2 CORINTHIANS 1: 3-7 [GAINING PERSPECTIVE Series]
THANKSGIVING FOR GOD’S COMFORT
One of the many paradoxes of the Christian life is that the grace of God is most keenly experienced not in the best but in what seems to be the worst of times. However much the Christian longs for exaltation it is when he is humble he receives grace (2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Pet.5:5; Jas 4:6). [Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983 S. 554.]
So Paul urges all sorrowing and troubled hearts to find strength in God. Paul knew that God bestows comfort for he had been recipient of it in his afflictions. When the Christian experiences affliction he finds God’s comforts which enables him to comfort others (CIT).
I. THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT; 1:3-4.
II. SUFFERINGS INTENDED RESULT; 1: 5-7.
[III. THE HOPE OF DELIVERANCE; 1:8-11.]
With a burst of praise to God for comforting and encouraging him, Paul begins his letter in verse 3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and God of All Comfort,”
Paul introduced this letter with a blessing and now blesses the Blesser! He wasn’t blessing God because of his difficult circumstances but was blessing God because He is worthy to be praised even in difficult circumstances. This word blessed ( ) is used in the N.T. only of God. Blessed is an expression of highest esteem and thanksgiving.
Paul’s uses three titles or names to address his blessing to God. The first is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator with the Father. Jesus humbled Himself in His incarnation and placed Himself in dependency upon the Father. Next he addresses God as the Father of Mercies. Mercy here [from , meaning to pity] is the feeling of compassion that goes out in seeing another’s distress. He is the originator from Whom all mercies flow (Ps.103:13f). God’s mercies include deliverance from the world, sin, and Satan, and fellowship with the Spirit in truth, light, and life.
The third title listed is the God of All (or every) Comfort. The Greek word [para-klsis] literally means “to call along side” or “to be close,” thus to comfort or encourage. [The paraklsis root occurs ten times in vv. 3-7.] The English word comfort comes from the Latin confortis which means “to brave together.” It has the idea of standing beside a person to encourage him while he is under testing. The same word is used by Jesus to describe the Holy Spirit as the Comforter or Paraclete (Jn. 14:16; 16:7) meaning “one who stands alongside and helps.” The thought is that God is the Divine fount of all consolation to His people. He is the God of All Comfort not only by delivering us from evil or by ordering our external circumstances, but chiefly by the inward influence of His presence on the mind and heart which casts out the tumults and fills with joy and peace.
You never know when you'll need the Lord's comfort the most¬ for there will be a time when God's care will be your only hope of facing tomorrow. One day in 1932, pianist, singer, and songwriter THOMAS DORSEY discovered his need for God's com¬fort. He left his pregnant wife Nettie at home in Chicago while he drove his Model A to St. Louis to sing at a revival meeting. All went well, and the crowd responded enthusiastically. After Dorsey had finished ministering, he received a telegram with the trag¬ic news that his wife had died in childbirth. Within hours, the baby boy also died. [JDB. Our Daily Bread]
Filled with grief, Dorsey sought answers. Should he have stayed in Chicago and not gone to St. Louis? Had God done him an injustice? A few days after Nettie's death, Dorsey sat down at the piano and began to play. Finally sensing God's peace and closeness, he began to sing some new words and play a new song:
Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand;
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light; Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Paul also found genuine comfort in God. You will too. As you go through difficult times, real storms, immense challenges, you will find[, even as Paul found,] that God is a God of comfort. You will discover that He is the Father of mercy, who will comfort you.
Is there a problem too big for you to handle alone? Or a grief too great to bear? Let the "God of all comfort" lead you home.
Verse 4 states that we have been graced with encouraging comfort so that we might encouragingly comfort others. “Who comforts [encourages] us in all our affliction [tribulations] so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort [encouragement] with which we ourselves are comforted [encouraged] by God.”
The God of All Comfort comforts us in all our affliction. [Tribulation [ from , to press] is from the Latin tribulum which means roller. The English word affliction is the Latin word affictio from ad-fligere, “to strike on.”] The trouble or affliction is the reason why God of All Comfort constantly and unfailing comes to aid. Notice that He encourages us in all our affliction. All is any or every trouble; not just in certain kinds of afflictions.
Notice the purpose clause introduced by “so that.” A purpose or reason why God’s comforts is “to enable us to comfort those within every affliction.” Receiving God’s comfort in our affliction enables us to comfort others. Being comforted by God qualifies you to minister comfort to others, no matter what their affliction might be. The comfort of God is not intended to terminate with the recipient but to be extended to others. God’s comforting prepares and equips us for the God-like ministry of comforting and encouraging others within whatever affliction they may be suffering. This is a principle of the Christian life. We receive so that we may pass on. We are blessed that we might be a blessing.
This passage explains to us that the degree we can comfort others is the degree we have been comforted ourselves. It is only when we have experienced God’s faithfulness first-hand that we can minister to others the assurance that God will be faithful to them.
Maybe that is why they say EXPERIENCE is the best teacher. We learn the most from what affects us personally. The English artist Joseph Turner once invited the clergyman and novelist Charles Kingsley to his studio to see a picture he had just completed of a storm at sea. Filled with admiration, Kingsley inquired, “How did you make it so realistic?” The artist replied, “When I decided to paint this scene, I thought it would be best to go to the coast of Holland and hire a fisherman to take me out in his boat during an actual storm . I knew this was the only way I could get a feel for my subject. The boatman bound me to the mast so I could watch the squall in safety. I not only observed it and sensed its power, but the tempest blew itself into me until I seemed to become a part of it. When it was over, I was able to depict on canvas all the fury I had felt at sea.”
In the Christian life we may acquire some wisdom in times of prosperity, but oh, the deeper lessons we can learn in the school of tribulation and sorrow! A. B. Simpson declared, “You will have no test of faith that will not fit you to be a blessing if you are obedient to the Lord. I never had a trial but when I got out of the deep river I found some poor pilgrim on the bank that I was able to help by that very experience.”
If you have received consolation from the Lord in time of tribulation, God wants you to share with others the lessons you’ve learned. God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.
Along life’s pathway troubles come that God will help us bear;
Then we can look beyond the pain to those who need our care.
A life of ease is commonly stagnant. It is those who suffer much for righteousness who experience much comfort of the Holy Spirit that are deepened as individuals and learn how to live a fuller more meaningful life. Suffering enriches life’s experiences and builds inner resources.
Jesus told His troubled disciples that after His departure He would send the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter (Jn. 14:26). The peace that Jesus gives to us comes through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we want to bring comfort to others, we must have an intimate relationship with the Lord and experience His comfort. Then, by our practical deeds and by our quiet presence we can show those who are hurting that we care. We can also pray that they will sense the comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives. God wants us to be channels of His comfort to sorrowing and hurting people.
God has brought comfort to many suffering souls through the pages of the well-known devotional book Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. Many insights in that book were gained during 6 long years as she stood by her ailing husband and companion in Christ’s service.
For the Christian, no suffering is without purpose. Sometimes God lets us experience suffering so that we may share with others what we have learned. Out of those lonely, trying days Mrs. Cowman wrote timeless messages of comfort to troubled hearts.
A similar reason for your suffering is that you may be better prepared to bring blessing and help to others. Let God comfort you so that in time He can comfort others through you. God doesn’t comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters.
Many think that when God comforts us, our troubles should go away. But if that were always so people would turn to God only out of a desire to be relieved of pain and not out of love for Him. We must understand that being comforted can also mean receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles. The more we suffer, the more comfort God gives us. If you are feeling overwhelmed, allow God to comfort you. Remember that every trial you endure will help you comfort other people who are suffering similar troubles.
II. SUFFERINGS INTENDED RESULT (5-7).
Verse 5 supplies the reason [hoti, for] why suffering equips the Christian to mediate God’s comfort. “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours [into us] in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant [overflows] through Christ.
We are fellow suffers with Christ (4:10f, Jn. 15:20; Rom 8:17;
Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24; Mt. 20:22; 1 Pet. 4:13). The sufferings of Christ are those afflictions we experience as we do Christ’s ministry. These are sufferings for righteousness and maturing sake. As we suffer, Christ suffers with us, since we are untied with Him. In Acts 9:4-5 Christ asked Paul why he was persecuting Him. This implies that Christ suffers along with persecuted Christians.
The result of suffering with Christ is that Christ overflows in comfort to us. No matter how great the sufferings a Christian is called to endure, they are matched, no, far more than matched (4:17) by the comfort which Jesus bestows. As the problems increase so does God’s comfort. As Christ’s sufferings was a prelude to glory so also those who share in His glory must first share in His sufferings (Rm 8:12f; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 2:12). If you don’t experience Christ, your suffering can lead to coldness, harshness, or despair instead of consolation. This makes the great difference between the sorrows of believers and those of unbelievers. Alienation from Christ does not secure freedom from suffering but it does cut us off from His consolation.
When a cup is filled to OVERFLOWING, whatever spills over the edge is the same as what’s being poured in. That is a natural process that I can understand.
But here is a supernatural process beyond my understanding: if suffering is poured into a Christian, the Christian will overflow. What spills over though is different from what is poured in. Suffering goes in but comfort comes out.
This law of flow and overflow is expressed in verse 5, “as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our encouragement also abounds through Christ.” The word abound [periseú] means “to exist in abundance, to exceed a certain measure, to remain.” It is the same word used of the 12 baskets of food “left over” after Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people with 5 loaves and 2 fish (Jn. 6:12-13).
When we experience tribulation for being a Christian, and suffering is poured into our lives, God will transform it by His supernatural grace and power and will abound or overflow encouragement into the lives of others. When trouble flows in, look to God for His overflowing comfort, first to us, then through us to others.
Verse 6 expanses and reapplies the lesson of verse 4 concerning the purpose of suffering. “but if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;
Those who experience affliction are enabled to encourage, comfort, urge those they are ministering in a way that results in greater deliverance from the old man or salvation in the new man. How grateful they should have been for Paul’s stalwartness in propagating at whatever the cost this message of salvation. They knew the cost Paul paid and should be aware that they would suffer also. Yet if they would seek Christ God could bring about the triumph of sanctification and salvation even in the tragedy of their affliction. Suffering helps make us the ministers God would gracious transform us into being.
It’s easy for a Christian to be happy and bright when everything goes smoothly, but it takes great faith to rejoice in the Lord in times of darkness and tribulation. Yet that kind of attitude glorifies God. Consecrated believers, knowing that He is working out His all-wise purpose in their lives, patiently await the Lord’s rainbow of blessing that follows the storm.
When the brilliant WILLIAM MOON of England was at the height of his mental powers, his future looked promising. Then tragedy struck–he became stone blind! At first he couldn’t accept this trial and exclaimed bitterly, “What are all my abilities worth now that I am shut up here in my room and the whole world is shut out?” Slowly he began to realize that God had a wise purpose in allowing him to be afflicted. Because his own eyes were sightless, he began to develop a unique system of reproducing the alphabet to assist others in a similar condition. It soon was adapted to fit the languages of many different countries, including remote areas of the world. More that 4 million blind people were thus enabled to read the Bible. They found that the kind of embossed type he used was easy to learn, even though it required more space on the page than the Braille system that was later modeled after it. William Moon had become a “missionary” in an unusual way and had brought “encouragement and salvation” to many. He could rejoice because out of his tragedy had come a great triumph.
Dear friend, how do you react to trials? Do you wallow in self- pity, or do you see them as opportunities to rise to new heights of usefulness and sanctification? God desires to use your tribulation to refine your gold and redirect your goals.
There is an alternating affliction-comfort experience in our sanctification process. As we are delivered by our affliction and equipped with the ability to identify with others and administer divine encouragement to them, they too can find the empowering that brings deliverance, just as Paul was presently doing with the Corinthians.
God uses suffering to bring about His good pleasure in those who persevere and don’t grow bitter. He uses suffering to cause us to need the ministry of others and grow more dependant on fellowship and the Lord to bring about His good pleasure in our lives.
A woman with a beautiful singing voice took lessons for several years from an outstanding teacher. Although she learned to sing every note perfectly, her performances were COLD AND MECHANICAL.
One day her teacher told her: “My dear, I have taught you all I know; yet you lack one thing that I cannot supply. Something will have to come into your life that will break your heart. Only then will you be able to sing with feeling!”
[Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967), the outstanding orchestra conductor, found this principle to be true in his own life. Early in his career he battled against tuberculosis. After regaining his heath, his 13-year old daughter Pamela was stricken with polio.
One night, as he was about to conduct Handel’s Messiah, he was handed a note that read, “Your daughter Pamela is dying.” With tears in his eyes, he directed the Orchestra and choir through such tender passages as “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people.” Not only did he find strength from God’s Word set to music, but his sorrows produced in him a deep feeling that flowed through his conducting.]
Life may hold bitter experiences for us, but God can use them to help us understand the suffering that others go through and equip us to minister to their needs. A life in tune with God has notes of sadness as well as gladness, dark rainy seasons as well as bright sunny ones.
Hope for enabling sanctification is grounded in the infusion of divine encouragement that suffering brings as verse 7 states. “and our hope for [on your behalf] you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers o our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
Hope carries the idea of waiting in expectation, confidence and patience. Despite their deficiency of love and loyalty, Paul regards the Corinthians with an unshakable hope. Yet how could he do otherwise since the transforming power of Christ was at work in them (Phil. 1:6).
Paul and his companions suffered greatly for bringing comfort and salvation to the Corinthians. But just as God comforted Paul, God would also comfort the Corinthian believers when they suffered for their faith. He would give them the strength to endure.
After years of a remarkable and fruitful ministry in India, AMY CARMICHAEL became a bedridden sufferer. As the courageous founder and dynamic heart of the Dohnavour Fellowship, she had been instrumental in rescuing hundreds of girls and boys from a terrible life of sexual exploitation. All the while she carried on that rescue operation of bringing young people into spiritual freedom through faith in Jesus Christ; she was writing books, and especially poems, which continue to bless readers around the world.
Then arthritis made Amy a pain wracked invalid. Did she bemoan her affliction or question God? No. Amy was still the guiding inspiration of Dohnavour, and she still kept on writing. Her meditations, letters, and poems are full of praise to God and encouragement to her fellow pilgrims.
When affliction strikes us, how do we react? Are we embittered, or do we trustfully appropriate God’s sustaining grace? (Phil 4:13). Do we prayerfully encourage those around us by our Spirit-enabled cheerfulness, our courage, and our confidence in God?
As we rely on the Lord, He can help us to turn pain into praise. When you’re up to your neck in hot water, be like a teapot and start to sing.
IN CLOSING
In the service of Christ there will be disappointments, but there should not be despair; there will be conflicts, but there should not be doubt; there will be afflictions but never without comfort. This epistle is permeated with this spirit of faith which abides calm and firm no matter how much the outward circumstances of life may tempt into the shadows of distrust (1 Cor. 10:13). May we gain God’s Perspective through our study of 2 Corinthians.
When you find yourself discouraged because of difficult circumstances, it is easy to focus on yourself and your feelings, or to be absorbed in the problems around you. But the first step we must take is to look by faith to the Lord and realize all that God is to us. May we with the psalmist declare, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1-2).
