II
Cor. Chapter 7:1-16
Memory
verses for this week: 1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Introduction:
Last
week in Chapter 6, Paul elaborated on what faces the man of God who
is involved in the true gospel ministry.
Paul had faced more tribulations than any one we had record
of in the New Testament with the exception of Jesus Christ.
I.
Perfecting
Holiness
2 Cor 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Because
of the great promises we have from God, we should have a desire to
keep ourselves pure and perfect before the Lord.
We know that in this old body, we will never reach
perfection, but we should strive each day to bring it under
subjection. That is
what the verse about taking up our cross daily is all about.
Bringing the body under subjection that we might live
according the to perfect will of God. Paul urges those in the church
there in Corinth to cleanse themselves from anything that would
defile the flesh or spirit. Sin
is the thing that brings us down and under bondage. Once we are saved, we should never fall back under the
bondage of sin. I
believe that if we see God with the proper “fear”, a fear like a
son fears his father out of respect, we will seek this “perfect
holiness”. We see
that by sin, we can dishonor the Lord in our bodies.
Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:24
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever
will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
II.
Joy
of the Apostle over the Corinthian’s Conduct
2 Cor 7:2 Receive us; we
have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no
man.
2 Cor 7:3 I speak not
this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our
hearts to die and live with you.
2 Cor 7:4 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.
Paul appeals to the
Corinthians to show love towards him because of how much labor he
had put forth towards them. In
all things, he had preached with honesty and had never defrauded
anyone. All Christians
should be known as honest and upright people, as we are commanded to
let our yea be yea, and our nay be nay.
Paul had a great love for these people in his heart, and was
willing to both die or live for them.
That should be our determination also.
If God called us to die, to be willing to do so.
But at the same time, if we can, live a life of honor and
glory for God. Paul
had suffered much, but he counted it all joy.
2 Cor 7:5 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.
2 Cor 7:6 Nevertheless
God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the
coming of Titus;
Paul talks of the many
tribulations he faced in Macedonia.
We think of these men of old as some sort of supermen that
could just rise above whatever befell them.
That is a false view. They
were human, flesh and blood, that suffered and feared and looked to
God for strength just like we have to do today.
When you look at Paul’s life, it was full to trials and
heartaches. He was
troubled on every side because he delivered the true Gospel message
of how Christ was crucified, buried, and risen again on the third
day according to the scriptures.
Like Paul and Titus, we need to learn to accept being “cast
down”. God
used Titus to come to him to comfort him when he was down and out.
Sometimes a fellow Christian brother or sister can be such an
encouragement to us.
Prov 15:23
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken
in due season, how good is it!
J. Vernon McGee had this to
say about verses 5 – 6.
Paul gets very personal when he says, “When we were
come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on
every side; without were fightings, within were fears.” This is so
personal I almost feel that we shouldn’t read it. But God used a
man to comfort Paul: “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that
are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”
You could help some dear saint of God and be
a comfort to him. My friend, when was the last time you went to your
preacher and put your arm on his shoulder and said, “Brother,
I’ve been praying for you. I see that you are working hard and
standing for the things of God, and I just want you to know I am
standing with you.” He would appreciate that.
Paul continues: “And not by his [Titus’] 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.” In other words, “You comforted
Titus and Titus comforted me.”
2 Cor 7:7 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.
2 Cor 7:8 For though I
made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent:
for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it
were but for a season.
When Paul heard the report
from Titus, it really lifted his spirit.
You remember the man who had been committing fornication with
his mother in law. Paul
had condemned them for not dealing with this issue in his first
letter, and now Titus reports that the church had dealt with it, and
the man had been restored to fellowship.
I think the human perspective in Paul came out here when he
speaks of how he repented from the harsh letter he had written.
But notice, he says he did it for their benefit.
It was harsh for a season, but then it brought the man back
into fellowship. Sometimes
hard tough things have to be done.
It won’t be easy when we do it, but we are blessed when we
do things God’s way.
2 Cor 7:9 Now I rejoice,
not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for
ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive
damage by us in nothing.
Godly repentance produces the
kind of repentance that seeks to correct the wrong.
This is what God wants.
A change of direction, an acceptance that we were wrong, we
wronged a Holy and Righteous God, and we now turn from sin to walk
in the right path.
2 Cor 7:10 For godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but
the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2 Cor 7:11 For behold
this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what
carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves,
yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire,
yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved
yourselves to be clear in this matter.
The sorrow of the world is
that they were put to shame for being found out.
That is not godly sorrow, but the kind that works death and
ruin. The worlds way is
the way of death. God’s
way is a change, and a turning to life.
We know that the man who was involved in the gross sin turned
from it, and came, and sought forgiveness of the people in the
church. This is godly
sorrow that came after Paul’s written rebuke in the first
Corinthian letter. They
no longer tolerated evil within the church, and that made the church
holy and acceptable before God.
Is there never sin in our lives once we are saved?
Of course there is still sin.
But when we falter, we confess and seek God’s forgiveness.
We don’t use our salvation for a reason to serve the flesh.
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and
his word is not in us.
2 Cor 7:12 Wherefore,
though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done
the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care
for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
Paul recognized that the
church had to deal with the problem of open sin in the church or it
would destroy the church. The
entire assembly would have become corrupted and defiled.
1 Cor 5:6
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump?
1 Cor 5:7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us:
1 Cor 5:8
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
While being concerned in
keeping the church pure, Paul explains that the purpose of the first
letter was not so much to secure the punishment of the guilty person
in the church as it was to demonstrate the care and love he had for
the whole church. We
individually, make up the members of the church.
But the whole church’s benefit was Paul’s chief concern.
God wants his church to be a pure and perfect church.
Rev 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be
their God.
Rev 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely.
2 Cor 7:13 Therefore we
were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed
we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you
all.
2 Cor 7:14 For if I have
boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake
all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made
before Titus, is found a truth.
2 Cor 7:15 And his
inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth
the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received
him.
2 Cor 7:16 I rejoice
therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Paul concludes that he has
been comforted by their good conduct there in the church. It had truly blessed Paul when he learned of the way they had
blessed Titus when he visited the church.
Paul had boasted earlier to Titus that they were a sound
church at heart and desired to do the will of God.
Every true church of Jesus Christ should so desire to do the
will of God. That takes
soul searching and seeking the leadership of God in each of our
lives. Paul feels great that his boasting had proven true.
He rejoices in the last verse saying that he has confidence
in all things that they might do. We need to be people who can be trusted and be
dedicated to the work of the Lord.
The bible teaches that God blesses those who are faithful.
Luke 16:10
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also
in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luke 16:11
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous
mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luke 16:12
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another
man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
Prov 25:19
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a
broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
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Prov 4:18
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