College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
2 Corinthians 6 - Introduction
Butler's Commentary
Chapter Six
THE PROBLEM WITH PAGANISM
(2 Corinthians 6:1 to 2 Corinthians 7:1)
IDEAS TO INVESTIGATE:
1.
Which O.T. prophet does Paul quote in 2 Corinthians 6:2, and why?
2.
Why would Paul commend himself (2 Corinthians 6:4) when in 2 Corinthians 5:12 he disclaimed doing so?
3.
What is the point in Paul's review of his troubles?
4.
What is being mismated with unbelievers?
5.
To what extent is the Christian to separate himself from unbelievers?
APPREHENSION:
1.
How does chapter 6 tie into chapter 5?
2.
Why does Paul quote from Isaiah about the acceptable time?
3.
What is Paul's purpose in appealing to his own ministry as free of placing obstacles in people's way?
4.
Name four restraints Paul had to endure in his ministry. Do preachers today suffer any similar restraints?
5.
Are preachers anywhere today suffering beatings, as Paul did? Where, Why?
6.
Is preaching and ministering work? Hard work? Who says so?
7.
Is scholarship essential to preaching? Scholarship in what areas?
8.
What is kindness? Why should those who minister be kind?
9.
Can love be hypocritical? When is it unhypocritical?
10.
What weapons did Paul use to conduct his ministry?
11.
Did anyone ever assail the reputation of the apostle Paul? Why?
12.
Should preachers and other Christian workers be recognized for their work?
13.
What are some of the paradoxes of Christian ministry?
14.
What does Paul mean, do not be mismated with unbelievers?
15.
What is the temple of God Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 6:16?
APPLICATION:
1.
Name some ways you have responded to the grace of God.
2.
Do you know anyone waiting for a more favorable time to be reconciled to God? Why are they waiting? What have you said to them?
3.
How do you handle the conflicts and circumstances that go-withthe-territory in ministering as a Christian?
4.
Do you concern yourself with helping your preacher find relief from the pressures of his ministry? How?
5.
What can you do to help those today who are being beaten and persecuted for their ministries? How was Paul helped? Can that kind of help still be given today?
6.
What is so hard about preaching or ministering? Have you tried it? Would you be willing to follow your preacher two days next week and do everything he does?
7.
Does your church expect its preacher to devote much time to studying the Bible and preach Biblical sermons? Does it grant him the time to do so?
8.
How is a person kind to another? Have you been kind to someone today?
9.
Can you love when you don-'t feel like it? How? Why?
10.
Is it alright to use whatever works in preaching and ministering?
11.
How do you handle defamation of your reputation? Has it ever happened to you as you ministered in Christ's name? What did you do?
12.
Does it hurt when you do not receive recognition for some good deed?
13.
How do you resolve the paradox of being a Christian and yet having so much sorrow surrounding you?
14.
Does do not be mismated with unbelievers mean do not marry non-Christians? Why do you think so?
15.
How is a Christian to go about separating himself from unbelievers and uncleanness? Do you fear God? Should the fear of God be preached?
Special Study
JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD
Ezekiel Chapter s 15-24
Text: Ezekiel 18:30-32
Introduction
I.
SILENCE IN THE PULPITS TODAY ABOUT JUDGMENT!
A.
General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said at the turn of this century, The chief danger of the 20th century will be: Religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, Forgiveness without Repentance Salvation without Regeneration, Politics without God and Heaven without Hell.
B.
There certainly is no silence in the O.T. on the subject of JUDGMENT!
C.
Neither is the N.T. silent about it!
In fact, Jesus talked more often about the judgment than he did grace, or mercy, or practically any other subject!
D.
In Cruden's Concordance:
1.
666 references to Judgment or Judge
2.
288 references to Merciful, Mercy
3.
108 references to Forgive or Forgiven
II.
AND, SURPRISINGLY TO MOST PEOPLE, THE BIBLE FOCUSES FIRST ON JUDGMENT UPON THE HOUSE OF GOD (HIS COVENANT PEOPLE).
A.
From Genesis to Malachi, God's Old Covenant scriptures are primarily a record of God's judgments, chastenings, disciplines upon God's chosen to produce for himself a Messianic people.
B.
From Matthew to Revelation, the New Covenant is the sameJUDGMENT FIRST UPON THE CHURCH TO PRODUCE A CITY SET ON A HILL A LIGHT UNTO THE WORLD A PILLAR AND SUPPORT FOR THE TRUTH.
C.
When the church of Christ was faced with the depravity and violence of the first four centuries of the Roman empire, Christ began by judging the churches of Asia Minor,
D.
The epistles are laced with apostolic judgments, and promises of judgments, for wickedness within the churches themselves!
1.
In Corinth, division, sexual immorality, idolatry, drunkeness, pride, false doctrine.
2.
In the Galatian church, legalism, false teachers
3.
Then there is Hebrews, James, Jude, I & II Peterall warning of judgments if repentance was not forthcoming.
III.
AWAKE, REPENT, O CHURCH OF GOD, FOR JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD.
A.
Someone has said that hell is truth seen too late.
B.
The truth is, judgment comes. It is no myth. It is sober fact.
C.
Judgment is not merely something that the Church is announcing to the world. It is something that God is saying to the Church itself.
D.
Judgment must begin at the House of God.
It is clear Biblical teaching that God continues to purge his Church on earth through judgments.
But the church, almost as if it were taking its theology from an unbelieving world, refuses to say much about the Judgment.
Dr. L. Nelson Bell, former missionary, and Billy Graham's father-in-law, once said: Why is there so little preaching on judgment today? Because man's concept of wrath is do distorted by his pleasure in sin he cannot understand the wrath of a holy and righteous God. Furthermore, men want the approval of their peers and it is not popular to expose the nerve of sin and its consequences!
Discussion
I.
THE PRECIPITATION OF JUDGMENT
A.
First, God's chosen people rejected God's Word.
1.
Ezekiel was told, ... they will not listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart. Ezekiel 3:7
2.
Then there were the false prophets prophesying out of their own minds crying peace when there was no peace hunting down souls for their own profit, Ezek. ch. 13 and 22.
3.
And those who came to Ezekiel's house to sit before him and BE ENTERTAINED! They came to church to be entertained. for a spectator sport. God told Ezekiel they would listen to his words, but they would not do them. Ezekiel was to them like one who sang love songs with a beautiful voice and like one who played well on an instrument, and the people heard it all (and were entertained) but they did not do them.
4.
GOD HAS STORED UP JUDGMENT FOR HIS PEOPLE IF RELIGION IS TO THEM ONLY ANOTHER FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT. AN ESCAPISM. A PASTIME.
5.
The Church today, with all its electronic flim-flam, its self-serving star-studded entertainment syndrome. seeking emotional thrills but not doing the word of God, stands just where Judah stood in Ezekiel's day!
B.
Second, rejecting God's word leads to unfaithfulness.
1.
Having scorned God's word, there was no basis or reason for remaining faithful to their commitment to belong exclusively to Jehovah.
2.
Ezekiel depicts man's unfaithfulness to God in the parable about God's unfaithful wife (ch. 16).
3.
Those who are contemptuous of the sacredness of marriage vows destroy the very basis for faithfulness in that human relationship.
4.
Just so, unfaithfulness toward God, our husband, is due to contempt for the sacredness of our covenant vows with him.
5.
Unfaithfulness comes from a permissive, promiscuous, rebellious attitude. It is a me first, I am responsible to no one, I may have promised, but I don-'t intend to keep promises mind-set.
6.
Unfaithfulness is destructive of every social structure known to man. the family, the church, the nation.
7.
God loves his bride, the church, with an everlasting, absolute love. He is jealous for her affection, her commitment, her faithfulness. AND HE WILL BRING DOWN HIS WRATH ON A CHURCH UNFAITHFUL. A CHURCH WHO FLIRTS WITH THE WORLD. A CHURCH PROSTITUTING ITSELF TO EVERY FALSE, VAIN FAD AND FASHION. GOING AFTER SOME OTHER SOVEREIGN, WILL SOONER OR LATER COME TO JUDGMENT.
C.
Third, an unfaithful attitude led Judah to immorality.
1.
Immorality is more than actionsit is a mind-set.
Immorality is choosing wrong rather than right, and then doing wrong. There is only one rightand that is what God's word says is right! Therefore, to choose against what God's word says, its immorality!
2.
An immoral mind-set will inevitably be lived out in immoral actions. Worshiping other gods, making other things sovereign in our lives, is spiritual prostitution! MAKING ANYTHING OTHER THAN GOD FIRST IS IMMORAL!
3.
Immoral actions may be wrongs committed or rights omitted.
Large segments of Christ's church have rejected God's word, have violated his covenant, have prostituted themselves immorally in unbelief, and have played the role of whore. seeking another love. Turning their back on God's love, offered through his covenant terms (explicitly outlined in his Word), THEY ARE UNDER HIS WRATH!
II.
THE PURPOSE OF JUDGMENT
A.
For the sake of God's name! This statement is repeated over and over in Ezekiel (ch. 20 and 33)
1.
God judges first the house of God, so it will know that I am the Lord. God must vindicate his sovereigntyhis absolute, exclusive sovereignty.
2.
He must prove, with evidence unmistakable, that all other gods in which man is tempted to trust are false, not sovereign, have no power.
GOD DOES THIS BY JUDGMENT UPON FALSE GODS AND THOSE WHO WORSHIP THEM!
3.
There is nothing more important (certainly not man's feelings or circumstances) than God vindicating his name!
WHAT GOOD WOULD OUR FEELINGS OR CIRCUMSTANCES BE, NO MATTER HOW PLEASANT, IF GOD DOES NOT PROVE THAT HE EXISTS AND THAT HE IS ALL POWERFUL, AND THAT HE ALONE IS TO HAVE OUR UNDIVIDED ALLEGIANCE?
4.
These people of Ezekiel's day would eventually throw their precious, expensive idols of gold and silver out into the garbage dumps because they had it proven to them Jehovah God was supreme. he proved it by JUDGMENTS!
5.
God has to prove to his house (first) that he is sovereign and that he will judge unfaithfulness and idolatry.
If God is indifferent to immorality and idolatry within his own house his name is of no significance to either his own or to the world.
Romans 1:18 ff. God has revealed his wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and he has revealed it in the things that have been made (i.e. nature) which prove his existence and his omnipotence (sovereignty).
God judges through nature by allowing men to suffer in their own persons the due penalty of their errors (Romans 1:28).
GOD HAS BUILT INTO HIS REDEMPTIVE PROGRAM CERTAIN NATURAL JUDGMENTS UPON THE WICKED DEEDS OF MEN.
HIS NAME IS VINDICATED SINCE THROUGH THESE JUDGMENTS SOME WILL ACKNOWLEDGE HIS POWER AND SOVEREIGNTY AND TURN TO HIM FOR SALVATION.
Sixty-minutes, CBS, March 16, 1986, investigating the epidemic of AIDS among the 70,000 homosexuals in San Francisco. One homosexual man called it a plague. He said the homosexual community is gripped with fear. The majority see it with fear and are changing their life-style. 300 homosexuals are no longer crusading for political power, but are pleading for help. One out of every 2 homosexuals (35,000) have AIDS. Our community is devastated. there is a lot of fear. But one with the disease said, Some people are claiming this is a judgment of God upon us for being homosexual, but my God is a different kind of God than that. he is a merciful God and would not punish me for being a homosexual.
GOD IS VINDICATING HIS NAME AND HIS WORD (esp. Romans 1:18 ff) BEFORE OUR VERY EYES!
GOD IS DOING IT RIGHT HERE IN JOPLIN (AND THROUGHOUT THE USA) WITH JUDGMENTS UPON A SOCIETY INDULGING ITSELF IN ILLICITY DRUGS.
B.
To turn men from their sins. The fear of judgment is a major factor running from Genesis to Revelation in God's message to turn men from sin.
1.
Hear the Psalmist: When he slew them (the Israelites in the wilderness) they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly Psalms 78:34.
2.
Isaiah said, ... when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals perversely and does not see the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 26:9-10).
3.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11, ... we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.. Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men..
C.S. Lewis, in his book, The Problem of Pain, writes: ... Pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final unrepented rebellion. But gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.. Evil man must not be left perfectly satisfied with his own evil. it must be made to appear to him what it really is. evil.. To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good..
Hebrews warns Christians not to go back to legalism for justification because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews 10:26-31.
Leroy Garrett points out in Restoration Review, Jan. 1986, p. 205-207.
... impressive was the -great fear-' that pervaded the primitive church, and we see from Acts 2:43 that fear was a reaction as early as Pentecost..
The angelic cry from heaven is to -Fear God and give him glory-' (Revelation 14:7), and man's ultimate duty has been defined as -Fear God and keep his commandments-' (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
... Two very public sins and two very real executions! (Ananias and Sapphira). If the same rule were applied to the church today, we-'d likely have a plethora of funerals. But in time we-'d have less sinning!
... The fear generated by this chilling incident poured over into the community. While the townspeople held the church in high esteem for its moral standards, the record tells us an amazing fact about their reaction: None of the rest dared join them (Acts 5:13). While the church had enjoyed rapid growth, it suddenly came to a screeching halt. For a time no one would join the church, lest the penalty of sin be too severe. Such a conclusion as If you join the church you may get yourself killed! was possible. But it was not for long, for as the church continued its powerful witness -more than ever believers were added to the Lord-' (Acts 5:14). The judgment against Ananias and Sapphira demonstrates that God is indeed in control and that he takes sin seriously. And it reveals that there is a place in the hearts and minds of us all for the fear of God.
Mr. Garrett. Only the fear of God will rid our world of its tormenting moral plagues, whether terrorism, drugs, child abuse, crime in our streets. And only the fear of God will restore that sense of awe and worship that is lacking in both the church and the world.
C.
To purge a people for himself through which he may offer redemption to the unbelieving world.
1.
2.
3.
Paul says the church is to perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1)
4.
Peter tells us to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear (1 Peter 1:17).
5.
If the church will not judge itself, God will!
HE IS DETERMINED TO MAKE REDEMPTION AVAILABLE TO SINFUL MAN THROUGH A HOLY CHURCH.
6.
Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Corinthians telling them to judge the immoral man and deliver him to Satan for the death of the flesh. Paul says more in rebuke to the church for its refusal to judge and purge, than he does about the immorality of the man.
Then Paul continues in I Cor. ch. 6 continuing to rebuke them about their indifference to judging themselves.
7.
God brought his judgments upon the Old Covenant people from Abraham to John the Baptizer (2400 years) and purged only a small remnant through which he brought the Messiah into the world.
8.
God began to the church from the moment of its inception on Pentecost. He continued judging the church into the next four centuries during the Roman empire (letters to the 7 churches of Asia MinorRevelation).
A CHURCH NOT JUDGED AND PURGED BY CHRIST IS NOT PREPARED TO STAND AGAINST THE DECEPTIONS OF THE BEAST, FALSE PROPHET, AND HARLOT.
SHOULD WE DARE THINK OUR GENERATION WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM GOD'S JUDGING AND PURIFYING!
III.
THE PROCLAMATION OF JUDGMENT
A.
Each person is responsible for his own sin. Ezek. 18:33
1.
No circumstances, environment, deprivation, or other person can be blamed for an individual's sin, in spite of what sociologists and psychologists may say.
2.
The Bible, God's inspired, inerrant word deals with sin from the only divine, omnipotent, omniscient perspective known to man.
Question, CAN THE BIBLE BE TRUSTED TO PROVIDE ALL THAT PERTAINS TO LIFE AND GODLINES?. IN THE AREA OF SPIRITUALITY?
WHAT DID THE EARLY CHURCH DO BEFORE FREUD, BEFORE PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS? DID THEY HAVE ANY RESOURCE AVAILABLE SUFFICIENT TO DEAL WITH SIN?
WERE THE HOMOSEXUALS, TRANSVESTITES, PEDOPHILES, MANIC-DEPRESSIVES, SCHIZOPHRENICS, NEUROTICS, PSYCHOTICS IN SOCIETY BROUGHT INTO THE CHURCH AND THEN SENT TO PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS? NOT ACCORDING TO 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, etc.
Those who would not follow God's revelation in the N.T. to cure all kinds of socially aberrant behavior were left to suffer in their own persons the due penalty of their errors. or as Jesus put it in Matthew 18:1-35, were as the Gentile and the publican.
Those who were in the church and unwilling to change social behavior rapidly were delivered to Satan for the mortification of the flesh. Those Christians who were overtaken in a trespass, and repented, were restored in a spirit of gentleness.
3.
The book, Psychological Seduction, by William Kirk Kilpatrick, a teacher of psychology at Boston College, writes,
a.
In 1952 Hans Eysenck of the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London discovered that neurotic people who do not receive therapy are as likely to recover as those who do. Psychotherapy, he found, was not any more effective than the simple passage of time.
b.
Dr. Eugene Levitt of the Indiana University School of Medicine found that disturbed children who were not treated recovered at the same rate as disturbed children who were.
c.
Extensive Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study showed that uncounseled juvenile delinquents had a lower rate of further trouble than counseled ones.
d.
Other studies have shown that untrained lay people do as well as psychiatrists or clinical psychologists in treating patients. And the Rosenham studies indicated that mental hospital staff could not even tell normal people from genuinely disturbed ones.
e.
Despite the creation of a virtual army of psychiatrists, psychologists, psychometrists, counselors, and social workers, there has been no letup in the rate of mental illness, suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, child abuse, divorce, murder, and general mayhem.
The more psychologists we have, the more mental illness we get; the more social workers and probation officers, the more crime;
4.
Mr. Kilpatrick continues: A good deal of research suggests that psychology is ineffective. And there is evidence pointing to the conclusion that psychology is actually harmful.
a.
He says, The church has always proceeded on the assumption that reality is what we are built for: the more of it we get, the better off we are. The Christian faith is not founded on beautiful subjective thoughts, but on decisive historical events that occurred during the time when Augustus and Tiberius ruled Rome. What our Lord came to reveal, moreover, was not a set of inspirational themes, but a transcendent reality, the reality of things as yet unseen but nevertheless fixed and solid.
b.
The mind's first duty, then, is not to prefer pleasant thoughts but to record things as they are.
c.
And in that revelation of reality from God is the reality of GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR!
d.
And you should get the book, Reality Therapy, and read that! Written by a psychologist practicing in veterans hospitals and delinquent juvenile institutions.
He insists that the cure for anti-social behavior is facing the reality of personal responsibility for one's behavior and changing it, even it takes discipline and punishment to produce the reality!
IT IS THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY TO PREACH WHAT THE BIBLS SAYS, PRACTICE WHAT THE BIBLES SAYS. AND NOT CALL UPON INADEQUATE (AT BEST) AND PROBABLY HARMFUL HUMANISTIC SYSTEMS CALLED PSYCHOLOGY.
MEN AND WOMEN AND TEENAGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE BEFORE GOD AND BEFORE MAN FOR THEIR ANTI-SOCIAL ACTIONS. THEY MUST HEAR AND BE CONVINCED THAT GOD JUDGES SIN AND WICKEDNESS.
WE HAVE TOO LONG LIED TO OURSELVES ABOUT WICKEDNESS AND CALLED IT, DISEASE, MENTAL ILLNESS, LIBERATED LIVING, EVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES, DIFFERENT LIFE-STYLE. ETC., ETC.
5.
Some people see what I-'ve said as cruel, uncompassionate, unforgiving.
But get this straightforgiveness has nothing to do with letting the forgiven have his own way!
Some think if you don-'t let the one doing wrong have his own way you haven-'t forgiven him.
THAT'S NOT THE WAY GOD FORGIVES.
PARENTS KNOW THAT!
JESUS ALWAYS SAID, GO. SIN NO MORE, LEST A WORSE THING BEFALL YOU!
6.
It was the apostle Peter who wrote in his second epistle that the world deliberately ignores the fact of the judgment of God upon sin. THE FACT OF JUDGMENT IS WRITTEN IN THE FOSSIL RECORD. THE GREAT FLOOD IN NOAH'S DAY WHICH IS THERE INGRAVED IN STONE!
SO MAN DEVISES EVOLUTION IN WHICH TO HIDE FROM THE REALITY OF THE JUDGMENT!
B.
Proclaiming the judgment is to be a real burden to believers! God made it intimately personal to Ezekiel. HE WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO NOT ONLY KNOW ABOUT JUDGMENT, BUT TO BE BURDENED WITH IT AS A MOTIVE FOR PROCLAIMING IT.
SO HE TOLD EZEKIEL, Sigh therefore, son of man; sigh with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes Ezekiel 21:6. AND HE WAS TO SIGH BECAUSE OF THE TIDINGS OF JUDGMENT COMING.
1.
One of the things the church of the N.T. is to do is groan and travail inwardly (and outwardly) as we see this present creation subjected to futility (judgment), Romans 8:1-39.
2.
GOD WAS GOING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE JEWS OF EZEKIEL'S DAY THE DELIGHT OF THEIR EYES (THE TEMPLE) SO THEY WOULD BE BURDENED WITH HIS JUDGMENTS.
C.
Judgment upon the world (and that will include the church so long as she is in the world) is a very significant part of THE ETERNAL GOSPEL.
1.
Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, -Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water (Revelation 14:6-7).
2.
In Acts 24:25, Paul preached justice, self-control, and future judgment before kings and emperors.
3.
Paul preached the day of judgment as certain and proved by the resurrection of Christ, to philosophers, Acts 17:30-31.
4.
Peter preached judgment as ordained by God, Acts 10:42.
5.
Jesus said he came to judge the world, John 9:39; John 12:31; John 12:18; John 12:49.
6.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and the judgment, John 16:8-11.
7.
Jesus proclaimed the judgment in almost every lengthy sermon he preached..
a.
In the Sermon on the Mount, ch. 7.
b.
In the Sermon in Parables, Matthew 13:1-58.
c.
In the Sermon on His Deity, John 5:1-47.
d.
In His sermons during the Feast of Tabernacles, John 7:1-53; John 8:1-59; John 9:1-41; John 10:1-42.
e.
In his last sermon to the apostles, John 15:1-27; John 16:1-33.
f.
In his great evangelistic sermons in Luke 13:1-35; Luke 14:1-35; Luke 15:1-32; Luke 16:1-31; Luke 17:1-37.
g.
AND IN THE TENDEREST PARABLE JESUS TOLD, THE ONE OF THE PRODIGAL SON, HE SHOWED THAT IT WAS THE JUDGMENT UPON THE PRODIGAL'S REBELLION THAT TURNED HIM BACK TO HIS FATHER!
FRIENDS, IT IS THE CHURCH'S CALLING TO PREACH AND WARN, FIRST ITSELF, THEN THE WORLD, OF THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENT COMING. JESUS IS COMING WITH HIS ANGELS IN FLAMING FIRE, TO RENDER VENGEANCE UPON ALL THOSE THAT KNOW NOT GOD AND OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL, 2 Thessalonians 1:8 ff.
THE CHURCH IS NOT PRACTICING EVANGELISM UNTIL SHE DOES THIS. GOD PUT THE JEWS IN THE CENTER OF CIVILIZATION TO PROCLAIM AND PROVE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF JEHOVAH. THEY DEFAULTED ON THEIR CALLING. SO GOD JUDGED THEM TO PROVE TO THEM AND TO THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT HE MEANT WHAT HE SAID.
WE MUST PREPARE OURSELVES FOR THE REDEMPTIVE PROGRAM OF GOD. AND THAT INCLUDES THE FACT THAT, JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD.
Conclusion
When the great, busy plants of our cities
Shall have turned out their last finished work,
When the merchants have sold their last order
And dismissed every last tired clerk,
When our banks have raked in their last dollar
And have paid out their last dividend,
When the Judge of the earth wants a hearing
And asks for a balanceWHAT THEN?
When the choir has sung its last anthem
And the preacher has voiced his last prayer,
And the people have heard their last sermon
and the sound has died out in the air,
When the Bible lies closed on the altar
And the pews are all empty of men,
When each one stands facing his record,
And the great Book is openedWHAT THEN?
When the actors have played their last drama
And the mimic has made his last fun,
When the movie has flashed its last picture
And the billboard displayed its last run-'
When the crowd seeking pleasure has vanished
And gone out in the darkness again,
When the trumpet of ages has sounded
And we stand before HIMWHAT THEN?
When the bugle call sinks into silence
And the long marching columns stand still,
When the captain repeats his last orders
And they-'ve captured the last fort and hill-'
When the flag has been hauled from the masthead,
All the wounded afield have checked in,
And the world that rejected its Savior
Is asked for a reasonWHAT THEN?
IF THERE IS ANYONE HERE THIS MORNING, WHO HAS NOT OBEYED THE GOSPEL, WE PLEAD WITH YOU TO COME FORWARD NOW, AND CONFESS YOUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, OBEY HIS COMMAND TO BE IMMERSED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AS BOTH HE AND HIS APOSTLES HAVE STATED IN THE BIBLE..
DO IT TODAY. JUDGMENT IS COMING. IT IS CERTAIN. BUT GOD'S GRACIOUS FORGIVENESS IS CERTAIN, TOO, IF YOU WILL JUST HEAR, AND DO WHAT HE HAS SAID.
Applebury's Comments
CHAPTER SIX
Analysis
A.
Paul told how he had endeavored to keep his ministry of reconciliation blameless (2 Corinthians 6:1-10).
1.
He gave some additional information about the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
a)
He was working together with God (la).
b)
He strongly urged the Corinthians not to receive the gracious favor of God in vain (b).
c)
He gave his reasons for this exhortation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
(1)
It was based on the Scripture that told how the Lord had listened to the cry of His people and had helped them when they needed salvation.
(2)
He explained that the acceptable time, the day of salvation, is now.
2.
He explained how he had kept his ministry blameless (2 Corinthians 6:3-4 a).
a)
He gave no occasion for anyone to stumble because of him.
b)
He followed this course that his ministry might be blameless.
3.
He listed the areas in which his ministry was blameless (2 Corinthians 6:4 b - 2 Corinthians 6:7 a).
a)
He had patiently endured in (1) afflictions, (2) necessities (3) distresses, (4) stripes, (5) imprisonments, (6) tumults, (7) labors, (8) watchings, and (9) fastings.
b)
He listed eight more areas in which his ministry was blameless. They were in (1) pureness, (2) knowledge, (3) longsuffering, (4) kindness, (5) holy spirit, (6) love unfeigned, (7) word of truth, and (8) power of God.
4.
He told of the means by which he had carried on his blameless ministry (2 Corinthians 6:7 b - 2 Corinthians 6:8 a). They were (1) weapons of righteousness, (2) glory and dishonor, and (3) evil report and good report.
5.
He explained the manner in which he had served (2 Corinthians 6:8 b - 2 Corinthians 6:10). He had done so (1) as unknown, yet well known; (2) as dying, and behold we live; (3) as chastened, and not killed; (4) as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; and (5) as having nothing, yet possessing all things.
B.
Based on his blameless ministry, Paul made a strong appeal to be accepted by the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 6:11-18).
1.
He plead for reciprocal affections (2 Corinthians 6:11-13).
a)
In doing so, he spoke openly to them.
b)
He reminded them of his enlarged affection, for there was room in his heart for all of them.
c)
The only limit was on their part, not his.
d)
He urged them to enlarge their hearts for him, for they were his children in the Lord.
2.
He plead for complete separation from unbelievers and their contaminating practices (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
a)
What this meant to their lives (2 Corinthians 6:14-16 a).
(1)
They were not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
(2)
Righteousness and iniquity cannot be partners.
(3)
Light and darkness cannot mix.
(4)
Christ and Belial cannot be in agreement.
(5)
Faith has no part with unbelief.
(6)
The temple of God cannot be based on the same foundation as an idol's temple.
b)
Why he plead for this separation (2 Corinthians 6:16 b - 2 Corinthians 6:17 a).
(1)
God said, I will dwell in them and walk in their midst.
(2)
He also said, I will be their God and they my people.
(3)
The Lord also said, Come out from among them and be ye separate; touch no unclean thing.
c)
The promise of the Lord God Almighty to those who respond (2 Corinthians 6:17 b - 2 Corinthians 6:18).
(1)
I will receive you.
(2)
I will be your Father.
(3)
You will be My sons and daughters.
Questions
1.
What are the two topics discussed in this chapter? How are they related?
2.
With whom was Paul working in his ministry of reconciliation?
3.
How had he described the relationship between himself and Apollos?
4.
What was their relationship to God?
5.
What danger did the church at Corinth face that caused Paul to urge them not to receive the grace of God in vain?
6.
To what favor from did he refer?
7.
How could it be made vain?
8.
How does the conduct of Peter and Barnabas at Antioch illustrate Paul's meaning in this context?
9.
How had Paul conducted himself so as to avoid making the grace of God vain? See Galatians 2:20.
10.
What was the real motivating force in the life and ministry of Paul?
11.
What is the first business of the church?
12.
Why may the following expressions be considered synonymous: Thus saith the Lord, The Scripture says, and The Holy Spirit says?
13.
What is the meaning of the text which Paul quoted from Isaiah?
14.
How did he apply it to the situation at Corinth?
15.
What is the Day of Salvation?
16.
When did it begin and when will it end?
17.
What did Peter say about the longsuffering of God?
18.
Why was Paul eager to have a blameless ministry?
19.
How did he accomplish his goal?
20.
How had some Jews caused the name of God to be blasphemed?
21.
What were some of the stumbling blocks in the pathway of the Corinthian Christians?
22.
How harmonize Paul's view of a blameless ministry with the constant criticism brought against him?
23.
In what areas was Paul's blameless ministry carried on?
24.
By what means did he carry it on?
25.
In what manner was it done?
26.
What does patience mean?
27.
In what things did he exercise patience?
28.
What does Hebrews say about the trials of the faithful?
29.
What did Jesus say about the trials of His disciples?
30.
What did Peter say about the trials that were coming upon the brethren?
31.
What did Paul mean by necessities?
32.
What are some of the distressing situations in which he exercised patience?
33.
What are some of the situations in which Paul showed patience in stripes?
34.
What is the history of Paul's imprisonments?
35.
When and how did Paul meet the violence of riotous mobs?
36.
How did Paul patiently endure his labors?
37.
What were those occasions which Paul called watchings?
38.
What place did fasting have in the consecration of Saul and Barnabas to their ministry?
39.
Why did Paul abstain from food in his blameless ministry?
40.
What was the source of Paul's knowledge? How did it help in a blameless ministry?
41.
What does longsuffering mean? How does it differ from patience?
42.
What place did kindness have in the ministry of Paul?
43.
What are two ways to understand the expression in the Holy Spirit as it is used in this context?
44.
Why did Paul speak of love as being unfeigned?
45.
What is the message of the word of truth as Paul delivered it?
46.
How was Paul's ministry carried on in the power of God?
47.
What is the armor of righteousness?
48.
Why did he say, on the right hand and on the left?
49.
How did he use glory and dishonor in his blameless ministry?
50.
How did he make use of good and evil reports?
51.
How did Paul react when some looked upon him as a deceiver?
52.
Who had used the same term with reference to Jesus?
53.
Who had considered Paul an unknown?
54.
What credentials did he have to prove that he was well known to God?
55.
To what incident may Paul have referred when he spoke of himself as dying, and behold, we live?
56.
Why was Paul subjected to chastening? By whom?
57.
How did he face sorrow?
58.
In view of his own poverty, how was he making many rich?
59.
As one who had nothing, how could he possess all things?
60.
How did Paul express his frankness in speaking to the Corinthians?
61.
What did he mean when he said, You are not restricted in us?
62.
What did he ask of them in return?
63.
What did he mean by: Be no unequally yoked with unbelievers?
64.
Why did he mention the absolute contrast between righteousness and lawlessness?
65.
How does the lesson to light and darkness teach the same thing?
66.
What promise had God made to Israel?
67.
What bearing did this have on the issue at Corinth?
For Discussion
1.
What are some of the ways in which we may work together to serve God?
2.
What are some of the things in the church today that may cause some to stumble?