God be with You

2 Corinthians 13:11–14 NASB 2020

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, mend your ways, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

Introduction

A) Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The most befitting song for this day and occasion is “Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures, here below. Praise Him above, You heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Today is not only the first Sunday after Pentecost, it is also Trinity Sunday. Post-modern Christianity had almost forgotten this crucial doctrine, but we want to revisit it today.

B) Context of the Text

The text that arrest our attention today comes from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth. Paul clearly identifies himself as the author (1:1), and this has never been seriously disputed. He wrote 2 Corinthians during his third missionary journey, after leaving Ephesus, likely in the fall of A.D. 56 while in Macedonia—just months before his return to Corinth in the winter of A.D. 56/57.

The Tyndale Bible Dictionary says

Second Corinthians was written about six months after 1 Corinthians, following Paul’s painful second visit to Corinth—a visit so troubled that he had to warn the church of severe discipline when he returned (2 Cor. 13:2–3). Because the issues remained unresolved, Paul left and attempted to address them from a distance. The core problem was that some questioned whether Christ truly spoke through him.

After sending Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, enduring hardship in Asia, and failing to find Titus in Troas, Paul finally met Titus in Macedonia. There he ministered, gathered the Macedonian offering, and wrote 2 Corinthians. Titus brought mixed news: some progress, but also new opposition from false apostles who attacked Paul’s authority, pushed excessive discipline, and used his change of travel plans to fuel criticism. Paul’s delay, meant to spare them (2 Cor. 1:23), became ammunition for his detractors.

The Body

I. A Fractured Fellowship

Herein lay the problem: because of the divisions in the church the presence and power of God could not be experienced. To correct the problem, Paul puts forth:

a. Five correctional measures

Mend your ways

Be Comforted

Be like-minded

Live in peace

b. The result of the correction

1. Not punitive

2. Restorative

II. Show Your Love

a. Don't ignore one another

b. Greetings should intimate and holy.

III. A Three-fold Blessing

a. Grace

b. Love

C. Fellowship

IV. Be with you all

a. Some of the Corinthians were against Paul, but he includes them in the blessing.

Conclusion:

A) Imperfections do not change God's Purposes.

B) God will be with believers to bring us to perfection in grace, from love, and with fellowship.