A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ (Vol. 1, 2 Corinthians 1-6) E-Book

Sam Storms

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 364

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Paul's affection for the Corinthian church and his endurance through hardship for their joy testifies to his deep devotion to Christ. His example and instruction in this letter inspires us to find our joy in Jesus. In this first volume of A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ, Storms provides readers with fifty daily meditations on this great epistle that are both accessible and substantive. His analysis and application of the biblical text make these meditations suitable for private devotions or small group studies, or as a commentary for Bible study, Sunday School lessons, or sermon preparation.

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“There are few people on the planet who embody in life and in teaching the radically biblical and Edwardsian message of Christian Hedonism better than Sam Storms.”

John Piper, Founder, desiringGod.org; Chancellor, Bethlehem College & Seminary

“Sam Storms has served a splendid reflection on 2 Corinthians that will benefit readers at all levels. Those with no theological training will profit from an accessible and clear style, learning not only the rich content of 2 Corinthians, but also how to study the Bible and apply it to life. Those with questions about what happens after someone dies, or how to handle discouragement, or how we can be more confident in sharing our faith with others will find biblical answers. Pastors preparing for sermons on 2 Corinthians will appreciate Storms’s interaction with commentators, his careful exegetical decisions, and the pastoral application of 2 Corinthians. This book is exegetically responsible, theologically profound, and pastorally relevant. I highly recommend it.”

Chris Brauns, author, Unpacking Forgiveness;Pastor, The Red Brick Church, Stillman Valley, Illinois

“Storms in his usual clear, engaging, heartwarming style unlocks perhaps Paul’s most personal and Christ-centered letter. You will be reminded afresh that everything really is all about Jesus. Release the life-changing power of this much neglected letter as Storms demonstrates that its message can change you in every way.”

Adrian Warnock, author, Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything

A Sincere and Pure Devotion to Christ: 100 Daily Meditations on 2 Corinthians Copyright © 2010 by Sam Storms

Published by Crossway Booksa publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

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Design and typesetting: Lakeside Design PlusCover design: Jon McGrath, Jimi Allen ProductionsFirst printing 2010Printed in the United States of America

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Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

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Two Volume Set ISBN: 978-1-4335-1311-4

Volume 1 Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-1150-9PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-1151-6Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-1152-3ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2382-3

Volume 2 Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-1308-4PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-1309-1Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-1310-7ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2252-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Storms, C. Samuel, 1951–     A sincere and pure devotion to Christ : 100 daily meditations on 2 Corinthians / Sam      Storms.             p. cm.        Includes bibliographical references.        ISBN 978-1-4335-1150-9 (v. 1, tpb)—ISBN 978-1-4335-1308-4 (v. 2, tpb) 1. Bible. N.T. Corinthians, 2nd—Devotional literature. I. Title.

BS2675.54.S76 2010242'.5—dc22                                                                 2009027808

To Melaniemy beloved daughterA woman who has encountered God and persevered in faithfor the future he has promised her.“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”(Jer. 29:11)

Contents

Introduction to 2 Corinthians: A Witness to Christ and a Window into the Heart of Paul

1. Father of Mercies, God of All Comfort (1:1–3)

2. Conduits of Divine Comfort (1:3–7)

3. God’s Design in Our Distress (1:8–11)

4. Prayer: Dealing with Our Doubts (1:11)

5. When Christians Misunderstand Christians (1:12–2:4)

6. It Was Grace That Did It (1:12)

7. Yes! (1:18–20)

8. Cinderella No More (1:21–22)

9. For Joy (1:23–2:4)

10. Reflections on Church Discipline (2:5–11)

11. Satanic Stratagems (2:11)

12. The Dangers of Triumphalism (2:14)

13. Smelling Good to God (2:15–16)

14. Is Anyone Sufficient for These Things? Yes! (2:16–17)

15. Epistles of Christ (3:1–3)

16. The Surpassing Glory of the New Covenant (3:4–11)

17. Bumped along the Pathway to Glory (3:18)

18. Fighting Discouragement (4:1)

19. Tampering with God’s Word (4:2)

20. The Gospel: Veiled and Unveiled (4:3–4)

21. A Divine and Supernatural Light (4:5–6)

22. Jars of Clay and the Glory of God (4:7)

23. Knocked Down, but Not Out (4:8–12)

24. Faith over Fear (4:13–15)

25. Gazing Intently at What You Can’t See (4:16–18)

26. What Happens When a Christian Dies? (1) (5:1–5)

27. What Happens When a Christian Dies? (2) (5:6–8)

28. What Happens When a Christian Dies? (3) (5:9–10)

29. You, Others, and the Judgment Seat of Christ (5:11–12)

30. “Out of His Mind” for God (5:13)

31. The Controlling Power of the Cross (5:14–15)

32. His Love and Our Fear: Can the Two Coexist? (5:11, 14)

33. Seeing Others Spiritually: A Practical Consequence of the Cross (5:16)

34. Behold! A New Creation! (5:17)

35. When God Saves Sinners from God (5:18–21)

36. Could Jesus Have Sinned? (5:21)

37. Receiving the Grace of God in Vain (6:1–2)

38. The Most Eloquent Advertisement for the Gospel (6:3)

39. When People See You, Does God Look Good? (6:4)

40. Examples of Endurance in Waco (6:4)

41. Feasting on the Promise of a Future with Christ (6:4–5)

42. What’s a Christian to Do? (6:6–7)

43. The Treasure, Quite Simply, Is Christ (6:8–9)

44. Spiritual Schizophrenia (6:10)

45. Dealing with Dysfunction in the Family of Faith (6:11–13)

46. The Life of the Church in the World versus the Life of the World in the Church (6:14–16)

47. We Are the Temple of the Living God (6:16–7:1)

Notes

Introduction to 2 Corinthians:

A Witness to Christand a Windowinto the Heart of Paul

Saul of Tarsus, that energetic and highly educated Pharisee who took the name Paul following his saving encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, has become synonymous with Christianity. Some even contend that he, not Jesus, was its founder. Paul himself would have cringed at any such notion.

But who was this man? What made him tick? Why did he make the painful choices we read about in the New Testament? People who have tracked his missionary journeys and struggled to comprehend his many letters long to get inside his head and peer into his heart. What were his motives? How did he persevere in the face of unending hardship and excruciating persecution? What accounts for his unyielding commitment to Christ and his love for the many churches he established? What empowered him to endure the slander of those he served and to sacrifice himself for people who repaid his devotion with disdain and contempt?

One might think such experiences would compel Paul to withdraw within himself, to retreat relationally, to close off his heart and take whatever steps necessary to guard his wounded soul from further damage. I thank God daily that such never occurred. In fact, 2 Corinthians is a vivid portrayal of the courage, honesty, and vulnerability of this remarkable man. Unlike any of his other letters, in 2 Corinthians we hear his heart beat, we feel his passions, we are put in touch with his deepest fears and longings and loves.

It’s not easy to move beyond the public image that people project to see into their very souls. Their true thoughts, intentions, motivations, anxieties, desires, greatest joys, and greatest disappointments are often hidden from sight, obscured beneath the complexities of human personality and relational defense mechanisms. If you’ve read much of the New Testament, you’ve no doubt wondered about such things in Paul. Unfortunately, you won’t learn much about him from reading Romans or Galatians, his most theological writings. There’s more to learn of him as a person in his two letters to Timothy, which were most likely written within months of Paul’s martyrdom in Rome. But nowhere does Paul pull back the curtain on his life and expose his inner self to such a degree and with such brutal honesty as he does in 2 Corinthians.

If you’ve never studied this book before, you’re in for a treat and a challenge. But don’t think for a moment that this letter to the church in Corinth is primarily about Paul, or even the Corinthians themselves. It’s about Jesus. Paul summed it up perfectly in chapter 4, verse 5: “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” There it is. Jesus alone and always is Lord. He is supreme, central, and all-satisfying. He is the center and circumference of the gospel we proclaim. And we, Paul says, are here simply to proclaim that truth and serve you in such a way that you find in him complete joy and satisfaction for your souls, for his eternal glory. That is 2 Corinthians. I hope you enjoy the journey into this remarkable book and, through what you read, into the heart of a man whose life-long passion was to make known the glories of Christ Jesus for the joy of the church.

Coming to Corinth

In the summer of 1991 I was given the incredible opportunity of participating in a trip that traced Paul’s missionary journeys. Athens, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and eventually Rome were included in our tour. So, too, was Corinth. As I stood among the ruins of that ancient city, I couldn’t help but think about its storied history and the critical role it played in the early years of the Christian church.

The history of ancient Corinth is the story of two cities. Perhaps the first event of importance occurred in 146 BC, when a Roman army invaded and destroyed the city and killed or enslaved virtually the entire population. Corinth lay in ruins for more than a century, until 44 BC when Julius Caesar saw its great potential and gave orders that it be rebuilt as a Roman colony.

Not only did Corinth soon prosper because of its position as a port city, it also became one of Rome’s most notable centers for banking and finance. We should also note its political significance. In 27 BC it became the seat of the region’s proconsul and the capital of the senatorial province of Achaia until AD 15, when it became an imperial province. Corinth was also widely known for its hosting of the Isthmian games, a biennial athletic competition second only to the Olympic games in importance. Corinth soon was regarded as the third most important city of the empire after Rome and Alexandria.1

The Character of Corinth

First-century Corinth, with a population estimated to be as high as two hundred thousand, has been described as “a wide-open boomtown” comparable to San Francisco of the Gold Rush days. Corinth boasted two harbors and was strategically located, thus enhancing its reputation as one of the leading commercial centers of southern Greece. Sailors and merchants from every city and province, and therefore from every race and religion, passed through Corinth. It was truly cosmopolitan in nature.

Not unexpectedly, Corinth became notorious for luxurious and debauched living. Although virtually every pagan deity had a cult following in Corinth (archaeologists have discovered temples devoted to Neptune, Apollo, Venus, Octavia, Asclepius, Demeter, Core, and Poseidon, among others), its chief shrine was the temple of Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love and life), where as many as one thousand temple prostitutes were reported to have conducted their business. Sexual perversion and immorality of every conceivable (and some inconceivable) sort was rampant. One is not surprised, then, that the word “corinthianize” could mean to “fornicate” and was likely coined to refer to the opulence and pervasive vice for which this ancient city was known.

Corinth’s reputation is notorious. Among other things, archaeologists have discovered there clay representations of human genitals that were offered to Asclepius, the god of healing. Evidently, the hope was that that part of the body, suffering from venereal disease, would be healed. However, it is important to point out that Corinth’s reputation comes from what we know it to have been like prior to its devastation in 146 BC. Thus we should be careful “not to read the old city’s character into the new city. . . . [Nevertheless], traditions like that die hard, and as a great port city it is unlikely that new Corinth established a reputation for moral probity (see 1 Cor. 6:12ff.).”2

Perhaps, then, we would be justified in comparing Corinth not only with the San Francisco of the Gold Rush days but with the San Francisco of today as well!

It was, however, in just such a place that the grace of God appeared. For here Paul spent a year and a half preaching the gospel.

The church in Corinth was composed largely of Gentiles, the majority of whom were at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder (although there were a few wealthy families). As Gordon Fee has noted, “although they were the Christian church in Corinth, an inordinate amount of Corinth was yet in them, emerging in a number of attitudes and behaviors that required radical surgery without killing the patient.”3 Both of Paul’s canonical letters to this group of believers attempt to do this.

The Church in Corinth and Its Relationship to Paul

Paul’s relationship to the Corinthians was a long and tempestuous one. From several statements in both his first and second epistles to the church, we are able to reconstruct a sequence of events.4

1. Paul first preaches the gospel in Corinth during his second missionary journey, probably in late AD 50 or early AD 51. He worked with Priscilla and Aquila as a tentmaker and probably lived with them. The results of Paul’s initial ministry in Corinth are recorded in Acts 18:1–11. While there he regularly went to the synagogue and reasoned with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, seeking to demonstrate, as was his custom, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah prophesied by the Old Testament Scriptures.

2. After one and a half years of ministry in Corinth, in the spring of AD 52, Paul made his way with Priscilla and Aquila to the city of Ephesus. After only a brief stay, he left them there and departed for Jerusalem. From there he went to Antioch, eventually returning to Ephesus where he remained for the next two and a half years (from the fall of AD 52 to the spring of AD 55). It was during this two-and-a-half-year period of ministry in Ephesus that Paul composed his Corinthian correspondence.

3. Sometime in late AD 54 Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians that is now lost (see l Cor. 5:9–11). We will call this “Corinthian Letter A.” He wrote this letter in response to news (either by personal report or a letter from the Corinthians) that some in Corinth had failed to separate from people within the church who had engaged in repeated sexual immorality. Evidently the Corinthians misinterpreted Paul, thinking that he was recommending they separate entirely from the wider Corinthian society.

4. Subsequent to this, Paul received reports from certain people in Chloe’s house (l Cor. 1:11) that there were problems in the Corinthian church, in particular the breaking up of the believing community into factions. Also, according to 1 Corinthians 16:17, three men (Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus) from Corinth came to him, evidently with a letter from the church asking Paul numerous questions about Christian behavior and belief (see l Cor. 7:1). In response to the report from Chloe’s house and the questions asked of him, Paul wrote what we know as 1 Corinthians. We will call this “Corinthian Letter B” (probably written in late AD 54).

5. In “Corinthian Letter B” (our canonical 1 Corinthians), Paul revealed his travel plans. He hoped first to go to Macedonia and then make his way south to Corinth. However, after sending Timothy to Corinth bearing the letter, he changed his plans slightly. Now he proposed to visit Corinth twice: first on his way to Macedonia and second on his way back from Macedonia (see 2 Cor. 1:15–16).

6. All of this changed yet again, however, when Timothy arrived in Corinth and discovered how bad the situation was. Timothy, or perhaps someone else, informed Paul of the distressing circumstances in Corinth and how the church had not responded to his letter (our 1 Corinthians).

7. Paul immediately put aside everything else and made an urgent visit to Corinth to try to put things right (probably in the spring of AD 55). This direct confrontation with the Corinthians turned out to be a bitter and humiliating experience for the apostle. He refers to it in 2 Corinthians 2:1 as a “painful visit” or one that caused “sorrow.” Apparently the Corinthians not only ignored the instruction of 1 Corinthians (i.e., “Corinthian Letter B”), but also had given their allegiance to one or two men who opposed Paul, treated him with disrespect, and ridiculed his apostleship. Paul was deeply hurt and offended (see 2 Cor. 2:5–8, 10; 7:12).

8. Because of this distressing experience, Paul did not stay long in Corinth. He returned to Ephesus and determined not to make another painful visit to Corinth. Therefore, he called off the double stop he had earlier planned to make on his way to and from Macedonia (see 2 Cor. 1:15–16). All this did was to give his enemies an excuse to charge him with being fickle, a man who vacillated and really cared very little for the Corinthian believers and their feelings (2 Cor. 1:17).

9. Paul obviously could not leave matters unsettled. He feared that his enemies would destroy the work of the gospel in Corinth. Therefore, he wrote yet another letter to them (in the summer of AD 55). This one he describes as the “severe” or “tearful” letter (see 2 Cor. 2:4, 9). We will call it “Corinthian Letter C.” In this letter he harshly rebuked the Corinthians and demanded the punishment of the man who had opposed and ridiculed him so maliciously (see 2 Cor. 2:3–4, 6, 9; 7:8–12). Titus was given the unenviable responsibility of carrying this letter to Corinth. Like “Corinthian Letter A,” this piece of correspondence is also lost.

10. Paul remained in Ephesus, where he faced some of the worst opposition to the gospel he had yet encountered. He refers to this in 2 Corinthians 1:8–10. In late AD 55 he left Ephesus and went to Troas, hoping to meet Titus there with news of how the Corinthians had responded to the “severe/tearful” letter. Much to his chagrin, Titus was not there (see 2 Cor. 2:13). Evidently he and Titus had planned to meet in Macedonia should the meeting in Troas not occur. Hence, Paul made his way to Macedonia, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Titus from Corinth. While in Macedonia he ministered to the churches there and began collecting money to send to the Christians in Jerusalem who were suffering from famine (see 2 Cor. 8:1–2). Titus finally arrived from Corinth with the good news for which Paul had prayed (the apostle’s response is described in 2 Cor. 7:5ff.). However, not all the news from Corinth was encouraging:

• Some had become critical of Paul for what they perceived to be vacillation in his travel plans; as far as they were concerned, this proved him to be a fleshly or carnal man who made self-serving decisions according to earthly standards of conduct (2 Cor. 1:12, 17).

• The collection begun by Titus for the church in Jerusalem had stalled (8:6, 10; 9:2).

• Despite what he had written in 1 Corinthians, some in the church had kept up involvement in the cultic and immoral life of the city (6:14–7:1; 12:2–13:2).

• Paul was still receiving criticism for his policy of not taking money from them but choosing rather to support himself.

• Worst of all, the church in Corinth had been infiltrated by a group of false apostles who seriously undermined Paul’s authenticity as an apostle and thus his authority in the lives of the believers there.

11. In late AD 55 or early AD 56, in view of these developments, Paul sits down to write his fourth letter to the Corinthians. This letter is what we know as 2 Corinthians. We will call it “Corinthian Letter D,” a letter Paul hoped would prepare the Corinthian church for his third and final visit (2:2–3; 9:4; 10:2; 11:9; 12:14, 20–21; 13:1–2, 7, 10).

12. In the summer or fall of AD 56, Paul makes his third visit to Corinth, where all is well. It is from Corinth at this time that he writes the epistle to the Romans. “It is probable that this letter [i.e., Romans], his most carefully structured statement, arose out of the issues raised by his most recent problems with the Corinthians, as more hastily expressed in 2 Corinthians. Did Romans have its genesis in lectures given in Corinth in the light of the recent problems there?”5

That, in a dozen easy steps, is the sequence of events in the up-and-down relationship between Paul and the church at Corinth. In all, Paul wrote four letters to the church, only two of which God providentially preserved for us in the New Testament:6

• Corinthian Letter A: written in AD 54; now lost (l Cor. 5:9–11).

• Corinthian Letter B: written in late AD 54; our 1 Corinthians.

• Corinthian Letter C: written in the summer of AD 55; com-monly called the “severe” or “tearful” letter (2 Cor. 2:4, 9); now lost.

• Corinthian Letter D: written in late AD 55 or early AD 56; our 2 Corinthians.

Thus we see that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians after he received the good news of how the Corinthians had responded to the severe letter (2 Cor. 7:5ff.). Paul is ecstatic that the church had repented and had even taken disciplinary action against the man who had opposed him. He must still on occasion explain his travel plans, the nature of his apostolic authority, and even issue a few warnings and rebukes. But even all this is couched in joy and confidence that the church in Corinth is growing and maturing in Christ.

The Literary Integrity of 2 Corinthians

Even a cursory reading of 2 Corinthians reveals that chapters 1–9 differ markedly in tone and emphasis from chapters 10–13. In 1–9 there is joy, confidence, encouragement, and a generally positive spirit. By contrast, in 10–13 we find harsh rebuke, cutting irony, sarcasm, doubt, and an unmistakable feeling that the situation in Corinth is desperate. How do we account for this radical difference between chapters 1–9 and chapters 10–13? Several theories have been proposed, the more popular of which are as follows.

Some insist that the differences between 1–9 and 10–13 are not radical at all. Although they address different subjects, the disparity between them has been exaggerated. To the degree that proponents of this view acknowledge the emotional differences between 1–9 and 10–13, they attribute it either to a sleepless night before Paul wrote 10–13, or the “mercurial temperament” of the apostle (he wrote 1–9 when he was “up” and 10–13 when he was “down”)!

Others argue that chapters 1–9 constitute one letter to the Corinthians and chapters 10–13 yet another. The former were written first in response to the good news brought by Titus, and chapters 10–13 were composed considerably later when Paul received word that the Corinthians had regressed and were again up to their old tricks. On this theory, it is argued that the two different letters were combined as one at some later date to give us what we know as 2 Corinthians.7

The most likely explanation is that when Titus arrived with good news from Corinth, Paul immediately sat down and began the letter, writing the first nine chapters. Its completion, however, was perhaps delayed for weeks, or even longer. “Most of us, after all,” D. A. Carson explains, “have occasionally put off finishing a letter, doubtless a letter a good deal shorter than 2 Corinthians. In this case, however, Paul may well have received additional news, bad news about the Corinthian church, before he had finished the letter; and if so, this would account for the abrupt change of tone at the beginning of chapter 10. In short, after finishing the first nine chapters, but before actually terminating the letter and sending it off, Paul receives additional bad news, and therefore adds four more chapters of rebuke. Second Corinthians is thus a formally unified letter, but does reflect a substantial change of perspective in the last four chapters.”8

Conclusion

This collection of meditations on 2 Corinthians was written with the same goal and audience in mind as were the three that preceded it: The Hope of Glory: 100 Daily Meditations on Colossians; To the One Who Conquers: 50 Daily Meditations on the Seven Letters of Revelation 2–3; and More Precious than Gold: 50 Daily Meditations on the Psalms. My intention in each of the books is to provide short but substantive analysis and application of the biblical text, suitable for use as daily devotionals, small group guides for study of God’s Word, or even as a commentary in preparation of Sunday school lessons, Bible studies, or sermons. However you may use this volume, I can confidently say that I wrote it “for your joy” (2 Cor. 1:24), that you may find ever-deeper and more long-lasting satisfaction in the glory and sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

1

Father of Mercies,God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1–3

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

On August 1, 2007, the I-35W bridge near downtown Minneapolis collapsed. Countless people still suffer both physically and emotionally in the aftermath of this devastating event. Some lost family members in this tragedy. Others’ lives were spared, but they were hospitalized with a variety of injuries. Those not directly involved, but perhaps friends with those who were, struggled to make sense of what occurred, asking questions such as, “Where was God? Who is God?” What did the church in that city most need to know about God on that tragic day?

There are any number of answers to that question. Some in Minneapolis needed to know that not so much as a sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Father in heaven (Matt. 10:29). They, therefore, being “of more value than many sparrows” (v. 31), may rest assured that this event did not catch God by surprise.

Others needed to be gently and lovingly reminded that none of us knows “what tomorrow will bring” (James 4:14a). Indeed, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (v. 14b). Instead, they and we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (v. 15).

And certainly everyone should stand with confidence and unshakable assurance on this glorious truth, that God orchestrates all things, both blessing and blight, both triumph and tragedy, for the ultimate spiritual good of those who love him and “are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

But perhaps most important of all, the church in Minneapolis and all the saints throughout Minnesota needed to know what Paul believed the church “at Corinth” together “with all the saints” who were “in the whole of Achaia” needed to know (2 Cor. 1:1), namely, that “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who is most worthy of the affirmation and proclamation “blessed,” is “the Father of mercies” and the “God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3) “who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Cor. 1:4).

Paul didn’t write this in some isolated ivory tower or from the perspective of a detached and out-of-touch theologian who himself had never encountered pain and suffering and the confusion that tragedy so often elicits. He knew what it was like to endure “affliction” and to be “so utterly burdened” (2 Cor. 1:8) beyond one’s strength that the only option left seemed to be death (v. 9). He had tasted the bitter dregs of “deadly peril” (v. 10) and was well acquainted with the darkness of depression (2 Cor. 7:5–6).

This is a man who had suffered the physical horror of being stoned by an angry mob (Acts 14:19) and had felt the relentless emotional pressure of responsibility for the welfare of others (2 Cor. 11:28). This is a man who had endured “far more imprisonments” and “countless beatings” and was “often near death” (2 Cor. 11:23). Five times he had been thrashed with thirty-nine blows and three times beaten with rods, not to mention having endured shipwreck and countless other dangers from both friend and foe (2 Cor. 11:25– 26). He knew “toil and hardship” and sleepless nights, even hunger and exposure to the elements (2 Cor. 11:27).

So, when Paul the “apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (2 Cor. 1:1) describes our heavenly Father as one who is the source of mercy and the fount of all comfort, we need to take heed, for he knows of what he speaks.

I suppose some in Minneapolis were inclined to curse God for what transpired in 2007. But as counterintuitive as it seems, Paul declares him “blessed” (2 Cor. 1:3), as one to be thanked and adored and praised! One would almost think Paul had read the book of Job: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:20–21).

There are two things in particular on which we need to focus in this passage. First, when Paul says that God is the “Father of mercies” and “God of all comfort,” he means more than simply that mercy and comfort come from God. Yes, God most assuredly dispenses these wonderful blessings, but Paul is more concerned to tell us something about God’s character, his personality, the disposition and inclination of his heart. In other words, we should read this passage something along the lines of: “the Father who is characterized by mercy” and “the God whose heart delights in giving comfort.”

Yes, of course Paul is describing what God does. But even more foundational is what he says concerning who God is or what he is like. This is his nature, Paul says, his personality, not simply his performance. What God does is a reflection of who he is, and he is above all else characterized by tenderhearted compassion and gentleness and love and a passionate desire to encourage and strengthen those who are suffering hardship and hurt.

The second thing to note is the comprehensive scope of God’s merciful and compassionate nature, for he is the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction . . .” (2 Cor. 1:3–4). The former phrase points to the fact that comfort of every kind comes from the heart of our Father. Whatever sort of comfort is needed, whatever its nature, you can trust God to be in plentiful supply. Murray Harris suggests that the word “all” may have a “temporal connotation, ‘ever ready to console’ (TCNT), ‘whose consolation never fails us!’ (NEB, REB); it may also denote the comprehensiveness of God’s compassion, ‘who gives every possible encouragement’ (NJB). In accordance with his limitless compassion (cf. Ps. 145:9; Mic. 7:19), God provides his people with never-failing comfort of every variety (cf. Isa. 40:1; 51:3, 12; 66:13).”1

And just how does God do this? What could he possibly say to us that would have this effect? Perhaps he brings to mind David’s declaration: “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you’” (Ps. 16:2). Or maybe Asaph’s affirmation: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Ps. 73:25). Or Paul’s promise: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, [or collapsing bridges]? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:35, 37).

I can’t begin to know what those in Minneapolis were and still are suffering, and I certainly don’t intend to pontificate with pious words spoken from the comfort and safety of my own circumstances. But this I do know and can say with all confidence: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord [not physical life or health or wealth] is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lam. 3:22–24).

2

Conduits of Divine Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3–7

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, 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. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

One thing that I’ve never heard said is that people profit the most from those who suffer the least. The most profound and lasting encouragement typically emanates from people who’ve experienced the deepest trials and greatest loss. When I’m hurting or wallowing in self-pity, I don’t instinctively turn to those who’ve been insulated from pain or who’ve never tasted the bitter dregs of disappointment and heartache. People who’ve walked through “the valley of the shadow of death” and bear its scars are a greater inspiration to me than all the collective wisdom of those who remain safely isolated on the mountaintop of spiritual triumph.

However, this isn’t something widely embraced in our day. All too often we look on the healthy and wealthy and conclude they must be walking in lockstep with the Lord, while those who struggle and suffer and endure an endless succession of heartaches are deficient in faith and therefore disqualified from any meaningful ministry to others.

Two of my heroes are a standing rebuke to such unbiblical thinking. Few have had a greater impact on my life than the Soviet dissident author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and quadriplegic Joni Eareck-son Tada. The former endured the injustice of Stalin’s gulag and the persecution of an atheist communist regime while the latter has spent the last forty or so years in a wheelchair. Yet their endurance and joy and resolute commitment to Christ have inspired millions, myself included.

There’s a sense in which they’ve been conduits of divine comfort, middlemen, so to speak, “between producer and consumers,”1 much like the apostle Paul described himself in 2 Corinthians 1:3–7. This calls for explanation.

Let’s not be naïve. Solzhenitsyn and Tada, again like Paul, have each undoubtedly felt the pressure to yield to self-pity and bitterness. After all, few things have the power to turn us in upon ourselves as do affliction and inexplicable suffering. When we hurt, we rarely think of others. We expect them to think of us.

Both Solzhenitsyn and Tada openly confess to their initial, indeed recurring, struggles with suffering. There have been times when they both prayed for death, wanting only to be delivered from an anguish that at times seemed senseless and unjust. I suppose some today would consider them failures, decidedly lacking in faith. How else, after all, does one explain their pain and constant battles? Surely this couldn’t be “God’s will,” or could it?

Reflect for a moment on your own seasons of suffering, and consider the two most likely questions that came to mind: “Why me?” and “Doesn’t anyone care?” The first is directed at God and implicitly accuses him of injustice. The second is aimed at others and explicitly charges them with insensitivity. But as I read this paragraph in 2 Corinthians 1, I hear Paul saying that there are two quite different questions that ought immediately to cross our lips: “Who else?” and “What for?”

I want to highlight two remarkable truths found in 2 Corinthians 1:3–7. There are undoubtedly other things that could be said, but let’s focus on these two in particular, in reverse order.

First, Paul clearly affirms that there is what can only be called a qualitative and quantitative correspondence between the intensity of human suffering and the availability of divine comfort. If there is an abundance of suffering, so too there is a supply of comfort that is more than adequate to sustain the hurting soul (see esp. v. 5).

No amount of human suffering can outstrip or exceed the resources in God’s heart to bring comfort and sustenance and grace to see us through. You need never doubt whether God is up to the task of providing what your soul most needs to survive, even thrive, in the midst of the worst imaginable heartache and hardship. It was only because Paul was confident that God’s comfort matched and exceeded his suffering that he was able to mediate that comfort to others when they faced similar, perhaps even more severe, trials.

Second, Paul also discerned a divine design in his hardship. What might appear haphazard and serendipitous to the human eye comes wrapped in the package of God’s eternal purpose. Look closely at Paul’s statement in verse 4 where he asserts that when God comforts us “in all our affliction” it is “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.” Pain threatens to anesthetize us to any observable “so that.” It seems so senseless, so random, so utterly lacking in good and devoid of a goal. But Paul won’t hear of it. Whatever degree of suffering I’ve endured, the apostle says, it was to equip me to serve you who likewise endure affliction of body and anguish of soul.

This doesn’t immediately resonate with many of us. We are by nature so intractably selfish that we regard our own souls “as the center of all providences” and “naturally seek to explain everything by its bearing on ourselves alone.”2 We struggle to envision how our pain and hardship could possibly have any relevance for or bearing upon anyone else. If nothing else, Paul’s confession “calls into question the individualism of modern Christianity and the sense of remoteness within and among many contemporary churches.”3

But there’s a vital lesson for us to learn in this truth. When faced with affliction, whatever its nature or source or perceived cause, stop and do two things: first, avail yourself of the corresponding comforts of Christ and, second, lift up your head, look around, and ask, “Who else, Lord?”

Here’s how Paul put it in terms of his relationship to the Corinthians. “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort” (2 Cor. 1:6–7). Nothing in Paul’s life was interpreted as existing or occurring solely for himself. It was for them!

There are two possible ways to interpret Paul’s use of the word “salvation” in verse 6. Certainly he is not claiming that his sufferings are redemptive, as if he accomplished in his body and soul what only Christ achieved at the cross. Rather, some believe Paul is afflicted for their “salvation” in the sense that they received the gospel in the context of his suffering. “What they tend to despise in him [his weakness that comes from suffering] is part and parcel of what brought life to them.”4 On the other hand, the word “salvation” may simply refer more to their general well-being—their spiritual safety and health as well as joy and victory over sin (i.e., sanctification) rather than any notion of deliverance from divine wrath.

In any case, as Murray Harris rightly notes, “Paul’s suffering of affliction and endurance of trial ultimately benefited the Corinthians in that he was thereby equipped to administer divine encouragement to them when they were afflicted and to ensure their preservation and spiritual well-being when they underwent trial.”5 I’ll be honest: I’ve never found obedience to this passage an easy thing. To look up and away from my own discomfort to take note of others for whose sake God is equipping me runs counter to my instinctive fixation with self. That’s why I must constantly be reminded: God’s comfort is more than adequate to meet my needs so that he may meet the needs of others through me.

So, I hope the next time I hurt or am confused or perhaps am put upon unjustly, I’ll not ask, “Why me, Lord?” but rather, “Who else?” Then, from the deep reservoir of abundant and wholly adequate strength that God supplies, I’ll become a conduit for the life-giving, refreshing waters of divine comfort for which others so desperately thirst.

3

God’s Design in Our Distress

2 Corinthians 1:8–11

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

L