2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-112005 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2005. This morning as we pick it up in 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

We are looking at verses 1 through 11 this morning, and it's a difficult passage. This morning's passage is actually quite tough because it deals with some issues that we don't necessarily like to deal with. And it deals with...

some issues, some topics that the world has one viewpoint and God has a completely different viewpoint. Our minds and our hearts, our normal tendencies think completely opposite of the way that Paul will tell us we ought to think here. So it's a tough portion of Scripture for us to

apply in our own lives and remember and remind ourselves about. Paul talks about the subject suffering and comfort. Suffering and comfort. Now, the world's perspective, the world's view, our normal natural perspective is this. Avoid pain. Avoid sorrow. Avoid hardship. Don't talk about death. Don't talk about anything hard. Avoid those things because they're bad.

The easy life. If you can retire, if you can make it to easy street, that is a great accomplishment. When you can be at peace and not have to worry about pain and sorrow and hardship and those things, that's the place where you want to be. That's what you want to aspire to. That's what we tend to think. It's our natural mind. It's what the world says you want to think. Those grand days when you won't have to suffer, when you won't have to worry about money or this or that.

But God has a different perspective on this subject, on suffering and comfort. His perspective is just the opposite of what the world says. God says pain, sorrow, hardship, they're good. They bring growth, they bring joy, they bring comfort into the life of a believer.

So, God and the world, once again, have opposing viewpoints. And you and I, we have to decide which one are we going to hold on to. Because it's not about what we feel, it's about what we decide to believe and decide to walk in. We need to look at God's Word, what it has to say this morning about suffering, about comfort, and decide which way we're going to live. But it is difficult. It's not easy. In fact, if it wasn't God's Word, the things that we'll look at and read today

I would not believe them because they sound a little insane, a little crazy. It doesn't really make sense in my mind.

If I just use my mind, but if I believe God at His word, then I can know and understand what Paul is saying here. Many people ask the question, why is there suffering in the world? Bless you. Why is there sneezing? No, suffering in the world. I'm just kidding. Why is there suffering in the world? Well, the answer, of course, is it's because of sin. Sin.

What Adam did in the garden, what took place back there, has resulted in fallen man, fallen woman, fallen world, and the result is suffering. That's why God tells us not to sin. It's not because He enjoys putting a bunch of rules and regulations on our lives. He says, no, stay away from sin because the result of sin is suffering. Suffering.

The wages of sin is death. Destruction, death, suffering, it's the result of sin in this world, in our lives, in the lives of those around us. Sin, it's devastating. It affects everything. So why is there suffering in the world? Well, it's because of sin. Now, another question could be asked, well, why does God allow suffering? And the answer is quite simple. It's

He allows suffering so that you and I can have a choice. You see, He could make a perfect world, but in order to do so, He would make us incapable of choosing. We would be forced to love Him, to serve Him, to walk with Him. We would be forced, like

like robots, to do all the things that He commands. But He desires to have a meaningful relationship with us, so He gives us a choice, and the result is, sometimes we choose Him, and sometimes we don't choose Him. The result of not choosing Him is suffering. It will take place. It will happen. Sin is the result. Actually, suffering is the result of sin. We have the choice to love Him or not, because He desires to have a real relationship with us.

He uses suffering in our lives. Whether we choose Him or not, we're going to suffer. Whether we're Christians or not, we're going to suffer. And so God says this, since you're going to suffer anyways, here's what I'm going to do. Like I always do, God says, I'm going to take what seems bad, what Satan means for evil, and I'm going to turn it to good.

And I'm going to make this suffering that you have to endure anyway because I want to give you a choice, because I want a relationship with you. I'm going to take this suffering, I'm going to take these times in your life and I'm going to use them to bring glory to my name. I'm going to use them for good. I'm going to use them to draw you close to me. God says, I'm going to turn this into good. That's why James says in James chapter 1 to count it pure joy when you face trials and tribulations. Now that's difficult to do. But as we understand what Paul says today,

it should help us to understand how we can count it pure joy. How God takes it from something that's bad, from suffering and pain, and turns it into something that is good. Let's read together 2 Corinthians 1, starting in verse 1.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in Achaia, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be God, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Verse 2.

or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the suffering, so also you will partake of the consolation. Verse 8.

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that he will still deliver us.

Paul here, as he opens up the letter and begins to deal with this subject. It is a difficult subject. It is hard for us to understand.

And so as we look at this this morning, we need to pray. And we need to ask God to open our eyes and open our hearts. So let's do that together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. Lord, we thank you for your word. And God, we ask as we study now, which you have to say to us through the Apostle Paul, God, that you would open our hearts. That we would be able to understand the things that you want to say, God. Lord, that you would bring up the points in our lives where we need to apply this. Lord, where it really takes feet.

and that we can walk with you. Lord Jesus, open our eyes and draw us close to you this morning, we pray. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. It's in your name we pray. Amen. A little bit of background as we get into this. We studied 1 Corinthians for quite some time, beginning last May, and we studied it for about six months. We went through from cover to cover 1 Corinthians, and as we

Look back at that time and remember what was taking place. Well, Corinth, you might remember, was a city that was in Greece. It was about 50 miles from the city of Athens, which, as you probably know, was a very central city. It was a very popular city. Corinth itself was vastly populated as well. About 600,000 people would be the population of Corinth.

Now, it was located on what's called an isthmus. I'm sorry, I-S-T-H-M-U-S. Why they make words that you can't pronounce, I don't know. But that's what it's called. And what an isthmus is, is it's...

a narrow strip of land that connects two large pieces of land or two large bodies of land. So it's like a peninsula, only a peninsula, you know, like if you picture Florida, you have the big large body of land, that's the Northern America, and you have Florida that comes down, it's the peninsula. Well, an isthmus is the same thing except for it has another large body of land on the other end. So it would be like a great hallway or a great road between these two continents or between these two large peninsulas.

pieces of land that people would constantly go back and forth on. And so Corinth, as a result, was a center of commerce. It was a center of people passing through from one side to the other, trading, all kinds of commerce and those kind of things. Not only that, but there was the two lands on each side and then there was water on the opposite sides. So,

the people would cross on the land and then the others would come by ship. They would come to where Corinth was. They would unload everything off the ship, carry it off to the other side of the isthmus, put it on another ship and go forward to wherever they were going. And so it was almost like a canal or a channel where either direction, north, south, east or west, there would be people constantly flowing through, many travelers. And so it would be very populated, very popular and very full of people. Now as a result,

They had a very mixed city and there was different nationalities and different people and lots of things going on. And the result of that, of course, was Corinth was known for sexual immorality and idolatry. They had many different gods that they worshipped and many different ways that they worshipped this god, but sexual immorality was the most common way. It was something that was very much practiced in the city of Corinth.

Paul visited the city on his second missionary journey. And he started a church there, began it, and continued on his missionary journey. And he writes back to them to encourage them and to help them in their walk with the Lord. Now, he sends throughout their history, he sends Timothy to them, he sends Titus to them to be able to lead them and guide them and help them in understanding what God says. And so, Paul...

He writes 1 Corinthians, which we studied, from Ephesus, probably about 55 AD, early in the year, probably about in the spring. And 2 Corinthians, which we'll study now, he writes later that year. So not much time has taken place, but a lot has happened. If you remember, back to 1 Corinthians, it was divided into two major sections. Chapters 1-6 was talking about corrective issues that Paul had to take care of. He says, look, there's some things going on, you need to take care of them.

Here's what they are: division.

Sexual immorality within the church. Carnality. Gossip. These things are taking place. They need to be taken care of. So Paul writes to correct them. Then, chapters 7-16, the rest of the book, Paul is dealing with and answering their questions. They had questions about many things. They had questions about marriage in chapter 7. About meat sacrificed to idols. About church conduct. About spiritual gifts. And about the resurrection. And so Paul tackles all those things and deals with them.

As he sends this letter, he sends it and they read it and wonderful things. But the problem is, this is what tradition says, this is what the founding fathers of the church believed and understood, is that in between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, there was some events that transpired, that took place. They tried to implement the things that Paul said in casting out the sexually immoral brother

But what ended up happening is because he was an influential leader, he basically led a rebellion and was causing great division. He was refusing to be corrected, refusing to leave the church and not to be a part of the body. He was causing great disruption. To the point that Paul the Apostle actually went and visited Corinth physically. He went there physically

to deal with those issues to take care of them. Seemed everything was okay. He goes back to Ephesus but then hears back again that still things are going on. Things need to be taken care of. And so, according to tradition, there was another letter that was written to the Corinthians. In between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, that letter

was very fierce, very harsh, very corrective in dealing with the sin and the situations that were there because that guy refused to repent. And so he sends it by hand of Titus. And Titus goes and they actually listen this time. They put it into practice. They repent and they do the things that Paul is asking them to do. It was a harsh letter. In chapter 7 of 2 Corinthians, he says, Hey, I'm sorry I brought you sorrow, but I'm glad that the result was good, that you are listening to and obeying the voice of God.

So Titus comes back with great news to Paul. He says, hey, great news. They've done what you asked. They put into place these things and they repented from the things that have been going on. One thing is going on that's kind of a problem though, Paul, and that is that now people have been raised up

And they are calling you a false apostle. They're claiming that you're not truly an apostle, but you keep changing your plans on them and stuff like that. And so they're accusing you of not really being called of God. And so Paul writes 2 Corinthians in response to this information. As he

hears about what's going on there. He's rejoicing and praising God and encouraging the majority of the people who have repented, but there's the minority of people that are still rebellious in their heart, and so he's correcting those. It's much taking place in this letter and in this time. And so if you want an outline of 2 Corinthians, it's divided into three main sections. Chapters 1-7, Paul is talking about his ministry. He's defending his ministry and explaining why

The ministry is the way that it is and why he does the things that he does and why his plans change. Then in chapters 8 and 9, Paul talks about giving, about being generous to the church that is in Jerusalem, that is in need and the saints there who are desperate in financial need. And so he's taking up a collection from all the churches in the region. So he talks about giving there in chapters 8 and 9. And then in chapters 10 through 13, Paul defends his apostleship, his apostleship.

No, his apostleship. He vindicates himself and says, no, I am called of God and proves it through the things that he says. So 2 Corinthians now. Let's get started together. Chapter 1, verse 1 again says this. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy, our brother. Now this was a usual greeting for Paul. It was very customary for him to open up the letter, introducing himself, saying who he is, saying who's with him.

In 1 Corinthians, it was Sosthenes. In 2 Corinthians, it was Timothy that is with them. He's writing it from Macedonia, probably. He's left Ephesus because of some situations. And Timothy's with them, and he greets them. And he gives his usual greeting. Notice also that he says he's an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, which is important because...

They were those who were attacking his apostleship and saying he wasn't really called to be an apostle, saying he wasn't really called of God. But Paul says, no, I have been called. I'm an apostle by the will of God. And he's writing to them.

In verse 2, he says, Now verse 2 is interesting because it's exactly the same word for word as 1 Corinthians 1, verse 3. It was, again, a usual customary greeting for Paul to give in his letters. Now, as he's giving this, just a reminder, we looked at it as we studied 1 Corinthians, but remember what grace is. Grace is understanding.

undeserved favor and kindness. It's wonderful things

That you don't deserve. Getting what you don't deserve in a positive sense. Not getting what you don't deserve in judgment, but getting the wonderful things, the great things of God that you do not deserve. Paul here, as he greets them, gives them the best greeting that he could really give. He says, grace to you. Meaning, may God give you wonderful things that you do not deserve. What a wonderful way to greet someone in the Lord. What a wonderful way to bless someone.

to pray for someone. Man, may God just bless your socks off. Give you great things, wonderful things that you do not deserve. That's something that we need to practice as believers, as brothers and sisters in the Lord, that we love one another, that we wish the best for one another. Grace. And he also says peace to you. May God give you great things that you don't deserve and may he give you peace.

Before we move on to verses 3 through 6, let's practice that together for a moment. Can you look to the person next to you and just say, may God give you great things that you do not deserve. Go ahead and try that right now. Grace to you.

May God bless you with great things that you do not deserve. That's a wonderful way to greet one another. I'd encourage you to use that very often. In verses 3-6 now, Paul continues, or he actually begins really the substance of the letter and he begins by teaching

an important principle. And this important principle answers a question, and the question is, why does God allow suffering in my life? Now, we talked about the question, we looked at very briefly, why God allows suffering in the world, and it's because of sin, and because He wants to give us a choice, but why does God allow suffering in my personal life, in me? Why do I have to suffer? Why do I have to feel pain? Why do I have to go through hard times and hard things? He answers this question in verses 3-6.

Teaching us an important principle. Why? Well, the answer is, number one, so that we can comfort others. Why does God allow suffering in my life? Number one, so I can comfort other people. And then number two, number two, he says, so that consolation can abound in us.

God allows suffering in my life so that consolation can abound in me. And we'll look at that and understand what that means. But let's start in verse 3. It says this, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

He starts out by saying, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That word blessed, it's a great word. It literally means that he's worthy of praise. He's saying, praise God. Praise him who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why praise Him? Why is He worthy of praise? Well, He gives them two wonderful titles that we need to know and understand. He gives them the first title, which is the Father of Mercies. And then the second title is the God of all comfort. The Father of all mercies. Let's think about that for a moment. What is mercy? Well, grace is not getting, or I'm sorry, getting what you do not deserve, in a good sense. Mercy is not getting what you deserve.

Not getting what you deserve. Because what do we deserve? Well, we deserve punishment and judgment and things that are not good. And so mercy is the idea of not getting the judgment, the punishment, the bad things that you and I deserve. He says, God is the father of mercies. The father of not getting or giving what you deserve. Now this is important to know and understand when you're talking about suffering.

When you're dealing with problems and hardships and trials, you need to know and understand that God is a God. He's the Father of mercies. The word Father doesn't just mean like a dad, but it has the idea, it carries with it the sense that He is the originator of it. You might remember in John chapter 8 verse 44, when Jesus is talking about the devil. And as He's talking about the devil, He says, look...

When he speaks a lie, the devil, when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources. For he is a liar and the father of it. Jesus says, Satan, the devil, he's the father of lies. When he speaks a lie, it's his own resources. He doesn't have to draw upon someone else. He's the one who started it. He's the one who originated it. He's the one who fathers all lies.

Well, God, on the other hand, is very much different than the devil, and praise God for that. He is the father, not of lies,

He is the Father of mercies. He is the originator of the whole idea that you shouldn't get what you deserve. He's the one who came up with the idea. He's the one who started it. He's the one who believes it. He is the Father of mercies. God is a merciful God. His mercies are new every morning. Every day He looks at you and says, I'm not going to give you what you deserve. Every day, every moment, I'm not going to give you what you deserve.

It's important to know when you're talking about suffering. Because many times when people suffer, others come with a finger. What have you been doing? God's punishing you. God's doing something because you did something against Him or you did something wrong or you did this or you did that. That's punishment. That's retribution. That's why you're suffering. But God is not a God of punishment. He's a God of mercies. He's the Father of mercies. He's the Father of

of not giving you what you deserve, of giving you every opportunity to come to Him, to repent of sin, to be forgiven. So don't think that He enjoys punishing people and watching people suffer. No. He does allow it, but He doesn't enjoy it. God is the Father of mercies. It also goes on, His second title, He is the God of all comforts.

The God of all comfort. This is another great title for God. He is the God of all comfort. What does that mean? Well, the word comfort is the idea of coming alongside to help someone. Listen, He is the God who comes alongside to help. That's the God that the Bible teaches about. That's the God that Paul knew. That's the God that is here with you this morning. It says, number one, I'm the Father of mercies.

I don't want to give you what you deserve. Not only that, but I'm alongside you. I'm here to help.

to carry you through. God does not give us what we deserve. And then He comes alongside to help us through the things, the suffering of this life. He turns it around. What Satan means for evil, the suffering that's bad, I'm going to use it for good. In verse 4, He teaches us the principle now. It says, "...who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

So, as he's talking about God, he says, praise God because He's the Father of mercies. Praise God because He's the God of all comfort. And He comforts us, in verse 4, in all our tribulation. In all of our tribulation. Now, that word tribulation is the idea of crushings. You know what it's like to be crushed in life? Crushings.

He says, He comforts us in all of those. That word comfort, to come alongside. What does God do? He comes alongside us through all of our suffering, through all of our crushings. We may not recognize Him, we may not feel Him, but He is there. The Bible teaches it. We can believe it. It's true. All of our tribulation, whether it be big or small, hard or easy, long or short, He's there. He's alongside. He's coming alongside us.

God offers Himself. He comforts us in all our tribulation, big or small. Whether you're in the dentist's chair or the prison cell, the hospital room, wherever you're at, He comforts you through it all. He is alongside you through it all.

Now as we look and understand what we're reading here, we say, hey, so far so good. Why did Jerry say that this was such a tough message? I mean, it's great. He's a father of mercies, doesn't give us what we deserve. And not only that, but he comes alongside us and is with us through big and small trials, literally big, it doesn't matter. He's with us through it all. What's so tough about this passage? Well, let me ask you a question. Why does God comfort you and me? Why does God comfort me?

He comforts me, teaches that, but why? You might think, well, because I need it. Because I deserve it. Why does God comfort me? We need to remember something. And I need you to let your neighbor know this. They need to hear it from your voice, from your lips. They need to know that you believe this. Are you ready? Can you tell your neighbor this thing? Here it is. Tell them, it's not about me. Tell them.

It's not about me. Tell the person on the other side now because they need to hear it too. It's not about me. It's not about me. It's not about me. When we're looking at this subject of suffering and comfort, understand it's not about you. It's not about me. It's about something completely different. What is it about? Why does God comfort us?

He goes on in verse 4 and he says, what does he say? He says he comforts us in all our tribulation. Notice that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble. Why does God comfort me? So that I can comfort someone else. It's not about me.

It's about someone else. It's about others. It's about what God wants to do through me. Now, we live in a me, me, me society. Mine, myself, I, all of that. That's what we live in. When you go through sufferings, when you go through times, your mind, your natural desires, the world says, hey, you need to find something that makes you happy and you need to please yourself and you need to go to this person who can tell you this about yourself and...

Yourself, yourself, yourself, yourself. Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. I, I, I. This life, this world, our natural tendencies is to focus on ourselves. To focus on ourselves. Not in a negative sense. We don't look in the mirror and go, oh man, how wretched do you look? We look and go, I'm great. I deserve all of these things. Me, me, me. Give me the comfort that I deserve. Give me this. Give me that.

The first step to being a disciple though, Jesus said it himself in Luke chapter 9 verse 23. He says, look, if you want to follow me, if you want to be my disciple, here's what you need to do. You know what the first step is? Deny yourself.

Deny yourself. It's not about you. It's not about me. Jesus says, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Serve others like I did. Why does God allow suffering in my life? The first answer to that, the first point that Paul makes is so that I can comfort others. So I can comfort others. God comes alongside us to help us so that we can come alongside others and help them.

And you say, well, I thought I was important. I thought I was special to God. Well, you are, but it's not about you. It's not about you. It's about how God can use you to minister to others. We need less of ourselves and more of others, not the other way around. Less of ourselves. God knows that the best thing for you and me, the best thing for you and me is to serve others and not ourselves. That's the best thing. That's what we need.

So the first point, why does God allow suffering in my life? So that I can comfort others. Notice this though, he goes on. He says, who am I comforting? Those who are in any trouble. Those who are in any trouble. I want to be the first to congratulate all of you. You've just been put into the ministry. You've just been put into God's service. Because if you've ever suffered anything,

If you've ever gone through affliction, if you've ever gone through pain or sorrow or hardship, then God has given you what you need. You're equipped for ministry. You're ready to serve Him. He's given you everything you need to minister, to serve those around you. Any trouble, He says, if you've ever been comforted, then you're ready. He says, you don't have to go through exactly the same thing. It doesn't have to be the same circumstances, the same hardship. The God of all comforts

He comforts you. He comes alongside you to comfort you. That you might comfort others no matter what their situation is. No matter what their problem is. God has given you what they need. And what is it that they need? How does God do this work? Well, we know quite clearly it's through the Word of God.

Because we can look many other places for comfort and we can look other resources, but what we need is God's Word. That's what comforts us. That's how He comes alongside us. And as He sends us to others, that's what they need to hear. That's what they need to know. Not our thoughts, not our opinions, not the way that we think about life, but the way that God says life is and should be. Any trouble, it doesn't matter what it is. If you've gone through suffering, if you've been comforted by God, you're equipped, you're ready.

to serve and to share with those around you. He says He comforts us or we comfort others with the comfort which we ourselves have been comforted by God. The same comfort that we receive. We don't have to give of our own resources, but we just simply give the same comfort that God gave to us, which any true comfort from God is going to be found in His Word. If...

You need comfort this morning. You can look a lot of places. And there's a lot of people who offer their services. And they have degrees. They have professions. There's a lot of ways that you can try to comfort yourself in this life, in this society that we live in. Lots of ways. But listen, where does true comfort come from? He says, "...the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God."

By God. God is the source of true comfort. You can look many places, but true comfort is only found in God. He can use a variety of methods. Sometimes it'll be when you're spending time in the Word on your own. Sometimes it'll be through a friend, a brother or sister in the Lord who shares the same things. It's the Word of God. It's not their own opinions, but it's God's Word that brings comfort into your life.

God comes alongside and desires to come alongside through each and every one of us. He comforts us that we might come alongside others and share with them the same things that God spoke to us when we were going through our sufferings, when we were comforted and spoken to by Him. So that's number one. He allows sufferings in our life that we might comfort others. Number two, let's look at verse five.

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Verse 6. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Paul here builds a relationship, a connection between suffering and consolation.

This relationship, he says, is proportional. In verse 5, he says, as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so sufferings overflowing, he says, so also, comparing the two, connecting the two, making them proportional, so also, just as the sufferings are overflowing, so also the consolation overflows. There's this connection. More suffering means more consolation. Less suffering means less consolation.

Exactly what we need, it's proportional. Now, this word consolation, what is it? Well, consolation, it's interesting, it's the same word as comfort. It's a different form of the word, but it's the same word. It's to come alongside for help. To come alongside in order to help. More sufferings, more consolation. Here's what Jesus is saying. Here's what Paul is saying. You endure more sufferings,

you receive more consolation. What's consolation? God being alongside to help. Sufferings in our lives result in a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. It results in God being alongside us and us aware of it more than ever. It results in a stronger relationship with God. Suffering, Paul says, when that abounds, God's alongside you

Even more than ever. It's like the old footprints in the sand. Psalm or proverb or whatever it is. Poem. Those times when it was just the one footprint, that's when I was carrying you. More sufferings, even closer. Christians who suffer and have received the comfort by God, they have a deep and rich relationship with God. So the second answer to why does God allow suffering in my life is that...

consolation can abound in my life. What does that mean? Well, it means that I can be close to Jesus Christ. I am closer to Him through those things than through anything else. Being close to Jesus, God knows this, you need to know this, being close to Jesus is the best thing for you. It's the best thing for you. Why does God allow suffering in my life? Number one,

So that you can comfort others because that's the best thing for you to serve others and not yourself. Number two, so that consolation can abound, that God can be close to you, that you can be close to Him, have a deep relationship with Him because that is the best thing for you. Suffering, God says, it might look evil, it might not feel very comfortable, but I'm going to turn it around, I'm going to make it for good, and I'm going to make wonderful things happen as a result of that. It's going to be for your good. It's what's best for you.

Paul goes on to illustrate this in verse 6. He says, look, if we're afflicted, it's for your consolation and salvation. He says that phrase twice. If we're afflicted, it's for your consolation and salvation. If we're comforted, guess what? It's for your consolation and salvation. No matter what, Paul says, look, our lives, we're living them, and you're blessed by them. It's for you. If we're afflicted, we go through hard times, that's okay. We don't mind. You know why? Well, because you're benefiting. You're being blessed.

Comforted. You're being saved as a result. If we're comforted, hey, that's cool too. We pass it along to you. You receive comfort and salvation as a result. Consolation. Paul says it's the result. It's the direct result. Now, consolation, Jesus being close, God coming alongside,

And he also includes with that salvation, which is interesting because that's what salvation is. Salvation is being close to Jesus, asking him into our lives and having that relationship with him. It's not about...

You have to do this to be saved. And you have to go to church so many times a week. And you have to do this and do that. It's not about that. It's about having that relationship, about being close to Jesus. Being close to Jesus is what saves you and I. So Paul says, it's great. Hey, we're afflicted? No problem. Because we know as a result, you're going to be comforted. God's going to come alongside you. And if God's alongside you, if you have a relationship with God, you're going to be saved.

If we're comforted, hey, that's good too. We don't mind that. Produces the same result because Paul says, we're living for you guys. We're trying to give our lives for your sake. So these two things, Paul says, answer the question, why does God allow suffering in my life? Now, you might say, well, are you sure about this? Let me give you a couple examples. Job. Think about Job for a

Almost everybody knows about the sufferings of Job, the patience of Job through his trials and all that he endured. Job suffered great loss. Some horrible things happened in his life. His family wiped out, his possessions lost, his body weak and stricken with sores. He suffered much.

Why? Why would God have Job go through all of that? Why would God ask Job to go through that? Why would he allow that? Well, let me ask you this. Through the story of Job, through understanding what he went through and how God blessed him at the end and the things that God spoke to him there at the end of the book,

Through that, millions of people have been comforted by his story. Is that reason enough? One life to comfort millions? Is that reason enough? Absolutely. God, in essence, says, Job, I'm going to use you in a unique way, a special way. Your life is going to bless millions of peoples after you. You're going to have to suffer, but it's okay. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to take care of you, not only in this life, but everywhere.

Others are going to be comforted. Others are going to be ministered to through your story. Millions of people will be touched. Millions of people will be comforted through your story. Is that reason enough? Absolutely it is. Absolutely it is. Think about Jesus. He suffered much. He suffered greater things than you and I can understand and will ever understand. Yet the same is true of Him.

Millions comforted by his suffering. Salvation brought through his suffering. What was the two things? Why does God allow suffering in my life? Number one, so that I can comfort others. Does Jesus comfort others? Yes, absolutely. It's through his suffering that we're comforted. The scriptures say it's by his stripes that we're healed. The stripes referring to the whips in his back, his scars, his bruises, his sores. We're healed.

The second thing is that consolation may abound. When Jesus died, that we could be close to Him. That He could come alongside of us. That He could have a perfect relationship with us because He's dealt with our sin, paid for our sin, and now He can have communion with us like He couldn't have since the time in the garden. Job and Jesus, both perfect examples of the way that God uses suffering. He turns it around.

The world can't understand it and our natural minds, we can't understand it but we can read about it, we can believe it and we can live it out. That God allows this so that I can comfort others. God allows this so that I can be close to Him. And you might say, Jerry, this sounds too simplistic. It's not supposed to be this easy. You're making this, you know, you're breaking this down way too far.

Look at verse 7. Verse 7, Paul says, He's advocating

acting on or riding upon the same balance here, the same proportions. He says, look, our hope for you is steadfast. We're confident. We have no doubts about it. You're going to make it. You're going to go through. You're going to be okay. We're totally confident of it that you're going to walk with God. Why? Well, he says, you're suffering. And because you're suffering, we know, because this is the way that God works, that you're receiving consolation as well, that God is drawing close to you.

When we hit hard times and trials, we think that God must be mad at us or He's punishing us, but we need to remember He's the Father of mercy.

He's the one who originated the whole idea that we shouldn't get what we deserve. So Paul says, no wait, it's not because he's mad at you. This is what makes us have confidence in you that you're facing trials, that you're suffering. He's drawing you close. He's bringing you closer to himself. Now, you can fight him and you can try your own way and you can do all the things that you want or you can draw close to him and be comforted. So Paul says,

It's a given. You're suffering. God's drawing close to you. So we're confident. We have hope. We trust. We know you're going to be okay. Because the sufferings in your life are an indication that God is drawing you close. And so what you need to do, Paul would say to you and I as we suffer in this day, is we need to turn to God and receive the comfort that He has. Receive His word to us. Receive what He has to say.

In verse 8, he goes on to describe his own afflictions. He says, Have you ever felt like that? We were burdened, he says, beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.

Paul says, look, the trouble, the suffering that we're going through is very difficult. We're burdened beyond measure. We're suffering more than you can imagine, more than we even despaired of life. What's going on? Well, you can check it out on your own time. Acts chapter 19. The city of Ephesus turns against Paul, basically. There's a riot in the city.

And they kick him out of the city. There's great suffering, great persecution going on. So he says, I'm burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despair even of life. If you have ever felt that way, or if you feel that way today, remember Jesus. He's the God of all comfort. So draw close to him. Paul knew about suffering. He was very acquainted with suffering. In Acts chapter 9, when he was called into the ministry, God sends Ananias,

His name was Saul at that point, but he had just gotten saved. And God sends Ananias to him and says, look, pray for him. The scales are going to fall off his eyes. I'm going to use this guy. He's going to be a great testimony. But he also says in verse 16 of Acts chapter 9, I'm going to show him how much he will suffer for my name. Paul knew about suffering. In fact, 2 Corinthians details for us a lot of the things and the sufferings that Paul went through and had to endure.

He shares much about his sufferings. He knew what it's like to suffer. And here's what he says. It's okay. He's allowing me to suffer because then I'm able to comfort you. He's allowing me to suffer so I'm able to draw close to Jesus Christ. In verse 9, he says, Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raised the dead. The sentence of death. He said, We despaired even of our very own lives

But it's okay, he says, because God was teaching us in this. It was a good thing because we learned not to trust in ourselves and in our strength and look to us and me, me, me society, but instead to trust in God who raises the dead. Trust in God who is the God of all comfort, the Father of mercies.

In verse 10, he goes on and he says, "...who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us in whom we trust that he will still deliver us."

delivered us, delivers us, and will still deliver us, past, present, and future. I like this word deliver. It means to pull back or to draw back with force. It's the idea is if you would see me about to walk into a busy intersection or across the street and there's a car coming and you see me and so you run and you grab me and you pull me back.

That's what God did. Because our hearts wander, our flesh fights against God, we desire to do things that are destructive to us, to live in sin which produces suffering. And God says, let me pull you back. And He holds us back from those dangers, from those things. He delivers us. He delivered us from many past things. Think about it. Six months ago, what was happening? What was the suffering? What was the big trial in your life?

God delivered you. He got you through. He came alongside and he was with you the whole way. What are you going through now? He's still the God who delivers. What are you going to go through tomorrow? Don't worry about it. He will still deliver you. Paul says, past, present, future, he's got it taken care of. Don't worry about it.

It's for your good. God turns it around. And then in verse 11, he says, You also, helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. He says, God delivered us. He was with us the whole way. But he says, not only that, but you helped. How did they help? They helped by praying for them. Paul says, thanks.

You helped by praying and as a result, we were comforted, you were comforted because God did the work that He wanted to do anyways. But you got to be part of the blessing. You got to be part of what God was going to do. The best thing to do for those who are suffering is to pray for them and to ask God how you can be part of what He wants to do. Pray for people. Pray for those who are suffering. Have a heart of compassion and love for your brothers and sisters in the faith. You know, as we look at

this and understand suffering will come into all of our lives. Whether we're Christian or not, whether we believe in God or not, whether we follow Him or not, suffering is an element of life that is going to take place. It's going to happen. Now the church in America is so very blessed.

And that we don't have to suffer persecution like most of the church around the world. We don't have to die for our faith. We don't have to put our life on the line to believe in God. But much of the world does. Much of the world is persecuted and face real things. None of us here, chances are, but none of us here will ever be in the fox's book of martyrs. We won't have to die for our faith.

We're blessed in America. But because we're blessed in this way, because there's no persecution, there's a difference. There's a difference. There really is. The church here in America, think about it, is weak. It's weak as a result of the lack of persecution, of the lack of suffering in our lives. Those who are persecuted, they learn to have a deep relationship with God.

a rich relationship with God. They know Him better probably than we ever will because they live the reality of a life with Him day by day, being delivered, being saved by Him. They have a serious commitment to God. They have to because it's the death penalty for them to follow Him. He's worth it. He's worth every drop of blood that's spilled. He's worth it. God is so great and gracious and worth it. He's the Father of mercies.

But here, we are weak as a result of the lack of suffering. Think about it. You know it's true as well. The church in America. Someone teaches something we don't like, I'll just go to the church down the street. Something takes place, there's sin, that's okay, no problem, no big deal. Compromise, ah, it's okay. We're weak as a result because we don't have to stand really for what we believe. We can be...

accepted and fit in and still be lukewarm and still be half committed to God. They're able to die for Him because they're determined to live for Him at all costs. They're determined. The suffering is worth it. We'll be able to comfort others. We'll be close to Jesus. Bring it on.

I'm going to live for Him at all costs. And you cannot make that commitment and expect to live a comfortable life. Jesus said, look, if you follow me, you're going to have persecution, you're going to have trials, you're going to have suffering. It's going to be hard. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be worth it every step of the way. And I'll carry you through every step of the way. But there will be suffering if you want to follow me. Look, you cannot make a commitment to God and expect to live a comfortable life. If that's what you want, then you don't want to follow God.

If you want to give your life to Him and serve Him, then give your life to Him and endure the suffering and know these two things. They're great truths. Don't get me wrong. He's going to be with you. He's going to comfort you so that you can comfort others. He's going to use you to bless others, to save others, to lead people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but He's going to draw you close. You're going to experience a relationship with Him like you can never experience without suffering. It's not about me.

It's not about you. It's about Jesus and how he wants to use us to serve others. This is a perfect time for us to partake of communion together. As we think about suffering, we reflect in communion and look back to what Jesus did for us and how his death for us brings comfort to us today and how his death brings fellowship and communion today.

to you and I today. God desires to have a real relationship with you and I. And I encourage you as we spend time in worship right now that you would spend time to meditate, to think about these things, to meditate on these things and draw close to Jesus Christ. Are you in need of comfort today? It's found in God. It's found in Jesus. Receive it. Hear from Him. Pour your heart out to Him. Draw close to Him. He's right there alongside you.

Maybe you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can do that right now. You can receive this Comforter, this One who's come alongside you, simply by in your heart asking Him to come into your life and to change you and to make a difference. I encourage you this morning, partake of communion with us. Reflect and remember what Jesus did. And let's give our lives to Him. Suffering or no suffering, hey, we know it's for good. We know that God only wants what's best for us.

So we can remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ. We can be blessed and comforted and saved as a result. He did it to have a relationship with us. So let's spend time with him this morning. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.