Full Transcript

Welcome to Share the Word, a Great Commission project. Share the Word brings you the big ideas of the New Testament chapter by chapter. And today, we’ve reached the last chapter of 2 Corinthians, which is the last chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letters to the church of Corinth. And what a road it has been. Let’s get started and listen in. 2 Corinthians chapter 13.

Time for a self-exam. Before we get into our chapter and focus today, I want to share some good news. Since not that much good news gets reported these days, personally, I’ve actually quit watching news shows on TV because I don’t need all the negativity. But I do scan the headlines of a couple news sites to keep abreast of what’s going on to see if any stories interest me. And one did really interest me lately. The story was first printed by the Wall Street Journal and came from a report issued near the end of 2024 by a market tracking company called Circana BookScan.

What they keep track of is how many books and what kinds of books people are purchasing. They do this for the benefit of the publishing industry. The publishing industry, of course, wants to feed the appetite of book buyers. So knowing what’s selling, what’s hot in the marketplace, tells them what to look for and what to publish and offer for sale in the coming year. Well, as it turns out, what’s hot is the Bible and related Christian books. Part of Circana’s study revealed a jump from 2023 to 2024 of 22% in Bible sales.

That’s a huge increase in sales in just one year’s time because the study also showed book sales in general barely increased at all in that period. Overall book sales increased by a measly 1% during that year, while Bible sales increased 22%. Yeah, I don’t know about you, but that was some of the most encouraging news I’ve heard in a long time. And it got me wondering why. I’d really like to see some more research done on why. Why are people suddenly buying Bibles?

Why that amount of new interest? Here’s one idea I have, and maybe you’ve noticed this too. Several popular podcasters who a lot of younger listeners tune into, like Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro, for example, have been interviewing Bible-believing Christians and even some theologians and Christian apologists lately. I saw Shapiro interview conservative theologian William Lane Craig not long ago, and twice he had on his show Pastor John MacArthur, a serious Bible commentator who really got down to the nitty-gritty of what the Bible claims about Jesus with Ben, who’s a Jew. Joe Rogan, America’s most listened-to podcast host, devoted a full three-hour program this past month to interviewing Christian apologist Wesley Huff, and they had a serious discussion about the trustworthiness of the Bible.

Even extreme anti-Christian Bill Maher recently had on his show Jordan Peterson, a popular teacher and writer in the area of psychology. Peterson has grown quite interested in the Bible. On that show, I heard Bill Maher mockingly say to Peterson, There’s these people who love the Bible and claim it’s the greatest book ever. They swear on it, but it has all these things that are just comically stupid in it. Dr. Peterson surprised him by answering, Wait, wait.

I’ve been studying the Bible a lot lately, and he then began to discuss what he finds fascinating and transcending about it. Now, Jordan Peterson is not even a Christian, at least not yet, but he is hooked on studying the Bible and trying to understand why it’s had such a profound influence on the world. Put those kinds of things together with some prominent people from the sports world and the entertainment industry and so on, making a more open statement about their faith, standing up proudly as followers of Jesus Christ. Maybe you’ve noticed that too. For instance, the respected actor Denzel Washington recently was baptized and was ordained as a lay minister in his church. In an interview I heard him say how difficult it has been to be a vocal Christian in Hollywood and still get work, but that he doesn’t care anymore because he believes sharing his faith is more important.

I’m not sure all the reasons why, but suddenly Christianity and the Bible are a subject of real interest, especially to younger people. Another contributing factor, I thought of, may be that popular culture in the West has denigrated Christianity and the Bible for so long that it’s now kind of countercultural, kind of cool to question that popular wisdom. Maybe young people are just recognizing what a dead-end nihilism is, the de facto philosophy of today’s influential secularists. If you’re unfamiliar with the term nihilism, it’s the point of view that all traditional values are baseless and that nothing can be known for sure. In other words, there is no reliable truth. And once that becomes a prevailing view in a society, and it has in ours, it’s no wonder we have seen the rise in suicide and depression and domestic terrorism and, you know, the general cultural decline.

One young woman interviewed in the article in the Wall Street Journal I mentioned at the top said she bought her first Bible recently on a personal quest looking for purpose and meaning in her life. I’m hopeful the dramatic increase in Bible sales in the last year is a leading indicator that lots of young people like her are starting to react against the hopelessness and despair of a world without God, without values, and without reliable truth. I am hoping and praying that this young generation that’s rising up now is opening up to the truth that we find in God’s Word. I’ve said all that to say this. Programs like Share the Word are more timely than ever, like the Ethiopian court official we met back in Acts chapter 8. When people do read the Bible, they have questions and they want to understand it better.

And just as God sent a Christian named Philip to meet that man where he was, answer his questions, explain to him the meaning of Scripture, He’s put that in our hearts as well. Share the Word exists to honestly explain the biggest ideas in the New Testament chapter by chapter. That’s our whole agenda. How could anyone make an informed judgment about whether the Bible is really what it claims to be, that is, a unique revelation of truth from our Creator to us, without seriously exploring that claim at its source, going to the Bible? So thank you for being a listener, and keep sharing the podcast with anybody you meet or know who’s interested in understanding it better, how it may inform their life. We’re here to try to help.

And now to the final lines from this epistle we’ve been studying, chapter 13 of 2 Corinthians. In verses 9 and 10 in this chapter, we find Paul’s purpose statement for the whole letter. He writes there, Our prayer is that you may be fully restored. This is why I’ve written these things when I am absent, that when I come, I may not have to be harsh in my use of my authority, the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. He wrote, he says, to prepare the church for his arrival, a third visit, which he mentions in verse 1. And he hopes he will not find the same things going on there that he has addressed before in his previous letters, as well as what he has written about in this one.

He says here, Every matter must be established by two or three witnesses. That’s a principle from Old Testament law. Remember, Chloe and members of her family had reported the crazy things going on in this church: the divisions, the overlooking of gross immorality, the misuse of spiritual gifts, inexcusable behavior at the Lord’s Supper, and that report from them prompted what we call First Corinthians. Chloe was witness number one. Then more recently, Titus had returned from this church and given Paul a report of wrong still going on. And on top of that, the inroads of false teachers who have been the subject of so much of this letter we call Second Corinthians.

So Titus is reliable witness number two. As a result, Paul now feels compelled to return to Corinth for a third time. It’s past time to correct the problems and get things in order in that church. He says here, I hope when I come, I’m not going to have to use my apostolic authority harshly. I’d much prefer to build you up rather than tear you down. And he writes, Remember, the apostles were given real authority by Jesus to lay the foundation of the Christian church and the accompanying power to demonstrate that their authority was real.

But some in the church at Corinth, probably egged on by the false teachers, had openly challenged Paul’s apostleship, apparently demanding he do more to prove that they needed to listen to him. Think about how crazy that was. The only reason their church existed in the first place, the only reason they were believers and part of God’s family, is because Christ had sent Paul to them. That’s what an apostle was, someone hand chosen and sent by Christ. And they are demanding that he prove his credentials? Some had mistaken Paul’s physical weakness and his restraint in the past with spiritual weakness.

And Paul says here, realize, some considered Jesus weak too when they put him on the cross. But he was not. He could have called legions of angels to destroy his enemies, but he didn’t. He humbled himself and succumbed to the suffering of the cross for our sake, for our good. His power, though, will be demonstrated again when he comes back at his return, just as it was demonstrated at his resurrection. Paul is drawing the parallel that although he may have seemed weak to some of them, he isn’t.

And when he comes to Corinth the third time, he will, he still needs to, display the power of Christ had given him in wielding discipline on those who were still rebellious and disobedient. Then he turns the tables on them and says in verse five, Rather than presume to question my legitimacy as an apostle, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet this test? The structure of that sentence places the emphasis on yourselves and you. He’s urging them, instead of looking at him, to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are really Christians, and if so, why aren’t they acting like it?

Paul even says, It’s not ultimately about me, what you think of me. My concern is for you, that you be restored to obedience and that you get your church back on track. This is what he’s driving at in verses 6 to 9 when he says, Not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right. For we’re glad to be considered weak if you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. I don’t want to pass by Paul’s urging these people to examine themselves regarding the reality of their faith.

Earlier in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 11, he had done the same thing, if you remember. When talking about the Lord’s Supper, he urged them to examine themselves before they partook of the bread and wine, which represented Christ’s body and blood. And to not take communion unworthily, he said. He said to do it unworthily could bring the Lord’s discipline on their lives. Of course, none of us are worthy of what Jesus did for us, but what Paul was stressing at that place is that communion is a time to self-examine, to look at our relationship with God, and to remember that we’re celebrating then is Jesus dying for our sins. So coming to the Lord’s table callously, excusing or disregarding sins in our life, is an insult to Christ who died for them.

That’s what he meant there by partaking in an unworthy manner and about examining themselves. Now, in his closing remarks to this book, 2 Corinthians, he’s making a similar but even more serious challenge. Examine yourselves, he says, because some of you are not acting like Christians at all. Are you sure your faith in Christ is real? Test yourselves, he said. I started this podcast by talking about the upswing in interest in the Bible.

Maybe that’s why you’ve been tuning in. If so, we’re very glad you found this podcast and have joined us. If you’ve been here a bit, you probably have heard us say that Share the Word is a Great Commission project. If you’re unfamiliar with that, it means it’s a reference to Jesus’ last instruction to his followers. This was after his resurrection and before his return back to heaven. All the Gospels give it in some form, but not exactly the same form, which tells me that Jesus reiterated this most important instruction to his followers several times, in several places probably.

In essence, he said, Go everywhere and share the gospel with everyone, and then teach those who accept it all the things I’ve taught you. The gospel is the powerful message of why Jesus came, what he did for us in his life, death, and resurrection, and how we can be reconciled to God through him. I say powerful because it’s only by responding to the gospel in faith that people are born again into God’s eternal family. It’s only by responding to the gospel in faith that we are forgiven of our sins and made acceptable to God. It’s only by responding to the gospel in faith that we can be saved. It was the Great Commission, the instruction of Jesus to share that gospel with everyone, that took Paul all the way to Corinth and to many other cities during his lifetime.

He went to share the gospel message with as many people as he could, and many in Corinth had responded to it. They formed this early Christian church, and it became, at this early date, one of the largest of the Christian communities. But as we’ve seen throughout the two letters Paul wrote to Corinth, many of the people in that church were not living like Christians. And since the false teachers had arrived there, some had even challenged Paul’s authority, his apostleship, his legitimacy. It sure sounds like that young church was in real jeopardy of failing. This is why Paul, I think, turned the tables on them at this point, and he jolts them by saying, You guys need to check yourselves.

Was your response to the gospel when I was there sincere? Is your faith in Jesus real? As we come to the end of these letters, I think it’s a good time for us to also ask the same questions of ourselves. Have we really responded to the gospel in faith? Have we personally accepted and put our faith in what Jesus the Savior did for us on the cross? Have we really turned our lives toward following Him?

If we examine ourselves, honestly examine ourselves, is there real evidence that we have been born again and that the Holy Spirit is at work in us? As someone put it, this troubled me when I first heard it. If you were arrested in a country hostile to Christianity and the state accused you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? I wonder when this letter from Paul first arrived in Corinth and was read in their church one Sunday gathering, and they got to the end of it and read those words, Examine yourselves to see if you are really in the faith. You need to test yourselves. What would have been the reaction?

I wish I was able to travel back in time, be in that service, and see the reaction. Think about this. Jesus once said, Everyone who is of the truth listens to me. Real Christians recognize the truth when they hear it. It resonates with us. It penetrates us.

It strikes us convincingly. We know it’s God’s Word. On the other hand, Paul wrote, Those without the Spirit of God do not accept the things that come from the Spirit, but consider them foolishness. I imagine when this letter was read, most in the assembly that day were struck by it and were convicted by it. They knew the things Paul was writing to them were true, because this writing, in fact, was inspired by the Holy Spirit. It’s why it’s part of our New Testament.

And it resonated with the real believers in Corinth. It convicted them. But I’m sure there were others there in that meeting who scoffed, who rejected the things Paul had to say in this letter. A pretty good indicator that though they were among the Christians, they were not real believers. And you know what? I don’t think this dynamic has changed.

If you’ve been listening to God’s Word through our podcast, or reading the New Testament for yourself, or going to a church that actually preaches the Bible, do the things you hear strike you as the truth? Do they resonate inside you? Does something inside often say, Hey, this is the truth. You need to listen to this? If so, that’s the Holy Spirit affirming that your faith is real. Or if you’ve not yet personally responded to the gospel and accepted Christ as your Savior, it’s the Holy Spirit urging you to make that life-changing decision now.

And I’d urge you to do it today. You can turn to God in prayer at any time and say something like, Father in heaven, I believe your Word is the truth. I believe what it says about who Jesus was and why He came. And today I’m accepting Him as my Savior, and I’m ready to follow Him as my Lord. God sees our hearts, and if our faith is real, He knows it, and He will accept us. If you make that important decision today, please drop us an email at info at sharetheword.org.

We’d love to hear from you, and we’ll get back to you with some ideas about how you can move forward in your faith. You might wonder, did the Apostle Paul ever make that third trip to Corinth he told them in this letter they needed to prepare for? Well, we learn from Acts chapter 20 that he did. Luke records not only that he did, but that he and his team stayed there for three months. And since Acts does not record any fireworks that happened then, that’s a pretty good indicator the false teachers skedaddled when they heard Paul was on his way there, and that during his stay, the problems that congregation had been suffering from were addressed and things were put back in order. Happy ending.

Thanks for studying the Corinthian epistles with us. Next time, we’re taking up the Gospel of Mark, and Margie will introduce that New Testament writing in our next podcast. Thanks for listening. This is Paul for Share the Word. Thanks, Paul. I would like to reiterate that if you’ve made a first-time decision and accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, we would love to know about it.

Please email us at info at sharetheword.org. We would love to pray for you and with you. If you have any questions regarding today or any of our podcasts, please let us know. Remember, everything at Share the Word is free to use, download, and share. From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.