Most every night as Lili and I put Michael to bed, we walk up the stairs asking him a number of catechism questions. We ask him a number of questions such as, “Who made you?” to which he answers, “God” or, “What else did God make?” to which he answers, “Everything.” Among the questions we ask him, the third question is one that I really hope settles in his heart. That question is: “Why did God make you and everything?” to which he answers, “For his glory.”

Right now we know that he does not comprehend everything he’s saying. However, we also know that he has an incredible ability (as do most other young children) to take in and remember much. Therefore, our hope is that when the day comes in which he can comprehend more, he will not need to search for answers to these questions but will be able to pull from the very answers he has been speaking from the time he was able to speak. And among those answers he gives as we walk up to bed each night, I hope he indeed comes to know and treasure that third answer, namely, that God created him and everything for his own glory.

Thinking about Michael learning these things, however, has caused me to reflect on my own life and the lives of those who make up this church. For I fear that far too many times we, who have the ability to comprehend, do much of what Michael is doing right now. Namely, we know how to recite all the right answers, but when the difficulties and stresses of life come at us, we quickly lose sight of those truths and realities because we have not really taken the time to let them settle into our hearts. And that is a danger, for that which we know in our minds but do not treasure in our hearts is easily lost or dismissed amidst great pressures. I fear it because that, in fact, is what we find amongst the Corinthians which requires Paul to write this additional letter. They had allowed many truths which Paul had taught them and they had acknowledge to be quickly dismissed under other pressures, and therefore Paul writes to them 2 Corinthians.

In order to get the setting right in our minds, a timetable¹ should serve us well. Paul had first visited the Corinthians around AD 52. But coming to Corinth proved to be a great challenge. It was a city where there was a high premium on social prominence. Everyone was trying to outdo the other, and therefore viewed man in a great light. Thus, Paul almost left Corinth but eventually went back into the city, proclaimed the gospel, was able to see a number come to Christ, founded a church, and stayed with them for a year and a half (Acts 18:1-17). A short three years after he left, however, he was writing to them a letter to address a sense from many that they were more spiritual than others because of the gifts they had and had a number of issues needing to be resolved. After that letter, he had intended on visiting them after a short stay in Ephesus after passing through Macedonia (1 Cor. 16:5-9). That trip, however, was delayed and so he sent Timothy to visit them in the meantime (1 Cor. 16:10-11). After visiting the church, Timothy returned to Paul with a bad report. The problems had escalated, and there seemed to be a group influencing the church who had made themselves opponents of Paul.

These men, it seemed capitalized on the nature of the city (where social prominence was a priority) and on the problems of the church (where many saw themselves as “super-spiritual” and were tempted to a “health-and-wealth” theology of sorts). Thus, these men rolled into town, pointing out their own greatness in pointing to their rhetorical skills, high-dollar value, and many letters of recommendation. They then (again, it seems) promised great spiritual experiences, deliverance from suffering, and basically all those things which would come with a health-and-wealth theology. In addition, they criticized Paul and challenged his identity as a true apostle, pointing out his many sufferings, his willingness to work for free, his poor rhetorical skills, and his lack of letters of recommendation. Thus, many in the church turned against Paul, and Timothy had come to him with that news.

From there, Paul decided to visit Corinth himself. He no doubt figured this would allow him to stabilize the church and vindicate himself.² Paul would be quite disappointed, however, as it turned out to be a painful visit in which the church continued to challenge his apostolic authority and one individual attacked Paul quite pointedly.³ Therefore, Paul left and determined not to make “another painful visit” (2:1).

Yet again, however, in the meanwhile, Paul sent Titus to Corinth with a tearful letter warning them of judgment and calling them to repent (2:3-4; 7:8-16). Anxious to catch up with Titus, though, Paul did not wait for his return but left from Troas and met Titus in Macedonia (2:12-13). From Titus Paul received the news that a majority had indeed repented but that there was still a minority in rebellion, being influenced by these “super apostles” who were speaking against Paul.

Therefore, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians (about a year after having written 1 Corinthians) in which he fights to prove the legitimacy of his apostleship, declares his plans to return for a third visit (12:14; 13:1), and explains how God plans and works through Paul’s suffering and weaknesses (i.e. very things being used to attack the legitimacy of Paul’s apostleship) to bring honor to his name. Therefore, in 2 Corinthians, maybe more than in any other book; we get to see an up-close view of Paul, his ministry, and how God is using him. And in doing so, my prayer is that we will be able to evaluate these same things in our own lives, better understand how God is using us, and seek to live for the good of his people and the glory of his name. Let us, then, begin where Paul begins, looking at 2 Corinthians 1:1-11.

It is interesting that Paul begins, not by shying away from those areas in his life which the others are attacking (i.e. his suffering) but opens the letter talking about it. But, he does more than just talk about it; he explains what God is doing and how he uses suffering and comfort in the lives of his children. Therefore, I want us, this morning, to see understand what Paul is saying here in order that we might better honor God and walk in holiness in the midst of suffering ourselves. Thus, we will look at the truths Paul lays out one-by-one, fit them together into a coherent picture and theology of suffering, and then see what we need to do in light of these truths.

Paul opens the letter in a very brief and common fashion, introducing himself (noting that he is an apostle by the will of God), noting his audience, and speaking a blessing to them. Then, however, he quickly turns to the first truth that he wanted the Corinthians to see and that I want us to see this morning, namely, that …

God allows our afflictions and comforts us in them for the sake of others, specifically, in order that we might comfort our brothers and sisters with that same comfort we have known from God (3-4)

Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (3-4).

That is to say, whereas Paul’s opponents saw suffering merely as something which showed one’s unspiritual status, Paul points out that God has a purpose in it. And one aspect of that purpose in allowing and bringing afflictions into our life is so that God might comfort us and, thus, equip us to comfort others in afflictions.

And we have all experienced this in life. It is no great mystery that one who has suffered in a certain manner is able to minister to others going through that same thing. If you’ve suffered in a way you simply feel more equipped to minister to others. You know what things were helpful to you, how you felt, and what someone most needs in that situation. Therefore, Paul can begin pointing out that far from his afflictions showing he cannot be an apostle, they actually aid him in being able to minister. He begins this letter showing at least one aspect of God’s purpose in allowing afflictions. But he does not stop there. Rather, Paul goes on to point out that …

We will suffer and be comforted by God because we have been united with Christ (5)

He undergrounds his claim that we will suffer and indeed be comforted by God in our afflictions by writing in verse 5, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

Paul wants them to know that we should expect suffering and comfort therein. In fact, he notes that far from showing one not in good-standing before God, suffering and comfort within suffering is a mark that we are united with Christ. That is to say, we suffer because we have been united with Jesus Christ who suffered immensely. Jesus indeed warned his followers that because they saw him suffer and were now united with him, that they should expect to suffer as well. He said to his disciples in John 15:20, “A servant is not greater than his master, if they persecuted me, they will persecute you.”

However, at the same time, we know that the Father comforted Christ in raising him from the dead and declaring him to be both Lord and Christ. Therefore, Paul says to the Corinthians, in essence, “Why would we expect anything other than suffering coming to us and then being comforted by God? We have been united with Christ, and that is what we see in him.”

Therefore, though I doubt any of us today are caught up in a health-and-wealth gospel, I do imagine that for most of us, when we are found to be in the midst of suffering we think, “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” as if such would be unexpected by us. For not only do we hear the words of our Lord, but in addition, Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:12, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Nor (we could add) be surprised when you are comforted by God in that suffering, for both suffering and comfort is what we see in the one with whom we have been united by faith.

Thus, we may determine by verse 5 of our text that in many ways suffering under God’s sovereign purposes and being comforted by God in that affliction is one way in which we and those around us can be reminded of the suffering and comfort of our Lord (i.e. of his death and resurrection – the gospel). This is key as we move forward in attempting to see how Paul is constructing this theology of suffering.

However, we might ask, after noting that God comforts us in all our affliction, “How does God comfort us in our suffering?” Paul answers …

God comforts us in our suffering in two ways: 1) he either delivers us from it or 2) he gives us the grace to patiently endure it (4, 6-7, 10)

First, as we said, God comforts us at times by delivering us from our affliction. But how do we see that in the text? We see it first of all by noting in verse 4 that Paul declares that God “comforts us in all our affliction.” Then, we can note in 8-10 (which we will look at in more detail shortly) that Paul describes great affliction that he knows in Asia. Thus, we should look at how God comforted him, if indeed God “comforts us in all our affliction.” And Paul gives us the answer in verse 10, writing, “He delivered us from such a deadly peril and will deliver us.” Therefore, we see that God, at times, comforts us in our afflictions by delivering us from them.

And, no doubt, we can all recall such times when God comforted us by delivering us from affliction. I can speak of a number of incidents in my own short life that were crushing at the time, but now I speak of them as things that happened then as the Lord has delivered me from them.

The second way that Paul speaks of God comforting us in affliction is not by delivering us from it but by giving us the grace to patiently endure sufferings. Paul writes in verse 6, “And if we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.”

Therefore, God comforts us in our affliction at times by delivering us from them and at other times simply by giving us the grace to endure them with patience. Thus, Paul will later recount in this very letter that God has not delivered him from his thorn in the flesh but had told him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” But, what Paul makes clear is that both are legitimate ways that the Lord comforts us. Therefore, the Corinthians are not fooled into thinking that if we are spiritual even though we might suffer God will quickly deliver us from our sufferings. No, rather, sometimes God gives us grace to endure them before a watching world.

Therefore we have seen that God allows suffering and comforts us in suffering for others – that we might comfort them, that sufferings and comforts come to us because we are united with Christ and therefore become a reminder to others of his death and resurrection, and now that God comforts us at times by delivering us and at other time by giving us the grace to endure.

But we still have not seen the full picture of what God is doing by allowing sufferings and comforting us in them. Paul gives us that in verses 8-10. There he shows us that …

By comforting us in our sufferings, God forces us to have to rely on him and then proves himself faithful so that we learn to trust him in all occasions (8-10)

Starting in verse 8, Paul describes a great affliction he suffered in Asia. There he writes that he was so utterly burdened beyond strength that he thought he was going to die. Indeed, from verse 9 we can see that he either had received a death sentence or felt that he had. His affliction was so great he did not know how he could go on.

Therefore, if Paul’s opponents are challenging him because of his suffering, here it is! He suffered about as much as he could imagine; he is admitting it. Then, however, he sheds light on another purpose of God for that suffering in verse 9 writing, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”

Paul saw that God had allowed this to occur in order that Paul might be forced to look only to God. Paul had nothing to look to in himself. He despaired of life. He felt as if he was going to die. He had no ability or strength from within himself to go on. And that was God’s very purpose. God was forcing Paul to rely on him, and then God proved himself faithful by comforting Paul by delivering him from such a deadly peril (10). Thus, another purpose of God in allowing sufferings to come to us and comforting us in them is that we learn to rely on him and that we can trust him as he proves himself faithful, whether in delivering us from the affliction or in giving us grace to endure it.

So, how then does all of this fit together? How do we put the pieces together in order that we might see what Paul is teaching the Corinthian believers about suffering? What is Paul saying they should see about suffering? We have seen that God allows it and comforts us for the good of others, that they might be comforted with the same comfort. We have seen that we suffer and are comforted because we are one with Christ, and therefore our sufferings can serve to remind others of Christ’s death and resurrection. We have seen that God comforts us by delivering us or giving us grace to endure. And, finally, we have seen that as God allows us to suffer he forces us to rely on him, and as he comforts us he proves himself faithful so that we might trust him in all occasions.

So, how does all of this fit together? I think in this way:

In bringing us affliction and comfort, God uses our lives as platforms to display his faithfulness and trustworthiness so that others might be comforted, seeing that they can trust the one who raises the dead (3-11)

Do you see? It goes back to answer my son gives to the question, “Why did God make you and everything?,” namely, “For his glory.” That is something that is easily memorized by people of any age but quite difficult to remember and hold close to our hearts. We have been created for God’s glory. Our lives are that which God chooses to use as platforms to display his glory to the whole world, but especially his church.

But the great thing is that God doesn’t use our suffering as that display of his glory but the comfort he provides in that suffering as he delivers us from it or gives us all the grace we need to endure it. Therefore, as we look at one another and witness both afflictions and God’s comfort in it, we are reminded that just as God raised Christ from the dead and continues to comfort his children, so we can trust him to comfort us in whatever comes, including the ultimate comfort of overcoming death as he raises us from the dead – so that we need not fear even death itself.

This is what Paul’s life was. It is what God had told him from the beginning as God told Ananias shortly after Paul’s conversion, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16 - emphasis added).

Paul’s suffering and comfort were a far cry from that which limited him from being an apostle, they were the very means by which he would carry out God’s purpose for him as his life would be used to comfort others by displaying God’s trustworthiness before a people called to trust and follow him. And Paul writes this hopeful letter being sure they will know the same comfort he has known (7) and calling them to pray for him, for they should have a vested interest, namely, getting to be reminded through his afflictions and comforts of God’s faithfulness and therefore being able to praise God (11), the very place Paul begins the letter (3).

Therefore, this morning, let us see the privilege of being a people who get to display God’s glory, not merely in our suffering, but in the comfort we get to display before the world in the midst of our suffering, whether we are delivered from it or given grace to endure. For as we do this we remind the world of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness even as our very lives point other to the death and resurrection of Christ. Let us therefore trust our God who comforts us in all our afflictions. Let us pray for those in affliction that they might be comforted by God – for their own good, the good of those around them, and the glory of God. And let us rejoice in our afflictions, not because of the afflictions themselves, but because we know God will comfort us and is working in us to display his greatness for the good of his people and the glory of his name. Amen.

¹The following timetable is drawn from Scott Hafemann’s The NIV Application Commentary: 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 20-21.

²Note that Paul speaks of “another painful visit” in 2 Cor. 2:1 – showing most likely that he had taken a prior visit (i.e. the one outlined here).

³This is referenced at different points through the letter of 2 Corinthians (e.g. 2:1-8; 7:8-13).

COMFORT, AFFLICTION, AND THE GLORY OF GOD