2 Corinthians 2
Outline:
I. \\#2Corinthians 1:1-5:21\\ Paul’s Explanations
A. \\#2Corinthians 1:1-2\\ Paul’s Introduction
B. \\#2Corinthians 1:3-11\\ Paul’s Suffering
1. \\#1:3-7\\ Truths about All Suffering
2. \\#1:8-11\\ Truths about Paul’s Suffering
C. \\#2Corinthians 1:12-14\\ Paul’s Rejoicing
D. \\#2Corinthians 1:15-2:17\\ Paul’s Itinerary
1. \\#1:15-16\\ Paul’s Purpose
2. \\#2:17\\ The Corinthians’ Charge
3. \\#1:18-2:13\\ Paul’s Answers
4. \\#2:13-17\\ Paul’s Praise
E. \\#2Corinthians 3:1-5:21\\ Paul’s Ministry Facts
1. \\#3:1-5\\ Our Converts Are Our Credentials
2. \\#3:6-18\\ We Are Empowered through the Spirit
3. \\#4:1-18\\ We don’t quit.
4. \\#5:1-11\\ We have heavenly longings.
5. \\#5:12-21\\ We are driven by the love of Christ.
II. \\#2Corinthians 6:1-7:16\\ Paul’s Commands
A. \\#6:1-10\\ Don’t Waste God’s Grace
B. \\#6:11-18\\ Don’t Be Joined to the Lost
C. \\#7:1-16\\ Don’t Reject Us.
III. \\#2Corintihains 8:1-9:15\\ The Collection for the Saints
IV. \\#2Corinthians 10:1-13:14\\ Vindication of Paul’s Apostleship
I. \\#2Corinthians 1:1-7:16\\ Paul’s Explanations
D. \\#2Corinthians 1:15-2:17\\ Paul’s Traveling
1. \\#15-16\\ Paul’s Purpose
2. \\#17\\ The Corinthians’ Charge
3. \\#2Cor 1:18-2:13\\ Paul’s Answers
a. \\#2Cor 1:18-22\\ Paul was not double minded.
b. \\#2Cor 1:23-2:11\\ Paul did not come because he did
not want to hurt them.
(1) \\#23\\ "that to spare you I CAME not as yet"
Paul did not want to have another "heavy" visit
with the Corinthians. Some were upset that he
had not come to them quicker but after the last
meeting and with what Paul was hearing, Paul
had chosen to deal with the Corinthians through
the written word and was giving it time to take
effect.
(2) \\#24\\ "Not for that we have dominion over your
faith"
(a) Paul moved quickly to add that he did not
think of himself as a "lord" over the
Corinthians, one with the role of forcing
them to follow him.
(b) Yet, when one is responsible for the care of
another, such a charge is often levied.
(c) But Paul’s goal was not live the Corinthians
life or to dictate what their faith must
be.
(d) His goal was to be "helpers of your joy."
(e) How was he attempting to accomplish this?
2Cor 1:24 …for by faith ye stand.
By establishing them firm in the faith of
Jesus Christ.
(3) \\#2Cor 2:1\\ "But I determined…."
(a) \\#1\\ "heaviness" - Paul determined that
he would not come to the church to bring
them "grief."
(b) \\#2\\ "you sorry… me glad" - Paul did not
want to make the people that he loved and
received joy from heavy hearted.
(c) No good handler of God’s Word does although
sometimes it is necessary.
(4) \\#3-4\\ So I wrote.
(a) \\#3\\ "I wrote the same unto you" - So
instead of a visit, Paul wrote some things
to the Corinthians. (This would appear to
be the lost "3rd" letter.)
(b) \\#4\\ "For out of much affliction and
anguish of heart… with many tears" - The
letter must have been stern but Paul
revealed how difficult it was for him to
write it.
(c) "that ye might know the love" - Paul had not
written it wanting to hurt the Corinthians
but out of love wanting to help them.
(5) \\#5-8\\ Forgiveness Is Needed
(a) \\#5\\ "if any have caused grief"
i. Paul turned his attention to the ones
in the church who had caused problems
and the need to deal with them as
Christ has commanded.
ii. They had "not grieved me, but in part"
While he had been heavily grieved at
what was happening in the church and
at having to correct the Corinthians,
his hurt was only a "part" of the
grief they had caused.
iii. The remainder of the grief would have
been the church’s who endured the
situation and Christ whose church they
were.
iv. "I may not overcharge you" - Paul did
not want the Corinthians to feel
guilty over the grief he had endured.
(Again, that was not the reason of his
sharing these personal thoughts.)
(b) \\#2Cor 7:5-16\\ Side Note - Paul revealed
later in this book, that the Corinthians
had responded to his painful letter with
repentance. This is the reason he could
encourage forgiveness for those who had
caused the problems.
(c) \\#6-8\\ Concerning the problem makers:
i. \\#6\\ Paul said the "punishment"
inflicted by the church was
sufficient.
aa. Paul does not tell us what the
punishment was but he seemed
satisfied that the repentance of
those involved was genuine.
bb. It is my belief that punishment in
the church is not to be a penalty
inflicted upon the guilty but a
rebuke to encourage repentance.
cc. Once repentance has come, the
punishment has run its course.
ii. \\#7\\ "ye ought rather to forgive."
aa. It was then time for the church to
"forgive" and "comfort" the
wrong doer.
bb. "lest… one should be swallowed
up with… sorrow" - Sorrow and
guilt are not the trademarks of
the Christian. Forgiveness and
love are.
cc. That does not mean the church did
not learn some lessons and put
into effect some safe guards, but
forgiveness and love are always
guaranteed to those who have
repented.
iii. \\#8\\ "confirm your love toward him."
So the church was to demonstrate their
love to those who had repented.
(6) \\#9\\ A Proof Requested:
(a) "to this end also did I write" - Paul saw
this letter and situation as an
opportunity for the Corinthians to
demonstrate "the proof of you, whether ye
be obedient in all things."
(b) Christians who will not forgive are
Christians who are NOT being obedient, not
to Paul and not to Christ.
(7) \\#10\\ An Assurance Made:
(a) "To whom ye forgive… I forgive" - Paul
assured the Corinthians that if they
forgave the problem maker, he would not
hold any grudge against that person.
i. Paul was not a vengeful person, but
practiced forgiveness as Jesus
commanded.
ii. This would be something that Paul
would know as he had many
opportunities to forgive.
(b) "…if I forgave… forgive I it in the
person of Christ" - And if Paul had
forgiven anyone, Jesus had forgiven them.
(8) \\#11\\ A Reason Given:
(a) "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us:"
Jesus gave us the command to forgive but
Paul gave us the explanation. Satan uses
the unforgiving, bitter heart to take
advantage of believers.
(b) "for we are not ignorant of his devices."
While Paul was not, many are. They fail
to see how unforgiveness hinders our
relationship with Christ, divides the
body, and creates the false notion that
some are somehow superior because "I
would never do that."
c. \\#2:12-13\\ God opened another door.
(1) \\#12\\ Furthermore, when I came to Troas to
preach"
(a) Paul came to Troas on his first missionary
journey \\#Acts 16:7-8\\.
(b) Here, Paul referenced a stop on his second
missionary journey, most likely after he
left Ephesus. It might be that had Troas
met Paul with the good news of the
Corinthians repentance that he would have
sailed on to see them at that time, but
Titus was not there.
(c) This would indicate that Paul had already
left Troas and wrote the letter we are
reading once he was in Macedonia.
(2) Paul came "to preach… and a door was opened
unto me" - And God blessed, providing Paul
opportunity.
(a) Neither Paul’s stop in Troas of the open
door is mentioned in the book of Acts.
(b) These references help us to understand that
not every detail is given by the inspired
writers in their books.
(c) If they were, the Bible would be infinitely
larger for John said:
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should
be written. Amen.
(3) \\#13\\ "I had no rest… because I found not
Titus"
(a) Though God was blessing in Troas, Paul was
troubled because Titus did not meet him
there.
(b) Where was Titus? It is explained later.
2Cor 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those
that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of
Titus;
7 And not by his coming only, but by the
consolation wherewith he was comforted in you,
when he told us your earnest desire, your
mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that
I rejoiced the more.
i. Titus had been with "you," the church
at Corinth.
ii. It would appear that Titus had
delivered to Corinth the "third"
letter and was to have met Paul and
Timothy at Troas but was delayed.
When he did arrive (which appears to
be after Paul left Troas), he brought
the good news that at least some in
the church had repented.
\\#2Cor 7:9\\
(4) "but taking my leave of them, I went… into
Macedonia" - Since Paul had not heard how the
Corinthian church responded, he continued by
moving due West into other cities he had
visited on his second missionary journey.
4. \\#2Cor 2:14-17\\ Paul’s Praise - It is always a good
time to stop and praise the Lord, but I think Paul did so
here as he thought about what God had done when he came
to Macedonia.
a. \\#14\\ God Be Praised for Two Reasons:
(1) Because He "always causeth us to triumph in
Christ" - No matter how things had worked out
with Corinth, or with the missing Titus, or
with the journey into Macedonia, Paul knew that
God would always give the victory to His
people. For that, we can always praise God.
(2) Because God "maketh manifest the savour of his
knowledge in every place."
(a) A "savour" is a fragrance and refers to the
sweet smell the animal sacrifices produced
to God as they were being offered.
(b) The knowledge of Jesus is like a sweet
aroma and, by the believers, it spreads
everywhere.
(c) The phrase meant that, even through those
troubled times, Jesus was being preached to
all and that God was well pleased with it.
b. \\#15-17\\ The sweet smellclings to the believers.
(1) \\#15\\ "we are… a sweet savour of Christ"
(a) The scent clings to the saved, making us
acceptable to God.
(b) "unto God" - And it ascends up to heaven
where God is pleased to smell it.
(2) "and in them that are saved, and in them that
perish." - But the scent effects everyone,
both the saved and the lost.
(3) \\#16\\ "To the one we are the savour of death…
to the other the savour of life." - To the
saved, it is a pleasing whiff but to the lost
it is the scent of death.
(4) "who is sufficient for these things?" - Paul
asked what kind of people were able to have
such an effect on the saved and the lost.
(5) \\#17\\ "For we" do not "corrupt the word of
God"
(a) Those who do not corrupt the Word but
handle with "sincerity," meaning with
purity and clarity.
(b) "not as many" - Paul indicated that already
there were many who did not handle God’s
Word that way.
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