Text: 2 Corinthians chapter 1
As an eldership, we are acutely aware of many who are experiencing great trials – and that many of you have been through great trials. I believe that this passage of Scripture will help us all to deal with these situations – so let’s read:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Quick survey:
- How many of you have asked God to put you through some really tough times?
- How many of you went through some really tough times anyway?
Few, if any, of us, would volunteer for significant hardship – yet this is part of life on earth. Most of us would gladly avoid it, and some of us will do everything we can to avoid it!
Some of us may think – consciously or unconsciously – that as Christians, we should not experience suffering. We think that it is Jesus’ job to keep us out of trouble. Yet Jesus clearly said (and I quote John 16:33):
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
A solid theology of suffering is very helpful when we endure trials. This message won’t complete your theology by any means, but I do believe that it will strengthen it.
So let me highlight some verses from our text and let’s get stronger:
v5: For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
The first lesson is that suffering and comfort are BOTH part of the Christian life. Peter wrote this in his first letter (I’m quoting 1 Peter 4v12):
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
So don’t have a crisis of faith when trials come your way – they do not mean you are not a proper Christian or that you have lost your faith!
Paul was very much a Christian and a man of great faith – yet he endured tremendous trials. Listen to verses 8 & 9:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
Paul experienced a level of stress that was beyond his coping skills – a pressure so heavy that he despaired and felt doomed to die at any moment. Now, please Lord, I am not saying that we should expect to go through such extreme suffering – all I am saying is that when we go through suffering, this does not invalidate our faith.
You haven’t lost the faith”. And God hasn’t lost you either! The next lesson is that trials also don’t mean that God has left you. In verse 4 we read that God
“…comforts us in all our troubles…”
When life gets tough we can feel like God has left us. But in the midst of our darkest days, we can find God’s comfort. He has not “left the building”. He is with you!
In fact, in the midst of trials we can experience God in two truly magnificent roles:
- As Father of compassion
- And as God of all comfort
In verse 3, Paul describes God in these two ways. As we struggle, we can know the Father of compassion with us. As we hurt, we can know the touch of the God of all comfort.
As we cry out to God with our little faith, we find that he is not some aloof being monitoring our suffering from afar… he is standing with us, full of compassion for us, wanting to pour his comfort into our hearts!
In verse 4 we learn a little about the dynamics of this comfort:
[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Comfort comes to us in two ways: (1) from God directly, and (2) also from the family of God. Many times we can simply draw aside in prayer and find his comfort. But at other times, we can struggle to connect with God – and in those times, we really need the family of God. We need others around us, praying for us, encouraging us, and sometimes simply “being there” with us.
When we experience trials, and the comfort of God in them, we find ourselves equipped to help others. I’m sure many of us have taken comfort in the encouragement of a fellow-believer who has “been there” where we are, and God has brought them through.
So, in the midst of trials, we can FIND COMMUNITY, as we ENDURE TRIALS TOGETHER. This is such a reality in some of our small groups – some of you guys are amazing as you walk together through the challenges you face. As Paul put it in v7,
…just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Part of this community experience is PRAYER SUPPORT – praying for one another. Paul wrote (verses 10-11):
On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.
This is a wonderful truth, folks – we can all help those who are suffering as we pray for them. YOU CAN HELP THEM!
Lastly, trials build our faith. We don’t need faith when things are going well! When things get rough, then our faith is exercised, and it grows stronger. When God brings us through that trial, we find that we have more faith for the next challenge – and we can say like Paul:
On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…
Let me summarise quickly:
From 2 Corinthians 1 we have learned that:
- Suffering and comfort are BOTH part of the Christian experience
- Suffering for the Christian can be severe at times
BUT, in all of our trials:
- God is with us – as Father of compassion; and as God of all comfort
- God comforts us directly and through people around us who have experienced his comfort
- We can experience community with fellow believers as we walk through the trials together
- We can help one another by praying for them
- And our faith grows stronger into an ENDURING FAITH that says he will continue to lead me through.
So what do we do with this?
1. Don’t lose faith when trials some – you haven’t left God and God hasn’t left you!
2. Reach out to God for his comfort and strength – he is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort!
3. Reach out to others who will pray with you and for you. Don’t withdraw; rather draw closer to the community of believers.
4. Lastly, look forward to a testimony of how God brought you through – as Paul wrote in verse11 :
Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
So be it!
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