So in our Bible survey we come to 2 Corinthians and we'll read from 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 to 5. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity. to the obedience of Christ. This is the word of God. The Corinthians were the most difficult church that Paul had to deal with. As a result, his two letters to the Corinthians, which are preserved in the scriptures, are treasure troves of teaching rich in relevance for our churches today. The letters to the Corinthians teach us how to live in a hostile, heathen environment. and how churches should regulate their activities and discipline their members. 2 Corinthians also gives us an intriguing insight as to how the Apostle Paul dealt with opposition, criticism and character assessments. Paul's teachings in 2 Corinthians provide an excellent example for God's servants to follow. 2 Corinthians is the most personal of all Paul's writings and it's probably the least methodical. One Corinthians is aimed primarily at church members. Two Corinthians is aimed primarily at church leaders. In one Corinthians we learn what Paul thought of the Corinthians. In two Corinthians we learn what the Corinthians thought about Paul and how he responded. The church in Corinth was extraordinarily divided and divisive. The criticisms against Paul and opposition to him came primarily through the Judaizers who were constantly seeking to bring people back under legalism, back under their interpretation of Mosaic law, including the necessity of circumcision and of Saturdays for Christian Sabbath worship. So basically the Judaizers were saying you've got to be a Jew before you can be a Christian, and to be a Christian you've got to be a Jew. And it was these teachings of the Judaizers which was condemned at the First Church Council. that we read about in Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem. The books of Hebrews and Galatians and Philippians were specially written to refute the heresies of the Judaizers. And they are the ones who are organizing the opposition that leads to Paul writing this second letter to Corinthians. From 2 Corinthians we learn that the accusations against Paul included fickleness of always changing his plans. Although the Apostle Paul seems to be extraordinarily focused, disciplined and dedicated, but they accused him of being fickle. The Judaizers accused Paul of being cowardly, which is extraordinary because the Apostle Paul risked his life and his liberty repeatedly in the face of very vicious opposition. He was so determined to advance the Gospel of Christ that he endured multiple imprisonments and beatings and stonings. and floggings. The critics accused Paul of being timid, which seems extraordinary considering how the Apostle Paul seemed to have been one of the most bold and brave preachers in history. Much of the Letter of Corinthians deals with the criticisms that he did not come with any letters of commendation, whereas the super-apostles their term, had come with impressive resumes, credentials and certifications from Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul makes clear that the real test of any man's ministry is not his academic qualifications or formal training, but the fruit of his ministry and the disciples he produces. The critics accuse Paul of being secretive, distant, aloof, unfeeling and uncaring. It's not surprising considering how they were behaving that he might have come across that way because he'd have to challenge him and discipline him over this. They accused him of not being a polished speaker and they despised him for the fact that he did not charge any fees for his service in the gospel. The first nine chapters of 2 Corinthians are Paul's defence against these many charges and these accusations and in many cases just sheer character assassination. From chapter 10 to 13 we get Paul's attacks on the false prophets, false teachers. Paul makes it clear in the first verse of the first chapter. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and that's a straightforward refutation of their attacks because they're suggesting he's not a legitimate apostle. Paul points out that he does not need letters of commendation from others to the Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 2, you are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God. Written not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, on your heart. The very existence of the church in Corinth testified to the authenticity of Paul's apostleship. He was the one who brought them to Christ and he is the one who discipled them and formed them into a church in the first place. He contrasts his ministry with the subversion of the Judaizers. He goes and plants his own church. They come in and try and subvert a church that someone else has planted. Their ministry is authenticated by ink, his by the Spirit of the Living God. They are calling people back to the law which was written on tablets of stone. Paul is a servant of the new covenant where God's law is written on the heart. The result of illegalism is death and condemnation, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. He's not speaking against writing, teaching, or books. He's speaking about they are trying to bring people back to the letter of the law, instead of the spirit of the law. The law was the schoolmaster that leads us to Christ, that we could be justified by faith. The law contained within it symbols and shadows and pictures of Christ, which Christ fulfilled. To take people back to the shadows and to ignore the reality was insane. The very existence of the church showed that the spirit that Paul administered had brought life. In 2 Corinthians 3 verse 5, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not by letter. but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. He's not here speaking against the Logos, as I've heard some people preach. I've heard some pedagogical preachers say that the Rhema is more powerful than the Logos. That is nonsense. The Rhema is the spoken word, the Logos is the written word. John 1 verse 1 begins, In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. Jesus is the Logos, Jesus is the Word of God, capital W, capital G, the Word of God. The Logos is the Word of God, Jesus is the Logos. How can you say that the Rhema, the spoken word, is more powerful than the written word? In the fact that the Bible is the written word of God, Faith comes from hearing, hearing from the Word of God. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Paul is not saying that the letter of the Bible kills. He is not saying that God's letter kills. He's speaking about the letters that were being given by these authorities in Jerusalem that were writing letters of commendation, and he was speaking in the sense of these people are going back to a dead, dry shadow. and ignoring the light of Christ who is the fulfillment of all Old Testament pictures. And of course their letters, he's doing a double play on words, they're referring to, we have these letters of authority from Jerusalem, who's this Paul? And they were trying to refute all of his ministry and teachings and his very existence as an apostle. So he's making it clear here, the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. It's not saying that the Word of God kills. No, the Word of God is seed, milk, meat. It's a fire that burns in our hearts. The Word of God is like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. It is milk and meat for our soul. You cannot say that the Word of God kills. What they're talking about, the letter kills, is people going back to a dry, dusty, unfulfilled Old Covenant. without the fulfillment in Christ. In that sense, the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Paul categorizes the ministry of the Judaizers as a ministry of death, written and engraved on stones. Why a ministry of death? There was no end of sacrifice that needed to be made, animals that needed to be killed, lots of blood, lots of sacrifices, and the result still was death, because the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins, as we read in Hebrews. And so they are a ministry of death, also because the wage of sin is death. Without the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, there is no hope of life or salvation. There is no salvation in Judaism. To reject the fulfillment in Christ and to go back to Judaism is to go back to death. There was no salvation. It was just pointing to the salvation that had come through the Messiah. You reject the Messiah, you've rejected life, and you've chosen death. And so it was a ministry, as he called it, of death written on stones. That's 2 Corinthians 3 verse 7. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 9 he calls it a ministry of condemnation. There are many people who've got a ministry of condemnation and a gift of discouragement. And these Judaizers were part of that. And then from verse 14 of chapter 3 on he describes the Jews. Their minds are blinded. For until this day, the same veil remains unlifted in their reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses read, a veil lies on their hearts. Jesus made it clear on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24, that all the Scriptures testify of Him, and He opened their minds that they could see that in the Law of Moses, in the Psalms, and in the Prophets, it all taught of Christ. And this, the Judaizers are missing. They're reading the Bible and they're missing the whole message. They're missing the whole point of it. They don't see the Messiah. They don't see Christ in all the scriptures. They don't see all nations and God's purpose. They don't understand. It's that they are blinded and a veil is over their eyes. And so why go back to blind guides? We now have the light of the world in Christ and you're trying to drag us back to darkness and death. Paul condemns these Judaizers in 2 Corinthians 4 verses 2. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully. And that's what they were doing. They were handling God's word deceitfully and we can see the Judaizers of this day using the word of God deceitfully. Having a a ministry of shame. They want to shame other people to get people to support them. You can just see this riddled through so many magazines and so many publications of today, where they are telling you, you have got to support the nation of Israel, the state of Israel, if you want to be blessed by God, because they are God's chosen people. Now wait a minute, God's chosen people love Christ. God's chosen people hear the word of God and follow Jesus. Are you suggesting that people who are atheists, agnostics, pro-aborts, homosexuals, people who reject Christ and persecute church, that they are God's chosen people? Surely not. Surely God's chosen people are the people who love Christ, who are regenerate, who have the Spirit of God in them, and who are following Christ. If they're not, they're not God's people. And so there's a lot of deceitful abuse of the scriptures, such as taken from Galatians chapter 12 verse 1, where God made a promise to Abraham and his seed, not to seeds as to many, but as to one seed, which is Christ, as Galatians 3 makes clear. And today they're trying to apply that to a political secular state that has not come back in repentance to God or in faith in Christ. They don't even come back in faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It's a secular state. It's a state where abortion is legalized, where pornography is legalized, where prostitution is legalized, where women are conscripted into military. How can you take a secular humanist state that is against every principle of scripture, and who persecute Christians, by the way, and do everything they can to make illegal missionary work amongst their people, and now say they are God's chosen people? And how you treat this secular political state is how God will treat you on earth and in all eternity. No, you're blessed. in accordance with blessing Christ, you're cursed in accordance if you curse Christ, not some political entity. And even if the entity that was there came there in the faith of Moses, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and David, it would still not be your means of salvation. It would only be a state amongst many states, which prophets could speak and evaluate as to whether they're being faithful to scriptures or not. So he says, we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, which is the image of God, should shine in them. So here in 2 Corinthians and chapter 4 verse 254, we are seeing that those people who don't understand the gospel, those people who are blinded to gospel, they show that they are perishing. They're showing that they have the God of this age blinding them, because they refuse to see the light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. Then Paul describes his ministry, For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. This is the big difference between these Judaizers and these super-apostles. They are in many cases preaching themselves. They are drawing attention to themselves. You just think of like this Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and this Harbinger and his predictions which have consistently not come true. And yet people continue to buy his books and his films and promote his visions, even though every one of them, all of his date-setting has proven to be false. And the first clue as to why this is a problem is, Jesus is Paul, no man on earth, rabbi. And so, what's this man who claims to be a Messianic Jew doing, speaking about himself as a rabbi? And the thing is, it does draw attention to yourself. When you're a super-apostle and a prophet, and these tele-evangelists, and name it, claim it, and frame it characters, they are drawing attention to themselves, not to Christ. So Paul contrasts himself with them, saying, we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. and assaults your bond servants for Jesus' sake. For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness. He has shone the hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So much of what you get in the Old Covenant is darkness, but it's pointing to the light. Now the light has come. Those were shadows. Why would you go back to sacrificing sheep? Why are you going back to a temple that no longer is indwelt by God? Paul describes his treasure, his ministry as in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 7, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So imagine a clay pot filled with treasure. A clay pot is nothing but what it contains is everything. And so we are, yes we are weak, fallible, sinful, wicked in many ways, insincere, there's so many things that are wrong that you can look at, yes, we're the earthen pot, but we contain this treasure, which is Christ. And this is his message, that yes, they can point to a whole lot of failings, and sometimes accurately, maybe, and many times not, and a lot of it's exaggerated. Yes, Paul is not this and that, and Paul is weak, but it's not himself that he's presenting, he's presenting the treasure in its own vessel. And so some people may say in the church, I couldn't go to church because look at all the hypocrisy. Well, to be a Christian, you have to admit that you are a guilty sinner, well-deserving eternity in hell. So, by definition, to be a Christian and a church member, you've got to admit that you are a wicked sinner needing salvation from eternity in hell. So, how is that hypocritical? And anyway, even if every church member was a complete and utter total failure, it's not ourselves that we're preaching. It is Christ. The church cannot save you, no minister can save you. It is Christ and Christ alone. We're calling people to Christ, not to ourselves. We're not calling people to the earthen vessel, we're calling people to the treasure in the clay pot. Then Paul describes the marks of a true Christian ministry. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8-9. We are hard pressed on every side. but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but we are not in despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We are struck down, but we are not struck out. We are not destroyed. Opposition does not negate a ministry, but it's an indication. Some people are pointing to Paul saying, you see he's controversial, you see he's got so much opposition, obviously he's not a true apostle. And Paul's saying, no, but it's that opposition that proves that it's a true ministry of God. Because the world would love its own. For Christ suffered for us and left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps. Christ was rejected. If we're accepted and loved by the world, we're doing something wrong. Christ was slandered. They called him a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Well, that part's true. They said of him that he's demon-possessed. They attacked Jesus in so many different ways. Should we expect anything better? The servant is not better than the master. So, we learn a lot of things in 2 Corinthians about Paul and his ministry. So here are some details of the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul that you only learn in this letter, 2 Corinthians. For example, in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 32, that Paul escaped from Damascus in a basket. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas, the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison desiring to arrest me but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands." Then you read in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 1 to 4 Paul's experience being caught up into the third heaven. It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast, he said, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. Now they of course continue coming up with visions and revelations. So Paul's answering, well I've also had some visions and revelations. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows. Such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. And then he makes clear that he's talking about himself. 14 years earlier, he had been put up to heaven. how Paul couldn't tell you what he heard or what he saw. It's not lawful to speak of it. And yet these false apostles have all kinds of stories about what they heard and saw in heaven, apparently. And then we read about his thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12, 7. Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Now there's a lot of books even that have been written on Paul's former flesh. Is this a physical ailment? Is this a person? Certainly he had some physical ailment. We read in the scriptures about Paul writing through Titus, Timothy. He dictates his letters and at one point speaks about, see with what large letters I write with my own hand. So he could have easily had an eye defect because it speaks about in one of his letters, you would have given me your own eyes if you could have. Now why would he mention that unless his problem was with his eyes? And he even mentions how they regarded him as vile and maybe he, that just to look at him they were so uncomfortable and made to feel sick. So maybe he had some kind of eye disease. We don't know. He certainly didn't seem to have had good enough eyesight to have done his own writing. He needed someone to dictate to continually. But I know other teachers who are convinced that it is not a physical thorn of flesh, but the way it speaks of a message of Satan sent to Buffet me, it's speaking about a person. When he's speaking about a thorn of flesh, he's speaking about someone who was an absolute curse, a character assassin who is trying to destroy his life and his ministry. And that seems to be very likely. Certainly he had both physical affliction and he had at least one, if not many people who were dedicated to destroying his ministry. So there's the soul and the flesh. Then we read in 2 Corinthians 11, 23-27 some of his sufferings in the ministry. He speaks about labors more abundant, stripes above measure, prisons more frequently, deaths often, from the Jews five times I received forty stripes, that's lashes with flogging catinine tails, minus one, three times I was beaten by rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, we only read one of the shipwrecks in Acts, but there were three shipwrecks, and night and day I've been in the deep, that's the ocean, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils of false brethren, in weariness, in toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger, thirst, fastings, cold and nakedness. These do not sound like what the health and wealth, name it and claim it and frame it proud of giving us as the prosperity cult. And here we've got someone who's plainly a great hero of the faith and yet he's not hiding the fact that often he was starving and without any of the comforts of life. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 3 to 10 we read of his sacrificial service and steadfastness in suffering because they are talking about credentials from some officials in Jerusalem. He's saying here's my credentials. We give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed but in all things we commend ourselves as minister of God. How does he commend his ministry? We read in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 3, in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, that's being whipped, in imprisonments, in tumults, that's riots. He did cause riots. That's not something that he's ashamed of because the true gospel is received either by revival or a riot. There's either repentance followed by revival or there's a riot of opposition. But there's no apathy. Nobody was neutral about the message Paul preached. In labours, in sleeplessness, in fastings, by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the arm of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left, that means to defend and to attack, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers, yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying yet behold we live, as chastened and yet we are not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His great example, showed us that true love is measured by sacrifice. In the words of a famous Christian prayer, teach us good Lord, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to ask for rest, to labour and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that you do your will. That expresses the kind of sacrifice Paul is speaking about. Love gives and love rejoices in giving, and love does not count the cost. Love gives and it wants to give, not out of a sense of duty but out of a glad and a willing heart. Love entails intense enthusiasm, a longing to be near and a desire to serve. We serve those we love. As Anselm, one of the great theologians of the Middle Ages, prayed, let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking, let me find you in love and love you in finding. As the apostle Paul taught, let us seek to love not in words and tongue but in deed and in truth. True love is not shown by what we say, but by what we do. Actions. Always speak louder than words. And that's why the wife of Romanian pastor Richard von Bruns could say, I used to be very poor before I went to prison, but when I went to prison I became very rich. Because she was poor in the things of this world, but rich in the things of God. So that in prison she could make many people rich, because she had the only currency that was of value in the Romanian prison system, and that was the word of God stored up in her heart and mind. And so she was able to enrich people, how the scriptures stored up in her heart and in her mind. Now thanks be to God, we read in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14, but thanks be to God always leads us in triumphant Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death and to the other we are the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? So in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14-16 we read of the savour to life and the savour to death. This is a figure of speech based on the incense scented triumphal processions. They were continually burning incense all the way along the processions as the Roman generals or emperors were returning to Rome with long lines of captors behind showing what they had conquered and who they had captured. And some of these captors were to be put to death and some of them were to be permitted to live. So here the Apostle Paul describes the ministries of God's servants as being the fragrance of God which, depending on a person's reaction to the Gospel, either leads to life or to death. Our ministries are, by the sovereignty of God, actually a march of triumph. In analogy to those generals coming back to Rome, having conquered new lands, bringing back captives, loot and so on. And those who turn in faith and obedience to Christ It signals life. And those who turn their back on the salvation provided in Christ and offer it so graciously by Almighty God, if they reject it, it symbolizes death to them. And so the same sun melts the wax, but it hardens the clay. The same procession that means life for some means death for others. The same gospel that means life for those who respond in faith and obedience means death to those who reject it. The epistle of 2 Corinthians begins with comfort. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. And it closes with comfort. 2 Corinthians 13 verse 11, Finally brethren, become complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. And then, in the middle, you find the reason for this comfort. 2 Corinthians 9 verse 8, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. And the source of this comfort is given in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9, which is probably one of the best known verses in this book. My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Which is what the Lord said concerning his thorn in the flesh. My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Nowhere does Christ promise that a Christian will be free from suffering or sorrow. Indeed the Lord warned, in this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So Noah was not protected from the flood. He is preserved in and through the flood. Moses and the children of Israel were not airlifted over the Red Sea or taken around it. They were led by God through the midst of the Red Sea. Daniel was not saved from the den of lions, he was preserved and saved in the lion's den. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not saved from the fiery furnace, they were preserved in the fiery furnace and the Lord was with them there. Paul was not saved from shipwreck, he was protected through the shipwreck and God saved him through that ordeal. The Apostle Paul finds ultimate comfort for sufferings in the fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead, the firstfruits. And his promise that our weak, suffering bodies are just like a tent. And one day the tent will be collapsed, but it's only to be exchanged for the permanent body, the glorified, resurrected body that we have through all eternity. Sort of like the symbol of the tabernacle being replaced by the temple. So the tent of our body will one day be exchanged for something far better. something that can't get sick, something that cannot die. We are not to seek unity with those who reject or distort the Gospel. As the Judaizers were seeking to bring the Corinthian Christians back under legalism, back under bondage and condemnation, by rejecting the reality and the substance that is in Christ, going back under the old covenant shadows, the Apostle Paul challenges them in 2 Corinthians 16 verse 14 to 18. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And let's face it, that's what they are. These Judaizers who have not surrendered to Christ are not believers. They are unbelievers. For what fellowship is righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? What part is a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell with them and I will walk amongst them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch us unclean and I will receive you. I'll be a father to you. and you will be my sons and my daughters says the Lord Almighty. So 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14-18 was first and foremost written in this context against the Judaizers who were calling people to something that's unclean. These sacrifices are no longer holy, they're now unclean. They're being done in rebellion to Almighty God. They're being done ignoring the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. They're ignoring the salvation provided in Christ. There was a time when God had a temple for his people. Now he has a people for his temple. God no longer lives in Jerusalem. The temple is not his home. This temple is doomed. It's going to be destroyed. There won't be one stone left in another, Jesus said. And yet they are trying to still be part of the temple, still be part of the sacrifice, still be part of the whole Judaic system, when Christ has come. They're actually rejecting Christ. Come out among them, be separatists and all. There's no salvation in Judaism. There never was. It was a schoolmaster leading us to Christ that we can be justified by faith. That is why when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, people would have understood all the imagery of the Old Testament. But going right back to the ram that God provided in the place of Isaac on Mount Moriah to Abraham, which is the place where they built the temple on that site. symbolizing, all of this is symbolizing Christ as a performer. These things are shadows. There's no salvation in Judaism. They've rejected Christ. Christ is the only way of salvation. Now it's this very passage that Reverend Richard Wilburn quoted to the Communists when they organized this great public gathering in Bucharest for Compromises for the churches to line up and go one after the other onto the platform and declare that Jesus Christ was the first communist. The Bible teaches communism. All Christians must support communism in a communist party. And Sabrina Wilmerin turned to her husband, who is a Lutheran minister, and said, go and wipe the shame from the body of Christ. And he stood up and he read this very passage. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, thou will receive it. And he went straight to jail, ultimately serving 14 years in communist concentration camps, many years in solitary confinement, in hideous conditions described in Torture for Christ. But as he pointed out, the traitors and the compromisers who had lied and had borne false witness. They ended up in the same prison cell as he did, just a little bit later, but the difference was Richard Wilmot was there with a clear conscience. They were not. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 9, Paul says, Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. He's saying here, it doesn't matter that you've been condemned in synagogues and by the Sanhedrin and the Council and what the High Priest says. Who cares? We are trying to be well-pleasing to Christ, not to any religious leaders. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. It's a small matter if you hold before the synagogue or the council or the Sanhedrin and whip them. That's nothing. We've got to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we will receive eternal rewards or eternal punishments. It's a whole lot more serious than these trivial things you're talking about in these letters of these super-apostles. That we may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. So that's 2 Corinthians 5, 9-11. Believers have a healthy fear of God. which leads us to please God, to honour Him, to serve Him, to obey Him. But for unbelievers, there's only the fear and terror of hell and condemnation, because there's no salvation. There is fear of God in a healthy sense for a believer, but there's the absolutely helpless fear and terror that the unbeliever will experience. If he doesn't learn to fear God in a respectful way of reverence now, he will in eternity know the terrors of God. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14 to 21 we have this wonderful passage which is so much summarizing what the Christian ministry is 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14 for the love of Christ compels us because we judged us if one died for all then all died he died for all and those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose again therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we have known Christ according to flesh. Yet now we know him no longer. Thus, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. This is the same message she's giving in Hebrews. We've got a better tabernacle. We have a better high priest. We have a better salvation. We have a better offering. So what if you exclude it from their altar and exclude from their temple? We have a better temple. and a better high priest, and a better offering, and a greater salvation. Old things have passed away. Stop trying to go back to the old. It's now past. Go on to Christ. Now all things of God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. not imputing their trespasses to them, and he has committed us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. Notice, we're not used car salesmen. We're not trying to market Jesus and need to make him more palatable to people by editing the gospel. We're ambassadors. We just must deliver the message from our King, the King of Kings. We're his ambassadors. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him in you no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." So we have been entrusted with this ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors of God to implore people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. The love of Christ compels us. We should no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died and rose again, who is ascended and high, who is coming again to judge the living and the dead. What can be more important than God's verdict on the Day of Judgment? This is the greatest story, and we are privileged to be part of this story. God is reconciling his rebellious will to himself. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves of all the filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The first time Jesus came to earth, he did come as the Lamb of God, the Son of Abraham, destined to be the sacrifice and the altar of the cross. But the second time, he will not come as the Lamb. He will not come offering salvation. The second time He comes is the Lion, the Lion of Judah, the Son of God, the Son of David, destined for the throne as the eternal Judge and Sovereign God. Those who have not submitted to Christ Jesus Lord and Savior will be forced to bow to Him as eternal Judge. The question is, is Jesus your Savior or is He your Judge? The Apostle Paul speaks of godly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7 verse 10, Godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted, for the sorrow of the world produces death. We know what remorseful people are. I've dealt with many a drunkard in the streets who had tears that night, but the next day he is drunk again. Godly sorrow is not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. diligence it produced in you. What clearing of yourself, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all these things you proved yourself to be clear in this matter. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. What does it produce? Diligence. clearing of ourselves, indignation against evil, fear of God, vehement desire, zeal in the Lord's service, vindication by God. This proves us to be true disciples of God. The result is we rejoice exceedingly. True repentance leads to joy. The enemies of Paul criticized him for working with his hands and supporting himself with tent ministry. They declared no apostle would work with his hands. Paul explains that while he had the right to expect support from the Corinthian church, yet because of money-grabbing manipulators and false teachers who commercialized the ministry, he preferred not to be a burden to the churches that he founded. Freely overseen, freely, freely given. To whom much is given, much is required. To whom much more is given, much more is required. So Paul responds that he had accepted no payment for his services from the churches he had ministered in, except for Philippi. Philippi, you can see in the letters to the Philippians, they were really a church of revival. And even the letter to the church in Philadelphia, you can see the church of revival in seven letters in Revelation. Philadelphia is a church that gets only commendation, no condemnation. Well, the same thing here with the Church of Philippi. Paul's letter to the Philippians is very, very positive. And it doesn't have the rebuking that you get to the Church of Galatians or the Corinthians. So he accepted support from the Church of Philippi. He didn't from the others. God has promised to reward the generous giver. God has no man's debtor. In 2 Corinthians 9 verse 6-8 we read, But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Farmers understand this. You want a large harvest, you've got to plant lots of seeds. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. Well, so do we. I mean, which of us wants to get a gift from someone who's telling you how difficult it was, and how awkward, and how much it cost, and, you know, all these... Well, you know, you almost want to give it back, because when a person puts that burden, when you put a price tag on it, it's no longer much of a gift and a blessing. So God loves a cheerful giver, as any human being does. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance in every good work. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 we have very complete instructions for church giving. It's to be voluntary, proportionate, systematic, regular and generous. This is called the ministering to the saints as a matter of generosity and not of grudging obligation. 2 Corinthians 9 verse 10, Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you have sown. and increase the fruits of your actions, while you enrich in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God, for the administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints, but it's also bounding through many thanksgivings to God. Now, no farmer can manufacture a seed. A seed comes from God. He could say, I plough the field, yes, but God provides the seed, and God's the one who provides the soil, and God's the one who provides the rain, and yes, I have to weed, remove rocks, plough, and harvest, but without God, I wouldn't be able to do any of these things. And so, he's pointing out that even our generosity, the fact that I can give 10% of my income to God's work or workers, that's great, but God enabled me to win to get the 100%. I mean 100% belongs to him. The 10% is a token. It's not that I'm actually giving to God as much as I'm giving back some of what God has given to me. And so, at his conversion, the Lord had said to Paul, I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. So, we see the systematic targeting of Paul, especially in the book of Acts, Acts 9.16 speaks about how Paul was warned by God, you're going to suffer many things for my name's sake. Acts tells us, Acts 9.24, the Jews plotted to kill Paul in Damascus. Acts 9.29, they plotted to kill Paul in Jerusalem. Acts 13.15, they drove him out of Antioch. Acts 14.5, they attempted to stone him at Iconium. Acts 14.19, they stoned him and left him for dead in Lystra. Acts 16.23 in Philippi the Jews beat him with rods and put him in stocks. Acts 17.5 in Thessalonica the Jews rioted against Paul. In Acts 17.13 they drove him out of Berea. Acts 18.12 the Jews plotted against him in Corinth. Acts 19.29 in Ephesus they almost killed him. In Corinth shortly after he had written his epistles they plotted his death which we read in Acts 20 verse 3. In Jerusalem the Jews again attempted to kill Paul and but for the intervention of Roman soldiers they would have succeeded. That we read about in Acts 22. Paul was then imprisoned in Caesarea for two years and in Rome for another two years because of the attacks of these very same Judaizers. Besides his attacks and imprisonments he suffered other beatings, shipwrecks and probations not listed here. And so in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 22 we get the credentials of Paul. Are there Hebrews? So am I. Are there Israelites? So am I. Are there the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are there ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. In labors, more abundant. In stripes, above measure. In prisons, more frequently. In deaths, often. Left for dead, several times. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, and night and day I've been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of land countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in sea, in perils of false brethren. in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides the other things which come upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches. So 2 Corinthians 11 gives the credentials of Paul. It's not, I've got the endorsements of these and these and these officials, it's not these diplomas and certificates, it's sacrifice, service. Evaluate a leader's track record and fruit. That's what Paul is saying. Paul goes on the attack now, after defending himself, he goes on the attack against his attackers, challenging them to compare themselves with his service and his sufferings for Christ. True love is measured by sacrifice. How much have you suffered and sacrificed for Christ, is what he's saying. The real credentials is his track record, not endorsements from officials. It's interesting how you can see how Paul could not tell you what he had seen in heaven and yet today our modern super-apostles produce films and regale audiences of millions on television with their imaginative descriptions of what they claim they saw or heard in heaven. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9 And God said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly will I rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong. From chapter 10, verse 13, Paul goes on the attack against false prophets, these false apostles, these Judaizers, and he describes them in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light, Lucifer, the Illuminati. In Afrikaans they speak about the verlichters. They're all coming from the same term. Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. In a passage dripping with sarcasm, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 19, Paul tells the Corinthians, for you put up with fools gladly. That's where the term comes from, suffering fools gladly. since you yourselves are wise. For you put up with it if somebody brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. To our shame, I say, we were too weak for that. But if in whatever anyone is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3 But I fear less somehow as the serpent deceived Eve. by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted for the simplicity that is in Christ. For he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you have received a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not received, you may well put up with it. And so Paul speaks about a different Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel, and I must say that most of what is going on today in the name of Christianity, at least on the television, is a different gospel, preaching a different Jesus, and they've got a different spirit from the Holy Spirit. Do not devalue those who live by faith. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 17. Did I commit sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted? Because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge. I robbed other churches, he says, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you in the need, I was a burden to no one. For what I lacked, the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. and everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you and so I will keep myself. Paul's saying I wouldn't accept support from you because of the carnality and the criticisms and the negative feedback he's getting from them. For we are not as so many peddling the word of God but of sincerity as from God we speak in the sight of God in Christ. So 2 Corinthians 2 17 he's speaking about not peddling the word of God, like a salesman selling something to the highest bidder. In 2 Corinthians 12 verse 20 Paul condemns the church at Corinth for contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbiting, whisperings, conceits and tumults. What a church to minister amongst. Wow. And Paul challenges the Corinthians, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith, test yourselves, 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. Paul then urges them to do what is honourable, that you may become complete. And he prays several times, may you become complete. The Reformation doctrine of solidarity and glory is emphasised. But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord, 2 Corinthians 10, 17. That's a quote also from Jeremiah 9, verse 24. And then 2 Corinthians 4, verse 15. So solidarity and glory is a repeated emphasis here. We're called to have a Christ-centered ministry. To take up a cross, always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the life of Jesus may manifest in the body. That means take up Christ's cross, deny self, forsake the world, follow Christ. The principle of Christian liberty is taught through Corinthians 3.17. Now where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. True freedom is the fruit of the gospel. Freedom from sinful habits and addictions. Freedom from drunkenness and drugs. Freedom from the fear of man. Freedom comes from Christ. Freedom is in Christ. And when it comes to the criticisms, the testimony of Tractor of God is key. Far from the Apostle Paul needing academic degrees and commendations from famous people, his commendations were from the whippings, the imprisonments, the sufferings and tribulations he had endured with patience and steadfastness. The authenticity of his ministry is tested too by the sacrifice he had made in the Lord's service. and by the word of truth that he taught, the power of God that was evident in his ministry, the fruit of the Spirit in his conduct, the fruit of his evangelism, and the discipleship as witnessed in churches established and strengthened. He speaks about the paradoxes in Christian ministry. There is a certain amount of honour in serving the Lord, but there is dishonour from those who oppose. Yes, there are good reports, but there are also evil reports. God's servants are often accused of being deceivers, and yet they are true. They can be denigrated as unknown, and yet in other sense they're well-known. Their suffering, rejection, poverty may be sneered at by others, yet they can always rejoice and make others rich in a true and spiritual sense. As missionary Dr. David Livingstone declared, can that be called a sacrifice, which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God which we can never repay? It is emphatically no sacrifice, say rather, it is a privilege. Famous English cricketer turned pioneer missionary C.T. Studd said, if Jesus Christ be God and if he died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. And so these teachers of Jewish law in Paul's day, they carried letters of commendation with them. They were the chief troublemakers in Paul's ministry. Who is this Paul, they would ask. What letters of recommendation from Jerusalem does he have? And Paul makes clear, well, you are our letters. And not everyone may read the Word of God, but people may study our lives. And so, our conduct is an important way of communicating the Gospel to people. Not just by what we say, but by what we do. Not just by our lips, but by our lives. Paul's accused of being contentious, but there's a big difference between being destructively argumentative and divisive and having constructive conflict in order to advance the Kingdom of God. Are we arguing over nothing for pride or are we arguing over big principles of scripture to advance the Kingdom and Glory of God? If we are criticized, let it be for the stand we make on the Gospel. Let it not be because we had bad manners, or we had obnoxious personality syndrome, or were tactless, or argumentative, or divisive, or lacked grace. If we criticize, let it be because we're seeking first the Kingdom of God, applying the Lordship of Christ to all areas of life. But anything that moves will create friction. Opposition and criticism are to be expected in Lord's service. It's not a disgrace. It's not something a leader should be ashamed of if he has conflict for the right reasons. Dr. James Kendi explains in his book, Delighting God, if you rise just a modicum above the herd, if you achieve just a modicum more success than your neighbors, most assuredly bulbs of criticism are coming your way. So avoid criticism. Do nothing. Say nothing. Be nothing. The only defence against reproach is obscurity, says James Kennedy. He quotes another wise old man saying, if I tried to read much less answer all the criticisms made of me and all the attacks levelled against me, this office would have to be closed for all other business. You could keep your whole life busy reading and responding to criticism. I do the best I know how, the very best I can, and I need to keep on doing this right to the end. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would mean nothing. If the end brings me out all right, then what is said against me now will amount to nothing. There is no doubt adversity builds character. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. Trials should drive us to prayer and humble us and deepen our devotional life as we search the scriptures and ask, what is God saying to me through this? It should also enable us to empathize with other people and comfort other people who suffer injustices and problems. Christians are suffering unjust criticisms. should find opportunities to glorify God and to witness for Christ. Ultimately, God's opinion and his approval is the only one that counts, and God is the one we should consistently be seeking to please. As President Theodore Roosevelt declared, it is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled, or whether the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there's no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, in the end, knows the triumph of high achievements, who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and tibid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Let us pray. Lord God, we thank and praise you for your love and mercy as seen so clearly in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. We ask, Lord God, that you would deepen our faith Widen our vision. Help us to be more effective in your service and more bold and brave in the fight of the good fight of faith. Help us, Lord God, to run the race, to finish the race, to keep the faith. We pray this in Jesus' precious and holy name. Amen.