The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 "Broken to Bless Others"

The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 33; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 Broken to Bless Others Tech Let me tell you a story of a man who should not be with us, on this side of the grave. In 1953, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, a baby boy was born-dead. The attending physician set his little body aside and tended to his mother for eighteen minutes. But David Ring survived, the youngest of 8 siblings. As a teenager in Liberty, Missouri, David Ring grew up with the challenges that come with cerebral palsy as a result of those 18 minutes without oxygen. Along with his physical limitations, Ring was orphaned at age 14 and shuffled from home to home, finally landing in an abusive situation that made him feel unworthy of love and, eventually, unworthy of life. But God had a purpose for Ring's life. In 1970, David entered the family of God. He repented of his sins and believed the gospel--that Jesus truly loved him. And he also discovered that Jesus is the Lord. So much so, that David, instead of blaming God for his condition, over time embraced his limitations, and by the grace and power of God, turned them into his greatest asset. As you can tell, every time he speaks, he must rely on the Lord. And he is still at it. For the past 47 years, David has told the story of God's grace and power in his life. The line he is most famous for is "I have cerebral palsy. What's your problem?" ​Though David is "unique", he is in so many ways, normal. He and his wife, Karen, make their home in Nashville. They are the parents of four children, April, Ashley, Nathan and Amy Joy. They are Poppy and Bella to two Grandsons, Carter and Cooper and a Granddaughter, Alexandra. David Ring was a broken man. But God has used him to bless others. Today, we are going to see another broken man, Paul, for Paul, too was broken. Broken to bless others. We are going to see in our passage today, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, God's work of grace in this broken man's life. But first I want to remind us, however briefly of where the apostle to the Corinthians was and why he wrote what he did. As we went through some things last week, remember that there were several letters that Paul wrote to those in the church in Corinth. His very first letter was not what we call 1 Corinthians. It was an encouragement for them to live a holy life. Paul refers to this letter in 1 Corinthians 5:9 that they were not to associate with sexually immoral people. Later, Paul did write what we have in our possession--1 Corinthians. At the end of this letter, Paul gives them his travel plans. He was going to visit them sometime down the road. We read in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9, But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. Notice the word "and" here. The effective work in Ephesus that the Lord opened to Paul included many adversaries. It's as though Paul concluded that effective doors of opportunity carry with it a price tag: many adversaries. Let's not think for a moment that a successful ministry for the Lord is care free. Hassle-free. Danger free. One preacher said something like this a number of years ago, that it would be a slander on the devil's character for him to not oppose a true work of God. in other words, satanic opposition comes with the territory in a true work for God. And as we will see today, the opposition Paul and his friends faced was absolutely fierce! But as if to make matters worse, not only was there a fierce battle there in Ephesus where Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, now there was a fierce battle in Corinth as well. As we saw last week, Paul saw a need to pay the church an emergency visit. There was a person who thoroughly dissed Paul's God-given authority. There is not a whole lot of detail as to what this person said and how persuasive he was to undermine Paul's authority. But it was enough of a danger for Paul to drop what he was doing and set some things straight. So, as we get into the passage today, let me remind of the central reason why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, summed up in a word: disunity. And as I will highlight for us many times as we go through 2 Corinthians, the central reason Paul wrote this letter, summed up in the phrase, "dissed authority", as in the divine authority that Paul had, which his opponents did not. So, 1 Corinthians: disunity, 2 Corinthians, "dissed authority." But the authority the Lord gave Paul worked itself out in much opposition, pain and suffering. These things go hand in hand with what God would call spiritual success. God defines success as serving, and spiritual power as working through suffering. This is the power of the cross. Jesus is the God man. 100% God and 100% man. The Lord Jesus was and is the epitome of divine power. In the days of his ministry he was empowered by the Spirit of God. And his power was shown through his suffering. Isaiah predicted that Messiah would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As we know, the Lord Jesus suffered the most of any person who ever lived, and who ever would live. He who had never had any personal experience with sin became sin for us. All of our sin was laid on him when he was nailed to the cross. This is something impossible for us to fathom. We were born with a natural bent toward sinning. Ever notice how babies never have to be taught to be selfish? What is usually the first word they speak, besides mama and da da? "Mine!" We as parents know, that we teach our kids in the first couple of years of life to walk and talk, and the next 16 years to sit down and be quiet! We have to teach our kids in the ways of denying themselves, to avoid sin. But Jesus never had to be taught to avoid sin. Though he was human, he did not have a sinful nature that the rest of us are born with. And as one who suffered the most, Jesus was able to meet the deepest levels of our need--dying for our sin in our place. Paul will tell us later in this letter that Christ's death makes it possible for people to actually become the righteousness of God. Isn't that amazing? And so with that backdrop, let's look at 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. We will see Paul's perspective on suffering, something he will talk about again and again throughout this letter. Let's read vv. 1-7 together: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 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. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. After Paul gives them the standard greeting to his beloved Corinthians, he jumps in, with a full heart. A heart enriched--by affliction. In vv. 3-4, the Apostle to the Corinthians opens for us a profound truth of what affliction does in the life of a follower of Christ. Let's look again at these verses: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. I see here 2 things that are amazing. The first is how involved the Lord is in our lives as his people. Paul tells us the truth of what the Lord does when we are afflicted: he comforts us. This is a spiritual fact of life, my brothers and sisters. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say that God stands by and is ready to comfort us. He says that God comforts us in our affliction. And just so we understand, let's ask the question: who is the one God comforts? It's his people. Those who are in the family. Our heavenly Father does this. When we as God's people are afflicted--and this word includes any kind of suffering--what does God do? He comforts us. "Comfort" means literally to encourage. It does not mean merely to feel better when we are sad, though it includes that. But something happens in our lives when we are encouraged. We are strengthened for the task the Lord calls us to do. We are empowered to carry on with the Lord. By the way, "comfort" is the same Greek word used to describe the Holy Spirit. He is literally, one "Called alongside to help." We also come to a new realization of God's presence and power in our lives. For example, how is it that the church is alive and well, and very strong in North Korea? Because God comforts them, encourages them, strengthens them, in their affliction as His children. When we hear stories of our persecuted brothers and sisters how often do we say, "I could never go through what they are going through." But let's see clearly what Paul says here. God comforts us when we are afflicted, not before we are afflicted. By the way, when God comforts us, he is just being who he is to us. Paul calls him the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. How often do people falsely accuse our Good God of being a tyrant? That he just wants to inflict pain on us--you know--to teach us lessons, because he can? As Paul said in Romans 8:31-32, some of the best set of words ever penned about the Lord: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Having seen the what of affliction, let's see the why of affliction and what God does with it. Why does he allow hard times to come to us? To equip us to help others who are afflicted. Again, v.4: who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Wonderful words--after the fact! No affliction is pleasant--that's why it's called affliction! But notice the process. We get afflicted--God allows hard times to come to us. God, through his Spirit comforts us in our affliction. And what does this do? Enables us to turn right around and comfort--encourage--others who are in any affliction. We pass on the comfort that we have received from the Lord. I find wonderful truth in this process! Do you realize there is only one qualification that you and I as followers of Jesus need to encourage others--that we have been afflicted and comforted by the Lord. It doesn't require any counseling degrees. No formal training is required for us to encourage our spiritual siblings. Just experiencing affliction and receiving God's comfort. Notice as well who we are qualified to encourage: Anybody who is going through any affliction. How many Christians have bought the lie that only those who have experienced what they have are the only ones qualified to encourage them? How many seem to have the attitude and even say to well-meaning brothers and sisters, "you don't know what I'm going through." But let's think about this. If those afflicted can only receive comfort from those who have experienced the same things as they, then no one can help them. For every person's experience is unique. One who has suffered the loss of a loved one will experience that in a different way than someone else who suffered the death of a loved one. In other words, everybody suffers affliction in their own unique way. Obviously, there are things that we can do and things we need to learn to make us more effective in our ministry to others. Like for example of what to say or not say. When someone is afflicted, the last thing we want to say to our brother or sister is, "I know how you feel." Because the fact is, we don't. Proverbs 14:10 tells us, "The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy." We can all improve our serve, as Chuck Swindoll has titled one of his many books. But the foundation we can stand on and serve a fellow Christian is simply this: since I've been hurt and received God's encouragement, I can help someone else with the same encouragement the Lord has given me. But how many Christians don't seem to experience the encouragement, the comfort of God in the midst of their afflictions? I am convinced there is a reason for it. Let me introduce you to a term that I will bring up a number of times as we study this letter. Paul was able to recognize the comfort of God in the midst of his afflictions because he had what I call a theocentric view of life. Theocentric. Say it with me--theocentric. Paul was able to see God in the midst of his afflictions because God was at the center of his life. For Paul, things didn't just happen to him. They all ultimately had a divine purpose. Paul knew God was in the center of his circumstances. It was as if Paul wore "God-shaded" glasses. We are familiar with this idea. What is a person wearing who seems a little naive, and always positive, checked out of reality? Rose colored glasses. Because Paul had a Theocentric view of life, he never saw the Lord as anything but who he said he was. Paul never accused the Lord falsely. I am confident he never demanded the Lord tell him why he was going through a certain situation. But I am just as confident that Paul asked the Lord "what?" quite often, as "What do I do with this, Lord?" And how: "How will you be glorified in this situation, Lord? What? How?: Good questions to keep in mind as we suffer affliction, too. So, here's Paul, a broken man in his ministry, wearing his God-shaded glasses, with a Theocentric vision of life, experiencing affliction from 2 fronts: extreme circumstances in Ephesus, and those who were seeking to undermine his authority in the church in Corinth. Amazing spiritual toughness! But that's what happens when we understand that it's the Lord who strengthens us. In vv. 5-7, Paul now turns his attention to his relationship with the Corinthians and their shared sufferings. What I find significant here is that, for all the problems and sins and failures Paul pointed out in the Corinthian church, there was no lack of suffering in their midst for the sake of Christ. Though there was much worldliness, the true Christians were living their lives faithfully following the Lord. Both Paul and his friends, as well as the Corinthians were seen as objects of the wrath of the world and the devil; hence, their shared experience of suffering. And here Paul gives a slight hint of what is to follow when he begins to address those in the church who sought to undermine the spiritual authority God gave Paul. The false workers did not experience the suffering and struggle that goes along with true servants of God. They did not experience hardship. Serving God came easy! They were not afflicted. But isn't that the way ministry is supposed to be? Shouldn't serving the Lord be fun? Exciting? Attractive to the world? After all, we need to show the world that we can have fun, too! Right? Not exactly. Paul hints here at something that has been true down through the ages. It's the righteous who are persecuted and afflicted for the sake of the Lord. Noah, was a preacher of righteousness and the only souls he was able to reach were 7 members of his family-and it surely is possible that he may have had many other sons and daughters who never listened to him. I think of the prophets who were horribly mistreated for the sake of the truth. John the Baptist lost his head over pointing out the sin of king Herod. And what did Jesus tell his disciples? Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness' sake. But woe to you when all speak well of you, for this is how they treated the false prophets. So the bottom line here is that suffering for the sake of Christ, and receiving his comfort go hand in hand. And God's people are not alone in suffering. This was Paul's reminder to the true believers in the church in Corinth. In vv.8-11 we see Paul addressing his very difficult circumstances in Ephesus and his need for them to pray for him. Again, remember how he said that he had a wide open door of ministry opportunity there, along with much opposition. Let's find out how intense the opposition was: 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. 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. 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. In vv. 8-10, we see Paul illustrating his point, that it's the righteous who will suffer, as opposed to those false apostles who seemed to have it all together, trying to win the hearts of those in the of the Corinthian church without a care in the world-because they were of the world. Though text does not give the details of what they went through, doubtless Paul's circumstances for him and his fellow workers were practically overwhelming. They didn't think they were going to make it out of this life alive. But now notice the victory story that Paul gave the Corinthians. In v.9, Paul said, in so many words that the Lord not only delivered them but he had every confidence that the Lord would deliver them in any future life or death affliction. I see Paul and his friends here as Christians who on the human level, cheated death. And those who have been to the brink of death have a tendency to live a bit differently, don't you think? There is a quiet sure, confidence that they really are indestructible until God calls them home. And Paul had the confidence that even if they do die, what could God do if he was not finished with them? Raise them from the dead! Truly no servant of God is out of commission until God says so. Think of the Lord Jesus who sits at the Father's right hand, having been raised from the dead. What about Lazarus who was in the grave for 4 days, who "stinketh." Jesus raised him to show all standing around Lazarus' grave that the Lord is the resurrection and the life. And farther back in time, think of Elisha. Though God did not raise him from the dead, what happened when a dead person touched the dead prophet's bones? He came to life! And in more recent days, David Ring who was born dead. And in our midst, brother Rusty whom God raised from the dead after he went without oxygen for 45 minutes. And how many countless miracles unnoticed by the masses has God performed down through the ages, for his glory, to accomplish his purposes? My dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has his plan. And we in his family, as members of God's spiritual army, will use us as he sees fit, that he might receive glory among the nations and especially in his church! Now notice in v.11 how high of a priority Paul considers prayer to be. "You must help us by prayer." Prayer is something we talk about here. It is something we engage in and spend a few moments doing before we sing our 2 songs before the message. But Paul considered prayer to be supernatural assistance, helping him in his ministry. How powerful is the dynamic that God commands us to engage in. How important Paul saw prayer to be. How crucial is prayer for us as well. Do you believe this, my friends? Let me ask, how do you treat this incredible gift the Lord has given his people? How do you see prayer? How do you engage in it? How much of a priority do you place on actively involving yourself with it? I've shared this before but it's good to remind ourselves from time to time of the words of E.M. Bounds, a Christian lawyer a number of years ago. He writes in his book, "Power Through Prayer." What the Church needs to-day is not ... new organizations or more and novel methods, but people whom the Holy Spirit can use-people of prayer, people mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through people. . . . He does not anoint plans, but people-people of prayer. What can we say about what we have heard today in this rich passage of Scripture? Let me sum up with 3 points. First, we need to cultivate a Theocentric view of life, where God is the center of all that we have and are. Only by having a Theocentric view of life can we sense the Lord's comfort, his encouragement, in our afflictions. And the only way we can cultivate a Theocentric view of life is to choose to spend much time and focus on our relationship with him. As you walked in this morning, you heard Keith and Kristyn Getty sing a most excellent song, "O Church Arise." Part of the lyrics speak of the spiritual fact of life that all followers of Christ make up his radiant bride. Indeed. We are the bride of Christ. This speaks of the newness of marriage. As Wess and Sam joyously became husband and wife yesterday, we rejoice that they now get to work on their new relationship. But as it often happens, marriage can get old. Stale. We can lose the love we had for our husband, our wife when the marriage was young. Spiritually speaking, this is what happened in the church in Ephesus. How interesting seeing this is the very place from where Paul wrote 2nd Corinthians. The Ephesian Christians were fully committed to the Lord. They were known for believing to and holding fast to the truth. But they allowed the fiery relationship they once had with the Lord to dim, so much so that the Bridegroom noticed. In essence, he said to them, "remember who you are! You are, before anything else a bride. Come close to me. Spend unhurried time in my presence. Rekindle what you once had. Turn around. Face me." The bottom line for this is, if we want to have a Theocentric view of life, we must work on our relationship. With our Bridegroom. Let me encourage all of us to contribute to that as we hear brother Jonathan Cahn this Wed. Please come and spend some time facing the Lord. He is gracious, kind, patient and wants us to rekindle the fire we first had with him. Second, let's remember that God wastes nothing in our lives, especially our afflictions. When we go through our afflictions with a Theocentric view of life we will sense the comfort of our Heavenly Father, who then makes us equipped to truly serve others with the comfort he comforted us with. Lastly, remember that God's most choice servants have been afflicted. Let's remember the Lord Jesus--a man of sorrows and thoroughly acquainted with grief. Because he had a Theocentric view of life, wanting only to please his Father, he had the most freedom of anyone who ever lived to serve others and meet their needs. The truth is, every one of us has a story of affliction. David Ring says, "I have cerebral palsy. What's your problem?" I can say, "I have had 7 parents and a very unstable life til I met Jesus. What's your problem?" What is your affliction story-indeed, victory story? May the Lord use what we consider to be our most constraining limitations, and by the grace and power of God, turn them into our greatest assets, for his honor and his glory.