Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Paul's second epistle to the
Corinthians, chapter seven and verse six. Nevertheless, God,
that comforted those that are cast down, comforted us by the
coming of Titus. to Corinthians chapter 7 verse
6. Comfort to those that are cast
down. Sometimes, when we are cast down,
it is like the psalmist that we read of. He has to ask this
question, Why? Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? acknowledging that he is cast
down, but really not knowing why. Maybe cannot see a reason
why. Maybe he can see the reason why,
but feels that as a Christian, as one of the Lord's people,
one who has a God to go to, that they shouldn't really be cast
down. If we have a heaven in view,
the blessings in view, awaiting us, then why should we be cast
down here below? And it may be some of you in
those situations, either you don't know why you're low, or
maybe you do, but try to reason and to think, well really, If
the Lord has blessed me, why should I be cast down? Did not
the Lord tell us that we are to have tribulation and we are
to have trials here below? And has he not given that grace
and help thus far to endure them? But it is a real reality that
God's dear people, yes, even the Apostle here, do and did
get cast down. He tells us of the cause of it,
that when they came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we
were troubled on every side. We're fighting, we're fierce. And of course, the apostle had
written to the Corinthians and had to reprove them in his first
letter very sharply because they were suffering immorality. in their number, they weren't
dealing with it, they're allowing it to go on, and he sharply rebuked
them. And then he's hearing nothing.
He doesn't know what's happened. He doesn't know whether they've
taken offence, that they have turned back on the faith. He
doesn't know until he then has Titus, his son in the faith,
coming to him and bringing messages, telling how that they were brought
to sorrow and to be very sorry for what had happened, but instead
of it working for evil, it worked for good. They had godly sorrow
that worketh repentance to salvation. And so the apostle was greatly
encouraged not only by Titus Cumming but by his message and
by those things he was able to acquaint the Apostle Paul with. And so as the build-up to our
text we have clear troubles, afflictions, fears, fears, thinking,
how has someone received the word? How is someone towards
me? How is the church towards me? There are many, many things
that cast the people of God down and discourage them. And you
may have yours, I may have mine. Every heart knoweth its own bitterness. And I pray that this morning,
whatever it is that may be, troubling you, those that hear the Word,
that there might be something in the Word here for you, to
lift you up, to strengthen you, and to encourage you. The first,
of course, is to remember that you are not alone, that there
are those of the Lord's people that have gone before you in
this pathway. that it is not a strange path
to the people of God. There's been many of the Lord's
servants, some very, very eminent in times past, that have been
given to depression, given to being very cast down, very despondent,
and those of our hymn writers as well. There's been several
of those that have been very afflicted mentally, And yet some
beautiful, beautiful hymns have come from their pen. The Lord
is able still to use and does still use his people that feel
in themselves that they are weak, that they are frail, that they
soon fall down, that they are soon discouraged. And the Lord
is still able to use them. He does use them and may we be
helped and strengthened to realize that. Well, I want to divide
our text this morning into the three parts that it naturally
falls into. We have the first point, nevertheless
God. I want to speak to that point
in the first place. And then secondly, one characteristic
of God. that he comforts those that are
cast down, that comforteth those that are cast down. And then
thirdly, the means that is used to comfort, that is shown here
in this case, comforted us by the coming of Titus. So I want to look then first
at this nevertheless God. What does nevertheless mean? Well, it means of in spite of,
or notwithstanding. So we could read with the apostle
here that his flesh had no rest, we were troubled on every side,
without were fightings, within were fears, that notwithstanding
all of this, God, or in spite of all of this, God. How many times through the Word
of God we could find examples of this contrast? We think of the wickedness in
Noah's day. The whole earth was given to
wickedness, God said, that he would destroy the world, but
we have this nevertheless God. God showed mercy upon Noah. Noah found grace in his sight. In spite of that great destruction,
there was a nevertheless, and God brought it about. God saved Noah. We think of Abraham and Sarah,
increased in years, Sarah not able to have children. They had
the promise, the promised seed was theirs, that Sarah would
have children, but there she was to get to 100 years old. And her that was barren, that
seemed to have no prospect, no hope at all. And yet we have
this nevertheless God. God saying to Abraham, is anything
too hard for the Lord? With man it is impossible, with
God it is not impossible. And so you have the situation.
You have impossible situation. You have man and he's helpless
and he cannot change it at all. But you have nevertheless God.
And God did change it, and from Abraham came all the tribes of
Israel and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What about Jacob with Laban? When Jacob came to Laban, Laban
deceived him, deceived him in the matter of who he was to marry,
giving him Leah instead of Rachel. And then as he served him for
20 years, Jacob says that he changed his wages 10 times. How many of the Lord's people
have had, you might say, employers that they've served, and they're
not godly employers. They keep changing their wages,
changing their terms, changing the conditions, dealing deceitfully
with them. And Jacob was walking this path. But nevertheless, God, when Laban
pursued after Jacob, when he left, then Jacob appraised him
of these things. And he said, surely I would have
gone out from thee with nothing except God. except God had taken
his part and looked upon him in mercy. What a reminder in such situations
like that of a nevertheless, in spite of or notwithstanding
this hard and difficult and troubled path, God still has his nevertheless
in his work. What about the children of Israel?
in Egypt. How were they to get out of Egypt?
In their bondage, their children being cast into the river, their
taskmasters so hard upon them. But nevertheless, God, in spite
of all that, or because in a way, the Lord wrought his wonders
in Egypt and brought them out with a high hand. When they came
then to the Red Sea, The Egyptians behind them, the Red Sea in front,
the mountains each side. Impossible situation, you might
feel that this morning. Hemmed in on every side. You
don't know which way to turn, how to escape, how to get out
of it. What do you do? They remember this, nevertheless,
God. God had a way through the sea,
through the waters, A miracle, He brought them through, as on
dry land. And again it happened through
the wilderness, no water. Nevertheless God, He brought
it out of the rock and we could go on. What about the crucifixion of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? He that was taken by wicked hands
and crucified and slain. He that stood before the Romans,
before their counsel and the judgment seat. You know, those
dear disciples, they saw their Lord taken in that way. They
forsook him and fled. They were full of fear. We trusted
those that too on the way to Mars, they said, we trusted.
It should have been he that should have redeemed Israel and must
have looked such a black and dark, a dark time. Satan triumphed. The world triumphed. Jews triumphed. The Romans triumphed. But then we have a nevertheless
God. He was delivered by the determinate
counsel and full knowledge of God. They were only doing God's
bidding. It was their wickedness, it was
their hand, but God was in control, not man. In your trouble, in
your trials, my trials, nevertheless God is still the same for his
people. He still comes in for them. You say, what if it is something
more closely at home? What if it is my own sin, my
own wickedness, continually returning, as it were, to besetting sins
or to the evil of my heart, captivated by the world, hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin, oft lose comfort in a dark place,
a low place? Nevertheless, God, even in that,
The Lord knows the down-sitting and uprising of his people. He
knows those that go through these dark paths, why he is said to
be that sympathising high priest for the house of God, and especially
regarding sin. He came to this world that he
might bear his people's sin. He came that he might deliver
them from the condemnation due to their sin. And may we be clear
of this, though God's people are sanctified, though they are
brought to live holy and godly lives, all of them shall still
know, and know more than any other, the evil and sinfulness
that is within. Turn again, thou son of man,
thou shalt know greater, or shalt see greater abominations than
these. God has not ordained that his
people, however holy lives they might live, they're not pure
from sin. The Apostle Paul in Romans 7
is very clear on this, that the good that I would I do not, the
evil that I would not that I do, I wretched man that I am. He
says, if I do that which I would not, is no more I that do it,
but sin that dwelleth within me. We are called to battle,
to fight the corruptions of our own heart right from the beginning.
That will be a lifelong battle. One of the Puritans, I believe
it was said, said to impress upon the heart of a young believer
that he was called to do battle with the corruptions of his heart.
all the days of his life. We have that in Hebrews 12. He
had not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. This is the conflict. This is
what so often casts down the people of God, makes them weary
that they cannot stand anymore, they cannot fight anymore. They
have such an opposition, such an evil heart of unbelief. Such
wrestling's within. But then we have in spite of
that, nevertheless, God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
friend of sinners. Hymn writer says, may that be
forgotten never. God is the one that is able to
deal with our sins. He has dealt with it at Calvary. He deals with it in chastening
and correction. He deals with it in giving grace
to bear it and help to fight it. He has given the weapons
of our warfare, which are spiritual, not carnal. He's given us the
gathering together around his word, the iron sharpeneth iron. His Word to be the washing of
water by the Word, to sanctify us as it washes over us, as oft
as we gather together. We need that. We need that renewing. And our gathering for worship
is to that end. Peter was given the chance to,
when he was converted or when he was restored, to comfort or
to strengthen his brethren. And so we need this nevertheless,
God, to always keep in view that when we fall down, like in Psalm
107, there is none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. No help in self, I find, and
yet have sought it well. The native treasure of my mind
is sin and death and hell. To Christ for help I fly, the
friend of sinners lost, a refuge sure and high, and there is all
my trust. If you don't remember anything
more from the message this morning, may this be impressed upon us,
nevertheless, God. And the Spirit bring that to
your remembrance, Whenever we're low and in these conditions where
there seems no help or isn't any help in any other way, but
there is help in God, then we'll be able to join with the psalmist,
my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. Nevertheless, God, But secondly, one characteristic
of God, that he comforts those that are cast down. Our text reads, nevertheless
God, that comforteth those that are cast down. The God of all comfort. A good
thing to remember, isn't it? The God that fills immensity,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that this triune God comforts
those that are cast down. That's another good thing to
remember from this morning, isn't it? something that belongs to
God. I want to look at what so often
is called the Gospel according to Isaiah, and then we'll look
at a couple of other passages as well. But just to really reinforce
this message, Gospel Message, Isaiah 40. That chapter begins in this way. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, or she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Now this is speaking of the Lord
coming. He's bearing our sins. He's suffering
in our place. And so it especially is addressing
those whose sorrow is their sins. We think of the publican, God
be merciful to me, a sinner. is pointing to what the Lord
shall do, not just recompense once, but as it were, double,
fully paying for the sins of the people of God. On one hand,
we have the sufferings and death of our Lord, on the other hand,
comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. He is indeed
then, the God of all comfort, and it is based upon the sufferings
and death of our Lord. It's not just an empty comfort. It's not just saying, well, just
have comfort, but the sentence is still against you. You're
still going to go before the judgment seat of Christ. You're
still going to be punished. You're still going to bear your
sins eternally. That wouldn't be very good comfort,
would it? But when it's pointed to Christ,
and the soul has faith and trust in Christ, and the justice of
God satisfied, that comfort then is a valid comfort for his people. Isaiah 51, and verse three. Perhaps if we
go back, we read from verse two. Look unto Abraham your father
and unto Sarah that bear you for I called him alone and blessed
him and increased him. For the Lord shall comfort Zion,
he will comfort all her waste places and he will make her wilderness
like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and
gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of
melody. The Lord shall comfort Zion. Again, he's pointing to the gospel
days and that which flows out from the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Zion is the church of God. If we go further to verse 12
in the same chapter. Reading again from verse 11.
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with
singing unto Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
They shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall
flee away. I, even I, And he that comforteth you, who
art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall
die, and of the Son of Man which shall be made as grass? And forget as the Lord thy Maker
that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations
of the earth. This is the character of our
Lord. that he comforts his people. And it is a solid, a valid comfort
at which there is reasons that are given, assurances given. We have in chapter 57 and in verse 18, I have seen his
ways. This is after the Lord has chastened
and corrected, and will heal him. I will lead him also and
restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. The Lord dealing
in chastening and correction. And this, of course, is the context
with our text. In the church at Corinth, the
Lord had corrected them, chastened them. Paul had been the means
of bringing that chastening in word. But then they'd been brought
to sorrow, brought to repentance. And then Paul says the other
way, restore such a one, lest he have sorrow upon sorrow. Give
comfort. As soon as there is sorrow, as
soon as there is repentance, then there is to be comfort.
Then there is to be healing. And so going on to chapter 30
or 61 and verse 2, this is part of what the Lord began his ministry,
opening the book, opening this very passage and reading there
as he began his public ministry, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. to comfort all that
mourn. One of the Beatitudes, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. In the 66th chapter of Isaiah,
and verse 13, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. When you see this, your heart
shall rejoice and your bones shall flourish like an herb,
and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants
and his indignation toward his enemies. Our God is a God of
comfort. This is his character, And if
we go further on, we find it in Jeremiah as well. Jeremiah
31. And verse 13. Then shall a virgin rejoice in
the dance, both young men and old together. For I will turn
their mourning into joy and will comfort them. and make them rejoice
from their sorrow. This is the comfort of the Lord. This is what he does toward his
people. If we have the epistle that our
text is in, and go to the very opening verses of it, We have
from verse 3, 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. The Apostle Paul knew personally,
knew personally the comforting of God, the grace of God, this
characteristic of God, and so he writes to them in the way
that he does. And so I want to go to our third
point, which leads on the means of comfort. God does use means. Sometimes we might think, well,
if God's going to do something, He is going to do it as a miracle
from heaven. He's going to do it without means. He's going to come to us and
give us this blessing and give us this comfort. But God does
use means. He uses means by in calling his
people by grace. Some of us have been called by
people that have not been his people. Those who have preached,
maybe error even, have not known the truth themselves or spoken
to us that the Lord has been pleased to use what they have
said. Sometimes even the world has
been used. Predominantly, the Lord uses
His own Word, the preaching of the Word. He has pleased God
through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. But
we don't say because we've been blessed through a man preaching
that we haven't been blessed by God. God does bless the means. He's given the gathering together
of his people, he's given his word, he's given his people. And so with the Apostle Paul
here, regarding comfort, he says that he was comforted in all
his tribulations that we may be able to comfort them which
are in any trouble. It's a good principle to remember
that if we have known a particular path, we are in a good position
to minister and help those that are in a similar path. If one
has had, for instance, mental afflictions, If they've had a
mental breakdown, depression, something like that, they are
able, once they've recovered or managed it, to be able to
help those that are presently going through that path and know
that path themselves. And sometimes we've been able
to serve those that have never had any affliction like that
in their lives, and they can't understand, they can't sympathise,
they have no help to those walking through that path at all. Whereas
those that have known it, or have known it in their loved
ones, and cared for someone walking that path, they are in a position,
like the Apostle says here, that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble, or in those situations, comfort
those who are walking through a similar path. And you find
it in many things in life. Where we have experienced something,
we can help those that are going through that same experience. Very often, I always try to remember
this in the ministry, that the things that I go through, the
things that we go through as a family, sometimes There may
be no reason, we cannot understand why, but the Lord knows there's
a need to bring the word. Some of his people are going
through this path. The minister then has got to
go into it. He's got to understand it. He's
got to bring forth where the comfort and help is to be looked
for. And he's not coming from his
own heart, but coming through the word of God, the Lord's authority
of how he speaks it. And so those means that are used,
Paul uses a means here, or tells a means you might easy pass over. He says in our text, nevertheless
God that comforteth us, or those that are cast down, comforted
us by the coming of Titus. The coming of Titus. Who would
think, you know, You could be easily tempted and thought, well,
I can't really have been cast down if just the coming of a
brother in faith or a friend lifts me up. Or this can't be
God that is comforting me or helping me because it's only
a very natural thing. But the Lord can. He can use
it with a son or a daughter coming to us, or a phone call. Or some other similar communication
nowadays can be used to just pick us up, to encourage us. It's good for us to remember
that when we have the urge to phone someone up or to communicate,
to do so. I remember several years ago
now, a dear brother in faith at Waddesham that had lost his
wife four years or so before. And I was in my study in the
morning devotions, and I suddenly realized it was the exact day,
it was four years ago, the anniversary of his wife's death. And I thought,
a word came upon my mind, I forget what it was now, to read to him
out of the scriptures in the Psalms. I picked up the phone,
and I phoned him up. And he picked it up straight
away. And he said to me, Roland, he said, I've only just got off
my knees from in prayer." He said, a second or two later,
I would have been out the door. He said, your phone call didn't
interrupt my prayer. It's come exactly the right time. I just imparted to him my sympathy,
gave him the scriptural text. He said goodbye, and off he went.
And the help, the timing, and the help that that was to him
at that time. And these things are, we notice
these things. We ourselves can be the means
of comforting another. Others may be the means of comforting
us. There's a double comfort here
with Titus because not only did he come, but he came with information. He came telling what had happened
at Corinth. And that then lifted up the apostle
because instead of them being crushed and cast away from the
faith, the Lord had brought repentance in them. He brought them to faith. And so the Lord lifted up the
apostle with this news. May we know how the Lord uses
things to comfort us. Perhaps it might be remembrance. The Spirit shall bring to remembrance
all things whatsoever I have said unto you. I remember one
time at Melbourne, again years ago, and I felt very, very low. And I was giving out the services,
I think it was reading services, it was at the desk, before I
was in the ministry, And I had chosen the hymn, I think it's
722. What am I and where am I? Strange
myself and paths appear. And I'd made a mistake though. I gave a different number to
the organist, or at least I put a different number up on the
board. So when I announced the hymn, suddenly there was a bit
of a movement with the organist He said, I've got the wrong tune,
a different tune. There's a different hymn on the
board. And I got confused. I didn't know what hymn I should
have given out. So I just said, well, just go
with the hymn on the board. So he sung that, 721. To him
that loved us, ere we lay concealed within the clay. And it was all the song of praise.
Song of praise as to what the Lord had done in taking us from
being dead in sin and to bringing us to faith in Christ. And the
tune was the old hundredth, praise God from whom all blessings flow.
And the Lord just so softened me. I just wept, wept before
the people. They thought it was because I'd
made a mistake and was upset because of that. But it was nothing
to do with that. It was like the Lord had said,
you think you don't know where you are and you're cast down,
but I'll tell you where you are and how you've been blessed.
You're seeing this, to my praise, not what you wanted to see. And those times we always remember,
you can use very strange ways to lift us up and to comfort
us, and it's good to remember that. the middle hymn that we
had sung today. The last verse of that, as we
sung that, O that I could now adore him like the heavenly host
above, who forever bow before him and unceasing sing his love. Happy songsters, when shall I
your chorus join? My sister in faith in Australia,
took her funeral when I was 25, and I remember her quoting that
verse, Oh, that I could now adore Him. Well, she's been a long,
long while now with the Lord, and it's good to remember these
saints that have gone before us. Yes, she often walked that
path, the beginning of that hymn, Oh, my soul, what means this
sadness? Wherefore art thou thus cast
down? Let thy griefs be turned to sadness,
to gladness. Bid thy restless fears be gone. Look to Jesus and rejoice in
His dear name. The hymn writer, he knew how
to point us, point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, point us to
the Saviour. Another hymn, out of self, is
a prayer to the Holy Spirit. out of self to Jesus lead. There's a blessed thing where
the Lord uses some means, a friend, the ministry, the word of God,
a hymn, to lead us out of our doldrums, out of self, and to
point us again to the Lord Jesus Christ. They looked unto him,
they were lightened, they were not ashamed. It is God that has
heaven and earth at his command. He waits to answer prayer. He
knows how to lift up his people. I think of another occasion when
I was very low, and I don't know why I was at that time either.
Sometimes we don't, do we? We don't know why it is. I'm
going to preach at Ebenezer Luton. Very reluctant to go. Went that
110 miles, 100 miles. And just as I pulled up outside
the chapel, turned off the engine, the phone went. My dear one had
phoned to tell me that my father had been taken into hospital.
She feared that it would cast me down even further. But it
didn't. It had the opposite effect. The
timing that the Lord did, that I should turn off the car engine
and the phone come on just at that time. And the Lord impressed
on me. He knew where my father was in
Tasmania. He knew where I was in Luton. and he timed it absolutely exact. By that time, my father did recover,
brought out of hospital, but picked me up that day, and I
had a good day, a really good day. Lord uses things we would
never think of to pick us up, to comfort us, and to assure
us He knows where we are, where we are spiritually, where we
are physically, where our homes are, where we are in a low place. The Lord knows his people, and
that in itself is a great comfort. He knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, he shall
bring me forth as gold. The blessings of having a God
that is the God of all comfort, a blessing of having a God that
this is his characteristic, that comforteth those that are cast
down, and that is able to use all sorts of means. Let not the
devil take away, or a wicked heart, take away the honour and
glory of God in sending comfort just because the Lord chooses
a means that we might despise. If he's lifted us up, if he's
picked us up, if he's encouraged us, and our burden is gone, then
praise the Lord for it. look upon it as coming from his
almighty hand, that this is from the hand of God, who that comforteth
those that are cast down. Well, may the Lord bless this
word and lift up comfort those of you that need that this morning. Amen.