2 Corinthians 7:1-4 - Homiletics

"Having therefore these promises," etc. In these verses the apostle exhorts the Corinthians to two things.

I. TO THE PURSUIT OF SPIRITUAL PURITY . "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." He seems to regard the attainment of spiritual purity as consisting in two things.

1 . Getting rid of the wrong . "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." Perhaps the reference to "filthiness" here referred especially to the idolatry and unchastity which was so prevalent in the Corinthian Church. All sin is "filthiness," and cleansable; it is not nature, it is a stain on nature; it is not something inwrought into the very texture of our being, otherwise it could not be cleansed away. It is no more ourselves than the soil on the white robe is the robe. It can, it should, it must, be washed out, that we may appear "without spot or wrinkle."

2 . Attaining the right . "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Holiness implies the consecration of our entire nature, flesh and spirit, body and soul, to the Divine will, and this requires habitual, solemn effort in "the fear of God." Now, the grand end of Christ's mission to the world is to produce this purity in man. "Having therefore these promises" (viz. the promises in the last verse of the preceding chapter, which are in substance the promises of the gospel), this spiritual purity should be struggled for. "The grace of God hath appeared to all men, teaching them that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," etc. The supreme desire of every true minister of the gospel is that his people shall become pure.

II. TO REGARD HIM WITH AFFECTION . "Receive us [open your hearts to us]," etc. He grounds his claim on their affection:

1 . On the fact that he had done harm to none. "We have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man." This is said, no doubt, in answer to some of the charges which his enemies had brought against him—said in self-vindication. He had "wronged no man," done injustice to none; he had "corrupted no man" in doctrines or morals; he had "defrauded no man," he had availed himself of no circumstance in order to extort from them money or power. A grand thing this for a minister to be able to say to his people without any fear of contradiction, and in the sight of God.

2 . On the fact that he loved them. "I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to live and to die with you." Although I might " condemn " you, I still love you; you are so strong in my affections that I will not only visit you, but would live and die with you, if my mission would allow.

3 . On the fact that he rejoiced in the good that was in them. "Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort," etc. Thus he commends himself to their affection. It is self-commendation, it is true; but who else could commend him? There were none greater than he living. There is no egotism in his self-commendation.

2 Corinthians 7:5-7 - The good tried and comforted.

"For when we were come into Macedonia," etc. Here we have—

I. A GOOD MAN GREATLY TRIED . "For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears." In 2 Corinthians 2:13 he refers to one circumstance that troubled him on his way to Macedonia. "I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother." He had come from Troas full of excitement and agitation, fully expecting to meet with Titus, who would convey to him some information concerning the Church at Corinth, which would allay his intense anxieties. But he was disappointed. What the other particular troubles were that he refers to here, the "fightings without" and "fears within," we know not; but well we know that everywhere in the prosecution of his apostolic mission he met with trials—great, varied, and most distressing. The best of men in this life are frequently "cast down." There are many things that "cast down" the spirits of good men.

1 . The prosperity of the wicked . Asaph felt this. "My feet had almost gone, my steps were well nigh slipped," etc.

2 . The triumphs of wrong . Fraud in trade, corruption in politics, errors in science, moral filth in popular literature, blasphemies, sectarianism and cant in religion. What noble souls are depressed here in England with these things!

3 . The non-success of Christly labour . How many preachers of spiritual thought, disinterested love, inflexible loyalty to truth, are subject to depressing moods on account of the little success apparently resulting from their arduous and self-denying toils! Often, like Elijah, they feel inclined to retire into the caves of solitude; like Jeremiah, who resolved "to speak no more" in his Name, and like One greater than either or all, who wailed out the words, "I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought."

II. A GOOD MAN DIVINELY COMFORTED . "Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus." God is a Comforter. No one requires higher qualifications than a true comforter. He must have a thorough knowledge of the sufferer, know his constitution, and the causes of the complaint; his diagnosis must be perfect. He must possess the necessary remedial elements; he must have the antidote at command . He must also have the tenderest sympathy; an unsympathetic nature can never administer comfort, whatever the extent of his knowledge or the suitableness of his means. God has all these qualifications in an infinite degree. Hence he is the Comforter. God comforted Paul by sending him Titus.

1 . The appearance of Titus was comforting. The advent of his young friend was as the rising of the morning sun in the dark heavens of his spirit. God comforts man by man. Moses was comforted in the wilderness by the unexpected visit of his father-in-law Jethro ( Exodus 18:7 ). Hannah was cheered in spirit by the talk of old Eli ( 1 Samuel 1:18 ). David, dejected in the wood, had his heart strengthened by Jonathan ( 1 Samuel 23:16 ).

2 . The communication of Titus was comforting. "And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more."

CONCLUSION Learn:

1 . That Christianity in its highest form does not exempt from the trials of life. A more Christly man than Paul perhaps never lived. Yet how great his trials!

2 . That the vicarious sufferings of love are amongst the most depressing. The more love a man has in him in this world of affliction and sorrow, the more, by the law of sympathy, will he endure. Paul now suffered for the Corinthians.

3 . A genuine disciple of Christ carries comfort into the house of his distressed friend. Young Titus carried comfort into the saddened home of the Apostle Paul.

"He who hath most of heart

Knows most of sorrow; nor a thing he said

Nor did but was to him at times a woe,

At times indifferent, at times a joy.

Folly and sin and memory make a curse

Wherewith the future fires may vie in vain,

The sorrows of the soul are graver still."

(Festus.)

2 Corinthians 7:8-11 - Godly sorrow.

" For though I made you sorry," etc. Three remarks here concerning the godly sorrow that was wrought on the minds of the members of the Corinthian Church.

I. IT WAS PRODUCED BY A FAITHFUL REPROOF OF WRONG . There were, as we have seen, certain evils more or less prevalent in the Church at Corinth, such as schism, idolatry, unchastity, and abuse of the Lord's Supper. These so affected the mind of the apostle that his letter abounded with strong reproof. Concerning the reproofs he administered to them, two facts are noteworthy.

1 . They caused him much pain . "For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent." Men, more or less malign in their nature, take pleasure in dealing out reproaches and reproofs, but to those whose natures are of the genial and the generous type, few things are more painful than the administration of reproofs. Paul no doubt felt it so; still it had to be done. Loyalty to his conscience and his mission demanded it. A loving nature recoils at the idea of giving pain to any one.

2 . They were administered with the tenderest affection . In almost every reproving sentence contained in his letter there beats the pulse of affection, and it is evermore this love that invests reproof with a heart penetrating and melting power. With the tenderest love ministers should always reprove, admonish, and exhort.

II. IT WAS ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT TO THE SORROW OF THE WORLD , "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance," etc. Great is the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.

1 . The one is selfish, the other is generous . In the former the man regrets having done the wrong thing simply on account of inconvenience to himself; in the latter the anguish is in the wrong itself.

2 . The one results in future regret, the other in future joy . All the sorrow that an ungodly man has felt will lead to some deeper, darker, more terrible distress.

3 . The one leads to ruin, the other to salvation . See the results of worldly sorrow in Cain ( Genesis 4:12 ); in Saul ( 1 Samuel 31:3-6 ); in Ahithophel ( 2 Samuel 17:23 ); in Judas ( Matthew 28:3 -25). See godly sorrow in the prodigal son ( Luke 15:1-32 .); in Peter ( Matthew 26:1-75 .); in the converts on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:44-47 ).

III. IT WROUGHT GREAT RESULTS IN THE SOUL . It wrought:

1 . Solicitude . "What carefulness it wrought in you!" Careful to resist the wrong and pursue the right.

2 . Deprecation . "What clearing of yourselves!" How anxious to show your disapproval of the evil of which you have been guilty!

3 . Anger. "What indignation!" Indignation, not against the sinner, but against the sin. This is a holy anger.

4 . Dread . "What fear!" Dread, not of suffering, but of sin; not of God, but of the devil. This fear is, indeed, the highest courage. He who shrinks from the morally wrong is the truest hero.

5 . Longing . "What vehement desire!" What longing after a better life! All these expressions mean intense earnestness, and earnestness, not about temporal matters, which is common and worthless, but about spiritual matters, which is rare and praiseworthy. Genuine repentance is antagonistic to indifference; it generates earnestness in the soul, it leads to the most strenuous efforts, to the most vehement cries to Heaven. "Sorrow in itself," says F.W. Robertson, "is a thing neither good nor bad; its value depends on the spirit of the person on whom it falls. Fire will inflame straw, soften iron, or harden clay; its effects are determined by the object with which it comes in contact. Warmth develops the energies of life or helps the progress of decay. It is a great power in the hothouse, a great power also in the coffin: it expands the leaf, matures the fruit, adds precocious vigour to vegetable life; and warmth, too, develops with tenfold rapidity the weltering process of dissolution. So, too, with sorrow. There are spirits in which it develops the seminal principle of life; there are others in which it prematurely hastens the consummation of irreparable decay."

2 Corinthians 7:12-16 - Church discipline.

"Wherefore, though I wrote unto you," etc. The subject of these words may be regarded as that of Church discipline, and two general remarks are suggested.

I. CHURCH DISCIPLINE SHOULD BE EXERCISED FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE CHURCH . "Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you." The particular individual referred to here, on whom Paul calls discipline to be exercised, was the incestuous person ( 1 Corinthians 5:1 ). The apostle here states that this was done, not merely for the offender's sake, nor indeed for the sake of the person whom the offender had injured (viz. his father, whose wife he had taken as his own). His object in writing was, not merely to chastise the one and to obtain justice and redress for the other, but that "our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you," He had a larger aim; it was to prove to them how much he cared for their spiritual purity and reputation . Punishment should not only be for the reformation of the wrong doer, but as an example to others. The unhealthy branch should be cut off for the sake of the tree's health and growth. All true chastisement for wrong aims, not only at the good of the offender, but at the good of the community at large.

II. WHEN THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH IS MANIFESTED THEREBY IT IS A JUST MATTER FOR REJOICING . "Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all." The Church was improved by Paul's disciplinary letter. Of this Titus had assured him, for they had "refreshed" his "spirit" during his visit among them. Their improvement, too, justified the high testimony which he had given Titus concerning them. "For if I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not ashamed," etc. The love of Titus for them was increased by the discovery of it. "His inward affection is more abundant toward you." Thus the godly sorrow which they manifested on account of that which was wrong amongst them, was in every way satisfactory to him; it gave him comfort, it greatly refreshed the spirit of Titus, increased his affection for them, and inspired the apostle himself with confidence and with joy.