June 1, 2025 • 36 mins
What if your suffering isn't just about you? What if God has designed your struggles to bring comfort to someone else?
In this profound exploration of 2 Corinthians, we journey through the apostle Paul's remarkable vision of Christian community—a vision that stands in sharp contrast to our individualistic culture. While our world celebrates self-sufficiency and personal achievement, Paul reveals a divine economy where weakness becomes strength and suffering transforms into comfort for others.
The letter paints a vivid picture of the Corinthian believers as "saints" despite their imperfections, a church learning to repent and live for Christ. Against this backdrop, Paul defends his apostolic authority not through impressive credentials but through his willingness to endure hardship for their sake. His catalog of sufferings—beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks, and constant danger—becomes not a reason for pity but evidence of Christ's power working through him.
At the heart of this message lies one of Scripture's most counterintuitive truths: "My power is perfected in weakness." Paul embraces his inadequacies, even his mysterious "thorn in the flesh," because they create space for God's strength to shine through. This isn't just personal spiritual formation—it's the foundation of genuine gospel ministry.
Most remarkably, Paul reveals the profound communion between himself and the Corinthians. Their spiritual lives are intertwined in what might be called a "whirlpool of grace"—as he receives comfort in affliction, it overflows to them; as they share in his sufferings, they also share in his comfort. "Death is at work in us," he writes, "but life in you."
This ancient letter speaks directly to our modern struggles with vulnerability, community, and purpose in suffering. When we face trials, we typically ask, "What is God teaching me?" Paul challenges us to ask a different question: "Who might God be comforting through my experience?"
Ready to discover how your weakness might become someone else's strength? Listen now and transform your perspective on suffering, community, and the mysterious ways God's comfort flows through His people.
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Episode Transcript
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Micah McCormick (00:00):
Every Sunday night and we're in 2 Corinthians
tonight, so go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 1.
I'm going to begin reading inverse number 1 and read down
through verse number 7.
(00:21):
2 Corinthians 1, 1-7.
Paul, an apostle of ChristJesus by God's will, and Timothy
, our brother to the church ofGod at Corinth, with all the
saints who were throughoutAchaia.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
(00:43):
Christ.
Blessed be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God ofall comfort.
He comforts us in all ouraffliction so that we may be
able to comfort those who are inany kind of affliction through
the comfort we ourselves receivefrom God.
For just as the sufferings ofChrist overflow to us, so also,
(01:06):
through Christ, our comfortoverflows.
If we are afflicted, it is foryour comfort and salvation.
If we are comforted, it is foryour comfort, which produces in
you patient endurance of thesame sufferings that we suffer.
And our hope for you is firm,because we know that as you
share in the sufferings, so youwill also share in the comfort.
(01:29):
Let's pray again.
Lord, we're thankful tonightthat we're sharers together with
the Lord Jesus Christ, sharersin his suffering and shar shares
together in his glory, and wethank you for the glory of words
that comfort us.
(01:50):
So bring that to us tonightthrough your scripture.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
It's hard to overemphasize howindividualistic the world is
that we live in.
I mean, we know that, we kindof have a sense of that.
(02:11):
But Doug mentioned earlier thatKevin is in town with his
daughter Leah.
They're serving over inIndonesia.
When they're here next Sundayyou get a chance to talk to
Kevin Sunday afternoon, maybe inthe gym.
You should say Kevin, tell meabout what life in your village
is like and how individualisticis it compared to things here in
America, and just let him go.
He'll just go for a while.
(02:33):
We are focused on the kinds ofcareer that we want to pursue,
the kinds of clothes that wewant to buy, the music that we
like the most, the sports thatwe think is the best, and those
things aren't wrong and there'sa place to see ourselves as
individuals.
(02:53):
Paul's going to say we have toall each appear before the
judgment of God.
So there's definitely anindividual component in
Scripture.
We're made in the image of God,but and this is a very big but
God has designed us to be beingsthat are not just individuals
(03:15):
but communities at the mostbasic level, a community of
humanity, of image bearers, butthat's also, in a more narrow
sense, a redeemed people and, atthe most local level, a church.
A church is not just one personor this person, it's not just a
group of individual people.
The parts make somethinggreater than the individual, and
(03:40):
a part of what we see here inCorinthians and a big part is
seeing this sharing that Paulhas with the people of Corinth.
Gospel leaders share a deepcommunion with their people.
So we're going to walk throughthis letter tonight, and this is
a letter that Paul wrote to achurch that he helped to start
(04:04):
in Corinth.
You can read about that in thebook of Acts, but I'm going to
break it up as we think aboutthis tonight we're going to look
at the Corinthian church, thesegospel people.
We're going to look at theapostle Paul, who is a minister,
writing to them, and then we'regoing to look at the communion
we share.
So those would be kind of ourthree sections for tonight.
(04:25):
We'll start with the Corinthians.
Notice there how he opens thisletter 2 Corinthians, chapter 1,
paul's writing and he says tothe church of God at Corinth,
with all the saints who arethroughout Achaia.
The church of God is with allthe saints.
(04:46):
He's saying that they're saints, they're holy ones.
That's how he starts You'repeople, not that they were
perfect, not that they were holy, holy, holy in the same way
that the Lord, god Almightyhimself is but he does say
you're people who are saints,you're in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and because of that verse 2,grace and peace are coming to
(05:09):
you.
You have that foundation andhope in the gospel.
These are gospel peopleassembling together.
We also see about this churchand this is an evidence of the
reality of that gospel work intheir hearts that there are
repenting people, and you cansee that in chapter 2.
That there are repenting people, and you can see that in
chapter two.
(05:34):
He talks about causing them painand writing a letter Verse
number five if anyone has causedyou pain, he's caused pain not
so much to me but to some degreeto all of you.
Now we're already hinting atthat sharing that they have.
When one suffers, all suffer.
But then he goes on to say inverse number six this punishment
by the majority is sufficientfor that person.
As a result, you should insteadforgive and comfort him,
otherwise he may be overwhelmedby excessive grief.
(05:55):
What's Paul talking about here?
Well, back in 1 Corinthiansthere was a man that was living
in grievous sexual sin and Paulsays he's not repenting.
You got to remove him from yourassembly.
But now Paul seems to be sayinglook, if he's turning, if he's
repenting, you don't just shunhim indefinitely.
You embrace him, you welcomehim.
(06:17):
That's what true repentancelooks like.
So this is a church, and if youread 1 Corinthians, they had a
lot of problems.
But as you read 2 Corinthians,you see Paul still calling them
saints and still acknowledgingthe progress they're making and
the reality that they're arepenting church.
Flip over to chapter 5.
These are people who are livingtheir lives for Christ, chapter
(06:42):
5, verse 14.
Their lives for Christ, chapter5, verse 14.
The love of Christ compels us,since we have reached this
conclusion that one died for alland therefore all died, and he
died for all so that those wholive should no longer live for
themselves but for the one whodied for them and was raised.
(07:06):
That's an admonition he givesthem.
It's also I want to saycharitably a description of what
he sees from the whole.
They're alive and living forChrist and he wants to encourage
that.
Turn over to chapter 9.
Chapter 9.
Just a couple more things,things, and we'll press on.
To Paul this is a very personalletter, chapter 9.
(07:30):
Look down to verse number 13.
Because of the proof providedby this ministry, they will
glorify God for your obedientconfession of the gospel of
Christ.
(07:50):
He's been talking about theiroverflowing giving, but the
overflowing giving is anevidence of what the gospel is
doing in their hearts.
So these are gospel peoplethrough and through, though not
perfectly and though not withoutfault, but they're sharing what
they've experienced in Christ.
So Paul can encourage them.
Chapter 11, last verse I want tolook at here before pressing on
(08:12):
to the next point.
Look at how Paul describesthese people, these Christians,
the Corinthian church, versenumber two of chapter 11.
I'm jealous for you, with agodly jealousy, because I
promised you, in marriage to onehusband, to present a pure
virgin to Christ.
(08:32):
And then he goes on.
Verse number four if a personcomes and preaches another Jesus
whom we did not preach, or youreceive a different spirit which
you had not received, or adifferent gospel which you had
not accepted, and then he says,a little bit sarcastically but
also bitingly you put up with itsplendidly.
Wait a minute here.
(08:54):
What's going on?
Well, paul's acknowledging hislonging for them.
He sees them as a pure virgin.
He wants to give them over toJesus Christ.
He acknowledges they're marriedto Christ, but he's also
warning them you've got tomaintain that gospel.
Because if someone comes with adifferent gospel, different
teaching, that's utterly false,you can't put up with it even
(09:16):
for a moment or that puts you indanger and that brings us into
Paul.
So there's the gospel people,the Corinthian church.
What about Paul, this gospelleader?
He calls himself an apostle.
Back in chapter one, verse one,flip back there.
I know we're moving around aswe do in these sessions, but
Paul is an apostle and I'm notan apostle.
(09:39):
We don't have apostles here inour church, but there is a
reality of gospel leaders andthe responsibility that they
bear.
That Paul exemplifies and hehas a burden for this people.
He has an obligation to helpthem, to consider them, and he's
been appointed an apostle byGod's will.
He's not only an apostle, he'san authentic apostle, he's a
(10:03):
sincere apostle.
Look down at chapter 2.
Look at verse number 17.
We do not market the word ofGod for profit, like so many.
False teaching is not a newthing to our own day.
(10:24):
The Corinthian church had toface this, and Paul is
distinguishing who we are asgospel ministers against the
contrast of who some are.
And then chapter 3 continuesthat thought.
So try to ignore that chapterbreak and just read it as it is
there Chapter 3, verse 1.
Are we beginning to commendourselves again, or do we need,
(10:50):
like some letters ofrecommendation to you?
There, apparently, were peoplecoming into the church of
Corinth with recommendations,with accolades, with pomp and
circumstance, but they weren'tcoming with the true gospel.
Paul later in the letter saysaren't we better than the super
(11:13):
apostles, super apostles?
So there's a conflict here ofpeople that are promoting
themselves in the church ofCorinth after Paul has left.
And not only are they promotingthemselves, not only are they
seems to have a different spiritand even maybe a different
gospel, they're even attackingPaul.
They're trying to get theCorinthian church to discount
(11:38):
Paul as a gospel leader.
Now imagine how hard that wouldbe if you were Paul.
He helped to give birth to thischurch.
It was God who did the saving,but he was the agent who prayed
over them, labored, evangelizedfirst church of Corinth.
He didn't even inherit someoneelse's church.
He helped to found it and hepressed on his missionary
(12:00):
endeavors.
And now one of his fledglingbaby churches has conflict.
And a part of the conflict isother things you can read about
in 1 Corinthians.
But a part of the conflict hereis people are saying, well,
that Paul guy, I mean, he wasn't.
It doesn't seem like he wasreally as great as some of these
other guys that we have now.
(12:21):
Boy, that's got to hurt.
That's painful.
Look over at chapter 4.
Chapter 4, verse 1.
Therefore, since we have thisministry because we were shown
mercy, we do not give up.
(12:42):
So he's again tying hisauthority as an apostle, his
authenticity as a gospel leader.
It's God's mercy and God's call.
It wasn't his idea.
Instead, verse 2, we haverenounced secret and shameful
(13:03):
things, not acting deceitfullyor distorting the word of God,
but commending ourselves beforeGod, to everyone's conscience,
by an open display of the truth.
And how does he do that?
Verse number five we are notproclaiming ourselves.
(13:26):
There's one test of a truegospel leader Are they
proclaiming themselves or arethey proclaiming Jesus Christ?
Paul is clear about the objectof his proclamation.
And verse number five ourselvesas your servants for Jesus'
(13:48):
sake, just like Jesus himselfcame to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many.
Now we know that Paul is agospel man, not only because of
his testimony to that effect,but also he can't even hardly go
verses or chapters withoutrehearsing.
How glorious it is.
(14:09):
So verse number six, god, whosaid let light shine out of
darkness, has shown in ourhearts to get the light of God's
glory in the face of JesusChrist.
Or you can see back at the endof chapter three the Lord is
that spirit.
Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Or let's turn over to chapterfive to see a very clear
statement of this in chapterfive.
(14:30):
Chapter five, verse 20,.
We are ambassadors for Christ.
Since God is making his appealthrough us.
We plead on Christ's behalf.
Be reconciled to God.
He made the one one, that is,god, the Father made the one who
did not know sin, that's JesusChrist, to be sin for us, so
(14:52):
that in him we might become therighteousness of God.
It's been called this passageof a great exchange.
So Paul's crystal clear aboutwhat the gospel is.
It's not self-promotion, it'snot self-help, it's not good
works.
It's God's decision to sendChrist to redeem.
It's Christ taking on sin ofpeople like you and me and
(15:17):
marvelously, we take hisrighteousness and God credits
that to our account.
That's the good news.
Paul's a gospel guy.
But even though Paul is a truegospel minister, he's sincere.
He's got some things to learnas a minister about weakness and
(15:40):
power and what that looks like.
Chapter 6, verse 4.
As God's ministers, we commendourselves in everything by great
endurance, by affliction, byhardship, by difficulty, by
beating, by imprisonment, byriots, by labors, by sleepless
(16:04):
nights, by times of hunger.
That's a lot of suffering asGod's ministers.
He's not the only one who'ssuffered.
He suffered a lot.
He wasn't the only one whosuffered and God had appointed a
suffering purpose for Paul.
Even as faithful as he was.
He wasn't a perfect person.
(16:27):
No one is this side of glory.
But you don't read of anyscandals about Paul after his
conversion.
That didn't stop God fromshowering him with suffering.
That was God's purpose for Paul.
Go over to chapter 12, orchapter 11, sorry, let's go to
(16:49):
chapter 11.
, verse 24.
Five times I received the 40lashes, minus one from the jews.
Three times I was beaten withrods.
(17:10):
Once I received the stoning.
You gotta love how casual thatis.
Yeah, I got stoned once it'swhen you get stoned.
They're trying to kill you likethe object is not to like throw
some rocks at your, at your,window.
So he managed to survive somehowwith stoning.
Three times I was shipwrecked.
I have spent a night and a dayin the open sea.
On frequent journeys I faceddangers from rivers, dangers
(17:33):
from waters, robbers, dangersfrom my own people, dangers from
Gentiles, dangers in the city,dangers in the wilderness,
dangers at sea and dangers amongfalse brothers.
So it's not only physicalsuffering that God allows him to
face shipwrecks and beatings.
It's even people that standopposed to him and that can be
(17:55):
the hardest form of suffering,sometimes when it's people that
he was passionate about, theJewish people, his kinsmen
according to the flesh.
He wanted nothing more for themto be saved, and they're the
ones that are the ringleaders ofhis persecution and the lies
about him.
Verse 28, not to mention otherthings.
(18:17):
There is the daily pressure onme, my concern for all the
churches, and then verse 29, westart to see what Paul
understands through some ofthese things.
Verse 29 of chapter 11, who isweak?
And I am not weak.
Verse 30, if boasting isnecessary, I will boast about my
(18:44):
weakness.
Paul was learning.
He couldn't do it himself.
In chapter 1, he said that hehad the sentence of death in
himself.
There was times when hedespaired of life.
I was talking with anotherpastor friend who happened to be
(19:05):
staying with me this week andwe were talking about that
passage and I said do you thinkwhen Paul says he despaired of
life, was he talking about whenhe was out on the ocean and he
thought, well, I'm out here, Iguess I'm going to die?
Was this when he was gettingstoned?
Or was he just depressed andlike Elijah's, like you know
what?
Lord, just kill me now.
I've had enough.
I'm not sure.
Maybe a combination of allthose things at different times.
(19:28):
He doesn't go into great, greatdetail about the circumstances,
but he's the spirit of life.
That's human weakness, but Godhas a purpose in human weakness.
Go over to chapter 12.
This is perhaps the mostwell-known passage of
Corinthians.
But here, in the context of allthat Paul is saying about who
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he is, he's truthfully writingto this church that he's an
authentic gospel minister andthey need to listen to his true
gospel and reject the falsegospel.
But he's acknowledging that hedoesn't have anything in himself
to sustain his own ministry,the very gospel power that gave
(20:16):
him spiritual life when he wasdead is what has to happen if
anything's going to happen atall through him as a converted
minister.
Verse number nine so Paul waspraying for this thorn in the
flesh to be taken away, and theLord didn't do it, at least at
this point.
But he said to me my grace issufficient for you.
(20:40):
My power is perfected inweakness.
There's Paul just said, who isweak and I'm not weak.
If I'm going to boast, I'mgoing to boast about my.
He's acknowledging I'm weak At.
The super apostles say howstrong they are.
Good on them.
I acknowledge I'm weak, butthen now we have a chance for
Christ's power to come in, andit's not my power.
(21:01):
Therefore, I will boast all themore gladly about my weaknesses
so that Christ's power mayreside in me.
Verse 10, I take pleasure inweaknesses.
And he's not saying he takespleasure in any sinful mind or
action that he does, but thisinadequacy that he recognizes.
(21:24):
He doesn't have to hide behindit or from it, because he wants
Christ's power to be on display.
He's already said his wholegoal is to display and proclaim
Christ on himself.
And here's how that can happenthrough weakness.
I take pleasure in weakness,insults, hardships, persecutions
(21:44):
and difficulties for the sakeof Christ, for when I'm weak
then I'm strong.
So last thing I want to come totonight is that, yes, paul's
learning some personal lessons,but all throughout this whole
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letter he's weaving together theyou and the me, the me and the
you, this church and my care.
What I'm doing is for you andwhat happens to you is for me.
So it's not merely a personaltestimonial about some things
God had to teach him.
A personal testimonial aboutsome things God had to teach him
, it's his understanding andrealization that God's doing
(22:33):
something for the Corinthianchurch through him.
Let's go back to chapter one andwe'll just scan a little bit
and see how this language ofcommunion between Paul and the
people, this sharing, is talkedabout.
Verse number four of chapterone God comforts us in all our
affliction, so that we may beable to comfort those who are in
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any kind of affliction throughthe comfort we receive from God.
Do you hear that he doesn't sayGod comforted us so I could
learn about my need for comfort,although he did.
God's giving me something thatI have to pass along to somebody
else.
It's this great whirlpool ofgrace.
That.
That's what's going on here.
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Verse 5, just as the sufferingsof Christ overflow to us, so
also through Christ our comfortoverflows.
So in his weakness, the powerof Christ in him.
He's a channel that othersexperience power in weakness.
Verse 6, there's this wordshare in verse number seven.
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That's a word you might haveheard before koinonia.
It's okay if you haven't heardit, but it's this idea of
communion.
That's where we get the wordcommunion.
It's a sharing, but it's a deep, normally a deep spiritual
fellowship.
And in verse number seven heacknowledges that the
Corinthians, they have akoinonia, they have a communion
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in suffering.
Well, I don't like thatspiritual communion.
Let me have a spiritualcommunion with we're all
praising the Lord and beautifulmusic, the suffering part.
But there's a camaraderie thathe sees in the suffering that
he's experiencing with them andalongside of them, because
they're all part of one body,the body of Christ.
(24:26):
So when one member suffers, allthe members suffer with it.
When one member rejoices, allthe members rejoice with it.
Verse number 11.
While you join in helping us byyour prayers, then many will
give thanks on our behalf forthe gift that came to us, for
(24:47):
the prayers of many.
So prayer is a form oftogetherness, because God uses
the prayers of others to help usand our prayers to help them.
Verse number 14.
Just as you have partiallyunderstood us, we are your
reason for pride, just as youalso are ours.
In the day of our Lord Jesus,you say, well, these people
(25:12):
weren't as mature as Paul.
But he sees, I can take pridein you because you belong to
Christ, and I hope you takepride in me too.
We're together in this.
Go over to chapter three.
Chapter three, it's sofascinating.
So he begins by that statementin verse one do we need, like,
(25:35):
some letters of recommendation?
So okay, I didn't come with allthe accolades that some of
these guys do, but do we needletters of recommendation?
Verse number two you yourselvesare our letter written on our
hearts, none read by everyone.
I don't need a fancycalligraphy on the wall about
(25:59):
where I went to school or what Idid.
I've got you guys, and ifpeople want to know about my
ministry, they need to look atyou, they need to talk to you.
But he uses this imagery of aletter and says you're a letter
written on our heart, and that'sthe same exact metaphor that
he's going to use later in thechapter to speak of the gospel
(26:21):
work that originally happens.
Look down again, verse number13.
We are not like Moses, who usedto put a veil over his face to
prevent the Israelites fromgazing steadily until the end of
(26:43):
the glory that what was beingset aside.
So there's a veil on the heart,but if you look back up, in
verse number 7, he says there'sa ministry that brought death,
(27:05):
that was chiseled in letters onstone.
But now, when the veil islifted, he's saying here the law
of God is written on our hearts.
The Spirit of God bringsfreedom.
So it's the power of Christshining on them that then gives
(27:27):
them this beautiful partnershipwith Paul to be able to take
pride in each other and thatthey can be his letter of
recommendation, because theSpirit's already written the
letter of the gospel on hisheart.
They're together in Christ.
Verse number 12 of chapter 4.
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So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.
Paul is allowed by God to seethat, even when he's suffering,
even when he's despairing oflife, even if he's not feeling
strong in himself, at the exactsame time God is pouring out
(28:13):
life to others.
And God's not doing twoentirely different things.
It's through the very death ofPaul that others are receiving
this life.
And unless the corn of wheatfalls to the ground and dies, it
doesn't bring fruit.
But if it falls to the groundand dies it produces much fruit.
That happened for Christ andonly he can redeem sinners.
(28:34):
But Paul understood thatsharing in Christ's suffering
meant that there would be dyingin him, even as others are
receiving comfort through hissufferings.
And he doesn't actually die.
But that sentence of death hehas in himself Go down to
(28:57):
chapter 8.
Chapter 8 and 9 can be a littletricky to fit into the structure
of this letter.
I didn't talk a lot about thestructure of this letter, but in
chapter 8 and 9, he gives thisappeal that hey, we need money.
It's like wait a minute, isn'tthat what the false teachers do?
Why are you asking about money?
Well, there's a genuine needthat saints have and he's going
(29:18):
to highlight the grace of God inother churches, in one church
in particular that hadcontributed very sacrificially,
and he's going to appeal to theCorinthians.
There's some other saints inneed.
We need help.
But it's still continuing thesame theme of you're sharing
together with these peoplebecause you belong to Christ.
(29:39):
Verse number four of chaptereight.
They begged us earnestly forthe privilege of sharing in the
ministry to the saints.
Chapter nine, verse 13.
Verse 13.
Because of the proof providedby this ministry, they will
(30:08):
glorify God for your obedientconfession of the gospel of
Christ and for your generosityin sharing with them and with
everyone.
Paul shares life with theCorinthians.
He appeals to them share yourlife with other churches.
There's this whirlpool of grace.
Again, what I've experienced,I'm passing on to you Now you
(30:29):
experience it.
This other church they shared.
And look at the blessing thatthey got.
Because God loves a cheerfulgiver.
He's been able to make allgrace abound because of the Lord
, jesus Christ, who was rich andbecame poor for our sakes so
that we, through his power,would become rich.
And now you've received that.
Money's not that important.
You can share your moneybecause you're already sharing
your whole lives with me andwith them.
(30:53):
Chapter 12.
Going back into chapter 12.
Going back into chapter 12.
He compares his relationship tothem as a parent to children in
verse 14 and 15.
(31:14):
And then in verse number 19,.
He reiterates what he's drivingat.
Have you been thinking all alongthat we were defending
ourselves to you?
He has been doing that a lot inthis letter.
He has been saying you'regospel people, I'm a real gospel
minister.
Here's how you know.
Here's my testimony.
(31:35):
Here's what the gospel is.
Here's what you've done.
In one sense, he has beencommending himself to them.
He's been defending himself.
But is that really the mainthing he was wanting to do?
Verse number 19.
Have you been thinking allalong we were defending
ourselves to you?
No, in the sight of God, we arespeaking in Christ and
(31:56):
everything, dear friends, is forbuilding you up.
Why did Paul have to suffer?
Because this church needed tobe built up.
Why did he have to faceharassment?
Because the Corinthians couldlook at him and see what it
looks like to die to yourselfand look around and think about
(32:19):
how they might die to themselveseven a little bit.
He's seeing the good of thewhole, not just his own
instruction and lessons.
So what about you?
What about us?
Again, we don't have apostleshere, but do we have this
(32:39):
expectation that God's doingsomething in me for other people
?
We often hear people say I wantto know what God's teaching me
in this, and that's a goodquestion.
Nothing wrong with thatquestion.
But what if God's teachingother people something because
of your life and your suffering.
What if you don't always knowwhat he's teaching you and maybe
(33:02):
you don't see all that he'steaching you and you might not
even see all that he's teachingothers?
Paul is not, at this point intime, right there among the
Corinthians.
He's writing a letter to them.
He doesn't have video calls, hedoesn't have, you know, nice
things like that.
So he doesn't know in perfectdetail all that they're hearing,
(33:24):
learning, doing.
But he knows it's happeningbecause he trusts in God.
So when we're suffering we cantrust.
God's got a purpose in this forNew Hyde Park Baptist Church.
God's got a purpose in this forChristians.
I know maybe in other placesthat would hear about what I'm
going through and say, wow,isn't God's power perfect in
weakness?
(33:44):
And isn't it better when we canhope that there's joy
overflowing to other people,even if we're not feeling the
joy every Monday, tuesday,wednesday, thursday, friday
morning morning?
(34:13):
2 Corinthians 13,.
This is how the passage ends.
The letter ends Verse 12, greetone another with a holy kiss.
All the saints send yougreetings.
There's the whole again, andit's grounded in Father, son and
Spirit and the communion thatthey have, the grace of the Lord
, Jesus Christ and the love ofGod and the fellowship, or
(34:34):
sharing or communion of the HolySpirit.
Be with you all of the HolySpirit, and be with you all.
Paul learned some beautifullessons.
He learned a lot about what itmeans to share with the people
of God.
God wants us to share with eachother.
(34:54):
Let's pray, lord, give usendurance.
We're in need of patience.
We're in need of patience.
We're in need of endurance.
Forgive us for our complainingspirits.
Even the spirit that doesn'tcomplain to others but complains
to ourselves, complains to you,lord.
Help us to see that you'reworking in us a far more eternal
(35:17):
weight of glory.
And the weight of glory thatyou're working in each one of us
is so that the weight of gloryin all of us together can be
magnified in the day of the LordJesus.
And so we're waiting for thatday and we're trusting that,
though suffering abounds in us,and in different times, in
(35:38):
different ways, to differentdegrees, all of us we share in
the sufferings of Christ, but weshare for the comfort of others
, for the joy of others, andeverything is for building up
one another.
Give us that heart, give usthat mind.
Oh, how good it is when thefamily of God dwells together in
spirit, in faith, in unity.
We pray this in Jesus' nameAmen.
Every Sunday night and we're in 2 Corinthians
tonight, so go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 1.
I'm going to begin reading inverse number 1 and read down
through verse number 7.
(00:21):
2 Corinthians 1, 1-7.
Paul, an apostle of ChristJesus by God's will, and Timothy
, our brother to the church ofGod at Corinth, with all the
saints who were throughoutAchaia.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
(00:43):
Christ.
Blessed be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God ofall comfort.
He comforts us in all ouraffliction so that we may be
able to comfort those who are inany kind of affliction through
the comfort we ourselves receivefrom God.
For just as the sufferings ofChrist overflow to us, so also,
(01:06):
through Christ, our comfortoverflows.
If we are afflicted, it is foryour comfort and salvation.
If we are comforted, it is foryour comfort, which produces in
you patient endurance of thesame sufferings that we suffer.
And our hope for you is firm,because we know that as you
share in the sufferings, so youwill also share in the comfort.
(01:29):
Let's pray again.
Lord, we're thankful tonightthat we're sharers together with
the Lord Jesus Christ, sharersin his suffering and shar shares
together in his glory, and wethank you for the glory of words
that comfort us.
(01:50):
So bring that to us tonightthrough your scripture.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
It's hard to overemphasize howindividualistic the world is
that we live in.
I mean, we know that, we kindof have a sense of that.
(02:11):
But Doug mentioned earlier thatKevin is in town with his
daughter Leah.
They're serving over inIndonesia.
When they're here next Sundayyou get a chance to talk to
Kevin Sunday afternoon, maybe inthe gym.
You should say Kevin, tell meabout what life in your village
is like and how individualisticis it compared to things here in
America, and just let him go.
He'll just go for a while.
(02:33):
We are focused on the kinds ofcareer that we want to pursue,
the kinds of clothes that wewant to buy, the music that we
like the most, the sports thatwe think is the best, and those
things aren't wrong and there'sa place to see ourselves as
individuals.
(02:53):
Paul's going to say we have toall each appear before the
judgment of God.
So there's definitely anindividual component in
Scripture.
We're made in the image of God,but and this is a very big but
God has designed us to be beingsthat are not just individuals
(03:15):
but communities at the mostbasic level, a community of
humanity, of image bearers, butthat's also, in a more narrow
sense, a redeemed people and, atthe most local level, a church.
A church is not just one personor this person, it's not just a
group of individual people.
The parts make somethinggreater than the individual, and
(03:40):
a part of what we see here inCorinthians and a big part is
seeing this sharing that Paulhas with the people of Corinth.
Gospel leaders share a deepcommunion with their people.
So we're going to walk throughthis letter tonight, and this is
a letter that Paul wrote to achurch that he helped to start
(04:04):
in Corinth.
You can read about that in thebook of Acts, but I'm going to
break it up as we think aboutthis tonight we're going to look
at the Corinthian church, thesegospel people.
We're going to look at theapostle Paul, who is a minister,
writing to them, and then we'regoing to look at the communion
we share.
So those would be kind of ourthree sections for tonight.
(04:25):
We'll start with the Corinthians.
Notice there how he opens thisletter 2 Corinthians, chapter 1,
paul's writing and he says tothe church of God at Corinth,
with all the saints who arethroughout Achaia.
The church of God is with allthe saints.
(04:46):
He's saying that they're saints, they're holy ones.
That's how he starts You'repeople, not that they were
perfect, not that they were holy, holy, holy in the same way
that the Lord, god Almightyhimself is but he does say
you're people who are saints,you're in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and because of that verse 2,grace and peace are coming to
(05:09):
you.
You have that foundation andhope in the gospel.
These are gospel peopleassembling together.
We also see about this churchand this is an evidence of the
reality of that gospel work intheir hearts that there are
repenting people, and you cansee that in chapter 2.
That there are repenting people, and you can see that in
chapter two.
(05:34):
He talks about causing them painand writing a letter Verse
number five if anyone has causedyou pain, he's caused pain not
so much to me but to some degreeto all of you.
Now we're already hinting atthat sharing that they have.
When one suffers, all suffer.
But then he goes on to say inverse number six this punishment
by the majority is sufficientfor that person.
As a result, you should insteadforgive and comfort him,
otherwise he may be overwhelmedby excessive grief.
(05:55):
What's Paul talking about here?
Well, back in 1 Corinthiansthere was a man that was living
in grievous sexual sin and Paulsays he's not repenting.
You got to remove him from yourassembly.
But now Paul seems to be sayinglook, if he's turning, if he's
repenting, you don't just shunhim indefinitely.
You embrace him, you welcomehim.
(06:17):
That's what true repentancelooks like.
So this is a church, and if youread 1 Corinthians, they had a
lot of problems.
But as you read 2 Corinthians,you see Paul still calling them
saints and still acknowledgingthe progress they're making and
the reality that they're arepenting church.
Flip over to chapter 5.
These are people who are livingtheir lives for Christ, chapter
(06:42):
5, verse 14.
Their lives for Christ, chapter5, verse 14.
The love of Christ compels us,since we have reached this
conclusion that one died for alland therefore all died, and he
died for all so that those wholive should no longer live for
themselves but for the one whodied for them and was raised.
(07:06):
That's an admonition he givesthem.
It's also I want to saycharitably a description of what
he sees from the whole.
They're alive and living forChrist and he wants to encourage
that.
Turn over to chapter 9.
Chapter 9.
Just a couple more things,things, and we'll press on.
To Paul this is a very personalletter, chapter 9.
(07:30):
Look down to verse number 13.
Because of the proof providedby this ministry, they will
glorify God for your obedientconfession of the gospel of
Christ.
(07:50):
He's been talking about theiroverflowing giving, but the
overflowing giving is anevidence of what the gospel is
doing in their hearts.
So these are gospel peoplethrough and through, though not
perfectly and though not withoutfault, but they're sharing what
they've experienced in Christ.
So Paul can encourage them.
Chapter 11, last verse I want tolook at here before pressing on
(08:12):
to the next point.
Look at how Paul describesthese people, these Christians,
the Corinthian church, versenumber two of chapter 11.
I'm jealous for you, with agodly jealousy, because I
promised you, in marriage to onehusband, to present a pure
virgin to Christ.
(08:32):
And then he goes on.
Verse number four if a personcomes and preaches another Jesus
whom we did not preach, or youreceive a different spirit which
you had not received, or adifferent gospel which you had
not accepted, and then he says,a little bit sarcastically but
also bitingly you put up with itsplendidly.
Wait a minute here.
(08:54):
What's going on?
Well, paul's acknowledging hislonging for them.
He sees them as a pure virgin.
He wants to give them over toJesus Christ.
He acknowledges they're marriedto Christ, but he's also
warning them you've got tomaintain that gospel.
Because if someone comes with adifferent gospel, different
teaching, that's utterly false,you can't put up with it even
(09:16):
for a moment or that puts you indanger and that brings us into
Paul.
So there's the gospel people,the Corinthian church.
What about Paul, this gospelleader?
He calls himself an apostle.
Back in chapter one, verse one,flip back there.
I know we're moving around aswe do in these sessions, but
Paul is an apostle and I'm notan apostle.
(09:39):
We don't have apostles here inour church, but there is a
reality of gospel leaders andthe responsibility that they
bear.
That Paul exemplifies and hehas a burden for this people.
He has an obligation to helpthem, to consider them, and he's
been appointed an apostle byGod's will.
He's not only an apostle, he'san authentic apostle, he's a
(10:03):
sincere apostle.
Look down at chapter 2.
Look at verse number 17.
We do not market the word ofGod for profit, like so many.
False teaching is not a newthing to our own day.
(10:24):
The Corinthian church had toface this, and Paul is
distinguishing who we are asgospel ministers against the
contrast of who some are.
And then chapter 3 continuesthat thought.
So try to ignore that chapterbreak and just read it as it is
there Chapter 3, verse 1.
Are we beginning to commendourselves again, or do we need,
(10:50):
like some letters ofrecommendation to you?
There, apparently, were peoplecoming into the church of
Corinth with recommendations,with accolades, with pomp and
circumstance, but they weren'tcoming with the true gospel.
Paul later in the letter saysaren't we better than the super
(11:13):
apostles, super apostles?
So there's a conflict here ofpeople that are promoting
themselves in the church ofCorinth after Paul has left.
And not only are they promotingthemselves, not only are they
seems to have a different spiritand even maybe a different
gospel, they're even attackingPaul.
They're trying to get theCorinthian church to discount
(11:38):
Paul as a gospel leader.
Now imagine how hard that wouldbe if you were Paul.
He helped to give birth to thischurch.
It was God who did the saving,but he was the agent who prayed
over them, labored, evangelizedfirst church of Corinth.
He didn't even inherit someoneelse's church.
He helped to found it and hepressed on his missionary
(12:00):
endeavors.
And now one of his fledglingbaby churches has conflict.
And a part of the conflict isother things you can read about
in 1 Corinthians.
But a part of the conflict hereis people are saying, well,
that Paul guy, I mean, he wasn't.
It doesn't seem like he wasreally as great as some of these
other guys that we have now.
(12:21):
Boy, that's got to hurt.
That's painful.
Look over at chapter 4.
Chapter 4, verse 1.
Therefore, since we have thisministry because we were shown
mercy, we do not give up.
(12:42):
So he's again tying hisauthority as an apostle, his
authenticity as a gospel leader.
It's God's mercy and God's call.
It wasn't his idea.
Instead, verse 2, we haverenounced secret and shameful
(13:03):
things, not acting deceitfullyor distorting the word of God,
but commending ourselves beforeGod, to everyone's conscience,
by an open display of the truth.
And how does he do that?
Verse number five we are notproclaiming ourselves.
(13:26):
There's one test of a truegospel leader Are they
proclaiming themselves or arethey proclaiming Jesus Christ?
Paul is clear about the objectof his proclamation.
And verse number five ourselvesas your servants for Jesus'
(13:48):
sake, just like Jesus himselfcame to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many.
Now we know that Paul is agospel man, not only because of
his testimony to that effect,but also he can't even hardly go
verses or chapters withoutrehearsing.
How glorious it is.
(14:09):
So verse number six, god, whosaid let light shine out of
darkness, has shown in ourhearts to get the light of God's
glory in the face of JesusChrist.
Or you can see back at the endof chapter three the Lord is
that spirit.
Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Or let's turn over to chapterfive to see a very clear
statement of this in chapterfive.
(14:30):
Chapter five, verse 20,.
We are ambassadors for Christ.
Since God is making his appealthrough us.
We plead on Christ's behalf.
Be reconciled to God.
He made the one one, that is,god, the Father made the one who
did not know sin, that's JesusChrist, to be sin for us, so
(14:52):
that in him we might become therighteousness of God.
It's been called this passageof a great exchange.
So Paul's crystal clear aboutwhat the gospel is.
It's not self-promotion, it'snot self-help, it's not good
works.
It's God's decision to sendChrist to redeem.
It's Christ taking on sin ofpeople like you and me and
(15:17):
marvelously, we take hisrighteousness and God credits
that to our account.
That's the good news.
Paul's a gospel guy.
But even though Paul is a truegospel minister, he's sincere.
He's got some things to learnas a minister about weakness and
(15:40):
power and what that looks like.
Chapter 6, verse 4.
As God's ministers, we commendourselves in everything by great
endurance, by affliction, byhardship, by difficulty, by
beating, by imprisonment, byriots, by labors, by sleepless
(16:04):
nights, by times of hunger.
That's a lot of suffering asGod's ministers.
He's not the only one who'ssuffered.
He suffered a lot.
He wasn't the only one whosuffered and God had appointed a
suffering purpose for Paul.
Even as faithful as he was.
He wasn't a perfect person.
(16:27):
No one is this side of glory.
But you don't read of anyscandals about Paul after his
conversion.
That didn't stop God fromshowering him with suffering.
That was God's purpose for Paul.
Go over to chapter 12, orchapter 11, sorry, let's go to
(16:49):
chapter 11.
, verse 24.
Five times I received the 40lashes, minus one from the jews.
Three times I was beaten withrods.
(17:10):
Once I received the stoning.
You gotta love how casual thatis.
Yeah, I got stoned once it'swhen you get stoned.
They're trying to kill you likethe object is not to like throw
some rocks at your, at your,window.
So he managed to survive somehowwith stoning.
Three times I was shipwrecked.
I have spent a night and a dayin the open sea.
On frequent journeys I faceddangers from rivers, dangers
(17:33):
from waters, robbers, dangersfrom my own people, dangers from
Gentiles, dangers in the city,dangers in the wilderness,
dangers at sea and dangers amongfalse brothers.
So it's not only physicalsuffering that God allows him to
face shipwrecks and beatings.
It's even people that standopposed to him and that can be
(17:55):
the hardest form of suffering,sometimes when it's people that
he was passionate about, theJewish people, his kinsmen
according to the flesh.
He wanted nothing more for themto be saved, and they're the
ones that are the ringleaders ofhis persecution and the lies
about him.
Verse 28, not to mention otherthings.
(18:17):
There is the daily pressure onme, my concern for all the
churches, and then verse 29, westart to see what Paul
understands through some ofthese things.
Verse 29 of chapter 11, who isweak?
And I am not weak.
Verse 30, if boasting isnecessary, I will boast about my
(18:44):
weakness.
Paul was learning.
He couldn't do it himself.
In chapter 1, he said that hehad the sentence of death in
himself.
There was times when hedespaired of life.
I was talking with anotherpastor friend who happened to be
(19:05):
staying with me this week andwe were talking about that
passage and I said do you thinkwhen Paul says he despaired of
life, was he talking about whenhe was out on the ocean and he
thought, well, I'm out here, Iguess I'm going to die?
Was this when he was gettingstoned?
Or was he just depressed andlike Elijah's, like you know
what?
Lord, just kill me now.
I've had enough.
I'm not sure.
Maybe a combination of allthose things at different times.
(19:28):
He doesn't go into great, greatdetail about the circumstances,
but he's the spirit of life.
That's human weakness, but Godhas a purpose in human weakness.
Go over to chapter 12.
This is perhaps the mostwell-known passage of
Corinthians.
But here, in the context of allthat Paul is saying about who
(19:51):
he is, he's truthfully writingto this church that he's an
authentic gospel minister andthey need to listen to his true
gospel and reject the falsegospel.
But he's acknowledging that hedoesn't have anything in himself
to sustain his own ministry,the very gospel power that gave
(20:16):
him spiritual life when he wasdead is what has to happen if
anything's going to happen atall through him as a converted
minister.
Verse number nine so Paul waspraying for this thorn in the
flesh to be taken away, and theLord didn't do it, at least at
this point.
But he said to me my grace issufficient for you.
(20:40):
My power is perfected inweakness.
There's Paul just said, who isweak and I'm not weak.
If I'm going to boast, I'mgoing to boast about my.
He's acknowledging I'm weak At.
The super apostles say howstrong they are.
Good on them.
I acknowledge I'm weak, butthen now we have a chance for
Christ's power to come in, andit's not my power.
(21:01):
Therefore, I will boast all themore gladly about my weaknesses
so that Christ's power mayreside in me.
Verse 10, I take pleasure inweaknesses.
And he's not saying he takespleasure in any sinful mind or
action that he does, but thisinadequacy that he recognizes.
(21:24):
He doesn't have to hide behindit or from it, because he wants
Christ's power to be on display.
He's already said his wholegoal is to display and proclaim
Christ on himself.
And here's how that can happenthrough weakness.
I take pleasure in weakness,insults, hardships, persecutions
(21:44):
and difficulties for the sakeof Christ, for when I'm weak
then I'm strong.
So last thing I want to come totonight is that, yes, paul's
learning some personal lessons,but all throughout this whole
(22:04):
letter he's weaving together theyou and the me, the me and the
you, this church and my care.
What I'm doing is for you andwhat happens to you is for me.
So it's not merely a personaltestimonial about some things
God had to teach him.
A personal testimonial aboutsome things God had to teach him
, it's his understanding andrealization that God's doing
(22:33):
something for the Corinthianchurch through him.
Let's go back to chapter one andwe'll just scan a little bit
and see how this language ofcommunion between Paul and the
people, this sharing, is talkedabout.
Verse number four of chapterone God comforts us in all our
affliction, so that we may beable to comfort those who are in
(22:55):
any kind of affliction throughthe comfort we receive from God.
Do you hear that he doesn't sayGod comforted us so I could
learn about my need for comfort,although he did.
God's giving me something thatI have to pass along to somebody
else.
It's this great whirlpool ofgrace.
That.
That's what's going on here.
(23:16):
Verse 5, just as the sufferingsof Christ overflow to us, so
also through Christ our comfortoverflows.
So in his weakness, the powerof Christ in him.
He's a channel that othersexperience power in weakness.
Verse 6, there's this wordshare in verse number seven.
(23:39):
That's a word you might haveheard before koinonia.
It's okay if you haven't heardit, but it's this idea of
communion.
That's where we get the wordcommunion.
It's a sharing, but it's a deep, normally a deep spiritual
fellowship.
And in verse number seven heacknowledges that the
Corinthians, they have akoinonia, they have a communion
(24:04):
in suffering.
Well, I don't like thatspiritual communion.
Let me have a spiritualcommunion with we're all
praising the Lord and beautifulmusic, the suffering part.
But there's a camaraderie thathe sees in the suffering that
he's experiencing with them andalongside of them, because
they're all part of one body,the body of Christ.
(24:26):
So when one member suffers, allthe members suffer with it.
When one member rejoices, allthe members rejoice with it.
Verse number 11.
While you join in helping us byyour prayers, then many will
give thanks on our behalf forthe gift that came to us, for
(24:47):
the prayers of many.
So prayer is a form oftogetherness, because God uses
the prayers of others to help usand our prayers to help them.
Verse number 14.
Just as you have partiallyunderstood us, we are your
reason for pride, just as youalso are ours.
In the day of our Lord Jesus,you say, well, these people
(25:12):
weren't as mature as Paul.
But he sees, I can take pridein you because you belong to
Christ, and I hope you takepride in me too.
We're together in this.
Go over to chapter three.
Chapter three, it's sofascinating.
So he begins by that statementin verse one do we need, like,
(25:35):
some letters of recommendation?
So okay, I didn't come with allthe accolades that some of
these guys do, but do we needletters of recommendation?
Verse number two you yourselvesare our letter written on our
hearts, none read by everyone.
I don't need a fancycalligraphy on the wall about
(25:59):
where I went to school or what Idid.
I've got you guys, and ifpeople want to know about my
ministry, they need to look atyou, they need to talk to you.
But he uses this imagery of aletter and says you're a letter
written on our heart, and that'sthe same exact metaphor that
he's going to use later in thechapter to speak of the gospel
(26:21):
work that originally happens.
Look down again, verse number13.
We are not like Moses, who usedto put a veil over his face to
prevent the Israelites fromgazing steadily until the end of
(26:43):
the glory that what was beingset aside.
So there's a veil on the heart,but if you look back up, in
verse number 7, he says there'sa ministry that brought death,
(27:05):
that was chiseled in letters onstone.
But now, when the veil islifted, he's saying here the law
of God is written on our hearts.
The Spirit of God bringsfreedom.
So it's the power of Christshining on them that then gives
(27:27):
them this beautiful partnershipwith Paul to be able to take
pride in each other and thatthey can be his letter of
recommendation, because theSpirit's already written the
letter of the gospel on hisheart.
They're together in Christ.
Verse number 12 of chapter 4.
(27:49):
So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.
Paul is allowed by God to seethat, even when he's suffering,
even when he's despairing oflife, even if he's not feeling
strong in himself, at the exactsame time God is pouring out
(28:13):
life to others.
And God's not doing twoentirely different things.
It's through the very death ofPaul that others are receiving
this life.
And unless the corn of wheatfalls to the ground and dies, it
doesn't bring fruit.
But if it falls to the groundand dies it produces much fruit.
That happened for Christ andonly he can redeem sinners.
(28:34):
But Paul understood thatsharing in Christ's suffering
meant that there would be dyingin him, even as others are
receiving comfort through hissufferings.
And he doesn't actually die.
But that sentence of death hehas in himself Go down to
(28:57):
chapter 8.
Chapter 8 and 9 can be a littletricky to fit into the structure
of this letter.
I didn't talk a lot about thestructure of this letter, but in
chapter 8 and 9, he gives thisappeal that hey, we need money.
It's like wait a minute, isn'tthat what the false teachers do?
Why are you asking about money?
Well, there's a genuine needthat saints have and he's going
(29:18):
to highlight the grace of God inother churches, in one church
in particular that hadcontributed very sacrificially,
and he's going to appeal to theCorinthians.
There's some other saints inneed.
We need help.
But it's still continuing thesame theme of you're sharing
together with these peoplebecause you belong to Christ.
(29:39):
Verse number four of chaptereight.
They begged us earnestly forthe privilege of sharing in the
ministry to the saints.
Chapter nine, verse 13.
Verse 13.
Because of the proof providedby this ministry, they will
(30:08):
glorify God for your obedientconfession of the gospel of
Christ and for your generosityin sharing with them and with
everyone.
Paul shares life with theCorinthians.
He appeals to them share yourlife with other churches.
There's this whirlpool of grace.
Again, what I've experienced,I'm passing on to you Now you
(30:29):
experience it.
This other church they shared.
And look at the blessing thatthey got.
Because God loves a cheerfulgiver.
He's been able to make allgrace abound because of the Lord
, jesus Christ, who was rich andbecame poor for our sakes so
that we, through his power,would become rich.
And now you've received that.
Money's not that important.
You can share your moneybecause you're already sharing
your whole lives with me andwith them.
(30:53):
Chapter 12.
Going back into chapter 12.
Going back into chapter 12.
He compares his relationship tothem as a parent to children in
verse 14 and 15.
(31:14):
And then in verse number 19,.
He reiterates what he's drivingat.
Have you been thinking all alongthat we were defending
ourselves to you?
He has been doing that a lot inthis letter.
He has been saying you'regospel people, I'm a real gospel
minister.
Here's how you know.
Here's my testimony.
(31:35):
Here's what the gospel is.
Here's what you've done.
In one sense, he has beencommending himself to them.
He's been defending himself.
But is that really the mainthing he was wanting to do?
Verse number 19.
Have you been thinking allalong we were defending
ourselves to you?
No, in the sight of God, we arespeaking in Christ and
(31:56):
everything, dear friends, is forbuilding you up.
Why did Paul have to suffer?
Because this church needed tobe built up.
Why did he have to faceharassment?
Because the Corinthians couldlook at him and see what it
looks like to die to yourselfand look around and think about
(32:19):
how they might die to themselveseven a little bit.
He's seeing the good of thewhole, not just his own
instruction and lessons.
So what about you?
What about us?
Again, we don't have apostleshere, but do we have this
(32:39):
expectation that God's doingsomething in me for other people
?
We often hear people say I wantto know what God's teaching me
in this, and that's a goodquestion.
Nothing wrong with thatquestion.
But what if God's teachingother people something because
of your life and your suffering.
What if you don't always knowwhat he's teaching you and maybe
(33:02):
you don't see all that he'steaching you and you might not
even see all that he's teachingothers?
Paul is not, at this point intime, right there among the
Corinthians.
He's writing a letter to them.
He doesn't have video calls, hedoesn't have, you know, nice
things like that.
So he doesn't know in perfectdetail all that they're hearing,
(33:24):
learning, doing.
But he knows it's happeningbecause he trusts in God.
So when we're suffering we cantrust.
God's got a purpose in this forNew Hyde Park Baptist Church.
God's got a purpose in this forChristians.
I know maybe in other placesthat would hear about what I'm
going through and say, wow,isn't God's power perfect in
weakness?
(33:44):
And isn't it better when we canhope that there's joy
overflowing to other people,even if we're not feeling the
joy every Monday, tuesday,wednesday, thursday, friday
morning morning?
(34:13):
2 Corinthians 13,.
This is how the passage ends.
The letter ends Verse 12, greetone another with a holy kiss.
All the saints send yougreetings.
There's the whole again, andit's grounded in Father, son and
Spirit and the communion thatthey have, the grace of the Lord
, Jesus Christ and the love ofGod and the fellowship, or
(34:34):
sharing or communion of the HolySpirit.
Be with you all of the HolySpirit, and be with you all.
Paul learned some beautifullessons.
He learned a lot about what itmeans to share with the people
of God.
God wants us to share with eachother.
(34:54):
Let's pray, lord, give usendurance.
We're in need of patience.
We're in need of patience.
We're in need of endurance.
Forgive us for our complainingspirits.
Even the spirit that doesn'tcomplain to others but complains
to ourselves, complains to you,lord.
Help us to see that you'reworking in us a far more eternal
(35:17):
weight of glory.
And the weight of glory thatyou're working in each one of us
is so that the weight of gloryin all of us together can be
magnified in the day of the LordJesus.
And so we're waiting for thatday and we're trusting that,
though suffering abounds in us,and in different times, in
(35:38):
different ways, to differentdegrees, all of us we share in
the sufferings of Christ, but weshare for the comfort of others
, for the joy of others, andeverything is for building up
one another.
Give us that heart, give usthat mind.
Oh, how good it is when thefamily of God dwells together in
spirit, in faith, in unity.
We pray this in Jesus' nameAmen.
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