Adversity

 It has struck me that there are many practical evidences for the power of God in Christianity. One of them is, in my judgment, in what we in theology call the perseverance of the saints. Perseverance is evidenced when believers in Christ do not give up in the Christian life even though there are many arguments in favor of giving up on many occasions.

 I think there are two things that made Paul’s situation so difficult at this point. One is the hardship he had been through. I talked about opposition in another lesson; Paul had plenty of that.

In 2 Corinthians 2:13 Paul went on to remind the Corinthians that he had not taken any money from them on his previous visit. That is an interesting thing because there were places in which Paul did take it.

As Paul thinks ahead to this third visit, he wonders if this one might turn out like the second. It is a great concern to him. Paul said in verse 14 that his real objective was different from that of the false prophets, who were there to gather a following, or to make money, or to acquire a reputation.

Paul feared that he would find quarreling among the Corinthian believers. We know that there was quarreling, because he mentioned it earlier in these letters. He also feared discovering among them jealousy, outbursts of anger, and factions (dividing up into exclusive groups).