The following quotation is provided regarding the book of 2 Corinthians, namely: " 2 CORINTHIANS After writing 1 Corinthians, Paul continued his ministry at Ephesus. This ministry was so successful that ' they which dwell in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks ' (Acts 19:10). Not so successful, however, was his attempt to solve the problems at Corinth. Even after the writing of 1 Corinthians, trouble continued to grow worse, especially the Corinthians' harsh attacks upon Paul. Divisions within the church and their attacks upon Paul denied the very essence of the gospel that ' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself… and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation ' (2 Cor. 5:19). Contacts between Paul and the Corinthians continued. Reports from Corinth indicated increasing hostility toward Paul. Timothy, whom Paul had sent with the hope that he could resolve the problems, returned to Ephesus and was with Paul when he wrote 2 Corinthians (2 Cor. 1:1). Paul made a painful visit to Corinth that is not recorded in Acts. Second Corinthians contains three references to this visit. After making this visit, Paul wrote, ' But I determined this with myself, that I would not come to you again in heaviness ' (2 Cor. 2:1). "1 After having the courage to speak God's word in a local congregation of the church in this genearal area over three years ago, I experienced some harsh attacks, and had no recourse but to leave that local congregation ( I was not the full-time evangelist ( see 2 Timothy 4:1-5, for example ) there ), and started this house church, and have been preaching and teaching God's word full-time here for nearly 3½ years. When you speak God's word in a local congregation of the church, you will find out in a hurry who the false brethren are ( see 1 Corinthians, chapter 11 ( especially verse 19, for example ), for example ). NOTE: The picture, located to the upper, left corner of this paragraph, was downloaded from the " gettyimages.com " web page.2
In Matthew 10:21, 22, it is written, " 21 z Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 a and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. b But the one who endures to the end will be saved. " Jesus ( see 10:5 ) also said that we, as Christians, are to be faithful to God unto death ( see James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10, for example ). God commands us ( see Ecclesiastes 12:13, for example ) to fight " the good fight of the faith " ( see 1 Timothy 6:12 ).
We are also commanded by God to be weak in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 13:4, it is written ( please read this entire chapter to get the immediate context ), " 4 For r he was crucified in weakness, but s lives by the power of God. For t we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you u we will live with him by the power of God " ( Emphasis mine, R.E.W. ). The apostle Paul tells us what it means to be weak in Christ, for in 2 Corinthians 12:10, it is written, " 10 m For the sake of Christ, then, n I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For o when I am weak, then I am strong. "
Paul told the saints in the church of God at Corinth " for you bear it. " As slaves of God, we must bear the mistreatment that we experience. We do this by being weak in Christ. Please seek and read from the book of the LORD ( see Isaiah 34:16, for example ).