Looking over here in 2 Corinthians,
the last chapter, chapter 13, Paul says, This is the third
time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established. I told you before
and foretell you as if I were present the second time, And
being absent now, I write to them which heretofore have sinned,
and to all other, that if I come again, I will not spare. Since ye seek a proof of Christ
speaking in me, which to you is not weak, but is mighty in
you. For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth
by the power of God. For we also are weak in him,
but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own
selves. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But
I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I
pray to God that ye do no evil, nor that we should appear approved,
but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against
the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak
and ye are strong, and this also we wish even your perfection. Therefore I write these things
being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according
to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification and not
to destruction. Finally, brethren, farewell.
Be perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one
mind. Live in peace. And the God of
love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an
holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Now Paul speaks here Following chapter 12, where he
had, in the last verse, he said, "...unless when I come again,
my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many
which have sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanness
and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed." As
we had mentioned before, Corinth was a very ungodly city from
a moral standpoint, as we would consider it. They were very lax
in their consideration of sexual impurity. In fact, being a Gentile
city, they were not really compelled or taught the things as the Jews
were of the law of God, and so there was much ignorance among
them as to the way of God. And their temples, their worship,
as we had spoken here a little earlier about the fact that men
like the concept of worshipping something, That's just kind of
N.A. then, men. Men are religious
creatures. They're born that way. But they
want to design the religion that suits them best. And in Corinth,
they had one that suited the flesh real well, because it was
a worship of the lust of the flesh, essentially. And so it's
not any wonder that these these things were present among those
who were brought to believe in Corinth. It's not an amazing
thing. We shouldn't be shocked that
such things would be so, because if you go into a pagan culture
with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it doesn't mean that automatically
everybody that comes to faith in Christ automatically starts
walking in perfect purity. I mean, when you pause and consider
that even in societies where The law of God is taught even
among the Jews and even in our society. Say for instance, as
Al mentioned there a moment ago, we live in what's called the
Bible Belt. And you would think that it would
be here that the morality of the things that are taught in
the Bible would be adhered to by people just as a common thing. And men would like for you to
think that that's kind of the way that it is, but the reality
is that all men by nature are in rebellion against God, and
they will worship and serve the creature more than the Creator,
and they will design religions that allow them to continue their
sinful ways without being condemned in their own minds. They will
excuse things and say, well, these things are alright because
it feels good and it sounds good to us and we don't want to judge
anybody or anything. You hear that a lot of times,
you know, we don't want to judge anybody. But Paul told the Corinthians
that the spiritual man judgeth all things. I mean, we better
be judging things. We walk circumspectly. We look at things as they are.
We look at things in light of how God has designed the world
to be, not how we want it to be. Now, we see our society as
a society. Now, there is no such thing as
a Christian nation. Never has been and never will
be. It is just not the way God designed
things to be. But as a culture and as a people,
There are people from time to time who are, their cultures
and their societies are hedged about by the law of God. And when they throw those things
off, then the result of that is to their detriment. And of
course we see it in our society as we have moved so far from
the things of the moral foundations that are founded in the Scriptures
until... We're actually a society now
that whatever men say what they want to do is okay. I mean, who
am I, as someone would say, who am I to tell somebody else what
they should do? Well, if we're talking about
personally, no, I don't have any more right to tell you what
to do than you have to tell me what to do. But you see, that's
not the standard for the people of God, because the Word of God
is that by which our lives are to be shaped, molded, and guided. And if God says something, then
that's the way that it is for the people of God. Now, all society
doesn't feel that way, as we plainly see. And so you have
all manner of things that have become acceptable in our society
that are not acceptable in the sight of God. Now, it may be
perfectly acceptable in the sight of men, but that does not equate
to it being acceptable in the sight of God. And we are not
to be concerned with what society approves of, but rather what
God approves of and what He has taught us and what He has directed
us in. And so Paul comes to the Corinthians
and he says to them, that you are walking in things that are
contrary to the Word of God which I have put before you, and I
have taught you, and I have shown you things, but yet some of you
have persisted and walking in these ways. And he says, I hope
that you are not walking in those things that I'm hearing rumors
of and that some are not in adherence to the ways of Christ. And he
says, I am afraid that when I come again that I am going to be broken
hearted among you. I am going to be humbled when
I see that you are not walking outwardly in the things of God. Now surely we desire, we know
that following Christ is not primarily an outward We are to serve God in the heart.
But I believe it is a true thing that it is impossible for a man
to serve God in the heart and that not have an effect on his
outward life as well. In other words, there is no such
thing as just going about doing whatever the flesh dictates for
us to do. Still saying, well, we're following
God in the heart. No, those two things don't go
hand in hand. And that's what Paul's telling
the Corinthians here. He said, this is the third time
I'm coming to you. In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established. Now, I believe what
Paul's speaking about is that he's coming to them in this letter. And here is the reason why I
believe that. He says, This is the third time I am coming to
you in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Shall every word be
established, I told you before, and foretell you as if I were
present the second time. And being absent now, I write
to them which hear the fore of sin, and to all others, if I
come again, I will not spare. Now he came to them once, in
the flesh as He walked among them, as He preached the gospel
to them, as the Lord poured out His Spirit and He brought many
converts to believe there in Corinth. That was the first time
He came. The second time He came was when He wrote the first epistle
to the Corinthians. He came the second time, then
he said, now I'm coming the third time, this is it, the letter
that I'm giving you is it. He says, I told you before and
foretell you as if I were present the second time. In other words,
he said, it was the same with me coming to you in a letter
the second time as if I was there, as if I was present. And being
absent now, I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to
all others, that if I come again, I will not spare." So it says,
if I come in the flesh again, he says, I'm not going to have
any mercy. Now you have to keep in mind
that Paul was an apostle and he carried with him the power
and gifts of an apostle. Now we don't know exactly all
that that entailed, But we can see a glimpse of it in the case
of Ananias and Sapphira when Paul spoke to Ananias and Sapphira. And he basically pronounced a
death sentence upon them. Now, you know, I don't believe
anybody has those apostolic gifts in that nature in the present
time. I believe those are things that
the Lord used at that time And they are not present. But Paul
did have those gifts. And he says, I don't want to
come, because he says, if I come in the flesh into your presence
and I find that these things which are being reported to be
true among you, he says, I will not spare you. I don't know exactly
what all he meant there, but I believe it wouldn't have been
a good thing. And he goes on to say, He says, since you seek
a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you is not weak,
but is mighty in you. He says, you already know. Actually,
because when I came to you, first off, you saw the power of God
moving through the preaching of the Gospel. And he says, you
see that this is Christ speaking in me, which to you is not weak,
because you have already seen it, but is mighty in you. That is, you seek a proof of
it. You want to see it again. He says, you're going to see
it again. He says, if I come into your presence and I find
these things not to be so. For though he was crucified through
weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. Now he's speaking
about Christ. He says, you want a proof of
Christ speaking in me? He said, well, here's the example.
He said, for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth
by the power of God. And he says, if I come again
to you, for we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with
Him by the power of God. So it's just like Christ was
weak. And he says, you say I'm weak,
you say I'm not an apostle. He said, but as Christ was risen
from the dead by the power of God and He demonstrated the power
of God, He says, when I come among you, He said, we will,
I'll show you that we shall live with Him by the power of God.
In other words, we'll manifest the power of God. Now, Paul wasn't
boasting because he was very much not wanting this to occur,
as he'd already told them. He says, look, I don't want to
come there. I don't want to be in this manner. He says, I want to help you. I want to lift you up out of
these things. But he said, sometimes if these
things are not adhered to, Then if I come in the power of an
apostle by the grace given me in Christ as an apostle, he said,
this will be a thing that is to be, you will know that I am
an apostle. And you will see this power.
So he says to themselves, he says, examine yourselves whether
you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Now, he said, examine yourselves.
Now in the religious tradition in which I grew up in, that was
the last thing anybody wanted you to do. Because what they
wanted you to do was just always, just don't ever doubt. Don't
ever question whether or not you're a child of God. I mean,
you made a decision, so you're in. Don't ever question that.
Don't doubt. But Paul says, examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith. You need to look at yourselves.
He said, if you are walking in open rebellion against the way
of God, which I have taught you, and you are continuing on in
fornication and whoredoms and all of these wicked things that
are manifest among you, he said, you need to examine yourself
and see if you be in the faith. Because he says, if, don't you
know that your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
unless you are reprobate? Now, every one of God's children
needs to take this to a serious matter. Every one of those who
call themselves the children of God needs to examine themselves. Now, he is not saying here, See
if you're doing enough stuff to make God happy. That's not
what he's saying at all. He said examine yourselves to
see if Jesus Christ be in you. Now how would we know if Jesus
Christ would be in us? It would be that we genuinely
desire to be found in Christ and we genuinely desire to walk
in the way of God. Now, it doesn't mean that we
necessarily always do, we might fall egregiously. But you see,
the examination of a man, whether or not he is in Christ, is that
he has the mind of Christ, he has a desire to walk in the way
of God. And he hates that way which is
against that way. He doesn't find any place within
his heart that he says, well, whatever I want to do is okay.
No, he wants to be found walking in obedience. I don't want to
be found walking in my own way. Now, I might walk in my own way,
but when it's shown to me, I want to turn from it. And so it is
that Paul said, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith,
prove your own selves. No, you're not your own selves. How that
Jesus Christ is working in you. He works in us, both the will
and the do of His good pleasure. Now, if He is not working in
us, if He is not causing us to delight in the things of God
and to hate our own wicked way, as Paul said, the good that I
would, I do not, and that which I would not, that is what I do.
In other words, if there is not a conflict within us that rises
up against the sin that we see so readily prevalent in ourselves,
if we are not warring against it, if we do not hate it, And that it does not cause us
grief when we see it manifested in ourselves. When someone speaks about sin
and these things, specific sins, as Paul speaks about specific
sins to these people, And they know themselves to be guilty
of these things if they just say, oh well, that's tall, I'm
going to go on and do what I want to. He said, don't you know that
if Jesus Christ was in you, that's not going to be the attitude
and mind that you're going to have. Because the Spirit of repentance
is going to be given to those who have the Spirit of Christ,
except ye be reprobates. Now if you're a reprobate, You're
not going to care anyway. I mean, you might be a little
bit upset about it, but it's not going to really be a thing
that gets at your heart. It's not going to grip your mind.
It's not going to cause you grief and heartache to see the hardness
of your own heart. See, a man whose heart is truly
hardened, he doesn't care. I mean, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart. Did he lay awake at night when he said to Moses, I ain't
going to let your people go? No. Why? Because his heart was
hardened. I mean, the Lord hardened his
heart. He couldn't any more desire the things of God than the man
who does desire the things of God can quit. I mean, if God works in a man
to will and to do of his good pleasure, He works in him. And
that's an evident thing. And you know, it's not a thing
whereby we Notice this, he didn't say, examine one another to see
if you're reprobates, did he? That's easier, isn't it? I mean,
that's a more comfortable thing, you see, to examine one another. But he didn't say anything about
examining one another. He said, examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith. Because it doesn't matter if
your brethren are walking in the faith. If you're not, Examine
yourselves. Know ye how that Jesus Christ
is in you, except you be reprobate. But I trust that ye shall know
we are not reprobates." He said, I hope it will be manifest to
you by the very truth that we set forth that we are not reprobates. That you might see that in us
the Spirit of God is working. And that you might know we are
not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do
no evil, but that we should appear approved, not that we should
appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest,
though we be as reprobates." He says, I don't want you to
think we are reprobates, but he said, even if we were reprobates. He says, even if everything I
told you, I told you because I was just trying to make money
or I was trying to build a following or I was just doing it for my
own ego. He said, even if we be reprobates, even if it were
true, he says, I wish that you wouldn't do any evil. The truth
of what I preach to you is still the same, even if I turn out
to be a reprobate in your own mind. For we can do nothing against
the truth, but for the truth. Now Paul, he really had a dilemma,
didn't he? I mean, because even if he didn't
want to preach the truth, he couldn't help it. I mean, that's
what he said. He said, woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. He said, I don't have any choice
in the matter. I'm determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And he says, I can't go against
the truth even if I wanted to. It wouldn't be possible because
of the Lord and the grace. Well, we're glad when we're weak
and you're strong. And this also we wish, even your
perfection." He says, I'm not interested in tearing you down.
I'm not interested in raking you over the coals. I'm not interested
in coming among you as one that's filled with judgment against
your sin. He says, I want you to be built
up in the most holy faith. Even your perfection, that is
your maturity, growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. I write these things being absent,
lest being present I should use harshness." He says, it's a good
thing that I'm writing these things to you rather than being
there with you. Because he says, if I was there
with you and I saw these things that perhaps are true and have
been reported unto me, he says, I wouldn't be quite as accommodating
as I am in this letter. Therefore I write these things,
being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness according
to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification and not
to destruction." He says, I'm glad that I'm writing because
I feel that I will be more helpful to you as the Lord has given me the
ability to build you up in the faith and not to destroy you,
not to bring you down. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort.
Be of one mind. Now Paul evidently knew that
his time was short in the earth. So he told these Corinthians
whom he loved, he bid them farewell. He says, I'm ready to be offered
pretty soon. He says, the time of my departure
is getting close. You know, sometimes the Lord
enables a man to see his shortness of life and to bid
farewell. I think that is a glorious thing,
you know, when the Lord enables a man to be able to express to
those whom He comes among and loves in Christ to bid them farewell,
to let them know of the love that He has for them. And such
Paul is speaking here to them. Be of good comfort, for we serve
the God of comfort, of one mind. We have one mind in Christ. We
don't have two or three different ideas floating around out here
about Christ and who He is. He is the Lord our God. He is
that One who rules in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. He is that One who has obtained eternal redemption.
He is that One who inhabits His people. He is that One who directs
their steps. Be of good comfort. This is a
comfort of one mind. Live in peace. Don't be disharmonious
with one another over minor things. Forbear with one another. Be
peaceable. And the God of love and peace
shall be with you. Now, he's not giving that to
them as a conditional promise. He's saying this as a fact. The Lord will be with His people. He will direct their paths. He
will guide them in the way that they should go. Greet one another
with an holy kiss. Now, that's an interesting thing. I remember one time that Brother
Jerry Maurer, I was in correspondence with him, And this particular
scripture came to my mind, and I told him to greet the brethren
there for me with a holy kiss. And so he told me that after
that, that he had begun to do that. I mean, he literally would kiss
the brethren on the cheek, and so he still does that when we
go out there. And people look at it, oh, well
that's silly. Well, it's not a necessary thing. I'm not saying,
Paul wasn't saying here that he was directing us to necessarily
kiss one another with our mouth, but the affection that we have
to one another whether we actually physically kiss one another or
not, it should be the same. We greet one another with such
a warm greeting of affection. Of course, in the eastern countries,
you know, kissing is a pretty common thing. I mean, it's a
practical, I mean, it's just a normal thing that people do
that. In our civilization, it's kind
of considered, you know, a little bit funny, kind of odd. But nonetheless, all the saints
salute you. And of course, speaking of the
saints that he has contact with and are concerned about them,
they send their greetings. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen. And of course, Paul closes
this letter with these comforting and kind words because he would
demonstrate to them His concern for them, His love for them was
true and real. Now whether the Corinthians liked
everything He said or not is beside the point. One thing they
could not ever say was that He did not tell them the truth and
that He did not desire their benefit in all that He said. And thus He closes that letter
to them.