Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  II Cor. 1: 3-11 April 7, 2024

Message: “God’s Comfort!”    

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. Today we are beginning a new series of messages based on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Our first message in this series is on the comfort and compassion of God.

2. The key verses are found in vs. 3 -4 where Paul writes: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.”

A. Let us begin by examining these verses more closely.

1. The first thing Paul does is “praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

a. This reminds us of Jesus’ humanity. In that sense, God is His God.

b. It also reminds us of Jesus’ deity. From that perspective, God is His Father and Jesus is His only begotten Son, in whom He is well pleased. 

c. While Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem, He has always been the eternal Son of God, pre-existing with His Father long before He ever chose to become a man.

2. The second thing that Paul does is to praise our Father in heaven for being the “Father of compassion.”

a. This phrase implies that all compassion finds its source in Him. He is “the Father of compassion.” He created us so we could learn to be compassionate like Him.

b. This also reminded me of Lamentations 3: 22-23 where Jeremiah wrote: “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, for great is your faithfulness.”

3. Lamentations is the saddest book in the Bible in which Jeremiah is weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem. Israel refused to repent, and finally after years of being patient with them, God had to destroy the city and His temple because they had been totally defiled with their sins.

a. In this context, Jeremiah is still praising the Lord for His compassion, and thanking the Lord that “His compassions are new every morning.”

b. In plain words, there was still hope because God would rather forgive us than punish us. That door was still open to all who would turn to Him.

c. The greatest proof of the compassion of God was His willingness to send His Son about 600 yr. later to die on the cross for us. 

4. That is why Paul starts this letter to the Christians in Corinth by praising “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all compassion.” 

B. But II Cor. 1: 4 does not stop there. Paul goes on to describe God as “the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles.”

1.  Please observe this is a wonderful promise. No matter what your problem may happen to be, God promises those who trust Him that He will comfort them.

a. In fact, since “He is the God of all comfort,” we must be very careful that we do not give the credit to others when the Lord deserves the credit.

b. Now many times He will use others to comfort us, but we who have faith must always realize that our loving God of comfort is still the one directing our lives.

c. Like it says in Rom. 8:28, “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord….”

2. That does not mean our lives will be easy.  Consider the illustration that Paul gives us from his experience in Asia. 

a. In II Cor. 1: 5-11, he feels led to tell us about a horrible experience he had recently gone through in which “we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. In fact, in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death.”

b. How do you find comfort in a situation like that? In vs. 9-10, Paul explains how God comforted them: “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us (again). On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.”

3. Paul’s point is that even in the worst situation, we can still trust Him. In plain words, trusting in the Lord is a comfort all by itself. In fact, even when we are helpless to help ourselves, God does not need us to help Him! 

a. The truth is, He wants us to totally trust in Him so that He will get all the credit.

b. But there is more, when we feel helpless, we are far more prone to ask others to pray for us too. I would suggest that asking others gets them involved so that they also provide comfort, just knowing they care.  As someone put it, at least now you are not carrying the burden alone.

c. Thirdly, then when God answers our prayers, “many will give thanks…for the gracious answer to the prayers of many” ( II Cor. 1:11). So out of this difficult experience, God ends up getting a lot of praise, not just a little praise.

C.  Finally, consider the value of passing it on.

1. So far we have learned about our Father of compassion who sent Jesus to save us. So we can offer compassion and comfort to those who have sinned and want to be forgiven and saved.

a. Then we learned that the greater our trial is, the more willing our God is to help us so He will get more credit and praise.

b. Now we want to consider how this process is deliberate so that Paul could pass it on to the Corinthians who in turn could pass it on to others who in turn could pass it on to others.

2. As Paul put it in vs.4: “The God of all comfort comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

a. Vs. 5 continues: “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ, our comfort overflows.”  Do you see the never ending pattern?

b. When you become a Christian, you can expect the suffering of Christ to overflow and affect you. After all, if they hated Him, they may very well hate you too!

c. But this gives God a chance to comfort you in answer to all of our prayers. Then God wants you to share that too so that even more people will learn of Him and want Him.

3. So good or bad, no matter what happens to us, God always wins and gets the glory.

a. Paul put it this way in vs. 6: “If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffered.”

b. As a result of this endless cycle, Paul wants us to know: “Our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you (will) share in our comfort.”

In Conclusion: Therefore, no matter what is happening in your life, trust the Lord Jesus to somehow make it all work out for good.  Have faith in Him no matter how bad it may be. Ask for the prayers of others and then share with them how God gets you through your problem. All of this will bring praise to the Lord and get more people talking about Him. That is what really counts.  Amen!