Broken-Hearted But Joyful (Part 1)

Turn with me in your Bible to the Book of 2 Corinthians. I will read all of chapter 7 for the needed context even though we will obviously not be covering that much this morning.

2 Corinthians 7:1-16

Let’s pray.

Commentator, R. Kent Hughes, shares a few interesting and revealing accounts from the history about a few well-known men of God. Hughes writes:

On a notable Sunday morning in 1866, the famous Victorian preacher C. H. Spurgeon shocked his five thousand listeners when from the pulpit of London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle he announced, “I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to.” For some of his audience it was incomprehensible that the world’s greatest preacher could know the valley of despair. Yet it was a regular part of his life because twenty-one years later in 1887 he said from the same pulpit, “Personally I have often passed through this dark valley.”

John Henry Jowett, the renowned pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian in New York City, and later Westminster Chapel in London, wrote to a friend in 1920, “You seem to imagine I have no ups and downs but just a level and lofty stretch of spiritual attainment with unbroken joy and equanimity. By no means! I am often perfectly wretched, and everything appears most murky.”

Writing of Alexander Whyte, perhaps Scotland’s greatest preacher since John Knox, G. F. Barbour said, “Resolute as was Dr. Whyte’s character, he had seasons of deep depression regarding the results of his work in the pulpit or among his people.”

Martin Luther was subject to such fits of darkness that he would hide himself away for days, and his family would remove all dangerous implements from the house for fear he would harm himself. In the midst of one of these times, his indomitable wife, Katharina, entered his room dressed in mourning clothes. Startled, Luther asked who had died. She replied that no one had, but from the way he was acting, she thought God had died!

The reality is that godly believers sometimes get depressed. Those who have set their minds on “the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1) have not been exempted from down times. Those who have gone for it all, who have scaled heights we may never attain, sometimes were subject to depression and despair—the “damp of hell” as John Donne called it. Depression has been called the common cold of the soul, for sooner or later most people catch it. And God’s servants are not immune.

These men and countless others like them, can find a kindred spirit, if not a small bit of consolation, in the Apostle Paul. Paul describes himself in this account as depressed, or downcast as translated in several other English Bibles. The sense of the Greek word is that Paul was filled with melancholy and despondency. Paul is clear as to the cause for this depression of his soul in verse 5 – “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side; conflicts without, fears within.”

This misery that Paul was experiencing while in Macedonia was the culmination of his excruciating anxiety over the Corinthian church, of whom he had sent a harsh or severe letter that I mentioned several months ago at the beginning of our study in Second Corinthians – a letter that we are not privy to since God did not determine to include it in Scripture. Paul was so concerned about the church and how they would receive this letter and consequently how they would view him after receiving the letter, that he sent Titus, one of his children in the faith, to see first-hand how the church was doing in his absence and then to report back to him.

The plan was for Titus to meet Paul in Troas by a certain date, but Titus did not make it in time before Paul was back on the road. Paul’s stress and misery and depression only grew as he left Troas and traveled to Macedonia. We know very little of the work in Macedonia, but that church was also apparently in a mess. Paul suffered exhaustion and constant affliction, along with the internal stress about the church at Corinth, which he had birthed.

Paul’s inner fears were not about his physical comfort or even his life, but these fears were his constant concern for the churches. Paul even wrote to the churches of Galatia, “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain” (Galatians 4:11). To the church at Thessalonica Paul wrote, “For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain” (1 Thessalonians 3:5). And later in this second letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes, “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?” (2 Corinthians 11:28-29).

These ministerial fears weighed heavily on Paul. If it wasn’t concern that one or more of these churches were in danger of collapsing, it was concern for an individual or individuals in these churches who were losing their battles with Satan and sin. And beloved, Satan is always doing his worst to destroy biblical churches. We must, we must, we must persevere in the face of trying circumstances, for these circumstances will relentlessly be thrust upon the church for as long as the church is resolving to be faithful to the Word of God.

MacArthur writes: “Though richly rewarding in many ways, the ministry is arduous. To properly interpret the Word of God, understand theology, edify believers, and refute those in error requires diligent, hard labor. Proving to be an example to the flock, developing and training leaders, admonishing the unruly, encouraging the fainthearted, and helping the weak all take their toll. But the most painful aspect of ministry involves difficult relationships between the sheep and the shepherds. All pastors know the hurt that comes when those in whom they have invested the most return the least.”

This is the backdrop for chapter 7, along with all that we have already studied through the first six chapters which includes destroying legalism and relying on God in keeping the church pure and separate from the influences of unbelievers. So, with that somewhat lengthy introduction, let’s see how far we can get this morning in the time that we have together.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Most commentators believe that this verse is more so, the conclusion of what Paul wrote in what we know as chapter 6, than it is an introduction to this next line of thinking. I view this verse more as a bridge between the two, which is why I saved it for now instead of trying to attach it to our last study.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved…”, referring to the promises that God made, and Paul then quoted in the previous verses – the promises from God in 6:16b-18 – the four “I will” statements. Since we have these promises that Yahweh will dwell in us, that Yahweh will be our God, that Yahweh will welcome us, and that Yahweh will be a father to us and that we will be His sons and daughters, “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

The sense from the Greek is that while this cleansing work is an act of God, it does not happen apart from our effort. This is the theme of many Books in the New Testament, but none more than the Book of James, who consistently preaches the essential nature of good works proving that your salvation is genuine. It is through God’s grace that the Holy Spirit cleanses and refines and matures and perfects us, but this process of being sanctified in the flesh is not forced upon us. Our efforts are required. We must suit up every morning with God’s armor and fight against the desires of the flesh, fight against the attacks of Satan, and fight against the urge to cave into and assimilate with the ways of the world.

The daily battle is as real as it gets, yet most believers have been duped into living a casual form of Christianity, a form that never confronts sin, never stands for God’s truth, never embraces the truth that we have not been called to a life of comfort and ease, and ultimately allows just about anything to cause them to get offended and fall away from serving our Lord and King.

We read passages in the Bible that speak of there being no fear of God anymore without recognizing that our own fear of God has faded away. Paul warned the church at Corinth to not be bound together with unbelievers, which we discovered did not mean to cut ties with them but to not allow the influences of the world to infiltrate the church, yet these influences have not only infiltrated the church, but in many churches the world’s influences dominate the church. It is a rare church today that has holiness and the fear of God as primary aspirations.

So, Paul then dives right into how the world’s influences have permeated the church at Corinth in the example of them being offended at him for leaving them and, by their assessment, has not kept his word to them.

2 Corinthians 7:2

Oh beloved, I hope you not only heard those words but that you can feel those words. These are the words of a broken-hearted pastor, who loves the people of this church beyond what any of them could imagine, who has faithfully followed God’s call, and now faces the ire and ill-will of a church who does not accept what God has been doing in the life of this Apostle.

Paul begs this church to make room for him in their hearts. He knows that they have been hurt and even crushed by his leaving them and by his altered travel plans that have kept him away from visiting them, but he pleads and begs for them to once again, display their love for him but more so to display their love for God by following Him instead of allowing their personal pain and disappointment to shipwreck their faith.

And beloved, this is the danger in any church who places more love and devotion in a man than in God. This is the danger in any church that allows disappointment and offences to regulate their service to Christ. This is the danger in any church that finds their motivation to serve being dependent on other people and on all things being smooth and carefree and in line with their way of thinking.

So, Paul begs and pleads and reminds them that he has wronged no one, corrupted no one, and took advantage of no one. Paul and those who worked with him in this ministry of starting churches, establishing churches, discipling churches, appointing a pastor and elders to continue the work, and then moving on to another place to do the same or to revisit previous works to help in their growth, never did anything to wrong these people, to cause them to fall into sin, or to take advantage of them in any way. Yet human emotions are easily turned and twisted and deceived when they are raw and exposed through disappointment and hurt.

2 Corinthians 7:3

Paul accepted that His calling from God often meant that he would need to be firm and even harsh at times with the people of the church. He knew that the sinful nature and human condition would also often mean that this kind of necessary corrective speech would cause some to take great offence and that their reactions would not always be positive, so he clearly states that his intent is not to condemn. The ability to admonish and correct a brother or sister in Christ without unrighteous judgment and condemnation is something that must be directed and led by the Holy Spirit.

Paul expresses his deep and abiding love for these people by even saying that it is his heartfelt desire to die together with them as he also lives together with them. The idea is that nothing can break the bonds of friendship, of brotherhood, of their “blood” relationship in Christ. And by reversing the order of living and dying to dying and living together, Paul is expressing that his bond and relationship goes beyond our physical experience and continues eternally in our heavenly experience.

Paul is confirming that the relationship between believers should never be strained let alone broken by the temporary concerns and differences and disputes and disappointments and even offences. Yes, by all means and with all diligence keep worldly influences out of the church, but never allow anything to sever a relationship with a brother or sister in Christ. Grudges and unforgiveness are tools of the devil who sadly deceives multitudes of believers to easily and willingly, fall into such, when our sensibilities and convictions are offended.

Our relationships with one another should be akin to that between Ruth and Naomi. Ruth proclaims to her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you of turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus, may Yahweh do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17).

Beloved, we allow far too many things that are infinitely less in severity to part us from other brothers and sisters in Christ. Our lives are not our own and we cannot allow personal disappointment, personal pride, personal feelings, and personal expectations to separate us from one another.

This is probably the hardest and most heart-breaking aspect of ministry – seeing God’s children holding grudges and refusing to forgive one another and allowing anything to cause division and damage our Lord’s church. I can typically allow the troubles of the day to be put aside each evening to sleep, and then pick them back up the next day to continue to pray through and work through, but there are occasions when sleep eludes me over difficulties between brothers and sisters in the church.

Paul says in verse 5, which we will have to wait until next week to address in full, that he had no rest over the troubles and difficulties in Corinth – the church he started and labored over and prayed for and gave so much of his life for.

But there is joy in the heartbreak. It would take someone who wasn’t human to persevere in such inner turmoil if there were no potential joy in the end. Even Jesus endured all that He did for the joy set before Him. And there was eventual joy in the church in Corinth after they got over their self-inflicted hissy fits and pity parties. And we will begin seeing some of that joy, next week.

Let’s pray.