2 Corinthians 2:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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2 Corinthians 2:12

Comments

We could call this next section, the triumphant life. There is a right sense of viewing the Christian life as a triumphant life, and it is of immense importance to have a triumphant Christian life view. It governs your disposition, your mood; it energises your service and your initiatives for God, and it was the lifestyle of the apostles. They knew troubles and difficulties and heartaches and anxiety, and yet they always lived with a sense of God’s blessing. We read in of how Paul comes now to the seaport of Troas. He has travelled from Ephesus, he is heading into Macedonia, but he is going to preach the gospel at Troas. There is a church there, a fledgling church, and once there he finds special opportunities are open to him for extensive preaching and witness, which he calls in 1 Corinthians 16:8, a great and effectual door opened to him. But with the blessing comes a measure of difficulty – ‘And there are many adversaries.’ He is going to have stones thrown at him, people trying to attack him and obstruct him, the Judaisers raising mobs against him. Paul was enabled to preach and to get a hearing in some of the stoniest, spiritually speaking, some of the stoniest places on earth. Are we ready for that? If there were not a measure of difficulty allowed, we would have a completely rose-tinted view of the resistance of the human race to God. We would think evangelism was easy, we would think people were quite reasonable and good at heart and open. So there has to be realism, and we have to constantly be face to face with our limitations so we are dependent upon the Lord.

Application

We say to ourselves, oh these are days of difficulty. In my office there are people so brainwashed with evolution and unbelief and every form of atheism, and so possessed by materialism and the celeb culture and everything, they will not listen to me. But it has always been in some shape or form like this. We pray to God, he opens doors of opportunity. Are you ready for opportunities? Are you ready to speak the word? Would you not know what to say ideally in different circumstances?

We are concerned about witness, the proclamation of the gospel, the rounding up of adults and children to hear the word. So we pray, yes, but we lose track of this strong sense of every door of opportunity is something which is given in the sovereignty of God. It is his doing. We are dependent upon him. There are no accidents in this. and if we pray and if we prepare and make ourselves available, the Lord will open opportunities for us, we look to him and pray to him earnestly.

Questions

We normally warn about language like ‘the triumphant life’. The book, ‘The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life’ was a bestseller for years and years, and one of the most misleading Christian books you could possibly have the misfortune to read. ‘The victorious Christian life’ was another ultra-bestselling book for decades yet so misleading about the Christian life, coming from what we call the Higher Christian Life stable of teaching. Most of the Pentecostal, charismatic scene would teach this kind of thing. They teach that following conversion the Christian should experience a second blessing, a baptism of the Spirit which takes away from you all the onerous task of praying and striving for holiness, and claims that God will do it for all you. Let go, let God, a shortcut to Christian success, and you will be happy all the day.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

2 Corinthians 2:12 Commentary and Bible Study