About this sermon
Paul prepares for his third visit to Corinth and warns that he will not spare those who continue in sin, for Christ, crucified in weakness, lives by the power of God. He urges the church to examine themselves, to aim for restoration, and to live in peace. The letter closes with the blessing of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which builds the church up in unity as it waits for Christ.
Sermon transcript
We come now to the reading of God’s inspired word. I invite you to open your Bibles with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 13. There we’ll read the whole chapter verses 1 through 14. Give your attention for this is the word of God. The Apostle Paul writes, This is the third time I am coming to you.
Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absence, I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone.
Since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. For indeed, he was crucified because of weakness. Yet he lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in him, yet we will live with him because of the power of God directed toward you.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
Now we pray to God that you do no wrong. not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong. This we also pray for, that you be made complete. For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like minded, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Thus far, the reading of God’s inspired word. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, we do ask that these words written in time by an apostle appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that these words would now be used of you, O Father, for our good, for our growth in grace, for our preparation for the coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we should be made complete in Him Bless now the one who brings the word as your servant. And we pray for each person gathered to receive the word that together we might be built up in faith and love and hope, and that you would be glorified in all that we do and say here. May you grant that power which comes down from above, that power according to the working of Christ raised from the dead, seated in glory, his spirit resting upon us. Hear our prayers of supplication. the preaching and the hearing of your word today, Grace Church.
We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. Paul’s greatest desire in this letter of 2 Corinthians is that all shall be well on his forthcoming third visit to Corinth. What does he mean when he says, Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
As he opens this chapter, this is an obvious quotation from Deuteronomy, in particular chapter 17, verse six. We might cross reference also Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 15, where those same words appear. In chapter 17, there is a significant context there. And so I’ll read Deuteronomy 17 verses one through seven.
Listen for the words. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Moses writes, You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God. If there is found in your midst in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God by transgressing his covenant and has gone and served other gods and worship them or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded. And if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
He who is to die shall be put to death. He shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death. and afterward the hand of all the people, so you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
Significantly, this same text from Deuteronomy is cited by Jesus in Matthew 18, verse 16. where he teaches his disciples how to address sin, brother against brother, in the church. Again, cross-referencing Deuteronomy 17, verse 6, with Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 15. In chapter 19, verse 15, we read, a single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed on the evidence of two or three witnesses. A matter shall be confirmed. As we read second Corinthians. Paul is now coming to Corinth. The opening words of chapter 13 sound like he is expecting some kind of a court hearing when he arrives.
At the end of chapter 12, you may notice he expressed two fears in firstly in verse 20 and then secondly in verse 21. First, in verse 20. For I am afraid, he says, that perhaps when I come, I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish. That perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances. That’s his first fear, that he would find those things. The second is in verse 21. I am afraid, he says, that when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.
Paul has concluded this epistle with a strong and very impassioned defense of his apostolic integrity his apostolic authority. He has fearlessly taken on the false apostles, men who have crept into Corinth and who have maliciously turned the church against Paul. And Paul writes, not only having taken them on, but he sternly warns those here who have not yet repented in Corinth in accordance with his previous visits and letters.
What will he find when he comes to Corinth? The correlation between Paul’s coming to Corinth and Jesus’ final coming to judge the living and the dead, we would judge this morning as both intentional and instructional. In our last sermon, you might recall from 2 Corinthians, we cited indeed Jesus’ question in Luke chapter 18, verse 8, which is given at the conclusion of the parable of the persistent widow A parable meant to show the disciples that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. The question at the end of that parable is simply, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Similarly, we ask, what will Paul find when he comes to Corinth? Will the people’s faith there be found complete? And again we ask, what will Jesus find when he comes again? In writing this epistle, the apostle has openly identified himself, along with Timothy his brother, as servant ministers of a new covenant. A new covenant not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
That’s a citation from chapter 3, verse 6. His ministry was not, he says, the ministry of condemnation, chapter three, verse nine, engraved on stones, three, verse seven, but the surpassing glory of the ministry of righteousness. Again, chapter three, verse nine, the ministry of the spirit, he says, chapter three, verse eight. He, as a minister, as an apostle, having renounced the things hidden because of shame.
Chapter 4, verse 2. Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Again, chapter 4, verse 2. In chapter 12 of the 2nd Corinthians, Paul tells the Corinthians that he does not want to boast. He boasts only of his weaknesses. For example, the thorn he bears in his flesh. A messenger of Satan, he calls it. The Corinthians should have commended Paul. But here he has to remind them of the signs of his apostleship.
He says in chapter 12, verse 14, that he is willing to go to them, visit, the third time, which he reaffirms here in chapter 13, verse 1. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he did not take advantage of them, he did not burden them, If he visits them, he has to point out their sins, some of which he even lists here in the final two verses of chapter 12, verses 20 and 21, which we read. And the charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses. From chapter 13, verse 2 of our text this morning, it would seem to suggest that the two or three witnesses were Paul’s own visits to the Corinthians. during which he had had to warn them repeatedly.
The seriousness of this ought to be measured in reference to Paul’s ministry and service as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Remember that Paul was Christ’s own appointed apostle to the Gentiles. And we remember clearly what Jesus said to His disciples as He prepared them to be His witnesses in the world. He told them, He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives him who sent Me. Citation from Matthew 10, verse 40. In that sense then, a visit from Paul is like a visit from Jesus. A message from Paul was like a message from Jesus.
Do you understand the importance of this? We who are so slow to hear, so slow to obey, how many witnesses, how many messengers has Christ sent to us to bring us to conviction? Paul’s point is to urge his readers toward holiness in their lives. Such holiness is important because they and we will all stand before Jesus when he comes. Before him to give an account of everything we have done.
The impostors, the false apostles that had shown up in Corinth, have disparaged Paul time and again as weak and have undercut his message, claiming that Christ was not speaking through him. See verse 3 of our text and cross-reference with that chapter 10 and verse 7. Paul, however, will come to Corinth in the spiritual and moral power of the living Christ. Christ indeed was weak in His death, and Paul has shared in that weakness in his life and ministry. We see that again cited in verse 4. A fact which he has been acknowledging in the past couple of chapters, even boasting in the fact that he shares in the weakness of Christ. But now, Christ is not weak. Christ lives in God’s resurrection power.
And He is powerful in dealing with the Corinthians. Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. And Paul will come to the Corinthians. And Paul will be powerful in dealing with them. Because of the power of God directed toward the Corinthians. Paul will not come in the supposed power of visions or ecstasy, but in the power of a godly man in Christ.
And he will exhort, he will judge, and he will grieve over the unrepentant when he comes. Let the Corinthian church at that time, churches today, and church people, Many churches today and church people are subject to great moral temptation to which they sometimes succumb. Like Paul the Apostle, the pastors and teachers and other ministers of the word today must be prepared to exhort, to reprove and to discipline those who have fallen into sin, as well as to patiently restore the penitent. In verse 5, Paul says, as I also as your pastor say to you today, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.
Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize this about yourselves? That Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test. But I trust that you will realize, says Paul, that we ourselves do not fail the test. Now we pray to God that you do no wrong, not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we, Paul and fellow ministers, may appear unapproved. For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong. This we pray for, that you be made complete. For this reason I am writing these things, says Paul, while absent, so that when present I need not use severity in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
Beloved, receive this today as a letter from your Savior written by an apostle on Christ’s behalf. Indeed, Paul was coming to Corinth, and he wanted to find the church as he hoped and prayed she would be, those ready for his appearing. How much more so, then, does your Savior, Jesus Christ, desire you to be ready, made complete in the spirit for his appearing in the clouds of glory when he comes to receive his church unto himself? that church to be made without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Now we know that Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. In 2 Corinthians 5 verses 10 and 11, we have the apostle Paul’s own testimony concerning the coming of Christ. He says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God. And I hope that we are also made manifest also in your conscience.
Paul viewed his ministry as an apostle, as a stewardship given to him by Christ himself. His task was nothing less than preparing men, women, and children for the coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory. Having offered his apostolic instructions and warnings on behalf of his Savior Christ, Paul now concludes his letter on a most kind and a most sympathetic note, take note, for the church’s encouragement. So our Savior provides for our encouragement.
Rather than seek proof that Christ speaks through Paul, verse 3, let the Corinthians be reminded that in fact Jesus Christ is in them, verse 5. The proof of Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians is related to the proof that they are in fact Christians, even then, as he writes to them. Thus Paul, in verse 6, expects them to discover that he has not failed. While this is not unimportant to Paul, what he prays is that the Corinthians may do, may not do anything wrong, but that they may do what is right. Verse seven, let them, let us repent of their impurities and immoralities. Chapter 12, verse 21. And let the Corinthians also see the false apostles in their true light.
Our prayer, he tells them in verse 9, is that you be made complete. Paul’s primary concern was their mending. That’s a literal translation of this, being made complete. You might think it’s the same word that is used in reference to the disciples mending their nets. He is praying that you be made, mended, that you be made complete.
What will encourage Paul is the knowledge that the Corinthians are strong in Christ Jesus. The authority which the Lord gave Paul as an apostle was for building up and not for tearing down, he says, the body of Christ. Therefore, in the period which remains before he comes, let them, the Corinthian Christians, aim for perfection. Let them listen to his apostolic appeal and let them hear his appeal to rejoice, to be made complete, to be comforted, to be like-minded, to live together with one another in peace, and to greet one another with a holy kiss, he says. In their obedience to this, he says, he assures them that the God of love and peace will be with them. Look at verse 11.
Consider the life history of the Corinthian church, a church marked by division, marked by tumult. And think of her resting in love and tranquility, the love and tranquility of Christ himself, praising the Lord for his goodness and grace, living in peace and harmony and harmony and unity, one with another. if they heard and responded to the word of the apostle.
We might be curious to know what the Corinthians did in response to Paul’s letter. Did they continue as they were, allowing the spurious teachers to continue there to exert their influence? Or did they heed the apostle? The fact that this letter of 2 Corinthians was not torn up when the Corinthians received it, and that it has come down to us, suggests that they deterred to Paul. When Paul arrived in Corinth, he stayed there three months, and from there he wrote his letter to the Romans, where there are only faint echoes of the present difficulties he addresses there in Corinth.
Indeed, the epistle to the Romans may well be considered the high watermark of Paul’s apostolic ministry and writing. Be reminded, it was written in Corinth after second Corinthians. We conclude that the Corinthians and the apostle were indeed reconciled and that to the glory of God. Paul concludes his letter of 2 Corinthians with a beautiful prayer, a most profound apostolic benediction.
Let us not stumble over its familiarity to us. Take note in the apostolic benediction that the three persons of the Trinity are mentioned, each one in the order which reflects our own Christian experience. First, there is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is encountered in the gospel in the message of reconciliation accomplished in the cross of Christ and through which we were made rich through the poverty of Jesus. Then, as a consequence, we come to know the love of God from the one Paul has described as the God of love. Look at verse 11. Finally, also as a consequence, we experience the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, which refers to the Spirit’s fellowship with our spirits, wherein we are fellow heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ, sons and children of God. But also the Spirit brings that fellowship which exists between those in whom the Spirit of God dwells.
By this prayer and meditation, Paul is reminding the Christian, the Corinthian Christians, and all of us, that our being made complete does not lie within ourselves, but it lies with the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s doing, after all. This is God’s gift to you, beloved, in Christ Jesus. Praise be to God. To Him will be the glory, both now and forevermore. Amen. Let us pray together.
Our Father, we are reminded that our being made complete. We are not complete yet, but we will be made complete. That that one who began a good work in us will bring it to its glorious completion. Is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. How we do rejoice in the benediction pronounced upon the church by our Savior through his apostle in this particular epistle. Bless us in that knowledge as well today, Father.
Build us up. Do not tear us down, but build us up as we wait and prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Fill us with that spirit of fellowship and joy that we would be like minded, that we would be devoted to one another, that we would walk in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. and that we would be that church Christ intended us and wants us even now to be. Fill us to the full, we pray in Jesus’ name, giving thanks. Amen. I’m going to ask now that you stand with me and sing together hymn number 601.
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