The Ministry of Comforting
Book of 2 Corinthians Chapter 1
To have a proper understanding of the Book of 2 Corinthians, we first need to study the Book of 1 Corinthians.
We know that suffering has always been a problem for us humans.
It is in every Church service that we recognize a prayer list of people in need of comfort because of their suffering.
There are always others not on the prayer list who suffer but keep it private and unspoken needs.
People injured, people in the hospital, people spending their last days in hospice care, people recovering from surgery or cancer, or heart disease, and those who have been to the cemetery because a loved one has passed.
In reality, it can be said that the Book of 2 Corinthians was written for those who suffer.
Suffering can be said to feel or bear things that are painful, disagreeable, or distressing, and these things are constant in our lives.
We endure these things, but we are never very happy about them.
Pain and grief of mind are not pleasant things for anyone!
I read of a new religion last week who call themselves the extinctionists because they have determined that the only answer for suffering and the protection of this world is the extinction of all humans.
We know the only answer is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!
Once we begin to know about the truth of Jesus Christ, we begin to see we are sinners and we begin to suffer with our conscience, and we find that we have offended God and are condemned to suffer the wrath of God.
There is only one comfort, and there is only one Comforter!
*****2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 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.
When we choose to be a servant of God, we will have to deal with all sorts of difficulties and trials.
As we study the Bible, we find that the Apostle Paul is a great example of Christian suffering while he spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God will indeed use these trials and tribulations to make us better Christians and better servants.
That word “mercies” means compassion, pity, and mercy.
It means that as we witness for the Lord, we see a people in need and have compassion and mercy upon them.
These are characteristics of the Lord Jesus.
We see that God is the Father of mercies.
As the Devil is the father of murder and lies, God is the Father of mercies.
God sees His Children as a Father and not so much as a God, even though He is God.
As long as we are living, our Heavenly Father will shower us with His mercy!
Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
As a Father, He floods us with His mercies, and as God, He comforts us in all our tribulations, because He is the God of all comfort.
We should understand that suffering is part of our human lives! We do live in a cursed world!
God does not take away our afflictions to comfort us; God carries us through our afflictions.
Isa 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
God will snuggle up closer to us in our afflictions, put His arms around us, and speak gracious, comforting words to us.
This is a great example of what He wants us to do to others, as we tell the world about our Savior.
*****2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
One of the lessons we are to learn as Christians is that God allows sufferings in our lives so we can experience His mercies and His comfort.
Notice that God allows, but He is not the cause of those sufferings.
As we know, we live in a sin-sick world!
We need this experience to be able to comfort others.
Sometimes this suffering can make us feel like we will perish, but the comfort of the Lord Jesus Christ surpasses all suffering, because He is the God of all comfort.
2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
To understand our own suffering, we must understand the suffering of our Lord and Savior.
The sufferings of Christ were not exhausted by Him, but overflow to us who have to suffer as He suffered.
We must bear the weight of His dying so we can share His life.
He is not suffering in us, but we can have fellowship in His sufferings.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
*****2Co 1:6 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.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
The Apostle Paul is saying that his own suffering was not only designed for his own spiritual training but was a source of direct blessing to all who were saved under his preaching.
Paul’s suffering enabled him not only by example but also by the lessons of experience to be a strength to others who were suffering, while serving Jesus Christ.
Php 1:14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
It is important that the experience of our own suffering can be a comfort to another person going through tough times.
We can sometimes become so absorbed in our own grief that we start believing that no one suffers as we do, but we are not alone in our grief, and we can draw comfort from others.
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Very few Christians will ever suffer like the Apostle Paul did to get the gospel to us, but just because we are associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, we will suffer in this world.
When we know we are not alone in our grief, that one thing will make us stronger.
2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
We should never want special attention in our suffering, knowing that we all suffer.
We must never become like those who are saved today and lost tomorrow.
We cannot trust God today and not trust Him tomorrow and still believe that He is All-Powerful
We must continue with our Savior through the good times and the bad times.
We must continue with our Savior through suffering as well as good health.
We must continue with our Savior through rejection as well as acceptance.
We must continue with our Savior through persecution as well as honor.
We learn endurance through suffering!
We learn to share the God of all comfort through our own suffering!
Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Every time we suffer from a different kind of suffering, we will experience a new kind of comfort.
*****2Co 1:8 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 despaired even of life:
Once we learn that as Christians, we are stronger as a group than as individuals, then we can realize that we can be a comfort to those who are carrying the Gospel to the world.
There should be no doubt that the Devil works far more to damage a good pastor or the evangelist, or the missionary, than he does to the individual Christian, even though he will attack us all and it is never pleasant.
The Devil can only be in one place at a time, so he will dispatch his demons to do most of his dirty work while he concentrates on certain individuals who may not even be Christians.
We must become prayer warriors for those who carry the Gospel to the world and also for each other.
Our prayers are our greatest weapon in this world.
Closet prayer may be the greatest weapon we have against the Devil, his demons, and his followers.
God wants to know how we suffer and what we suffer from, and He will help us.
The fact that Doctor Luke traveled with Paul so often should also tell us that Paul needed medical attention often.
We can learn a lot of it from the Book of Acts, but we should know that the Devil would do anything he could to stop the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles and every missionary called of Jesus.
That man in the pulpit of God, that preaches the truth of the Word of God is one of the Devils greatest enemies!
The devil is still trying to do this today, and it looks like he is winning.
This was what Paul was trying to tell us.
It may look like the devil is winning, but God is just eliminating all those who do not want to join Him in Heaven.
We are still on the winning side!
*****2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
We wonder sometimes, “What will be the end of it all”?
If we do not put our faith into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, these thoughts will hinder us as we try to serve God.
Death is coming to this world just as death comes to each of us but only in the Lord’s set time.
Paul was in some situations where it just seemed that it was beyond all human possibility of deliverance.
There are Christians in this same situation today, who live in lands ruled by wicked and evil men who hate the Lord Jesus Christ, and they have to hide just to be able to worship.
God has a special blessing reserved for them if they just hang on to their faith.
God has a special blessing for all who cling to their faith till the end.
We cannot trust our deliverance to ourselves any more than the Apostle Paul could!
All our faith must be in our Savior and in His Word.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
If God allows this world to take our life, He has a reason for it, and it is always a good reason where something good will come out of it.
We may not see it, but He sees it.
The important thing is that our death leads to our victory!
Our true Christian friends will want to know what happened when the Lord does save us from this destruction and we make it through that suffering, and that sentence of death.
There is nothing too hard for God, but when we give our lives to the Lord, we are doing just that; we are giving our lives to Him for His use.
What did Jesus say? Luk_9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
The cross was an instrument of death.
We must never forget that we are in the hands of God and no one can take us out of His hands.
Paul was threatened by large crowds.
Paul was threatened by the unions of that day.
Paul was threatened by the governments of that day.
Paul was threatened by ungodly Jews.
Paul’s friends had to risk their lives for Paul.
Paul’s friends were locked up in jail.
Paul’s enemies were like beasts who would hunt you down to destroy you.
These are the same enemies the Church faces every day.
1Co_15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
Paul sometimes felt crushed by his burden for the Church.
Paul was locked away in prison on seven different occasions.
Paul was in more than one shipwreck.
My question is, what do we have to complain about if the Lord calls us into His service?
Our Savior is also our Deliverer and our Comforter!
When we cannot go with these men and women who are called into God’s service, then our calling is to pray for them and support them.
*****2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
2Co 1:11 Ye also helping 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.
Paul was not complaining; Paul was saying, “Look at all the opportunities the Lord has given me to serve, and He delivered me every time”.
This is the exact way we should look at it!
Who are we to witness to?
Sinners are wicked, evil people, and we know this because we were once part of them.
Most everyone in the world today hates the Lord Jesus Christ. That should tell us something!
Just the mention of His name will turn some crowds into our enemies.
These are similar things that happened to Paul.
One of our own greatest lessons is that we cannot save ourselves from our sin, and we cannot save ourselves from this world.
We will suffer at times just so the Lord knows He can trust us to remain faithful.
God is not going to call us into His service and then let us suffer death on our first mission unless it is truly important and many souls are saved because of it.
God never said it would be easy to be a Christian, but He did say the benefits would be Heavenly.
Of all the reasons we may have suffering, maybe the greatest reason is the fact that we will spend more time in prayer and thanksgiving with our Heavenly Father.
Every prayer for us from another believer may cause God to move on our behalf.
It is called intercessory prayer.
Intercessory prayer works, and history from men such as Paul has proven it works.
Intercessory prayer in the Church has proven results because we have heard many testimonies from those who were delivered from cancer and heart problems, and treatments, and other sicknesses.
I was delivered from cancer myself on two occasions because of the prayers of righteous men and women of God and the LORD, who said: “I’m not through with you yet”.
We are all called to be intercessors if God has not called us to do something else, and even if He has, He still expects us to pray for one another.
The Lord Jesus prayed for us!
Jhn_17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Jhn_17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Jhn_17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
How can we not pray for one another if the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for us?
Amen