Yes and No and the Faithfulness of God
August 9, 2015 · 2 Corinthians
Scripture referenced 9 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Philippians 3:10 opened the service to frame Christians as resurrection people experiencing God's power now
10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;
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Keep this verse
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
recap of last week, God comforts us in affliction so we can comfort others
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
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2 Corinthians 1:9
affliction teaches us to rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead
9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
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2 Corinthians 1:12-24
the main passage for the sermon, Paul defending his sincerity and travel plans
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end;
14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit;
16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea.
17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?”
18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
22 who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you.
24 Not that we control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
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1 Corinthians 5:9
used to show Paul wrote an earlier letter before what we call First Corinthians
9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;
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1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Paul came not with lofty wisdom but in weakness so faith would rest in the power of God
1 When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
4 My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
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James 5:12
let your yes be yes and your no be no, so you do not fall under condemnation
12 But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”; so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.
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Matthew 5:33-37
Jesus teaching not to swear oaths but to let your yes be yes and your no be no
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’
34 but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black.
37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
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2 Corinthians 1:21-22
God establishes us in Christ, has anointed and sealed us and given His Spirit as a guarantee
21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
22 who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Steve opened with Philippians 3:10 and led the congregation in "He Arose" before the service moved through announcements, a missions report from the Cabo San Lucas trip, and an offering prayer from elder Steve Landis. The sermon itself was a continuation of a series in 2 Corinthians, working through chapter 1 verses 12 through 24, picking up where the previous week left off.
What was said
Last week's message established that God comforts us in affliction not simply so we can pass that comfort along, but so that we actually have the power, the Greek "dunamis," to do so. The goal underneath all of it, Pastor Steve recapped, is to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. The resurrection is what pulls the thinking out from "under the sun" and into something with an incorruptible hope attached to it.
To put flesh on that idea before moving into the new passage, Pastor Steve shared what had been happening with Lauren Fry, a member of the congregation who had gone on a mission trip to Guatemala even after learning her father had been diagnosed with lung cancer. While she was away, her father was stabilized. When she returned and spent time with him, he accepted Christ, and almost immediately began praying for other patients in the hospital. He passed away recently, having told his family he was ready to go and did not want life support.
The new passage, 2 Corinthians 1:12-24, is largely Paul defending the sincerity of his relationship with the Corinthians and explaining why his travel plans had not gone the way he had told them they would. Paul had intended to visit Corinth, travel on to Macedonia, return to Corinth again, and then have the church send him on to Jerusalem, where believers were in desperate need. Instead, after a painful first visit, he went back to Ephesus and wrote what he calls the severe letter.
Paul's defense of himself is not that he is indecisive or that he was looking for a better option. His point is that his yes means yes and his no means no, the same standard Jesus lays out in the Sermon on the Mount and that James echoes in his letter. Because God is faithful and because every promise of God finds its "yes" in Christ, Paul holds himself to that same consistency. His plans changed because the Spirit led him differently, not because he was treating the Corinthians carelessly.
What kept Paul from returning, he says, was a desire to spare them. He had the apostolic authority to go back and bring discipline to bear, but he believed that in that particular moment, with that particular congregation still in the middle of serious sin, the mercy of God was better served by a letter than by a visit. He is clear that he is not lording authority over their faith. His aim is their joy and their standing firm.
The letter he eventually sent came, he writes, out of much affliction and anguish and with many tears, not to cause pain but to demonstrate the love he had for them. Pastor Steve closed the passage there, noting that this frame of genuine, knowing affection for real people is the lens through which the rest of 2 Corinthians should be read. Paul knew these people's names, their households, their failures, and their faith, and he cared about all of it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Kurt and Andy described seeing children in Los Cabos split a small snack to share with a sibling or friend, and one of them said 'we are so blessed in this country.' What does that kind of generosity from people who have so little stir up in you personally?
- The sermon revisited the idea that God comforts us in our affliction so that we have the power, the 'dunamis,' to comfort others. Lauren Fry's story was given as an example of someone who sought first the kingdom even in the middle of personal crisis. Can you think of a time when going through something hard gave you the ability to help someone else in a way you couldn't have otherwise?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,387 words
0:00
I wanna share a verse with you. It's from Philippians three ten, and Paul says, I wanna know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. We are resurrection people, and not just on Easter, but but really every day of our lives, we are about experiencing the power of the resurrection in our lives right now, not just at Easter, but right now. So do you say we stand up? We sing a resurrection song.
0:52
Day. Jesus, my Lord. Up from the grave he rose with the mighty triumph for his foe. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with the saints to reign. He arose.
1:17
He arose. Hallelujah. Christ with the mighty triumph for his foes. He rose of victory from the dark domain, and he lives forever with the saints to reign.
2:30
And And the the
2:39
we're and he lives forever name with the saints to reign. He rose. He rose. Hallelujah. Christ rose.
2:57
He rose. He rose. Amen.
3:09
Can we pray? God, this news right here is why we meet together. And I pray that we would be seeking the power that comes in the resurrection in Christ's name. And there it was. Amen.
3:32
Sorry. That's the way to start a show. Yeah. I'm glad we moved the cross up just a little bit. Announcements today.
3:42
I'm gonna go as quick as I can on these because I we've got so much to do. First b, women's study, autumn twenty fifteen. I said autumn instead of fall because the picture of the tightrope but anyway, it's about a life of balance and they're studying Romans together. So, Wednesday worship starts in early September. I'm excited about that.
4:05
God is on the move. Absolutely and if you want to hear more about that tonight, this evening at 7PM here in the Fellowship Hall. Come on in for an exciting, trust me, missions report from Eric and Becky Watt. Are they here? Y'all here yet this morning?
4:23
There you are. What's that? Next Sunday. Sunday. Oh, that's even better.
4:27
Oh, that's that's that's great. That's what I was checking on last night, man. Sorry. Didn't want to ruin your evening but thank goodness. That's next Sunday.
4:37
Good. Perfect. Today, we have the Ripley's and the Pearson's back from a mission. You're going hear another exciting missions report. So, if y'all would, come on up.
4:47
I was talking to Andy, and Andy says Kurt has an exciting missions report. But y'all come on up and go ahead and let's let's hear about the trip to Cabo.
5:04
All right. Well, we had a team of 25. We were with a group from, a church down in Pocatello. It was, Grace Lutheran. And we went with them.
5:17
We had an amazing time. I mean, I hate to say that I had to wait to be almost 50 years old before I went on a mission trip because it was such a moving experience for all of us. I think we saw a part of the world that it needs it needs the hands and feet of Christ because those people, they have so much need And some of the pictures, hopefully they'll get those running and you kind of see. We went to a park, it's in Los Cabos, which is the very tip of that little arm off of Mexico. And we were not at the resort.
5:57
We were not. We stayed on a dirt street with cars going by. And in the evening, we'd sit out on chairs and just it was kind of fun. And that was one of Andy's highlights, was sitting out on the street and just relaxing, drinking a Mexican Coke and having some Doritos. But the people that we got to go with, with Ford Edge, Ford Edge was the group we went.
6:22
Dave and Don were our facilitators. We had a phenomenal time. They did such a good job of putting everything together, making sure that there was three different groups that went three different places. We went out to the place called The Barrio, which is basically this place that you're seeing on the screen. If you went to the dump and built your house, that's what they built their house up.
6:44
The hurricane flattened this whole area. There was nothing left. This was like a year ago that the hurricane came through. And so they basically just rebuilt their houses with everything that just blew around. And we had the opportunity to help them put a couple of roofs on.
7:04
And me and Andy were working on that project. We went in there to the building. We were like looking at it. You could kind of go like this and the whole thing would just wiggle back and forth. What you're seeing on the screen there is called what's the lady's Mirta's Kitchen.
7:19
Mirta's Kitchen feeds about 50 kids a day. And we got to play with the kids and and all the, I mean, the whole group. We did our very best. I want to just just to be the hands and feet of Christ and I want to thank everybody that supported us. I mean, we did the very best to show the love of Christ to these people.
7:41
And the kids were so amazing. They responded. I mean, the hugs, the laughs. They took a whole suitcase of toys and kites. And it was so amazing when we'd sit down for a break and some people would just break off half of their snack.
7:58
And you'd see the little kids just disappear. And they were going to take that snack and split it and give it to their sibling. We are so blessed in this country. And I mean when we saw things like that, it was like wow. I mean they cared a lot.
8:17
I mean if you gave them a little pack of Chiclets, I mean they would go and take it and give one to their sibling or one to their friend. So, there, you know, we had a we had an awesome trip. It was an experience for all of us. I think everyone of us learned you know, that there are places in this world that need the hands and feet of Christ. And I'm just thankful that we had that opportunity to go and I hope to to go back.
8:42
We met some amazing people. There are two people that we met. The Christian and Align and they basically live out here in the Baria. They they live they're the they're basically mother-in-law and father-in-law of a line do the kitchen. And we built a wall there.
9:01
We put a fence up. I mean, there was lots of things going on. We cleaned up the property. It was just a big mess when we got there. There was nails sticking up everywhere and we piled all it in a big pile and they were gonna get that taken away.
9:12
I know I don't wanna go any longer than that. I know we're out of time, but thank you so much for your support and we greatly appreciate it.
9:19
And I just had one thing to add because I know this church does Operation Christmas Child and I didn't work at this particular kitchen site. I was down in the office and the children in these kitchens this year received the Operation Christmas Child packets. But the real blessing for the missionary that runs these kitchens was that Operation Christmas Child does the discipleship program and she was so grateful to have those materials and they had just finished them up while they were there. And I just wanted to add because I know this church does Operation Christmas Child that we got to see the tail end of that program. So let's keep doing it every Christmas.
10:10
All right, thanks for sharing guys. We've got one more quick youth announcement. We are right on the cusp, the eve. It's next weekend of our lagoon trip for our middle school and high school youth. The names are coming in on who's going but I'm putting the list together so we can have enough transportation.
10:28
So if you haven't contacted me and your kids are planning to go or you are a middle school, high school that's planning to go, you haven't told your parents yet, I need to know if you're going before them probably. This is what I'm going to do for you. You can take your phones out. If you do not have my phone number, would you put that number in your phone and text me and say, hey, I'm coming to Lagoon and just put me on your list. I'm going leave that up there as I walk away.
10:55
But put that in your phone And that's about it. But we're leaving on Friday, 06:30. It's going to be a great time for middle school and high school age students. That's it. Don't we stand up, greet one another and these guys will bring you back in song.
11:38
Singing you, hold me great and mighty. The moon and the stars, be clear who you are. And I'm so unworthy, but still you love me forever my heart. We'll sing of how great you are. It's beautiful and free.
12:12
Beautiful and free. Song of galaxies are reaching far beyond the Milky Way. Is joining with time. Come on, let's sing loud the music of the universe plays. He is holy, singing you are holy, great and mighty.
12:40
The moon and stars declare who you are. And I'm so unworthy, but still you love me forever my heart will sing of you. All glory and all glory, honor, power is yours. All men. And all glory, honor, power is yours.
13:06
All men. And all glory, honor, power is yours forever amen. Sing of his always. Singing you but still you love me forever my heart will sing about ready you are.
17:04
Thanks God for bringing our attention toward you this morning. How you know how we need that. And I I pray that throughout the day, throughout the week, all of our moments, every day that you've given to us, that would be us, that you would be our vision. You'd be our our ruler. We would turn to you.
17:27
That's my prayer. Amen. We say we sing of the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, and our hope, our return of Christ coming.
18:16
And thy chandel mugnants. Glory be revealed, living and loving, dying be saving, Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day, he's coming. Oh, glorious day.
18:45
Oh, glorious day. Coming. Oh, glorious day. Oh, glorious day. Sins far away, rising he justified freely forever.
21:00
One day he's coming, oh, glorious day, Oh, glorious day.
21:08
God, I thank you for this truth this morning. It is good news. It is our hope. And I pray that you would continue to give us this hope and impart it to us so that we could walk in your truth and in your ways. In Christ's name, amen.
21:27
You can have a seat. Steve Landis, can I have you stand up? And as we, gonna participate here in the worship of giving, if I may, I'm just gonna call on Steve to to pray. He's surprised, but I'd like to do this as our elders in the church. I want I want you all to get to to know them.
21:48
And so from time to time, just wanna call on them to share their heart and pray as we participate here in the worship of giving.
21:54
So Let's pray. Holy father, we are humbled as we once again hear the good news of Jesus Christ that you came. You humbly came. You came as a man. You took on flesh.
22:08
You tabernacled with us. Lord, and then you did the unthinkable. You laid down your life for us. Lord, I pray that that would be the motivating factor as we give back to you. Lord, it's easy to put money in a plate and then go about our our way and forget.
22:26
We pray, Lord, that we would lay down our lives for you every moment, every hour, every second. Lord, because of what you've done for us, I pray, Lord, that that out of grateful hearts and thanksgiving and and joy and praise for you and honor for who you are. I pray, Lord, that you'll accept these gifts, that you'll multiply them, you'll send them around the globe so that, Lord, that all people might come to know you. We ask, Lord, that you would open hearts and minds. And, Lord, just have people around the world receive the truth and that it might grow and, flourish.
23:03
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
26:36
Have you ever felt like that affliction would kill you and have you ever experienced suffering? I I started with those and I think all of us can answer yes to that. If we're honest or we'll pray for you because you got it coming. It'll happen. Alright?
26:51
And the why was the next question and Paul answers it in the text. He answers it a couple of different ways. I'm going do a quick recap of last week's sermon right now. With most of the verses. The why is answered by that so that right there.
27:07
Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies, and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all of our affliction. Have you experienced that?
27:23
Has God comfort you in all types of affliction? Yes. I'm seeing the nods. I'm seeing the faces and I know your stories. It was hard for me last week because I was looking at your faces and I know your stories.
27:35
Who comforts us in all of our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction whether they be Christian or not. Whatever the trouble may be, any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God but so that there I expected to be a purpose clause. I do this for you so that you'll do this for somebody else immediately but told you last week, it's not a henna clause there. It's dunamite. And dunamite sounds like what?
28:01
Dynamite or dynamite. Alright? It's about power. It's about having the power to actually comfort. So that we ourselves may actually have the power, the requisite resources, the power to be able to comfort others in any affliction.
28:22
But why? I think it skipped something there, Renzy. But the why is to make us rely not on ourselves but God. It says that actually in verse nine which is back here. Do what now?
28:39
I do have more than seven slides this morning. That's good. And I don't have any notes this morning. So this is great. So that I'll wing it.
28:55
Does anybody have a Bible? So that I'll just do last week's message again. Can we do that? That's interesting. So, here we are.
29:07
Hey, there it is. Thank you, Peter. I appreciate. He's always ready. Second Corinthians one twelve through 24 and I've already said this, background, before we get into today's passage, 12 through 24 is what we're going cover today.
29:20
The background, how many letters did Paul write the church at Corinth? Yell it out if you want to. Three. Three. At least.
29:27
How many letters did Paul write the church at Corinth? At least four, actually, because in first Corinthians, which we know as first Corinthians, probably second Corinthians at least because he mentions in first Corinthians five nine, the former letter, that other letter that I sent you. They had laid it aside. Apparently, that's what happened. First Corinthians is full of sin and how they need to deal with it in the church and then, second Corinthians mentions in chapter two and other places, the severe letter or the mournful letter or the harsh letter.
30:03
So, we've got at least four, maybe more. And some people believe that some of those letters, those early letters are contained within the text of second Corinthians. I don't think so but I'll give em the I'll give em that. I'm not going to arm wrestle over it. How many visits did Paul make to visit Corinth?
30:22
How many times did Paul visit Corinth? Now, you see the map in the back of your Bible if you want to cheat and look, you see how many times the little arrows hit Corinth. At least three times and maybe more. So, he did the second missionary journey and the third missionary journey. You know that Corinth is a part of that on both of those.
30:40
The maps always point to that but he also had that sorrowful or mournful visit between second Corinthians and third sorry. First and second Corinthians. So, between the second missionary journey and the third missionary journey, he was there and it was upsetting for him and it was upsetting for them. It was a mournful visit all the way around. So, that context helps understand second Corinthians.
31:02
There's a lot of Paul defending why he did what he did when he did. And I think that that matters. And from a point of ministry, I think it matters because what I do sometimes it's taken the wrong way. Who I go see, who I don't go see, and what I what I do, what I wear, all that kind of stuff is taken and it's misunderstood in a lot of ways and so when I'm reading it, I'm saying, wow, Paul loves these people. It's a really, really deep, deep, and abiding affection.
31:34
His affect is one of wanting to convey the truth of God in an ever increasing and deeper way to them. He knows that they've accepted it. He doesn't have that problem but that sorrowful, mournful visit. Remember in first Corinthians five when he's trying to deal with the guy who was in an incestuous relationship with his mother-in-law. Yeah, that's tough.
31:54
And he talked about church discipline and what should be done and then when he visited, seeing nothing had been done or perhaps seeing a lot of flack, a lot of resistance to him and to his message and questioning his apostolic authority. It's upsetting and mournful and sorrowful. So, we see a lot of that in this letter but I want you to remember that what we have first Corinthians and second Corinthians are both Paul's but there may have been others that we do not still have extent. Paul actually even says that it was severe. He says it multiple times.
32:30
He says later on that he even almost regrets sending it but it had the effect that he intended. They got right with God and each other. So, here we go. That's background. This is where it is in the world.
32:44
If you're a geography person, a map person, you see Italy here, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea. This is the area that takes place in all of the places that we will mention that they are within there. This is Paul's second missionary journey which is the first time that we know of that Paul went to Corinth. If we're wondering what Corinth is all about, it's all about individuality, sports riches, and seeking after those things. So, one of the best shipping lanes from Asia to Italy except for you had to drag your boat or your goods across this little isthmus.
33:26
Eventually, they built a channel in there and so now, you can sail sail from what they called Asia or Turkey over towards Italy through this little straight but at that time, it was a land bridge but they would pick up the stuff and carry it to the other side and they taxed everything that came through that place. It was a very very rich place. Corinth had plenty of resources And so first, second, the second, third missionary journey ends up there. If you look at it, these are the ruins of ancient Corinth with the Acro Corinth in the background rising up 1,883 feet. So 350 feet or so more than Snow King back here behind us that rose up above that.
34:07
They had a temple up on the top, Aphrodite, and it was very, very sexually immoral. They were said to have been a thousand prostitutes at that temple up there for that type of worship. So that is the acrocarnth rising up behind that in the background. It's a mountainous area that cares a lot about sports, has tons of resources and riches. Alright.
34:40
And this is a view from up top. This could be just about anywhere around here, couldn't it? Looking down off of the hill and looking at this valley below. That's Corinth Hole right there. So, I did the I did the quick recap of last week's message already.
34:55
Here we go. But if it's true that we're here to comfort others, then what exactly are others here for? That's a bumper sticker. That's not scripture. But if it's if it's true that we're here to comfort others, then what exactly are others here for?
35:08
I talked about that last week. The philosophies of man. If philosophers are benevolent, eventually, they'll get to the problem of pain and they'll say that we're here. We go through pain so that we can comfort others in pain. That's a benevolent philosopher.
35:20
That's great. But it doesn't answer why that person is in pain. Is it just so that they can help us? Well, that makes no sense. Why can't we have joy?
35:28
That's under the sun thinking. We talked about that last week. Solomon talks about it for 11 and a half chapters of Ecclesiastes. Under the sun thinking, we don't have to stick with that. We can think about our good good father and he arose the resurrection.
35:43
There's more to it than that. So, that there, go through the dynamite so that we may actually have the power to comfort. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort. Two, if we're afflicted, it's for your comfort. If we go through what we go through, being beaten and shipwrecked and snake bit and everything else that Paul went through, I'm doing this for a reason.
36:06
Is it easy to travel around this region working and ministering all the time? No. It's not but it's worth it. That's what he's saying. If I suffer with Christ, it's for your benefit.
36:19
It's for your comfort and for your salvation because I carry the message of the living God. This is his way. It's for your comfort if we're comforted and you experience that comfort when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. The fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. Alright.
36:37
He talks a lot about affliction. We'll go through that and then he gets to the why but all of that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He puts the resurrection in there because that gets us away from the under the sun thinking. This is over the sun. This is heavenly thinking.
36:55
This is what God has given us up. Incorruptible hope. We should not rely on ourselves, but we do. Pain and affliction gets us out of that mode to turn into God. How many people have turned to God that you know during a during a happy, joyful, wonderful time of their life?
37:15
Few. How many? Lauren Fry. Y'all know Lauren Fry. She's not here right now.
37:19
She's in Ohio. Lauren Fry went on a mission trip to Guatemala recently. Although she had gotten news just a few days before that her dad had lung cancer and was not doing well and was going in the hospital. And she was up in the air of what shall I do? What shall I do?
37:36
Where shall I go? And so, she decided I'm going on this mission trip. She sought first the kingdom of God. She goes on the mission trip because she gets home. Her dad's fine.
37:46
He's doing okay. He's going through and he's been through. We were there in May. So, it's been a couple months. She has been able to be there for the past two weeks and she carries with her the message of Christ.
37:58
Her dad had gone to church some. Her mom is a believer. Lauren's a believer. We baptized her here but her dad was not a believer but he's going through lung cancer and it's spreading to the other lung or it seems it is and so he goes back into the hospital recently. She went there to be with him.
38:14
She's sharing with him. He accepts Christ and immediately, immediately, new creation starts praying for the other people in the hospital that had that the same experience that he did. So at the end of his life, he's able to do this. Now, the day before yesterday, Friday, they had to make a decision about what to do. He had said, I am ready to go, and I don't need any type of life support.
38:40
And they did not didn't hook him up to life support. But he's with Jesus. Now, and Lauren has suffered but she suffered for his comfort and for his salvation. I just think that hit me hard. Love it.
38:57
So, that's the recap. Sorry. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us. On him, we've set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer so that many is immediately when her dad accepts Christ, he said, I want everybody to know this.
39:13
So, that many, it is the natural response to salvation to want to spread it. Praise God. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf and for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. Now, here's we are at today's message. How does Paul feel about the time that he spent with the Corinthians?
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Two visits at the time of writing, okay? Our boast or what we can joyously give thanks about our boast is this, that the test, the testimony of our own conscience that we have behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God. He's saying, it's not through anything that I've done but because God saved me and he gave me a clarity about my own salvation through the life before, all of my studies before and through direct encounter with Jesus. He gave me this gracious gift and I'm going to share it and I can say that I behaved in the world with godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God and supremely so towards you. He worked among him as a tent maker, worked as a leather worker, and did not take any salary the whole time he was there.
40:25
He was just given over to them, given over to them all that he knew about Christ and they accepted it and he says, we're not writing to you anything other than what you read in the first letter, in the former letter, I should say, the the first Corinthians, the severe letters. I'm not writing anything different than what you've already read from me in the past or from those other letters that are circulating around. Everything that I've said was something that I say sincerely by the grace of God. God has revealed it to me. I'm revealing it to you.
40:55
One beggar telling another beggar where he found bread. For we're not writing to you anything other than what you read and what you understand and I hope that you'll fully understand. Like I said, an ever increasing awareness and understanding of the gospel. The message of the gospel that Christ lived a perfect life, did not owe us in debt, gave his life as a ransom for many. I hope that you'll fully understand just as you did partially understand us that on the day of our Lord Jesus, you'll be able to boast of us just as we'll boast of you.
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I know that you're believers and I know that there are people who are questioning my apostolic authority. I know that there are people who are questioning my message and I know that they're whispering in your ear. I get that. He goes, but I know you, I know you're believers. I know that you know this stuff.
41:41
I know that if you listen to the Holy Spirit, you will come up with this and you'll be able to rejoice with God about my salvation just like I do about yours. Does that make sense? That's the first thing. So, he loves em. He trusts that they are believers.
41:54
He trusts that they've accepted the word. He wants for them to understand it even better. Does it sound like anything we've heard before? In first Corinthians, he said, and I, when I came to you brothers, didn't pro, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except for Jesus Christ and him crucified.
42:13
Was was Paul being kind of beat up for spreading the gospel message of grace. Yes. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. In my speech and my message were not in words of wisdom, plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, which was really, really popular as a super intellectual place.
42:38
He said, I don't want your wisdom resting in the wisdom of men, but in the power, dunamis, of God. Okay. So the actual circumstances. Then, I told Tanya last night, this sermon was boring. I just said that.
42:48
Flat out. The sermon is boring because it's all about his travel plans and she said, well, you better keep working. Paul defends himself as to why he had not visited again and that's what he does. He says, because I was sure of this, all of that that came before because I was sure that you're a Christian, you're a believer because of all of this, I wanted to come to you first and he had written them that and told them. So, that you might have a second experience of grace and that sounds funny to me.
43:17
That sounds like Paul is saying, I'll come to you once and then I'll come back and you will have a second experience of grace. My graciousness abounds but that's not what he's saying. He says, you're a rich place and we've got people who are destitute in Jerusalem and he's writing about it and it'll come up later in the letter in chapter eight and nine. It'll come up again. He said, there are people who need resources and you have em and that second experience of grace is just a second chance to help out with people who need what you've got.
43:47
So, that's what he's talking about. So, that you might have that second experience of Caris, joyful giving. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and then have you, rich guys, send me on my way to Judea. He's being very, very frank, open, and honest with him. I need a map.
44:08
So, ah, there they are. The first letter he wrote from Ephesus, and he made that mournful visit what he had planned to do was to go to Corinth, then up to Macedonia, then back to Corinth, so one visit, two visit, and then them send him on his way to Judea, okay, to Jerusalem, where they needed funds because they were starving to death. So that's what he wanted to do, but that's not what happened. They knew that's not what happened. They knew that he'd only made one visit and it was a mournful visit at that.
44:42
It was troubling for them and for him and so, he says, was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh ready to say yes, yes, and no, no at the same time? Right here, let's just stop for a minute. How many of y'all have one of these? Around here.
44:58
So, when you're texting somebody, hey, buddy. How about going out tonight? What what do you wanna do this evening? And in Jackson especially, you get the, yeah, we'll see. There are five things to do every single night here.
45:11
And so, yeah, that sounds pretty good. Think, oh, let me get back to you on that. That's the way the world makes plans. Let's see if something better comes up but that's not what Paul was doing. He was not saying, yes, yes, and no, no at the same time and he says, yes, yes, doubles it up like that and no, no, because of this.
45:27
Remember James five twelve where he says, but above all, my brothers, do not swear neither by heaven nor by earth or under any oath but let your yes be yes and your no be no so that you may not fall under condemnation and James sounds a whole lot lot like his brother, Jesus. Again, you have heard that it was said that those of old, you shall not swear falsely but you shall perform to the Lord what you've sworn but I say to you, do not take an oath at all either by heaven for it's the throne of God or by earth for it's his footstool or by Jerusalem for it's the city of the great king. Do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Let your yes be yes, your no no.
46:06
Anything more than this comes from evil. He's saying, you're making your human plans, but the best laid best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, right? That's what they're saying. So, Paul says, was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh ready to say yes, yes, and no, no at the same time?
46:24
Wishy washy? As surely as God is faithful. Is God faithful? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no. So both of those in Greek require a no response, by the way.
46:37
Was I vacillating? No, I was not. Do I make my plans like just willy nilly? No, I do not. For the son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Sylvanus or Silas, Timothy, and I, was not yes and no.
46:54
Jesus Christ was never wishy washy. He was never yes and no. But in him, it's always a yes. Amen. For all the promises of God find their yes in him.
47:06
They find their affirmation in him. All of the promises of God in the Old Testament pointing toward how the world would be saved. Where they find their yes? Jesus Christ at Calvary, resurrected lord. It's always yes.
47:23
That's why it's through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. He says, we have to make our plans with a little bit of we'll see what the Lord does. That make sense? James actually follows up that comment and James about, if the Lord's wills, this or that, we will do it. He's saying, we have to keep some room for that and y'all have to understand that.
47:48
You know how that goes. Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people that you can, as long as you ever can. Who said that? John Wesley. He had a terrible marriage.
48:05
But anyway, this was true. It was John Wesley that said that. Do y'all feel that sometimes? You feel like you wanna do all the good that you can? He didn't wanna shirk any responsibility.
48:18
He didn't want to not be there for somebody. He didn't want to not do it and Paul felt the same way and so he was led of the spirit and he trust that he did so sincerely. He was not breaking plans or looking for what was the better option in the world's eyes. So, that's Wesley. Second Corinthians one twenty one and twenty two says this, and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ.
48:44
Who brings us together? It's not by human will. It's not by our desire. It is by the will of God. It's God who establishes us with you in Christ and he's anointed us and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
49:03
He's saying he goes by this. He really believes it and he goes by what the Holy Spirit leads him to do but I call God the witness against me. This is about the strongest words that he can use. He's not saying, God's going to witness against what I've just said. He's saying, I call God as the witness against me and I know that God holds all of us in his by thread.
49:27
He holds all of us. I call God to witness against me. He's saying, may God strike me down which sounds a whole lot like an oath. I call God to strike me down, to witness against my life. He's saying, it was to spare you that I refrain from coming again to Corinth.
49:47
So, on his travel plans, rather than going once, coming back, he went over and he just went back to Ephesus. He was so what? Dejected, rejected, alone, discouraged. He's saying it was to spare you. Y'all are still in the midst of a grave sin.
50:08
And when I'm there, my words are not all that powerful. Y'all told me that before. And I'll tell you that again. It's not that I have all these powerful words in my presence. He goes, but I know it's not right.
50:20
I went back and I wrote you that letter, That mournful letter. It was to spare you that I refrained. He could have under his apostolic authority, kicked the guy out of the church, just flipped over the tables. You know, he could have done that but he's saying, it was out of the mercy of God. It was out of the mercy of God and I I was upset.
50:43
It was hurtful to me but it was to spare you that I refrain from coming again to Corinth Corinth. Now, this letter is very positive. For the first nine chapters, it's extremely positive about them having turned the corner. When they received the severe letter, it made a difference. So what Paul did, he's saying, he's defending himself and saying, I came there and I would have come back.
51:04
I promise you, I would have come back. I was so angry or hurt or emotionally upset or confused or you just weren't listening and it was that time where you were just weren't listening to me. He didn't have to say it. He said, it was to spare you. In the mercy of God, I was sparing you by not coming back again.
51:25
Not that we lorded over your faith. I'm not that kind of guy. I'm not picking up on everything and having him you all in all the time. I'm not lording it over your faith but we work for you for your joy and for you for you stand firm in your faith. He's saying, I wanna do it the best way that I can, and I felt led of the spirit.
51:44
Now, that's the end of the passage that you have in your bulletin today. He goes on into this, and we'll cover it pretty quickly next week. But this is the work that Tanya said last night. Keep on working. I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
52:01
For if I cause you pain, who's there to make me glad but the one whom I've pained? It's hard work. This is hard work. And if I hurt your feelings and it pushes you over the edge, there's nobody there for any kind of comfort back. And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice.
52:21
For I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all. I can express myself better through a letter. I wanna be with you. I promise. I wanna be with you.
52:31
But I just couldn't do it. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. That's a caring, feeling, loving individual that knows these people. He knew the guy's name. He probably eaten with him.
52:49
No, he didn't with him at the Lord's supper. Probably been to his house. The guy who's shacking up with his mother-in-law. He knows him. When he looks out, when he's speaking, he knows their stories too and he cares about em and so, let this frame the rest of our study of second Corinthians that Paul cares for these people.
53:07
He really does love em just like God really does love em. His mercy endures at least until chapter 10 and then in chapter 13, my goodness But it's a great study all the way through from someone who really really engages these people. So, I think that's it. There's no invitation. This is not a Southern Baptist invitation right here.
53:31
I grew up where every single sermon turned at the end to an evangelistic call. Every single one and I don't see anything in that to do it except for you don't get that kind of depth of emotion and care and love for other people unless you know Jesus. You just don't care. So, I'll say the altar is open. You're welcome to come up and say, God, give me that kind of affect for other people.
53:55
God, give me that kind of desire to do all the good that I can in all the places I can by all the means that I can. Give me that kind of desire. Alright, let's do this. Would you stand up with us and sing?
54:10
How about this? Can we go back to Good Good Father? Seems like an appropriate an appropriate song to sing.
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You're perfect in all your ways. Perfect in all of your ways. You are perfect in all of your ways. Are perfect in all of your ways. It's who I am.
57:35
And our yes and amen in you and in you alone. So, God, would you Give us the wherewithal lord that Paul had and that he experienced. Would you give us that depth of affection for this community, for Jackson Hole? And for wherever else we're from, Lord. Recognize visitors are here today.
57:55
God, would you bless those who are traveling and changing plans according to your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, amen.
Topics
Broken PromisesCaring For OthersMission TripPaul Defending HimselfResurrection PowerSuffering And Comfort
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