II Corinthians 1:4-11
Bad Things Do Happen To God’s People

Introduction
1. Good Christians do cry. Hopes, dreams, plans, ambitions melt as quickly as an early spring
snow. None of God’s children seem to be exempt.
2. SUFFERING: The deepest pain isn’t always visible and obvious. Many wounds and scars are
internal, and not as easily detected, but they are just as real.
3. II Corinthians 1:4-11 Paul, one of God’s greatest Christians said, “I hurt.”

Are you hurting? Do you know a dear child of God who right now really hurts?
I. THE PAIN OF SUFFERING 1:4-7
A. The Possibility To Hurt
Each verse says, “I hurt.” It is the cry of anguish.
1.Tribulation, trouble (same Greek word) 4 It means, To press in, Pressure, Confined under pressure. It may be physical, but the scope is large enough to fit any pressurized situation.
2.Sufferings (plural) abound. 5 The word abound suggests an overflowing river. Paul and the Corinthians knew first hand: Troubles are like bananas…they come in bunches.
3.Verses 6, 7 Afflicted…Sufferings…we suffer…partakers of sufferings…Salvation does not exempt us. Pain, pressure, suffering is common to all of us. “What is God trying to teach me?” Implying that when the lesson is over the pain will stop.
*Maybe God isn’t trying to tell us anything specific each time we hurt. It may not be for you. It may be for someone else. Your consolation.
*Pain and suffering are a part of this earthly scene and Christians are not exempt!
Germs and the laws of nature are common to everyone. Do we really expect God to suspend all laws to protect us whenever we encounter something unpleasant or dangerous?!
*Paul, the Corinthians, and Job went through it! I believe that God wants us to freely choose to love and trust Him, even when the choice involves pain. We are committed to Him…not because we feel good or what we get. He wants us to love and trust Him when every circumstance would call for us to deny Him!
4. We have a religious world that shouts “the believer should avoid pain at all cost”!
*We reserve our places of honor to those who have been healed. What about those
who aren’t healed? Faith is a route to something seen, something ‘miraculous’!
*A sick person or one befallen by reversal lacks faith or God would heal and bless.
The Bible doesn’t pretend that a Christian should expect life to be easier, more
germ free than for a non-Christian. We are a part of a fallen world. If we were
insolated and insulated from its danger we could never say, “My God is able!”
B. The Parakaleo (Comfort) To Hurt
Comfort…Consolation has the same Greek root: parakaleo which means, to call
alongside to help (in time of need). It is used 10 times in verses 4-7.
1.Comfort Is In Us 4 So we become God with skin on to others who hurt.
2.Comfort by Christ 5 Sufferings abound in us. Comfort abounds by Christ. Christ is living His life through us~
3.Comfort For You 6, 7 Affliction…it is for your comfort/consolation and salvation (deliverance). Our suffering is for you!!

Are you hurting? Do you know a dear child of God who right now really hurts?
II. THE PRESSURE OF SUFFERING 1:8
I would not have you to be ignorant brethren…
A.The Trouble
1.We don’t know the trouble. The us and we seem to eliminate Paul’s thorn in the
flesh as a possibility. It may have been severe opposition.
2.We can relate to how he feels! You can be in the center of God’s will, doing God’s work and have life fall apart.
B.The Trials
1.Pressed out of measure…burdened excessively (NASV)
2. Above strength…beyond strength… “I can’t take any more.” “Why me?”
3. Insomuch that we despaired even of life…I thought we were going to die. That’s
how dark it was!
4.This is Paul speaking: The pressure of excessive weight leads to weariness which leads to despair and hopelessness. The pressure of living can wash away every man-made foundation.

Are you hurting? Do you know a dear child of God who right now really hurts?
III. THE PASSING OF SUFFERING 1:9-11
We will be brought through our trial or translated to heaven.
A.Death
We had the sentence of death in ourselves…in us!
1.Our Helplessness…the death sentence was in us. Hopeless…no way out.
2.Our Hope…That we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raised the dead!
B.Delivered
My God Is Able! Note the 3 tenses of deliverance:
1.He Delivered…God has been faithful. Look at His track record!
2.He Does Deliver…God is faithful.
3.He Will Deliver…God will be faithful. Paul has not seen the end. BUT HE KNOWS GOD! Hang in there…life goes on! Ultimately, I will be translated from this veil of tears!

Are you hurting? Do you know a dear child of God who right now really hurts?
IV. THE PURPOSE OF SUFFERING 1:4,9,10,11
A. Service 4-7
That we may be able to encourage others who are in trouble. These verses open up
a ministry to each of us.
B. Sacrifice 9b
That we should not trust in ourselves, but God. God wants us to move away from a
SELF. He wants to destroy any confidence in the flesh. Exchange it for confidence in
God who raised the dead! So, we should no longer trust in ourselves!
C. Sufficiency 10
That we can experience first hand God’s deliverance. Through It All: I thank God
for the mountain. I thank God for the valleys. I thank Him for the storms He brought
me through. For if I never had a problem, I’d never know that He could solve them. I’d
never know what faith in God would do. Through it all I’ve learned to trust in Jesus…
I’ve learned to depend upon His word.
D. Supplication 11
That we can pray and have prayers answered. It’s then we get down to business.
It’s then we draw close to God. It’s then the church can be the church!

Nothing touches me that has not passed through the hands of my heavenly Father...NOTHING!
Everything I endure is designed to prepare me to serve others more effectively...EVERYTHING!