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2 Corinthians 1 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00We're going to start [music] 2nd
0:01Corinthians. All the evidence would
0:03indicate that 1st Corinthians was
0:05written in the spring of 55 AD and
0:102nd Corinthians was written in the fall
0:11of the same [music] year.
0:13And it by all accounts the divisions
0:17that Paul [music] speaks of and
0:18addresses in 1st Corinthians are still
0:21in the church. False teachers are
0:23challenging Paul's personal integrity
0:26and his authority as an apostle.
0:28>> [music]
0:29>> They're saying that he's not a genuine
0:30apostle and that he was putting in his
0:33own pocket the money that he had
0:35collected for the poverty-stricken
0:37Jerusalem [music] church.
0:39Um Paul is the author of the letter.
0:42It is stamped with all [snorts] the
0:44markers. One of the interesting things
0:46about 2nd Corinthians is it contains
0:49more personal information [music] about
0:51Paul than any of his writings. In his
0:53defense, when he's on the hook, he
0:56becomes more vulnerable, more detailed
0:59in his autobiographical sketches.
1:01[music]
1:02Uh some of the main points of the book
1:04are one, Paul explains the reason for
1:08his change of itinerary. That's probably
1:10something that they were pointing at as
1:12perhaps
1:14uh his deceit. Two, he encourages the
1:17Corinthians to complete [music] the
1:18collection in preparation for his
1:20arrival. And three, he stresses the
1:23certainty of his coming and his
1:25authenticity as an apostle. And his
1:28readiness as an apostle to exercise
1:31[music] discipline if necessary.
1:33And that's kind of how the uh
1:36how the book is divided into kind of
1:38those three
1:39>> [music]
1:39>> parts.
1:40So,
1:42chapter one.
1:44Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the
1:47will of God and Timothy, our brother.
1:50To the church of God which is at
1:52Corinth, with all the saints who are
1:55throughout Achaia.
1:57Grace to you and peace from God our
2:00Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2:04Blessed be the God and Father of our
2:06Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies
2:10and God of all comfort,
2:13who comforts us in all our affliction,
2:17so that we will be able to comfort those
2:20who are in any affliction
2:22with the comfort with which we ourselves
2:25are comforted by God.
2:29So, right here he's establishing some
2:31things. He's saying,
2:34"I am Paul. I'm called to be an apostle
2:37by the will of God.
2:39That's not up for debate."
2:41And then he's saying, "Grace to you and
2:44peace from God our Father."
2:47Then he says that God comforts us in all
2:52our afflictions,
2:54so that
2:56we will be able to comfort those who are
2:59in any affliction with the comfort with
3:02which we ourselves are comforted by God.
3:06And that is a profound statement.
3:08Because the hardest thing that any
3:10Christian goes through
3:12or faces in life is why am I hurting?
3:17And the reason why we're why we're
3:19hurting
3:21is going to remain a mystery until we
3:24are surrounded by a community
3:27who can benefit from what we learn and
3:30what [clears throat] we achieve and the
3:33victory we attain through our suffering.
3:37If I'm going through something painful
3:40and I don't know what it's for,
3:42it's robbed of meaning and it's 10 times
3:45worse. But if I'm going through
3:47something painful and I know that God is
3:50going to comfort me
3:52directly by the spirit or through others
3:55and that I need to
3:57use this as a filling station
4:01with an anticipation of a giving
4:03opportunity
4:05around the corner where I'm going to
4:07give to others what I have received then
4:10pain takes on dimensionality and meaning
4:14in the context of a community. If you're
4:17alone
4:19you don't know what you're going through
4:20it.
4:21If you're with your brothers and sisters
4:23you do.
4:25Then he begins in verse 5, "For just as
4:28the sufferings of Christ are ours
4:32in abundance
4:35so also our comfort is abundant
4:39through Christ."
4:41And the word comfort in the English
4:45comes from comforte.
4:49Uh forte like a fort.
4:51It's like with strength.
4:54With a fortress.
4:56It doesn't just mean to be soothed, the
4:59English word comfort.
5:01It means to be strengthened.
5:04To get behind the castle walls
5:07and hold on until God comes and brings
5:10relief.
5:12The word that Paul's using
5:15is not disconnected from that.
5:17But it it can have it can mean to have
5:19compassion, it can mean to have support.
5:23It can mean to have consolation. It can
5:25mean to have advocacy.
5:28That if you're in a trial, you're not
5:31going through it by yourself. You have
5:33someone more powerful who is
5:37in the counselor seat next to you in the
5:40courtroom.
5:44For just as the sufferings of Christ are
5:48ours in abundance.
5:54Christ's suffering
5:56was not just his in abundance.
5:59It's ours in abundance.
6:02So, what does that mean?
6:04That means God is still working in the
6:07church
6:09through [snorts] the the aspect of
6:12hurting
6:13and resurrection, dying and
6:16resurrection.
6:17Now, does that mean that if I'm
6:20experiencing the sufferings of Christ
6:22that I'm atoning for somebody's sin
6:24before God?
6:25No.
6:26Nobody can add to or take away from the
6:29finished atoning work of Christ on the
6:32cross.
6:33Period. Full stop.
6:35However,
6:37we are supposed to be expressing
6:40that love to one another. And the way
6:43we're going to express it is by taking
6:45up our crosses and bearing pain with
6:49grace and demonstrating
6:52a a life and a love and a victory that
6:55overcomes that pain.
6:59But if we are afflicted,
7:02it is for your comfort and salvation.
7:08Or if we are comforted,
7:11it is for your comfort,
7:14which is effective in the patient
7:16enduring of the same suffering which we
7:19also suffer.
7:22And our hope for you is firmly grounded,
7:26knowing that as you are sharers of our
7:29sufferings, so also you are sharers of
7:32our comfort.
7:34What is he saying?
7:36He's saying if we're going through
7:37anything,
7:39it is for your comfort
7:42and your salvation. Paul's not saying
7:44that he's atoning for them,
7:46but he's saying God is releasing through
7:49tribulation,
7:51through pain, God is releasing something
7:55into the church that the church isn't
7:57going to make it without.
7:59People need the grace that comes through
8:03pain.
8:04Passing through the valley of weeping,
8:07the pilgrims make it a spring of joy,
8:10the psalmist says. And if you don't open
8:13those springs in the church that come
8:15only through hurting,
8:17the church is robbed of those
8:20of that grace.
8:22So, if we are afflicted, it is for your
8:24comfort.
8:26And this is a whole reorientation.
8:29Nobody can understand their their pain
8:32individualistically.
8:33There's got to be somebody that it's
8:36helping.
8:37And when a saint goes through a hard
8:39time, surrounded by a family and a
8:42community,
8:43he can go through it with dignity and
8:45purpose because he's trying to be
8:48faithful in defeating fear
8:52and isolation and ultimately death and
8:55demonstrating to the community
8:57faith is stronger, love is stronger,
9:01life is greater than what's happening in
9:03my body. That's the theme here. If you
9:06don't have that audience of a community
9:08around you,
9:09you're fighting with nobody in the
9:11bleachers.
9:12But if you have that audience, you're
9:14proving something. Here's what he says.
9:17Or if we are comforted, it is for your
9:19comfort, which is effective, your
9:23comfort becomes effective
9:25in
9:27the patient enduring of the same
9:30suffering which we also suffer. So, Paul
9:33says, "If I'm doing my job well,
9:36if I'm suffering well,
9:39you're going to find patient endurance
9:43when you go through hard times.
9:45That's what we're proving.
9:48We're proving that the devil can't
9:49control us through our fears. The devil
9:52can't control us through our hurts.
9:54We're proving what Job proved.
9:57So, what we're communicating is don't be
10:00controlled by the one who's hurting your
10:02body.
10:04Let the one who's purchased your soul
10:07have all of you.
10:10And our hope for you is a is firmly
10:12grounded knowing that as you are sharers
10:14of our suffering, so also you are
10:17sharers of our comfort.
10:19For we do not want you to be unaware,
10:21brethren, of our affliction which came
10:24to us in Asia,
10:26that we were burdened excessively
10:28beyond our strength,
10:30so that we despaired even of life.
10:36Indeed,
10:37we had the sentence of death within
10:38ourselves,
10:40so that we would not trust in ourselves,
10:43but in God who raises the dead.
10:46That means they were going through
10:48something so hard
10:50that they gave up that they were ever
10:51going to get out.
10:53They despaired of life.
10:55Well, this is where we're going to die,
10:56they said to one another.
10:59They had the sentence of death in
11:01themself. That means
11:03a judge says,
11:05"I condemn you to death." But their own
11:07bodies and their own crisis was saying
11:10that to them, "You're going to die."
11:13So that we would not trust in ourselves,
11:17but in God who raises the dead.
11:20So, instead of caving in and wallowing
11:22in their hopelessness, they said, "Well,
11:25if we're going to die,
11:26we better fix our eyes on the one who
11:29raises the dead. And we better live for
11:31his purpose and glory.
11:34And God delivered us from so great a
11:38peril of death
11:40and will deliver us.
11:43He [snorts]
11:44on whom we have set our hope.
11:47And he will yet deliver us.
11:51You also joining in helping us through
11:54your prayers so that thanks may be given
11:57by many persons on our behalf for the
12:00favor bestowed on us through the prayers
12:04of many.
12:05A lot of verbiage here. Let's try to
12:07unpack this.
12:09Paul is saying he found purpose in his
12:12pain
12:13in that it got his eyes off himself.
12:17We did not look to ourselves, but we set
12:20our hope on God.
12:22And that's a that's progress right
12:23there.
12:25And he says that God
12:28who will deliver us, he has delivered us
12:31and he will deliver us. And then he
12:32says,
12:33"You Corinthians were joining
12:37in the help through your prayers
12:40so that thanks [snorts] may be given by
12:43many persons on our behalf for the favor
12:46bestowed on us through the prayers of
12:48many." So he's saying, "God delivered
12:50us, but you know how he he did it? He
12:52did it through your prayers. You
12:54released help to us.
12:55And God said, 'Oh, okay.
12:58Well, I'm going to I'm going to help
12:59them. I'm going to deliver them from
13:01this affliction
13:02so that thanks can go up to God that he
13:05still helps people.'"
13:08When somebody's going through something
13:11in our fellowship or in another
13:12fellowship and we all bind together,
13:15God's help is released through the
13:18prayers
13:20so that thanks can be given to God that
13:22he's hearing his people and that we're
13:24helping and loving each other
13:27and that he's bringing the deliverance
13:29we saw.
13:32For our proud confidence is this.
13:38Was Paul proud?
13:40Our proud confidence is this.
13:44The testimony of our conscience.
13:50That in holiness and godly sincerity,
13:54not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace
13:58of God, we have conducted ourselves in
14:01the world and especially toward you.
14:05What he's basically saying is here's
14:06what we have to be proud of.
14:09We haven't been proud.
14:12He's saying our confidence, our proud
14:14confidence is this. That in holiness and
14:18godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom,
14:22but in grace, we have conducted
14:25ourselves towards you.
14:27For we write nothing else to you
14:30than what you read and understand. And I
14:33hope you will understand until the end.
14:36Just as you also partially did
14:38understand us.
14:40That
14:41we are your reason to be proud.
14:45As you also are ours.
14:48In the day of the Lord Jesus.
14:51He says we're we're writing to you so
14:53that you can get something. And And what
14:55I want you to get
14:57is that
14:58you should be proud of us.
15:01And we should be proud of you.
15:04If when we succeed, you get happy and
15:07say "Ha, thank you, Lord. I'm so proud
15:10of the victory you're bringing Paul and
15:12the apostles."
15:14Then that's how it should be.
15:16And if when you succeed, we go "Thank
15:18you, Jesus. It's working."
15:20That's how it should be.
15:23That's our boast in the Lord, not what
15:25we did by ourselves, but what our
15:27brothers did and the successes they got.
15:31In this confidence, I intended at first
15:33to come to you so that you might twice
15:36receive a blessing.
15:40That is, to pass your way
15:44into Macedonia and again from Macedonia
15:46to come to you
15:48and by you to be helped on my journey to
15:51Judea.
15:53Therefore, I was not vacillating when I
15:55intended to do this, was I?
15:59Or what I purpose, do I purpose
16:01according to the flesh, so that with me
16:04there will be yes, yes and no, no at the
16:07same time?
16:09But as God is faithful, our word to you
16:12is not yes and no.
16:14For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who
16:16was preached among you by us,
16:19by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not
16:22yes and no, but is yes in him.
16:26For as many as are the promises of God,
16:28in him they are yes.
16:31Therefore, also through him is our amen
16:34to the glory of God through us.
16:38Now, he who establishes us with you in
16:42Christ and anointed us is God.
16:47Who also sealed us and gave us the
16:49spirit in our hearts
16:52as a pledge.
16:54But I call God as witness to my soul
16:58that to spare you, I did not come to
17:01Corinth.
17:03Not that we lord it over your face,
17:08but are workers with you
17:10for your joy.
17:13For in your faith you are standing firm.
17:18What is Paul saying? Do you get it at
17:20all? Let's try to unpack this.
17:23Paul is saying he wanted to go
17:27but he didn't go.
17:30And apparently they're accusing him of
17:32being double-minded.
17:35And he's saying that's actually not what
17:37was working at all. I wasn't yes, yes,
17:39and no, no.
17:41My intention, his human intention and
17:44desire was to go visit them
17:48and to doubly bless them with a second
17:50visit.
17:52But he says
17:55the reason I didn't come
17:57is to spare you.
17:59Because you're so out of order.
18:01You're so full of rebellion.
18:03You're so full of division. You're so
18:05full of doubt
18:08that
18:09I knew if I came
18:10it was going to be an ugly season for us
18:12both.
18:14So I decided not to come.
18:17And he says, "It's not because God is
18:19yes, yes, and no, no. Actually, it was
18:21God who stopped me even though my desire
18:23was to come."
18:25God's the one anointing [music] me. I'm
18:26trying to be obedient to his spirit. And
18:28he says, "Just to be clear
18:30what God wants is yes and amen. What
18:33God's promises are are yes and amen.
18:36He has an answer.
18:38But in order to get to that yes and
18:40amen, there's going to have to be some
18:41correction.
18:43And I wanted to spare you that
18:44correction. I thought maybe you could
18:46get there through a letter or whatever.
18:49I'm filling in the blanks, but do you
18:50get what Paul is getting at here?
18:52I mean they're they're accusing him of
18:54vacillating. That's the word Paul used.
18:56Was I vacillating?
18:58So they're basically doing something
18:59like we don't matter to you.
19:02When somebody more important comes, you
19:03go there. So [music] you changed your
19:05plans to come here. Paul's like, "No,
19:07no, no. That's not it at all. I wanted
19:09to come to you and God wants us to be
19:11united. But I need to be clear with you.
19:13The reason I didn't come
19:15is because you're out of order.
19:21Then he says,
19:23"I call God as my witness
19:26that to spare you, [music] I did not
19:28come."
19:30And then he says, "Not that we lorded
19:32over your faith."
19:34We're not here to try to kill what's
19:36working.
19:37We're not here to try to suffocate
19:40your faith. That is not our goal. And
19:43only the devil has given them that
19:44notion.
19:46But, we are workers with you
19:49for your joy.
19:51We're here to make you happier.
19:53We're here to make you more blessed and
19:54fulfilled.
19:56For in your faith, you are standing
19:58firm. We don't We don't want to take We
20:00don't want to lord it over your faith.
20:01You're very confident.
20:03That's not what we want to compromise.
20:06But, you're also out of order.
20:08You got things wrong. And they need to
20:10be fixed.
20:24>> [music]

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