II Corinthians 2:1 But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?
3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
As we approach the Scriptures there are some foundational truths we need to keep in mind.
II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
No writer of the Scriptures wrote according to his own whims. Each writer wrote only that which God told him to write.
II Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
God chose holy men to write His Word. A holy man is one who is born again first of all. He is a man who is being taught by God and one who is submissive to the will of God. As a holy man he behaves in complete accordance with the will of God.
The apostle Paul was a holy man of God. God chose him to be one of the writers of the Scriptures. God is the Author of all Scripture. The men He chose to write His Word were obedient to His every Word.
Thus when we come to our text today, we understand that Paul was not writing simply because he wanted to. His heart and mind were so intertwined with God that when he expressed himself as he does in our text, he was speaking with the mind of Christ.
In chapter 1 he began to explain his delay in coming back to Corinth. He had made plans to come back, but he understood that God had the right to alter his plans for His glory. The saints needed to understand that.
Today as well, we, those who are saved, might make plans, however we need to understand that God has the right to change our plans for His glory. If we are walking with the Lord, and if we are saved we must walk with the Lord, then we will accept His leadership in our lives.
God did not want Paul to come to the Corinthians with a heavy message again. God saves people to serve Him. He puts His Holy Spirit inside every true believer. He expects His children to hear Him and to obey Him. Since the “old man” still tries to interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit, there will be times when true saints will need to be chastened of the Lord. God does not want to keep chastening His child. His chastening is such that it is powerful. The writer of Hebrews tells us that if we are not being chastened of the Lord, we are not a child of His.
In II Corinthians we learn that God’s chastening in I Corinthians had been effective in the hearts of the saints. Thus, in our verses today, God was able to send the apostle Paul back to them with a much different message. God’s will for His children is that they grow in Him. Thus in II Corinthians there will be instructions for growth. In order for growth to take place, sin must be dealt with. That can be painful to the flesh. It will be humbling. It will also be profitable.
The apostle Paul was directed by God to be the one who would deliver the message of chastening to the saints in Corinth. He did not enjoy doing that, but he was a holy man of God and thus he obeyed God’s call upon his life.
There will be times when a true pastor will need to chasten the people of God in his church. The true pastor is not an apostle, but he is called of God to teach the whole counsel of God. That includes chastening at times.
A true pastor cannot ignore God’s leadership in his life. He cannot be a “people pleaser”. He must be willing to honour God and thus he may face the displeasure of the saints at times.
Lost people will be a different thing. They do not understand the necessity of salvation and thus they will not appreciate true rebuke. Unless the lost person humbles himself and listens to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, he/she will continue to fight against the truth. He will assume the person who is honouring God and teaching the truth, is his enemy and he will either attack that person or avoid him.
The saved person can be in the flesh at times, and he too can become angry with the true messenger of God. However, if he is truly saved, he will come around to seeing that the messenger of God is not his enemy, but is actually his friend. He will come to appreciate the truth in his heart and life. That is how the true child of God grows.
As we noted at the beginning of this devotional, the true messenger of God is not inventing his own ideas. He is simply a servant of God who is declaring what God has already said.
The apostle Paul had done this and now was desirous to come to the saints with a more pleasant message.
The majority of professing Christians today have accepted the lies of New Evangelicalism as fact. They demonstrate that the Holy Spirit does not indwell them and thus they are content to accept those lies. We have the inspired Word of God and we can know the truth. No one is stuck in a rut that they cannot receive the truth. However, a lost person can persist in his wicked ways to the place where God lets them be in their sin. That is a dangerous place to come to.
God does speak of a heretic and He helps us to know who a heretic is. We are not to continue to waste our time trying to correct such a person. It is a dangerous thing when a person chooses to live in defiance of God’s Word. No one will ever correct God. He has given us His Word. He has made sure that His Word will be preserved for every generation. He is still choosing men to be pastors of local churches. Those men will teach His Word faithfully. The Holy Spirit is still at work in true saints to help them to discern truth from error. They do this by carefully studying God’s Word and examining the teaching of the local pastor to make sure he is teaching the truth. A godly pastor is able to teach the truth in such a way that the saints can see the truthfulness of the Word. No godly pastor is seeking to build an empire for himself. He is seeking to glorify God. He is not motivated by numbers, but rather by the love of God. He wants to see people saved and growing in the Lord.
God directed the apostle Paul to show the saints in Corinth that he was their friend. He wanted to help them and be able to rejoice with them. That rejoicing would only be possible as they would submit to the will of God. The same is still true today. True saints have a different standard of joy than the lost do. True saints rejoice in the things of God. They glory in that which glorifies God.
Pastor Bartel