Oh say does that star spangled
banner yet wave my soul. so Okay, let's begin by praying. Heavenly Father, thank you that
you are the teacher of your people and thank you that you are all
wise and know exactly what we need to learn and we need to
learn it. Father, you promised to be in
our midst as we meet together as you bring us together. So
we pray, Father, that you would walk in our midst today and bless
us as you open our hearts and feed us by your word, your truths. and open the eyes of our understanding
that we might see more of the wonders of your dear Son, our
precious Saviour. Father, we pray for those that
can't be with us for whatever reason, and we ask that you would
just draw near to them wherever they are, Heavenly Father, and
make yourself known to them. We just pray for the preaching
of the gospel throughout this world, that you would continue
to sustain your churches as you promised. Heavenly Father, we
have such a rich history of your blessings amongst us, and we
pray that for all our brothers and sisters. We thank you again,
and we just pray your mercy upon us today. In the name of our
great King and Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, for your glory's
sake, Father. Amen. Okay, in this sermon, I would
like to just answer the question how we learn the truth of the
gospel. So let's start at verse one.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy,
our brother, under the church of God, which is at Corinth,
with all the saints which are in all Archaea, grace be to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes his second letter
to the Corinthians for a number of reasons, but the most significant
reason is because much like the Galatians, much like all the
saints throughout the ages, they're being pressured to add some degree
of legalism to the gospel they had received. Now this pressure
is coming from people who claim to have some sort of authority
from God. And these are people who would
even go as far as discrediting an apostle to achieve their purposes. Now that sounds familiar, doesn't
it? This is why Paul begins by stating
he's an authority, and notice it's an authority given him directly
from God. He says he's an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God. He also here in these opening
verses speaks of the unity of those that know the truth. Because all those taught of God
will have one mind, They will speak with one tongue and they
will declare only one gospel. And this one and only gospel
is the free grace of God in the salvation of men. And as we see
by the order in verse two there, it's a gospel that originates
with the grace of God. It's a gospel that results in
true peace with God. See by this gospel, men can truly
enter the presence God, which means that this Gospel is the
only source of true spiritual comfort. Verse 3 Blessed be God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,
for the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Paul now introduces his initial
mission statement for the text, if you like. He blesses God and
he acknowledges that our Father in heaven is the only source
of all mercies and all comfort. And notice, it's a comfort in
relation to all our tribulation. In so many of the struggles and
the sufferings of our life, we tend to forget that our God We forget that he rules over
every single part of our lives for our good. But here we see
that there's a greater purpose to our trials, that we might
receive the comfort from our God, with which we then comfort
others. It's important here to first
understand In Isaiah 40 verse 1, the prophet
cries, And then he explains what this
comfort is related to in verse two. So you see, this comfort is gospel
comfort, isn't it? It's primarily spiritual comfort
in regard to our standing before our sovereign and holy God. It's
also important that we notice here that everything spoken of
is in the past tense. It's a finished work. The warfare
of trying to produce our own righteousness is already accomplished. It's
accomplished in our Saviour and substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. And by His finished work, our
iniquity is already pardoned. Brothers and sisters, by the
grace of God and His precious Son, we've already received a
double blessing, everlasting righteousness, and eternal redemption. And with these, we can enter
the presence of our holy God even now. Romans 8 says that
now there's no condemnation. And Hebrews 10 encourages us
to enter the presence of our God with boldness. See, it's the gospel of God that
Isaiah is declaring to us, and this really is good news to the
souls of God's chosen children. Why? Because it gives us hope
in the midst of all our tribulation. It gives us hope in the midst
of every single one of our sufferings in this world. Verse five, for, or because,
as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ. Do you see here that our sufferings,
they're actually the sufferings of Christ. The sufferings of
Christ because of our union with him. He says in Luke 21, 17,
and you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. We also need to realise that
these sufferings come from the hand of our God because they're
designed specifically for our growth in the gospel, for our
growth in faith. Did you notice that this consolation,
it's directly proportional to each of our sufferings? Look
again in our text. As the sufferings, so the consolation. It's also notable consolation rather than comfort. And while the word consolation
does mean comfort, it actually means comfort specifically related
to the particular suffering endured. Basically what Paul is saying
here is that every suffering has been perfectly ordered by
our sovereign God, so that he might bring gospel comfort to
our souls, so that he might strengthen us in our faith, and so that
he might grow us in the grace and knowledge of his Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. This confidence of faith in our
God will then become our own faithful gospel declaration to
others. Verse six. 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. And
our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers
of the sufferings, so you shall also of the consolation. Our Lord said in Acts 1 that
the gospel would begin with him and then resonate through his
disciples into all the world. According to Romans 1, this same
gospel, while it does bring comfort to our souls, It's also the power
of salvation to those who believe. And this is why Paul now accompanies
salvation with this consolation. As we suffer and receive gospel
relief, we become more convinced by our God of his faithfulness. We come to know more of his goodness
towards his people through a very real experience. We then go on, whether it's in
the pulpit or in our conversations, to share our own testimonies
of God's grace in our own lives. And this is then applied by the
power of the Holy Spirit to the souls of others. And in turn,
this brings forth comfort, salvation, and fruit to God in the praise
of others. This is why it's urgent for Paul
to share his testimony, and why it's imperative that God's Church
continues to meet and hear the gospel. Verse 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. But we have the sentence
of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raises the dead, who delivered us from so
great a death and does deliver, in whom we trust that he will
yet deliver us. These sufferings and consolations
are the way our God personally teaches And this is what spiritual circumcision
is all about. Having every prop, every place
of dependence cut away by our sufferings and our trials so
that the only source of true spiritual comfort is by faith
in the grace of our God. Look how Paul speaks of his sufferings.
Out of measure, above strength, despaired even of life, a sentence
of death in ourselves. True salvation is a work of God
which brings each one of his people into a place of spiritual
desperation, a place where our greatest concern becomes our
own spiritual wellbeing, a place of eternal life and death. It's the work of God the Holy
Spirit in John 16.8 to convict us of the sin that we really
are, to convict us of what the necessary righteousness of God
really demands of us, and in God's perfect timing, to convict
us of the judgment of God upon his Son on our behalf. And then, and only then, does
the gospel become a life-saving truth to us rather than a mere
theory of fallen man's speculation. See, this saving work of God
in our lives, it also has to be an ongoing work. It's designed
to make us more and more dependent upon him Look at where Paul's
confidence lies in verse 10. Who delivered us from so great
a death. He trusts all his past circumstances
having come from the hand of his God. And doth deliver his
trusting in his present circumstances. In whom we trust that he will
yet deliver us. He looks to his God in the future. When our God teaches us his gospel,
Through this process of suffering and consolation, the true and
only means of salvation are embedded in the hearts of God's children
forever. So much so that they begin to
meet life with an expectation of God's faithfulness. And sure,
at times we still languish under our trials, we're still weakened
in our faith, But God, in his faithfulness, through this continued
process, grows us in the grace and knowledge of his Son. Brothers and sisters, this is
the only way we can come to know our God. It's the only way that
we can learn the truths of his Gospel. And it's the only way
that we can expect to be able to preach it and to teach it
with any real passion and authority. Angus Spike last week of A Good
Samaritan, and he made a great point. A Good Samaritan is a
picture of yourself. The oil is a picture of the Holy
Spirit and the wine was a picture of the Gospel.
The injured man couldn't pull the wine and the oil into his
own wounds. This isn't our work. It's our
Father's work, and this is the way he does it. This is what
Paul's showing us here, and it's a painful work, but it's the
way our God heals us, and it's the way he brings us into relationship
with him. Verse 11, you also, helping together
by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the
means of many persons, thanks may be given on our behalf. of God's grace in his suffering,
the continued and collective glorification of our God. He acknowledges that sharing
his experience has drawn prayer out of the hearts of the church,
prayer for both the well-being of the saints and for the furtherance
of the gospel. And why is it so important? Because
the church praises one body. a body united in the gospel,
a body united by the gospel. And more than that, as these
prayers are answered by our gracious Father in heaven, it then results
in the joy of that one body. And this in turn resounds in
praise to the glory of our God. So let's look at where the church's
rejoicing lies. Verse 12, for our rejoicing is
this, the testimony of the conscience that in simplicity and in godly
sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have
had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to you would. As I've already said, the highest
priority for the church of God is is declaring the Gospel in
faithfulness. And more than that, in Acts 1,
the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ, who cannot fail, is the
continued declaration of the Gospel So it's no wonder that it's the
source of Paul's rejoicing. Paul rejoices because he knows
within himself that by the grace of God, by these continual activities
of God in his life, he has proclaimed the gospel faithfully. He's declared
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in simplicity. He hasn't
complicated it with the gymnastics of men's manipulations. He hasn't
tried to make the gospel somehow include man's abilities. He's
also proclaimed the gospel in sincerity. He's been passionately
concerned from the heart for both the glory of God and for
men's souls. And also we can notice here that
while the gospel is primarily God's provision to his church,
It's also the same gospel that we declare in the rest of the
world. This gospel, the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel that declares that God reigns
even in the salvation of men, this gospel is the only hope
of salvation because it's the means by which our God seeks
out his lost sheep in the world. So when we hear a gospel declaration,
and we hear many, don't we? We come across them all the time.
But when we hear them, how do we know that they're faithful?
Verse 13, for we write none other things unto you than what you
read or acknowledge, and I trust you shall acknowledge even to
the end. So 1st Paul says that this gospel
that he declares is the same as scripture. When he says what
you read, he's referring to the Old Testament, to the writings
of other inspired representatives of God. Brothers and sisters, we need
to be like the Bereans in Acts 17. We need to bring everything
back to the scriptures. And we need to trust that if
a thing's true in one part of the scripture, we'll read it,
we'll be able to read it in every part of the scriptures. We need
to remember that scripture interprets scripture, and all of it declares
the one message, Christ and Him crucified. The second test of authenticity
comes from within those who've been taught of God. We're promised
in John 10 that God's sheep know his voice. We've just read that
salvation is a personal work of God wrought in the hearts
of his people. So when Paul uses this word acknowledge,
he's referring to a knowledge gained by an experience, not
the speculation and not the philosophy of men. Paul saying that the Spirit who
now dwells within us, he will also confirm the gospel to us
because we now have the mind of Christ. Even more than that,
because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,
Romans 11, Paul is sure that this confidence, this confirmation
of the gospel within us will continue even to the end. Verse 14, as you also have acknowledged
us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as you are ours
in the day of the Lord Jesus. In this verse, Paul's confident
that as the Holy Spirit within us confirms the truth of the
gospel, so he will give us discernment as to who the true witnesses
of God are in this world. It's this inward knowledge that
causes us to rejoice in the true witnesses of God. And it's also
this same inward knowledge that causes His witnesses to rejoice
in those who receive that witness. I think this verse speaks wonderfully
of the relationship that exists between God's people of the Church's
united purpose in this world and of the united confidence
we have that this gospel work of our Lord Jesus Christ will
continue to sustain His Church for all eternity. Brothers and sisters, we don't
learn the gospel by attending Bible colleges. It can't be taught
through the manipulations of men, and it can't be embraced
by praying a prayer or coming forward in the church. As we've
seen, there's only one way to learn the gospel, and that's
through a saving experience God in saving grace as he pours the
wine and the oil into us. We need to remember that when
our God teaches, we actually do learn. The saints are promised
suffering in this world. But isn't it encouraging to our
faith that each one of these trials really does happen for
our good and for the glory of our God? So just before we take
a break, I'd like to read two verses out of Micah 7. I want
to remind you that this process of suffering and consolation,
this work of our loving God, resounds in genuine faith and
praise toward our God. In Micah 7 he makes an observation
of the corruption in Israel and it's a corruption that extends
from the king into the city all the way through to his own heart
out in the country. But he makes a beautiful statement
in verse a statement I love very much, a statement that I pray
that the Lord will cause you to remember in your next trial,
in your next suffering. He says, rejoice not against
me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord. because I have sinned against
him. Until he pleadeth my cause and execute judgment for me,
he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his
righteousness. Okay, let's take a break.