Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. ²⁰ For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (NLT).

‘Everything promised by the prophets for the new covenant has been purchased for us infallibly by Christ.’ John Piper: ‘When I don’t desire God’, p.52

Paul’s ultimate answer to his critics who are accusing him of being fickle is to say, in essence, ‘I can’t be if I am a true follower of Jesus who ‘always does what he says.’ He keeps His Word. Therefore His followers should keep theirs. if we preach this Jesus, then there is an obligation on us to live this Jesus: to walk in His way.

Notice Paul’s description of Jesus as ‘God’s ultimate ‘’Yes,’’…’ He is the ‘Yes’ to all God’s promises.

When we believe (stand on, claim, say ‘amen’) to these promises, we are adding our own ‘’Yes’’. In this way, by believing prayer, God is glorified.

To sum up:

• Jesus is God’s ‘ultimate ‘’Yes’’
• In Jesus God the Father is saying ‘Yes’ to all His promises
• We add our own ‘Yes’ in believing prayer.

Further, there may be a hint in the next verses that the Holy Spirit adds His ‘Yes.’ But more of this tomorrow.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the total dependability of Jesus. Help me trust Him more and more.

Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice— ¹⁶ first on my way to Macedonia and again when I returned from Macedonia. Then you could send me on my way to Judea.

¹⁷ You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”? (New Living Translation)

Reading between the lines we can see that there are godly and ungodly ways to form plans; worldly and un-worldly ways. Paul’s critics were accusing him of what we might call a ‘secular’ approach to planning. They were also attacking his integrity, inferring that he spoke about of both sides of his mouth. Fundamentally, they were saying he was dishonest. Paul was concerned that in attacking him, the gospel itself might be discredited. This is why he sought so zealously to clear his name.

The truth is that in the real world, even the plans of those who seek God’s ways can be up-ended. That’s life! But if we want to be guided by God, we will be open to such divine adjustments and alterations to our plans. A way that seems right to us isn’t always God’s best. But those who genuinely desire to live under the Lordship of Christ, want Him to arrange their schedule.

‘Yes, choose the path for me, although I may not see the reason thou dost choose to lead me so…’

Now it is a matter of pride to us—endorsed by our conscience—that our activities in this world, particularly our dealings with you, have been absolutely above-board and sincere before God. They have not been marked by any worldly wisdom, but by the grace of God. Our letters to you have no double meaning—they mean just what you understand them to mean when you read them. We hope you will always understand these letters (as we believe you have already understood the purpose of our lives), and realise that you can be as honestly proud of us as we shall be of you on the day when Christ reveals all secrets.

‘Never complain, never explain’ is a public relations strategy associated with the British Royal family.

It may also have other applications. One day a good friend and I were talking about how in church leadership there are some ‘hits’ you end up taking, precisely because, for a number of complex reasons, you can’t explain everything. There are times you have to keep silent, realising that vindication may have to await ”the day when Christ reveals all secrets.”

But Paul’s example here shows that if there are knots of misunderstanding we are able to untie, then we should try to do so. I believe the words of Rom.14:19 are applicable, even though they apply to a different context: ” Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

Now this is our boast: our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 

‘In popular novels nothing ever goes wrong for the hero. He strides through each episode of the story with success after success. It is not like that for ordinary people in real life; it was not like that for Paul. Because he did not return immediately to Corinth, as he had indicated he would, the Corinthians now regard Paul as a double-minded man, unable to stick to his plans. One senses in these words of Paul that nothing he can say will be able to change the Corinthians’ opinion about him. And yet from his viewpoint he had the best of reasons for changing his plans and honourable motives for doing so.’ (‘The message of 2 Corinthians’: Paul Barnett, p.36). N.B. He is referring to the whole of verses 12-22.

For sure, every Christian leader needs to be able to say what Paul does in verse 12. It’s a precious thing to have a clear conscience regarding your ”integrity” (or ‘holiness’, as it can be translated) and ”godly sincerity”. But Paul was clear that such a life is only possible by the grace of God.

I also think about his words in 1 Cor.15:10:

 ”But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Paul was powerfully aware of the all-pervasive grace of God in saving and sanctifying him. It was that grace which kept him on track: still pursuing holiness in the face of great trials, including unjust criticism. He knew that if believers will have anything to ‘boast’ about regarding each other ”in the day of the Lord Jesus”, it will be entirely due to grace.

We too can move in the flow of this ‘amazing grace’ today. We don’t have to ‘go it alone.’ We shouldn’t try.

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Phil.1:18b,19: ”Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”

Paul understood the great power of prayer. So he requested prayer from the churches, and expressed gratitude for them. He had no doubts about the part played, in his recent deliverance, by praying believers.

In ‘The Message’, Eugene Peterson renders today’s verses like this:

” And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.”

A few days ago, I picked up a book I read a number of years ago: ‘Mountain Rain’: the biography of the missionary James Fraser, by his daughter Eileen Crossman. ‘A powerful story of total dependence on God’, says the subtitle. As I opened it, I saw these words: ‘James had a quickened sense that people were praying for him at home. Thousands of miles away, they were directly engaged in the work of God among the Lisu. Tthey were also concerned with keeping James himself filled with the Spirit of power. He knew conclusively now that the prayers of God’s people had brought the harvest’ (p.131).

Today, as I write these notes, Jilly and I will be hosting an afternoon Bible study in our home. What an encouragement to receive a message early this morning, ensuring us of someone’s prayers. It means a lot! It achieves a lot!!

”…your prayers played such a crucial part.”

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 

I seem to remember a story about the missionary, Hudson Taylor. On one occasion he was asked, ‘Is pressure good for you?’ ‘Yes’, he replied, so long as it presses you closer to the heart of God.’

This was Paul’s own experience. In the face of great troubles, he was thrown back on God.

We don’t know precisely what this ‘’great pressure’’ was, but he felt like one living under the sentence of death, just waiting for the axe to fall. But in these torrid experiences he was to prove God’s power (as well as His comfort).

This is how Eugene Peterson renders the passage in ‘The Message’ Bible:

‘’ We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!’’

When you get to ‘Wits End Corner’ expect to meet God there!

Indeed, experience shows that the more we share Christ’s suffering the more we are able to give of his encouragement. This means that if we experience trouble we can pass on to you comfort and spiritual help; for if we ourselves have been comforted we know how to encourage you to endure patiently the same sort of troubles that we have ourselves endured. We are quite confident that if you have to suffer troubles as we have done, then, like us, you will find the comfort and encouragement of God. (J.B.Phillips).

As the passage flows on, we see again that God blesses us to be a blessing. We receive from the Lord in order to pass it on.

‘God’s comfort is not given; it is loaned, and you are expected to pass it on to others. The pain you experience now will help you to encourage others in their trials. When you suffer, avoid self-pity, for self-pity will make you a reservoir instead of a channel. If you fail to share God’s comfort with others, your experience in the furnace will be wasted; and it is a tragic thing to waste your sufferings.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.757.

‘God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.’ John Henry Jowett.

 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 

When Saul of Tarsus had his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road, the Lord said to him: ”Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). So he learned early on that there is a solidarity between Christ and His people. What is done to them is done to Him (see e.g. Matt.25:45). The Christians were being persecuted, but it was Christ who was being persecuted.

This was a lesson he came to understand so deeply that he could express his ambition like this in his letter to the Philippians:

 ”I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (3:10,11).

The persecution sufferings of believers are a ‘participation’ (fellowship) in Christ’s own sufferings. He is continuing to suffer in and with His people. We are the body of Christ – one with our Head. The hatred of the world for the church is actually its hatred of Christ.

This hatred is irrational.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

Of course Paul’s point is that if share in Christ’s sufferings, we will also be the beneficiaries of God’s very real comfort. If we suffer with Christ we will also experience comfort through Christ.

But God’s comfort is ‘not to terminate with the one who receives it.’ (Paul Barnett). This point will be further emphasised as we move on through the paragraph next time.

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. (The Message).

The Bible leaves us in no doubt that we should expect the Christian life to be difficult. Someone said that directly or indirectly, suffering is referred to seventeen times in five verses (3-7). The word for ”troubles” (4, NIV), contains the idea of ‘pressure’. ‘While Paul doubtless was as prone to money worries, health problems and relationship conflicts as other people, faithfulness to Christ and to the ministry were the chief source of his troubles.’ Paul Barnett: ‘The message of 2 Corinthians’, p.30.

But God’s comfort is real, and we can know it. However, we are not to keep it ourselves, but pass it on to others. If it is ‘mine’, I need to understand it is ‘mine to share.’ When God takes us through hard times, for His sake, the suffering is not wasted. He does something in us that will enable Him to do something with us, in serving fellow-believers.

Don’t waste your trouble. Share around God’s comfort.