>> Jen: Hi, faithful listeners, and good morning. Welcome to the Bible Explained podcast. Today we're going to be in a new book of the Bible, and this is Second Corinthians that we'll be introducing today. All right, faithful listeners, let's go ahead and jump right into 2 Corinthians chapter one. Because we have not talked about the New Testament in about two weeks, it has been quite some time, and I am looking forward to
jumping right in. So I'm going to be reading this out of the web this morning, and then at some point in time, I'll be switching over to the Amplified Bible as well. But of course, if you have a favorite version of Scripture, make sure to grab that one and read along with me. And also grab your cup of seven Weeks coffee, the coffee brand that supports life in the womb. They are listed in the description of this episode. Or a cup of tea for you crazy tea drinkers that enjoy
tea more than coffee. And I stand by that. Even though I can't drink coffee right now, I still stand by the fact that coffee tastes better than tea. All right, faithful listeners, let's go ahead and read this. This will be 2nd Corinthians 1, 1 - 11. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, through the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the assembly of God, which is at Corinth with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.
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 of our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ, uh, abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and
salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that since you are partakers of the sufferings, so you are also of the comfort. For we don't desire to have you uninformed brothers concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia. that we were weighed down exceedingly beyond our power so much that we
despaired even to life. Yes, we ourselves had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver. on whom we have set our hope, that He also will still deliver us. You also helping together on our behalf by your supplication that for the gift given to us by means of many thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
Second Corinthians, fun fact was probably the fourth letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, because we just went through 1 Corinthians. We haven't talked about it in a couple weeks, but we went through 1 Corinthians, and Paul actually mentioned a letter that he had written to them previously. But in Second Corinthians, Paul's going to reference another letter he wrote, the Corinthian church. And it was actually a very harsh letter.
And Paul was concerned when he wrote it. He was concerned that the Corinthians would completely abandon him basically for this letter. But he was still going to write it and still going to send it, because the Corinthians really had some problems going on in their church, as we've already established in the book of First Corinthians. So Paul wrote them another harsh letter that has been
lost to history. And so now, Second Corinthians, which we are now discussing, is probably the fourth letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. And this letter would have been written about 57 AD and Paul would have been in Macedonia at this time. This would have been written approximately a year after First Corinthians was written, just a little while after Paul was finished up in Ephesus, because he stayed for three years in Ephesus building a church there, then moved on
to Macedonia. So while Paul is in Macedonia, he now writes another letter to the Corinthian church. And he starts out by giving his greeting. He says, this is written by Paul and also Timothy, uh, our brother. And this is for the assembly of God, which is at Corinth, along with all of the saints who are in the region of Achaia. And Achaia would have been southern Greece in general. So Paul wasn't just writing this letter to the
Corinthians. He was expecting the Corinthians to actually share this letter around to the other Christians who were in the area. So he starts out and he says in verse two, grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ. This is a very common way that Paul starts many of his letters with just a feeling of good grace towards the people he is writing to.
Then he gets right to his point. Blessed be the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction through the comfort that we received by God. So it's kind of a mouthful, but basically what Paul is getting at is he's saying that God gives His people comfort. And if you look at the Greek word for comfort here,
the word is paraklesis. And I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard me say that word because periclesis is actually mentioned quite a lot in the New Testament. In fact, every member of the Trinity is mentioned as being a paraclete or somebody who gives paraklesis or comfort. You know, when somebody comes and comforts us, it's, you know, they're listening to us, they're talking to us. But it's a lot deeper than
that, this idea of paraklesis. It's a comfort that gives us strength as well as encouragement and peace. There's somebody in my life that I knew who definitely had paraklesis. His name was John Dragge, and he had stage three brain cancer. And yet this man with stage three brain cancer, he was going out and he was, uh, participating in Ironmans. He was extremely physically fit and was like doing all of this, uh, stuff like 5Ks and
everything. He would travel around, he would preach to different churches and he came to our church and he preached on the book of Philippians. And I had never heard preaching like that in my entire life and to this day still haven't heard anything like that. He had no notes. Everything he was saying, it just felt like it was coming straight from the Holy Spirit. It was amazing the way he was able to preach and he had so much peace. And he started a blog to help other people who were
struggling through cancer. And he ended up dying of cancer not very long after that. He died in 2020. I believe it was April of 2020. He died of advanced brain cancer after traveling America spreading the gospel about Jesus to so many people. But his peace, like, uh, just how peaceful he was in spite of having a death sentence on him basically was just so amazing. And he touched so many lives
and so many people. This is the kind of comfort that Paul is talking about here, this comfort that God gives that involves peace and encouragement and strength and boldness to go on your daily life even when things are absolutely miserable and terrible for you. And not only that, God gives this comfort so that we can give back to other people so that we
can comfort others in the same way. That's one of the reasons I really dislike when Christians use the phrase hurt people hurt people, because far more Christians that I know who have been hurt actually heal people. So I think the saying should be hurt people heal people, because hurt people understand what it feels like to be hurt. They are the ones
who are the most helpful. They are the ones who honestly change the world because they understand what it feels like, and they don't want other people to go through those same hurts. That's kind of what Paul is talking about here. These hurt people, these people who have been persecuted, who have been suffering, who have been sick, but who have received comfort from God, want to give that comfort to other people because they know how miserable
it is to live like that. For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. Jesus said that Christians are going to experience suffering, which is why the prosperity gospel is not true, by the way. Christians will experience suffering because we live in a fallen world. We have problems. And honestly, the world kind of hates Christianity because they
don't like the idea of God. And so naturally, because the world doesn't like the idea of God, they're not going to like you very well either. So Christians will experience trials and troubles and persecution sometimes. But what's really amazing is that Paul says that when he is afflicted like that, it is actually for the benefit of. Of other people. Well, it's the same exact concept that hurt people heal people. You know, say that Paul and the other apostles, when they believed in
Jesus, they never struggled with anything. God just gave them whatever they wanted and they just were able to live a comfortable life and that was it. Well, that would be great for them, but they wouldn't be able to help people to the same extent. I mean, for example, I don't have kids, right? So I can't give as good advice as somebody who does have kids. Like say you're struggling with something with your kid. I am not able to give as good of advice because I've never
experienced that problem. I've never had a kid. I don't know exactly what you're going through, but say somebody else has experienced that with their kid. They can coach you a lot better, they can help you, and they can comfort you in a way that I just cannot do. However, I can comfort people in different ways because I've
experienced different things. And that's kind of what Paul is talking about here, that even though he has suffered, it's actually for other people's good, because then he can help those people through it. I mean, think about everything that Paul went through. He actually gives a list of everything. Later on, in 2 Corinthians, he went through several shipwrecks. I think three shipwrecks his lifetime. He was beaten with rods multiple times. He was stoned
to death, potentially. Um, he was, uh, whipped on several occasions. He experienced a ton of riots. He was bitten by snakes. Like, if anybody struggled through things, like, man, it was Paul. And so Paul, with all of these things that he's going through, he's able to help people who have gone through the same things. So that is why Paul says, when I suffer and when the other apostles suffer, it's actually for the good of a lot of people, because now we can comfort
those people even better. So that's another way to think about suffering. Even though that's probably not much of a comfort. You can think about it in the sense that someday, when you get past it, you might be able to help somebody very close to you who is struggling through the same thing. It might be for the benefit of somebody you love that you are struggling or going through some sort of trial. But Paul also says that when he's comforted, it's also for the comfort of
other people as well. Verse 6. If we are comforted, it is also for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. So when Paul is comforted through these terrible trials and afflictions that he has to deal with, that gives other people peace as well, that they might be able to experience the same type of comfort from God. Verse
7. Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that since you are partakers of the sufferings, you are also of the comfort. This reminds me of a verse from Proverbs 14, verse 10. And this is out of the NLT. Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy. So even though Paul, like I said, went through all of these terrible things, he actually says here that other Christians, even the Corinthians, maybe, might experience
some of the same things that he has gone through. But I would argue there's probably very few people on earth who has experienced suffering to the same degree that Paul has or some of the other apostles or some of the martyrs that, um, have gone down throughout history. Actually, my sister and I just did a discussions Episode where we talked about the terrible persecution of Christians in 1600s Japan. It m was one of the worst persecutions of Christians that actually
ever took place. Really nasty stuff that happened. But nowadays, there are very few people who are going to suffer in the same way that those martyrs or the apostles suffered. But everybody goes through suffering, which is what that verse Proverbs 14 talks about that every heart knows its own sorrow and its own bitterness. So ultimately, every single person struggles and deals with stuff that we can't possibly imagine what's going
on in their lives. So if you. If you look on Facebook or Instagram or wherever you're on and you see people, you know, posting these pictures of their perfect little family and their perfect little life or their perfect little dog, that's just surface, you know, that's just the tip of the iceberg. You have no clue what's going on in those people's lives. They could be struggling with some really serious things. Every single heart experiences sorrow of some sort. And even Paul recognized that and
understood that. And he said, even though I am being tortured for the gospel, and you guys might not be tortured, you're still going to suffer in many of the same ways. He says, you are partakers of the sufferings, and you are also partakers of the comfort. And then Paul goes into a little bit of some of the stuff he actually suffered with. In verse eight, he's like, I'm going to tell
you what happened to me in Asia. We were weighed down exceedingly beyond our power so much that we despaired even to life, even of life, rather. Yes, we ourselves had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Actually, let me switch over to the amp version for this verse. I really liked the way the amp worded this. Um, verses eight and nine says, we were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of
life itself. Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death and were convinced that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. So while Paul was in Ephesus, he really went through some problems. We know that Paul had a riot against him while he was in Ephesus, so he could be referring to that. He might have actually thought that he was going to be ripped to shreds by the angry crowd.
He might have believed that he wouldn't get out of Ephesus alive. He also could have been, uh, talking about one of the various other trials that he went through, like the shipwreck or getting whipped with the whips or beaten with the rods. He could have been talking about that. You know, Paul was not a spring chicken when all of this was going on. Like he was, He was
older during all of this. And so you can imagine that would be terrible for somebody who was Paul's age to have to deal with something like that. He could have been talking about that and thought that he was going to die from that. He could have also been talking about some illness that he dealt with. We, uh, don't really know this, but there is some evidence that Paul had a disease in his eyes. At least it's. It's something that has kind of gotten passed down throughout history as like a story
of, of Paul that he was... He had problems with his eyes. So he could have also been talking about something like that. A disease that he was going through that was very hard for him to get over. In fact, in verse 10, if you keep on reading, he actually, Paul actually kind of states here that he's still struggling with whatever is going on. He rescues us from so great a threat of death and will continue to rescue us. So whatever Paul is dealing with, it kind of seems like it's not
over yet. Now, granted, we know that Paul had many enemies, and so Paul could have been talking about enemies that he knew were going to come after him, that he knew were going to try to kill him. You know, death was around basically every corner in Paul's life. As we've, uh, discovered in the Book of Acts. Paul was always being targeted for something. But who knows really what Paul was referring to here when he was on the brink of death? We don't actually, no, but
it was something very serious. And yet Paul says that throughout all of this, he learned to rely on God, who is able to save people from death. And God, in fact, saved Paul from death, continued to save Paul from death, and would continue to save Paul from death until Paul's time to die finally came. So that's another way to look at suffering. The first way is to look at suffering as something that we can use in the future to help other
people. But the second way to look at suffering is to look at it as a way to really help us grow our faith in God. It says that when we are weak, God is strong. In fact, God works best in weakness. So when we are at our weakest, God is strong and he's going to show his power through our weakness. And that's another way to look at suffering is a way for us to experience more faith in God as we learn to rely on him even more.
So it's a learning process for us as well. It's terrible, and nobody wants to go through suffering, but it's a learning process, and it's something we can use in the future to help people that we love when they are struggling. And to conclude, I'm going to read verse 11 out of the amp because I don't feel like switching back again. He will rescue us from danger and draw us near while you join in helping us by your prayers. There's so many verses that talk about how prayer is
very effective. We can change things through prayer. These are called intercessory prayers. This is when we are talking to God on behalf of another person, praying for them, asking God to help them, asking God to heal them, whatever it might be. And there are a lot of verses about intercessory
prayers. 1 Timothy 2:1:2 says, first of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a, uh, peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. So that verse tells us to actually pray and intercede for our leaders and our kings and everybody else in our lives. James 5:16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may
be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Prayer has the power to actually heal people. So we are to be praying not just for our rulers and for a peaceful life, but but also for healing and for healing of other people as well. And these things Paul says in two, uh, Corinthians, chapter two, he says these prayers were actually helping him. Paul knew that the prayers of the Corinthians were actually aiding in his survival. And that is what prayer does.
So if you don't have a good prayer life, and I understand that because my prayer life is not very good either, I do struggle with prayer now. I do pray in passing. Like, I'll pray for my meal or, you know, like throughout the day, I'll pray in passing. But I have a really bad habit of not sitting down to pray. So one of the things that I dedicated this year to changing is, before I do each podcast episode, I'm going to sit
down and I'm going to pray. But the moral of the passage today is that we can reframe how we think about suffering. And also our prayers are very powerful, and we should be praying far more often. So, faithful listeners, if you have a prayer request, make sure to send it over to me and I will pray for you throughout the week. And you can find my contact info listed in the description of this episode. I would love to pray for you guys. I will write you down in
my little prayer journal. And you know what? I'm going to ask you guys to pray for me as well. I am still working on figuring out what is wrong with my stomach and, uh, trying to get to the bottom of all of that. I have been quite sick for basically the entire year, and, uh, food does not agree with me. Any food, really. So I'm trying to get to the bottom of that. And I am seeing a nutritionist. Is that
what they're called? Nutritionalist. Nutritionist On Thursday. So if you guys could pray that that goes well for me, that'd be very appreciated. And you guys will be helping me, helping me in that way. So, faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And if you did, share it on your social media platforms, tell people that the Bible Explained podcast exists. And also make sure to say a prayer for somebody today who, you know, is struggling. Happy listening and God m.