2 Corinthians Ch13v1-4

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone. We're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 13.

2 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

So if you'd like to turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 13, we'll be reading from there in a moment.

2 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

It's page 1167 if you're using the red church Bible.

Sorry, it's actually my first time preaching from this new fancy stand, so I'm just getting myself a little orientated.

No, wrong way.

Thank you, Jonathan, for leading this morning and for musicians for leading us in song and singing.

As Jonathan shared, we're going to be looking at Christ in particular this morning and the death of Christ on the cross.

As we start, I just want you to think about daily life for a moment.

And life, daily life can feel like a series of testing situations and trying to figure out how to respond.

If you're the parent of a young or maybe not so young child, it's typically a battle of wills.

That's the test, isn't it?

Who can be more stubborn about the plate of dinner and whether it's going to get eaten or not?

In your work setup, maybe you're facing the frustration of a boss whose main contribution just seems to be nagging you for estimates and deadlines.

How are you going to respond?

How are you going to manage your manager?

Even in church, with all of our spiritual brothers and sisters, with all that the Lord has done for us in saving us by his mercy and grace,

we can still experience grievance.

We can have complaints.

We can have conflict with one another.

So how are you going to respond to that latest issue that's come up?

You see, in each of these situations, our natural self will want to win out in some way.

We want to be strong in ourselves, to stand up, to advocate for our rights,

and to use whatever power or influence we have in that situation to make it better.

Now, that's not always the wrong instinct.

Think about trying to ensure your little child is finishing their dinner.

But here's the thing.

Here's the thing that I want us to remember this morning.

That as Christians, we have alternatives that nobody else has.

We as Christians have alternative ways and means that nobody else has.

We can choose weakness over power.

We can choose weakness over power.

We can choose, in a sense, to lose out for the good of others and for God's glory.

Weakness, not strength, is often the right choice.

And to help us this morning, I want you to zoom in.

And this is not typically what we would do as we're preaching.

It would be through a longer passage.

But I do want to zoom in on one part of one verse this morning.

And from that one verse to understand weakness through the eyes of Jesus.

Weakness through the eyes of Jesus.

And the scripture is this.

He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.

He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.

The Lord, the Lord Jesus, was crucified in weakness.

And the spectacle of the cross that we sung about was one of utter, utter weakness.

Yet the weakness of Christ achieved all that is needed for our strengthening and our power.

So let's read the scriptures together where we find these words.

It's 2 Corinthians chapter 13.

2 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

We're going to read verses 1 to 4.

And the key verses is verse 4.

And the surrounding verses give us a sense of why Paul is looking to Jesus in verse 4.

Paul is looking to Jesus in verse 4.

And he is writing here what is actually probably his fourth letter to the church in Corinth.

We call it 2 Corinthians, but it's probably his fourth letter.

And in this letter, he's really defending his leadership against critics and encouraging the believers, the church, to see his own weak life as displaying the strength of God among them for their good.

So let's read with that in mind.

Chapter 13, verse 1.

This will be my third visit to you.

Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

I already gave you a warning.

When I was with you the second time, I now repeat it while absent.

On my return, I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,

since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.

So Paul is dealing with a situation of sin in the church.

And when it comes to sin, Paul isn't messing around.

He will come with the power of God, with the strength of God.

And the proof that Jesus is working through him is how he will respond to sin.

So since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me,

he, that is Christ, is not weak in dealing with you, is powerful, but is powerful among you.

And our key verse, verse 4.

For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.

Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him in our dealing with you.

Now we probably have some intuitive sense what weakness means.

Weakness, just to say, it's an inability, isn't it?

It's a lack.

Weakness implies that something naturally needed is somehow missing.

It's not there.

We don't have the literal strength to do what apparently needs to be done.

And just to say, I think it's important not to confuse weakness with sin directly.

You know, we might hear someone confess or say,

I have a weakness for gambling.

I just can't say no.

Now weakness can leave us prone to sin, but being weak in itself is not sin.

Jesus was weak.

Do you remember at the end of the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness,

Jesus was weak and Satan came to tempt him?

Yet Jesus didn't sin.

So weakness isn't sin, but can leave us more prone to temptation.

And Jesus, sorry, I need to, I'm going to forget the slides, aren't I?

Jesus lived with weakness through his life.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

His death on a cross was his ultimate example of that personal weakness.

Through his crucifixion, he came under unbearable attacks.

Attacks that physically and psychologically and spiritually assaulted him

and weakened Jesus to the point of death.

Those words again, Jesus was crucified in weakness.

And I wish for us this morning, brothers and sisters,

to dwell here for a moment on this Lord's Day at the cross.

To ponder over these words in Scripture, in verse 4,

that he was crucified in weakness.

Jesus was weakened in his body and his spirit

as he took each of those conscious steps to the cross.

Christ was stretched and stressed beyond his limits.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, it started from the inside out,

almost like a D-Day soldier.

The ones that are there in the boat shaking just minutes before the boat ramp drops

and they have to storm the beach.

Christ knows what's about to come when that door drops.

He tells his friends, the disciples, that he's overwhelmed and sorrowful to the point of death.

And his stressed body begins to react and he lies face down on the ground

and he's prostrate in prayer before his Father

and sweat as drops of blood begin to form and to pour out of him.

He weakens and he pleads with heaven to take this cup of wrath that is coming from him.

And it's at that very moment, at his lowest ebb,

that an angel is dispatched from heaven to strengthen our Lord.

But it was a strengthening only unto death.

For Jesus wasn't destined to die in the garden.

He was destined to die on a hill outside city gates.

The angelic strengthening was brought to extend the weakening

and to extend the agony of Jesus.

And Christ's remaining strength is sucked away now by the onslaught of the evil one.

Satan, from the wilderness, he's back.

This is Satan's hour.

This is the hour of darkness.

He tempted Christ before in the wilderness.

Forty days and nights of fasting had weakened Christ back then.

But the attacks and the weakening now in the garden

are the crashing sea compared to an afternoon shower of rain.

This time Satan would succeed in killing the Holy One of God.

Satan, he inspires the actions of evil men

who brutally rain attacks down on our Lord.

After his arrest in the garden, do you remember,

he goes before this night court, the Sanhedrin, the high priest,

bring this court and they convene to convict Jesus.

And at the end of that farce of a court,

they turn and it says that they spat in his face.

They struck him down with their fists.

They slapped him and they mocked him with,

prophesy, who hit you?

Who hit you?

Prophesy, come on.

This dehumanizing, mocking and brutality is repeated

and ramped up by a company of Roman soldiers later on under Pilate.

Then follows that slow, painful march

outside the city walls to the hill where he is crucified,

where the nails and the cross await him.

And scarcely can we imagine a man more weakened in a sense

than Christ in his body and his soul on that cross.

You see the words,

Christ was crucified in weakness.

Now when we're weak,

maybe we will look to the law,

maybe we'll look to the courts,

maybe we'll look to our leaders,

those in the community for help.

But no strength from the system would come to help weak Jesus.

In fact, the opposite.

The system itself was a means of further emptying and weakening Jesus.

The powers of the state came that night for him.

They were led by Judas, a betrayed friend.

They brought in their hands into the garden clubs and spears

so that there would be no chance of escape for Jesus.

There's going to be no waiting for dawn to come.

They'd set up an illegal night court.

The high priest would come with trumped up charges,

backed up by false witnesses who contradicted each other.

What a spectacle.

Jesus, the prince of heaven, the lawgiver,

he would find no comfort in this court of Satan.

This was going to be no fair trial.

This was a miscarriage of justice.

Better indeed, said the high priest,

that this one man should die for the whole nation.

He put a bullseye on Jesus' back,

even if he was going to be found guilty

by the contradictory testimony of those false witnesses.

Better that he dies.

There'd be no defense allowed.

This is no somber court.

Imagine passing a death penalty on another human.

He would weigh that very seriously.

It would be a slow and somber decision.

No.

It was a piss of murder from every angle.

You see, brothers and sisters,

Christ was crucified in weakness,

without any rights or sense of justice.

Even when found guiltless later on by the Roman leader Pilate,

he still condemned and executed.

Jesus brought outside those gates to die as a common criminal.

Christ had no rights.

He had no power.

Peter, his disciple who witnessed this,

he said this,

when he suffered at their hands,

he made no threats.

Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

We face issues at times,

if you haven't, you will,

of dispute and injustice.

How much confidence do you, believer,

have that God, your Father,

sees all, knows all,

and will judge all?

Because it won't always go our way in this life.

Instinct and self will boil our blood

to sometimes murderous or violent action.

But Christ remains silent

in the face of injustice,

entrusting himself to the one who judges justly.

You see, we can confidently follow Christ,

the path of weakness,

with regards to our own rights.

One final observation on the death of Christ.

His body beaten,

his rights trampled on.

Surely Christ could,

he could look to his friends,

his community,

to his God

in this situation

to vindicate him,

to be with him.

But it was not to be, was it?

Disciples are,

they're too tired to pray with him.

Christ says to them,

the soul is willing,

but the body is weak.

Just pray with me.

But in his hour of need,

they chose to sleep,

over support him.

Judas betrays him with a kiss.

Peter disowns him three times.

The disciples flee the scene.

The Garden of Gethsemane

and the court of the high priest

are crucibles of fire

and violence against Christ,

with demonic and human forces

working their evil together.

And Christ is all but alone

through that long, dark night.

And then he goes before

the crowds in Jerusalem

and the leaders and the crowds,

they shout,

we have no king but Caesar.

Crucify him.

Crucify him.

He is alone,

save at his crucifixion

for some few brave and caring women

that tended to him right to the end.

And surely God, his Father,

will vindicate and empower him

in his hour of need.

No intervention comes

to stop his march to death.

The sky does turn pitch black.

The temple curtain is torn in two

and the ground shakes

and God is angry.

And that's visible.

But there's no voice of comfort

from heaven for the sun at this time.

Have you dwelt here, dear believer?

Have you spent some time

reading the Gospels?

And dwelling on the weakness

of Christ at the cross?

And what do you see

or what did you hear

even this morning?

A beaten and pitiful man?

Yes.

A victim of injustice?

Yes.

A lonely figure that was cast

on the pile?

Yes to it all.

Yet at each of those moments

of weakness,

they were each chosen by Christ.

Christ could have turned

the rocks and the stones

and the ground

into bread

to feed and strengthen his body.

He could have healed himself

after each of those blows

struck him.

Think back to the garden

that night

and the high priest servant

Malchus,

he's named for us,

he was there in the garden

and his ear was cut off

by a sword

in the melee.

And Christ reaches out

and instantly heals

a severed ear.

The irony is this,

Amy Carmichael says,

that the last thing

that the Lord Jesus did

before his hands were bound

was to heal.

You see, Christ,

he could have restored

his own soul

with the comfort

of a thousand angels.

The heavenly host

that sang to the shepherds

in the fields

on the night he was born

could have been summoned again

to light up that dark night

and Jesus could have,

he could have come down

off that cross.

But Christ actively chose

the path of a weakening

body and soul.

Take this cup for me,

he prays,

but not my will

but yours be done, Father.

Think about it.

What if Christ had chosen

the path of power

in each of these moments?

He had every right to.

He could have saved himself

and ushered in his kingdom

right there on the spot

that very night.

But the power of healing

for himself

of angels of might

all for his own needs

would not have saved us.

In an instant,

he would have,

instant,

he just would have exposed

all of that sin

and all of that injustice

and all of that evil

would have been laid bare

for the whole earth to see

and it would have been judged

rightly on the spot

and everyone on the earth,

you and me included,

would have been condemned

before a holy God

because of our sin.

We would have had no savior,

we would have had no salvation,

no substitute,

no Christ on the cross

on our behalf

if Christ had chosen power

in each of those moments.

remember,

Christ crucified

in weakness.

It's for our strengthening

and ultimately

God's glory.

chapter 13

and verse 4

Jesus was crucified

in weakness

yet lives

by God's power

and Christ,

he moves

through weakness

into power

and the path

is the cross

before the crown.

you see,

what Christ referred to

in the Gospel of Luke,

he talks about

the hour of darkness

has come

in the garden,

the hour of Satan,

but he also calls it

his hour.

You see,

the apparent weakness

was always revealing

actual power.

The apparent weakness

of Christ

was always revealing

his actual power.

This was Satan's hour

but ultimately

it was Christ's hour.

Satan came

with his ocean

of suffering

to overwhelm Christ

but you know what?

Christ is the master

of all the seas.

For a time

Christ chose weakness.

He chose

the very nature

of a servant

for you

and for me.

He did not grasp

that power

that was rightly his

for his own advantage

but as the scriptures say

he became like nothing

a humble servant

who became obedient

to death

even death

on a cross

but God

exalted him

to give him

the name

that is above

all names

so that at the name

of Jesus

every knee should bow

and every tongue

confess that he

is Christ the Lord

to the glory

of God the Father.

Verse 4

Jesus

was crucified

in weakness

yet lives

in power.

I just have some few

applications

this morning

from that

one verse

we've dwelt

on the weakness

of Christ

but so much

flows

from that truth.

we see in the death

of Christ

his setting aside

of power

for the sake

of saving souls

and we see

in Christ's resurrection

a power

that comes after

this weakness

and so we have

Jesus

the God man

and he

unlike us

but he retains

that perfect

equilibrium

between the two

between weakness

and power

and the use

and the correct

use

in every situation

of weakness

and power

and this

weakness

and power

combination

that's what's

filling the life

of Paul

and is central

and we haven't

gone through it

but that whole

argument through

this chapter 13

and actually

if you read

the book of Corinthians

weakness

and power

is really

the theme

of the whole

book

in many ways

the uncertainty

that is hanging

over Paul's

next visit

to the church

in Corinth

is this

is he coming

in weakness

and humility

to build them up

and encourage them

and to serve them

or is he going

to come

with the power

of the Lord

to correct

their serious sin

and both

are God

honoring approaches

by the way

it's not

trying to

push one off

against the other

and Paul

here in chapter 13

is laying out

the options

look at verse 3

they're demanding

that they see

Paul come in strength

but he says

since you are

demanding proof

that Christ

is speaking

through me

here it is

he is not

weak in dealing

with you

but is powerful

among you

Christ is not

weak in dealing

with them

but is powerful

among them

when it comes

to sin

in the church

and then

verse 4

Paul says

for to be sure

he was crucified

in weakness

yet he lives

by God's power

and the second

half of the verse

Paul sees his own

state

as being weak

in Christ

yet Paul too

can come

with God's power

likewise

we are weak

in him

that is

they're weak

in Jesus

yet by God's

power we will

live with him

in our dealing

with you

so the question

remains

when Paul comes

will he have

to deal

with them

harshly

or not

jump down

with me

to verse 10

this is why

I write

these things

when I am

absent

that when I

come

I may not

have to be

harsh

in my use

of authority

the authority

the authority

the Lord

gave me

for building

you up

not

for tearing

you down

Paul wants

to come

and to

build them

up

not to

tear them

down

but sin

needs to

be dealt

with

it simply

cannot

be ignored

and his

hope

is to draw

from the

weakness

of Christ

not power

in his

dealings

with them

so just go

back one

more verse

verse 9

this is his

heart

we are

glad

whenever we

are weak

but you

are strong

and his

prayer

and our

prayer

is that

you may

be

fully

restored

you see

Paul would

prefer that

people

the church

would deal

with their

sin

with the

power

of Christ

and he

would prefer

to be

weak

and for

them to

be

strong

and that's

his

heart

and his

disposition

in dealing

with them

and Paul's

confidence

in weakness

in

favoring

weakness

in these

situations

and throughout

this whole

letter

it was a

lesson that

he learned

the hard

way

didn't come

easy to

Paul

just look

back briefly

with me

to chapter

12

and verse

7

to 10

because of

the surpassing

great revelations

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

and verse

chapter 12

and verse

7

because of

these

surpassing

great

revelations

therefore

in order

to keep

me

from

becoming

conceited

I was

given a

thorn

in my

flesh

a messenger

of Satan

to torment

me

three times

I pleaded

with the

Lord

to take

it away

from me

but he

said to

me

my grace

is sufficient

for you

for my

power

is made

perfect

in weakness

therefore

I will boast

all the more

gladly about

my weakness

so that

Christ's

power

may rest

on me

that is

why

for Christ's

sake

I delight

in weaknesses

in insults

in hardships

in persecutions

and difficulties

for when I am

weak

then

I am strong

this is the

this is the

heart of

Christ

coming through

Paul isn't it

the words we read

there

and yet

we know

that for the

single

thorn

that was

needling

Paul's

flesh

Christ

endured

a crown

full of

those

thorns

for the

messenger

of Satan

that Paul

had to face

Christ

he took

on Satan

himself

the insults

and the

hardships

that Paul

faced

well they

they rain

down in a

torrent

on Christ

from all

sides

Paul had

learned

from Christ

from the

cross

that weakness

makes for

perfect

power

from God

our weakness

as is

Christ's

as we've

seen in

Christ

our weakness

is the

means for

others

strengthening

and for

God's

glory

finally

Christ

Christ

to you

acting in

weakness

and power

and you

to others

Jesus

can act

in each

circumstance

in your

life

from either

weakness

or power

he holds

that

perfect

equilibrium

between the

two

and he

knows how

to act

in your

life

to come

to you

in weakness

or power

what do I

mean

well his

spirit

the Holy

Spirit

he can

come and

he can

he can

bind

your tender

conscience

he can

wrap it

up

and he

can

apply

a

balm

to

your

soul

or the

same

spirit

can

cut

through

your

heart

and your

soul

like a

double edged

sword

to

jolt

you

from

your

sin

Christ

can

come

to you

through

his

spirit

and

weakness

and

power

but know

this

his

heart

and his

disposition

towards

you

is

tender

it's

merciful

care

he

is

weak

so that

you

are

strong

he

comes

to

you

in

weakness

so that

you

can

be

strengthened

so that

you

can

be

bound

up

instead

of

torn

down

Isaiah

the

prophet

says

of our

Lord

a

bruised

reed

he

will

not

break

a

smoldering

wick

he

will

not

snuff

out

so the

question

then

for you

is

this

which

which

are you

going to

choose

in your

life

in your

relationships

with your

children

with your

work

colleagues

your

relationship

with this

church

family

can you

do good

to those

people

and glorify

God

by choosing

weakness

you see

both weakness

and power

are available

from Christ

to his

children

and to

his

church

our

default

choice

and our

default

position

should

match

that of

our

Lord

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

whom

we

say

that

we

love

we

forgo

our

power

so that

we may

be

weak

in

ourselves

and

strong

in

Christ

Paul

wrote

earlier

in this

letter

chapter

4

we

have

this

treasure

speaking

of

Jesus

we

have

this

treasure

in

jars

of

clay

to

show

that

this

all

surpassing

power

is

from

God

and

not

from

us

your

first

thought

in

the

situation

that

is

boiling

you

from

the

inside

out

should

be

this

Christ

was

crucified

in

weakness

for

me

start

always

from

there

let

Christ

be

your

guide

and

strength

let's

pray

our

heavenly

father

we

we are

at the

foot of

the

cross

again

where

we

should

be

each

day

and

we

see

our

savior

crucified

in

weakness

for

us

and

we

thank

you

father

for

your

love

in

sending

christ

for

free

you

father

love

the

whole

world

that

you

sent

christ

to

save

us

and

we

thank

you

Christ for sending your spirit

to minister

to bind, to heal

to help and to comfort us

and when needed

to point out sin

and convict us

help us Father to take

Christ into our

hearts and live this

week in a way that

honors Jesus

magnifies Jesus

shows strength

from Jesus

to God be the glory

forever and ever

Amen

Thank you Ralph

just in response to that

we're going to sing

Jesus Christ

I think upon your sacrifice

just as we think

about what the Lord

did for us

in weakness

let's stand

to sing

Jesus Christ

I think upon your sacrifice

and the chorus goes

thank you for the cross

and isn't that where our focus

should be on the cross

for

that's what we have

in Christ

because he went

to the cross

for our sins

for

every nature

we are

happy to be on more