November 29, 2023 • 17 mins
The "Las Vegas" of first century Rome has been on a long journey. The Apostle Paul is encouraging them to forgive one another, know who they are in Christ, keep their lives holy, and stay unified.
Overall Theme: Strength in Weakness The God of All Comfort
Strength in weakness. This is the central message of 2 Corinthians. Throughout the letter Paul turns upside down our natural expectations of the way life works. Contrary to the way the world and our own human hearts naturally function, God takes what is low, despised, and weak to accomplish his purposes.
Key Verse God of all Comfort
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown
podcast.
In this podcast, we will bebreaking down the Bible one
chapter a day.
Whether you are a new believeror have been following Christ
for a while, we believe that youwill learn something new and
fresh every single day.
So thank you for joining us andlet's get into breaking down
the Bible together.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, hello everybody .
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your host
, pastor Brandon, today.
2 Corinthians, chapter 11.
If I were to give this one atitle, it would be Everyone has
a Story you Don't Know.
One of the things we like totalk about at Real Life Church
is the idea that everyone has aprivate battle that you know
nothing about.
Well, people also have a storythat you don't always know, and
(00:46):
I would about guarantee that ifyou knew someone's story, you
would probably think of themdifferently.
Now, that might be a negativething.
You might think negativelyabout them, but you probably
also give them a little bit moregrace, a little bit more
understanding, a little bit morenuance in how you treated them,
because that story informs whothey are.
And what we're going to seetoday is when Paul is talking to
(01:08):
the Corinthian church, he talksabout that.
He talks about hey, there'sthings about me you probably
don't know, and so, if youremember, in the last chapter he
was talking about how some ofthe different critics he has are
saying certain things.
Well, now he's going to talkabout.
Here's what you don't knowabout me, right, we're going to
talk about.
Here's what you don't knowabout me, right.
We're going to get into that injust a moment and probably find
a lot of connection with Paulin this chapter.
But, as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
(01:30):
like, share and subscribe tothe YouTube channel.
We are getting so close to ourroad to 1,000, and I am so
thankful.
I don't know how we're going tocelebrate, but we're going to
find a way to celebrate.
We hit 1 subscribers, so makesure you are subscribing to this
video and I see some of you whoare posting it on your social
media accounts, asking otherpeople to do that.
Thank you so much for doingthat.
Also, the podcast make surethat you are leaving us a
(01:51):
five-star review and foreverybody.
Don't just tell them tosubscribe to that.
Make sure you send them to theFacebook discussion group Bible
Breakdown Discussion, becausethat's where we are rallying
together and really developingthe community.
Because, man, the more we dig,the more we find and we're
growing in God together.
And that's so exciting to me asa pastor is to watch people
take next steps and getting toknow God.
(02:13):
That's when we read God's wordis, because knowing God's word
is how we get to know God, and Ilove to see us do that.
Well, as I was saying a secondago, we uh which, by the way, if
you're listening to this,you're not going to catch this,
but if you're watching this, I'min another location, as our air
quotes studio is beingremodeled.
I can't wait for you to see it.
It's going to be so good and Iwant you guys to help me when we
(02:34):
get it all done.
Just kind of help me to come upwith any other ideas you have,
and I'm so thankful for yourhelp.
But as we are on locationelsewhere, I was talking about
the idea that everybody has astory that you don't know.
I was talking to somebody onetime and he and I were having a
conversation and this was anelderly gentleman and he seemed
so interesting and you couldjust tell he had experienced
(02:57):
some stuff, he'd been places, hejust knew about things, and
after I finished talking withhim, I was very impressed with
him.
But then, after I left, someonecame up to me and said do you
know this guy's story?
I said no, I know he's, youknow he's from this state and
whatever.
Like no, no, you don'tunderstand.
He has ran an Ironman, you know, which is like a marathon a
(03:20):
hundred miles and like threemiles swim.
He's done that.
He ran the Boston marathon.
He was in the military and wasin combat.
He was a sports radio talk showhost for 20 years.
I mean, he just kind of laylisting off all these different
things this guy had done andthat story informed who he was
so much that I went from beingimpressed to just being in awe
(03:43):
and I was just like wow.
But then on the other side, Iremember meeting someone.
One time you ever met someoneand you instantly didn't like
them.
Maybe not you, but I know Ihave.
And I remember one time meetingthis guy.
Instantly I didn't like, I waslike we just we are not going to
jive.
And so I was not disappointed.
By the time I finished talkingto him I was like I'm fine if we
(04:04):
never have another conversation, right?
Well then, yet again, when Iwas talking to someone like hey,
tell me this guy's story.
He came from a very brokenplace and because of that he had
a lot of guards up.
And that's one of the thingsthat when we learn people's
story, it doesn't necessarilymean that we excuse bad behavior
, but it does inform our view ofthem.
(04:25):
Well, that's what Paul istalking about.
So if you want to get yourBibles ready for me, 2
Corinthians 11, we get thoseready and maybe get your coffee
cup ready and we're going toenjoy God's Word together.
Paul is going to be talkingabout these false prophets who
have been trying to cast doubtin the city of Corinth.
And remember, the overall ideaof 2 Corinthians is the God of
(04:47):
all comfort and he's trying tocomfort them that their leader,
paul, is not who everybody'sbeen accusing him of being right
.
He's saying it's not it.
And when we hear his story andwe can kind of hear his heart
behind this, you start to go.
You know these people havereally been misrepresenting Paul
and what I like to do is backup even further and go.
(05:09):
How many people in my life haveI been misrepresenting, like
unintentionally, or how manypeople have been just to realize
that there's so much more topeople than we realize and that
should inform how we see ourworld?
Well, let's jump into this as welook at 2 Corinthians, chapter
11, and just see what God's wordwill say to us today.
Here we go.
First one says this I hope thatyou will put up with a little
bit more of my foolishness.
(05:29):
Please bear with me, for I amjealous for you, with the
jealousy of God himself.
I promised you as a pure brideto one husband, christ.
But I fear that somehow yourpure and undivided undivided
devotion to Christ has beencorrupted, just as Eve was
deceived by the cunning ways ofthe serpent.
You happily put up withwhatever anyone tells you, even
(05:52):
if they preach a different Jesusthan the one that we preach, or
a different kind of spirit thanthe one you received, or a
different kind of gospel thanthe one you have believed.
But I don't consider myself tobe inferior in any way to these
super apostles who teach suchthings.
I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I am not lacking in
knowledge.
(06:12):
We have made this clear to youin every possible way.
Now, what he's talking about ishe's using this metaphor of a
bride being prepared for ahusband to say man, I gave you
God's word.
I was trying to be the best Icould to you, but it seems like
you have been so easily deceivedby these other people who are
just trying to tell yousomething that's simply not true
(06:33):
.
And he's saying I got nothingto prove, I got nobody to
impress.
I'm not the most eloquentspeaker.
But here's the thing I loveJesus, and he's saying that's
what I taught you to do too.
So he's going to go and justkind of let them in.
Let me let you behind thescenes and what my life looks
like.
Verse seven was I wrong when Ihumbled myself and honored you
by preaching God's good news toyou without expecting anything
(06:55):
in return?
I quote robbed other churchesby accepting their contributions
so I could serve you at no cost, and when I was with you and
didn't have enough to live on, Idid not become a financial
burden to anyone, for thebrothers who came from Macedonia
brought me all that I needed.
I have never been a burden toyou and I never will be.
I have never been a burden toyou and I never will be as
(07:16):
surely as the truth of Christ isin me.
No one in all of Greece willever stop me from boasting about
this.
Why?
Because I don't love you.
God knows that I do so onceagain.
He was saying the past twochapters how important it is for
us to be generous, and now itseems as though what has
happened in previous lettersthat people were saying well,
(07:38):
the reason why Paul wants moneyis because that's all he cares
about.
And he's saying now wait aminute.
That's never been my message,and you know that.
Verse 12, but I continue doingwhat I have always done.
This will be undercut by thosewho are looking for an
opportunity to boast that theirwork is just like ours.
These people are false prophets.
They are deceitful workers whodisguise themselves as apostles
(08:02):
of Christ.
But I am not surprised.
Even Satan disguised himself asan angel of light, so it is no
wonder that his servants alsodisguise themselves as servants
of righteousness.
In the end, they will get theirpunishment that their wicked
deeds deserve.
And he keeps on going.
He says again I say don't thinkthat I am a fool to talk like
(08:22):
this, but even if you do listento me, so that you would to a
foolish person while I boast alittle, such boasting is not
from the Lord, but I am actinglike a fool.
In other words, he's saying Goddidn't tell me to do this.
This isn't a good thing to do,but I've been getting so much
just grief and being lied onthat.
(08:43):
Okay, I'm going to tell you alittle bit about what my life is
looking like Verse 19.
After all, you think you're sowise, but you enjoy putting up
with fools.
Here we go, here we go, you putup with it while someone
enslaves you, takes everythingfrom you, takes advantage of you
, takes control of everythingand slaps you in the face.
I'm ashamed to say that we'vebeen too weak to do that.
(09:06):
In other words, we haven'ttaken advantage of you.
This is what my life has been.
But whatever they dare to boastabout, I'm talking like a fool.
Again, I dare to boast about ittoo.
Are they Hebrews?
So am I.
Are they Hebrews?
So am I.
Are they Israelites?
So am I.
Are they descendants of Abraham?
So am I.
Are they servants of Christ?
I know I sound like a madman,but I have served him far more.
(09:30):
I have worked harder.
I've been put in prison moreoften.
I've been whipped times withoutnumber.
I have faced death again andagain.
Listen to this.
He says this five differenttimes the Jewish leaders have
given me 39 lashes, pause.
The reason why they would do 39lashes is they considered 40 to
(09:50):
be inhumane.
They said, at 40 lashes, itwould disfigure someone for life
.
That was what the thought was,and so they would say okay,
what's going to change someonefor life?
Back it off one.
And so it was intended to besuch a harsh lesson you only
needed one per lifetime but hegot it five different times.
All right, here we go.
Five different times the Jewishleaders gave me 39 lashes.
(10:10):
Three times they beat me withrods.
Once I was stoned pause againin the book of Acts, laodicea
when he was in that city.
They stoned him and manyhistorians think they actually
stoned him to death, that heactually died, and then the
leaders of the town prayed forhim and they prayed him back to
life.
So he didn't just get stoned,but according to some historians
(10:32):
, they think that he actuallygot stoned to death and then God
brought him back to life so hecould continue his ministry.
Here we go.
Three times I was shipwreckedand once I spent a whole night
and a day adrift at sea.
I have traveled on many longjourneys.
I have faced dangers fromrivers and from robbers.
I have faced danger from my ownpeople, the Jews as well as the
(10:53):
Gentiles.
I have faced danger in thecities, in the deserts and on
the seas.
I have faced danger from menwho claim to be believers but
are not.
And I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights
, and I have been hungry andthirsty and have often gone
without food.
I have shivered in the coldwithout enough clothing to keep
(11:14):
warm, then I love this.
Then, besides all that, I havethe daily burden of my concern
for all the churches.
In other words, even on top ofall that, I'm still thinking
about you.
Who is weak without feeling thatweakness, who is led astray,
that I do not burn with anger.
For If I must boast, I wouldrather boast about the things
(11:37):
that show how weak I am.
God, the Father of our LordJesus, who is worthy of eternal
praise, knows I'm not lying.
When I was in Damascus, thegovernor under King Aretas kept
(12:01):
guards at the city gates tocatch me.
I had to be lowered in a basketthrough a window in the city
wall to escape from him.
Paul's got 99 problems, but, ashe said, jesus ain't one of
them.
And so what we have here is wehave a guy who says hey, you
know what All these other superapostles quote, unquote, and
(12:22):
he's not talking about likeJames, peter, john, he's talking
about like false prophets arecoming in and boasting about all
their things.
He says you want me to boast?
Here we go, I'm gonna boast.
I've almost been killed moretimes than I can imagine People
been talking about me.
I can imagine People have beentalking about me.
People have been doing this.
You know why I'm boasting isbecause even in that weakness,
god has been glorified, andthat's what I love is that if we
(12:43):
were to ever know otherpeople's story like their real
story, not the rumors that'sbeen told about them, nothing
like that but if we really knewtheir story, we'd probably think
of them differently.
And so what can we do with thistoday?
Well, remember, god is the Godof all comfort.
I want to make sure I say thisright, because I don't want you
(13:04):
to get the wrong idea.
I am not saying that anybodythat did something bad to you
needs to be let off the hookLike justice is fine, right.
I'm not saying that what theydid to you wasn't bad, that what
they did wasn't horrible, thatit didn't hurt.
I'm not saying any of that.
What I'm saying is hurtingpeople, hurt people and most of
(13:26):
the time, that person who is avillain in your life they're
also a victim of somethingthat's happened to them.
Now, does that excuse what theydid?
Absolutely not.
But it does give you context tounderstand what they did,
because one of the things thatpsychologists tell us is, many
times it is the idea of a person, more than the person, that
(13:46):
we're afraid of.
And so when you start to seethat villain, that bully, as a
victim too, it starts to takeaway their teeth, take away
their ability to cause fear inyou, or to cause that bitterness
in you, because you start tosee, oh, you're not evil, you're
not like beyond what I canunderstand.
(14:06):
You're broken.
That's crazy.
It's crazy for me to allow whatyou did to me to define me,
because you're just as broken asI am.
And when we start to see peopleas so much more than a moment,
then we can start to go.
You know what?
God?
That person should never havecontrol over my life.
Instead, I'm going to let whatyou say about me control me, and
(14:29):
you start to see peopledifferently.
Now, on another side, there'ssomeone you're angry at, someone
you're offended by.
Is it possible that the reasonwhy they offended you, the
reason why they hurt you, mayhave had nothing to do with you,
but it may have had to do witha story that you know nothing
about?
So what can this do for us isto realize that God is the God
(14:51):
of all comfort.
And so not only can he heal youof any broken place in your
life, but he also can use you tobring healing in the brokenness
of other people.
And so we start to realize,just like no one truly knows
your story but you, because noone's ever been able to truly
walk in your shoes other thanJesus, you don't know others.
(15:12):
And so the comfort is is that inadvance, before you get
offended, you say God, I don'talways know people's story, but
you do.
So I'm going to, in advance,offer forgiveness, because I
realize that I have no idea whatother people are going through,
and then I am going to ask forthe same kind of mercy that I am
giving.
It really will help us to livewith a little bit more freedom,
(15:36):
a little bit more joy when wejust say I refuse to be a victim
.
You might do something to me,but you're not going to define
me, because I see you, I seewhat's behind the scenes and I
see that there's a broken placeinside of you.
And so I'm not going to get madat you, I'm going to get mad at
the devil who's trying tomanipulate you and trying to get
at me.
Because I also realized.
Sometimes I let the devil getin my head and start trying to
(15:56):
manipulate me and that kind ofstuff.
So we start seeing people ascomplex individuals.
Then we start to give them alittle bit more grace, like we
want to receive.
Let's pray together, god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, god, that you helpus to see how complex we truly
are and to see, god, that evenin the complexity of the
different stories and thedifferent things, just like you
(16:17):
give me grace, I pray you willhelp me to give grace to others
and to realize that what I seein people is only a fraction of
the story that they're reallygoing through.
So I trust you to lead me andto lead them in all things.
In Jesus name, we pray Amen.
Now God's word says 2Corinthians, chapter 1 says God
(16:37):
is the God and the source of allcomfort.
He comforts us in all of ourtroubles so that we can comfort
others.
Who today do you need to givegrace to, so that God can use
you to bring healing in them?
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for 2Corinthians, chapter 12.
You.
Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown
podcast.
In this podcast, we will bebreaking down the Bible one
chapter a day.
Whether you are a new believeror have been following Christ
for a while, we believe that youwill learn something new and
fresh every single day.
So thank you for joining us andlet's get into breaking down
the Bible together.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, hello everybody .
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your host
, pastor Brandon, today.
2 Corinthians, chapter 11.
If I were to give this one atitle, it would be Everyone has
a Story you Don't Know.
One of the things we like totalk about at Real Life Church
is the idea that everyone has aprivate battle that you know
nothing about.
Well, people also have a storythat you don't always know, and
(00:46):
I would about guarantee that ifyou knew someone's story, you
would probably think of themdifferently.
Now, that might be a negativething.
You might think negativelyabout them, but you probably
also give them a little bit moregrace, a little bit more
understanding, a little bit morenuance in how you treated them,
because that story informs whothey are.
And what we're going to seetoday is when Paul is talking to
(01:08):
the Corinthian church, he talksabout that.
He talks about hey, there'sthings about me you probably
don't know, and so, if youremember, in the last chapter he
was talking about how some ofthe different critics he has are
saying certain things.
Well, now he's going to talkabout.
Here's what you don't knowabout me, right, we're going to
talk about.
Here's what you don't knowabout me, right.
We're going to get into that injust a moment and probably find
a lot of connection with Paulin this chapter.
But, as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
(01:30):
like, share and subscribe tothe YouTube channel.
We are getting so close to ourroad to 1,000, and I am so
thankful.
I don't know how we're going tocelebrate, but we're going to
find a way to celebrate.
We hit 1 subscribers, so makesure you are subscribing to this
video and I see some of you whoare posting it on your social
media accounts, asking otherpeople to do that.
Thank you so much for doingthat.
Also, the podcast make surethat you are leaving us a
(01:51):
five-star review and foreverybody.
Don't just tell them tosubscribe to that.
Make sure you send them to theFacebook discussion group Bible
Breakdown Discussion, becausethat's where we are rallying
together and really developingthe community.
Because, man, the more we dig,the more we find and we're
growing in God together.
And that's so exciting to me asa pastor is to watch people
take next steps and getting toknow God.
(02:13):
That's when we read God's wordis, because knowing God's word
is how we get to know God, and Ilove to see us do that.
Well, as I was saying a secondago, we uh which, by the way, if
you're listening to this,you're not going to catch this,
but if you're watching this, I'min another location, as our air
quotes studio is beingremodeled.
I can't wait for you to see it.
It's going to be so good and Iwant you guys to help me when we
(02:34):
get it all done.
Just kind of help me to come upwith any other ideas you have,
and I'm so thankful for yourhelp.
But as we are on locationelsewhere, I was talking about
the idea that everybody has astory that you don't know.
I was talking to somebody onetime and he and I were having a
conversation and this was anelderly gentleman and he seemed
so interesting and you couldjust tell he had experienced
(02:57):
some stuff, he'd been places, hejust knew about things, and
after I finished talking withhim, I was very impressed with
him.
But then, after I left, someonecame up to me and said do you
know this guy's story?
I said no, I know he's, youknow he's from this state and
whatever.
Like no, no, you don'tunderstand.
He has ran an Ironman, you know, which is like a marathon a
(03:20):
hundred miles and like threemiles swim.
He's done that.
He ran the Boston marathon.
He was in the military and wasin combat.
He was a sports radio talk showhost for 20 years.
I mean, he just kind of laylisting off all these different
things this guy had done andthat story informed who he was
so much that I went from beingimpressed to just being in awe
(03:43):
and I was just like wow.
But then on the other side, Iremember meeting someone.
One time you ever met someoneand you instantly didn't like
them.
Maybe not you, but I know Ihave.
And I remember one time meetingthis guy.
Instantly I didn't like, I waslike we just we are not going to
jive.
And so I was not disappointed.
By the time I finished talkingto him I was like I'm fine if we
(04:04):
never have another conversation, right?
Well then, yet again, when Iwas talking to someone like hey,
tell me this guy's story.
He came from a very brokenplace and because of that he had
a lot of guards up.
And that's one of the thingsthat when we learn people's
story, it doesn't necessarilymean that we excuse bad behavior
, but it does inform our view ofthem.
(04:25):
Well, that's what Paul istalking about.
So if you want to get yourBibles ready for me, 2
Corinthians 11, we get thoseready and maybe get your coffee
cup ready and we're going toenjoy God's Word together.
Paul is going to be talkingabout these false prophets who
have been trying to cast doubtin the city of Corinth.
And remember, the overall ideaof 2 Corinthians is the God of
(04:47):
all comfort and he's trying tocomfort them that their leader,
paul, is not who everybody'sbeen accusing him of being right
.
He's saying it's not it.
And when we hear his story andwe can kind of hear his heart
behind this, you start to go.
You know these people havereally been misrepresenting Paul
and what I like to do is backup even further and go.
(05:09):
How many people in my life haveI been misrepresenting, like
unintentionally, or how manypeople have been just to realize
that there's so much more topeople than we realize and that
should inform how we see ourworld?
Well, let's jump into this as welook at 2 Corinthians, chapter
11, and just see what God's wordwill say to us today.
Here we go.
First one says this I hope thatyou will put up with a little
bit more of my foolishness.
(05:29):
Please bear with me, for I amjealous for you, with the
jealousy of God himself.
I promised you as a pure brideto one husband, christ.
But I fear that somehow yourpure and undivided undivided
devotion to Christ has beencorrupted, just as Eve was
deceived by the cunning ways ofthe serpent.
You happily put up withwhatever anyone tells you, even
(05:52):
if they preach a different Jesusthan the one that we preach, or
a different kind of spirit thanthe one you received, or a
different kind of gospel thanthe one you have believed.
But I don't consider myself tobe inferior in any way to these
super apostles who teach suchthings.
I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I am not lacking in
knowledge.
(06:12):
We have made this clear to youin every possible way.
Now, what he's talking about ishe's using this metaphor of a
bride being prepared for ahusband to say man, I gave you
God's word.
I was trying to be the best Icould to you, but it seems like
you have been so easily deceivedby these other people who are
just trying to tell yousomething that's simply not true
(06:33):
.
And he's saying I got nothingto prove, I got nobody to
impress.
I'm not the most eloquentspeaker.
But here's the thing I loveJesus, and he's saying that's
what I taught you to do too.
So he's going to go and justkind of let them in.
Let me let you behind thescenes and what my life looks
like.
Verse seven was I wrong when Ihumbled myself and honored you
by preaching God's good news toyou without expecting anything
(06:55):
in return?
I quote robbed other churchesby accepting their contributions
so I could serve you at no cost, and when I was with you and
didn't have enough to live on, Idid not become a financial
burden to anyone, for thebrothers who came from Macedonia
brought me all that I needed.
I have never been a burden toyou and I never will be.
I have never been a burden toyou and I never will be as
(07:16):
surely as the truth of Christ isin me.
No one in all of Greece willever stop me from boasting about
this.
Why?
Because I don't love you.
God knows that I do so onceagain.
He was saying the past twochapters how important it is for
us to be generous, and now itseems as though what has
happened in previous lettersthat people were saying well,
(07:38):
the reason why Paul wants moneyis because that's all he cares
about.
And he's saying now wait aminute.
That's never been my message,and you know that.
Verse 12, but I continue doingwhat I have always done.
This will be undercut by thosewho are looking for an
opportunity to boast that theirwork is just like ours.
These people are false prophets.
They are deceitful workers whodisguise themselves as apostles
(08:02):
of Christ.
But I am not surprised.
Even Satan disguised himself asan angel of light, so it is no
wonder that his servants alsodisguise themselves as servants
of righteousness.
In the end, they will get theirpunishment that their wicked
deeds deserve.
And he keeps on going.
He says again I say don't thinkthat I am a fool to talk like
(08:22):
this, but even if you do listento me, so that you would to a
foolish person while I boast alittle, such boasting is not
from the Lord, but I am actinglike a fool.
In other words, he's saying Goddidn't tell me to do this.
This isn't a good thing to do,but I've been getting so much
just grief and being lied onthat.
(08:43):
Okay, I'm going to tell you alittle bit about what my life is
looking like Verse 19.
After all, you think you're sowise, but you enjoy putting up
with fools.
Here we go, here we go, you putup with it while someone
enslaves you, takes everythingfrom you, takes advantage of you
, takes control of everythingand slaps you in the face.
I'm ashamed to say that we'vebeen too weak to do that.
(09:06):
In other words, we haven'ttaken advantage of you.
This is what my life has been.
But whatever they dare to boastabout, I'm talking like a fool.
Again, I dare to boast about ittoo.
Are they Hebrews?
So am I.
Are they Hebrews?
So am I.
Are they Israelites?
So am I.
Are they descendants of Abraham?
So am I.
Are they servants of Christ?
I know I sound like a madman,but I have served him far more.
(09:30):
I have worked harder.
I've been put in prison moreoften.
I've been whipped times withoutnumber.
I have faced death again andagain.
Listen to this.
He says this five differenttimes the Jewish leaders have
given me 39 lashes, pause.
The reason why they would do 39lashes is they considered 40 to
(09:50):
be inhumane.
They said, at 40 lashes, itwould disfigure someone for life
.
That was what the thought was,and so they would say okay,
what's going to change someonefor life?
Back it off one.
And so it was intended to besuch a harsh lesson you only
needed one per lifetime but hegot it five different times.
All right, here we go.
Five different times the Jewishleaders gave me 39 lashes.
(10:10):
Three times they beat me withrods.
Once I was stoned pause againin the book of Acts, laodicea
when he was in that city.
They stoned him and manyhistorians think they actually
stoned him to death, that heactually died, and then the
leaders of the town prayed forhim and they prayed him back to
life.
So he didn't just get stoned,but according to some historians
(10:32):
, they think that he actuallygot stoned to death and then God
brought him back to life so hecould continue his ministry.
Here we go.
Three times I was shipwreckedand once I spent a whole night
and a day adrift at sea.
I have traveled on many longjourneys.
I have faced dangers fromrivers and from robbers.
I have faced danger from my ownpeople, the Jews as well as the
(10:53):
Gentiles.
I have faced danger in thecities, in the deserts and on
the seas.
I have faced danger from menwho claim to be believers but
are not.
And I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights
, and I have been hungry andthirsty and have often gone
without food.
I have shivered in the coldwithout enough clothing to keep
(11:14):
warm, then I love this.
Then, besides all that, I havethe daily burden of my concern
for all the churches.
In other words, even on top ofall that, I'm still thinking
about you.
Who is weak without feeling thatweakness, who is led astray,
that I do not burn with anger.
For If I must boast, I wouldrather boast about the things
(11:37):
that show how weak I am.
God, the Father of our LordJesus, who is worthy of eternal
praise, knows I'm not lying.
When I was in Damascus, thegovernor under King Aretas kept
(12:01):
guards at the city gates tocatch me.
I had to be lowered in a basketthrough a window in the city
wall to escape from him.
Paul's got 99 problems, but, ashe said, jesus ain't one of
them.
And so what we have here is wehave a guy who says hey, you
know what All these other superapostles quote, unquote, and
(12:22):
he's not talking about likeJames, peter, john, he's talking
about like false prophets arecoming in and boasting about all
their things.
He says you want me to boast?
Here we go, I'm gonna boast.
I've almost been killed moretimes than I can imagine People
been talking about me.
I can imagine People have beentalking about me.
People have been doing this.
You know why I'm boasting isbecause even in that weakness,
god has been glorified, andthat's what I love is that if we
(12:43):
were to ever know otherpeople's story like their real
story, not the rumors that'sbeen told about them, nothing
like that but if we really knewtheir story, we'd probably think
of them differently.
And so what can we do with thistoday?
Well, remember, god is the Godof all comfort.
I want to make sure I say thisright, because I don't want you
(13:04):
to get the wrong idea.
I am not saying that anybodythat did something bad to you
needs to be let off the hookLike justice is fine, right.
I'm not saying that what theydid to you wasn't bad, that what
they did wasn't horrible, thatit didn't hurt.
I'm not saying any of that.
What I'm saying is hurtingpeople, hurt people and most of
(13:26):
the time, that person who is avillain in your life they're
also a victim of somethingthat's happened to them.
Now, does that excuse what theydid?
Absolutely not.
But it does give you context tounderstand what they did,
because one of the things thatpsychologists tell us is, many
times it is the idea of a person, more than the person, that
(13:46):
we're afraid of.
And so when you start to seethat villain, that bully, as a
victim too, it starts to takeaway their teeth, take away
their ability to cause fear inyou, or to cause that bitterness
in you, because you start tosee, oh, you're not evil, you're
not like beyond what I canunderstand.
(14:06):
You're broken.
That's crazy.
It's crazy for me to allow whatyou did to me to define me,
because you're just as broken asI am.
And when we start to see peopleas so much more than a moment,
then we can start to go.
You know what?
God?
That person should never havecontrol over my life.
Instead, I'm going to let whatyou say about me control me, and
(14:29):
you start to see peopledifferently.
Now, on another side, there'ssomeone you're angry at, someone
you're offended by.
Is it possible that the reasonwhy they offended you, the
reason why they hurt you, mayhave had nothing to do with you,
but it may have had to do witha story that you know nothing
about?
So what can this do for us isto realize that God is the God
(14:51):
of all comfort.
And so not only can he heal youof any broken place in your
life, but he also can use you tobring healing in the brokenness
of other people.
And so we start to realize,just like no one truly knows
your story but you, because noone's ever been able to truly
walk in your shoes other thanJesus, you don't know others.
(15:12):
And so the comfort is is that inadvance, before you get
offended, you say God, I don'talways know people's story, but
you do.
So I'm going to, in advance,offer forgiveness, because I
realize that I have no idea whatother people are going through,
and then I am going to ask forthe same kind of mercy that I am
giving.
It really will help us to livewith a little bit more freedom,
(15:36):
a little bit more joy when wejust say I refuse to be a victim
.
You might do something to me,but you're not going to define
me, because I see you, I seewhat's behind the scenes and I
see that there's a broken placeinside of you.
And so I'm not going to get madat you, I'm going to get mad at
the devil who's trying tomanipulate you and trying to get
at me.
Because I also realized.
Sometimes I let the devil getin my head and start trying to
(15:56):
manipulate me and that kind ofstuff.
So we start seeing people ascomplex individuals.
Then we start to give them alittle bit more grace, like we
want to receive.
Let's pray together, god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, god, that you helpus to see how complex we truly
are and to see, god, that evenin the complexity of the
different stories and thedifferent things, just like you
(16:17):
give me grace, I pray you willhelp me to give grace to others
and to realize that what I seein people is only a fraction of
the story that they're reallygoing through.
So I trust you to lead me andto lead them in all things.
In Jesus name, we pray Amen.
Now God's word says 2Corinthians, chapter 1 says God
(16:37):
is the God and the source of allcomfort.
He comforts us in all of ourtroubles so that we can comfort
others.
Who today do you need to givegrace to, so that God can use
you to bring healing in them?
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for 2Corinthians, chapter 12.
You.
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