Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen? — 2 Corinthians 1 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, it's good to have everybody with us again this afternoon. And for those of you on television, I think most of you know now, we produce four programs right in succession on a Wednesday afternoon here in Tulsa. And if you're ever in this area on the first week of the month, why, you check with us and come on in for a taping session. We have here today people from quite some distance, and Arkansas, and Pryor, Macalester. And we're just a mixed group. We're not all from one denomination. And again, a lot of people will call and ask whether I'm a pastor. No, I'm not a pastor. I'm not a theologian. I'm just an average Sunday school teacher, I guess. I'm just a layman. And I think the Lord has just blessed us with the ability to teach the Word. And that's all we claim to be. And so we always like to also let you know that all the past programs are available on videotape, audiotape, and now the printed page. And so if you're interested in any of that, you call us on the 800 number or drop us a note, and we'll get the information in your hands. Okay, now we finally got out of 1 Corinthians in our last program, and we're going to move on now to the next letter, 2 Corinthians. And I'll have to give a little bit of background because I think you get a better understanding of the Scripture if you understand the circumstances under which it was written, as well as who wrote it, and to whom was it written. Of course, most of you know now that I stress that the Apostle Paul is the Apostle of the Gentiles. That's what he was called specifically to be. And in that role as the Apostle of the Gentiles, whenever he writes, of course, he is writing primarily to Gentile believers, as over against most of the Old Testament and the Gospel accounts were directed to the nation of Israel and the Jew. And so this is what makes such a vast difference in comprehending the Scriptures, and of course I'm always emphasizing to my students, whenever you read your Bible, ask yourself the question, well to whom is this being addressed? Now Paul, of course, is writing the second letter to the congregation down at Corinth, which is there on the tip of Greece on the Mediterranean Sea, a little off to the southwest of Athens. And as we saw in the first letter to the Corinthians, they were a carnal church. They were one of the congregations that just had not begun to grow and to envelop the deeper things of Paul's teachings. And so that first letter to the Corinthians was just a constant upbraiding and a reproving them of much of their carnality. And one of their main problems, of course, was that they had divisions in the church. And of course we don't know how large it was. It was probably not over, I'm sure, less than a hundred. But anyway, even in that small group there were four distinct divisions. Some said that they followed Christ and His teachings. The other group said, no, we follow Peter. And yet there was a third group that said, well, we follow Apollos. He's the man that we look up to. And then of course there was the fourth part who said, no, it was from the apostle Paul that we heard the gospel. It's through Paul that we became believers, and Paul is the one that we will follow. And so these four groups caused, of course, a lot of dissension and a lot of grief to the apostle, and was part and parcel in their carnality. They just did not grow spiritually. And then of course, if you remember our study in the first Corinthians, they evidently sent the apostle a letter with a long list of questions as to how they were handling all these various problems. And we dealt with that as we came up through that first letter. And among the problems, of course, is in chapter 5. And when we get to the situation, we may refer back to it. But there was gross immorality, and it was a grief to the apostle to think that a believer would stoop to such a low level, and the church wasn't addressing it. And so that was dealt with in the first letter. Now the reason I mention that is because now when we get into the second Corinthians, Paul is going to seemingly give us the idea that a lot of these things are now corrected. So his first letter did not fall on deaf ears. And again, you want to remember that the second letter was probably written a matter of months, at least less than a year after the first letter. So there's been time enough elapsed that they could clean up their act, they could deal with some of these things, and which evidently they had done. But nevertheless, this whole first part of 2 Corinthians, in fact I have to look a second, it's all the way up to the verse 10 of chapter 6. These whole first 6 chapters and 10 verses, Paul is more or less dealing with the defense of his apostleship. Now those of you who hear me teach every week here in Oklahoma, you know I'm always referring to that. That every time you get into Paul's writings, he has to defend his apostleship. Now, if you can understand the background, you can see why. You want to remember that all during Christ's earthly ministry, Jesus had dealt only with Peter and the other 11 apostles. And of course after His death, burial, and resurrection, you come into the book of Acts, it's still Peter and the 11 again. They've put in Matthias, remember, in place of Judas. But here is this other Jew, Saul of Tarsus, who in the meantime is doing everything he can to destroy this element of Judaism that had believed that Jesus was the Messiah. And so Saul, the great persecutor, the one who just wreaked havoc amongst those early Jewish believers, is now the one who God has commissioned after saving him by grace on that road to Damascus. This is the one that is now being sent out into the pagan Gentile Roman Empire with the gospel of grace. Now it stands to reason, if you all understand religion, and I know we all do, and I'm running into it even from our television audience, where people are getting their eyes opened after being steeped in one religion or another. And it's not easy. And I'm the first one to empathize with that kind of a situation, because when you've had something drilled into you ever since you were old enough to listen, and then all of a sudden have someone like myself perhaps come along and show from the Scriptures that they've been taught totally wrong for so long, it's not easy. And people will call and say, Les, this is the toughest thing I've ever had to do, but I can see that you're right on from the Scriptures. Well, Paul was in that same situation. Now as he goes out amongst these Gentile cities and is calling out by virtue of preaching the gospel a people for the name of Christ, these Jews, whether they were part of the believing element or whether they were still totally in Judaism, constantly came back to the fact that you never walked with Jesus like Peter did. You're just an upstart. You're just bringing all this on your own. Well, under those kind of attacks naturally, what does Paul have to do? He has to defend his apostleship, and over and over he has to refer to the fact that he has suffered and suffered and suffered some more so that the Gentiles could get this message of grace. And this is basically the whole theme of these first six chapters then, that he is again defending his apostleship, showing to the Corinthians all that he has had to go through for the sake of the gospel. But of course that doesn't shock us because we know, in fact I'm going to take you back to the book of Acts. Honey, let's turn back to Acts first, chapter 9, because I'm afraid there are a lot of people today that are still treating Paul the same way that the early churches did. And of course they were prompted by the Judaizers. Now I hope you all understand what I'm talking about when I say a Judaizer. A Judaizer was a believer that Jesus was the Christ. He was saved under that kingdom gospel, but they still did not comprehend the grace of God and that the law had now been satisfied and totally set aside. So the Judaizers were constantly following in Paul's footsteps, telling his converts, Now wait a minute, you can't be saved on just Paul's gospel alone. You still have to practice Judaism. You have to be circumcised, you have to keep the law, and so on and so forth. And you know, it just about drove the apostle up the wall. And so he suffered because of that. Alright, but back here now in Acts chapter 9, and I'm not going to take any more out of here than we have to, but come on down to verse 13 I guess. Can we start there? Down at Acts chapter 9, verse 13. Now we're in Damascus, and Ananias, a believing Jew, is being approached, supernaturally of course, by the Lord from glory, and he's warning him that Saul of Tarsus is in town, and that he'll be coming to his house. And then Ananias, verse 13, answered, But Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to the saints of Jerusalem, that is, through his persecuting them. And here in Damascus he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name, that is, on Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. Verse 15, But the Lord said unto him, that is, unto Ananias, Go thy way, don't argue with me, for he, Saul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, see, that's first, and kings, and the children of Israel. And now look at verse 16, For God says even to Ananias, while old Saul is still recovering from his experience out there on the road, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And so it's not new to us, but for the poor apostle, you know as I was again reviewing all this, getting ready for the program, I couldn't help but think of a book that hit the bestseller list several years ago, and I think it was written by a Jewish individual. The title of the book is, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Maybe you remember it. Well that's always a question. Even when some of our number are suddenly stricken, and the first thing that hits our mind is, why do these bad things happen to believers especially? And many times to unbelievers, but they're good people. But they do. Now I'm sure the apostle must have had those thoughts many, many times. Here I am sold out to Christ. I am beating the bushes of the Gentile communities for the sake of the Gospel, and how He suffered. How He suffered, not just physically at the hands of His enemies, but even in the areas of sickness. And evidently as He left Ephesus, and was now in His second missionary journey, if I understand it correctly. And as He has left Ephesus under terrible persecution and pressure, because of the silversmiths again, if you remember your account in Acts. And He gets deathly sick. Deathly sick. And we're going to see this now in chapter one, where He actually thought that He was not going to live. And yet He had that burden of the unreached millions of the Roman Empire that He thought He was going to have to minister to. And on top of that of course, as we're going to see in this second Corinthians, how many times He was beaten with rods, how many times He was shipwrecked, how many times He was cold, He was naked, He was hungry, all for the sake of the Gospel. And I just have to remind folks of this, because even today there are so many people that just almost ridicule the writings of the Apostle Paul. And so what it boils down to, people today are no different than they were in 60 A.D. People don't change, and their attitudes stay the same. And maybe as another introduction to 2 Corinthians, I can take you back all the way to 2 Timothy, and just imagine how this must have grieved and broken the heart of this Apostle, who has now spent 20 some years through all of these hardships, through all of these sufferings, probably enjoying very little of the comforts of life, and then to have to come down and by inspiration make this kind of a statement. It has boggled my mind as long as I've been teaching this book. How the Apostle must have been brokenhearted to have to write something like this in 2 Timothy. Did I say first? In 2 Timothy chapter 1, and let's come down to verse... Oh let's start at verse 13, because I never like to use one verse, you all know that by now. 2 Timothy chapter 1, and let's just jump in at verse 13. And of course he's writing this letter to one of his young men that had labored with him in the ministry, who is now a pastor of course, and look what he writes. Verse 13, Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee. Now I haven't got time to teach this, but in the Greek that word thing was really the deposit, and the deposit was that volume of truth that we refer to in Paul's letters as the mystery. And so Paul is telling Timothy, Hang on to this doctrine of the mysteries that were revealed to me by the Ascended Lord which I have left now with you. That's the thing or the deposit which was committed unto thee. Now back into verse 14. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Spirit who dwelleth in us. Now look at verse 15. Imagine that poor man having to write a statement like this, and he wasn't lying. This thou knowest that all they who are in Asia, now remember in Paul's terminology Asia was western half of Turkey as we know it, the area where he established so many churches. Ephesus, Thyatira, Pergamos, Derbe, Lystra, Antioch, Pisidia, those were all in what the Scripture calls Asia or Asia Minor. And this thou knowest that all they who are in Asia be turned away from me. Of whom, of course, Phagellus and Hermogenes were the leaders. But what is he saying? All of these congregations that he had founded in his gospel of grace and in the knowledge of the mysteries had now turned aside. And it's really heart-wrenching to think that the poor fellow had gone all those years going through such privation and yet to have to come to that conclusion. Well whenever I read things like this I always have to be amazed that but for the grace of God Christianity would have never gotten off the ground. It was constantly under satanic attack. And I think you and I have to just thank the Lord that it survived and that we today at least have the Word of God. And of course even today the truth of the fundamentals of Christianity are under constant attack. From within Christendom and from without. And so we get a little bit of a taste of what Paul is talking about. Alright, now maybe that's enough of introduction. It was probably written in probably about 60 AD and I think 1 Corinthians was probably written like I said 59 AD at least within a year. But now remember this is written two years after the letter to the Galatians. And so I'm going to go back to that in a little bit to show you that what he dealt with in the Galatian letter had already taken place quite some time before he writes this letter of 2 Corinthians. Alright, let's just start at verse 1 and I can't read all these verses for sake of time but we'll just skim through these first 6-7 verses and I want to at least stop for a moment in verse 8 and 9. Verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. See he wasn't chosen by any church on earth. He was set apart by God Himself. And Timothy, our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth. Now he's writing directly to that congregation and remember he's writing only to the believers. With all the saints which are in all of Achaia and of course Achaia was that southern part of Greece. Verse 2. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father from the Lord Jesus Christ. Come on down to verse 4. Who comforteth us. Now if you have a margin it will probably use the word encourages. So the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort who encourages us in all our tribulation that we may be able to encourage them who are in any trouble by the encouragement wherewith we ourselves are encouraged of God. In other words, even for us today as we go through trying and testing times we have that promise that God is going to be a constant encouragement. And here again, this is the answer. Why do bad things happen to good people? So I think that God can show us that He's sufficient. You know, whenever somebody comes along and promises you a rose-petaled pathway if you become a Christian chalk it off as false teaching because that has never been the theme of Scripture. Never. Are we to impart to someone well if you just become a Christian everything will turn up roses. Oh no, it does not. And in fact, I've made the comment before and I've made the comment to folks on the phone that Christian life is like paddling a canoe upstream. It's one of the toughest jobs on earth and a sissy cannot be a Christian. It is a constant battle against all the forces of Satan and the world itself. But we have these promises that as we go through times of testing and discouragement the Lord God Himself is going to encourage us. All right, verse 5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us See, Paul is speaking of his own experience. So our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. In other words, the same Lord that permits persecutions and testings to come into the life is the same Lord that's going to provide the strength that we need to go through it. All right, verse 7. Our hope of you is steadfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolation. Now another thing we have to constantly remember that all of these early believers back there under the Roman yoke were immediately under persecution. They couldn't walk up and down the street and glibly talk about their Christian faith. They were under constant surveillance and the Roman Empire, of course, at one time actually tried to stamp out Christianity. So to become a believer under Paul's preaching and teaching actually was an invitation to persecution. I wonder how many people would buy that today. But you have to always remember that all these early believers were under constant pressure. But they also had that promise that the Lord who was permitting the affliction and the pressure was also the Lord who had the strength to bring them through it. Now then verse 8. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia that we were pressed out of measure now watch this out of measure, above strength insomuch that we despaired of life. Can you imagine that? What was he talking about? He didn't think he would live to finish his ministry. That's what's wrong. And whether it was physical sickness whether it was outside pressure from the various forces that I've already alluded to whether it was the Romans or whether it was the Judaizers he would almost come to the place that he would despair even of life. And then verse 9. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raised the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. And I imagine the apostle Paul must have had much the same kind of a mental attitude regarding his trials and tribulations as they pertain to the resurrection that Peter and the other apostles must have experienced at the time of the crucifixion. And I'd just like to have you reflect back for a moment. You remember that after his arrest and as he was placed on the cross where were those eleven men? Hey, they had scattered I always say like a flock of quail. And they were practically running for their lives because they were seeing what was happening to their master. But, you know when all that changed? You know when their attitude totally changed after his resurrection? Now they understood that there was nothing that could touch that eternal part of them because if the Lord had been resurrected they would be too. And so Paul is going through that same kind of a mindset that knowing that the crucified Christ had been raised from the dead they could take his life, so what? They can't end his spirit life. And so I think this is what he is constantly referring to that even the resurrection power of Christ would keep him even through the trials and tribulations of his physical life. Alright, verse 10 again. So he delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. And now verse 11. So you also helping together by prayer for us that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. In other words, Paul then and like we do today what really sustained him in his ministry? The prayers of the saints, see? Never fail to pray for one another. Pray for us, pray for others that are in a ministry that God is using to reach hearts because as the Scripture says, I think it's Scripture that prayer does change things. Alright, verse 12. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity and not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation or our manner of living in the world and more abundantly to you who are in Corinth. Now what's he saying? What he has said over and over in his other letters and as he says it over and over in the two Corinthian letters. He did not come to the city of Corinth with a bunch of flippant statements with a bunch of silly ideas or a lot of gimmickry or a lot of today I guess we would call it Fifth Avenue advertising but he came with all the sincerity and the desires of his heart that he might see these pagan people come out of their pagan darkness and step into the light of the glorious gospel. And so he's going to refer to that over and over that he didn't come to them. And in verse 17 of chapter 2 we're going to stop and look at that in particular not in this half hour but another one. He said, I didn't come like a hawker selling his cheap wares but he said, I came to you with all the sincerity of my heart that we might of course see them turn. Now just to get an idea let's turn back to 1 Thessalonians I think it is. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 Yeah, this is the verse I want. 1 Thessalonians, I have to do this quickly we're almost through our 28 minutes. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and this is typical of course of every place that Paul ministered. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and drop down quickly to verse 9. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 9. Oh got it? For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you that was at Thessalonica and how you turned to God from what? Idols. And what was the purpose? That they might serve the living God. Don't lose that. They turned from idols to serve the living God. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries a Bible study in your area or about this program write to Les Feldick Ministries Route 1, Box 760 Kinta, Oklahoma 74552 That's Route 1, Box 760 Kinta, Oklahoma 74552 Through the Bible with Les Feldick Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.