II Corinthians 1

II Corinthians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,       To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: 

​Achaia, before the Roman conquest in 146 B.C., is a strip of land between the gulf of Corinth in the north and Elis and Arcadia in the south, embracing twelve cities leagued together. The Achaean League was prominent in the struggle of the Greeks against Roman domination. It is probably due to this fact that the name was afterwards extended to the whole country south of Macedonia and Illyricum, corresponding approximately to modern Greece. During the Roman period Achaia was usually governed as a senatorial province. The Governor was an ex-Praetor of Rome, and bore the title of Proconsul. Corinth was the capital. When St. Paul came into Achaia (Acts 18), Gallio, a brother of Seneca, was proconsul. His refusal to interfere in the religious affairs of the Jews and the tolerance of his administration favoured the spread of Christianity. In Corinth the Apostle founded a flourishing church.

II Corinthians 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort

The Greek word for "comfort" is parakaleo, which means "to call alongside of." The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete. When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, He said, "I will not leave you comfortless."
God loves us. But we are not saved by Gods love, we are saved by Gods grace...which is a fruit of His love. Grace is unmerited favor. He does this because he is "the Father of mercies." Man has so opted that God cannot save man in any other way.

​​The phrase, “...the God of all comfort,” includes the word "paracletos," which means, “the God who stands beside us.” Paul could rejoice in every situation because he knew that God was with him.
William Barclay reminds us that between verses 3 and 7 the noun "comfort" or the verb "to comfort" occurs nine times in this passage. If you want to live facing an unknown future, be sure to focus on the Comforter.

II Corinthians 1:8-10:
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.

II Corinthians 1:15-24:
And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit-- 16 to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. 17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. 20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
23 Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. 24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.

This year, while we are celebrating OXI Day, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is with us in the United States. His voice reminds us, as the Scripture says, that “in Christ all the promises of God are ‘Yes’” (II Corinthians 1:20). Those who said “No” to oppression, said “Yes” to liberty, and the greatest freedom that any human being can know is the liberty of the Spirit of Christ. [SOURCE: Archbishop of America issues Encyclical for the Commemoration of "OXI Day"]
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II Corinthians 1:20:
For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him; therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

​The glory of the new creation, both in time and eternity, shall surpass the glory of Eden, and the hope set before us is beyond anything the world has yet known. The community of the atonement is the new creation of God, and its end is altogether glorious.

​Worship in biblical terms is a corporate matter. The corporate body is made up of individuals, and when an individual sounds the “amen,” the individual is connecting to the corporate expression of worship and praise. However, we are told in the Scriptures that the truths of God are “yea” and “amen” (2 Cor. 1:20), which simply means that the Word of God is valid, it is certain, and it is binding. Therefore, the expression “amen” is not simply an acknowledgment of personal agreement with what has been stated; it is an expression of willingness to submit to the implications of that word, to indeed be bound by it, as if the Word of God would put ropes around us not to strangle or retard us but to hold us firmly in place.  --RC Sproul