"FINAL WORDS - WARNINGS, EXHORTATIONS AND BLESSINGS"
TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 13:1-14
INTRODUCTION
As the tired and weary warrior sat down to pen the final words of his letter to the Church in Corinth he thought about the first time in arrived in that city. Even after all he had seen in his life he was still overwhelmed by the magnitude of weakness that was overflowing from the city. Shortly after he arrived, he was in his room and he was afraid, he feared that he would be attacked and harmed - he felt that the job was too much for him, he felt all alone (a weary soldier on his last leg)... and then that night the Lord spoke to him in a vision, "DO NOT BE AFRAID KEEP ON SPEAKING, DO NOT BE SILENT. FOR I AM WITH YOU, AND NO ONE IS GOING TO HARM YOU, BECAUSE I HAVE MANY PEOPLE IN THE CITY."
Paul thought about the 18 months he spent establishing the Church -- the friendships, the victories, the fellowship and the struggles. And he still felt his heart rage as he remembered when he received word about the sin and division that had engulfed the church. He remembered the many letters he wrote to them, letters that were soaked with his tears. And the hurt and the anguish of heart he felt, when those who he had loved and had served, began to criticize him and challenge his authority, as they followed false prophets.
And Paul remembered the waves fear and anxiety that crashed against him, as he waited for Titus to return with word from Corinth -- had they received his letter? had they repented? Is Titus okay?
And he remembered the joy that rose within his heart as Titus returned safely and said that many had repented and that they loved and were deeply concerned about Paul.
Paul had spent many a night praying for the Corinthians -- he invested more than just his time in them, he had invested his entire life and being... And as he comes to the close of this, his 4th letter to them -- he gives them some final words -- words they need to hear... They had not as yet arrived, they had not finished the race and they had. They had many more struggles ahead of them and Paul wanted to give some final insight to help them. Yes he did plan to visit them again -- but he could not be certain if he ever would -- Paul more than anyone knew that he was subject to God’s will and that God may have other plans for him... So as he wrote these closing words he knew that they could very well be his last words to the Church at Corinthian -- final words to those Christians in that wicked city that he had deep concern and love for...
The final words of great leaders are important -- When we closed our study of Deuteronomy we studied the final words of Moses and we also studied the final words of Joshua to the Israelites.
Today we will study the final words of Paul to the Church at Corinth. And as we study these words written to that Church nearly 2,000 years ago -- a church struggling with doing the right things --it will be quit obvious that those words that applied to that Church, apply also to this church today, to ETCC and the Christians who serve here. Paul’s final words consist of: WARNINGS, EXHORTATIONS AND BLESSINGS.
I. WARNINGS TO HEED (13:1-10)
In these 10 verses there are basically 2 warnings given by the apostle Paul.
A. The first is, "BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT"
As we have said in our study many of the people in the Corinthian Church were living sinful lives and many had not repented and they felt that they had gotten away with their sin and they felt that Paul had no authority to challenge their sinful way of life.
Listen to what Paul says in verse 2, "I ALREADY GAVE YOU A WARNING WHEN I WAS WITH YOU THE SECOND TIME. I NOW REPEAT IT WHILE ABSENT. ON MY RETURN I WILL NOT SPARE THOSE WHO SINNED EARLIER OR ANY OTHERS..."
Paul is telling them that they have not gotten away with it -- they have been warned several times to repent and if they don’t they will suffer the consequences for those sinful actions and attitudes.
Sometimes if punishment doesn’t come right away for the wrong things we do, we tend to think that we got away with it and just keep on doing it, we just keep our hand in the cookie jar.
Back in Numbers chapter 32 some of the Israelites were sinning against God by disobeying His command to take the promise land. And Moses told them, "BUT IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU WILL BE SINNING AGAINST THE LORD; AND YOU MAY BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT."
Maybe some here think they are hiding their sin from God -- maybe some are getting drunk, being sexually immoral, slandering members of the body, being so puffed up with pride and ego that you think your the boss, worshipping idols by putting anything (means anything) before God, or by having an unforgiving critical spirit.
And maybe right now they feel pretty good about nothing has happened -- it seems to them to them right now that there is not a price to be paid for straddling the fence... or for even hoping it to get to the other side...But Paul’s warning to the Corinthians rings just as true today....
Don’t think that you are going to get away with it, all sin is an offense against God and can not be hidden from Him. Adam and Eve tried to hide in the garden after their sin, but were not able to so -- it is ridiculous to think that we can hide our sins from the All Present One True God... The World and Satan say, "go ahead do your own thing, have it your way, go on take a bite -- it is not going to kill you, no one will ever know." But God says the wages of sin is death.... Who do you think is more trust worthy? ... are you placing your trust in the hands of God or the slithery FANGS of the serpent. BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL,FIND YOU OUT!!!
B. PAUL’S 2ND WARNING IS: "YOU MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE" Paul say’s in verse 5, "EXAMINE YOURSELF TO SEE WHETHER YOU ARE IN THE FAITH, TEST YOURSELVES. DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT CHRIST IS IN YOU -- UNLESS OF COURSE YOU FAIL, THE TEST?
What is Paul talking about here? examine ourselves? test ourselves? to see if we are in the faith... Is he saying that some who think they are in the faith, may not really be in the faith? Does this teaching seem new or strange to you? It shouldn’t, Jesus said the same thing on the Sermon on the mount.
[Matthew 7:21-23]
This is God’s Word and Jesus says, that some people are going to think they are in, when in fact they are out... Some are going to say Jesus didn’t I teach Sunday school for 35 years in your name, didn’t I sing special music in you name, didn’t I cut the lawn, serve communion or kept the Nursery in your name and Jesus will say , "Depart from me I never knew you. You may have convinced yourself that you were doing it for me, but I know better!!!"
Friends this is serious stuff, are we in the faith -- is Christ in us? IS IT POSSIBLE TO avoid hearing those words from Jesus, "Depart from me, I never knew you" How do we examine ourselves...?
I have spent a lot of time in the hospital recently -- and have seen Doctors make many examinations, and one the first things they always do is check the patient’s heartbeat -- I guess it is to make sure the patient is alive before they continue the rest of the examination. Is our faith alive or dead? Listen to what James says in 2:14, 17, 20, 24 26.
If we have trouble finding a pulse when we examine our faith? If there is no thump-thump-thump-thump ringing in the stethoscope? If there are no actions, no fruit flowing from our faith? We need to heed Paul’s warning that we may not be what we think we are. "EXAMINE YOURSELVES TO SEE WHETHER YOU ARE IN THE FAITH, TEST YOURSELVES. DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT CHRIST IS IN YOU, UNLESS OF COURSE, YOU FAIL THE TEST?" WE NEED TO EXAMINE OUR FAITH BECAUSE WE MAY NOT BE WHAT WE THINK WE ARE...
II. PAUL ALSO IN OUR CLOSING CHAPTER LISTS 6 EXHORTATIONS/COMMANDS THAT WE NEED TO RECEIVE. (11-13)
A. REJOICE
We are commanded to "rejoice" (NIV has good bye, but that is not what the word means. Does it seem strange that we are commanded to rejoice? Does joy at times seem to be something beyond our ability to control?
If we have a hard time understanding this concept, it is probably because we have confused joy with happiness. And there is a big difference between the two. Happiness is based on the things that happen -- therefore circumstances and people can effect our happiness. Joy on the other hand is based on our relationship with God Almighty. And when we truly grasp, believe and hold tight that truth -- we will know that "IF GOD IS FOR US NO ONE CAN BE AGAINST US" (RM 8:31) "THAT GOD CAUSES ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE." (RM 8:28) "THAT IN ALL THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US." (RM 8:37) NOTHING CAN ROB OUR JOY BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE IN CHRIST, WE HAVE SEEN THE KING, AND HE WALKS WITH US AND TALKS WITH US AND HE TELLS US WE ARE HIS OWN AND THE JOY WE SHARE AS WE TARRY THERE IS JUST AWESOME... NOTHING IS TO BIG OR TO BAD FOR US WITH JESUS AS OUR SIDE... THEREFORE AS PAUL SAYS IN PHILIPPIANS 4:4 WE CAN "REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS, I WILL SAY IT AGAIN REJOICE!!
B. AIM FOR PERFECTION
We are also commanded to "Aim for Perfection."
We have several people here who are real good at shooting a gun -- now when they aim at the target, what do you think their eyes are intently focusing on? The post the target is on? The trees behind the target? The guy standing next to them? No! of course not, their eyes are fixed, staring right at the center of the bulls eye. They are aiming for perfection...They may not hit it in the center, but they WILL be a lot closer to the center than if they were aiming at the trees.
What is the perfection we are to aim for? What is the Christian Bulls Eye? What is it, that we must fix are eyes on?
the Hebrew writer in chapter 12:2 says, "LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH."
JESUS IS TO BE OUR BULLS EYE -- HE IS TO BE WHAT WE ARE AIMING FOR -- WE ARE TO STRIVE TO BE LIKE JESUS -- TO WALK AS HE WALKED-- TO LIVE AS JESUS LIVED. TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH ARE NOT AIMING FOR PERFECTION THEY ARE AIMING AT MEDIOCRITY -- DO THE MINIMUM I CAN DO TO GET BY AND APPEAR SPIRITUAL. "AFTER ALL" THEY SAY, "I AM EVERY BIT AS SPIRITUAL AS BROTHER BOB AND SISTER SUE" -- TO THAT MENTALITY I SAY SO WHAT IF YOU ARE BETTER THAN BRO BOB OR SIS SUE (THOUGH IF YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT) BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER EVEN IF YOU ARE BECAUSE OUR BULLS EYE IS JESUS CHRIST...
HE IS TO BE WHAT WE ARE AIMING FOR AND HE WAS WHAT WE ARE STRIVING TO BE LIKE...ARE WE LIKE JESUS? -- WHAT DO WE HAVE OUR SIGHTS FIXED ON? GOD’S WORD COMMANDS US TO AIM FOR PERFECTION.....
"TO FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH."
C. comfort one another
Here again we find the NIV AGAIN missing the boat here on the TRANS The word means be comforted and not listen to my appeal.
What Paul is commanding here at the end of this letter is the same thing he commanded at the beginning of this letter, "PRAISE BE TO THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE FATHER OF COMPASSION AND THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT, WHO COMFORTS US IN ALL OUR TROUBLES SO THAT WE CAN COMFORT THOSE IN ANY TROUBLE WITH THE COMFORT WE OURSELVES HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD."
Paul is telling them to comfort each other, and remember the word comfort carries the idea of supporting one another, standing by one another, holding on to one another and encouraging one another.
And brothers this command applies not only to the Corinthian Church but to OUR Church. AND We have done well reaching out and comforting one another during these last several weeks... and people have been blessed, supported and encouraged... but friends I pray that, " we have only just begun" -- in our ministry of comfort and encouragement... after all we are to aim for perfection and we must strive to improve this ministry until we are comforting just like Jesus (OUR BULLS EYE)-- which means that in this life there will always be room for improvement. Let’s reach out to the hurting, the weak and the falling -- LET’S COMFORT ONE ANOTHER.
D. BE OF ONE MIND
The exhortation to be of one mind is a command for "unity." Unity is essential for the church (the world will not be won - until we are one). Unity is What Our Lord and Savior prayed for in the garden AND unity is what Satan fears the most -- and he fears unity because he understands it’s power.
Several weeks back I rented a video called "The Power of One." The movie was set in South Africa at the time of the rise of Hitler and WW II. It was about an English boy who became an orphan. The movie followed his struggles with hatred and racism, not just against him, but "against and between" the various South African Tribes, I don’t have time to go into much of the movie -- But let me draw a point from it. At first I misunderstood the title, THE POWER OF ONE, as I watched the movie I thought it was about the power that one individual (the boy) had to make a difference in the World. But that is not what the title means, What it means, the power it is talking about is, the power of different people, people of different colors, shapes, sizes and backgrounds, The Power they have when they become as one..., WHEN THE CHURCH IS AS ONE, STUFF HAPPENS, THE JOB GETS DONE AND VICTORIES ARE WON....
Let us strive to keep Paul’s command to be of one mind -- and as Paul writes in Ephesians 4 let us, "MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT THROUGH THE BOND OF PEACE."
E. THE NEXT EXHORTATION FOLLOWS VERY CLOSE TO THE LAST
LIVE IN PEACE
Jesus during his great Sermon on the Mountains near the sea of Galilee talked about living at peace with one another...
Turn to [Matthew 5:22,23].
Some have falsely assumed that Jesus is addressing the offender. But Jesus is not here saying whose fault it is or isn’t? Neither is he addressing the rightness or wrongness ("IF ONLY JESUS KNEW WHO STARTED IT, IF ONLY JESUS KNEW HOW RIGHT I’VE BEEN AND HOW WRONG THEY ARE... THEN HE WOULD UNDERSTAND HOW RIDICULOUS IT IS TO TALK ABOUT RECONCILIATION WITH SOMEONE LIKE HER OR HIM).
If we are in conflict with a brother or sister Jesus tells us in these verses, that until will try to make it right we are not worshipping Him. He doesn’t want our worship under those conditions. We must try as Paul say’s in Romans 10:17, "IF IT IS POSSIBLE AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU -- LIVE AT PEACE WITH EVERYONE.
If anyone here needs to make peace with a brother, do it! Do it with sincerity and a genuineness of heart -- if he accepts great!! and if, because of the sin of stubborn pride he refuses -- then it is then between him and God.
F. GREET ONE ANOTHER
The final exhortation Paul gives is to greet one another.
Because the method used in that culture was a "Holy Kiss" many have considered this command as irrelevant for the church today. But a command that is given 5 times in the NT, 4 times by Paul and once by Peter (I Cor 16:20, Romans 16:16, I Thess 5:26 and I Peter 5:14) should not be so quickly dismissed.
Though the means may be cultural (a kiss then) -- the command for Christians to sincerely greet one another as brothers and sisters in Christ goes beyond culture -- it is a command for the church, even today.....
Greeting among people in our society today tend to be rather empty. People say "hello, how are you" with out any real concern for how you are really doing. They say "It’s good to see you" when they care less if they ever see you again. And they say "I’m glad you came" - when they don’t care if you ever come again. Paulo’s concern is to keep Christians from taking part in that kind of empty hypocrisy, Paul commands that there be genuine concern and pure motives behind our greetings. OUR GREETINGS ARE TO BE A TRUE EXPRESSION OF LOVE AND CONCERN...
TO GREET A BROTHER IN AS BIBLICAL WAY:
1. YOU MUST FIRST CARE ABOUT THEM -- YOU CAN’T GREET THEM SINCERELY W/ LOVE AND CONCERN, IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THEM. SO YOU MAY FIRST NEED TO OBEY PAUL’S EARLIER COMMAND TO LIVE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
2. YOU MUST FORGET ABOUT YOURSELF AND THE FEAR OF REACHING OUT... AND REACH AND SHOW CONCERN FOR OTHERS... I KNOW FOR SOME THAT IS HARD... BUT IF YOU ASK GOD HE WILL HELP YOU. WE ALL NEED TO TRY TO GENUINELY GREET AND CARE ABOUT ONE ANOTHER... LET OUR "HOW ARE YOU DOINGS" -- MEAN "I REALLY LOVE YOU AND I REALLY DO CARE ABOUT HOW YOU ARE DOING."
WARNINGS TO HEED, EXHORTATIONS TO RECEIVE
III. AND BLESSINGS TO BELIEVE (13:14)
When we heed God’s Warnings:
"Be sure your sin will find you out"
"that we may not be what we think we are"
And When we receive God’s Exhortation and we:
"Rejoice" "Aim for Perfection" Comfort one another"
"Are of one Mind" "live in Peace" "Greet one another"
We can be assured of God’s Blessings: This verse is the most loved of all the benedictions in the Bible. read it now!
1. the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ which reminds us of how he became poor -- so that we could become rich. God’s Riches Available at Christ’s Expense.
2. "The Love of God"; takes us to Calvary where God showed us the full extent of his love by giving us His One and Only son as a sacrifice for our sins.
3. "Fellowship of the Holy spirit" is the gift given to us, which indwells us, to comfort and guide us...into all righteousness.
What these blessing describe for us is, God -- God The Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We will have the blessing of having The One True God in our lives...
And we so desperately need that -- on our power, we as individuals and we as a church can not be what we ought to be -- but with God’s presence in our lives we can.
Can you think of anything better that you could take with you or have in your life then: THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
CONCLUSION
FINAL WORDS TO A GROWING CHRUCH, A STRUGGLING CHURCH, A MATURING CHURCH.. FROM A GREAT LEADER.
I AM SURE AS PAUL PUT DOWN HIS PEN -- HE PRAYED THAT THESE WORDS WOULD HELP THOSE WHO HE CARED SO MUCH ABOUT -- THAT THESE WORS WOULD HELP THEM FINISH THE RACE AND COMPLETE THE COURSE.
DID THESE FINAL WORDS MAKLE A DIFFERENCE TO THOSE IN THE CHURCH AT CORINTH? FOR SOME THEY DID AND SOME THEY DID NOT.
WILL THE FINAL WORDS OF PAUL MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THOSE IN THIS CHRUCH -- FOR SOME THEY WILL AND FOR SOME THEY WON’T.
BECASUE JUST AS IN CORITNH SOME WORDS WILL FALL UPON DEAF EARS AND HARD AND ROCKY SOIL.
DO YOU REALLY, HAVE GOD IN YOUR LIFE TODAY?.....
CHRISTIANS ARE YOU HEEDING GOD’S WARNINGS -- RECEIVING GOD’S EXHORTATIONS -- ARE YOU EXPERIENCING GOD’S BLESSING OF GRACE, LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP?... IF NOT WHY DON’T YOU CHANGE THAT TODAY....
AND IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN YOU DO NOT HAVE THE GRACE, LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM GOD, IN YOUR LIFE....
IF YOU BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST SON OF LIVING GOD...
AND REPENT OF YOUR SINS -- COME FORWARD AND CONFESS YOUR FAITH IN HIM -- AND BE IMMERSED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS AND THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!!
JESUS PAID IT ALL....
