The God of All Comfort, Part 2
2 Corinthians 1v5-7
14th February 2025
In 2 Corinthians 1v3, Paul described God as "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort". In the next verse,he said that God, "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God". He now says:
2 Corinthians 1v5
For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through
Christ our comfort overflows.
Jesus Christ was beset by Satan. He was persecuted and falsely accused. He was betrayed by Judas. He was the victim of judicial murder. As Isaiah had prophesied, He was "despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and aquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53v3). As disciples of Christ, we’ll face opposition and grief as He did, although less so. Most Christians will experience rejection. Most will have at least one Judas, sooner or later. Most will be falsely accused at some time. Sad but true. Jesus warned us:
John 15:18-20a
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are
not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…"
That passage speaks about persecution from the world. There is also persecution from the demons. And for some of us, and I say this with great sadness, there can be persecution from other Christians. May it never happen to you, or by you.
Christ's sufferings flow over into our lives, but God's comfort also flows into our lives. God promises the Holy Spirit to all who will receive Him. He will help us, if we'll stop trying to fix our problems by ourselves, and let God help. Please, let God into your pain, so He can minister to it.
Our experience of God's comfort in trouble enables us to help others find God's comfort in their troubles, if we're wise. Paul says:
2 Corinthians 1v6
If we are distressed [or afflicted], it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the
same sufferings we suffer.
Paul says here that God allows him to suffer because it's not only good for him, but also good for the people he cares for. I can identify. If I'd not been through the trials I've experienced, I would never have been able to lead a church. We need mature, sensitive, wise leaders. To the extent that I qualified as one of those, it was because God used my trials to shape my character. To the extent that I understand other people's problems, it's because I've suffered.
Paul and his colleagues had been persecuted, imprisoned, threatened and beaten. They'd gone hungry, they'd sometimes been homeless. They'd been away from home for years. They'd been thrown out of synagogues. In his first letter to the church in Corinth Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 4v11-13
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated,
we are homeless.
We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are
persecuted, we endure it;
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment, we are the scum of the
earth, the refuse of the world.
This is the greatest apostle who ever lived saying, "I and my friends are the scum of the earth". That was how the world - and the churches - had made him feel. Feel the pain in this. Don't listen to preachers who promise you wealth and an easy life on earth. Paul is a sufficient counter example, isn't he?
Paul was willing to endure all this suffering because he understood that his ministry of preaching the Gospel was so important. Because he and his friends endured hardship, the Corinthians (and the Philippians, the Thessalonians and many others) heard the Gospel. They were born again, saved, and inherited eternal life.
And whatever minor sacrifices we make, like going to the prayer meeting with a headache, or tithing, or singing a worship song we don't particularly like (we all do that sometimes) or showing kindness to a Christian we find difficult, are worthwhile. If we build the church, then not only Christians but also non-Christians will have a safe place where they can come and find the comfort, and the salvation, they need.
Every human is made in the image of God, so every human is of infinite value. All our work, all our prayers, all our tiredness, all our financial giving, all the things our churches do, week in, week out, are worthwhile if just one person comes to saving faith in Christ through our ministry, and will now live in glory with God for ever, isn't it? People are been saved all the time, because Christians and churches are faithful to the word of God and the mission of God.
2 Corinthians 1v7
And our hope for you is unshaken, because we know that just as you share in our
sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
We all endure suffering. I'm sure that, in every church, some lovely Christian people are enduring great suffering right now. We can all experience God's comfort. If you're suffering, I pray you experience that comfort.
No matter what comes, we can stick with Jesus and choose to go on trusting Him. If we'll respond to each trial with faith, godliness and kindness, then we will grow as Christians. We'll draw closer to God. We'll be more conformed to the character of Christ. We'll be more useful in His service. We'll be better equipped to help others who are struggling. I pray we all do.