Enjoying God s Comfort II Corinthians 1:3-14 Lesson for April 28-29, 2018 Diana Severance I. Introduction/Background A. We ve been looking at Paul s letters to the Corinthians, a group of believers full of problems and discord. Paul had established the church at Corinth on his second missionary journey and had stayed there a year and a half, evangelizing and teaching the new converts. (Acts 18:1-18) B. After Paul left Corinth, he heard of problems in the church, reports of problems first brought by Chloe s people. serious divisions in the church, struggles with sexual immorality and social snobbery. Paul sent Timothy to deal with these problems in the church (I Corinthians 4:17) C. The Corinthians also wrote Paul a letter with questions about marriage, divorce, and foods offered to idols. Paul answers their questions and deals with other problems confronting the church in his letter we know as I Corinthians. D. Paul then made a return to Corinth to confront the troublemakers what he describes as his painful visit in II Cor. 2:1ff apparently so painful he left quickly, returning to Ephesus. E. Paul then wrote the Corinthians a severe letter, delivered by Titus (II Cor. 2:4-9; 7:8-12). Burdened by the disjointed affairs in the Corinthian church, Paul also faced problems in Ephesus including possible imprisonment and the riot in the amphitheater which caused him to leave Ephesus and go to Macedonia, where he met up with Titus. He was pleased to learn from Titus that the major problem of rebellion and disunity had been solved, and he writes II Corinthians. F. Several themes and purposes can be seen in this letter, undoubtedly the most personal of all of Paul s letters: 1. The rebellion and opposition against Paul had been put down and the majority had repented. Paul urges them to forgive and restore the person who had caused all the trouble. (II Corinthians 2:6-11) 2. Offers rebellious minority one more chance to repent 3. Paul defends his apostolic ministry, baring his soul to the Corinthians and revealing his shepherd s heart. a. Paul unmasks the errors of the false apostles who had stirred up trouble in the church. b. In his autobiographical accounts of his ministry, Paul describes the power of the Spirit working through suffering and persecution to build up the Church. Paul s suffering and weakness should comfort others to endure hardship through the power of the Spirit. There is much comfort Paul can give through his painful experiences, culminating in that 1
wonderful promise of God in II Corinthians 12:8-10, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, Therefore I will boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 4. Provide encouragement in spite of trials. The word comfort or encourage is used 18 times as a verb and 11 times as a noun in this epistle! II. Paul s greeting sets the tone for the letter, 1: 1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A. Paul is an apostle of Christ Jesus. He has been personally chosen by Jesus; he s not taking this authority for himself. Paul s authority as an apostle is real, but is not self-serving. He is to serve others, including the Corinthians. B. by the will of God Paul s relationship to the church is part of the outworking of God s will. The Corinthians had been disregarding and questioning Paul s apostolic authority, but they couldn t disregard his authority without violating the will of God. C. and Timothy our brother in mentioning Timothy, Paul says they are all brothers with the Corinthians, they re all part of the same family in the Lord. Paul appeals to the Corinthians not just on the basis of his authority, but he has an affection for them. They re family! D. The recipients of this letter are the church of God that is at Corinth with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia. 1. The church at Corinth is not Paul s and it is not the Corinthians ; it is God s church. God is the creator who brought life to the church. The church and the believers in Corinth are God s work, and they bear His name in the world. 2. This is addressed to more than one congregation, but includes all the saints in the Roman Province of Achaia. Saints are those who are called out of the world and made holy unto God. Certainly the Corinthians, immersed in the immoral culture of their day, needed to be reminded of their position in Christ and their call to holiness. E. Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 1. Grace is necessary for our on-going sanctification. We cannot understand anything properly without the Lord teaching us and giving us warm hearts to do His will. 2. Peace of heart, mind, and life reflect the blessing of God. Peace comes from trusting God in all circumstances, loving God and relinquishing our life to the Lordship of the Son of God. 3. These come from our Father, for we are children of God, and come through Jesus Christ. 2
III. Affliction and Comfort 1:3-7 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. A. Paul begins with doxology and praise to God. Regardless of the circumstances, afflictions or troubles, praise of God is always in order! God is to be blessed or praised because of the comfort He brings to us. We praise God in affliction or trouble not because of our feelings, but because of our faith in the God of all comfort. 1. Blessed is the Gk. Word eulogetos, from which we get our word eulogy. It means to speak well of. When we bless God we are speaking well of Him and exalting Him. 2. God is the Father of mercies. All mercy originates with the Father, who has compassion and pity in our affliction. B. God s comfort is committed to us in Christ. He comforts us in all our affliction, regarding us in union with His Son. 1. The English word comfort repeatedly used in these verses literally means with strength or with bravery. When God comforts us, we receive His strength and courage. 2. The Greek word for comfort is parakaleo, literally meaning called alongside to help; the word related to the title often used of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter (John 14:16). 3. In verse 3 we actually have a reference to the Trinity: Father, Lord Jesus Christ, God of all Comfort (Holy Spirit). It s obvious from reading the opening chapters of this epistle, Paul, like us, is constantly in need of the Helper, the Holy Spirit. C. God s comfort is powerful in every and all afflictions I Peter 5:8-11, Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. William Barclay, Christian comfort is comfort which brings courage and enables a man to cope with all that life can do to him. Paul was quite sure that God never sends a man a vision without the power to work it out and never sends him a task without the strength to do it. 1 D. Our afflictions and God s comfort have a purpose. 1. The word affliction in v. 4 is the Gk. Word thlipsis, which means to be under pressure. It s the word Jesus used in John 16:33, in me you may have 1 William Barclay. The Letters to the Corinthians. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, 171. 3
peace. In the world you will have tribulation [pressure, affliction]. But, take heart, I have overcome the world. 2. Later in this epistle, Paul will further elucidate this connection between pressure and the comfort and peace of Christ: II Corinthians 4:7-11, we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies 3. As we are comforted by God in our afflictions, we should then become God s instrument for comforting others. We gain an ability in our afflictions to comfort others in a way we would not have been able to before. Our afflictions and God s comfort make us more useful in the lives of other believers.think of the psalms in the Bible. Many were written by David in times of great affliction, even facing death, yet how greatly have these psalms comforted millions of believers down through the ages. Wiersbe, one reason for trials is so that you and I might learn to be channels of blessing to comfort and encourage others. 2 E. Notice in v. 5 that God s comfort is sufficient, even abundant. In Jesus we share abundant suffering and abundant comfort. Our suffering never outdoes God s comfort. When we share in Christ s sufferings, it is not the vicarious, salvific suffering on the Cross we share, but like Christ, we endure trials because we are doing the Father s will. We are, as Jesus said, suffering for righteousness sake (Matthew 5:10-12) F. In v. 6, we see that God s comfort is for our salvation or sanctification. Paul s own suffering and afflictions had a purpose for the church and other believers. These believers will have a model in Paul. In Paul they will see patient endurance, as he believes God in times of trial and continues to serve the Lord under difficulties. G. In affliction and difficulty, and when discouraged, the first step we should take is turn to the Lord and realize all He is to us. Wiersbe, When you find yourself discouraged and ready to quit, get your attention off of yourself and focus it on God. Out of his own difficult experience, Paul tells how we can find encouragement in God. 3 The hymn Turn your eyes upon Jesus captures this truth: O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, 2 Warren Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, New Testament. David C. Cook, 2003, 504. 3 Ibid., 502. 4
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. His Word shall not fail you, He promised; Believe Him and all will be well, Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell! IV. Paul s personal example of affliction and comfort 1: 8-14 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. 12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand 14 just as you did partially understand us that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. A. Paul references the suffering he s experienced in Asia. This very likely refers to the time in Ephesus when he was possibly even imprisoned for a time; I Corinthians 15:32 Paul mentioned fighting wild beasts in Ephesus, despairing of human hope. He finally leaves Ephesus after the riots instigated by the silversmiths. He notes that the suffering and facing deadly peril made him rely on God, not himself. 1. The word despaired means no passage, no way out, no exit. Paul saw no escape from his desperate situation. 2. Only the God of resurrection, the Giver of Life, could deliver Paul from this ordeal and impending death! B. Paul encourages the Corinthians to pray for him. Paul asks for prayer at least 7 times in his epistles (Romans 15:30-32; Eph. 6:18-10; Phil. 1:19; Col. 4:3; I Thess. 5:25; II Thess. 3:1; Philem. 22). Paul viewed the prayers of the saints as crucial to his ministry. Difficulties not only strengthen our faith but our praying for other Christians draws us closer to them and glorifies God. John MacArthur, In prayer, human impotence casts itself at the feet of divine omnipotent. When God s people intercede for each other, His power and sovereign purposes are realized. Thus, the purpose of prayer is not to manipulate God but to exalt His power and submit to His will. 4 4 John MacArthur. New Testament Commentary: 2Corinthians, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2003, 28. 5
J. Campbell Morgan, Our prayers for our loved ones help God to work deliverance for them. That is a deep mystery, but it is a fact of which we do well to take heed. There are things which only God can do only when we pray. It was surely that conviction in the olden days which made Samuel say as he retired from his judgeship to make way for Saul, Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you. Observe carefully that he did not say that by ceasing to pray he would sin against them, but that he would sin against Jehovah. When we cease to pray, we limit God, and wrong our friends. We may not understand this, but we ought to act upon it. By our supplication, we are helping together in the deliverances God works for our loved ones. 5 C. In face of the accusations the Corinthians made against Paul, he can tell the Corinthians that he has acted with a clear conscience, with godly simplicity, and through God s grace, apart from any earthly wisdom. He trusts that at Jesus appearing the Corinthians will boast in him as he will boast of them. V. Conclusion Another hymn, written in the 18 th century, beautifully expresses the believer s confident hope in God s comfort we have seen in these Scriptures: Be still my soul: the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev ry change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend Thro thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still my soul: thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be brought at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. 5 J. Campbell Morgan. Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Fleming H. Revell, 1926, 343. 6