2 Corinthians 13:11 – God’s Sweet Presence – Bible study

2Corinthians 13:11 Gods Sweet Presence These last four verses are the closing of Pauls letter to this church. If you would, notice some facts abou them: 1. It is a long closing. Even when modern-day people wrote letters, which we dont any more because they take up too much time, by the time we got to the closing, we were ready to quit. Ours might have been "Sincerely Yours" even maybe just "Sncerely." Obviously the Jews werent in as much of a hurry so their closings were longer. 2. The word FINALLY sets this section of verses off as an independent section. It does not tie in with anything Paul had already said. a. I wonder if Paul was just trying to be nice in his opening and closing remakrs. Did he think, "After the skinning I just gave these people, I need to write a few verses that sound nice." b. I dont know, but because the Holy Spirit was on him, as long as Pauls pen kept moving, he was writing holy Writ. 3. Notice the result of what he wrote in verse 11. 2Cor 13:11 and the God of love and peace shall be with you. a. Again, I dont know if he meant to or not, but he tells us how to have the sweet presence of God. b. There is nothing greater than having the presence of God. (1) If I were to take a poll and ask a group of Christians, "What is the best part of your salvation?" I believe most Christians would say, "Not going to hell." (2) But I am not certain that is Gods favorite part of granting man salvation. (a) Certainly, God is a merciful God and is not willing that any should perish. (b) But why did God create us to begin with? i. I dont think it was just to save us. ii. I think it was to have a relationship with us. (c) If you ask God what the best part of salvation is He might just saying spending time with us, i.e. His presence and our presence together. (3) So to God, the best part of salvation might be the fellowship. That is what this verse is telling us how to have. c. Understand, there is more than just the sweet presence of God. (1) There is convicting presence of God. (2) There is the chastening presence of God. (3) What I need when I am serving God is the empowering presence of God. d. But what every Christian should desire is to have private time with God just to enjoy Gods sweet presence. (1) That is when God comes to put His arms around you and love one. (2) That is when God breathes: (a) strength into our weary bones? (b) courage into our discouraged heart? (c) love into our drained emotions? (3) When was the last time you felt that? (a) We need it. (b) We should crave it. (c) This verse is talking about how to get it. Paul does not elaboate but he gave us four short commands: I. Be Perfect A. Wow! That sounds like a simple enough challenge. Just be PERFECT! B. The word PERFECT does not mean SINLESS, although there is nothing wrong with striving for it. 1. It means COMPLETE and MATURE. 2. The command is telling us not just to GROW spiritually but to ACHIEVE spiritual maturity. a. What have we accomplished in Christ? b. Some have been saved a long time, but what growth and change has actually taken place? c. We all know that no one is perfect, but something sizeable should be taking place in our lives. A fellow worked in the office and needed to make copies of document. The office copier was always out of order. It had most recently been out of order for several days, and he doubted he could, but he needed to make copies. As he approached the machine, he could see the familar sign which read, "Out of Order," but there was another sign someone had taped to the machine under. It read, "Winner of the Guiness Book of World Record for being out of order for the most days in row." d. I wonder if that is not how God feels about us? C. At some point, Christians must quit: 1. trying and start doing. 2. wanting to and start geeting er done. 3. planning on it and start finishing it up D. There are two areas of our lives in which we need to be perfect. 1. One is sin. We do not to perfect the doing of that but the avoiding of it. Certainly we are works in progress, but if you have attempting to overcome sin for a long period of time but have not, maybe you are trying it all. 2. The other is in our service. We can talk about tithing, we can talk about praying, we can talk about witnessing, we can talk about being faithful, but if it is anything more than talk, it sould not take but a few days to get at it. a. It only takes to the next church service to start being faithful. b. It only takes to the next spare minute to start reading your Bible. c. It only takes to your next off day to start inviting people to church. d. It only takes you long enough to wtite out the check to start tithing. E. Pauls command is that if you want the sweet presence of God, BE PERFECT. II. Be of good comfort. A. Notice the command here is not give good comfort but BE OF GOOD COMFORT. 1. This is not a command for you to do. 2. This is a command for you to be. 3. The opposite of comfort is discomfort. 4. So the command is be comfortable. a. Now, Paul was not encouraging Christians to be comfortable in the things of this world. b. He was commanding us to be comfortable in the things of God. B. The Greek word for "comfort" literally means "to call near." 1. The thought is that we should always be capable of coming near to God. 2. By application, the works means to help, to encourage, to be exhorted and instructed. 3. So we are to be encouraged, exhorted, instructed, and helped so that we can draw near to God. a. Be well encouraged. (1) Do not be downcast and dispirited. (2) Remember the times in which Paul is writing. i. If Nero was not the emperor, he soon will be and persecutions will be common. ii. Life was already pretty tough in this time period; but if it wasnt tough enough, being a Christian certainly made it tougher. iii. The irony here is that Paul was speaking to them about staying upbeat. Look at his life! 2Cor 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? (3) Remember, a bitter, critical, discouraged spirit is a host to Satan just like a joyful, thankful, encouraged spirit is host to the Lord. Psalms 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. b. Be well instructed. (1) To give instruction was the very reason why Paul was writing this letter. (2) So thispart of the command should be simple for us. All we have to do is read what God gave us. (3) The truth is a commodity that we cannot afford to be without! c. Be well helped. Knowing Jesus and the truth He brought will both exhort and help us. It will make all of the difference in the world. C. Be of one mind. 1. This is Paul talking to a group of believers. 2. No church is a church that is made up of one! 3. Few things do more to terminate the presence of God than discord among the brethren. a. Discord is mark of carnality, confusion, and evil works. 1Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? James 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. b. The secret to a church having one mind is everyone must forget what they want and seek what Jesus wants. D. Live in peace. 1. We do not always get to decide whether we will live in peace or not; but as much as we can, we should. Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 2. If we must sacrifice our peace to live for Jesus, so be it; but there is little else for which we should sacrifice peace. a. Sacrifice selfishness instead of peace. b. Sacrifice wealth instead of peace. c. Sacrifice job instead of peace. d. Sacrifice pleasure instead of peace. e. Show kindness, tolerance, and gentleness to each other and to others. III. In closing, I noticed that these four command cover four different areas of our earthly life. A. To be perfect releates to our spirit. B. To be of good comfort releates to our soul. C. To be of one mind relates to our minds. D. To be at peace relates to physical life. These four things deal with the four areas of our existence: our spirits, our souls, our minds, and our lives. One command is given to each area and the promise for obedience in each area of our lives is the sweet presence of God. May be obey that we might enjoy.