INTRODUCTION

The fundamental difference between Paul and the false apostles he was combating is that he surrendered to a standard from outside the world, and they submitted to a standard that arose from within. And when I use a word like standard, we are referring to both law and gospel. What is the standard for evaluating appropriate behavior? And what is the standard to telling men how they might be saved?

THE TEXT

“Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible  . . . But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth” (2 Corinthians 10:7–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is preparing to mount an attack on the apostles of the superficial (v. 7). If any of these men think they belong to Christ, Paul also does (v. 7). Paul is gearing up for some ironical boasting in the next chapter, and here he says that if he boasted of his authority, he would not be ashamed. And why? Because his authority gave, and did not grab (v. 8). The point was not to be a literary terrorist (v. 9). He is here referring to the charge that he writes a hot letter, but his pulpit presence is weak, and his eloquence is well beneath the standard (v. 10). Paul has already indicated this next point, but he says it again. On the next visit, the letters and the actions will match (v. 11). Paul has a standard outside himself. Those who measure their yardstick with another yardstick are not wise (v. 12). Or even worse, they are not wise who measure a yardstick by holding it up to a mirror. Paul says that he uses the measure granted by God to him, and to them as well (v. 13). Paul is not getting outside his lane by dealing with the Corinthians, because he was the one who had first shared the gospel with them (v. 14). Paul refuses to encroach on another man’s ministry, but is of course open to mutual edification (v. 15). He is certainly open to having the Corinthians help him in the task of preaching the gospel in regions beyond them (v. 16). The one who glories should do so in the Lord (v. 17). Self-congratulation establishes nothing—only God’s commendation counts for anything (v. 18).

THE PROBLEM OF HYPOCRISY

We live in a subjective age, and so many people are not ashamed to say that their standard is provided by the guidance of their own heart. But the Scriptures reject this as truly foolish.

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26).

But there are two kinds of fools. There are those who trust in their own hearts, and say that this is what they are doing. Here the folly is out in the middle of the table. The second kind is the one who trusts in his own subjective understanding, but clothes it in the more orthodox language of objective truth. We can see this in the parable Jesus told about the conceited Pharisee who went down to the Temple to pray. Jesus spoke the parable against those who “trusted in themselves” (Luke 18:9). But the language the Pharisee used was good, solid Reformed stuff. “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are . . .” (Luke 18:11). “Lord, all the credit for me being so wonderful goes to You, and only to You.” Something is still off. And beware. How many of us read that parable and thank God that we are not like that Pharisee?

In this passage, Paul was genuinely submitting the whole thing to God. When we pray, we should talk like we mean it.

THE POSSIBILITY OF FAILURE

One of the best ways to tell if you are using a subjective or objective biblical metric is by whether or not there is any possible scenario where you would receive correction. How good are you are removing the beam from your own eye (Matt. 7:1-5)? How good are you at considering yourself, lest you also be tempted (Gal. 6:1)? How good are you at not judging others with a standard that would also flunk you (Rom. 2:1-3).

Suppose the existence of an invisible recording device hung around every neck that only recorded moral judgments leveled against others. “She ought not . . . I can’t believe he . . . Those people are awful . . . Did you see what . . .” Suppose God distilled an ethical code from all of those statements, and then judged each person in strict accordance with thatstandard. All of us would be condemned. We would be in the position of David talking to Nathan about Bathsheba, before he knew they were talking about Bathsheba.

By way of contrast, we know that Paul was the real deal because of statements like this.

“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Corinthians 4:4–5).

BOASTING IN THE LORD

This is a matter that requires real spiritual wisdom. The occasions for boasting in the Lord will arise when people think that you had something to do with it. God is being very good to us here in this Moscow project, and there is no way to talk about it without referring to it. But I still wince inside whenever I hear it referred to this way. Even when I refer to it this way. And why? Because we should boast in the Lord.

But we have to look at it from the other side as well. We cannot boast in the Lord, who dwells in the highest heaven, and does nothing in particular. It is not boasting in the Lord to talk about the attributes of God in a way that is detached from all human history. God reveals Himself in His great and wonderful works. Miriam was not dancing beside the sea because she had just finished reading a chapter in a theological tome on the divine aseity. She was dancing because Jehovah had bared His strong right arm, and “Pharaoh’s army got drownded.”

And when we ask what this external objective standard is, we must immediately correct ourselves. The question is not what the standard is, but rather who the standard is. And the answer to that question is the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The central message from Christ is not “go over there and do those good deeds.” The central message is “come, follow me.”

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INTRODUCTION

As we come to chapter 10 of this epistle, we need to be reminded again of who the players are. We have the majority of the Corinthian church, and they are on Paul’s side—even though a number of them had just recently been brought back to Paul’s side by means of his “severe letter.” In the opposite corner were the false teachers, who had instigated the rebellion in the first place. And then we likely have to budget for regular members of the church who were more entangled by the false teachers than others had been, and who were still not reconciled to Paul. The first nine chapters of this letter were directed to those on Paul’s side, and here at chapter 10, Paul moves to the necessity of church discipline. Something has to be done about those who are continuing to disrupt the unity of the congregation. It was now time to discipline those who refused to repent of their stubborn opposition.

THE TEXT

“Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:1–6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins with a deeply ironic statement. He knew that his enemies said that he was no great shakes in his public speaking, and he acknowledges that this was true, but only in part. He pleads by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, knowing that he, an unpolished speaker, could still write a very tough letter (v. 1). In verse 2, he says “don’t make me come back there.” He pleads with them to make any personal boldness from him unnecessary. Because if that happens, he is going to unload on those who maintained that Paul walked “according to the flesh” (v. 2). He acknowledges that he has a physical body, but he doesn’t fight that way, he does not war “after the flesh” (v. 3). In contrast, his weapons are not carnal and earthly, but rather mighty through God for the toppling of citadels (v. 4). He has the ability to throw down “imaginations,” to throw down “high pride that is anti-God,” and to take “every thought” the prisoner of Christ (v. 5). And verse 6 makes it plain that he is talking about doing all of this at the upcoming congregational meeting (v. 6). When the Corinthian church submits, he will discipline any remaining outliers.

EXEGESIS AND APPLICATION

When we are studying Scripture, we must understand the difference between exegesis (what the original readers understood by it) and application (what we intend to do with it). There should be a great deal of overlap between the two, but they do not map on to one another perfectly. Here is an example. When Paul tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequently ailments (1 Tim. 5:23), exegesis tells us that Timothy had frequent digestive ailments and that Paul told him that wine should help. One application could be a modern Christian taking a little wine for stomach trouble, which would be a great deal of overlap, but another application could be to quote this verse in a debate with a teetotaler. This would be a legitimate application, even if Paul had never imagined the existence of teetotalers.

We should learn this distinction because Paul’s language here in this passage is high rhetoric indeed, and hence can easily be applied to the cosmic forces of unbelief—Darwinism, postmodernism, atheism, relativism, and the universities that house them. And because we do encounter imaginations there, and high unbelief, and disobedience to Christ, it is a legitimate application. But the exegesis requires us to apply this language to a looming showdown with false teachers at Corinth.

WHEN FALSE TEACHERS STRUT

In the Greek world, any rhetorician worth his salt would be anything but humble. But Paul was following Christ, who was gentle and lowly of heart (Matt. 11:29), and this meant that his humility was one of his qualifications. The “some” of v. 2 are most likely the false apostles of (2 Cor. 11:5,13-15), and their carriage was magnificent, and their ability to command large honoraria was significant. Their spirit was measured by the size of the speaking fee they could draw down. Some things really haven’t changed. They were trained in public speaking, and were both confident and charismatic. They were polished, and knew just when to slap the thigh. They were splashy, and knew how to put on a show. Paul answered them with gospel—straight no chaser (2 Cor. 4:2-6).

STRAIGHT NO CHASER

The humility and weakness that was characteristic of Paul’s ministry is the kind of humility and weakness that will conquer the world. Blessed are the meek, for what? For they will inherit the earth (Ps. 37:11; Matt. 5:5). The foundation of this great spiritual cathedral will be anchored to the cornerstone of our Lord having been nailed naked to a pole, and there suffering the indignity of a criminal’s death. There was no doubt still dried spittle on His face. That is how God glorified the name of Christ (John 12:28), and by so doing glorified His own name.

Satan had shown the Lord the kingdoms of this world, and all their glory (Matt. 4:8), and the Lord turned away from it. He was not turning away from glory—He was turning away from that kind of petty glory. He was rejecting a tinsel glory. He was refusing the thin glory of gold foil. He was turning down the superficial honor that comes so easily to superficial apostles.

It is so easy for us to slip back into the respectable mentality that made these false apostles so attractive. The cross was one of the most excruciating instruments of torture ever devised, and we make it into fine silver jewelry. The jewelry is fine, so long as we don’t forget what it means. A cross on the steeple is something we are going to have, but may we never turn it into a sophisticated brand. We have many hymns that sentimentally refer to Calvary. But that name comes from the Latin word for skull, calvarium—because in English the Lord died on Skull Hill. Golgotha is the Aramaic name for the same thing, so no refuge for us there. And the glory is that the cross of the Lord Jesus was the tent peg of God, driven into Sisera’s head.

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INTRODUCTION

If God is seeking to grow us up into a particular kind of person, then He is going to provide us with whatever is necessary to accomplish His intention in that. God has no goals for us “in theory,” but somehow unprovided for. The telos of our lives is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29; Phil. 3:21), to have grown up into a particular kind of person. The last day will not consist of us opening our spiritual ledger books in order that the number of commands kept and broken might be tallied up. Eventually we will all become what we have been becoming, and if that is a good thing, God will have provided you with what you need along the way.

THE TEXT

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:8–15).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

God is fully capable of keeping us supplied. If He wants us to drive somewhere, He will make sure we have the gas (v. 8). Hudson Taylor once put it well when he said that God’s work done in God’s way will never lack for God’s supply. This is provision enough for every good work (v. 8). Paul then gives us a chain of three quotations. The first is from Ps. 112:9—the man who is generous to the poor has a lasting righteousness. Then Paul quotes Isaiah 55:10, virtually verbatim from the Septuagint, with Paul supplying the conclusion from Hoses 10:12—that God will multiply their seed, and will also increase the fruits of their righteousness (v. 10). Great benefits will accrue from this. The first blessing is that there will be thanksgiving rendered to God (v. 11). Not only are the saints blessed, but God is thanked (v. 12). That’s good. The second great blessing is that God is glorified (v. 13)—submission to the gospel by Christians and liberal giving in all directions brings glory to God (v. 14). That’s good also. The third great blessing is the growth of mutual affection between believers (v. 14). Remember too that this gift is bridging a Gentile/Jew divide. Possessors of grace are drawn to others in whom that same kind of grace dwells. And Paul concludes by rendering thanks to the giving God, the God who has tendered to us the unspeakable gift (v. 15).

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GENEROSITY

Too often we think of righteousness in terms of integrity and uprightness and keeping the law. This, we assume, is in some sort of tension with mercy. But in the ways of God, in the pattern of gospel, we find something different. “Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).

The man who gives to the poor—his righteousness endures forever (Ps. 112:9). And when God multiplies the seed of generosity, it is so that the harvest of righteousness might be abundant. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). Sow righteousness, reap mercy. Sow mercy, reap righteousness. Plant the right crop in the right soil and God will ensure that it rains righteousness. Ultimately it is all the same crop, which means we are not wrong if we look for it to rain mercy as well.

SEED CORN COSTS MONEY

There is always room for generosity. There is always God’s provision to enable generosity. The scales may vary—one saint in a prison cell may share a crust of bread and great men of war may share honor and food with their brothers—as happened when David was made king.

“All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel” (1 Chronicles 12:38–40).

You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared and ordained beforehand for you to do (Eph. 2:10). Young men are to show a pattern of good works (Tit. 2:7), and all of us are to be zealous after good works (Tit. 2:14). Tabitha was a woman “full of good works” (Acts 9:36). Now here is the thing. Good works cost both time and money. So if God has assigned these good works to you, and God is Himself generous, do you think He will let you run dry in the middle of your tasks? Not a bit of it.

DESCRIBING THE INDESCRIBABLE

This word rendered here as unspeakable was apparently a word coined by the apostle Paul himself. This is the first appearance of the word anywhere in Greek. What is this indescribable gift?

God gave us the gift of Himself. A virtuous man might venture to lay his life down for a righteous or a good man. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Notice the logic of Paul’s argument. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10).

Once God gave us the gift beyond all possible gifts—the death, burial and resurrection of His Son—what on earth could make us think that He would go that far so that He might suddenly pivot and become stingy? Is God a cosmic scrooge? Is the right hand of the Almighty clenched in a tightfisted way? The idea of anything like that could make a cat laugh.

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INTRODUCTION

When preachers preach about money, it is too often the case that they focus on how the rank-and-file believers ought to be handling their money. But if we follow the lead of Scripture, and especially Paul, we will find ourselves talking about how preachers ought to collect money. And how they ought not to.

THE TEXT

“And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not . . .” (2 Corinthians 8:10–24).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Against the background of “get to, not got to,” Paul is now willing to give some advice on giving to the Corinthians, who had a year before indicated their eagerness to give (v. 10). As you were willing a year ago, now would be a good time to execute on that commitment (v. 11). Paul wants them to give from what they have (v. 11), and he lays down the principle—if there is a willing mind, God reckons the gift according to the resources available (v. 12). Remember the widow’s mites (Mark 12:42). Paul’s intention is not to burden them in order to ease others (v. 13). The principle is one of reciprocity—what goes around comes around. He wants their current abundance to be a blessing for the saints in Jerusalem, and another time it can run the other way. This is what Paul means by equality (v. 14). He then quotes Ex. 16:18, where in the gathering of the manna there was always enough (v. 15). Paul then returns to the eagerness of Titus to return to Corinth (v. 16). He was exhorted to go back to Corinth, but he didn’t require persuasion (v. 17). Paul then introduces two (unnamed) brothers. The first is a famous brother (v. 18), of great reputation among the churches, and elected by them to escort the gift to Jerusalem (v. 19). The reason is so that everything might be above reproach (v. 20), doing what is prudent and honest in the sight of both God and man (v. 21; Prov. 3:4). Paul then mentions a man we might call the “earnest brother.” Paul knew him, and apparently had selected him, but both men in v. 23 are called messengers (lit. apostles) of the churches, and so they both had official status. Paul then strongly commends all three men to the Corinthians (v. 23). This passage then concludes with Paul exhorting the Corinthians to show these men the proof of their love, and for them to vindicate Paul’s boasting on their behalf (v. 24).

THE MONEY TRAP

There is an old warning for Christian leaders that cautions them about the 3 G’s—glory, gold, and girls. This portion of 2 Corinthians is about the gold. A story is told of a time when Thomas Aquinas called upon the pope, and came in upon him when the pontiff was counting out a large sum of money. “You see,” the pope said, “the church can no longer say, ‘silver and gold have I none.’ Thomas replied, ‘True, holy Father, and neither can she now say, ‘Rise up and walk.’” The point here is not that mammon is an idol out in the world—everyone knows that. The point is that it is a snare within the church, and is particularly a snare for leaders within the church.

You cannot serve both God and mammon (Luke 16:13). Because of this teaching, we are told the Pharisees scorned Jesus because they were lovers of money (Luke 16:14). “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:17, NKJV). Christian elders must not be covetous (1 Tim. 3:3; 2 Tim. 3:2). When Paul thanks the Philippians, he is careful to let them know that his desire for them is not grasping (Phil. 4:17). False teachers according to Peter are cursed children, with hearts “exercised with covetous practices” (2 Pet. 2:14). There is a certain kind of teacher who supposes that godliness is a means of financial gain (1 Tim. 6:5).

OUR RIGHT OT TALK ABOUT THIS

One of the abuses Paul had apparently been accused of by his adversaries at Corinth was the sin of fleecing the flock financially (see 12:14-18; 2:17; 7:2; 11:7-12). That is why he is at great pains to explain his financial precautions to the Corinthians. And as the great apostle has set us a good example in this, let me take this opportunity to do the same thing.

In the history of our congregation, we have never once passed the plate. The offering box is in the back, if you can find it. We present the offering during worship, but we do not gather it then. And you may have noticed that after the service the offering is counted, on the premises, by a team of men, not one man. When that offering is deposited in the bank by the church office, it is walked to the bank by a team of two staff members. The person who does our bookkeeping has no authority to cut checks. And so on. Now we do not do this because we are in a constant state of suspicion, but rather because—like Paul—we know that we live in a fallen world, and like Paul we want to do what is right in the sight of God and all men (v. 21).

A SNAKE-HANDLING CHURCH

There are two kinds of idols. One kind of idol is simply a false god, a carved piece of wood or stone that you bow down to, light candles or leave baskets of fruit in front of, and so on. This kind of idol must simply be toppled, in the most literal sense. But there is another kind of idol—where a legitimate part of your life assumes an importance it ought not to have. In this case, repentance means restoring that person or thing to their proper role. For example, Paul teaches us that covetousness is idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5), but after repentance, a man must still handle money. That means he must learn how.

Some misguided brethren have thought that the promise of Mark 16:18 means that handling rattlers ought to be incorporated into the liturgy. Although we do not agree with that interpretation, we are nevertheless a snake-handling church. We have an offering box in the back, and after the worship service men take it out and count it. Thus far, thanks to God, we have been spared.

THE GLORY OF CHRIST

The only way it is possible for this to happen is by the grace of God found in Christ. And when this happens, it happens in such a way as to magnify, not the church where it happens, but rather the reason it happens. Notice the phrase Paul uses to describe the team of three men who are coming to collect the offering at Corinth. What does he call them? He calls them “the glory of Christ” (v. 23). And that is what a worship service is all about, the presentation of the offering included. The whole thing is calculated to glorify Christ.

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