Table of Contents
Introduction
Comfort In Affliction (2 Corinthians 1-2)
1)God's Comfort In Suffering (1:1-7)
2)The Affliction in Asia (1:8-11)
3)Lead By the Spirit Not the Flesh (1:15-22)
4)A Sincere Purpose (2:1-17)
Joy
Restore the Repentant
The Fragrance of Christ
5)Principle
God comforts those who suffer for His sake.
6)Illustration
7)Applications
How are you using the comfort God has given you as a means of comforting others?
How might you be withholding a comfort from God because you are not willing to share your struggles and sufferings with other believers?
Reflection of Glory (2 Corinthians 3-5)
1)A Letter of Commendation (3:1-6)
2)The Letter or the Spirit, Veiled or Unveiled (3:7-18)
3)Don't Compromise the Truth (4:1-6)
4)The Ministers' Weakness – God's Glory (4:7-12)
5)Preparation For Future Glory (4:13-18)
6)It's a Matter of Ownership (5:1-21)
We Have a Home With God (5:1-5)
Our Encouragement (5:6-10)
Our Purpose For Living (5:11-15)
7)A New Creation (5:16-21)
8)Principle
Christ died for us so that we can live for Him.
9)Illustration
10)Applications
How well are you doing at living for Christ rather than self? How can you do better?
In what ways is God receiving glory in the way you live?
How is your life preparing you for the surpassing glory in God's presence?
Joy In Obedience (2 Corinthians 6-7)
1)No Fault Ministry (6:1-10)
2)A Call to Openness and Purity (6:11-7:4)
3)Joy In Obedience (7:5-16)
Joy In Corinth (1st Missionary Journey)
Joy In Their Repentance (7:10-13)
Joy In Others' Joy (7:13b-16)
4)Principle
A life of obedience to God is a life of joy.
5)Illustration
6)Applications
Have you experienced joy lately? Is your “joy-level” where you would like it to be?
If you are not experiencing joy, why is that?
Conclusion
Introduction
I don't know if you experienced any suffering this week, but I did. My wife and I had talked about and knew the day was coming when we were going to have to put our 12 year old German Shepherd to sleep. Well, this past Tuesday was the day. And it was not easy. It wasn't easy explaining to our 3 year old granddaughter that she could not give Ransom a dog biscuit because he died.
But this is reality in a sin-corrupted world. This is real life. Suffering is a part of the plight of all of creation.
As Christians, we are face all the same challenges in life that the rest of humanity does, but we are called to even more. Our very reason for existence, being ambassadors for the King, puts us in situations that the rest of humanity cannot understand. We are called to suffer for the sake of the gospel.
Paul's friends in Corinth were quite familiar with such suffering. But no more so than Paul himself.
Comfort In Affliction (2 Corinthians 1-2)
1)God's Comfort In Suffering (1:1-7)
1 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:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The introduction to 2 Corinthians is very similar to most of Paul's letters in that he identifies himself, his calling, who called him, and those he is writing to.
Paul and Timothy are God's servants.
The church belongs to God. He bought it. He owns it. All is His.
All true believers are saints.
Paul's desires is that grace be given to these believers. Grace to endure whatever life has to throw at them. And in the midst of this life, peace – the peace that passes understanding. This peace is part of the comfort that God extends His children.
Note also that Paul points out the source of this grace and peace: God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other true source of grace and peace in this life.
3 Blessed be 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 any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
6 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.
7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
First of all, note that Paul does not complain to God about the suffering but instead praises God because of His comfort. I don't know about you, but I tend to be a lot slower at acknowledging the good things God provides and very quick to acknowledge those things I don't appreciate.
He calls this audience (an us as well) to praise God for His mercy and comfort. When you think about what we really deserve, how can we do anything less.
And then in verses 4-7, Paul repeats over and over this idea of comfort from God in the midst of affliction. Ten times in 3-7, he mentions the word comfort. He mentions affliction or suffering 6 times in the same verses.
Paul's point is this, God allows suffering in our lives for a purpose (which we will explore in a bit) but we are also upheld during our suffering, by the hand of God. He comforts us.
And, our ability (and obligation) to comfort others comes as a result of God's comfort to us. God comforts because that is part of His nature. And as people who are being transformed into the nature of Christ, we have the ability, by Christ, to use our sufferings as opportunities to comfort others.
What did Jesus say, toward the end of the Gospel of John? He said that He would not leave the disciples alone, but when he went to the Father (and unless he went) the comforter would come. The Spirit of truth. He is the one by which God comforts us and gives us the ability to comfort others.
2)The Affliction in Asia (1:8-11)
I'm not sure if you have ever been in a very large crowd before. It can get very noisy. I remember one of the Chief's games I went to. I thought I was in the coliseum. It was like a mob of angry fans.
Can you imagine experiencing what Paul did in Ephesus. He had been slandered by Demitrius and the mod didn't know any better. To be in a large crowd is one thing, but to be in a large angry mob that has their focus on you is another. No wonder Paul says, in verse 8, we despaired of life itself.
He must have felt like this is it. I'm ready to come home Lord. But what is Paul pointing to here?
I believe he wants the readers to know what types of things God is able to bring His people through. What appeared to be certain death actually goes to illustrate God's power in any and every situation He puts us in.
Verses 9-10 tell us that God allowed this so that their reliance would not be on their abilities but on God's. He is our only hope of deliverance.
Paul also tells them so that they have an opportunity to share in Paul's suffering through prayer.
You and I may not face death due to our faith, but we certainly can be praying for our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who face death.
There are parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East today, where our brothers and sisters are losing their lives for the sake of the gospel.
Are you willing to make it a point to be informed and join in comforting our brothers through prayer?
3)Lead By the Spirit Not the Flesh (1:15-22)
Paul wants them to understand that his reason for not coming to them was not a fleshly driven reason. He points out in verse 17:
Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yeas” and “No, no” at the same time?
This certainly was not what characterized Paul and it should not characterize the believer at all. Instead we should be characterized by the likeness of our God: faithful.
In verses 18-20 that God is always faithful to His promises and that all his promises are fulfilled (or find their yes) in Christ.
And then he points out that we are in Christ by the anointing and sealing work of the Holy Spirit. We have been anointed, thus symbolizing our being set apart for God's holy purpose. And we are sealed with the guarantee of authenticity as well as with the security of the Eternal King.
Therefore, we must not walk by the flesh but by the Spirit of God.
4)A Sincere Purpose (2:1-17)
Joy
Paul's reason to go to Corinth was so they might experience encouragement in the faith and joy.
1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
2:1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
Sometimes the loving thing to do is to stay away for a little bit. Sometimes too much face time can serve to be a discouragement and overbearing and not give enough time for a person to reflect on what they need to do.
He didn't want to go to them right on the tail of the first letter (second letter but 1 Corinthians) because that would not have afforded them the time to act upon what he had written.
Restore the Repentant
Paul must have received word through Titus that things had been rectified and their had been genuine repentance. And so Paul wants them to bring that repentant one back into the congregation.
This is important. In a church discipline situation, restoration is always the goal. But before there is repentance, there is always pain and suffering for everyone involved. But restoration is part of God's comfort to the whole body.
And never should we seek to keep the repentant from returning to the church. That would only be cause for disunity and give Satan a footing.
The Fragrance of Christ
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
Paul uses a pungent Roman military illustration to drive home the effect of the gospel. After all, this was the driving force behind what Paul did and where he went – for the sake of the gospel.
A Roman military commander, when victorious, would return from the battle with the spoils of war to bring to the emperor. He would have a parade with incense and all the victors would smell that incense as the smell of victory. But the captives would smell that same incense as the smell of defeat and their certain death.
The gospel is like that. Those who are perishing are dead in sin and the aroma of the gospel is repulsive to them. And it will ultimately be what they remember as they stand before Christ on the last day and receive the consequences of sin – eternal death.
But to those who are called by God, we see that we too deserve death, but by God's grace we have salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
5)Principle
God comforts those who suffer for His sake.
6)Illustration
7)Applications
How are you using the comfort God has given you as a means of comforting others?
How might you be withholding a comfort from God because you are not willing to share your struggles and sufferings with other believers?
Reflection of Glory (2 Corinthians 3-5)
1)A Letter of Commendation (3:1-6)
It was not uncommon in that day to carry a letter of commendation from one well respected group so that you might be accepted by others. It was sort of what Apollos brought when he went to Corinth. And their was nothing wrong with that.
Remember at the beginning of Acts. Paul had letters from the leaders in Jerusalem – letters of commendation validating his mission to arrest followers of The Way. A lot of good those letters did on the road to Damascus.
There, he received a new letter of commendation with infinitely higher authority.
From verse 2:17, we see what Paul is comparing his ministry to. There were those who were out for personal gain and using God's word as peddlers.
But Paul was commissioned by God and the evidence was the lives of people like those in Corinth:
2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.
3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Paul's words here are introducing some rich symbolism that he will use shortly to show the superiority of the New Covenant and its freedoms.
But Paul wants to point out that he has absolutely no confidence in himself – he knows himself too well. When you and I begin to feel confident in where God has us and our confidence is in our abilities, we're ready for a fall. Paul puts it this way:
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2)The Letter or the Spirit, Veiled or Unveiled (3:7-18)
Paul had finished the end of verse 6 with the words, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
And from there he transitions into a comparison of the old covenant in its written code and veiled glory with the new covenant, written on the hearts and the revealed glory of God.
Nobody was ever saved by keeping the old covenant. The old covenant was a reminder of our inability to make ourselves right before a holy and righteous God.
Only those under the old covenant who saw their need of a Savior and trusted God to provide that Savior, only they were redeemed. But it was never by keeping the written code.
And Paul was saddened by the fact that many in his day still read the Torah, but their ability to see was veiled – they could not see the glory of God revealed in Christ.
They needed to turn to the Lord in repentance in order to have the veil removed and the glory of God seen as it really was.
People can read the Bible today and just see stories and words. But until the Holy Spirit changes the heart of a person, their eyes are veiled from the glory and truth that is contained in this book.
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
3)Don't Compromise the Truth (4:1-6)
Paul now returns to the subject of his ministry and the fact that it's by God's mercy he has that ministry so he doesn't lose heart, even when people don't respond to his message as he would want them to.
He's not going to compromise the message in order to make it more palatable. No underhanded ways, no cunning, no tampering with the text, but only with the truth realizing this:
some will have veiled view of the gospel but it is because they are perishing
their eyes are blind due to the god of this world
the gospel shines the light and glory of Christ who is the image of God
Paul does not proclaim himself (as a good teacher) but Jesus Christ as Lord
God shines the light of the gospel in our hearts so we can know the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
4)The Ministers' Weakness – God's Glory (4:7-12)
Quickly now since we are likely running out of time...Paul points out the beauty of God's design for gospel ministry.
He could have transformed Christians into super speakers with great voices and the ability to wow an audience. But that would only make the listener see the messenger.
God chose to use our own weaknesses to show his great power and glory. It's all about Him after all and we are merely his servants.
When we are not crushed, don't despair, not forsaken, not destroyed, when we carry Christ's death but His life is manifest, then God gets the glory. (7-12)
Besides all this, God uses our weakness so that we learn to depend more and more on Him and less and less on what we bring to the table. This is part of the work of Sanctification. Our troubles cause those unimportant things in life to fall away revealing a deeper faith and clearer view of Christ's likeness in our lives.
5)Preparation For Future Glory (4:13-18)
This life is a training ground for our eternal home with God. As Paul puts it in verse 17:
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison
This life is not unimportant. In fact, what we do now has eternal significance.
We have the opportunity to increase God's glory here on earth (see verse 15) but we also are preparing ourselves for the surpassing glory in God's presence.
So we live here with purpose but our eyes are on the unseen. We must make an impact in this world for the sake of the next.
6)It's a Matter of Ownership (5:1-21)
Paul has led us all the way through this text to the pivotal chapter, chapter 5. For in this chapter, the glory of the gospel is revealed and the whole motive for living is spelled out for us.
We Have a Home With God (5:1-5)
The resurrection, which we studied briefly last week, gives us the assurance of a future tent that is incorruptible and indestructible.
We were created to have a body. Unfortunately, sin caused this created order to become corrupted both spiritually and physically. That is why we suffer. But one day, we are going to check in our old tent to the Divine tent-maker and He will provide us with an original.
We have a guarantee of this fact: 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
This is not a limited guarantee nor is it contingent upon us meeting some criteria. If you have the Spirit, you have the guarantee.
Our Encouragement (5:6-10)
We can endure whatever this life throws at us, even death, since we know that being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
This also is a motivating factor since we have a limited time here on earth, we need to make sure we are doing our best to please the One we will meet face to face one day.
Our Purpose For Living (5:11-15)
If you like mission statement, this section is for you (and all other believers as well):
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
All of us who are in Christ have died to our old way of life but we also live in Him to a new way of life – one that is not about us but about Him.
Our purpose must be driven by the love of Christ and our love for Christ. Life is not about us. We have no control over when it ends. But it is about the One who gave himself up for us so that we can live, not for ourselves, but for him.
NOTE: all does not mean all inclusive (context)
7)A New Creation (5:16-21)
Not only are we made alive, but we are a new creation. There is a regeneration that takes place as part of our salvation.
All of this comes as a work of God and is the message of the gospel. It is God reconciling the world to himself. And those who are reconciled are commissioned to be agents of reconciliation through the gospel. In other words, we are not to remain static but are to go out and share the gospel wherever God gives the opportunity.
Verse 21 tells us:
Jesus became sin for sinners so that the unrighteous might be made righteous in him
This is the Great Exchange. He became what he could not be so that I might become what I could never be.
NOTE: world does not mean all people will be saved (context)
8)Principle
Christ died for us so that we can live for Him.
9)Illustration
10)Applications
How well are you doing at living for Christ rather than self? How can you do better?
In what ways is God receiving glory in the way you live?
How is your life preparing you for the surpassing glory in God's presence?
Joy In Obedience (2 Corinthians 6-7)
1)No Fault Ministry (6:1-10)
You've heard of no-fault insurance. It's basically where an insurance company agrees to cover loss on the policy holder and passengers no matter who is at fault in the accident. This also means that the insured will not be able to take the company to court for loss.
Paul speaks about the day of salvation and that it is now. And he wants no part in being an obstacle in any way. He does not wand fault to be found in his ministry.
He is not concerned whether people fault his ministry. He just doesn't want God to find fault in it.
The list of items Paul presents paint a clear picture of who he was interested in pleasing.
Verses 4-5 point out just a fraction of the actual difficulties he did face. I haven't experience too many of the 10. Verses 8-10 point out various contrasting situations he was put in.
But not only did he endure such things as these afflictions, but he displayed Godly characteristics in the midst of these afflictions.
2)A Call to Openness and Purity (6:11-7:4)
We've really gotten to see how vulnerable Paul was with these Corinthian believers. He was being very open about his weakness and God's strength.
There is something very constructive when we are vulnerable with each other. We can be an encouragement to others, and we also tend to lose any false sense of having it all together.
Paul wants the hearts of the Corinthians to be an open book. To let him see inside and be open as he has with them.
He also wants them to ensure that they remain pure. Not allow anything in their midst that will defile their fellowship with Paul, with each other, but most importantly with God.
Then he uses some quotes from Leviticus, Isaiah, and Exodus to point out the fact that as believers, God is in their midst. Their fellowship is not a club, but a church of the living God.
They are His people and their lives must reflect that.
3)Joy In Obedience (7:5-16)
Joy In Corinth (1st Missionary Journey)
This church had been a source of great joy for Paul in the past. During his first missionary journey, he had suffered greatly in Macedonia (both physically and spiritually).
When he finally left Athens and came to Corinth, God pointed out that He had many of his own in this city. Paul spent lots of time their and despite the afflictions there from the Jews, he received joy in sharing the gospel (even to those who rejected) and joy in seeing the Corinthians respond in faith.
Our joy is not based upon the outcome of our obedience but it is given when we are obedient.
To share the gospel and be ridiculed can result in as much joy as sharing the gospel and seeing a conversion.
Joy In Their Repentance (7:10-13)
Paul was receiving joy again in the fact that the Corinthians showed genuine repentance which demonstrated the condition of the heart.
There is such a thing as good grief. It's the kind that finds its solution in the person of Jesus Christ. For he alone can atone for sin.
Repentance is turning to the only One who has the solution for sins problem and receiving his righteousness in return.
Joy In Others' Joy (7:13b-16)
Paul also points out the fact that another person's joy can be an occasion for personal joy.
Paul's love for his fellow believers (Titus) made him rejoice when they experienced what only God could give.
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