 The title of our sermon this morning is God's Unfailing Comfort. God's Unfailing Comfort. This is part three. So we've been working through this text, 2 Corinthians chapter one verses three through seven. Now as Paul preaches the gospel around the Mediterranean on his missionary journeys, Paul goes planting churches, right? These churches Paul's planting are evangelistic outposts. They are gospel communities that spring up, made up of converted Jews, converted Gentiles around the Mediterranean Sea, and these churches are growing by conversions, new converts coming into the body from both Judaism, new converts from paganism, and all of these varied people and all these varied locations held together by a common faith, a common spirit, if you will, a common baptism. There's a common commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, a common identification, if you will, with Christ that has set them apart from the rest of the world. So they are to identify together in a common cause then. They are to associate together, identify together in a common mission. Each individual community is employed together in the cause of Christ. They are to be a missional force in their area. Now Paul wanted the church to stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. So as they evangelize as part of a team effort, so to speak, they serve together. They love one another. They serve one another. They face persecution together, right? They face trials and adversity together. There's not to be the kind of rank individualism that we see so common in churches today. They grow in Christ as a church. They work. They live. They serve together in Christ as a church. They understand what it means to stand fast in the midst of difficulty. They're learning that. They need to know how to walk worthy of the gospel, how to serve in the gospel, how to live in community with other believers from various backgrounds. They need God's word. They need God's instruction to root out, to pull down, to build up into plan. They need instruction. They need correction. They need rebuke. They need encouragement. They need comfort, the comfort of God in the midst of their tribulation. So Paul's letters now to these churches specifically here, Paul's letter to the church at Corinth, reflect Paul's pastoral love and care and concern for them, right? To give them what they need and give them not necessarily what they want to hear, but to give them what they need to hear, right? And the believers at Corinth and this church at Corinth knew Paul well. They were associated with him. They were familiar with him. He was with them for 18 months when he planted the church in Corinth. Since then, he's written a series of letters. He's made another painful visit to them and now second Corinthians. So when he writes this letter, there's a significant history between them, a life between them, so to speak. There are shared experiences, shared assumptions, a shared context that was common to them between Paul and this church and maybe not so common to us 2000 years later. One commentator likened reading this letter to picking up in the middle of a telephone conversation and only listening to one side, right? We get a part of the context, but not the full context. Sometimes we don't understand those shared assumptions. We need to dig them out of God's word. We need to understand them. There's a context here to Paul's writing that's not always explicitly stated and sometimes that context, their mindset, those shared assumptions, they're implied and we need to learn them. We need to know what's going on and that gives us, as we study a letter like this, that gives us two, essentially two responsibilities and we'll do this as we work through second Corinthians together. One responsibility is this. We need to understand that context. We need to understand the context. We need to identify and consider those shared assumptions. We need to consider what's being implied by what Paul is saying. One, we need to understand the context. Two, we need to answer the question, what does that mean for us today? What does that mean for us in our church today? What does that mean for me as a Christian in this church? What does it mean for me in this day and age to profess Christ and to serve him in a local church? In one sense, answering that question comes with a great deal of joy and encouragement, because you and I, as we serve the Lord together, we understand that our service, our labor for the Lord is a part of what we share in common, so to speak, with believers since the time of Christ, believers since Corinth. Our brothers and sisters have served the Lord, labored for the Lord much in the same way that we do today. And that gives us joy and encouragement and sharing that in common with them. But in another sense, answering that question is going to challenge us. Does my mindset about what it means to serve the Lord need to change? How I think about my mission here, how I think about my responsibilities to the body here, does that need to change? Does my understanding of what it means to be a church member need to change? Does my understanding of what it means to be a witness for Christ does that need to change? Do my priorities need to change? As we've unpacked 2 Corinthians, specifically chapter one verses three through seven here, we've labored so far to understand the context of Paul's writing, the context of Paul's letter, or why. Well, because it's a context, it's a shared assumption so familiar to the church at Corinth, so fundamental that it's most often implicit in the writing of Paul rather than explicit. The shared assumptions we're referring to in these opening verses is this. The shared assumption is this. Christians preach the gospel. Woven into the fabric of these verses is a church at Corinth that is following Christ in preaching the gospel. Shared assumption is this, that Christians take a stand in their wicked city for the cause of Christ, for righteousness sake. And when Christians do that, when Christians preach the gospel, and when Christians take a stand for righteousness sake, Christians are persecuted as a result. They are persecuted as a result. Now, as true as that is in the context of Paul and the Corinthians in the first century, it is equally as true in our context today. When you preach the gospel, when you take a stand for righteousness, you will face persecution. And Paul said to Timothy again, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It is as true then as it is today. And we can't pretend, we can't pretend that that's a shared assumption in our context. We can't just glaze over these verses and pretend that that's a shared assumption in our context. That kind of gospel preaching mindset, those assumptions are foreign in most churches today. And it's constantly being challenged in our day and age. It's constantly being challenged in a church like ours that is evangelistic by God's grace. And because it's constantly challenged, because it's constantly assaulted as a shared assumption among God's people, we must labor in the text to take a stand for it, to constantly make it explicit, not just hope that it's implicit. We need to make it explicit in our preaching and our teaching. And when we do, when we do that, looking at a text like this, we need to ask ourselves, as we work through that truth, that reality, does my mindset about what it means to serve the Lord need to change? Does my mindset about what it means to be a witness for Christ, does that mindset need to change? Does it need to be brought into conformity with what we see presented on the pages of the New Testament? Do my priorities need to change? Does my understanding of what it means to be a church member, does it need to change? Paul says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He made himself of no reputation. He took the form of a slave and he humbled himself and became obedient, obedient even at the point of death on the cross. Paul has suffered for Christ, right? Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. The Corinthian church has suffered and will suffer persecution for Christ. This church has suffered and will suffer persecution for Christ. And that, that truth forms the basis or provides the context for Paul's praise then in verse three, where Paul says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Now to orient ourselves to the text again, as we get into the text again this morning, remember we considered God's provision of comfort in verse four. He comforts us in all our tribulation. When you take a stand, when you preach the gospel, when you enter into the sufferings of Christ, as Paul says in, in verse five, right? When you go therefore to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach, you can be assured that the God of all comfort comforts you in all your tribulation. Secondly, we considered one of God's purposes for comfort in verse four. That purpose is this, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. It's for one another. We're not to look inward. We're to esteem others better than ourselves. We're to serve one another in this. Our comfort is for you. Your comfort is for one another, right? And lastly, we considered God's promise of comfort in verse five. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us or toward us, so also our consolation or our comfort also abounds toward us through Christ. And we concluded by saying, praise God, point one on your notes, praise God for his unfailing comfort. Now last week, we began looking at point two on your notes, trust God for his unfailing comfort, trust God for his unfailing comfort. Having praised God for his unfailing comfort in verses three through five, Paul then turns his attention to practical application in verses six and seven. He takes this truth and he applies it to them in their circumstances in verses six and seven. Look at verse six with me. Paul says, now then, if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, that also is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. Now remember with me in considering the text, make the connection with me, okay? Paul gives us an important purpose for suffering, an important purpose for God's comfort in verse four. God verse four comforts us in all our tribulations so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Then, okay, having established that stated purpose, Paul then takes that purpose and he applies it to his experience with the church at Corinth, verse six. If we are afflicted, Paul says, it's for your comfort. And if we are comforted, Paul says, it's for your comfort. Whether we're afflicted or whether we're comforted, it's for your comfort. The word order in the ESV makes it clear. Verse six in the ESV, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, right? At the outset, at the outset, we can note at least two shared assumptions that provide context for verse six. Two implied truths that provide the backdrop for Paul's statement. First is this, Paul labored and suffered for that church. Paul poured himself out for the church at Corinth. And we see that as we work through the letter. Right now, that's implied in our text. Paul labored. He suffered. He was striving for the faith of those people at the church at Corinth. As a result, Paul was afflicted. Paul was persecuted. Paul was assailed. We looked at several examples of that already in 2 Corinthians. So one implied truth, one shared assumption, Paul labored, poured himself out for those people. He loved those people. Secondly is this, Paul suffered faithfully. Paul suffered faithfully. He was a faithful example of suffering to the church at Corinth. He's a faithful example of suffering for us today. A faithful example to the church. And he points to his example for them here in verses six and seven. Right? As we consider God's unfailing comfort to Paul in verses six and seven, I want you to consider three characteristics of that comfort, three characteristics that are explicit in the text. Right? One is this. God's comfort is edifying. God's comfort is edifying to the people of God. It's edifying to that church. It's edifying to us. We'll look at how. Okay? Secondly, God's comfort is effective. It's effective. We'll look at how it's effective and why it's effective as we get to that part of the text. And thirdly, God's comfort is enduring. It is persevering. It is steadfast, unwavering, undaunted. Sure. Right? God's comfort is enduring. Let's take a look at point one now. God's comfort is edifying. And we'll look at that at verse six. Again, in the ESV verse six reads like this. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. And if we are comforted, Paul says, it is for your comfort. Right? Now notice the word in verse six for that little word for there means on behalf of a more appropriately understood, it's for the benefit of Paul says, if we are afflicted and we're comforted, it is for your benefit that we are. Right? Paul's affliction, Paul's comfort are for the benefit of the Corinthians. And what way is it for their benefit? Right? In what way is it for their comfort and for their salvation? It's for their comfort. It's for their salvation. Right? And that doesn't mean that the Corinthian believers were saved because of Paul's suffering. But there are a couple of ways here to understand this. In what way is it for their benefit? One, here's one way to understand it. Paul's fight, Paul's labor, subsequently Paul's suffering was for them in this sense that he poured himself out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of their faith. Right? Paul told Timothy this second Timothy chapter two, verse 10. Paul says, I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Paul's fight, Paul's labor was for them. Paul's suffering, subsequently, was for them. Secondly, here's the way that we understand this. And this is stated in our text. It means that by observing Paul's suffering, Paul's faithful perseverance through suffering, and by observing God's unfailing comfort to Paul in Paul's suffering, the Corinthians would be encouraged to persevere to the end in their own suffering and be saved. Right? It's for their benefit in the sense that they themselves would be encouraged to persevere. Hebrews six says, the Corinthians essentially are to show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, the same diligence that Paul showed. Let me give you a couple of examples of what Paul is intending to say here. If we're afflicted or if we're comforted, it's for you. Look at second Corinthians chapter four with me, second Corinthians chapter four, and look at verse seven. I want to give you a couple of examples of what this is talking about. What does it mean that Paul's affliction or Paul's comfort is for them? First, it means that Paul's fight, Paul's labor, Paul's striving, his agonizing is for them, poured himself out for them on the sacrifice and service of their faith. Second Corinthians chapter four, look at verse seven. Paul says, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. So here's the reality. Here's what this means for us. Paul says in verse eight, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We have this treasure in earthen vessels and verse nine, we are persecuted, but not forsaken. We're struck now, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. So Paul suffered constantly. Why? Verse 10, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies, so that his suffering would point to Christ. Paul has the gospel. Paul suffers for the gospel so that his suffering would point them to Christ. Verse 11, for we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. And he says something very important in verse 12. So death is at work in us, but life in you. What Paul is saying there, in other words, we're afflicted for your benefit, right? We suffer you benefit. Paul says, I'll give my life over to death for Jesus' sake, if it means that you'll be saved and found in him. Paul pours himself out for them. Do you see? Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Let me look at, let's look at another example together. Look at Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one. Paul pours himself out on the service and sacrifice of their faith. Colossians chapter one. Look at verse 24. Again, we're looking at what does it mean that this comfort is edifying to them. If we're afflicted or if we're comforted, Paul says, it's for you. Well, in what way is it for you? Colossians one, look at verse 24. Paul says, I now rejoice in my sufferings, my sufferings for you. And I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church. Again, Paul understood that his suffering was for the edification of Christ's body. His suffering was for them, for the church. Paul says, verse 25, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, this stewardship which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. The mystery verse 26, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. To them, God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now Paul says in verse 28, him, we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, so that, here's what Paul wants to see accomplished, right? So that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. When Paul suffers, he suffers to that end. I look at verse 29, to this end, I also labor. That word for labor there means to the point of exhaustion. Paul, it just doesn't mean that Paul put in a 30 hour work week, right? When it says that I labored, Paul suffered. Paul poured himself out. Paul labored to the point of exhaustion, striving. The word for striving there is agonism. He agonized in labor for them, pouring him, how many times, right? That's like, it's such a clear picture, a sacrifice. Paul was a sacrifice for their faith. To this end, verse 29, I labor, striving according to his working, which works in me, mightily. And it's interesting that balance, right there. Paul is a laboring for them. Paul is pouring himself out for them. And as he does this, it's not Paul's labor or Paul's work that means anything. Paul understands that as he does that, God is working through him for their benefit. To this end, verse 29, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me, mightily. Paul knows that his suffering was in Christ for the benefit of this church. What does Paul do then? Knowing that, knowing that he labors. He works to the point of exhaustion. He strives. He agonizes. Does Paul sit back and think, right, working, laboring in the church? Does he sit back and think, you know, what can I do that's going to cause me the most suffering? No, right? What can I do to get more persecution? That's not what Paul is thinking at all. Paul is thinking of being faithful. Paul is thinking of laboring. Paul is thinking of working. How can I serve my brothers? How can I serve my sisters? What can I do to love them, to serve them? And in that faithfulness, Paul labors to the point of exhaustion. He strives and he agonizes, knowing that it's God working in him and through him for their benefit. And in that, Paul inevitably faces suffering, faces difficulty, faces persecution. Look at chapter two there in verse one. Paul says to them, listen, he's not bragging, he's not boasting it himself. Paul says in verse one, I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you. Not only a great conflict for them, but those in Laodicea and listen and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. In other words, Paul's suffering is for your benefit also, for my benefit, right? Is that not a true statement? There ever was one, right? Paul's suffering has been for the benefit of this church. We have these precious letters given to us because Paul poured himself out for the Lord's church. Paul's suffering benefits us also. Through Paul's suffering, are you not also comforted? Listen, I can make that hard choice. Look at what Paul endured. Beyond Paul, look at what Christ my Lord endured for me. We have these great and glorious examples in Scripture. Paul says, I suffered for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. Paul suffers for us. To what end? Look at verse two, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both the Father and of Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Paul suffers for us also. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse six, 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse six, it's in this way, right? It's in this way that Paul's affliction and Paul's comfort is edifying for the Corinthians and edifying for us, right? It's in this way. I remember a while back I was in a neighborhood just up the street from here, not very far at all, and I was out witnessing. I was witnessing by myself and I much prefer to go with a brother, right? It's edifying to be there with a brother, right? To be able to talk and to encourage one another. But I was out witnessing and knocked on this door and I was talking to this elderly man, my very elderly man nearing the end of his life. We talk about that. And I walked him through the law. As I pointed him to Christ, this man got tears in his eyes, very tenderhearted, very soft to the things of God. And as I was talking to him, I began pointing him to Christ, as I was talking to him, this demonic spawn of a woman came from the back of the house, like rushing to the front of the house. And she had been apparently listening to our conversation. And she just came out, giving me the what for, like up one side, down the other, cursing me out, because she interpreted what I was saying to him as him being lost and by implication her being lost. And she was mad. And she was mad. And so now, as this ensued, I couldn't get a word in edgewise, like it just the tirade, right? And the first thing I remembered thinking was, Lord, have mercy on this poor guy. Him being married to her, his old age was a great achievement, right? Be merciful to that guy. The second thing I remember thinking was, it was a joy to me to suffer that for that guy's sake. And I would gladly stand there and take that from that woman. And he's sitting behind her with his head down. That's a joy. And Paul makes that clear to us. Paul comforts us in our tribulation with the joy that he took in pouring himself out for his brothers and sisters in that church, pouring himself out for us. Jesus Christ, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, counting the shame of that thing, a light matter, counting it as nothing to be considered. I just, you know, for that brief moment in some small way, I was afflicted for the sake of that man, right? You in your witnessing are afflicted for the sake of others. When you take a stand for righteousness, you're afflicted for the sake of others, for the benefit of others, for the comfort of others, for the edification of the church. We need to stir up one another to have that mindset in our church and have that kind of heart attitude. You may think to yourself, right? I'm tired. It's been a long day. I've worked all day and I am spent, but I am going to group because I'm going to pour myself out on the service and sacrifice of their faith. I'm going to love. I'm going to encourage my brothers. I trust the Lord that he's going to comfort and strengthen me even in my exhaustion. And I trust the Lord that my labor in that is not in vain in the Lord. That's one example of many examples, many applications that we could make, right? Paul says in verse six, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort. Incidentally, it's interesting in verse six, isn't it? That if we are afflicted, if we are comforted, is that active or passive? It's passive. That's right. It's passive. It's called a theological or divine passive. Who then, in that, if that's passive, who is the acting agent then? In that affliction, in that comfort? God. God is the acting agent. It is a divide passive. Sometimes that's to chasten. The Lord chastens us as a father, chastens his son. Sometimes it's God involved indirectly through consequences or circumstances. Sometimes ordained at the hands of God, at the hands of sinners to bring about God's purposes, God's will. But consider, consider with me that your difficulty or your comfort that both are from God's hand, God's hand, right? God's unfailing comfort is edifying. Point two, God's unfailing comfort is effective. God's unfailing comfort is effective. Look at verse six. Now adjusting the word order a bit in the New King James that better help you make sense of what Paul is saying here. You can read verse six like this. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, or if we're comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is, Paul says, effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. And again, I prefer the ESV here in verse six. Paul says, if we are afflicted is for your comfort and salvation, and if we are comforted is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. God's unfailing comfort is effective. The Greek word there is energeo. It's rendered effective in the New King James. It's something that you will experience in the ESV. And this word energeo should also be rendered as a passive. It should be rendered as a passive. So what Paul is saying essentially is this, whether we are afflicted or whether we are comforted, it's for your benefit. It's for your comfort. That comfort that you experience is being produced in you by God and is effective in you by God's doing, enabling you to patiently persevere through the same kinds of trials that Paul is facing. It's effective. It works. It's producing in you an ability, enabling you to patiently persevere through the same kinds of trials that Paul is facing. That's basically the sense of what Paul is saying there in verse six. It's a similar thought to that expressed in verse five. As the suffering abounds, so the comfort abounds also effective to help you endure the same kinds of trials, right? Verse five, verse six saying similar things here. Now, if God's comfort is effective for enduring the afflictions that Paul faced, do you believe that God's comfort is sufficient to endure the afflictions that you face? I can say, I think with reasonable confidence, there's no one here in this room that has suffered the same kind of afflictions and suffering that Paul has faced. One reading of Second Corinthians will settle that issue, right? So what does that mean for us? God's comfort is sufficient for us. And as we suffer, as we face persecution, as we face adversity and difficult, God's comfort rises to that challenge, enabling us to endure those. So what does that mean for us? We trust the Lord. We don't despair. We don't give up. We don't throw in the towel. We just humbly and patiently endure the suffering, endure the circumstances, trusting God for his comfort, his strength, his provision, right? So don't complain. Don't complain in your circumstances. Trust the Lord. God's comfort will abound toward you. God's comfort is effective. Peter's instruction is helpful here. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Hebrews James Peter, your New Testament. 1 Peter chapter 2. And look down with me at verse 18. God will preserve you through the trial if you are His. 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 18. Servants, Peter says, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and the gentle, but also to the harsh. I think about that for a moment. Whether that master is good or whether he is evil, so to speak, whether he is good and gentle, or whether he is harsh, you are to submit yourselves to him, right? Think about this in terms of a boss, your employer. There will be instruction following in 1 Peter chapter 3 for wives of their husbands, right? Children to their parents. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. Verse 19. For this is commendable. If because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongly. This is a source of comfort to God's people in the face of suffering. God is pleased when you patiently endure suffering for His name's sake, right? When you take a stand for righteousness in your home and your family thinks of you as a Jesus freak or a fanatic, God is well pleased when you suffer for righteousness sake. When you suffer under a harsh and reviling boss at work, because for the sake of Christ, you refuse to break the law or you refuse to lie or cheat or steal. It is commendable. It's pleasing to God. That word is literally their grace. It's a grace to you. God's grace to you. Look at verse 20. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, if you patiently endure, this is commendable before God. Verse 21, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. That's faith in our suffering, right? Faith in our circumstances. Verse 24, Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. We were once like straying sheep. Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone astray and have turned everyone to his own way. But in Christ, all of his own return, right? All of his own turn, they repent. They entrust themselves to Him. They come under the loving care, the preserving care, the protecting care, the comforting care of the one who pastors and watches over their eternal soul. Trust Him and endure through trial. God, the God of all comfort, God Almighty will not let you down. Back in 2 Corinthians, chapter one, the key here, the key is patient endurance. When you take it patiently, Peter says, here, when you patiently endure in the ESV, patiently endure. There's a hymn that I love. The saints who hear in patience their cross and sufferings bore, shall live and reign forever when sorrow is no more. Around the throne of glory, the Lamb they shall behold in triumph cast before Him their diadems of gold. Endure your suffering patiently. Endure it persevere, knowing that Christ endured suffering for you. God's comfort is edifying. God's comfort is effective. Three, God's comfort is enduring. It's enduring. Verse seven, Paul says, our hope for you is steadfast. It's unwavering, unshakable, undaunted. It's secure. It's sure. Why? Why? Verse seven, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. What does Paul's hope for them? When he says our hope for you is steadfast, what is Paul's hope? His hope for them is that they're going to persevere to the end and make it. Right? They're going to persevere in the faith until the end. These trials, the suffering that they face, the persecution that they endure, won't derail them from the faith. Right? Derail them from the hope of the gospel. Paul says to Titus, having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of what? Hope of eternal life. The hope of eternal life. Paul's hope is their future bodily resurrection to eternal life, to eternal salvation. Now Paul's hope is certainly based on the preserving grace of God. Right? The preserving grace of God. But specifically here's, Paul's confidence, his hope, rests in God's promised provision of comfort in their time of trial. God's provision of comfort, God's provision of strength, which is effective. And he states the promise given in verse five. In verse five he says, for as the sufferings of Christ abound toward us, so our consolation or our comfort also abounds through Christ. And then Paul applies that promise to them in verse seven. We know that as you, brothers, that as you sisters are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. So why is Paul's hope steadfast? It's because God is steadfast. Paul's hope is certain. Paul's hope is sure because God is sure. God is faithful. God is the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation. Why is Paul confidence in their perseverance? Why is Paul's hope steadfast that they will persevere in the faith? Because it is God who preserves them by his grace. We see that, don't we? In the life of a Christian, that's evident to us. You see Christians persevere through suffering, often amazed at the grace of God in a Christian's suffering to see Christians persevere. It's an encouragement. It's a comfort, isn't it? When you see your brother, when you see your sister bear up under the load of some suffering, some persecution by the grace of God, and you see God preserving them, you see God glorified in that trial, in that difficulty, man, that's encouraging, right? It bolsters your faith. It comforts your heart. It's awesome to see that, and that's God's work in that brother, that sister. That's a grace and action, right? The Greek philosophers, Greek Stoics, taught that to deal with suffering, to deal with pain in this life, that you have to strip yourself of hope. Don't hope in anything in this life. If you hope, hope deferred, like Solomon says, makes the heart sick, right? Hope that is unfulfilled is painful. Hope unfulfilled is where suffering comes from, so don't hope in anything. Don't allow yourself to hope. Never give in to your affections, the Stoics would say. Don't love anything in this life too much. If you love, and that love is not returned, that's where suffering comes from. So don't love, don't love in this life. It's best to suppress emotion and rely only on reason. Suppress your emotions. Why? Because emotion is where suffering comes from. Affections are where suffering comes from. Pain and suffering comes from love in this life. Therefore the Stoic would say, the Greek philosopher would say, detach your heart. Detach your heart. Avoid attachments to anything in this life. Contentment in this life rests on your ability to become indifferent to the things of this world, indifferent to the things of this life. Whatever you do, don't put your hope in anything or anyone. Modern philosophers even today argue that you shouldn't think about suffering or death. It's sort of a deal with it by denial kind of approach. Deal with it by a river in Egypt. Meaning in this life is found in science. That you should avoid attachments because attachments lead to suffering. Take what life brings you in. When it's over, it's over. When it's over, it's over. Eat, drink, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. When you die, you simply don't exist any longer. So why worry about it? Why bother yourself about it? Whatever you do, the modern philosopher would say, don't put your hope in anything or anyone. There's nothing in which we can hope. Hope is dangerous. Hope simply doesn't make rational sense. You can't rest your well-being on it. So Greek philosophers, modern day philosophers, and what happens in history? What do we see? What do we see? We see throughout history, in the face of that worldly wisdom, we see Christians who suffer in joy. Jesus Christ has the answer to human suffering. Jesus Christ has the answer to death. You throw Christians to the lions and they praise God. You strap a Christian to the stake and they sing hymns. They make foolish the so-called wisdom of this world. They have the answer to human suffering. They have the answer to human death, and that's hope. Hope in Christ. Hope for eternal life. Hope of the resurrection. Christians throughout the centuries have been known. They've been marked by, characterized by, identified by how they faced and endured suffering and death. Early accounts of spectators at the Roman Coliseum where Christians were publicly tortured and publicly executed. Early accounts record that many there were amazed and made to consider Christ because of how well Christians suffered and died. Christians endure suffering better than anybody else. Christians die better than anyone else. We're encouraged and we're comforted with a hope of eternal life. Far from being an indication that God has abandoned the Christian, suffering for Christ, Paul says, is one indication that our hope is steadfast, that our hope is sure. We know, verse 7, as we suffer for Christ, we can be assured that we shall partake of the comfort in this life and in the life to come. As sure as we suffer, we shall partake of the comfort. Incidentally, and there in verse 7, the word for partakers or partake in verse 7 is the word koinonos, the fellow shipper is what it means literally. We've heard the word before, koinonio, right, fellowship, fellowship. As much as they have fellowship together in the sufferings of Christ, so also they have fellowship together in the joy of Christ's unfailing comfort, right? We consider this in the church. There's a lot in the church that God uses to cultivate our fellowship, right? One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one spirit, one word, one hope, one joy, right? We have a common cause, a common mission, common interests, common desires, all this common to us in the spirit that cultivates our fellowship, but a significant factor Paul says in forging our fellowship is our shared suffering. We know this to be true, right? When you walk side by side with a brother through suffering, when you've suffered together, that fellowship is forged in suffering, and it's a bond created by the Spirit of God that is tight, that's knit together by God, our shared comfort. It's a particular and unique fellowship that Christians share with Christ, their Lord, and furthermore it's a particular and unique fellowship that each believer will share with one another. Paul said of Christ, I want to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. I want to put this together for us with an example from the Old Testament. Turn with me to Job at chapter one. Job at chapter one. It's difficult to have a sermon regarding Christian suffering and Christian comfort without considering the example of Job. The God of all comfort is certainly seen in the example of Job. It's interesting how, it's interesting how he is presented as the God of all comfort though in the book of Job. I want us to see that. It might not be in the way in which we expect. We said at the outset, right, that God's comfort is not a fleeting emotion. It's not simply a feeling, a feeling of contentment or a feeling of encouragement. God's comfort is grass roots down to earth, brass tacks, solid, assured comfort. We'll see that in the book of Job. Look at Job chapter one. Job chapter one verse one. There was a man in the land of us whose name was Job and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also his possessions were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys and a very large household. So that this man was the greatest of all the people in the east. In other words, Job was tremendously blessed by God, tremendously blessed. Verse four. And his sons would go and feast in their houses each on his appointed day, would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was when the day of feasting had run their course that Job would send and sanctify them and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts and thus Job did regularly. So Job was faithful to the Lord. Job intercede on behalf of his family. Job trusted God. Job prayed to the Lord, blessed by God, faithful to the Lord. A Satan, Satan surmised that the only reason that Job worshiped God was because God had blessed him. So if those blessings were taken away, Satan thought, Job would curse God rather than worship. That was Satan's train of thought, right? Satan believed that faith is fickle. Faith doesn't last. Faith doesn't persevere. There's hope in this life only. And Job's hope in God would fold like a house of cards if God would just remove his blessing from Job. Look at verse six. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came in among them. The Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? And so Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? So Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will surely curse you to your face. Do you see Satan's logic here? The Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person. And so Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now God chooses to use Job to teach us all a very important lesson here. We need to trust God no matter what suffering you face. Trust God. Genuine faith is not a fragile faith. Genuine faith is a persevering faith. True saving faith weathers the storms of this life. True saving faith endures to the end. And so God in sovereign control of all things, even the suffering that we faced, even over Satan here, God gives Satan permission to afflict Job and Job loses everything, loses his wealth, loses his possessions, loses his family, his children. And so what does Job do? Look down at verse 20. Verse 20. And Job arose. He tore his robe and sorrow right in grief. He shaved his head and he fell to the ground and he cursed God for having given him those wretched circumstances. No. Job fell to the ground and he worshipped. He worshipped God. He said, verse 20, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. The Satan wasn't done trying to prove his point, right? Satan wasn't done. Look at chapter 2, verse 4. So Satan again answered the Lord and said, considering Job, skin for skin, Satan says, yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand now, touch his bone and his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand but spare his life. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and he struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a pot shirt with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. And his wife comes along, verse 9 said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, verse 10, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity? And in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. So then you have Job in his suffering and Job's friends come along, right? To offer Job comfort. And in the beginning, it starts off good. It looks good in the beginning. They're there to comfort Job in his time of distress. Look at chapter 2, drop down to verse 11. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that they come upon him, each one came from his own place. Eliphaz, the Temmonite, Bildab, the Shuite, Zophar, the Namathite. So they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him and to comfort him. So what does that comfort look like here? Verse 12, When they had raised their eyes from afar, they did not recognize him. They lifted their voices and they wept. And each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. Verse 13, So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to Job, for they saw that his grief was very great. That would have been great. It would have been great if their comfort stopped there, right? Don't say anything. Just sit with Job. You weep. This is weeping with those who weep, right? This is bearing someone's burden. These are Job's friends coming alongside Job to comfort Job. In the beginning, sometimes that's all you can do. You just sit there and cry with them, right? You just sit there with ashes on your head, so to speak, and endure that pain with them for a while. And if you get up and you leave without saying a word, sometimes that's all that's necessary, right? However, that's not what happens here. Not much of the narrative or much of the narrative really focuses on Job's friends, these counselors that Job has, his would-be friends here. And we can learn from this what a joy it is to have genuine brothers, genuine sisters to comfort you in trial, because that's not exactly what happens here for Job. Look at chapter four. Look at chapter four, verse seven. And after Eliphaz attempts to comfort, quote-unquote, comfort Job, he resolves to this beginning in verse seven to Job. He says, Remember now, Job, whoever perished, being innocent. Where were the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and so trouble reap the same by the blast of God they perish and by the breath of his anger they are consumed. Job's suffering, according to Eliphaz, is obviously brought about as a consequence of Job's sin. Job, you wicked man, repent. And this is obviously not the case. Thank you to Eliphaz. Eliphaz is no comforter to Job. Bill Dad, no better. He calls Job to repentance for his obvious wickedness. And you have Zophar come along. Look at Job chapter 20. Zophar, another of Job's comforters, quote-unquote, comforters here, Job chapter 20. And look at verse one. Then Zophar, the Namathite, answered and said, verse two, therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer, Job, because of the turmoil within me. I've heard the rebuke that reproaches me and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer. Job had basically called him a worthless counselor, a worthless comforter. And so Zophar takes offense that he's called that. He says this to him in verse four, do you not know this of old, since man was placed on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens and his head reaches to the clouds, yet he will perish forever like his own refuse those who have seen him will say, where is he? So Zophar essentially calls Job a hypocrite and Job's going to perish like his own dung. Look at Job 38, Job chapter 38. And in Job 38, God answers. God answers. And he answers in a way that you might not expect. Job is down. Job's got it difficult right now. Job is suffering. And so the Lord in Job 38 verse one answers Job out of the whirlwind and he says verse two, who is this who darkens council by words without knowledge? Prepare yourself like a man at Job and I will question you and you will answer me. Where were you Job when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened or who laid its cornerstone? When the morning star is saying together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, it sounds hard doesn't it? But one way to comfort, one way to comfort in the Christian life is to be reminded in our suffering of who we are and who God is suffering. One purpose for suffering is to tear down human pride to crush and subdue human pride and to exalt Christ as precious to exalt God as almighty. We're to understand who we are and who God is by comparison. God doesn't operate according to the empty, sappy, sentimental, emotionalism of our day when he comforts that everything is going to be okay. So just take it on the chin kind of comfort. Our comfort is based on truth. Our comfort is based on the truth of who we are and our comfort is based on the truth of who he is. Look at Job chapter 40. Job chapter 40. And after God addresses Job, it says there in verse one that moreover the Lord answered Job and said, shall the one who contends with the almighty correct him, he who rebukes God, let him answer it. Then Job answered the Lord and he said, behold, this is the right response, right? This is the right response. Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth once I have spoken, but I will not answer. Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further. But in Job chapter 40, God's not done, right? God's not satisfied with the fact that Job is going to be quiet now. God wants Job to trust him, to rely on him, to be satisfied with whatever God intends for him, to be satisfied and content with God in the midst of his circumstances, no matter how difficult those circumstances are. God wants Job's eyes affixed on him. God wants Job's faith settled in him. So he's not satisfied with Job merely covering his mouth. He wants more out of Job. God isn't done. Look at verse six. So the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and he said, now again, verse seven, prepare yourself like a man, Job, I will question you and you're going to answer me. Would you indeed annul my judgment? Would you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you in arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like his? Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor and array yourself with glory and beauty. Disperse the rage of your wrath. Look on everyone who is proud and humble him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low. Tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in hidden darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you. Now at this point, whatever is left of Job's pride, whatever is left of Job's self-reliance, God intends through suffering and through questioning Job, God intends to crush it out of him. And this is for Job's good. Look at chapter 42. This is for Job's good. 42, look at chapter 42, verse one. Then Job answered the Lord and said, right, God has brought him to the next level, so to speak. Verse two, Job says, I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please. Now Job wants to speak. Let me speak. You said, verse four, I will question you and you shall answer me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now Job says, my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. This is Job in substantial suffering, in horrific circumstances. In Job, acknowledging who God is, acknowledging who he is by comparison, abhorring himself and repenting in dust and ashes. It's interesting there in verse six, the word there repent in verse six. It's a word that means to be consoled. It's a word that means to be comforted in Job's repentance. Job is comforted in Job's repentance in his turning to see God for who he is and to see himself for who he is. Job is given comfort. It's so often in our lives and our Christian lives that we don't understand what's best for us, right? We don't understand that suffering is for our good. We don't understand how God works all things together for our good. We don't understand God's wisdom in our circumstances. But like Job, we must trust that it's there and God is trustworthy. God is faithful. God is all and alone wise. So we are to commit ourselves to him and doing good as to a faithful creator. Amen. So all praise, honor, and glory be to the one who's sovereign, who is sovereign over our suffering and comforts us in all our tribulations. Let's pray together.