2 Corinthians 13:1-10
August 29, 2010
Third Time's a Charm
2 Corinthians 13:1-10
August 29, 2010
God was in the Garden, Jesus walked the earth, and the Third Visit is coming soon! Just as Paul shouts to the Church of Corinth so Jesus shouts to us today: "WARNING; get it right, I AM and I will return for a Third Time!"
- EXAMINE YOURSELVES. We need to be looking at where we stand in our faith position. God knows it all and he examines our ways; whether evil deeds or truthful walks (Prov. 5:21-23, Psalm 26:1-3). He knows so you can't hide it, thus its best to identify where you are. Look at who you truly are and "return to the Lord" in repentance and redemption (Lam. 3:40-42, 49-50, 55-58). What you will/should find may surprise you:
- Weakness Awareness. We are weak in body & mind (Mt. 26:41, Rom 8:26-27). This weakness screams for us to fully lean on the support of our Savior. 2Cor. 12:7-10.
- Perfection Pursuit. Only one way to holiness and that's through acceptance of His grace and mercy (Heb. 10:1&10). He alone makes us righteous (Romans 4:4-8).
- Upward Building. He has built us up creating our value by His exchange (Acts 20:32, Col. 2:6-7). Therefore we are to do our job as members of the body and warriors of His army (Eph 4:12, 16). We are to speak into people's lives and elevate their Spiritual Being (1 Thess. 5:11, Eph. 4:29).
Proverbs 5: 21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. 22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. 23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Psalm 26: 1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3 for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.
Lamentations 3: 40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. 41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: 42 "We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven........ 49 My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, 50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees..... 55 I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. 56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief." 57 You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." 58 O Lord, you took up my case;you redeemed my life.
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Matthew 26: 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Romans 8: 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for (weak mind), but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
2 Corinthians: 7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But 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 weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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Hebrews 10: 1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.... 10And by that will, we have been made holy (perfect) through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Romans 4: 4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of theblessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
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Acts 20: 32"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Colossians 2: 6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Ephesians 4: 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ... 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
1 Thess 5: 11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Ephesians 4: 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
