Bible Guys Classics: 2 Corinthians 6 Part 1

Show Notes

In this episode of The Bible Guys, Jeff and Chris unpack 2 Corinthians 6, where Paul lays out the many hardships he endured for the sake of the gospel. His life shows that following Jesus often comes with real challenges.

Jeff and Chris talk about perseverance, faithfulness, and what it means to stay committed even when life is difficult. They highlight how God’s grace sustains us through every trial.

If you’re facing hardship or questioning your endurance, this episode will encourage you to keep going.

🎧 Listen now and be strengthened to remain faithful through the struggle.

#TheDailyBibleGuys #2Corinthians6 #Perseverance #FaithInTrials #ChristianLiving #BibleStudyPodcast #FaithInAction

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Hey, everybody, we're the Bible Guys, and if you're just tuning in recently, just know that we are showing a little bit of reruns for a few months and then we'll be back bigger and better than ever on August thirty first, because behind the scenes we're taking a hiatus to do some very important things. Yeah, we're building building out a new studio and we've got some new structure. Super excited about it. So August thirty first, brand new content. But in the meantime, enjoy some of our greatest hits. So today, Jeff, we're talking about suffering for Jesus. Hey, a lot of people do around the world, and ours is nothing compared to theirs, But that's what we're going to be talking about today. He's Chris and I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible Guys. So, Jeff, the segment today is mail bags. Oh those are fun, which is basically somebody who writes in any question or comment and we would love to con them. By the way, if you would love to have your question considered, please email us at info at the Bible Guys dot com and we would love to take it. So this one has comes from michael A Michael A. And this is what michael A writes. He says throughout all of your years of ministry, which is forever for you. Oh yeah, like I think the same. What but both of us is what thirty something is? Yeah? Yeah, just over thirty I think. Yeah, what are one or two of your most memorable moments? Oh man, I've had a lot of memorable moments. You know, early on in my ministry, I had opportunity I served with gangs in Chicago. Of course, we've done ministry together around the world. You and I have, Yeah, served in a lot of churches. You know. When I first came to Heritage, we were two hundred and forty people and you know, now there's thousands, and so there's a lot of those things. It's a lot of fun. But maybe the funniest. One of the funniest ones was when I was working in Chicago. I go with the gang members. The church was a big church, had an auditorium is about eight thousand seat auditorium, and we had a big day. We were shooting for one hundred thousand people in attendance and we were going to baptize three thousand new believers, and it was like Pentecosts. It was on pentecost Sundays, so you know, celebrating Pentecosts. And we wanted to see be the first church in the modern era to baptize three thousand people on one weekend. And if God could do it back in the Book of Acts, he can do it today. Kind of the idea. So we worked hard and we mobilized, you know, ten thousand volunteers. It's just a really amazing thing. So I led this gang member to Christ's name was Ricky, and we're taking up and I was supposed to show himhere to get baptized. And it was a really big baptistry. And what they were going to do is baptize like we were going to baptize three thousand, but they were going to baptize like a hundred of them at the beginning and then dismissed. It takes a long time to baptize that many. And so Ricky looks at me and he goes watch this, and he cannonballed out the middle. So Ricky's like five feet tall, five feet wide, and he just jumps out in the middle and just canniballed, and the splash was huge, and the Baptiste was way up over top of the choir and hundreds of gallons of water just splashed over top of that batterstree and just soak all the ladies in the choir. It was one of the greatest moments in my life to see and I just disappeared. I still have no idea how he got back to Chicago, you know, because he rode on a bus with me from Chicago, so I had no idea how he got home. But that was a pretty amazing thing. And I've seen it at America's Funniest Home videos and different people jumping in the thing, but it actually happened. It was nineteen ninety. Yeah, nineteen ninety Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, the thing that came to my mind is this, like, just like you referenced, you know, a lot of really cool moments over thirty years, right. And by the way, we had one hundred and four thousand in church that weekend. Oh that's amazing. Yeah, that's pretty much. Wow. Wow. So I remember one time being invited on stage by Louis Giglio at a thing called One Day, and there was like there was like one hundred thousand college students in a field like like a modern day woodstock for Jesus, right, and like I remember being on stage and he called called us up and asked us to pray, and that was a pretty cool moment. I remember when when I was a part of my previous church and we built a building. Uh. Actually I actually camped out in that on that piece of property. Felt like God gave us a vision and prayed and like, hey, God's going to give us this vision. And then years later we get at a fraction of the cost. Uh. The stories were unbelievable God's stories, and we sort of opened up that building and everything happened that way. That was a cool moment. I remember, you know, being being at baptisms where there's thousands of people baptizing hundreds of people. Those were great moments. But honestly, I would say, uh, the thing that just comes to my mind is baptizing my own kids. So I baptized Sarah Uh at my first church that I worked at, and uh, and it was a very long time ago, and I remember she was the last in line, and I remember we baptized like eight people that day. And I remember at the end of the day, I said, I said Sarah, I'm so sorry that that you were get put in the back of the line. And she said, it's okay, Dad. She must have been only six years old something like this, you know. She goes, maybe seven, and she goes, it's okay, And I said okay, and she goes, cuz the last shall be first and the first shall be last. And I said, where did you learn that? That's so incredible? She goes, You mentioned it to me one time, and I said, when did I mention that to you? She goes, you felt bad for picking me up last at school because I was trying to make her film back, but you remembered it. And then the other time when I baptized Tory and Steven, it was on the same day, and we baptized in a lake. In fact, it was a stony creek and it was it was the same time, and I was able to walk out with them and uh and baptize both of them with my wife and my older daughter being you know, oldest daughter being there, and it was just wonderful. Wow. So I think that nothing compares to that I had the privilege baptized my kids too. You know. Another one is so the big crowds. We've both of us had opportunity to be in front of some really big crowds and lead lots of people to Jesus and do some really amazing things, and God blessed us beyond anything we deserve. Another one, though, was actually at a funeral and the person that had died had told me, Hey, if you'll come speak at my funeral, there's five people in my family that are far from God, and I believe that if you share the gospel and offer to you know, let them respond to the gospel. I think we're going to leave it. You'll lead them to Jesus. And so four of the five people were there, and all four of them gave their life to Christ at the funeral, and I just remember thinking, Man, this guy, you know, spent a big part of his life trying to bring these people to Christ. And it was not in his life, but in the memory and the celebration of his life is when they finally came to faith. And you know, God, let me be a part of that. So I think it's the changed lives, Michael, to get back to your question, There's been really amazing events, but it's those individual lives being changed because we can talk about big numbers, we can talk about incredible stories, but it's each of those numbers and these stories represent people, and it's the fact that we get to be a part of so many lives being changed, I think is the real delight of the ministry. Oh for sure. It's also the hardest part of the ministry is the people. But yeah, right right, I love God, I just don't like people now, Yeah, but you're right though. Let me have one more comment, is that of all the roles that I've played, I was a youth pastor, I was a kid's pastor, I was a worship pastor, just like you, you know, it just sort of fulfilled those roles. I think of all the roles that I've played over the years, including my current role, you know, as one of the lead pastors and leading weekends and stuff like that, I think that the most fulfilling role that I've ever had was being a pastor of high school students. Well, because when you have a high school student come up to you who's like fifteen or whatever and says you've changed my life. For what happens is you sort of you sort of set the course, you know, and you know that the trajectory of their lives are completely different. Yeah, and uh, you know, and they're just old enough to where you know, you know that like they're gonna make it's gonna be a big difference in their lives. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you like that because we're gonna send you back to that same job. So that's sign me up, baby. Only problem is, I'm not too sure i'd be that relevant. Fifty year old youth pastors are really cool. I thought, Yeah, we'll just make a We'll just make a bowl of punch and they'll they'll just flock to the bunch. They will kit teens love punch. Yeah, you're all over it, man. Okay, well, why don't you turn in your resume and we'll we'll see if you're if you're the right can. The punch things really good? Okay? So, uh, Two Corinthians, chapter three or six is where we need to move on to. And uh, we're going to pick up in verse three and continue on. And Paul now is kind of unpacking some of his resume a little bit as far as the difficulties he's faced for the sake of the gospel, and he says, we live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault in our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We've been beaten, put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth God's power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God. Whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We've been beaten, but we've not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. Oh, dear Christian Corinthian friends, We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. There's no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. I'm asking you to respond as if you were my own children, open your hearts to us. Yeah, you know, Paul is great. Yep. You know, Paul is my favorite. When we get to Heaven, I'll make sure i'll let him know that. Hey, you know, one times I well said on our podcast. I just I'm so excited about Paul. You know, when we were making the series, you know, the series for twenty twenty three, we're trying to decide like, okay, what do we preach on for twenty twenty three And right after Easter, we're actually doing a series and it's a five week series and it's just on the Apostle. Paul. Yeah, that's gonna be great. And I just and I'm thinking, gosh, I can go we can go like fifteen weeks on the Apostle. Paul. Yeah, right, but we've never. Identified But anyway, I just I just think Paul's great. Yep. So's he's here kind of he's pleading with them again. It's kind of almost it feels like a pause in the letter a little bit. He's been talking about eternity, and then he pivots back to now, hey, listen, I love you guys. I've paid the price proving my love to you. But one of my favorite things, you know, he talks about facing the angry mobs and the hardships and calamities and endured sleepless nights and gone without food. But look at what verse success we prove ourselves by what our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness and the Holy Spirit within us and our sincere love. Those six things prove whether you're legit or not. Right, That's what's we're saying. And he classifies them, and he sort of categorizes them and calls them weapons of righteousness. That's right. So those things that you just mentioned the very next word say we use the weapons of righteousness in the hands of the right the left? Does he mentioned typing in all caps on Facebook? Where where's that is? The weapons of righteousness? Where is it? I don't see it? Boom soapbox. What about arguing with all of your friends all the time? Right is there? Hey? What what about you know? Banishing family members from from Christmas parties? And stuff like that. Is that I don't know where's that there's a weapon of righteousness, Jeff. Those are not in there. They're not in there. No. Oh, by the way, Uh, sometimes when we read things like this, if we're not careful, we can forget the context of not only you know, of Paul's context, but also how people are receiving these words, because think about this, Okay, like it wasn't too long ago. It was it was, like you know what, probably not even a couple of decades where Jesus actually said these words a new commandment, I bring to you love one another. Right, And so imagine that the idea of loving one another is only a couple of decades old, right. And then all of a sudden, Paul's going around and he's, you know, bringing the Gospel, which started, by the way, in the Jewish community. And so it sort of grows and grows and grows. And then Paul's you know, commission or his life assignment, right that he's been given is to take it to you know, the gentiles, those who are in Greeks and those who are not very familiar with the ways of Christ and the church certainly, and so he's writing to the Church of Corinth. They're not church culture people. So think about this. It seems a little arrogant, perhaps out of context, to hear Paul say like this, we live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry and everything we do. We showed that we are true ministers of God. This isn't bragging. This is Paul going out of his way to model that which is not common. So Paul is saying, like you understand, you know. It also reminds me of Philippians too, where he says, you know, if you have any excuses about humility, let me give you an example of Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate example of humility. And this in the same way Paul's trying to do this with his own life, and he's saying, listen, if there's if there's if you have right to complain, we're going to be the ultimate examples of those who do not complain because we've still shown you it's possible to have patience in the midst of all these hardships. Well, how does that apply to us? It means that chances are whatever excuse you have Paul takes it away. Whatever excuse you have to say, like, oh, I can't be patient with this person. You have no idea how how difficult they are at work. Let me think, does it compare to the things that Paul listed? It doesn't compare. And there are so many people who you know, they think to themselves, man, I have a tough suffering for Jesus, like you mention, right, like, we don't really know what's suffering for Jesus means. Well, when you look at verse five, you know we've been beaten, put in prison, face to angry mobs. Sometimes. You know, we can feel that way too. You know we're being foul with other people, were being we're not representing Jesus well. And then how many times have I had to apologize to somebody saying I'm sorry. I don't know why I was so grumpy. It's just been a really rough day, right man. I just feel like I've been being beat up all day to day and then I lashed out, or you know, I've worked to exhaustion, I'm just really really tired, or I didn't sleep all last night. I'm sorry I was grumpy. I didn't sleep all last night, or I'm sorry I've gone without food. I'm hungry, right right, Paul's like, Okay, maybe you were angry, I was starving. Maybe you've got beat up by the crowd at work. I literally was beat almost to death and put in prison. What Paul is saying is anything that you would use an excuse for your bad behavior, right, he said, let's just multiply at times ten. Right. So I've gone through, but I've still tried as hard as I could to model a godly way in a godly response instead, And so he said, So I'm proving myself by my purity. I'm proving by myself by my understanding. I'm proving myself by my patience and kindness and the Holy Spirit and sincere love. And that's really it. Instead of us justifying our bad behaviors because we're angry or because we got roughed up by the crowd, instead, let us be working hard in these other ways to demonstrate that we genuinely are sincere, not just telling we tell people. I mean it in my heart, I'm sincere, even though I mistreated you, Paul Saint, just why don't you just go ahead and treat them? Right? Why don't you go ahead and prove that you are, are you peer of heart and all those kinds of things. So, and you know it's also inspiring is that it also means for us today, you know, for those listening and they're trying to apply this to their lives, thinking like, how can I demonstrate patience and love and forgiveness and godliness and patience and all these different things. It lets us know that it's possible. If it's possible for Paul, it's possible for us. And remember, again, Paul was modeling something that was not common. And I think what Paul was doing was it was his job to set the bar. And I think that he actually knew that. He realized that it was his job to set the bar, and so he sets the bar extremely high. And God, by the way, I think, allowed Paul to go through those things. God may not allow you to go through such hardships as Paul did. But again it's because I believe that God used Paul and his writings and his life and his experiences to set the bar for us. So it is possible today to show patience and love to that difficult person at work. Yeah, sure it really is. And then he's also trying to say to us, it doesn't matter what you go through, you're going to be okay. You know, we were ignored even though we're well known. We live close to death, but we're still alive. We've been beaten, but we've not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. What he's saying is, listen, you're going to make it through this, and I know it because I got me through it. And that's that's you know, he's trying to encourage people all the way around Christians in particular, to trust that God's going to carry you through these things. You know, yes, it's going to be difficult, you make it through it. And then I think, you know, as we come to the end of that passage, he's really transparent. I think, oh, dear Corinthian friends, and he said, I've been really open and honest with you how I feel about you, and that I love you. Yes, I gave you some tough news, but man, I love you. And you think of how he opened both of his letters, how he closed his letter, I just I love you so much, and he said, but I don't feel like it's being reciprocated. I think that there's something special in the idea of us making sure. It's almost like you're saying, we're good, right, are we okay? Yeah? Because I feel like you're withdrawing from me. And when it comes to relationships, what Paul doesn't do is just let relationship be. He's wanting to strengthen the relationship. He's leaning in. So when he's feeling like I'm demonstrating my love to you, but you don't seem to be demonstrating your love back, I don't even know what to do with this, and so I just want to make sure it's right. And so then he says, open your hearts to us. What he's saying is more important than us arguing about behaviors, more important than us arguing about all these other things, is that we genuinely have love for one another. I want you to know that I love you, and for some reason you seem withdrawn from me. Let's draw close together. Their relationship was more important than any of the rest of the things he was arguing or talking about. And by the way, once again Paul makes a comparison. He says, respond as if you were my own children. Yeah. So Paul again just has a way of slipping in there, just another metaphor or a visual aid that helps us understand. Oh, yeah, that's right, because Paul is in essence their spiritual father. Yes, he is the pastor that comes along starts the church. And even though there are other leaders and other pastors and other people there leaving the church, Paul sort of is the father and he feels responsible for the church. And as somebody who is a pastor by profession, I understand that because even though I may see somebody who like, for instance, I just saw a whole family in a restaurant I don't know, three days ago, and there was like twenty five of them and they were there celebrating their some family member's eightieth birthday. There's balloons and everything else, right, And I walk in and these two ladies in particular knew me, but I did not know them, do not know their names at all. And they said, oh, you've been our pastor for you know, X amount of years, and you know, we want to come to services and this and that. And it's amazing how they went from being somebody who I didn't have any care for them whatsoever. I didn't hate them, I just didn't care for them. Right, They were neutral, they were Switzerland to me, right, and then all of a sudden I immediately felt like fatherly right, like, oh my goodness, they've been under my ministry for ten years, which means like I feel like I I want like a mother that puts their wings around some chickens, right, that around their chicks. And you feel that because you feel spiritually responsible, you feel you know all these different ways. And I believe that that's what Paul is saying. Paul is saying like, I feel like you're my own children, yeah, and my heart and my compassion, and so I want you to respond like your own children, because he has such a love for them. And even when our children are bad, isn't it true, we love them just the same, that's right. And even though that we're the ones that bring the discipline, just like that's that's Paul too, because you said it yourself. He's writing some harsh words, that's right, But he's like, I'm your dad, right, I'm supposed to do that. It's my job to give you the difficult news too, not just the good news. And I love you right, right, And hey, there's a lot of value in having straight shooters in our life. Yeah, who call a spatis bade, who say, hey, these things you're doing well, these things you aren't doing well, let's fix those things and be better, especially somebody who thinks of us as a father very quickly, if I can reference this, You mentioned it a couple times over the last couple of podcasts about running into somebody that's been a member in your church for ten years that you didn't know them, right, And for somebody maybe who doesn't know the context that we're in. You and I serve together in a very very large church, that's why. And so there are many pastors on it. We just had our Christmas party a little while ago. We have fifty five staff members at our Christmas party. So the people in our church are known. Sometimes we don't know them. They have their pastors, they have the people who are caring for them, they have their smug We have seventy eighty one hundred small group leaders that lead and function as pastors as well. So it's not that they're Basically what she's saying is you're the guy I here preach a lot on Sundays, right, and as leaders, you and I have a spiritual responsibility for all of them, even though we don't always know them, but we share leadership with so many. That's why both of you and I will get up on a Sunday morning and we'll say Hi, I'm Jeffrey. You'll say hi, I'm Chris. We're one of the pastors here, right, rather than saying I'm the pastor here. It's because you know, we share and so you and I are teaching pastors, but there are many, many other pastors and other small group leaders that are providing spiritual care to And that's why we're able to serve thousands and thousands of people, is because we're able to disperse some of the responsibility of leading and caring for all of our. People, which, by the way, is an exact reflection of Acts chapter two. Yes, so if you think about the three thousand people getting added to the church in one day, and you know them saying like, hey, we should not neglect preaching the word of God and to care for orphans and widows, we're going to delegate that responsibility out. Everything you just said is exactly how Acts chapter two church. Ran, and then throughout the New Testament there's always a plurality of leadership like in Acts. Paul calls all of the elders from Ephthesis. He doesn't call the elder from Ephesus. He calls them all all the and Peter references to all of the shepherds that are serving as bishops and pastors, right, and so I think that the a plurality of leadership allows for greater impact. And so that's how that happens. So it's not that it's a look at me, I don't know any of my church people. It's that there are lots of people who attend for different reasons and have other people that are caring for them. But we feel a responsibility from a teaching standpoint and from making sure that care is provided. So much so she felt so cared for. She was thrilled to run into you right right right, So she she didn't feel like she was being poorly cared for. She was thrilled that she got to run into you. That's a great clarification. Yeah, yeah, I think it's important. So okay, well we will wrap it up right there and we will see you next time, hopefully on the Bible. Guys,