Join us as we uncover the intricacies of 2 Corinthians, a letter penned with both heartache and hope by Paul the Apostle. Facing opposition and skepticism from within the early church, Paul elucidates the dualities of hardship and faith. In this episode, we explore the essential theme of comfort that pervades his writings, reflecting on personal anecdotes and biblical journals from presenter Alan J. Huth. Dr. Michael Elliott lends his voice to bring the scriptures alive, as Paul’s narrative reveals a spirit of unwavering resilience. Through thoughtful commentary and biblical excerpts, listeners are invited to ponder their own faith
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we begin our study in 2 Corinthians. About a year after writing 1 Corinthians, Paul writes again to the church at Corinth in southern Greece. The Corinthian church got upended by visits from some of Paul’s opponents. Several openly rebelled against Paul. He sent Titus there to calm things down, which for the most part succeeded. But there was still a rebellious minority who continued to reject Paul and his gospel. They argued that Paul suffered too much to really be a Spirit-filled apostle of Jesus. So the central theme of 2 Corinthians is the relationship between suffering and the power of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s life, his ministry, and his message. 2 Corinthians is the most personal of all Paul’s letters, filled with deep emotion. He writes to do a few things. Strengthen the faithful majority and purify the church. Secondly, to offer the rebellious minority one more chance to repent before he returns to judge them. What’s its relevance today? Well, have you ever had to defend yourself? In his most autobiographical letter, Paul provides a model of how to keep our composure while defending ourselves and reaching for reconciliation. Let’s jump into Paul’s most emotionally charged letter, 2 Corinthians. Our guest reader for 2 Corinthians is the same reader we had for 1 Corinthians, and that’s Dr. Michael Elliott, my pastor in Denver for over 15 years and the first chairman of the board of the Ezra Project. He served as chairman for 14 years. Dr. Elliot is pastor of Regency Christian Center in Parker, Colorado. He also started and leads Touching Africa Ministries, training pastors, planning churches, offering medical care and community development to one of the poorest nations on earth, Ethiopia. Let’s listen as Dr. Elliot reads 2 Corinthians chapter 1, the 24 verses.
SPEAKER 03 :
2 Corinthians 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in 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. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s suffering, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we’re afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. And if we’re comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that you share in our sufferings. You will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction which we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted as through the prayers of many.” 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. For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand. And I hope you will fully understand, just as you did partially understand us, that on the day of our Lord Jesus, you will boast of us as we will boast of you. Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh ready to say yes, yes, and no, no at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not yes and no, but in him it is always yes.” For all the promises of God find their yes in Him. That is why it is through Him we utter our amen to God for His glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us and who has put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. but I call God to witness against me. It was to spare you that I refrain from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
I will be using three of my personal Bible reading journals for 2 Corinthians. The first journal is from 1994 when I was 39 years old. The second journal is from 2004 when I read the Bible chronologically at 49 years old. And the third journal is from 2015 when I was 60 years old. So we’ll have perspectives from the 90s, the 2000s, and the 2000-teens. I’m going to start with my journal from 2015. After reading 2 Corinthians, I wrote, “…God comforts us in our afflictions, so we can comfort others in theirs. As in most cases, we have nothing to give without Jesus giving to us first.” I continued to write, “…Paul became a Christian. That didn’t mean an easy life afterwards. Difficulty in Christianity helps us to rely not on ourselves, but on God.” I continue to write, we pray for one another in our afflictions. We are to behave in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God, according to verse 12. In 2004, I was reading the Bible chronologically. So I was in the book of Acts, and then 2 Corinthians 1-4 took place during the portion of where I was reading in Acts. So I read 2 Corinthians 1-4 on this day, but I really made comments on what I read through Acts and not on 2 Corinthians. In 1994, I was reading a chapter a day, so I read 2 Corinthians 1 on this day, and I wrote, The word comfort appears ten times. God comforts us in all our affliction, so we can comfort others in their affliction, with the comfort we received from God. Comfort is abundance through Christ. If we are not comfortable, we are not receiving God’s abundant comfort when we are afflicted. Help me be comfortable in you, O Lord. And then I finished with conduct in the world should be based on holiness, godly sincerity, and grace. Referring back to my journal in 2015, I wrote that when Paul became a Christian, that didn’t mean his life became easy. Let’s look at verse 8. Paul says, For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God. As we read the writings of Paul, we surely understand that he understands suffering and affliction on behalf of Christ. You may be suffering today. You may be afflicted. You may be in a part of your life where you’re questioning even God himself. So let’s get some comfort out of 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comforts with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Jesus suffered, Paul suffered, you may be suffering. Verse 5 says, For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. He goes on to say in verse 6, If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Though it may be difficult, we need to endure the suffering so that we eventually can gain the comfort of Jesus. We learn, as Paul learned, that when we’re suffering, we rely not on ourselves, but on God. Paul wrote in verse 10, He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. If you’re suffering, I hope that you say as Paul, On him I have set my hope, and he will deliver me. And let’s look at one last thought in this chapter. It’s out of verse 12. Paul says this, Regardless of what you’re going through, I hope that could be your proclamation, that you behave in the world with simplicity, godly sincerity, not earthly wisdom, but by grace, even as we suffer. Father, I pray for any today who are listening, who may be in pain, who may be suffering, who may be under any kind of affliction. I pray, Lord, that through that suffering, through that discomfort, we all learn to rely on you and not on ourselves. And Lord, I pray that any who are suffering, who are in difficult circumstances, could say that they continue to behave in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not on earthly wisdom, but under your grace. And as they do, Lord, that will be a testimony to those around them. You remind us in this chapter, Lord, that you will comfort us in our affliction. Please do so to those who need your touch even this day. And Lord, may we comfort those around us who are also suffering under affliction as you comfort us. As we comfort them, Lord, may it be a testimony to them of your grace, your mercy, and your love to us and to those we try to comfort. We reach out to you today and we ask you to reach back and comfort us. We ask it in your precious name. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. We started on radio on October 1st, 2024. I hope you noticed some differences in AdBible from other programs. For example, we are fully committed to the Word of God. That’s why we play full chapters on the air, not sound bites. It takes a lot of our program time, but it’s my belief it’s more important for you to hear the Word of God than me. You may also have figured out by now I’m not a pastor, just a layman like most of you. So these recordings are not based on sermons. They’re based on my personal walk through the Bible over several decades of my life. Therefore, AdBible is a unique perspective of how the Bible impacts life, not a teaching series you get at your church. I share personal Bible reading journal entries from my life, from my journals, I’ve never thought would ever be shared with anybody. What I share are raw, authentic notes from Bible intersections of my own life. My life is no different from yours, so I hope the stories and applications I share are relevant to your life as well. I hope you are enjoying this unique radio program and therefore will help us stay on the air. We have so much more to share. Visit EzraProject.net and donate today. Or send a check to the Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. That’s Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. When you do, I will send you your first copy of A Day by Day Through the Bible book. There are 11 books in the series, so I will surprise you with one of my choosing. Or, after you donate at EzraProject.net, look at our resource page, pick a book you want, and let me know your choice at the contact section on our website. We are happy to send you the book of your choice. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
