Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 10, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - A Shared Suffering

Transcript

September 10, 2023 | 2 Corinthians - A Shared Suffering · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey good morning.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: The winds of change are upon us.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Two weeks ago, Starbucks started doing their pumpkin spice lattes.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so that means that it is time for us to do a New Testament book in the Bible.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we judge it on.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's what our church calendar goes by, is Starbucks menu.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so just kidding.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I am really excited.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is my favorite thing to do is go through a book of the Bible.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh if you're new with us and uh in the or I should say for the last two years, our plan has been in the fall.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're going through a New Testament book, and in the spring we're going through an Old Testament book, and so last fall we went through 1 Corinthians, and so that means that we're going through 2 Corinthians this fall.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh as we walk through that together as a church, um, there are going to be a lot of really similar themes that come up because these two books are connected with one another.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh if you were not with us last fall, uh there are a couple things you can do.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: One is you can go watch the entire series, and that would best prepare you for what's happening here.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: But um, other than that, you could go to our um September 2022 Extra Extra Podcast.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: I gave not to be a homer and just continually reference our own podcast, but that was where I had a long time describing um the facts about the city of Corinth and what it was like to live there.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But if none of those things work for you, or you can't go do them right this moment, here are four quick facts to get you up to speed on what the city and relationship uh between Paul and the Corinthians was like.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, ancient Corinth was this thriving city.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can honestly think of it like New York City today.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's a thriving port city over in Greece, and it was also this melting pot of all of these different cultures and backgrounds because it was the main connection point economically between uh the East and the West in Europe.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so there would be a lot of trade that was going through there, and there were a lot of people who prospered because of that.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very thriving city.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, number two is that Paul brought the gospel to Corinth in about roughly 50 A.D.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And as he did that, there were other people that were there with him.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um Timothy, Silas, um Apollos goes and has a significant ministry there.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is the one, the Apostle Paul, who brought the gospel message to the Corinthians, planted the church, and this is what one of the reasons why he has such a significant relationship with them.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's not true for every single letter that Paul wrote that he had planted the church in that city, but it's true in Corinth.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Third, uh, as we saw in 1 Corinthians, the Corinthians are an exceptional, by worldly standards, are an exceptionally impressive group of people.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um they are wealthy, they have positions of power, um, but beyond that, they are exceedingly gifted, right?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some many of them, this is where we had the huge teaching in chapter 12 in 1 Corinthians on spiritual gifts.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Anyhow, basically they were really impressive people to be around, and they knew it, which leads to their problems, but nevertheless, Paul all along the way is like, man, being with you guys, it is like being in a group of all-stars.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, they knew this to be true.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth and finally, Paul has a contentious relationship with the Corinthian church.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians was a um a heavy book filled with sort of discipline that Paul was bringing to the church.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: There were a lot of things that they struggled with.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: One of them was uh being coming from a pagan environment where everybody around them is worshiping these, they were a Greek city in with a Roman culture, and so worshiping these Roman gods, um, they were fascinated with the trappings of power and thinking that uh the evangelists who were going to come and speak on behalf of a god should be those who were exceedingly eloquent and impressive in their own speech, just like they were.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so then when Paul comes and has this very humble uh ministry that uh preaches the cross and Jesus crucified alone, but is not trying to play into their games, they're a little dismayed.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And many other things will actually come back up in this book of 2 Corinthians because they have a history, right?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this book, 2 Corinthians, it's not the second letter to the Corinthians, it's the fourth.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so uh there's this little bit of history, right?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go through this quickly because I know some of you hated history class, and I'm not trying to recreate that for you.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul goes and lives with the Corinthians for two years, right?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Then he moves across the sea to Ephesus, right?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Church of the Ephesians, and then he sends his first letter, which we don't have, okay?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: The first letter that Paul sends, he references in 1 Corinthians, but he only wrote 1 Corinthians after some people in the church had come to him, Chloe's household, and told him, hey, there's some things going on in Corinth that you need to kind of like be a part of.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so he writes this second letter to them, and that's 1 Corinthians.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: But then now we see what has happened in between, for our church's context, last fall and what's happening this fall.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is a there is a uh a rift that has been created, and the heavy and um and specifically disciplined language of 1 Corinthians is going to be much more emotional now.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot more feelings being expressed.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: What happened was this 1 Corinthians letter went out and they didn't like it.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't like being told that they needed to change, that you know, the guy who was sleeping with his mother-in-law needed to quit.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, I'm not about that.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so they were upset.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so they get upset with Paul, and so then he has this unplanned, sorrowful visit.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know exactly what it was.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: He mentions it in 2 Corinthians, but it plays into this, and then he goes back to Ephesians.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then he sends a third letter, which was apparently short and very direct, and then he goes to Macedonia, and then from that location he writes 2 Corinthians.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if your eyes just glazed over for that entire section, here's what I need you to understand is that there is history here.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: When we get into 2 Corinthians here in a second, this is not like somebody writing to a random person that they heard about.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Paul has lived with these people for years.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: He has corresponded back and forth with them.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: They are more than pen pals.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: He knows them on a first name basis, and specifically, he knows what they struggle with.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it turns out that they struggle a lot with Paul himself.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we go through this letter, you are going to see Paul talk about himself more here than he does anywhere else in the Bible.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there are going to be times where you go, like, man, this guy likes to talk about himself.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But what I hope to show you is that the reason that he is listing his own life as an example is because it will become the battleground for how the Corinthians view the gospel and misunderstand the ministry of Christ.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll explain more about that later.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I've given enough intro.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go ahead and start here, 2 Corinthians.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're in chapter 1.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to turn with me, and we're going to start in verse 3.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And what we should be keeping in mind, really anytime you read a letter in the New Testament, is how are we starting off?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: What are the things that are being said first?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: What is the priority in this letter?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because this would have been read aloud in the church, and so what hits their attention first?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians is different than many letters, and that Paul begins to talk about suffering first.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And our hope in you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is our whole passage for this morning.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, yes, it talks about comfort and uses the word suffering a lot.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so any time the Bible is repeating itself, right, we have to understand that there's emphasis being placed there.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: The ministry of Paul was clearly marked by significant suffering.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: He was beaten.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually he'll list these things out later on in 2 Corinthians.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: But amongst many things, he was beaten, he was shipwrecked, he was whipped, he was stoned, he was imprisoned, and then on top of all of the physical abuse that he took, there were plots made against him, there were people who had made plans to try and kill him and murder him in the streets, and he had to be let down through holes in the city walls and things like this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: The ministry of Paul knows suffering clearly.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, back in 1 Corinthians, he has a whole point about how they expect that those who come with the gospel should be these like glorious, magnanimous preachers, and instead he comes with them and says, I have known hunger and I have known thirst and I am homeless, and yet this is how the gospel is proclaimed.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so if anybody has the ability to talk about what it is like to suffer for in the same way that Christ has suffered, Paul is the one to be able to do it.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this relates to a significant problem that the Corinthians had because they're ashamed of Paul.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: The one who planted that church in Corinth, this huge, beautiful, seaside city that has all of this power and all of this wealth and all of this social mobility that's really sort of cutting edge in terms of that culture, right?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: They hear about this message of the glorious Christ and the amazing, powerful God, and they say, okay, well, in our culture, right, we just came from these pantheon that says, these glorious and amazing gods, that means that I should have glory and honor and privilege too.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul goes, Yeah, that's kind of the deal.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what comes with Christianity.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: You don't believe in Jesus and then just become super popular.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the opposite happens.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And they don't get that.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And more than they don't get it, they don't like that message.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so here's where this sort of shame is playing into this and what is genuinely an honor and shame culture back in ancient Corinth.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Paul is both on the offense and defense as we go through 2 Corinthians, because on the one hand, he is trying to help them understand what it means to follow after Jesus Christ and to know him personally as their savior and to have their life flow from these things.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: But then also, he's on the defense because they are criticizing his ministry and they are saying, How could something glorious ever come from this man who is unkempt, he is unattractive, and he does not speak well?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all things that they said to him.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: How could the glory of Christ ever be revealed in somebody such as this?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is on both the offense and defense here.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as you read this section, uh there's a possibility, you know, it looks just kind of this boilerplate regular passage on how as Christians we can endure suffering, right?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: God comforts us.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: The themes we'll get into are not really foreign to us as we would expect.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: But when you tack on the history, the layers of this relationship, you then start thinking, well, why is he starting off the letter this way?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And what is the deeper message here?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so what's happening is we're really tacking on two levels.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: On one, it is genuinely a message about how to be comforted in our sufferings.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that'll be the majority of what we talk about.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But what you should also be thinking about is how to a group of people who do not want to suffer and in fact try and live their lives in such a way that they are as comfortable as possible by the world's standards, and they surround themselves with sort of all of these social things and the financial things and the power and privilege and all of that stuff, as they want to insulate their lives as much as possible from suffering.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Paul sends them this message, this sort of passive message, and says, Yes, but to those who are comfortable, they should expect to suffer for Christ.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that is how we begin that for those who are suffering, they can be comforted in Christ, and those who are comforted, they must expect suffering if they follow Christ.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the way that Paul begins this passage is he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you what, that is a great way to start off the passage.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Paul is so focused on God, Paul is so focused on the source of his satisfaction that this is always where he is going to point them back towards.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: But you could also ask this question, you could say, well, hey, Paul, um all the suffering that you're enduring is because you follow God.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: He says this.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: The reason he's in chains, the reason he's in prison, the reason he's been stoned, the reason he has been had murder attempts upon his life is because he follows God.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so immediately you go, well, this, I don't know if this tracks.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, uh, Paul, you are experiencing suffering because of God.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then you also say that God is the source of all comfort.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And here Dr.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Paul takes us to school for the first time.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because what he is going to show in this passage is that you do not have to be outside of suffering.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to have suffering removed from your life in order to be comforted and to find comfort.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, most of the time when we think about this stuff, we say, well, hey, the only way that I could ever find comfort is if this suffering that's going on in my life is gone.
• 14:55
  unknown: Right?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all of my prayers.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, take this thorn from my side.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And yet Paul, the guy who had a thorn that God wouldn't remove from his side, says, No, I can be comforted and find surpassing comfort while also suffering.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: The key is going to be how, which we'll get to in a second.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: The interesting part also about this passage is that, like I said, Paul is referencing himself the whole time.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: He is using his life as the example.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that's risky business, okay?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you were to talk with somebody else about the gloriousness of the gospel, I would hesitate to say that you should use your own life as an example for what the ministry of Christ looks like, right?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Generally speaking, we run into danger when we're like, you know what?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: You want to know what Jesus is like?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Look at my life, right?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Dangerous business.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's able to do it though.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: He's one of those few people that gets the pass.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: God says, no, that's okay.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it also has an advantage, sort of this rhetorical advantage, which is the Corinthians, they're smart enough to not say that they don't like the ministry of Christ, right?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're Christians.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be like, yeah, we love Jesus.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is great.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul knows that they struggle with how that ministry plays out in their life, and so he cleverly is going to use his life, which mirrors the life of Christ.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so, therefore, because they have a problem with his life, he is going to show them how their problems with his life mean that they have a problem with Jesus.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's really sm it's really fun.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: So just as Paul is talking about his sufferings, he also introduces a system.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: A system that comes out here where God comforts us.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is the beginning of the passage.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: God comforts us, we are comforted, and then we have the ability to comfort other people.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's this three-step plan.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: God comforts us, we are comforted, and then we are able to comfort other people.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that is going to be part of the application here.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk for a second about comfort.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, normally when we use the word comfort, we mean like my recliner at home is comfortable.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe we mean that we have enough margin where we're not, you know, confronted, like our income is comfortable.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Normally it means ease.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: But the Greek word that's being used here for comfort is something that is not about finding a cushy sofa, but it is the same word that is translated elsewhere as exhortation and encouragement.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so when Paul talks about comfort, he is drawing upon this idea that elsewhere is used, for instance, to describe that Jesus is the comfort to Israel, that he is their Messiah and He will be their consolation, he will comfort Israel and their distress.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or this taught the same word that we're seeing here in comfort is used to describe the encouragement that comes from the Holy Spirit.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in Romans 12, uh, this same type of thing is listed as a spiritual gift, that there are certain people who are particularly gifted in the ability to comfort other people in their affliction.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is the same kind of comfort that comes from the knowledge of Scripture and the refreshment of Christian community that comes around an aching member.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we talk about comfort, you say, How in the world could there ever be comfort when there is still suffering happening at the same time?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we say, Well, because the comfort is not about removing the suffering.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: God does that sometimes, he works in those ways.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: You have probably experienced a situation where you said, Lord, this situation is too much for me to bear.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Please take it off of my hands, and he does.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: But more often than not, instead of taking the thorn out of your side, what the Lord does is he gives you endurance and courage and perseverance to run even further with the thorn still in your side.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of taking the burden off of your shoulders, the Lord gives you stronger shoulders to bear the weight.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is the kind of encouragement and comfort that Paul is talking about here.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not that the pain would be removed entirely, it's not Novacaine, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're not just trying to numb what's happening, but we're saying, hey, this life is painful.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says, my life has been suffering, has been defined by suffering, and yet by God's grace I have the ability to persevere.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps you would say, like the Corinthians, I'd rather just have no suffering at all.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Personally.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: It would be better if my life did not include that word, right?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't want a more comfortable life?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, in many ways.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: We do as much as we can to try and insulate ourselves from at least uh the things that we can control when it comes to suffering.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when those things come, those hard, brutal situations, you know, you lose a loved one, you are sick, you lose your job, like all of these things that just hit us in life, and that we just say, it would be so much better if this was not the case.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because comfort is so tied to suffering, what it means when we decide to, as far as we can, remove suffering from our life and only desire for it to be gone, we miss out on the comforting that comfort that is found in the midst of that suffering.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: See, the type of comfort that Paul is using here, the thing that he is discussing, is not the removal of pain, as I've said, but it is something that is only found as you are walking through the valley.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so it is, I mean, it's kind of like in the winter, you know, if your lips ever start to crack, and you can lick your lips, right?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you will get uh sort of comfort for a couple hours, right?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Your lips don't hurt anymore, but as soon as that goes away, they're worse than they were.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you keep going and going and going, just trying as much as you can to remove the pain, but without actually fixing the situation, and because of that, you're worse off at the end of the time.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we find is that in this Christian community where we desire to make our lives as absolutely comfortable as possible, and specifically with concern for the suffering that comes from sharing the gospel with other people and pursuing the ministry of Christ.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: When we do this kind of thing, we are missing out on the blessings of God, we are missing out on the comfort of God, and we are depriving ourselves from the fellowship that comes from knowing Jesus Christ.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: See, you say, how in the world could Paul ever say, like Philippians 4 13, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know what that's not about?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's not about accomplishing your greatest desires.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: That comes after a list of things where Paul to the Philippians said, I was hungry and I have been fed.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: I have been without a home and I've been with a home.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: I have struggled and I have suffered.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yet, 413, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is because Paul, in the ministry of Christ, in his worship of a Savior, whose ministry was defined by weakness, that then was made strong, right?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: He went to the cross and was murdered.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: That is, weak.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yet, the irony of that, the divine irony, is that then it defeated Satan.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so we should expect to see these same things being mimicked in the life of Paul.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: He says, as I am weak, it displays the strength of Christ.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, I unite with my Savior because I experience the same kind of suffering that he endured.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we try and avoid all of those things, man, we're missing out.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can both be in hardship and at peace at the same time.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's possible through God.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: But the ultimate purpose of your comfort in the midst of suffering is not that you feel better.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's that you help other people who are suffering.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it says here in the passage, right?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: He comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction themselves.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's the why behind all of this.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's so easy when we think about Christ to talk about we do this for our own personal benefit, and yet the ministry of Christ and the way it flows out from our life is, yes, but for others.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so any of the comfort that we receive in the midst of our sufferings, those are things that we then extend to other people.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you have probably experienced what it is like to have somebody come around you when you are in the midst of suffering, to know what a comfort that is when they say, I've walked that road.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: I know what your journey is like.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: I have felt that too, and because of that, I am here with you.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: That is a comfort that a couch can't even touch.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so, because of that, we have to understand our true motivation here.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is not so that we are comforted, it's so that we might comfort other people.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Later on in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, Who is weak and I am not weak, who is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And his whole point in that section, again, he is, and 2 Corinthians is going, Paul is going to describe all of his troubles a lot.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to go through this argument a couple times.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: But as he does, he finishes by saying, I've gone through this and this and this and this and nah nah nah nah, so that I can relate to you when you go through these things as well.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've experienced hardship so that I might be able to walk with you through it.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, well, dang it, how is Paul able to keep this kind of perspective?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because most of the time when I experience suffering, my foremost concern is not, man, what about those others who are suffering in the same way?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Normally it's just about trying to remove that thorn, trying to get out of that situation as fast as possible.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Paul gives us an answer in Romans chapter 8.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Funny enough, he wrote the book of Romans while he was staying in Corinth.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Romans chapter 8, verse 17, he says, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we also may be glorified with him.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: The reason that Paul is able to say this, the reason that he's able to do the counterintuitive thing, to lean into the pain, to find comfort through Christ in that pain, and to then use that to comfort other people.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: The reason is right here.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: He says we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, meaning we are locked together, and that doesn't just include the fun stuff.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: We are locked together with Jesus Christ, and if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: We love to talk about the glory parts of Scripture.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: We love to talk about the things we gain from knowing Jesus Christ.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: We love to talk about the beauty of it, and it is beautiful, and it is glorious, and we do gain.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: But there is also that part of the Bible where Jesus says that you must pick up your cross daily and follow after him.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: That there's a certain expectation that we need to develop that the Corinthians lacked, which was that following after Christ also had a cost associated with it.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for them, it was that they were going to experience suffering.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: It meant that they were going to need to live a life in Corinth that looked different than the life that they had been living previously, and that it was going to cause social division.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: It might mean that they weren't going to make as much money as they were making previously.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: At the very least, it meant that they were going to need to change their friends.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is that whole passage in 1 Corinthians on food sacrificed to idols, and you're like, what's the big deal?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the deal is that was how they hung out with each other.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: They were going to have to change their life.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so, Paul, even beyond that, though, those are just superficial things.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then we get into the sort of varsity-level suffering, which is Paul saying, Hey, my preaching of the gospel meant a certain way of living that I, many people are uncomfortable with because the world considers it suffering.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not that every single person, anytime we see the sort of these wonderful examples, it doesn't mean that it is a maxim applied for every single individual.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Not every one of you needs to become homeless, and neither do I.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: We don't all need to sell our homes.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the concept is there's an expectation that when suffering comes, we don't go, whoa, where is this?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like who could have seen it's we go, well, yeah, I should have expected that when I leaned into this, when I uh tried to live my life more like Christ, that there would be opposition.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is saying here is that as he does those things, and furthermore, the deeper he goes into that relationship, the more he finds Jesus.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: The more he finds his Savior because he's living his life like Jesus lived.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not all about suffering, though.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just about, it's not this sort of masochistic, like, pursue suffering because then you know Christ.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's not true.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: But what is true is that as we do experience the suffering that comes from this world, we do find our Savior in those moments.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: In the deepest and darkest parts of our life, if we are able to see Christ in the midst of them, you will be closer with him in those times than you ever were when things were going perfect.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: And this is part of why then Paul says two verses later, in Romans 8 19, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us, to be revealed in us.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: When we go back to the passage, and Paul says, right, just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, yet he's talking about his ministry.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: He says, My ministry, I mean, I don't need to go through the list again.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: It has experienced suffering, and the sufferings because of Jesus Christ, I've experienced these things.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: And my cup does not just rise to the top, it overflows with suffering.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: At times it is too hard for me to bear.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't endure it by myself.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: But then what does he say next?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: So also through Christ, our comfort overflows.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not a sufficient amount, not just enough.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: But as Paul leans into these things, an abundance, a spilling over of our troubles are met and then exceeded by the comfort that comes from knowing Christ.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, well, how, Connor, you don't know my troubles.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know what's going on in my life.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: For many of you, I don't.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: But what I do know, principally, is that whatever's coming is more glorious than however terrible your circumstances are right now.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: No matter who you've lost, no matter what disease you have, no matter the loss you have experienced or the pain that you've endured or the emotional affliction or any of those things, it does not compare with what's coming.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: And what that doesn't mean is that you have so often some I'll talk with people and they'll be like, you know, I mean, it could be worse.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the point is not necessarily that we diminish all of our sufferings and act like they're nothing.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: This world is painful, and you suffer some more than most.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, there's purpose in suffering so that we can help other people who are through it.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: What he's saying is not that those sufferings don't matter.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure if you ask Paul, hey, when you were stoned, was that nothing?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Well, no, that wasn't nothing.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't feel great, but compared to what's coming, it's nothing.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed in us.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: The greatest and most profound truth is what is coming in the future.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul, this same guy, is saying these things.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: So now let's turn our attention back to the Corinthians, okay?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to them as we sort of finish up this passage here, because the most ironic thing is happening to them.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: They say they are ashamed because of Paul's sufferings.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: They say they don't want to have those sufferings, and yet the reason they are comforted is because Paul is suffering.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: One example, there are a lot of them, but one example is the fact that they have the gospel at all in Corinth is because Paul suffered for them.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so what is so, again, I keep using this word, ironic, unexpected, um counterintuitive, is that Paul is on this offense and defensive statement, both saying, look, my life has comfort because I have suffered, and your life you think you are comforted, but in reality you are just avoiding suffering and not prepared to go through it, even though the comfort that we have from our sufferings has been given to you.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's saying, as I am pierced, Paul says, you are then comforted, because now I have the ability to share with you my experiences and say, I have walked with you.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: The Corinthians, they are like the worst version of the giving tree.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Any of you have read how many people have read this terribly sad book?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a children's book.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can pick it up.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: The whole story is that this kid uses this tree through his entire life and always wants more and more and more of it, and really, even at the end of the book, doesn't appreciate all of the gifts that the tree has given to it, as the tree is then a stump.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul has given of himself and given of himself and dedicated his life to them.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, even in 1 Corinthians, he has this whole thing where he says, I worked a part-time job, so I didn't even have to ask for compensation from you, which I was entitled to as an apostle.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and all of these things they set aside Paul and they say, We're ashamed of you because your ministry is disgraceful.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: You don't look the part, you don't sound the part, we don't even think you're attractive, Paul.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's like, that wasn't even on the table.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Well, we just we don't think it's true.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: But the way that Paul finishes is not by trying to get back at them.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the very end here.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's an anticipation that they're going to start suffering in the same way.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's an anticipation that eventually they will experience if they aren't already.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody in Corinth is wrong, right?
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: But he is speaking to a group that is divided and has factions.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, there is an expectation that you will experience these sufferings too.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: And as you do, remember these words.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then he says, right, our hope for you is firm, right?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Giving them the benefit of the doubt.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I know that right now you don't really love this idea about suffering for Jesus, but lean into it.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: He says, and as you do, you are going to discover all of the things and all of the comforts that come with being aligned with your Savior.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: When you suffer for the things of the cross, he says you are going to find more comfort than you were expecting.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're just afraid to take that step.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: It produces in you a patient endurance, not that the suffering is removed.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: He reinforces that.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, in fact, at the very end, he tells them what to expect.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: As you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: As you walk forward, Corinthians, you will experience both of these things.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: You will experience more suffering than you might have wanted or desired.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: But as you experience that suffering, the comfort of God is going to surpass it.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter how high those sufferings go, even to the point of death, as Paul will later find out himself, the surpassing glory of Christ is overflowing in comparison.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, there is never a period of time where through Christ you cannot endure the suffering that you are experiencing.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then, because of that, you can share that with other people.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: So the only way that this is possible, you know, man, if you are somebody who's going through suffering, maybe you're hearing this message and you say, I don't think that's possible for me.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: The pain is too sharp, the thorn is too deep.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: There is no way.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: But through Christ, it is possible.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because we worship a God who is glorious because he humbled himself.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: We worship a God who died on a cross for our sins.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: He sacrificed himself.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: He experienced loss.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: He suffered so that we might gain.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not to make a sort of thought experiment, but imagine if he didn't do that.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if everything was just be more glorious, be better, do more work.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: And this did Jesus willingly suffered so that we might benefit.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then as followers of his kingdom, right, the step that then we're supposed to take is, okay, Lord, I don't know what it looks like right now, but I pray, my prayer is that you would take the suffering that I'm experiencing and show me how I can help somebody else with it.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Show me how I can lead somebody else, how I can comfort them through the same suffering, and we can walk through it together.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not to be a group of like cynics and critics, but to be people who feel a deeper fellowship with Christ because they have experienced pain, because their life is not predicated on this idea of worldly comfort, but righteous suffering, knowing that what is to come is far better than whatever we experience right now.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in the midst of those things, in the deepest parts of the valley, when it does feel like all is lost, then you can, in context, reference Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's what that verse is meant for.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody who was in prison because of the gospel when he wrote that letter was not talking about getting your dream job.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: He was talking about enduring suffering so that others might benefit.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: A few things to keep in mind as we move on this morning.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: True comfort is possible while suffering.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: True comfort is found only through Jesus Christ's suffering, meaning the way that we experience comfort is only because of him.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: True comfort is experienced when we share in his sufferings.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: True comfort is shared when we walk with other suffering people.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: True comfort is not the removal of pain, but true comfort is endurance to walk even deeper through that valley, knowing that Christ is walking with you.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: Here in a moment, I'm going to pray, and then we'll take the Lord's table together.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to keep these things in mind, right?
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because as Jesus was about to suffer on the cross, he gave us a reminder of his suffering.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us a reminder of his pain.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: He gave us a reminder of all that he was going through so that we could be comforted.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: The purpose of the Lord's table is that we remember his sacrifice and we are comforted by it, specifically because we remember that he's coming in the future, which will outweigh any of the suffering that we're experiencing right now.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you today, and God, I pray that your spirit would comfort, Lord, anybody who is going through suffering right now.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, anybody who is in distress, anybody who is in need, anybody who has walked into the church this morning and said, Lord, I'm about to give up.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for them, Lord, that you would comfort them and that there would be people that would come around them who would comfort them as well.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, that they would also take the hardest step, which is using their suffering to comfort other people.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that they would experience your presence in the depths of their suffering.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I also pray that for those of us who maybe, like myself, try and live a very comfortable life, Lord, that we might be willing to endure and expect a bit more suffering so that we might draw closer to you.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: Father, even welcome it at times, because we know this is what you have endured.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for all of these things.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the Lord's table that we are about to partake in, and God, what it meant that you suffered so that we might be comforted.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to take the elements of the Lord's table, this is what Paul says.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, This is my body which is for you.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, your body, your blood, they are reminders to us of your sacrifice.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: They are reminders to us, Lord, of your victory and defeat, and how, God, we might move forward with confidence.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing, Lord, that you walk with those in the midst of their suffering, sometimes letting them endure the thorn so that they might be able to share that experience with other people.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for how you work these things out in our lives, recognizing that we don't always understand your ways or your means because they are above us.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray that you would comfort those who are suffering right now.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks everybody.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.