditate on it, and let God speak to you about it.

We should not be those who give a bad report. Backbiting and whispering, he goes on to say. Now, whispering is very similar to backbiting. It's the secret slander. You know, behind closed doors, with hushed voices, or off to the side. The slander that takes place under your breath or behind the scenes. And if you find yourself too much in secret situations and secret meetings and secret things and the secret slander, the whisperings, you need to watch out.

It's evidence of being governed by the flesh, by the sinful nature instead of by the spirit, instead of by love. Conceits. The next thing he goes on, being puffed up or loftiness of pride. And

We all know what that's like, to be puffed up and proud. And then finally, tumult. Now, tumult, it's the word that means the opposite of being set in place. It's the idea of disorder or being out of order. Here's Paul's fear. I'm going to come and you guys are going to be there in chaos, in disorder, because the flesh, the sinful nature is governing and not the Spirit. The sinful nature is at work and not the Spirit. Now, what is the fruit of the Spirit? It's love. Love.

manifested in joy, peace, patience, kindness. You know it. Galatians chapter 5. Love. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. Love is the fruit in our lives demonstrating that we are controlled by the Spirit. Controlled by sinful nature, the fruit, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and on and on.

We need to watch out. We need to guard because these things can easily happen and do happen within our hearts and within our lives. These are eight things that demonstrate carnality. And any of these things could be in my life. And if they are, I need to repent.

I need to repent and to change my ways. I would encourage you to spend some time in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 this week. Ask God to give you that kind of love for people because that's how everyone will know that you and I are his disciples. Finally, the third fear in verse 21 says,

He says, He says, In other words, who are going to be continuing in sin. I'm going to mourn for those who have not repented, have continued,

continued on, don't matter to them, doesn't matter what the Spirit is saying, doesn't matter what the Apostle Paul says, what God says, I'm going to continue on in my ways. Fear number three is that you'll be there still practicing sin.

What type of sin? Well, specifically in the area of sexual immorality. Because he says uncleanness, which is moral uncleanness. Fornication, which is sexual relationships outside of marriage. And lewdness. Lewdness is an interesting word. It means a readiness for all pleasure, acknowledging no restraints. So whatever feels good, do it. Lewdness.

Paul says, my fear is that I'll come and these things will be in place. That you'll still have not repented. You still will not have changed your ways. But you'll be continuing on justifying your sin and living in sin even though you're claiming to be a Christian and a part of the church. As we look at this, Paul writing here to the Corinthians and finishing off chapter 12, he's winding down this letter, winding down this talk about the false apostles.

And he demonstrates for us such a great love. And he says, I'm coming. I'm sending this ahead so that when I get there, things will already be in order. Because I'm afraid that when I come, there'll still be all these problems and situations. And God's given me the authority. I'll have to correct them. Now, for you and I this morning, what is God speaking to us? What do we take away from this morning?

We do see the example of the love that Paul gives and Paul has and the love that you and I should have. But before we get into that, I'd like to look at something else very briefly. Paul says, I'm coming to you again for the third time. So set things in order. Get things right. And we don't have to be worried about Paul. He's not coming to this church alone.

He's not going to show up and correct us. But there is a coming that we need to be watching for and anticipating. It's not a third coming, it's a second coming and His name is Jesus Christ. And we need to be watching and ready, waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ. Paul says, I'm coming, so repent. Set things in order, get things straight. Where you're ruled by carnality,

Set it straight. Be ruled by the Spirit. Where you're still practicing sin, repent. Change. Stop doing it. Head the right direction. Jesus Christ is coming again. We need to take the same warnings to heart. What's in my life? What am I doing, Lord? Am I living in carnality or am I walking in the Spirit? Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for us, to set us free from the bondage of sin, to deliver us from the guilt and the punishment of sin.

He came and He died for you and for me. That we could be forgiven, that we could be cleansed, that we could repent. That word repent, it means a change of direction. It's more than just a feeling of sorrow, but it's looking at the past, realizing that was a wrong pursuit. I was going the wrong way and changing. You know how you can tell if you've repented? If you don't continue in that sin. If you don't continue in that path.

Because repent is to change. God has given us. He set us free by the blood of Jesus Christ from the bondage to sin, from carnality. And so if these things are in my life, if these things are in your life, we need to repent. Because Jesus Christ could come back at any second. And the next instant we could be caught up with him. And I want to be ready to meet with him. I want to be ready when he comes again. We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation.

We're all called to lead people into a right relationship with him. We're all called to let everyone know that we're his disciples by our love. So let's learn to love. Up close, personal, not from a distance.

But to love regardless, unconditionally with the love that God gives. Even if the more that we love, the less we are loved. Let us learn unconditional love for people. That we would serve them, minister to them, spend and be spent for them. Because of the love that we have for them. You might say, well, why would I want to love people this way? Why should I do this?

I would encourage you to look at 1 John chapter 4, verses 19 through 21. Tell us that we love because He first loved us. If you have problems loving someone, if you have problems loving people around you, you need to spend more time at the cross.

And understand what Jesus Christ did for you. Because we love because of what he's done for us. And it goes on there in verse 20 and 21 of 1 John chapter 4 that we can't say that we love God and not love our brother. We can't say that we love God and not love those around us. If we love God,

We will love our brother and we will love our sister. And so we need to spend time with Jesus Christ. We need to spend time at the cross to understand what he did for us because he demonstrated his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Puts us back in the right perspective. Gives us the right heart that we are able then to love one another as God loves us. Let's be involved in the ministry of reconciliation. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

Lord, I pray for this body, Lord, for this service. Lord, if we are involved in carnality, if there's areas in our hearts and our lives where the flesh is governing, the sinful nature is ruling, and not your spirit, God, I ask that you would forgive us. Lord, help us to walk in the spirit. Help us to repent. Change us, God.

Lord, that we would be governed by your spirit, that we would be demonstrating your love to all those around us. Even, Lord, if there's people in our lives that we find it difficult to love. God, we ask that you would give us a supernatural love for them, the same love that you have for us, that you demonstrate for us. God, give us this love for those around us, that we might draw them close to you, because it truly is not about us, but it's about how you want to use us.

to lead people to a saving knowledge of you. And Lord, if that means it's at our expense, if that means we have to spend and be spent, God, what you've done for us is so much greater than anything we could ever give back. We don't deserve to be used by you. Lord, we don't even deserve to be saved by you, but Lord, you offer that to us graciously. But you go beyond that and give us opportunity to be used and you reward us

for being obedient to you. So God, fill us with your love. Teach us to love like you love. Teach us to love like the Apostle Paul. Overwhelm us. Flow through us. That we might lead people to a saving knowledge of you. That we might draw people close to you. That we might demonstrate to them the love that you have for them. God, I pray that we would set aside the contentions and jealousies and the outbursts of wrath, the backbiting and whisperings.

Lord, all the things that demonstrate our carnality and that take away from our ability to love others, strip us from those things, remove them from our hearts and our lives. God, I pray that you would heal wounds this morning where there's been hurt from these things. God, we ask that you would touch, that you would minister. Lord, I pray that you would draw us close to you, make us more like you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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