Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ

This morning we will begin our verse by verse exposition of Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians. After our walk through his first letter to the church at Corinth we ought to have learned a few things about the local church.

Paul loved the body of believer in Corinth. You can see his love for them in Christ in the opening of the letter. Even in the rebukes throughout the letter he reveals his love to them by calling them to repentance, restoration, unity, and obedience in life and worship. This was all for their good.

The church at Corinth struggled with sin. This ought to be an encouragement to us, because we all struggle with sin. The encouraging thing is that they had godly men who would call them too repentance. We must remember that it is the role of our pastors, and our brothers and sisters in Christ to call us to repent of our sins and be sanctified. This is not my idea, but what Jesus himself taught.

The church at Corinth struggled with selfishness, and had to constantly be reminded to be submissive and seek the good of others first. This is something we must be constantly reminded of. Since the fall of man, humanity has primarily looked out for number one. But as Christians we are called throughout the Scriptures to put aside our own preferences for the good of others and the glory of God.

Here is on more point we learn from the Corinthians, 1 letter of correction wasn’t enough. You know what, most of the times, probably all of the time we are not going to correct one another in one conversation, letter, or counseling session. It takes a lifetime of counsel and correction from the Scriptures to conform us into the image of Christ.

Considering all of these things we learned form 1 Corinthians lets being looking at 2 Corinthians.

This week as we look at 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 the main point of Paul’s opening paragraph is,

Christians should expect to share in the sufferings of Christ so that they might be comforted by God for their salvation and sanctification.

So you see where I am drawing this from, look at,

2 Corinthians 1:5 ESV

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Now notice,

2 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

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.

What happens as we rely on God and not on ourselves? Our faith increases, as our faith increases our obedience increases!

So as we consider the calling to affliction and comfort let look at the Paul’s first paragraph of 2 Corinthians and see if we can gain a better understanding of the suffering of the saints.

How does Paul open up this second letter?

I. Paul Sends a Greeting of Grace and Peace. (1-2)

Paul opens his second letter, similar to the way he opens all of his letter. First of all by,

A. Affirming Authorship and Authority (1a)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

Paul is in a different city receiving information about how the church at Corinth is doing. His partners in the gospel are delivering updates to him about how the Corinthians are responding to his rebuke and exhortation.

He wants them to understand these words are coming from him, but more importantly through him as an apostle of Christ Jesus.

apostle, apostolos, a messenger of Christ Jesus. One sent by Christ with a special message from Christ.

But Paul is not only sent out by Christ, as if that is not enough, he affirms it is by the will of God. In other words, God called him deliver the message, and Christ sent him with the message. His message is of divine authority. He is not writing by his own will or wisdom instead he is only writing what he is given by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the Son. Therefore, it is in the Corinthians best interest to hear and heed Paul’s instruction.

Paul adds one more data point to his opening line. He is not only sent out with divine authority he is also accompanied by a adopted sibling. He is writing this letter with Timothy our brother. This is blessing of the body I think we too often forget. We need to remember that not only were Paul and Timothy our brothers, so is every other believer in Christ who had been justified by faith, we have also been adopted by the mercy and grace of God our Father.

So we see who sent the letter,

B. Affirming the Intended Audience (1b)

After Paul opens with the authors he turns to the audience,

To the church of God that is at Corinth,

Paul says this is a special letter for you, the called out assembly of believers at Corinth. You who have been called out of darkness into light by God. God is the one who has called, justified, and adopted you. And now he is sending you a God-breathed message for your good.

However, Paul also noted that this message was for more than the church in Corinth. He writes I am sending this message to you, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia. In short, he says this letter has broader application than just the church at Corinth hit message is for the called out ones in the surrounding region. Notice to it is for all the saints. There is not one believer in for whom this message is not written. From what we know from the rest of the Scriptures I would say we are included in all the saints. So Paul’s Spirit inspired words are for our good as well!

C. Affirming Divine Blessing (2)

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul delivers this blessing of unmerited favor, and peace, calmness, freedom from war, or trinitarian tranquility. He wants the church to remember God is showing the favor, giving them what the do not deserve in their salvation, and in sending them his words for their sanctification.

He also wants them to know, they are not longer enemies of God, they are no longer at war with him, instead they can rest in Christ, they can have a calmness of soul because God has granted them grace and peace. Every time we open the Scriptures we ought to be reminded of these divine blessings. That we might find comfort in the Father’s words that reveal to us the Son! The corinthian church is not the only assembly that has affirmation of God’s grace and peace through Christ, we as his church at Pray’s Mill have been gifted this same grace! What a blessing!

This takes us right into the body of Paul’s letter, so after seeing that Paul sends grace and peace, notice,

II. God Sends Comfort to the Afflicted (3-7)

Notice how Paul begins verse 3, he offers,

A. Praise for the Mercies of God (3-4)

Following his greeting, he goes straight to glorifying God for who He is and what He does. Paul’s first statement is one that we ought to remember and we ought to pray often.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

This word Blessed can be translated praise or the one to be praised. Paul wants the church of God to be reminded even in their suffering and affliction their adoration should be pointed to and poured out upon our God and Father, the one who has created us, redeemed us, and adopted us. He is the one that sought us out after we had sinned against him, He is the one who sent his Son to die a sacrificial, substitutionary death in our place, and then sent His Holy Spirit to awaken us to our depravity, to call us to repentance and faith, and to continue to illuminate His Word to us that we might be convicted of sin and grow in sanctification.

But what else did God our Father send His Spirit to do? He is our comforter, he comes along side of us and carries us. So not only should we offer praise to God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, but we should praise him for His Work he does through the Holy Spirit to convict, comfort and Counsel us.

Notice what specifically Paul praises God the Father for.

1. He is the Father of mercies

This term mercies means describes,

mercies - a display of concern over another’s misfortune, pity, mercy, compassion

As our Father God doesn’t just leave us in a state despair in our depravity.

He doesn’t just leave us wrecked and waiting to receive his wrath which is our due wage.

He doesn’t just send us straight to Hell for our sin against Him.

Instead he displays pity, compassion, and mercy.

Our Father reveals our sin to cause us to see our need for a Savior.

Our Father sent his Son as a sacrificial lamb for us.

Our Father crushed his Son for us.

Our Father called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Our Father caused us to be born again by the mercies of God.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Do you see why He deserves our praise? Not only do we praise him because he is the Father of Mercies, He also is,

2. God of all Comfort

Paul is about to layout the Divine remedy for the Christians comfort in affliction. One of the first things he does is remind the church that God is the God of all comfort. Meaning their is no other cure when you need to be consoled. There is no other man, woman, drug, or remedy for spiritual pain or depression. There also is not affliction outside of God’s comfort.

To understand this idea of comfort,

This word refers to lifting of another’s spirits, comfort, consolation.

David Garland explains, “The word comfort has gone soft in modern English.In the time of Wycliffe the word was “closely connected with its root, the Latin fortis, which means brave, strong, courageous.” The comfort that Paul has in mind has nothing to do with a languorous feeling of contentment. It is not some tranquilizing dose of grace that only dulls the pain but a stiffening agent that fortifies the heart, mind, and soul. Comfort relates to encouragement, help, exhortation. God’s comfort strengthens weak knees and sustains sagging spirits so that one faces the troubles of life with unbending resolve and unending assurance.” (Garland, pg 60)

Therefore blessed be our God who cares for and comforts us in the midst of our affliction!

Isn’t that what Paul writes next,

He explains the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our afflictions. Here is one more word we need to unpack.

Afflictions describes trouble that inflicts distress, oppression, tribulation.

A key point here is to remember, the context of these afflictions. Paul keeps referring to we in this paragraph. He is specifically referring to his own afflictions, to remind the church that his affliction do not degrade his apostolic ministry, but actually defend it because God is sovereign over all afflictions and provides the comfort needed to endure these afflictions. Paul then is setting the letter up as a defense of his motives and ministry to the Corinthians church. He wants them not to look down on him because of all the afflictions he faces, but instead praise God for sustaining him in the gospel ministry in the midst of all of these afflictions.

However, Paul is not separating his afflictions from the suffering of the saints either. He wants his endurance and hope in Christ during seasons of suffering to be the same endurance and hope in Christ that enables the church to remain steadfast in suffering.

Now I want you to consider all of the troubles that inflict distress, oppression, and tribulation. As we come back next week and continue to consider this text I would like to hear of a time when God had comforted you in the midst of affliction. We have probably all had them when trouble came and God through his Word and His Spirit brought us comfort and consolation, and encouraged our spirit.

Notice how Paul next, provides the reason for God’s comfort of the afflicted. Do you see the purpose clause,

so that....anytime we see so that, for, because, therefore, we know that Paul is about to provide us a purpose statement or a statement of application.

So the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that....what

so that we might be able to comfort those who are in affliction.

Paul here is referring to the way he and the apostles had been afflicted and persecuted. Other than Christ himself not many people had faced more hardships than the apostle. From shipwrecks, to lashings, to hunger, imprisonment, being left for dead, and with an ongoing thorn in the flesh. Paul was able to boast in God and his comfort that he had provided Paul in the midst of all these things.

This affliction was not only for Paul’s sanctification, it was also for the church’s consolation. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that his sufferings were setting an example for the Corinthians and should provided them confidence and comfort as they experienced similar sufferings.

Consider the Corinthians for a moment, from what we learned in the 1st letter. Do you think they were a body that responded this way in the midst of affliction?

Do people who are spiritually immature think of others when they are in the midst of pain?

Do people who are willing to divide over different leaders usually have the best interest of others in mind?

Do people who seek after worldly wisdom usually look out for the well being of others?

Do self seeking individuals usually think of ways to turn their affliction into comfort for others?

Paul wanted them to be encouraged that God had used his and the apostle’s suffering for their good and in turn they were to us their affliction to point others to their comfort in the God of all comfort.

What about us as God’s church today?

We praise God because he shows us mercy, he comforts us in our afflictions so that we might show mercy to others and comfort them in their trouble. That sounds great, but is it easy.

God may, will allow you to experience great affliction, distress, pain, suffering, times of tribulation for one primary purpose. That you might be a comfort to others who are in affliction.

Garland provides some helpful points of application here.

We experience God’s comfort when other Christians express care for us....Suffering becomes an unbearable burden when we feel alone and abandoned.

We also experience comfort by caring for others when we are in the midst of suffering....Sometimes the sudden onslaught of affliction may tempt one to retreat into a shell, to shut oneself off from others…This renders the suffering useless.

We also experience God’s comfort by witnessing its power in the lives of others…It is a comfort to see those undergoing trouble reaching out to comfort others.

Do you have a testimony of people you have been comforted by in the midst of your affliction?

III. Christ Shares Suffering and Comfort

After Paul has given glory to God because of his comfort in all affliction, and pointed the church to the reason for the apostle’s affliction, he then explains the comfort Christians find as,

A. Partakers in the Sufferings of Christ (5)

2 Corinthians 1:5 ESV

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Paul here points to the assurance the apostle’s have in abundantly sharing in Christ’s suffering and comfort.

Notice,

as we share abundantly in Christ suffering,

It is important for us to understand that Christ’s suffering is complete and has accomplished what He set out to do. In the sufferings of Christ, salvation for God’s elect is accomplish.

However, Christ suffering is for more than our salvation. Christ suffering is for our replication. We are to share, and partake in the sufferings of Christ as we we follow his example in faithfulness to the will of God.

Remember,

1 Peter 2:21 ESV

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

So for those who are in Christ, we are to share in his sufferings and follow him in his obedience to the Father.

Not only is sharing in Christ suffering for our salvation and replication, it is also for our sanctification.

1 Peter 4:1–4 ESV

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;

Sharing in the suffering of Christ ought to separate us from sin as we we arm ourselves with the same way of thinking.

What happens then as we faithfully share in the sufferings of Christ.

so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too,

The more the church suffers in Christ faithfully, the more she is comforted through Christ! Think about it the more Paul and the apostles were persecuted, imprisoned, and rejected, the more they trust in the work of Christ on their behalf. When you realize all you have is Christ, but that all you need is Christ and him alone, all of the sudden you begin to look to him more, hope in him more, and love him more.

The language of abundance Paul uses here is a commercial term. It carries with it the idea of looking at a balance sheet. The more abundantly we share in Christ suffering on the one side of the sheet, the more we share in his comfort on the other side of the sheet.

The more abundantly we rest in Christ, the more we find our comfort in Christ. Paul wants his example in suffering along with Jesus’ example in suffering to be what sustains the church as the being to grow in faithfulness and persecutions and afflictions increase.

Charles Hodge explains,

2 Corinthians: Crossway Classic Commentaries Paul’s Gratitude for the Deliverance and Consolation that He Had Experienced (Verses 1–11)

As union with Christ was the source of the troubles that Paul endured, so it was the source of the abundant comfort that he enjoyed. This makes the great difference between the sorrows of believers and those of unbelievers. Alienation from Christ does not secure freedom from suffering, but it cuts us off from the only source of comfort.

Let me give you a modern day illustration. Consider Grace Community and other churches out in California where the government is overreaching and trying to oppress and persecute the bride of Christ.

What has happened as Pastors like John MacArthur and Rob McCoy have stood firm in continuing to gather for worship even as the government has fined them, threatened them, and taken them to court? Other Pastors and churches across the nation have been encouraged, edified, and educated as they watch the way these men stood on the Scriptures and refused to continue to submit to unjust unbiblical laws/mandates.

Here are a couple of points of application for us.

Look for faithful men and women how are faithfully enduring affliction and learn from them. Be encouraged by them. Pray for them, we will see this theme a little later as well also.

Stand firm in the midst of affliction, don’t let your affliction drive you away from the church, let it drive you to the church that you may comfort others as they see you trusting Christ and being comforted by Christ in your season of suffering.

The next thing Paul helps us understand, is the

B. Purpose of Afflictions (6-7)

Doesn’t all of this talk of afflictions, suffering, and comfort make us wander, why would God us this means to strengthen his church?

The first answer would be because it’s his church and He is the all wise, all knowing God and that should be enough. But Paul gives us more.

2 Corinthians 1:6 ESV

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.

Paul explains, if we (Paul, and his partners) are afflicted, and if we are comforted, Here comes the purpose statement,

it is for your comfort

Paul say’s we endure this affliction so that you might rest, not worry, and be comforted when you face the same affliction.

Let me ask you another question. If your pastors fall apart when affliction comes what will that do for you and your comfort in Christ?

But if you see your pastors and their families not abandon the faith, not go all woe is me, not completely separate themselves from the people of God and his word what will that do for you and I.

Charles Hodge writes,

2 Corinthians: Crossway Classic Commentaries Paul’s Gratitude for the Deliverance and Consolation that He Had Experienced (Verses 1–11)

The main idea is that such was the intimate bond between them and him that he had a firm hope they would share both his troubles and his comfort.

It will bring us great comfort. But Paul says, it will bring you comfort,

and salvation.

Consider first how if Christ would not been willing to suffer the cross, we would not have been saved.

If Paul has not been willing to suffer for the preaching of the gospel, how would the Corinthians recieved the message of salvation.

But also, understanding those who are in Christ are already saved the truth is that suffering and salvation are linked together. Consider,

Romans 8:17 ESV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Do you see how Paul connects the two in Romans? We are children and heir is we share in the suffering of Christ, if we share in His suffering then we can find hope and comfort in that we will ultimately share in his glory when we attain that final future salvation!

But how is this comfort, hope, and confidence achieved?

6b and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

2 Corinthians 1:7 ESV

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

This points us to the eschatological nature of suffering, salvation, and endurance. We must realize if we endure suffering to the end and our saved it is not because of our physical strength, our mental toughness, or our intestinal fortitude. It is because of the preservation of God through Christ, and the indwelt power of the Holy Spirit. Truth is we are not strong enough, tough enough or committed enough to make it to the end on our own. We must have Christ, we must be in Christ, and we must long for the return of Christ.

Paul’s hope for the church at Corinth was not in that they made a one time profession of faith or prayed a specific prayer of salvation. Paul’s hope was in their steadfastness sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

You want to know what give us hope and confidence as the church of God? Watching one another faithfully share in the sufferings of Christ and comforting one another in those sufferings.

This brings us to our final point in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

IV. God Delivers from Deadly Peril. (8-11)

A. The Reality of Affliction

2 Corinthians 1:8 ESV

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.

As Paul begins to wrap up his discourse on God’s comfort in affliction he closes with God’s deliverance from severed affliction. As he does this he reminds the church

B. The Pain of Affliction

2 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

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.

C. The Hope in Affliction

2 Corinthians 1:10–11 ESV

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. 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.