Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Good morning. It is Monday, August 5th, and this is Blake Wilson, Lifeline's vice president of operations. So excited to be back with you guys again this morning looking through 2nd Corinthians. Today, we're gonna be finishing up chapter 11. And if you recall last week as we were looking at this passage, Paul starts off almost in a voice of sarcasm in 111, and this is what he said.

I hope you will put up with me for a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me. And then he puts an exclamation point right there at the end of verse 1. So you can sense a just a voice of almost sarcasm, in 111 where Paul is just asking for the audience, who in this particular instance is the church of Corinth, just to say, put up with a little foolishness. And then as we move forward into verse 16, which is where our study picks up today, looking at 16 through 33, he says again in chapter 16 or verse 16 rather, I repeat.

So he's he continues on this line of thinking and saying, I got some more foolishness to talk through. Alright? And I think this is interesting because we all know Paul to be such a such a knowledgeable Bible teacher, just a scholar of the scriptures. And I and I think when you hear him in chapter 11, what you sense here is just a lot of, almost a lot of frustration of just saying, like, I've tried everything else to get through to you. I don't know what else to do because you're putting up and with false teachers.

You're listening to false teachers. And if it's gonna take me me being, sarcastic or me being more direct and bold, I'm gonna do that. So in 16 through 33, what we're gonna study today, you're gonna see Paul start off with that, but really just validating his his sarcasm and his frustration by what he has experienced as a Christ follower. This is really a resume of Paul's sufferings. And I think when you see all of this stuff mentioned collectively in a few short verses, it is really mind blowing to see what he went through as a as a apostle of Christ of the physical trauma that he experienced as a Christ follower.

You know, and I think when you look at any of our lives over the course of, you know, what what could be 70, 80 years and you have little little snippets of suffering or persecution, it may be, it may not feel as intense. You know, it may be more more bearable when it spread out over a traumatic event every 5 or 10 years. What you see here in the life of Paul is just consistent persecution, physical persecution, over his time of of spreading the gospel of Christ after his after his, death and resurrection. So I want to read this, really this resume of Paul and then we're gonna dive in and look at Psalm real quick for a little bit of application on how we can apply this to our hearts. He says this in verse 16, I repeat, let no one take me for a fool.

But if you do, then tolerate me as you would a fool so that I may do a little boasting. In this self confident boasting, I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. So again, he's prefacing here this is not this is not what I what I'm encouraging you to do as a new church. But he says, you're putting up with this from other people. Listen to me for a minute.

And so he said, I wanna talk to you as a fool. In verse 18, since many are boasting in the way that the world does, I too will boast. You could gladly put up with fools since you were so wise. In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts airs on or slaps you in the face. To my shame, I admit that we were too weak for that.

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about, I'm speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast about. And here's here's here's the kind of the the journey that Paul has been on. Verse 22, Are they Hebrews? So am I.

Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ?

I am more. I have worked much harder. I have been in prison more frequently. I have been flogged more severely. I have been exposed to death again and again.

5 times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus 1. 3 times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones. 3 times I was shipwrecked. I spent a day and a night in the open sea.

I have been constantly on the move. I've been in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked.

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressures of my concern with all of the churches. Who is weak and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast on the things that show my weakness, the God and the Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be appointed forever or who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under king under King Artis said to the city of Damascenes, guarded had the city of Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.

But I was lowered in a basket in the window and the wall and slipped through their hands. And you can see in those verses, Paul had been through it. I don't think any of us can say that we have experienced physical persecution to the place that Paul had, of being stoned, being beaten, being shipwrecked, being imprisoned, being chased. He has he had labored and toiled for so many years, and can you imagine, man, his body must have just been battered and bruised and beaten, from all of these injuries that he had sustained. So Paul was no stranger to suffering and this is why in this passage he's boasting about his sufferings to say, look at what I have been through as a Christ follower.

And I think it's easy for us to get discouraged in seasons like this when we face suffering. Even though it may not be anything compared to what Paul was experiencing physically, we we are all experienced sufferings in our life, and it's so easy for us to get discouraged and want to give up. And I want to look over in Psalm for a little encouragement and application. And in Psalm 130, this is a very short book. It's only or sorry, short chapter, only 8 verses.

But it talks about the importance of waiting on the Lord. And this is what it says in Psalm 130 verses 1 through 6. Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

I think in those first two verses, you can just sense and hear a voice that Paul or a prayer that Paul would be crying out to the Lord. He was in the pits. He was in the depths. And this this Psalm says, out of the depths, I cry to you, Lord. Hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. Paul was crying out for help. 1st number 4 says this, but with you there is forgiveness so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the Lord and my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I think the first thing that we can pull out from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 is the importance of waiting on the Lord. Paul was in the midst of the muck and the mire and the hardship and the persecution. And as believers, we need to understand that in our sufferings, it's important to wait on the Lord's deliverance. We have to wait. As much as we want change, as much as we want deliverance, as much as we want things to get better, we have to wait on him.

So wait on the Lord to deliver us from our sufferings and let's have that hope and trust. Just as Paul cried out, you can see the psalmist crying out and trusting in him. I will put my hope in you and I will wait. Waiting is allowing the Lord to grow our souls to a place of completion. Second thing I want us to look at in Psalm 103 is, again, at at how do we react in a season of suffering and knowing and trusting that God is a God of love, God is a God of compassion.

And Psalm 103 talks a lot about compassion. I wanna read just a few short verses and this is what Psalm 103:6 through 8 says. It says, the Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. I think we would all say that Paul was oppressed. The Lord works right righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his way to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel. Think about that. Think about the children of Israel and the oppression and the hardship that they were facing. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. And then down in verse 13, as the father has compassion on his children, so the lord has compassion on those who fear him.

So in those seasons of waiting, let's not lose sight and understanding that God sees our sufferings and that he is a God of compassion. He sees our sufferings and he is a God of compassion. He knows our innermost being and he is going to he is gonna be gracious to us. He is abounding in love and that he is a compassionate father to those who fear him. Let's not lose sight in the seasons of waiting, as the psalmist says in Psalm 103, that he will rescue us, that he sees our sufferings, and we cannot lose hope.

And then if you go a little bit further in Psalm again to Psalm 113, you see the promise that he is in control. Psalm 113 verses 5 says this, who is like the Lord our God, the one who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and earth? He raises the poor from the dust, and he lifts the needy from the ash heap. Who is like the lord? I think when you look at the goodness of God, it is so he's it's so hard to even articulate his vastness and his bigness.

He is a creator of the universe, and he is keeping things in motion. He he has created the the solar systems and the and the universe and the earth and the waters and all that is on this earth. And He is still able to be such a personal and intimate God to where He knows the hairs on our head. He knows every thought that comes through our through our mind, and he knows every desire that we have. He is so big and so vast, but yet so small and personal.

And verse 5 in Psalm 113 is such a reminder, like, who is like the Lord our God, the one who sits enthroned on high? So he is enthroned on high, but yet in verse 6, who stoops down to look at the heavens and the earth and to raise the poor from the dust and lift the needy from the ash heap. He will lift us up When we are in the season of suffering, when we are tired and exhausted and we are in the wait, let us not forget that he sees our sufferings as a God of compassion and that he will lift us up because he is in control. Let's hold on to that truth this week as we serve him. That in a suffering in our sufferings, in the midst of uncertainty, in this in the midst of wait, that our God is creator of the universe, is a God of compassion, and he will lift us up.

Just as he persevered and he worked for the goodness of Paul and for the furtherance of his gospel, He is the same God, and he will do the same for us. So let's find rest and assurance in the wait that he hears us, he knows us, and he will lift us up. It may not be in this this side of eternity, but we will eventually be made complete and new with him one day either on this earth or when we see him face to face. We're gonna close out our time today in prayer and to and today we're gonna be praying for our, our pregnancy counseling ministry. And the Lord is doing so many great things for Lifeline through through our pregnancy counselors and through the the opportunity he's given us since we started as a as a as a ministry serving women in the eighties, to continue that and to to be able to share the gospel with so many women who are just in a season of transition and a season of uncertainty.

So today today, we wanna close out our time praying for, just all those aspects of our ministry from our staff to the different programs, that we have across the entire nation, and just pray for those active cases. We have we have babies right now that are in the NICU, who are just in need of need of healing. We have pregnancy counselors that are that are on the road, serving these moms and so many opportunities. So let's just close our time frame specifically for this for this aspect of Lifeline. God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the the letter to the Corinthians and the reminder from Paul that that suffering, is a part of following you and we will all face trials, we will all face uncertainty, and we will all wait. But God we trust and know that you are the God who hears our prayers. And Lord, we know that you are the God who, who will meet us in our suffering. God who will stoop down from heaven and rescue us. So god, I am grateful for that truth and grateful that I have the chance to call you father and rest in that assurance.

And, lord, for our team, this week who are serving moms facing an unexpected pregnancy, god, we just, pray for perseverance for them. We pray for our leadership team as well as the the counselors on the ground and even the people answering the phone, doing intake in the first line of defense. God, I pray for those conversations. I pray for this team just to have endurance and wisdom as they answer the phone, or they meet a client face to face, Lord, may they proclaim your gospel with boldness. God, we pray for our maternity home and the women that are, finding short term, living arrangements through this this season of their life.

I pray for our staff who is ministering to them at the maternity home. Lord, I pray for even our pregnancy center in Kansas as as they are on the forefront of ministry and, Lord, able to serve these moms and allow them to, see the heartbeat of that precious life within their womb, through the now 2 ultrasound machines that we are able to have and the hundreds of clients we are able to serve every single year through that resource center in Kansas. God, we are grateful for that. And for even for our staff who is who are working on the reunions, for adoptees who have, who have now come to a different season of their life and are ready to to learn a little more about their history. God, I pray for wisdom for that team as well as they navigate the unions and searches that are happening.

And then, lord, lastly, we just wanna pray for our active clients and babies now that are in in need of a healing touch. So, Lord, for these babies that are now in the NICU, Lord, you created them. You know their needs. And, Lord, we just pray for healing. Lord, we pray for the ease of process for these families, that are pursuing these little ones.

And, lord, we pray for the staff that are that are navigating these these situations. So, Lord, we just pray that your hand be upon the staff, upon the nurses, and upon these families and and these, biological families as well. Lord, may you find glory through it all as we serve you, and we ask these things in your name. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.