Comfort in Chaos: The Enduring Ministry

Do Not Be Satisfied with Being Merely Alive

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon Do Not Be Satisfied with Being Merely Alive (John 15:9)

Sometimes a man is washed up on a rock, and you put your hand to his bosom to see if there is any heat left in him, and hold a mirror to see if he has any breath. You look for signs and evidences, and at last you say, “Yes, he is alive.”

And this is just like a great many of you. You have to look for signs and evidences to know if you are alive. You are just washed up on the rock, and that is all. But look at many of us: We do not need signs and evidences; we are alive, and we know that we are. We can talk and laugh, and eat and drink, and engage in business; we are perfectly sure that we are alive, because we are in good health.

And so it is with Christians when they get to be in good sound spiritual health, and are enabled by divine grace to do much for their Master. I would not be satisfied with being merely alive; if I were lying stretched on the bed, and someone should say to me, “Well, you know you are alive,” I would tell him that I was not satisfied merely with that. I wanted to be healthy and well. God grant that we may not only know Christ’s love but that we may get into the soul of it, into the marrow and fatness of it, until we live in it. And then may God’s grace help us to continue in it!

2 Corinthians 7 in Context

This chapter begins with an exhortation to progressive holiness and a due regard to the ministers of the gospel (v. 1–4). Then the apostle returns from a long digression to speak further of the affair concerning the incestuous person, and tells them what comfort he received in his distress about that matter, upon his meeting with Titus (v. 5–7), and how he rejoiced in their repentance, with the evidences thereof (v. 8–11). And, lastly, he concludes with endeavouring to comfort the Corinthians, upon whom his admonitions had had so good an effect (v. 12–16).

Comfort in uncomfortable seasons

After Paul encourages the people to continue their “holiness” journey helping them understand that holiness is something that God gives to Christians but also something Christians strive to complete, as well as something that God will ultimately complete (1 Thess. 3:13). Paul first made this appeal in 6:13, and here he reinforces it. The Corinthians need to broaden the boundaries of their hearts to include Paul while establishing tighter boundaries to shut out any possible connection to idolatry. Paul wants to be accepted into their affections. He wants them to reciprocate his own love for them. He wants a greater inclusion of himself in their affections and a corresponding decrease in their tolerance of idolatry. Paul wants them to understand his intentions. Making room for Paul also means ousting Paul’s opponents who proclaim a different gospel. “The most difficult thing to do love those that don’t love you in the same manner.”

affliction (thlipsis) - sense trouble that inflicts distress, oppressions, affliction, tribulation.

hyperperisseuo - an extraordinary degree, involving a considerable excess over what would be expected.

comfort (paraklesis) - act of emboldening another in belief or course of action, encouragement, exhortation.

“The joy God provides is bigger than the tight space you may find yourself in”

Paul’s comfort comes because he has emotionally secured and settled his affections for the Corinthians, that neither death nor circumstance will sever the friendship. It is a lasting friendship that will endure no matter what happens. Whether they live or die, the Corinthians are in their hearts. Paul gives himself to them without reserve, and his commitment to them includes risking his life to minister to them. He will go to any length to preserve their relationship.

chara - often denotes a primary response to the reception of the event of eschatological salvation by human beings. It often comes as a result of people experiencing God’s presence by the Holy Spirit. Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit’s presence and work in the lives of believers. Joy enables believers to endure trials and suffering of the Christian life.

Ministry can become a lonely world, often alienating family and friends due to the sheer amount of responsibility and work. Some navigate the rough waters, while others crash on the rocky shores of ministry. Paul speaks of how they had no rest, how they were harassed, the different conflicts outside, and their own fears and insecurities within. There are times in ministry where it just becomes “too much,” and the idea is that even leaders need a person that can provide comfort. Leadership is often a lonely life, that requires more than you have to give to people who have less to give to their leaders. “People expect leaders to die for the cause while the people refuse to show up for the cause.”

tapeinos - to being of low socail status or to relative inability to cope, lowly, undistinguished, of no account

Comfort in discipline

This section is not simply a resumption of 2:12-13. It gives the foundation for his many appeals to this point—his joy over their repentance that confirmed his supreme confidence in them. But it also prepares for the following appeal for them to complete the collection that they had begun so hopefully. Titus is to play a major role in helping the Corinthians get ready for the collection, and his enthusiastic report to Paul about their reception of him primes them for his return. Paul intends to build them up as obedient stewards of God’s grace.

Paul partially apologizes for any pain his letter may have caused them but delights over its ultimate results. The letter is the same letter of tears, now lost, that Paul refers to in 2:4. He says that it distresses him to have distressed them which reveals his underlying fear that his boldness in this earlier confrontational letter might have driven them further away from him. Paul knows that no one can minister effectively while running roughshod over the feelings of others, and he takes no pleasure in wounding anyone. His “weighty and strong” (10:10) words are not intended to wreck relationships. But he is glad that the sharp letter hit the mark. Danker cites as an apt parallel the advice of Libanius for repairing a relationship:I did not give a second thought to words that I had said to you, for I never suspected that they could have caused you pain. But if you were offended by them, please know, most excellent of all men, that I shall never repeat one of them, for I am interested only in being of service to my friends and not to cause them pain (Epistles 15).But we should note several contrasts between Paul’s remarks and this piece of ancient advice. (1) Paul is not fawning over them with a feigned apology. (2) He fully knew that his letter might cause a severe reaction. (3) He would do it again if necessary. He disciplined them for their own good. (4) He is an apostle responsible for preaching the gospel and effecting moral reform in others. That may sometimes cause pain, but he is not in the business of making everyone feel good.

Comfort in God’s ability to changes lives

Although Paul and his associates may be a fragrance of life for some but death for others (2:15), as a minister of reconciliation he proclaims a message in this world that opens the way for life, not death. What he regretted is not regrettable because godly grief was its positive result.

Godly grief differs from a worldly grief in several ways. The first difference is what causes the grief. Worldly grief is caused by the loss or denial of something we want for ourselves. It is self-centered. It laments such worldly things as failing to receive the recognition one thinks one deserves, not having as much money as one wants, not getting something one covets. The kings of the earth weeping and mourning over the destruction of “Babylon,” terrified at her torment that will soon befall them, and the merchants of the earth weeping and mourning “over her because no one buys their cargoes any more” (Rev 18:9–11) are examples of worldly grief. The inventory of their cargo follows (Rev 18:12–13), and last of all on the list are “bodies,” a normal word for slaves. Because of his Christian conviction, John goes on to identify them as the “souls of men,” as human beings, not “living tools,” as Aristotle classified slaves. These merchants are slave traders who are grief stricken because they have nowhere to sell their cargo and make their heartless profits. By contrast, a wonderful example of godly grief was penned by the converted slave trader, John Newton, who came to recognize and confess his wretchedness and blindness in the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

A second difference involves its results. The selfishness of worldly grief gives rise only to despair, bitterness, and paralysis. It causes our souls to drown in self pity or turns the sorrow into a cankerous sore. Many lead lives filled with regrets like Esau’s when he sold his birthright (see Heb 12:17). Judas was overcome with grief by his betrayal of his master, but it led to despair and the desperate act of taking his own life, not to repentance. Godly grief, on the other hand, leads to repentance.

God can use this kind of sorrow because it moves one to action. The classic example is the prodigal son who “came to himself” and went home to confess his unworthiness to his father. Godly grief is therefore not to be regretted. It cracks the whip that motivates us to go to God, and our salvation takes root in it. John Chrysostom argued that sorrow is good for nothing but sin. It fails to mend most ailments. For example, sorrow over the loss of money does not restore the money. Sorrow over the loss of a child does not bring the child back to life. Sorrow over sickness does not cure the sickness. Sorrow over sin, however, can be positive when that sorrow kindles repentance. It incites us to seek to do something about the problem by taking the past tense and allowing God to turn it into his future tense. John Newton knew himself as the greatest of sinners, but after coming to God, he composed these words:

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows,

heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear!

Surprisingly, in speaking to Christians, Paul says that their repentance leads to salvation. Repentance in the New Testament usually describes sinners or unbelievers turning to God (Rom 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9). We would think that those who were Christians would already have the assurance of salvation. But Paul’s worries about the Corinthians (see 5:20; 6:1, 14–7:1) are evident. Later in the letter, he will express his fear that not all will have repented of the “impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged” (12:21). Repentance implies remorse for sins that wound and anger God and the desire to make amends and to desist from sinning again. Paul fears that any refusal to own up to their sins will lead to a hardening that will calcify their hearts and make true repentance all the more difficult.

metanoia - to change one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness.

Though in English a focal component of repent is the sorrow or contrition that a person experiences because of sin, the emphasis seems to be specifically the total change, both in thought and behavior, with respect to how one should both think and act. Whether the focus is upon attitude or behavior varies somewhat in different contexts.