 The title of our sermon this morning is God's Unfailing Comfort. God's Unfailing Comfort, and we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 through 7. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 through 7, we are, we're introduced to one of the primary themes that runs throughout this letter of Paul to the Corinthian church. The theme is this, Union with the Lord Jesus Christ through repentant faith means fellowship with Christ in his suffering. Union with the Lord Jesus Christ through repentant faith means fellowship with Christ in his suffering. Paul would say that he suffered the loss of all things. He counted them all as rubbish, that he might know Christ, that he might know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. The suffering is not described in the Bible as a mere possibility in the life of a Christian. Suffering is expected. Suffering you might say is guaranteed. Peter tells the persecuted and dispersed church across the Aegean from Corinth, and he tells us today, he says, beloved, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings. Peter himself had learned what it meant to suffer for Christ, and he understood God's purpose in his suffering. Turn with me to Acts chapter four, Acts chapter four. Peter learned this experience, learned this lesson, and he learned it the hard way. He learned it through experience. We see this beginning with Peter in Acts chapter four in verse one, Acts chapter four verse one. After Pentecost, Peter and John go up to the temple in the afternoon about the ninth hour, and Peter is preaching boldly on Solomon's porch, calling the people to repentance for crucifying their Messiah. And Peter proclaims, beginning in verse one, as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. They were greatly disturbed, verse two, that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. So here at the beginning of the early church and the early days of the early church, Peter and John spend the first of what would be many nights in jail for the cause of Christ. But what Peter would learn, what Paul would learn, and what you and I must learn is that Christian suffering goes hand in hand with preaching the gospel. And furthermore, suffering, the suffering of God's people, suffering for Christ doesn't choke the spread of the gospel. Christian courage in the face of Christian suffering advances the spread of the gospel. Look at verse four. However, many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. In other words, the church was growing like wildfire. Suffering for the gospel, as we see here in Acts chapter four with Peter, suffering for the cause of Christ is commonplace in the New Testament. It's normal. Again, it's expected. That suffering goes hand in hand with the spread of the gospel. That suffering goes hand in hand with ministry in the Lord's church. That suffering goes hand in hand with a conversion of the lost and the growth of the early church. I want to establish at the outset that this is the kind of suffering that Paul is concerned with in 2 Corinthians chapter one, verses three through seven. He refers to it in verse five as the sufferings of Christ. And he'll refer to it repeatedly as we work through the letter. Look at verse eight. Verse eight. Paul writes, for we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble, which came to us in Asia. And for what reason did the trouble come to him? It's for the preaching of the gospel, right? That we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despair even of life. Yes, verse nine. We have the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Flip the page and look at 2 Corinthians chapter four. In chapter four, look with me beginning at verse seven. In verse seven, Paul writes, but we have this treasure. What's the treasure that Paul's referring to? It's the gospel. If you go back up to verse four, Paul's speaking here of the gospel. We have this treasure, the gospel, in earthen vessels, in weak, breakable, frail, valueless, you might say, earthen vessels. So that, he says in verse seven, the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We're persecuted, but not forsaken. We're struck down, but not destroyed. Always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Flip the page and look at 2 Corinthians chapter six and look there beginning at verse three. Verse three, Paul says, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God. And in what way here does he commend himself? In much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tummels, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings. Suffering goes hand in hand with preaching the gospel. Suffering goes hand in hand with ministry in the Lord's church. Flip over to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. This theme runs throughout the letter and this is the suffering that Paul is concerned with in 2 Corinthians. He's concerned with Christian suffering, the sufferings of Christ, Christians who suffer because of the cause of Christ preaching the gospel of Christ. In chapter 11, look at verse 22. In verse 22, he distinguishes himself from false apostles and the way that he does this here is by pointing to his suffering. Now consider this for a moment. Paul is going to distinguish himself from false apostles by pointing to his suffering for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ. Look at verse 22. Speaking of the false apostles, are they Hebrews? So am I, Paul says. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seat of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more in labors, more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I've been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the cities, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. And besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, the suffering isn't just physical, right? The suffering is mental, the suffering is emotional. What comes upon me daily, Paul says in verse 28, my deep concern for all the churches. So we walk through the letter, we look at these texts. Is Paul wallowing in the misery of his affliction? Is Paul complaining, griping here? Is he grumbling to God? No, no. Paul understands Christian suffering in the same way that Peter does. Look at Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one. He's come to learn a hard lesson of Christian suffering. He's learned through his experience. He understands Christian suffering in the same way that Peter does. Philippians chapter one, and look there at verse 12. Paul says in verse 12, I want you to know, brethren, that these things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. We want to grasp a sense of that in our text this morning, right? This is the suffering that Paul is referring to. This is the suffering that Christians enter into when they preach Christ. When they go out in the power of the Spirit to preach the gospel, Christians are going to suffer. Christians are going to suffer. It's not an unusual thing. It's not a strange thing. It's a normal thing. It's an expected thing. And Christians taking Paul's example lean into that suffering. They understand the purpose of that suffering. They understand the context of that suffering. They understand what God's doing through it. And that's what we need to understand this morning from our text. The specific concern of Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter one, back there, verses three through seven, is the suffering of Christians for the cause of Christ. Jesus had told his disciples, right? He tells you and I, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. That's the story of the Lord's church for 2,000 years. That's the history of the church. The seed of the church is the blood of the martyrs. Christians have suffered in the cause of Christ for 2,000 years and the torch has been passed to us. The sufferings of Christ in verse five, or Christian suffering, is that suffering experienced by Christians because of their association or because of their identification with him. You can suffer because you eat a bad plate of shellfish, right? Or you might suffer a little bit when your mother-in-law comes to town. I don't because I've got the best mother-in-law, right? You might suffer a little if your mother-in-law comes to town. You go over to somebody's house, they own a cat, you might suffer a little. That's not what Paul's referring to here, right? There are those who suffer, as Calvin says, and their sufferings are a token of the curse of God. Their sufferings are like signposts that point them to ultimate suffering, ultimate judgment. All along the way, their suffering is to point them toward the wrath of God. That's not what Paul's referring to here. Paul is talking about suffering of Christians for the cause of Christ, sufferings of Christ. So what are the sufferings of Christ? What are the sufferings that you and I will experience in our association with or in our identification with Christ, among many things, right? When your boss comes to you and your boss expects you to lie and you refuse to lie for the sake of Christ. When you're married to a godless man that mocks your faith and you patiently endure in loving him for the sake of your witness for Christ and for the sake of his soul, that's suffering for Christ's sake. When you esteem the reproach of Christ far greater riches than the approval of so-called friends or the approval of so-called family, that's the sufferings of Christ. Most often, most often, the Christian suffering that Paul is referring to is that suffering that you experience when you refuse to fear men, when you refuse to be ashamed of the gospel, and you open your mouth to preach Christ and him crucified. Most often, the suffering comes from that. No matter how many laws are passed, no matter what quote-unquote liberties we may enjoy, no matter how many courthouses hang the Ten Commandments, no matter how many schools allow prayer, in God we trust can be all over our money. But in this wicked country and in this perverse generation, if you are taking a stand or if you are opening your mouth for the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will be persecuted. Even in this country, in this day and age with the quote-unquote liberties that we enjoy, if you take a stand for Christ, if you preach the gospel, then you will face persecution. We hear often in the church today, right now in this country, we don't face persecution as Christians did in other countries at other times. But if you are taking a stand, if you are taking a stand, if you are preaching the gospel, then you will know what Christian suffering feels like to a degree. If you're taking a stand for righteousness, if you're preaching the gospel, then you will share in the sufferings of Christ. And you'll do that with all of those brothers and sisters who have gone before us. And you'll do that in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Don't think it's strange, brother, right? Christian suffering is expected. What would have been strange to Peter? What would have been out of the ordinary to Paul? Paul would have been the absence of persecution or the absence of suffering. For a quote-unquote professing Christian to say, I'm never persecuted. Paul told Timothy, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It's pretty clear, right? Think about that statement. Paul told Timothy, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. If you don't regularly face some kind of scorn, some kind of derision, reproach or reprisal, then seriously, right now as you're sitting here, seriously this morning, ask yourself the question, why not? If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, unfamiliar with the testimony of Scripture on this point, you've got to ask yourself, why not? When was the last time that you were persecuted? When was the last time that you faced scorn, derision, reproach for the sake of Christ? Woven into the fabric of this text. This is a glorious and encouraging text. A woven into the fabric of this text written in the white spaces between the lines, so to speak, is the call to all genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ to go forth to him outside the camp and bear his reproach. It's a motivation. The text compels us to go out to Christ. Listen, we have no continuing city here. We look for the one that is to come. We are pilgrims. We are sojourners. Therefore preach the kingdom and his coming. Preach Christ and his coming. Preach him and him crucified. Take a stand for him. Go outside the camp, bearing his reproach. Endure the suffering. Listen, don't just endure the suffering. Embrace the suffering. Those are the sufferings of Christ persevere in the faith. Far from being an indication of failure, suffering for Christ is a mark of those who are his. Far from being an indication that Christ has forsaken you. Suffering is one of the means by which you enjoy fellowship with him, the fellowship of his sufferings. God, God isn't distant. God is not far off. God's not aloof, right? God's not remote. God is a God of unfailing comfort in your times of suffering. So when you see in his word the call to preach Christ, you can go out in your faith knowing that God is a God of unfailing comfort. You can go outside the camp, bear his reproach knowing that God is a God of unfailing comfort. You can pour contempt on your pride. You can heap shame upon your fear and you can go out in the power of the spirit of God, not fearing their faces and proclaim Christ knowing that God is a God of unfailing comfort. And Paul wants this to be our perspective in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1. Paul is facing persecution, suffering for the cause of Christ and his suffering is great. We see it written on the pages of this letter, but the Corinthian church is suffering for the cause of Christ. Sufferings within, sufferings from without, and there's suffering as well. And Paul wants to put that suffering in perspective for the church at Corinth and for the church at Chiliota. And he begins, he begins in verse 3 with a proclamation of praise. Putting this suffering in perspective, he begins with a proclamation of praise in verse 3. Look at verse 3 with me. Blessed, 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 tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Point one on your notes this morning, praise God for his unfailing comfort. Praise God for his unfailing comfort. In verse 3, as Paul writes, Paul's heart and mind is filled. He's not, his heart and mind aren't filled with the details of his own suffering, or he's not preoccupied with his own suffering. He's filled with praise for God. He opens in verse 3 with a variation on a Jewish theme, a common statement, a common benediction in synagogue services was this, blessed are you, oh Lord, our God and the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, right? We see that in the Old Testament. Paul in verse 3 puts a distinctively Christian twist on that statement by saying this, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. For Jewish Christians, if you can imagine their context, even with this carefully worded opening statement, Paul is drawing connections between the God of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. The same God who in the Old Testament was the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, that same God, the God of the Old Testament, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the promised Deliverer, the Savior of sinners. Paul continues with the Old Testament connections here by referring to God in characteristically Old Testament terms. He refers to God as the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. Right? First, the Father of mercies. God's mercy, God's mercy is a truth. It's a reality that can only be described in terms of our wickedness. You have terms like grace, terms like mercy. Those terms are meaningless. They're empty apart from an understanding of our own hopeless condition. If you don't understand that you're a sinner, if you don't understand that God is holy, you can have no understanding, no appreciation for the fact that he is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Turn with me to Psalm 103 and let's look at the picture of this. Psalm 103, God is the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort. Why is this important to the Corinthians? Why is it important to us? Because as we enter in to suffering, as we go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach, we want to know that the God who is God overall is the God who is a God of mercy and a God of comfort. We need mercy, amen. We need comfort. Psalm 103, look at verse one. This is the Psalm of praise for the Lord's mercy. And David here, it's interesting, begins the Psalm with the same expression of worship that Paul used in 2 Corinthians, chapter one, verse three. Look at verse one with me. David begins, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. It's interesting in the Old Testament that often his mercies are described as tender. They're tender mercies, right? His love for us, his care, his compassion toward us. The fact that he doesn't hold sin charged against us is a tender mercy to God's people. Verse five, it's he who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, normally keep his anger forever. Look at verse 10. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. Now that's the definition of mercy, right? Mercy is when God refrains from giving us what we deserve. Now again, let that sink in for a moment. Mercy is when God refrains from giving us what we deserve. We deserve to be punished according to our iniquities. We deserve to be dealt with according to our sins, right? And the wages of sin is death. Every person here deserves death. Every person here deserves hell, deserves hell. Mercy is seen in God's sovereign decision in Christ to withhold his wrath from those who repent and believe the gospel. It doesn't mean that he disregards our sin. It doesn't mean that he doesn't uphold his justice. No, he lays the guilt. He lays the charge at the feet of another who bears the wrath that we deserve. That's Jesus Christ the righteous. In that atoning sacrifice, in that atoning sacrifice, he gives us what we don't deserve, which is grace, right? Grace, salvation, forgiveness of sins. In this, God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. Look down at verse 11. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. That's not an exaggeration. That's not hyperbole. I think we know a little more today, considering our understanding, our scientific discovery, how high the heavens are above the earth, the extent of our universe. Our minds can't comprehend how massive our universe is, and David says, for as high as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. His mercy is great. David knows something here of the greatness of the Lord's mercy. If you think about David, right, in his context, David knows something of the greatness of the Lord's mercy because David knows something of the heinousness of his own sin. We understand more the greatness of God's mercy when we understand more his holiness. We understand more the greatness of his mercy when we understand more his hatred for sin, his abhorrence of sin, his despising of sin. The more that you see God as holy, the more that you will praise him for his mercy. The more that you will say with Paul, blessed be God, the father of all mercy. Look at verse 12. This is the mercy of God. For as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us. As the father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. He is the father of all mercies. He's characterized by mercy. His nature is to be merciful. Secondly, he's the God of all comfort. Look at back at 2 Corinthians chapter 1. He's the God of all comfort. He's the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. The God who has mercy is the God who gives comfort to his people. We don't deserve it, but he gives it. Right? And Paul praises God as blessed because of the comfort that he has experienced in the midst of his own suffering. Paul has suffered and Paul has experienced the reality of God's comfort in his suffering and he praises and worships God as a result. Here's where we get to the main point of this paragraph, right? In 2 Corinthians chapter 1. As many of us might be, Paul isn't preoccupied here with the extent of his suffering. Paul is preoccupied with the gracious comfort of God. We have a tendency, don't we, to put our eyes in our circumstances, to focus our mind, focus our attention on our circumstances. What Paul is exhorting us to do here in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 is to get our eyes out of our circumstances, right? To lift our gaze and put it on God, the God who is the God of all comfort. Ten times in this short paragraph, Paul uses the root word for what our English translations render as comfort. The New King James on occasion says consolation. It's the same root word. Ten times in this one paragraph, right? Paul is now preoccupied with the comfort of God. So when Paul might be tempted to complain about his circumstances, when he might be tempted to grumble or to gripe or heaven forbid blame God for his circumstances, what is Paul doing here? Paul is worshiping the Lord. He's expressing gratefulness to God. He praises God for his unfailing comfort. And that should be the Christian's response, right? That's a Christian's response to your circumstances. When you're in the midst of your circumstances, difficult circumstances, trial, adversity, hardship, distress, those circumstances should provoke in you, should cultivate, should compel in you, worship to God. Praise to God that he is the God of comfort, because you can trust him that he'll comfort you in all your distress, comfort you in all your adversity. God is the God of all comfort. I want you to see three points here from these opening verses beginning in verse three. First point I want you to see is God's provision of comfort. And we'll look at God's purpose for comfort and God's promise of comfort. First, God's provision of comfort beginning in verse three. Paul writes in verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Here it is in verse four, who comforts us in all our tribulation. God is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation. In other words, there is no tribulation, there's no trouble, there's no adversity, there's no distress, no suffering for which God is unable to provide a sufficient and particular and gracious comfort. No situation in which God will fail or can fail to meet your specific need in Christian suffering. Again, Paul has in mind here, Christian suffering, suffering experienced in union with Christ, or in identification with Christ. But now the comfort of God doesn't it also extend to all our suffering? You experience the comfort of God in all our suffering. If you're sick, certainly the comfort of God can help you in your sickness. If you are facing adversity in your family, certainly the comfort of God applies in your circumstances. God is the God of all comfort. He is the one who comforts us in all our tribulation. Certainly the comfort of God extends to all our suffering, a loss of a loved one, the loss of a child, the pain of a rebellious child, sickness, financial concerns, loss of a job. God's comfort in these circumstances, and we're talking specifically here of Christian suffering, the sufferings of Christ. God's provision of comfort in these circumstances isn't a mere feeling. It's not just a feeling of security or a feeling of contentment. The word here for comfort carries the sense of encouragement. I want to put that together for you. It carries the sense of help, the sense of exhortation. It's a derivative of paricaleo, someone coming alongside and encouraging you in the right direction. God's comfort is that comfort which strengthens hands that hang down. God's comfort strengthens feeble knees. God's comfort motivates and compels us to press on in perseverance. It's not just a feeling. It's not just warm fuzzies. It encourages us, motivates us to press on in faithfulness. One commentator said that God's comfort is not a tranquilizing dose of grace that only dulls the pain, but it is a stiffening agent that fortifies one in heart, mind, and soul. That's God's comfort in time of need. God's comfort in suffering. Through faith, God's comfort strengthens our resolve. It undergirds our will. It produces faithfulness in the trial, faithfulness through suffering. It's not just a feeling here, not just an emotion. Let me give you some examples. You can jot these down. I think they'll be helpful to you. First, God's comfort brings humility and dependence upon him. God's comfort brings forth humility and dependence upon him. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 15, among many, among many, right? Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 15, the Lord your God led you through that great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and scorpions in a thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know in order that he might humble you and in order that he might test you to do you good in the end. That's the comfort of God in the midst of trial, that he would humble you, that he might test you to do you good in the end. God's comfort teaches us to wait on him. God's comfort teaches us to trust in him. Psalm 27, verse 13, David says, I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He exhorts in verse 14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Get a sense of the exhortation, right? The encouragement. We're not talking about emotion here. We're just a feeling of contentment, a feeling of security. We're exhorted to wait on the Lord. We're exhorted to be courageous. God's comfort bolsters our faith in him. God's comfort bolsters our faith in him. Romans chapter eight, in verse 38, Paul says, for I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now Paul experienced that, right? Now Paul understood that on a theological level, the promises of God out of the word of God. And Paul believed God. Paul also experienced the truth of that statement. Paul through experience became convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor principalities, powers nor things present nor things to come, nothing would separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. God's comfort bolsters our faith in him. Through God's comfort, we know that we're preserved by him. We're under his sovereign care. We're in his caring hands, so to speak. Listen to this from Isaiah 43 verse one, Isaiah 43 one. But now thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, God said, can you see the exhortation, right? Don't fear. Fear not, God says, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name and you are mine, God says. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Through God's comfort, we know we are preserved by him. God's comfort comes with strength that results in joy. Flip over to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. A few pages to the right. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Look there at verse seven. And again, Paul referring to his own suffering here. And consider from this text how God comforts Paul. Verse seven, lest I should be exalted above measure, lest I should become prideful, Paul says, by the abundance of the revelations that he had received, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. For the sake of humbling Paul, this messenger of Satan was given. Verse eight, concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. God's comfort comes with God's strength, God's power, God's might to meet your circumstances. Therefore, Paul says his strength, God's strength made perfect in Paul's weakness. Therefore, verse nine, most gladly Paul says, I will rather boast in my infirmities. I'm going to boast in my own weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, in sufferings, Paul says, I take pleasure for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. God's comfort comes with strength. God's comfort comes with joy in him, our provider, him, our strength, right? God's comfort is found in his word, it's found in his word, Psalm 119, verse 49, Psalm 119, verse 49, where the psalmist says, remember the word to your servant upon which you have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction for your word has given me life. Paul said in Romans 15, verse four, for whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we, through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. God's comfort is found in his word. God's comfort is the assurance of fruit from trial, the assurance of fruit from suffering. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 11, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. God's comfort comes through an increased strength to persevere, to persevere through the suffering. God's comfort brings perseverance. James said, count all joy when you fall in the various trials, brothers, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. God's comfort encourages us with the hope of heaven. When you're in the midst of your suffering, when you're in the midst of difficulty, you can remind yourself from the word of God that this life is not forever. This is not your best life now, if you're in Christ. That's coming. Romans chapter eight, verse 18, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him. Notice the conditional clause there, right? We are heirs of God and we are joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified together. Paul says in verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And you notice Paul's mindset there in Romans eight, right? I'm willing to endure suffering on this side of heaven knowing that the sufferings here don't compare an iota to the glory that's going to be revealed on that side of eternity, right? I remember an experiment a while back where they took children, put them around a table and they gave them a marshmallow and then said, if you can sit there with that marshmallow and not eat it for the next 15 minutes, I'll give you another marshmallow. And virtually all the kids just ate the marshmallow, right? They didn't want to wait 15 minutes to get another one. You know, double your investment. You get two at the end of 15 minutes if you'll just wait. We in our flesh can't wait. We have a glory that will be revealed on that side of eternity. If you'll suffer with him, if you'll wait with him. This is not worldly wisdom, right? This is wisdom from God's word. This is not pop psychology. It's not a pep talk. This is God's words of comfort to Christians in their Christian suffering. God's comfort, God's comfort comes from the knowledge that you share in Christ's suffering, right? It's a comfort to God's people to know that they share in Christ's suffering, which is precious on the side of God. Listen to Peter in 1 Peter chapter two, verse 19, Peter says, for this is commendable. If because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongly. It's commendable. 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, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us as 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. 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 have now returned to the shepherd in oversee of your souls. On the testimony of God's word, we know that every single trial, every difficulty, every last moment of hardship, every ounce of Christian suffering is a gracious providence of God. It's a smiling providence of God determined by him in love to do you good, to do you good. All this comes through God's comfort in times of suffering. Back in second Corinthians chapter one, the comfort that God provides through suffering isn't theoretical. That comfort's not elusive. Again, this is not pop psychology. This is not a pep talk. It wasn't mere theory on the part of Paul. This comfort, this understanding was grounded in Paul's experience. Paul learned the value of God's comfort in the agony of his suffering, in the crucible of suffering. He learned the joy of God's provision in the helplessness of his suffering. We often learn this. We learn these lessons when we realize we can't do anything. In our circumstances, when we come to the end of ourselves, we learn these lessons. The only place to learn these lessons, the only place to know the comfort of God is in the crucible of affliction. You have God's provision of comfort. Secondly, you have God's purpose for comfort. God's purpose for comfort. Look at verse four. God in verse four, he comforts us in all our tribulation 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. That's a mouthful. Follow me along. Paul begins in verse four with what one Greek scholar called the timeless present tense, the timeless present tense. You could literally read it as this, the father of mercies and the god of all comfort, who is comforting us in all our tribulation comforts us so that we can comfort others. We have ongoing comfort. We have ongoing encouragement. It gives you the sense, doesn't it, of God standing beside us, parakalo, God standing beside us in all that we face and all that we suffer. And he does that for you as a provision for others so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble. So now having been the beneficiary of divine comfort in trials, you're then equipped to draw from that experience, right, to draw on those resources and to encourage and comfort others. Now notice with me in verse four, I want you to see three components necessary to fulfilling this purpose. Three components. First, you identify with those who are suffering. You identify with those who are suffering. Doesn't mean you go through exactly the same thing, right? You're going to face trials, situations that are completely different. It's the experience of God's comfort in suffering that is the necessary prerequisite, right, that helps you to identify. And Christ is our supreme example of this, right? He identified with us in our suffering. Hebrews chapter two, verse 17, the author says that therefore in all things Christ had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of his people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted, right? Hebrews chapter four, verse 15, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses or sympathize in our suffering, but he was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. First, you identify with those who are suffering. Secondly, you take the opportunity to offer comfort and encouragement to those in verse four, those who are in any trouble. You take the opportunity to comfort the gifts of God. If you think about this, the consolation of the spirit of God, that gift that God has given you in your trial and your suffering, you're not to hoard to yourself, right? Christians aren't to live for themselves or to live for others. You're to serve and edify the body. So if you've endured suffering, if you've been comforted in your suffering, then you draw on the resources of your experience and you minister to those who are suffering, you minister to those who are fearful, those who are lagging behind, those who are weak, those who are hurting, right? Third, you do that, verse four, with the comfort or by means of that same comfort that you were comforted with. One, you identify with those who are suffering. Two, you take the opportunity to minister to them. And three, verse four, you do that with the comfort or by the means of that same comfort with which you were comforted, the same exhortations, right? The same encouragement, the same word of God, same passages of scripture, the same promises, the same hope, the same focus, the same faith, same correction if necessary, the same love, the same exhortation, the same patience. And notice in verse four that this is the comfort, the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted comes, it says there by God, from God. God is the ultimate source of all that encouragement. You are to be a faithful means. God is the one who comforts, right? You are the means through which God will comfort his people. You're to take responsibility for that and to comfort your brothers and sisters. God's provision of comfort, God's purpose of comfort. And three, God's promise of comfort, God's promise of comfort. Look at verse five, for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation, our comfort, same word there, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Work for abound there literally means overflowing, overflowing. When we go forth to him outside the camp, when we go forth to bear his reproach and as we suffer in association with him, even though that suffering may overflow toward us, you know what I mean, right? There are times at which you may think that it's more than you can bear, that it's just like a Mack truck coming down the road, right? The light at the end of the tunnel is not a light, it's a train. And it is overbearing towards you. Even though that suffering may seem to overflow toward us, even though it may seem too great to bear, too difficult to endure, God's provision of comfort and encouragement and strength and perseverance and hope, God's comfort overflows toward us. He lavishes it upon us to meet every need. As the suffering rises, as the circumstance rise, God's comfort rises to match. God's consolation abounds through Christ. And God can infinitely multiply our comfort, according to the measure of our need, right? And God will never, God will never come up short. David says in Psalm 94, verse 19, David says, When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. As the cares of David's heart increase, so do the consolations of Christ. God provides an unfailing comfort in all our sufferings for Christ. This demands a response. Paul gives the text, Paul gives the explanation, praises God for an unfailing comfort, and that comfort bears responsibility on the church at Corinth. It presupposes our responsibility to that. It demands a response. If you're here today and you're lost, if you've never turned from your sin, if you've never turned from your sin to put your faith and trust in Christ, if you're not following hard after him in the fellowship of his sufferings, then you are headed for ultimate suffering. The sufferings that you experience in this life are signposts. They should point you away from ultimate suffering and point you to Christ. Turn from the path that you are on. If you're here today and you're a Christian, you're following Christ, you've entered into the fellowship of his sufferings, then you have access to grace by faith. Go to him outside the camp, bear his reproach. One of the difficulties, we'll talk about this more next week, one of the difficulties of the state in which we live, state of our country is that we suffer under the desires of the flesh, the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life. We desire comfort, but not God's comfort. We desire leisure. We're prone to wander, prone to laziness, prone to call ourselves Christians and yet not witness for Christ. And what this promise of comfort in 2nd Corinthians, chapter one, verses three through seven, what this promise of comfort provides for us is the compelling motivation to go to him outside the camp and bear his reproach, to go to him in the fellowship of his sufferings and proclaim Christ to a lost world, to enter into that same suffering that our brothers and sisters since the time of Christ have faced for the cause of Christ. The torch has been passed to us. What are you going to do with it? Right? Let's go forth to him outside the camp and bear his reproach. Let's pray. Let's take a few moments, pray silently. Ask the Lord to convict you where you fall short of the experience or the demands of this text and pray for grace and comfort as you battle to be faithful to him. And let's pray for the furtherance of the gospel for his sake. Let's pray.