2 Corinthians Ch1v3-11 - God's Good In Our Troubles

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Good morning everyone, nice to see you.

! Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians.

To help us in our studies, this new series, there's a little booklet, 2 Corinthians, and

the big theme is, weakness is our strength.

We tend to think that weakness is our weakness.

Weakness is our strength.

So please do take your copy of that, it will help you know some of the themes and some

of the big ideas as we go along.

We're going to read this morning our text, which is chapter 1, verse 3, down to verse 11.

Isaiah 1:3

2 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 3 to verse 11.

2 Corinthians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the

God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in

any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

If we are distressed.

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation.

If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

And our hope for you is firm.

Because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt we had received a sentence of death.

But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.

He has delivered us from such deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.

On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Well, this ancient letter written by Paul to a church in Corinth is also a word for us today.

So we're going to pray and ask for God's help, and we'll look at it together.

Father, thank you for the privilege of gathering together today to hear your word, your wisdom, your truth.

Father, thank you for the privilege of having us.

Father, thank you for the privilege of having us.

That we are.

That we are.

That we are.

That we are.

And that we will learn much together.

And that we will be blessed as a church family.

So be our teacher through me as I speak.

And bring glory to your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, Corinth was the church of big dreams and great hopes.

It was the kind of church you just might want to go to.

Their speakers were very impressive.

Their ministries were attractive.

They prized success and they praised the influential.

It was a church of the movers and shakers.

No room for weak and fragile people.

Corinth was the church of no troubles.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

We might even secretly want to be part of a church like that.

Could you imagine a church of no troubles?

However, there's something they've forgotten.

The Christian life and Christian service is full of troubles.

But don't panic.

Don't run out the door.

Because what we'll discover is God uses our troubles to achieve good purposes in our lives.

And in the lives of others.

So as we look at the text together.

Let's see first that our troubles will be many.

Look at verse 4.

The God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles.

So that we can comfort those in any trouble.

17 times if you were to count.

There is a reference in this text to our troubles.

Sometimes it's described as suffering.

Distress.

Pressure.

Despair.

Death.

Deadly peril.

It's telling us that our troubles will come to each one of us.

In all kinds of shapes and sizes.

It could be a physical illness.

It could be a broken relationship.

Or family opposition.

It might be worries for your children.

Or fears about the future.

But whatever our trouble.

We can't hide from them.

And we can't avoid them.

In fact.

Look at verse 8.

We are to face their reality.

Verse 8.

We do not want you to be uninformed brothers and sisters.

About the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.

I want you to know about them.

Let's talk about them.

Let's share about them.

Now for many of you.

This is deeply personal.

It's not that you anticipate sufferings to come.

But you are in the depths of trouble.

The depths of trouble right now.

Some of you I know are living with affliction.

There are thorns in your life.

There are thorns in your life.

That have not yet been removed.

And it's painful.

Our troubles are many.

The second thing we want to learn is.

Our troubles are not wasted.

Most of the time we can't see any good in our troubles.

We complain and we give off.

There's something to pray away as quickly as possible.

Lord remove this suffering.

End this distress.

Stop the pressure.

Just take it away.

Yet so often.

The troubles remain.

And that raises all kinds of questions for us.

Doesn't it?

Not least.

Why does God allow all these troubles?

Well that's a big question.

And I'm happy to try and explore it with you afterwards.

Our text doesn't give a direct answer to that question.

But it does give us purposes.

That the reason why.

We go through these troubles.

Is God has a purpose.

And here it is.

In the hands of God.

Our troubles produce good.

In others.

Growth in us.

And glory.

To God.

In other words.

With God.

Our troubles are never.

Wasted.

In the hands of God.

Our troubles produce.

Good in others.

Growth in us.

And glory to God.

God has good purposes.

In them.

And through them.

So let's look.

At some of the purposes.

Of God's.

Allowing troubles.

In our life.

Here's the first.

Our troubles lead us.

To experience.

The comfort of God.

First we experience.

Comfort.

Verse three.

Praise be to the God.

And father.

Of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The father.

Of compassion.

And the God.

Of all.

All.

Comfort.

Who comforts us.

In.

All.

Our troubles.

God is not immune.

To our sufferings.

He cares for us.

He cares for you.

God might not always.

Remove the trouble.

But we are guaranteed.

And assured.

He comforts us.

In.

Our trouble.

He brings peace.

In the storm.

Light.

In the darkness.

Joy.

In the hurts.

And hopes.

In the fears.

God.

Our comforter.

Is our.

Rock.

And our refuge.

And our redeemer.

If you're.

Facing.

Trouble today.

If you're.

In that moment.

Right now.

Let me.

Reassure you.

That God.

Is your.

Comfort.

Listen.

To these words.

From Isaiah.

49.

Verse 13.

Shout.

For joy.

You heavens.

Rejoice.

You earth.

Burst into song.

You mountains.

Why?

For the Lord.

For the Lord.

Comforts.

His people.

And will have compassion.

On his afflicted ones.

God.

Our father.

Is our comforter.

He sees our hopelessness.

And our helplessness.

and he comforts.

But we also comfort each other, don't we?

Verse 4.

Or let's pick it up at the end of verse 3.

The God of all comfort

who comforts us in all of our troubles

so that we can comfort those in any trouble

with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

That's the purpose of our troubles.

The comforted now become comforters.

We've experienced compassion

so that we can be compassionate to others.

We receive the comfort of God

so that we can comfort one another,

our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now this helps us to see our troubles

from God's perspective,

with God's eyes.

So we experience trouble

for the comfort of others.

Look at verse 5.

For just as we share abundantly

in the sufferings of Christ,

so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

You see, Christ's death on the cross

was not empty or meaningless.

There was a purpose, wasn't there,

for Christ's sufferings.

A purpose for taking on our sin on himself

and bearing the judgment of God.

The purpose of Christ dying on the cross

was to bring us comfort.

Through the sufferings of Christ,

we receive forgiveness of sins,

peace with God,

the assurance of eternal life.

The purpose of Christ's sufferings

leads directly to our comfort.

So, verse 5,

just as we share abundantly

in the sufferings of Christ,

just as we follow him and suffer,

so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

In other words,

whatever the trouble is,

it will be matched by comfort.

In fact, the greater the trouble,

the greater the comfort of God.

We're given an example in verse 6.

If we are distressed,

it is for your comfort and salvation.

If we are comforted,

it is for your comfort.

Now, we get the second part of that,

don't we?

If I'm comforted,

well, I can comfort you,

and vice versa.

We get that.

But look how it starts.

If we are distressed,

it's for your comfort.

If I go through a trouble,

or a hardship,

or a distress,

there's a purpose for it.

It's so that I can comfort others

when they go through their suffering.

In fact,

as comforters of one another,

look what we do for one another.

Do you see what it says in verse 6?

It is for your comfort and salvation.

The comfort we receive

produces in you

patient endurance

of the same sufferings we suffer.

Do you realize how beneficial

your comfort is to one another?

brother,

your comfort,

your comfort

to another brother and sister,

not only comforts them,

it leads and guarantees

their full and final salvation.

it leads to their patient endurance

in their troubles.

troubles.

Because let's face it,

when we go through a trouble,

what do we do?

We want to give up.

I can't go through this anymore.

But someone coming alongside,

comforting you,

will help you

to keep looking to Christ

so that they don't fall away.

And the comfort will ensure

that you will patiently endure

and keep walking by faith

step by step

until you receive

and enjoy God's salvation

in all its fullness.

So what will this comfort look like?

How do we comfort one another

with the comfort of God?

Well, let me suggest three things.

They're not on the overhead,

but here they are.

Three Ps.

Here we go.

First, presence.

What we need

is the presence

of a brother or sister in Christ.

Have a look at chapter 7,

verse 5.

If we are going to bring

the comfort of God

to one another,

here's how.

Chapter 7, verse 5.

Paul is reminding them.

He says,

When we came into Macedonia,

we had no rest,

but we were harassed

at every turn.

Conflicts on the outside,

fears within.

Now that's trouble, right?

Conflicts on the outside,

fears within.

But God,

who comforts the downcast,

comforted us.

How?

By the coming of Titus.

Thank you, God,

for bringing Titus

to comfort us.

You see,

knowing that we are not alone,

that some brother or sister

can listen

and sit with us.

Not send an emoji,

but sit with us.

That someone cares.

That someone matters.

So first,

the presence

of being with someone.

Second,

as we are present with them,

we bring the promises of God.

Look at chapter 4,

verse 16.

We comfort one another

by reminding one another

of God's amazing promises.

So in the midst of our suffering

and trouble,

verse 16,

therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly

we are wasting away,

physically we may be getting old

and things are going wrong.

But yet inwardly,

we are being renewed

day by day.

God is doing a work

in our life.

So we can say,

verse 17,

that our light

and momentary troubles

are achieving for us

an eternal glory

that far outweighs them all.

Our troubles

may feel weighty

and heavy

and burdensome

right now,

but in the line

of eternity,

they're just a speck,

a blink of an eye.

And they are

achieving for us.

God is working

in them

and through them

to bring us

to eternal glory.

what a wonderful promise

to bring

to one another.

Not only as we're present

do we bring the promises

of his word,

but we pray

for each other.

We comfort

each other

as we pray

for God's grace

and help.

Go back to chapter 1,

the end of verse 10.

Paul says,

on Christ

we have set

our hope

that he will

continue to deliver us

as you

help us

by your

prayers.

The significance

and the importance

of physically

being with

somebody,

speaking the words

of God's promise

and praying

for them

that they would

experience

and know

the grace

and help

of God.

You see,

our troubles

in the hands

of God

are never wasted.

Picture

a waterfall,

Niagara Falls

if you like,

and at the base

is this huge

deep pool

and flowing

from it,

overflowing,

it goes into

a series

of other pools

and rivers.

Well,

the comfort

of God

is like this

enormous waterfall

flowing down,

filling us

with comfort

through Christ

so that we

in turn

can fill

each other

with the comfort

of God.

Our troubles

lead us

to experience

God's comfort.

second,

our troubles

lead us

to trust

the deliverance

of God.

Let's go

to verse

eight.

We do not

want you

to be

uninformed,

brothers and

sisters,

about the

troubles

we experienced

in the province

of Asia.

We were

under

great

pressure,

far beyond

our ability

to endure

so that we

despaired

of life

itself.

Now,

I know

that some

of you

have faced

days like

that,

days of

great

darkness.

The weight

of suffering

is so much

it's overwhelming

and we

just long

for life

to be

over.

Have you

ever felt

like that?

We cry

out,

God,

make it

stop.

Well,

in God's

mysterious

ways,

he uses

those very

troubles

to grow

our trust.

look at

verse 9.

Indeed,

we felt

we had

received

the

sentence

of death.

But this

happened

that we

might not

rely on

ourselves,

but on

God who

raises

the dead.

There's

the purpose

for our

troubles,

so that we

would not

trust

in our

own

ability,

but in

our

utter

weakness,

trust the

one who

can

raise

the

dead.

You see,

when you

and I

are overwhelmed

by life,

when we

have no

strength

left,

when we

are in

despair

of life

itself,

who are

we going

to trust?

Am I

going to

put my

hope in

the weak,

despairing,

broken

Johnny

Grant?

am I

going to

depend on

myself and

say,

come on

Johnny,

do better,

pull yourself

up?

Or am I

going to

rest and

fall into

the arms of

God who

has the

power to

raise the

dead?

You see,

the purpose

of our

troubles is

to tear

us from

self-trust

to trust

in God.

You know

what Velcro

is like?

You know

that ripping

sound as

you pull

it apart?

Our

troubles pull

us from

trust in

self to

stick,

to be

glued to

God.

And

so we

experience

trouble,

we rely

on God

and we

are

assured

of

deliverance.

Paul and

his

co-workers

had

experienced

life-threatening

trouble,

but he

was confident

that God

would see

him through,

verse 10.

he could

declare

very clearly

he has

delivered us

from such

a deadly

peril

and he

will

deliver us

again.

He has

seen us

through in

the past,

he's going

to help

us in

the future,

therefore,

look at the

rest of

verse 10,

on him

we have

set our

hope that

he will

continue

to deliver

us.

But how

do I

know?

How can

you be

sure

that whatever

trouble we

go through

God is

going to

deliver us?

What if

the troubles

are so

great?

What if

they are so

overwhelming

and I can't

even pray?

Will God

deliver me

then?

Yes

and a

thousand

times

yes.

And here's

how.

Remember

the time

we live

in.

We live

in a

time after

the first

coming of

Christ

and we

live at a

time before

the return

of Christ.

Christ has

come and

Christ will

come and

we're somewhere

along that

line.

Now look at

the next,

look at the

text in

verse 10.

he has

delivered us

from such

deadly peril.

Through

the death

of Christ

he has

delivered us

from the

greatest of

all deadly

perils.

Christ

delivered us

from judgment

and hell

as he died

on the cross

and he's

freed us

from an

eternal

suffering.

And

verse 10

he will

deliver us

again.

Christ has

promised to

come in

the future.

We don't

know when

but when

he does

he will

deliver us

from this

broken world

so that we

will enjoy

life in

his eternal

kingdom.

Think of

it this

way.

What's the

worst thing

our troubles

could ever

do to us?

well it's

that we

could die.

In fact

we all

will die.

All our

troubles that

we live

through in

this life

one day

the trouble

will come

that will

lead us

to the

grave.

But just

as Christ

was raised

so we

who are

in Christ

will also

be raised.

You see

Christ

entered into

the deadliest

trouble for us

a trouble

so great

that saw

him die

forsaken

by the

father

and as

Christ

was raised

from the

dead

he is

with us

now forever

by his

holy spirit

therefore

he will

bring us

through all

our troubles

even death

itself.

Christ

has dealt

with the

past

Christ

has secured

our future

death.

Therefore

we live

with the

sure

and certain

hope

today.

Look at

the end

of verse

10.

With

confidence

we now

can say

on him

on Christ

we have

set our

hope

that he

will continue

to deliver

us.

Whatever

trouble we

may face

remember

he has

defeated

sin and

death

and

therefore

he will

deliver us

in all

our troubles

even death

itself.

So

third

and this

sums up

all that

we've been

looking at

our

troubles

lead us

to praise

the grace

of God.

You see

the troubles

we face

in this

life

are never

easy.

We

experience

distress

and

discomfort.

We

experience

suffering

and

struggles

but not

one of

them are

meaningless.

Our

sufferings

are not

wasted.

In the

hands of

God

they bring

good to

others

as we

give

comfort.

They

bring

growth

to us

as we

trust

in God's

deliverance.

But

ultimately

our

troubles

bring

glory

to

God.

They

cause

us

to

praise

his

grace.

Look at

how the

text starts

in verse

three.

Praise

be to

God and

Father of

our

Lord Jesus

Christ

the

Father of

compassion

and the

God of

all

comfort

who

comforts

us in

all our

troubles.

Our

troubles

cause us

to

praise God

to

praise

God

for

his

comfort

in

our

life

and

in

the

life

of

others.

But

not

just

that.

Look

again

at

verse

nine.

We

felt

we

had

received

a

sentence

of

death

but

this

happened

that

we

might

not

rely

on

ourselves

but

on

God

who

raises

the

dead.

verse

11

then

many

will

give

thanks

on

our

behalf

for

the

gracious

favour

granted

us

in

answer

to

the

prayers

of

many.

Our

troubles

cause

us

to be

comforted

and

to

rest

in

God

which

will

result

in

the

praise

and

giving

thanks

of

others

to

God.

Who

thought

that

we

would

ever

praise

God

and

thank

God

for

troubles.

You

see

without

God

our

troubles

are

meaningless.

We

suffer

and the

world

says

suck

it

up.

That's

life.

Get

on

with

it.

What

a

hopeless

way

to

live.

It's

utterly

empty.

But

with

God

our

troubles

are

not

wasted.

There

are

good

purposes

as

we

go

through

life

in

all

its

struggles.

We

will

experience

God's

comfort

and

compassion

day

after

day

like

a

waterfall

overflowing.

We

will

be

filled

with

compassion

and

comfort.

But

get

this.

A

day

is

going

to

come

when

God

will

say

to

us

today

your

troubles

are

over

love

love

because

today

you

will

be

with

me.

I

will

raise

you

up

and

deliver

you

from

this

broken

world

and

you

will

share

eternal

glory

with

me.

and all the hurts will be gone

and all the tears will be gone

and we will enjoy the comfort and deliverance of God

in all its fullness forever.

So all the praise

and all the glory

to him

for his gracious favour

to people like us.

Praise God.

Let's pray.

Father, we recognise

that we are dealing

and talking about something

that's very real,

very difficult

and very personal.

We pray for anyone here today

who is struggling.

Father, fill them with your comfort.

Fill them with your peace.

Reassure them that they are loved by you

and cared for by you.

Remind them

that their life are in your hands

and just as you have been with them in the past,

you will be with them in the future

and nothing will ever separate them from your love.

Not any trouble.

Not even death itself.

Father,

Father, would you fill us with your comfort and compassion afresh

so that we may be those who are comforters of others.

give us your Holy Spirit

that we may be present with people

filling them with the promises of God

and praying for them in their hurts

that they may know your grace and help.

thank you for one another.

Thank you for this church.

Thank you for the comfort and help

that we receive from one another.

To you, we give all the glory

and all the praise

for the works that you are doing in us and through us.

keep us faithful

keep us trusting you.

Amen.