2 Corinthians 10:14; Stretch Not Beyond Our Measure

2 Corinthians 10:14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

In the Apostle Paul’s second missionary journey in which the church of Corinth was established, was recorded by Luke the beginning of that journey in Acts 15:40 “And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.” The poet Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) aptly described “grace” in the words of the hymn entitled “Grace! ‘Tis a Charming Sound” that is the throbbing heartbeat of the missionary in Ephesians 2:8:

Grace! ‘tis a charming sound

Harmonious to the ear

Heaven with the echo shall resound,

And all the earth shall hear.

Saved by grace alone!

This is all my plea:

Jesus died for all mankind

And Jesus died for me.

In the second missionary journey recorded in Acts 15:36-18:22, according to Scroggie, the occupied 2 ½ – 3 years and the distance travelled was 2800 miles (1230 miles by sea and 1570 miles by land) from A.D. 50-53. The first and second Epistles to the Thessalonians were written respectively in A.D. 52 and A.D. 53.

It was a true record of the grace of God. Truly, as the biblical record holds true, church growth is simply the work of the Holy Spirit through obedient men and women heeding the Lord’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. It is the founding of Bible-believing God-honouring churches, standing on the Word of God against the floodtide of the end-time apostasy now sweeping around the world. [SH Tow] 

Amen.