Book of 2 Corinthians - Ch. 1, Vs. 1-24 (03/18/2001)

Paul’s Greeting and the Comfort of God in Affliction

2 Corinthians, the first chapter, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia, the whole country separated from the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth.

From this we may learn that this epistle was not only sent to the church of Corinth, but to all the churches in that country. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Mercies are the fountain of comfort. Comfort is the outward expression of mercy. God shows mercy in the afflictions itself.

Now, that's a little hard to understand sometimes. But everything that occurs to us is designed for his glory and to bring us closer to him. Even the awful things that befall us. He gives comfort both in and after the affliction.

Therefore is he termed the God of all comfort. Blessed be this God, for who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble. By the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Do you realize while you're in the turmoil and the strife that you have peace? That you have the comfort of God? I hope you do, for without it we'd go berserk. The afflictions and consolations of the faithful ministers are designed to prepare them for giving instruction and comfort to the afflicted.

Suffering, Consolation, and Deliverance in 2 Corinthians 1

This is why the ministers have afflictions come to them. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth in Christ. We stood as well, as firmly, and as easily in the heaviest trials, Paul says, as in the lightest, because the consolations of our faith are always proportioned to the trial and difficulty.

David, in your affliction, whatever it may be, is it proportioned to your ability to withstand? Hence we learn that he who is upheld in the slightest trial need not fear a great one. Do you really get that?

No matter how great the trial, he is the same. He comforts us, and all of it is designed to bring him glory. For if he be faithful, his consolations shall abound and his suffering abound. It is not as easy for a man to lift up one hundred-pound weight as it is for an infant to lift a few ounces.

The proportion or strength destroys comparative difficulty. For a child to lift a small amount would be the same as a man lifting a big amount, because the man has been adjusted to it. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering, which we also suffer, not whether we be comforted.

Or it is for your consolation and salvation. If we, Paul says, be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation. He adds, if we be comforted, it is for your consolation also, thereby plainly intimating to us that Almighty God doth by all his dispensations, both of mercy and correction, promote and carry on the salvation of his own children and people.

So he sends the affliction. He sends the good time. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation. Here St. Paul tells the body of the Corinthians that he had a good hope concerning them, that as they endured suffering for Christ, so they would still endure them, assuring them that they should share no less in consolation than they did in affliction.

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. Note that God may, and sometimes does, exercise his service with such extreme and pressing trials that all their own natural strength is unable to support them under them or carry them through them.

We were pressed above strength and despaired even of life. So no matter what comes, and I mean whatever comes, he sees to it that we have the strength to go through it. We may give up, but that's not God.

But we had the sentence of death in ourself, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead. Bill, what does he mean, but we had the sentence of death in ourself? Greg, what do you think?

He's not looking at the specific fight that he had, he was looking at death as the way of sin. David, what do you think?

Bill, aren't we all under the sentence of death? Yes, yes.

Alright, I think in this verse he was perhaps talking about himself, that even in that we should not look to ourselves. Our God sometimes works beyond all creature expectations. I think that he works beyond our expectations in everything, even the simple, beyond all human possibilities, beyond all rational conjectures, to help and deliver his people in hopeless and helpless trouble.

You can get into no situation in which God has not led you, sustained you, and sees you through it. 10. Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver us, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us?

That in times of great and imminent danger, God, and God alone, is the immediate deliverer of his children and people. Yet also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the person, thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

The great reason why St. Paul so desires for the Corinthian prayer, that deliverance and mercy be obtained by us, it is our duty by praise and thanksgiving to acknowledge the same to God. What is obtained by prayer should be owned by thanksgiving.

God forbids we should be clamorous in asking favors, and dumb and tongue-tied in returning thanks. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, and that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversations in the world, and more abundantly to you, Lord.

That is not a single act of sincerity, not a constant course of upright walking, that the Apostle rejoices and took comfort in. For we write none other things unto you, than that ye read of acknowledge, than what you read of acknowledge, and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end.

Paul is entrusting that they will never, never change. The opponents of Paul in Corinth had probably accused him of insincerity, and they were doing this. In his former epistles, he assured them that he has no hidden end, but that what they read is precisely what he means.

Why is it that we're always looking for something that's not there? We're trying to take one out. What did he mean by that? I get so amused at the commentators that come on after the President's speech, or anybody of importance, and they'll tell us now what he means.

You know not only his person, as also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even ye also ours in the day of the Lord. Now, you know not only his person, but his very office falls under contempt by many of them.

The preacher's office falls under contempt by many people. None more than ministers do experience the truth that nothing is so mutable as the mind of God. The mind of man, excuse me. The mind of man is very mutable.

What does that mean? David, that's right. And in this confidence, I was minded to come unto you before that we might have a second benefit. It's not sufficient that by our ministry we plant a church and gather people out of the world, but there is further need of daily industry and continual care to whatever we have planted to cultivate and dress that corner of our Lord's vineyard, which is under our particular inspection and care.

I've watched my wife in the spring. She will put a plant in the ground, maybe seeds in the ground, and they'll come up. She doesn't leave them alone. She doesn't go off to something else and hope they take care of themselves.

We have to continually, continually water and weed and dig around them, everything. That that is planted is God's Word. And to pass by you into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on by my way toward Judea.

He wanted to go by and see them. He wanted to come again to see them and have them continue on his way. Behold here what truth and steadiness we find in with our Holy Apostle, how he words and intentions, his tongue, his heart, his pen, his purpose were one.

Namely, in reality to come unto them, though he was providentially hindered and obstructed, he wanted to come to them. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use likeness? What's he mean, David? Did I use likeness?

All right. Are the things that I propose, do I propose according to the flesh that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? Bill, did Paul, according to the flesh, decide to go see Macedonia, the people in Corinth?

Use likeness, was he fickle minded as some charged him because he did not fulfill his purpose of visiting them on his way to Macedonia? You know, we have to be very, very careful. Greg can make a statement that I'll be there, I'll see you Sunday morning.

Well, he doesn't know whether he will or not. All of Greg's statements are if God wills, I'll see you. That's right. According to the flesh, insincere, selfish, worldly men do change in their plans and promises to suit their own convenience.

That's all right. He would have been world-worshipping. Yeah, that's right.

We fall into that so often, telling people what we think they want to hear.

Don't you think that that also strengthens his desire that he was going to be there, his desire was to be there, God placed that desire in his heart, and so although he was offended, I think it strengthens your desire still in that accomplishment.

That's right.

He desired it perhaps more than anything, but he knew that if God changed his direction that he'd go there. We have to do the same thing. Yes. To say that every time, it has to be the main point of our life, that if God wills, I'll do this, if he wills, I'll do that, and go ahead and make plans.

But if he changes them, fine. I remember once when I was in high school, there was a boy that was doing a thing, and I could not understand how anybody could do that, let alone a Christian. He was supposedly a Christian.

How he would do that, when all of the time how he did it shaped the rest of his life, and it turned out in the end it wasn't wrong. But boy, it was to me at the time. But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea, yea, and not yea, and nay.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. In him was yes. It has to be that way. It cannot... In him was...

All the promises made in him were only yes, steadfast and sure. As is asserted in the following verse, it is implied that Paul, the preacher of such a Savior, was steadfast also. For all of the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen unto the glory of God by us.

That all the promises which God has made to his people, think of the number of promises that he has made. It would boggle our mind if we could get every one of them down, are made in Christ and ratified by him.

Christ acts the part and office of assurity. He undertakes and engages for God that all which he hath promised shall be made good to him. In other words, there is no promise made by God that Christ does not enforce.

The Promises of God Are Yes in Christ

Now he which established us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God, no one else. What does the word establish mean, Greg? It's not establish, establish.

David, do you draw a blank? I don't, but I think I remember it has something to do with being set in place in a certain direction. Is that what you're thinking? That's what I'm thinking. Well, what do you think?

I think it means that it's been set in place in a certain way. It's not established. It's not established.

Now he which established us with you in Christ, who made sure,. Verge?

He made sure that we had a strong foundation for the plan there and for the future. All right. You're all right.

David's right. Greg's right. It is to take a thing and fix it in one position only so it faces no place else. We've been put in Christ by God. We face God through Christ and there's no other way. That a people in the doctrine of the gospel and in the faith of the promise is alone the gracious work of God.

We are naturally like reeds shaken with every wind. It is the establishing grace of God that makes us pillars in the church. I wish that somehow each one of us could go about our duty quietly, firmly, without being shaken.

We bend, we do this and that, but our root is never shaken and quietly be a Christian. Just go about God's work every day quietly. Who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts.

Now, Verge, how has he sealed us? Jesse, is this sealing done by me? All right. He hath sealed us. Now, is that present, past, or future? Past. He's already done it once for all. He hath sealed us and given us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts.

That's right. We've always been his. But let's not rest on that. Let's work at it. We won't lose it. And given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts, what is earnest? Well, that's true, but this has on top of that a little bit different.

Jesse? All right. Is the earnest money, which we give in earnest, part of the payment? Absolutely. Yes. The earnest money is part of what you're going to pay. So we have the earnest. We have part of the Holy Spirit within us.

Now, he hath sealed us by the giving of this earnest. How much of that have we done? None. Absolutely none.

David? Even if we're not there, but we had nothing to do with that.

We had nothing to do with our parents being born. The earnest is whatever is given to confirm a promise. Now, you all have that. Let's act like it. Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet to Corinth.

What about this swearing by God? Greg? All right. Not. Do it lightly.

Bill? Swearing by God. David, you want to add to it? What was that? He was saying to them that's true.

Okay. That to spare you I came not as yet to Corinth. To spare you. What's he talking about?

I think it was that he had not yet come, but he is coming.

All right. Greg, can we make such a statement about Christ's return? All right. Working on what David said, that if he had come right then, he would have torn them up. But he waited. Christ had him wait until he could come.

Now, what if Christ would come today? He's coming at the preset time, but on our part, are we ready?

I think I spoke of this scripture. There can be a parallel. If you look at it, even from Jesus, when John wrote the early portion of the book of Revelation, he's writing to the churches, or at least one of them, where he said strengthen the things that remain.

He said repent and different things like this. And he gave them time to do that. So, I think Paul, what he did was he told them that if he'd known then he was coming, that he gave them some time to get some things in order.

He would rather rebuke them by letter than face to face. He was hoping that the letter would take care of it so that when he got there, it was fixed. And in that sense, from the human viewpoint, Jesus has given us time.

Perhaps he'll give us another day to get our hearts right before he comes back.

And has he not given us a letter? Yes, he has. Yes.

Great example. If you go back to the same Revelation stuff, when he was talking about Jezebel and her followers, he specifically said, I gave her space to repent. And she did not. And so this is what will happen.

But the fact is he did give her space to repent. And that's what he was doing. Space to repent.

That's right. I call God for a record upon my soul. Was not so St. Paul now speaking by the Spirit? And can a more solemn oath be conceived than this? Who then can imagine that Christ ever designed to forbid all swearing?

He didn't. 24. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy by the faith you stand. We are. Paul is telling them that we are helpers even in your trouble. We're helpers. We do not have dominion over your faith, but we are supporters of Christ, of God in Christ for you.

You've got a big star in front of you. This church was founded in 1980 in the Bennett Baptist movement. One of the things that through the years I began to notice about that movement, they had many good attributes.

One of the big negatives was that the pastors felt like that they had to dominate over the people to the extent that they told them how to wear their hair, what clothes to wear, what music to listen to, what places to go, how to dress, how to speak.

They dictated everything and they called it standards. They said, well, we're not legalistic, but we have high standards. That's just a way of saying we're legalistic. The point is that Paul said, I do not do that.

I don't have dominion over your faith. But by your faith, that's what makes you stand. In other words, Paul trusted in the Holy Spirit to work with people. He did not feel like he had to dominate and force them to be like him or to be at his level even, or to look like him or to speak like him like so many of our pastors in the Bennett Baptist movement have done.

Paul refused to do it. He simply prayed for them and preached the word and then watched God work in their lives. That's right.

Though Christ has invested the offices of the church with a ministerial power, yet they have not thereby any dominion over the faith of believers. Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.

He does not say we are believers. We are helpers of your grace, helpers of your faith, helpers of your holiness through this, though this is necessarily implied, but helpers of your joy and comfort. Even in a problem, he helps the joy.

So, when we discover a problem, let's pray. If it's necessary that we go and we talk, I think God is fully capable of telling us so, impressing us, laying on our heart to go. We'll take up the second chapter next week.

Does anyone have anything? Yes.

Anytime you make a positive statement, period, it's a promise to God.

If you were to say, June, don't sit on that pew anymore, I forbid it. You better be sure God approves before you make that statement. Anything else? Let's stand and urge dismissal, please. Yes, sir.

Father, I thank you for this day. We thank you.