FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Remember What God Does Through You – Continued

Please read 2 Corinthians 1:4b-7 for background to this section.

God has to work in us before He can work through us. It is much easier for us to grow in knowledge than to grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). Learning God’s truth and getting it into our heads is one thing, but living God’s truth and getting it into our character is quite something else. God put young Joseph through thirteen years of tribulation before He made him second ruler of Egypt, and what a great man Joseph turned out to be! God always prepares us for what He is preparing for us, and a part of that preparation is suffering.

In this light, 2 Corinthians 1:5 is very important: even our Lord Jesus Christ had to suffer! When we suffer in the will of God, we are sharing the sufferings of the Savior. This does not refer to His “vicarious sufferings” on the cross, for only He could die as a sinless substitute for us (1 Peter 2:21-25). Paul was referring here to “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10 NKJV), the trials that we endure because, like Christ, we are faithfully doing the Father’s will. This is suffering “for righteousness’ sake” (Matthew 5:10-12).

But as the sufferings increase, so does the supply of God’s grace. The word abound suggests the picture of a river overflowing. “But he gives more grace” (James 4:6). This is an important principle to grasp: God has ample grace for our every need, but He will not bestow it in advance. We come by faith to the throne of grace “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The Greek word used, means “help when you need it, timely help.”

Now we can better understand 2 Corinthians 1:9; for, if we could store up God’s grace for emergency use, we would be prone to trust ourselves and not “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10). All the resources God gives us may be kept for future use, money, food, knowledge, etc., but the grace of God cannot be stored away.

Rather, as we experience the grace of God in our daily lives, it is invested into our lives as godly character (see again Romans 5:1-5). This investment pays dividends when new troubles come our way, for godly character enables us to endure tribulation to the glory of God.

There is a “companionship” or “fellowship” to suffering: it can draw us closer to Christ and to His people. However, if we start to wallow in self-pity, suffering will create isolation instead of involvement. We will build walls and not bridges. This is in part what it means to “die to self.”

The important thing is to fix your attention on God and not on yourself. Remember what God is to you, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Remember what God does for you, that He is able to handle your trials and make them work out for your good and His glory. Finally, remember what God does through you, and let Him use you to be an encouragement and comfort to others.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Remember What God Does Through You – Continued

Please read 2 Corinthians 1:4b-7 for background to this section.

From last lesson: However, Paul made it clear that we do not need to experience exactly the same trials in order to be able to share God’s encouragement and comfort. . . . Of course, if we have experienced similar afflictions and tribulations, they can help us identify better with others and know better how they feel; but our experiences cannot alter the comfort of God.

Later in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul will give us an example of this principle. He was given a thorn in the flesh, some kind of physical suffering that constantly came against him. We do not know what this “thorn in the flesh” was, nor do we truly need to know. What we do know is that Paul experienced the grace of God and because of it and what he learned, shared that encouragement with us. No matter what your trial may be, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9) is a promise you can claim. We would not have that promise if Paul had not suffered.

The subject of human suffering is not easy to understand, for there are mysteries to the working of God that we will never grasp until we get to heaven. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sin and rebellion, as did Jonah. Sometimes we suffer to keep us from sinning, as was the case with Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7). Suffering can perfect our character (Romans 5:1-5) and help us to share the character of God (Hebrews 12:1-11).

But suffering can also help us to minister to and serve others. In every church, there are mature saints of God who have suffered and experienced God’s grace, and they are the great “encouragers” in the congregation. Paul experienced trouble, not as punishment for something he had done, but as preparation for something he was yet going to do, minister to others in need. Just think of the trials that King David had to endure in order to give us the great encouragement that we find in the Psalms.

Second Corinthians 1:7 makes it clear that there was always the possibility that the situation might be reversed: the Corinthian believers might go through trials and receive God’s grace so that they might encourage others. God sometimes calls a church family to experience special trials in order that He might bestow on them special abundant grace.

God’s gracious encouragement helps us if we learn to endure. “Patient endurance” is an evidence of faith. If we become bitter or critical of God, if we rebel instead of submit, then our trials will work against us instead of for us. The ability to endure difficulties patiently, without giving up, is a mark of spiritual maturity (Hebrews 12:1-7).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Remember What God Does for You – Continued

Please read 2 Corinthians 1:4a, 8-11 for background to this section.

God is glorified through our trials. When Paul reported what God had done for him, a great chorus of praise and thanksgiving went up from the saints to the throne of God. The highest service you and I can render on earth is to bring glory to God, and sometimes that service involves suffering. “The blessing granted” in 2 Corinthians 1:11 refers to Paul’s deliverance from death, a wonderful blessing indeed!

Paul was never ashamed to ask Christians to pray for him. In at least seven of his letters, he mentioned his great need for prayer support (Romans 15:30-32; Ephesians 6:18-19; Philippians 1:19; Colossians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Philemon 22). Paul and the believers in Corinth were helping each other (2 Corinthians 1:11, 24).

Pastor Wiersbe tells the story of a missionary friend who relayed to him the miraculous deliverance of his friend’s daughter from what was diagnosed as a fatal disease. At the very time the girl was so ill, several friends in the United States were praying for the family; and God answered prayer and healed the girl. The greatest help we can give to God’s servants is “helping together by prayer.” Many think of prayer as the “last resort” and yet it should be the very first thing we go to in the tools the Lord has given His people!

The word translated “help us,” in verse 11, or in other translations, “helping together,” is used only here in the Greek New Testament and is composed of three words: with, under, work. It is a picture of laborers under the burden, working together to get the job accomplished. It is encouraging to know that the Holy Spirit also assists us in our praying and helps to carry the load (Romans 8:26).

God works out His purposes in the trials of life, if we yield to Him, trust Him, and obey what He tells us to do. Difficulties can increase our faith and strengthen our prayer lives. Difficulties can draw us closer to other Christians as they share the burdens with us. Difficulties can be used to glorify God. So, when you find yourself in the trials of life, remember what God is to you and what God does for you.

Remember What God Does Through You

Please read 2 Corinthians 1:4b-7 for background to this section.

In times of suffering, most of us are sadly prone to think only of ourselves and to forget others. We become cisterns instead of channels. Yet one reason for trials is so that you and I might learn to be channels of blessing to comfort and encourage others. Because God has comforted and encouraged us, we can do the same for others.

One of my favorite preachers was John Henry Jowett, considered in his day as one of the greatest preachers of the English language, and one of my favorite quotes attributed to him is:

“God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.”

However, Paul made it clear that we do not need to experience exactly the same trials in order to be able to share God’s encouragement and comfort. If we have experienced God’s comfort, then we can “comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Of course, if we have experienced similar afflictions and tribulations, they can help us identify better with others and know better how they feel; but our experiences cannot alter the comfort of God. That remains sufficient and efficient no matter what our own experiences may have been.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Remember What God Does for You – Continued

Please read 2 Corinthians 1:4a, 8-11 for background to this section.

He is in control of trials. “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Paul was weighed down like a beast of burden with a load too heavy to bear. But God knew just how much Paul could take and He kept the situation in control.

We do not know what the specific “trouble” was, but it was great enough to make Paul think he was going to die. Whether it was peril from his many enemies (see Acts 19:23-32; 1 Corinthians 15:30-32), serious illness, or special satanic attack, we do not know; but we do know that God controlled the circumstances and protected His servant. When God puts His children into the furnace, He keeps His hand on the thermostat and His eye on the thermometer (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 1:6-7). Paul may have despaired of life, but God did not despair of Paul.

God enables us to bear our trials. The first thing He must do is show us how weak we are in ourselves. Paul was a gifted and experienced servant of God, who had been through many different kinds of trials (see 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 11:23-33). Surely all of this experience would be sufficient for him to face these new difficulties and overcome them.

But God wants us to trust Him, not our gifts or abilities, our experience, or our “spiritual reserves.” Just about the time we feel self-confident and able to meet the enemy, we fail miserably. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

When you and I die to self, then God’s resurrection power can go to work. It was when Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead physically that God’s resurrection power enabled them to have the promised son (Romans 4:16-25). However, “dying to self” does not mean idle complacency, doing nothing and expecting God to do everything. You can be sure that Paul prayed, searched the Scriptures, consulted with his associates, and trusted God to work. The God who raises the dead is sufficient for any difficulty of life! He is able, but we must be available, we must be willing vessels to be used.

Paul did not deny the way he felt, nor does God want us to deny our emotions. “We were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within” (2 Corinthians 7:5). The phrase “sentence of death” in 2 Corinthians 1:9 could refer to an official verdict, perhaps an order for Paul’s arrest and execution. Keep in mind that the unbelieving Jews hounded Paul’s trail and wanted to eliminate him (Acts 20:19). “Danger from my own people” must not be overlooked in the list of dangers (2 Corinthians 11:26).

God delivers us from our trials. Paul saw God’s hand of deliverance whether he looked back, around, or ahead. The word Paul used in the original means “to help out of distress, to save and protect.” God does not always deliver us immediately, nor in the same way. James was beheaded, yet Peter was delivered from prison (Acts 12). Both were delivered, but in different ways. Sometimes God delivers us from our trials, and at other times He delivers us in our trials.

God’s deliverance was in response to Paul’s faith, as well as to the faith of praying people in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:11). “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.