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The Old Pendulum Trick

2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle

Mar 18, 2018


by: Jack Lash Series: 2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle | Category: NT books | Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:5–11
  1. Introduction
    A. Review
    1. On his second missionary journey Paul planted many churches, most of them in or near Greece.
      2. Generally he spent only a short time in each city where he planted a church because he usually got run out of town by rising persecution. 
      3. But he stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, so THAT congregation was near&dear to his heart.
      4. During his third missionary journey, Paul apparently received a report that things were not going well in the church at Corinth. 
      5. He immediately sailed to Corinth for a visit, but it did not go well. A man in the congregation somehow defied Paul – and the rest of the congregation didn’t stand up for Paul. 
      6. So Paul left Corinth and penned a very strong letter to the congregation, exhorting them to confront this man and cast him out.
      7. Later, Paul received a report that they HAD punished this man and that the fellow had been struck with sorrow and repented. 
      8. This is when Paul penned the letter we call 2Corinthians. 
     B. 2Cor.2:5–11 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.
     C. Some might wonder if Paul was out-of-line in inserting himself into the congregation’s affairs. 
      1. We can’t judge. We have no idea what this man’s issue was. 
      2. E.g. what if this man was arguing against what Paul commanded in 1Cor.6:15-20 about not going to temple prostitutes?
    II. Explanation
     A. So, we’ve spent two weeks in this section, but I want to reflect on the last verse before we leave it. 
     B. In v.11, Paul talks about forgiving the man “so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” 
      1. This seems like a strange time to bring up Satanic schemes. What does forgiveness have to do with being outwitted by Satan? 
      2. What’s going on here that the apostle is suddenly thinking about and warning them about the potential of being outwitted by the schemes of Satan? 
      3. There are many things he urges on them, many things he exhorts them about, but why in this particular case does he refer to the schemes of the evil one? 
      4. Paul wanted them to refuse to forgive this man. Now that he has repented, why is Paul so afraid that not forgiving him will open a door to Satanic opportunity?
      5. And why is Paul so urgent about forgiving this man? 
      6. I think I know why. 
     C. One of Satan’s great ploys might be called “the old pendulum trick.”
      1. It happens when a person turns away from some error or sin, and Satan tries to get that person to go too far in the opposite direction – like a pendulum.
      2. Or, to put it another way, if Satan can’t get someone going overboard in one direction then he will try to get them going overboard in the other direction.
     D. I think when Paul says he is not ignorant of Satan’s designs, he means that he is familiar enough with the ways of the devil to know about the old pendulum trick. 
      1. The Corinthians, you remember, did not support Paul during his painful visit when this man defied him. Their allegiance to the apostle who first brought Christ to them wavered. 
      2. Then Paul wrote them a stinging letter which included instructions to punish the man who had opposed him. 
      3. Now the Corinthians have responded so vigorously to his instructions to discipline the man that Paul is concerned they will be unwilling to forgive the man now that he has repented. 
      4. He is afraid the Corinthians might fall headlong into the trap of unforgiveness by dwelling in outrage toward this man who dared to attack their apostle. 
      5. Paul is not ignorant of Satan’s schemes. And so he is quick to step in to thwart this fiery dart of the enemy. "You must forgive this man as I myself have, in order that we not give Satan an opportunity." 
    III. You see, one of the most common ways that the Bible talks about the Christian life is as a walk down a path to a destination.
     A. And we receive many instructions and exhortations in the Bible in reference to this path that we are to walk in.
      1. Wandering off the path, of course, is what sin is all about. Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way.” 
      2. But there are two different directions to wander off the path: to the right or to the left. 
      3. “Let your eyes look directly forward... Ponder the path of your feet... Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” Proverbs 4:25–27 (Cf. Deut. 5:32; 28:14)
      4. So, there are always too dangers, not just one. So, we always need to have two fears, not one.
     B. It’s like driving a car. You must stay on the road. You can’t wander over into oncoming traffic nor can you veer off the road to the right. 
      1. Young people learning to drive: fearing the on-coming traffic on the left and also fearing running off the road on the right. There are two dangers, not one. 
      2. Overreacting to one danger can lead to the other danger, and overcompensating is the cause of many accidents. In order to be a good driver you must have more than one fear.
     C. Or, it’s like catching crayfish: They only swim backwards, so if you put the bucket behind them and then do something in front of them to scare them they back right up into the bucket. The crayfish is only afraid of the danger in front of him, and so if you’re crafty like Satan you can catch him from behind.
     D. The old pendulum trick is one of Satan’s main ways of snaring us. 
      1. It happens in a number of ways:
       a. We’re going along the path and we see a danger on one side, and so we veer to the opposite side in order to avoid this danger. But there’s danger on the other side as well. Many have hit trees and oncoming cars in an effort to avoid hitting a deer. 
       b. Or, we veer off the road in one direction but then overcompensate and go careening off in the opposite direction. 
       c. Or, we react to each other’s imbalances. You see, when you seem too unconcerned about one thing, my tendency is to become EXTRA concerned – overly concerned – about that thing.
      2. These are all manifestations of the old pendulum trick, whereby Satan gets people to overreact.
      3. You see, he doesn’t really care which way we go off the path, as long as we go off the path. 
     E. It seems to me Paul was afraid that Satan would trap the Corinthians in this way. Now that he had persuaded them to take a firm, strong stand against this man, he doesn’t want them to take it too far.
     F. He had persuaded them of the danger of being too tolerant of this man, but now they were in danger of not being tolerant enough. 
     G. Now that he’s repented, Paul urges them to forgive him.
    IV. There are three things to say as we conclude: Satan, balance and forgiveness 
     A. Satan – We have an enemy. And he’s very clever, very shrewd.
      1. And many times we fall prey to Satan’s devices because – unlike Paul – we ARE "ignorant of his schemes."
      2. We need to become aware of his devices.
      3. So how do we become acquainted with the devil’s schemes? Here are a few thoughts:
       a. A large part of what needs to happen is that we must become more aware that Satan is constantly trying to trip us up.
        (1) As you can imagine, I’ve watched a lot of youth sports in my life. And one thing I’ve seen thousands of times is one player outsmarting another player. 
        (2) Success in sports is far more than strength and size and speed and skill. It is also smarts. 
        (3) Some players have plenty of strength, size, speed and skill, but they don’t play smart.
        (4) They aren’t alert to the other player’s cleverness. Over and over again, they fall for the other team’s tricks. And they’re very bad at tricking the opponent.
        (5) The first thing is to get engaged with who our enemy is, and how shrewd he is. 
        (6) There’s a lot you can learn from experience: but you’ve got to be paying attention! 
        (7) “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith." (1Pet.5:8) 
       b. We become better acquainted with the devil’s schemes by becoming better acquainted with the word of God, which sheds light on his ways and on the ways to resist him. It must truly become our manual for living. 2Cor.2:6-11 is a great example of how God teaches us in His word about the schemes of the enemy of our souls.
      4. We need to "put on the full armor of God so that I will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." (Eph.6:11) 
     B. Balance – You might come away from this sermon thinking that it was about balance, about not going too far in either direction. That’s not completely accurate. 
      1. We need to have a balanced view of being balanced.
      2. Of course, there is a time when balance is right: not going to the left or the right, honoring both principles which are in tension with each other. E.g. 
       a. Christ said to Martha: “Only one thing matters.” when she complained that Mary was sitting and listening to Jesus while she was doing all the work.
       b. But James says, “Prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” (1:22)
       c. You can use spending time with God as an excuse for inactivity, or you can use activity as an excuse for failing to spend time with God. We need both. We need balance. 
      3. But there’s also a time when balance is a bad thing. 
       a. J.I. Packer: “Please don’t call me balanced! If you want to honor me, call me Biblical.” 
       b. What did he mean? Well, in the eyes of many, some things the Bible teaches are extreme: the idea of hell is extreme, salvation through Christ alone is extreme, the doctrine of election is extreme, church discipline is extreme, there are many things which people think are extreme.
       c. And if you’re balanced in the eyes of many, you are not Biblical. 
     C. Forgiveness
      1. When reading this passage, some folks accuse Paul of being overly authoritative, as we said. But others have the opposite reaction: they think Paul’s letting this guy get away with murder to let him off the hook so quickly. 
       a. I would humbly and gently suggest that this is the very kind of thought Paul is trying to help them avoid by warning them about the schemes of Satan. 
       b. Isn’t this the kind of thinking the older brother had, who can’t join in the party thrown by his father for his brother? (Luke 15:25-32) The situation is similar: the father forgave and welcomed him back, not even waiting for his confession. 
       c. You know, the proper response to repentance is always joy and gladness. 
       d. In Luke 15:10 Jesus said “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
       e. We see in Luke 15 that repentance needs to end in a party of celebration . 
      2. There is no working your way back to fellowship in Christ’s body, just as there is no working your way back to Christ. We are saved by grace alone. God doesn’t require us to clean up our lives before we return to Him. He says, “Return to Me. I’ll help you clean up your life.” 
       a. If we have trouble  accepting this command to forgive others, it's probably because we don't realize that this is what God does for us every day. 
       b. Jesus said we must forgive seventy times seven (Matt.18:21-22). If that's hard for people to do, it’s probably because they don’t realize that that’s what God does for them every day. 
      3. We might be shocked by Paul’s ability to be so strong and then to be so accepting.
       a. It shows that the punishment he insisted on was not born of anger or revenge but of love. 
       b. This wasn’t because of his personality. You remember what he was like before Christ. 
       c. It was because he was filled with Christ. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. (1Cor.11:1)
      4. Caveat: There is a time to be more careful about forgiveness. There’s never a time to hold a grudge, but there is a time to be more careful about forgiveness. When a person has some significant earthly advantage to gain by repenting, you have to watch out — in love.