Introduction
Affliction. Suffering. We’ve all been there, or we will be. Suffering is an inevitable part of the
Christian life. The more I explore
the Scriptures, the more often I see God’s Word addressing affliction and
suffering and pain. Each of the
difficulties we face is an opportunity to observe just how our merciful God
meets our needs—our every need—through the gospel of grace.
There are many types of affliction that come to the lives of believers in
Jesus…it can be affliction resulting from simply believing in Jesus, affliction
resulting from living out our faith, affliction that results from our own bad
choices—our own sin—or suffering that results from relationship problems or the
sin of others. Our children may walk
away from us. Our spouse may have
a problem they are struggling with.
Our boss at work may have a goal of making us as miserable as
possible.
Then there is the affliction that comes seemingly randomly. That is, affliction that comes to our
lives that in our view has no apparent reason; affliction that comes to our
lives only because it is part of God’s overall plan for our lives. And no, we will not necessarily
understand the “why” of it. We
will not necessarily understand God’s purpose. In fact, more often than not, from a human perspective, we will see no good reason for the random
suffering that comes to our lives—period.
Even though what we will be examining this morning applies to all forms
of affliction, I would like you to be thinking about affliction that seemingly
comes out of nowhere, suffering that is not the result of the sin of others,
affliction that is not a consequence of our own sin. Comfort in that affliction is an important part of that
discussion.
3Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies
and God of all comfort, 4who 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. 5For as we share abundantly
in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort
too. 6If 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. 7Our hope for you is unshaken,
for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in
our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7,
ESV)
How does Paul start out this section of his letter to the
Corinthians? He intentionally
praises God, even though, as we will see, he had gone through an extremely
difficult time in his life. He
made the time to praise God, thereby demonstrating his confidence in God. Again, he had gone through an intense
time of affliction, but he knew for certain that God was with him through it
and that God would never forsake him, no matter what! God gives you and me that same assurance in the midst of our
affliction…
Paul knew that praising God in the midst of trouble causes us to focus on
him, rather than on our affliction.
Doing so will tend to
keep us from replaying in our minds, over and over again, the difficulties we
are experiencing. I have observed
that praising God enables us to see, as Spurgeon talked about, the fact that God uses our troubles for our good and for
his glory.
In v. 3, Paul referred to God himself as the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort. He saw God as
full of compassion, as a God who felt pity at the sight of the affliction of
one of his people. He knew that only
God is the source of all mercies,
the source of all compassion. God alone can provide divine
deliverance from our troubles and difficulties. Remember that—we’ll come back to it in
a few minutes.
It is worth noting that Paul mentions the mercies of God before he
dives into the afflictions we experience.
He also refers to God as the God of all comfort—the word for “comfort” has
the same root as the word for Holy Spirit and conveys the idea of encouragement. Comfort here is not referring to mere
support or some kind of inspiration.
Instead, it refers to God’s transformative compassion. His love for us and his kindness
to us comes in the form of encouragement, and
it changes us. It
changes how we view the suffering we are in. It causes us to understand and recognize that only his compassion
can have any impact on the affliction we experience. It results in us being able to do what Paul talks about in v. 4, comforting, encouraging
others with the same comfort God has provided to us. In Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, David
Powlison wrote, “What we learn from God
in our particular affliction becomes helpful to others in any
affliction.”[1]
Finally, understand, God is not only the God of some comfort, but
the God of ALL comfort. He is the one who encourages us
in the midst of our afflictions.
The comfort or encouragement that God provides us is comfort that is accomplished by God presently, that is, currently and actively, in the midst
of whatever difficulty we face—and it is not something that we can cause to
happen. Not only that, but God encourages
us through our afflictions, through our tribulations. Nowhere are we told as believers
that we are exempt from suffering.
No. It is understood from
Paul’s language that we will go through difficulties, afflictions,
suffering and tribulation. Even
so, God moves us through that
suffering—remember, he said he comforts us in our affliction—providing
encouragement along the way, and not just in some cases, but, Paul says, in all affliction, to the exclusion
of nothing!
Also in v. 4, we get a glimpse of one possible result, one possible
outcome, of the afflictions that come our way—Paul said, “so that”—that tells us
there is a reason—“so that we may be able to comfort (encourage) those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God”.
Here we have a statement of a habitual action on God’s part, along with a
statement of fact—“with which we are comforted” is a description of the encouragement
that comes our way from God not just on one occasion, but continuously. It is a habitual action on his part
that we receive encouragement from him and it is a certainty. God continuously providing comfort to
us in our afflictions is a fact. Period.
Because of that fact, we all have the ability, the gifting, to encourage
and to comfort, other believers as a lifestyle, as a continuous action. It goes without saying some of us have
that ability more than others, but all of us can provide comfort to one who is
suffering. Again, Powlison: “What
we learn from God in our particular affliction becomes helpful to others in any
affliction.”[2]
Understand that what Paul says here is not a command for us to comfort others. No, instead, it is a statement that describes
what the believer’s life will look like, that is, one of providing
comfort to fellow believers when they are suffering. We have the privilege of mediating God’s comfort to others in
any
and all affliction they may
be experiencing! John Piper
said, “suffering is a primary means of
building compassion into the lives of God’s servants.”[3]
He is right. We do have the privilege of showing
compassion to our fellow believers. This show of compassion is what characterizes our lives as
believers. But too often, we don’t
do so.
So what keeps us from comforting others in their time of affliction? If you think about it, way too often,
our identity is tied up in what
we can be to other people. Our identity is tied up in what
others may think of us, or it is tied up in how we think they see us—instead
of who we are in Christ—that we are loved by God because of what Christ
did for us. In other words,
we are focused on ourselves instead of others. We are focused on ourselves rather than
on who we are in Christ.
So, because we see our identity wrongly—that is, what we can be to others
or how they see us—what keeps us from comforting other believers is the radical
self-centeredness of the human heart.
So often, we don’t think we can provide comfort and encouragement to
another believer who is going through a time of suffering. Again, that’s because we are
self-absorbed and egocentric. We
are worried about ourselves and our perceived inability more than we are aware
of our identity in Christ—or more than we are concerned about a fellow
believer. We are worried we might
do or say the wrong thing, or we worry that we won’t know what to say, all
because we are worried about what another may think of us. And to justify our
self-absorption, we tell ourselves, “well that’s the Pastor’s job anyway”. Really?
I read an account of a man we will call Sam who was going through a very
difficult time. Sam had two
visitors (as opposed to Job’s three visitors). The first guy that came along sat and talked about his own
difficulties, his own experiences with suffering, and talked about how sin
could be the problem behind Sam’s suffering. This guy asked Sam what God was teaching him through his
difficulties, and told him that he needed to “cling to the promises” in the
Bible. He pulled out the old
standby, Romans 8:28, and laid it on Sam.
He prayed with Sam, but his “prayer” was more preaching at Sam than intercession
for him. Sam couldn’t wait for the
first visitor to leave.
Now, theology is important, but timing is everything.
The second visitor came, sat with Sam, cried with him, and just listened
to him as he poured out his grief.
He offered no cure for Sam’s suffering from Scripture, he didn’t talk
about what might have been the reason for the affliction—he just listened and
prayed with him. When it came time
for the second visitor to leave, Sam said, “I didn’t want him to go”.
Why? Why did Sam want the
second guy to stay with him?
Because the second guy was living out the gospel. He wasn’t worried about how he looked—he
was focused on his identity in Christ, which allowed him love God and therefore
love his neighbor. He was not
concerned about what Sam might think of him because he knew that what Jesus had
already done was what Sam needed in his time of affliction.
You and I experience the comfort of God for a reason, and it’s not just
for our benefit. We do not have to
be “skilled” in comforting others.
All it takes is an understanding—however limited—of what Jesus has done
for us and an understanding—however limited—of the comfort God has provided for
us. We don’t have to be great
theologians. And because of what God
has already done on our behalf, God will use us in the lives of others.
Verse
5-7
5For
as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too. 6If 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. 7Our
hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings,
you will also share in our comfort.
Sharing in Christ’s sufferings does not mean that we add anything to his suffering, as if his
suffering was insufficient to achieve God’s purposes. His suffering was sufficient. Paul is telling us that just as Jesus
endured suffering, so too will we.
The suffering we endure is for God’s glory. As a result of our faithfulness in the midst of that
suffering, God’s name is glorified.
The abundant comfort, the comfort that is more than sufficient that we receive
through Christ, is not only a
certainty (a fact), but is more than enough to counter the things that press
down on us as they come our way. The
difficulties, the suffering, the afflictions do not necessarily come our way
individually, either. It may seem
that one area of our lives is improving and then we identify another area that
is hurting—or two or three! Even
so, even if the afflictions come in a bunch, the comfort and encouragement that
come from God through Jesus is enough to overwhelm each of those afflictions.
Paul makes the point that our afflictions and resulting comfort from God
through Christ benefits the body of Christ, the church.
6If we
are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort…we know that as you share in our
sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. [v. 6, 7b]
Paul knew that the believers in Corinth were also experiencing
affliction, and that together, God was cultivating patient endurance in all of
them.
…when you patiently endure the same
sufferings that we suffer. [v. 6b]
He recognized that whatever he went through was going to benefit the
church at Corinth. The reverse is
also true—what the believers in the church experience benefits the individual
believers in the church. How
so? Well, we are given the privilege
of being witnesses to the dispensing of God’s grace in our lives and in the
lives of other believers. We get
to see how, because of God’s grace, other believers patiently endure the
affliction that comes their way.
This aspect of community is why being in community is so important!
As a result, we do not give in to despair. No. Paul said, …our hope
for you is unshaken…[v.7] So instead of despair, we as believers have hope—and that is not a trust in our own ability
to “get through” the suffering, because on our own, we cannot “get through” our
suffering. The hope we have is a
living hope, a hope in the future.
The hope we have is in God, remembering that it is God who sustains us, it is God who strengthens us, it is God who encourages and comforts us in all our affliction
[think back to v. 3]. Remember,
Jesus preceded us in all of it! He
has already borne the affliction for you and for me.
Do you see that here? In the
worst thing that could ever happen, the death of the Son of God, Jesus died for
us enduring the wrath and the fury of God, and took our hopelessness to the
cross with him. The best thing
that ever happened was the resurrection of Jesus. As a result, we can now have hope for the immediate future
and for the ultimate future, the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Can we comprehend that totally?
No. Obviously not. I certainly can’t wrap my head around
it completely. But that is exactly
what Paul was talking about in v.3—“mercies” and “comfort” = divine
deliverance from our troubles and difficulties…the gospel—Jesus’ death,
burial and resurrection—turns all
of the suffering, pain and affliction around. The gospel guarantees the believer a time in the future
where there will be no tears, suffering, or pain.
Again, Keller: “The erosion
or loss of hope is what makes suffering unbearable”.[1] He continued, “Human beings are
hope-shaped creatures. The way you
live now is completely controlled by what you believe about your future”.[2]
What do you believe about your
future? Do you think that this is
all there is? If you do not have a
relationship with Jesus Christ, then there is no hope for the life to come, let
alone hope in this life. I mean, without
Jesus, this is all there is.
On the other hand, if you know that you know that Jesus saved you,
rescued you from the consequences of your sin—that is, eternal damnation—then
you know that you know that this is not all there is. There is so much more!
In Revelation 21, John talks to us about the New Heaven and the New
Earth where we will be with God, where every tear will be wiped from our eyes,
where there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying or pain—no more
suffering and affliction! Without
question, the affliction, suffering and pain we experience here now is so very difficult. At times it is, as Paul says in v. 8, utterly
burdensome, beyond our strength, and immeasurable. We think we can’t go on. We are at our wits end.
But
¨
when our hearts are gripped by the gospel of
grace,
¨
when we have a right view of ourselves,
¨
when we see ourselves for who we really are in
Christ,
¨
and then when we think of the suffering
Jesus endured on our behalf,
¨
when we think about the suffering God the Father
endured on our behalf in the voluntary giving of his only begotten Son to pay
our penalty of sin,
¨
THEN we are strengthened, we are encouraged, we are comforted.
Remember, 21For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21]
God did not withhold his only Son.
Jesus came and voluntarily walked to the
cross. Did Jesus want to do
that? No. Remember he asked the Father to “let
this cup pass”? Jesus was in such
distress that he was sweating drops of blood, because he knew what was ahead
for him. If anyone knew what
affliction, suffering and pain was all about, it was Jesus. What Jesus endured was worse than we
could ever imagine, in that he bore the brunt of the Father’s wrath, AND was utterly forsaken by the
Father. And all that he endured
was then credited to you and to me.
That is the gospel, that is good news, and
that gives us comfort in our affliction!
The gospel is why the hope Paul talks about is reliable, firm, and
valid—a guarantee from God that is in concrete. It is important to remember, though, that this has
absolutely nothing to do with our own ability, or with our own level of
spiritual maturity. If we think
too highly of our spiritual maturity, we will fall flat on our faces. On the other hand, complete trust in
God opens us up to God’s comfort and encouragement.
Think about it, we have a great high priest—Jesus—who has the ability to
sympathize with our weaknesses, in the midst of our afflictions, and because of
that, we can confidently draw near to the throne of grace and receive mercy and
grace in our time of need.
8For we do not want you to be
unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were
so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, 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. 10He
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. 11You 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. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11, ESV)
Here, Paul provides us with a concrete example of what he is talking
about.
For we were so utterly burdened beyond our
strength that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. [v. 8b, 9a]
Let’s be honest. Many of us
have or will at one time or another in our Christian life think that what has
come to us is so horrible we just cannot continue on. The grief will seem totally
unbearable. We lose sleep. We can’t concentrate.
Our minds wander. We may find
ourselves in bitter anguish as we suffer affliction, and think death would be a
welcomed alternative. We wonder
what God is up to, and, if we are really honest, we ask ourselves how he could
really be sovereign over the entire universe. That is reality—
That is exactly what Paul was thinking.
We must realize that we must find our comfort in God or we will find no
comfort at all. That comfort
comes in the form of the “peace of
God”, which is not only the calm we
experience when we trust God, but also the sense of protection we experience when
our trust is in him. This is what the
psalmists were talking about when, in the midst of affliction, they talked
about the LORD, saying the LORD is our strength, rock, shield, refuge,
defender, stronghold, salvation, fortress, deliverer, and the horn of
salvation.
This sense of protection is the knowledge that nothing will come to our
lives that he has not already provided for.
Though we do not know the nature of the affliction he experienced in Asia
(it is not recorded in Acts), Paul wanted them to see first hand what he was
talking about. What we do know is
that the affliction was beyond measure—it could not be quantified. He thought for sure he was a dead
man. He believed he was going to
die because what he experienced was no different from a death sentence handed
down by a judge. The word
“despair” communicates the idea that there was no exit or way of escape
available to him. He was so
weighed down that he had no hope from a human perspective. In short, he was depressed. But, in v. 10, he says God rescued him
from what he perceived to be a death penalty, and, Paul says, “he will deliver us”. In other words, he recognized that it was God who saved him from that
death penalty, from that utterly burdensome affliction in Asia, and it is God who continues to rescue
him. Look again…
10He 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.
The verb “deliver” has the idea of “preserving” or “keeping intact”. Paul is talking about the past
deliverance by God, and the continuing deliverance God provides for those
who are his. He is pointing out
how God preserved him in the past, and his assurance that God would preserve
him in the future. He was absolutely
confident—notice he said, “On
him we have set our hope”—he
knew in his heart that God would continue to deliver him from all trials and
suffering. He knew that because he
knew that no affliction is able to cancel out God’s love and his gospel. Our hope IS the gospel! We’ve
been delivered by the gospel—what Jesus did and who he was—and we continue to
be delivered by the gospel.
So why? Why the
affliction? Why did he sense the
sentence of death in the midst of affliction?
But that was to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [v. 9b]
Paul saw the deliverance God provides is not unlike being raised from the
dead. He recognized that the result of his affliction was his
dependence on God and not on himself, to rely on God, to rest in his plan for his life. My
friends, get that! The result of his affliction—and the
result of your affliction and my affliction—is our dependence
on God rather than on ourselves! That
is what happens when the gospel is applied to our lives!
God’s design for every believer is for us to be persuaded, to be
confident, to trust in God alone! Not in ourselves! This word “rely” also conveys the idea
of doing so because we have been trusting him already, in the past, and that we
are continuing to rely on him alone, with the result being permanent. It is existing, it is living
in a state of complete trust in God alone!
Depending on self can be an easy thing to do when going through
affliction. Why? It is because relying on one’s own
strength, one’s own abilities rather than on God is our default mode. But there is nothing we can do for ourselves. Depending on ourselves, or being
confident in our own abilities in the midst of affliction is useless, and gains
us nothing. But, resting in what
Jesus has already done on our behalf enables us to recognize that:
10He 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.
Paul testifies to the fact that it was God who delivered him in
the past, it was God who rescued him from the affliction he referred to
in v. 8. It was God who rescued
him from the certain death he had faced.
But he also confidently testifies to the fact that God will rescue him from any and all
affliction in the future, that God’s deliverance continues into the
future. Of that, he is certain. It’s not a maybe. It’s not “gee, I hope”, like we say
today. No, he is absolutely
confident that God’s deliverance—the gospel—has already been accomplished at a
specific point in the past and that it continues into the future.
God wants to wean us from the world and confidence in ourselves, and he
wants to set our hope fully in him alone.
Suffering, Paul told the Roman church in chapter 5, results in hope!
Do you understand what all of that means for you and for me? It means we don’t have to do it! Getting through the afflictions of this
life is not dependent on our own abilities, or our own strength! It all has to do with God’s ability and his strength. It has everything to do with what Jesus
did on our behalf. We merely rest
in—we don’t work for—no, we rest in what he has already done. “Let him who walks in darkness and has
no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.” [Asaph in Psalm 50] That
is God’s design for us.
11You
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. (2
Corinthians 1:11, ESV)
Here, Paul again emphasizes the importance of being in community. We need you, Paul said, to join with us in prayer, interceding
on our behalf, thereby participating in the ministry God has given to us. He recognized that the prayers of the
Corinthian saints were effectual, not only because of the blessing—the gift, the
demonstration of his grace in the deliverance that was theirs—granted to him
and those with him, but because of the outpouring of thanksgiving to God by other
believers.
It is no different today—our church emails a newsletter every week that
has a link that will take you to the prayer requests. The people on that list, Paul would say, need you! They need your prayer support just like
Paul needed prayer support!
We must remember that the churches Paul wrote to were no different than
the churches of today, in that they were populated by broken, fallen
people. As a result, just like
today, the Corinthians had a tendency to be self-sufficient. Verse 11 blows that tendency out of the
water, in that Paul instructs us to remember that because we are a part of the
church, a body of believers, we are dependent upon one another for prayer,
support, and encouragement. We do
not exist in a vacuum. God has
brought us together for many purposes, and supporting one another in prayer is
just one of those purposes. The
excuse provided for forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, that is, “I
don’t have to go to church to be a Christian”, is just that. An excuse, a false reason that enables
somebody to do something he or she wants to do or avoid something he or she
does not want to do. In light of
Scripture, it does not hold water.
Summary
Brothers and sisters, the result
of our affliction is dependence on our holy and sovereign God. He comforts us in our
affliction, and we in turn comfort others with that same comfort. It’s not something we HAVE to do, it is something we just do
because we “get” the gospel, because we know that our ultimate comfort is in
the gospel of grace.
SDG
Thank you for this comforting/encouraging word. I was meant to read this today. My hope in Christ has been strengthened and I am reminded to find refuge in my God of all comfort!! What love, what grace He so freely gives us!
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