I\u2019ve been a pastor for 35 years, this week. Over the years I\u2019ve had a number of men seated in our front room, often with their wives. Many of them have wept, their wives have invariably wept. Their faces have been white, their hands have been shaking, their confidence has been shot to pieces, they\u2019re not sleeping properly, and they\u2019re on the verge of quitting. These are not wimps or weaklings, these are strong men who have been ground down by problems, and, I think in every single case I can remember, within their own churches; not from the world, not from the outside, but from their own people. I\u2019m seeing more of such men, not less. This letter was written in Macedonia, possibly in Philippi, after a long ministry in Ephesus. 1 Corinthians has not solved all the problems in the church, and when Timothy visits Corinth, he finds that the situation is beyond his control. Timothy, frankly, can\u2019t handle it. The church has been infiltrated by false apostles\u2014as Paul calls them\u2014from Judea, ridiculing Paul. So, Paul decides to pay a visit to the church. He calls it \u201ca painful visit.\u201d (2 Corinthians 2:1). The visit, in human terms, is a complete flop and failure. He is insulted, mocked, and rejected. His advice is spurned, and he leaves the city of Corinth with laughter ringing in his ears. The church which he funded. <\/p>\n He then sends a severe letter by Titus to the church, urging them to discipline the leading troublemaker and to organize the Jerusalem collection. In the meantime, he is working in Ephesus. He is under enormous pressure. He is very anxious for news of Corinth, so anxious that he leaves Ephesus and travels to Troas, where presumably Titus was supposed to met him. Titus doesn\u2019t turn up. Paul travels on, neglecting opportunities for gospel ministry, to Macedonia, which was obviously their fallback position if they didn\u2019t meet in Troas. Titus is still not there. He is very, deeply concerned for this church; but then Titus arrives and he brings good news: the church has been repentant and obedient. 2 Corinthians is then written by Paul in joyful response to this very good news. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not all good news. The critics are still active. Newcomers have come into the church. Not the different parties or factions of 1 Corinthians, but Palestinian Jews, and they\u2019ve been influenced by Greek thoughts and attitudes, especially those of the Sophists, the professional paid orators and teachers; the glamour boys of the academic world in those days; the pop stars of intellectual life. One commentator says, \u201cThis is a new kind of Judaising. Not Galatians-type Judaising, not concerned so much with circumcision and law, but with prestige and power and glitter and glamour.\u201d Paul refers to them twice (2 Corinthians 11:5 and 12:11) as these super-apostles. The Corinthians are immature, they\u2019re heavily influenced by their culture, and they\u2019re vulnerable to the appeal of these very attractive, persuasive, new teachers. <\/p>\n The teachers over-realized the eschatology of these Corinthians, they wanted to be in the already. They were uncomfortable about being in the not-yet all the time, and this appealed to them. The pattern is the same as Galatians: if they want to take over the church, they need to destroy Paul, and so, they attack him personally. On the Jewish side, they appeal to their Jerusalem connections; on the Greek side, they use a cultural bias. These people are polished, eloquent, confident, dynamic. Real charismatic leaders. They claim superior spirituality. They have had visions, they have had ecstatic experiences, they have gone deeply into the spiritual life. They\u2019re also authoritarian, heavy-handed, and manipulative, and the people love it! They\u2019ve got a spiritual masochism that leads them to subject themselves to these incomers. These are the source of the attacks.<\/p>\n Let me, simply, read to you one paragraph from D.A. Carson\u2019s 1984 book From Triumphalism to Maturity<\/em>. It\u2019s an exposition of chapters 10 to 13 of 2 Corinthians. I urge you, if you haven\u2019t got it, get it, read, mark, learn, inwardly digest. It\u2019s more relevant now than when it was written years ago. Carson says, \u201cWe increasingly inhabit a time and place in Western history when humility is perceived to be weakness; when leadership, even in the church, frequently has more to do with politics, pizzaz, and showmanship, or with structure and hierarchy than with spiritual maturity and conformity to Christ; when loose talk of spiritual experience wins an instant following, even when that talk is mingled with scarcely concealed haughtiness that has learned neither humility nor tears. [Carson goes on]. Modern \u201cChristian success\u201d formulas, too frequently developed by hucksters of glamour, pandering to personal comfort and aggrandizement, and formulated to mesh smoothly with our pagan society\u2019s ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n Isn\u2019t that very, very good? The Prayer of Jabez<\/em> hadn\u2019t even been written! \u201cFormulated to mesh smoothly with our pagan society\u2019s ideas.\u201d So, the book is staggeringly relevant, but that\u2019s not where I want to go, because I think there\u2019s an even wider application. I want to look at a pastor under attack. That\u2019s going to be our subject: a pastor under attack. How do you deal with being attacked? There are many kinds of attacks that we may experience, as pastors. So, we\u2019re all here. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s look first at the attacks on Paul.These attacks are personal and they\u2019re damaging. He is accused, for example, of being fickle, a man who keeps changing his mind. Originally, he planned to come down from Macedonia to Corinth, on his way to Jerusalem. Ephesus; Macedonia; Corinth; Jerusalem. Then he changed his mind. Didn\u2019t do that. Told them that he was going to come straight to Corinth, then up to Macedonia, then back to Corinth for a second visit, and then on to Jerusalem. That was the second plan. He didn\u2019t do that either! He only made one visit. First of all, he said yes to one visit. Then he said no; and then he said yes to two visits; and then he said no. This amount of saying yes, no, yes, no all the time, and you don\u2019t know whether it remains yes or no! Completely undependable. <\/p>\n Second charge: he\u2019s physically unimpressive. He\u2019s an untrained orator. He can command respect only at a distance. 10:10, \u201cFor they say, \u2018His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account.\u2019\u201d Doesn\u2019t look like a leader, doesn\u2019t act like a leader. <\/p>\n Thirdly: he doesn\u2019t even have proper credentials. He says in 3:1, \u201cDo we need letters of recommendation to you or from you?\u201d Apparently, there are people who think he does need letters of recommendation, and he doesn\u2019t have them!<\/p>\n Fourth charge: he refuses financial help. He doesn\u2019t accept payment! 11:7, \u201cDid I commit a sin in humbling myself, because I preached God\u2019s gospel to you free of charge?\u201d Apparently, some people said that was a sin, that was a big flaw. Then, here is the irony of the thing: as well as being accused of not accepting payment\u2014you men have been here\u2014he is also accused of stealing the money that\u2019s being collected for Jerusalem. These people can\u2019t make up their minds. \u201cThis guy isn\u2019t interested in money. This guy is a thief!\u201d 12:16, \u201cI was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit.\u201d <\/p>\n So, these are the sort of attacks that are being brought against this pastor. Brethren, note their subtlety. Note their subtlety. Most of the facts are true. They\u2019re undeniable. Paul did change his plans. Paul was, apparently, unimpressive in appearance. He wasn\u2019t a trained orator. He did write forcefully. When he came to Corinth, he was steamrollered and had to leave in shame. He did refuse payment. He did take up a collection for Jerusalem. All those facts are perfectly true. It\u2019s the inferences drawn from the facts that are utterly false. \u201cBut how can you prove that? He\u2019s in a no-win situation.\u201d Supposing he writes a strong, forceful letter, what are they going to say? \u201cWe told you. Paper tiger, big man with a pen in his hand. Isn\u2019t that what we said? There\u2019s the evidence.\u201d Suppose he doesn\u2019t write a letter. He\u2019s going to lose the church to these people. What\u2019s he going to do?<\/p>\n If he commands himself, he\u2019s a boaster. If he doesn\u2019t command himself, well, there\u2019s nothing he can say, he\u2019s no credentials. He hasn\u2019t even the nerve to tell lies about himself. If he accepts money for preaching, he\u2019s a greedy crook! If he doesn\u2019t accept money, it\u2019s because he knows his teaching isn\u2019t worth anything. And yet, how damaging it is; very, very damaging! They\u2019re saying that Paul is an unreliable, unqualified, unauthorized, second-rate, dishonest man. Would you want to follow a leader like that? <\/p>\n Now, brethren , this gives us, I think, a clue as to how pastors are usually attacked. Normally, it is not by downright lies, by statements of fact. People don\u2019t say, \u201cHe was arrested and spent the night in jail\u201d or \u201che has a prison record\u201d or \u201che ran away with another man\u2019s wife\u201d\u2014unless those are true. Those aren\u2019t the sort of accusations that are brought against pastors. It\u2019s the inferences which are drawn; it\u2019s the motives that are imputed. \u201cHis preaching is too negative. His preaching is too shallow. His preaching is too heavy. His preaching is boring. He\u2019s authoritarian. He\u2019s heavy-handed. He\u2019s weak. He\u2019s lazy.\u201d Have any of you been accused of any of these things? \u201cHe\u2019s pastorally insensitive. He\u2019s an uncaring sort of man. Very judgemental.\u201d <\/p>\n These are the sort of attacks that the devil brings, and they have the appearance of plausibility. I would go further, there may be an element of truth in them. Sometimes we are insensitive. Sometimes we get things wrong. We say things we shouldn\u2019t say. Sometimes we are neglectful. There\u2019s a residue of truth in these things, but what do you do? How can you prove that you\u2019re not lazy? I mean, do you rush around in highly visible activity in front of your people? How do you prove to people that you\u2019re not lazy? How do you prove that you\u2019re not insensitive? I had a woman say to me recently about her pastor, \u201cHe came into my house. He was so insensitive.\u201d Well, all I could say was, \u201cI know the man. I find it hard to believe that he was insensitive.\u201d But how do you prove it? <\/p>\n If people are accusing you and you act against them, you\u2019re being heavy-handed. If you don\u2019t act against them, you\u2019re handing the church over to them to do what they want. If you say to somebody, \u201cI\u2019m not negative,\u201d don\u2019t sound a bit negative. When you say, \u201cI\u2019m judgmental, you\u2019re dead wrong,\u201d you\u2019re sounding judgmental. Very, very hard to know what to do. Put more theology into your sermons, you\u2019re too heavy; you take it out, you\u2019re not feeding your people. <\/p>\n If people want to find fault, brother, they will always be able to find fault. Don\u2019t try to put yourself in a position where people can\u2019t find fault with you. It is absolutely impossible. Forget it, don\u2019t worry about it. If they want to find fault, they will find fault. I want, at this point, to urge us to keep all that I\u2019m saying today in balance so that we don\u2019t sink into depression and start feeling sorry for ourselves. These letters are not the whole story of Paul\u2019s ministry. This is not Paul\u2019s whole congregation. He wrote a letter to the Philippians\u2014people who loved him and esteemed him and honored him, who had very little in the way of serious problems\u2014for whom he thanked God. He wrote a letter to the Thessalonians. They had a few minor growth problems, but Paul was thrilled with what was happening to them. <\/p>\n Brethren, don\u2019t go looking for trouble, don\u2019t put on a hair shirt, don\u2019t get a martyr complex. Most of us will receive a great deal of respect and love and support. Some of us will never face a serious, pastoral crisis. Most of our ministry to the Lord\u2019s people is a joyful experience, a really joyful experience for which we must thank God. So, don\u2019t sink into a [depression] expecting to have 2 Corinthians or Galatians happening in our lives all the time. It won\u2019t happen, but some men will have major crises. All of us\u2014all of us without exception, if we\u2019re faithful\u2014we\u2019re going to be hurt, and we\u2019re going to be hurt a lot, and we\u2019re going to be hurt often. <\/p>\n Perhaps, hardest of all\u2014in a way it\u2019s not really an attack, but I think it is\u2014is the sheer ingratitude. When you read 2 Corinthians, it\u2019s not really the false apostles that Paul is bothered about, it\u2019s his own people. It\u2019s his own people, the people for whom he has poured himself out for nearly two years. We were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. Does that mean nothing? You, yourselves, are our letter of recommendation. I betrothed you to one Husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. \u201cI will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.\u201d Does that mean nothing? Isn\u2019t that the ingratitude, brethren? The ingratitude. <\/p>\n A family leaves your church\u2014this has happened to me, not very often, but it has happened\u2014they don\u2019t tell you where they\u2019re going. They just stop coming. You find them some day, and they\u2019re very polite, there\u2019s nothing wrong. Nothing wrong with the preaching, no quarrel with anyone. \u201cAnother church was nearer\u201d or \u201cthe children prefer this other church,\u201d they say that sometimes. Why am I hurt? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s for myself, really. What\u2019s going through my mind is something like this: all the years you were with us, did you not know what you were in? Did you not know what we had? If your house had burnt down, we\u2019d have built you a house. If you\u2019d lost all your money there would\u2019ve been ten men in the church reaching out their pocketbooks. If your wife had fallen sick, we\u2019d have brought you your meals, we would\u2019ve looked after your children. We\u2019re a people who love each other, and we would die for each other. And you can just walk away from this? Did it never mean anything all those years? Did we never get through to you what we\u2019re trying to do? It\u2019s the ingratitude of it!<\/p>\n I remember talking two years ago with a man who\u2019s here at this conference. I forget the details. Some family had apparently left the church, walked away! The man told me that his wife, a Christian lady, had intimately cared for the physical needs of an elderly member of that family. She had taken a slave\u2019s towel and a basin and a cloth and gone down on her knees. It wasn\u2019t just his feet she wiped. That\u2019s nothing. That\u2019s nothing, that doesn\u2019t count. That hurts, really hurts. It\u2019s a pale reflection of human ingratitude towards God.<\/p>\n 2 Corinthians calls us to be realistic. 2 Corinthians says to us, \u201cDon\u2019t build your security on your work. Don\u2019t build your security on your church. No matter how much you love them, no matter how much you give yourself to them. Christ is your security.\u201d Jonathan Edwards, standing at the side of the road in Northampton, with a suitcase in his hand. What was it? Twenty-three years ministry? Revival? Out. <\/p>\n It\u2019s also encouraging. Quite often, men who are under attack are overwhelmed by a sense of guilt, of failure. \u201cIs this my fault?\u201d 2 Corinthians says, \u201cIt is not necessarily your fault. This is what happened to the Apostle Paul.\u201d Matthew Henry says to, \u201cNot let any ministers of Christ think strange if they meet with perils not only from enemies, but from false brethren, for blessed Paul himself did so.\u201d We\u2019ve seen the attacks on Paul.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s come, secondly, to Paul\u2019s stance regarding the attacks. The first and obvious thing is that they hurt him, Paul was not a macho man. He didn\u2019t have a hide like a rhinoceros. He wasn\u2019t one of these steamroller extroverts who just rolls over everything. Gresham Machen says, \u201cPaul was not one of those passionless creatures who can simply take things as they come.\u201d Nor had Paul protected himself against hurt. I can help you to protect yourself against hurt. It\u2019s possible! It can be done! You can be a very conscientious, diligent pastor. What you\u2019ve got to do, men, you\u2019ve got to keep, as it were, an invisible barrier between yourself and your people. Be kind, be courteous, be polite, but maintain a distance between you. Don\u2019t let them in. Don\u2019t reveal the real you. Don\u2019t intrude too deeply into their lives. Keep a safety fence up. As people say, \u201cYou can\u2019t let it get to you.\u201d Some godly men do this. This is how they conduct their ministry! There\u2019s an invisible distance, and it can be quite a successful insulator against hurt and pain.<\/p>\n But what about the Apostle\u2019s example? Paul is emotionally naked. He\u2019s staggeringly vulnerable. All the barriers are down: 2:4a, \u201cI wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears\u201d; 6:11, \u201cWe have spoken to you freely, O Corinthians, our heart is wide open\u201d; 7:2a-3b, \u201cMake room in your hearts for us; you\u2019re in our hearts to die together and to live together\u201d; 12:15, \u201cIf I love you more, am I to be loved less?\u201d It\u2019s almost embarrassing to read it, to read this man taking his emotional clothes off. When Paul writes in chapter 3:18 about \u201cwe with unveiled face,\u201d he meant exactly that. Paul ministered with an unveiled face. People saw the real Paul.<\/p>\n One writer says, \u201cHere is Paul, a man among men, nonetheless, truly human, because he was so spiritual. The whole epistle of Paul sets with emotion. It enables us, as it were, [here is a great phrase], it enables us to lay our hands upon his breast and feel the very throbbing of his heart.\u201d Vulnerable. <\/p>\n Now, men, to what extent should we be seen to be so vulnerable? I\u2019m not going to answer that for you, but there\u2019s another factor that may help us to decide. It is simply this: there was more involved here than Paul\u2019s reputation, than Paul\u2019s peace of mind. If that had been all, I think Paul would probably have taken the hits and said nothing, but there were two great concerns here. We touched on them in Galatians also. The integrity of the gospel (Galatians 11:4). If someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you received a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, it\u2019s another Jesus! It\u2019s a different spirit! It\u2019s a different gospel! It\u2019s not just personal attacks on him, the gospel\u2019s being taken from them. \u201cThese people, [he says], are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.\u201d <\/p>\n The other factor is the spiritual welfare of his people. 2 Corinthians 11:20, \u201cYou bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not going to let that happen to my people, [he says]. These people are going to destroy them and tyrannize them and damage them. I can\u2019t let that happen! It\u2019s in the sight of God that we\u2019ve been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.\u201d He can\u2019t overlook these attacks. The gospel is at stake; the welfare of his people is at stake; he has to respond. <\/p>\n Perhaps, men, that helps us to decide what to do when we\u2019re attacked personally. If no one is hurt but ourselves, if nothing is hurt but ourselves, we should probably take the blows without responding. Just take the hits. Our Lord, when He was reviled did not revile again. When He suffered He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. So, for the personal thing, just take it to the Lord. Get over it. Put it past you. <\/p>\n But, if the truth of the gospel is at stake, and if the welfare of our people is under threat\u2014and be certain that this is the case, because some ministers confuse God and themselves, they see an attack on themselves as an attack on God, and there are always these issues that are involved\u2014but if they are involved, then we need to respond in an appropriate way. We need to respond to attacks if the gospel\u2019s being damaged or if the spiritual welfare of our people is being compromised. We\u2019ve got to respond to the attacks. <\/p>\n That brings us then, thirdly, to Paul\u2019s response to attacks on us which cannot be ignored. The first aspect of his response is the less important: he defends himself against some of these specific charges. He actually defends himself. He puts forward a defense against some of the things that are being said about him and says, \u201cNo, you\u2019re wrong here.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, chapter 1:12-18, he\u2019s accused of being untrustworthy. \u201cWas I vacillating? Do I make plans according to the flesh? Ready to say \u2018Yes, yes\u2019 or \u2018No, no\u2019 at the same time?\u201d \u201cOur boast is this: the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity…I wanted to come to you first. I wanted to visit you in my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia…Assuredly, as God is faithful, our word to you has not been \u2018Yes\u2019 and \u2018No.\u2019\u201d He sets himself right to answer this specific charge. His ministry is a Christ-centered ministry, and all the promises are God are \u201cYes\u201d in Christ. And, as a minister of Christ, Paul\u2019s ministry to his people is primarily positive. He\u2019s a minister of mercy, not of judgement, and that\u2019s why he didn\u2019t visit them! <\/p>\n Verse 23, \u201cI call God to witness against me. It was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth.\u201d \u201cI minister of the Christ in whom God\u2019s promises are \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t come, because my ministry would have been one of unrelieved judgement and condemnation. It was to spare you, that I didn\u2019t come.\u201d Does he lack credentials? \u201cYou, yourselves are our letter of recommendation written in our hearts to be known and read by all men.\u201d Does he refuse financial help? \u201cI refrain and will refrain from burdening you. Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And what I do I will continue to do to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that they work on the same terms as we do.\u201d Did he steal the Jerusalem collection? He says, \u201cDid I take advantage of you? Did Titus take advantage of you?\u201d 2 Corinthians 8:18-21, \u201cWith Titus we are sending the brother who\u2019s famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he\u2019s been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this work of grace, for the glory of the Lord Himself. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord\u2019s sight, but also in the sight of man.\u201d <\/p>\n Paul is bending over backwards, saying, \u201cI sent Titus. I sent an appointed, accredited brother along with him. We have strict lines of responsibility. This is all aboveboard.\u201d He defends himself against specific chargers. You say, \u201cWell, that\u2019s obvious.\u201d Well, I find it intensely humiliating. I hate it. It irks my pride.<\/p>\n I hate sitting down with someone who has criticized something in my sermon. An ill-disposed person. You get out your notes and you say, \u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t attacking you here. I had my notes written out beforehand, and this was the passage. I hadn\u2019t heard what had happened to you, and I was ready to say this.\u201d You think to yourself, \u201cWhy? Why am I explaining myself to this person?\u201d \u201cThe reason why I didn\u2019t visit you last week was not because I didn\u2019t care for you, but because an emergency came up.\u201d You\u2019ve got to do that, brethren. That\u2019s humiliating, isn\u2019t it? That\u2019s humiliating! \u201cIf they have confidence in us, if they trusted us, why do I have to crawl about?\u201d The more I explain myself, the more shifty and unconvincing I sound to myself! As I launch further and further into explanations, the more unconvincing I sound! It\u2019s humiliating, but I think when it can be done. It should be done.<\/p>\n Paul says in 6:3, \u201cWe put no obstacle in anyone\u2019s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry.\u201d If people have criticisms and objections and fault-findings, we\u2019ve just got to humble ourselves, and we\u2019ve just got to try our best to set the record straight and explain to them as clearly as we can, \u201cNo, your interpretation of this is not correct.\u201d Probably none of us like doing it, but this is what the Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul, did. I mean, here\u2019s this great theological genius and church founder, having to explain little, petty financial details. Why he hasn\u2019t filched a few drachmas from the collection. That\u2019s what he has to do, and he does it to put no obstacle in anyone\u2019s way. <\/p>\n Now, far more profoundly: Paul responds to these attacks by developing a profound theology of the cross. This links up with our study, last year, in 1 Corinthians. These intruders are stressing power and success and glitz and glamour, and saying these are the marks of true apostleship and true ministry: victorious, confident, triumphant leadership. Paul\u2019s response is theological and Christ-centered. He says, \u201cWe are saved by Christ crucified. The Christ who was weak and despised and criticised, and poured Himself out in self-giving.\u201d This then, is the pattern of the Christian ministry; cross-bearing is the mark of authenticity.<\/p>\n I think two key verses in the whole epistle are 4:7 and 12:9. They summarize what Paul is saying. 2 Corinthians 4:7, \u201cBut we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.\u201d This treasure in jars of clay, that\u2019s what 2 Corinthians is about. You wanted to summarize it in a phrase? I\u2019m a jar of clay, but God puts His treasure into jars of clay. Your main criticism of me is that I\u2019m a jar of clay. Well, you\u2019ve just qualifies me as a bearer of the treasure. It\u2019s as simple as that! 2 Corinthians 12:9, \u201cBut he said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you; my power is made perfect in weakness.\u2019\u201d Far from his weakness disqualifying him. It qualifies him! It\u2019s the evidence of his genuineness. <\/p>\n I love the way that Paul takes on his opponents, right from the beginning, head on. They say a true leader is a strong, dynamic, joyful, triumphant man, who rides high in the heights over all these things. How does Paul begin his letter? \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. We share abundantly in Christ\u2019s sufferings. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but this was to make us rely not in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.\u201d <\/p>\n At the beginning of his letter, a weak, troubled, afflicted, suffering man. \u201cThat\u2019s who I am.\u201d That\u2019s his signature, right at the beginning. \u201cI\u2019m taking you head on. You\u2019re wrong. Treasures in jars of clay.\u201d Chapter one is a description of a jar of clay. <\/p>\n Then, I won\u2019t take time to outline it, but his first, major section, from 2:14 to 7:4, he defines his apostolic ministry, the ministry of a New Covenant. The whole theme of it is the contrast between the glory of the message and the inadequacy of the messenger. That\u2019s the subject. The glory of the gospel is not from oratory or worldly wisdom, it\u2019s from the power of God displayed in the weakness of preachers. The pattern of Jesus is reproduced, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus\u2019 sake, that the life of Jesus also might be manifested in our mortal flesh.<\/p>\n Paul says, \u201cI and my colleagues are willing to die to bring you life.\u201d That\u2019s what he says. \u201cDeath is at work in us, but life in you. For the love of Christ constrains us, and He died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.\u201d His style of ministry, his ministry, is based on Christ\u2019s reconciling work. God, through Christ, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. And how did God reconcile us to Himself? For our sake, He made Him to be sin, who had no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. A theology of the cross. <\/p>\n Brethren, this perspective is carried through in chapters 8 and 9, which deal with the collection for Jerusalem. Paul, obviously, writes them because he wants the Corinthians to take up a collection, but it also fits in with the thrust of the letter. It also reinforces his basic point against the selfish, greedy triumphalism of his opponents. They stress their rights, their self-interests, their prosperity; Paul represents Jesus, who gave His life for others. What is the embodiment of the gospel? Giving a cost to help others. \u201cFor you know [think of this] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet, for our sakes He became poor so that we, through His poverty, might be made rich.\u201d <\/p>\n Chapters 8 and 9 are not a digression. They continue the pattern of Christ-like sacrifice for the sake of others. When you give to help your needy brothers, you\u2019re being Christ-like! That\u2019s what he did. He even puts it this way in 9:13, the people who receive the gift, \u201cBy their approval of this service they will glorify God.\u201d Listen to this, this is his theological description of the Jerusalem collection. \u201cBecause of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ. Your submission which flows from your confession of the gospel.\u201d If I confess the gospel, I have to give to the needy. I have to impoverish myself to help others. That\u2019s what the gospel is! Not exactly health and wealth, sure it\u2019s not. <\/p>\n Chapters 10 to 13 are extremely controversial. Hundreds of pages of commentaries are given as to whether they are part of 2 Corinthians or not. On and on and on the debate goes. The main problem is I think these commentators never preached, because, when you boil it all down, what they\u2019re saying is that these chapters can\u2019t be part of 2 Corinthians, the tone is so different. The tone is so different. Do you ever have different tones in one sermon? You come to the end of your sermon, you\u2019re speaking to the saints, and then you speak to the hardened unconverted. Do you use the same tone? Fifty years from now, critics would say, \u201cWell, this was obviously a part of another sermon which was being added on to this other sermon, because the tone is so different!\u201d Gresham Machen had it right, nearly a century ago, blindingly obvious common sense. He sums the whole debate out. He says, \u201cThe striking change of tone is amply explained by the change of subject.” Thousands of pages of scholarly discussion, rubbish, men. <\/p>\n Paul takes on his opponents directly in these chapters. Key word is \u201cboasting.\u201d The verb \u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7\u03ac\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 [kauchaomai, boast] and its cognate is used 19 times in chapters 10 to 13. Boasting was a characteristic of the Sophists. They were expected to boast. The more you boasted, the larger fees you commanded, and the more disciples you got. You had to promote yourself. Paul says, \u201cAlright, if you force me to it, I\u2019ll boast.\u201d You remember, brethren, how embarrassed he is and how awkward he feels and how he keeps apologizing and saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know why I\u2019m doing this. You\u2019re driving me to do this. I speak as a fool. I\u2019m going to boast.\u201d There\u2019s more irony here than in the rest of Paul\u2019s writings combined. He says, \u201cI\u2019m going to play you at your own game, and I\u2019m going to do it better. I can boast more than you do, but my boasting, if I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.\u201d It\u2019s the absolute reverse of their boasting. <\/p>\n You remember how he does it. \u201cAre they servants of Christ? I am better. (Talking like a madman); far greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless beatings. Five times the forty lashes, less one. Three times beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked, for a night and a day adrift at sea.\u201d This is his boasting. \u201cIn danger from rivers, and danger from robbers, and danger from my own people, and danger from the Gentiles, and danger in the city, and danger in the wilderness, and danger from false brothers; toil and hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, often without food, cold and exposure; the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak?\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s my boasting,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s my self-promotion.\u201d He ends the list with the most humiliating experience of all. 11:32, \u201cAt Damascus, I was let down in a basket, through a window in the wall.\u201d <\/p>\n D.A. Carson says, \u201cThis toast of high rabbinic circles, this educated Pharisee, this man who had access to the highest officials in Jerusalem, slunk out of Damascus like a criminal, lowered like a catch of dead fish in a basket whose smelly cargo he had displaced.\u201d One writer says, \u201cPaul preferred looking comical to looking super.\u201d There are echoes here, because scholars tell us that the finest military award, the top military award of the day in the Roman army, was a thing called the corona muralis<\/em>. It was the equivalent of the Victoria Cross or the Purple Heart. The corona muralis<\/em> was for the soldier who was first up the wall in a siege. A very, very dangerous position. The soldier who got first up the wall, he got the Purple Heart. Paul says, \u201cI\u2019m going to boast about my military decoration. I was first down the wall.\u201d <\/p>\n As evidence that Pentecostals don\u2019t really get this, I give a direct and accurate quote from one Pentecostal commentary on this incident. \u201cOne must assume that the little wall window was so narrow that it was impossible for a man to pass through it, thus, the rescue of Paul was truly miraculous. God miniaturized the Apostle Paul to a height of 6 inches, and passed him through this tiny hole, and then brought him back to his normal size. So that this is, in fact, a wonderful, stupendous miracle of God\u2019s power!\u201d I think not.<\/p>\n Calvin says, \u201cWithout doubt, the very things that Paul mentions in his own praise are the very things in him his opponents would have despised.\u201d \u201cI must go on boasting. I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.\u201d His opponents boasted of their visions. They said, \u201cThis happened to me!\u201d Paul says, \u201cI knew a man in Christ.\u201d One writer says, \u201cHe neither describes what he saw, nor relates what he heard, nor details what he felt nor what he thought. He says things that cannot be told, that man may not utter.\u201d These false teachers, because of their visions, they said, \u201cThese have lifted us to a place of power and spiritual triumph and authority. Our visions have exalted us.\u201d They claim the adulation of people. <\/p>\n Paul says, \u201cI refrain [12:6] so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.\u201d Their visions lifted them to the peak of power and success. Paul says, \u201cTo keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, to keep me from being too elated.\u201d Their visions raised them; his vision broke him. Their visions left them strong; his vision left him a cripple. Their visions lifted them to prevailing, overcoming prayer; Paul\u2019s vision left him with a three-fold request which three times was denied with severe, glorious response. \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.\u201d That\u2019s a different kind of boast.<\/p>\n Brethren, that\u2019s why we\u2019re under attack. What happened? What were the results? Why were these attacks permitted? Was the situation in Corinth corrected? We\u2019re not sure. We can\u2019t be certain. We know from Romans 16:26 that later on the Corinthians did contribute to the Jerusalem collection. We know that when Paul visited Corinth he had time and peace to sit down and write Romans and to plan a trip to Spain. So, it may well have helped the situation in the church; but, surely, this must have been a profound influence on Paul himself. I believe that these experiences led Paul to growth, to deeper maturity, to learn as one writer says that, \u201cTrue power comes not through overcoming weakness, but through bearing it.\u201d <\/p>\n Brethren, this letter speaks to us whenever we\u2019re under attack: that we may learn from it; that we may be encouraged by it; that we may be helped, to serve God in our own day; that we may understand why these trials are permitted. I want to give you just a fairly brief statement from Frederick Dale Bruner\u2019s book A Theology of the Holy Spirit<\/em>. I think the second half of it is masterly. I read it twice. Bruner says, \u201cGod\u2019s way of working in the world\u2014to men an inefficient way, and thus, proof of its divinity\u2014is the way of weakness. [Now, here are the three things]. The crucified Christ is this way\u2019s classic context. The cross, its classic form. The struggling church its classic sphere. Men are saved by believing the content, [crucified Christ], and serve by assuming this form, [the cross], in this sphere.\u201d The crucified Christ, the context; the cross is the form; the struggling church is the sphere. \u201cWe\u2019re saved by believing the content, the crucified Christ, and serve by assuming the form of the cross in the sphere of the struggling church.\u2019<\/p>\n Bruner says, \u201cBut hidden in the cross and weakness and revealed in the church\u2014is resurrection power.\u201d Surely, this letter calls us to realize that the world is watching us, and the people of God are watching how we cope. When you\u2019re under attack, they\u2019re looking for evidence of the power of Jesus. They\u2019re looking for evidence of the power of Jesus, and that\u2019s why God has allowed some brothers to be tried to an unusual degree. The power of Jesus\u2014He wants it to shine forth more clearly in your life than it ever has before. Men, it\u2019s an opportunity. It\u2019s a privilege to show the power of Jesus! Don\u2019t blow it! Don\u2019t get your head down. Don\u2019t get filled with self-pity! <\/p>\n The Great Apostle encourages us to lift up our heads. He says, \u201cTherefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.\u201d Listen to this: \u201cFor the sake of Christ I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d Who are the strongest men here, today? Wouldn\u2019t that be interesting to know? Who are the strongest men here, today? \u201cWhen I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d Amen.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s bow in prayer, and give thanks.<\/p>\n Father, we bless You for permitting Your servant, Paul, to be so sorely tried, vexed and troubled and reviled and slandered, misrepresented, criticized and mocked, deserted and betrayed. And yet, O Lord, as it went on, more and more Jesus was seen in all His power and beauty and glory. We have seen Jesus in some of our brothers here, among us, today. The wider the cracks appear in the jar, the more the light of the Savior shines forth. Dear God, we pray for men among us who are known to us, perhaps, who are really under the rod at the moment, who are being vexed and tried and tested. Dear God, help them to say, \u201cI will be content in weaknesses.\u201d Help them to come to the Christ whose grace is sufficient. Help them to say, \u201cLord, It doesn\u2019t matter about me. Please help me to show Jesus to the world.\u201d Father, it\u2019s easy for some of us to say these words, but when our time comes, Lord, help us to remember these things and to be steadfast and true, and to pour out our lives for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. In whose name we pray, amen. Edward Donnelly I\u2019ve been a pastor for 35 years, this week. Over the years I\u2019ve had a number of men seated in our front room, often with their wives. Many of them have wept, their wives have invariably wept. Their faces have been white, their hands have been shaking, their confidence has been shot to … Continue reading Help for Today’s Pastors #6![\"donnelly\"](\"http:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/donnelly.jpg\")
<\/a>Edward Donnelly<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nThere is no book in the Scriptures that is more relevant than 2 Corinthians, because in 2 Corinthians the Apostle Paul is under a sustained, vicious, personal attack, and it comes with satanic ingenuity at a period in Ephesus when he is already burdened and under huge pressure, almost despairing of life itself. It is the most intense, revealing, and emotional of all Paul\u2019s writings. If 1 Corinthians is mainly about the church, 2 Corinthians is largely about the Apostle. Let me take a moment to outline to remind you of the background. <\/p>\n
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\nPosted with permission. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Study of the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians<\/span>