2 Corinthians - Lesson 6D

• Alright guys, turn with me if you will to the sixth Chapter of 2 Corinthians as we pick back up with Paul’s second recorded letter to the Corinthian Church.

  • Last week, I paused in our teaching to really highlight what was, and is, a problem with the American church, and not just with the American church, but with the church globally as well.

  • And that problem is a message being taught by many churches called the “Prosperity Gospel” or “Prosperity Message”. A message that says, God wants to bless you (in a temporal sense), an earthly sense, with stuff. Especially money.

  • And although it is true that God wants to bless us, His blessings are always eternal, and they are always about His Glory. Simply put, these blessing emerge when our lives bring glory to God here on earth. And by bringing Him glory, we, in turn, receive a real peace and a real contentment that only God can deliver.

    • Now let me say this. From time-to-time God will bless a believer financially. But, once again, if He does, it’s all for His glory, for a work that He entrusts us to do, which is always for the work of ministry. Amen - Amen!

• Now moving on this morning, let’s pick back up with our teaching in 2 Corinthians, the sixth Chapter. When we last left off, we finished our previous teaching with verses 2-10. In those verses Paul explained how that (and I will paraphrase here), how that he and the other Apostles always stood firm in their faith, even in the face of great hardship.

  • Whether it was beatings, imprisonments, mob attacks; whatever it was they always stood firm in their faith. Never wavering. And that very fact, that they did indeed stand firm in the face of great adversity, was evidence that they were who they said they were.

    • Another way to say it is, their actions lined up with their words. And that my friends, is and will always be, the most powerful testimony a believer can ever display. The question is always the same; are you who you say you are? And not just in the good times, but in the bad times as well.

    • Paul also did something else in these verses, he contrasted words in his writings. Meaning, he took words that were polar opposite of one another and then used them as an example of their stance with God.

    • More specifically, he used them to give us a picture of the universal position of their life in Christ, and how they never wavered. Paul’s universal position in life is our universal position in life as well. It can best be described as being riddled with ups and downs, good times and bad. A little bit better at times and then a lot worse. That’s life. It’s life for all of us, and the key to surviving it lies in your perspective, your paradigm.

  • Paul described it this way in verses 4-10:

2 Cor. 6:4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in difficulties, 
2 Cor. 6:5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in mob attacks, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,

• And then he makes the shift in verse 6 when he says:

2 Cor. 6:6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
2 Cor. 6:7 in the word of truth, and in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
2 Cor. 6:8  by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;
2 Cor. 6:9 as unknown and yet well known, as dying and yet behold, we are alive; as punished and yet not put to death,
2 Cor. 6:10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

• I would say that about covers life, it’s up and it’s down and it’s good and then it’s bad. The point is, and Paul says it at the beginning of verse 4, “in everything we are to commend ourselves as servants of God”. Another way to say it is, no matter my situation, we will serve the Lord.

  • Next, he moves into what will be the final verses of Chapter 6, where he says the following, and let me read it to you:

2 Cor. 6:11 Our mouth has spoken freely to you, you Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.
2 Cor. 6:12 You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. (Self-awareness)
2 Cor. 6:13 Now in the same way in exchange—I am speaking as to children—open wide your hearts to us, you as well.
2 Cor. 6:14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? (a hawk and a dove)
2 Cor. 6:15 Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial (bee-lee-el), or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2 Cor. 6:16 Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
2 Cor. 6:17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. (Your choice)
“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
2 Cor. 6:18 “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.

• So, Paul pauses finishing his defense in verse 10, and then makes a shift by saying:

2 Cor. 6:11 Our mouth has spoken freely to you, you Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.
2 Cor. 6:12 You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.
2 Cor. 6:13 Now in the same way in exchange—I am speaking as to children—open wide your hearts to us as well.

• Pretty simple concept here. Paul says, guys, our mouth has spoken freely to you. That’s the translation of my NASB 95. But the Greek says it better. It says, “The mouth of us has been opened to you.”

  • The sense here, (as I have read it and studied it), is God has spoken through us to you, and what you do with it is up to you. And that is further confirmed in verse 12 when he says, “You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.”

    • Now, Paul’s words here run a lot deeper than you might think, and in his words lies a powerful lesson for each of us, and that is, you have heard the truth now do something about it.

  • The two words “own affections” in the Greek mean, to be moved by the inward parts (heart, liver, lungs, etc.), the emotions. The usage of the words in the Greek are the inward parts, the heart, affections, seat of feelings.

  • In other words, do not let your emotions override the truth of God’s word. There simply cannot be any deeper truth or reality in the life of the believer than that. You know what you are supposed to do but you just aren’t willing to do it.

  • Which tells us that God gives us a “say” in the matter, meaning we do get a choice, but the question is, when God speaks what do we do? Do we A) - Close our eyes and ignore what God says because it’s going to cause conflict in our lives, or do we B) - Make the right choice regardless of our emotions?

• Now, here’s what I will tell you about this particular topic. The level in which you are willing to obey God’s word is directly proportional to your happiness on this earth.

  • Now this may sound like an obvious statement, but apparently, it’s not too obvious because believers won’t do it. Every day, I meet with people who come to me for counseling. It could be dealing with relationships, or substance abuse issues or children. And the answer they are looking for is many times crystal clear.

    • And it starts with a simple question, which is, what does God expect, or what does God’s word tell me to do? And almost always those people will say, I know, I know. I just can’t seem to do it.

  • Let me say, I personally don’t understand that statement. I really don’t. Someone might say to me, “Well, it’s easy for you to say because you’re not in their situation.” I would say to that person, “you are misunderstanding what I am talking about.”

  • I understand being in a bad situation and struggling to do the right thing. What I don’t understand is the statement, “I just can’t seem to do it.” You can do it. The reality is you aren’t willing to do it.

    • In other words, I can understand someone saying, for me right now the “juice isn’t worth the squeeze.” Meaning - I am not willing to make the right choice at this current time. Believe it or not, I can accept that, and I mean that sincerely, and the reason I can accept that is because it’s the truth.

    • You can do it, you’re just not willing to do it at this time. The sad thing is though, if you only knew; if you only knew what blessings were waiting for you if you simply listened and obeyed.

• I have often said, if I had a crystal ball, and could show what the future looked like when you stand with Christ (no matter the situation or circumstance). If you could only get glimpse of what God has in store for you, you would never choose to stay where you are.

  • But why don’t we do it? Why don’t we do what we are supposed to do? In essence, it all boils down to belief and trust. Meaning, you just don’t trust God enough to think it’s going to be alright, or that somehow, it’s going to be better. And so, for that reason, you stay where you are.

  • Now let me say this. This is all a biproduct of spiritual maturity, which as we know is a biproduct of knowing God more intimately. Which is a biproduct of what? Studying and knowing His word more in-depth. It’s a simple concept.

    • When you know God more intimately, you then trust Him and believe Him at a whole different level, which then allows you to make sound and solid decisions about everything in your life.

    • But for most believers, the level of maturity required to make sound decisions (while in the fire) will never be a reality. Which, once again, leaves that person in a constant state of turmoil and confusion.

• And so, what am I trying to say? I am trying to say, we as believers must desire and pray about reaching a higher level of spiritual maturity. That’s if we ever want to see improvement in our Christian life.

  • We should never live lives that mirror the world around us. Rather, we should live lives that make those in the world around us ‘desire to inquire’. To pause and ask themselves, what’s different about you? Because that’s the purest way that you and I participate in the work of the ministry. That’s how God uses us, and puts you in the game, through the testimony of our lives!

    • So, Paul tells them, you have received the truth, so forget about what you’ve been told by the others around you, and instead, make the right choice and follow what God has said.

• In verse 13, Paul says something else I find interesting. He says, paraphrasing here, we are speaking to you as children. Now, Paul’s choice of words here tells us two things. First, (and this is just my opinion), I think his choice of words shows his frustration. Because essentially, he is saying, I’m trying to get my message through to you, (so much so) that I have dumbed it down to the point where even a child can understand it.

  • And then secondly, it obviously shows just how immature they are. Remember, this church is roughly a 10-year-old church at this point, so the fact that he has to speak to them in such a child-like way tells us they are very immature, at least on spiritual matters.

• Now the question for all of us sitting here today is, are we any better than they are? In other words, if you and I attended that church, at that time, would we be any better at deciphering or making spiritual decisions, or are we any better today at making spiritual decisions?

  • In other words, when tough decisions have to be made, do we:

  • A) Roll with the punches and make decisions by gravitating toward what is comfortable or easy in the moment? Or…

  • B) Pray and refer to God’s word, and then make our decisions based on what God would expect.

    • I suspect the overwhelming majority of Christians today would go with A, which is based on my sample size of dealing with Christian brothers and sisters for the last 20-plus years. Moving on, verses 14-18, let me read it once again.

2 Cor. 6:14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? (a hawk and a dove)
2 Cor. 6:15 Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial (Bee-Lee-El), or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2 Cor. 6:16 Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
2 Cor. 6:17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. (Your choice)
“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;
And I will welcome you.
2 Cor. 6:18 “And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.

• Paul begins verse 14 by giving a command, or an order. He says, “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers”. The word for mismatched in Greek is “unequally yoked together” or “tied together”.

  • The sense here is that of uniting together two opposing groups of people. And let me say, there could be no greater opposing two groups than that of the believers and unbelievers. Believers are not supposed to hook up with, unite, or connect with unbelievers.

  • Now wait a minute preacher. How are we going to reach people for the Lord if we don’t associate with unbelievers? I didn’t say don’t associate with them. I said we don’t unite with them. The word is yoke. Do you guys know what a yoke is?

    • Think of what a yoke looks like, two oxen connected. These two oxen are not associating with one another, they are married, conjoined together. They are one! This is a lot different than simply associating with someone.

• Now, before pressing on this morning, I want to highlight something else about Paul’s words, and that is, Paul’s reference here to unbelievers should give us cause for concern. And why? Because remember, Paul is writing this letter to a church, so evidently this group, - or someone within this church, is obviously being influenced by unbelievers.

  • The question is, how could that happen? Well, there are only two possible answers:

    • Number 1 - this church or these church leaders are taking advice from people outside the walls of the church, or…

    • Number 2 - they are taking advice from people inside the church. People who they think are believers, but they are not. Based on the history of this church, as well as others, I’m going with Number 2.

  • Which is pretty disturbing when you stop to think about it, and it leaves me asking a question; which is, whatever percentage of “non-believing” church people do you think may have attended the Church at Corinth? I’m not sure, but guess what? I assure you it pales in comparison to the percentage of “non-believing” church members attending churches today, and as my daddy would say, “that certainly brings on more talk”.

  • Which obviously leads to the question, how could this be the case? Well, without keeping you here all day, all I can tell you is, it’s prophetic, and know this to be the case when we study eschatology (The End Times).

• In the last days, the church will be full of people who say they are saved, but in fact, are not. And just for a little proof of this, let me read an excerpt from 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

2 Tim. 4:1 I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Tim. 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction.
2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,
2 Tim. 4:4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Tim. 4:5 But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

• Paul was the one who wrote Timothy, therefore, it’s pretty fitting that we use his own words to confirm what he is trying to convey in 2 Cor. 6:14. How could there be people inside the church who are not believers, but obviously think they are? The answer is the absence of God’s word being preached.

  • And why is that? Because God’s word is what saves people. And how does that work?

    • When taught in context and rightly divided by a pastor/teacher, it convicts, which then causes reflection in a person, which then causes repentance, which then causes salvation. That’s how it works.

• So, if the word is no longer being taught or studied or championed, then there is no conviction and no reflection and no repentance and no salvation. That’s it! And that’s why the church ends up with people in it who aren’t saved.

  • But why does the church quit teaching the word? Well, they don’t completely quit teaching it, but they do, and they don’t.

    • They don’t completely quit, they just begin bending it and shaping it to fit a theme or narrative - taking it out of context, which then ends up diluting it. Diluting it or watering it down to the point it loses its “seasoning effect”, its “convicting effect”.

    • That’s what happens, and the crazy thing is it’s all happening with the purest of intentions, which was for the sake of reaching the lost. Which is so strange when you think about it. You mean in an effort to reach people for Christ, we abandoned the mechanism that actually saves them? The answer is yes.

    • But, as I said, with the purest of intentions. But why? It happened because preachers forgot (or maybe they never knew), whatever the reason, they lost sight of how salvation works. Let me explain.

• Man does not save man. Man has zero to do with man’s salvation. It’s all God all the time. Man has nothing to do with it, we are simply an instrument God uses in the process of salvation. But at some point in church history, in an effort to reach more people for Christ, preachers began forgetting that. Not consciously but subconsciously, and as a result, the message began turning more toward a “tickling of the ear”.

  • Where once, the Bible was the basis for the message, meaning, the Bible was the starting point for the preaching, man began having his own ideas, and that led to the advent of topical preaching.

  • Meaning, instead of God’s word being the basis for the message, man started with his own basis, ideas, and philosophies, and then used the Bible as a reference, or foot note, or back up for what he was trying to convey. Let that sink in for minute. Can you see the danger in that?

    • One way takes the Bible (the verses) and teaches from it, and the other way takes a preacher’s idea, or topic, and then uses the Bible (almost like a commentary) to back up what he is trying to convey.

    • Next week, I am going to expound on this a little bit more by giving you some real-life examples of what I am trying to say, but for now you should get the picture.

• Now, let me say this, for most of us, we all pretty much grew up sitting under this type of teaching. Which means this might be a little upsetting or disruptive if it’s the first time you’ve heard what I am saying. And so, in an effort to make you feel a little better, I will say a preacher can teach the Bible in a topical format, as long as he keeps it completely in context of what the scripture is trying to convey.

  • The problem is in order to do that the preacher must do a whole lot more work in crafting his message. And I assure you, it is a whole lot easier just to teach it as you come to it. Verses rather than trying to craft a narrative in context, using the scriptures to back up what you are trying to say. Let me digress on this topic by saying this, a man should never come up with a theory or an idea and then try and use the Bible as a “back up” to what he is trying to say or prove.

  • Instead, the Bible should be the starting point or basis for what he is saying. In other words, where you start as it relates to Biblical teaching matters. Pressing on, and I will close by touching real quick on the rest of what Paul said in verses 14–18.

    • He said don’t be mismatched (unequally yoked) with unbelievers. And then he says,

    • For what does righteousness have in common with lawlessness?

    • Or what does light have in common with darkness?

    • Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial (Bee-Lee-El)? “Bee - Lee - El” is a word associated with Satan.

    • And then he says, or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? The comparisons here are pretty simple, and once again, Paul is contrasting words. Words that are polar opposites, and the message to the believer is simple - we should never yoke ourselves together with the world.

• And let me say this to all believers; if you yoke yourself together with things of this world, in whatever facet they may be, and I am not going to go through the litany of things that could be considered worldly, except to say if you are confused about what those things might be, then just ask yourself the question - if the Lord were sitting here with me in this very moment in whatever I’m doing would I feel comfortable doing what I am doing?

  • If the answer is yes, then you’re good. If the answer is no, then you’re not good. That’s your litmus test in case you are confused.

• Anyway, Paul’s message to this church is clear; do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and certainly don’t take their advice or direction in spiritual matters. And obviously, by extension, the same is true for us!

  • Next week I will expound a little bit more on verses 16-18 before moving into Chapter 7, and in those verses, we are going to discover something encouraging, which is “a promise from God”.

  • A promise that says, if we do what we are supposed to do then God will respond and do something for us. And so, the inverse of that is, if we don’t do what we are supposed to do, then He won’t. Pretty simple!