2 Cor banner .jpg

GOD OF ALL COMFORT

GOD OF ALL COMFORT? Really? Why is life full of discomfort? Our common view of comfort today is based more on emotional results and deliverance than on God Himself. God has Paul write this letter for the church so that we can truly know the One who will come along side us, the GOD OF ALL COMFORT. #2corinthians #2023

Starter

Pray

Thank you God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ that you came from heaven to earth to come along side us and bring us your comfort. Help us in our study today as we seek you and one another for your glory and honor. May we build one another up in our most holy faith. Show us through your word, the Holy Spirit, and the body of believers that we can do the hard things and avoid the sinful things. May you open our eyes to see our weakness and Your power among us so that we can continue Seeking & Building. Amen

Study Questions

Paul, an apostle, is writing God’s word to a church just a few years old that he founded and then left to plant other churches. The church has encountered numerous problems from inside and outside the church. Other self appointed leaders have worked to undermine Paul’s influence and God’s authority so they could substitute their own. God has Paul write to deal with these issues and help the church deal with the problems they are having like holiness and hardship, generosity and church order, and their testimony to the non‐Christians around them. He wants them to know and cling to the GOD OF ALL COMFORT.

The word comfort God has Paul use is not a feeling or a deliverance from circumstances. It is the word Paraklesis which means to come along side. It is the same root word Jesus uses for the advocate and counselor the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). God wants to come along side us through life feeling what He feels and becoming more like He is so that we can know and show others the GOD OF ALL COMFORT.

READ: 2 Corinthians 12:14-13:4

Paul in the last part of His letter has been defending the Lord’s message given to Him as an apostle. He has had to do this because of the false teachers, false apostles, and sinners that the church in Corinth had accepted and put up with. His defense and boasting have been very different than theirs as his is focused on God’s power and man’s weakness. Paul finishing His letter whole heartedly focused on Seeking & Building up Jesus and His people the church.

  1. 12:14 says, “I am not seeking what is yours, but you.” Why is this attitude a VERY important distinction for us and for the church?
    1. What do you think it practically looks like for believers, churches, and church leaders to burden, deceive, and “take advantage” of each other especially in the church?
    2. What are some obvious things in this passage that we still see today that expose what we are really Seeking & Building?
    3. Read John 10:10-16 How do these words of Jesus back up Paul’s message here to the church in Corinth?
  2. Discuss how we can reconcile 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 and 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8?
  3. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:12, ”So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.” Paul also says in Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”
    1. How does 2 Corinthians 12:13-13:4 and these verses provide us a great road map for how we are to be Seeking & Building?
    2. What do we instead tend to see ourselves and other believers Seeking & Building today instead of this road map? Why?
    3. What is our role in this battle of communicating to others what we should be Seeking and Building?
  4. Think about the differences between acting in ways of truth, Godly jealousy, Godly ambition, boldness, warnings (sometimes even about individuals), meekness, moral purity, sexual purity, and chastity verses acting according to the the list of sins Paul gives.
    1. Why do we tend to just try and not sin and /or just keep our head down in the fight all around us instead of fighting to Seek & Build God’s kingdom?
    2. How do you help cure a local church body of the kinds of behaviors and sins Paul lists?
  5. What did Paul tell Corinth’s Christians to do in order to prepare for his arrival?
    1. Why did they need to do these things? AND Why could they not simply wait until Paul had actually arrived there?
  6. The Lord Jesus Christ (Yahweh, who is Yahweh who saves, who is the coming Savior) is coming again. It will be sudden. He tells humanity to be ready.
    1. How is Paul’s warning and counsel of His coming to Corinth a picture of Jesus warning and His counsel of His coming back to earth?
  7. Read Deuteronomy 17:2-7, 19:15-19, Matthew 18:15-17 How do these verses give us a simple road map for Seeking & Building God’s way?
    1. What is the role of loving truthful church discipline in dysfunctional congregational relationships?
    2. Why do we, like Israel and Corinth, not Seek and Build God’s kingdom this way?
  8. Paul ends this section remembering the story and power of God through Jesus and His covenant surrendered people. Why is remembering this absolutely vital if we are going to be Seeking & Building for The Glory of God and not ourselves?

FOLLOW UP