Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

The City of Corinth:

Sexually immoral city – Temple1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders “nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” NIV

Blue colar, lacked education, position and status1 Corinthians 1:26 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.” NIV

Purpose: to draw the Corinthian church closer to himself by gaining their confidence.COMMUNICATE; COMMUNICATE; COMMUNICATE!

Themes:~ Suffering and Divine power~ The work of the Holy Spirit~ Authority and ministry

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “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 have received from God.” 

2 Corinthians 1:9-10 “Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; “who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,” NASB95

2 Corinthians 1:20-21 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,” NASB95

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” NASB95

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” NASB95

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; “persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. “So death works in us, but life in you.” NASB95

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— “for we walk by faith, not by sight—” NASB95

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” NASB95

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;” NASB95

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” 

I. The source of peace and confidence – the call of God, 1:1-2Wait, wait, wait upon the Lord.Seek His will for your lifeBecause it is in having a sense of God’s call on your life that you will experience the peace and confidence of God.

We are family…For Paul the Corinthian church is the most difficult. God our faitherand Timothy our brother!    with all the saints!God is the Father of the churchJesus Christ is the Lord of the church!

II. Encouragement in the midst of suffering, 1:3-7

A.   The father of compassion and comfort:Psalm 103:13-14 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” NIV

Compassion = mercies / pity at the sight of ill fortune – silent grief

Comfort = aid given in the form of encouragementπαρακλεσισ / παρακαλεω – called alongside to help!

“Here let me help you up off the ground”“Here, let’s get you cleaned up.”“Let me hold you, bounce you, rub your legs and toes, let’s get an ice cream cone.”

He knows just what we need!

In all our troubles:Preachers, missionaries, those in ministry.  YES!But all of us!“all our stresses”  – no exception, no matter what situation encouragement is at hand.

B.  Not self-serving!  “so that we can”Stresses and difficulties so easy turns our attention and focus inward.But notice here how God wants us to use the comfort we are given.

Intended to prepare us for service!One of the astronauts who went to the moon – 3 days on the moon to walk a life time with God.

Troubles vary!Comfort is the same! – So that we can comfort othersHow does God comfort?  OTHER PEOPLE!2 Corinthians 7:5-6 “For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,” NIV

 God comes to us in the middle of stresses and suffering with comfort.Why?  So that we can be the means of comforting others!

Tony DungeJoni Earckson Tada!

C. Encouragement does not come in the form of deliverance from trouble but in the trouble!

We will encounter trouble.The sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives! – does not mean that we complete what Christ failed to finish on the cross.  But it means that to identify with Christ is to identify with the suffering that was an essential part of his earthly ministry.

John 15:18-20 ““If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” NIV

Suffering was an essential part of Christ’s earthly ministry.

Mark 8:34 “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” NIV

God not only does not deliver us from suffering.He allows it to overflow the measure of our ability to handle it!

Why?  So that we have to turn to God and depend on him to get us through!

TS: How bad can it get? 1:9-10  Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead!

Our lives are inescapably intertwined with the life of Christ!And our lives are inescapably intertwined with each other!

What is happening in your life?Are you thinking, “Why me?”But God is there and He is compassionate and He does provide comfort.What is the story he is writing!  Don’t compare…share.