Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter
1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. The title of the message is The God of All Comfort. That
caught my attention today. I was actually working on Isaiah
58. But this caught my attention,
so I turned my attention to this. You know, as I look into the
face of you every week, I know there's different troubles and
trials and heartaches, and I can't meet them. I can't meet them. But I know that the God of all
comfort can. I know that the God of all comfort
can help us in every trial, in every situation. Everything we
go through and are going through is for the body of Christ and
is to help someone else down the road, another brother, another
sister. Somewhere along the way, what
you're going through, someone else is going to need. Somewhere
along the way. And I want to just look at these
first 11 verses here. for a few minutes. Now Paul wrote
this epistle to the Corinthians about a year or so after he had
written the first one. And he writes to them to defend
his office as an apostle. Some were saying that he was
not an apostle. And to defend the gospel that he preached,
that it was of God. And he urged the church there
to comfort and restore that fallen brother. Not to excommunicate
him and run him off, but to receive him as a brother, because he
had repented. And he tells them of his sufferings in the service
of Christ. And I want us to look here in
verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and I want you
to listen to this next line. By the will of God. By the, now
you talk about confidence. I was looking at this today.
You're talking about doing what you're doing with absolute confidence. And when you can say, I'm doing
this by the will of God, I know it's the will of God. Well, we
can say that because it is God's will, what we're doing, where
He's placed us and the work He's given us. And we can't understand
a lot of it, but I know this, it is by the will of God. God's
will is always done. Always. Now, Paul calls himself
here an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to give weight
to this letter. This letter comes to you, listen,
with authority. It comes to you with authority.
Therefore, give this letter your greatest attention. Every time we open the Word of
God, we should give it our great attention. I mean, this is the
Word of God. This is not another book. I've
got a whole shelf full. I threw away a bunch of books
the other day. I just tossed them in the trash. This is a
bunch of junk. But this is the Word of God. God breathed this
through the Apostle. And this is God speaking to us,
the church throughout all ages. And he writes this to the Corinthians
church here and all the believers in that region to instruct them.
The whole Word of God is for our instructions. As I looked
at this today, I thought this. This book, and you young people
know this, have learned this, is never outdated. There's a
lot of things men write and then they got to rewrite it and then
rewrite it because we find out something different. This book
does not need rewritten. This is the Word of God. It's
never outdated. It's always, always relative. And if I have a problem, if I'm
going through something, I tell you what, I can find the answer
to that right here in this book. I can, and you can too. Now Paul says this to let them
know that he's a true apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
God. He did not make himself an apostle as some were doing. He did not put himself into the
ministry. God put him in the ministry.
He said, God put me in the ministry. And I tell you, that's the only
way, God knows my heart, that's the only way I want to be in
the ministry, is if God Almighty puts me in it. I've got a job. There's a machine
job. I'm not looking for another one.
But Paul said, God put him in the ministry. God made him an
apostle of the Gentiles. And God gave him the message.
He learned the gospel from Jesus Christ himself. And then he says, and Timothy.
And notice here how tender. This really is tender right here.
Our brother. Our brother unto the church of
God which is at Corinth with all the saints which are in all
Achaia. He mentions Timothy here. First
of all, he's putting his approval upon this young man. And he said,
he's our brother. Paul never felt himself to be
above any of the Lord's servants or any of the Lord's people.
He said, I'm the chief of sinners. And I'll tell you what, that
was not just an empty statement. Paul believed that. He persecuted
the church. He wasted it. He gave his consent
to believers being put to death. And I'm sure he never forgot
that. He said, I'm the chief of sinners. And he calls Timothy,
he says, our brother, our brother. And he says, grace be to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This shows their oneness here. Grace, he says, unmerited, unasked
for, unsought, Favor of God be to you. Grace. Grace. We all need it. We all need the
grace of God to walk by every day. And he said, Grace and peace
be to you. Peace? Peace with God? I don't know that there could
be a greater blessing than this. Well, there's not. There is not
a greater blessing than this. Peace with God Almighty. That
this rebel, this sinner, has peace, real peace, with the living
God. Peace with God and peace from
God. And peace with one another. There
is nothing sweeter than dwelling in a house where there's peace. Oh, I hate to walk into a place
of contention. I hate contention. And he says here, grace and peace
be to you. We should be known as a peaceful
people. For listen, our king is the king
of peace. He's the king of peace. And we
should be known as children of peace. Now this grace and peace
is from God our Father. And we can really have it. We
can really have and enjoy. This is not an empty statement
he's talking about here. We can really have grace and
peace through the Lord Jesus Christ, through His blood and
His righteousness. We have peace with God and we
have the peace of God in the heart. We can really have it
through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. He is the
fountain of all grace and peace. If we are going to have any real
grace and peace, it's going to come through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way it's going to
come and no other way. It's going to come through Him. He's the
channel of all God's mercy. Of everything that God has for
the sinner, it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every bit of it. Every bit of it. He says in verse 3, Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is to receive
praise and blessings from our hearts. That's what we are here
this evening for. We are here to bless God. We are here to praise and worship
our Father. That's what we are here for.
To worship Him from our hearts for what He's done for us in
His Son. He chose us in His Son. He didn't do that for everybody.
There are many He left alone. That's so. Jacob have I loved? He so have I hated. He chose
us in Him. He redeemed us in Christ. We
are redeemed by the blood of Christ. We really have the forgiveness
of sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has
called us in Christ. He has received us in Christ.
And we say, blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be His name. And He shows His deity here.
He's called the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Trinity,
we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And as to
the human nature of Christ as the Mediator, God is His Father,
not Adam. Not Joseph. The sin and blood
of Adam did not enter into him at all. He was created in the
womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit of God. And then he calls him here, the
Father of Mercies. The Father of Mercy. Mercy begins
with God. Mercy begins with God. He's the
Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Mary is not the
mother of mercy. God is. He's the Father of mercy. Mercy is of God. Mercy is an
attribute of God. And the scripture says, He delights
to show mercy. And we've tasted it. We have
tasted of the mercy of God in Christ. And we need it. We not only taste it, but we
need it constantly. I need God's mercy every day. And I tell you this, it's new
every morning. It's new every morning. And I'm
glad He's called the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Where do you get your comfort?
Everyone gets it from someplace. The world gets their comfort
from someplace now. They have to. Where do you get
your comfort? Well, Paul says here, he gets
his and every believer gets his from the God of all comfort.
Whatever comfort we enjoy in this life as a believer now,
whatever comfort we enjoy comes from our Father. He sends it
to us. He gives it to us. He's the God
of all comfort. Outside of Him, outside of Christ,
who is God, there is no comfort. There is no comfort. That's why
it's hard to comfort an unbeliever. How can you comfort, really,
truly? How can you comfort an unbeliever? There's nothing to comfort them
with. If they forsake the God of all comfort and have nothing
to do with the God of all comfort, there is nothing to comfort them
with. Not at all. But we find comfort. The believer
finds comfort in His Word. Do you not find comfort in His
Word? I laid in bed last night. It was late. The Word just kept
going. Some different Scriptures kept
going over and over in my mind. And I felt comfort. I felt some
comfort in His Word. That's where it's at. Comfort. We find comfort in His promises. Look over in verse 20 of that
chapter. For all the promises of God in
Christ are yea, and in Him, Amen, and to the glory of God by us.
All the promises of God. And I tell you this, we don't
know them all. He does. God knows every one
of His promises, even though I don't. I'm sure I have not
memorized or recognized all the promises of God. But He does. That's what's important. He remembers. And He remembers. We find comfort
in His Word. We find comfort in His promises.
We find comfort in His person. He is God. This is not an idol
sitting on a shelf. This is the God of heaven and
earth who sits upon the circle of the earth, who rules and reigns
over everything, every minute detail. God Almighty rules over
it to give you comfort. That gives me comfort. When everything's
out of my control, which is 99.9% of everything I deal with, I'm
serious, it's out of my control. Really, 100% of it. 100% is everything's
out of my control. Nothing is out of his control. Nothing. And we find comfort in His Son.
Do you not find comfort in Jesus Christ? All you that labor and
are heavy laden, come to Me, and I'll give you rest. That's
a promise. He that cometh to Me. This is
one of the promises. Early on when I heard the Gospel
that just I mean, it was with me all day long and when I would
go to sleep. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. I never let go of that promise. Never. He that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. We find comfort in His Son. And then we find comfort through
the work of the Holy Spirit. He's the comforter. He said the
Father will give you a comforter. He comforts us. The Holy Spirit
takes the Word and shows us the things of Christ. And in doing
so, it comforts the heart. We're comforted. Comforted. He said comfort ye, comfort ye
my people. Tell her, her warfare is ended. It's over with. I've taken care
of the matter. It's over with. And Paul says,
who comforts us in all our tribulation, all of our strength, and all of our comfort, all of
our grace, under every trial, comes from God, our Father. That's
where it comes from. I'm not a strong person. I used
to think I was. And I probably still think too
much of it, too. Weak. Weak as water. Weak as
water. Look over in Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, it says in verse
5 and 6, Let your conversation, your behavior, be without covetousness. and be content with such things
as ye have. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say with
confidence, The Lord is my helper." He's my helper. It'll be all
right. It'll be all right. The Lord's my helper. And I will
not fear what man shall do unto me. He's my helper. And these comforts and trials
are not only for ourselves now here, listen, it's not only for
us. And they are for us and they
wean us from the things of this world, we try our faith. But
Paul says here that we may be able to comfort them which are
in trouble. Brothers and sisters born for
adversity. Brothers and sisters born for
adversity. God puts us through these things
so that we might be a comfort to others in time of need. That's
right. I'm sure somewhere down the road,
Andrea, this will come back and you'll be a comfort to somebody
down the road. I'm sure it will. By the comfort, he says, wherewith
we ourselves are comforted of God. It's a true comfort. This is not an empty statement
here. This is a real comfort. Paul says, by the comfort wherewith
we ourselves are comforted of God. By the same comfort and
compassion that the Lord has on us under trials, we would
show the same to others in trials. Paul wrote to these Corinthians
here, and that one that they had dealt with over incest, he
says, bring him back. Show mercy. He repented of it. Show mercy. Show mercy. No one can identify with a broken
heart whose heart has never been broken. Can't do it. How did David become the sweet
psalmist of Israel? How did he become the sweet psalmist
of Israel? Well, he ran to hidden caves
and rocks. I mean, his life was sought after. He went through a lot of hardship,
didn't he? And he became the sweet psalmist
of Israel. And I tell you what, when you
read the Psalms, you're reading a man who knows what he's talking
about. He's experienced what he's talking about. He's experienced
the grace of God. He's experienced the protection
of God. He's experienced the comfort of God and the grace
of God. He knows. For as the sufferings of Christ,
he says, abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by
Christ. The sufferings of Christ here
are not the sufferings that he suffered as our substitute. It's
the afflictions and trials which ministers and believers endure
because of the gospel. They believe and preach. An example,
the Lord says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? To persecute
a child of God is to persecute Christ Himself, for that's a
member of His body. You smash my finger, my head
is going to tip. It's going to know it. It's going
to know it. Now he says here in verse 6,
and whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and
salvation. All the sufferings and trials of the apostles and
all the ministers of the gospel is for the good of the whole
body of Christ. It's good for the whole body.
By watching them endure these trials and these hardships, it
gives us comfort to endure hardships also. It gives us comfort to
do that. And it also shows that God does
not favor them more than you. You know, people look at a pastor,
a preacher, as if God favors them more than the common people. That's not so. That's not so. And he says here, which is effectual
and enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. There's
no suffering That is not common to all of us. There's nothing
new under the sun. Nothing. We all suffer. We all
suffer trials and hardships. All of us. And it says here,
or whether we be comforted. It is for your consolation and
salvation. We are not only ambassadors of
Christ, but also examples of His grace under trials. Examples. Paul was spoken of as a pattern.
and his sufferings as a pastor. The trials that God brings on
us is for the good of the whole body and the comfort we receive
from God is for the good of the whole body. That's what it's
called. Old Job said to those three friends
of his, miserable comforters are you all. You know why they were such miserable
comforters? They had never experienced what Job was experiencing. They
had never been where he was at. They couldn't identify with him.
They said, Job, you must have done something terribly wrong. He says here in verse 8, 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 despair even of life. Paul tells them
that he and those with him were in so much trouble, he said,
I really believed and thought we were going to die. We were
so pressed above human strength, human ability, he said, I thought,
I believed we was going to die. If the Lord doesn't do something,
we're going to die. And he wanted them to know that
one of the reasons that he could not visit them when he planned
to was because of this trouble. We need to be slow to judge,
don't we? Be slow to judge. Some were saying that, well,
Paul didn't keep his word, he didn't visit you. Paul said,
we were in a lot of trouble. But we had the sentence of death
in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God
which raises the dead. Paul believed that he was going
to die. He thought he was going to die. But God, listen, God
brought Paul into this condition to teach him to trust Him. Just trust me. The God of all
comfort. And in another place, He's called
the God of all grace. He says, you just trust me. And he brought him to the point
where it was humanly impossible for him to do anything about
it, but trust God to deliver him. That's all he could do.
Let go of all human health and trust him. Just let go, Paul. Let go of all of it and just
trust me. Who's able, he says, to raise the dead. Now, if he
can raise the dead, what problem do I have that he can't take
care of? None. None. And also, this made Paul
a better minister of the gospel because it made him much more
long-suffering with people like me. People like me. God knows how to make us let
go and trust Him, doesn't He? He knows how to make us let go
and trust Him alone. I thought about Cole. He's been
taking swimming lessons. And they had to quit for a little
while. The instructor took him out into
the water after a couple of days or so, and they've got all the
armbands on. You know, they've got everything.
He can't sink. He doesn't know that. He doesn't
know, I'm not going to sink. But she took him out, and she
just pushed him out away from her to get him to swim back.
He threw an absolute fit. I mean, he went plumb nuts. So
they got him. She got him. Got him on to the
side, he would not, he would not get away from the side of
that pool again. Because he didn't trust that instructor. He didn't
know and realize yet, that instructor is not going to let him go down.
She's going to teach him how to swim. And in teaching him
how to swim, she has to push him away from her. She has to
get him out of the way. You can't swim up against somebody.
So she pushed him away. But eventually, eventually, he'll
come to realize, she's not going to let me drown. She's not going
to let me go down. And he'll learn to trust her.
And then he'll learn to swim. And that's how we learn to swim.
That's how we learn to swim in the ocean of God's grace. He
pushes us out there. And we just act like a nut. Like
we're not going to make it. You know, Paul said when he was
on that ship and it was being tossed to and fro, he said, brethren,
just stay on board. I believe God. It'll be just as he said. I think it took a few years before
he actually learned that. It took a while. It took some
things to go through before he learned to say that. And then he says in verse 10,
and I'll wind this down, who delivered us from so great a
death, God did, and doth deliver in whom we trusted that he will
yet deliver us. God by his power and mercy has
delivered us from a certain death. This is the only reason, Paul
said, we're still here. It's the only reason we're alive.
Because God delivered us. But I want you to notice how
he speaks of this delivery. He delivered, He delivers, and
He will yet deliver. It's like this, we have been
saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. He always
delivers, always. Our God will save us. And you
also help Him to gather 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. We believe that God is sovereign.
He does as he will. We know that. We believe that.
And we are glad that it's so. But he has purposed all things.
Yet this never discourages us to pray. It's never a discouragement
to call upon God for help. and for one another. And Paul
recognized this. I may not be able to be with
you in presence, but my prayers will be with you, and your prayers
will be with me. They prayed for Paul, and God
answered their prayers. Scripture says a fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much. It avails much. Make much use
of prayer for each other. You pray for me. I'll pray for
you. And when God answers our prayers,
we'll just thank Him. We'll thank Him. That He would even listen to
us. That one scripture there in the
Psalms, David said, O thou that hearest prayer. I'll never forget
that. When you pray, O thou that hearest.
He hears our prayers. The God of all comfort hears
our prayers. Okay, Mike.