Faith in Adversity – 2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Pastor Tan Thai · Mar 20, 2011
This sermon explores the meaning of adversity in the Christian life through 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. The pastor shows that hardship teaches humility, dependence on God, and compassion for others, while prosperity easily causes people to forget God.
The sermon opens with a vivid picture of adversity in the world, citing the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 that killed and left missing tens of thousands of people. Job 5:7 is quoted to affirm that suffering is an inevitable part of human life regardless of scientific and technological progress. It is precisely in times of crisis that people turn back to seek God, as demonstrated by Americans after 9/11 and Vietnamese believers who were strong in faith while still in Vietnam but grew spiritually cold after immigrating.
The pastor presents the dangers of prosperity by quoting Deuteronomy 8:12-14, 17 to warn that abundance, wealth, and success easily cause the heart to become proud and forget the Lord. The sermon critiques prosperity theology — the view that strong faith leads to good health and material wealth — as a serious misunderstanding of God's grace. Material success and entertainment are also identified as forces that draw people away from God.
The sermon then presents four biblical causes of adversity: suffering caused by one's own sin (citing David and Samson), suffering caused by others (citing AIDS in Africa and neglected children), suffering as God's testing as with Job and Abraham, and the example of Jesus Christ's own suffering described in Isaiah 53:3 and Hebrews 2:9-13. C.S. Lewis is quoted: God whispers to us in our pleasures but shouts in our pains, as His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
The pastor emphasizes that it was through suffering that Jesus became the merciful and faithful High Priest who can truly sympathize with human pain (Hebrews 2:17). Among all religions, only Christianity transforms the symbol of the most painful and shameful death into a symbol of love, hope, and compassion. Christianity does not teach people to flee from suffering but to understand its value and meaning.
The sermon concludes with three lessons adversity teaches believers: first, it produces humility and dependence on God rather than self-reliance; second, it teaches us to lean on loved ones and the prayers of the church, recognizing that no person is an island; third, adversity refines faith and character, enabling genuine compassion for those who suffer. The passage 2 Corinthians 1:3-11, which uses the word 'comfort' eleven times, provides the theological foundation, affirming that through the sufferings of Christ, God transforms pain into blessing for all who trust in Him.