Latest / Scripture Central / Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Sep 18 - Sep 24)2 Corinthians 8–13

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Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Sep 18 - Sep 24)2 Corinthians 8–13 · Scripture Central

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Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to Come
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Follow Me Insights with Taylor and Tyler presented by Scripture
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Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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videos, so if you want to see the visuals, we invite you to
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find us on YouTube. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
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I'm Taylor and I'm Tyler. This is Scripture Central's
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Come, Follow Me insights this week. 2nd Corinthians chapters 8
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through 13. So last week when we covered the
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first set of chapters in Second Corinthians, we introduced this
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concept of the Great Exchange, How the Savior was sent by God
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to become the embodiment, so to speak, of sin for us, even
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though He knew no sin, so that we could come to know His
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righteousness. We who without him knew no
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righteousness. So it's this, this beautiful
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exchange epistle. Now today we continue this idea
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of exchanging places not just with the Savior, but now with
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other people and with other situations.
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And we'll pick that up starting in chapter eight.
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Look at verse 9. For you know the grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
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he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
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So in this great exchange portion, he who was the richest
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of all made himself poor through the condescension to descend
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below all of us, so that we who are poor could be made rich.
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Are you noticing the Paul? He just keeps hitting this theme
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with them from multiple angles to make sure they understand
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This is at the heart and core of everything that he's trying to
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teach as an Apostle is that the Savior has an abundance of
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ability, of love, of power, of grace, and of mercy to give to
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us so that we can experience the things that without him would be
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impossible. Now it doesn't stop there,
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because that was the great exchange between us and the
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Lord. So notice how he extends this
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idea to us verse 12. For if there be first a willing
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mind, it is accepted according that a man hath and not
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according to that he has not. So he's saying, if you have a
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willing mind, then it doesn't matter what you have.
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It matters that you're willing to do this great exchange with
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others as well. According to whatever you have
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one look of verse 13 for. I mean not that other men be
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eased and ye burdened, but by an equality that now at this time
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your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their
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abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be
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equality. Now some of you might be really
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confused by that King James language.
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It's it's it's complex. It's difficult, the idea being
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you who are rich, even if you're not infinitely rich like the
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Savior was. So there was the ultimate great
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exchange, but now we bring it down to a lower level and we
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say, OK, I take whatever abundance I do have and I give
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to those who are in need. And by me giving to those in
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need, I become a little bit poorer and they become a little
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bit richer. So there can be and equality, he
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says. But then that part in verse 14
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that said that your abundance may be a supply for their want.
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That's easy to understand. But this next phrase, that their
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abundance also may be a supply for your want.
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That I believe is the core of this particular exchange.
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The poor have an abundance of of a lack, and that becomes a
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beautiful resource for our need. And what is our need?
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It's not for those possessions. Our need is an opportunity to
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practice, to become more like Jesus Christ, to turn outward,
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and to give them of our abundance so that there can be
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this equality. You see this dichotomy?
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Or maybe you could say opposites.
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Throughout scriptures Jesus often said things like the great
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shall be the least and the least shall become the greatest.
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So you will see this theme throughout the teachings of
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Jesus and particularly Paul where you have an inversion of
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what's expected. And part of the context that's
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going on here is that the Christians in Jerusalem there
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had been a famine. There was now quite a bit of
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poverty and challenge it challenge going on in Jerusalem.
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So Paul had been collecting resources from the Christian
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Saints, who are mostly Gentiles throughout the area of what is
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now modern day Turkey and Greece and other areas.
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And the point was to bring those resources to the Jewish
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Christians who are living in Jerusalem.
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And appears that the Corinthians had not been as forthcoming and
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as eager to be supportive of those in need as had been
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others, like, for example, in Galatia.
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And so Paul is trying to give them a doctrinal encouragement
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for why they should be willing to act like Jesus.
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If you have an abundance, please provide for those who often, in
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situations where it's not always of their own choosing don't
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have. And God has created a situation
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where the one great hole that we all together can uplift one
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another through the grace of God who's given all these resources
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that all can be uplifted like all.
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So next time you have an opportunity to participate in a
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fast and you contemplate a fast offering, don't see it as just a
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checklist thing to do. To say okay, A good member of
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the church should calculate how much I would have spent on on my
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meals while I was fasting. And I'll put that in an envelope
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or I'll do it electronically online.
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Boom. I check that box and I'm done.
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What a difference it would make if we look at that opportunity
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as a chance for me to practice becoming a little bit more like
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the Savior himself, who gave completely of His abundance to
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us in our need. It it it shifts away from this
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sense of duty and this sense of or or even a sense of wanting to
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receive some reward like giving, giving the fast offering and
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then thinking okay, God's going to give me some huge blessing.
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Now I don't think that was what motivated Jesus Christ and and
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it's probably not the best motivator for us.
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I think the best motivator is love that we love God and we
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love our neighbor as ourself and we recognize that there are
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people who are in a lesser position than we are and so we
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give of our abundance out of our love for the Lord and for them.
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Which brings us to Chapter 9 where he actually kind of
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describes this process because there are different motivations
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for doing charitable deeds or or giving alms.
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Let's jump down to verse 7. Every man according as he
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purposeeth in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly
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or of necessity, for God loveth A cheerful giver.
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This is back to your point about duty now, by the way.
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Acting in duty is a good thing. Remember Elder Oaks some years
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ago taught good, better, best. Doing your duty is a good thing.
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It might even be a better thing. What Paul is focusing on is the
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best is doing it cheerfully out of your full true volition of
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wanting to do good in the world because you love.
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You love others. You love God, and you don't
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simply do it because it's commanded.
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And then he he jumps to verse 8 and God is able to make all
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grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency
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and all things may abound in every good work.
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It's fascinating that this is one of those means that the Lord
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has given us where we can practice again and again and
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again. So if you're having a hard time
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back to the good, better. Best If you're giving fast
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offering or paying tithing, or keeping any commandment for that
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matter, grudgingly. It's better that you do that
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than not keep the commandment. It's better to do it grudgingly.
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But then you can keep practicing over time and you can recognize
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this is an area that I'm I'm needing some some grace from God
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to help me actually do this, more aligned with how the Savior
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gave his riches to us. And so you can practice again
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and again and again and thank heaven that the Lord is very
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long-suffering and very patient with us.
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And salvation, keep in mind, is not a Sprint.
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It's a very long game. It's much longer than a marathon
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for. The endurance run it is, and so
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you just keep at it. You keep chipping away at it.
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The covenant path is a long process.
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We should reiterate again the importance of this word grace,
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that many of us have a basic sense of what it means.
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In English. It often means like a free gift.
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And yet, even though God has given us things freely, grace is
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a covenantal word that implies and signals that God is wanting
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to be in their covenantal relationship.
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He offers us something freely. And in exchange, if we receive
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the gift we are choosing to be covenantly connected to God, and
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to give him something in return, there is a mutual reciprocity.
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And as we return something to him, perhaps in the way of
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serving those around us, he by His grace and by the covenantal
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nature of that grace relationship, is covenantly
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obligated. To upgrade and give us more.
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So when you see here in verse eight it says God always having
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all sufficiency in all things. Every time we do more acts like
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God. It's almost as if the pie of
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God's love expands and his grace for us increases which he has an
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Infinity of grace. So technically, you can't really
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increase God's God's grace, and yet there seems to be this
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leveling up every time you act in grace because of God's grace.
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He gives you more grace and more capacity to act in grace.
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So the core idea here is the mutuality of a grace filled
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relationship. When you see grace, it means I
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am mutually obligated with God, he's obligated to me, I'm
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obligated to him, and we share grace with everybody.
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It's a very powerful concept. So he he takes exactly what
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you're describing right there and he puts it in a object
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lesson form in this parenthetical statement that
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covers verse 9 and 10. You'll notice the parentheses
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opens up at the beginning as it is written.
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He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor.
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So as Taylor was saying, there's there's a serious need abroad
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over in Jerusalem and so you've you've dispersed abroad.
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Now he that ministers seed to the sower.
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So if you give seed to the sower, the the seeds to be
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planted, what happens? Both minister bread for your
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food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your
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righteousness. You give one grain, let's say of
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wheat to a sower. You think, man, but I could have
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eaten that. I could have crushed that up and
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it would have made a little teeny tiny amount of of flour
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for me, but I could have eaten it.
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But instead, what do I do? I give it to the sower, who in
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this context, in my mind, is the Savior, the greatest sower of
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all. And what he does is he then sows
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that seed. It goes into the ground, and if
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it falls into good soil, it's going to bring forth.
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If. If you look at the parable of
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the sower and the soils back in Matthew 13, it's going to bring
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forth in good ground, either 30 or 60 or 100 fold.
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So I took one grain of wheat, and because it was given to the
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sower, it can actually turn into 100 grains of wheat, providing
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not only bread for me, but bread for for many.
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And it only happens when it's given to the Lord.
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He's the one who multiplies the harvest, and we're talking about
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the the harvest of souls here. So, brothers and sisters,
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sometimes we we limit this to just fast offerings.
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This is any kind word, any kind deed, anything good that we do
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for other people. If it's given to the Lord and
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given to them in this great exchange idea, the Lord will
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multiply that harvest, and miracles can be performed with
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those offerings. Let's build on this just
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briefly. To be honest, most of us engage
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in what we might call rather mundane things on a regular
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basis. That's just part of life, and
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most of us cannot avoid that. The interesting thing is, if we
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take these principles that Paul is teaching, we can realize that
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every act, any act of goodness that you do.
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Even if it's something you have to do every day, making meals
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for somebody, opening a door, washing a window, getting
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dressed, Every act that you do can be dedicated to God and be
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and be for good. It may not completely change the
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world. Getting your shoes on in the
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morning may not change the world, but you can choose to see
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that every act that you choose can be dedicated in love to God.
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And meant to be a blessing to other people.
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And in that perspective, every day we can find a bit more joy.
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We don't have to go out and do grand things.
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I don't have to get called to a foreign country and open the
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gospel to countries that have never had the gospel before.
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As thrilling as that might be, the daytoday living acts of
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goodness is where we find the reality of the gospel, and we
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invite you just to look at your life and realize that right now.
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You are doing things that you can dedicate to God that are
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very mundane and it can upgrade your feeling about what that is.
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And you can realize I am actually in the service of other
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people as I'm living my daytoday life.
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You know, Taylor, what you're talking about here, it reminds
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me of sister Sharon Eubank has shared this concept that is
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often when we think of giving alms to the poor or doing
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service projects, we think of these big huge projects making
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big quilts to go and send off to some shelter, which is great
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that it's that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing.
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But her point is, what about the people that we've been asked to
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minister to what about our families?
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Sometimes we think so big, so far away that that's where our
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arms and our service should go. And we overlook the people,
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these mundane situations around us, our our our spouses, our
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children, our parents, our siblings, our ward members, our
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neighbors, our colleagues at work, these these little
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interactions that happen all the time.
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And her point is, let's start focusing on our ministry and on
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these these relationships closer to home, while not discounting
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all of the bigger service projects that we can do.
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But let's not assume that because we've done the huge
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service project check now, I don't need to.
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Now I don't need to do this with my neighbors anymore.
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I've, I've come to believe that any act of goodness, anything
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that I or anyone else does that makes the world just a little
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bit better is building the Kingdom of God.
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And as I've come to discover that, I'm like, Oh my gosh.
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I can be building the Kingdom of God almost with every single
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breath that I take, and that is exhilarating, liberating, joy
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filled that I feel encouraged now on a daily basis.
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I don't have to be doing grand things.
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I just need to be living in grace, showing love and choosing
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that every breath, every act is intended to make the world just
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a little bit better, just even a small Oz.
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And that is building the Kingdom of God.
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So let's jump into Chapter 10. Now Paul changes gears a little
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bit here and he, he speaks autobiographically.
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For a moment, look at verse one. Now I, Paul myself, beseech you
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by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
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You'll notice he's, he's portraying this, this whole
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epistle, this great exchange of pistol, of Second Corinthians.
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It's this soft, gentle, warm, kind, loving letter.
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And he says, I'm I'm beseeching you in meekness and gentleness.
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I'm not using my authority as an apostle to stiff arm you and to
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come in with a sledgehammer to force conformance to behavior.
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I'm speaking very meekly and very, very gently.
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But then he says, who in presence and base among you, but
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being absent and bold toward you, He's saying, I when I'm
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with you, I I try to be this this meek and gentle person, And
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then he says, verse 2. But I beseech you that I may not
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be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I
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think to be bold against some which think of us as if we
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walked according to the flesh. He's like, I don't want to get
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into a battle of wits with you. I don't want to have any arm
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wrestles with you. I don't want to try to prove I'm
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stronger than anybody. This is not my role.
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I don't want to to try to push my weight around.
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And by the way, according to Joseph Smith, Paul is not very
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tall. He's he's quite short and he
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wouldn't he wouldn't fare well in a in a wrestling match or in
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a in a a battle of the flesh. And so he addresses this look at
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verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
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we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare
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are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down
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of strongholds. He's going to pick this up later
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on in his epistle to the Ephesians when he talks about
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the whole armor of God. We wrestle not against flesh and
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blood. There are wars, no question.
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There there are, definitely. These battles of the flesh.
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But what Paul is saying is I'm not involved in those.
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I'm not I I, I don't have a dog in that fight.
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I'm in a different kind of a war.
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I'm in the spiritual war. And we're fighting against the
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powers of darkness. We're fighting against false
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ideas, false philosophies and false religious practices of
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your of your city here in Corns. And again to provide some
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context, we talked about this in the past episode that in early
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Christianity it wasn't like they had satellite receivers and
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general conference every six months and like a print
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distribution of the scriptures and church manuals and stake
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presidents and bishops and release any presidents who could
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kind of align people around. What was true you had you had
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these brand new religious movement and people like.
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Paul, who'd been called by God to go help and he lives an
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emphasis for a while, lives in Corinth for a while.
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And when he moves away, other Christian preachers, or
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Christian preachers, so-called, would come in.
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Perhaps they were well meaning. We don't know a lot about them.
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It seems that some of them came in and undermined the truths
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that Paul was teaching and did it in part by boasting, right?
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Think about the great exchange. They try to show up and say,
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look how rich we are with our rhetoric, our words, our
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knowledge. We have letters of
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recommendation, so you should listen to us and not Paul.
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Paul had no letters of recommendation.
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What did Paul say last week? Well, Jesus is my letter of
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recommendation and the people who converted for my preaching
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are my letter of recommendation. These same people who in some in
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some translations we call them super apostles or people who
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believe they're above or better than the apostles and they
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sometimes we're trying to argue that their.
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Accolades and their training, their education, demonstrated
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that they were the ones who should be teaching and not Paul.
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So when Paul's talking about this, he is, in so many words,
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trying to argue against these individuals who've been
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boasting, lifting themselves up, and claiming that their academic
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accolades or their life experience meant that they were
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more qualified. To be leading the church than
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the people that God himself had put in charge with, which at
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this time was Paul. So as you read these chapters,
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you want to be thinking about that and even ask.
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In our own lives, training and education is extremely valuable.
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We've been taught in the church. Get all the education you can,
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but a degree in education That alone does not indicate that
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you're the supposed to be the person who takes over and takes
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charge. You might be qualified.
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But there's being called and chosen, and sometimes some
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people are chosen who may not have certain academic or
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experiential training. Guess what?
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That is part of the Kingdom of God.
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We all take our turn to serve, and we all support one another.
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And Paul's trying to get at this.
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Let's stop using the world's way of proving authority and let God
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prevail. The world's way of authority is
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not bad. It's just insufficient for how
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God runs his Kingdom. So let's analyze this next set
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of verses here in the context of of what apostles and prophets
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today are called to do. Look at verse 7.
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Do you look on things after the outward appearance?
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If any man trusts to himself that he is Christ, let him of
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himself Think this again, that as he is Christ even, so are we
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Christ it. It's getting exactly what you're
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talking about here, Taylor, with these other people coming in
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claiming authority. For though I should boast
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somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for
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edification and not for your destruction, I should not be
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ashamed that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by
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letters. Then he goes on to say verse 12.
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For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare
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ourselves with some that come in themselves, but they.
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Measuring themselves by themselves and comparing
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themselves among themselves are not wise, but they.
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Think they're wise? They show up saying, look how
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wise we are, and Paul's saying, if you are creating your own
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standards and you're winning according to the standards you
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created for yourself, that's a pretty foolish thing to do.
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Which if you look at this from a Book of Mormon context, one of
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the the things that we see repeatedly in the Book of Mormon
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is when false prophets come among the people, what do they
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do? They tell the people what the
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people want to hear. Whereas when God gives authority
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to prophets, sears and revelators, it's not usually
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with the message okay, I've now called and authorized you.
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I want you to go into that city or I want you to go and preach
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to this people or I want you to be a prophet for the whole world
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and I want you to just pat everybody on the back and tell
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them keep up the good work, don't change anything, which is
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what we want to hear or. Hey prophet, your job is to go
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out there, be really popular, collect a lot of money, dress
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better than everybody, sit on a throne, and never work.
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It's interesting when God calls leaders, it's to put them in a
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position where they have to often work harder and longer and
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more to serve people than those who are not in the same
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leadership positions. You ask anybody who's in any
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kind of calling in the church. Are they working more or when
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they didn't have a calling? And I don't know anybody who
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aspires to callings, like I would love to take that calling
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so I can just sit around and get all the accolades.
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Usually, callings in the church at any level are an invitation
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for more work because you're serving more people.
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It's it's fascinating to look now at 1st and 2nd Corinthians
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together with Paul the apostle who's written both of these
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letters and you see kind of this range of the calling of a
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prophet. It it connects back to to Enus
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in the Book of Mormon when he says that his father had taught
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him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
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You get this, this two sides, the admonition, the correcting,
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the disciplining, the helping one to understand what what
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needs to be done better and the nurture, being able to to show
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that love and that comfort, that kind, gentle, merciful side.
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And Enis talks about both sides. Well, a prophet isn't called to
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just usually to just go and nurture and say, oh, you're
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loved. Everything's wonderful.
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Prophets are often given very difficult messages to deliver to
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the people, and they're the messenger.
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They're not the message. They're the messenger from God
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sent by him to give this admonition of the Lord to the
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people. And you can see how Paul did
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that in First Corinthians and how other outsiders come in and
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say, yeah, he's kind of mean and he's kind of a Hick.
27:57
He doesn't know as much as we do.
27:59
He doesn't have as much experience as we do.
28:01
So listen to us. We're going to give you what you
28:03
really need and what, quite frankly, you deserve.
28:07
And so it's it's this interesting balancing act, if
28:12
you will, a pendulum swing that when profits speak from a pulpit
28:18
or when they come and minister to people, they have to find
28:22
this way to teach the doctrine, teach the the truth as given to
28:28
them by God, to help prevent people from falling into sin or
28:34
into error or into wrongdoing. But then they have to also show
28:39
an increase of love for those who have fallen into sin, who
28:44
have struggled to give them hope, to repent, to move
28:48
forward. And you can see that if all they
28:51
ever taught was the admonition and the commandment and the
28:54
correcting side, it would get pretty discouraging.
28:58
And people would probably say, well, I I don't want to listen
29:02
to to general conference anymore.
29:05
But if all they ever did was told us what a how much God
29:09
loves us and how how we should keep moving forward to the best
29:15
of our ability, with no mention of how to move forward and what
29:19
we need to change, you can see that it would be out of balance.
29:22
And so don't be frustrated in this process of engaging with
29:28
scripture and with words of living prophets, when
29:31
occasionally you've struggled with something and you hear a
29:34
prophet telling people not to do the very thing you've struggled
29:38
with or a loved one of yours has struggled with.
29:41
And just recognize that they're trying to help others who might
29:44
be tempted to move in that direction, to not go in that
29:47
direction. And they may not be speaking
29:49
directly to you. If you've struggled with that.
29:52
Just wait. Look for other opportunities
29:56
where they're going to teach that hope and give that that
30:01
invitation to have faith in the Savior and in His ability to
30:05
make right all the wrongs that we have committed and replace
30:10
them with His righteousness. We could.
30:16
We could do a better job of sustaining our profits and
30:20
revelators by doing more than just raising our hand in general
30:24
conference or state conference or ward Conference, but rather
30:29
praying for them and their families And that incredible
30:33
burden that has been placed on their shoulders to to do both of
30:38
these things in the world and never have an opportunity to
30:42
retire and just relax and enjoy a life of vacations in
30:49
retirement. This is really helpful.
30:52
In fact, it reminds me Tyler for phrase you've probably heard
30:55
before. Make the uncomfortable
30:59
comfortable and make the comfortable uncomfortable which
31:04
fits into this like this dichotomous.
31:07
Phraseology we see throughout Paul and even Jesus.
31:10
And so if you find yourself quite comfortable, you might
31:14
hear words of uncomfortableness. And if you find yourself
31:19
uncomfortable, you should be looking for and expect to find
31:22
words of comfort. God does not want us just stuck.
31:26
He wants us growing and it takes ongoing effort.
31:29
It's powerful. So, coming full circle, back to
31:34
verse 12. He's making this beautiful
31:37
commentary on You live in a world Corinthian Saints and
31:42
quite frankly, Latter Day Saints.
31:45
We live in a world that is constantly comparing, constantly
31:50
seeing how you measure up to everybody else.
31:53
And social media turns that into cosmic proportions of comparing.
32:00
But it's usually a comparison of people's facade, usually of
32:06
putting the best foot forward. Look.
32:08
Look how good everything's going here, with very little reality
32:14
of the full breadth and depth of their life.
32:18
And then we sit and watch and make a comparison with a full
32:22
understanding of our messy muddiness of life.
32:26
And we end up losing every single time in that comparison,
32:31
either because we're looking up in pride at them, or because
32:37
others might be looking down in pride thinking I'm so much
32:43
better than than this person or than these people.
32:47
And so it's a beautiful reminder to not measure yourself by
32:53
others or to compare yourself among each other.
32:57
The only comparison that is going to lead to the right kind
33:02
of sorrow, which is godly sorrow, which leads to faith and
33:07
motivation to repent and actually become better rather
33:11
than be discouraged and depressed and anxious and become
33:14
worse that the world's sorrow does, is if you're comparing you
33:20
with the ideal, which is Jesus Christ.
33:23
That's the only comparison that we should be making.
33:27
And if you look horizontally, it's not to compare.
33:31
It's with an eye of who needs me.
33:35
It's that invitation that that President Henry V Iring has
33:38
repeated multiple times. Heavenly Father, who needs me?
33:43
Who can I help today? If you look horizontally with
33:47
that in mind, there's no comparison.
33:51
It's simply now multiple opportunities that the Lord will
33:55
bring into your life to become more like Jesus Christ by
33:59
turning outward and helping these people as you notice their
34:02
need. So now if we go to Chapter 11,
34:05
verse four says, For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus
34:12
whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which
34:16
you have not received, or another gospel which you have
34:19
not accepted, you might well bear with him.
34:23
For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest
34:27
apostle. He's saying, Look, you've had
34:31
and Taylor's talked about this. You've got these super apostles,
34:35
the these selfproclaimed authority figures who have come
34:40
in with all of this learning and power and and physical might to
34:46
try to convince you to listen and follow them.
34:50
And he's simply saying if they're preaching another Jesus
34:54
or if they're teaching a different gospel than what we've
34:57
taught you, there's your there's your test.
35:00
That's your litmus test. You you don't need to to be
35:04
persuaded by their claims to authority.
35:08
And quite frankly, we live in a world today that is filled with
35:14
people who are claiming all kinds of authority.
35:17
And they're persuasive. They're articulate.
35:20
They are rich. They're they're smart in their
35:24
techniques and in what they're doing.
35:27
And yet when we listen to God's prophets, sears and revelators
35:31
and the the His appointed leaders of the different
35:34
organizations, it's beautiful to see how how powerfully the
35:41
gospel is taught by them. Because if you if you peel back
35:46
all the layers, they're not preaching these things for them
35:49
to get gained. They're preaching these things
35:53
as a sacrifice. They're giving their time and
35:55
their whole life to help us. This is a Christ like connection
36:01
to the Great Exchange. They're being Christ like in
36:05
that they're giving us of their life.
36:08
Whereas the people that Paul's referring to here, they clearly
36:12
have an agenda. There's something that they're
36:14
wanting to get from these people in Corinth rather than what
36:19
Paul's doing, which is trying to give something to these people
36:23
in Corinth. So it's a it's a good reminder
36:27
for us living in this digital age where there's never been a
36:30
generation before of different people living on the earth who
36:35
have many in their pocket. The the window to the world of
36:43
information past and present like we have today, which means
36:48
there are an awful lot of voices clamoring for our time and our
36:51
attention. They're selling a lot of things.
36:54
The question is, is are we buying versus what the prophets
36:58
are saying? Are we listening?
37:01
He goes on in verse 13 and 14 a bit more clearly calling out
37:05
these false teachers who are misleading people.
37:09
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming
37:14
themselves into the apostles of Christ.
37:17
And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of
37:21
light. Therefore it is no great thing
37:24
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
37:26
righteousness whose end shall be according to their works.
37:32
So it's a little bit complex in some cases what he's saying, but
37:35
fundamentally he's teaching us we need to be aligned with true.
37:42
Teachers sent from God, not simply those who claim on their
37:47
own authority to to be so. Now the world is full of
37:51
leaders. There's a great leadership
37:54
writer and speaker, man named John C Maxwell, and his
37:59
definition of leadership is influence.
38:01
A very simple but powerful definition.
38:04
So if you go create influence in anybody's life, positive or
38:08
negative, you are exerting leadership.
38:11
And so these socalled super apostles were exerting negative
38:16
leadership. They were trying to attract
38:21
people to themselves for their own personal gain, true
38:26
leadership. Christ like leadership, does the
38:29
opposite. It instead of exalting itself a
38:33
bases itself in order that other people might have that
38:36
experience. And I actually saw this very
38:38
powerfully just a few days ago. With somebody I admire greatly
38:42
and a friend, they're one of the classes that I teach at the
38:46
university. I every week need to bring in a
38:49
different speaker to encourage and inspire the students.
38:52
And these are speakers who often have very busy lives.
38:55
They're very successful in doing a lot of things, but they take
38:58
their time to come visit and I happen to invite two different
39:03
people with the same name and I wasn't totally paying attention
39:08
2 minutes before the class. Starts the first man who was
39:13
there, ready to go. He had flown in.
39:15
Actually, there had been three canceled flights.
39:18
He ended up driving to a different airport, booking a
39:20
different flight to get to the university to be with the
39:23
students. Two minutes before class starts,
39:27
he and I and my teaching assistants realized there was
39:30
actually another man that he also knew with the same name,
39:32
who was actually also assigned. So it was very interesting.
39:40
This man, this brother said it's okay, let's let the other person
39:45
speak and I will just go into the audience and be a student.
39:49
And it was so impressive to me. Now the class that I teach is is
39:54
a class on leadership and innovation.
39:57
I later wrote to this friend and said in all the years I've been
40:01
involved in this class, your gracious act of humility taught
40:06
me more about leadership. Than the totality of all these
40:11
lectures I've been participating in for years, which all have
40:13
been incredible. And by the way, the speaker that
40:16
day was incredible and I saw my other friend who was also
40:21
supposed to be speaking, sitting down, taking notes.
40:24
And to even add to this, it turns out that my friend happens
40:30
to be the boss of the other person who was speaking.
40:34
That's how bad I messed things up.
40:36
So it was a very powerful lesson that we all have daily choices
40:42
to say, will I puff myself up in order to put other people down
40:47
or am I willing to uplift other people and in the same time also
40:52
be uplifted? I'm actually pretty confident if
40:54
we talked to my friend and say my other friend gave such a
40:57
great talk and I learned so many important things, I took all
41:01
these notes. And that again, is the essence
41:06
of real leadership. I wonder if these socalled super
41:10
apostles had learned from actually these two friends.
41:13
Maybe these super apostles also would have taken turns teaching,
41:16
listening to one another, maybe sitting down and taking notes
41:19
instead of saying it'll listen to Paul.
41:21
That guy's a loser. And so, and again in our own
41:23
lives, let's listen to the real leader of Jesus Christ and his
41:26
chosen servants. That is a profound example of of
41:31
leadership and of a of a great exchange and also not
41:36
embarrassing me, which I totally deserve to be embarrassed for
41:38
making. Kind of a That's amazing.
41:40
A funny mistake, but. So now let's watch as Paul kind
41:45
of he, he jumps into the ring a little bit, kind of playing
41:51
their game, which is let's let's have a comparison.
41:55
Even though he just got through telling you stop comparing, he's
41:58
like, OK, I'm going to, I'm going to jump into the ring, but
42:02
I'm going to do it differently. I'm I'm not going to come in
42:06
swinging. I'm going to jump into this ring
42:09
and I'm going to speak in in kind of this reversed approach
42:15
that that's going to catch many of them off guard.
42:17
Yeah, essentially real leaders serve and suffer on behalf of
42:22
the people that they serve. So.
42:25
So he sets this up in verse 18 by saying seeing that many glory
42:29
after the flesh. I will glory also between verse
42:33
19 and 22. He's kind of describing some of
42:37
the ways that that we can be smitten and and suffer.
42:41
Look at verse 23. Are they ministers of Christ?
42:45
I speak as a fool. I am more.
42:48
So now here's a comparison. These people who are speaking to
42:52
you, are they really ministers of Christ And how are you going
42:55
to know? Now Paul gives his his resume.
42:59
As an apostle of what he's been through in the flesh, not for
43:03
his game, but for the people's game, for their game, for their
43:09
benefit. Look overs 23 halfway down in
43:13
labor's, more abundant in stripes above measure.
43:17
In. In prisons more frequent in
43:20
deaths OFT. Of the Jews five times received
43:24
I-40 stripes save 1 thrice. Was I beaten with rods once.
43:29
Was I stoned thrice. I suffered shipwreck a night and
43:34
a day. I have been in the deep in
43:36
journeyings, often in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in
43:42
perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
43:46
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the
43:49
sea. In perils among false brethren,
43:52
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often in hunger and
43:57
thirst, in fastings often in cold and nakedness, beside those
44:02
things that are without that which cometh upon me daily, the
44:07
care of all the churches, 23 through 28 That is quite the
44:13
list. He's saying you want to start
44:16
comparing resumes of what people have done, these faults,
44:21
apostles who are come to you talking about all these amazing
44:24
feats they've accomplished. Well, this is what I've been
44:29
through and this is what the Lord has allowed me to pass
44:34
through. And brothers and sisters, often
44:37
you and I, for whatever reason, the natural man, natural woman
44:42
tendency in each of us. Wants to jump to a conclusion
44:46
that if a bad thing happens, if any of these kinds of
44:51
tribulations or of death in the family or accident or disease or
44:56
loss of job or loss of relationship, that somehow
45:00
that's a sign of divine disfavor.
45:02
Or that I'm not good enough or I should have been better.
45:06
Or if only I had done this differently, that wouldn't have
45:09
happened and we beat ourselves up.
45:11
And think God doesn't love me. God isn't blessing me.
45:15
I think if Paul were standing here today, he wouldn't say
45:19
yeah, I gave you verse 23 to 28 to show you how much God was
45:22
punishing me. I don't think he would say that.
45:25
I think he would say I gave you verse 23 to 28 to show you how
45:30
much God loved me. Blessed are all those who are
45:34
persecuted for my name's sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of
45:38
heaven. I think he wouldn't.
45:41
He wouldn't take that natural man response of man.
45:46
God's being cruel to me, he would say.
45:49
I wish I had 10,000 lives to give with all the perils that
45:54
that mortality could throw at me because of the love that he has
45:58
for the Lord. And it just it's oozing off of
46:01
this page how much he is focused on the right thing and not
46:06
saying. Look at all of these terrible
46:08
things that have happened to me. And I've been trying to devote
46:10
my life to God. I've been doing good things.
46:13
I've been keeping commandments. And look at all these bad things
46:15
that happened, which is what we often fall into saying instead
46:19
of, as Paul saying here, yeah, I'll show you.
46:23
I'll show you what I've been through for you.
46:26
And then he finishes with verse 3029, who is weak and I am not
46:31
weak. Who is offended?
46:34
And I burn not. If I must need glory, I will
46:38
glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
46:41
He's going to glory in his infirmities.
46:43
Why? The God and Father of our Lord
46:47
Jesus Christ, which is blessed forevermore, knoweth that I lie
46:51
not. And he's describing how God has
46:57
provided a way for him to escape all of these, all of these
47:01
perils. All of these things that from a
47:03
world's perspective are seen as tragedies or or potential
47:06
tragedies and he's saying basically give God the glory,
47:11
which is a very Christ like thing to do.
47:12
And what's powerful is after going through this summary of
47:16
all these challenges, he says that itself is insufficient to
47:21
prove that I am the Lord's minister even though it's
47:24
powerful, powerful evidence. In the next chapter, he then
47:29
flips it and says, here's what God has done to redeem me,
47:33
inviting me into his heavenly courts with revelatory
47:37
experiences. And wouldn't you want to follow
47:40
somebody who has been in God's presence and learn directly from
47:44
him? Would be valuable for your life.
47:47
So it's just not enough to suffer.
47:48
Good servants suffer, but true servants also have been in the
47:54
presence of God, and that's what Paul now talks about.
47:58
Which is a beautiful reminder that the Lord Jesus Christ
48:02
doesn't just teach us how to live His gospel.
48:05
He teaches us how to endure suffering and endure it in a way
48:09
that can lead to growth and progress and development and
48:15
increased faith and devotion to him, rather than decreased
48:19
faith, so that our sufferings can help us become better, not
48:23
bitter. It was Elder Maxwell who said
48:26
Christ partook of history's bitterest cup without becoming
48:32
bitter. And yet you and I are given a
48:35
little bitter cup through experiences and off times.
48:38
It it ends up in bittering us if we're not careful.
48:42
So, as Taylor introduced in in chapter 12, he says in verse
48:46
two, I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago.
48:50
Whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body
48:52
I cannot tell. God knoweth.
48:55
Such an one caught up to the 3rd heaven.
48:58
And I knew such a man how that he was caught up into paradise
49:04
and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man
49:08
to utter. So it's this idea that it's
49:12
being called to be on the Lord's errand.
49:14
Doesn't just mean get ready. You're going to have a miserable
49:18
life. It's you put all of those
49:21
terrible. Misfortunes that happen to you
49:24
into their proper perspective and you get revelation.
49:28
You get deeper connection with heaven.
49:32
And notice how Paul again, there's a bit of debate going on
49:35
between different preachers and he's not showing up and saying,
49:38
hey everybody, I Paul have seen God.
49:42
Now they're the places where he says this.
49:43
But in this context, he's not trying to be overly bold and
49:48
misuse the revelatory experience.
49:50
He speaks in the third person. Yeah, I knew somebody who
49:55
experienced Jesus Christ up in the heavens.
49:57
That's incredible. When he could have been like
50:00
these super apostles or these false preachers saying, you
50:02
know, I went to heaven. Instead, he humbles himself so
50:07
people can understand what it was like to be up in heaven.
50:11
What an amazing connection. Now back to Isaiah picks up that
50:15
theme multiple times, that the. He that humbleth himself shall
50:20
be exalted, and he that exalted himself shall be abased.
50:24
And the Isaiah principle of the the mountains shall be brought
50:29
low and the valleys shall be brought up.
50:32
He's using geography to represent people.
50:36
That's exactly what's taking place here.
50:38
Paul who is coming meek and lowly, the Lord is going to
50:43
raise up, and these people who are coming in all puffed up and
50:46
prideful and haughty. Are are going to be brought low.
50:52
And then he says, verse 6. For though I would desire to
50:54
glory, I shall not be a fool. For I will say the truth, but
50:59
now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that
51:02
which he seeth me to be, or that he hearth of me, he says, I'm
51:07
not going to try to glory. I'm not going to try to puff
51:08
myself up bigger than than I'm. I'm not going to make a social
51:12
media post that makes my life look perfect for you.
51:17
And then he opens up in verse 7. Unless I should be exalted above
51:20
measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given
51:24
to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger Satan to Buffett me,
51:30
lest I should be exalted above measure.
51:33
There's something, and there's been a lot of ink spilled over
51:36
what this thorn in Paul's flesh was.
51:38
Some people thinking it was some physical ailment or poor
51:43
eyesight, some thinking it was perhaps an emotional.
51:47
Or a psychological struggle that he had to wrestle with and face?
51:51
We have no idea because he doesn't tell us.
51:53
We just know something is keeping him humble.
51:58
Well, we learned in the Book of Mormon God gives humans weakness
52:03
called a thorn in the flesh. It invites us to be humble.
52:06
And we all, first of all have that weakness of all nature.
52:09
And we all have individual challenges and fundamentally
52:13
what we all individually suffer with ultimately a long run
52:17
doesn't matter. It's whether we allow those
52:20
things to work in us, to become humble and more like Jesus
52:23
Christ. I see Paul doing that here.
52:25
He's not trying to be self focused on whatever his
52:27
particular suffering. And and you get it.
52:30
You get a second witness of of what is taught very beautifully
52:34
in the Book of Mormon. This idea of my grace is
52:37
sufficient For all who humble themselves and come unto me,
52:41
then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
52:44
That beautiful chap. Passage in ether, chapter 12.
52:48
Notice what the Lord tells Paul here in verse 9.
52:53
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
52:58
strength is made perfect in weakness.
53:01
Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,
53:05
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
53:08
Are you seeing the Great Exchange yet again in my
53:12
weakness? His Grace, it's not my weakness
53:15
that I'm glorying in. I'm not saying, ooh, I want to
53:18
sin to show my weakness. It's I'm doing the best I can.
53:23
But I have a thorn in the flesh. We all have a thorn in the
53:27
flesh. It's called mortality.
53:28
It's called fallen nature. And it it keeps us humble.
53:34
And so here we are in this fallen condition, and the
53:38
Savior's grace is sufficient for all of us.
53:42
That we can be made perfect. That His grace can be made
53:45
perfect in our weakness. So he says most gladly.
53:50
Therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities.
53:54
That the power of Christ may rest upon me.
53:56
What an amazing concept, this idea that when you wake up in
53:59
the morning, you don't say, Oh, I'm glad to be alive.
54:02
I've got everything under control today.
54:05
Heavenly Father, I don't need help.
54:07
I'll check in with you tomorrow. I got today figured out.
54:11
There's not a single day of my life that I've woken up and
54:14
thought, no, I don't need the Lord.
54:18
Because every single day I wake up and I say, oh Lord, my God,
54:23
when I, an awesome wonder consider all the world's thy
54:25
hands have made please how great thou art.
54:29
I need help. I need thy grace.
54:32
It also means we shouldn't wake up in despair that we lack so
54:36
much. Imagine two puzzle pieces that
54:39
fit perfectly together God's totality and our fallen nature,
54:45
and we should wake up every morning realizing this is the
54:47
puzzle piece we have right now, and we shouldn't despair about
54:50
it. We should be thrilled that it
54:52
fits so perfectly with what God's puzzle piece is His total,
54:56
enduring love and grace. So we should all just find more
55:00
joy in our lives and choose to see the joy instead of despair.
55:05
So let's finish with a couple of these.
55:07
Really what I what I would love to refer to here as power
55:11
phrases, power verses Wow, that these are beautiful.
55:17
Verse 10. Therefore I take pleasure in
55:21
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
55:26
distresses. For Christ's sake.
55:30
Those 3 words are the qualifier. If we don't go through these
55:35
things for Christ's sake, then they are just miserable.
55:39
Then God really must not care about us, is the conclusion we
55:43
could more easily convince ourselves as being reality,
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which it isn't. But it's all of these bad things
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that he's listed over there in in verse 23 through 29 of
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Chapter 11, he's saying look. I take pleasure in all of these
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things because of these two puzzle pieces that Taylor's
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talking about, this that my infirmities fit so perfectly
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with Christ's mercy, And then this concluding phrase, which
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for me, I I haven't marked in in bright yellow.
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For when I am weak, then am I strong?
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If you felt inadequate. If you felt imperfect.
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If you felt like you keep falling short, you're in a
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perfect place to look up and say, Dear God on high, I need
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thee. Oh how I need thee, I need help.
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Please help me through thy strength to overcome my
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weakness, and then give yourself time to work through this
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process with the Lord. Keep in mind, salvation is a
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long game. It's not done in an afternoon.
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This is a this is a long marathon.
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And then you jump down to verse 14.
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Behold the third time I'm ready to come to you, and I will not
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be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours but you for the
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children. Not to not to lay up for the
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parents, but the parents for the children.
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He's been to Corinth twice, spend a year and a half on his
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second missionary journey and visit again.
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Now he's saying I'm going to come a third time, but I'm not
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coming to get things from you. I'm not going to take anything
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away from you because a parent doesn't take from the child.
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A parent gives to the child, and a true apostle isn't going to
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try to get anything from you. I'm going to come and give
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things to you. Verse 15 and I will very gladly
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spend. And be spent for you.
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Look at the life of our of our Prophets series and revelators.
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They spend their entire life consecrated and devoted to, to
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the Lord and to us. For example, President Nelson
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has spent more years since the age of American retirement,
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serving since age 65, than most people often ever spend in their
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totality of their careers up to age 65.
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It's amazing. It's amazing, Verse 15 finishes
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by saying. Though the more abundantly I
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love you, the less I be loved. Those are sobering words.
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The more I've loved you, fulfilling my role as an
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apostle, the less I've been loved by you.
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It's a lonely job that they have them and their families and
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quite frankly they could use probably more of our true
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sustaining vote and and confidence and trust and
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listening and hearkening to them as Watchmen on the towers.
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Now we finish with Chapter 13, he says.
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Verse one, this is the third time I am coming to you.
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In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
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established. That's a verse that that comes
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up in in a couple of other settings regarding to scripture,
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regarding to the law of witnesses for the Book of Mormon
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and for why we send our missionaries out two by two and
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sometimes in in groups of three that he establishes his word.
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Always in the mouth of two or three witnesses.
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Look at verse four, he says. For though Christ was crucified
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through weakness, you noticing a great exchange, he gave up.
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He condescended his godly power and became capable of dying, of
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giving up the ghost by coming to earth.
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Yet he liveth by the power of God, for we also are weak in
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him. But we shall live with him by
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the power of God toward you. Or for you.
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So I learned this from a really capable writer and speaker, a
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man named Benjamin Hardy, and he shared this concept that we can
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choose to look at how things happen to us or for us.
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It's things are happening, but you interpret them as happening
1:00:43
to you or for you. And this word tort here actually
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means for God does not do things to you, He does things for you.
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That's that's profound. Especially if you if you connect
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that now down to verse five, examine yourselves whether you
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be in the faith, prove your own selves.
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Know ye, not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you
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except you be reprobates. If if you're reprobates, then
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Christ is in you. But it's that idea of the more
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we have the Savior's spirit, His influence, His the the perfect
1:01:25
model of what we're trying to become.
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If that's in us, then when all these things happen to us, we
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can translate it through that filter and see that benefit of
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them being for us to strengthen us.
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That's a that's a profound concept.
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And now he concludes by saying verse 8.
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For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth you
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might have. You might.
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Remember President Nelson has used this phrase a couple of
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times. Truth is truth, and God's
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prophets and apostles aren't authorized to teach whatever
1:02:05
they want as much as they want to teach certain things.
1:02:09
They can't until they're authorized by heaven to speak
1:02:15
whatever it is that the Lord has asked them to teach.
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And so it's that truth is truth concept.
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We can't do anything against the truth.
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Verse 9. For we are glad when we are weak
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and ye are strong. And this also we wish even your
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perfection. Isn't that fascinating?
1:02:35
I wonder. I wonder how much time God's
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prophets, sears and revelators spend praying for us compared to
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how much time we spend praying for them and for other people
1:02:50
that we we are called to minister to verse 11.
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He finishes by saying, finally, brethren, farewell.
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Be perfect. Be of good comfort.
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Did you catch what just happened there?
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Be perfect. There's this invitation, this
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admonition to to try a little harder, to be a little better.
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As President Hinckley used to remind us, keep going, keep
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going, but then be of good comfort.
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It's that that nurture and admonition coming into check.
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And if you get offended or frustrated by what the prophets
1:03:30
are teaching, then instead of trying to change them, ask the
1:03:34
Lord to help change our mind and our heart to better align with
1:03:39
what was that message really intended for and how could it
1:03:44
benefit me? And then he finishes by saying,
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be of 1 mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall
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be with you. The more we cast out those those
1:04:00
good seeds, the more those seeds are going to produce good bread
1:04:05
for us as well As for other people in our lives.
1:04:08
No kind deed or word or thought or effort will ever, ever go
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wasted. And we don't have to wait for
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tomorrow to start scattering those good seeds.
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We can start today. In fact, we can start right now.
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And he says verse 14, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
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love of God and the communion communion of the Holy Ghost be
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with you all. Amen.
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In my opinion, Second Corinthians was one of Paul's
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finest epistles, one of the finest writings of all time.
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And may the Lord bless each of us to take advantage of not just
1:04:54
the Savior's willingness to engage with us in a great
1:04:58
exchange, but to strive to become more like him by turning
1:05:05
outward, not in comparison, not in competition, but in
1:05:10
cooperation and consecration. Because we love the Lord and we
1:05:15
love them, and we want to experience all aspects that we
1:05:20
can of this great exchange process.
1:05:23
May the Lord bless all of us in this effort.
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Is our prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ.
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Amen. Know that you're loved.
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And spread light and goodness.