We’re going to be in II Corinthians for our lesson if you want to turn there. There’s another pandemic plaguing the world today. It was here long before COVID. And it is, I believe, more debilitating and deadly. If you get it once you are not immune. You could get over it one day and be hit by it again the next. This devastating epidemic is called, in its milder form, discouragement, and in its more severe form, depression. According to Christian psychiatrists, Minirth and Meier, who wrote the book ‘Happiness is a Choice’ say “America’s number one health problem is depression.” And, “One American in 20 is medically diagnosed as suffering from depression. Of course, many, many more are depressed but never receive help.” And many, many more may not be classified as depressed but they are down and discouraged.
There are all sorts of life situations in which discouragement can come upon us.
For some it’s when they step on the scale or see themselves in a photo.
Or maybe when someone rolls their eyes at you or makes a mocking comment about something you believe or something you’re trying to do.
When your prayers are not answered like you think God should have answered them, that can be discouraging.
When you’ve got too much on your plate, you’re overloaded and tired, or when your efforts to help people go unnoticed or unappreciated… or you get little results from a lot of effort, you could be discouraged.
Or if you get in a rut of routine and boredom, just doing the same thing the same way everyday.
If you make mistakes and feel shame.
If you are betrayed, let down or disappointed by someone…
If you’re dealing with any sort of hardship, whether its with your finances or your marriage or your health or any other way… it’s easy to fall into discouragement, and especially when you have a combination of those circumstances.
The apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” So he says God was using him to bring encouragement to people, because the comfort or encouragement he received from God, he could share with others who were going through difficulty. And that’s one of the things Paul sought to do in this letter of II Corinthians.
Let me first point out…
Some of Paul’s reasons to be discouraged.
First of all. He was being heavily criticized. New teachers had come to Corinth where Paul had established the church and they were destroying Paul’s credibility among the believers with several serious accusations. They accused Paul of being dishonest and tampering with God’s word and being an inferior or even fake apostle. That’s another reason He wrote this letter. He has to prove that the accusations are unfounded to save the Corinthians from being deceived. One of their arguments to belittle Paul we find in II Corinthians 10:10, it was that Paul is a lousy speaker and his physical appearance is very unimpressive (like that matters).
So that’s also something else he could have been discouraged over. He was not impressive in his eloquence or appearance. Do you ever get discouraged when you look in the mirror? Or because your voice doesn’t sound very good or you don’t have the gift of gab? There’s a late 2nd century writing that contains a description of Paul’s physical appearance (The Acts of Paul and Thecla). It describes him as a short stocky guy, bald-headed and bow-legged with a unibrow and a big nose. Not your most eligible bachelor.
But those were the least of his reasons to be discouraged. I want to read to you from II Corinthians 11:23ff where Paul gives a sort of log of the difficulties he had to deal with so far in his ministry. It’s amazing that a man could go through all that and not be a depressed basket case. Now, Paul felt foolish writing this, he explained, because he was basically boasting. And he wants nothing to do with boasting, because generally that is a prideful sinful activity. But he feels he has to, because certain new teachers are trying to convince the Corinthians that Paul is not a faithful apostle of Christ. So to save them from being deceived, he feels he has to defend himself and lay out his credentials. So he says, referring to his opponents in Corinth, “23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman [in other words, boasting like this is how crazy foolish people talk, but he feels he has to for their sake] —with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.” Just sit with that for a sec. Would you keep doing something that kept landing you in prison multiple times for months and even years sometimes? And he says, “countless beatings, and often near death.” Have you ever witnessed a person be beaten almost to death? I’ve only seen video clips of something like that. It is a heart wrenching thing just to watch. Paul says he’d been beaten almost to death many times? “24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.” The Jewish law forbid authorities from whipping a criminal with more than forty lashes. So they would do one less than forty as a safeguard against breaking the law. Regulations for this punishment are in the Mishnah, the book of the Jewish traditional law. It describes how the man’s hands were to be tied to pillars, his garments ripped off so that his torso was naked. The offender was not allowed to stand upright or sit, but had to be bent down. The synagogue official was to wield the leather whip with one hand and swing with all his might. He was to give 1/3 of the stripes to the front, then 2/3 of the stripes to the back. The Mishnah said if the man dies from the punishment, the scourger is not responsible, as long it was not over 40 lashes. But it shows there was the possibility of death from this. Paul endured that on 5 different occasions.
Then he says “25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys [traveling was not easy in Paul’s day], in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; [The whole world was becoming a dangerous place for Paul because so many hated him.] 27 in toil and hardship [often Paul had to earn his own financial support], through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?” You know about that pain if you have kid who makes poor choices. Paul’s immense love and compassion for his fellow believers brought him a lot of pain whenever they weren’t doing well.
On top of all that he had this problem he describes in chapter 12 as a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment him. I don’t know if it was a physical problem or a demon from Satan that would harass him somehow. But whatever it was, it was a miserable problem.
So if anyone has had reason to be discouraged from carrying on what the Lord wanted him doing in his life, Paul had reason to be discouraged.
But let’s notice some statements in chapters 4 and 5. 4:1, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” 4:16, “So we do not lose heart…” 5:6, “So we are always of good courage…” 5:8, “Yes, we are of good courage.” How could that be with all he was going through? Paul was not superhuman. He did not have ice water running through his veins. He felt pain like we do. He got tired like we do. He had all the same needs we have. Now certainly the Lord did things to encourage Paul. And we get examples of that in the book of Acts, like when he was in Corinth and he was scared and not sure what to do, and Jesus came to him in a vision of the night and said, “Paul don’t be afraid, go on speaking, don’t be silent, no one’s going to hurt you here, I’ve got many people I want to save in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). And if you’re a follower of Jesus, He will work to encourage you too, He’s the good shepherd. Psalm 23:1-3, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3He restores my soul…” I think, when you’re down, you’re discouraged, you’ve been out of action for a while, He doesn’t just leave you there, He’s the good shepherd, He’ll work in your life and get you back up and moving.
But on Paul’s side, the key to his encouragement was twofold: it was how he chose to conduct his life, and it was what he was seeing, what he was looking at and thinking about.
How did Paul choose to conduct his life?
Let’s notice two summary descriptions:
II Corinthians 1:12, “For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”
The word there translated “simplicity” in the Greek text means singleness as opposed to hypocrisy or duplicity. It’s when you are the same person everywhere you go all the time. You’re the same person among your buddies on Friday night as you are at church on Sunday. You’re the same person in private as you are in public. That’s how Paul was.
The word translated sincerity is a colorful one in the original language. It’s a compound word, eilikrineia. Eili means sunlight or a ray of the sun. Krineia means to test or to judge. So the word is literally “tested by sunlight.” It’s background was in how a piece of pottery would be checked for cracks. Sometimes the cracks in clay pots would be filled with wax. If it was just sitting on the shelf you couldn’t tell it was cracked, but if you held the pot up in the sunlight the cracks could be seen. So the Greek word ‘tested by sunlight’ was used to refer to something that was pure and genuine all the way through. So Paul is saying he doesn’t have hidden motives in his ministry. He doesn’t have some secret sin in his life he hides from everybody.
In other words, Paul chose to fully repent, to fully surrender, to be all in, to obey the Lord in every way in which He knew what the Lord wanted of him. He chose to go the way of a clear conscience. And I believe that’s vital to enjoying the great encouragement and comfort Paul enjoyed, where you can have enthusiasm and joy no matter what you face in life. It’s not that we must be perfect people who never make mistakes. I don’t think any of us ever get there this side of heaven. But we must fully repent; everything we know of that’s against the Lord’s will, we renounce that and really try to do the Lord’s will. God’s word doesn’t offer much for encouragement and comfort if we are unwilling to fully repent (Hebrews 10:26).
And I like the description of how Paul chose to conduct his life in 5:14, “the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Paul knew it was true that Christ so loved us that He willingly died on a cross in our place for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God and have eternal life. And so we owe it to Christ to live out the rest of our short lives here for Him. And that means we let the love of Christ control us. It means we let Christ use us as His instrument or agent in loving people. We let Him serve people through our hands. We let Him bless and encourage and teach people through our mouths. We let Him do what He wants to do for people with our bodies as best we know how. That’s how Paul chose to go about life. And if we choose to live as agents of Christ’s love, which we can choose to do today even if we haven’t our whole life, then we’re in position to enjoy the immense encouragement Paul enjoyed.
The other key to his encouragement I think is summarized in 4:18.
“we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Paul could see unseen things and those unseen things kept him greatly encouraged.
There were a whole bunch of invisible things he could see. He could see that his Lord Jesus who so loved him was with him all the time. He could see that God had forgiven him and loved him. You can too if you believe in Jesus and you are trying to obey Him according to what you know so far of His will. Because that’s what He promises. And Paul could see the incredible power and importance of the gospel he’d been given to preach. He could see how it saves people and transforms them. And He could see why so many rejected his message. That it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t that he didn’t word things in the right way or didn’t approach it the right way. He says in 4:3-4 that for many the gospel is veiled. Satan has blinded their minds so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Satan is allowed to do that when someone loves unrighteousness and doesn’t really want to do God’s will. It’s likely that the reason you may not be able to get truth through to somebody or to a group of people is not your fault either. It’s that Satan has blinded them so they can see it no matter how well you present the truth to them or conduct yourself. There were many unseen things he could see. Paul explains in chapter 5:6-8 how he’s looking forward to dying, because what happens is you just leave your body and meet the Lord and you get to interact and enjoy Him like you can’t on earth. And he also talks about how we’re getting new bodies when Christ comes back. Too many Christians think we’re just going to float around in heaven as disembodied spirits forever. He says these bodies in comparison, are like tents, and in heaven we’ll have like a building. In these tents we groan with all the aches and worries of life, but in that building we will not be groaning. No, our hope is greater than that… These things were so clear to Paul, he could see it and it kept his heart encouraged as he went through life.
Now, we’re going to focus here briefly on what he says in 4:8-18. He describes two things; the benefits of his afflictions and then what is to come after this short life if we trust the Lord to the end.
The benefits of his afflictions
First, he speaks of the benefits of his afflictions for others in 4:8-15. Let’s read it…
II Corinthians 4:8ff, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus [or it could be translated ‘the dying of Jesus’ referring to all the stuff that led up to His death, the beating and mocking and spitting and scourging and such], so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” What is he saying? God was using his afflictions to show people that Jesus truly is alive from the dead and will be with those who follow Him.
There were two amazing things about Paul’s afflictions. One was that God kept delivering him from death. Time and time again, his enemies often sought his life but could never manage to kill him… until he had accomplished his mission of spreading the gospel throughout the known world. That was evidence Paul had supernatural help on his side. The other amazing thing was that no matter how much suffering they caused Paul, he would not quit testifying of this risen Jesus and the salvation He offers. And it was clear that Paul absolutely believed what he was preaching; he really believed he had seen the risen Lord on that road to Damascus and that Jesus was worth giving up everything for and dying for. That’s the only way to explain why Paul wouldn’t be quiet about Jesus. So Paul could see how God was using his sufferings to confirm the truth of the gospel for the salvation of souls and glory of God.
Could God maybe use your struggles to benefit others? Could your trials be an opportunity to show those around you how convinced you are that Jesus is worth serving no matter what and how the Lord can make someone strong and joyful no matter what happens? Could the way you handle your struggles be used to inspire and bless others?
But Paul could also see that his sufferings were not just benefiting others; they were also greatly benefiting him. 4:16ff, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Paul could see that all his suffering was refining his character, his inner self, ever making him more and more like Christ. And he says his afflictions were producing, accumulating, amassing glory for him that he would enjoy for eternity. He says in 5:10 that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” That’s not just heaven for the good people and hell for the bad. I believe Paul is referring to how Christ will reward each one individually according to their deeds (cf. I Corinthians 3:8). That’s how Jesus pictured it in some of his parables. When the master returns and calls his servants to account, he deals with them individually. He rewards his good servants differently depending on what they did. In one parable he puts one servant in charge of 5 cities. Another he puts in charge of 10 cities (Luke 19:11-27). So Paul knew this, he kept it in mind; Christ keeps track of every little thing we go through and how we deal with it, and the Lord is going to reward us accordingly. So Paul when he was in his pain and struggling, he knew the Lord was watching and keeping track of everything. And he knew the Lord was going to reward him and make all his sufferings seem like nothing. It wasn’t just a theological doctrine to Paul. It was a reality he was certain about and it kept him encouraged. He knew the Lord Jesus was keeping track and was going to so generously reward him.
Can you see it through the eyes of faith? Can you see that as you are faithful through your health problems, as you are faithful through people criticizing you, as you’re faithful through your loneliness, as you’re faithful through whatever trials you’re battling, that it’s producing for you an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison? The Lord is watching and He’s going to reward you. You’ve got to see it. It’s got to be real to you. And when it is, I think nothing can keep you down. We’ve got to see the unseen like Paul did.
I want to end here with a prayer that God will help us with this and open the eyes of our heart to see these things: “Holy Father, we thank You for Your great love, we thank You for Your servant Paul, we thank You for the great encouragement You’ve given us through him. Father we repent of all our sins, we renounce every sin that we know of and we surrender to You. We thank You Lord Jesus that You came for us, You died for us, and so Lord we want to live for You. Let Your will be done in our lives. Father I pray that You will open our eyes to see that we are forgiven and accepted, that Your Holy Spirit is our helper and that we have eternal life. Open our eyes to see who You are and what we have in Christ. Fill us with encouragement. Father let us encounter You, let us not just read about these things in a book and talk about them in church, but I pray we will experience You and Your kindness and that these things will be real and You’ll fill our hearts with encouragement and comfort. In Jesus name, amen.
-James Williams