2:1-11 Prologue

2 CORINTHIANS 2:1-11: Part 1

Introduction:
“General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, ‘I never forgive and I never forget.’ To which Wesley replied, ‘Then, Sir, I hope you never sin.’”[1]

Paul understood that concept better than anyone and applied it in his relationship to the church and its members in Corinth. Look at what he writes regarding a man who had apparently wronged him in Corinth: Read 2:1-12.

John Macarthur does a better job than I could of putting this text into some historical context. Let me read it you:
To create the platform to teach their false gospel, they began by assaulting the character of Paul. They had to convince the people to turn from Paul to them if they were to succeed in preaching demon doctrine. Temporarily abandoning the work at Ephesus, Paul went immediately to Corinth. The visit (known as the “painful visit,” 2:1) was not a successful one from Paul’s perspective; someone in the Corinthian church (possibly one of the false apostles) even openly insulted him (2:5–8, 10; 7:12).

That’s why Paul writes in 2:5, “But if anyone has caused grief, he has not  grieved me, but all of you to some extent…” and he makes mention of this same person in 7:12, “I wrote to you [the painful letter, not] for the sake of him who had done the wrong [to Paul]…”. Macarthur writes that Paul,

Saddened by the Corinthians’ lack of loyalty to defend him, seeking to spare
them further reproof (cf. 1:23), and perhaps hoping time would bring them to
their senses, …returned to Ephesus. From Ephesus, Paul wrote what is known as
the “severe letter” (2:4) and sent it with Titus to Corinth (7:5–16). Leaving
Ephesus after the riot sparked by Demetrius (Acts 19:23–20:1), Paul went to
Troas to meet Titus (2:12, 13). But Paul was so anxious for news of how the
Corinthians had responded to the “severe letter” that he could not minister
there though the Lord had opened the door (2:12; cf. 7:5). So he left for
Macedonia to look for Titus (2:13). To Paul’s immense relief and joy, Titus met
him with the news that the majority of the Corinthians had repented of their
rebellion against Paul (7:7).[2]

Now look at what Paul now writes about this man who had wronged him:
This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him (2:6-8).

And then in v. 10: “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive…”

People often have a very misconstrued impression of the kind of man that Paul was. I have a friend who once told me he loved Paul’s writings, but did not like Paul because Paul was too doctrinal, too polemic and argumentative- the kind of pastor who was always pointing out people’s theological errors and putting them under discipline.

I suspect my friend’s feelings about Paul reflect the feelings of many Christians. And I can understand why they would feel that way about Paul, look at some of things Paul writes:

In the letter to the Galatians he rightly says, “if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed (Gal 1:9).

And then later he accuses the Galatians of being foolish and bewitched (3:1) for accepting some false teaching. He even tells about how he rebuked poor old Peter for Peter’s role in leading the Jewish Christians to separate from the Gentiles, “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed…” (2:11). Paul even parted company with Barnabus on their second mission (and Barnabus was known as the encourager, and the first of the Apostles to accept Paul). And we see this kind of stuff in most of his letters.

Paul must have been a real joy to have in the church- always rebuking people (even Peter). But we see a different side of Paul he in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians, a side that I think better reflects the kind of person Paul really was.

Death Row Inmate

Pastor Ed Young gives this illustration:

A young man cowered in the corner of a dirty, roach-infested death row cell in a South Carolina prison. His body curled in a fetal position, he seemed oblivious to the filth and stench around him. His name was Rusty, and he was sentenced to die for the murder of a Myrtle Beach woman in a crime spree that left four people dead.

Police arrested twenty-three-year-old Rusty Welborn from Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1979, following one of the most brutal slayings in South Carolina history. Rusty was tried for murder and received the death penalty for his crime. Bob McAlister, deputy chief of staff to South Carolina’s governor, became acquainted with Rusty on death row. Bob had become a Christian a year or so earlier and felt a strong call from God to minister to the state’s inmates—especially those spending their last days on death row.

Bob’s first look at Rusty revealed a pitiful sight. Rusty was lying on the floor when he arrived, a pathetic picture of a man who believed he mattered to no one. The only signs of life in the cell were the roaches who scurried over everything, including Rusty himself. He made no effort to move or even to brush the insects away. He stared blankly at Bob as he began to talk, but did not respond.

During visit after visit, Bob tried to reach Rusty, telling him of the love Jesus had for him and of his opportunity—even on death row—to start a new life in Christ. He talked and prayed continuously, and finally Rusty began to respond to the stranger who kept invading his cell. Little by little, he opened up, until one day he began to weep as Bob was sharing with him. On that day, Rusty Welborn, a pitiful man with murder and darkness behind him and his own death closing in ahead of him, gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

When Bob returned to Rusty’s cell a few days later, he found a new man. The cell was clean and so was Rusty. He had renewed energy and a positive outlook on life. McAlister continued to visit him regularly, studying the Bible and praying with him. The two men became close friends over the next five years. In fact, McAlister said that Rusty grew into the son he never had, and as for Rusty, he had taken to calling McAlister “Pap.”

Bob learned that Rusty’s childhood in West Virginia had been anything but “almost heaven.” His family was destitute, and Rusty was neglected and abused as a youngster. School was an ordeal both for him and for his teachers. Throughout his junior high years he wore the same two pair of pants and two ragged shirts. Out of shame, frustration, and a lack of adult guidance, Rusty quit school in his ninth grade year, a decision that was to be just the beginning of his troubles. His teenage years were full of turmoil as he was kicked out of his home many times and ran away countless others. He spent the better part of his youth living under bridges and in public rest rooms.

Bob taught Rusty the Bible, but Rusty was the teacher when it came to love and forgiveness. This young man who had never known real love was amazed and thrilled about the love of God. He never ceased to be surprised that other people could actually love someone like him through Jesus Christ. Rusty’s childlike enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air to Bob, who came to realize how much he had taken for granted, especially with regard to the love of his family and friends.

In time Rusty became extremely bothered by the devastating pain he had caused the family and friends of his victim. Knowing that God had forgiven him, he desperately wanted the forgiveness of those he had wronged. Then a most significant thing happened: the brother of the woman Rusty had murdered became a Christian. God had dealt with him for two years about his need to forgive his sister’s killer. Finally, he wrote Rusty a letter that offered not only forgiveness but love in Christ.

Not long before his scheduled execution, this brother and his wife came to visit Rusty. Bob was present when the two men met and tearfully embraced like long-lost brothers finally reunited. Rusty’s senseless crime ten years earlier had constructed an enormous barrier between himself and the brother. The love of Christ obliterated that barrier and enabled both men to realize that, because of Him, they truly were brothers reunited on that day. It was a lesson Bob would not forget.

Not only did Rusty teach Bob McAlister how to love and forgive, he also taught him a powerful lesson about how to die. As the appointed day approached, Rusty exhibited a calm and assurance like Bob had never seen. Only his final day, with only hours remaining before his 1:00 A.M. execution, Rusty asked McAlister to read to him from the Bible. After an hour or so of listening, Rusty sat up on the side of his cot and said, “You know, the only thing I ever wanted was a home, Pap. Now I’m going to get one.”

Bob continued his reading, and after a few minutes Rusty grew very still. Thinking he had fallen asleep, Bob placed a blanket over him and closed the Bible. As he turned to leave he felt a strong compulsion to lean over and kiss Rusty on the forehead. A short time later, Rusty Welborn was executed for murder. A woman assisting Rusty in his last moments shared this postscript to his story: As he was being prepared for his death, Rusty looked at her and said, “What a shame that a man’s gotta wait ‘til his last night alive to be kissed and tucked in for the very first time.”[3]

Before Paul’s long career as an Apostle and founder of the Christian faith, for which he suffered greatly and eventually was martyred- Paul was a murderer- maybe not first or second degree murder, but certainly manslaughter. Paul confessed that before his conversion, “[he] persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). Paul was complicit in the verdict that resulted in the martyrdom of Stephen. He even held the coats of the executioners while they brutally stoned him to death.

If anyone understood the need for grace and forgiveness- an understanding that produced immense humility in the mind of Paul- it was Paul.

Certainly Paul must have heard the Parable that Jesus told of the steward who owed his king a great deal of money (Matt 18:22 ff.). In the parable, the king summoned the steward to settle the account. When it was revealed that the man did not have the money to repay the debt, the King ordered that the man and his wife and children be sold into slavery. But the man threw himself at the mercy of the king and begged him saying, “ ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt (Mat 18:26-27).

But can you believe that this same steward who had been forgiven such an immense amount of money, went away and found a much poorer servant who only owed him a little bit of money and began to beat him and imprison him because he could not repay the debt? And he did that in spite of the man’s pleading for patience. Jesus explains what happened next:
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. (v. 32-35).

And here’s Jesus’ point, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (v. 35).

Can you imagine if Paul the former murderer and persecutor of the church did not forgive this Corinthian man for bad mouthing him? What an example of the application of the Gospel Paul made to us here.

He models how we must live out for ourselves the faith we profess by showing the kind of grace and mercy we claim to have received and profess that others can receive through faith. We will never in this life, nor in a million lives, have to forgive someone the kind for the kind of sins for which we have been forgiven. And Paul does that without ever having to compromise or set aside the truth and sound doctrine. Nor does he enable sin. The man was punished for his wrong doing and apparently willingly submitted to it (showing tremendous humility and repentance on his part).

Now is a good place to cut this message into two. Next week I am going to dissect exactly what that forgiveness is that Paul shows to the man who wronged him because it is not enough to say “Forgive your enemies” or “Forgive those who have harmed You” because people may interpret and apply forgiveness differently. For some, it means giving up the claim that they were unjustly hurt; for others it means trying to feel nice feelings towards someone they hate.

Paul gives us three aspects of forgiveness in verse 7: 1) turn; 2) comfort and 3) reaffirm your love. Next week I am going to unpack that and suggest some ways we can apply that to our own situations. To prepare ourselves this week, let’s pray that God would show us people who have wronged us, people for whom we harbour hatred, people from whom we have withheld forgiveness and let’s prepare ourselves to be like Paul and follow Christ’s command to show mercy and forgiveness even to our worst enemies.

Notes
[1]Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002; 2002).
[2]John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville: Word Pub., 1997), 2 Co 1:1.
[3]From Bad Beginnings to Happy Endings, by Ed Young, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publ., 1994), pp. 3-5. Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002; 2002).