T. C. Trawick and Sam R. Williams, Ph.D.

Counseling almost always involves sharing the truths of hope and comfort with those who suffer. We do so by ministering the Word faithfully. In addition to the Word, the personal experience of suffering prepares the minister (counselor) to offer wisdom, admonition, and instruction to others in real time and real space.

Our experiences can be a conduit of grace. Those who have received the grace of God’s comfort should not keep it to themselves. We are intended to be channels of living water, not dams. Charles Spurgeon, commenting on 2 Corinthians 1, exhorts us “you are bound by the law of gratitude to make use of all you know, all you have felt, all you have learned by personal experience for the comforting and the upbuilding of your brethren”

Encouraging and building others up should be major emphases in biblical counseling. Paul’s correspondence in 2 Corinthians 1, speaks of the great hope and comfort that he passes on to the church at Corinth. The price was high, but the reward was eternal.

Circumstances in Asia led Paul to abandon all hope of life. It was during this time of trial that God rescued him from himself, and gave him the precious gift of comfort and hope out of which he would then minister to others.

Text and Context

The primary passage in view is 2 Corinthians 1: 8-10. The preceding verses found in 3-7 provide the context. A “Sentence of Death” crisis took place on one of Paul’s mission trips, yet he had survived the event and then offered a divinely inspired explanation of what happened, why it happened, and why it matters.

The letter now known as 2 Corinthians is considered as Paul’s most personal letter, a letter that reveals more about himself than any other letter. He believed it necessary to be personally transparent because his credentials and his circumstances were under attack by false believers around Corinth. In order to defend his appointment as a minister of the gospel, he recounted his trials to authenticate his position, rather than as a cause to question his credentials.

Death Sentence

Beginning in verse 8, Paul refers to the effect of some radical event. What was this event and how important are the specifics for proper application? Murray Harris offers a summary of the five most common options. They are: 1) The wild beasts in Ephesus (1 Cor. 15:32), 2) “thirty-nine stripes” (2 Cor. 11:24), 3) Demetrius led riot (Acts 19), 4) another persecution reference (Acts 20:19, 1 Cor. 16:9), or 5) a recurrent physical malady. Whatever the specific cause of his anguish, Paul considered himself soon to be dead. No small crisis. Whatever the circumstances may have been, they are not essential to determine the central truths of this passage. Whether the cause of the affliction was external or internal, Paul was certain there was no way out. “We had the sentence of death within ourselves” (v. 9) . He had officially given up on himself. Paul stared death straight in the eye. He realized, like us, that he was tempted to set his hope on himself rather than on Christ. This pride was exposed through suffering. He understood God’s purpose was “so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;” (v. 9). Calvin brilliantly summarizes this:

“Two things should be observed here. In the first place-that the fleshly confidence with which we are puffed up, is so obstinate, that it cannot be overthrown in any way other than by our falling into utter despair,”…and he continues, “Secondly, it is to be observed that the saints themselves ….are often reduced to this extremity.” He concludes “how displeasing to God confidence in ourselves must be, when for the purpose of correcting it, it is necessary that we should be condemned to death! (author’s emphasis) ”

It was only when Paul was incapable (again) of rescuing himself, that he could freely rejoice at both the comfort of God through Christ’s sufferings, and the rebound of an abundant life through the resurrection of Christ. It was the God who raises the dead (v. 9) who rescued Paul (again!) and saved him from this death sentence. As a result, Paul would not preach himself. He would now proclaim Christ, the One on “whom we have set our hope” (v. 10).

Application

The treasures here are rich. John MacArthur notes this as the “most significant passage on comfort anywhere in Scripture.” Initially we notice that even mature saints are sinners. Even saints can harbor a pride of which they are blind. Even though its extraction may be tortuous, a loving God removes it and at the same time grants grace to endure the surgery.

This passage also demonstrates that a counselor may not have godly comfort to give because that comfort has not been received. And how might that occur? As Jay Adams comments on this passage, “Stop complaining and seek to discover the comfort of the compassionate One who sent trouble your way to enable you to experience His comfort—so that, at length, you can comfort others. Your own suffering and comfort is part of your training.”

This passage reminds us that though sometimes our wickedness may be disguised to us, so also may be God’s means of saving and rescuing grace. Even when Paul’s mind assured him of something (death), it was not so. God had ordained the trial for a different purpose, and it was not death.

Conclusion

We could sum up one of the points of this passage by stating that even though our sin is worse than we thought, our God is more gracious than we can ever apprehend. This is our hope in the face of great fear: it is the hope of resurrection, not death. God knows our needs better than we do. Through the experience of suffering, as well as the power of the Word, ministers can genuinely deliver the comfort of God to those in need.