II Corinthians 12:11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
13 For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
God continued to direct the apostle Paul to expose the weakness of the saints in Corinth. He should not have to waste time proving who he was. They should have recognized his authority in Christ. They should have recognized he was teaching them the truth.
Instead, they had allowed the false teachers to impress them. Paul declared, in a mocking manner, that they had no advantage over him. Among the true apostles, there was no competition. None of them were jealous of the other. However, among the false apostles there was a competition. In order for them to seem authentic they had to try to discredit the true apostle. In this situation, it was Paul that they needed to discredit. The problem was that their quackery was not succeeding. The Corinthian saints were weak but they were still true saints.
In verse 12 Paul spoke of the signs of an apostle. God gave them signs to prove they were true apostles. The Scriptures were not complete yet and the people needed some way to know who was telling the truth.
The false apostles could talk, but they could not prove they were genuine. They had no power. However, the true apostles could talk, but they could also prove they were genuine by doing signs that were genuine and were similar to those done by their Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not in competition with the Lord. They were not superior to the Lord. They made no attempt to even try to prove equality with Jesus Christ.
We do not need signs and wonders today because we have the completed Scriptures. Anyone can examine what someone is teaching by studying the Word of God. Opinions do not count. God’s Word is Truth and that settles any question a person might have.
Paul had proved his genuine nature through his patience, his signs and wonder and mighty deeds.
In verse 13 he asked them to explain to him how they were inferior to other churches. The only inferiority was that they had not seen the importance of providing for his needs while he was with them. Thus they missed out on the blessing of being a blessing to the apostle Paul. They robbed themselves of that blessing by being selfish. Paul asked forgiveness for this wrong. He was using sarcasm in that statement. They were not thinking the way true saints should think. They should have been apologizing to him for their neglect of this important aspect of ministry.
In verse 14 Paul reminded them that this was now the third time he was ready to come to them. There is debate as to the meaning of the phrase “the third time”. There really is no need to debate it at all. Paul was directed by God to write every word he wrote. Thus he was not lying, nor did he mis-state anything.
The important point here is that he was not going to be burdensome to them. They assumed it was not necessary for them to support him physically or materially. He was not going to beg, nor force them to give to his needs. He did not come to them to profit off them. He was not like the false teachers. They are always looking for a “cash cow” to milk. They will tell stories and make up things to try to impress the gullible. Too often, people are impressed by the liars.
Paul was interested in their spiritual well-being. If their hearts would be strengthened in Christ, the rest would fall in line. He used a family example to further explain what he meant.
In a home, the children to not work to support the parents. The parents work and they feed and clothe and provide housing for the children. Parents do not charge rent to their young children. This is not in any way suggesting that children should stay home and sponge off their parents once they are adults. This is talking of children who are under their parents’ care. There comes a time in a child’s life where they need to take care of their own bills. They need to learn responsibility and they need to learn what life is all about.
In the spiritual sense, the apostle Paul was willing to accept help from other churches as well as work on the side, in order to help the Corinthian saints to grow in the Lord. The important thing is for God’s children to grow and be strengthened in the inner man. God does not intend to burden His children. He wants to bless them. Learning to give to the work of the Lord is part of the blessing that God’s children need to learn.
Paul reminded them of the injustice they were guilty of. The more he demonstrated the love of God to them, the less loved he was by them. When a person’s heart is not right with the Lord, the truth will be offensive. Until that person is broken and realizes the importance of the Truth, that will be the situation. The servant of the Lord needs to be patient, as Paul was, and continue to teach the truth in the hope that the true saints will be humbled to receive the Truth and grow in the Lord. Those who continue to fight demonstrate who they truly are.
Pastor Bartel