2nd Corinthians ā Wayne Barber/Part 36
By: Dr. Wayne Barber; ©2006 |
Weāre going to begin a brand new topic here as Paul opens up with the last four chapters and Iām going to call it āPoise in the Face of Persecutionā, and this is part 1. |
Before you do anything (2 Cor 10:1-3)
Turn with me if you will, 2 Corinthians 10. Weāre going to begin a brand new topic here as Paul opens up with the last four chapters and Iām going to call it āPoise in the Face of Persecution.ā Todayās message, and this is part 1, will be āBefore You Do Anythingā¦.ā Before you do anything there are some things we need to understand, and thatās what weāll look at today in chapter 10:1-3.
Well, as I said, this is the last section of 2 Corinthians. Itās been a great journey but itās not anyway over. Weāve been in it a year but weāve got four more chapters to go. But itās completely different than anything youāve seen so far. I want to take you back and briefly bring you through what we have studied together. Perhaps youāve missed a lot of it; perhaps you havenāt seen the flow of 2 Corinthians. If I had it to teach all over again Iād do something different: I would start in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6.
It is amazing what five days in a deer stand can do for you. I donāt go for shooting deer; I go for the time alone. You see, in the south you hunt by yourself. Out here you hunt with someone because itās so vast, etc. But you donāt do that in the south; you see them in the morning and you see them at night. And all day long youāre just by yourself. Just you and the Lord and the beautiful creation Heās put around you. While I was there He began to minister to me the theme of this book. In my eyes and the way I see it and in my study, I believe the theme is there in chapter 3:5-6, that we are servants of a new covenant and itās all about living life in this new covenant: letting Jesus be Jesus in us.
The apostle Paul said because weāre in this new covenant we donāt find our adequacy in ourselves. You see, in the old covenant it was up to us. In the new covenant itās up to Him. The new covenant is not about me holding on to Him, itās about Him holding on to me. Itās incredibly different and this is what we have to see: that we find all of our strength, all of our sufficiency, all of our adequacy in Christ alone.
Listen to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6: āNot that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves.ā Thatās a strong statement for an old religionist that obeyed all the Pharisaical laws, 613 of them that they had. Thatās quite a contrast to Paulās former life. He says nothing comes through us. Our adequacy is not in ourselves, ābut our adequacy is from God,ā out of God, Heās the source of it, āwho also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills,ā anything that we do under the letter is dead. It produces death, ābut the Spirit gives life.ā
Now with that understanding then, letās look at the whole book that weāve studied so far. In chapter 1, what do we find out about Him being our adequacy? He is our comfort. When we deal with the curve balls that life throws at us, and sometimes thatās in relationships, we run to Christ to find the comfort that only He can give. Thereās no place, there is no person that can comfort us like He can in the difficult time. Paul had been deeply hurt by the church of Corinth because mainly they had listened to the false teachers and had sort of swung their way.
And Paul had been deeply wounded by this, but instead of blasting that particular group he ran to God to find the comfort that he needed to find. In 1:3-4 it says, āBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.ā
We also saw in chapter 1 that who He is in our life, the adequacy He is in our life, all the way through 2:17, Heās the One who cleanses our conscience. He keeps our conscience clear when weāre falsely accused. The thing that keeps our heads above water is that our conscience does not condemn us if we live daily cleansed by Him. It is then and only then in our walk that our walk matches our talk. We know He knows and thatās the bottom line. We donāt have to tell anybody else. We know that He knows who we are and Whose we are. We donāt have to panic or defend ourselves when people say all kinds of false things about us. The apostle Paul was falsely accused, but he said in 2 Corinthians 1:12, āFor our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.ā
In chapter 4 we learned that Christ is our consistency as we let Him live His life in us, He keeps us from going back and doing things our way, or as Paul would say, ālosing heart.ā Remember, thatās what that word means: to go back to doing things the old way, the way you used to do it before you got saved. And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1, āTherefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart.ā In chapter 5 we learned that He is our confidence when it comes to facing death whether it be from persecution or just natural death. We donāt fear it anymore, because He conquered it. Itās just from here to there. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:8, āwe are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.ā
Based on that truth that we donāt fear death or what men can do to us as ministers of reconciliation, we can be His ambassadors wherever we go. Conduits through whom He begins to make an appeal through our lives. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, āTherefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.ā
In chapter 6 Heās our co-worker as we have the privilege of working together with God. That yoke that weāve talked about, working together with God and as a result we do not receive the grace of God in vain. He says in 6:1, āAnd working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.ā You see, we get so excited that Jesus has come to live in us that we forget why He came to live in us, which is to live His life through us. The affects our relationships, itās incredible, to the point that when we realize weāre wrong weāre willing to repent. This is what the church had done and turned back towards Paul. It was a godly sorrow that he produced in their life.
Second Corinthians 7:9-10, āI now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.ā
And then in chapters 8-9 that we just came out of, He is our creditor as we learn to distribute His money the way He wants it distributed. God is able, especially in our giving. It says in 9:8, āAnd God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.ā
Well, that brings us up to chapter 10 and weāre going to discover that He is our character; He produces His character in us in the face of persecution. When we have to stand there in the midst of it, be falsely accused and whatever else comes, He produces the character that is necessary in our life. Heās our adequacy; He will enable us to respond properly when we or even our friends are mistreated. And in our text today Paul particularly singles that out. Itās not just them, itās their friends, and actually itās Paul himself. Now that theyāve been turned back to Paul they want to see Paul vindicated and he has some things to say to them first.
Itās amazing how quickly you and I, our flesh, will cause us to take up an offense for a brother when we want to see him vindicated. Itās amazing how weāll do that. We take matters into our own hands and we try to make things right as if we know what weāre doing. Well, this is the thought in the beginning verses of 2 Corinthians 10. Now chapter 10, like I said, is completely changing the subject. Heās been on giving and other things but he heads in a totally different direction.
In chapters 1-9 he uses āweā and āusā quite often, but now this is just Paul. Paul has a personal word for the church of Corinth that they need to hear from him and itās all about how to handle the difficulties of life. Chapters 10-13 talk about how he defends himself in front of his critics and the church of Corinth needs to hear him say this.
He starts off and says, āNow I Paul myself.ā Thatās pretty clear, isnāt it? Paul says, āIāve got something I have to say to you.ā If he mentions āusā or āweā from this point on itās really incidental. In these last four chapters of 2 Corinthians he like I said, is going to defend himself and heās going to help us understand how do you stand in the face of persecution? Is there a time to defend yourself? Is there a time not to, and weāre going to discover all of that. The believers in Corinth have repented and they love Paul and they really want to see Paul vindicated and Paul is going to warn them about some things that they need to understand before they do anything.
He doesnāt want them to take matters into their own hands. Now that they understand that Paul was telling them the truth all the time, now they see the false lies that these false teachers had said about Paul, Paul wants them to make sure that they understand. āDonāt you take this matter in your own hands. Donāt you take up an offense for me. Donāt you do that. There are some things you need to understand before you do anything.ā So before you do anything in letting Jesus be Jesus in us, in the face of persecution whether it be us or our friend, we need to understand three things.
Before you do anything you need to understand the character that is required out of your life
First of all, before we do anything, before you ever do anything, when you hear a brother of yours has been mistreated, before you do anything you need to understand the character that is required out of your life. Verse 1 of chapter 10, āNow I Paul myself urge you,ā and look what he does here, āby the meekness and the gentleness of Christ.ā The word āurgeā is the word in the Greek parakaleo, and itās in the present indicative active, āIām consistently coming alongside you, I am begging you, I am urging you.ā This is what was used in Romans 12:1 when he said, āI beseech you therefore brother.ā Itās the same idea. Iām urging you.
The character in which he comes to them in verse 1 is in the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. Now, we all need to understand those two words because thatās a character that only Christ can produce in us. We find our adequacy in Him. This has got to be understood before you do anything when in the face of persecution. This character can be misunderstood as weāll see in a moment, and they had misunderstood it in Paul. The critics of Paul had misunderstood these two words.
You see, there were many of his critics that accused Paul of being timid and afraid of confronting the Corinthians face to face. The very fact that he had sent a very bold letter, that third letter we donāt have, played right into their hands. He had promised to come but he didnāt; we saw this back in chapter 2. Paul alludes to this in a tongue in cheek way in the last part of the verse. He says, āI who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!ā This is evidently what they were saying. āYes, heās tough when heās away. He writes a letter thatās bold, but heās a chicken. Heās a coward. Heās afraid to come and face us face to face, to confront us.ā
So Paul, in using the words āmeekness and gentleness of Christā points us all to the character of Christ that must be present in our lives when we deal with people that oppose us; when we deal with people that are critical of us. And I want you to know Christ in us who is meek and gentle is definitely not weak. It has nothing to do with weakness. These words āmeekness and gentlenessā is never to be misunderstood as weakness. The word āmeeknessā is the word in the Greek prautes. Though āmeeknessā sounds like āweakness,ā really itās not. Itās the strength of a personās character who loves others, now listen carefully, more than he loves himself.
Meekness is a disposition that so trusts God that it actually gives one the ability when falsely accused to stand calm and to stand quiet in the face of those who are wrongly accusing him. Itās an incredible characteristic. Itās the character of our Lord Jesus who lives in us. Listen to the words in Matthew 27:12, āAnd while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He made no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, āDo You not hear how many things they testify against You?ā And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.ā I would have been too.
See, the governor would not have done it that way. This is the characteristic of Christ. Even when weāre falsely accused, we can stand there. You know why? Because we know that God will defend us. And if youāve ever studied the epistles of Peter, he talks about that and he says, āJesus continued to subject Himself to the One who judges righteously.ā He knew that the Father would protect Him. He knew the Father would vindicate Him. And this is the character of Christ.
But at the same time meekness, when it refers to me or you, when itās ourselves and weāre being falsely accused, says nothing, does not defend itself. But meekness, when itās for the sake of others who are being deceived, will confront evil with a vengeance. We see this demonstrated by Jesus when He took a whip and drove the money changers out of the temple. John 2:15, āAnd He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, āTake these things away; stop making My Fatherās house a house of merchandise.ā
You see, what was happening was they were presenting the temple to be one thing when it was to be another and it took it with vengeance to protect the peopleās lives, to understand what it truly was. Aristotle said that the word āmeeknessā is a virtue that stands between two extremes. A meek person is not too quick to be angryāyou canāt really anger him quicklyābut at the same time heās not passive either. He knows when and he knows when not to exercise his anger. Now that would be enough. Paul said, āI come to you in the meekness of Christ. Iāve got something Iām trying to tell you. Donāt misunderstand this characteristic in me as weakness.ā
But if thatās not clear enough he adds another word, the word āgentlenessā to complete the picture. The word is epieikeia. Itās only used two times in the New Testament. There may be other words translated gentleness, but this particular Greek word is only used two times. It completes the picture that Paul is drawing for us all. The word epieikes, which is again the character of Christ, builds on that word āmeekness.ā It helps us better understand it. It describes the humble and gracious way a person conducts himself among others, even those who hate him and speak falsely about him. It is seen by the world to be a weak characteristic. Itās seen by the world to be somebody who is timid, cowardly, because it doesnāt draw attention to itself.
And itās saturated with kindness. The world doesnāt understand this characteristic. When the world sees this mild gentle way of life, it says in its ignorance, āYeah, he has a lot of bark but he hasnāt got any bite.ā But what they donāt understand: gentleness is patient restraint. This marvelous characteristic of Christ living in us causes us to patiently restrain our boldness to confront. But when we have to confront it causes us never to go further than is necessary.
This characteristic of Christ causes us to know what is appropriate and what is fitting. Paul, by putting these two words together is saying to the Corinthians, āDonāt you dare mistake my humble, gentle way when Iām among you even in the presence of my critics, donāt you mistake that to be weakness or passivity in any way. I know when and I know how much to be bold towards those who sin and deceive others. I know the timing because God lives in me, but donāt you mistake my character for being weak when Iām among you.ā
We must find our adequacy in Christ before we ever deal with those who falsely accuse us or accuse others who are our friends or brothers or sisters in Christ. Itās an absolute requirement. Listen to the verse again, āNow I Paul myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,āI who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!ā You know what heās really saying is before you go into any kind of situation that people are misrepresenting you or misrepresenting somebody that you care about, make sure you have the garment of Christ on.
He really says this to the Ephesian church, and in Ephesians 4:22 he says you put on the new man, take that old man off, put on the new man. He speaks of a garment and we know from Ephesians 3 you can only be dressed from the inside out. You canāt put it on from the outside in. It only comes to a yielded heart; it only comes to a person who has surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in his life. Youāll never see that garment, that character, produced in a person that is not willing to obey and surrender to God and to His absolute will. But when you put that garment on as the Holy Spirit dresses you in the character of Christ you begin to discover that His adequacy in you is what youāve been looking for all the time. His meekness and His gentleness and all of a sudden the way you handle difficulties in life changes. Itās not like you used to do it. Itās the way He wants to do it in your life.
Let me ask you a question. What garment do you have on? Are you dressed today in the sufficiency, the adequacy, of Christ? Is your character around people gentle and humble and meek and mild? Do you have that gracious way with people, even your enemies? Thatās the character of Jesus, and that must be understood before ever you enter into a situation that involves conflict with people discrediting you or discrediting somebody that you know.
Before you ever think about dealing with those who falsely accuse you or dealing with those who falsely accuse a brother that you love, you make sure you understand the character that is required. Make sure youāre wearing the right garment because if itās not in the meekness and the gentleness of Christ, youāre going to do more damage that youāll ever realize you could ever do.
Before you do anything you need to understand the conduct that is responsible
Secondly, the conduct that is responsible. You see the character that is required; here is the conduct that is responsible. What is responsible conduct when youāre wearing that kind of garment? He says in verse 2, āI ask that when I am present I may not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.ā
The word for āaskā there is the word deomai, which means āI beseech you.ā It even takes the word parakaleo, I urge you. It takes it even further. āIām trying to tell you something that is extremely important. This is personal. This is from me to you. You love me now, youāve repented, and I love you, but you need to hear this from me. I know how you feel about me. I know you want to see me vindicated because now youāre hearts have been changed, but Iāve got to say this to you. Itās important that you understand this.ā
When I was growing up, when my Mama wanted to say something like that sheād say, āWayne Allen.ā I can always tell when she had something important to say to me. Well, in the Greek it would be the same thing right here. āListen to me.ā Make sure the character is there that is required, but make sure your conduct is responsible.
Paul understands the tendency of their flesh just like his and anybody elseās to take matters into its own hands. The Corinthians had repented, their hearts had turned back toward Paul and they really wanted to see him vindicated in the face of those who said he was a coward. And Paul says, āDonāt you push me. Donāt you force this issue. When Iām with you I need not to be bold. Donāt you try to make me prove that I can be bold so that you might win your case over my critics.ā
Folks, listen to what heās saying here. We are never ever to force an issue when we know that somebody that we love is being falsely accused because Christ lived in Paul and because Paul walked by faith in Him, Paul knew when and he knew how much to deal with these people. But he said, āBut donāt you try to make it happen.ā He would confront those who were so deceptive in the church of Corinth. He even says in verse 6, āIām going to punish all disobedience. Iām waiting for your obedience to get right first.ā
But Paul knew that those who caused him pain were in the minority. He understood that now. Now, before it wasnāt that way. When he wrote that third letter, they all had sided with the false teachers. They had repented now; the whole church has turned back towards him. He didnāt want to scold the whole church for what only a few were doing. When the time was fitting, when the time was right, he would have to address the deceptive critics who were influencing and deceiving the church of Corinth, but the believers who wanted to see Paul vindicated would have to trust him to know when the time was right.
Conduct that is responsible when you know that somebody that you love has been wrongly accused is the conductānow listen carefullyāthat will never, ever take matters into your own hands. Thatās not the way the world operates; thatās the way God operates. The Corinthian believers needed to learn how Christians deal with such matters. And as weāll see in the next few verses, itās totally not the same way. Itās so contrary and contrasting to the way the world deals with it, it just stands as black and white.
Paul says very clearly, there are those āwho regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.ā You see, he understands that this fleshly criticism of him is coming from people who donāt even understand to begin with. All they know is the way of the flesh; theyāre lost to begin with. And he says, āMen, youāre not going to get anywhere going their route.ā
So the character that is required is the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. And the conduct that is responsible is conduct that never takes matters into oneās own hands. I tell you what, I say this humbly, but Iāve been there and done that. I donāt know if you have or not, but I have.
You see, taking up an offense for a brother is what heās dealing with right here. The church says, āOh man, Paulās been wrongly accused. Weāre going to help him out.ā And Paul says, āDonāt you dare force me to prove that I can be bold. I walk in the character of Jesus. I know when to be bold and when not to be bold. And the character of Jesus is not somebody who comes in and just eats everybodyās lunch. You donāt force this issue.ā Conduct that is responsible never takes a matter into your own hands. Once you have the character that is required, God will show you how this is to be dealt with. Youāve got to let Him lead you through it. But donāt take up an offense for a brother. It can bring so much pain in your life.
Before you do anything you need to understand the confidence that is always reliable
Thirdly, the confidence that is always reliable. My next message is going to be āChoose Your Weapon.ā What are you going to put your confidence in? What you think about the situation or what God thinks about the situation which you donāt even know yet? Until youāve been in His presence. Verse 3, āFor though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.ā
Thereās such a difference in the character of one who confronts in the flesh. Have you ever been confronted in the flesh by anybody? You wonāt ever forget it, will you? To prove a point, somebody tries to do that. Itās the difference between that person and the one who has discernment and stands in the character of Christ to only do what is fitting and in the way which is fitting. Now Paul explains the difference of daily living in a body of flesh but now allowing its desire to control what he does.
The first word, āflesh,ā in the phrase, āFor though we walk in the flesh,ā speaks of the human frail body. We learned in chapter 4 that apart from Christ there is nothing more than an empty clay pot. And until itās filled with the presence of God itās worth nothing, can do nothing, and if it tries to do it, it fails. We walk in that body every day.
I was teaching in Galatians, and Iāve taught it here too, thereās a bummer in that verse Galatians 2:20, āthe life which I now live in the flesh.ā Itās speaking of the same thing right here: the body we live in, this human, fleshly body that we live in. The bummer is, and the downer is, you have the same body after you get saved as you had before you got saved. You say whatās the matter with that? Well, if youāre ugly before you get saved, youāre ugly after you get saved. I canāt help you. If youāre tall, youāre tall; if youāre short, youāre short. If youāre fat you can lose weight, but youāve got the same body, both ways youāve got the same body.
We walk in a body thatās frail. We live in a body every day that is dying every breath that we take. Weāre born in order to die so that our bodies can be changed and glorified and we can live with Jesus forever. This body has a mindset to it and thatās what he brings up in the second time that he uses the word āfleshā in that verse. The word āfleshā is used in the phrase, āFor though we walk in physical, human, frail bodies, we do not war according to the flesh.ā
Now this word for āfleshā refers more to the mindset of this body, the way itās been programmed to do things. If you came out of a successful business world and you came into the church, man, youāve got a learning curve thatās bigger than Dallas. Youāve got to start all over again, because the way things are done in the church are not the way things are done in the world. Itās a totally different way. We donāt live according to the flesh. We donāt āwarā Paul says, according to the flesh.
This refers to the āsinful mindsetā that we have to deal with moment by moment. How many of you dealt with it this past week besides me? Anybody else deal with it? We know what it is. Everybody knows: itās the old āI, me, mine.ā It does things its own way. It doesnāt need God, it doesnāt need the Word. It can do it, it can do it, it can do it, it can. Thatās that old mindset of the flesh.
The word āselfā is a good synonym for the word āflesh.ā When weāre facing the conflicts of life there will always be the tendency to yield to the deceptive ways of the flesh, to treat conflicting situations, to treat persecution, to treat a friend thatās been treated wrongly, to do it the way the flesh would do it, the way the world would do it. But then thereās that pull on the other side to do it the way God wants it done.
There are two absolutes in life: one is there is a God, and two is none of us are Him. Itās amazing how we think we know more than God. Thereās no vacancy in the Trinity, I hate to tell you, your application is going to be turned down. God doesnāt need any help from men. Itās incredible how we draw on the experiences of the world and drag it right into our Christianity. And he says thatās not the way we deal with things.
Flesh will always cause you heartache and unnecessary pain. Paul calls the conflict we all have with the flesh a āwar.ā The word for āwarā is a powerful reminder of what we face every day. The word āwarā is strateuomai in the Greek, and refers to one who serves in the army and has to strategize against the enemy. Paul knows that this conflict is real and heās trying to get the Corinthians to realize that their flesh is no better than the flesh of the people theyāre trying to see Paul vindicated in front of. Itās the same thing. We never stoop to the level of the flesh that people use when they criticize us when they persecute us. You donāt stoop to their level to handle it is what heās trying to say.
Paul puts his whole confidence in the Spirit of God. Heās chosen his weapon to be spiritual weapons to overcome his flesh and in no way does he want the Corinthians to do anything else or to do otherwise. Itās that confidence in Christ who lives in us that is always reliable. āFor though we walk in the flesh,ā Paul says, thatās every day, āwe do not war according to the flesh.ā
Weāll look at verse 4-6 the next time we come as we talk about āChoose Your Weapon.ā I want you to read with me what itās about to say. I want you to see the thought as Paul brings it all the way down. He says, āfor the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,ā boy, I canāt wait to get into that, how the weapons of warfare of the flesh, anger, all the stuff that they use, ābut divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.ā
There will be a time, Paul says, that weāll deal with those who are disobedient. āThey think Iām mild, they think Iām weak, they think Iām timid, they think Iām a coward because I can write tough letters when Iām away. I only wrote that tough letter,ā chapter 2 says, ābecause I wanted to spare you from having to come to you.ā But he said they are going to be surprised ābecause when I come to you Iām going to come in meekness and Iām going to come in gentleness. But there will be time I will deal with those who are deceiving your minds and I will do it in such a way theyāll never doubt again that I might not be bold. Iām going to do it in the armored garment of Christ.ā
So before you do anything, before you do anythingāand right now the first part of the context is they wanted to see Paul vindicatedāPaul said before you do anything, make sure you understand the character that is required. You better have on the garment of Christ. You better be in the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. And by the way, you try to fake that, you canāt do it. You cannot do it. In the face of somebody whoās lying about you, you canāt do it. You cannot do it.
Secondly, conduct that is responsible is conduct that never takes a matter into its own hands. It knows that there is a time; it knows that there is a palace. It doesnāt force the issue. And thirdly, the confidence that is reliable, the weapons you can depend on are divinely powerful. Heās already mentioned two of them: gentleness and meekness. Thatās the character of Christ. And you begin to see the weapons that a Christian has that a lost person does not have.
Itās interesting to me how when you go to snow ski they teach you how to stop before they teach you how to start. Thatās not a bad deal. I never listened; itās taken me years to understand the frailty of my flesh. I never read directions; I donāt think many men do. Thatās why Iām always spending time going back and redoing something, because I didnāt read the directions to start with. When I first started learning how to ski I was interested in getting on the slopes. Hurry and get me out of this class. I didnāt pay much attention to it. I got that little V and I didnāt know how to stop. I just faked it.
And so I didnāt get to ski but once a year. I was with a friend of mine and old George had never been on skis in his life and he said, āWayne, letās go skiing. I want to learn how to ski.ā I said, āI can teach you.ā Boy, thatās the blind teaching the blind. And I went up to the lift operator and I said, āWhich one is the easiest lift?ā And what I meant was, which one is the beginner lift, but I didnāt say that. These were both intermediate lifts. I didnāt know that. And she said, āThat one right there.ā I said, āOkay, good.ā
Just getting George to the lift was one thing; heād never been on skis before. Finally got him in the chair and weāre going up and I kept expecting it to stop immediately because of the little bunny slope, theyāre not very high. We just kept going, steeper and steeper. Further and further and it didnāt take me long, Iām slow but I get there. It finally dawned on me what I had done and the mistake I had made. And George has never been on skis and weāre on an intermediate run.
We get up to the top and I said, āGeorge, when you get off this thing youāre going to fall, but everybody falls. Donāt worry about it: itās part of it.ā Did he fall? He wiped out about 10 skiers. Finally got him back up on his skis and I said āItās going to be alright. Iām going to teach you.ā We got over to where the hill started to go down and I said, āGeorge, put your skis in a V and youāll stop.ā But I noticed I wasnāt stopping. I was moving because I had gotten on that slope. And he said, āWayne, what am I supposed to do?ā And I kept going. And he said, āCome back, Wayne.ā I said, āI donāt know how.ā
And I had to keep going because I didnāt know how to stop. I didnāt see George for three hours. Dave was on a gondola going over him at one point; didnāt realize it was George at first. Everybody was laughing pointing down and he looked and hereās a guy waist deep in snow, got his skis on his shoulder and heās trying to walk down the run. He never learned to stop, so he started and boy that can cause you some pain. When I saw him three hours later he said, āBarber, youāre going to pay for this.ā He didnāt know that verses, āVengeance is mine, says the Lord.ā
Thereās a word in the Greek that is not used in this context. Itās in modern Greek and you donāt use modern Greek, but however itās interesting. It means ābrakes.ā And the word is translated āsound judgmentā in Scripture. Youāve got to know when to stop before you ever start. And the apostle Paul says, āOut of your fervor for me, out of your love for me youāre about to make the biggest mistake youāve ever made. Donāt you dare force this issue. Donāt you dare step in and take the matter in your own hands and donāt you take up an offense for me. I come to you in the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. I know when, I know how, and I know how much in Christ. He will handle this situation. Our confidence is in Him. Itās not in our flesh and how it handles situations.ā
You know, I donāt know what this says to anybody, but I know last night I couldnāt get out the door for people telling me the conflicts theyāre facing this next week and how this has helped them to put their feet back on the ground, to get over their anger, to get over their irritation with others. But Iām telling you, folks, taking up an offense for a brother is worse than whatās happened to your brother: itās worse. It causes more damage in the body of Christ.
You see what happens is we think we understand it. You never fully grasp it. Nobody can tell you because theyāre going to tell you from a perspective that they have. They donāt see the whole picture, but God does. Thatās why itās important to understand the character that is required, the conduct that is responsible, and the confidence that it is only reliable when you trust God and not your flesh to handle a difficult situation.
Boy I tell you, I donāt know how far weāre going to get in this thing. It just goes home and reads your mail, doesnāt it?
[ā¦] Read Part 36 [ā¦]