2 Corinthians 1
2 Corinthians 1:1-24
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.
9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,
11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.
13 For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end
14 (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit—
16 to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea.
17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No?
18 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
23 Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth.
24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.
Rather than being impressed and discouraged by circumstances of life that are troublesome and difficult, there is comfort to be found in the presence of the Lord that will render them ineffective. This is not only effective personally for the moment, but it is also a powerful equipping for ministry in the ability to understand what others are going through and provide this same comfort to them. There is a need to always be aware of this connection to the body, where the experience of one has the potential for ministry and help to another. Paul, the faith man, is admitting that he feared for life. There is a reality in the experiences of life, but they are not without an answer that will include brothers and sisters in the Lord, sharing the love and provision of God to bring consolation and comfort. To affect this give-and-take of ministry, Paul indicated that he didn’t just rely on a random act of kindness. He set out to intentionally plan how this would take place with a heart for the effect it would have on them both. He indicates that just as the promises of God don’t come with a “yes” and “no,” so we should be in our commitments of life. God’s faithfulness toward us should be reflected in our faithfulness and dependability to others. This interdependence and reliance on each other is something that the Spirit has established in Christ to secure us in a place that is anointed to overcome in every life circumstance.
I love the bold faith of Paul in general, but verses 8-11, really jumped out. The affliction that they endured in Asia had been so severe that they despaired life and in that moment, they set their faith to not trust in themselves, but to trust in the One who could raise them from the dead should they lose their lives! That kind of faith is so challenging, to keep your faith activated through affliction even to the point of death, because even if you happen to die, you’re so filled that it doesn’t move you because God can just raise you from the dead!
An interesting facet to this is in the beginning of verse 11, when Paul said, “as you help together by praying.” We have a part to play when our body members are facing affliction and that is to pray and intercede on their behalf.
Video Comment
Video Comment from day after Mom’s passing