Bible Studies
Though Despairing of Life Delivered Through Resurrection (2 Cor. 1:8-11)
Series: ResurrectionIntroduction:
1. Paul opens the letter of 2 Corinthians by praising God as “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.” 2. If anyone was familiar with affliction and suffering it was certainly the apostle Paul and somehow he endured through it all. 3. In verses 8-11 he reflects on how he was able to survive by trusting in God who raises the dead. (Reading.)Discussion:
I. The pressures of life can produce despair (v. 8).A. Ask Isaiah and Stephanie Leslie whose little daughter Reagan was diagnosed with Spina Bifida shortly after birth, who has endured a series of painful surgeries in her short life of 10 months only now to be diagnosed with stage 4 germ cell cancer. She has spots on her lungs, liver, a lymph node and a large growth on her back. Her parents have been advised that Chemo therapy is 80% effective in such cases.
B. Ask Wayne and Kaye Thurman whose grandson Ezra Hunt suffers from a series of difficulties that seem absolutely insurmountable.
C. Ask those who have been betrayed by their closest friends, whose hearts ache because the one they loved gave them up for some momentary selfish desire.
D. Ask the one who sits at home alone, whose phone does not ring, who has no family.
E. Paul experienced severe suffering.
1. In 2:13 he referred to having no rest for his spirit.
2. In 4:11 he referred to being “constantly delivered over to death.”
3. In 5:2 he referred to groaning in this body.
4. In 12:7 he referred to “a thorn in the flesh” given to keep him from exalting himself and that from it he learned to be content with weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions and difficulties.
5. And here in this text (v. 8) he refers to “our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.” What happened to him in Asia?
a. At Ephesus, the city was sent in an uproar by the silversmiths who made images of the goddess Diana. “Paul is saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all.” Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions, were dragged into the theatre. Paul would have gone in too but the disciples would not let him go, likely fearing for his life (Acts 19). In 1 Cor. 15:32 Paul refers to “fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus.”
b. In 2 Tim. 1:16 he refers to being in chains in Asia and in verse 15 reminds us that “all who are in Asia turned away from me,” among them Phygelus and Hermogenes.
E. Yes, the pressures of life can produce despair and many of us have been there. Perhaps you are experiencing that very thing this morning.
1. Sometimes I hear people say, “My circumstance is not as bad as . . . . It could be worse.”
2. Perhaps, but I find very little comfort in the fact that others are suffering worse than me.
3. And where do I go when my troubles are worse than theirs? And sometimes it is not how bad the suffering is, but how long it lasts. Illustrate with glass half filled with water. How much does it weigh? It depends on how long you have to hold it.
4. Some seem to think, “If I do right the Lord should bless me with pleasure.” They may quit the Lord if suffering becomes their lot. They serve the Lord as long as their life is smooth. They overlook the accounts of Job, Paul and even Jesus.
II. The sentence of death leads to trust in God who raises the dead (in Greek literally, “the raiser of the dead,” v. 9).A. Paul says “we had the sentence of death within ourselves.”
1. There is the question of whether he means while they were in Asia or was it from then on continuous.
2. Perhaps he had been condemned to death in Asia.
3. Perhaps he means he was sick unto death from an illness. The thorn in the flesh?
B. There is a sense in which we are all sentenced to death.
1. In Adam all die (1 Cor. 15:22).
2. We are subject to the fear of death all our lives (Heb. 2:12) and are only freed by Christ.
C. Thus we trust in God who raises the dead.
1. We cannot free ourselves therefore trust in self is futile.
2. Only God raises the dead.
3. Whether we are sentenced to death by some judicial system, some physical malady or physical death generally, God is the only one who raises the dead.
D. Observe that trust in God leads to being raised from the dead. The one who trusts in God goes through death. We would like to have no affliction, no suffering and no death but that is not the way that it works. God raises from the dead.
1. We must give our lives into His control (2 Cor. 4:8-18).
2. His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
III. God will yet deliver us (v. 10).A. God had delivered Paul in Asia. He would deliver him through his present circumstances and he was confident that God would deliver him through whatever circumstances that were ahead.
B. Young David said when challenged by the giant, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:37).
1. We all have our giants.
2. Sometimes we forget the God who delivered us from the lion and the bear and become terrified before the current giant.
3. Have confidence. Take courage. Remember who it is upon whom you have set your hope.
C. Pray not for God to meet your desires or expectations, but pray in confidence of His deliverance (Acts 4:29-31).
Conclusion:
1. God had delivered Paul and his companions although they were despairing of life. 2. They had the sentence of death. 3. They trusted in God who raises the dead. 4. He delivered them and He will deliver us. 5. Will you place your trust in Him by giving your life into His control?
