2 Corinthians 10
McGeeCHAPTER 10THEME: Authentication of Paul’s apostleshipNow we come to the last great division of this epistle, which is the calling of the apostle Paul. The first division I have called Christian living, the second one I called Christian giving, and this one I call Christian guarding. It was a radical change when we saw Paul begin to write about Christian giving. Now we come to an altogether new section, and it marks such a radical change in tone and style that many critics have supposed that this is the beginning of a third epistle. Candidly, I cannot accept that theory. The change in tone can be explained easily on another basis. As we have seen, the church in Corinth was a divided church. Paul said when he first wrote to them, “For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you” (1Co_1:11). The majority of the church respected the authority of Paul. There was a minority who opposed Paul and rejected his authority. It would seem that in the first nine chapters he is addressing the majority. In chapters 10, 11, and 12 he is addressing the minority. It is like changing from daylight to darkness. In this section we will find the apostle opening his great heart of lovehis heart as a missionary and as a human being. We will meet him as we have never met him before because in this section he actually defends his apostleship.
2 Corinthians 10:1
You remember that Paul had written a strong letter of correction. The minority criticized him severely, and they were saying, “Paul writes big, but when he is among us he is nobody.” Paul beseeches them by “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” Paul came to Corinth as a tentmaker. He wasn’t chargeable to anyone, and he didn’t want to be. He would work in the marketplace all day. He would perspire and his hands would get dirty. He was working there, and he was talking to the multitude as they passed by. Now the Corinthians would say of him, “He’s not an apostle.
Look at him. He’s a tentmaker. He is just an ordinary man.” Well, friend, he was an ordinary man, but he happened also to be an apostle. Paul looked just like anyone else. In fact, some people would have looked down on him because he labored with his hands. So when he says, “I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ,” he is saying that he is like the Lord when He was here on earth.
He says, “Who in presence am base among you.” He was not something special to see. He wasn’t a somebody. He was just an ordinary fellow making tents. So the Corinthians would be apt to say, “When he is among us, he is base. But when he writes to us, he is bold and writes with authority. Who does he think he is?” Paul writes in the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. Our Lord didn’t lift up His voice to defend Himself. Our Lord was not striking in personal appearance, and He did not look as different as the artists would have us believe. He didn’t walk around with a halo around His head. He was meek and lowly, and that is to be the badge of His followers. That is the fraternity pin of believers. So Paul writes to them and says, “Don’t let looks fool you.” Paul had the authority of an apostle. Paul had a divine mission. He spoke with authority. He was conscious of supernatural power, and he exercised supernatural power. Paul urges them not to force him to exercise his authority. He would like to come again in meekness and gentleness. He urges them not to think of him simply in the flesh. I don’t think a minister of the gospel today needs to wear a robe or needs to button his collar in the back to prove he is a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe he can prove it by his life and in the fact that he preaches the Word of God. We still find the same tendency among some people as was present in Corinth. They want to degrade the man who teaches the Word of God. The Devil is very clever in this matter. Right now the Devil does not seem to be attacking the Word of God. There is a real interest in the Word of God among multitudes of people. So what does the Devil do? He attacks the reputation of the man of God who is preaching the Word of God. This is the way he gets in. He tries to discredit the man. That is exactly what happened to Paul. I know of a church where the pastor taught the Word of God. There were some members there who didn’t like him at all, and when he left the church they attempted to crucify the man. Yet they would tell you they believed the Word of God, and they all carried big Bibles under their arms. They don’t really believe the Word of Godin fact, they don’t even know what is in it. If a pastor preaches the Word of God and does not cater to such a group, believe me, he is in trouble. That is the Devil’s method.
2 Corinthians 10:2
Paul is saying to them that they should not think of him as walking according to the flesh because he made tents and his hands got dirty and he was sweaty as he worked. This is the way they had evaluated him.
2 Corinthians 10:3
The Greek word for flesh is sarx, and it can be used in three different ways. It can speak of the body, the physical body that we have, the meat that is on the bones. It can speak of weakness, meaning that which is psychological. It can also mean that corrupt nature which you and I have, that fallen nature. That is the spiritual meaning. So this word can be used in a physical sense, in a psychological sense, and in a spiritual sense. Paul uses the word flesh in all three senses but more frequently in the sense of the old Adamic, fallen nature. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing …” (Rom_7:18). He is referring to the corrupt naturehe is using flesh in the spiritual sense. When he says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,” he is using flesh in the psychological sense. Paul says that he walked in the fleshweakness. I do not think that Paul came to Corinth in the energy of the flesh. The warfare was spiritual warfare. In his letter to the Ephesians he wrote, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph_6:12). Paul did not come as an ordinary man who was dependent upon the principles of the natural. Paul didn’t come to Corinth to put on a Madison Avenue campaign. He didn’t use the methods of advertising and organization in human effort and energy. This does not mean that there is no time for us to use these. I am just saying that Paul didn’t use them. He was not one of the “personality boys” who uses cleverness with many quotations and cliches and who soars to heights of beautiful language. He didn’t come on an anti-Nero or an anti-Caesar campaign. He didn’t come to Corinth to clean up the city. He didn’t come at the invitation of the Christians to put on a campaign. Paul had written in 1Co_2:2, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Paul had a grand perspective of an entire battlefield. There was a heaven to gain, and there was a hell to shun. He was in a warfare that was spiritual and that required spiritual weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:4
This is a parenthesis, and in this verse Paul does not even list the weapons. Spiritual warfare means that we have a spiritual enemy, and a spiritual enemy requires spiritual weapons. We are told that we have some weapons and they are mighty. They are effective. Are you able to identify those spiritual weapons which we need today? Our first weapon is the Word of God. We need to have confidence in the Word of God. It is the sword of the Spirit. Paul could come to Corinth, that citadel of philosophy and religion, with the weapon of the Word of God. That is exactly the weapon that he used. Paul writes in Ephesians, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph_6:17). Paul drew his trusty sword, and he depended upon the naked blade of it. He wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom_1:16). We, too, need to have confidence in the Word of God. We need to have a firm confidence in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. This must be more than just a creed. I listened to a preacher who said he believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. He quoted poetry and some cute cliches and some pert epigrams. He had every form of philosophical argument but no exposition of the Word of God. May I say to you, that is not confidence in the Word of God, nor is it using the Word as a weapon. I am conservative in my theology. I believe in the inspiration of the Word of God, which includes the Book of Genesis and especially the account of creation. I believe in hell. In fact, I believe the Bible from the beginning to the end. It is the sword of the Spirit, my friend. It is one of our weapons. The second weapon is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul recognized his own human weakness. He knew that he was sealed by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Another weapon of our warfare is prayer. Now it is true that there is very little about prayer in either of the Corinthian epistles. However, Paul certainly believed in prayer. In the Book of Ephesians he lists this as one of the offensive weapons. “…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Eph_6:17-18).
2 Corinthians 10:5
In this spiritual battle the warriors are successful. When I say this, I do not mean they are victorious. God gets the victory. When we are successful, the glory all goes to Him. “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph"how? “in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place” (2Co_2:14). We won’t win everyone to Christ, but we can get the Word of God out. Thank God for the open door of witnessing in our day. We are not victorious, but we sure can be successful.
2 Corinthians 10:6
Speaking to the opposition, Paul says, “We belong to Christ as much as anyone.”
2 Corinthians 10:8
Paul has the authority of an apostle. It is not to destroy them, but for their edificationthat is, to build them up in the faith.
2 Corinthians 10:9
Paul does not want his letters to be bold and terrifying and then he himself to be weak among them. I believe this indicates to us that Paul was not what one would call an attractive man. When people heard Paul, it was obvious to them that he was not preaching to them under his own physical strength or by his eloquence or by his personal magnetism. I think he must have been a weak-looking vessel. Perhaps, as with Samson in the time of the judges, it was obvious that his strength was not within himself but came from the Spirit of God.
2 Corinthians 10:11
Paul is injecting a little note of humor. A great many folk compare themselves among themselves, which is the reason that many people in our churches think they have arrived. They feel they are really fine, outstanding, spiritual Christians because they compare themselves with other Christians in their group. That is not the yardstick we are to use, my friend. This is one of the tragedies of the hour. A person can be in a cold church and grow cold himself and yet not be conscious of it because he compares himself with the cold Christians around him. We all need to be around other Christians who challenge us. There are too many Christians who are in some little clique or group or church, and they feel smug and satisfied because they are all in the same boat.
2 Corinthians 10:13
The complaint of the Corinthian believers was that Paul would not come to see them. They said he would spend time with others but would not come to Corinth to see them. How many Christians criticize their pastor because he doesn’t spend time visiting with them! They want more and more of his time. My friend, when a pastor spends his time petting and pampering people, he is wasting the Lord’s time. He needs to spend his time with those who are desperately in need of help. He also needs to spend time in the Word of God.
2 Corinthians 10:14
Paul tells them they must remember that he came to them first. He was the first one to bring the gospel to them, and he had traveled a long way from home to do that. He tells them that his method is not to come and be a pastor of a church. He had been called to be a missionary. After he would begin a work, he would travel on. He was always moving out to the frontier. He never built on another man’s foundation.
2 Corinthians 10:17
We stand before the Lord for His commending. This is actually a word of warning to us. Don’t criticize someone before you find out what his calling from the Lord is. One man may be gifted in personal visitation; another man may be gifted in the pulpit. If you have a man who is gifted in the pulpit, don’t criticize him, but give him the necessary time to prepare his messages. If he is doing that, then he cannot be spending his time running around to visit you. Another man may not be a brilliant preacher but may be an excellent organizer. Then that is his gift. Find out what the person’s gift is and help that person to exercise his gift. Don’t sit in judgment on him if he is not doing everything you think he should do. Paul is telling the Corinthian believers that he is doing what God had called him to do. He was called to be a missionary, and that is what he is doing.