2 Corinthians 1-3
Encouragement,
Liberty, Glory
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Psalm 139:1-24 Awesomely and Wonderfully Created
You Have Searched Me and Know Me
1O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Application
Accept yourself as the wonderful creation of God which you are, and devote your energies to fulfilling the purposes for which He knit you together.
Prayer
God, I praise You for the wonderful job You did in planning and creating me. Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked or offensive way in me, and guide me in the way that is more pleasing to You. Amen.
TMS Matthew 18:20 Corporate Prayer
Observations
18:20 This is used as a passage about fellowship in the TMS, but its major context is that of church discipline (see comments on Mt 18). There believers were gathered to do God's will in helping an erring believer respond to reproof and rebuke, and rejoin the fellowship of believers. (Like the situation in 1Cor 5 referenced below). As believers gather in the power/authority/name of Jesus, which would imply submission to His will, to do His will, then He is there in the midst of them. This is not what constitutes a Church, but the same dynamic should apply. God's ears are always open to the prayers of His people (2Chronicles 6:39; 30:27), when they seek Him according to His will. Two or 2,000 carnal Christians gathered and chanting “Jesus, Jesus” probably isn't what He had in mind.
Application
God listens to three, two, or even one person who prays to Him under the conditions He has specified, namely, in His name, submitted to His will.
Prayer
God, thanks that You are present in the prayers and praises of Your people; thanks for the privilege of being able to seek You and pray together. Amen.
2 Corinthians 1-3 Encouragement, Liberty, Glory
2 Corinthians 1 Encouragement to Endure
Paul Greets the Corinthians
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.Paul’s Change of Plans
12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. 15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.Application
God gives encouragement in difficult times so we can endure, and help others as we've been helped.
Prayer
God, thanks that You give encouragement in response to my prayers and those of others, so I can draw upon your grace and endure for the prize; please guide me in helping others experience Your encouragement. Amen.
2 Corinthians 2 Fragrance of Life or Death
Reaffirm Your Love
1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. 5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.Triumph in Christ
12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.Application
We need to forgive ourselves and others as God has forgiven us, so we can move on, away from our sin, to better and brighter things; otherwise, Satan will use guilt, bitterness, and disunity to disrupt God's plans for our lives.
Prayer
God, thanks that You accept us back into fellowship with You when we repent; may we accept ourselves, and each other, as You have accepted us. Amen.
2 Corinthians 3 From Glory to Glory
Ministers of a New Covenant
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.The Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. 12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.Application
As we turn to the Lord, and keep focused on Him, we will be changed into His image.
Prayer
God, thanks for the ministry of Your Holy Spirit in my life, and Your desire to give me freedom and glory; may I be responsive and receptive, and become more like Jesus. Amen.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: God gives encouragement so we can endure, and share it with others. God always leads those who follow Him into victory.
Build-a-Jesus: Jesus shines in hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling those who receive Him to be transformed into His image and share in His glory.
Us in a nutshell: Those who seek to serve God will be welcomed by those who seek God according to truth, and despised by those who don't. God's servants are made sufficient by God's Spirit to do His will, regardless of the response of others. Those who respond well, become like Christ, both now, and in the future.
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