"Out of much affliction and anguish of heart"
Text: 2 Corinthians 2:4
DEEP AND NOBLE FEELINGS
Paul was deeply grieved as he saw how the Corinthian Church was ravaged by sin and wicked people who had managed to sow seeds of terrible discord. He had to write very strongly to address the sin problems that engulfed and threatened to destroy the church. Deep and noble feelings won the day.
“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you,
with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that
you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.”
2 Corinthians 2:4
1. “I wrote to you”
These are important glimpses of how Paul felt.
a) “Out of much affliction”
i) Paul suffered much affliction in his ministry (2 Corinthians 1).
ii) The problems in Corinth just added to his affliction.
b) “And anguish of heart”
i) Things that go awry affected the heart of Paul.
ii) He felt much anguish in his heart as he reviewed what he had written and the state of the Corinthian church.
c) “With many tears”
i) Tears were shed.
ii) Such was the depth of emotions Paul felt as he ministered for the Lord.
iii) Beneath the strength that we see in Paul was a deep and noble heart of love.
2. “Not that you should be grieved”
a) Paul shared these thoughts freely.
b) But not for the purpose of causing the Corinthians to be grieved.
c) The purpose of his letters was never to cause grief but to help people walk aright.
3. “But that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you”
a) Paul wanted the Corinthians to know just how he felt for them.
b) There was great and abundant sense of love for the Corinthian church.
c) It was Paul who wrote about the significance of love (1 Corinthians 13).
d) Paul practised this in his life and ministry.
i) This love was to be noted in his writings.
ii) And even in the way he wrote; the strength of words only served to highlight the depth of his love for the brethren.
iii) Paul did not write out of hate or spite at any time.