2 Corinthians 13
A Time For Self-Examination
When I was growing up in South Korea, not everyone had his or her own car. The main transportation for the public was buses, subways and taxis. Many people walked quite a distance and didn’t think twice about it.
Since I was not familiar with having my own car, when I came to the United States in 1981, I had to learn how to drive and to take care of the real basic car maintenance from friends and auto mechanics. One time, I complained about my old Chevy Cavalier to a friend, and he asked, “When was the last time you changed the engine oil?” I answered, “What is that?” He gave me that ‘You-are-an-idiot’ look. He checked the engine oil and told me, “It is amazing that you didn’t burn your engine. Your engine oil is just about gone and it is completely black.” Another friend of mine had to teach me how to take care of tires and changing tires.
Now, I check our vehicles’ tires regularly and keep up with our vehicles’ routine maintenance check-ups. I’ve learned one simple fact about cars: “You take care of your car, it will take care of you.”
Routine spiritual check up and self-examination in our own walk with Christ is more important than taking care of our vehicles. There are many people who think that once they are saved, they are home free and they tend to go back to their old carnal and worldly lifestyles because they are thinking that their fire insurance is paid up.
In this last portion of the study in the Book of 2 Corinthians, apostle Paul is urging us to do self-examination. I’d like to add one more on top of his comment. We should do our own self-examination routinely, so that we may catch any problem way in advance.
A. I AM DONE WITH THIS BOASTING
2 Corinthians 12:11-13 I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing. 12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. 13 For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Paul served the Corinthian believers tirelessly without pay, even though there would have been nothing wrong with asking to be paid. Instead he worked two jobs. He had a paying job as a tentmaker and also pastored the church at Corinth, relying on gifts from other churches to make ends meet.
If Paul thought his “boasting” was foolish, why did he do it at all? Not for his sake, but for the sake of the Corinthian Christians. They were not defending Paul’s character and apostolic authority before the super apostles who put Paul down.
It wasn’t so much the presence of the super apostles bothered Paul. It was their influence among the Corinthian Christians that bothered the true apostle.
Was Paul inferior to these men? By no means! The Corinthians had seen Paul in action. In fact, they owed their very souls to him. He had done among them the miraculous signs that proved his apostleship.
B. PAUL’S THIRD VISIT
2 Corinthians 12:14-18 Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. 16 But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! 17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?
On his first visit to Corinth, Paul founded the church and stayed a year and six months. His second visit was a brief, painful visit to many Corinthians because they were rebuked by him for their sins in between the time of period of the writing of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. Now he is prepared to come back to Corinth for a third time.
Paul is letting the Corinthian Christians know that when he comes, though he will receive a collection for the saints in Israel, he will not receive money from them for his personal support. He will continue his previous practice among the Corinthian Christians of supporting himself, and he will not be burdensome to them.
In v14, apostle Paul said, “I do not seek yours, but you.” This is the testimony of every godly minister. They do not serve for what they can get from God’s people, but for what they can give to God’s people. They are shepherds, not hirelings.
This is the heart of Jesus towards us. We often think that what God really wants is what we have in our wallets. But He wants us.
As I said before, 2 Corinthians is dripping with the emotion of the aged apostle Paul who has been beaten up, stoned, shipwrecked and pushed aside. Yet he was full of grace and love just like his Master Jesus Christ. Oh, so much we can learn from this faithful servant Paul!
In v 15, Paul was showing deep hurt in those words. However, Paul would not allow that hurt to cripple him, or even to rob his joy in serving and living. He would still very gladly spend and be spent for the Corinthian Christians.
C. REPENT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
2 Corinthians 12:19-21 Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. 20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbiting, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
Some of the church members were probably saying, “If Paul visits us again, he will just create more problems!” Paul made it clear that his desire was to solve problems and strengthen the church.
Obviously, the church of Corinth was experiencing some serious carnal problems that were listed by apostle Paul. He wanted them to take care these sins by themselves before he gets there.
But if the Corinthian Christians chose to stay in their worldliness when Paul came the third time, he would be righteously angry. And he would be firm. But he would also mourn for their sins. Paul reveals to us the mind of a true and sincere pastor when he says that he will look on the sins of others with grief.
Sins in the church must be faced honestly and dealt with courageously. To “sweep them under the rug” is to make matters worse. Sin in the church is like cancer in the human body: it must be cut out. Otherwise, it grows and spreads out.
Paul was not asking for perfection. He was asking for repentance. We all sin. The difference is tremendous between those who repent and those who don’t. The one who repented will be declared righteous through the blood of Jesus and the other are carnal. They will face the consequences of their own terrible choice.
D. A TIME FOR SELF-EXAMINATION
2 Corinthians 13:1-4 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare-- 3 since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. 4 For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives 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.
Inasmuch as we must confront ourselves with hard questions to keep ourselves in check with the Holy Spirit, we must do the same thing as a congregation of a local church.
In dealing with sin in a local church, we must have facts, not rumors. If we follow the instructions given by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20, we can solve most of our future problems in the church.
Matthew 18:16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’
The Corinthians had criticized Paul for coming across strong in his letters, but being mild-mannered when he was with them. His gentle demeanor raised doubts about his claim to apostolic power and authority. He warns here that they will see a different side of him next time he visits. If they want to see the strength of Christ’s hatred of sin, they will see it – in Paul.
2 Corinthians 13:5-10 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified. 6 But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. 7 Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete. 10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.
We are often very ready to examine and test others. But first, and always first, we must examine and test ourselves.
We are rightly concerned that every believer should have the assurance of salvation, and know how to endure the attacks that come from Satan in this area. At the same time, we also understand that there are some who assume or presume they are Christians when they are not.
There are many people who claimed to be Christians. Jesus Christ might be the Savior to them, but because of the way they are living carnal lives, it is obvious that He is not the Lord of their lives. They should come to Him and repent.
How do people measure the ministry today? By sleek seeker-sensitive presentations or biblical content? By Christian character or what the press releases say? Too many Christians follow the world’s standards when they evaluate ministries, and they need to pay attention to God’s standards.
Here is a transcript from a nationally known talk show host and a famous pastor:
KING: What if you’re Jewish or Muslim, you don’t accept Christ at all?
OSTEEN: You know, I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know ...
KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They’re wrong, aren’t they?
OSTEEN: Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong. I believe here’s what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person’s heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don’t know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don’t know. I’ve seen their sincerity. So I don’t know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.
KING: How about issues that the church has feelings about? Abortion? Same-sex marriages?
OSTEEN: Yeah. You know what, Larry? I don’t go there. I just ...
KING: You have thoughts, though.
OSTEEN: I have thoughts. I just, you know, I don’t think that a same-sex marriage is the way God intended it to be. I don’t think abortion is the best. I think there are other, you know, a better way to live your life. But I’m not going to condemn those people. I tell them all the time our church is open for everybody.
KING: You don’t call them sinners?
OSTEEN: I don’t.
KING: Is that a word you don’t use?
OSTEEN: I don’t use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don’t. But most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don’t go down the road of condemning.
This pastor Joel Osteen calls himself a TV evangelist, but he would not clearly present how to get to heaven through Jesus Christ. That is apostate – abandoning Jesus Christ the Savior of the world for the sake of the acceptance of the people. I fear for him. You will never see his book “Your Best Life Now!” in our Chapel Bookstore.
As Christians, we shouldn’t excuse and neglect areas of our life by saying, “I’m just not into that” or “That is not how I interpret the Bible.” or “That’s just my weak point.” We certainly cannot work on everything at once before the Lord, but we can have a heart to become complete through the obedience in the Word of God. Because if we don’t obey the Word, we are disobeying God.
E. FAREWELL
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
This is the only place in the New Testament where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are mentioned together in this kind of blessing. Paul wanted the Corinthian Christians to be completely blessed, by everything God is.
F. APPLICATIONS
- Rather than resenting everyone because of a few who’ve offended us, we need to stay involved in God’s work.
It’s through difficult people that we learn unselfishness. We need to continue to minister to people, even when we have been wronged.
- In place of becoming offended and resentful, we need to trust God.
When we realize He is trying to conform us into the image of His Son, our difficult experience will take on new meaning. We need to trust Him even when He doesn’t explain why. He will honor that response. After all, He loves us so much that He gave up His Son.
- When we face a conflict, before blaming someone, we need to find the reason for the conflict.
When we find out the reason for the conflict, we should make every effort to make peace with the person we have a problem with, if it is possible.
Romans 12:8 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
- Frequent and routine self-examination would keep our spiritual walk with Christ so much closer.
If we do this, we won’t burn up our spiritual engines and our spiritual tires won’t go flat.