WHERE’S GOD WHEN IT HURTS?
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Comment: “I can’t remember hearing a sermon series based on 2 Corinthians!” I can’t either!
Though this book contains some of the richest passages I’ve ever studied!
It calls our attention to some of the most important principles of godly living
and of serving God in ministry.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
After Paul wrote 1 Cor., Timothy visits Corinth and brings back a negative report.
Paul makes a quick trip to Corinth to resolve problems there.
Following his visit, Paul writes a “hard letter” to the church.
While Titus delivers the letter, Paul waits anxiously for his return.
Finally, Paul goes to Macedonia to look for Titus.
Paul is grateful to hear from Titus that the church has responded positively to his correction.
From Macedonia, Paul writes 2 Cor. Later he visits the church again.
PURPOSE AND THEME
Paul's letter is an attempt to respond to the situation in Corinth as Titus has described it.
He has several purposes:
1.To express his gratitude for their positive response.
2.To explain his change of plans.
3. To encourage the church to receive the brother who repented back into fellowship.
4.To prepare for the offering.
5. To defend himself against the accusations of the false teachers.
Along with these purposes, Paul wants to build them up and prepare for his visit.
Theme: The Joy of Serving Jesus
The book focuses on ministry, though the treatment is hardly a unified, systematic presentation of the theme.
Main distinguishing feature: appears to be a glimpse into the heart of God's servant.
It shows his motivation, his concern for God's people, and the proper use of boasting in defense of the authority God has given him.
The emotionally charged expression of his concern for them is what makes the book hard to handle synthetically.
It’s NOT a logically presented thesis of a theological theme.
It’s the expression of what his heart feels.
ORGANIZATION–organized around three themes:
First section: Paul explains why he delayed coming to them and the privilege God has given him to participate in the ministry. 1-7
These two themes are interwoven.
Second section: Prepares church for a collection that’s going to be taken to help brethren in other churches who are suffering. 8-9
Third section: Defense of Paul's apostolic authority, based on autobiographical scenes from his life. 10-13
EXPLANATION OF PAUL'S CONDUCT AND MINISTRY 1-7
The letter begins with an explanation of Paul's delay in visiting them and of the ministry to which God has called him.
GREETING Routine greeting: 1:1-2
Author: Paul, who has been sent out (an emissary) by God’s will, to serve Him.
Along with Timothy.
Recipient: Church at Corinth, and others united with them in the region.
Greeting: May you experience God’s grace and peace.
THANKSGIVING FOR COMFORT IN SUFFERING 1:3-11
Praise to God for the comfort He sends His children when we need it.
Suffering. Like it or not, suffering happens.
It's part of life, that God sends our way.
It may be big or little, but it's never a lot of fun to endure.
So, where’s God when it hurts?
Is He there? Does He care?
J. W. Bramhall says, "Sorrow can lead us into one of four lands:
the barren land, in which we try to escape from it;
the broken land, in which we sink under it;
the bitter land, in which we resent it;
or the better land: we bear it and become a blessing to others."
An elderly woman suffered a stroke and was laid up in the hospital struggling for life.
Her husband was going blind also. When asked how to pray for her, she responded: "Pray that I will have the wisdom not to waste all of this."
How do we deal with suffering?
We can get frustrated, depressed, or angry. That's a natural response to the pain.
In order to survive when times get tough, we need to learn the value of suffering.
Paul wrote the Corinthians to deal with a number of problems.
One of most significant: persecution besieged the church.
As the Gospel spread, so did the persecution.
Paul introduces his letter by addressing the issue of suffering.
He wants us to understand that God uses suffering for good.
This is totally contrary to everything people–even godly people–believe!
Scripture identifies at least FIVE CAUSES OF SUFFERING:
Our Suffering may be the result of . . .
(any of these causes, or some combination)
1. Physical Problems.
2. Our Own Sin
3. The Sin of Others
4. God Allowing Us to Be Tested E.g., Job
5. Our Identification with Christ
We endure the same kind of affliction (rejection/persecution) Jesus did.
1 Pet. 4:12-19–Suffering on account of our faith in Jesus–persecution–12-14, 19
2 Tim. 3:12
Don't be overly simplistic, lumping all suffering under the same cause.
Don't join Job's friends in jumping on the afflicted.
God has many reasons for allowing suffering in our lives!
Whatever the cause, God provides comfort,
which is useful in encouraging others.
HOW DOES GOD USE SUFFERING IN OUR LIVES?
1. GOD USES SUFFERING TO DISCIPLINE HIS CHILDREN
WHEN WE GO ASTRAY AND TO RETURN US TO HIS WAY.
"Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines"
Heb. 12:2-11—Sometimes suffering is a means of discipline because we wander away from God and He loves us too much to leave us there.
2. GOD USES SUFFERING TO TEST US.
"The trying of your faith produces patience"
Rom. 5:1-8 (3-5)—what suffering produces:
=> patience => character => hope
(which isn't frustrated through unrealistic or unrealized expectations)
Persecution can produce bitterness, or character and hope.
What makes the difference?
2 Cor. 4:16-18–when suffering, don't get discouraged; it produces unseen but real eternal glory–compared to our "light and momentary" suffering.
3. GOD USES SUFFERING TO GLORIFY HIS NAME.
Jn. 9:1-7—blind man—suffering not result of parental or personal sin;
but means of glorifying God.
4. GOD USES SUFFERING TO EQUIP US FOR MINISTRY TO OTHERS
2 Cor. 1:4–“We comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted.”
2 Cor. 1:3-7--our suffering prepares us to comfort others when they suffer
Those who never experience pain can hardly encourage others who are enduring difficult times.
5. GOD USES SUFFERING TO PREVENT WORSE THINGS FROM HAPPENING TO US.
Paul's "thorn in the flesh" protects him from being puffed up and proud.
6. GOD USES SUFFERING TO TEACH US TO DEPEND ON HIM.
When our back's against the wall, with no where to turn, we trust Him.
Sometimes we learn it's better to start there when we aren't desperate.
God's purpose in suffering, expressed by Paul in this passage,
is only ONE of several in Scripture;
It’s a significant purpose as God allows us to go through hard times,
but it's still only one of His purposes.
C. S. Lewis: "Suffering is when God speaks to us through a megaphone."
COMFORT FROM GOD 1:3-7
Paul praises God for the comfort He sends when we need it. 3-4a
When we pass through affliction, God sends US comfort so we can comfort others.
PRINCIPLE:
GOD COMFORTS US IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY
SO WE CAN LEARN TO COMFORT OTHERS.
God’s purpose in His comfort 4b-7
WE PASS THE COMFORT WE RECEIVE ON TO OTHERS 4b
Someone put up a sign: "Puppies For Sale." Among those who came was a young boy. "I'd like to buy one!" "Well, son, they're $25." He was crushed. "I only have two dollars. Could I see them?" "Of course. Maybe we can work something out." The lad's eyes danced at the sight of the five balls of fur. "I heard one has a bad leg." "Yes, I'm afraid she's crippled for life." "That's the one I want. Could I pay a little at a time?" "She'll always have a limp." Smiling, the boy pulled up a pant leg, revealing a brace. "I don't walk good either." Looking at the puppy sympathetically, he continued, "I guess she'll need a lot of love and help. I sure did. It's not easy being crippled." "Here, take her," said the man. "I know you'll give her a good home." The boy's experience had given him feeling for the puppy.
The comfort WE receive enables us to pass it on to others.
CHRIST'S COMFORT FLOWS OVER INTO OUR LIVES 5a
OUR COMFORT FLOWS OVER INTO OTHERS' LIVES 5b
OUR AFFLICTION IS THE SOURCE OF OTHER'S ENCOURAGEMENT, DELIVERANCE, and PATIENT ENDURANCE in their suffering 6-7
TWO PHASE PROCESS:
1. God can comfort us because HE understands OUR suffering. Jesus suffered as we do.
2. We can comfort others because WE understand their suffering. We have suffered also.
GOD’S DELIVERANCE 1:8-10
When in danger of death, God is able to deliver us.
When we come to the end of ourselves and realize our inability to save ourselves, we learn that we can trust God to deliver us.
OUR PARTICIPATION IN PRAYER 1:10b-11
We have a part in this process through our prayers.
God works in response to our prayer for one another.
As we pray for one another in times of adversity,
God responds and many praise Him.
because of our participation in their affliction.
Our prayer for one another produces a united voice of praise.
GOD'S PURPOSES FOR US ARE GOOD, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING!
This isn't a message we preach to others when they endure hard times!
It's a fact for US to believe, so that when we're faced with affliction,
our minds can speak to our emotions and remind US of the truth.
We must understand this truth!
God isn’t a cruel torturer, waiting for a chance to get us!
He loves us. He cares. He’s seeking our ultimate good.
How does this work? How does it work in our life?
What good is suffering for US? Where’s God when we’re hurting?
People who suffer learn what God wants to teach us through suffering.
One person shared: "3 months ago I found out I have cancer. I went through surgery and follow-up treatment I greatly feared. The Lord has shown me that He is sufficient."
An elderly woman spent 3 years in a German prison, then 5 years in concentration camps at Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. Concluding about the atrocities she experienced,
"I have found that when everything is taken from you, God is enough."
In Coming Back, Marshall and Susan Shelley recount the loss of two of their four children by illness. During those years of pain, on one occasion Marshall went to the hospital chapel to pray and wrote a short prayer in a notebook. Months later, someone gave them a magazine article. A mother wrote of her fear about her child's heart surgery. She mentioned going to the chapel and finding a prayer that spoke to her. It was Marshall's prayer for Mandy. The woman wrote, "I don't know these people—Mandy, Marshall and Susan —but they've encouraged me." They were stunned!
"Our struggle, expressed only to God, had given courage to someone else."
Often we look at the painful experiences of our past and say, "I realize that were it not for the lessons suffering teaches, I wouldn't be the person I am today.
Yet, if I had known where the path would take me, I would never have gone!"
But that choice isn't ours!
God chooses the path to make us the person He wants us to become.
Our part is to learn the lessons He wants to teach us.
Neil Anderson describes two difficult periods in their life. After enduring the first and experiencing God's grace, a second came. In Walking through the Darkness, he talks about times when we’re unable to find the light, and unsure of what God is doing:
"Never doubt in the darkness what God has revealed in the light. . . .
I base my life on the hope that morning comes.
No matter how dark the night, morning comes.
It's always darkest just before the dawn. . . .
But when there was nowhere else to turn, morning came!"
"You may be asking, 'What's the point of the dark times? What's God trying to do?
What's He trying to teach us?' . . .
In God's ministry of darkness, we learn compassion.
We learn to wait patiently with people.
We learn to respond to the emotional needs of people who have lost hope.
We weep with those who weep.
“Perhaps God brings us to the end of our resources
so we can discover the vastness of His."
Pamela Wexler-Smith, mother of three, whose husband died of cancer when their children were small,
and who has suffered from leukemia and its radical treatments, comments: "
As a mother, the desire of my heart has always been, if possible, to move heaven and earth so my children would never have to know pain.
But through all I've experienced these past eight years, I've also come to realize that they will never grow spiritually unless they experience pain."
“The God of all comfort comforts us
So we can comfort others with the comfort we have received from God.”