Let's turn in our Bibles today
to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, And Timothy,
our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth with
all the saints which are in all Achaia, grace be to you and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and the God of all comfort. who comforteth us in
all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which
are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted
of God. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether
we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye
also of the consolation. For we would not, brethren, have
you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were
pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired
even of life. But we had the sentence of death
in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God, which raiseth the dead. who delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet
deliver us. You also help him together by
prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means
of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf. I'm going to stop our reading
here. But I want you to notice, first
of all, The doxology, which we sometimes sing, begins, praise
God from whom all blessings flow. And you notice here the apostle
Paul delighted in tracing all the blessings, all the blessings
up to the fountainhead from which they come. In verse three, he
blesses God, blessed be God, who is the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Father of mercies and the God of all
comfort. Now, I want to speak to us this
morning on this theme, the God of all comfort. And there are
three truths that I want us to take away from this message today,
and they are simply these. First of all, that God is the
God of comfort. And second, that we should not
look anywhere else for our prime comfort in every need. And third, we should expect comfort
from Him. Now the message has three parts.
First of all, God is the God of all comfort. And I want to
emphasize this because there's so many truths about God And
this is one which we might be prone to overlook. You notice
in verse 2, Paul wished the saints grace and peace from God our
Father. Well, there are two truths, two
truths about God that are always front and center. We always are
talking about grace and peace. The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter,
he said, the God of all grace, that all grace comes from him. And we often call attention to
the various points of grace. We often speak about prevenient
grace. Someone defined prevenient grace
as grace before grace. Grace before we experience the
saving grace of God. His keeping grace. His calling
grace. We think about that, that he
called us, as the scripture says, thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And his saving grace. Amazing
grace, John Newton said. His amazing grace. And his keeping grace. He keeps
us year by year and day by day as we go through this life. It's
preserving grace. And then there's one grace we
sometimes talk about that none of us have yet experienced. And
that is dying grace. Dying grace. So we talk about
grace quite a bit. We love to bless and praise God
for his grace For if you're saved today, you admit with me, confess
with me, if it were not for the grace of God, you wouldn't be
saved, I wouldn't be saved. Grace means unmerited favor,
doesn't it? And we had forfeited, we had
forfeited because of our sin that God would have any consideration
of any of us. And yet His amazing grace, He
sought us out, chose us before the foundation of the world,
and sent His Son into this world to redeem us from all iniquity. Unmerited grace. God said, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
upon whom I will have compassion. That just enforces the truth
that salvation is by grace. It's by God's grace, his wonderful
grace. We talk about that, his grace,
quite often. And then not only did Paul wish
them grace, but also peace. If you look back a few pages
into Romans chapter 15, and I like the way these New Testament letters,
we find several names of God that We don't have in the Old
Testament necessarily, but here in Romans chapter 15 and verse
33, now the God of peace, the God of peace. We love to think
about the fact that God is the author of peace. If you have
peace with God today, it's because God has given granted that peace. Our sins had separated us from
God. Our sins meant that we were enmity
with God, by nature, enmity with God. And yet God, who is the
God of peace, he sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this
world. And he purchased peace. Have
you ever thought about that? He purchased our peace. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God today,
but it is a peace that Christ purchased for us, and he purchased
it with his blood, with his blood. That's what the scripture says
in Colossians chapter one in verse 20, having made peace through
the blood of his cross. We sang that hymn just a few
moments ago, minutes ago beneath the cross of Christ. We all recognize
we're not talking about that wooden instrument of suffering
upon which the Lord Jesus Christ died. We're talking about what
happened and who was on that cross and what he accomplished
there on that cross. The apostle Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't talking about that
wooden cross. No, but what Christ accomplished
there on the cross, how he glorified his father, how he finished the
work which his father had given him to do when he came into this
world, and how he accomplished salvation for each and every
one of his chosen people. So we like to talk about the
grace, God of grace, the God of peace. Then I especially like
to mention his omnipotence, that he is all powerful. His omnipresence,
that he's everywhere present at the same time. His omniscience,
that He knows everything, nothing can be hidden from Him. His immutability,
that God never changes, never has changed, and never will change. I love that attribute, don't
you? We love to talk about these attributes of God. These are
truths about God the Father. which we who are his children,
we love to think about these things. I want you to look back
to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. We see many of these attributes
celebrated here in this psalm. Beginning with verse one. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Stop right there. God knows you. God knows me. He knows everything
about us. Nothing escapes his notice, his
knowledge. Thou hast searched me and known
me. Thou knowest my down sitting.
When you came in here this morning and sat down on the pew, God
knew that from old eternity. He didn't learn it. He didn't
learn it this morning when you sat down. No, he knew about it
before you were ever born, before you ever came into this world.
And you're uprising when you rise up out of your place this
morning. Now understand this, my thought,
afar off. Thou compasses my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways, all my ways. There's not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, it is high. I cannot attain unto it. Whither
shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say
surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb. I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect. In thy book all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there
was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake, I am still with
thee. When we read such words as these,
this psalm, the only words that we have are the same words that
David spoke when he said, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me. This is a God who's worthy of
worship, the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's not some puny, pygmy God. He is God Almighty. He's worthy
of worship. We think about His infinite wisdom. God never made a mistake, never
will. There's one passage in the Gospels
where the people confessed, He hath done all things well. And
let me tell you something, when all of creation is wrapped up
and we are all standing before God Almighty, that's going to
be the testimony of all of God's creatures. He hath done all things
well. We'd like to think about His
infinite love, do we not? For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, Without faith in Christ, men
perish, for there's none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. Oh, we love to think about these
wonderful truths about God, but here's my point. We must not
overlook this one also, that God is the God of all comfort. That's what the apostle tells
us. He is the God. of all comfort. Secondly, the
testimony of scripture. If you have your Bible still
open here to 1 Corinthians, if you notice in the first part
of verse 4, verse 3, he refers to God as
the God of all comfort, and then in verse 4 he says, or he wrote
rather, who comforteth us in all our tribulation. Now here are a few things to
consider as we look at that, who comforted us in all our tribulation. Paul gives an example right down
from that of how God had comforted him. If you look in verse eight,
he said, for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble,
which came to us in Asia. Now we're not told what this
trouble was. But obviously what Paul says
here, it was great trouble. Maybe he really did have a fight
with a lion. I'm not sure. Maybe by lion he referred to
the Roman authority. I'm not sure. But I know this,
for Paul to write what he wrote here, he was in great trouble. This wasn't a toothache. This
wasn't a stumped toe that he had to deal with. We will not
have you ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to
us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure. I mean, we were
at our wits' end. We couldn't go any farther. Above strength, humanly speaking,
we didn't have the strength to support us in whatever this trial
was, whatever this suffering was, this affliction that he
went through. But in God, which raiseth the
dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver,
in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. And then turn,
if you will, here in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. What I'm saying is
this is the testimony of scripture, that he's the God of all comfort
who comforted us in all our tribulation. Here in 2 Corinthians chapter
11, the apostle felt it necessary or good to mention some of the
things that he experienced, some of the trials and difficulties
that he went through, beginning in verse 24. He said, of the Jews, five times
received I 40 stripes, save one. You know, that was the law, wasn't
it? You could only give a man 40 stripes. And so just to make
sure, because if you gave a man more than 40 stripes, then that
man could According to law, whip you, beat you. So they always stopped as they
counted one shard, just to make sure they didn't go over that
number. Five times, he said, five times. Thrice was I beaten with rods. If you've never read about being
beaten with rods according to the scripture, look that up sometime,
maybe in a good Bible dictionary. But very few people ever survived
being beaten with rods. It was such a hard, horrible
suffering that men put others through. Beaten with rods three
times, he said. Once he was stoned, and we read
about that, don't we? I believe that's in Acts chapter
13, when he was stoned, and really, the only reason they stopped
throwing stones that day, they thought he was dead. They pulled
his body outside of town, thinking he was dead. And the believers gathered around
him, and God raised him up, gave him strength. Three times he said he suffered
shipwreck. A night, night and a day have
I been in the deep. Many journeys, journeys often,
perils of water, perils of robbers, perils of my own countrymen,
perils by the heathen and perils in the city and perils in the
wilderness and perils in the sea and perils among false brethren
and weariness and painfulness Well, did he still write that
God comforts us in all, A-L-L, all our tribulation? Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation? You and I are not likely to pass
through the same kind of tribulation that he's mentioned here. But
remember this, he said, all who comforted us in all our tribulation. He comforts us, that is his children,
believers, he comforts us in all our tribulations. Now I'm thinking of some things
that some of the members of our church are going through at this
very time, at this day. And I can only name a few, but
I think about chronic pain. Some suffering from chronic pain. Some are suffering because of
the loss of a spouse. Some are not able to work anymore
and support their family like they have. Some are caregivers
to loved ones. Some know what it is to be lonely,
to experience loneliness, to go home to a house and be the
only one there. suffer from depression, awful
depression, melancholy. Someone might hear question what
I've just said about God comforting believers in such tribulation. Someone might say, I understand,
I understand what you're saying, preacher, that God, yes, would
comfort an apostle, Understand that, I have no trouble saying
that, that yes, God would comfort an apostle like the Apostle Paul,
suffering in his ministry, but a believer, just a regular believer
like me, he will comfort me in all my tribulation. Well, look in chapter seven here
in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter seven. and he gives an experience here
of God comforting him. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 5. For when we were come into Macedonia,
our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side.
Without were fightings, within were fears, Nevertheless God,
that comforteth, now watch this, those that are cast down. Those that are cast down. Did he qualify that? Did he qualify
that in any way that God comforts those that are cast down? They
have to be apostles? They have to be those who are
suffering for the gospel's sake? Or did he just say that he comforts
all who are cast down? My Bible says he comforts all. He comforts all. And notice something
about God's comforting here in that place, 2 Corinthians chapter
seven. He says he was comforted by the
coming of Titus. Verse six, nevertheless God that
comforteth those that are cast down comforted us by the coming
of Titus. Now notice what he doesn't say.
He doesn't say that Titus did the comforting. He doesn't say
that. He says God did the comforting,
but God comforted him by the coming of Titus. And if you notice above this,
I think we read that in verse five, that God comforts at the
most opportune time. I mean, when a person is just
at their wit's end, so to speak. When we feel like, well, I just
can't go any further, I can't take any more, God knows when,
how, where to comfort His people. He is the God of all comfort. And I want you to look in the
Old Testament at a verse, a couple of verses in Psalm 119. Verse 49. The psalmist prayed here, remember
Psalm 119, verse 49. Remember the word unto thy servant
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in
my affliction. For thy word hath quickened me. God uses his word in comforting
his children. He uses many things, but he uses
his word in comforting his people. This is one reason that Satan,
Satan knows that. Satan knows that God uses his
word in comforting his people. And when a person is in a difficult
situation going through some trial, Many times Satan will
try to insinuate into your mind or encourage you in your spirit,
well, I don't need to go to church. I just don't feel like it. I
just don't see how I could be in the presence of the church
members there today. Why do people think like that? The very thing that God uses
in comforting his people is his word. And yet Satan will do everything
he can when a person is distraught going through some difficult
situation to try to keep you from coming to hear the word
of God. Where it's the word that God
will use in comforting you many times. In fact, he commands preachers,
He commands, God commands his preachers, comfort ye, comfort
ye, my people, saith the Lord. Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem. I don't come in here to tell
you and rehearse how you failed last week. Most of us know that,
don't we? We don't need some preacher telling
us that. We know that. What we need to
hear is that even though we failed, that we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is the propitiation
for our sins, that he ever liveth to make intercession for us,
those who come unto God by him. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. speak you comfortably to Jerusalem. Tell her, tell her, tell Jerusalem,
the church of her Savior, and how her sin debt is paid. It's paid. One of the hymns we
sang this morning was a hymn, Redeemed. Redeemed, how I love
to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. We know that word redeemed means
that Christ, Peter says, we're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold from our vain conversation received
by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb. You know, redeemed is not the
same as buying. Now He bought us, that's true
too, but you redeem something that's already yours. That's
the way the word is used, redeemed. We were given to Him by God the
Father in eternity past, but He came into this world and redeemed
us unto Himself. And how did he do that? By his
blood, by his precious blood. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all, all sin, all iniquity. A little course, sometimes we're
going to learn, the Lord willing, did you hear? Did you hear what
Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. They're
all taken away. Amen? They're all taken away. And how? Through the suffering
and death of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Comfort ye, my people.
Now let me close with this third point. The good that comes out
of God's comfort. He doesn't say that this is the
only good here in our text. If you look again in 2 Corinthians
chapter one, and the rest of verse 4 and 5. He doesn't say
this is the only good but he does say that this is one good
thing that comes out of God comforting us. Verse 4, who comforted us
in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which
are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted
of God. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ. The God of all comforts us in
tribulation that we in turn may be able to comfort others. The comfort with which we are
comforted and it abounds unto us by Christ. The consolations
that we have, the comfort that we have, such as his great love. You know, when you're speaking
with a brother or sister in Christ and they're going through a trial
and tribulation of some kind, you want to comfort them, remind
them what has comforted you. What has comforted you. I think
about the passage and I will, this will be the end. When the
disciples of the Lord, they were in that boat trying to cross
the Sea of Galilee and they were rowing and rowing and the wind
was against them, you know, and all of a sudden they see someone
coming, walking on the water. You know what he said, they thought,
they were afraid. And what he said was, be not
afraid, it is I. And when God brings tribulation
or suffering into our life, that's his word to us. Be not afraid,
it's I. This didn't happen by accident.
This is part of God's infinite, eternal plan for you. And my
love, my love is so great. He would not allow anything to
harm his people. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
this message to you and I, and that we would remember that he
is the God of all comfort, and look to him. And Paul says this,
it's not like, well, this is a surprise. This is a surprise
that God is a God of all comfort. No, it's just to be expected. It's just to be expected. And
I feel to you fathers here, when your child comes to you and they're
upset about something and it may be very small, maybe a little
thing really, but what do you do? You try to, you comfort them. Well, surely, surely, if we being
evil know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more,
how much more your Heavenly Father will give good things to them
that ask Him. We're going to sing a hymn first.