WEBVTT 00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:03.990 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.370 --> 00:00:06.910 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:09.890 This fall we're studying the book of Second Corinthians. 00:00:10.769 --> 00:00:13.070 Second Corinthians is a heartfelt and practical 00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:16.050 book calling us back to the life of the cross. 00:00:17.050 --> 00:00:19.730 We, like the Corinthians, so often pursue glory, 00:00:19.929 --> 00:00:23.269 admire eloquence, shun suffering, hide hurt, 00:00:23.809 --> 00:00:26.750 and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel of Jesus 00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:29.910 tells us that resurrection comes after a cross. 00:00:30.949 --> 00:00:34.509 comfort comes after being crushed, that the way 00:00:34.509 --> 00:00:36.750 up is the way down, that the way to glory is 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:39.909 through suffering, that his strength is made 00:00:39.909 --> 00:00:44.630 perfect in our weakness. We'd love to meet you 00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:46.270 and we hope you'll consider coming and joining 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:48.649 with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. in the 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:51.149 heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find us 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:53.869 online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:57.109 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:57.109 --> 00:01:00.640 sermon. God bless. Lord, as we enter into this 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.480 new text and sit in it together this fall, Lord, 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:10.260 I pray that the distance between us 21st century 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:12.400 Christians and those first century Christians 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:16.159 would diminish, that we might see ourselves often 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:18.280 in them as you so often work in us through your 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:24.060 word, and that we would be attentive to your 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:27.159 spirit, Lord, speaking to your church not just 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:31.219 then, but now. Lord, that you would move in us, 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:36.060 God, that we would see the beauty of the affliction 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:39.140 of Christ and the comfort of his resurrection, 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.540 that we would see the wonder and also the truth 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:47.980 that your powers made perfect in weakness. I'm 00:01:47.980 --> 00:01:51.579 God that our devotion to you would only increase, 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:56.239 that our love for you would only deepen. God, 00:01:56.340 --> 00:02:00.459 speak to us now, please. In Jesus name, amen. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.920 All right. This morning we are starting a series 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.759 in 2nd Corinthians. And I understand that may 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.620 seem odd to you. For one, the bulletin says 1st 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:19.259 Corinthians. That is entirely my fault. It also 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:21.979 may seem odd because we are not starting in 1st 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:25.680 Corinthians. Sounds like a natural place to start. 00:02:28.750 --> 00:02:32.849 There are a number of reasons for that. I think 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:36.689 for one, my intent is to actually cover the book 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:38.949 and I think 1 Corinthians will be much harder 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:41.969 to cover in a few months. Maybe one day I'll 00:02:41.969 --> 00:02:45.710 figure that out. Another reason though, and that 00:02:45.710 --> 00:02:50.169 second reason brings up the third, which is why 00:02:50.169 --> 00:02:52.810 it's audit. So we're gonna try to cover 13 chapters 00:02:52.810 --> 00:02:55.900 in 13 weeks. And even as you probably listened 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:58.300 to Melisse read that, you thought there is a 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:03.479 lot here. So pray for me. There are downsides 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:06.099 to this approach, I admit it. Yet I believe there's 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:10.080 some benefits to it. One, the early church very 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.159 likely, one of the things you read as you opened 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:13.819 it up is to the church in Corinth, but also to 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:16.039 all the churches throughout the region of Achaia. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.180 They're very likely would have received this 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:19.979 letter. They would have read it to the church 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:22.759 in its entirety, most likely, and would have 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:24.750 spread that letter around. eventually copying 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:26.889 it, which is why this text and 1st Corinthians 00:03:26.889 --> 00:03:29.129 actually appear in our New Testament. In other 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.069 texts, we actually have good reason to believe 00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:33.169 that there was at least one other letter written 00:03:33.169 --> 00:03:35.830 to the church in Corinth, very likely, possibly 00:03:35.830 --> 00:03:40.689 two. Those didn't make it into the canon of Scripture, 00:03:40.889 --> 00:03:44.030 and so likely they would have copied those, but 00:03:44.030 --> 00:03:46.370 at first it would have been read and people would 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:48.650 have digested it all together. I think there's 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:51.830 another good reason for taking it in this approach 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:53.969 and that's that I think oftentimes you can sort 00:03:53.969 --> 00:03:56.969 of lose the larger story that's taking place 00:03:56.969 --> 00:03:58.750 the larger points that are taking place as we 00:03:58.750 --> 00:04:02.090 delve into the minutia as helpful as diving in 00:04:02.090 --> 00:04:06.629 can be so anyway we are in second Corinthians 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:10.270 and we are in chapter one let me begin by telling 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:16.220 you a story that I read this week Feels like 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:18.899 this large ocean liner was headed across the 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:22.579 Atlantic from Portsmouth, England think at 1930 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:28.379 1931 to New York and as it neared its destination 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:32.699 there in New York a Lookout on the wing of the 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:37.399 bridge reported light bearing on the starboard 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:42.120 bow Is it steady or moving a stern the cop the 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:45.709 captain called back the lookout replied steady 00:04:45.709 --> 00:04:50.110 captain, which meant they were on their way towards 00:04:50.110 --> 00:04:53.689 a collision course. The captain then called to 00:04:53.689 --> 00:04:57.370 the signalman, signal that ship, we are on a 00:04:57.370 --> 00:04:59.670 collision course, advise you to change course 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:05.769 20 degrees. Signalman signaled back, advisable 00:05:05.769 --> 00:05:10.089 for you to change course 20 degrees. The captain 00:05:10.089 --> 00:05:14.410 said, send, I'm a captain, change course 20 degrees. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:17.579 Reply from the signalman. I'm a seaman second 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.240 -class. You'd better change course 20 degrees 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.199 By that time the captain was furious. He spat 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:28.959 out send. This is the mighty ocean liner HMS 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:34.100 Franconia change course 20 degrees Back came 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.980 the flashing light. This is a lighthouse Suggests 00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:43.420 you change course 20 degrees So this is not a 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:45.870 true story I read it and I kind of thought, this 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:47.930 is too, this is crazy. You can't have a lighthouse, 00:05:48.189 --> 00:05:51.930 but, and it's not, you know, I like Google this, 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:53.649 the story about the lighthouse, does it look 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:57.470 true? No, it was, people think it was first published 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:00.509 in about 1931 in the British magazine, The Humorist, 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:03.529 but it does tell us something very important. 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:08.389 It tells us a life lesson that we know to be 00:06:08.389 --> 00:06:11.689 true. And so does, so do the scriptures. And 00:06:11.689 --> 00:06:16.300 that is this, that conflict, often reveals character. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.220 That the afflictions, the trials that we go through 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:25.379 reveal how eager we are to listen, how eager 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:29.019 or how willing we are to change course. Our conflicts 00:06:29.019 --> 00:06:32.759 are revealing. Our affliction, our trials, our 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.139 crosses, they reveal us. There's not one person 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:42.040 on this earth who does not experience what we 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:45.800 might consider to be trials beyond what they 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:51.259 could bear. And this is true for you if you're 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:54.839 a Christian or not, okay? But this is certainly 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:56.879 true in the Christian life, trials that make 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:58.939 us consider if, you know, are we on the right 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:04.560 track? Do we need to hear a warning? Sometimes 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:07.620 they are trials that actually shake kind of the 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:11.759 bedrock of our faith. They caused us to shift 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:16.480 in a direction away from the Lord Often trials 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.980 and conflicts afflictions reveal not just our 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:28.620 character but our faith So Paul's writing for 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:30.379 a number of reasons that we're gonna get into 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:32.620 he's he's writing this church in Corinth to sort 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.579 of reestablish What was the relationship that 00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:38.439 had been at odds? So reestablish a positive and 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.139 healthy relationship with these churches. He's 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:43.459 writing for their comfort. That's one thing we 00:07:43.459 --> 00:07:44.639 hear quite a bit here. We're going to get into 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.220 that. But he also is writing for their commitment 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:50.899 to be convinced of the truth of God and Christ 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:54.319 in this cross. He's writing for their reconciliation 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.699 with him, certainly, but also with one another 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:58.800 and with the churches more broadly speaking. 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:03.560 Encouraging them to be reconcilers of the estranged. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:06.600 But at the heart of all of this is that they 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.019 had gone through their own trials their own afflictions 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:13.360 their own challenges We'll get into this but 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:14.819 you can think with me a little bit those of you 00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:16.540 who know first Corinthians all the challenges 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:20.540 they'd gone through and And they lived in a world 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:23.220 like our own actually we'll talk about this in 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:25.180 the future but Corinth in some ways was very 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:28.339 very modern city and a very affluent city, okay 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:35.279 and So like our own Their culture prized success. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:40.639 It prized ease. And they had initially, of course, 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:42.899 been presented with Jesus, the one who dies on 00:08:42.899 --> 00:08:45.600 a cross through affliction. And yet others who 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.460 had come in and said, you don't need to go that 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:53.059 route. Followers that eschewed weakness, that 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:56.159 shunned discomfort, that saw trials and crosses 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:58.960 and giving up oneself as an affront to faith, 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.320 not the bedrock of it, not the center of it. 00:09:02.570 --> 00:09:05.909 And so, beginning right here in the beginning 00:09:05.909 --> 00:09:10.629 of 2 Corinthians, beginning of this letter, Paul 00:09:10.629 --> 00:09:14.570 lays this out for them again, this sort of core 00:09:14.570 --> 00:09:18.990 idea of Christian faith, that power is made perfect 00:09:18.990 --> 00:09:22.309 in weakness. And he's going to unpack this in 00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:25.649 all kinds of ways. But he says, this is at the 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:29.590 center of it, that comfort comes in our affliction. 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.440 The deflection is not something to simply be 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.480 shunned, but it is actually often the way of 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:38.620 the church because it is the way of our Lord. 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:42.659 No doubt, I hope actually you were listening 00:09:42.659 --> 00:09:45.820 attentively and you noticed how central comfort 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:48.399 is in these verses, particularly verses three 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:51.659 through seven. But as central as comfort is, 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:54.240 affliction seems to be just joined right next 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.889 to it. And so, what I want us to do is actually 00:09:56.889 --> 00:09:59.850 begin in verse 8 kind of walk our way down and 00:09:59.850 --> 00:10:02.110 Consider some of the afflictions of Paul that 00:10:02.110 --> 00:10:03.789 are presented here and they kind of work their 00:10:03.789 --> 00:10:06.110 way out by the way in the rest of the book and 00:10:06.110 --> 00:10:09.909 very at various times and then we will Speak 00:10:09.909 --> 00:10:13.269 a little bit to comfort also. So Look down with 00:10:13.269 --> 00:10:15.870 me at verse 8. We're gonna start with the idea 00:10:15.870 --> 00:10:20.129 that first that Paul is experiencing an affliction 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:24.679 in the body Okay, meaning actually in himself, 00:10:25.019 --> 00:10:28.600 in his body. So I'm going to read verse eight 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:35.179 and then just the first half of verse nine. By 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:42.679 the way, Corinth is more a part of modern Greece. 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:46.679 Asia would be Turkey more in the ancient world. 00:10:52.029 --> 00:10:57.590 that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.549 felt that we'd received the sentence of death. 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:04.809 So we could read in Acts chapter 18 about Paul 00:11:04.809 --> 00:11:07.730 establishing that great church in Corinth. Paul 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:09.850 was actually there for about a year and a half. 00:11:10.850 --> 00:11:12.909 And like I said, he wrote other correspondences 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:16.190 to the Corinthian church. He wrote sort of in 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:18.470 terms of chapters, more chapters to the church 00:11:18.470 --> 00:11:20.669 in Corinth than any other. a church. He spent 00:11:20.669 --> 00:11:22.730 a lot of time there. He went back and visited 00:11:22.730 --> 00:11:24.330 them, those kinds of things. He had quite the 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:26.470 relationship with the church in Corinth. But 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:28.350 after his initial year and a half there, he went 00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:30.870 on to Ephesus. We could read about that in Acts 00:11:30.870 --> 00:11:35.269 chapter 19. And there's this initial kind of 00:11:35.269 --> 00:11:37.350 amazing power that goes out in the name of Jesus 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:38.870 as they're establishing the church there and 00:11:38.870 --> 00:11:41.490 he's meeting Christians there in Ephesus. And 00:11:41.490 --> 00:11:45.139 yet it moves on to a riot breaking out. Because 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:48.460 the message of Jesus challenged that thing that 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:50.879 was prized in the city, partly their deities, 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:53.419 but mostly their commerce, because of course, 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:55.620 where your heart is and where your pocketbook 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:58.720 is, where your treasures are, there your heart 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:02.019 will be also, there your gods will be. But anyway, 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:04.620 we don't know. One thing that's certainly true 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:06.440 about the book of Acts is that Acts doesn't tell 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:09.919 us all that happened to Paul. We read elsewhere 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.059 of other things that took place that happened 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:15.940 to Paul. And here he says that he despaired unto 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:20.139 life itself while in Asia. One of the things 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:22.440 that we do know later on in the book of 2 Corinthians 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.960 in chapter 11 that we're gonna read about is 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.679 that Paul says he went through many imprisonments, 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.320 that he went through beatings that he says were 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.539 often near death. He was beaten with rods, he 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.779 was stoned, he was shipwrecked, all the rest. 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:40.799 But I thought what was so interesting here is 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.279 that his affliction in the body, which is most 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.620 certainly actually literally ailments and other 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:48.100 people's actually hurting his physical body, 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:51.120 was also a mental anguish, a mental affliction. 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:54.240 Because he says there in verse 9, we felt that 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.759 we had received, we felt that we'd received the 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:02.980 sentence of death. And some commentators actually 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:04.840 say what we could really be talking about here 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:06.820 is that Paul is actually experiencing a mental 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:10.759 breakdown. that the afflictions of his body were 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:14.740 also the afflictions of his mind, of his spirit 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:19.200 in a way. Again, one commentator says this, his 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:21.899 natural human resources, his natural human resources 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:26.100 of energy and strength were worn down to nothing. 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.360 It's bad to hear a magistrate declare that you 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.279 are sentenced to death, which Paul experienced. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.480 It's far worse. when a voice deep inside yourself 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.299 tells you that you might as well give up and 00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:45.980 die. What I'm saying is that Paul was not speaking 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:48.840 outside of the Corinthian experience. He's not 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:50.799 speaking outside of your experience when he speaks 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.960 of affliction. He's saying, I know this experience 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.500 in my body, deep down to the point that I felt 00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:03.129 like I could die. It may be better for me. Paul 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:04.950 experienced afflictions in the body that made 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:07.929 him despair, even of life itself. And think about 00:14:07.929 --> 00:14:12.450 this. Here is the great apostle. Apostles were 00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:14.029 those that laid the foundation of the church. 00:14:14.070 --> 00:14:16.129 All of them suffered in various ways. But here's 00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:18.750 the apostle that went throughout the known world, 00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:21.789 establishing churches, planting churches, encouraging 00:14:21.789 --> 00:14:23.970 churches, writing letters. We have more of his 00:14:23.970 --> 00:14:25.950 writings than anybody else's in the New Testament. 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:29.070 You think of one of the great heroes of Christian 00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:34.360 faith, Paul. Affliction's in his body to the 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.480 point where he says, I think I might as well 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:42.500 die. I'm despairing unto life itself. What I'm 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:44.940 saying is that for Paul, the call to seek comfort 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:48.500 in affliction is not divorced from his personal 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:51.799 experience, but is actually felt in the deepest 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:56.279 part of who he is. He goes on though, there's 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:59.139 another kind of affliction and he moves towards 00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:02.529 so. This I'm going to call the affliction in 00:15:02.529 --> 00:15:05.330 his person, which is not just his body, but in 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:07.169 who he is, there's an affliction of what they're 00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:10.070 saying about him. Look with me down at verse 00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:17.710 12. I'm going to read to verse 14, okay? I'll 00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:19.610 have to explain this. I don't think this will 00:15:19.610 --> 00:15:22.309 be as clear initially as I read it. For our boast 00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:25.379 is this, the testimony of our conscience. that 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:28.399 we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.580 sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:34.740 grace of God, and supremely so toward you. For 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:37.240 we are not writing to you anything other than 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.139 what you read and understand. And I hope you 00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:42.860 will fully understand, just as you did partially 00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.580 understand us, that on the day of our Lord Jesus, 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:49.500 you will boast of us, and we will boast of you." 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:52.519 Now, probably what you noticed here as I read 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.529 that is the word boasting. It kind of begins 00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:59.769 and ends that paragraph, little envelope there. 00:16:01.889 --> 00:16:04.750 And it again is beginning something that we're 00:16:04.750 --> 00:16:08.309 going to see later on. But part of what we're 00:16:08.309 --> 00:16:12.070 going to see is that there were those other teachers 00:16:12.070 --> 00:16:15.870 who had come to Corinth. They'd come after Paul 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.909 and very likely they had come after he had written 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:21.129 his first letter. We're going to consider some 00:16:21.129 --> 00:16:25.250 of the themes of that in a second. And they had 00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:29.110 given the church more of what their ears tickled 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:32.049 to hear. More of what they really just wanted 00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:35.889 to hear and how they wanted to hear it. The message 00:16:35.889 --> 00:16:40.950 that eased their minds and their hearts. We know 00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:45.149 that in the ancient world, like our own, people 00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:52.639 fancied great rhetoric, eloquence. Well -spoken, 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:55.940 well -crafted words. And these guys were actually, 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:58.360 Paul will call them later on, super apostles. 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:05.099 Superman, the Avenger apostles. People that kind 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:11.400 of did the flashy and the showy. And they, it 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:13.920 seems as though actually they kind of lived along 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.759 the lines of the ancient patronage where they 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:17.859 would do this and they would receive money for 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:19.619 it. They were so good at it that people would 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:24.450 pay to listen to them. And Paul, in contrast 00:17:24.450 --> 00:17:28.769 here, showing his heart for the people of the 00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:31.890 church, but he says, I came to you with simplicity. 00:17:34.509 --> 00:17:40.049 And I came to you with a clear conscience, with 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:42.490 godly sincerity, but then he says, but not with 00:17:42.490 --> 00:17:48.470 earthly wisdom, with the grace of God. He says, 00:17:48.829 --> 00:17:50.589 I'm not writing to you anything other than what 00:17:50.589 --> 00:17:54.269 you read or understood. But he says, I wrote 00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:58.150 to you simply. In some ways, he's saying, I intentionally 00:17:58.150 --> 00:18:00.049 want you to know that this is for everybody. 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:02.230 And so I'm not trying to use lofty words. And 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:04.369 your ears are being tickled by the fanciful. 00:18:05.490 --> 00:18:07.309 But it wasn't just that they were sort of interested 00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:09.910 in eloquence, they were interested in ease. And 00:18:09.910 --> 00:18:14.460 doesn't this sound like today? which was to say 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:16.660 that the people then said, it's not just how 00:18:16.660 --> 00:18:19.500 you do it, but that we want us to give you a 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:22.019 life where it's not so hard. We want you to give 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:26.339 us commands that are not so difficult. So anyway, 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:30.539 part of the beauty of 2 Corinthians is how personal 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:33.599 it is. It's very personal. And we see and we 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.099 actually feel Paul's heart for the people there 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:39.339 at the church. And it is a masterful piece of 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:41.640 literature. And of course we understand that 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:46.000 his other writings He was great with words. And 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.039 yet Paul says, this is not how I come to you. 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:51.579 And you are desirous for this other kind of thing. 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.240 And so here's what was happening. Picture this, 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.960 right? He had established this church. He had 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.420 left. He had written them this other letter. 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:00.400 And now there are people that are saying, that 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.319 Paul, he doesn't even know how to talk very well. 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:07.740 He came to you with too much simplicity. You 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:12.400 ought to listen to us. And he's saying that you 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:13.700 don't care for me. You're not going to boast 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:16.420 of me because I'm too simple among you. Meaning 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:18.980 that there were attacks on who he was, how he 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:22.980 communicated, what kind of person he was. Part 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:26.420 of Paul's affliction was in who he was before 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:31.359 them. And they saw it as weakness, as inability, 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:37.440 and now likely as something to be discarded. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.480 He was not the boast of Corinth, he was actually 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.680 in some ways their embarrassment. Part of the 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.259 affliction that we engage with is others looking 00:19:48.259 --> 00:19:51.819 down on our ability, pushing us aside, thinking 00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:53.819 we'd rather have something a little bit more 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:57.099 fancy than you. Somebody who has it all together, 00:19:57.900 --> 00:20:03.039 has a greater education, whatever it is. Part 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:04.960 of his desire in writing this book is they will 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.769 come to boast in the weakness of the gospel and 00:20:07.769 --> 00:20:09.670 also the weakness of the communicator of the 00:20:09.670 --> 00:20:12.650 gospel that they will see that there's beauty 00:20:12.650 --> 00:20:18.049 in weakness and in being lowly. So what I'm suggesting 00:20:18.049 --> 00:20:20.509 to you though here is that there is this affliction 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:22.089 that Paul is presenting to them that it has to 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:24.049 do with how he was afflicted in his body and 00:20:24.049 --> 00:20:26.430 his mind and spirit. But also part of that affliction 00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:32.390 was actually from them saying no thanks. All 00:20:32.390 --> 00:20:35.190 right, a third way in which Paul was afflicted 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:39.400 I'm gonna call this that he was afflicted communally. 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:42.819 So in his body and personally and communally. 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:48.839 So what we know from 1 Corinthians, which again 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:54.059 is not the text of this morning, is that Paul 00:20:54.059 --> 00:20:55.799 had planned to come and visit them. In fact, 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.720 this morning our text, so he says this kind of 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.740 thing at the end of 1 Corinthians, but he also 00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:03.119 says this here, right? With this dynamic of Macedonia. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.000 He's like, I'm gonna visit you here and there. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:13.819 in this next section. And we know actually that 00:21:13.819 --> 00:21:17.119 Paul had spent probably three different visits 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.819 with the Corinthian church. So he visited them 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:25.279 a few different times. But here it says that 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.759 he didn't visit them to spare them. He didn't 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.039 come and visit them when he had originally said, 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.859 and it was for their good. that he didn't do 00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.339 this. But they took that as his words being, 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:40.019 hey, I'm going to come and see you. No, I'm not 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:41.180 going to come and see you. I'm going to come 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:43.660 and see you. That's kind of not to be trusted. 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:45.740 He wasn't faithful to his words. His yes wasn't 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:50.920 yes. His no wasn't no. And in some ways, that's 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:53.240 an affliction of his person, like I was just 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:56.000 saying, of his character. But there's something 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.299 else that's going on and it's this communal conflict 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:02.480 that's taking place, okay? So. A lot of you have 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.240 read 1 Corinthians. I hope all of you have read 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:10.059 1 Corinthians. If you've read 1 Corinthians, 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.240 you know that it is a letter full of division. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.720 It's the letter that I think a lot of churches 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:20.099 read and they're like, well, they're still Christians. 00:22:20.180 --> 00:22:24.299 I guess we're not that bad. It's a pretty rough 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:27.039 letter, okay? It's a letter about divisions. 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:28.920 Some of them are divisions about saying, hey, 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.920 I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos, and you put teachers 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:35.880 of God's word against each other. It's a letter 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:41.720 where you have wild sexual escapades being done 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:46.319 in the life of the church. It's just crazy. There's 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:48.859 Christians taking other Christians to court against 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:52.869 one another. The Lord's Table, which is supposed 00:22:52.869 --> 00:22:55.410 to be the table of communion, of common fellowship 00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:57.829 together, is a table where there's great division. 00:22:57.910 --> 00:22:59.710 Some people are coming before other people get 00:22:59.710 --> 00:23:01.930 there. Some people are getting drunk at the Lord's 00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:04.789 Table, by the way, not on little thimbles, right? 00:23:05.490 --> 00:23:08.390 That's not happening. Before other people are 00:23:08.390 --> 00:23:11.869 even there, it's just, it's mayhem. Some people, 00:23:12.029 --> 00:23:15.069 as you read on in 1 Corinthians, are using the 00:23:15.069 --> 00:23:18.119 very gifts of the Spirit of God. over and against 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:20.640 other gifts of the Spirit of God in unloving 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.599 ways. That's why you find the great chapter on 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:25.039 love sandwiched between two chapters on the gifts 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:28.640 of the Spirit there in that book. Like I said, 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.519 if there is one book in the New Testament that 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:35.480 can show just how messy church life can be, it's 00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:38.819 the book of 1 Corinthians. He doesn't really 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:41.460 pull any punches in that book either. He corrects 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:44.119 and corrects and corrects. And of course this 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.420 was for them, it was for their growth and their 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.099 good and their greater commitment to the Lord 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:51.539 and them to see the folly of sin and turning 00:23:51.539 --> 00:23:53.539 away from him and living a life for themselves 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:59.359 and against one another, to have a time of repentance. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.839 But he says, I restrained myself from coming 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:07.000 in a way because I actually want you to grow. 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:11.059 I want you to sit with this. I want you to understand 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:13.819 my words to you and I don't want my coming to 00:24:13.819 --> 00:24:19.900 you just full of tension. And yet here he is, 00:24:20.019 --> 00:24:23.460 once again, he's writing to them and he's saying 00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:27.339 that my yes is not no, my no is not yes, it's 00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:29.099 yes and yes, but I'm being led by the spirit 00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:33.019 and it is for your good. But here's one of the 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:35.609 really interesting things, right? So he writes 00:24:35.609 --> 00:24:37.309 them this letter. This is why I'm saying that 00:24:37.309 --> 00:24:38.730 there's this affliction within community. He 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:40.210 writes them this letter of 1 Corinthians. It's 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:42.829 all this correction. And we know from 2 Corinthians 00:24:42.829 --> 00:24:46.289 7 that Titus comes and he gives Paul this report, 00:24:46.309 --> 00:24:48.250 and he has other people ministering, and he understands 00:24:48.250 --> 00:24:50.400 what's happening in life for that church. And 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.460 he knows that if he were to come to them, there 00:24:53.460 --> 00:24:56.119 would be this intense affliction, this intense 00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:58.839 conflict. And so he restrains going to them because 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:00.819 he knows that the community there in Corinth 00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:03.740 and him are at such odds. Why? Because they don't 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:07.220 want to receive his correction from them. I mean, 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:08.519 you've probably experienced this. Some friend 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:10.660 comes and tells you, hey, I see this pattern 00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:12.059 of sin in your life. And you're like, I don't 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:13.539 want to talk to you anymore. Please get out of 00:25:13.539 --> 00:25:15.500 my house. You know that kind of thing? And he's 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:17.440 like, that's what's going to happen if I go over 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:18.880 and knock on your door, you're going to be like, 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:23.079 no. Paul, get away. He's like, I'm restraining 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:24.940 myself right now for your good and for our good 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:28.119 together. But what's happening is this intense 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:31.779 communal conflict, this intense affliction that's 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:39.259 taking place. For Paul, part of the affliction 00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:42.799 that he's suffering is the affliction of the 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.140 care for this community. And the wild thing is 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:47.740 that they're seeing that and they're saying, 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:51.720 oh, you're duplicitous. You're not to be trusted. 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:54.220 It's just the conflict and that the affliction 00:25:54.220 --> 00:25:57.819 is growing and growing And one of the things 00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:00.000 that we hear in in first and second Corinthians 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:02.940 is it almost if it's not one kind of affliction 00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:06.680 it's another if it's not, you know sexual escapades 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:09.680 and taking one another to court and Fighting 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.859 over gifts of the spirit and who's superior and 00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:15.519 all that Well, what we'll see in second Corinthians, 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:20.740 it's hoarding your goods It's you know, disdaining 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:23.180 the brother Paul, because you're going to say, 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:25.019 oh, you're a duplicitous, you're not to be trusted, 00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:28.859 you're unfaithful. It's not one thing, it's another. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.299 Chapter 2, 4, the last verse that Malise read 00:26:35.299 --> 00:26:37.940 for us tells us that Paul wrote his first letter, 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:41.079 out of much affliction and anguish of heart, 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.539 with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:46.799 let you know the abundant love that I have for 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.470 you. That is what he says. But he even says, 00:26:50.630 --> 00:26:52.490 now I'm writing this instead of coming to you 00:26:52.490 --> 00:26:56.769 because there is still a continual conflict between 00:26:56.769 --> 00:27:04.190 us. We communally are still afflicted. There's 00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:07.470 a communal affliction which Paul carries in these 00:27:07.470 --> 00:27:11.289 words here in this letter. And here's probably 00:27:11.289 --> 00:27:13.769 what I want to say. Brothers and sisters, isn't 00:27:13.769 --> 00:27:24.829 this our life? What do I mean? We all bear afflictions 00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:28.970 in our bodies and in our minds, in our hearts, 00:27:30.569 --> 00:27:36.109 our mental distress. We all bear attacks on who 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:41.130 we are, on our person, lambasting us for one 00:27:41.130 --> 00:27:44.549 reason or another, our character, our abilities, 00:27:46.289 --> 00:27:51.089 not just middle school bullying, and we all know 00:27:51.089 --> 00:27:52.650 communal strife. We know that in the context 00:27:52.650 --> 00:27:54.730 of our families, but also we know that in the 00:27:54.730 --> 00:27:59.009 context of church life. These are crosses that 00:27:59.009 --> 00:28:03.250 you and I must bear, bodies that ail us, friends 00:28:03.250 --> 00:28:06.730 who assail us, not just the foes who assail us. 00:28:08.849 --> 00:28:10.869 And what's part of what's taking place, I think 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:13.910 part of what's happening here is, it's almost 00:28:13.910 --> 00:28:15.789 as though Paul is saying, if it's not one thing, 00:28:15.869 --> 00:28:20.440 it's another. Job tells us in chapter 5, man 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.980 is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly 00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:26.000 upward. And Paul is sort of just listing these 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:30.079 out, these afflictions out again and again. And 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:34.559 I guarantee you can do the same. And maybe, in 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.519 God's grace, you have not despaired unto death 00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.920 itself, but my bet is that many of you have. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:44.859 You have wondered. Life worth living. Should 00:28:44.859 --> 00:28:49.119 I continue on? And in that, you also are wondering, 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:53.039 as the church in Corinth did, do I press on in 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:56.960 the faith? I have been shot at again and again. 00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:02.859 My body has hurt time and time again. Does God 00:29:02.859 --> 00:29:09.539 love me? Is there comfort for the afflicted? 00:29:15.789 --> 00:29:18.069 Part of what's happening is that Paul has experienced 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:22.190 as we have this trouble that can just cause to 00:29:22.190 --> 00:29:31.869 a despairing life He also knows that those experiences 00:29:31.869 --> 00:29:36.769 cause many others to give up the faith the life 00:29:36.769 --> 00:29:44.269 of following Christ Faith is being shot at through 00:29:44.269 --> 00:29:46.819 our physical experience and through our personal 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:50.819 experience and our communal experiences. And 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:55.519 life here on this side of glory seems to just 00:29:55.519 --> 00:30:00.339 be full of it. You know, we desire, you know, 00:30:00.460 --> 00:30:03.859 greener postures. If only this thing would change, 00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:08.279 if only I could get rid of that cancer, another 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:13.170 comes. If only that person wouldn't say this 00:30:13.170 --> 00:30:15.309 to me, then another person starts saying something 00:30:15.309 --> 00:30:17.569 else. If only I had kids and then you find out 00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:19.849 that your sin is shown to you in ways that you 00:30:19.849 --> 00:30:23.329 never imagined. Only if I had a different vocation 00:30:23.329 --> 00:30:25.450 and then you find that once again there's an 00:30:25.450 --> 00:30:31.390 affliction in that new one. I know it is tempting 00:30:31.390 --> 00:30:36.910 to wish for the next stage of life. Dream of 00:30:36.910 --> 00:30:40.099 a time when some affliction All affliction will 00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:45.859 be gone. But one leads to another. It seems like 00:30:45.859 --> 00:30:53.119 they just compound. As one passes, another comes. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:58.440 I hope you know that I love being the pastor 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:01.779 of this church. I really do. But let me tell 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:05.490 you, without naming any names, As soon as one 00:31:05.490 --> 00:31:08.869 seeming church trial seems to go to the wayside, 00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:12.890 man, another comes. It's just the way things 00:31:12.890 --> 00:31:19.589 are. It is. It is the way of this life. Affliction 00:31:19.589 --> 00:31:24.190 trial crosses. And I know it's the case for you 00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:26.970 as well. And Paul knew it was the case for the 00:31:26.970 --> 00:31:30.470 Corinthian church. And their temptation, and 00:31:30.470 --> 00:31:35.359 I guarantee it is your temptation, On one hand, 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:38.400 it's to say, I'm just gonna despair. And then 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:40.279 on the other, it's, I'm gonna listen to somebody 00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:43.319 that says, no, the good news is not one of affliction. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:50.839 You are for ease. Eloquence. It's all about the 00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:57.900 good life. He says, this is a different kind 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:04.019 of gospel altogether. For many of you, the seeming, 00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:07.180 Attack on your character and the dynamic at play 00:32:07.180 --> 00:32:09.359 in your body. It does cause you to despair of 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.420 life But for many of you it also says maybe maybe 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:14.720 this whole good news of Jesus. It's not true 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:20.339 I need to find my life somewhere else But in 00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:21.799 some ways I want to suggest to you this is where 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:25.140 comfort comes in For Paul here in these verses 00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:28.359 comfort and affliction are intertwined You know 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:31.259 that those that chat that paragraph verses three 00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:33.039 to seven there. It's full of comfort, but it's 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:37.569 also full of mentioning affliction. Because for 00:32:37.569 --> 00:32:42.509 Paul, and for me and for you, if you are a Christian, 00:32:43.869 --> 00:32:47.150 affliction and suffering is sharing in the afflictions 00:32:47.150 --> 00:32:52.730 and sufferings of Christ. It is part and parcel 00:32:52.730 --> 00:32:59.490 of the Christian life. God walking with us, us 00:32:59.490 --> 00:33:02.650 living into the reality of Christ and His suffering 00:33:02.650 --> 00:33:06.230 for us. And I want you to think about this. Our 00:33:06.230 --> 00:33:09.250 Lord went from one trial to the next. Think with 00:33:09.250 --> 00:33:11.490 me how He began His ministry there in the desert, 00:33:11.509 --> 00:33:16.769 in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan. No 00:33:16.769 --> 00:33:22.130 doubt a trial and affliction. And yet He goes 00:33:22.130 --> 00:33:25.029 back to His hometown, to Nazareth. What happens 00:33:25.029 --> 00:33:32.029 there? Out! A communal affliction. prophets not 00:33:32.029 --> 00:33:35.069 welcome in his hometown, the unwelcome prophet. 00:33:35.089 --> 00:33:37.509 And of course we could go on and on. But of course, 00:33:37.569 --> 00:33:39.769 most of all, we can think about how he was lied 00:33:39.769 --> 00:33:43.609 about at his crucifixion, how he was abandoned 00:33:43.609 --> 00:33:46.190 at his crucifixion, how he was mocked at his 00:33:46.190 --> 00:33:49.349 crucifixion, how he was spat upon at his crucifixion, 00:33:49.349 --> 00:33:53.849 how the very community that looked to him as 00:33:53.849 --> 00:33:58.829 the great leader abandoned him. Why? A desire 00:33:58.829 --> 00:34:04.069 for ease. Thinking that glory can come without 00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:07.470 a cross, that was their temptation, just like 00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:09.389 it was the Corinthian temptation, just like it 00:34:09.389 --> 00:34:18.650 is our temptation. In Christ's afflictions and 00:34:18.650 --> 00:34:22.909 his suffering, we are told he brings comfort, 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:28.250 and it is the only way he does it. It is not 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:31.440 away from the cross, but it is only through the 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:35.340 cross that comfort comes. It was in his trials 00:34:35.340 --> 00:34:37.159 that he was able to help those who are going 00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:39.119 through trials. It was in his afflictions that 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:42.920 he meets us in our affliction. It is in his cross 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.820 where we know that we can patiently endure our 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:50.059 crosses. It is in his resurrection that we know 00:34:50.059 --> 00:34:52.860 that we will not only share in his sufferings, 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:54.800 but brothers and sisters, you will share in his 00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:00.980 glory. You will. We know this on an earthly level. 00:35:02.539 --> 00:35:05.639 We know, I hope you know this actually, that 00:35:05.639 --> 00:35:08.460 those who have borne suffering themselves are 00:35:08.460 --> 00:35:13.480 so much better at walking into, sitting in, sympathizing 00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:18.000 in, meeting you in your suffering. How much more 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:23.800 our Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, can meet 00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:27.099 you in your suffering, care for you attentively 00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:29.699 in your suffering? And this is the good news 00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:36.059 of Jesus. It's not a message that eschews affliction, 00:35:36.900 --> 00:35:41.599 rather that seems as though it's those who are 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:44.019 actually being shot at, those who are being beat 00:35:44.019 --> 00:35:46.420 down in mind and spirit. It seems as though he's 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:49.199 saying, it's actually right there that you know 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.960 my grace most fully. It's not throwing it aside, 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:56.300 but it's entering into it with my power, that 00:35:56.300 --> 00:36:01.000 my power is made perfect. As Paul says here, 00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:03.880 as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, 00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:08.219 so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort, 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:12.800 too. That is the way of the Christian. Paul says 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:15.679 he knows it. He's speaking to the way the church 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:19.340 wants to say no to that. And he's saying this 00:36:19.340 --> 00:36:22.840 is the way of life because it is the way of the 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:27.269 cross and the way of our Lord Jesus. Let me end 00:36:27.269 --> 00:36:29.469 by sharing an illustration that I heard from 00:36:29.469 --> 00:36:33.989 my pastor growing up. He says, historians tell 00:36:33.989 --> 00:36:37.210 us that one of the reasons for Napoleon's remarkable 00:36:37.210 --> 00:36:40.710 military success was the ability and fighting 00:36:40.710 --> 00:36:43.570 spirit of his marshals, which were his senior 00:36:43.570 --> 00:36:47.409 commanders. Napoleon knew how much he owed these 00:36:47.409 --> 00:36:51.030 men. And here's the thing, Napoleon made these 00:36:51.030 --> 00:36:56.050 marshals fabulously wealthy. unbelievably wealthy 00:36:56.050 --> 00:37:01.489 in return. Virtually all the men were brave. 00:37:01.550 --> 00:37:03.590 They were on the front lines and they were actually, 00:37:03.789 --> 00:37:08.750 they were those who had fought and sort of earned 00:37:08.750 --> 00:37:12.510 their rank. They were the furthest from sort 00:37:12.510 --> 00:37:15.030 of the armchair soldiers, right? They were in 00:37:15.030 --> 00:37:19.230 the battle themselves. One of them who was much 00:37:19.230 --> 00:37:22.889 wounded was Francois Joseph Lefebvre. He had 00:37:22.889 --> 00:37:24.690 come up through the ranks himself. He had been 00:37:24.690 --> 00:37:27.449 a lowly sergeant and eventually got to this rank 00:37:27.449 --> 00:37:30.789 of marshal and had been rewarded immensely for 00:37:30.789 --> 00:37:36.730 his devotion and his courage to Napoleon. Anyway, 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:42.389 he was once asked to justify Napoleon's generosity 00:37:42.389 --> 00:37:47.510 to his marshals. And this is what he said. We 00:37:47.510 --> 00:37:51.809 will go down into my garden. I shall fire at 00:37:51.809 --> 00:37:55.050 you 60 times. And if you're still alive at the 00:37:55.050 --> 00:38:01.010 end, everything I have shall be yours. You think 00:38:01.010 --> 00:38:03.769 that man took him up on that? Highly unlikely. 00:38:06.369 --> 00:38:10.989 But conflict reveals character. Affliction reveals 00:38:10.989 --> 00:38:17.050 faith. The crosses that we bear in a way show 00:38:17.050 --> 00:38:20.480 how committed we are. to the cross of Christ. 00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:28.400 So if a man like Napoleon knew the value of loyalty, 00:38:29.340 --> 00:38:32.559 of bravery, of courage, of commitment in the 00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:35.139 face of trial, brothers and sisters, how much 00:38:35.139 --> 00:38:41.760 more our Lord Jesus? And if Napoleon knew the 00:38:41.760 --> 00:38:44.599 afflictions that his soldiers went through out 00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:48.280 of commitment to him, and he lavished on them, 00:38:48.909 --> 00:38:53.829 all that He did. The scriptures tell us our Lord 00:38:53.829 --> 00:38:59.269 will do so much more. I mean, the truth is affliction 00:38:59.269 --> 00:39:06.349 in this life seems to never end. One cross seems 00:39:06.349 --> 00:39:12.389 to be done, another is before us. And yet, our 00:39:12.389 --> 00:39:15.250 Lord says that while this is the life that we 00:39:15.250 --> 00:39:17.909 live now, there is a comfort beyond our imagining. 00:39:18.970 --> 00:39:22.369 awaiting for us who hold fast to the cross of 00:39:22.369 --> 00:39:30.889 Christ. Let's pray together. Lord, how tempted 00:39:30.889 --> 00:39:36.010 we are, just like the Corinthian Church, to find 00:39:36.010 --> 00:39:39.130 that it is in our trials and it is in our physical 00:39:39.130 --> 00:39:43.329 ailments, it is in our personal afflictions, 00:39:43.389 --> 00:39:47.690 it is in our communal distress that we want to 00:39:47.789 --> 00:39:54.130 throw it all away. Because we long, in a way 00:39:54.130 --> 00:39:59.289 Lord, we long most of all is for the peace of 00:39:59.289 --> 00:40:02.329 Eden, the wonder of the new heavens and the new 00:40:02.329 --> 00:40:07.210 earth. And yet God, so often we want it here 00:40:07.210 --> 00:40:09.289 and we want it now and we think that the trials 00:40:09.289 --> 00:40:13.909 of this life are not pictures of your grace for 00:40:13.909 --> 00:40:18.190 us, but hindrances of it. God, I pray that we 00:40:18.190 --> 00:40:20.269 would hide these words in our heart, that we 00:40:20.269 --> 00:40:24.090 would not sin against you, that it is in our 00:40:24.090 --> 00:40:27.590 affliction that we know the sufferings of Christ 00:40:27.590 --> 00:40:34.170 and we receive the comforts of Christ. God, teach 00:40:34.170 --> 00:40:39.969 us these things, Lord. Please. God, I pray that 00:40:39.969 --> 00:40:45.400 we hear listening now. but maybe spend time this 00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:48.260 afternoon contemplating how our trials have moved 00:40:48.260 --> 00:40:53.119 us away from you. And yet, God, I pray that even 00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:55.280 in those contemplations, that you would move 00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:59.880 us toward yourself. That we would see that your 00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:06.760 power is made perfect in our weakness. That the 00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:11.650 afflictions of this life only serve Bring your 00:41:11.650 --> 00:41:14.429 comfort and a greater desire for the life to 00:41:14.429 --> 00:41:18.429 come For there will be no more crying or tears 00:41:18.429 --> 00:41:21.090 or pain anymore They will be the former things 00:41:21.090 --> 00:41:24.429 and you will reign as the lamb who was slain 00:41:24.429 --> 00:41:28.289 who received Affliction here in this life on 00:41:28.289 --> 00:41:30.670 our behalf that we might know the comfort of 00:41:30.670 --> 00:41:37.619 the resurrection Pray this in Jesus name Thank 00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:40.099 you for listening to Second City Sermons podcast. 00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:42.599 We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:45.539 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:41:45.539 --> 00:41:47.900 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:41:47.900 --> 00:41:51.099 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:41:51.099 --> 00:41:54.400 find us online at secondcitychurch .org and on 00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:56.980 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:41:56.980 --> 00:41:58.480 for listening. God bless.