I Can't Take It Anymore!

Scripture: II Timothy 3:10-15

C.I.: I Can't Take being Attacked Anymore

•  Five Responses to Those Who Verbally Attack a Christian, (II Corinthians 1:12-22)

•  “My Conscience is Clear,” (v. 12)

1. ( v. 12 ), “For our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness &
godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in
the world, and especially towards you.”
a. Some people say, “Let your conscience be your guide!” But this may not be good advice…
1) ( Acts 23:1 ), “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before
God up to this day.”
2) Yet with a “perfectly good conscience” Paul had…
a) Stood by and watched while an innocent man was being murdered, ( Acts
7:58 ), “And when they had driven [Stephen] out of the city, they began
stoning him, and the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man
named Saul.”
b) Written with his own hand that he had been, ( Phil. 3:6 ), “…as to zeal, a
persecutor of the church.”
c) at a separate trial admitted that he had, ( Acts 26:10 ), “…not only did I lock up
many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests,
but also when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.”
3) Thus, with a perfectly clear conscience, a person can do many evil things, unless their
conscience has been properly trained!

b. Paul trained his own mind three ways…
1) Holiness: His focus is upon following Christ holy actions, ( I Pt. 1:15-16 ), “But like
the holy One who called you, be holy, yourselves, in all your behavior; because it is
written, ‘You shall be holy, or I am holy.'”
2) Godly sincerity: Singleness of thought, ( Heb. 10:22 ), “Let us draw near with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an
evil conscience.”
3) The grace of God: Nothing affects our conscience more than God's grace!
a) Either we don't understand & accept it, “God could never forgive the evil I
have done!!!”
b) Or we accept/embrace God's grace, ( Rom. 8:1 ), “There is now, therefore, no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
c) It was because of God's grace, that in spite of the evil that he had done prior
to his conversion, that Paul was able to say, “My conscience is clear.”

B. “I have no hidden motives,” (vs. 13-14)

1. ( vs. 13-14 ), “For we write nothing else to you than what you read & understand, and I hope you
will understand until the end,”
a. Some Christians in Corinth said Paul did not mean what he had written in I Corinthians.
1) Have you ever had someone say to you, “I know why you said/did that!!”? Thus
ascribing evil motives to us? Are people able to reading our heart now?!!
2) If a man of the character of the apostle Paul had to defend his character, we should
not be surprised if we have to defend our own!

b. As the Lord's people we must be men & women of integrity whose motives are pure.
1) It is only this kind of heart that the Lord can bless, ( Matt. 5:8 ), “Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God.”
2) This should be our goal, ( I Tim. 1:5 ), “The goal of our instruction is love from a
pure heart.”

C. “I am not inconsistent in my plans,” (vs. 15-17)

1. ( vs. 15-16 ), “I intended at first to come to you that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to
pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be
helped on my journey to Judea”.
a. The history behind this point is interesting…
1) Paul wrote in I Cor. 16:5f , that he was going to visit them on his way back from
Macedonia.
2) He later made the plans he mentions here to also visit with them on his way to
Macedonia.
3) But he had not down either of these things. Thus, some in the church in Corinth were
saying Paul could not be trusted!

b. Yet we must allow God to be in charge of our plans and to change them when necessary.
1) ( v. 17 ), “Therefore I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or that
which I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be
yes, yes and no, no at the same time?”
2) We must never leave God out of our planning. ( Jms. 4:13-16 ), “Come now you who
say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there
and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will
be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor, that appears for a little while and then
vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do
this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”
3) God may have other plans for us than the ones we make…, ( Acts 16:7 ), “When they
had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did
not permit them.”
4) We should always make our plans with God but leave room for Him to change them.

D. “I am not inconsistent in my words,” (vs. 18-20)

1. ( vs. 18-20 ), “But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God,
Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us – by me and Silvanus and Timothy – was not
yes and no, but is yes in Him.”
a. A charge of “inconsistency” can be rightly made if we say one thing to one person and
another thing to someone else, (e.g., “yes and no” ). Our words must be consistency to
everyone with whom we speak.
1) As Jesus said, ( Matt. 5:37 ), “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes,' or ‘No, no'; anything
beyond these is evil.”
2) People may not always like our stand but they should all know where we stand!!!

b. But some in the church in Corinth were saying that Paul could not be trusted, especially in
his speech!
1) In our speech to others, we should say to them what God would say, ( I Pt. 4:11 ),
“Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God.”
2) Yet when they impugn Paul's words, they are impugning the One who gave him
those words.
a) This is why here Paul writes, “But as God is faithful…!”
b) Paul had already told them his words came from God, ( I Cor. 2:12-13 ), “Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also
speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the
Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
3) People may not always like what we have to say but their argument must be with our
source, not us!


B. “I am just as much a Christian as anyone,” (vs. 21-22)

1. ( vs. 21-22 ), “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also
sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
a. We are truly Christians because of three amazing things that God does for all believers…
1) #1. “He establishes us” = to confirm, make steadfast.
a) One of Satan's favorite tricks is to cause believers to “feel” unsure about our
salvation!
b) Yet God wants us to “know” (as opposed to “feel”) that we are absolutely
saved. How?
c) He does this by giving us something which doesn't change like our feelings
do, i.e., His word!
d) ( I Jn. 5:13 ), “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life”

2) #2. ( For Members! ) He “anoints us” = this word means to consecrate/qualify us
for service.
a) Only God's people have been qualified by God to serve Him. Jesus said, ( Lk.
4:18 ), “God anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim
release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are
downtrodden.”
b) It is this same thing God has anointed & commanded all of us to do today.
1)) Preach the gospel, ( Mk. 16:15 ), “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to all creation.”
2)) Proclaim release to the captives, ( II Tim. 2:25-26 ), “… with
gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, that they may come
to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been
held captive by him to do his will.”
3)) Give sight to the blind, ( II Cor. 4:4 ), “… for the god of this world
has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
4)) Set free the downtrodden, ( Rom. 8:2 ), “For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

c) #3. ( For Guests! ) He “…sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a
pledge.”
a) If you are one of our guests today, God desires to do this for you!
1)) ( Eph. 1:13-14 ), “In Him you also, after listening to the message of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed , you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
2)) Yet more than just “hearing” and “believing” are required. ( Acts
5:32 ), We are witnesses of these things; and so too is the Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
3)) But what is it we need to “obey”? ( Acts 2:38 ), Repent , and let each
one of you be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness
of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
b) Having received the Holy Spirit separates those who belong to God from
those who don't. ( Rom. 8:9 ), “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Him.”
c) Now while there are those today who say, “You don't need to be baptized in
order to be saved;” this is clearly not God's view on the subject. ( I Pt. 3:21 ),
“…baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an
appeal to God for a clear conscience – through the resurrection of Christ
Jesus.”

b. This brings us back to where we began this lesson!
1) The person who hears and believes the gospel, and then obeys it by repenting and being
baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, not only receives the Holy Spirit but also has a
clear conscience! Isn't today a great day to be able to say, “My conscience is clear”?!