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INTRODUCTION:
These two
inspired verses teach us several great truths!
They certainly
tell us how Paul prepared a Church for one of his upcoming
visits! In fact, Paul is coming to visit the Believers at
Corinth for a third time. See 2nd Corinthians 13:1 --- "This
is the third time I am coming to you." Paul did
not have an "advance" man or a "forerunner," so he often just
wrote a letter instead!
The verses
also give us Paul's view of sin ... at least sins in the Church.
That is ... the Churches over which he had oversight.
He took a rather "dim" view of church members living in
iniquity!
Then the text
shows us Paul's response to sin in the Church! He is
humbled and embarrassed by such!
Next we are
here shown that Paul is not passive toward such worldliness!
He plainly says that if he finds blatant sin in the Assembly ...
he is then not going to be in the "mood" or "frame of mind" the
Corinthians would have wanted! He plans to deal with both
the sin and the ones sinning!
Lastly we are
shown Paul's determination and resolve to visit a place where he
is disliked and mocked and has enemies! Corinth has
nearly turned against the Apostle in some ways! But,
personal feelings aside, the work of God must have priority!
The Person of Jesus must be the focus in Corinth ... not the
personality of Paul!
With these
things in mind ... let's get started:
LESSON 1:
Paul has such
a practical way of expressing things.
He is planning
to visit the Corinthians again. This will be his third
time to minister in their presence. In 2nd Corinthians
13:1 Paul clearly states: "This is the third time
I am coming to you."
Yet there are
some problems in the Church at Corinth.
Some have
tolerated immorality in their midst.
Others have
sued their brethren before lost judges.
Still a few
more were confused about God's order and plan concerning sex.
And they
couldn't tell what was "right" or "wrong" about much of their
food and drink.
They too had
argued about spiritual gifts.
And had
languished over the "love offering" they had promised to receive
for the poorer Brethren in Jerusalem.
Plus they had
allowed false teachers to enter the church who tried to bring
many back under the law of Moses!
And some had
even turned against Paul, calling him names and demeaning him
before the whole Church!
Into this
chaotic situation Paul had to return ... to "straighten" things
in accordance to the Word of God!
And his
expected "arrival" could be a bit tense!
Strained!
Awkward!
So he writes:
"For I fear, lest, when I come, I
shall not find you such as I would." (2nd Corinthians
12:20) Paul here is really expressing a fear. He is
concerned that when he arrives ... things will still NOT be what
they should!
Some might be
still living in sin, having unrepentant hearts!
Still arguing
and accusing and lusting and being stingy!
The verb
"would" (in Greek = "thelo") simply means "to desire."
Paul WANTS things to be right when he gets there!
But he is realistically concerned that they might not be!
And IF Paul
comes and things are in a spiritual mess, Paul is NOT going to
be pleased!
He will be one
upset Preacher!
"And that I shall be found unto you
such as ye would not" he promises! (2nd Corinthians
12:20 again)
Paul so wanted
this third and likely final visit with the Corinthians to be
pleasant, a time of love and fellowship around the things of
God.
But if they
had not done right ... Paul was going to ... roughly if
necessary ... reprove, rebuke and exhort them in no uncertain
terms!
I would to God
that there were still some Preachers like that around this
nation!
Well, thank
God, there are a few ... but not as many as in years past!
Men who would
become spiritually indignant ... mad ... at sin!
Men who would
not inflate everyone's ego ... right or wrong!
Men who were
not back-scratches or ear-ticklers!
Prophets of
God!
The Old
Testament cried, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?"
Today I am
asking, "Where are the Elijahs of the Lord God?"
Sin upset
Paul!
Today too many
of us don't even notice it!
Tomorrow, Lord
willing, we shall see what Paul feared might still exist in the
Corinthian Church!
It's quite a
list!
In fact,
instead of sounding "Greek," the sins of these saints sound
"modern" and "American" and entirely too "contemporary!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2:
Paul, just
before his third visit to the Church at Corinth, wrote these
words: "For I fear, lest, when I come, I
shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be
found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be
debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings,
swellings, tumults." 2nd Corinthians 12:20
The expression
Paul used here, "lest there be," suggests that these sins likely
already exist in the Corinthian Assembly.
And Paul knew
it!
He had been
given several reports from the Church since his last being
there.
Titus was the
most recent "messenger."
"Debates"
translates "eris," a Greek noun meaning "quarrels" or
"arguments."
"Envyings" (in
Greek = "zelos") are heated feelings of passion ... usually
associated with wanting something someone else possesses!
"Zeo," its root verb means "to boil!" Pretty "hot!"
"Wraths" ("thumos")
indicate outbursts of extreme anger! Its root verb, "thuo,"
means to breathe hard! In Greek two words
generally define anger. "Thumos," used here, means anger
that comes suddenly, quickly explodes, says its piece, and is
done with it! The other word, "orge," is an anger that
builds slowly ... but once it's here ... watch out! It
lasts and lasts and lasts!
"Strifes," an
interesting word for sure, is "eritheia," and means something
like "a spirit of divisiveness," a desire to make "cliques" in a
Church, running for "office" ... a "popularity" contest sort of
thing! Its root source, "erithos," means one who is for
sale!
And "backbitings,"
in Greek "katalalia," just means "talking" ("laleo") "down" ("kata")
about someone! Verbally tearing them to shreds!
Gossip! Slander! The other time it is used in the
New Testament (only found twice) Peter calls it "evil speaking."
This is defamation of character and it often happens in most
Baptist Churches!
Then
"whisperings" are mentioned. "Psithurismos" means sneaky
(on the quiet side) but harmful communication! Again the
sins of the tongue are in view. You know, the old "don't
tell anybody this" syndrome! Some teachers believe the
word is derived from a form of "pseudomai" and, if so, it means
to speak an untruth ... quietly and subversively! Like:
"I'm not absolutely sure about this but I heard ...."
"Swellings,"
are what my Dad used to call "pouting" and "sulking" kinds of
acts! The root word, "phusioo," indicates being inflated (like a
baloon about to "pop"), all blown up! This could insinuate
real anger or petty little temper fits or days of staying in
one's room, not coming out for anything! It also could
typify pride, being "stuck up!"
Then Paul
slows down a bit and adds just one more sin to their list!
"Tumults" is a picturesque word. "Akatastasia" means "not"
("a") to "stand" (stasia") in one's place ... "under" ("kata")
the proper authority! Just being "out of place!" God has a
place for each of us ... in the home, on the job, at Church ...
everywhere. To be out of place constantly indicates the
heart of a rebel! And such activity will ruin a Church!
What a list
the Holy Spirit has complied here!
Things to
AVOID ... if you want revival!
By the way,
rest assured, if these things existed (or still existed) when
Paul finally arrived at Corinth ... war was "on!" He
challenged each sin and the devil behind it ... and attacked
viciously, with the Word of God!
Shouldn't we
do the same?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
The Apostle
Paul, just before his third visit to the Church at Corinth,
writes: "And
lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and
that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not
repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness
which they have committed." 2nd Corinthians 12:21
If Paul
arrives in Corinth ... and finds unconfessed sins and
unrepentant church-members ... he will be impacted two different
ways!
Here comes
Paul's attitude toward the "sins of the saints!"
First of all,
he says through such carnality in the Church, God will "humble"
him! The verb here, "tapeinoo," means "to be made low."
To "be abased." To "be reduced."
Paul, who had
"pastored" at Corinth for well over a year (18 months) ... had,
as do all Pastors, the goal of helping the Corinthians overcome
sins, those petty little things that so beset true believers.
But at Corinth
something was different!
Some of these
professing Christians had not make a clean break with the world
as they should have done!
I believe Paul
thinks many of them not to be truly saved!
Such dirty
living in a Church of Christ Jesus, especially one "planted" by
Paul, would indeed be a devastating experience for the godly
preacher!
Paul feels
crushed!
I fear many
Preachers today could care less about the spiritual quality of
the lives their people live!
As long as the
"pay" is good and the atmosphere "friendly" ... what else can a
Pastor want? Or so it seems many think!
Well, here's
Jesus' goal for His Flock: "That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
(Ephesians 5:27) What a thought!
A sinless
Saviour of course longs for a purified Body, His Church, His
Bride!
Paul,
according to 2nd Corinthians 11:29, got "hot" when his people
were overcome by sins! "Who is weak, and I am not weak?
who is offended, and I burn not?"
Secondly, Paul
will "bewail" over those who have sinned without repenting! This
verb, "pentheo," means "to grieve," as if someone was dead!
To mourn! To be sorrowful! It is derived from "pascho,"
the verb indicating an intense feeling, usually one of pain!
Such sins at Corinth made Paul "suffer pain!"
Again I say
... much to our shame ... that we seldom react to sins as did
Paul here!
Sin was
serious business to this man of God!
How dare we
"play" with it?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
Paul was
fearful that when he arrived in Corinth for his "third" visit,
things might not be as they should! He suspected sins were
being too mildly tolerated in the Church.
Paul would be
greatly disturbed if ... many had "sinned" and not "repented"
before God!
"And lest, when I come again, my God will
humble me among you, and that I shall bewail
many which have sinned
already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and
fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed."
2nd Corinthians 12:21
The verb
"sinned" is unusual. It is only used by Paul in all the
New Testament and even then only here in 2nd Corinthians.
It is spelled "proamartano" and means "having sinned
beforehand." It is formed here as a Perfect Participle in
the active voice. These church folks had sinned on their
own! No one made them do it. These sins did not
supernaturally overwhelm them! They chose to sin!
That's what the "active" voice here reveals.
Also the sins
they committed were done in the past, prior to Paul's writing
... yet had continued even until the very present moment as Paul
held the pen in his hand!
This is a
serious situation!
Adding to
their guilt, these "many" professing Believers in Corinth had
not "repented." Here is a classic case of Christians
needing to repent, or at least so-called Christians!
The verb
"repent" is "metanoeo," and means to change one's mind! To
change your thinking about an issue ... with a resultant change
in behavior!
This had not
happened in one of Paul's dearest Churches.
No doubt the
whole Church was not living in sin, but "many" were.
When a true
saint of God sins ... "conviction" will grip him or her, Holy
Spirit induced conviction!
Sorrow and
grief will ensue. It has too! The Holy Spirit has
been grieved and quenched!
These things
will lead to "repentance," that change of heart and mind we just
discussed!
And the sin or
sins will be "confessed" to the Lord!
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness." 1st John 1:9
After such
confession, we will also "forsake" those wrong doings!
"He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper: but whoso confesseth
and forsaketh them
shall have mercy." Proverbs 28:13
Then sweet
communion and fellowship with the dear Lord, broken by our
"sins," can and will be restored! King David knew
this well. Listen to him: "If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."
Psalm 66:18
Any other
course of action concerning our sins, anything less than
confession and separation, is inferior to God's perfect plan for
our lives.
Neither Paul,
nor any other godly Preacher, will settle for unholy living!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5:
Paul's
greatest fear just may have been these last three sins he
listed! I mean the possibility that they were common in
the lives of some professing Corinthian Believers!
Let's read our
verse one more time: "And lest, when
I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall
bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of
the uncleanness
and fornication
and lasciviousness
which they have committed." 2nd Corinthians 12:21
Paul strongly
suspects that some immorality still remains in the Corinthian
Church!
Remember, this
is the place that tolerated either incest or
fornication/adultery in one of its families! Paul wrote to
them back in 1st Corinthians 5:1 ... "It
is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and
such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles,
that one should have his
father's wife."
Corinth was a
wicked place and many of the new Christians there had been
converted from such immoral backgrounds.
BUT after
Paul's ministry there ... and Titus' preaching too, some things
should have changed! After all, Paul reminded them:
"If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new."
He had also
commanded them to: "Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers." And to
... "Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing."
Yet "many" of
them had yet "committed" such sins as lasciviousness, which we
are about to define.
"Committed" is
"prasso" in Greek. It means to practice something!
To exercise oneself in a matter! This indicates not a
one-time "fling" or "affair," but a lifestyle of wickedness!
Paul will not
have it in the Church!
This is deadly
serious business!
The three sins
Paul specifically mentions are now to be discussed.
"Uncleanness"
is in Greek "akatharsia" and means NOT WASHED or NOT PURGED.
The word at first just meant dirty ... like an upswept floor or
a soiled garment. Then it came to mean "ceremonially"
unclean ... as when a man had touched a dead body therefore
could not worship at the Temple. Next it implied "moral"
impurity! Sexual sins! And that is exactly how Paul
is using it here.
"Fornication"
translates "porneia" and means harlotry. It's "root" verb
is the word "to sell!" This is sex for sale! Not
just for money either! Perhaps just for pleasure! Or
a better job! Or a free night in a motel! Or a
wild party down at the heathen temple!
Then, finally,
"lasciviousness" is listed. This word, "aselgeai," means
NOT SELF CONTROLLED! But it has an even darker shade of
meaning that that. It indicated sin that has become so
bold and so wanton that it flaunted all rules of decency!
This person just did not care who knew what was happening in his
or her life ... and was proud of the sins being committed!
Not ashamed at all!
It sounds to
me like some unsaved people had somehow crept into this church
congregation!
And I believe
that's exactly why Paul writes just a few verses later:
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be
in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own
selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates?" 2nd Corinthians 13:5
I say "Amen!"
If one has
been truly saved ... these kinds of sins will wither and die!
These folks
must either repent ... or face the consequences!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
CONCLUSION:
The Text we've
just studied contains two lists of "sins." Do notice them
carefully:
"For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall
not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found
unto you such as ye would not: lest there be
debates, envyings,
wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you,
and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already,
and have not repented of the
uncleanness and
fornication and lasciviousness which they have
committed." 2nd Corinthians 12:20-21
The first list
might be called "social" sins.
The second
list obviously consists of "sexual" sins.
And therein we
have the two areas of disobedience into which Paul's "vice
lists" always seem to fall.
Some folks
battle social issues ... sins of the tongue and the like.
While others
face bodily challenges, sensual in nature.
Either way ...
these things are "wrong" and have no place at the House of God!
But, Brother
Bagwell, what does Paul want from his people?
He has already
plainly told the Corinthian Church his goal.
"For I am jealous over you with godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2nd
Corinthians 11:2
What a "job
description" for a Pastor!
Holy living!
God, help us
to follow Thee.
To that we
must all say a hearty "Amen!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
MAY THESE BIBLE
STUDIES PROVE TO BE A HELP TO YOU AS YOU LIVE FOR JESUS!
THAT IS OUR PRAYER.
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