A lesson this morning is in 2
Corinthians 2. In this second chapter, Paul
continues to pour out his heart to this church and to commend
them for having obeyed his first epistle. And then he encourages
them, as he goes on down in these verses, to forgive the repentant
sinners, which he spoke of in his first letter. In his first
letter to the Corinthians, there was all kinds of gross sin taking
place and a lot of false teaching and a lot of other things that
was going on which he wrote and addressed in this church. And
again, he reminds them that Christ is our sufficiency. Verse 1. But I determined this with myself,
that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make
you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same
which is made sorry by me?" In these verses, Paul repeats his
sentiments from the last chapter, but with even more fervor in
this chapter. Believers are the joy of them
who preach the gospel. This is what brings us joy. I
rejoice when somebody comes here and they learn the truth. They learn the truth. And you
can see it in their eyes. They light up like a light bulb.
You can tell this truth has went home. They see it. And I rejoice
in that. That's my goal. That's what I'm
trying to do. is to make men see the truth,
proclaim the truth, and see them embrace it and come to Christ. But when I have to rebuke, then
I make sorry. You see what Paul's saying? He's
making sorry those which ought to be his joy. And he didn't
want to do that. He didn't want to come see this
church with a rod. But he'd rather write to them. And so he did in his first epistle.
He wrote to them in hopes that God the Holy Spirit would impress
it on their heart to obey him and take care of these matters. Believers are the joy of those
who preach the Gospels. Paul called the Philippians his
joy and his crown. His joy and his crown. Believers
are like children. They've got to be taught. They
must be at times rebuked. And they must be corrected. From
time to time you have to say, no, that's not right. This is right. This is right. They have to be corrected. But
no loving parent desires to cut off one of his children or to
cause that child any permanent damage. Their children are their
joy. This is what Paul is telling
this church. He didn't want to see them cut off from Christ. But what they were doing was
wrong, and he wanted to see that corrected because he loved them.
If he didn't care for them, he wouldn't have wrote them. He
wouldn't have wrote them at all. And that's the way it is in the
Kingdom of God. We must exhort, rebuke, and correct. But it's for your good And we
don't get any pleasure from doing it. If I make you sorry, Paul
said, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is
made sorry by me? The reason for his first epistle
was to rebuke them for their tolerance of such open and rank
wickedness. He didn't want to have to come
to them personally with a rod of correction, hoping that his
rebuke would be well received and those matters taken care
of, which apparently they were. They weren't. And we'll learn
about that as we go down. Verse 3. And I wrote this same unto you,
lest when I came I should have sorrow from them whom I ought
to have rejoicing. having confidence in you all
that my joy is the joy of you all. Now, I understand that in
this old English, sometimes the way they say things, it gets
twisted around. You have a hard time. You have
to get used to reading it. You have to get used to that
language, that language of the day. But basically, here's what
he's saying. When believers walk together
in love and grace, there's great joy. Great joy. I tell you, there's no greater
joy than a church who's walking together in love. I mean, people,
I used to think 13th Street Baptist Church was Shangri-La. I did. I didn't think there was another
church in this country anywhere near it. It was just the epitome
of a gospel church back in its day. And people loved one another,
and they were merciful and kind to one another, and they looked
after one another's needs. It was a pleasure to go there.
It wasn't a, well, I guess it's Sunday, and it's 10 o'clock.
I guess I need to go to church. I looked forward to it all week.
Looked forward to it. Looked forward to go. Verse 4. And I'll say this to you before
we read this verse, where there's schism in the body, it's the
direct opposite. It's the direct opposite. Verse
4, for out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote
unto you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but
that you might know the love which I have more abundantly
unto you. Ministers love their congregations. They love them. They defend them. They love them. They love their
congregations. They want to see that congregation
happy. They want to see that congregation
at peace and in harmony with God and one another. Our days
on this earth, at the longest, are just a few. Boy, I tell you,
I know that a whole lot better now than I did when I was 20
years old. Man, those days click by. It's Sunday, and then it's
Monday, and then it's Sunday, and then it's Monday. It's just
that fast. It's that fast. And our days on this earth are
the longest or few, and they're given to serve our God in the
calling out of His elect. That's why we're here. There's
no other reason for us to be here. Christ is accomplished
for us and given for us, provided for us a perfect righteousness.
I'm not getting any more righteous. My righteousness is in Him. I'm
complete in Him. I'm perfectly acceptable to God. God can look on me as He did
His Son and say, this is my beloved Son. I'm well pleased. Not by
anything that I do, but by that righteousness of Christ. And
I have a perfect atonement. My sins are gone. My sins have been paid for. Do
I yet sin? Sure I do. I'm a sinner. That's
what sinners do. They sin. But my sins have been
paid for, and they've been taken away. We're here to serve our God.
That's the only reason we're left here. We lose sight of that,
I think. It's the only reason we're here.
We need to get a hold of this. His purpose to employ his people
granted him a great privilege, a great privilege to assist him
in the calling out of his elect. We're workers, Paul said, together
with God. Isn't that what he said? That's
a privilege. And you check me out in the Scripture. You show me if there's any other
reason for us to be here, but I don't think you'll find it.
No other reason for us to be here except for this. And it seemed like this is the
thing we put way over to the side, didn't we? Everything else gets out in front.
Verse 5, But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me,
but in part, that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a
man is the punishment which was inflicted of many. So that contrary-wise
you ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps
such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that
you would confirm your love toward him." Now most of the old writers,
almost every one that I read, agree that these verses are written
concerning the man who was guilty of incest. That's who they're
talking about here. This man who was living in open
adultery with his mother-in-law. That's back in 1 Corinthians
5, 1-2. This man who was evidently a
preacher or a teacher of some kind. He had a position in the
church. And he was living in open adultery
with his mother-in-law. And what was so shocking, even
past the deed itself, was the fact that the people still held
this man in high esteem. They were still holding him in
high esteem because he was a teacher. He held a position in the church
and they honored that position. And Paul instructed him in his
first epistle to discipline this man severely. Severely. And so they must have done. But
lest they go too far in their discipline, Paul now tells them
to comfort him and that his punishment was sufficient. Brethren, we are ever warned
in this place this morning. You may not know it yet. God
may not have convicted you in your heart yet. But you are a
sinner. You are a sinner. You sin every
day. If a man says he has no sin,
he has made God a liar. He made God a liar. Every one
of us in this place today are sinners. You have within you
the potential to do anything that any other son of Adam has
ever done. That potential is in you too.
And when a believer sees his sin, His depravity. I'm not just talking about the
things which he's done, but the cause behind the things. When
he sees his sins, and he sees his sin in the light of God's
love and mercy and grace, it's sufficient to break his heart. It'll break his heart. And it'll
turn him from his sin. What this man did was horrible.
But what he did is forgivable. Huh? It's forgivable. John said, if we confess our
sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We're sinners, saved by the grace
of God. The woman. You remember the woman
that was taken in the very act of adultery? And she was brought
just half-clothed and thrown right down at the feet of Christ. My soul, they took her in the
very act. She was a sinner, wasn't she?
And Christ said, where is thine accusers? Neither do I accuse
you. The woman at the well. Was she
a righteous woman? Was she a godly woman? She'd been married five times,
our Lord said, and the man that she was living with now wasn't
her husband. The woman who poured out that
alabaster box of ointment upon the Lord and washed His feet
with her tears and wiped them clean with her hair was a vile,
notorious, lewd prostitute. What about the thief on the cross? What about the Gadarene demoniac?
What about Zacchaeus? And on and on and on the list
goes. We are sinners saved by grace. Saved by grace. Sin is not to be tolerated, but
neither is it to be the source of the cutting off of the children
of God permanently. Sins, vile, wicked sins have
been examples in all believers throughout time in the Scriptures. Lot, David, Judah, Samson, and
on and on and on the list goes. Peter. But the fact of the matter is
this, Christ died for our sins. He died for our sins. Not in
part, not for a few of them, but He bore our sins in His own
body on the tree. You better be careful, preachers.
You're encouraging men to sin. That's exactly what they accused
the Apostle Paul of when he preached the free grace of God. It says
over there in Romans 3, verse 8, he said he was slanderously
reported and affirmed by others that he taught men to do evil
that good may come." That's not what Paul taught. That's not
what I'm teaching you here this morning. But he also says of
his accusers, their damnation is just. And this is what deceived men
say of preachers who preach the free grace of God in Christ.
The last thing a believer desires to do is bring contempt upon
the name of his Lord and upon his God. That's the last thing
he wants to do. Well, you're just telling men
if they want to sin, they can sin. I'm trying to tell you that
their want to is gone. They don't want to. They don't want to. And they
mourn over it when they do. They mourn over it. They avoid
it. They know what it is. But he's a sinner, and sinners
sin. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth's not in it. If we say we have
not sinned, we make God a liar, and His Word's not in it. Do
you know when the law was given, it was given with an altar? Huh? Do you realize that? When God
gave the holy law to Israel, He gave it with a priesthood, provision for intercession to
be made. He gave it with an altar that
a sacrifice may be offered unto God, a substitute. He gave it
with a mercy seat. He gave it with all those pictures
and types that point to Christ. Salvation for sinners. Verse
8, Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward
Him. For to this end also did I write
that I might know the proof of you whether you be obedient in
all things. To whom you forgive anything,
I forgive also. For if I forgave anything, to
whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of
Christ. Lest Satan should get an advantage
of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. Now let's talk
about that for a few minutes. Believers are no longer blind
concerning Satan. We're not blind about him. That's
what Paul's saying here. We're not blind. We're not ignorant
of his devices. We know how he works. That's
the way he worked in us. That's how we know it. We discovered
what we thought was good and holy and godly was an abomination
before God. We understand how he works. We
understand whom he uses to work. We understand these things. We're
not deceived. This is yet another warning concerning
the active power and influence of Satan in this present evil
world. And believers are not blind to
his ways. We're not ignorant of his devices.
Lost men and women walk in the vanity of their mind. That's
what the Scripture said. They walk in the vanity of their
mind. in a dream world. They think
in their mind that they're clear of this and clear of that. All of these things. They think
in their mind. They've got no proof of it. They
just think of it in their mind. And they walk that way. They
walk in the vanity of their mind. Supposing that all religion is
of God. Whose device is that? You don't
find that in Scripture. Lost men and women walking in
the vanity of their minds. Supposing that all religion is
of God, there's a little bit of good in all those places.
Can't find anywhere to go, just pick one out and go. Supposing
that all religions of God, and even though they have differences,
they're all on the same side. Supposing that anyone who says
he's a minister is one. Whose device is that? You won't
find that in the Scripture. Supposing that the teaching of
free will and works salvation is of God because it's accepted
by the multitudes. Do you know, according to the
Scriptures, every time the multitude did something, they were wrong? They don't have a very good track
record. I don't think I'd follow the multitude if I were you.
They've been wrong every time. Every time. Supposing that the church is
put on this earth to relieve suffering and provide shelter
and house the homeless and educate the ignorant. We're not ignorant
of Satan's devices. We know how he works. And we know what he's after.
Paul said, we're not ignorant of these things. Verse 14. Now
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every
place. For we are unto God a sweet savour
of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the
one we are a savour of death, and to the other the savour of
life unto life. And who is sufficient? for these
things. For we are not as many which
corrupt the Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God
in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. Brethren, preaching is never
a waste of time. I heard a preacher tell me that
not too long ago. He said, I guess I just wasted
my time. Not if you preach the gospel.
Preaching is never a waste of time. Somebody sits with their
arms crossed and they do the best they can do to block you
out of their mind, to them it's a saver of death unto death. What does that mean? It's a death
sentence. Can you hear what I'm telling
you? It's a death sentence to you to refuse to hear and believe
the gospel. Every time the commission is
given It has that at the end of it. Every time. It's a death
sentence. You go preach it, our Lord commanded,
and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and
he that believeth not shall be damned. It didn't say he might
be. Got it? It said he shall. We love that
word when it refers to salvation and righteousness. Boy, we love
that. But then we forget about it when it applies to the other.
It means the same thing. It means the same thing. He that believeth not the Son,
now listen, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Satan, it said, with all power
and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,
in them that perish, because they receive not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God
shall send them strong delusion." What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying because you won't have it does not constitute some
weakness on God's part, or the preacher's part, or in the message
itself. It's simply a death sentence
upon those who won't have it. I don't know how to say it any
clearer than that. I try to emphasize that every
time I preach to you. We're not living in a vacuum. You're not in a vacuum. Things
are not going to get better down the road. It's a saver, he said, of death
unto death. Death unto death. But to those
who will hear it, to those who will obey it and embrace it,
preaching is a saver of life unto life. Eternal life, life
everlasting, merciful, gracious life, loving life, life from
the dead, life here and life hereafter. Christ said to the
woman at the well, If thou knewest the gift of God and who it was
that saith unto you, Give me to drink, you to ask of me, and
I give you living water. It be like a well of water in
you bubbling up unto eternal life. Well, if those things are
so, and they are, here's what Paul says. Who's sufficient for
these things? I don't know any preachers who
think they're sufficient. I don't know any. Not to preach
the gospel. They'll all have the same testimony.
I'm not sufficient. They'll all have the same prayer.
Lord, don't leave me in that pulpit alone. Don't withhold
your Holy Spirit from me. Who is sufficient for these things?
And no man in or of himself is sufficient for the task which
God has sent him to do. Christ is our sufficiency. We are 100% dependent upon the
Spirit of God. Verse 17, For we are not as many
which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. You know, Paul
told the Corinthians when he came there, he said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ in Him crucified.
Paul could have conversed to them on any level. On Mars Hill,
he quoted from the poets and from some of those old philosophers.
He was well-read. He was well-versed on the people,
on the history of the people, to where he was sent. He could
converse to them on any level. But those people were wise men. And they were full of pride and
wisdom. And he said, when I come to you,
he said, I determined before I ever got there not to know
anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know why? Because that's
true wisdom. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom. Wisdom. James tells us that the immutable
God, you know what that word means? Unchangeable. Unchangeable. That the immutable God of His
own will begat He us with the word of truth that we should
be a kind of first fruits of His creature. And that being
so, he said, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift
to hear, slow to speak, and slow to rap. And he tells us this
in verse 21 there in James chapter 1. He said, Wherefore, lay apart
all filthiness and superfluity, that is, overabundance of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able
to save your souls. This is what Paul is preaching
to this church. This is what he's writing about.
He's telling them that our sufficiency is of Christ. It's of Christ. And even these vile, wicked sinners
who have fallen into all these lewd, wicked sins are saved by
the grace of God if they believe on Him. They believe on him. His grace is sufficient to save
that man. And don't cut him off. Don't
cut him off. He knows he was wrong in what
he did. And he's repented of it. Now love him. And don't just
love him. Let him know you love him. Let
him know you love him. Embrace him as a brother. Thank
you.