II Corinthians 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
It is important for people to receive the Truth. The Truth does not just fall from heaven. The Truth is found in a book called the Bible. There is a need for the Truth to be proclaimed.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
There was still some hesitancy among the recipients in Corinth regarding Paul’s message. As we see again, God is not content to allow His children to wander around aimlessly. He wants them to be walking in the Spirit and growing in the Lord.
Paul reminded them that he was not a false teacher. He had not wronged anyone. No one could accuse him of misleading anyone. His message was the Truth. He had been a corrupter as a Pharisee, but he was saved and that did away with his Pharisaism. He was not trying to trick anyone. He was not trying to get something from them. He was seeking to help people know the liberty there is in Christ.
In verse 3 Paul reminded the recipients that his goal was not to condemn anyone. Those who choose to walk in sin are condemned already. They do not need someone to come and condemn them. They need to be presented with the Truth. The Truth will expose where a person is at.
Paul reminded them that he had them in his heart. He often referred to “our” or “we”. Paul was not alone. He had companions with him. He was the only apostle present, but he had others with him. They were genuine saints. They had the best interest of the people in mind. They were teaching the Truth and giving the people the opportunity to respond to the Truth.
In verse 4 he reminded the recipients of his boldness toward them. He was not apologizing for his message. He was bold and speaking with conviction. They saw that and needed to understand his purpose and his love for them.
Paul also reminded them that he was glorying over them. He was rejoicing with the good he heard them doing. As we mentioned before the true Christian is not in a battle for power or position. He is pleased to hear of others who are getting saved and growing in the Lord. He is also pleased to hear when a saved sinner who is involved in sin as a saved person, repents.
Paul saw his sufferings as being worth it when he could hear of a saint that was growing in the Lord. He knew that there were others who hated the Truth and thus he faced tribulation because he spoke the Truth. It was worth it to suffer as he saw others humble themselves in repentance and receive the Truth.
In verse 5 he reminded them of the challenges they had faced. In chapter 2:12 he has spoken of the open door God had given them in Troas. The work of the ministry was hard on their bodies. They faced persecution from the Judaizers. The Roman soldiers seemed to work against them and for the Pharisees. There were struggles from without, but also internal struggles.
Paul was an apostle, but he was also a human being. He understood what suffering for the Gospel was all about. The Corinthian saints needed to be reminded of the dedication in Paul’s life. He was willing to suffer in order to get the Truth into their hearts. The suffering was worth it when he could witness the growth in the saints.
In verse 6 Paul reminded them of the fact that he was never alone. God was there to comfort him. Even when the Corinthians had not been willing to take up the slack and serve God faithfully, he was never alone. On the occasion referred to, God sent him Titus. God knows how to comfort His people. His comfort may be different at different times, but it is always real and just what is needed.
We see in verse 7 that the Corinthian saints had been a comfort to Titus. He had witnessed their humility and their repentance. I read a report recently of some special meetings where this woman came forward and she had been raised in a Reform religion and thus “baptized” as a baby. Now she came and wanted to be baptized as an adult. There may be more to that conversation, but if she was raised Reform, she would not even know what salvation is. To them the “infant baptism” is the initial step in a process. There is no repentance and no true faith in Christ in that religion. The woman would need to be shown God’s way of salvation first, before she would ever be baptized. I hope they made that clear to her. It is a tragedy when a person is under conviction and the person that should be dealing with them, is deceiving them.
God works in the heart of sinners. He wants them to repent toward Him and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The problem with man is that pride is a common sin for all of us. The pride of man keeps him from repentance. Rather, it wants to make a deal with God. Most people who profess salvation these days, have made a deal with God.
Their salvation is like the deal that President Trump made with Iran. Iran won. Iran gets to keep enriching uranium, only not for military purposes. The Iranians are liars and they will continue to do just as they did before. Iran has said before that they have never won a war, but they have never lost in a negotiation. The same is true today. Mr. Trump needs to come away looking good. He has such a large ego and he wants to be seen as the greatest man on earth. There will be some who will “worship” him. However, those with their eyes open will realize this deal is a huge failure, but also expected when we read the Bible.
When it comes to salvation, there is no compromise allowed. Salvation must be on God’s terms. He has every right to insist on His way. He is merciful and gracious. That does not mean He is an empty boaster like Mr. Trump and Mr. Carney and others.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth. He has the right to insist on His terms of operation in His heaven and earth. He gives man the opportunity to choose life rather than remain dead in sin. If a person repents toward Him and is genuinely saved, that person still must choose whether he will be obedient to his new Master or not.
The difference is that once a person is truly saved, that Master, Who is God/Jesus Christ, requires that person to grow in Him. If that person is truly saved, they may resist God’s will for a time, but the indwelling Holy Spirit will work in that person’s heart through the Word of God to show him the need to humble himself and follow God’s way. God has ways of chastening His child. He also has the right and power to end a disobedient saint’s life at any time.
God directed the apostle Paul to write this letter to the Corinthians to respond to the actions they had taken in I Corinthians. There had been repentance there. There had been forgiveness granted by God. There still was a need for spiritual growth. That is true for any true child of God. The flesh will always be there to try to interfere with the will of God.
The true child of God needs to be reminded of the need for humility. True learning can only take place when a person realizes that he does not know everything. It is important to realize that God’s Word is absolute Truth. Man’s opinions are not worth much. God’s Word is important.
The apostle Paul was writing this letter to encourage the saints to grow in the Lord. There was a need to understand God’s forgiveness and how to encourage a repentant sinner. When a person chooses to withdraw from the true local church he cannot find help. That is never the solution. The solution is to humble oneself and receive the Word of God and follow the Word of God. True salvation is necessary for that to take place.
As we have often mentioned, there are thousands of pseudo Christians out there. If that is what you want to pattern yourself after, you will never know the truth.
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
We will continue to look at these verses tomorrow, Lord willing.
Pastor Bartel