Prayer and Protection
When comforting others who are suffering,
we should combine our concern
with corporate prayer.
Here's Gene:
To illustrate this Principle, which comes
out of Paul's life, he actually again,
draws on his personal experiences.
And by the way, in the
opening paragraphs where he talks
about suffering and comfort,
he uses the word affliction three times
in those paragraphs.
He focuses ten times on the word comfort.
But he does use the word affliction,
which created the need for comfort [ten] times.
And here in 2nd Corinthians 1:8,
he becomes more specific
about affliction--his own affliction.
And here's what we read:
We don't want you to be unaware,
brothers and sisters, of our affliction
[our affliction] that took place in Asia.
We were completely overwhelmed--
beyond our strength--
so that we even despaired of life itself.
Now let me give a little larger perspective here.
Paul is probably talking about
his experience in Ephesus.
And let me simply highlight that
because this happened on his
third missionary journey.
He goes back to cities where
he had planted churches
on the first missionary journey:
Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch,
and he comes to Ephesus.
He's back now in Ephesus and this time
he stays for over three years.
And Ephesus was the largest city in Asia.
Rome was the largest city in the world
at that time.
Ephesus probably was the
second largest city in the world.
And so Paul decided to stay in Ephesus
for three years. And lectured out in
a place called school of Tyrannus
for two whole years. Every day it says:
He lectured, he discussed, he interacted.
And probably out of that experience,
the churches of Asia that're mentioned
in the book of Revelation came into existence.
Because people came from all over
Asia to Ephesus to shop,
to be entertained.
It was this great resort city.
And out of that they would
go back to their own cities like Thyatira and Smyrna
and started churches in those areas.
Probably coming to Christ as a result of
Paul's ministry in the school of Tyrannus.
Well a lot happened--thousands of
people evidently came to Christ.
And that became a very serious problem
according to Acts 19. Because Paul
was presenting the gospel
and the major religion was
the worship of Diana,
which was the Roman pronunciation.
Artemis, the Greek pronunciation.
And she was the fertility goddess.
It was a very immoral city.
And people were coming to Jesus Christ.
And the situation got so bad in terms of hostility--
and this happened probably towards
the end of the three-year period.
The people had a huge bonfire in the middle
of the city, on the main street of Ephesus.
And it says they burned their occult books,
which were valued at fifty thousand
pieces of silver.
I calculated that one time into
our currency today and it would have been
over five million dollars worth of books.
That's a huge bonfire.
But what happened is, it threatened the silversmiths
who would make these little idols of Artemis.
And there were many of these silversmiths.
And so they began to create hostility
towards Paul because it was
taking away from their business.
But one of their main excuses
they used was to say:
It's against the goddess Artemis.
They didn't say: We're losing money.
What they said was: This was
going to take people away from the
great worship of Diana--or Artemis.
Well things got so bad
that it created incredible hostility.
Now in 2nd Corinthians 1:8,
let me just read that again
because Paul, I think, is describing
his experience at this time. He said:
...We don't want you to be unaware,
brothers and sisters, of our affliction
that took place in Asia. ...
Probably in Ephesus. Probably this event:
...We were completely overwhelmed--
beyond our strength--so that we
even despaired of life itself.
If you go back to Acts 19,
here's what we read--verses 29 and 30--
as a result of all of that hostility:
So the city was filled with confusion,
and they rushed all together
into the amphitheater...
Which by the way, would seat 25,000 people.
Some of you in this room
have been in that theater because it's
a great archaeological site today.
We've stood in that theater,
recounting what happened there.
So they all came to get in the amphitheater:
...dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus,
Macedonians who were
Paul's travelling companion[s]. ...
Now sort of tuck away
those names Gaius and Aristarchus.
And also in your mind, just think about
the fact they were Macedonians.
Because that's going to fit in to the story
as we unfold this book. And we read on:
...Although Paul wanted to go in
before the people, the disciples did not let him.
Now obviously Luke, in writing Acts,
did not describe the total intensity
of that experience.
That these men despaired of life.
In other words, their lives
were being threatened.
Thousands of people rising up against them.
And so Paul is talking here about
how God helped deliver them
from this situation.
And he describes this here
in verses 10, 11 in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1:
He has delivered us from such a terrible death...
That explains what was happening there.
What could have happened there.
...and he will deliver us. ...
At this moment, he says,
God will continue to deliver us:
...We have put our hope in him
that he will deliver us again while you
join in helping us by your prayers. ...
And that's the key phrase--
your prayers, your prayers:
...Then many will give thanks on our behalf
for the gift that came to us
through the prayers of many.
So here you see the Principle Illustrated:
When comforting others who are suffering,
we should combine our concern
with corporate prayer.
In other words, one of the most
foundational way in which we
encourage one another
is through corporate prayer.
Praying for one another.
That's a part of the body process
of comforting each other,
is mutually praying for each other.
And Jesus of course referred to
the importance of corporate prayer
in Matthew 18:20 when he said:
"For where two or three are
gathered together in my name,
I am there among them."
Now God is always with us
no matter where we are--if we're alone.
But Jesus is saying that
the Father honors corporate prayer.
Even if it's just two or three joining
in unity, praying for each other,
praying for other people.
God honors that prayer.
And we need that prayer.
And Paul said we needed that prayer,
referring to those who were suffering
there in that New Testament setting.
Well, Paul continued to practice this Principle.
Which is clear when he was in prison
in Rome, in his first imprisonment.
And he wrote to the Philippians.
And notice what he said:
What does it matter?
Only that in every way,
whether from false motives or true,
Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.
And the context tells the fact
that there were some--
and I don't understand this completely--
some who were believers
who were preaching the gospel
but they were doing it to add
to Paul's burden in prison.
I'm not quite sure of all of that dynamic
but that's what he's referring to.
And then he goes on to say:
...Yes, and I will continue to rejoice
because I know this will lead
to my salvation...
And there he's not talking about eternal salvation.
He's talking about deliverance:
...This will lead to my [deliverance]
through your prayers...
And you see again how corporate prayer
is so important
when we're going through these times:
...I know this will lead to my
salvation [or deliverance]
through your prayers and help
from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ...
I love the way he continues
and wraps up this paragraph. He said:
...My eager expectation and hope
is that I will not be ashamed about anything,
but that now as always,
with all courage,
Christ will be highly honored in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
That's a powerful statement
and it's really a reflection
of God's grace in these men's lives.
You know, it's interesting
as I was thinking about this,
I had just had an experience talking
with a spiritual leader who had
traveled to another country.
And he was conducting a conference for pastors.
And he told me that there were
two pastors that were on a bus
and they were going to this conference.
And they were sitting there on the bus
talking about Jesus.
However, this country is
very hostile towards the gospel.
So there's another passenger on the bus.
And with his phone, he calls ahead
to the authorities.
And when these two pastors got off the bus,
they were incarcerated because
they'd been talking about Jesus.
Now fortunately, it was temporary.
But as I thought about that, I thought:
Wow, we just take for granted
the freedom that we have.
Which unfortunately is being
eroded in our own culture.
But thank God for our freedom.
And let's not take it for granted:
the freedom that we have in our country.
It leads to a Reflection and Response:
In what ways have the prayers
of fellow believers helped you
to endure various kinds
of afflictions and suffering?
And Paul wrote a very significant word
at the end of his Philippian letter.
We just read parts of it at the
beginning of his suffering.
But he simply said this to the Philippians:
Don't worry about anything, but in everything,
through prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
present your requests [there, that's plural] to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus.
And we need to understand
the difference between the peace with God
that we have in Christ--
that's our salvation.
The peace of God is an inner peace
that enables us to be at peace
within that horrible situation.
And as I was thinking about experiences
of mutual prayer,
I was thinking of the time when
an arsonist attacked our church.
Attacked our church offices.
Destroyed 50 offices.
Destroyed 17 pastor's libraries--
mine was one of them.
And that created a great deal
of anxiety and a great deal of anger.
And I remember how important it was
as a team to get together
and to pray for each other.
And I had the challenge of going
before the whole congregation
to lead them out of their anger.
Their righteous anger for that attack,
once they found out about it.
And they found out about it very quickly.
To say: I have forgiven.
We all need to forgive.
It doesn't mean we justify
what has been done.
It doesn't mean we don't pray for justice.
But the fact is, we are to pray for one another
that we might have peace
in the midst of this crisis.
Prayer is so important.
And of course, even that experience
is so minor compared with what
Paul went through.
But I'm thankful that what he wrote says this:
Don't worry about anything...
That means God is interested in everything:
...Don't worry about anything,
but in everything...
It's kind of a double statement there
but it covers the waterfront, doesn't it?
Don't worry about anything,
but in everything, through prayer
and petition[s] with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus.