2 CORINTHIANS 1l: 1 - 11
COMFORT THROUGH TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
1) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achai:
2) Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3) Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4) Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
5) For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ.
6) And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
7) And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
8) For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9) But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead:
10) Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver: in Whom we trust that He will yet deliver us;
11) Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
COMMENTARY
Before I try to clarify what Paul is saying in these passages, I would like to explain the reason for him writing to the church in Corinth: He had been there and established the church but had traveled on to establish other churches. While Paul was gone, heretics accused Paul of not being an apostle as he claimed to be. They also challenged his doctrine, as Satan is known to do.
1-2) The Apostle Paul sends his greetings to the church at Corinth and to all the saints in Achaia on behalf of himself and his protégé, Timothy. Then he blesses them.
3) Then he glorifies God the Father, of Jesus Christ, our Savior. (Jesus took on human form and was obedient to God the Father, even though He is also God.) Our God is a God of compassion and comfort.
4- 6) I like the way John MacArthur stated this in his commentary: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary of 2 Corinthians: " Believers are in a partnership with each other and must never view their suffering in isolation." Jesus told us that if we are truly Believers, we WILL face trials. The trials and tribulations we endure prepares us to comfort other saints as God comforts us. As His children, we are never alone in our suffering. Our eternal hope is in The LORD. And as we have learned, our trials and tribulations grow us in our faith and trust in our LORD. So, let us not complain as the Jews did when rescued from Pharaoh so that we might not have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, rather, let us keep our eyes on Jesus and give Him praise through our suffering.
7) In these days in which we are living, it is more and more frequent that we hear of those who are suffering for Christ. When we boldly confess our bondage to Christ, we can lose our friends, our businesses, our very lives. But we are promised, when we suffer for Christ, we will be comforted by Christ. He can certainly relate to whatever we suffer, because He suffered so we could be comforted.
8- 10) The Apostle Paul came close to dying at one point but his suffering was to strengthen his dependence and trust on The LORD.
11) Here is what is expected of all of the saints: pray for us. The Apostle Paul asked for it and we do, too. We are also to pray for our church family, beginning with our pastors and their families. They are not effective in sharing The Gospel if they are embroiled in scandals. We are to pray for our government. Have you not read that God establishes governments? (Romans 13: 1,2) And when saints cry out to Jehovah Nissi, He will reclaim our government to honor Him. Our part in this, though, is to clean up around our own back door: 2 Chronicles 7:14 states it this way, "If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Here is a link with further explanation of what 2 Chronicles 7:14 means:https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/search/label/If%20My%20People%20Who%20Are%20Called%20by%20My%20Name
What about you? Are you a Believer in Jesus Christ? Are you seeking His face? Are you reading/studying His Word regularly? Are you joining other Believers in corporate worship of Him? If you really want Him to hear you, you must invest your time and effort in Him. Here is the first step: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
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