BIG IDEA:
THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S COMFORT IN OUR OWN DESPERATE TRIALS EQUIPS US TO COMFORT OTHERS IN THEIR TRIALS
INTRODUCTION:
John MacArthur: Trouble is an inescapable reality in this fallen, evil world. Eliphaz, one of Job’s would-be counselors, declared, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). With that sentiment Job, certainly no stranger to trouble, agreed: “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil” (Job 14:1). Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, lamented, “Why did I ever come forth from the womb to look on trouble and sorrow, so that my days have been spent in shame?” (Jer. 20:18). That life is filled with trouble, sorrow, pain, disappointment, disillusionment, and despair is the testimony of the rest of Scripture.
Adding to the pain of trouble is the disturbing reality that God sometimes seems distant and unconcerned. Job cried out despondently, “Why do You hide Your face and consider me Your enemy?” (Job 13:24). The psalmist asked pensively, “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1). Speaking for Israel, the sons of Korah asked God, “Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?” (Ps. 44:24). The prophet Isaiah affirmed, “Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!” (Isa. 45:15). Even David, “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; cf. Acts 13:22) and “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1), had moments of doubt and discouragement. In Psalm 13:1 he asked despairingly, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” while in Psalm 22:1 he expressed his anguish in words echoed by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (cf. Matt. 27:46).
Paul Barnett: Events of deep distress to Paul form the immediate background to the second letter to the Corinthians. Corinth and Ephesus, centres to which important missionary labour had been devoted, had become focal points of profound personal difficulty for him. At Corinth he, their father in the faith, had been rebuffed and criticized. In Ephesus a city-wide riot had occurred over his ministry so that it was no longer safe to remain there. Unwelcome in the one and endangered in the other, he went to Macedonia where he began to write his letter. First he greeted his readers and praised God for comforting him in his recent sufferings. Then he proceeded to tell them what had happened since his ‘painful’ visit to Corinth and to explain why he was writing instead of returning immediately. As in his other letters, Paul introduced near the beginning what would be a major theme throughout, in this case his experience of suffering. . .
Power and weakness, which together represent the unifying theme of this letter, are hinted at in this opening paragraph. All believers, like Paul and the Corinthians, suffer the weakness of troubles through their Christian service. Nevertheless the power of God in his mercies and comfort meets us at our point of need. Great though our sense of weakness may be, the power of God is always greater. Some ministers today unhelpfully raise the hopes of their people by promising them immediate health and prosperity, as their due portion from God. These promises appear to be tailor-made for a society whose need for instant gratification is unprecedented in history. Paul, by contrast, soberly refers to his readers’ sufferings, and he promises, not immediate healing and success, but God’s comfort which they will experience as they patiently endure (6).
Homer Kent: How does one begin a letter when relations between the parties have been strained? What does one say when mistreatment has occurred, and previous overtures at reconciliation have been brushed aside? This was Paul’s situation as he undertook the writing of II Corinthians, for his love for them was deep, his investment in their spiritual lives was great, and the issues involved had far-reaching implications for them and their church.
Anthony Thiselton: Paul follows the address with thanksgiving, as is his normal practice. Many Greco-Roman letters include expressions of thanksgiving. This thanksgiving is in two parts:
- thanksgiving for God’s comfort (vv. 3–7) and
- thanksgiving for God’s deliverance (vv. 8–11).
George Shellington: The apostle Paul makes the claim in this Letter of Reconciliation that Christian ministry is a matter of a person’s right relationship on two indivisible fronts:
(1) a right relationship to Jesus Christ, and
(2) a right relationship of Christians to each other in an ordered community of life and faith.
The focus is on Paul’s own ministry, particularly in relation to the Corinthians, although not exclusively so. His discourse persistently aims at expounding more broadly a theology of ministry in the age of Jesus Christ that has recently dawned upon the world. One can infer from his expose that Paul has an inkling of an opposing view that has crossed the threshold of the Corinthian community at the time of writing this letter. Proponents of that view see ministry as competitive and self-commending. Paul does not. They seek letters of recommendation from one community to another to authorize their mission and their right to subsistence from the community they serve. To authorize his mission and to sustain him in it, Paul relies entirely on his relationship to God. The others may appeal to Moses as their guiding light in ministry. Paul thinks of Moses merely as a type of present Christian ministry, with Paul and his like-minded comrades as fulfillment of the type (2:16 – 3:18).
Paul’s primary reason for sending this Letter of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 1-9) is to persuade the Corinthians of a view of ministry consistent with the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Paul is principally concerned that his converts know exactly who is reconciling the world. God does this through Jesus Christ. Paul as apostle does not. Instead, Paul’s gift of ministry from God in Christ acts as the agency of the grace that human beings need to bring them home again to God. In short, Paul views his ministry in the context of right relationships (5:11- 6:10; 1:8 – 2:4).
Richard Pratt: Main Idea: Speculations had grown about why Paul had not come to Corinth sooner. Paul explained what had been happening in his life, how he had treated the Corinthians with integrity, why his plans had changed, and what his current plans were.
Scott Hafemann: Paul’s tone in 2 Corinthians is, therefore, at once not only apologetic, but also confrontational. The motivation for his appeals is clear: On the horizon stands God’s judgment in Christ (5:10–11), to be exacted in advance when Paul makes his third and decisive visit to Corinth (13:1–10). The only hope for those still in rebellion against him is to repent, even as the majority has done already (cf. 2:5–11; 7:2–16). As for that majority, they must demonstrate the validity of their repentance by continuing to support Paul, by separating from those who will not repent, and by participating in the collection as part of the fruits of righteousness characteristic of the people of God (cf. 2:5–11; 3:18; 5:17; 6:1; 6:14 – 7:1; 8:1 – 9:15).
Eric Mason: Main Idea: God does allow on you more than you can bear so that you can learn that you need him.
I. We Are Blessed in Christ (1:3).
II. We Receive Mercy and Comfort (1:3).
A. God is the Father of mercies.
B. God is the God of all comfort.
III. We Comfort Others (1:4).
IV. God Holds on to Us (1:4-7).
V. We Are Overwhelmed (1:8).
VI. We Learn that We Need Him (1:9-11).
George Guthrie: As Paul writes the prologue for 2 Corinthians, he introduces rich reflection on God’s redemption of suffering, a key theme for the book. The apostle and his coworkers have been deeply bruised by recent experiences, with fresh emotional and spiritual wounds still stinging. Yet instead of bitterness and regret, the apostle offers one of the most beautiful and beloved passages in the NT, turning his suffering into a song of thanks to God and an appeal for continued partnership with the Corinthian church. The prologue divides nicely into two main movements. In the first (1:3–7) we find a beautiful, encouraging benediction. In this benediction Paul blesses God for his encouragement in the midst of affliction (1:3). Then he points to the purposefulness of the affliction (1:4–6) and notes the special fellowship the experience of suffering forges between his mission and the Corinthians (1:7).
In the second movement of the prologue (1:8–11), Paul shares overtly about his recent brush with death. The apostle doesn’t want the Corinthians to take lightly the affliction he has endured in Asia (1:8), and he points to how God redeemed his suffering by causing Paul and his mission team to abandon trust in themselves and to trust only in God, “who raises the dead” (1:9). He also expresses hope about God’s continued deliverance (1:10) and the Corinthians’ help through prayer (1:11). Notice how the prologue begins and ends with God being celebrated (1:3, 11). Also, both halves of the prologue trumpet God’s redemption of afflictions (1:4, 6, 9), and both halves end with a focus on Paul’s partnership with the Corinthians (1:7, 11). Thus through both praise (1:3–7) and appeal (1:8, 11), the apostle strategically opens his heart to the Corinthians, sharing out of his pain and laying a foundation for the relational rebuilding he hopes to accomplish with the Achaian church through this letter.
(:1-2) GREETING
A. God-Appointed Authors
- Apostolic Leadership: Paul
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”
Charles Swindoll: They knew him quite well; so why would Paul need to remind them that he had been “called (klētos [2822]) as an apostle”? The occasion of this letter would necessitate a series of severe criticisms, rebukes, words of strong admonition, and detailed instructions. By reminding the Corinthians that he was not only their founding pastor of yesteryear but also an apostle of the universal church, he would firm up his authority at a time when it most likely would be resisted.
Mark Seifrid: He is not apostle by virtue of his own abilities, powers, or self-assertion. The Corinthians were looking for a genius. God sent them an apostle, who was theirs in weakness and suffering.
George Guthrie: Paul writes as a man of great “desire,” great commitment to the ministry God has assigned to him. Thus he lives under the highest possible commission, a commission from the Lord of the universe, Jesus, by virtue of the very will of God. God’s will gives the impetus for Paul communicating to God’s church, and he communicates “grace and peace” that originate with God, divine gifts of which we all stand in need. So the letter opening communicates a thorough God-centeredness for Paul—he understands himself to be part of God’s plan, writing to God’s people on the basis of God’s work of grace and peace. Therefore, he also writes as a person of profound relationships, his unique relationship with God through Christ Jesus forming the basis for his relationship with Timothy as his partner in ministry and the Achaians as a part of God’s church.
- Brotherly Teamwork: Timothy
“and Timothy our brother”
Scott Hafemann: There can be no compromise between Paul’s claim here and the claims of those whom Paul will unmask as “pseudo-apostles,” “deceitful workmen,” and “servants” of Satan (cf. 11:13–15). This affirmation of Paul’s own authority as an apostle is most likely the reason why he also mentions Timothy, his “brother,” as a cosender of the letter. By associating Timothy with himself in this way, Paul reaffirms the legitimacy of Timothy’s ministry among them, both in his helping Paul to establish the church (cf. Acts 18:5) and in his recent visits on Paul’s behalf (cf. 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10). This too underscores the validity of the gospel the Corinthians have received through Paul’s coworkers (cf. 2 Cor. 1:19).
B. God-Sanctified Recipients
- “church” = “assembly” = called out ones
“to the church of God which is at Corinth ‘
George Shillington: This designation of the readers ties in with Paul’s concern in this letter for communion in the Spirit. The various groups have but one identity and one allegiance: they are a people called out of the old order of society to belong to God through Christ. Implicit in Paul’s designation is a call for the Corinthians’ singular loyalty to the God who rescued them from the peril of the world through the apostolic ministry of Paul. Paul will show that these two, God’s grace and Paul’s ministry, are correlatives. They go together.
R. Kent Hughes: The apostle’s authority, even his apostleship, was called into question. If Paul was for real, why was there so much suffering in his life? they asked. Also, why was his ministry so lackluster when compared with the ministry of others? Why was his preaching so dull? And why did he change his travel plans if God was actually directing his life? Moreover, what lay behind his refusal to accept payment for his services, as most preachers did? Was he really collecting money for the poor? Why didn’t Paul have letters of recommendation like the others? Why didn’t he regale them with stories about God’s power in his ministry? Was it because there were none? Tragically, this attack on Paul’s ministry and person had led many of his Corinthian converts to reject him and his preaching for “a different gospel” (cf. 11:4). . .
The majority came back to Paul and his gospel, but some still rejected his authority. Thus it was that Paul wrote the magnificent letter of Second Corinthians in A.D. 55 as he began to make plans to return for a third visit (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:14; 13:1).
So today we can read and study this letter, the most emotional of all the apostle’s writings. Nowhere is Paul’s heart so torn and exposed as in this letter. Second Corinthians bears a fierce tone of injured love, of paradoxically wounded, relentless affection. Toward the letter’s end Paul will say, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?” (11:28, 29).
- “saints” = “set apart” unto God
“with all the saints who are throughout Achaia”
Anthony Thiselton: Paul calls them “saints” because God has consecrated or made holy all those whom he has redeemed. Every Christian can experience the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, whatever inconsistencies and failures may also occur in everyday life. No Christian should forget their privileged status, nor that of other Christians. Similarly, all Christians belong to God, who is a caring and providing Father in a special sense towards those who share the Sonship of Jesus Christ. To sin against a fellow Christian is in this sense like committing sacrilege against God’s temple.
Charles Swindoll: He may have extended its scope because the positive exhortations and negative corrections applied broadly to issues and problems throughout the region. Or he may have feared that the party of apostolic pretenders meddling in Corinth would spread their cancer throughout the region. Perhaps some already had done so. When it comes to false teaching, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Scott Hafemann: These twin designations, “apostle … by the will of God” and “church of God,” connote a continuity with the people of God and her leaders under the old covenant. At the same time, they also underscore the reality of the new covenant, since Paul is an apostle “of Christ [i.e., Messiah] Jesus,” and they are the church of God, not the synagogue (cf. 3:14–18). Moreover, the Corinthians are part of a larger gathering of “all the saints” (hagioi; i.e., “holy ones”) scattered throughout the Roman province of Achaia, an area roughly equivalent with modern-day Greece. Corinth was the capital of Achaia and the home of the first of the interrelated churches in the region (cf. Acts 18:1–11; 1 Cor. 16:15).
David Garland: Why does Paul refer to the Achaeans since 1 Corinthians is addressed only to the Corinthians? This letter is not intended as a circular letter as is Galatians, which is addressed to the churches of Galatia (Gal 1:2). Possibly Paul mentions the Achaeans in anticipation of his instructions on the collection that will be taken up throughout Achaia (9:2). Another possibility is that Paul intends to let the Corinthians know that “they are not the whole church even in Achaia.” The Corinthians are given to arrogance and self-sufficiency and may think that the spiritual world revolves around them. An unholy grandiosity may have caused them to look down on neighboring churches in the outlying region. Such an attitude would have been reinforced by the economic and social disparity between the two. Betz writes:
While Achaia as a whole suffered poverty and neglect, Corinth enjoyed prosperity; while Achaia led a quiet life remote from the noise and the press of the city and its politics, Corinth teemed with commerce and intrigue. While the Greeks tried as best they could to preserve their traditional culture, the Corinthians indulged new attitudes and ways of life fueled by the new wealth and unbridled by ancestral tradition. Thus, the province and its capital were in many respects worlds apart.
Possibly, Paul seeks to bridge that gap, reminding the Corinthians that he does not see them apart from but together with the saints of Achaia.
C. God-Enabled Resources / Salutation
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Mark Seifrid: The apostle’s pronouncement of grace presupposes that, although God’s undeserved and unmerited favor has been granted fully and finally in Christ, it nevertheless must be granted ever again to believers. We, likewise, are to grasp and receive this grace again and again, in the midst of our tasks, trials, and temptations. That is to say, Paul speaks of “grace” as it is concretely experienced in the varying circumstances of life.
Scott Hafemann: Accordingly, Paul’s desire that they experience “peace” is not primarily a wish for untroubled circumstances. Rather, he wishes them that comprehensive shalom or well-being that characterizes the lives of believers, individually and corporately, when all is right with God, a possibility also granted by the grace of God through Christ. Paul’s two wishes are therefore inextricably interrelated.
I. (:3-7) UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE:
THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S COMFORT IN OUR OWN TRIALS EQUIPS US TO COMFORT OTHERS IN THEIR TRIALS
George Shillington: Paul lays out his liturgical eulogy to God in verses 3-7 in a sequence of three movements, each having two complementary parts. The three movements of thought come together in one dominant paradox that pervades the ensuing discussion of chapters 1-9 (Letter of Reconciliation). The structure may be outlined as follows.
a. God is the source and giver of all consolation (1:3).
a’. Paul and company (we) benefit purposefully (1:4).
b. God’s Agent, Christ, suffered abundantly (1:5a).
b’. Paul and company are consoled abundantly (1:5b).
c. Paul’s agency (ministry) of consolation is borne in affliction (1:6a).
c’. The Corinthians (you) are consoled as they join in Paul’s ministry (l:6b-c).
d. Hope unshaken: Corinthian partners in the paradox of consolation through affliction (1:7).
Mark Seifrid: As we have noted, in his letter openings the apostle instructs his churches in the Gospel in the face of the challenges, questions, and problems among them. This is clearly the case in Paul’s benediction. We find here the theology of the entire letter in a nutshell: God’s fatherly comfort is given ever only to those in weakness and affliction, a comfort that is salvation itself. Such is the nature of apostolic ministry and Christian life, which the Corinthians have refused to accept. Paul thus reminds the Corinthians that the final gift of comfort is not given apart from the reality of suffering. The apostle first must trouble the comfortable in order to later comfort the troubled. . .
The apostle is the vehicle of divine comfort to the Corinthians; God comforts them through him. Just as he has received and handed on the Gospel, so through Christ, he receives and hands on comfort. This comfort, which extends into the present hour, has been received and handed on in a long chain of tradition stretching back to the apostle, and beyond him to Christ: the God whom Paul blesses is none other than “the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” The psalmists’ experience of trouble, deliverance, their proclamation, and their giving forth of comfort culminates in Christ, who was thrust into the ultimate affliction and granted decisive and final comfort. Even here and now, we are the recipients of that comfort, given by Christ, through the apostle. The mere instrumental role of the apostle notwithstanding, it makes all the difference in the world that the words spoken and written here came through him. Paul is able to speak true comfort because he, like the psalmists, is one who received true comfort in the midst of all his hardships: “My soul boasts in the Lord. The poor hear it and rejoice” (Ps 34:2). Like all biblical pronouncements of blessing on God, the apostle’s benediction of God here is neither remote nor abstract. It is a response to the goodness of God, which Paul experiences concretely as God’s work of comfort and salvation in Christ.
A. (:3) The Source of All Comfort –
The Comfort is Sufficient Because of Who God Is
(Chiastic structure – A B B A)
- Thanksgiving to God for Who He Is
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Anthony Thiselton: Paul describes Jesus by what is rightly called his favorite title, namely “Lord” (cf. Rom 1:9 and 1 Cor 12:3). In the ancient Greco-Roman world, “the lord” (ho kyrios) was the one to whom a slave belonged, but who was also responsible for their care. It was thus a term signifying not only loyalty, obedience, and commitment on the part of the slave, but security and freedom if one had a good lord. Because God or Christ has the care of him, this provides a sense of freedom from self-concern. This freedom arises from the fact that in the event of illness or death, a good lord would care for the slave and his or her family. Rudolf Bultmann writes, “Freedom arises from the very fact that the believer, as one ‘ransomed’ no longer ‘belongs to himself’ (1 Cor 6:19). He no longer bears the care for himself, for his own life, but lets this care go, yielding himself entirely to the grace of God; he recognizes himself to be the property of God (or the Lord) and lives for Him.”
John MacArthur: Some may wonder why, since they are fully equal, the Father is referred to as the God … of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mark 15:34; John 20:17). In His deity Jesus is fully equal to the Father, but in His humanity He submitted to Him. Paul’s statement reflects Jesus’ submission to the Father during the Incarnation (cf. John 14:28), when He voluntarily gave up the independent use of His divine attributes (Phil. 2:6–7; cf. Matt. 24:36).
The title Lord Jesus Christ summarizes all of His redemptive work. Lord describes His sovereign deity; Jesus (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Yeshua; “God saves”) describes His saving death and resurrection; Christ (“anointed one”) describes Him as the King who will defeat God’s enemies and rule over the redeemed earth and the eternal state.
- Description of Who God Is
a. Merciful by Nature
“the Father of Mercies”
Homer Kent: This concept was rooted in Old Testament revelation, and found frequent expression among those who trusted God (II Sam. 24:14; I Chron. 21:13; Neh. 9:31; Ps. 51:1; 103:4; Isa. 54:7; Dan. 9:9).
b. Unlimited Capacity for Comfort
“and God of all Comfort”
Conclusion: Our Trials can never exceed the Ability of God to Comfort
Warren Wiersbe: The words comfort or consolation (same root word in the Greek) are repeated ten times in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. We must not think of comfort in terms of “sympathy,” because sympathy can weaken us instead of strengthen us. God does not pat us on the head and give us a piece of candy or a toy to distract our attention from our troubles. No, He puts strength into our hearts so we can face our trials and triumph over them. Our English word comfort comes from two Latin words meaning “with strength.” The Greek word means “to come alongside and help.” It is the same word used for the Holy Spirit (“the Comforter”) in John 14-16.
Charles Swindoll: How does the Holy Spirit comfort the suffering? Many of us imagine that He does so mystically, immediately, and directly —and occasionally this happens. At times in the midst of a tragedy, crisis, or catastrophe, a sudden, inexplicable peace passes over us. From that moment on, we know, we believe, and we even feel that God is in control and we can rest in Him regardless of what comes (Phil. 4:7). More frequently, however, the Spirit works through Spirit-indwelled believers and the Spirit-filled community to minister to those who suffer. Through an encouraging word, a heart-felt embrace, a kind note, a loving presence, a side-by-side walk through death’s valley —the Spirit works through His people to comfort those downtrodden by the pain and turmoil of life.
Mark Seifrid: In naming God “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,” Paul identifies God as the Creator and source of all human experience of mercy and comfort, who is present and active in the world. Mercy and comfort have their single and final source in God, the Giver of all good. Paul’s language is a warning against the Corinthian idolatry that seeks comfort in creaturely things that in themselves can bring no comfort — even if human words and earthly gifts (such as the deliverance in Asia and the report of Titus) themselves serve as the vehicles and messengers of divine comfort. Paul’s language thus may be regarded as an appropriation of the Shema (Deut 6:4). The apostolic description of God is therefore not diffuse or undefined. It is only in God’s identity as the Father of Jesus Christ, in whom he has fulfilled all the promises of Scripture, that we know his mercy and comfort. Otherwise, God’s mercy is not experienced and known as such but is misinterpreted as happenstance or luck, attributed to skill, cleverness, works, or piety, or perhaps regarded as the benefit of another god, whose kindness must be coaxed or otherwise obtained by human efforts.
Colin Kruse: The word παράκλησις is used by Luke in his Gospel when describing those who, like the aged Simeon, were “looking forward to Israel’s consolation” (Luke 2:25). The consolation expected was the deliverance which God would provide through the coming of the Messiah. For Paul, the messianic age had already begun, albeit while the present age was still running its course, and it is the overlapping of the ages that accounts for the surprising coincidence of affliction and consolation of which he speaks in the present passage. The final consolation of the children of God awaits the day of the revelation of Jesus Christ in glory. But because the messianic age has been inaugurated by Jesus, Israel’s Messiah, at his first coming, believers experience comfort in the present time as a foretaste of that final consolation.
B. (:4) The Benefit of All Trials
- God’s Comfort is Fully Known Through Trials
“who comforts us in all our affliction”
Steve Zeisler: Affliction, however, has to do with pain or difficulty that is threatening-suffering in which no good outcome can be predicted. The root idea of the word before us is pressure; unrelenting pressure that, like a bulldozer, threatens to crush and sweep aside everything in its path.
- God’s Comfort Equips Us to Minister to Others
“so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with
the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
C. (:5) The Sufficiency of Comfort in Connection with Christ
- Sufferings in Connection with Christ May Be Abundant
“For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance”
David Garland: Paul says he carries about in his body “the dying of Jesus.” He “continually and physically experiences the sufferings of the cross,” and he interprets it as the continuation of Jesus’s suffering in the flesh. Therefore he believes that his apostolic ministry extends Christ’s earthly ministry, which included suffering and hardship. His vocation as an apostle of Christ demands suffering if he is to confront the same evil forces that sentenced Christ to the cross so that in his suffering he joins in the suffering and death of Christ. He not only preaches Christ crucified; he lives it. And his suffering brings him joy because he recognizes it to be an irrefutable confirmation of his close tie to his Lord. Hanson’s comments are on target:
[B]ecause Christians do not merely imitate, follow or feel inspired by Christ, but actually live in him, are part of him, dwell supernaturally in a new world where the air they breathe is his Spirit, then for them henceforward suffering accepted in Christ must bring comfort, death accepted in Christ must bring life, weakness accepted in Christ must bring strength, foolishness accepted in Christ must bring wisdom.
The opposites are transformed from one to the other by the divine power.
- But Comfort in Connection with Christ Will Always Be Sufficient
“so also our comfort is abundant through Christ”
R. Kent Hughes: For those who are afflicted and suffer for following Christ, this passage promises surpassing comfort. The truth is that God’s comfort always exceeds our afflictions. “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (v. 5). Those who follow Christ know the greatest affliction — and the greatest comfort, a flood of comfort. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (v. 3).
D. (:6) The Perspective of Encouraging Others to Persevere Under Affliction
- This Perspective Applies to Our Affliction
“But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation”
- This Perspective Applies to Our Comfort
“or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort”
- This Perspective Applies Because of the Commonality of All of Our Sufferings
“which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings
which we also suffer”
E. (:7) Confidence in the Certainty of Sufferings
and the Sufficiency of God’s Comfort
“and our hope for you is firmly grounded,
knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings,
so also you are sharers of our comfort.”
Robert Gromacki: Paul believed that what God had done for him He would do for others. He had a stedfast “hope,” a firm conviction that the Corinthians would have victory through their sufferings. He knew that they would be “partakers” of suffering in the will of God along with Christ and Paul. With equal confidence, he knew that they would also share in the “consolation.” Biblical consolation involves more than just feeling sorry for someone who is in difficulty; it connotes active encouragement and help to see the person through his trouble. God never promised to keep us out of the furnace of trials. Rather, He has pledged to be with us in the fire and lead us out of the oppressive flames. . . No believer is alone in hard times; God is there beside him.
George Shillington: Paul’s hope is unshaken on behalf of the Corinthians. His confidence is not in them as Corinthians, but in the grace of God that rescued them from sin through faith in the suffering Christ. On that premise Paul knows that they are partners in his sufferings in the ministry of Christ. They are consoled. The paradox stands thus: redemptive consolation comes through suffering, not apart from it. This apparent contradiction will become a recurring refrain in the variations of speech that follow.
II. (:8-11) PERSONAL TESTIMONY: PERILOUS ASIAN MINISTRY —
THE SEVERITY OF OUR TRIALS MAKES US DESPERATE FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE
Colin Kruse: Vv. 8–9a describe the intensity of this suffering and its effect on Paul; v. 9b indicates the purpose/result of the sufferings—that he should not trust in himself, but in God, who raises the dead. V. 10 further describes God as the one who delivered Paul from so terrible a death, and as the one whom he trusts will deliver him again. V. 11 connects the prayers of his readers for him with an expected future deliverance by God, deliverance that, in answer to their prayers, will result in many giving thanks to God.
Raymond Collins: We would like to know what happened in Asia, but ultimately all the textual clues lead up a blind alley. It may well be that Paul is referring to a serious physical ailment that he thought would prove fatal, but of this we cannot be sure. What we can be sure of is that it was a terrifying experience, one that led Paul to think that he was about to die, an experience that the apostle likens to a death sentence. His obvious emotion in recalling that experience is reflected in 1:8–11, a run-on sentence that is almost a hundred words in length.
A. (:8-10) Peril of Impending Death
- (:8) Situation Seemed Hopeless
“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction
which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively,
beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life”
Paul is such a positive person; for him to “despair even of life” the situation must have been pretty bad.
Philip Hughes: . . . it is very much of a piece with the major theme of the opening portion of this epistle, namely, Paul’s vindication of his own integrity. . . An incapacitating experience of this kind explained much, and called for sympathy rather than censure.
Frank Matera: Having explained in a general way how God consoled him in his afflictions, Paul now brings forth a specific example that deeply affected his understanding of God and of his ministry.
- (:9) Desperation Focuses Our Faith in the God of Resurrection Power
“indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves
in order that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God who raises the dead”
John MacArthur: God had a purpose for allowing Paul’s suffering: to teach him not to trust in himself. God took him to the extremity from which no human resources could deliver him because, as He said to Paul later in this epistle, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Only the God who raises the dead had the power to deliver Paul from his ordeal; man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. Thus, God’s power alone comforted Paul and delivered him from his great peril of death.
R. Kent Hughes: Affliction — death — resurrection is the central law of life and ministry as afflictions draw you down to the end of yourself (“death”) and then you look to Christ, finding yourself thrust upward in resurrection for further ministry.
- (:10) Deliverance is God’s Specialty
a. Testimony of Deliverance in the Past
“who delivered us from so great a peril of death”
b. Hope of Deliverance in the Present
“and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.”
Robert Hughes: Another description of God follows in 1:10. He “delivered” and “will deliver.” That last remark especially needed clarification. How could Paul have known that God would deliver him? Verses 10b-11 explain his confidence. God would deliver him in order that a multitude might give thanks to God (1:11).
c. Confidence of Deliverance in the Future
“And He will yet deliver us.”
Anthony Thiselton: In vv. 10–11, Paul turns to the present: God “will continue to rescue us.” The Greek for “rescue” is rhyomai, as if to deliver out of a pit. The term “rescue” often features in apocalyptic literature. The verb occurs here in the past and the future with the Greek particle eti, “will still deliver.” Having shown that there is every good ground for hope, Paul asks for the prayers of the church in Corinth (v. 11). Plummer observes: “These intercessions are part of the machinery which God has provided for preserving His apostle from deadly peril.”
B. (:11) Power of Intercessory Prayer
“you also joining in helping us through your prayers,
that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf
for the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many.”
Mark Seifrid: His defense of his apostolic ministry is not abstract and distant but living and personal. He wants to show the Corinthians not only that he is an apostle but that he is their apostle and that his experience with them is part of his life as an apostle of Christ. Through Christ he loves them deeply, and just as deeply he hopes that they will return his love. This deeply personal relationship is not secondary or accidental to the Gospel but integral and essential to it. Paul’s opening account of his trial in Asia is of fundamental significance to this relationship. His weakness, trials, and suffering represent an offense to the Corinthians, who mark the presence of the Spirit by outward success and visible power. They must now accept the suffering apostle of Christ, or they will not accept the crucified Christ whom the apostle proclaims.
Richard Pratt: Finally, Paul acknowledged the purpose behind his sufferings and deliverances: God’s glory. Paul drew the Corinthians into his perspective by acknowledging that they would surely help him in the future by offering their prayers to God. As a result, many would give thanks to God for God’s response to their prayers. Many believers would be grateful for the gracious favor God would grant when he answered the prayers of many. The Corinthians were to have a right attitude toward Paul’s absence by remembering that their sympathetic prayers helped him in his suffering and glorified God.
Ralph Martin: In retelling this account—even if with some tantalizing obscurities—of his ordeal in Asia, Paul makes it plain that he was saved from the jaws of death by God’s signal mercy and favor in answer to his prayer. Yet God worked through the prayers of his people (v 11), and Paul does not forget this side of the story as well. Those who prayed for him (and Paul’s verb in v 11 is remarkably expressive to remind us that prayer is both a work, as in Col 4:12–13, and a privilege to be in partnership with those in need) are invited to share his gladness. There is no finer stimulus to our prayers than when we hear from some friend at home or abroad that he or she is rejoicing in an answer to our praying on his or her behalf.
Scott Hafemann: In returning to the praise of God, Paul has fulfilled the three purposes of his opening thanksgiving.
(1) In fulfillment of his epistolary purpose, Paul has made it clear that the comfort of God in the midst of adversity is the main theme of the letter.
(2) By way of instruction, Paul has stated his corresponding thesis, namely, that his suffering, rather than calling his legitimacy into question, is the very means by which God’s comfort is mediated to others.
(3) In mounting his consequent appeal, Paul invites the Corinthians to join him in thanking God for his suffering and deliverance, thus fulfilling Paul’s initial call to praise God in verse 3. If the Corinthians should spurn this invitation, their very refusal becomes an indictment of their rebellion against the gospel (cf. 12:19–21; 13:1–10).
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PREACHING CHRIST:
1) Christ’s relationship with His Heavenly Father secures for us a similar relationship with “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
2) Both our sufferings and our comfort are experienced in abundance in association with Christ (vs.5).
3) Christ is our pattern in bearing suffering and affliction for the purpose of ministering to others and securing our salvation and comfort (vs. 6).
4) The God who raised Christ from the dead is the same God working with the same power who personally functions as our Deliverer so that “we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”