2 Corinthians

“Winning Through Weakness”

I. Introduction: 1:1-12

A. Greetings: 1:1-2
B. Thanksgiving Through Trouble: 1:3-11

II. Statement of Purpose: 1:12-14

A. “Jesus our only Boast”

III. Main Teaching: 1:15-13:10

A. 1:15-2:11 How Jesus Establishes
B. 2:12-6:18 Dying To Live
C. 7:1-9:15 Perfecting Holiness
D. 10:1-13:10 Winning Through Weakness

IV. Closing: 13:11-14 Be Complete

2 Corinthians 1:1-2

“Winning Through Weakness”

I. Intro.

II. Vs. 1-2 Greetings in grace

I. Intro.

History of Corinth:
Ancient Corinth had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. and remained uninhabited for a 100 years until 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar rebuilt it. When Paul visited the city in 49-50 A.D. it was little over 80 years old with a population of 80,000. Yet it had become the 3rd most important city in the empire as it was situated on the isthmus of Greece, bridging the Adriatic Sea with the Aegean Sea. It was called the “master of harbors,” “The crossroads of Greece,” and the “passage for all mankind.” The population was filled with opportunists seeking a better life, especially the freed slaves and retired Roman soldiers. According to Acts 18, it had a substantial Jewish community as well. It was a young city with few traditions and an open society—a boom town full of materialism and pride, which comes with a self-made man. It was also a sports town as Caesar had reopened the 2nd largest Olympic Games called the Isthmian Games. The city’s theater sat 18,000 and the concert hall sat 3,000.

History of 2nd Corinthians:
The second letter to the Corinthians is probably the least known of all of Paul’s letters. In First Corinthians, we looked at the church at Corinth, but in Second Corinthians, we are looking at Paul. We call this Second Corinthians, but it should be called Fourth Corinthians, because it is the last of four letters that Paul wrote to the church there. Two of these letters have not been preserved for us—that is why we only have First and Second Corinthians—but they are not in the order that these titles suggest. If you look at the chronology, Paul began the church in Corinth around 52 or 53 A.D. He stayed there for about a year and a half; then went to Ephesus, where he remained for a few weeks, and then he went on a quick trip to Jerusalem, returning again to Ephesus. While at Ephesus, he wrote a letter to the church at Corinth which we don’t have. In First Corinthians 5:9, Paul says he wrote it to warn them about following a worldly lifestyle. In response to that letter, the Corinthians wrote back to him with many questions. In reply to that letter, Paul wrote what we now call First Corinthians. He tried to answer their questions and instruct them on how to walk in power and in peace. Evidently, that letter did not accomplish what Paul intended, and there was a bad reaction to it. In this second letter, we learn that Paul made a quick trip back to Corinth which he calls a “painful” visit (2 Cor. 2:1). When he returned to Ephesus, he sent another brief letter, in the hands of Titus, to Corinth to see if he could help them. Titus was gone a long time, and Paul grew anxious to hear what was happening in the church there. He became so troubled that he left Ephesus and went to Troas and then up into Macedonia to meet Titus. There in Macedonia, probably in the city of Philippi, he and Titus came together. Titus brought him encouraging word about the church, and in response to that, out of thanksgiving, Paul wrote what we now call the Second Corinthians letter, which is really the fourth of a series of letters.

II. Vs. 1-2 Greetings in grace

Vs. 1 Paul writes as a man who knows trouble to those who are in trouble. He saw the benefit that came with tribulation as it drove him into the arms of Christ. There is a proverb about the storms of life that says, “All sunshine only makes a desert!” Saints, consider this: for every one prayer that comes from us in prosperity, 10,000 arise from us in adversity! Sometime after Paul’s 18-month stay, the church had been visited by some impressive pastors as seen in 1 Cor. 1:12. The church was identifying with differing ones saying, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” This was a remarkable church as 1 Cor. 1:7 tells us “that they came short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They were a Spirit-filled body of believers, yet with that, they were not immune to operating in the flesh as seen in their treatment of Paul. Dear ones, let us take stock of this truth in our own lives: that we may not come short of any gift but still fail to owe a debt of love to all we meet. If I had to choose (and we don’t), I’d much rather come short on the spiritual gifts and abound in love than the opposite! There were seven things based on this letter that the Corinthian believers questioned Paul about:

Did he really have apostolic authority?
Why if he was right with God, did he suffer so much?
Why wasn’t he as good and flashy as other ministers?
Why were his travel plans changed so much if God was directing his life?
His refusal to accept payment—was that why he was collecting money for the “poor”?
Why didn’t he have any recommendations as other ministers did?
Why didn’t he speak more about himself? Did he lack God’s power in his ministry?

If you have ever invested your life into that of another person (be that a child or a friend), then you will understand this letter to the Corinthians. In this two-verse introduction, Paul conveys what this letter is all about, and it is twofold:

To preserve his authority: What always came first for Paul above any other relationship was his relationship with Jesus. To allow some in Corinth to question and put down his authority was allowing them to put down His best friend, Jesus, Who gave him the authority. This reaction is very much the same as when our children at times speak disrespectfully to our spouses. We love them, we would lay down our lives for our children, but the one thing they can never do is disrespect one of their parents to the other parent.
To preserve Jesus’ church: The second thing Paul wanted to write about was his overriding passion for God’s kids. Now again, we understand this very well as parents because as much as we love our children, we understand that part of being a parent is to correct bad behavior. To not do so is to allow for the destruction of the family.

Notice how Paul accomplishes this in the opening sentence to the Church as he addresses them as “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” He didn’t say he was under the authority of the Church as he was under the authority of Jesus Christ. Had he said that his authority was only an arm of an institution, then he would have been only a “man pleaser,” a “hireling” doing the bidding of those whom he was writing to. By saying that his authority and mission were from Jesus, the only savior of humanity, he is telling them that even above his love for them was his love for the Lord. Dear ones, we must not allow our earthly affection to rule over our eternal affections! Such authority, Paul says, had come not by his will but by the “will of God.” He hadn’t arrived at this position; he wasn’t a self-made man; he was called to it by one who created heaven and earth, counted the numbers on hairs on his head, and knew his thoughts afar off! By this statement, Paul says, “Don’t like me, and don’t think I’m as powerful a speaker as others, not impressed with me? No matter, because I don’t see myself in your assessment; I see myself in God’s assessment!”

But Paul didn’t just see himself in the right perspective; he also had that same view of the church as he writes to them as the “church of God which was at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.” Paul hadn’t allowed their treatment of them to change his view of himself, but even more amazingly, he hadn’t allowed their view of him to change his view of them! Ill regardless of how they had spoken of him and acted towards him, they were still the “Church of God.” They treated Paul like dirt, and Paul treated them as a treasure! These folks had sinned against him, but he reminds them that he still sees them as Saints! Oh, how difficult this is to be hurt by others in God’s church but not allow such hurt to change our view of how God sees them! By addressing this letter not only to those in Corinth but also to those in Achaia, which is the mainland as well as all the surrounding Islands that make up Greece, Paul is letting those in Corinth as well as those who may have heard of their ill-treatment that his view of them hadn’t changed even though they didn’t approve of him. Dear ones, when someone speaks evil of you, speak well of them. When someone speaks ill of someone to you, speak well of the one they have spoken ill of; see all in the eyes of Christ!

Vs. 2 It is always difficult to gauge our spiritual maturity and growth in Christ. Is it by our service, bible memorization, church attendance, or giving? Some would think so, but I believe Paul demonstrates a more accurate test that each of us can apply to ourselves to determine if we are maturing and growing in Christ. The best way we can see our progress is to watch our reaction to those who don’t treat us well. Those who spread lies, don’t give us our due, take our position, or defame our reputation. What do we do when, like David, we have a Saul who tosses his spear at us? Do we pick it up and throw it back? Do I defend my position, motives, and reputation? Or do I simply let it fall to the ground and never allow my heart to be the motivation to hurt someone else, even if they deserve and have it coming? What enabled Paul to maintain this biblical perspective of himself and them in spite of the circumstances? He writes in this salutation, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This greeting goes on undetected by many for two reasons:

We don’t know what was the usual salutation.
We don’t know the language.

To dig beyond this, you will find that the typical greeting was “Charein” or “Hello,” not “Charis” or “Grace.” Most would have expected the normal “hello” in the letter, but Paul didn’t just wish to say hello; he wished them God’s unmerited favor! I suggest to you that when you are hurt by the actions of another, the best way to maintain God’s view of them is to pray into their life what they lacked when they hurt you: “grace”! The Hebrew greeting “Shalom” or “peace” is replaced by another word for peace, “eirene.” The first is used to illustrate our relationship with our fellow man; the second is used to illustrate our relationship with God. Their actions may have been anything but peaceful, but the antidote is never the same back, but to pray for God’s blessing over them! No one will ever experience the “peace from God” until they have encountered the “grace from God and the Lord Jesus Christ!”

Having read this letter and done the background, I’m intrigued by Paul’s ability in these two verses to handle his heart and attitude. I want to know his secret—how was he able to maintain such a right heart? This letter contains 257 verses of the most passionate and personal words Paul ever wrote. He passionately speaks of his ministry in defense of their accusations. He answers their seven indictments against his authority. Then, in the next section of the book, he instructs the Corinthians on true repentance and the fruit of that in giving to others. In the final section, Paul speaks of what adversity brings in the heart, “God’s strength.” Because of this, we will learn the secret of Paul’s life, which is winning through weakness! Authentic Christianity is not seen in health and wealth but in our weakness. The Spirit-filled life is not viewed in splash and flash but in meekness! To be effective in this life, the Christian doesn’t need the “headline”; instead, they seek invisibility so that all will see God’s ability and visibility!

2 Corinthians 1:3-11

“The God of Lost Causes”

I. Intro.

II. Vs. 3-7 Glory or Gripe

III. Vs. 8-11 Someone deeper than the hole I’m in

I. Intro.

Paul has more to say on suffering than any other New Testament writer and does so in 2nd Corinthians more than in any other letter. Suffering or troubles are mentioned 17 times in 5 verses. Ah, but he also mentions comfort as the word appears 10 times in its noun and verb forms in 5 verses; (1/3 of all it appears in the New Testament). In verse 3, Paul says that there are two things of which God has a complete monopoly on: He is the Father of ALL mercies and the God of ALL comfort. James 1:17 reminds us of the same saying that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.” There was a pastor who had a very busy week and was unable to get to his study for Sunday. So late Saturday, he gave instructions for his wife to take no calls so he could get to work. They had two small children who were not used to not accessing Daddy and wanted to play near him. After multiple interruptions, he told his wife to see if she could occupy them with something to keep them quiet. She came up with the idea of having them help crack nuts, and it worked for a while until they began to squabble over who got to use the nutcracker. The little girl discovered that if you put the nut in the space between the door and the jam, you could crack several nuts at the same time. All was well until she didn’t move her hand fast enough and got her fingers pinched and let out a scream that made the boards shake. Her father came out of his study to see what the commotion was and, seeing that it was only pinched fingers, again said to his wife, “Could you keep them quiet, please?” As he turned to go back to his study, he could hear the conversation between the cries, “Honey, it will be ok; your fingers will stop hurting soon, I promise!” “That’s not what hurts,” the little girl said. “It’s not what hurts, honey; well, what does hurt?” “It hurts that Daddy didn’t stop and come to me and say, ‘Oh, you poor little thing, let me kiss it and make it better!’” Dear ones, our Father is over every mercy and comfort; let’s make sure we take the time to distribute those mercies and comforts!

II. Vs. 3-7 Glory or Gripe

Vs. 3-7 Normally, in letters, this section is filled with thanksgiving, but Paul chooses to launch into one of the concerns the Corinthian believers had with his ministry, which was his sufferings. There was apparently a feeling that if you experienced “trouble,” then you weren’t in the will of God, and Paul is going to debunk this. Perhaps today we would use the word “stress” or “pressure” to identify what Paul is writing about—that which ties your stomach up in knots in the day and causes you not to be able to sleep at night. Paul offers some relief to those things that stress us out, and it’s “comfort.” The word in the Greek is the same word Jesus and others used concerning the Holy Spirit. The word means to comfort but not in the sense that many think of comfort by consoling someone, giving them a hug. Instead, it means to comfort by way of strengthening them. Friends, the Holy Spirit doesn’t merely give you a hug when you’re down, consoling you when you’re stressed; no, He strengthens us. The Holy Spirit is what enables us to keep going on to victory even when we feel like we can’t go one more step. Perhaps many of our prayers remain unanswered because we have been praying for the wrong thing: Escape instead of strength? Here in our text, Paul offers us four reasons for stress:

Vs. 3 “All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.” This is a Christianized version of a typical synagogue blessing with the addition of God being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The synagogue prayer included God as the “Father of Mercies,” but Paul added the fact that He is also the God of “all comfort.” He recognizes that God sent these very things into his life; therefore, he never prays to have them removed so that he might escape from them. He sees them as opportunities for the release of the strength of God. The first reason for stress is that it’s the way we discover what God can do! Abraham Lincoln once confessed that, “I have often been driven to my knees to pray because I had nowhere else to go.” We don’t naturally turn to God to find out what He can do if we think we are able to handle the situation on our own. Typically, we do two things:

Try to jump: In our own strength, we try to hurdle the first few stresses on our own until they pile up and we hit the ground with a thud.
Turn and run: Try to escape it, but most often the escape just adds to more stress.

Paul tells us, “Don’t jump in your own strength or turn and run, instead stop and face it in God’s strength.” “These aren’t obstacles to our faith,” Paul says. “They are opportunities to experience God’s strength!” Notice how Paul puts this in verse 5 in the NLT, saying, “You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.” The direct amount of God’s “strengthening” is always equal to the stress. That is why Paul chose “glory” in the stresses, not “growling” in the stresses. We get confused between “glorying” and “growling” as we think that complaining about our stresses is the same as glorying in our stresses. Paul saw those stresses coming from the hand of his loving Father who was giving him the right amount and not one more so that he could discover His peace that surpasses understanding.
Vs. 4, 6-7 NLT “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” Paul says that our sufferings are not sent for just us; they are for someone who is watching you to see how you handle the pressure that you are going through. When we “gripe” and “growl” instead of glorying, we are teaching younger Christians that God is powerless against our stresses and strains. We are telling them that God’s “strength” can’t answer the bell of our stresses! Are people seeing the truth of this promise lived out in our stress? That is what Paul says in verses 6-7, “So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.” “We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort.” God’s not taking it away from me so that he can take us all through it. And by taking us through it, we learn that patience will produce God’s strength in the present and future. No stress will last; no trial or trouble will outlast God’s presence and strength, and we will only find this true when we go through seasons of trouble.

III. Vs. 8-11 Someone deeper than the hole I’m in

Spurgeon said of Paul, “Here was a man, who never knew but what he might be dead the next day, for his enemies were many, and cruel, and mighty; and yet he spent a great part of his time in praising and blessing God.” The degree to which we can comfort others is a direct parallel to how we ourselves have experienced the comfort of God. That’s what tends to make a “good comforter.” It is a day of liberation when a person comes to the “end of their self” when all they were confident in themselves has been dashed upon the rocks of reality! What may bring you there may very well be extremely different than what brings me there, but the main thing isn’t what got us there or how long it took till we got there; it’s that we finally have arrived. We may very well be experiencing the “sentence of death” in our lives. The death of a marriage, business, or something else, but look carefully at what Paul has to say about God in the same verse, that the purpose of this death sentence was our death to trusting in ourselves so that we could learn to trust in God who raises the dead!

Vs. 8-10 “I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us.” We don’t know what Paul is referring to specifically; (Some think it was a physical illness; others think it was what we are given the answer in Acts 19 in the riot in Ephesus). Whatever it was (and perhaps it was a combination of things), Paul felt emotional, spiritually, and physically near death; he had given up and was hopeless as he was brought to a new depth in human despair. But Paul says that this was allowed so that He could find a new depth of God’s grace and love. It took this stress to break through Paul’s prevailing pride and stubbornness. I have found this to be true in my life: “The hole I find myself in is always proportionate to the depth of my pride and stubbornness.” It takes that depth to drive me to His grace, strength, and love which is deeper still! Corrie ten Boom was fond of saying, “There is no pit so deep that the Lord is not deeper still.” The truth is we Christians will do anything and everything in our own strength to avoid having to depend upon God’s strength! The human struggle is against our own self-sufficiency. Ours is the God of “lost causes,” the God who alone raises the dead, to whom has never seen or known of a “hopeless situation”! Paul was brought to the place where he said he was “crushed and completely overwhelmed, and thought he would never live through it.” But Paul does not dwell on the negative stress but rather the positive reality of God’s strength saying, “He did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that He will continue to deliver us.” We ought to see that such stress allows the believer in Christ to demonstrate an “alternative life” style from gripping to glory!
Vs. 11 “He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people’s prayers for our safety have been answered.” The final reason that God allows stress in our life is to show us that no man is an Island! We are members of a body, and when one is going through stress, then the rest of the body is there to hold up the weak member of the body. So when you are stressed, don’t just “Grin and bear it; grin and share it,” so that the rest of the body can lift you up in prayer! People won’t care about how much we know until they know how much we care! This is the purpose of the Christian community: to gather together to pray for each other. God has allowed these stresses in our lives to cause us to rally our prayer support around each other, which strengthens and encourages us through all the stress. In Acts 17, Paul describes his pending shipwreck on Malta. As they lifted port in Sidon, Paul had been warned by the Holy Spirit of pending doom, and as the seas got rough in the 17th verse, we are told that they used “cables to undergird the ship.” That is what prayer is for us when we are facing the stresses of rough seas in our lives; they “undergird” us with God’s strength and peace. Thus a Church that prays together will be able to stay together during the storms of stress.

The ability to comfort others and bring blessings to other lives rests not on having shared the same experience but rather upon having experienced God’s comfort having suffered! God has one purpose for each and every believer, and that is to destroy in us any possible confidence in the flesh. Where self-confidence is something of our past, not our present or future because it has been replaced with a confidence in God who raises the dead!

2 Corinthians 1:15-13:10

“In the Hands of the Master”

I. Intro.

Imagine Paul’s life: His health issues, the riot in Ephesus, the constant threat from some of his own countrymen who wanted him dead. Then you have this group of folks who you risked your life for, laid down your plans to spend 18 months to disciple, and they are saying that you are not called of God, flakey, and worldly. Last week, we tackled one of the complaints the Corinthian believers had said of Paul: that if he was truly anointed by God, why all the trials and stress? Paul gave four reasons for stress in our lives. Today, Paul takes on another complaint, and that had to do with his change in travel plans. Yet in so doing, Paul addresses a much bigger challenge that has to do with how to handle “misunderstandings.” Is that something that you have ever gone through? Has someone ever misjudged your actions, misconstrued your motives, and misinterpreted your words? Well, if that has ever happened to any of you, then Paul has some advice for you on how to deal with this.

II. Vs. 12-14 A Clear Conscience and an Open Heart

Vs. 12 Before Paul clears up the misunderstanding, he wants the readers of this letter to know that no matter what they think of him, his conscience is clear before the Lord. What a great place to start in handling misunderstandings! Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century theologian, said, “Man regards the deed, but God sees the intention.” Take the time to examine your own heart, actions, or words, and see if there is anything that you should have or could have done differently, and if there is, go and make it right. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if there is anything in this situation that you have done that grieves Him. You don’t have to own the entire thing, only the parts where, because of pride or insecurity, you acted contrary to how the Holy Spirit and Jesus would have you act. There may be parts of the situation where you have no regrets at all. But upon the Holy Spirit bringing conviction, you copped an attitude for a moment, said something that was harsh or in anger—then that is what you need to repent of and own up to. I find that much of what separates people from fellowshipping with each other is the failure to own their own part in the situation. People have adopted an “all or nothing” attitude toward misunderstandings, which never allows for reconciliation.

Vs. 13 Notice Paul says, “For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand.” Paul is not indifferent to their heartache over the situation; he realizes that they have a beef with him, but he wants them to know that he has had the Holy Spirit examine his heart and that he has a clear conscience. He is not writing to justify his opinion or apologize for something in the situation; he is writing in hopes of clearing up the misunderstanding. Purity in action is difficult; purity in motivation is even more difficult!

Vs. 14 The next thing I notice is that he wants them to know how he feels about them and how he hopes they feel about him. In verse 14 (in the NIV), he says, “as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Paul’s conscience was clear, but he didn’t adopt a “Forget about it” attitude in hopes it would all disappear. Most often, these things don’t just disappear; they usually tend to fester and smolder, waiting for a little “hot air” to send them back to flame. It is interesting to me to notice what seems to cause the “flare-up” as indicated by Paul’s words. It was a presupposition of how someone feels about you from the past or from their perspective of how you feel about them from the past. That is why Paul tells them how he feels about them and believes how they feel about him. It is important that we express our true heart towards someone that is estranged from us.

III. Vs. 15-22 Assume the Best

Vs. 15-17 Saints, think of this for a moment, and you will discover that we would have a much better success rate in reconciliation if, before we ever got to the misunderstanding, we dealt with our own hearts first! Paul uses the same word four times with regard to his decision-making (verse 15: intended, verse 17: planning, and plan three times). The problem, according to 1 Corinthians 16:5-9, was that Paul had a “Plan A” when he had written to these Corinthians but ended up going with a “Plan B.”

Plan A: He planned on leaving Ephesus, where he had been living, crossing the Aegean Sea, and visiting them to help work out the problems they were having in the church. From there, he planned to travel by land up through northern Greece into Macedonia, to the cities of Thessalonica and Philippi, where he had planted churches, and return again to Corinth. He expected them to help him take ship from Corinth to Jerusalem to bring the gifts of the church to the poor, starving saints there. This was his original plan, but that’s not what happened.
Plan B: Instead, Paul went directly from Ephesus to Macedonia and worked his way down the coast at last to Corinth. After the visit, he had them help him on his way to Jerusalem and Judea.

Now, considering the challenges of first-century travel and communication, the change of plans seems a silly thing to get upset about. Yet based upon verse 17, they were clearly upset about this and made accusations against him. There was a group in Corinth who opposed Paul, and they used this as proof that he was an unreliable individual. Paul wasn’t a man who was irresponsible; integrity lay at the heart of Paul’s ministry. Truth was the medium, sincerity the evidence, and power was the outcome. Friends, may I make a suggestion? When we come to a place of disagreement with someone, choose to “believe the best” instead of “assuming the worst”! Take a look at their whole Christ-like character and interpret the discrepancy based on that. There are far too many times that we skip from “judgment” to “execution,” assuming they are guilty instead of assuming they are innocent. Paul’s explanation is twofold: verse 18-22 and verses 1:23 – 2:4.

Vs. 18-20 Paul’s change of plans was prompted by the Holy Spirit with direct benefit to the Corinthians, not himself. He wasn’t being “wishy-washy.” He wasn’t saying one thing with no intention of doing what he was saying. A Christian shouldn’t say “yes” when they have no intention of being faithful to it. When God says “No,” He means “No.” He never says “Yes” and means “No.” God’s promises are always positive promises.

Vs. 21-22 Notice in verses 21-22 the Holy Spirit has done three things to “establish us… in Christ.” This is in the present tense, which describes an ongoing experience that was completed in a single action of the Holy Spirit.

Anointed us: Literally, this reads, “God… christed us Christward,” which indicates that the Holy Spirit has made us Jesus’ people, a believing community.
Sealed us: This seal is a sign of ownership that identifies us as His and marks us for redemption.
Given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee: The Holy Spirit in our hearts is the entire guarantee we need to know that we will one day have the full inheritance.

Paul tells them of these three truths with regard to the Holy Spirit to show them how foolish they were in being petty with regards to their dealing with him. So why did Paul change his plans? Well, notice here three things in this section, and I believe they give us the answer:

Vs. 18: The faithful God
Vs. 19-20: The certain Lord
Vs. 21-22: The indwelling Holy Spirit

Paul proclaims to his doubters that God is faithful and that His will was made known to him through submission to the Lordship of Jesus, who interpreted to him by the indwelling Holy Spirit a change in plans! It is impossible to argue against the change of plans when it was God changing Paul’s plans.

IV. Vs. 1:23-2:4 Mercy and Love

Vs. 23-24 Here in verses 1:23-24 thru 2:4, Paul tells his readers two things the Holy Spirit showed him that changed his mind:

Vs. 23-24 First, he says in verse 23, “I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth.” To spare them from what? Well, verse 24 tells us that he was shown insight into their hearts by the Holy Spirit that coming to them after already dealing with their carnality would have caused them to see Paul as their boss and not their brother. They would have been tempted to obey Paul instead of pleasing the Lord! Paul didn’t want these folks to start doing the “right thing” for the “wrong reasons.” The right thing was “obeying the word of God with regards to sin”; the wrong reason was because “Paul said so.” That is why Paul says in verse 24, “we have no dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy.” Christianity is not just about “what we do”; it’s about “why we do what we do”! The leaders of the local church aren’t “your bosses”; they are your fellow brothers and sisters, “workers for your joy”! Ray Stedman made this observation: “We Protestants are right when we say to the Catholics that God never intended to have one man, a pope, over the whole church, but it is no improvement to have one in every church.” The church leaders are your helpers; they are there to encourage you and to help you understand what your gifts are, but you are not responsible to them for exercising them. They are responsible to the Lord to help you put it together with others and to maintain unity within the church, but not to govern what ministry you have. In Matt. 23:8, Jesus said, “You have only one Master, and you are all brothers.” So that was one reason that Paul didn’t come as he had planned; “he didn’t want to preempt the authority over the Church that only belonged to Jesus Christ.”
Vs. 1-4 Paul tells them the second reason for the change of plans was because the Spirit led him to see that he had already caused enough pain by his letters and his painful visit. Paul is like a skillful surgeon—he only cuts as much as he has to. As soon as that was done, he stops cutting, because he didn’t like to create pain. The Holy Spirit had shown Paul that if he came again, he would just cause unnecessary pain. That is how to handle a misunderstanding: don’t bring hurt just to inflict pain, but rather seek to minimize the hurt by affirming our love and concern for those who, by their misunderstanding of us, are missing out on the love of God and the peace of the Holy Spirit.

The harsh, critical attitudes of some of the Corinthian believers towards Paul remind us how easy it is to react unkindly and bitterly when we only have partial knowledge and choose to assume the worst instead of believing the best! Relationships are like wooden bridges; they are always easier to burn but much more difficult to rebuild! Let’s consider that before we strike a match!