God of All Comfort

Dear Lord God, we come before you this morning. And we quiet our hearts before you. I ask Lord that you would prepare our hearts to receive your word. I pray Lord that you would grab hold of our attention, that you would help us to lay aside the concerns, the frustrations, the distractions.

Of the week or even of the day, and Lord, help us to lay our burdens at the feet of Christ and help us with the time that we have to behold you, Jesus, Lord God. Help us to experience you this morning. I pray, Lord, that if there is anyone who is here who does not know Christ, if there is anyone who remains in the domain of darkness and they have yet to come into the light, who have yet to come into a relationship with Jesus, I pray for them in particular, Lord, that you would grab hold of their heart, that you would help them, Lord, to hear.

To hear and to understand, Lord, give them eyes to behold Christ and ears to hear Him speak to them.

And for the rest of us, Lord, for all of us, Lord, will you speak? Speak to us through your word. Use me, Lord, as an unworthy and undeserving servant to be an instrument of your grace, to minister, Lord, to your people. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Pity the person whose life is marked by comfort and ease. Pity the person for whom everything goes as planned all the time. Pity the person who when you share some great struggle in your own life, they simply stare at you like a deer in the headlights.

Pity the person who has never experienced the crushing weight of trials and tribulations. Pity the person who cannot identify with affliction. Such a person may fall asleep during this message. Pity that person who falls asleep during this message.

If you are here this morning, Bearing the crushing weight of affliction, I want to offer you hope. No matter what you may be going through, I want you to leave this morning encouraged and strengthened to battle another day, another week, another year, another decade. Perhaps you are here and you have discovered that commitment to Christ has come at a high price. Your friends and family have turned against you.

Perhaps you are pouring your heart out in ministry to others and it seems that your efforts are to no avail. You have sought to live to the glory of God, and you have been informed by the doctor that you are seriously ill. You have been fighting the good fight of faith and you feel worn out, exhausted, tired, discouraged. Perhaps you are in the midst of a very difficult situation and you can see no way out, you see no light at the end of the tunnel.

If that is you, then this message is for you. If it's not you, it will probably be you someday, and this message is still for you. The message this morning is entitled The God of All Comfort, and we will frame the message around 8 truths that will help us embrace the God of all comfort whenever we find ourselves in the midst of affliction. I'd like to begin by reading the passage, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3.

The apostle Paul says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 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.

And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you all are sharers of our suffering, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

May the Lord bless the reading of His word. Let's get to truth number 1, affliction can lead to praise. Affliction can lead to praise. Paul opens with a salutation in verses 1 through 2, and then in verse 3, we read, Blessed be.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our understanding of Paul's praise needs to be understood against the backdrop of his overall ministry to the Corinthians. Paul planted the Corinthian church during his second missionary journey. He would invest 18 months there before moving on.

You can read about that in Acts chapter 18. Sometime thereafter, Paul got word that the Corinthian believers were tolerating immorality. He responded in a letter referred to in 1 Corinthians 5:9 and that letter is known as the lost letter. We don't have it anymore.

Paul went on to minister in Ephesus for 3 years. While there, he received further reports of trouble in the Corinthian church. He also received questions from the Corinthians regarding a number of matters. This is referred to in 1 Corinthians 7:1, and Paul responded by writing 1 Corinthians.

Paul sent Timothy to, I was gonna say Timothy to Torrance. I've been doing that lately in my family. I've been inverting words like that and, and it's, it's, it's driving my family nuts. It's like, what are you doing, Dad?

Anyway, I'm sorry that, that, that wasn't part of the script. Paul sent Timothy to Corinth. Timothy likely delivered First Corinthians or arrived sometime thereafter. Clearly, Paul had a vested interest in the Corinthian church and he continued to minister to them from Ephesus.

At some point, Paul received word that false apostles had infiltrated the Corinthian church. Part of their modus operandi was to attack the character and the ministry of the apostle Paul. They sought to undermine his credentials. And Paul leaves Ephesus and he pays the Corinthians what is called a sorrowful visit.

You can read about that in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1, and there he tells them, I determined this for my own sake that I would not come to you in sorrow again. Again indicates he had come to them, but he says to him, I'm not gonna come to you in sorrow again. This is a reference to his sorrowful visit. Evidently that visit proved to be very, very painful for Paul.

He had no guarantee of his effectiveness with the Corinthians. He was very afraid that his work had been in vain. And Paul returns to Ephesus, burdened. I cannot overstate his burden that he had for the Corinthians, overwhelmed with a crushing burden for the spiritual well-being of the Corinthians, so he returns.

And from Ephesus, Paul wrote what is known as the severe letter, the severe letter. This is referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:4, where he says, out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love that I have especially for you. And Titus is given credit for delivering this letter. In the meantime, Paul's thoughts often drifted to the Corinthians.

He thought about them all the time. He felt immense concern for the Corinthians. He wanted so badly for them to respond positively to his severe letter. And finally, Paul would hear back from Titus, and we have his thoughts recorded in 2 Corinthians 7:5.

Listen to what Paul there says, for even when we came into Macedonia, Our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side, conflicts without fears within, but God, who comforts the depressed, the depressed comforted us by. The coming of Titus and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me so that I rejoiced even more. Paul's ministry to the Corinthians was severely tested.

At one point, Paul was overcome with depression.

His concern for the Corinthians weighed heavily upon his heart. It would have been easy to say, forget the Corinthians. It would have been easy to conclude they are not worth my time and my effort. They are a messed up group of people and, and, and so I may as well just stop in my ministry to them.

That's not what he does, he perseveres, he continues, he loves them to the bitter ends, and he pours out his life on behalf of them in an effort to build up these people. And we come to our passage today, and we read Paul saying, blessed be, blessed be. Paul suffered serious affliction throughout his ministry. And especially in his efforts toward the Corinthians, but we read in our passage this morning.

Blessed be. Paul's ministry to the Corinthians marked by affliction. His concern for their spiritual well-being was a pressure that at one point left him struggling with depression. But Paul here proclaims, blessed be, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's path of affliction has brought him to a place of praise. And this takes us to truth number 2. Affliction ought not to dim our thoughts of God. Affliction ought not ever to dim our thoughts of God.

Listen to what Paul says about the God he praises. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. This verse in and of itself is worthy of a sermon. We could spend the rest of our time focused on this verse.

I'll spend a bit more time here, so I'm warning you ahead of time, and I'll speed up with the other points, but I think it is invaluable that we take the time to wrap our mind around the God of all comfort, so let's do that. This verse again is worthy of a sermon. Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit refers to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father and the Father is God.

They are one and the same, and we are to understand him in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. In saying that the Lord Jesus Christ has a God, Paul is not saying that Jesus is not God. Rather, he underscores the distinction between God the Father and God the Son. Jesus himself refers to his God.

In Mark 15:34, you recall, we're hanging on the cross, he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In John 20:17, after his resurrection, Jesus declared, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God. And you're a God. In Revelation 3:2, Jesus says to the messenger of the church at Sardis, I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God.

It, it is appropriate for Jesus in his full earthly and subsequent heavenly humanity to say, my God. Paul's reference to the God of Jesus underscores the humanity of Jesus and how he is distinct from God the Father. I submit to you that this humanity of Jesus is relevant to our affliction because in his humanity, Jesus suffered and it was his humanity that qualified him to represent us before the Father and to be crucified in our place. The humanity of Jesus is thus highlighted by Paul's reference to the God of Jesus.

But in referring to God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul underscores the deity. Of Jesus. Jesus is uniquely related to God the Father as Son. Implied is the fact that they are of the same substance.

They are one and the same insofar as their deity is concerned. When I tell you that Caleb is my son, you immediately assume that he is a human being, I hope. If Caleb were to tell you that Carlos is his father, you would immediately assume that I am a human being. I hope again.

Carlos and Caleb are the same in terms of their humanity. Likewise, in saying that God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul attributes deity to Jesus. Jesus is uniquely God's Son in that he is fully divine. Already the full humanity as well as the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is brought to bear on our affliction.

You will also note Paul's reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Each reference is packed with significance. He is curios, Lord. He is to be understood as owner and master, the one in authority and who has charge and control over everything.

He is the sovereign. When in the midst of our affliction, it is a comfort to remember that God, the Son is Lord, we will never experience affliction apart from the total control and absolute sovereignty of the Lord, and what a comfort. He is also called Jesus. This is God the Son's human name given to him by God through his earthly father, Joseph.

Pastor John McArthur says Jesus' name means Joshua saves. Or the Lord is salvation. Bishop JC Ryle states it simply, the name Jesus means savior. Implied in the name is the fact that we needed salvation.

And Jesus is our salvation through his death on the cross. What a comfort to know that in the midst of our affliction, Jesus is our savior. He is our deliverer, and he will in fact deliver us. And too often we want deliverance from our situation.

I would never say that such a desire is bad or wrong. But I would say that our greatest desire as Christ followers should be deliverance from the sins we might commit in the midst of our affliction. He is Lord He is Jesus, our savior, and he is the Christ. Whereas Jesus is God the Son's name, Christ is his title.

It means anointed or chosen one. Christ is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Mashiia or Messiah. It speaks of the anointed or chosen one who would be sent from God to serve as a king and deliverer, and what a blessing to know that while he came, the first time to render redemption through his death on the cross, he will come again to reign as king here on the face of earth. I do not want us to overlook the personal pronoun.

He is not referred to as the Lord Jesus Christ, though he is, no. The relationship we have is more personal. He is our Lord. Jesus Christ.

We can lay claim to him, and he is happy for us to do so. Paul's praise is marked by a reference to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We already have much to think upon, so much to meditate on, but Paul expands upon this meditation of God. He goes on to describe God the Father as the Father of mercies.

And the God of all comfort. The Greek word for mercies is oitermas, and it carries the idea of mercy, compassion, and pity. God the Father looks upon us with mercy, compassion, and pity. This same word is used in Romans 12:1, where Paul says, I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, the mercies of God, the mercy of God finds its greatest expression in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Father of mercies determined in eternity past that the sins of his elect would one day be atoned for through the death of his own son. He did not have to do this. But in his infinite mercy, he determined that we would not suffer punishment for our own sins. Rather, God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ would one day enter the domain of darkness, live a flawless life, and be crushed at the cross of Calvary in our place.

At the foot of the cross, we discover a mercy. A mercy beyond comprehension. And it was at the cross that our Lord Jesus Christ discovered, a judgment. Beyond comprehension.

All of the wrath of Almighty God was poured out upon his innocent son. One hymn writer declared, bearing shame. And scoffing rude. In my place, condemned, he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood.

Hallelujah. What a savior Our reflections on the Father of mercies should always direct us to the cross. It is there at the cross we discover that mercy and judgment meet. The wrath of Almighty God poured out upon the innocent, while at the same time, the immeasurable mercy of Almighty God is poured out upon the guilty, that is you and that is I.

Paul then describes God as the God of all comfort. The Greek word translated comfort is Plesios. It speaks of coming alongside to help. It is from where we get Holy Spirit from.

It includes the idea of encouragement, consolation. Exhortation, strengthening. Empowering It must not escape our notice that God is the source of all comfort. We error tremendously whenever we seek comfort elsewhere.

Nothing else or no one else should ever take the place of God as the source of our comfort. Drugs. Alcohol, gambling, shopping, sex, and any form of sin should never serve as the source of our comfort in the midst of affliction when the pressures of life weigh down upon us, God alone is our comfort. We must allow our minds to meditate on the truth of who God is, to meditate on these gospel truths in the midst of our affliction.

Such truths have the power to stabilize us in the midst of the storm. The afflictions we face need not dim our thoughts toward an understanding of God, and Paul knows this, and this is why he ministers such truths to his readers who are in the midst of their own afflictions. We can and we must think right about the Lord as we travel. Through affliction.

Well, this takes us to truth number 3. Number 3, affliction need not hinder our experience of God. Affliction need not hinder our experience of God. Paul goes on to say that God is the one who comforts us in all our affliction.

He comforts us in all, all of our afflictions. Do you believe that? Do you experience that? You will note the word comfort again, para cologne.

We already know it speaks of one who comes alongside to help. Here the word is a participle in the present tense active voice. OK, what does that mean? Well, it means this, that God is the one comforting us and all.

Of our affliction, he is not passive. He is actively involved. He does not leave us to fend for ourselves. He gets in there and he takes action and he does not wait to take action.

He takes action in the present, presently active. This does not mean that he removes our affliction. But he will comfort us in the midst of our affliction. He will encourage, console, exhort, strengthen, and empower us during the storms of life.

Affliction here refers to crushing pressure. The Greek can be translated tribulation. It may refer to persecution or any difficulty of life not brought on by our sinful doing. God in His comforting grace actively reaches out to us during the difficult days of our life.

He is near to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. He draws near and he beckons us, come, come, all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Such promises serve as a tremendous comfort. Affliction is never designed to hinder our experience of God.

Rather, this text tells us that the God of all comfort comforts us in all of our affliction. Our experience of God's comforting grace is not limited to some of our affliction. The text says that the God of all comfort comforts us in all, all of our affliction. Do you feel the pressure of affliction this morning?

Are you suffering for the sake of Christ? Are you burdened for the spiritual well-being of someone you love? Do you agonize in your ministry to others? Do you find yourself overwhelmed with sorrow over the poor decisions that you see others making?

Is your spouse in a dark place? Has your adult child hardened his heart to the things of God? Do you feel that you give so much of yourself only to be treated with disdain? The Lord speaks to us this morning with a reminder that he is the God of all comfort who comforts us in all of our affliction.

I encourage you this morning to be comforted by Paul's example. Allow your mind to think right thoughts about God. Trust that the Lord is actively seeking to comfort you, and this takes us to truth number 4. Number 4, affliction serves a good purpose.

Affliction serves a good purpose. The apostle Paul declares that the God of all comfort comforts us in our afflictions and note the purpose so that, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Amen. The Lord will allow us to go through affliction in order to equip us in our ministry to others.

When we experience the God of all comfort in the midst of crushing affliction, we will in turn be better able to minister to others. I have heard both Jim Newheiser and George Scipione, leaders in the biblical counseling movement, say those most skilled to counsel have often experienced significant affliction and trial and tribulation in their own lives. They have been tested by trial and fashioned by fire. They have experienced the crushing pain.

And have come out victorious. What this indicates is that affliction serves as a means by which we become better counselors. God will harness your hardship in helping you to help others. I remember years ago counseling a couple.

who had suffered a number of miscarriages. This proved very difficult, especially for the wife. I was able to give the pad answer. But it was not until years later.

When my wife and I suffered a miscarriage of our own. That I was able to look back and better understand their pain. And their disappointment. Had I counseled him after our own miscarriage.

I would have been more effective. I would have empathized. I would have understood. And I think I would have known what to say.

When it was time to say something. I wish it weren't so. But so often the way up is the way down. Gold is purified through fire.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon stated that the Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction. Corey Tin Boom suffered severely during the Nazi Holocaust. She witnessed and experienced unspeakable suffering, hunger, mistreatment, shame. She witnessed the beating of innocent people and smelled the stench of bodies being burned.

She lost her beloved sister Betsy to the cruelty of Hitler's regime. Yet the Lord comforted her in her affliction, and after the war, she traveled the world and spoke about the love, mercy, and forgiveness of Almighty God. She reminds us that there is no pit so deep. That God's love is not deeper still.

And Joni Ericson Tata suffered a terrible accident at the age of 17, leaving her paralyzed from her shoulders down. Yet the Lord has seen fit to raise her up as a modern day hero of the faith. She speaks with wisdom and from experience when she says, God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of his son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in inward qualities than outward circumstances.

Things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character. There are untold stories of people in this church who have experienced tremendous pain in their lives. Many of you can testify that the God of all comfort has ministered to you in your affliction. And he beckons you to comfort others with the comfort with which you have been comforted by God.

Your sufferings are a stewardship from God. When we think of stewardship, we typically think of money. We view our management of money as a responsibility entrusted by God to us. We understand our responsibility to honor the Lord with what he has entrusted to us, and we know that the Lord is pleased when we in turn bless others with what he has blessed us with.

In the same way, our sufferings and our afflictions are a stewardship from God. We are responsible before the Lord for what we do with our afflictions. We are to receive them as God's gracious means by which we grow and in turn bless others. This is one reason we do well to value the elderly and those who have walked with the Lord for many decades.

So often their lives are seasoned by suffering. Sufferings that have come their way, they are a deep reservoir from which we can find refreshment. Young people, young people, I submit to you that you need the wisdom that comes from those who have journeyed ahead of you. This would even include your own parents.

Position yourselves in such a way that you can glean from the wisdom of those who have gone before you. I remember when Pastor Mike and I and a few others from this church, Other college students. I remember when we first started attending Cornerstone here some 25 years ago. 25 years ago.

Time flies. We were blessed to be invited into the homes of the Lady Esthers, the Vernon Andersons, and the Ellis and Grace Honekers. Most of you don't know these folks. You will have to wait for glory.

To meet them. But they serve as part of the foundation that this church was built upon. And these dear saints invited us college folks into their homes. They opened their hearts and their lives to us.

At Cornerstone, we place great value on intergenerational worship. We love it when each of our care groups are littered with various ages. Not sure about the word choice, littered. But I think you get the point and you'll remember it.

If you have yet to commit to a care group, let me encourage you to consider joining one. Where you can help it to be more intergenerational. So Paul makes it clear that affliction serves a purpose. It is in the midst of affliction that we experience God's comfort, and as a result, we are better equipped to comfort others later down the road.

Well, let us turn to truth number 5. Affliction is hemmed in by God's comfort. We read verse 5, for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. Paul and his ministry companions experienced difficulties.

Paul uses the expression the sufferings of Christ, and he is referring to the suffering or he's referring to suffering for the sake of Christ. He shared in the sufferings of Christ. In this passage, he declares that the sufferings were abundant. He endured countless hardships as a minister of the gospel, but Paul goes on to say that just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

And this is one way of saying that our sufferings will never reach beyond God's ability to comfort us, no matter how much we might suffer. Paul's point is that God is always there, always present to comfort. He will help, he will encourage, he will strengthen. There is nothing that we go through that with God's help we cannot handle.

Paul is already in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Declared, no temptation has overcome you, but such as is common to man, and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that you may be able to endure it. What this tells us is that there is a limit to our affliction. We will never endure any affliction that is so great that we cannot help but to sin.

If we won't be tempted beyond what we are able to handle, then it follows we will not face affliction beyond what we can handle. God's comfort will always be there to meet us, and our affliction is hemmed in by His comfort in our lives. This takes us to number 6. Affliction in our lives can bless others.

Affliction in our lives can bless others. In verse 6 we read Paul saying to the Corinthians, but if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and your salvation or deliverance, or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort. Paul here is saying that his own affliction is used by God for the comfort and salvation of the Corinthians. He knows that God is using what he is going through so that in this case, the Corinthians would be comforted, they would be strengthened, they would be helped, they would be encouraged.

When Paul says his afflictions are for their salvation, he has in mind deliverance. The idea is not so much that they would be delivered from their affliction. But that they would be delivered during their affliction, delivered from the sins. that they might commit as a result of the pressures they face.

It is human nature to feel encouraged when we face hardship together with others. Paul knows this and therefore concludes that his own afflictions serve to encourage his fellow Corinthians who themselves are dealing with difficulties. In essence, the Corinthians are able to derive encouragement as they look to Paul's example and how he interacts with his own sufferings. Who do you turn to during times of testing?

What Bible, characters minister to you the most? Where do we turn for encouragement in tough times? We turn to men like Job, a righteous man. He had never done anything wrong in the sense that the Lord declared him to be righteous, not that he was perfect, I'm not saying that.

But Satan receives a green light from Almighty God to attack Job. Job endured much affliction. He lost family and fortune. He lost the farm.

He was afflicted with physical pain. His wife told him, curse God and die. Job's very best friends sat in judgment over him, insisting that he was being punished for some sin in his life. But such could not have been further from the truth.

In Job, we learn that the righteous are not immune from suffering. Sometimes bad things happen to good or to decent people. Sometimes the righteous suffer. We learned from Job that God is God and as such he has the right to do as he pleases.

We do not always get answers to our questions. That should be OK. Somewhere along the line, Job crosses the line and Yahweh rebukes him and we read Job's response. Listen to what he said as he answered the Lord.

I know that thou canst do all things and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me which I did not know.

Here now, and I will speak. I will ask thee, and do thou instruct me. He finally figured out his place before the Almighty. And yet he goes on to say, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear.

But now my eye sees thee. He experienced God. In the storm. God did not A panon Job.

God was there. To reveal Himself to him. I have heard of thee. With the hearing of my ear.

And now my eye sees you. Therefore, I retract. And I repent in dust. And ashes.

An appropriate response. To a vision of the Lord when he is beheld in his glory. It is appropriate for us to fall on our face and to worship the Almighty and to say you are worthy, you are great. We turned to Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and betrayed by Potiphar's wife, who would one day look his brothers square in the face, and he would declare to them in Genesis 50:20, and as for you, you meant evil against me.

But God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. You meant it for evil. But God is the one who is in charge. He is the Lord.

He reigns from his throne on high, and he orchestrated all of this to accomplish good out of the suffering that you inflicted upon me in my life. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. We turn to women like Naomi. And we recall her story.

Along with her husband and two sons, they leave the land of promise for Moab, and her husband dies. Then her two sons died. And she finds herself in due time after 10+ years returning home as an aged and destitute woman accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law. And upon returning home, she hits rock bottom, and you remember her words, why do you call me Naomi?

Call me Mara. Why do you call me pleasant? Call me bitter, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. She felt the crushing blows of the Almighty upon her, and she could not see light at the end of the tunnel, and she was downtrodden and depressed.

Yet God would turn her fortune, and through her Moabite daughter-in-law and a kinsman redeemer named Boaz, Naomi would be given a son through whose seed the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ would come. We turn to David. And we read through his Psalms, a man who understood affliction, a man who understood what it was like to go through trials. And it is David who said, the Lord is my shepherd.

And I shall not want. We turn to men like the apostle Paul. The apostle Paul, whom we have turned to today, in fact, who understands firsthand what it means to be afflicted, and in our passage today Paul draws from a deep well as he provides us with ample reason to feel comfort in the midst of our affliction. And we turn of course to the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man who lived a perfect life, yet suffered excruciating agony and pain at the hands of sinners such as ourselves.

Peter records the suffering of Christ and then tells us that we are to follow in his steps. When we suffer affliction, we do well to consider others who have suffered as well. Paul knows this and therefore refers to his own afflictions in an effort to bless his readers. Now we come to truth number 7.

Affliction serves its purpose when we patiently endure. Affliction serves its purpose when or as we patiently endure. Paul states in verse 6, but if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort. Then he goes on to say, which is effective?

In the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. We know that affliction and comfort are not mutually exclusive. As we suffer, we can be comforted. In fact, our understanding of comfort necessitates suffering.

You don't know what it means to be comforted by God. Until you've had the rug pulled out from underneath your feet, and in due time you come to realize that God had you all along. You don't know what it's like to experience the comfort of Almighty God until you have undergone crushing blows in life. And the Lord has come to you in His grace and mercy and comfort, and he has lifted you up.

And on the other side of the sufferings, you come to an understanding. The word effective is Energio or ergio. I'm not sure if it's a jit or a gift, but you get the idea. It's from where we get the word energy.

Paul is saying that their experience of God's comfort in the midst of affliction energizes them in their ability to endure through the pressure. Yet they have a responsibility. The Corinthians are to respond to God's comfort in their lives by their own persevering, and as they patiently endure through their trials, they will experience the comforting grace of and continued growth from Almighty God. Part of what Paul is saying is that the Corinthians will experience comfort as they patiently enjoy their sufferings.

The Corinthians must embrace by faith that the God of all comfort is with them. He will help, he will console, he'll strengthen, and at the same time, the Corinthians have a responsibility. They must patiently endure. The Greek word is hypoman.

It is to bear up under. They must bear up under the pressure of the affliction. They must remain steadfast and persevere. Their afflictions thus present them opportunity for growth and thereby serve their purpose.

Adam Clark in his commentary says the following. And I believe the quote should be behind me. While ye abide faithful to God. No suffering can be prejudicial to you.

On the contrary. It will be advantageous, God having your comfort and salvation continually in view by all the dispensations of His providence and while you patiently endure, your salvation is advanced, sufferings and consolations all becoming in. Energetic means of accomplishing the great design for all things work together for good to them that love God. What is the great design that we be conformed into the image of Christ and be made suitable for entry into glory someday.

That's the purpose. And please note that while God's comforting grace then helps us to patiently endure, We are nonetheless responsible to endure. And when we enjoy, then the affliction serve their purpose. Because of afflictions, we know the God of comfort, we experience being strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man, we have opportunity to patiently enjoy and thus walk in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We find ourselves being conformed into the precious image of Jesus, and this encourages us in our persevering. And so this sets the stage for the final truth that we will explore. Number 8, affliction ought not to undermine hope. Affliction ought not to undermine hope.

The apostle Paul says in verse 7, and our hope for you is firmly grounded. Our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. Paul has hope. This is a confident expectation of the good that is being experienced and the good to come.

He says his hope is firmly grounded. His hope has roots that go deep in the ground. It is a hope that cannot be uprooted, and the hope he has is rooted in the ground of the gospel. It is rooted in the God that Paul presents way back in verse 3, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.

It is that God that is our hope. Paul's own sufferings and his experience of the God of comfort gives him every reason to believe that the Corinthians can and are experiencing the same thing. And I love the fact that Paul recognizes that they are all suffering together. He says, as you are sharers in our suffering, so also you are sharers in our comfort.

We are fighting this good fight of faith together. We are not alone, we continue on, we press on, we lay down our lives, we die to self, and we lift each other up, and we encourage one another, and we continue. Affliction. Affliction ought not to undermine our hope.

We look to the God of all comfort in the midst of our afflictions and trials. And nonetheless, We have hope. We have hope. A little bit later in the same book, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Paul proclaims, We do not lose heart.

But though our outer man is decaying. Yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction. By my understanding, Paul, that doesn't feel too momentary and light to me, knowing what you went through in your ministry.

But he says momentary light affliction is proclaiming for us, producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. God is at work in our lives, afflictions serve his purpose. Paul says they are momentary, they will end someday, perhaps when we die and go on to be with the Lord. Against the backdrop of our Lord's suffering, our own suffering is light, and our afflictions produce for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

Brothers and sisters, this is our hope, and this is our hope for one another. Our purpose at Cornerstone is the journey together from brokenness to wholeness through the gospel. Our final stop on that journey is gospel glory. And no one or nothing can take that away from us.

This is our hope, and it is a hope that can never perish, spoil, or fade. If you are with us this morning and if you have never placed your faith in the Lord, I would encourage you to do so today. You see, this hope that we speak of is for believers only. In order for you to have this hope, you must realize that you are a sinner in need of a savior.

Repent of your sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, believing in him. If that expresses the desire of your heart, I encourage you to do that right now from where you are sitting. If you have any questions, please, please feel free to ask. Cornerstone is a friendly church and we would be thrilled to answer whatever questions that you might have.

Brothers and sisters, let's pray. Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our afflictions so that we might comfort others with the comfort with which we have been comforted. God, you are the God of all comfort, and we bring ourselves before you again. And Lord, we worship you, we surrender our lives to you, we lift up our hearts to you, and we say, Lord, we pray, take our lives and let them be consecrated, Lord to Thee.

Lord, we ask that You would help us to know you. To know you intimately. We pray, Lord, that You would help us when affliction comes our way, to find in you that you are in fact the God of all comfort. Lord, I know that there are people here this morning struggling in one way or the other, and I ask, Lord, Will you visit them in your comforting grace, encourage them, Lord, help them, Lord, to look to Christ and to worship you, Lord.

Help them, Lord, to be as merry, help them, Lord, to be totally committed, totally devoted to Christ. And as we sing this song, Lord, use it to minister to us. We pray Lord that you would take the little that we have to give, bless the offering, and use it, Lord, for the advancement of your kingdom. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.