October 29, 2023
Presenter: Evangelist and Missionary Rosely Castro, Brasilia, Brazil
Good Morning to Exousia Ministries, Inc. and its partners and a special thank you to Pastor Darryl for the invitation to speak as the Lord has led me to do today.
The preach starts on 2 Corinthians 10.1-7.
The Second Letter to the Corinthians contains: a personal and moving defense of his apostolate and ministry chap (1-7). The apostle Paul presents himself as an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. It is significant that he begins with this observation, as some in Corinth questioned whether Paul had, in fact, been commissioned by the Lord. He replies that he did not choose the ministry of his own free will, nor was he ordained by men; rather, he was chosen by Christ Jesus by the will of God. In the last chapters of the Epistle, Paul once again defends his ministry, this time against the attacks of the super-apostles (11.5) who, in the same way, are false apostles (11.3). As an Apostle, his authority is both spiritual in nature and sovereignly powerful to combat evil and sin. In fact, all boasting is illegitimate. It is God who does the work (10:17). The Lord's approval is the only one that has validity (10.18).
THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
To be “authentic” is to “have a proven origin”, “in which there is no falsehood, spontaneous, real”, “which has authority, valid”. Paul was always an authentic man, someone who never hid his convictions and who defended them everywhere, under any circumstances. Whether before the Sanhedrin, Caesar or the apostles, Paul never hid his convictions and his way of thinking. The price of authenticity is high and, at times, Paul suffered greatly because of his attachment to the truth (II Cor 11.23-28). In fact, when summarizing the ministry, the Lord said that Paul would learn how much one must suffer for the name of Christ (Acts 9:16). That is, the contempt we suffer, the dishonor we earn from the world by virtue of our submission to the Lord, because, as Jesus tells us: “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hates you.” (John 15:18).
Evidently, Paul honored the majority of that church (7:6-16), but he spoke harshly to the rebellious minority. The false workers' accusation against Paul is interesting – they were shy about being a true apostle, which is why they did not take his teaching and recommendations seriously, even though they admitted that his epistles were severe. The negative influence of the city's extremely sinful lifestyle, marked by moral degradation and intellectual pride, affected many Christians and even dominated them. This caused Paul to react firmly, condemning their immoral practices.The pseudo-Christians, who lived and moved within the church, raised doubts about Paul's apostolate, sparking contention and rejection of the apostle on the part of the people (see 2 Cor 11.26 and Col 2.4).
These false brothers promoted uneasiness in the Corinthian faith community, in such a way that it brought much spiritual distress to Paul. The defense of Paul's apostolate (chapters 10-13). In the final chapters, Paul returns to the subject and, in an even more forceful way, defends his apostolate as a ministry received from God. He finds himself “obliged” to expose some of his credentials to contrast with the profile of false apostles and “super apostles” Jesus. The enemy wanted to weaken Paul and his leadership, preventing the church from moving forward. The apostle needed to confront them by presenting his apostolic credentials: Commissioned by God 1. 1, 21; 4. 1, He acted with holiness, sincerity and depended only on God 1. 12; He spoke sincerely 1. 18; 4. 2; He was objective and sincere in his letters 1.13, 14; He had the Holy Spirit 1. 22; He loved the Corinthian believers 2. 4, 6. 11 and 11.11; He spoke with sincerity and power of Christ 2. 17; He worked among them and changed their lives 3. 2, 3; He lived as an example for believers 3. 4; 12. 6; Didn't give up 4. 1, 16; Taught the Bible with integrity 4. 2; He had Christ as the center of his message 4. 5; He was an ambassador of Christ called to spread the Good News 5. 18-20.
THE LESSONS WE LEARNED FROM PAUL
1. Love without conniving at error;
2. Being a worker means being willing to suffer internal persecution. We learn from this letter from 2 Corinthians, and from Paul, that we are not free from facing opposition in the Christian life and in the Lord's work. No one is free from experiencing sadness, anguish and persecution. However, God will not abandon us if we always keep in mind the purpose of his calling in our lives;
3. Paul did not take all for some. Despite everything, the Apostle Paul knew that there were faithful believers in Corinth who had not taken the path of murmuring and rebellion. Despite the various harms caused to the Apostle, he did not give up on those sheep, and as the spiritual shepherd of that flock, he was ready to defend the faithful and repel the predatory wolves. In addition to all the historical and geographical aspects that contribute to understanding that God leads history in the fulfillment of his sovereign will, we must not lose sight of the vocation that each of us received from the Lord. In reality; we need to go further: That we know, like the Apostle Paul, to suffer for the love of Christ, in order to fulfill His call in our lives. Galatians 6:17 “As for the rest, no one has the authority to question me, for I bear on my own body the marks that I belong to Jesus. May we end our career as Paul ended with certainty. That we have finished our career, we keep the faith and from now on the crown of glory awaits us”. Paul stated in 2 nd Timothy 4. 7: “I have fought a good fight, I have completed the course, I have kept the faith”, Keeping the faith keeps us heading towards the heavenly home, where we will receive the crown of righteousness. But I would really like to serve my Lord and Savior better, so that I can say at the end of my life that I fought the good fight and completed my career.
Thanks be unto God for preaching of His Word.