1 Cor didn't accomplish it's purpose and some Corinthians were confused and thought it was too severe, so 2 Cor addresses that:
2:15-16 - fragrance of death. Spirits have an odor
3:7-9 - ministry of death (the law)
3:17 - true liberty is the freedom NOT to do something (you've been liberated)
4:16 - renewal of the inner man - counteracting lies with truth
5:9 - proper ambition - the means are just as important as the ends
5:17 - a brand new man
6:14 - bad binding - don't be bound with unbelievers (those with the wrong goal) - there's a diff between a christian business person and a kingdom one. Bad Goal - to make money to glorify God. Good Goal - to glorify God, and if this involves making money then so be it.
10:12 - the problem with comparing - don't do it
12:7 - pride is controlled by the prick of God!
2 Corinthians 1:6-9 (9/14/22)
September 14, 2022 • Benham Brothers • 2 Corinthians 1:6–9
* Why does God allow trials and tribulations in your life?
* Think of the two greatest commandments, and then think of trials.
* They teach you to rely on God.
* They prepare you to help others.
* Vs 3 - “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort…”
* It would be great if it was all about our own comfort.
* Compassion = “to suffer together.”
* Vs 4a - “…who comforts us in all our troubles…”
* God isn’t concerned about making us comfortable apart from trials, He’s interested in comforting us in the midst of them.
* Why? Because you draw close to those who show you compassion (suffer with you).
* Vs 4b - “…So That we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God…”
* Your trials aren’t about you.
* The words “so that” define your purpose.
* Vs 5a - “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ…”
* To show true compassion for Jesus we have to be willing to suffer with Him.
* Don’t be ashamed of His name.
* He came to earth to suffer with us.
* Vs 5b - “…so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
* We enter His suffering so we can get His comfort!
* Rick Warren in Purpose Driven Life said there are four levels of unity:
* Level 1 - you grow close with people you STUDY with.
* Level 2 - you grow close with people you SHARE with.
* Level 3 - you grow close with people you SERVE with.
* Level 4 - you grow close with people you SUFFER with.
* Fighting together draws you together (BiB).
* Vs 6 - “If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.”
* God does things TO you so He can do things THROUGH you.
* When you see yourself as a conduit, not a cul-de-sac, God can pour more through you.
* This is both blessings and burdens!
* EX: God says, “Jason is about to go through something difficult, and he’s going to need some good buddies around him to encourage him. So I’m going to let John go through something difficult so he can be an encouragement for Jason.”
* Vs 7 - “And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”
* God’s ways are always a two-way street.
* Vs 8-9 - Anyone who trusts in their own ability cannot be led by His Spirit.
* God’s strength is shown through our strain.
* Why trials?
* They teach you to rely on God.
* They prepare you to help others.
2 Corinthians 2:8 (9/3/15)
September 3, 2015 • Benham Brothers
In 1 Corinthians 5:2 Paul said to remove a man from among them.
Nobody knows who the man in 2 Cor 2 was who Paul was referring to.
Many commentators think it may have been this same guy.
Paul shows his fatherly heart, because he was willing to restore the man caught in sin.
He was hard toward the unrepentant heart.
He was soft toward the repentant heart.
His heart toward both was for restoration.
The key hinges on the repentance of the person.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (9/5/19)
September 5, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* Satan’s primary target is relationships - he did it with Eve and with Jesus.
* He knows if two or more are gathered in Christ’s name they make up the church.
* He can’t defeat the church.
* In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church he told them to kick a man out for sexual perversion.
* vs 10 - Now, he’s telling them to let him back in (probably because of his repentance).
* vs 11 - Paul tells them that by doing this they avoid Satan’s scheme, which is to tear relationships apart.
* EX: Allie and Tori.
* Her desire was to distance from her mom, but that would be playing into Satan’s hand.
* Sometimes distance is good, and certainly healthy boundaries must be in place.
* But avoidance is not healthy, so we have to fight against it.
* Staying close to others will result in CHURCH - and Satan can’t defeat it.
2 Corinthians 2:12-13 (9/5/19)
September 4, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* In 1 Corinthians 1:17 Paul knew what he was called to do - evangelize, not baptize.
* This became a boundary for him.
* Without boundaries, opportunities become threats.
* vs 12 - Now, we see him finding an open door (opportunity) to do what he was called to do.
* How did he know he should go through that door?
* Because he knew his calling - he had a vision for his life and he prioritized accordingly.
* vs 13 - Here’s the key - even though the door was open for his vocational calling, he didn’t go through it because Titus wasn’t there!
* Paul elevated relationship over work, prioritizing his personal ministry over his vocational ministry.
* He put people over his platform.
* He chose what was profitable over what was productive.
* Productive things are about tasks and move you toward your short-term goals.
* Profitable things are about people and move you toward your long-term goals.
* Priorities line up what’s productive with what’s profitable.
* How do you know you should leave what you’re doing for relationship?
* When you cannot relax or find peace in that place without them.
* If that’s what you’re feeling, leave!
* EX: Moses wouldn’t go into the Promised Land without the presence of God.
2 Corinthians 2:15-17 (9/7/17)
September 7, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* God’s life inside you is going to have a particular fragrance.
* To those who have rejected Christ it’s death.
* To those who accepted Christ it’s life.
* The same boiling water hardens the egg.
* We don’t need to turn the temperature down - we just need to boil!
* vs 17 - Paul follows up with a verse about spiritual “peddlers.”
* A peddler is a person who goes from place to place selling stuff, typically things without value.
* He dupes people into buying something they don’t need because they have something he wants - $$$.
* This is the problem for spiritual leaders who refuse to smell like the aroma of death.
* They become fakes who peddle spiritual truth for profit.
* The opposite of peddling is speaking the truth in love.
2 Corinthians 3:1-2 (9/5/19)
September 5, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* In this culture some of the Judaizers (preachers of the Jewish way) carried around letters of recommendation from the “important people” in the Jerusalem church, and this is what qualified and verified them to speak to others.
* Paul challenged this.
* He didn’t need others to qualify him.
* He was qualified by the people he served - “they” were proof that he was legit.
* In our social media culture what qualifies the person nowadays is the number of followers, views, and likes you get.
* All of these things give a person a platform, and those with the biggest platforms are the ones with the most influence.
* Problem - social media grows through strategy, not the Spirit.
* True success should be measured by the number of people who are being set free.
* Like Paul when he was in prison - everyone’s chains fell off.
* EX: Tori and I are writing a book, and the other day we stopped and went for a walk.
* We joked about how we’d rather have a great marriage than write about one.
* This is what Paul is getting at - your ministry is not validated by your following but your faithfulness.
2 Cor 3:7-9 (9/3/14)
September 3, 2014 • Benham Brothers
vs 7-9 - the old covenant was the law and it convicted of sin - it brought death.
vs 17 - the new covenant was the Spirit and it brought life - it meant God "with" us.
Both covenants are glorious, but the new covenant is now in full effect.
The old covenant was a law written on tablets - the new covenant is the spirit of the law written on our hearts.
vs 18 - the new covenant "inside" us and people can see it all over our face.
In the old covenant when Moses was in God's presence his faced glowed but he had to veil it.
Now God's glory shines through us so when we look in a mirror we are seeing a reflection of God Himself.
It's from glory, old covenant, to glory, new covenant.
2 Corinthians 4:1-18 (9/7/17)
September 7, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* This chapter gives a forensic on what a good pastor should be like:
* vs 1 - perseveres, which means he doesn’t stop when things get tough.
* vs 2 - speaks truth, knowing he’ll give an account to God.
* vs 3-4 - knows those who reject truth are rejecting God, but he doesn’t change his message to suit their desires.
* vs 5 - preaches the gospel, not self-help sermons.
* vs 6 - knows God is preaching through them, and they can’t help but to preach.
* vs 7 - they focus on God and not their own eloquence.
* vs 8-12 - they’re willing to suffer for standing and speaking what is right.
* vs 13-15 - they have a father’s heart - everything is done for his kids without taking his own comfort in mind.
* vs 16-18 - they have an eternal perspective - they don’t preach “your best life now” - they preach “your best life later.”
2 Corinthians 4:1 (9/6/18)
September 6, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* When you see a “therefore” in Scripture ask yourself what it’s there for.
* It wraps up Paul’s thoughts in the preceding verses.
* In chap 3 he talked about the old and new covenants and how both are glorious, but how the new is more glorious.
* vs 3:18 talked about how we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit.
* In light of this transformation, we have a “ministry” now.
* Ministry means “to serve.”
* It can be applied in two ways:
* 1) We need to live a transformed life.
* 2) We need to help others experience a transformed life.
* Transformation: Live it and Share it - that’s our ministry.
2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (9/10/15)
September 10, 2015 • Benham Brothers
The Greek word for "deceitfully" is "doloo" - to "adulterate for the sake of personal gain."
The church should not be cunning (deceitful) in the way it attracts people.
We have the wrong idea of fishing today.
We think you're supposed to put "bait" on a hook to lure people in.
There are a couple problems with this approach to fishing for men:
1) People realize they bit a fake.
2) You get the wrong people in your boat.
We're supposed to fish with a light and net.
The light attracts and the net of love draws them in.
If you attract people with lures rather than light then you end up with light-haters in your boat.
Verse 5-7 - Paul wasn't trying to attract people to himself, he was simply shining the light that was within him.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (9/10/15)
September 10, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Paul explains that bad things were happening to them, but it wasn't affecting them negatively.
4 things were happening - they were afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down.
They had 4 different responses to these things.
External stuff was not affecting their internal stuff.
The things they couldn't control didn't determine the things they could control.
Principle - You can't control what happens to you but you can control how you respond to it.
How do you respond in a positive way when negative things happen?
You have to know WHY God is allowing it.
Paul and his companions knew it gave them an opportunity to show the death of Christ in their lives.
All trials are either God ordained (He brought the trial) or God allowed (we brought the trial).
If we keep "why" at the forefront then we'll be faithful to honor God no matter what happens.
2 Corinthians 4:15 (9/5/19)
September 5, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* vs 7-11 - We are like clay pots that cannot break no matter how hard the pressure is on the outside.
* How? Because we’re filled with the Spirit on the inside.
* But why would God allow hardships in someone’s life?
* vs 15 - So they can be a testimony for others.
* EX: Trae with Liberty.
* Having an “others” perspective will get you through the toughest times.
2 Cor 4:16-18 (9/3/14)
September 3, 2014 • Benham Brothers
The secret to making it through affliction:
1) Renewal - taking off the old and putting on the new (Romans 12:1-2).
2) Focus - we fix our eyes on God (Peter sunk when he lost focus on Jesus).
We don't look at what's in our hand, we look at what's in His.
2 Cor 5:9 - When we focus on God our one ambition is to please Him.
When ambition takes the lead the ends justify the means so that the accomplishing of the "thing" is more important than the way we accomplish it.
Focusing on God means we concern ourselves with our duty and not the results.
2 Corinthians 5:9-14 (9/21/22)
September 21, 2022 • Benham Brothers • 2 Corinthians 5:9–14
* People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect.
* The best managers have regular checkups with their employees.
* If you’re trying to lose weight, you step on the scale regularly.
* High achievers welcome these checkups - they want accountability in their life.
* Strong people want accountability. Weak people only want approval.
* Knowing you are going to be held accountable for your actions will help keep your actions in alignment with your goals and values.
* Having no accountability allows you to act in accordance with your impulses - and this always gets people in trouble.
* Key - we are accountable to God for everything we do!
* Vs 9-10 - Tony Evans - “One day every Christian will have to stand before Christ’s bēma to have his or her faithfulness (or lack thereof) evaluated and recompensed. Believers will be granted or denied rewards based on whether or not they have lived for Christ. There will be no hiding on that day. And there will be no actions in your Christian life that will be overlooked. Therefore, knowing that everything “good or evil” will be repaid, how do you want to spend the few days allotted to you?”
* In light of the great inspection, we seek to please Him with the work we do (vs 9).
* Revelation 21:4 shows us what life will be like in the new heaven and new earth.
* God will “wipe away every tear from our eye…”
* Why would we be crying?
* Because we will have already stood before the judgment seat, so we know we don’t deserve what we’re about to get!
* Practically, what do we do until that time?
* Vs 11a - we try to persuade others to make their peace with God.
* How?
* Live the three paradigms:
* You’re a minister - to minister is “to serve.”
* You’re on mission - to provide for others and promote God’s kingdom.
* Your work is worship - Avodah.
