Our subject is suffering and
comfort. In these verses, we've read the
words comfort, comforted, and comforted six times in these
few verses. We read the word consolation,
which means comfort, four times. So that's 10 times in all, comfort
and consolation. I'd say that's a subject. Also in these verses, in verse
four, we read the words tribulation and trouble. And in verse six, we read the
word afflicted. And in verses five through seven,
we read the words suffer and suffering four times. So there's
the emphasis of this passage on suffering and comfort. suffering appointed and comfort
assured for God's people. I'm drawn to the statement at
the end of verse 3 that our God is the God of all
comfort. I don't think we really grasp
that. We'd rather look for little tidbits
of relief here and there than to come to the Lord and lean
on Him wholeheartedly. But to get a hold of this, that
He's the God of all comfort, it seems to me that most of the
Lord's people today are anything but comforted. Why? Numerous reasons. Our unbelief
Charges God with being untrustworthy. Do you ever think about that? Our unfaithfulness is rebellion
against him. And known sin in our lives, not
repented of and forsaken is charging him with not being holy. And all this results in all sorts
of Doubts, fears and discomfort. Discomfort. One writer said this discomfort
arises from anxiety. As to our relationship with God
and doubts of his love. We torment ourselves with the
thoughts that we are unworthy of his care. So he can't possibly
care about us. We suspect him of being indifferent
to our trials and accuse him of forsaking us in time of need. We are anxious and troubled about
our religious life, about our disposition and feelings, our
indifference to God's word, our lack of fervency in prayer, our
coldness in heart. We are tormented with regrets
of our past and overwhelmed with anxiety over the future. We feel
unworthy to enter God's presence, and we dare not believe that
we really belong to Him." End of quote. But what about this beautiful
statement? He's the God of all comfort. The God of all comfort. Many of us have been misled,
and this goes along with that writer's statements. Many of
us have been misled through the years to believe that the real
Christian life is a trouble-free life. And I mean, some folks act like
they never get discouraged. They never seem to suffer sorrow
of any kind, trouble. and swallowing that falsehood,
it makes you and I feel inferior. That ought not be the case. Our
God is the God of all comfort. Comfort to you and comfort to
me. First of all, true comfort is a divine virtue. True comfort is not to be found
in possession, or in people or in the pacifying of our sinful
flesh. True comfort only comes from
the God of all comfort. He may use means and channels
to bring it to you. He does. But in the stillness
of the midnight hour, you will confess that he alone is the
source of it. You can't find comfort anywhere
else. He's the God of all comfort. He's not the God of all comfort
to always free us from our suffering, but He's the God of all comfort
to comfort us in our suffering. He never saved Daniel from the
lion's den. He saved him in it. The three Hebrews, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, He never saved them from the fiery furnace.
He saved them in it. So contrary to a lot of false
teaching today, it's not God's purpose that you avoid all trouble
and problems and heartaches and sorrow. But it's God's purpose
to be with you in it. That don't make it his fault.
Sin is the cause. Not necessarily your personal
sins, but because we're in a fallen world and the nature of sin that's
in all humanity. We sing the old song sometimes
tempted and tried. We're often made to wonder why it should be thus all the
day long while there are others living about us. never molested,
though in the wrong. This world is the nearest thing
to heaven, some will know. But for God's children, may I
say, this world is the nearest thing to hell, you'll know."
What a blessed thought that is. God had only one Son without
sin. but he's never had any without sorrow and without suffering. It's appointed to us, appointed. I'll give us some scriptures.
John 16, 33 in the world, you shall have tribulation. You shall,
but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Philippians
one 29 for under you, it is given. in the behalf of Christ, not
only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Psalm 119, seven, the Psalmist
said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. God did
it. Ecclesiastes eight, 14. There
is a vanity which is done upon the earth. Solomon, the wise
man, Solomon, argues in his spirit that God's wrong about this. He said, there be just men under
whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked. No, Solomon's wrong. There are
no just men in themselves. And again, he said, there be
wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the
righteous. I said this also is vanity. God's role to let the
wicked have it so good. And his people suffer so much. The Psalmist Asaph. Had the same
feeling Psalm 73. I was envious at the foolish.
When I saw the prosperity, the wicked. They are not in trouble
as other men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more
than heart could wish. Verily, I have cleansed my heart
in vain." In other words, it appears worthless to do right and suffer many things,
while others do wrong and seem to suffer none. Christ Jesus, the just One, suffered
for us the unjust that He might bring us to God.
He's acquainting us with His own experience. He's the man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. So I repeat, true comfort
is not in relief from suffering, but in our identification with
Christ in suffering. A great old preacher named John
Flavel, who died in 1691, 329 years ago, he died. And this
volume I hold, Fallen Apart, was printed in the 1800s. I'm just going to read you what
he says on this subject. And this is so much better than
most of the junk I pick up nowadays and try to read. Here's what
he says. Redeemed souls must expect no
rest or satisfaction from suffering this side of heaven. The life of believers in this
world is a life of expectation. We want to arrive at everything
being lovely while we're here. We want to arrive at heaven here,
but he says our life in this world is a life of expectation.
We are now coming to God. God, you see, is the center and
rest of our souls. As the rivers cannot rest till
they pour themselves into the sea, so neither can renewed souls
find rest till they come into the bosom of God. There are four
things which disturb the souls of believers in this world, afflictions,
temptations, corruptions, and absence from God. If the former
three causes were totally removed so that a believer were placed
in a condition upon earth where no affliction could disturb him,
no temptation trouble him, no corruption defile and grieve
him, yet his very absence from God must still keep him unsatisfied. How true. How unreasonable are the dejections
of believers on account of the troubles they meet with in the
world. It is true afflictions of all kinds attend believers
in their way to God. Through many tribulations, we
must enter into the kingdom. But what then? Must we despond
and droop under these as other men? Surely not. If afflictions
be the way through which you must come to God, then never
be discouraged at affliction. Troubles are of excellent use.
Under the blessing of the spirit to further Christ's great design
in bringing you to God. How often would you turn out
of the way which leads to God if he did not hedge up your way
with thorns." Now, I wanted to get to this
statement. Doubtless, when you come home to God, you shall find
you have been more beholden to your troubles than to your comforts for bringing you thither. The sweetness of the end will
infinitely more than recompense the sorrows of the way. Nor are
they worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed
in us. Romans 8, 18. I want to give you seven reasons
why sufferings are valuable to the Lord's people in this life. as opposed to a life of ease.
And then we'll conclude with the sufficiency of God's comfort.
Number one, suffering is valuable in that it verifies our faith. The Apostle Peter used the analogy
of a goldsmith purifying gold and burning away the dross. He
said in first Peter one, 6 and 7, if need be, ye are in heaviness
through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Just as the goldsmith uses the
fire, the heat, to purify gold and burn away the dross, God
uses trials and suffering to bring us to the end of ourselves. Number two, suffering is valuable
in that it confirms our sonship. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 5 through
8. My son despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord. Nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. When the Lord interrupts our
party. We're ready to quit. You can quit the religion you
started. But he won't quit what he started. Despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom
the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. He loves and corrects His children. Hebrews 12 goes on to say, If
God don't stop you in your foolishness, then you're not His child. Then
are you bastards and not sons. The Lord's children suffer God's
appointed means of correction and discipline. And the passage
there in Hebrews goes on to say, whereof all, that is all God's
children, are partakers. So suffering, chastening, trials
confirms our sonship. Number three, suffering is valuable
to us in that it produces endurance. The book of James chapter one.
Verses two and three, my brethren counted all joy. When you fall
into divers temptations, it's worth something. He's not saying
be tickled to death because you have to suffer, but be tickled
to death that it's not without reason. God has a purpose in
it. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience, which means endurance. Through the many years the Lord
has worked in my life, I've seen people When they'd have a crisis, hardship,
suffering, heartbreak, I'd think, well, this will probably do them
in. They'll probably flop out after
this. No, no. It produced endurance,
strength in the heart, strength in their faith, and they hang
in there with God and with the church. It's those that don't ever have
any trouble and think they're too good to
suffer, and their life is a bed of roses. They're the ones that
get bored and say, I don't need this. I don't need this. The
Lord's people do. The Lord's people do. Number four, suffering is valuable
in that it clarifies our priorities. Back in the book of Deuteronomy
6, the Lord told the Israelites,
and it shall be when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee
into the land, which he swear unto thy fathers, to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee freely give thee great and
goodly cities, which thou buildest not. You just walk in and take
over. And houses full of all good things,
which thou fillest not. And wells digged, which thou
diggest not. Vineyards and olive trees, which
thou plantest not. give you all this freely. When thou shalt have eaten and
be full, when everything's lovely, then beware, beware lest thou
forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of
Egypt from the house of bondage. Beware lest thou forget the Lord. Good times tend to do that to
us. But suffering reminds us, helps
us to keep our priorities in order. Good times make you feel more
independent than you are. I don't need him, I don't need
her, I don't need nothing. Suffering Hardship, heartaches,
hard times. Help us to keep our priorities
in order. Number five. Suffering is valuable
in that it identifies us with the Lord Jesus. Second, Timothy
312. Yay. And all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus. She'll have it made. No, that's
not what it said. Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. John 15, 20, Christ
said, if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you. Number six, suffering is used
of God to influence unbelievers. I could think of many things
and many times, but in the book of Acts chapter 16, Paul and
Silas were in jail at Philippi. Not because they had robbed a
bank or shot anybody or selling dope, but because they were preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were in jail. And they wasn't
just in a cell, but they were in stocks, their feet. They were
not in a comfortable position. And when the Lord sent an earthquake and shook the prison and opened
all the doors, the jailer was about to commit suicide. He would have been executed anyway
for letting the prisoners escape. So he was about to commit suicide.
He had done drawn out his sword. And Paul said, don't do it. No one's escaped. We're all here. God broke the jailer's heart. And he said, sirs, here's the jailer, the one with
the sword, the one with the keys, the one in charge. He's calling
two prisoners, sirs. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They didn't know that was going
to happen. But the Lord used their attitude and their testimony
and their victory. By the way, they were singing
praises about midnight. The Lord got to him. You don't have a clue how the
Lord may have used the hardships in your life to affect someone
else and you didn't even know it. Number seven, suffering in our
own experience is valuable in that it enables us to identify
with others in their suffering. Having walked there yourself, you're equipped to help someone
else that's there now. Don't ever walk up to somebody
in sorrow and say, I know how you feel, if you don't know. Don't say, I know where you're
at, if you hadn't been there. But see, the Lord brings this
one and this one and this one and this one through such and
such a trial. and suffering and hardship to
be available to minister to somebody else on down the road that's
in that same condition. See, this whole scheme, this
whole thing of God's purpose in every individual life of every
believer, it is so much bigger than we could even imagine. He's never come right up to a
cross. He said, ooh, I've got to pick
somebody. I've got to get somebody ready.
No, no, no. He's got somebody ready. See, and it might be you. It might be you. The Lord Jesus
came and identified with us in that sense. The book of Hebrews
says that He, our great High Priest, He's not one that cannot
be touched. with the feelings of our infirmities.
He's been here. He's walked where you're walking.
And whatever it is, he's felt the suffering and the sorrow
and even the shame. Though he was never guilty of
a single sin, he was made sin for us. He's felt it. whatever the suffering, whatever
the suffering, God's comfort is more sufficient than the suffering
is severe. The suffering may be severe,
but God's comfort is sufficient. Back in the book of 2 Kings chapter
6, the king of Syria, the enemies
of God's people, He was trying to attack the Israelites.
And every time he would plan a secret attack, it seemed like
the Israelites would know about it. And so this old king, he called
his own officers in. He said, all right, which one
of you is a traitor? Which one of you is letting our
secret plans leak out to the enemy? One of them spoke up and said,
no one, King. There's a prophet in Israel. And somehow he knows what we're
going to do. And he goes and tells the king
of Israel. And that happened several times. So the king of
Syria said, go find this prophet, Elisha. Bring him in. So they
went and found him, the Bible said, at a place named Dothan. And Elisha's servant got up early
in the morning, went outside and was frightened, frightened
out of his boots. And he said, alas, oh, he looked
and there was Osirian army had him surrounded. all around the
mountains, around about. So he came running back in and
said to the prophet Elisha, alas, what shall we do? What are we
going to do? And Elisha the prophet, he never said we'll have to slip
out the back way. There was no back way. They were surrounded.
But Elisha the prophet, he prayed. And he said, Lord, open his eyes
that he may see. And the Lord opened his eyes.
And the servant went back outside and he saw the Lord's host between him and the enemy. That's what we need. Lord, open
our eyes. Help us to see that You, the
God of all comfort, who has cared for us and comforted us all these
years, that You're not going to forsake us now. Open our eyes, Lord, and cause
us to see that you're greater than the devil, greater than
the world, greater than all the powers of hell. Our God is the God of all comfort
for my heart and yours this morning. Mr. Spurgeon, the great preacher
of the 1800s, he was riding home late one afternoon after a hard
day, tired and exhausted, feeling a little depressed. And he said he started to meditate
on the line of scripture, my grace is sufficient for thee. And he said the road he was riding
on was beside a river, sizable river. He said he just had this crazy
thought, if he was a little bitty fish in that river, He said, what if a little fish
was apprehensive to drink too much water for fear he would
drink the river dry? And he said the river would speak
to him and say, drink up little fish. My resources are sufficient. You'll never drink the river. And see, he said, then I thought
about Joseph in Egypt in charge of all the granaries and the
corn cribs of Egypt that fed not only Egypt but other nations
for seven years. And Spurgeon said, I thought,
what if I was a little mouse that crawled into one little
corner of just one of those huge granaries And I was nibbling
at a few grains of corn. And I had the thought, oh, oh,
I better not nibble too much. I might eat all the corn. And he said, Joseph could say to
me, the little mouse, eat up. Nibble on. You'll never, you'll
never eat all the corn. such is the greatness of our
God." Spurgeon said his heart was encouraged. Well, I said, I feel anxious
when my Lord says to me, my grace is sufficient for thee. He's
the God of all comfort. He's the God of all comfort. Now, I want to tell you something.
This is so simple. This is so simple, you need to not miss
it. I sit in this chair not to make it strong. I sit in it because I believe
it is strong. And you better run the other
direction from all the religious notions that's got you heppin'
God out. How much He needs you. And how
much you could mean to Him. No, no. He's the strong one. He's the
strong one. We come to rest in Him. rests in Him. All we have to do is get in the
boat. He makes it float. He makes it float. The psalmist said, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod,
not mine, and thy staff, not mine. Thy weapons, not mine. Thy wisdom, not mine. Thy strength,
not mine. Does what? Comforteth me. Comforteth me. Paul wrote to the believers at
Philippi and he said, My God shall Supply all your need according
to His riches in glory. Trust Him. Did you ever think about this?
Noah didn't spend a full year on that ark holding to the railing. That's how long he was on it,
about a year. safe in the ark. Let the storm rage. And we can say safe in Christ. Let hell rage. Let the devil
howl. We are on our way home. And we're
sure to arrive safely. Because it's not us getting ourselves
there, God's committed to get us there.