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BIG IDEA:

THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S COMFORT IN OUR OWN DESPERATE TRIALS EQUIPS US TO COMFORT OTHERS IN THEIR TRIALS

INTRODUCTION:

Kent: How does one begin a letter when relations between the parties have been strained? What does one say when mistreatment has occurred, and previous overtures at reconciliation have been brushed aside? This was Paul’s situation as he undertook the writing of II Corinthians, for his love for them was deep, his investment in their spiritual lives was great, and the issues involved had far-reaching implications for them and their church.

(1:1-11) INTRODUCTION: PHYSICAL SUFFERING PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR GOD’S GRACE AND POWER TO BE DISPLAYED IN COMFORT AND DELIVERANCE

(PAUL’S APOSTOLIC CALLING AND PASTORAL HEART)

“that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (1:9)

(:1-2) GREETING

A. God-Appointed Authors

1. Apostolic Leadership: Paul

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”

2. Brotherly Teamwork: Timothy

“and Timothy our brother”

B. God-Sanctified Recipients

“to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia”

1. “church” = “assembly” = called out ones

2. “saints” = set apart unto God

C. God-Enabled Resources / Salutation

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I. (:3-7) UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE:

THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S COMFORT IN OUR OWN TRIALS EQUIPS US TO COMFORT OTHERS IN THEIR TRIALS

A. (:3) The Source of All Comfort —

The Comfort is Sufficient Because of Who God Is

(Chiastic structure – A B B A)

1. Thanksgiving to God for Who He Is

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”

2. Description of Who God Is

a. Merciful by Nature

“the Father of Mercies”

Kent: This concept was rooted in Old Testament revelation, and found frequent expression among those who trusted God (II Sam. 24:14; I Chron. 21:13; Neh. 9:31; Ps. 51:1; 103:4; Isa. 54:7; Dan. 9:9).

b. Unlimited Capacity for Comfort

“and God of all Comfort”

Conclusion: Our Trials can never exceed the Ability of God to Comfort

B. (:4) The Benefit of All Trials

1. God’s Comfort is Fully Known Through Trials

“who comforts us in all our affliction”

Zeisler: Affliction, however, has to do with pain or difficulty that is threatening-suffering in which no good outcome can be predicted. The root idea of the word before us is pressure; unrelenting pressure that, like a bulldozer, threatens to crush and sweep aside everything in its path.

2. God’s Comfort Equips Us to Minister to Others

“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.”

C. (:5) The Sufficiency of Comfort in Connection with Christ

1. Sufferings in Connection with Christ May Be Abundant

“For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance”

2. But Comfort in Connection with Christ Will Always Be Sufficient

“so also our comfort is abundant through Christ”

D. (:6) The Perspective of Encouraging Others to Persevere Under Affliction

1. This Perspective Applies to Our Affliction

“But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation”

2. This Perspective Applies to Our Comfort

“or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort”

3. This Perspective Applies Because of the Commonality of All of Our Sufferings

“which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer”

E. (:7) Confidence in the Certainty of Sufferings and the Sufficiency of God’s Comfort

“and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.”

II. (:8-11) PERSONAL TESTIMONY:

THE SEVERITY OF OUR TRIALS MAKES US DESPERATE FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE

A. (:8-10) Peril of Impending Death

1. (:8) Situation Seemed Hopeless

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life”

Paul is such a positive person; for him to “despair even of life” the situation must have been pretty bad.

Hughes: . . . it is very much of a piece with the major theme of the opening portion of this epistle, namely, Paul’s vindication of his own integrity. . . An incapacitating experience of this kind explained much, and called for sympathy rather than censure.

2. (:9) Desperation Focuses Our Faith in the God of Resurrection Power

“indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead”

3. (:10) Deliverance is God’s Specialty

a. Testimony of Deliverance in the Past

“who delivered us from so great a peril of death”

b. Hope of Deliverance in the Present

“and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.”

c. Confidence of Deliverance in the Future

“And He will yet deliver us.”

B. (:11) Power of Intercessory Prayer

“you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many.”

* * * * * * * * * *

PREACHING CHRIST:

1) Christ’s relationship with His Heavenly Father secures for us a similar relationship with “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”

2) Both our sufferings and our comfort are experienced in abundance in association with Christ (vs.5).

3) Christ is our pattern in bearing suffering and affliction for the purpose of ministering to others and securing our salvation and comfort (vs. 6).

4) The God who raised Christ from the dead is the same God working with the same power who personally functions as our Deliverer so that “we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”