2 Corinthians 7 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Second Corinthians chapter [music]
2. 0:027.
3. 0:03Therefore, having these promises,
4. 0:06beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
5. 0:08all defilement of flesh and spirit,
6. 0:11perfecting holiness [music] in the fear
7. 0:13of God.
8. 0:14Make room for us in your hearts.
9. 0:16We wronged no one. We corrupted no one.
10. 0:20We took advantage of no one.
11. 0:22>> [music]
12. 0:22>> I do not speak to condemn you, for I
13. 0:25have said before that you are in our
14. 0:27hearts to die together and to live
15. 0:30together.
16. 0:32Great is my confidence in [music] you.
17. 0:34Great is my boasting on your behalf. I
18. 0:37am filled [music] with comfort. I am
19. 0:39overflowing with joy in all our
20. 0:42affliction.
21. 0:43For even when we came into Macedonia,
22. 0:46our flesh had no rest, but we were
23. 0:49afflicted on every side, conflicts
24. 0:52without, [music]
25. 0:53fears within.
26. 0:54But God, who comforts the depressed,
27. 0:57comforted us [music]
28. 0:59by the coming of Titus.
29. 1:01In this, he is continuing his thought
30. 1:03from chapter 6,
31. 1:05that they should not receive the grace
32. 1:09of God in vain,
33. 1:10but in an acceptable time and way,
34. 1:13receive the grace of God, which in short
35. 1:16translates to open wide their hearts to
36. 1:19Paul and his ministry. That's the grace
37. 1:21[music] that he wants them to receive.
38. 1:24Not him as him, but him as a channel and
39. 1:28expression of God's grace. [music]
40. 1:31And the whole point of don't receive the
41. 1:32grace of God in vain is that
42. 1:36he tells them
43. 1:38God wants to dwell in a people. God's
44. 1:41presence wants to live and tabernacle
45. 1:43itself in a community [music] of people.
46. 1:47Paul quotes from three different Old
47. 1:49Testament passages, and he stitches them
48. 1:51together to make one prophecy, and then
49. 1:53he adds his own section from the Lord at
50. 1:55the end of the prophecy.
51. 1:57And it is I will dwell in them and walk
52. 2:00among them, and I will be their God, and
53. 2:02they shall be my people. Therefore, come
54. 2:05out from their midst and be separate,
55. 2:07says the Lord, and do not touch what is
56. 2:09unclean, and I will welcome you, and
57. 2:12[music] I will be a father to you, and
58. 2:15you shall be my sons and daughters, says
59. 2:17the Lord Almighty.
60. 2:19So,
61. 2:20make a separation so that you will have
62. 2:23me
63. 2:24is basically what God is saying [music]
64. 2:26through Paul.
65. 2:27And he starts the next chapter by
66. 2:30saying, "Therefore, since we have this
67. 2:32promise,
68. 2:33what promise? That God will welcome us,
69. 2:36that God will be our father, that we
70. 2:38will be his sons and daughters. Since we
71. 2:40have this promise,
72. 2:42we must cleanse ourselves from all
73. 2:44defilement of flesh and spirit,
74. 2:47perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
75. 2:49And that
76. 2:51tells us what the separation is.
77. 2:54And Paul is specifically wanting them to
78. 2:56separate from the super apostles who are
79. 3:00causing divisions. He is specifically
80. 3:02wanting them to separate from the people
81. 3:04who are dividing Christ. That's the
82. 3:07theme he begins in the first book, and
83. 3:09it's still carrying through now. But
84. 3:11it's much bigger than that. It's just in
85. 3:13general have an attitude that there is a
86. 3:16promise from God that we would have
87. 3:20his presence in and among amongst us.
88. 3:22And for that reason, because of those
89. 3:24promises, we make the effort. Make room
90. 3:27for us in your hearts. But you can't The
91. 3:30whole point is not to be separate. The
92. 3:33point is to be united. United with God's
93. 3:36presence and united with God's people.
94. 3:39So, we have this promise that God will
95. 3:41be one with us, that God will dwell
96. 3:43among us.
97. 3:45But it's not separated from God's
98. 3:47people. So, he says, "Cleanse yourself,
99. 3:50make room for us in your hearts.
100. 3:54That means that there was space in the
101. 3:56room of their heart that was occupied by
102. 3:58the wrong furniture. You got to clean
103. 4:00out the old stuff before the new stuff
104. 4:02can be moved in.
105. 4:04That makes sense? So, that's how we
106. 4:06should think about getting things out of
107. 4:08our lives. We don't get them out of our
108. 4:10lives to be perfect. We don't get them
109. 4:12out of our lives to be better than other
110. 4:14people. We get bad stuff out of our life
111. 4:16to make room for better things. To make
112. 4:20room for Paul and other ministry and
113. 4:23make room for the presence of God.
114. 4:26That's the principle of sanctification.
115. 4:28And that
116. 4:30audience with God, that tabernacle
117. 4:32temple house sanctuary of his presence
118. 4:35is the big promise.
119. 4:37That's why we perfect holiness in the
120. 4:39fear of the Lord.
121. 4:41But God, who comforts the depressed,
122. 4:43comforted us by the coming of Titus. And
123. 4:45not only by his coming, but also by the
124. 4:47comfort
125. 4:49with which he was comforted in you. As
126. 4:53he reported to us, your longing, your
127. 4:55mourning, [clears throat]
128. 4:57your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced
129. 5:00even more.
130. 5:02So, he was Paul was comforted that the
131. 5:05Corinthians
132. 5:07weren't ambivalent, hadn't grown
133. 5:09accustomed to the distance.
134. 5:12Paul was comforted that the Corinthians
135. 5:15missed them. That the Corinthians had a
136. 5:18longing for them.
137. 5:20So, it's not like, "Oh, they're sad and
138. 5:22they're mourning. That makes me so
139. 5:24happy." But the point is,
140. 5:26they still love us. They're still
141. 5:29leaving a space in their hearts for us.
142. 5:33And that's a big comfort to Paul because
143. 5:35that means in his view that the devil is
144. 5:37losing. The author of division and and
145. 5:41uh disunity is losing and the author of
146. 5:44peace is winning.
147. 5:46For though I caused you sorrow by my
148. 5:48letter,
149. 5:50I do not regret it.
150. 5:53Though I did regret it.
151. 5:56For I see that that letter caused you
152. 5:59sorrow, though only for a while.
153. 6:03So, his previous letter really rebuked
154. 6:05them.
155. 6:06Told them how selfish they were. Told
156. 6:08them they were behaving like mere men.
157. 6:10Told them that they were saying, "I am
158. 6:13of Paul. I am of Cephas." It was a tough
159. 6:16letter.
160. 6:17And he says,
161. 6:18"I caused you sorrow by my letter, and I
162. 6:20did regret it." It's like he sent it in
163. 6:22the postal, and he's like, "Oh, man, I
164. 6:24can't believe I wrote that.
165. 6:26That was such a hard thing to write, and
166. 6:28they're going to be so hurt."
167. 6:30He It was hard for Paul to write those
168. 6:32things. But, he says, "I do not regret
169. 6:35it, though I did regret it. For I see
170. 6:38that that letter caused you sorrow,
171. 6:40though only for a while.
172. 6:43I now rejoice,
173. 6:45not that you were made sorrowful,
174. 6:47but that you were made sorrowful to the
175. 6:49point of repentance.
176. 6:53For you were made sorrowful according to
177. 6:55the will of God, so that you might not
178. 6:58suffer loss in anything through us."
179. 7:03So, the Lord is telling them
180. 7:05that sorrow that you experienced was
181. 7:07ultimately to keep you from suffering a
182. 7:10loss. And what would that loss have
183. 7:11been? The presence of God.
184. 7:15Room for Paul in their hearts.
185. 7:17That would have been really, really sad.
186. 7:20So, now I want to draw to your attention
187. 7:23that Paul is writing to a church. He's
188. 7:26not writing to a bunch of heathen.
189. 7:28He's not writing to a bunch of
190. 7:29unbelievers.
191. 7:31He's writing to a church.
192. 7:33And he said that his letter brought them
193. 7:34to repentance.
194. 7:36And he's now going to give us two kinds
195. 7:40of sorrow.
196. 7:42And this this relates to you and me and
197. 7:45every one of us. There's two ways
198. 7:47to handle the dealings of God when
199. 7:50you're corrected.
200. 7:52One way ruins you and the other way
201. 7:56gives you life.
202. 7:58Okay? And the sorrow that he's happy
203. 8:00with them about was it brought
204. 8:02repentance.
205. 8:04Did the church need repentance? Yes.
206. 8:07They needed to turn from heading down
207. 8:09the wrong way that was going to bring
208. 8:11loss and devastation to the congregation
209. 8:14and they needed to turn and head back
210. 8:17toward a way that was going to bring
211. 8:18unity and reconciliation in the church.
212. 8:22He says, "For the sorrow that is
213. 8:24according to the will of God
214. 8:27produces a repentance
215. 8:30without regret leading to salvation.
216. 8:35But the sorrow of the world produces
217. 8:38death."
218. 8:40Now, he's just told them that the sorrow
219. 8:43he caused brought about repentance. Now
220. 8:46he says that it brought about repentance
221. 8:48that leads to their salvation.
222. 8:51He doesn't think they would have been
223. 8:52right with God
224. 8:54if they hadn't made this turn.
225. 8:57But then he categorizes it broadly and
226. 8:59he says there's a sorrow that is
227. 9:01according to the will of God and it
228. 9:03always leads us to a repentance, to a
229. 9:06turn, to a 180, to a change of heart and
230. 9:10affections and mind.
231. 9:13And it always
232. 9:15brings us into the will of God.
233. 9:19Leading to salvation, but the
234. 9:21[clears throat] sorrow of the world
235. 9:22produces death.
236. 9:24So does that mean that sorrow is
237. 9:26repentance?
238. 9:28No, sorrow must be tested. Is this a
239. 9:30sorrow that leads to death
240. 9:33or is this a sorrow that leads to
241. 9:35repentance?
242. 9:37The sorrow that leads to death is
243. 9:39self-pity.
244. 9:41It's mourning without a change.
245. 9:45It's sadness. It's discontent. It's oh,
246. 9:49it's so terrible.
247. 9:51That sorrow leads to depression,
248. 9:54death.
249. 9:55But there is a sorrow that says, "I
250. 9:57can't believe this happened. I'm so
251. 9:59grieved, but God, I'm changing. You're
252. 10:02going to change me through this." That's
253. 10:04a sorrow that turns us and heads us back
254. 10:06toward our brothers and toward the Lord.
255. 10:09Now he's going to show us what the
256. 10:10repentance looked like that was produced
257. 10:13in them.
258. 10:15For behold,
259. 10:17what earnestness this very thing, this
260. 10:21godly sorrow, has produced in you.
261. 10:25What vindication
262. 10:27of yourselves.
263. 10:29What indignation.
264. 10:32What fear. What longing. What zeal. What
265. 10:37avenging of wrong.
266. 10:39Look at those seven things that he just
267. 10:42described as marking
268. 10:45repentance.
269. 10:47When sorrow leads to repentance unto
270. 10:50salvation, it produces
271. 10:54earnestness.
272. 10:55You get very serious about the issue.
273. 10:58Earnestness.
274. 11:00It produces
275. 11:04vindication.
276. 11:06You clear up the the thing that wasn't
277. 11:09right. Vindication.
278. 11:13It produces indignation.
279. 11:16How could this have happened? Oh, God.
280. 11:20There's a zealous anger, indignation.
281. 11:24Fear.
282. 11:26Look how close we came to loss. Oh, God.
283. 11:32Longing.
284. 11:33Oh, Jesus, I know I can come into this
285. 11:37grace that you're offering. I know this
286. 11:39can be healed. Longing, longing is
287. 11:42important. Zeal.
288. 11:44Let's do this. Let's do it until it's
289. 11:47done.
290. 11:49Avenging of wrong.
291. 11:52Protecting those who were wrong. Look
292. 11:55what we've done to the Apostle Paul.
293. 11:57Look how we've alienated Cephas and
294. 12:01Apollos.
295. 12:03Look what we've done, guys. Let's clear
296. 12:06this up.
297. 12:07Avenging of wrong.
298. 12:13And in this way, he says, "In everything
299. 12:16you demonstrated yourselves to be
300. 12:19innocent in the matter."
301. 12:22They didn't start out as innocent. They
302. 12:25started out as guilty. And they needed a
303. 12:27repentance in order to restore them to
304. 12:30salvation. That's what Paul is saying.
305. 12:33But they ended up innocent because they
306. 12:35went through these seven steps of
307. 12:37repentance.
308. 12:39If you want to know what repentance
309. 12:40looks like, it looks like getting God's
310. 12:43definition of the problem and then going
311. 12:46through these steps: earnestness,
312. 12:49vindication,
313. 12:51indignation, fear, longing, zeal,
314. 12:55avenging.
315. 12:56That's what real change looks like.
316. 13:00And what it produces is a demonstration
317. 13:04that we are innocent in the matter.
318. 13:06Nah, you should have read my thoughts
319. 13:09from another town.
320. 13:10No, I've demonstrated that I am innocent
321. 13:13in the matter.
322. 13:14So, although I wrote to you,
323. 13:17it was not for the sake of the offender,
324. 13:20nor for the sake of the one offended,
325. 13:23but that your earnestness on our behalf
326. 13:25might be made known to you
327. 13:28in the sight of God.
328. 13:30For this reason, we have been comforted.
329. 13:33So, he says, "When I wrote, I wasn't
330. 13:36really writing for the guy who made the
331. 13:38biggest trouble.
332. 13:39I wasn't really writing for the people
333. 13:41who were the most hurt,
334. 13:43himself.
335. 13:45I was writing for you
336. 13:47so that through the steps it provoked,
337. 13:51your earnestness on our behalf
338. 13:55might be made known to you.
339. 13:58You might discover
340. 14:00how much you loved us
341. 14:03in the sight of God.
342. 14:05For this reason, we [music] have been
343. 14:07comforted.
344. 14:09That they have remembered, they have
345. 14:11rediscovered [music] their love for the
346. 14:13brethren.
347. 14:15For besides our comfort,
348. 14:17we rejoice even much more for the joy of
349. 14:20Titus, because his spirit has been
350. 14:23[music] refreshed by you all.
351. 14:27For if in anything I have boasted to him
352. 14:30about you,
353. 14:32I was not put to shame.
354. 14:36But as we spoke all things to you in
355. 14:38truth, so also our boasting before Titus
356. 14:42proved to be the truth.
357. 14:45You didn't embarrass Paul when he sent
358. 14:47Titus. [music]
359. 14:48Everything he said about you by way of
360. 14:51believing in your heart, by way of
361. 14:53believing in your commitment to Jesus,
362. 14:56all the things he said, all the positive
363. 14:58things he said about you,
364. 15:00they came true.
365. 15:02His affection abounds all the more
366. 15:04toward you
367. 15:06as he remembers the obedience
368. 15:09of you all.
369. 15:11How you received him with fear and
370. 15:13trembling.
371. 15:15I rejoice that in everything
372. 15:17I have [music] confidence in you.
373. 15:22That's the whole sum of the matter.
374. 15:25The correction letter was intended
375. 15:28[music] to bring seven steps of
376. 15:30repentance, and the repentance was
377. 15:32intended to restore the confidence
378. 15:35that Christians [music] could have
379. 15:37toward each other after the rivalry and
380. 15:40the strife and the self-seeking and the
381. 15:43mere men [music] instincts have been
382. 15:45gotten out of the way.
383. 15:47And apparently, it didn't solve every
384. 15:49problem in the Corinthian church. The
385. 15:51offending parties don't seem to have
386. 15:52been terribly helped by it.
387. 15:54And [clears throat]
388. 15:55but that wasn't who Paul was writing to.
389. 15:57>> [music]
390. 15:57>> He was writing to those who were going
391. 15:59to receive it.
392. 16:01And he is rejoicing that his confidence
393. 16:03is restored in them.
394. 16:17>> [music]