Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters ten through thirteen,
from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by J. A. Carter www dot authentic light dot org.
(00:26):
The twentieth Century New Testament by a company of about
twenty scholars, The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapters ten
through thirteen. Chapter ten, Now, I, Paul, make a personal
appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ,
I who, in your presence, am humble in my bearing
(00:46):
toward you. But when absent and bold in my language
to you, I implore you not to drive me to
show my boldness. When I do, come by the confident
tone which I expect to have to adopt towards some
of you. Are expecting to find us influenced in our
conduct by earthly motives. For though we live in earthly life,
we do not wage in earthly war. The weapons of
(01:07):
our warfare are not earthly, but under God are powerful
enough to pull down strongholds. We are engaged in confuting
arguments and pulling down every barrier raised against the knowledge
of God. We are taking captive every hostile thought to
bring it into submission to the Christ, and are fully
prepared to punish every act of rebellion. When, once your
submission is complete, you look at the outward appearance of things.
(01:32):
Let anyone who is confident that he belongs to Christ
reflect for himself again upon the fact that we belong
to Christ no less than he does. Even if I
boast extravagantly about our authority, which the Lord gave us
for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it,
still I have no reason to be ashamed. I say
this that it may not seem as if I were
(01:52):
trying to overawe you by my letters. For people say
his letters are impressive and vigorous, but his personal appearance
is insignificant and is speaking contemptible. Let such a man
be assured of this, that our words in our letters
show us to be when absent, just what our deeds
will show us to be when present. We have not
(02:12):
indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some
of those who indulge in self commendation. But when such
persons measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves,
they show a want of wisdom. We, however, will not
give way to unlimited boasting, but will confine ourselves to
the limits of the sphere to which God limited us
(02:33):
when he permitted us to come as far as Corinth.
For it is not the case as it would be
if we were not in the habit of coming to you,
that we are exceeding our bounds. Why we were the
very first to reach you with the good news of
the Christ. Our boasting, therefore, is not unlimited, nor does
it extend to the labors of others. But our hope
is that as your faith grows, our influence among you
(02:55):
may be very greatly increased, though still confined to our sphere,
so that we shall be able to tell the good
news and the districts beyond you, without trespassing on the
sphere assigned to others, or boasting of what has already
been done. Let him who boasts make his boast of
the Lord. Or It is not the man who commends
himself that stands the test, but the man who is
commended by the Lord. Chapter eleven. I could wish that
(03:19):
you would tolerate a little folly in me, But indeed
you do tolerate me. I am jealous over you with
the jealousy of God. For I betrotht you to one husband,
that I might present you to Christ a pure bride.
Yet I fear that it may turn out that just
as the serpent, by his craftiness, deceived Eve, so your
minds may have lost the loyalty and purity do from
(03:40):
you to the Christ. For if some newcomer is proclaiming
a Jesus other than him whom we proclaimed, or if
you are receiving a spirit different from the spirit which
you received, or a good news different from that which
you welcomed, then you are marvelously tolerant. I do not
regard myself as in any way inferior to the most
imminent apostles. Though I am no trained order, yet I
(04:01):
am not without knowledge. Indeed, we made this perfectly clear
to you in every way. Perhaps you say that I
did wrong in humbling myself that you might be exalted.
I mean because I told you God's good news without payment.
I robbed other churches by taking pay from them so
that I might serve you. And when I was with
you and in need, I did not become a burden
to any of you, For our brothers, on coming from Macedonia,
(04:24):
supplied my needs. I kept myself and will keep myself
from being an expense to you in any way as
surely as I know anything of the truth of Christ.
This boast, as far as I am concerned, shall not
be stopped in any part of Greece. Why because I
do not love you, God knows that I do what
I am doing now, I shall continue to do that.
(04:45):
I may cut away the ground from under those who
are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that
as regards the things of which they boast, they may
appear in their true characters, just as we do. Men
of this stamp are false apostles, treacherous workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. It is not surprising, therefore,
(05:09):
if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
But their end will be in accordance with their actions.
I say again, let no one think me a fool. Yet,
if you do at least welcome me as you would
a fool, that I too may indulge in a little boasting.
When I speak thus, I am not speaking as the
Master would, but as a fool might in boasting so confidently,
(05:32):
as so many are boasting of earthly things, I too
will boast. For all your cleverness, you tolerate fools willingly enough.
You tolerate a man even when he enslaves you, when
he plunders you, when he gets you into his power,
when he puts on airs of superiority, when he strikes
you in the face. I admit to my shame that
we have been weak. But whatever the subject on which
(05:53):
others are not afraid to boast, though it is foolish
to say so, I am not afraid either. Are the Hebrews,
so am I? Are they Israelites? So am I? Are
they descendants of Abraham? So am I? Are they servants
of Christ? Though it is madness to talk like this,
I am more so than they. I have had more
(06:14):
of toil, more of imprisonment. I have been flogged times
without number. I have been often at death's door. Five times.
I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes,
all but one. Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned three times. I was shipwrecked. I
have spent a whole day and a night in the deep.
My journeys have been many. I have been through dangers
(06:36):
from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people,
dangers from the gentiles, dangers in towns, dangers in the country,
dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers. I have
been through toil and hardship. I have passed many a
sleepless night. I have endured hunger and thirst. I have
often been without food. I have known cold and nakedness,
(06:58):
And not to speak of other things. There is my
daily burden of anxiety about all the churches. Who is
weak without my being weak, who has led astray without
my burning with indignation? If I must boast, I will
boast of things which show my weakness. The God and
Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is forever blessed,
knows that I am speaking the truth. When I was
(07:19):
in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the gates
of that city guarded so as to arrest me. But
I was let down in a basket through a window
in the wall, and so escaped his hands. Chapter twelve,
I must boast, it is unprofitable. But I will pass
to visions and revelations given by the Lord. I know
a man in union with Christ, who, fourteen years ago,
(07:43):
whether in the body or out of the body, I
do not know, God knows, was caught up this man
of whom I am speaking to the third Heaven. And
I know that this man, whether in the body or
separated from the body, I do not know, God knows,
was caught up into paradise and heard on eekable things
of which no human being may tell. About such a man,
(08:04):
I will boast, But about myself I will not boast,
except as regards my weaknesses. Yet if I choose to boast,
I shall not be a fool, for I shall be
speaking no more than the truth. But I refrain lest
any one should credit me with more than he can
see in me or hear from me. And because of
the marvelous character of the revelations. It was for this reason,
(08:26):
and to prevent my thinking too highly of myself, that
a thorn was sent to pierce my flesh, an instrument
of Satan, to discipline me, so that I should not
think too highly of myself. About this, I three times
entreated the Lord, praying that it might leave me. But
his reply has been, my help is enough for you.
For my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness.
(08:49):
Most gladly, then will I boast all the more of
my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may
overshadow me. That is why I delight in weakness, ill treatment, hardships, persecution,
and difficulties when born for Christ. For when I am weak,
then it is that I am strong. I have been
playing the fool. It is you who drove me to it,
(09:10):
For it is you who ought to have been commending me.
Although I am nobody, in no respect did I prove
inferior to the most imminent apostles. The marks of the
true apostle were exhibited among you in constant endurance, as
well as by signs, by marvels, and by miracles. In
what respect, I ask, were you treated worse than the
other churches? Unless it was that for my part I
(09:32):
refuse to become a burden to you forgive me the wrong.
I Thus did you remember this is the third time
that I have made every preparation to come to see you,
and I shall refuse to be a burden to you.
I want not your money but you. It is not
the duty of children to put by for their parents,
but of parents to put by for their children. For
(09:52):
my part, I will most gladly spend and be spent
for your welfare. Can it be that the more intensely
I love you, the less yes I am to be loved?
You will admit that I was not a burden to you,
But you say that I was crafty and caught you
by a trick. Do you assert that I took advantage
of you through any of those whom I have sent
to you. I urged Titus to go, and I send
(10:13):
our brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you?
Did not? We live in the same spirit and tread
in the same footsteps. Have you all this time been
fancying that it is to you that we are making
our defense. No, it is in the sight of God
and in union with Christ that we are speaking. And
all this, dear friends, is to build up your characters.
(10:34):
For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I
may find that you are not what I want you
to be, and on the other hand, that you may
find that I am what you do not want me
to be. I am afraid that I may find quarreling, jealousy,
ill feeling, rivalry, slandering, backbiting, self assertion, and disorder. I
am afraid lest on my next visit, my God may
(10:56):
humble me in regard to you, and that I may
have to mourn over minuts who have long been sinning
and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality
in which they have indulged Chapter thirteen. For the third time,
I am coming to see you. By the word of
two or three witnesses, each statement shall be established. I
(11:16):
have said it, and I say it again before I come,
just as if I were with you on my second visit.
Though for the moment absent, I say to those who
have been long sinning, as well as to all others,
that if I come again, I shall spare no one,
and that will be the proof which you are looking for,
that the Christ speaks through me. There is no weakness
in his dealings with you. No, he shows his power
(11:38):
among you. For though his crucifixion was due to weakness,
his life is due to the power of God. And
we also are weak in his weakness. But with him
we shall live. For you, through the power of God,
put yourselves to the proof to see whether you are
holding to the faith test yourselves. Surely you recognize this
fact about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless
(12:02):
indeed you cannot stand the test. But I hope that
you will recognize that we can stand the test. We
pray God that you may do nothing wrong, not that
we may be seen to stand the test, but that
you may do what is right, even though we may
seem not to stand the test. We have no power
at all against the truth, but we have power in
the service of the truth. We are glad when we
(12:23):
are weak if you are strong. And what we pray
for is that you may become perfect. This is my
reason for writing as I am now doing while I
am away from you, so that when I am with you,
I may not act harshly in the exercise of the
authority which the Lord gave me and gave me for
building up and not for pulling down. And now, brothers, goodbye,
(12:45):
aim at perfection, take courage, agree together, live in peace,
and then God, the source of all love and peace,
will be with you. Greet one another with a sacred kiss.
All Christ's people here send you their greeting. May the
blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God and the communion with the Holy Spirit be with
(13:07):
you all End of Chapters ten through thirteen. End of
the Second Letter to the Corinthians.
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters ten through thirteen,
from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by J. A. Carter www dot authentic light dot org.
(00:26):
The twentieth Century New Testament by a company of about
twenty scholars, The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapters ten
through thirteen. Chapter ten, Now, I, Paul, make a personal
appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ,
I who, in your presence, am humble in my bearing
(00:46):
toward you. But when absent and bold in my language
to you, I implore you not to drive me to
show my boldness. When I do, come by the confident
tone which I expect to have to adopt towards some
of you. Are expecting to find us influenced in our
conduct by earthly motives. For though we live in earthly life,
we do not wage in earthly war. The weapons of
(01:07):
our warfare are not earthly, but under God are powerful
enough to pull down strongholds. We are engaged in confuting
arguments and pulling down every barrier raised against the knowledge
of God. We are taking captive every hostile thought to
bring it into submission to the Christ, and are fully
prepared to punish every act of rebellion. When, once your
submission is complete, you look at the outward appearance of things.
(01:32):
Let anyone who is confident that he belongs to Christ
reflect for himself again upon the fact that we belong
to Christ no less than he does. Even if I
boast extravagantly about our authority, which the Lord gave us
for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it,
still I have no reason to be ashamed. I say
this that it may not seem as if I were
(01:52):
trying to overawe you by my letters. For people say
his letters are impressive and vigorous, but his personal appearance
is insignificant and is speaking contemptible. Let such a man
be assured of this, that our words in our letters
show us to be when absent, just what our deeds
will show us to be when present. We have not
(02:12):
indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some
of those who indulge in self commendation. But when such
persons measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves,
they show a want of wisdom. We, however, will not
give way to unlimited boasting, but will confine ourselves to
the limits of the sphere to which God limited us
(02:33):
when he permitted us to come as far as Corinth.
For it is not the case as it would be
if we were not in the habit of coming to you,
that we are exceeding our bounds. Why we were the
very first to reach you with the good news of
the Christ. Our boasting, therefore, is not unlimited, nor does
it extend to the labors of others. But our hope
is that as your faith grows, our influence among you
(02:55):
may be very greatly increased, though still confined to our sphere,
so that we shall be able to tell the good
news and the districts beyond you, without trespassing on the
sphere assigned to others, or boasting of what has already
been done. Let him who boasts make his boast of
the Lord. Or It is not the man who commends
himself that stands the test, but the man who is
commended by the Lord. Chapter eleven. I could wish that
(03:19):
you would tolerate a little folly in me, But indeed
you do tolerate me. I am jealous over you with
the jealousy of God. For I betrotht you to one husband,
that I might present you to Christ a pure bride.
Yet I fear that it may turn out that just
as the serpent, by his craftiness, deceived Eve, so your
minds may have lost the loyalty and purity do from
(03:40):
you to the Christ. For if some newcomer is proclaiming
a Jesus other than him whom we proclaimed, or if
you are receiving a spirit different from the spirit which
you received, or a good news different from that which
you welcomed, then you are marvelously tolerant. I do not
regard myself as in any way inferior to the most
imminent apostles. Though I am no trained order, yet I
(04:01):
am not without knowledge. Indeed, we made this perfectly clear
to you in every way. Perhaps you say that I
did wrong in humbling myself that you might be exalted.
I mean because I told you God's good news without payment.
I robbed other churches by taking pay from them so
that I might serve you. And when I was with
you and in need, I did not become a burden
to any of you, For our brothers, on coming from Macedonia,
(04:24):
supplied my needs. I kept myself and will keep myself
from being an expense to you in any way as
surely as I know anything of the truth of Christ.
This boast, as far as I am concerned, shall not
be stopped in any part of Greece. Why because I
do not love you, God knows that I do what
I am doing now, I shall continue to do that.
(04:45):
I may cut away the ground from under those who
are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that
as regards the things of which they boast, they may
appear in their true characters, just as we do. Men
of this stamp are false apostles, treacherous workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. It is not surprising, therefore,
(05:09):
if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
But their end will be in accordance with their actions.
I say again, let no one think me a fool. Yet,
if you do at least welcome me as you would
a fool, that I too may indulge in a little boasting.
When I speak thus, I am not speaking as the
Master would, but as a fool might in boasting so confidently,
(05:32):
as so many are boasting of earthly things, I too
will boast. For all your cleverness, you tolerate fools willingly enough.
You tolerate a man even when he enslaves you, when
he plunders you, when he gets you into his power,
when he puts on airs of superiority, when he strikes
you in the face. I admit to my shame that
we have been weak. But whatever the subject on which
(05:53):
others are not afraid to boast, though it is foolish
to say so, I am not afraid either. Are the Hebrews,
so am I? Are they Israelites? So am I? Are
they descendants of Abraham? So am I? Are they servants
of Christ? Though it is madness to talk like this,
I am more so than they. I have had more
(06:14):
of toil, more of imprisonment. I have been flogged times
without number. I have been often at death's door. Five times.
I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes,
all but one. Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned three times. I was shipwrecked. I
have spent a whole day and a night in the deep.
My journeys have been many. I have been through dangers
(06:36):
from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people,
dangers from the gentiles, dangers in towns, dangers in the country,
dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers. I have
been through toil and hardship. I have passed many a
sleepless night. I have endured hunger and thirst. I have
often been without food. I have known cold and nakedness,
(06:58):
And not to speak of other things. There is my
daily burden of anxiety about all the churches. Who is
weak without my being weak, who has led astray without
my burning with indignation? If I must boast, I will
boast of things which show my weakness. The God and
Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is forever blessed,
knows that I am speaking the truth. When I was
(07:19):
in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the gates
of that city guarded so as to arrest me. But
I was let down in a basket through a window
in the wall, and so escaped his hands. Chapter twelve,
I must boast, it is unprofitable. But I will pass
to visions and revelations given by the Lord. I know
a man in union with Christ, who, fourteen years ago,
(07:43):
whether in the body or out of the body, I
do not know, God knows, was caught up this man
of whom I am speaking to the third Heaven. And
I know that this man, whether in the body or
separated from the body, I do not know, God knows,
was caught up into paradise and heard on eekable things
of which no human being may tell. About such a man,
(08:04):
I will boast, But about myself I will not boast,
except as regards my weaknesses. Yet if I choose to boast,
I shall not be a fool, for I shall be
speaking no more than the truth. But I refrain lest
any one should credit me with more than he can
see in me or hear from me. And because of
the marvelous character of the revelations. It was for this reason,
(08:26):
and to prevent my thinking too highly of myself, that
a thorn was sent to pierce my flesh, an instrument
of Satan, to discipline me, so that I should not
think too highly of myself. About this, I three times
entreated the Lord, praying that it might leave me. But
his reply has been, my help is enough for you.
For my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness.
(08:49):
Most gladly, then will I boast all the more of
my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may
overshadow me. That is why I delight in weakness, ill treatment, hardships, persecution,
and difficulties when born for Christ. For when I am weak,
then it is that I am strong. I have been
playing the fool. It is you who drove me to it,
(09:10):
For it is you who ought to have been commending me.
Although I am nobody, in no respect did I prove
inferior to the most imminent apostles. The marks of the
true apostle were exhibited among you in constant endurance, as
well as by signs, by marvels, and by miracles. In
what respect, I ask, were you treated worse than the
other churches? Unless it was that for my part I
(09:32):
refuse to become a burden to you forgive me the wrong.
I Thus did you remember this is the third time
that I have made every preparation to come to see you,
and I shall refuse to be a burden to you.
I want not your money but you. It is not
the duty of children to put by for their parents,
but of parents to put by for their children. For
(09:52):
my part, I will most gladly spend and be spent
for your welfare. Can it be that the more intensely
I love you, the less yes I am to be loved?
You will admit that I was not a burden to you,
But you say that I was crafty and caught you
by a trick. Do you assert that I took advantage
of you through any of those whom I have sent
to you. I urged Titus to go, and I send
(10:13):
our brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you?
Did not? We live in the same spirit and tread
in the same footsteps. Have you all this time been
fancying that it is to you that we are making
our defense. No, it is in the sight of God
and in union with Christ that we are speaking. And
all this, dear friends, is to build up your characters.
(10:34):
For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I
may find that you are not what I want you
to be, and on the other hand, that you may
find that I am what you do not want me
to be. I am afraid that I may find quarreling, jealousy,
ill feeling, rivalry, slandering, backbiting, self assertion, and disorder. I
am afraid lest on my next visit, my God may
(10:56):
humble me in regard to you, and that I may
have to mourn over minuts who have long been sinning
and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality
in which they have indulged Chapter thirteen. For the third time,
I am coming to see you. By the word of
two or three witnesses, each statement shall be established. I
(11:16):
have said it, and I say it again before I come,
just as if I were with you on my second visit.
Though for the moment absent, I say to those who
have been long sinning, as well as to all others,
that if I come again, I shall spare no one,
and that will be the proof which you are looking for,
that the Christ speaks through me. There is no weakness
in his dealings with you. No, he shows his power
(11:38):
among you. For though his crucifixion was due to weakness,
his life is due to the power of God. And
we also are weak in his weakness. But with him
we shall live. For you, through the power of God,
put yourselves to the proof to see whether you are
holding to the faith test yourselves. Surely you recognize this
fact about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless
(12:02):
indeed you cannot stand the test. But I hope that
you will recognize that we can stand the test. We
pray God that you may do nothing wrong, not that
we may be seen to stand the test, but that
you may do what is right, even though we may
seem not to stand the test. We have no power
at all against the truth, but we have power in
the service of the truth. We are glad when we
(12:23):
are weak if you are strong. And what we pray
for is that you may become perfect. This is my
reason for writing as I am now doing while I
am away from you, so that when I am with you,
I may not act harshly in the exercise of the
authority which the Lord gave me and gave me for
building up and not for pulling down. And now, brothers, goodbye,
(12:45):
aim at perfection, take courage, agree together, live in peace,
and then God, the source of all love and peace,
will be with you. Greet one another with a sacred kiss.
All Christ's people here send you their greeting. May the
blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God and the communion with the Holy Spirit be with
(13:07):
you all End of Chapters ten through thirteen. End of
the Second Letter to the Corinthians.
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