The second letter of Paul to the Corinthians is probably the least known of all his letters. It has sometimes been called "Paul's unknown letter." I do not know why that is. First Corinthians is very well-known among his writings, but many people feel that Second Corinthians is heavy reading. It is too bad that we are so unfamiliar with it, because it represents the most personal, the most autobiographical letter from the apostle's pen.

Our subject this morning is how to handle misunderstanding. I wish we could take time to ask how many of you are going through a time of being misunderstood, of having your motives misjudged and your actions misinterpreted, of experiencing something that you meant to be taken one way being taken in quite a different light. We have a classic case of a misunderstanding here, in Chapter 1 of Second Corinthians, that will help us in handling such matters. This is the fourth letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, but we call it Second Corinthians because two of the letters he wrote are missing. In this section he is sharing certain experiences which come from being a Christian in a pagan world.

In our study of Second Corinthians this morning, we will be dealing with the third of three very practical problems which arose in the church there in Corinth, to which Paul is writing: (These problems frequently arise in California as well.)

Today we begin what I think is one of the greatest passages in the New Testament. It is found in Second Corinthians, beginning in Chapter 2. Here is the clearest explanation in all the Word of God of the secret of the Apostle Paul's phenomenal ministry. It runs from Chapter 2, Verse 12, through Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6, and ends with Verse 2 of Chapter 7. I have treated this in my book, Authentic Christianity, because it has meant so much in my own life, and I have seen its impact in the lives of many others. It is such a splendid example of what genuine, true, authentic Christianity is. Yet, strangely enough, this great passage is a parenthesis in this Second Corinthian epistle; it is a digression on the apostle's part.

I have often wondered how the Apostle Paul would rate in ecclesiastical circles, whether he would be considered a success or not, if he were carrying on his ministry today. It is hard to believe that a man who spent most of his ministry in jail, who never made enough salary to buy a home of his own, who never built a church building, who never spoke on television, or even had a radio broadcast, who ran around so much that he had no permanent residence of his own, who frequently had to get a job to support himself, who admitted that he was a poor speaker and had a very unimpressive appearance, could be a successful pastor or minister. He just does not fit the accepted scheme of what makes for success in the ministry today. No wonder they had trouble with him in Corinth, and had difficulty believing that he was a real apostle. That is what they were thinking when Paul wrote this letter, and that, perhaps, explains why Chapter 3 begins with these words:

We are nearing the season of mask-wearing, Halloween, and some of our children, at least, will be putting them on. In the radio program, The Lone Ranger (who was known as "The Masked Man"), some of us who are older remember how thrilled we were when we heard that call of, "Hi-ho, Silver!" to the beat of the William Tell Overture, and the invariable question, "Who was that Masked Man anyway?" And, we were distressed a couple of weeks ago to learn that the Supreme Court has ordered that The Masked Man has to take his mask off. The Lone Ranger cannot wear it anymore! But in Verse 12 of Second Corinthians, Chapter 3, Paul tells us who "The Masked Man" of the Bible is. It is Moses.

These first six verses of Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, will answer a lot of questions as to why so many people do not believe the gospel when they first hear it, or even after they have heard it over a long period of time. They will answer questions about why many who do believe the gospel quit after they have been walking in the Christian way for some time; and also questions about why some people whom you think will never believe it, suddenly do so. The passage begins with a tremendous declaration by the Apostle Paul, about his reaction to his own ministry:

Here in Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, we are examining one of the clearest passages in Scripture, in my estimation, to declare the process by which the power of God is released among men. We long, we pray, for that power to be released among us; everyone wants that to happen. I am increasingly concerned, however, about the ignorance of Christians, not only in other places but right here as well, as to their true power. We are surrounded by evidences of decay in society, of increasing corruption, of the disintegration of personality, of increasing hurt and darkness and despair. But all the time I can hear Jesus saying to us, "You are the salt of the earth,"(Matthew 5:13 RSV).

One of the great questions which all of us has to face -- and all of us do face it even though it may be in the privacy of our own thoughts -- is, "What is waiting for me when I die?" There is a new interest in that subject today. Many books are coming out, explorations are being made, even scientific studies attempted in this field, though it is very difficult to see how science can probe in this area at all. As you examine the answers that are being given, there are really three categories of them, and only three.

"What is there to live for?" That is a question that fills many hearts, both Christian and non-Christian alike, today. These are times of crisis. We feel them very strongly in this present hour. Many are troubled by the bleak look of the future. Teen-age suicide rates are rocketing as despair spreads. So, many are asking the question, "What is there to live for?" There is a wonderful answer provided in this passage from Second Corinthians 5 which we will be studying today. I hope that many will be helped by it.

The Apostle Paul has been painting a picture for us in Chapter 5 of Second Corinthians. Line upon line, and stroke upon stroke, he has been drawing a portrait of a Christian living in the midst of a dying world. We have been learning what a Christian ought to be like in a world like ours today, which is comparable to the world of the 1st century, filled with despair, hopelessness, corruption, deceit and darkness.