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58.
II Corinthians 13: “Hope in Weakness”
Golden
Nursing Center in Mannington, NJ –Evening Service on 1/21/2016
(edited
November 2020)
Verse 1: “This
is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall every word be established.”
From all I can
tell, Corinth was the Apostle Paul’s “problem child” church. Instead of teacher
and friend, they compelled Paul to become sort of a spiritual investigator at
this church. For their ultimate good and for the good the entire Church, Paul
had to confront the sin of fornication and related issues and fallout at
Corinth. Just as the Apostle Peter had had to confront unrighteousness and
deception with Ananias and Sapphira soon after the Day of Pentecost, now Paul
had to make sure the Corinthians understood that freedom in Christ does not
include “working around” His Holy Spirit.
In every era, including ours, God will not be
mocked. That doesn’t change! But not all the Corinthians respected that fact,
or maybe they just didn’t care. Listen to Paul, now, speaking as their spiritual
cop:
Verse 2: “I told you before, and foretell
you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to
them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I
will not spare:”
Instead of dealing with their sins, following
God’s will and repenting, some at Corinth began to challenge Paul’s abilities
and question his authority to lead them. In modern terms, we might say they
wanted to shoot the messenger. Paul continues:
Verse 3: “Since ye seek a proof of Christ
speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.”
You see, to defend himself, Paul reminds them that
the message he brings is from Christ. The same Christ Who is living in all of
them, if they believe.
Verse 4: “For though he was crucified
through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in
him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.”
Paul knew that human weakness, illness, or
tribulations, these things don’t have to shut down our ministries. Christ
experienced all of them and in higher doses any of us will. But, you see, the
Corinthians needed to know also that the Power which Jesus experienced at His
Resurrection was at work in Paul’s ministry at Corinth! And, I want to say to
you, that power is also at work inside all of us who believe in Christ
today!
Back in II Corinthians chapter 12 Paul went to
great lengths to defend himself to them because of a weakness he had due to
some illness. They actually resented him for being ill:
II
Cor 12:7-10
“And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be
exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord
thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am
weak, then am I strong.”
If weakness was part of Christ’s experience on the
Earth, why should Paul be ashamed of his weakness? Years later Paul would expound
on this point, speaking of Christ, in his New Testament Letter to the Hebrews:
Hebrews
5:6-10
“As he saith also in
another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who
in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the
things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God
an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
Now Paul is going to remind them just how
essential it is to understand that God’s power does not depend on the strength
of any of us:
Verse 5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be
in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that
Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
The Corinthians had been criticizing Paul, now he’s
turning it around. Hey Corinth, Paul says, strength is killing your
church. Your strength, the strength of human wisdom, the strength of human
desire, the forces of anger, and sin are holding you back. What Corinth needed
most, and what the Church needs most today is not more strength but more of the
fruit of the Spirit. That fruit is a far better strength than I could ever come
up with on my own. And the quickest way I’ve found to get there is through
submission to God and, quite often, though it pains me a little to say it, through
human weakness.
Whenever anybody questions or teases me about why
I attend church regularly I always say that I don’t go there because I’m
strong, I go because I know I am not strong. If human strength were the key to
perfect faith in God, don’t you think old King Solomon would have achieved it
long before any of us? For the longest time he had perfect wisdom, perfect wealth,
perfect health, and fame. That’s just about every human strength I can think of,
in a worldly sense. He had it all, but if you really want to learn the limits
of human strength when it comes to faith in the Lord, review I Kings chapter 11
sometime (we studied that back in September) and you’ll see how King Solomon
wound up, spiritually. It’s a real an eye-opener!
All those blessings and strengths just did not
work out. And, you know what, all those things wouldn’t guarantee any of us a
right relationship with God either.
The Corinthians had accused Paul of being too
weak to be an effective leader. Paul is about to remind them that before Almighty
God, we’re all weak. Weakness before Him is nothing to be ashamed of and
actually it can be a source of hope! Paul knew he didn’t have the strength to
lead this unruly congregation back to the narrow path, but he had a blessed
hope that the Lord’s strength was all they really needed:
Verse 6-14: “But I trust that ye
shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that
ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that
which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the
truth, but for the truth. For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong:
and this also we wish, even your perfection. Therefore I write these things
being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power
which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. Finally,
brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in
peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with
an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
Amen.”
By accepting the reality of his weaknesses, and
not having to strive to clench blessings for himself, Paul was able to put the
best interests of the Corinthians ahead of his own. That’s a leader!
Since we have time tonight, I want to show you
one more example of a New Testament preacher Who believed that we could,
through faith, live victoriously even in weakness when necessary. This is taken
from what is sometimes called Our Lord’s “Sermon on the Plain.”
Luke
6: 20-28
“And he lifted up his eyes
on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of
God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye
that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men
shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall
reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice
ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven:
for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you
that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are
full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and
weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their
fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto you which hear, Love your
enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that
curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Do you get from these words of Jesus that He was
promising all of us strength and blessings all of time? Of course, He wasn’t. Not
in this world. My problem is that sometimes I still try to live as if my
strength is all that matters and that somehow, He owes me that strength. He
doesn’t. Let’s pray:
“Lord,
forgive me for leaning on human strength and demanding 24-hour blessings
from you day in and day out. Help me and help all of us to rely, more and more,
on Your strength alone, working in and through us . . .”
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