God has many ways to bring us down. Some young people have been brought down by their married life. Before a particular brother was married, he may have been like an eagle soaring in the air. He could easily talk about the wonderful, glorious church life. But not long after his wedding, it seems that the church life is no longer glorious. God is using his marriage to calm down such an excited brother. In some cases, such a brother may stay down for a long period of time after his marriage. But eventually he is up again, although not in the same excited way as before. This is a sign of improvement.
Sometimes God may use one of the elders to bring you down. If such a thing happens to you, you should realize that God is the one who is putting you down, not the elder. He does it by means of the elder. Without having any intention, that elder may speak a certain word to you, and that word lowers you down. God deals with us in this way because He is a God of measure, apportioning to us a certain measure.
I realize that it is a serious matter to be down. Some brothers may be down for such a long time that it seems that they will never rise up again. But perhaps after another period of time, they will once again be up. None of us should presume to say what another brother’s situation will be. It seems that this being up and down is beyond our control or management. Yes, we do not control this or manage it. Therefore, we all must realize that God is in control and that this is His way to keep us within our measure.
In this country the Lord’s recovery has spread to a certain degree. Yet it seems that there has been a limit to this spread. However, this does not mean that the Lord will permanently stop the spread of the recovery. The point here is that, in our concept, once the Lord’s recovery begins to spread, it should spread farther and farther without restriction. However, this is not God’s concept.
We should not think that Paul was so spiritual that he was altogether different from us. Even he had to learn to take the Lord’s restriction. For example, Paul wanted to go to Rome, but he did not expect to go there in bonds. Furthermore, he told the believers at Rome that he expected to go to Spain by way of them (Rom. 15:24). Paul never went to Spain, and he arrived in Rome in bonds. Those bonds were the Lord’s measure, His limitation. God did not measure out Rome to Paul in a free way. Instead, God led him there as a prisoner. Yes, Paul was in Rome, but he was there in prison. That imprisonment was a restriction. Rome was not Paul’s territory in a way without restriction. God is sovereign, and whatever happened to Paul was under God’s sovereignty. This means that Paul’s bonds and imprisonment were God’s sovereign restriction. Paul was willing to be subject to God’s measuring. He neither transgressed this restriction nor rebelled against it. In this matter, he did not kick against the pricks.
Based on this principle of God’s measuring, Paul told the Corinthians that whatever he did and spoke was not beyond his measure. Paul always acted and behaved within his measure. Using today’s terminology, he acted within his jurisdiction. In contrast to the Judaizers, he never reached beyond his jurisdiction.
In verses 13 through 15 Paul seems to be saying, “Corinthians, as a church you have suffered a great deal because of the coming of the Judaistic preachers. These preachers, although Christians, are not willing to give up Judaism. On the one hand, they preach Christ; on the other hand, they still teach the Mosaic law. Therefore, they cause trouble and damage the church life. You Corinthians have been influenced by them. Therefore, you must realize that these Judaizers should never have come to Corinth. God did not measure the city of Corinth to them; Corinth is not in their jurisdiction. To be honest about it, Corinth is my jurisdiction, my territory.” This is Paul’s concept in these verses. However, it was difficult for him to speak about this in a direct, frank manner. But there is the implication here that Paul condemned the Judaizers for coming to Corinth. Thus, Paul seems to be saying, “We do not overreach ourselves, as the Judaizers do. We were the first to come to you with the gospel of Christ. That was a sign that Corinth has been measured to us. We came according to God’s ruling. God has apportioned Corinth to us, not to the Judaizers. Actually, God has not apportioned anything to the Judaizers. They should not go anywhere. Their movements are altogether illegal before God and without the proper jurisdiction.” This is the basic thought in these verses, and this was the feeling in Paul’s spirit as he was writing.
The apostles always moved according to God’s ruling. Whatever God measured out to them became their jurisdiction, and others should not interfere with it. If God had apportioned a certain territory to the Judaizers, the apostles would not have gone to that territory, for in so doing they would have overreached themselves. This is what Paul is saying here.
Today many preachers and teachers overreach themselves and interfere with the jurisdiction of others. This overreaching and interference always causes trouble.
In the church service we need to realize that God has only measured out so much to us, and we should not overstretch ourselves. We need to know our limitation, our jurisdiction, and not go beyond it into others’ territory. Like Paul, we should move and act according to our rule, that is, according to how much God has measured to us.
Paul knew from the Macedonian call he received that Corinth was under his rule, his measure. We know from Acts 16 that Paul became clear that God had called him to Europe. He came to Achaia with the gospel of Christ according to God’s ruling. Both Macedonia and Achaia were under Paul’s rule. Thus, the Judaizers should not have come into this territory to cause trouble. This was the feeling deep within Paul as he was writing these verses.
In this section of 2 Corinthians Paul is vindicating his apostolic authority. This authority is related to jurisdiction. If Paul did not have any jurisdiction, what would be his authority? In his vindication of his apostolic authority, Paul conducted himself so as not to overstep the boundary of his measure. He is a good example of a person fully under God’s restriction.
I encourage the young people especially to study this portion of the Word and learn from it how to conduct themselves in the church service and how to move in the Lord’s recovery. Young people, you must know your rule, your limit. This means that you must know how much God has measured to you, how much He has apportioned to you. This restriction, this limitation, is a very practical dealing with our flesh. Our natural man wants to be without limitation. However, God knows our problem. Therefore, He sets up boundaries and restrictions so that we may stay within the measure He has apportioned to us.