Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“But I call God to witness against me–it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.” (2 Corinthians 1:23-2:3)

The occasion for this letter, again, was for Paul to let the Corinthians know his plans to visit them. He wouldn’t be visiting them twice, but only once. Paul gives us a little more insight into why he would only visit them once (1:23). He wasn’t being fickle. In seeking the Lord’s direction, Paul determined that another painful visit to them was unnecessary because he had already rebuked them. Yet many in the Corinthian church were still living in sin and rejecting Paul’s authority.

There’s an old prayer that says, “God, I can take care of my enemies. Please save me from my friends.” Do you ever feel like that? Like your friends are working against you? Sometimes I do. Sometimes those who claim to be friends, even Christian friends, stand against me and seek to tear down rather than build up. It’s been said, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” Paul felt that way sometimes, too. Many of the Corinthians were still working against him.

But Paul decided not to come with a rebuke (2:1). Now, sometimes we do have to come with a rebuke (Proverbs 27:5-6). We need our friends to pull us back onto the right path when we stray. And we need to do the same for them when they stray. So why did Paul not come with a rebuke this time? Because he wanted to have joy with them! Don’t let sin get in the way of rejoicing with fellow believers in Christ.

This was only possible since he had previously come with a rebuke. We can’t ignore sin. But after they had heard his position about the sin they were in, they still had much to rejoice together about. Paul felt joy in being with fellow believers.

Our joy with our friends goes both ways. We should give them joy, they should give us joy, and this joy fuels the joy of the other (2:2-3). Paul realized that that if he always came with a rebuke, there wouldn’t be anyone left to rejoice with! There’s always going to be sin to rebuke. Paul knew that if he came pointing out all their sin, they’d feel like failures! He wanted them to be full of joy at his coming, not full of grief.

Again, he wasn’t ignoring sin. He had already addressed their sin. He was leaving room for the Holy Spirit to continue working on them. And while God worked on their sin, Paul would encourage their hearts by rejoicing with them. But notice what this joy is all a result of (1:24). We cannot have true joy in a friend unless that friend is also a brother or sister in Christ.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a responsibility to one another. We are to build one another up in the faith. Sometimes this means we need to come with a rebuke. The best way to come with a rebuke is to do it for their joy. We get into trouble when we rebuke others for any other reason. When our only concern is self-justification. When our only concern is biblical accuracy. This is a concern, but it ought not be our only concern. We want our friends to be built up in their faith. We gain a greater joy when we and our friends are firm in our faith.

And Paul was convinced that the Corinthians were firm in their faith. This was why Paul decided to come and rejoice with them rather than make them and himself sad. So even though Paul wouldn’t ignore their sin, he would address it with great hope of their repentance.