Stability in Ministry

2 Corinthians 1:15–23 ESV

15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

Paul’s Plans

Paul had plans to visit Ephesus, Corinth, and then to Macedonia.

On his return he planned to reroute from Macedonia, to Corinth, and back through Ephesus.

Paul had these plans lined out and explained to Corinth.

He is telling the church while these were my plans they had changed

The past tense in verses in 15 and 16 shows us Paul’s previous intention

We must remember as we study 2 Corinthians

Paul is defying his accusers

He is proving to the church that he is actually who he says he is

He is defending the actions he has taken to prove once and for all he truly is an apostle

Now that we have touched that we need to look at Paul’s intention

Paul obviously had a change in plans on his travels

His previous letter informed them to expect a visit

1 Corinthians 16:5–9 ESV

5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

We see that Paul had given a sense of direction to where he is going in his ministry to the churches

He has supplied them with information

He has prepared them with news of his arrival

They are expecting him

Yet he does not show

This could be either concerning for the church first of all

But the church takes a turn and starts to question Paul’s legitimacy

Why would the church try and question Paul’s legitimacy?

Paul’s plan to visit Corinth had fallen through twice.

Travel plans change of course!

In our day and age flights get delayed

Emergencies happen

Accidents happen

Scheduling mishaps

In Paul’s day it was a slow grueling travel process

Paul would have had to ride or walk miles to get to his next destination.

Knowing this the church at Corinth should have been understanding.

Even Paul in the final writings of 1 Corinthians said “if the Lord permits”.

Yet the people back at Corinth

started claiming Paul was full of empty promises

and was changing his plans based on his desires

Paul ends verse 16 with a desire to be sent to Judea

In 1 Corinthians 16:1-4

1 Corinthians 16:1–4 ESV

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

We see that Paul is seeking to go to Judea to deliver the needed funds to Judea.

He had requested an allotment of these funds be made in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4.

He had a goal to pick up the funds and distribute them to the Saints in Judea.

Paul Defies Accusation

In the next few verses we see Paul defend his actions

Vacillating means to be indecisive or to waiver between decision.

Paul asks the church was I vacillating or wavering in my plans?

Did I seem to have negative intent or be unsure in the direction I was headed?

He then says do I make my plans according to the flesh

What a bold presentation here

As Paul is defending his cause he implies that the church was thinking he was operating in accordance with fleshly desire.

Here we see just a little taste of the struggle Paul had with the church at Corinth.

He was being attacked on all fronts of the ministry for the Gospel.

How could the accusation of planning with fleshly desires hurt Paul’s ability to minister?

Thus we should also be cautious

Paul’s ability to minster people was hurt by these claims.

It caused doubt among the believers at Corinth.

Even among the people who trusted him to begin with

It caused a form of distrust to build between Corinth and Paul

Paul’s attempts to guide and instruct the church properly would have had less to stand on

thus why he is attempting to ensure the church sees his true motivation

How can we be sure someones motivations are from the Lord?

that brings us to Paul’s stability

Paul’s Stability

Paul then tells the church that his stability comes from the Lord.

Paul compares his stance in planning with the Stability in God’s faithfulness.

Paul is explaining the dire truth of his motives.

Paul’s motives lie within God’s playbook and nobody else’s.

Paul took an oath calling on God to affirm his statement

Paul understood that an attack of this manner was an attack on the doctrine he preached

which he knew was truthful

it was the Gospel in pure form

Paul fights back at these claims by calling in 2 witnesses for his apostleship and leading.

Paul calls upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

In doing so he says that he is not yes and no

instead He is God’s adamant yes to the world

He is the same yesterday today and forever

He is the one who never changes

Paul calls upon the attributes of Christ to show the depth of the One that lived within him.

States of His never changing love.

Never changing provision .

He always stuck to the perfect will of His Father in Heaven.

Jesus was and is perfect in every form.

God’s own trust in Jesus was absolute.

We see this in the last of verse 20

All of God’s promises in Him are yes

they are made complete

All of God’s promises were fulfilled in Christ!

A man’s integrity is crucial to the promises he makes

Paul is using this saying you believe in this Jesus

the same Jesus I brought to you in the first place

Paul says you are doubting the one who had preached this Jesus to them

Next Paul calls upon the Integrity of the Spirit of God

We know that after His death Jesus would send down another comforter for His people

This was the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is another fulfillment of God’s promise

Jesus promised this unto the disciples and ultimately He delivered

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus knew that the blessing of the Spirit of the Lord upon Him allowed Him to do His Father’s will

Jesus had a purpose while living on the earth and this was it!

Nobody ever handled the word of God like Jesus

He handled it with perfection

He knew when to use it and how to use it

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit upon His baptism.

God’s anointed one’s today are evidenced by certain attributes.

They have a unique grasp of the Word of God.

1 John 2:20 ESV

20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

They know how to use the Word to convict Saint and Sinner alike.

Hebrews 4:12–13 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

In Acts 18:1-18

Acts 18:1–18 ESV

1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this. 18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

We see in this passage an example of Paul’s ministry falling under use and direction of the Holy Spirit.

Paul is explaining to the people that you will see the evidence of God’s anointed ones.

He is recalling for the people evidence of his calling from the Lord

He is showing how the Lord has used him and worked through Him

Why is it important to be sure of someone’s motives within ministry?

To make sure God is guiding their boat and not the flesh

We all have a calling in life to let God lead us

Paul has provided ample evidence to the church of his calling

of God’s anointing

Their is evidence in the life of the believer as to the anointing from God

Their will be fruit to match their motives

Paul is proving to the church from their own experiences of him

He is moving and functioning at God’s command and nobody else’s

Paul also notes that they are sealed in Christ!

sealing has a lot of significance

Paul says that just as wax is poured on a letter and a seal attached to make the contract binding and permanent.

The same goes for the anointing and Salvation in Jesus Christ!

Jesus guarantees unto us Salvation and it cannot be lost.

The Spirit has been provided as our guarantee!

In verse 23

we see Paul state that he calls God as his witness

he states that it was to spare Corinth

it could have been that Paul would have used apostolic authority to fix the problem at Corinth

Instead the Lord changed his direction so that he could fix it in a different manner

Paul had already had one rough trip to Corinth so it was better to come and fix in light

the goal was not to hold it over Corinth but to increase unity and partnership

What caused Paul to have stability in life and ministry?