2 Corinthians 1

Today-begin a series of messages working our way through a specific book of the Bible.

It has been about a year since we last did this-explored 1 Corinthians last Spring.

Today: 2 Corinthians.

2 Cor has some interesting features that set it apart from other writings of the New Testament. Like much of the New Testament, it is a letter written by an Apostle, Paul, to one of the churches he founded: the church in Corinth. The 2nd letter he wrote that we have in the Bible-meaning is is considered to be inspired by God and valuable for the whole church.

2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

Many of these letters, or Epistles - which is taken from the Latin word for letter-are highly instructive. the Apostle writing the letter is often either addressing certain issues in the church and providing spiritual direction or they are sharing ideas about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

That all works really well for teaching and preaching. You can read through each section of those letters and typically find a solid theological topic you can explore.

2 Cor is not like that so much.

As I read through the 1st chapter this week I found a couple of statements Paul makes i felt that i could pull a lessons out of, but i don’t like to do that…that would be making a message from a few words/sentences out of all Paul is writing here…and not focusing on his point and his purpose in writing.

I realized that as I have read through 2 cor in the past, I have found myself reading through sections of this letter looking for meaning because some parts are just not as clearly meaningful on the surface.

There is more to this letter than just instructions or lessons Paul writes about.

2 Cor is considered to be the most personal of Paul’s letters. Writing from his heart to people he cares about and sharing a lot of thoughts about his personal ministry.

For this reason, 2 Cor actually tends to get overlooked a lot in preaching and bible studies.

There are certainly some good lessons in various parts of this letter, so they get referenced by other topical discussions.

But in order to take a good look at this letter as a whole, it’s really helpful to consider some of the history and background of Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth and consider his motives in writing this letter.

So let’s start by considering what we know about Paul and Corinth and what has led to the writing of this letter. We don’t have a lot of details about some things, but all of this is taken from what we read in other parts of the Bible. Some of this review from study of 1 Cor last year..but good starting point for us

Start with Acts 18.

Book of Acts is an overview of the birth of the church and how the Good News of who Jesus is and what He did began to transform the world! Fascinating read!

Starts the moment before Jesus is taken into heaven and tells his disciples they are to be his witnesses in all the world..follows the spread of the Gospel through Jerusalem…Judea…Samaria…and starts to spread to the world.

At a certain point, the narrative of Acts follows Paul’s journeys. Converts from a persecutor of the church to a follower of Christ in Acts 9. And he immediately responds to Jesus’ call for Him to take the Gospel throughout the ancient world.

Last part of Acts 17, Paul is in Athens, Greece waiting for this friends Silas and Timothy to join him. In Athens, he shares the Gospel in Jewish synagogues as he did in every place he visited and he debated with Greek philosophers-telling them about Jesus and his resurrection and some of the people in Athens committed their lives to Jesus.

Paul then left Athens and went to Corinth-probably a 2-3 day journey by foot.

Pick up narrative in Acts 18.

Read Acts 18:1-6.

So, this is when Paul first meets this couple -Aquila and Priscilla who end up traveling with Him. He writes about them in Romans as his fellow workers in Christ.

we get an interesting glimpse into Paul’s personal life outside of preaching here. He is a tentmaker and joined with Aquila and Priscilla in that work as they lived in Corinth.

Preaching in synagogue-very typical of what we see in Acts. while some of the Jews were convinced by Paul and followed Jesus, many rejected him.

So…he took his message to the Gentiles…the non-Jews.

v7-began to preach in the home of a Gentile man who worshiped God…found several people there who put faith in Jesus - they believed and were baptized - including the leader of the Jewish Synagogue and his family.

ended up staying in Corinth for the next year and a half then continued his journeys.

this was about 50-52 AD when church in Corinth was founded-a little less than 20 years after jesus’ resurrection.

Next thing we learn about Corinth is from Paul’s letter 1 Corinthians -written between 55-56 AD from Ephesus-Paul’s next major stop.

In that letter, Paul tells about a previous letter he had written to the church. That letter is no longer in existence..but he tells us he was addressing how they should engage with people in the church indulging in certain kinds of sin-had more to say in 1 Corinthians.

Little bit of trivia to highlight here: 1 Cor is actually Paul’s 2nd letter that we know of to Corinth.

We learned in 1 Cor that the church was experiencing some turmoil. There we divisions between people about what human teacher they should follow…lawsuits between Christians…divisions about rules they should hold everyone to…Paul addressing all this in 1 corinthians.

So not long after Paul left, this church started experiencing turmoil…divisions…people influencing others to embrace sin.

In this letter he tells them he is going to pay them a visit to address these things.

1 Corinthians 4:18–21 ESV

Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

Going to enforce some discipline in this group.. not going to be a pleasant visit!

In fact in 2 Cor 2…tells them his desire to visit them again, but doesn’t want this next visit to be a painful visit like the last one!

So we know that between 1 and 2 Cor there was this strife between Paul and the church in which he confronted them on some things.

Wrote them 2 letters and then went to confront them in person!

And it seems that they did not take it well! It fact, in 2 cor Paul mentions another letter he had written-another lost letter-(2 Cor is actually 4th letter)-that we wrote with much anguish and many tears not wanting to cause more grief. He held back on visiting them yet again because he wanted to spare them from another rebuke!

But by the time Paul writes 2 Cor, his fellow worker Titus had come from Corinth. He finally had a positive report from the church! About 5 years after the founding of the church. They wanted to see Paul again, they expressed sorrow for what had happened, and how they had changed their ways.

From the time the church was started-52 to 57…There have been about 5 years of divisions & discord…arguing with Paul, questioning his authority. Can you imagine what a burden that must have been for Paul? loved these people..wanted best for them..but had to stand up to them…and bear their insults and attacks.

Maybe you can relate on a personal level. Think of relationships you have had in which you genuinely care for someone, but they resist you, maybe even oppose you if you try to give them any kind of guidance/correction for their own good.

I’d say it’s a fairly common experience isn’t it? Happens in all sorts of relationships. Tension and pain mixed with love and concern can be a difficult burden to bear.

In this letter of 2Cor, we get to observe how Paul, a man who is doing his best to love Jesus and love the people he serves with all his heart, mind, and strength respond to people who have caused him a great deal of heartache but are now, finally expressing remorse and repentance for their past behavior.

We will see how Paul expresses his ongoing love, and his faith God’s grace & peace-That FAITH is a key point to highlight today-say more in a bit.

We will witness his struggle to uphold what is right & true knowing it will cause grief and turmoil with these people he care so much for; and we will see how he answers accusations that were made against him. Not only did the people in Corinth resist what Paul was pleading with them to do, there were some there who called Paul’s authority into questions. So part of 2 cor includes Paul’s need to defend himself…perhaps even venting some frustration! He is a human with feelings just like any of us!

This is the backdrop of this letter…let’s keep it in mind as we read through it and consider how Paul is responding to all that has happened between him and the church in Corinth.

turn to 2 Cor 1.

Read vv 1-2

Couple of important declarations here:

apostle by the will of God. - as I mentioned, Paul’s status has been challenged. Asserting here -as he does in many of his letters-that God appointed him as an apostle.

Church of God: despite all the trouble he’s had with this group, still declaring them to be God’s church..God’s people.

That belief…that faith in God…not in the people…but in God’s faithfulness and God’s ability to reach them is key to persevering through this trial. Paul was so confident in God’s faithfulness to those who had put their faith in Jesus, that he did not give up seeing them as God’s beloved in spite of their sin and stubbornness.

Read vv3-7: this is one of those sections you can pull out of the letter and study on its own…draw out some good points here about the way God cares for people in their suffering…and enables us to care for one another.

but let’s step back a bit and consider the context of this letter. Paul’s previous encounters with these people were not positive…when he last saw them, they were still in dispute.

But now, through Titus, they have expressed hope that Paul would return to them. Paul t felt some relief and joy in hearing that..but also needs to bridge the gap that has grown between them

So as he begins this letter, Paul frames the distress, suffering we can experience as we follow Jesus in the context of the comfort God can provide and how he can strengthen us and even bond us together through suffering.

As Paul reaches out to these people he is affirms his hope in them and assurance that as they share in suffering together they will also share in God’s comfort…That God will use all they have been through for good.

Read vv8-11: Here Paul provides an explanation for why he has not come sooner. Serious trouble in Asia! We do know that a great riot broke out in Ephesus over Paul’s teaching…his life was in danger.

Again this is a reassurance to the church :that Paul was not purposely delaying his next visit.

Goes on to highlight the fact that he honestly did want to visit them…not making false promises:

vv 12-23.

that is the intro to this letter. What you see here overall is that Paul is moving toward these people he has been in conflict with in love and hope in the Lord.

It is that enduring hope in the Lord I want us to see today. Paul is willing and able to seek reconciliation with these people who have been the source of such trouble for Him because of his hope in the Lord.

He knows that of God’s great love and mercy. Paul describes himself as the worst of sinners…he persecuted the church when if first started…but Jesus went to Paul personally and corrected Him and forgave Him. Having experienced god’s mercy, how could he not know that god would be merciful to others?

God loves all people and seeks reconciliation with them all. And he has patient…waiting for us to recognize our own sin and rebellion against him....waiting for every person to see He offers himself as their loving, merciful father and guide through life.

We are often like the Corinthians…not wanting to hear correction…rejecting anyone who tries to point us back to God.

But god is patient with us…continues to reach out in love.

And so after years of conflict, Paul had experienced a lot of pain and personal attack from people in Corinth, but he was still confident that God was at work among these people and could restores their relationships,

Jesus emphasized this in his sermon on the mount: Matthew 5:21-24.

This example of reconciliation between Paul and the Corinthians illustrates once again that the Gospel is so much greater than just our individual forgiveness of sin and getting “right with God’…not just a spiritual or religious matter.

not about our righteousness…our good behavior…us getting it right and back on track with God. Certainly God desires that…but the what leads us to that…is God’s unending mercy…His patience…his faithfulness. His unconditional love.

Throughout it all God does call us to be changed…it is his love that leads people to change…to trusting in Him.

And so as Paul seeks once again to reconnect with this church in Corinth…He trusts God and follows Jesus’ example of lovingly pursuing them in truth…that is what He has been doing all along even as he struggled with how to give them correction and call on them to follow Jesus..didn’t want to hurt them but cared enough to let them know they were going astray...

Even while they embrace sin, still loved them…still trusted god to work among them.

Question I want to leave us with today: Are we so confident in God’s love…God’s faithfulness…God’s power that we are willing to bear with others - even when our relationships become strained. Can we maintain hope that today does not define who they are - who we are for eternity. That there is hope God can produce change?

We are certainly not responsible other people’s choices…we can’t make them change…and there are limits to what we can endure in the midst of strain. But there is always hope in the Lord that perhaps one day, God would reach them.

Can we maintain that kind of hope for one another as a church?

Can we maintain that for our city? For the people in it? Can we trust God to work among people and actively seek opportunities to work together for good because we believe in the Lords faithfulness?

This is my desire for True North…that we are a church TO this community…not just to those who come join us. Learning to tell people I am a pastor to CF serving through True North…that we would know of Gods faithfulness and be confident that He is at work among us in every relationships. Seeking to restore/reconcile all people to himself and to one another.