Alan J. Huth invites you to a deep exploration of the final chapter of 2 Corinthians, examining the challenge Paul gives to the church in Corinth and to us today—Examine yourselves. Through insightful comments from his personal Bible reading journals and a rich discussion of spiritual testing and truth, you’ll find encouragement to live in alignment with your faith and embrace an authentic walk with God. A powerful call to hold firm to the gospel amidst life’s trials.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today brings us to the last chapter of the great book of 2 Corinthians. We are in chapter 13. There are 14 verses in this final chapter, and we will listen in to Faith Comes to Our Hearings reading of 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
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2 Corinthians 13 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warned them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them, since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you, we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail to meet the test. I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test, but we pray to God that you may not do wrong, not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come, I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for restoration. Comfort one another. Agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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As we finish off 2 Corinthians, this last chapter, let’s look at these last entries of these journals from 1994, 2004, and 2015. Starting with 1994, after this chapter I wrote, he was crucified because of our weaknesses. Then I wrote, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves, or do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? Do what is right, even though I should appear unapproved. Do nothing against the truth. In 2004, I wrote, test me, examine me, be Jesus in me, help me stand for truth. Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Praise God, I can come to you, and you forgive my weaknesses and use me anyway. Thank you. And in 2015, on that plane ride all the way home from Australia, I wrote, our weaknesses can strengthen us. In our weaknesses, God offers power. Examine me. Test me. Is Christ in me? Aim for restoration. Comfort one another. Agree with one another. Live in peace. Well, that ends the journal entries from those various decades, 1994, 2004, and 2015. I hope you enjoyed the use of those journals in walking us through 2 Corinthians. Let’s look at a couple of concepts out of this last chapter before we close the book of 2 Corinthians. Paul says to the Corinthians, he says to us in verse 5, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves, or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test. What is the test that Paul is referring to here? I refer to my English Standard Version footnote on verse 5. The test to see if Christ is in the Corinthians will be their response to Paul and his call to repent, since God’s message and the messenger are one. The test is the same for us today. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves, or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? is jesus christ in you remember back in chapter eleven when paul said but i am afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his cunning your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to christ for if someone comes and proclaims another jesus Than the one we proclaimed. Or if you receive a different spirit. From the one you received. Or if you accept a different gospel. From the one you accepted. You put up with it. Readily enough. That’s the test friends. Is Christ in you? Or have you been led astray. By another Jesus. A different spirit. or a different gospel. The same test Paul was giving to the Corinthians, he’s giving to us. Paul proclaims in verse 8, for we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. I hope you can shout that as loud as Paul can shout it, that you too can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. After this AdBible podcast today, Do what Paul is asking us to do. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Paul finishes off the book by saying this, Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth, because they had been upended by visits from Paul’s opponents. Several openly rebelled against Paul. They had argued that Paul suffered too much to really be a spirit-filled apostle of Jesus. In the church of Corinth, there was a rebellious minority who continued to reject Paul and his gospel. The central theme of 2 Corinthians was the relationship between suffering and the power of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s life, ministry, and message. He wrote to strengthen the faithful majority and purify the church and to offer those in rebellion one more chance to repent before he returned to judge them. That verse 11 closes out Paul’s desire for the Corinthian church. Aim for restoration. Comfort one another. Agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Let’s wrap up 2 Corinthians with the application to our lives today. Did you hear the gospel? Did you hear the truth of the gospel? Did you accept the truth of the gospel at one time in your life? If so, have you stood firm? Have you stayed strong? Have you stayed true to the one true gospel of Jesus Christ? Or, since you heard the truth of the gospel today, Have you heard a different gospel, a different spirit, maybe even a different Jesus, and has it turned your head away from the one true gospel? If so, Paul is saying, repent, come back to the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you heed his invitation today. There may be some listening who have never heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me share it like Paul shared it in chapter 5. For the love of Christ controls us. Because we have concluded this. That one has died for all. That’s of course Jesus. Therefore all have died. That’s us. And he died for all. That’s Jesus. That those who live. might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. That is the gospel in a nutshell. Therefore, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Please accept the love of Christ. Please accept the forgiveness of Jesus and the fact that he died on the cross for your sins so that you can be forgiven. Please set aside your life in the flesh and now allow the Holy Spirit to enter your life and live by the Spirit from now on. Please accept the offer to become a new creature in Christ. Let your old self pass away. and become new in Jesus. Please say this kind of a prayer to Jesus, even right now. Confessing to God that I am a sinner and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross and was raised for my justification, I do now receive and confess him as my personal Savior. Amen. That would be a great ending to the study of 2 Corinthians. If you have made a decision for Christ after listening to this podcast, please let us know. Please go to EzraProject.net. You’ll see a contact page where you can let us know that you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. We would love to know that so that we could pray for you as you grow in Christ. thank you for listening to add bible second corinthians we look forward to being with you again on the next book of the bible through add bible in jesus name thank you amen thanks for listening to add bible today how have you done with your personal bible reading this year we’re getting close to the end of another year a year the lord has given us did you read your bible every day so far this year Did you stay faithful to your Bible reading plan throughout the year? Did you fall apart? Are you trying to catch up? How faithful were you to God’s word this year? You may find this hard to believe, but I have not missed a day of Bible reading so far. Maybe you would expect that from the founder and president of a ministry called the Ezra Project, connecting God’s people to God’s Word. But that’s not why I read my Bible every day. I’ve done it for decades, even before I started the Ezra Project nearly 24 years ago. i want to be in god’s word every day it’s the best way to start the day relaxed peaceful with the creator of the universe the one who gives me the days i get to live as a gift from him with my savior jesus who gave all for me with the holy spirit the teacher of truth I love spending quiet time with my Bible before I enter the chaos of the world. So regardless of how you did this year or how you will finish, soon we will turn the page to a new year. My prayer is you will find no excuses next year to miss a day in your Bible reading. I pray that you will take me up on committing to being in God’s Word each day of the new year, spending unhurried, uninterrupted time with God the Father, Jesus the Word, and the Holy Spirit. I pray that you will take God at his word, that those who do so will experience a special blessing, as Psalm 1, 1 through 2 say. The word says, “‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.'” He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. So try it. Go for it. Experience God in a deeper way next year. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.
