2 Corinthians 10:1-2 ~ 20200301 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

03/01_2 Corinthians 10:1-2; The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20200301_2cor10_1-2.mp3

Overview of 2 Corinthians 1-9

We are going to jump back in to 2 Corinthians at chapter 10 today, but since we’ve been away from this book for some time, we will start with an overview to orient ourselves on where we are at in this book.

Chapters 1-7 expound the characteristics of genuine Christian ministry; gospel ministry is ministry that looks like the gospel and is shaped by the gospel. Real ministry is loving service that embraces suffering for the good of others.

Chapters 8-9 encourage an experience of God's grace to overflow in practical generosity to others.

Chapters 10-13 confront the false apostles who proclaim a false Jesus, a false Spirit, and a false gospel.

In this final section of the book, Paul employs biting sarcasm, thick with irony. He is directly confrontational, even threatening. His tone is so markedly different from the rest of the book that it has become popular among scholars to see this section as a sloppy cut-and-paste job, attaching something else Paul wrote to the end of this book. Some guess that chapters 10-13 contain the severe letter that he mentions in 2 Corinthians 7:8 now appended to the body of his current letter. Others hypothesize an interruption between the writing of chapters 1-9 and 10-13 where Paul received disturbing news from Corinth that caused him to change his tone. All this is conjecture, for which there is zero evidence in the manuscripts of 2 Corinthians.

The letter as it stands is cohesive and builds on itself. Throughout the book, Paul has been alluding to those who undermine his integrity and authority, and patiently teaching what authentic Christian ministry looks like.

The Opponents in 2 Corinthians

In chapters 1 and 2 Paul defends himself against the criticism that he makes his plans according to the flesh, vacillating, saying Yes yes and No no at the same time. ‘it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth’ (1:23).

In chapter 2 he distances himself from those who peddle God’s word for profit.

In chapter 3 he denies that he needs, like some do, letters of recommendation. The Corinthians themselves are the proof of his authenticity. He claims no competency for ministry in and of himself, but he has been made competent by God as a minister of the New Covenant through the Spirit.

In chapter 4 he renounces ‘disgraceful, underhanded ways.’ He says ‘We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God (4:2). He implies that there are those who do tamper with God’s word, who cunningly use disgraceful underhanded ways.

Throughout he re-frames their thinking about adversity and suffering, showing them that it is not evidence of the Lord’s disfavor, but rather it is exactly the pattern Jesus set for us at the cross, when he came to rescue us by laying down his own life. Authentic gospel ministry is ministry that is shaped by the gospel.

In chapter 5 he warns against ‘those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart’ (5:12).

At the end of chapter 5 and into chapter 6 he implores them to be reconciled to God (5:20), he appeals to them not to receive the grace of God in vain. ‘Behold, now is the day of salvation.’ He says ‘We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry’ (6:1-3).

He understood how big a deal this was. This is a salvation issue. To reject the apostolic witness to the gospel is inextricably linked to that gospel the apostle proclaimed. To undermine the apostle is to undermine the gospel. It’s no different today. To undermine the trustworthiness of God’s word is to undermine the good news it communicates.

He says his heart is wide open to them but they are restricted in their own affections, and he invites them in return to open their hearts to him (6:11-12). He warns them not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, which is what they were doing by putting up with false teachers, and he urges ‘go out from their midst and be separate from them’ (6:14, 17). He again invites them to make room in their hearts for their true apostle, and he says ‘We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one’ (7:2). Either some were accusing Paul of taking advantage of them, or Paul is contrasting himself with what he sees going on in this church, that the false teachers are wronging and corrupting and taking advantage of them.

At the end of chapter 7 he rejoices over their response to Titus and the severe letter, that they experienced godly grief that led to repentance. He says in 7:12 that he wrote as he did ‘in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.’ He wrote as he did because he wanted them to see that they really did have a place for him in their hearts.

He goes on in chapters 8-9 to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their love by extending grace to others; through their generous giving. He closes chapter 9 pointing to the glory God will receive through their giving:

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Paul’s Authoritative Introduction

And then he says:

2 Corinthians 10:1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

I Paul myself. This is rare, and it is emphatic. Through most of this letter Paul has been using the apostolic ‘we’. Here he switches to first person singular, and makes this emphatic with two personal pronouns ‘I, myself’. The other place that comes closest to the emphatic nature of this is Galatians 5:2

Galatians 5:2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

And if you are familiar with Paul’s letter to the Galatians, you understand the precarious position of that gospel abandoning church. Here in 2 Corinthians the situation is no less grave, and Paul is no less emphatic.

The Authoritative Appeal; Bold Begging

We would expect ‘Now I Paul, myself command you.’ Instead he says ‘I Paul, myself, encourage you or entreat you. This is the word comfort or encourage that he uses 18 times in this letter. He started this letter by pointing us to ‘the God of all comfort’ or encouragement, ‘who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. This is the word ‘to call to one’s side.’ Paul musters all his authority to encourage them, to appeal to them, to call them to his side. He starts the next verse with ‘I beg of you’. He asks; this word is also used for asking in prayer, it expresses desire. He boldly begs them. Bold self assertion and begging. This doesn’t seem to fit. This sounds paradoxical. That’s the point. Paul uses his authority to to call them to his side and plead with them.

‘I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!’ This is the accusation of his detractors. They say he is lowly and meek when present but bold in his writing to them from a distance. He has a loud bark but no bite. In verse 10 he quotes his critics directly:

2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

So here, in his letter, he authoritatively appeals to them. He boldly begs them that when he arrives he won’t have to show his confident boldness.

The Gospel Illustrated (In The Apostle)

This is actually how Paul operated. He did change his travel plans and forego a visit to them, but instead wrote a severe letter.

2 Corinthians 1:23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

2 Corinthians 2:3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ... 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

The letter was painful, painful to write, and it caused pain to the hearers.

2 Corinthians 7:8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

This was Paul’s stated intent. This is how he operated. To attempt to remedy the situation by writing, so that his visit could be pleasant and not painful, so that he could be gentle among them and not forceful. He writes at the end of this section:

2 Corinthians 13:9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

This was Paul’s purpose, Paul’s M.O. Paul patterned his ministry this way after the Lord himself. God thundered fearfully from atop Mount Sinai with the absolute standard of his law, together with the punishment for disobedience. And then God came down in the person of Jesus, to seek and to save the lost, the hurting, the broken. This is the good news. That God is holy and his commandment is holy and righteous and good (Rom.7:12) And when we see ourselves as desperate and cry out ‘Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ (Rom.7:24), then God responds in mercy, puts himself forward as the propitiation for our sins to be received by faith (Rom.3:25).

The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ

With all his authority, Paul entreats them ‘by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.’ The meekness and gentleness of Christ. Jesus said

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus is gentle -that’s the root of the word ‘meekness’ here in 2 Corinthians. Jesus uses this word ‘lowly’, a derogatory word on the lips of Paul’s detractors; ‘I who am humble or lowly when face to face’ In taking the lowly place, Paul was following his Master.

John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.

Notice the paradoxical combination of omnipotent authority and abject humility.

John 13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Jesus very literally stooped to take the lowly place.

Philippians 2:5 ...Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Paul was showing them what real leadership looks like. He is inviting them in to see Jesus, to follow Jesus with him. With all authority, he was calling them to his side by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. He was taking the way of the cross.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org