2 corinth 1-11: Comfort of GOD (2)

Affliction in our lives

These past long months and over the course of this past year facing the Covid pandemic there has been a lot of need in the church.

It is sometimes hard to see the light when were going through the darkness of circumstances, suffering, or affliction. In some cases when someone else is facing trials things dont seem directly connected to us and out of natural instinct we may become ignorant. At times we may even look down on those who are in seasons of hardship. This seems more true when examining church leaders and ministry leaders and their needs.

As a result it is rare for a pastor, or church leader to disclose their afflictions with the church. This is then a learned experience in some churches and often practiced amongst the congregation body.

In opening God’s word for our edification and teaching for today we will look at these three questions posed from God’s infallible word.

Is it normal for christians to face afflictions or hardship?

How should christians wisely respond?

How do we comfort our selves and others in need?

2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-11

1“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are in all Achaia. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed is 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 all affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

4 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, thus through Christ our comfort overflows also. 5 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that is at work in the patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.

7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you are sharers in the sufferings, so also you will be sharers in the comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning our affliction that happened in the province of Asia,a that we were burdened to an extraordinary degree, beyond our strength, so that we were in despair even of living.

9 But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we would not be putting confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,

10 who delivered us from so great risk of death, and will deliver us, in whom we have put our hope that he will also deliver us again,

11 while* you also join in helping ⌊on our behalf⌋ by prayer, so that thanks may be given ⌊on our behalf⌋ by many persons for this gracious gift given to us through the help of many.

Background to Pauls 2nd letter

Apostle Paul writes 2 Corinthians after hearing how the church responded to his first letter.

Two main things happened:

1: False teachers deny Pauls Apostleship

2: False teaching of Paul’s character in his sufferings is dividing the church

Paul’s Response

Paul teaches for us called to be in ministry how we should handle our ministries and character during times of affliction.

This is the essence of 2 Corinthians

Now lets look to God’s infallible word to answer our question posed from this verse.

Q1. Is it normal for christians to face afflictions?

2Corinthians 1:5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

What does this mean?

Christs sufferings are passed onto us as his body or church how is in union with him.

How do we know this.

Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinthians shares this with us.

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1 Corinthians 12:18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

God has chosen who he saves through the Gospel of Jesus (Romans 1:16-17). Individually we function as parts and as a body together in union with Christ and through communion with the saints.

1 Corinthians 12:26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

If a part of our body was in distressed the entire body would share in the sufferings of that distress. As a body in Christ we function this way together in times of suffering, and in times of rejoice.

Does overflowing afflictions of Christ’s body (christians) still occur today?

Yes ( Scaffold the church to see it still happens)

In this past year the country of Haiti has experience the assassination of their president along with devastating natural disasters.

Although the hardships were great a group of missionaries persevered to share the Gospel in Haiti.

According to the Associated Press a Haitian gang has been accused of kidnapping 17 members of a U.S. based missionary group, “Christian Aid Ministries,” during their visit to an orphanage.

Officials in the report said the gang demanded $1 Million ransom for each person kidnapped, for a total of $17 million.

The group includes 5 children one 8 month old child, the others 3, 6, 14, and 15 years old.

The gang leader threatened Haitian authorities to kill hostages if his demands aren't met.

-Meanwhile back home in the U.S. the church has faced one of its biggest declines.

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According to Lifeway Research, a christian research non-profit organization, confirm about 250 pastors leave the ministry each month. Other Christian Research institutes claim the number to be as high as 1500-1700 per month as church closings has been on the rise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lifeway Research the high numbers can not be confirmed until enough time has passed to analyze the current statistical data. However they do share churches reporting a shortage of church clergy.

Q:2 How should christians wisely respond?

With wisdom

2 Corinthians 1:6-7 “But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that is at work in the patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you are sharers in the sufferings, so also you will be sharers in the comfort.”

Apostle Paul’s teaching for us is vital here in understanding how suffering affects us in the body of Christ.

In verse 6 Paul shares that affliction is for comfort and salvation, which also builds endurance when we share in the same sufferings as one body.

How is endurance built?

Verse 7 introduces firm Hope

This comes from Paul’s knowledge of union with the Body of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 12:26-27. That we share all believers share in sufferings and comfort.

Apostle Paul shares his most recent experience with the church in Corinth, and calls the Church to be concerned as brothers in the Body of Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:8 “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning our affliction that happened in the province of Asia, that we were burdened to an extraordinary degree, beyond our strength, so that we were in despair even of living.”

The burdens Paul and others in his ministry currently face were extraordinary, beyond human strength. As a result Paul was in despair (fear of) life itself. There is nothing they can do do help themselves.

2 Corinthians 1:9 “But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we would not be putting confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,”

A death sentence was put on Apostle Paul and those accompanying him.

Why? Why do these things happen?

The Key teaching in understanding affliction is as Paul explains.

The afflictions even of death were to learn not to put our confidence in ourselves, but to put it in God.

Why?

Because he has the power to raise the dead.

His power is unmatched and beyond the greatness of our afflictions.

2 Corinthians 1:10 “who delivered us from so great a risk of death, and will deliver us, in whom we have put our hope that he will also deliver us again,”

Good news, God delivered Paul and others with him from the sentence of death. It was of great risk of death. In other words, it was very likely they could die. You can say it was probably expected of them to die.

Why did God do this?

To show that God delivers those who put their confidence & hope in him.

This also gives Paul comfort & confidence through his experience that God has the power to deliver them again (universally as church ).

Q3: How do we comfort ourselves & others in affliction?

2 Corinthians 1:11 “while you also join in helping on our behalf by prayer, so that thanks may be given on our behalf by many persons for this gracious gift given to us through the help of many.”

Paul calls the church, each individual, the body of Christ into application. He asks the christian body to join him in prayer to thank God on his behalf as a function in the body.

Today the two current events presented can be in use of this application. And we the body of Christ are called to action to share in suffering and in prayer.

The afflictions of the Haitian missionaries looks like the experience of Paul in Macedonia (Asia), and the current church decline resembles what the church in Corinth was facing.

This is the current display of God’s providential will for his Body we can see today.

Suffering in Christ refers to afflictions we experience as we serve Christ and Christ suffering with us.

This happens when serving Christ to teach us to put all our confidence in God and not in our selves or other things. And to pray for those delivered and those in need of deliverance of their affliction.

In Acts 9:4-5 Christ asked Paul why he was persecuting him. Implying Christ suffered with the early persecutions of the church.

And now Paul from afflicting he body becomes the afflicted in the body of Christ. Today Christ and the church share in sufferings with us bother personal and in union.

Personal Call:

If you feel like you’ve been facing afflictions alone and need comfort we first want to share the Gospel with you and hope you accept Jesus as your Lord and savior.

Today we live in a Genesis 3 fallen world of sin but with hope in our redeemer Jesus Christ, who free’s all who believe from our destined death in sin. Our salvation from hell, the one who conquered the affliction of death itself, our comfort in time of need, our rejoice in times of deliverance, our confidence, and our hope from God and applied to us through the Holy Spirit.

I would like to ask those in need of prayer to please come to the front.

If your online please join us in prayer.

I ask that you please also keep the missionaries and universal church of God in prayer. May we endure in the sufferings together as a church body and with Christ.

And may we also share in the rejoice of the good news among each other as well.

Prayer....