SFJ Bible Reading Plan

2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of the New Covenant

3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our¹ hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.²

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one³ turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord⁴ is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,⁵ are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.⁶ For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Footnotes

[1] 3:2 Some manuscripts your

[2] 3:3 Greek fleshly hearts

[3] 3:16 Greek he

[4] 3:17 Or this Lord

[5] 3:18 Or reflecting the glory of the Lord

[6] 3:18 Greek from glory to glory

(ESV)

2 Corinthians 2

2:1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

(ESV)

2 Corinthians 1

Greeting

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.¹ 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,² of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity³ and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand—14 just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.

15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.⁴

23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

Footnotes

[1] 1:5 Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ

[2] 1:8 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters

[3] 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness

[4] 1:22 Or down payment

(ESV)

1 Corinthians 16

The Collection for the Saints

16:1 Now concerning¹ the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Plans for Travel

5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Final Instructions

12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will² to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brothers³—you know that the household⁴ of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

Greetings

19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!⁵ 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Footnotes

[1] 16:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians’ letter; see 7:1; also verse 12

[2] 16:12 Or God’s will for him

[3] 16:15 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 20

[4] 16:15 Greek house

[5] 16:22 Greek Maranatha (a transliteration of Aramaic)

(ESV)

Going Deeper

He is Alive (2-20-15)

Grab your Bible and let’s go deeper into 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”

Jesus Christ died for sins (that was Friday) and was raised from the dead (on Sunday) all “in accordance with the Scriptures”!   In other words, just as it was foretold it would be. In 1 Corinthians 15 after clarifying the Gospel of Jesus and testifying he has indeed risen from the dead, Paul argues that without the resurrection we have nothing!

1 Corinthians 15:12-19: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep (dead) in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

These are incredibly strong words that highlight the centrality of the resurrection for the Gospel to be intact!

The Evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus

1. THE GUARDS

Matthew 27:62-66: “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.”

The Roman Guard was the elite SOLDIER of the day.  Historians say, “For these elite soldiers, it was punishment by death for not fulfilling their duty” (They were stripped and burned alive). The Latin word used to describe the “The Roman Guard” in this text was koustodia. To us, this is translated as “Custodian” which in that day was a special “Fighting unit of Soldiers.”

In Acts 12:3-4 we see a more clear insight into what a Roman Guard looked like: “to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each.”  So, at the tomb, they would sleep in shifts, staggered as they slept!  So the protection of a Roman Guard was a serious and professional deal.  So for Jesus’ body to be taken/stolen under such professional guard would have been impossible for man.

THE HUGE STONE

 Mark 16:1-4: “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”  (They were surely very emotional and realized their lack of planning because they realized they would require others to roll the stone away.)  It continues: “⁴And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back–it was very large.”

Years ago, Engineers from Georgia Tech were in Israel researching the type of stone that would have covered the typical 4-5 foot opening to a tomb. They concluded that the stone would have been in the neighborhood of 2-2½ tons. So when the girls observed the stone as very large..  they weren’t joking!

In Mark 16, the Greek word to describe how it was rolled was anakulio, which translates to: “to roll up a slope or incline.”  This makes sense because many times, the way they got this massive stone to go into place was to have it wedged up a hill, then when the time came, they pulled the wedge and it would roll into place.

In John Chapter 20, a different Greek word, Airo, is used to describe the stone being moved.  This word is translated to: “to pick something up and carry it away.” So, basically it is saying it appeared as if the stone had been picked up and moved.

 So, from these observations we can see that for there to have been “funny business,” they would have had to move a two ton stone up an incline, possibly having picked it up and moved it, over and/or around the Roman elite, possibly numbering 16 men.

 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE DISCIPLES

 Now, in my opinion, the greatest proof of the Resurrection is the eyewitness accounts. Eyewitness accounts have always been used to validate the accuracy of any published report; to prove the events at a crime scene; to prove a story true!

 Go back to 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 with me.  Paul says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”     

The biggest evidence we have that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead is the account, the reaction and the changed lives of those who were most devoted to him!

 Understand that Jesus did not appear to just a limited, hidden, controversial few, He appeared to more than 500 people, and on one occasion, 500 at one time!  So, in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is basically saying, “If you don’t believe me ask these people who are still around!”

If we gave each of those 500 eyewitnesses 6 minutes on the stand to give their account we would have 50 hours of what would be the most lopsided trial in history!

ADDITIONALY,  The witnesses were not stereotyped in one similar way

 Mary saw Jesus in the morning & the travelers to Emmaus in the afternoon & the apostles at night.

• Some saw him outside & some indoors.
• The reactions were varying in emotion as some were overwhelmed, frightened, questioning and some worshipped him.

If that is still not enough, the fact that Jesus’ resurrection transformed these eye witnesses and propelled them to live utterly different lives, should be.

Before the death and resurrection of Christ the Disciples were cowards; they were scared and timid.  Peter went so far as to deny even knowing Jesus (3 different times) when the heat got turned up.  Yet, after the resurrection Peter became a man of courage and he was empowered to dedicate his every day to the sharing of the Good News of Jesus. To the point that he was killed for his faith!  The Disciples were transformed!

Now one might ask the question:  Was there any personal gain for the disciples to live the radical lives they lives after Jesus’ resurrection?  Let’s consider the two biggest things our flesh looks to for personal gain:  1. Money    2. Fame

Was there financial gain? NOPE, they lived in poverty and traveled with nothing.

• Was there fame? No, they were persecuted, stoned, jailed, cast out and most were murdered for their faith!

There was, and continues to be no motive apart from the truth that true followers of Christ continually without explanation pursue the good news of Jesus in the face of major turmoil and death and do not recant!  Why?  Because He lives!  Because He is God!

THE TOMB WAS NOT ENSHRINED

This is a great circumstantial evidence.  Man’s practice is to memorialize and remember someone when they die.  This is what we do at a funeral service: we light candles, and sign songs, and tell stories to remember the one that has passed away!  We get on planes and go to the grave to be as near to the body as we can.  Understand: in the day of Jesus there were no less than 50 tombs of holy men that had been memorialized or enshrined.

But Jesus does not have this kind of place of memorial.  There is no place to go see his tomb and remember Him. The greatest man who ever lived, the most influential figure in all of human history didn’t have a funeral. WHY?  Because he was not there! There was not enough time to put together his wake.

 If Jesus’ legacy ended with his burial, the people who once followed him passionately would have slowly and surely hung up their hat at his tomb. We still would today.  It would have been marked to this day as one of the most important tombs where one of the greatest men that ever lived was buried.  Why?  Because that’s where it would have ended!

But it did not end there!  There was no reason to go write a poem, sing a song, light a candle, or have an Elvis or Kurt Cobain style remembrance!  They didn’t enshrine this great man at his tomb…because Jesus wasn’t there!!!!   He was alive!

Hear me today in the deepest places of your heart.

Let it embolden you and propel you forward in courageous ministry as you Soldier for Him!

 He is ALIVE. He is well. He is eternal. He is victorious.

His spirit has been poured out to all who repent and trust in him.

 The resurrection is the FACT around which our faith and our hope is built!  Too often the resurrection of Christ is a doctrine of secondary importance.  I love how Mathew Barnett emphasizes the Resurrection:  “It is neglected and forgotten until Easter comes around each year. The same disregard for the resurrection is seen in how we share the gospel. Christians tend to share the gospel as if Jesus died on the cross and that is the end of the story. We make a zip line from the crucifixion to ‘repent and believe,’ The cross is central to our salvation, but what God accomplished there is incomplete unless the tomb is empty on Sunday morning. Therefore, the resurrection of Christ is vital ‘for us and our salvation.’”

Why is the Resurrection of Jesus Good News?

It is good news because Christ secured our victory over sin and death.  Which means we are risen from the enslavement of our sin to enjoy the greatest prize we could ever know:  GOD, himself!

While we are still here on earth, suffering for his name’s sake, we are sorrowful but always rejoicing. Why?  Because we have been reconciled to the risen King.  This is what Jesus means when he says, in John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”

The resurrection is God’s “Amen!” to Jesus’ words, “It is finished.”  The resurrection is the Church’s launching pad unto ministry and mission and worship to make much of his name!  Because God rose Jesus from the dead, who can be against us?  We are more than conquers in Christ!

Oh death where is your victory, Oh Death where is your sting!    HE IS ALIVE!

By His grace and for His glory,

Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine

Soldiers for Jesus MC

National Chaplain