Paul had an involved relationship with the Christians at Corinth. We have two letters preserved he wrote to this church, but there is evidence that there might have been as many as four letters, two of which we no longer have.
On his second missionary journey, Paul spent 18 months in Corinth with Aquila and Pricilla as tent makers. Corinth was a wealthy, major cosmopolitan Roman city. Greek philosophy was strong and was a continued influence upon the church. After leaving Corinth, Paul made it to Ephesus and spent three years with that church. It was while at Ephesus, Paul heard of issues of immorality that existed in the church at Corinth.
Paul sent Apollos to Corinth on his behalf and wrote a strong warning against associating with immoral people.
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people–
not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-11 ESV).
This letter was lost to history, and we only know about it from this passage in what we call 1 Corinthians. While there, Apollos used his talents as an eloquent speaker to preach the Word as he labored with the church there. His speaking talents seemed to be a stark contrast to Paul’s less-than-eloquent speaking abilities, and this became yet another issue Paul would have to deal with.
Many in Corinth took sides and followed certain personalities. It was then that a prominent woman name Chloe arranged to have a letter sent to Paul (or was among one of the people who delivered it herself), where she told Paul about the factions that were tearing apart the church, along with a series of questions that those who had a heart to follow Jesus had for him. While still in Ephesus, Paul responded to her letter (or visit) with another letter answering their questions. This second letter to Corinth is the first one we have preserved that we call 1 Corinthians.
It seemed that shortly after writing this letter, Paul made a quick trip to Corinth, which resulted in what he referred to as a “painful visit.”
“For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?” (2 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV).
After a bad reception in which he and his boldness were attacked head-on, and where he had to respond in harshness, Paul determined not to visit them again in person until they could work out all the issues causing problems, so the next time he came, it would not be another contentious visit, but one of joy and love they could share with each other.
So Paul addressed their issues with a third letter, one that is also lost to history. Paul alludes to this letter in 2 Corinthians as one of “much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears.”
“For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:4 ESV).
As Paul dealt with these issues through letters, many people who opposed him used his avoidance of personal visits as a mark of weakness and fear. But that third letter seemed to be a poignant one, and Paul sent it to them by the hand of Titus. While in Ephesus, Paul waited anxiously for Titus’ return to see how the Corinthians had responded to this letter.
But while at Ephesus, a riot in the city forced Paul to leave. He went to Troas, still waiting for Titus to return. His heart was for the people. Did they respond in Christian love and humility, or did those who stirred up the people against him turn the hearts of the church against him?
Paul left Troas, still with no word from Titus. He moved to Philippi and while there, Titus finally arrived with news about how the Corinthian Christians responded to his third letter he had written in anguish (the one lost to us). Titus brought mixed news. The people had taken his letter to heart. They had held the one to account for his actions, and even better, the individual had repented and the process of forgiveness and reconciliation could begin.
But Titus also brought news of another issue. A group of false teachers were trying to convince the Corinthians that Paul was a false apostle and they were the true apostles. In response to this, Paul writes a fourth letter to the Corinthians, the second one that survived for us that we call 2 Corinthians, where Paul rejoices over their penitent heart, stand for the Truth, and where he ends with a robust defense of his apostleship.
Shortly after this letter, Paul made his third visit to the church at Corinth, where he spent about three months with them preparing to deliver what must have been a sizable gift to the Christians suffering in Jerusalem.
In all of this, we see Satan working in a local church to tear it apart and a man devoted to Jesus working just as hard in tears and love not to give up on these precious sheep. What an amazing love Paul showed to the people at Corinth, even with all their issues, of favoritism, fighting, suing each other in court, immorality, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the resurrection itself, just to name a few issues.
Is it any wonder Paul says,
“Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (2 Corinthians 2:10-11 ESV).
Satan will do what he can to cause us to fight against one another, puff ourselves up in our own eyes, seek after our own interests rather than the interest of others, and follow after men who tickle our ears and preach what we want them to preach.
Some things never change. Satan sticks to his same tactics, often with predictable success. But knowing this, we can rest in the power of the Spirit, the Gospel, the Father, and Jesus to overcome the devices of Satan. May we all develop the heart of Paul and persevere with each other through many tears, anguish of heart, and love for each other.
We must always be prepared to release a person from the debt he or she owes us.
I am in the book of Micah in my daily Bible reading. Micah is talking about the profane state the people were in without them realizing it. Their sin before the Lord would be a cause for judgment to come upon them. Listen to what God says to them through the voice of the prophet:
“Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.” (Micah 3:9-10 ESV).
But it gets worse for the people. The judgment was coming, not because the Lord was unwilling to forgive; not because the Lord was hiding His fierce judgment from them; not because they were unable to turn and be spared the harshness of judgement.
No, it was for a much more tragic reason. Listen to Micah and the voice of the Lord…
“Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” (Micah 3:11 ESV).
In all their wickedness, they felt no urge to repent and avoid judgment. Instead, they continued to pervert justice, oppress the innocent, and practice a perverse religion for their own gain rather than for God’s glory.
They did all these things and told themselves, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” The Spirit tells us that “they lean on the LORD.” This wasn’t a leaning on the Lord for guidance and protection. It wasn’t a leaning on the Lord for direction and faith. It was leaning on the false perception that God would allow them to act with impunity while they continued in their sin.
This mindset refuses to even consider that there is sin we must turn from. Once we convince ourselves that we can continue in our sins and God will be with us, what motivation is there to turn from what we are doing?
I don’t know about you, but verse 11 to me is one of the most heartbreaking verses in Scripture. Once we stop looking into God’s Word to help shape our attitudes and actions and we feel comfortable that God is with us while we engage in all kinds of sins and perversions, we stop fearing the judgment to come.
We too live in a society that perverts justice, oppresses the innocent, and practices a perverse religion for our own gain rather than for God’s glory. We commit all kinds of abominations and sins while crying out, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”
Have we, too, reached a point where we, as a society, will no longer fear the judgment of God because we have gotten to the place where we feel we can have our cake and eat it to?
May we all start each day with a heart that is open to God and actively searches His word to measure ourselves against what is written in it, rather than closing our hearts to any examination. Otherwise, we will travel down the broad path along with those in our society who have given up on seeking the Lord.
The next time you read the Sermon On The Mount, don’t just read it as a series of things we must and must not do. It was preached by the Creator to His creation.
Read it as the Creator’s guide on how we were made to operate. In a world broken by sin, the Sermon On The Mount shows us how to live our lives the way we were designed by our Creator to live it.
“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29 ESV).
God does not bless us to the exclusion of others:
He blesses us for the benefit of others.
How are we using our blessings to glorify God and serve His image bearers?
Sometimes, when a marriage or relationship ends, there’s a phase immediately before the end where people may be together physically, but they have already checked out of the relationship.
When the end finally comes, it’s an easy transition into separation. It comes as no surprise, neither is there any pain or loss experienced.
I wonder if many people are in that phase with Jesus today.
There is still hope and opportunity to rekindle our Love for King Jesus today.
He still loves us with a fierce love.
I am in the books of Obadiah and Jonah in my daily Bible reading. Edom was a people who lived in the mountains, and were hard to defeat in battle. This lead the people to believe they were invincible.
Yet Obadiah spoke a prophecy of judgment against them because of they evil they committed. Was God concerned about how hard they would be to reach?
Hardly.
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD.” (Obadiah 1:3-4 ESV).
What about we today? Have we convinced ourselves that we can continue to sin against God with impunity because we feel like we are invincible? Do we turn a blind eye to God and embrace the evil He warns against?
I am speaking to my people in America. Do we put trust in having two oceans between us and the rest of the world? Do we put trust in our weapons and technology? Do we lift up our hearts and ask, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:7 ESV).
May the people of my nation turn their hearts back to the One true and living God. May we repent and put our trust in Him, as we acknowledge on our currency. May we learn the lesson of God’s sovereignty before it is too late, as it was for the hardened people of Edom.
Is it possible for a proud and evil people to repent and humble themselves before God? Yes. The great and evil people of Nineveh humbled themselves and God repented of the judgment He committed against them.
“And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:7-10 ESV).