We Put No Stumbling Block In Anyone's Path

2 Corinthians 6:3 - We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.


Romans 14:20 - Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.

1 Corinthians 8:13 - Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

1 Corinthians 9:12 - If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:32 - Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

Application:

· Am I concerned that I live an exemplary life because I do not want my ministry to be discredited?
· Do I regard a weak brother’s scruples?
· Do I refrain from engaging in harmless practices if it will cause weaker brothers to sin?
· Because of love for others, I should be ready to surrender my rights
· Living to glorify God will result in doing what is beneficial to others, whether Christians or non-Christians

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Time Of My Favor...The Day Of Salvation

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 - As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.


1 Corinthians 15:2 - By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Isaiah 49:8-9 - This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.

John 8:56 - Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

Application:

· Those who turn back from Christ show that their initial, apparent reception of God’s grace was not real but in vain.
· If I am not persevering in the Christian faith, this is an evidence that I did not have saving faith in the first place
· The day of salvation is now
· Abraham rejoiced that he would see the day of Christ

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Ambassadors

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 - All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.


2 Corinthians 6:1 - As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Application:

· Those who turn back from Christ show that their initial, apparent reception of God’s grace was not real but in vain
· I have the privilege and obligation of being a herald and instrument in God’s hands to minister the message of reconciliation
· God regards me as forgiven and declares and treats me as forgiven, because God imputed my sin to Christ and imputed Christ’s righteousness to me
· I can be comforted with the truth that nothing that entices me is foreign to my Lord

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

To Fear The Lord

2 Corinthians 5:10-13 - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.


1 Corinthians 2:4-5 - My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power

Application:

· I will appear before the judgment seat of Christ accounting for all I have done with my life
· Do I put up a superficial front? Am I more concerned with money, popularity and self-importance than a true, deep relationship with Christ?
· Does the Holy Spirit work in my heart? Or do I rest on intellectual and oratorical ability?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Away From The Body...At Home With The Lord

2 Corinthians 5:8-10 - We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.


Philippians 1:23-24 - I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 - If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

Application:

· When I die, I will be in a preferable state than the present life in this body
· When I die I will be immediately with Christ long before my body is raised from the dead
· I will appear before the judgment seat of Christ accounting for all I have done
· Work that I do in Christ-like faith and obedience will survive and be rewarded; all other work will not
· My works could stand the test or disappear

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

A Building From God, An Eternal House In Heaven

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 - For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.


2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

1 Corinthians 13:12 - For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Application:

· The experiences and circumstances of the present life, often painful and perplexing, are what is visible. They are temporary and fleeting.

· When I die, though my physical body will be buried here on earth, I expect that I will go immediately into the presence of Christ, and will be present with Christ until the day of resurrection

· When the Lord returns, I will fully know Him, similar to the way the Lord knows me

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

What Is Seen...What Is Unseen

2 Corinthians 4:1,17-18 - Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart…For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.


Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Application:

· Seen in the perspective of eternity, my difficulties, whatever they may be, diminish in importance.
· The experiences and circumstances of this present life, often painful and perplexing, are what is visible. They are temporary and fleeting.
· Has God through His mercy called and commissioned me? Has God supplied the strength necessary for me to persevere in the face of hardships and persecutions?
· Do I concentrate on Jesus? The humiliation of present sufferings for the gospel’s sake is far outweighed by the prospect of future joy.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV