Bible

Here in the Bible Room today, we are reading Session 4 in the book of II Corinthians, the summaries of chapters 9, 10, and 11.

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II Corinthians

Session 4

Chapter 9. Giving

There is no need for me to repeat what I wrote to you earlier about

• The support you intend to contribute to the believers; I have
• Been bragging in Macedonia about your generous pledge
• Made last year, and you have increased the interest of others
• In giving; So, I am sending these fellow believers to you to
• Strengthen your resolve, and ensure that you are fully ready
• To make your gift, and verify my confidence in you;
• I want these men who are coming to you to make sure you
• Are giving out of a generous heart, and not from a sense of
• Obligation; But I will say to you that anyone who gives only a
• Minium gift grudgingly, will see only a minimum blessing,
• But anyone who gives generously from a bountiful spirit, will
• See a great blessing in return; So, everyone should be happy to
• Give, because God loves those who are happy to give; And God
• Will reward you accordingly with great blessings so that you
• Will have all your needs supplied; Your gifts are like giving
• Seed to the farmer which will then yield much fruit for you;
• Your liberal giving will not only provide for the saints, but it
• Will also increase the faith among believers everywhere; And
• They all will be praying for you, and thanking God for you and
• Your exceedingly generous giving.

Chapter 10. Warfare

Speaking for myself, Paul, I am asking you to try to understand my words:

• Before Christ, I am the lowest of men, but with Him I speak
• Boldly; Though I am not present there with you, when I get
• To visit you, I will speak kindly in my confidence toward you,
• But I will speak more strongly to those who think of me as just
• An ordinary man, without the special calling to be an apostle;
• I am just a man, but this fight we are waging is not a physical
• Fight; It is spiritual warfare, and God has provided us with all
• The spiritual tools of war to enable us to win, to overcome
• Every argument, and be made ready to punish every act of
• Disobedience to Christ;
• All those who see themselves as being Christians, should also 
• Be able to see that we are also Christians; And we have received
• Authority from the Lord to provide instructions for you to be
• Able to better serve Him; Our teaching is not intended to harm
• You, or threaten you, but rather it is meant to build you up;
• Some are saying ‘his letters are powerful, but, as a man, he is
• Very weak, and does not speak well;’ But I will tell you that
• Whatever we appear to be in our letters, we will be the same
• When we are there in person;
• We will not be comparing ourselves to those who are bragging
• About themselves, for that would be a mistake; We will only be
• Claiming the sphere of influence granted to us by God, and that
• Sphere includes you, for we brought the gospel of Christ to
• You; We will not be forcing ourselves into another man’s
• Preaching territory or sphere of influence; But we are hoping
• That news of your faith will increase, and as it spreads it will
• Enhance our own ministry; And if anyone brags about what
• They have done, let it be done only in the Lord, for the only
• Thing that matters is the blessing of the Lord.

Chapter 11. False

Now I want you to tolerate me while I speak freely for just a moment:

• I am feeling sincerely concerned over you, like a father
• Wanting to protect his children, because I was the first to
• Present the gospel of Christ to you; But now, I am fearful that
• You are being deceived, like Eve was deceived by the serpent in
• The Garden of Eden;
• Someone has come to you preaching about another Jesus, and
• A gospel that is different than what we have preached to you,
• And that has been accepted by you; Now, I admit I may not
• Have the persuasive speaking ability that some of the other
• Apostles may have, but I can assure you that I am well-trained
• In the knowledge which I have shared with you;
• Was it a mistake for me to preach the gospel to you free of
• Charge? I did collect offerings from other churches so that I
• Could come and preach to you without asking for any support;
• When I was with you, all of my needs were supplied by the
• Believers from Macedonia, so that I was never a burden to you;
• God knows the love I have for the people of this region, and
• I will continue to preach the gospel truth to you and everyone;
• In this, I am determined to stop all those false teachers who are
• Claiming to be apostles of Christ as we are, and attempting to
• Lure you away from the true gospel; They are behaving just like
• Satan who can present himself as an angel of light; So, it is easy
• For his followers to appear as ministers of the truth, but the day
• Is coming when they will receive the punishment they deserve;
• Now, I am going to talk about me, and if I say something that
• Seems foolish, just take it as something coming from a fool;
• What I will say here is not being directed by the Lord, but
• I can say these things because I have confidence in myself;
• You people are smart enough to know how to tolerate fools,
• And hear foolish speaking; However, you have been misled by
• Some erroneous teaching, and I have tried to be forceful in
• Overcoming those false teachers;
• Are they claiming to be Hebrews, and Israelites, the seed of
• Abraham, followers of Christ? I am all those things, though I
• Do not wish to brag about it, and even way beyond in what I
• Have seen and endured; I have been beaten, and stoned,
• Shipwrecked and stranded, threatened by almost everyone
• Everywhere, sleepless, hungry, naked, and cold;
• In addition to all of that, my daily distress lies with the
• Churches who are weak and need my help;
• The Lord knows this to be a true story: In Damascus, the
• Governor there was intending to arrest me, but I escaped in
• A basket lowered down the wall through a window.

End of Session 4 of the book of II Corinthians.