 Welcome back. We will continue from second Corinthians. So before we go into the book itself, just a small introduction to this letter. So we know that Paul, the apostle Paul, was on his second missionary journey when he went to Corinth and began the church there. That was around AD 51. He stayed in Corinth for about 18 months, and then he moved to Ephesus. And he left the Corinthian Church to continue the work that was going on with the leaders that were there. Now, the Corinthian Church, we know, was a very vibrant, spiritual-filled church from the things he talks about in first Corinthians about the spiritual gifts being exercised there and everyone coming to the meetings with something to share for the rest of the body. So we know that spiritual gifts were being exercised. The Holy Spirit was moving powerfully in their midst. So Paul wrote to the Corinthians while he was at Ephesus. And that was about three years after the church had been established. And he wrote specifically to address some of the problems that were happening in the church. And the letter was either sent back with his visitors from the Corinthian Church or with Titus was sent back to them for them to be able to address some of those issues within the church. Paul then also, in that letter in first Corinthians, he talked about the opportunity that he had to serve at Ephesus even though there was a lot of opposition. And then his plan was from Ephesus that he would go to Macedonia. So we see in Acts 20, chapter one, that he did go to Macedonia. And in Macedonia, there were a couple of cities where he would have ministered. Neopolis, Philippite, Thessalonica, and Beria. And it was during his time here at Macedonia that he wrote Second Corinthians. In Macedonia, he had a lot of hardship that he suffered. But Titus went back to visit him while he was in Macedonia. And he goes back from the church at Corinth. We read that in Second Corinthians, chapter 7, verses 5 to 7, Paul talks about Titus' coming. And the coming of Titus is what comforts Paul in the midst of his suffering. And then Titus takes back this second epistle, the second letter to the Corinthians after his visit with Paul. And during this time, Paul also asks him, gives him the responsibility of collecting or making the final arrangements for the collection that they had started in the Corinthian church for the church in Jerusalem. So this epistle sort of been written around AD 56 to 57. So probably about three years or so after the first Corinthians letter was written. That's just an approximate date. So with that introduction, we'll go into the book itself. I'll read from chapter 1 verses 1 to 2. And then we'll go from there. Paul and Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all care. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So like he does, all his letters, Paul begins with a greeting. So he talks about himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. So he is called to be an apostle. He is appointed by God to be an apostle by the will of God to be an apostle. And the apostle is one, that Greek word is one who is sent as an ambassador or someone who sent as a messenger to fulfill a role as a representative of another person. And so just a reminder, again, that our callings come by the will of God, whatever we are called to. We are called to be a homemaker, a businessperson, social worker, pastor, whatever it may be, that that calling comes from God himself. And so we can find purpose and fulfillment in knowing that we are where God himself wants us to be. And then Paul also says, and Timothy our brother. So here, Timothy was also part of the team that founded the church at Corinth. So the church knew him. And so Paul is writing from both of them to the church. And they're writing to not only the Corinthian church, but also to all those in that region of Achaia. So Corinth was in the region of Achaia. So this letter is addressing other believers in that region. Now, again, here we see the church of God is at Corinth. So identifying us being placed within a specific context, the church or people called out to be holy, to be a sanctified people, to be consecrated to the Lord within a secular setting, such as the city in Corinth, a city which was known for sin, known for immorality. The church is called to be in that city, to be able to impact that city, and at the same time to be able to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God, even in the midst of the culture in which they find themselves. And then we see his reference to all the other churches in the region of Achaia as well. Verse 2, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Greek word here, Charis, for grace, refers to divine favor, divine empowering, divine virtues, divine gifts. So all things that come from God favor strength or empowering virtues and gifts that come from God. And then peace referring to harmony, security, safety, prosperity, so a sense of total well-being. Both of these things are ours in God. So just something for us to affirm for ourselves that we have grace and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have favor. We are empowered. We have virtues and gifts and total well-being given to us by God our Father. From there we go into verses 3 to 7. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. For if we are reflected, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And I hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. So we see here that Paul is talking about suffering, but also comfort. And so he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It means blessed, referring to praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, he's the God of all comfort. So comfort means someone who is coming alongside us in order to console us, to help us through the challenges, the struggles, through the suffering that we are facing. And he says, he is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. So compassion and mercy begin with God. Those are characteristic of God. And so we can be confident that it's available to us in God. Excuse me. So we'll go on from there, verse 4, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God. So this comfort is given to us in every challenge that we have, everything that is putting a sense of pressure or kind of putting us in a difficult position. God comforts us in all of those situations. And that comfort that we get from God enables us to comfort others who are in trouble. And so it's sort of like a wave, the effect that happens. We receive comfort. We give comfort to others who are suffering. So when we are suffering, we receive comfort from God. When others are suffering, we are able to comfort them because God has comforted us in our suffering. So to be able to pass that on and share that with others. And the word here used for able is the Greek word dunamai, which refers to having the power or having the strength. So that comfort that we've received gives us the strength to the power to comfort others and to share that comfort that we've received from God with others. Verse 5, for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. So this is such a powerful assurance that as our sufferings increase, our consolation, the comfort we get from Christ increases also. It is not that our suffering is growing and increasing and becoming harder for us to bear, but the comfort remains the same at the same level as it was. But with abounding suffering is also abounding comfort. And that is a very, very reassuring thing for us. So Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 11, 23 to 28, he talks about being whipped, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, being in danger at sea, in the wilderness, in the city, among false brethren, being weary, having a lack of sleep, hungering, thirsting, being cold, having inadequate clothing. So a lot of suffering that he lists in this letter itself. And so he's talking about this kind of suffering and in this kind of suffering that God's consolation will come in great measure to carry us, to enable us to continue the work. And so Paul, again, is talking from his own experience of having suffered in that way and also experienced comfort and strength and empowering through Christ in that suffering. Verses 6 to 7, now if we are reflected, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. So whether Paul is suffering or whether he is comforted, he recognizes in both these cases that the Corinthian church benefits through the afflictions that Paul is facing and through the comfort that he's receiving as well, the Corinthian church is benefited. And when Paul is afflicted, he recognizes that the Corinthian church is growing so that they can also endure the same sufferings. So his suffering for the sake of them growing in that endurance is worth it in his eyes. And so some words here, he says, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings. Effective, the Greek word here is energio and it means to display one's work or to be operative. So for something to actually have an outcome in that person, in the other person, so that his suffering, the outcome is that in the lives of the Corinthians, they are able to persevere, they are able to continue purposefully living out their faith. We go on from there to verses 8 to 11. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. You also helping together in prayer for us that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. So here Paul is sharing about the struggles he had in serving in Ephesus. And it was not just light troubles that they had, but things that burdened them so greatly that they felt that life itself was something that was too heavy for them to bear. So some of the things that could have been the things he was referring to is in 1 Corinthians 1532, he refers to fighting with wild beasts in Ephesus. In 2 Corinthians 1124, he talks about suffering 39 stripes after being brought before a Jewish court. In Acts 19, 23 to 41, there's a riot in Ephesus, so he might have been referring to that. And then also in Acts 20, verse 19, and in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 9, there is a persecution that they experienced shortly before Paul leaves to Truis. So these were some of the challenges that were mentioned, that maybe the things that Paul is talking about, verses 9 and 10. So he talks about carrying the sentence of death. So that sentence of death is referring to a verdict that is given by the judge at the end of a case where they look at all the evidence that is before them and pass a final judgment. And this was the kind of feeling that Paul had, that all of those tribulations, everything that they faced was culminating in death for them at the end of it. But what it led to was that they wouldn't trust in their own selves, in their own strength, but in God himself who raises the dead. So even when they're coming to this point of feeling like death is going to be the final, that's going to be their end, they, even in that, have a hope in God because God will raise them. God will raise the dead. And so that's what keeps them going, even though they are suffering so much, they are able to find hope in the midst of their suffering. And they're able to find hope in God who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. So he delivered them at that time and he's continuing to deliver them in the present. And they believe that even in the future he is going to deliver them. So they will continue their work without faltering, without losing track, without hiding or running away from the things that God has called them to. But they trust that God who has been faithful and is faithful at present will continue to be faithful in the future because he's the God who doesn't change. So we go from there to verse 11, you also helping together in prayer for us that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. So he here is stating the importance of the church's prayer for them, interceding for them on their behalf as they are ministering. And so he's acknowledging the importance of what they're doing and stating for them that it is a blessing to him as he's doing the ministry. Verses 12 to 14, for our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God and more abundantly toward you. For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand even to the end as also you have understood us in part that we are your boast as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. So here we see Paul is saying his conscience is clear that he has conducted himself and his team has conducted themselves with sincerity and honesty without any pretense, without any hypocrisy. They didn't have any hidden motives, any desire to please themselves, but their goal was simply to build up the church. So that is something for us to take away as ministers as people who serve the Lord to be able to carry out our work with such sincerity and simplicity that nobody can point a finger at us and find fault with what we are doing that we can set an example for those who are following by walking with such humility and faithfulness to the work that we've been called to. And so just as much as Paul boasts and will boast in the church on the day of Christ, he wants the church to also be able to boast in him because of his conduct. We'll go on to verses 15 to 24. And in this confidence I intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit, to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way to Judea. Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly or the things I planned or I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no. But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ was preached among you by us by me, Silvenus and Timothy was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God and who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Moreover, I call God as witness against my soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. Not that we have dominion over your faith, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. So Paul here is talking about what his plans had been like we saw in 1 Corinthians. He was, he's telling the church in Corinth that he wanted to come and see them after he left Ephesus that he would go to Macedonia. And so he wanted to stop by and visit them as he was going to Macedonia. And then again, when he was coming back. So now he's talking about this and explaining that this didn't happen. And it was not because he was being fickle-minded or because he just was making plans based on his own wisdom or human plans, but it was to spare the church itself. We'll see why. So Paul did visit them on the way to Macedonia, but it was a difficult visit with the church because he had to correct certain people within the church, we'll read more about this in 2 Corinthians 2-1 in that second chapter. And then in the seventh chapter as well, he mentions it in verse 12. So during this visit because of that correction, he didn't want to come back when he was returning through Macedonia from Macedonia. Instead, he just wrote them a letter. And so he changed his plans in that he didn't go back to see them when he was traveling back from Macedonia. But this was, as he says, it was to spare them. And we'll see after this in the following verses that he talks about what he wanted to spare them of. So verse 20 of all the promises of God in him are yes and amen. So he wants to here remind them that God is not a God who will say one thing and do another thing. He's not a fickle God. He will not sometimes say yes, sometimes say no, but in Christ every promise is fulfilled and it's a yes and amen. Likewise, Paul wants to reassure them that he also is as, he has that same character as God in that he wants to say and do what he means. He will not say one thing and do another thing. He will not change his mind quickly. He, like God is a God who can be trusted. His word can be trusted. Paul wants to be and aligns himself to God in that way. And just a little to look at what does that mean that all that the Father has promised to us is yes and amen in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 617, we see he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. And 1 Corinthians 130, but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And then in Romans 8 1, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So these are just a few of the things that come to us when we are in Christ, that we are made one spirit with Christ, that we have the righteousness, sanctification and redemption that Christ offers because we are in Christ and that we walk according to the spirit and we are no longer under condemnation because we are in Christ. Verses 21 to 22. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. So we are firmly established as believers in Christ and we are anointed by the Holy Spirit. So God himself establishes us in Christ. God himself anoints us, fills us, empowers us, sets us apart for service by giving us the Holy Spirit. And he has also sealed us, marked us as the Holy Spirit. And he has also sealed us, marked us as the Holy Spirit. As his possession, as his children are protected and purchased by him. And that Holy Spirit in us is our guarantee or is a down payment or deposit that tells us or gives us confidence that we belong to God. Verses 23 to 24. Moreover, I call God as witness against my soul that to spare you, I came no more to Corinth. So this is where we see Paul talking about why he didn't come back when he said he was going to come back from Macedonia. So it was to spare them. Not that we have dominion over your faith but our fellow workers for your joy. For by faith you stand. So when he says he came to, he wanted to spare them, he doesn't mean that he was going to, that he controlled their faith or he had a position of authority that would dominate over them. No, he says that his role, his position is to work for their joy. And so because his role and his role along with Timothy was to work for the joy of the church to encourage them in their faith so that they would stand, they didn't go back. He didn't go back on that visit and he continues to explain further in chapter two versus one. But I determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in sorrow. So the first visit to them on his way to Macedonia had gone in sorrow because of the things he had heard and he had had to correct those things. So he didn't want to go back again with that same sorrow. He continues to explain in verse two, for if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? So if he takes that sorrow and then makes them sorrowful because he is sorrow, in sorrow, then he says, then how will you make me glad? I'm making you sad and then you will then have the task of making me happy but I've made you sad. And so he says in verse three, and I wrote this very thing with you, lest when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy. Having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. And so he says, instead, he chose to write the letter. So verse three, he says, I chose to write a letter to you so that when I visit you, I won't have to be sad. Instead, we will have joy together. So because my joy is when you are happy. So if as a church, a church is in a place of joy, then Paul, that gives Paul joy but if they're in a place of sorrow, then that makes him sorrowful. And then verse four, for out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. And so he explains to them that what he did, the correction, the discipline, all of that came from a place of love. It was not to simply hurt them, not to cause offense or to cause sadness in the church. Rather, it was that they would know his love, his willingness to say what need to be said even if it was a difficult thing so that they might benefit as a church and so that there might be correction and righteousness within the church. We go from here to verse five to 11. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you to some extent, not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man so that on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end, I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ. Lest Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. So Paul here is referring to the person who was, was engaging in sexual immorality who he talks about in first Corinthians five and he had told the church to put that person out of the church. So at this point, he is saying now that this person has responded in sorrow. You can accept them back to the church that you can forgive them, comfort and reaffirm your love for them. So just a reminder that the church must deal with sin, especially when it is an unrepentant ongoing sin that that must be dealt with firmly and it should be dealt with in love. And then when there is repentance, there should also be restoration of the person. Otherwise that person might be overwhelmed by sorrow and this could lead to them falling away from the faith. So he says forgive the person, bring them back to the church, restore them so that they will not be overwhelmed by sorrow. And he also says that he wrote these things to check whether the Corinthian church was really going to be obedient to him as one who had a place of authority in the church or were they going to listen to his instructions and they did. And so that is something for him also to be glad about that the church honored what he had asked them to do. And then verse 11, let Satan should take advantage of us who we are not ignorant of his devices. So to take advantage means to defraud or to cheat someone, to make a gain at someone else's expense. And so he says we don't want Satan to have that kind of place to be able to take advantage of us and use the situation to take away this brother or to bring any kind of division or any place to give Satan any place within the church. For we are not ignorant of his devices. So devices meaning his evil purposes, his evil plans. So we know that Satan is looking for these kinds of opportunities. So we want to make sure that we take care of business we don't leave anything unattended to so that Satan can come in and bring destruction or bring any kind of brokenness into the church. From here we go on to verse 12 to 17. I'll just read verses 12 to 13 first. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel and a door was opened to me by the Lord I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus, my brother but taking my leave of them I departed from poor Macedonia and we see here that Paul immediately recognized there was a door of opportunity to preach the gospel and so he went there immediately. He takes those opportunities as soon as it's open he's there to go and share the gospel there. But because he doesn't see Titus there he doesn't feel that he can remain and so he leaves to go to Macedonia and find Titus. Verses 14 and 15. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in time for Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. So here he's talking about a triumphal parade. So this usually used to happen in battle in war where the king that defeats the foe will then walk through the captured city with all the people that they have captured. And so it is a triumphal walk for the king who has conquered but is a walk of shame for those who have been captured. Here Paul is actually talking about himself as someone who has been captured but in his case it's not a walk of shame rather it is one in which he prides himself that he has been captured by Christ. And so Christ leads them in this walk of triumph. Christ is triumphant over the enemy and leads us as people who have chosen to follow Christ, people who are captured, who have been rescued from the hands of the enemy. He takes us in this triumphal procession with him through the rest of the world. And as he is taking us through the rest of the world we become the fragrance of Christ to those who are watching us. So to both those who are being saved and to those who are perishing. Now we go to verse 16 to the one. We are the aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of life leading to life and who is sufficient for these things. So to the ones who are being saved we are the aroma of life. They we carry the fragrance of Christ and that fragrance to them is like life because they themselves are also being saved. So they are drawn to Christ and they also can experience life in Christ. But on the other hand those who are following the way of death those who reject Christ when they see us we carry the aroma of death because they reject Christ and in doing that they themselves are going to experience eternal death. So depending on the people who are watching this parade this triumphant parade one group of people will view us as people who carry fragrance of Christ which brings life and the other group of people will carry us will see us as the fragrance of Christ which is a fragrance of death for them because they do not believe in Christ. And Paul recognizes that we ourselves are not fit to be such people to carry Christ's aroma wherever we go but it is the Lord Himself who makes us competent to do this. And then verse 17, for we are not as so many peddling the word of God but as of sincerity but as from God we speak in the sight of God. So it says we are not here corrupting or adulterating the word of God that we do all our work in sincerity in the eyes of both people and God. And so with that Paul ends chapter 2. We will stop here and we'll continue from chapter 3 onwards in our next class. Thank you.