2 Corinthians 1_12-22 Clearing Things Up

Rev. David Holwick G 2 Corinthians sermon series

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

February 14, 1999

2 Corinthians 1:12-22

CLEARING THINGS UP

SERMON SUMMARY: Christians need to be consistent and positive in our

commitments and relationships. If there is a problem, clear it up.

I. Being misunderstood.

A. Right now, are you at peace with everyone?

1) Most of us have some conflict with someone, somewhere.

2) They have judged us, questioning our motives and integrity.

3) They are letting others know about it, putting us in a

bad light.

B. Paul struggled with this.

1) What made it tougher was the tension was within a church.

2) This fourth letter (two are missing) seeks to fix it.

3) Before he states the problem, he reveals his approach to

handling conflict.

II. Search your conscience.

A. Paul first looks within himself.

1) Instead of being defensive, he clears himself before God.

2) Three questions to ask yourself.

a) Is there anything about this that God condemns?

b) Have I really done anything wrong?

c) Does my conscience bother me about any part of this?

3) Observation by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe?

Consensus asks the question: Is it popular?

Conscience asks: Is it right?

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B. When your conscience doesn't condemn you - but should.

1) Don't trust in conscience alone.

2) Paul is not writing with the same advice given by Jiminy

Cricket to Pinocchio, "Let your conscience be your guide."

He is talking about a conscience that is shaped by God,

and informed by God's Word.

3) Some people have clear consciences even when their actions

are evil because their conscience is so warped by sin.

C. When your conscience does condemn you.

1) Confess to God what you have done.

a) You may be wrong at least in part.

b) You may have lost your temper, or said some cruel or

unkind things, or retaliated against someone.

2) Start here: clear your conscience.

a) Much strife between people comes from their unwillingness

to clear their consciences at the very beginning.

III. Be open and above-board.

A. Paul wants to operate by godly principles. 1:12

1) He rejects worldly attitudes (despite what others say).

B. He is not manipulative but open.

1) Paul has not tried to conceal his motives or mission. 1:13

2) He hopes they will come around to recognize this. 1:14

C. Paul makes a real effort to clear up this misunderstanding.

1) Some people adopt the attitude, "Well, I am just going to

forget it and hope the whole thing will disappear.

2) The trouble is that it usually does not disappear.

IV. Aim for clear relationships.

A. Misunderstanding can lie hidden in the heart.

1) You may think you have dismissed it or forgotten it, but

actually it is just festering away, smoldering like a fire

that refuses to go out.

2) Sometimes, unexpectedly, it bursts into flames.

a) You are angry at somebody and you hardly realize why.

b) It is because something has been left unsettled.

B. The Bible commands Christians to settle things.

1) If we are upset about something, or we feel someone is upset

at us, then we have to do something about it.

2) Advice of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: Matt 5:23-24

"If you are offering your gift at the altar and there

remember that your brother has something against you,

Leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to your brother;

Then come and offer your gift."

C. Clear relationships are tremendously important.

1) When they are neglected, strife, schism, division, hurt and

pain in a church are the results.

V. A change in plans.

A. Paul's original "Plan A." 1:15

1) Travel from Ephesus to Corinth.

a) Work out problems in church.

b) Travel through Greece, return to Corinth.

1> Double benefit: bless them coming and going.

B. "Plan B" 1 Cor 16:5-9

1) Paul changes his itinerary to a single visit.

a) Greece first, then Corinth at end.

2) The Corinthians were ticked off at this. 1:17

a) Seems unreasonable due to difficulty of travel and

communication.

b) But Corinth had a clique that hated him and saw this as

evidence he was unreliable, like a pagan.

C. Faithfulness in commitments.

1) We can relate to Paul's situation.

a) Many modern Christians are unreliable.

b) If you say you will do something, do it.

1> Be somewhere, be there.

2) Have a sense of responsibility and fulfill your commitments.

a) People who don't are "worldly."

VI. Yes and No.

A. No.

1) Nothing wrong with saying "no" sometimes.

2) Issue is saying both at the same time.

B. Yes.

1) If you say it, mean it.

President Harry Truman's parents revered the great

Confederate general, Robert E. Lee.

At one point young Truman gave his mother a little portrait

of Lee and she hung it beside her dresser.

Harry's favorite biographical essay was on Robert E. Lee.

It included a letter that Lee wrote to his son in 1860.

Listen to these words and just imagine the impact they

must have had on young Harry Truman.

Lee writes:

"You must be frank with the world.

Frankness is the child of honesty and courage...

Just say what you mean to do on every occasion, and

take it for granted you mean to do right...."

Robert E. Lee could not know when he wrote those words to

his son that a century later they would be lived out by

a President of the United States.

We never know what a harvest may come from seed we sow.

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2) Jesus teaches this.

a) Sermon on the Mount - let yes be yes. Matt 5:37

b) Jesus' parable of the two sons. Matt 21:28-31

1> "Yes" and "no" not as important as actions.

C. Don't let your "yes" become "no."

1) Say you'll be someplace when you have no intention of it.

2) Say you'll do something when you have no intention of doing it.

VII. God is a "yes" person.

A. We like a positive attitude.

1) Mortgage company commercial:

"When your bank says no, Champion says YESSSS!"

2) They stole idea from God.

a) When God says "yes," it is an eternal "yes."

b) God's promises are always positive promises.

1> He wants to bless and not curse us. John 3:17

2> He does not want to reject but restore. Isa 61:3

B. We need to affirm God's "yes." 2 Cor 1:20

1) Our response is "Amen" - "so be it!"

2) Accept that his promises are for you, each one of them.

C. God helps us internally.

1) He helps us stand firm through Jesus.

2) He gives us his Holy Spirit. 1:22

a) It is a deposit of good things to come.

1> Modern Greek - word used for engagement ring.

b) It communicates with our spirit.

3) It is not always easy to be a "yes" person.

a) Ask God to help you keep your word.

b) We need to overcome our inner rebellion.

VIII. Paul is a "yes" person.

A. He had reasons for changing his plans.

B. He wanted to preserve their freedom to act. 2 Cor 1:24

1) Challenges misunderstandings in church today.

2) He is not their boss; God is. (or should be)

3) He works by their side, not as their head.

a) Jesus: God is our master and we are brothers. Matt 23:8

b) Allow God to work in people's lives.

C. He wanted to spare them pain. 2 Cor 1:23

1) Spirit told him his letters and previous visit were

harsh enough.

2) Surgeons must cut people, but only as much as necessary.

IX. Clear things up.

A. Choose a positive approach to life.

1) Accept God's "yes" for you personally.

2) He wants to save you.

B. Keep a clear conscience.

C. Maintain clear relationships.

1) Make plans to fix any that are not.

D. Seek God's guidance on every matter.

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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

This sermon is heavily dependent on the sermon "When You Are Misunderstood,"

Studies in 2 Corinthians, by Rev. Ray C. Stedman, Message Number 2, Catalog

3505 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA. 94306-3695, a ministry of Peninsula

Bible Church.

#2806 "Seeds Sold Here," Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Publishing,

July 2, 1993.

#3259 "Conscience," To Illustrate...; by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

Leadership Journal, Spring 1995, page 48.

These and 4,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,

absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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