Godly Sorrow

In his second epistle to the church of Corinth, Paul has been seeking to encourage the Corinthian believers regarding their position in Christ and the purpose of God as they face afflictions. Through afflictions, we have the opportunity to receive the encouragement of God and, subsequently, to dispense that same encouragement to others who are experiencing afflictions. Afflictions are a means by which we can give testimony to the greatness of our God! Our relationship in Christ should effect how we think about our purpose in this world. We must remember that we are, ultimately, eternal beings and will one day be absent from the body and present with the Lord! Hence, while we live upon the earth, we must see ourselves as ministers of reconciliations and ambassadors of God. As such, we should seek to bring no offense (or stumbling block) to others in their coming to the knowledge of the truth. As God's ambassadors, we must seek to not be unequally yoked, in order that God may direct our path in the ministry to which He has called us. In today's passage, Paul draws the teaching back to his initial teaching regarding how our relationship and position in Christ should totally transform how we view sufferings and sorrows. In the beginning of his epistle (our chapters 1 and 2), Paul discussed the level of tribulation that he and his team had experienced in the province of Asia. Now, he turns the thought to what he experienced when he entered Macedonia and how news from them encouraged. Tied together with Paul's sufferings was the sorrow of the Corinthians. We will discussed each of these subjects again. This message was presented on February 23, 2020 by Bob Corbin.