2 Corinthians 12 (Part 2) Spend Yourself for God's Kingdom

second Corinthians chapter 12 verse beginning of verse 11 our second part in this chapter Paul writes I have been a fool you forced me to it for I ought to have been commended by you for I was not at all inferior to these super apostles even though I am noting the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works for in what were you less favoured than the rest of the churches except that I myself did not burden you forgive me this wrong here for the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be a burden for I seek not what is yours but you for children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children I will most likely excuse me I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls if I love you more am I to be loved less but granting that I myself did not burden you I was crafty you say and got the better of you by deceit did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you I urged Titus to go and sent a brother with him did Titus take advantage of you did we not act in the same spirit did we not take the same steps have you been thinking all along that we've been defending ourselves to you it is in the sight of God that we've been speaking in Christ and offer your upbuilding beloved for I fear that perhaps when I come I may I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish that perhaps there may be quarreling jealousy anger hostility slander gossip conceit and disorder I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and if not repented of the iniquity excuse me the impurity sexual immorality and sensuality that they have practiced stop there let's pray Jesus fill us with understanding fill us with insight and truth we ask it Lord your name Amen this last part of second Corinthians chapter 12 begins with Paul kind of saying you know I'm a fool I've been speaking like a fool he had stooped to the level of boasting that the false apostles had engaged in and he was very clear to say this is a very foolish thing for me to do but then he quickly said but you forced me into it kind of interesting isn't it any reason he said that is because the Corinthians you know they were well aware of his life they were well aware of his ministry they were well aware of all that he had done among them all the ministry all the miracles all the stuff and they you know should have seen through the false pride of those other super apostles that had showed up there in Corinth and they should have remembered what Paul had done and they should have you know understood and everything that proved who he really was as an apostle in fact he said in verse 12 look with me there again he said the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works isn't that interesting he calls them signs of a true apostle in other words an apostolic ministry was attended by signs signs and you'll notice the even uses three words to describe those things or phrases in this in the third one they are signs wonders and mighty works you might say well what's the diff well there actually are differences a sign is just like you would expect to see on the highway a sign is a pointer it points to something and in a sign which is a miraculous something or other is a pointer if you will to say this is true and that's why signs attended the Ministry of an apostle because that sign said this is true this is a true Ministry of an apostle right and then he talked about wonders and a wonder is just what you would imagine it was something to evoke wonder or ah to get one somebody to realize that you know wow this is amazing you know and then finally my tea works are literally a demonstration of divine power in other words it's power that goes beyond my power your power when you see it you say that's God that can only be God right and so mighty power or mighty works or something that communicates this is from God and there's no possible getting around it you know how sometimes something will happen in our lives and it'll say wow that was just so God and usually I I found in my own experience one of the best ways to determine what is God is what is so opposite me right in other words if God says something to me that I don't want to hear it's probably God right if God does something that I think is just like it's like oh I wouldn't have done that that's probably God you know or here's another way if it's definitely the opposite of the way the world thinks does works whatever it's God so you know it's just one of those things that kind of calls your attention you know we've all had things happen in our lives I'll bet and we're just like wow that was so God maybe we got close to death in an accident or something like that but we know we know that we know that we know that we were spared that was God you know and there are obviously other things that mark a true apostle but these are some of the things that Paul says they mark a true apostle some of the other things that mark it true apostle our faithfulness to the message right if he veers off the message problem also his perseverance in the face of suffering that's a mark of a true apostle he sticks it out he sticks it out verse 13 Paul goes on to say for in in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches except that I myself did not burden you and what he means by that is I didn't take your money so when he means my I didn't burden you in other words when I was there living among you I never asked for anything I never sought your help financially I worked during the day as a tentmaker I did the Ministry of the gospel in my free hours you know and I never asked you for anything he says and you know he says and that was the only place where you were maybe less favored than other churches I didn't burden you I didn't ask anything of you and the reason he says that is because a true apostle and Paul knows this has a right to that support and yet Paul never took it he refused to accept that support but somehow the people made it you know they thought that made him like less apostolic or something less of an apostle paul goes on he says here for the third time i'm ready to come to you and i will not be a burden for i seek not what is yours but you for children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children so Paul tells them his next visit is imminent but he also lets them know hey I haven't been saying all this stuff about support so that when I come you're gonna start supporting me because I want you guys to know something my policy will not change among you when I come for the third time I will not allow you to help me and the reason is is because I want you to know it's not your belongings I want it's you it's you look at verse 15 to me this is the sweet spot of this half of the chapter I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls boy when he talks about spending and being spent he's talking about spending his own money to take care of his needs but when he talked about being spent now he's talking about giving of himself he's talking about literally pouring himself out on their behalf and I got to tell you this statement this verse convicts me a little bit no that's not true it convicts me a lot a bit and the reason it does is because Paul is writing to a bunch of ingrates for the most part he's writing to a bunch of people who have been believing the worst about him and they seemed all too willing to do that you know what I mean to believe the worst and they have been actively withholding their love from him think about that you guys you're a leader you're ministering to people and those people are actively withholding their love from you doesn't that just endear you to those folks what would you say to those kind of people Wow what Paul says to them is when I come I'm gonna be spent I'm more than willing to be spent on your behalf and and this gives us a very important glimpse into the heart and the mind of the Apostle Paul but more than that the heart and mind of Christ because it communicates something that kind of exposes something in the rest of us you can't you see because we're human we really like it when people appreciate us and love us least I do I mean I just like you I like getting nice little notes that say gee poster Paul you're the boast and you know I know it's not true but I like hearing it anyway and I don't like it when somebody goes you stink and I get a lot of that on YouTube I believe and they often don't use the word that's quite that nice I'm human you're human we like to be liked we like to be appreciated and there's nothing wrong with appreciating what others do for us there's really nothing wrong even totally with being appreciated but when it becomes the primary motive of why we do what we do then it begins to dictate what we do did you hear me when it because the primary motive of why we do and what we do then it becomes you know why we do what we do in other words somebody starts off in some kind of a ministry and maybe even for a season they feel strongly about that kind of ministry but eventually they don't get appreciated the way they feel they should and so it begins to erode their zeal and their desire to continue on in that area of ministry and I've seen it too many times you know somebody says you know I used to serve in this one church I went to and then I stopped in fact I even stopped attending because you know I served in that area for two years and never once did anyone come up to me and say thank you I appreciate what you're doing so I left I've heard that before and some of you might be understanding or thinking yourself I can understand how they feel I mean I get it well you know what we all can we can all understand how they feel we all know what it's like to be under appreciated or not appreciated at all but that doesn't change the fact that what that attitude shows or what it reveals is that appreciation was the primary motive for carrying on maybe not for starting because you know you don't usually get appreciation when you just start a ministry but as you've been doing it maybe you've been plugging along for years what's going to keep you plugging on for years to come if it's appreciation if that's gonna be your goal then and you don't get that then you're probably gonna say yeah I think I'm done you know I'm just not getting the appreciation all and all I'm saying about this is that the Apostle Paul wasn't motivated that way because he's writing to people who didn't really appreciate him he's writing to people who actually were were actively withholding their love from him he's writing to people who were believing the worst about him and he writes them and he says I'm coming back that's the first thing that's amazing to me he was willing to go back I would have just written these people off forget you guys I'm gonna go where I'm appreciated I mean that's the humanity that can very easily dictate my steps right but instead Paul writes to them and says I'm gonna come back and when I do I'm going to spend myself on you Wow you know what Paul was just practicing what he preached let me show you a passage where he said something very profound in his letter to the Church of the Colossians he said whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men I I'm the one who capitalized out there for you knowing that it is from the Lord that you're gonna receive an inheritance as your reward you're serving the Lord Christ he's you're not you know ultimately you're not serving men we serve men but ultimately we don't serve for them we serve for the Lord that's what Paul's saying do it as unto the Lord not for men why because men will turn around and say nasty things and they'll under appreciate you and they'll decide maybe even somebody else can do it better than you and if your eyes are on men and if it is on the appreciation of men you're probably going to get discouraged you're going to possibly stop serving and you might even break out a fellowship completely not uncommon and that's and that's so that that passage from Colossians and what Paul's saying here is something that every single believer needs to be reminded about you know because we are to take on service for the Lord but here's the question we have to ask why am i doing it that's critical why am I doing this am i doing it so people can see you know I love the people that come here and serve without anybody watching people come in during the week you never get to see them and they scrub and they clean and they put things away and they do this and they didn't you never you never and you they could be sitting right next to you and they're one of those people you don't even know because you're not here during the week and you don't see them nobody hardly does but they're giving and they're not doing it for appreciation but you know this attitude of doing it as unto the Lord or doing it you know - - for the right reasons it also reflects the heart of our Savior I'm going to show you some interesting words and these words were spoken on the very night that Jesus would be arrested and beaten and ultimately taken to be crucified I don't know what would be going through your mind if you knew that you were hours away from those things happening to you here's what Jesus said Luke chapter 22 he says for who is the greater one who reclined at the table or one who serves is it not the one who reclined at the table yeah of course he's the one who's being served look what Jesus says but I am among you as one who serves it's not just the statement that blows me away it's the timing of the statement when I know that there's something big going on in my life that's probably going to be painful scary / dreadful I'm not thinking about serving other people I'm thinking about myself pretty intimately you know I got every focal method that I can use to to reach out and it's all reaching in at that moment and I'm thinking about my anxiety level and I'm thinking you know I'm just thinking about me the only reason I can admit that to you is because I know you do the same but here is Jesus here's this incredible attitude Jesus is talking you guys got to remember at the Last Supper right after Jesus got done saying that he was going to be crucified the disciples started a conversation on which of them was would be the greatest and jesus said things like you know this very night you know one of you will betray me and all they could think about was visit me they were so me centered and and and talk about a lack of appreciation ah and yet what was the attitude of Jesus while he was there with those men I am among you as one who serves I am here to serve I'm here to serve you not for what I can get out of it but just to give and that's where Paul was - when I come back he says I will gladly spend it all on your behalf can you see why I'm I get convicted by that statement it's the heart of the Savior it's a real true attitude of service and I fall so short and that the kind of example that I want I want to have I want to have it even when you're saying nasty things or even when someone's saying nasty things about you or doing things that show their lack of appreciation or their lack of concern for you we need to be the kind of people who take up this same attitude Lord how can I serve that person how can I spend myself not save but spend you know Jesus talked about the one who would save his own life he says he'll actually lose it but the one who would lose his life for my sake will actually find it and I think there's an element in that of in that losing and saving it related to giving of our lives or hoarding our lives is your life something for you to hang on to and to keep for yourself or is it something to give away you know Paul ends the chapter verse 16 but granting that I myself did not burden you in other words he said when I was there I didn't take your money I was crafty you say and got the better of you by deceit and apparently this is something Paul was accused of of being deceitful by perhaps refusing support outwardly but taking advantage of them in other ways we don't know we don't know the specifics of this accusation all we know is that Paul is addressing some kind of accusation so he he asked them to reason he says did I did I take advantage of you how about their any of the guys I sent to you how about Titus did he take advantage of you you remember I sent him with somebody else for the accountability did those guys did or did they do things just like I do and that's what he says here did we not act in the same spirit that's what he says there at the end of kind of the end of verse 18 in other words didn't they do just what I do didn't they work all day long and not take any of your money so how did they take advantage of you and you see what Paul is doing here any kind of verses 17 and 18 he asked some four different questions and he's trying to reason with them to understand that this has no basis in reality have you ever wondered why we're so eager to believe the worst in people when somebody says something well I think the guy's deceitful actually all right yeah I just I'll just be honest with you I think the guy is just flat-out deceitful why are we so why are we so anxious to just go I never thought of it that way I think you're right rather than reasoning it out and saying well first of all what do you mean by that even um I don't get what you're saying because that doesn't match reality that's what the Corinthians should have done that's why Paul said at the beginning of this section we're looking at you drove me to it you should have been there defending me when these false apostles were gang yangyang yeah saying this and saying that about me you should have you should have stood up because you know my ministry you know my life and you know that I didn't take advantage of you and neither did any of the men who came that I sent take advantage of you so why is it though why is it that we're so we seem so eager to believe the worst well there's a proverb that helps us to understand this it's proverbs chapter 18 goes like this the words of a gossiper like choice morsels they go down to a man's inmost part now I don't use the phrase choice morsels I never say to my wife when she makes a nice dinner oh honey those are choice Marshalls never once said that now what I will say is literally looks good or that's delicious right what is what is what is being said here in this proverb it's this is making a statement about human nature you see choice morsels is a phrase that means something irresistible what's he saying he's saying gossip is irresistible it's like for me it would be something akin to eating pizza or chocolate I I gotta tell you I've got a major weakness for pizza and chocolate I can't eat them like I used to but I still love them I do you know and I hate that I can't eat them like I used to when I was younger but that's why I eat those things because I love them you with me do you know why we listen to gossip we love it just like my pizza and chocolate thing right that's why we that's why we listen to gossip or backbiting which they're their first cousins okay gossip and backbiting we like it so here's I asked you the question why are we so anxious to believe things about people that are so negative we like to it's fun it's like eating pizza give me another piece it's like you know have you I love it sometimes my wife is such a delightful creature she'll have still have some chocolate and I'll say can I have some of that and she'll break me off this little piece I'm like come on I want to eat it all you know and then and then after I'm done I want to go to the store and buy more because I like it it's it's it's enjoyable it's delicious and it's the same way about gossip it's delicious but it goes down into the inmost parts yeah it sticks to you right and that's kind of the nasty thing about it you know nobody ever told me when I was young that there would come a day in my life where I couldn't eat as much pizza and chocolate I'm glad they didn't tell me I would have probably sat down and cried but it actually came probably sometime in my 40s in fact you know we went over to some friend's house on the 31st and just to kind of get together and hang out and I walk in the door and I and we walked through the kitchen and what do I see laying on the counter there's about five different pizzas piping-hot sitting there on the counter I knew I was going to see that so before I went there I had a bowl of cereal you know try to just kind of take the edge off sort of and you know what I went I have to say I I went the whole evening and I didn't eat one piece of pizza are you proud of me thank you I just no no no just because we'll probably have pizza this afternoon so don't worry about it but but I got to tell you how hard that was that was really hard saying I mean looking at that pizza sitting there and I love pepperoni pizza and it was just sitting there looking at me going eat me you know but I didn't and and I got to thinking about that and I thought you know what I can do the same thing when it comes to gossip and listening to backbiting I can say no and so can you because we know that it's not good for us and it's not good for the kingdom of God it's not good for the body of Christ and you and I can say no we don't even though it's delicious we don't have to gulp it down we don't have to right I think that's an important thing to remember it's kind of some of the stuff what Paul's saying here the Corinthians they had just gulped down these choice morsels these delicious tidbits you know of backbiting and gossip and believed the worst and Paul saying you don't have to do that verse 19 he says have you been thinking all along that we've been defending ourselves to you not hardly he says it's in the sight of God that we've been speaking in Christ but it's all been for your up building he says and then he calls him beloved beloved again that's not a term that I use when I'm talking to people you know Jay Vernon McGee always ended all of his you guys remember listened to Jay Vernon and you know what a great Bible teacher from you know years go by he's with the Lord now but every single broadcast ended by him calling his listeners you know my beloved you know and I loved his southern you know way of saying it too but it's the term of endearment right it's a term of intimacy and love and tenderness and again pulse talking to these people who are ingrates he's talking to these people who under appreciate him he's talking about people who've been gulping down these morsels of backbiting and gossip and believed it and now they're withholding their love and he calls them beloved do you get how cool that is how how Jesus that is right but Paul wanted them to know and what are you saying here in verse 19 is that he's not defending himself to them as if they he considered them the judge and jury Paul knew that Jesus was his ultimate judge and he was serving them for Christ you with me he was not serving them for them that's the critical thing that you and I need to see that's where we fail in our service we serve people for people you need to serve people for Jesus he says do you think I've been defending myself to you know I've been saying everything I've been saying before God right I've been saying this I stand or fall to him that's what that's what Paul is saying here but he says I've been saying these things to build you up to rescue you from this dangerous place you've put yourselves in and then he ends he says for I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish and on by the same token you know you may find me not as you wish in other words not mr. happy grandpa come and sit on my lap but rather in a place where I need to take out my stick you know every Shepherd had a staff for a reason and he's like I don't want to use it on you guys and he's not talking literally but figuratively he's talking about I don't want to have to come and just bring correction you know I want to come and enjoy my time with you but he says I'm afraid that when I get there I'm going to find all these things among you like quarreling and jealousy and anger and hostility and slandering gossip and conceit and disorder wow what a laundry list and yet he injects the most incredible hope at the end of that and by the way this list of sins is not your typical list of oh I messed up today like we all mess up every day right we all sin we all sin we all mess up on a daily basis this isn't that Paul's talking about some pretty nasty x' here and yet he injects into that laundry list of nasty sins this hope where he says I I I don't want to have to mourn over you I want instead to come and find that you have repented I fear when I come that you will not have repented but I want you to have repented I don't know I just think that that's an incredibly important you know statement because you see repentance ah one of the most underappreciated elements of our Christian walk we've kind of allowed it to be smeared a little bit you know by crazy half loony people that walk around the streets of major cities with signs and placards and say repent the world's coming to an end and then everybody goes yeah and they associate that weirdness with the whole idea of repentance and suddenly repentance takes on this connotation of weirdness it's like well weird people repent no repentance is critical it is key to our Christian existence when we are caught in sin there's still hope you know repent turn to God and that's what repentance is turning to God turning away from that thing and turning to God there's always hope I love it I love that Paul always injects that hope because there is hope I've sat and talked to people telling about Jesus tell about the cross and they'll inevitably start telling me about why Jesus can't do anything for them and it always has to do with the kind of sin that the the you know the brand of sin that they're into you know you don't know about my life and then they'll start telling me things you know had raised the hair on the back of your neck yeah but you know what there's repentance no matter what it is no matter what it is that you have done repentance is always an option turn to God there's hope if you're just gonna stay where you are and say I can't be saved well you're stuck but don't do that don't let the enemy keep you there right don't let the enemy keep you in that place of sin thinking somehow that you're the worst of the worst and there's no possible hope for you there is always hope because Jesus died for the worst of sinners and if that's you own up to it but know this there's hope always always hope you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Ontario

Views: 10,229

Rating: 4.9381442 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Bible teaching, Thru-the-Bible, verse by verse, Calvary Chapel, Bible study, Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament

Id: AOd2KcGFXfQ

Length: 33min 59sec (2039 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 05 2017