 2 Corinthians chapter 1 beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 7. Paul writes, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are in all Achaia. Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and 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. Now 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 it 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 I'm going to lay a foundation and I'm going to be taking you through 2 Corinthians in an in-depth fashion meaning it's going to take a little while for us to get through it and I'm going to spend some time looking at it in in smaller doses because I really think that it's a book that's worthy of us taking our time to look at so let me lay down an introduction give you some background some information that will will help us to view this book as we go through it in an in-depth fashion. Now this particular church this Corinthian church was very dear to the apostle Paul and the reason it is very dear to him is because he's the one who planted the church he was what would be referred to as their father in the faith of Christ. Paul went on a series of missionary journeys these journeys are outlined for us in the book of Acts he had three missionary journeys this particular church was planted on his second missionary journey and it tells us in Acts chapter 18 verse 11 that Paul stayed for a year and a half there in the city of Corinth and he was teaching them the Word of God. Now early in the history of this church problems had developed and the problems were severe enough for the apostle Paul to actually write a letter to them first Corinthians as you look at first Corinthians you'll see things about the church you'll see that they were saved they were spiritually gifted but they were guilty of living very carnal lives and so when you study through first Corinthians you see that there was division in the church and the division had arisen over a variety of things division had arisen over comparisons between Paul and other teachers sexual immorality there were problems with their marriages they were dealing with questions of idolatry they were trying to determine the roles of women in the church they were having bad behavior at communion services they had questions concerning spiritual gifts questions concerning the resurrection and what that means they had questions related to stewardship and all of these questions had to be asked and answered by the apostle Paul now as mentioned Paul as the founding pastor had a great love and a great concern for this church and it was out of this concern that he had actually written the first letter that he wrote in first Corinthians chapter 4 verse 15 Paul said this he said though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet have you not many fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel you may have 10,000 people adding to your faith instructing you concerning the things of God in other words you may have a great amount of people who are contributing to your maturing in faith but you need to remember one thing Paul was saying to them back then and that's what's prompting him to right now you need to remember that you came to faith in Christ through my ministry you may have 10,000 teachers but you only have one father I'm the one who begot you in the gospel and it's from that perspective that the apostle Paul writes his letters you see since he had written first Corinthians the problems had continued but they had even begun to worsen because false teachers are now infiltrating the church at Corinth and they were not only infiltrating but these false teachers were bringing accusations against the the apostle Paul they were bringing false charges against him now as is typical of those who divide the church their accusations concerning him were not based necessarily on his teachings you see a lot of times when people want to divide a church they don't necessarily put their attention on the teaching ministry of the church it's not that they won't and there are those who do but very often when somebody wants to divide a church when somebody wants to create a problem in a fellowship it isn't always about the doctrine that's being taught from that pulpit very often they will bring accusations that are based on other things they'll say things about the pastor and his character they'll speak concerning his personality or lack thereof they'll say that the church doesn't have their the entertainment value they don't enjoy themselves there as much as they'd like to they talk concerning a variety of things about the way the ministry is performed or sometimes even the appearance of the minister himself there are people will call into question those things and and when we go through 2nd Corinthians a lot of the things that we're going to be looking at are things that Paul has to deal with because of the accusations that have been made concerning him as a matter of fact throughout this letter Paul responds to their accusations and he responds no less than 21 times 21 separate accusations that have been lodged against him and he will be dealing with this and I'll show you how I'm going to be dealing with this because you need to know that as you go through this this passage rather this this book you need to know what he's doing when he when he writes certain things if you if you understand that he's dealing with accusations it begins to make sense and I'll show you a couple of those I I actually have 21 things listed here that I'll I'll just read to you but one of the accusations is found in chapter 1 verse 12 in chapter 1 verse 12 he answers an accusation that he is he's selfish he's hypocritical that he uses fleshly wisdom that was an accusation but notice how he goes about handling that because in chapter 1 verse 12 he says our boasting is this the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God and more abundantly towards you not with fleshly wisdom why did you say that and why are you saying how you conducted yourself well because somebody is lodging an accusation against him that he's selfish that he's hypocritical that he uses fleshly wisdom and that's how he answers it in verse 17 there's an accusation that he changes his mind and his plans easily you see it in verse 17 but notice how he responds he says in verse 17 therefore when I was planning this did I do it lightly or the things I plan do I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes yes and no no what are you doing Paul I am responding to an accusation where people say that I changed my mind easily then I'm fickle and I'll give you one more instance in verse 21 in chapter 1 there was an accusation Paul is self-appointed and his response in verse 21 it says he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God and so these people had come in and they're lodging these accusations he is selfish he changes his mind and plans easily he is self-appointed in verse 24 they said he lords it over the church and dominates their faith in chapter 2 verse 4 we'll see this they say he's nothing but an unemotional intellect in chapter 2 verses 5 and 6 he's legalistic he forces people to leave the church chapter 2 verse 17 he uses the gospel in sincerely peddling the word for personal gain in chapter 3 verse 1 he has no proper credentials a number on chapter 3 verse 5 he's self-righteous and self-sufficient he labors in the flesh chapter 4 verse 2 he's impure he's crafty uses deceitful tactics he twists God's word he ensnares them chapter 4 verse 5 he preaches himself and not Jesus chapter 5 verse 13 he's a madman chapter 7 verse 2 he has wrong corrupted and defrauded the church chapter 8 verse 4 he uses guilt to get money chapter 10 verse 1 when he's with people of Corinth he is cowardly chapter 10 verse 3 he uses a flesh to perform spiritual works chapter 7 verse 7 or rather 10 verse 7 he's ugly now that's sweet not all not only does he have character deficits but it's only 2 and chapter 10 verse 10 he's untrained in speech in chapter 11 verse 5 he is their spiritual inferior in chapter 11 verse 7 he's not worthy of support and chapter 12 verses 14 through 16 he uses guilt to ensnare people you're gonna see this as we go through 2 Corinthians and that'll give you some insight into this very open hearted letter by the apostle Paul though you may have 10,000 instructors yet you only have one father I have begotten you in the gospel and these infiltrators who have entered in trying to steal your heart from me need to be dealt with and that's what Paul does in 2 Corinthians who were these false teachers who were these people who entered in who were they anyway well we know one that they're intruders and that they came from outside the church how do we know that well in chapter 3 verse 1 he says this do we begin again to commend ourselves or do we need as some others epistles or letters of commendation letters of recommendation to you or letters of commendation from you that gives us insight that these are people came in from the outside they were also according to chapter 10 verse 5 what we would today refer to as pseudo intellectuals who fashioned argument that lacks substance so one they're intruders to the pseudo intellectual and then three they are proud claiming a superior ministry to Paul because he refers to them in chapter 11 verse 5 as being super apostles and then fourth they were mercenaries they were greedy for gain they drew disciples after themselves because he refers to that in 2 Corinthians 11 7 and 8 when he says did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge I robbed other churches taking wages from them to minister to you these people on the other hand were greedy for gain and then fifth we know that they were Jewish possibly attempting to bring believers into the bondage of the law of Moses because he says in 2 Corinthians 11 22 are they Hebrews so am I are the Israelites so am I are they the seed of Abraham so am I and so he gives to us in this epistle a very open-hearted defense of his ministry and he deals with the accusations that have been made that are intended to steal the hearts of the sheep from Paul who had begotten them in the gospel there is and I'll say this briefly because I really do want to get into our study but there is a love that a shepherd has for the sheep that validates that shepherds ministry and that reveals a shepherd as being a genuine shepherd there are those and I can tell you this in this way and it is personal and it's personal application but there are those who have over the years for whatever reasons may have been in their own hearts there are those who have done their very best to drive a wedge between me and members of this fellowship these accusations that the apostle Paul has dealt with our accusations that every pastor will eventually find at least some of them not all of them but some of them and over 39 years of ministry I have had pretty much many of these accusations lodged against me and my friends who've been in ministry for a while many of my friends could say the same that there are people who creep in look around begin for whatever reason to try to undermine the ministry begin to lodge accusations and and in doing so attempt to steal the hearts of the sheep and the apostle Paul would say this isn't right you have all of these people influencing you but you need to remember who brought you to faith in Christ and you need to remember the love that Paul said he has for them there's a portion of scripture will see it in chapter 12 when you simply ask the question or makes the statement he says he says though the more I love you the less I'm loved by you so he understood in a deep and personal way the relationship between a pastor teacher minister and the sheep and these individuals have been creeping in and they're attempting to undermine the ministry that God had given to him now Paul had received a report that this was taking place and so he had sent Titus to see what the condition of the church was well Titus actually came back and gave an encouragement to him you see then in chapter 7 verses 6 and 7 when he says God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him he told us about your longing for me your deep sorrow your ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever so he says it's a good thing to hear that you still have a loyalty to me as your shepherd I love you very much and it causes me great joy to know our relationship is strong but that's prompted him to write this epistle and so let's begin we'll begin with the basics verses 1 and 2 2nd Corinthians when he says verse 1 Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are in all the chaos grace to you in peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ let's begin by breaking this down on apostle this is a typical greeting of Paul Paul an apostle is a greeting that is used nine times he uses it in nine of his letters now apostle means apostle us it means one who is a delegate or a messenger he uses the word apostle us or apostles 81 times in total and so he's speaking concerning the fact that he has a relationship with the Lord where God has delegated authority to him and he identifies himself that way so Paul an apostle he goes on to say in Timothy our brother Timothy was an individual that was known by the church who was saved under the ministry of the apostle Paul so they're familiar with him and so he's saying I'm writing this and I'm bringing a greeting to you from Timothy whom you also know and so he says to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints now that word church is Ecclesia it speaks of a group of people who are called out of the world by God even as Jesus in John 1716 said they're not of the world even as I'm not of the world and so the church is Ecclesia we are the separated ones we've been called out and so he's speaking of those who have been called out by the Lord to follow Jesus Christ so he says to the church of God with all the saints now the word saint is the common designation in the New Testament it's used 63 times in reference to believers in Christ and so it's very basic I've said this I say this all the time whenever I see these introductions you know so many times what we do is we take the word saint we elevate it to a certain position so an individual is a saint if they live in a certain way or perform certain works or whatever and we've taken that word and we've actually made it what it didn't mean in the early days the word saint speaks of one who's separated Haggias it's a person who's been separated to the Lord it was the most common designation of a believer so every person in this room who's saved is a saint now you may not consider yourself because we've elevated that position to such a degree that we use it in almost a disparaging way when we'll say well what do you think you are some kind of saint well if you're born again you are a saint because in scripture either you're a saint or you're an ain't there's no in between see and so when you get saved excuse me when you get saved you enter into a relationship with God and so it's very common designation as a matter of fact it's not a bad thing for you to think of yourself in that way I have been separated by God to his service my life has been called out of this world out of the my reclaim I've been made to stand on a solid rock I'm in Jesus Christ I'm born again I have the power the Holy Spirit resident within me my name is written in the Lamb's book of life heaven is my home I'm just passing through I'm not going to get bogged down with this world because I've been called out by God to live in a different way because I'm a saint and so that's basically what he's saying he's saying you have been set apart and so as he's saying this notice he says to the Church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints or an all a chaos all a chaos a chaos a region and so he's basically saying that this particular letter is not simply for the Corinthians but it's one of those letters that can be circulated amongst the rest of the believers well he says in verse 2 grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace and peace the word grace was a common greeting of a Greek to another Greek during the time of the writing so if you're a Greek a Gentile and you walk up to a friend or somebody you know on the street you would simply say Charis Charis was like what's happening it's just how you're doing it's a greeting how are you it means grace but he's giving a greeting here so he starts off by saying Charis but he also says peace peace was a common salutation of the Hebrew so he's saying Charis and Shalom and he's combining the two Charis for the Greek Shalom for the Jew combining them one of the things you will know when you study your scriptures is this you will not see a greeting where it says Shalom and Charis it's always Charis and Shalom that's because peace will only be experienced after you've experienced the grace of God and so you have to have God's grace to have his peace you will never have his peace until you have his grace and that's why when you study your scriptures you will see that the designation is always grace and peace it is never peace and grace because it always takes the grace of God for you experience the peace of God and so he speaks in that way now we're going to get into the meat of the study this is to me this is I love this portion of scripture we'll look at it now in some detail blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are any truck 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 bounds through Christ now 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 it 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 Paul immediately begins to deal with the accusations he's been receiving this opening section intends to remind them that ministry isn't easy and that plans can change he had closed his first letter by disclosing his plan of coming to see them soon in 1st Corinthians 16 5 he had said after I go through Macedonia I'll come to you for I'll be going through Macedonia so he begins here by explaining why he didn't show up and he's going to spend the rest of the chapter doing so you'll see this in verse 23 of chapter 1 where he says moreover I call God as witness against my soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth so he takes chapter 1 and actually alludes to this clearly to deal with the fact that these people were saying this man has no integrity this man doesn't love the people he doesn't have integrity and he doesn't have love this is a common charge lodged against ministers to say that the guy doesn't tell the truth and the guy doesn't love the people that's one of the ways that people will undermine relationships that's one of the way that they do it let's say if they really loved you they wouldn't lie to you how come he's lying to you he said he's going to be there he didn't show up this is supposedly a man of God and yet he said to you and he said it in a letter he's going to show up he did not show up now that tells me that you can't trust him because if he's not a man of his word didn't Jesus say let your yes be yes and your no be no and if you're not a man of the word if you're not a man who keeps your promises then that tells me that you're making false promises because you don't love the people because if you love the people you wouldn't lie to them and this is the kind of stuff that was said amongst the people in Corinth the false teachers were saying Paul lies to you and Paul doesn't love you if Paul loved you he would have shown up if he was a man of God he would have lied so that means that he changes his mind easily a man who is changes his mind easily is unstable as water and you cannot trust a man like that because a man who's in leadership needs to be solid he can't be one of these who wavers he can't be like a read in the wind that is moved by every wind that comes and blows it one way and then moves it another a leader has to be an individual who stands straight and makes a decision holds fast to it tells the truth and it all has to be wrapped up in their love for you and so if Paul really loved you and if Paul were really a good teacher he would have done what he said he was going to do he didn't do it therefore he's a liar and also he doesn't love you so right from the beginning Paul has to deal with that and he makes it very clear that the Lord Jesus Christ sometimes will move you in a different direction even if you didn't intend to to do exactly what ultimately happened now as he goes on here he begins by saying I want to give praise to God I want to give thanksgiving to God now this is this is interesting verse 3 is a blessing when he says the verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercy and God of all comfort he begins with thanksgiving blessed be why are we blessing God well we bless God for his comfort because God gives us comfort in our times of pain and God gives us comfort in our times of distress you say you see instead of receiving judgment for being a fickle vessel and said Paul is making it very clear I have received mercy from God and I understand the ways of the Lord recently I was sharing with you how that when Paul was saved he was saved in a very miraculous way when you read the book of Acts and it speaks concerning the explosion of the church within the first eight chapters of Acts when you get to chapter 9 you're introduced to a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus the word Saul the Hebrew word Saul can be translated great Saul was great when Saul gives his testimony later on and he does so several times he speaks of the fact that he came behind in terms of his knowledge and understanding of God's word he came behind nobody else he was a premier student of the Bible he was one of the greatest minds of his day he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews this was a man who had tremendous learning and tremendous zeal and when he started hearing the gospel being presented that Jesus was Messiah it got to him to such a degree that he began to breathe out threatening concerning those who were followers of what was called the way Christianity originally wasn't referred to as Christianity it was simply the way it was called the way because Jesus Christ said I am the way the truth in the life and so they referred to him in that way and followers of the way that's what we originally were called believers in Christ were called the way he was breathing out threatening concerning those were followers of Christ and he had gotten these letters from the Jewish authorities to take people who were followers of Christ put them in chains bring them back to Jerusalem and to have them tried his heretics and in his journey he was on his way to Damascus Syria and on the road to Damascus the Lord Jesus Christ knocked him down blinded him and when he did so Paul was with outside for some time but he knew that there was a man by the name of Ananias who was going to be sent to him to pray for him then he might receive his sight so after Saul was unable to see God began to speak to this man Ananias and when God began to speak to Ananias and said to him I want you to pray for Saul Ananias took it upon himself to instruct God to remind God that in the event that you've been so busy in the universe and haven't noticed this this guy's a monster he's going out he's arresting people he's a great persecutor of the church but God answers him speaks to him and found as I mentioned recently in Acts 9 15 and 16 and the Lord said to him go your way for he's a chosen vessel and to me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake Paul was somebody who understood suffering he was somebody who had gone through it he had gone through tremendous trouble and he mentions that later on he had gone through tremendous trouble in Asia in verses eight and nine here in the same chapter notice he says we don't want you to be ignorant brethren of our trouble which came to us in Asia we were burdened beyond measure above strength so that we disparate even of life yes we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead so he says we've gone through some very heavy times a lot of pain a lot of affliction a lot of suffering as a matter of fact his ministry was filled with suffering but instead of it being God's judgment on him as some people think whenever they go through tough times they'll say surely God is angry at me God is causing me to suffer in ways perhaps I've been more evil than somebody else and he's pouring out his anger on me well instead of him seeing it as God's judgment he knew that God was working in the midst of it and that the deliverance that God brings is a demonstration of his favor upon Paul and that's why he writes blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ blessed be God because in spite of the fact that I'm going through these things God is the God of all comfort and God is a God of all mercy and God will see me through all of this now he speaks in this way he said blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and God of all comfort God is a God of consolation God is a God of comfort and you see it throughout the scriptures you see that God brings consolation and comfort as a matter of fact consolation and comfort are key words that are used 17 times in this letter the words comfort and consolation are used 10 times in these verses but there are other words like affliction suffering trouble tribulation they occur seven times and what he's saying is God is a comforting and merciful father now if God is a comfortable comforting and consoling father here's something for your practical application if God brings comfort and consolation and if I am God's child doesn't it follow that I also should be known for bringing comfort and consolation to others and the answer is yes every believer listen carefully every believer ought to be known and this is a challenge from scripture that God gives to me that I'm going to just hand to you to every believer in Jesus Christ ought to be known as one who brings comfort to others in one form or another and also every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ because we're children of our God who is God of all comfort and a father of mercy every one of us ought to have as the fruit of the spirit love the application of this love through our comforting consolation that we give to other people when God brings consolation to me it's not just to make me feel better and you'll see this in a moment but it's so that I can take the consolation God gave to me the comfort that God gave to me and extend the same to other people so when God works in my life it's not just for me when God is working in my life it's for the body of Christ it's for us all and so God is a God of mercy God is a God of comfort God brings consolation to us but God would intend us to be of that to somebody else in Matthew 10 25 Jesus said it's enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master when you look at Jesus he would see the people hungry and fainting and the scripture says and he would have compassion on them he would heal their sick he would teach them the word because he's a God of comfort and compassion part of the way that God brings comfort part of the way that God brings comfort is through the body of Christ through the church as the body of Christ it ought to be our aim to encourage and comfort one another it's been said Christ has no body now on earth but yours no hands but yours no feet but yours yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth yours are the feet by which he is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which he is to bless us now and so in one in one way guys the body of Christ should be known as a compassionate loving caring group of people and there are times when somebody in the body of Christ can bring a word of comfort to my heart when it's grieving when I've gone through times of loss when I've gone through times of sorrow and a brother or a sister will write me a card when mom went home to be with the Lord a few weeks ago people wrote me cards I didn't ask for cards I didn't say oh please I'm broken hard to send me a card but people did people wrote little cards and they said we're praying for you people on Facebook who are my friends wrote little notes to me praying for you love you pastor those are the hands of Christ that was God moving they were showing compassion that's what the body of Christ is supposed to do we're supposed to comfort one another that's what we're called to do to love one another not to bite not to devour not to tear up not to gossip about not to rip but to love that's what it's all about right and God is a consoling and and comforting God and and that's what he's saying to us he's saying God brings that one he has a church the body of Christ that performs those functions that take the invisible God if you will and incarnates him afresh as the church acts as God has called us to but ultimately our true source will always be not the church itself but God himself because there are times that you will be hurting so desperately nobody knows that you are you won't even tell you won't even say there are people that that go through pain silently they don't tell anybody they don't have anybody that they can say I'm hurting to I'm in need of a prayer I'm in need of somebody's arm around my shoulder there are times and that's just not practical it's not going to happen but what I've learned to do is one as I appreciate the body of Christ so very much but to I know who my comforter is it's God himself God is the one who gives you that deep inner peace that that sense that he's with you he's never left he's not going to forsake you it's the Lord who does that it's the Lord who has a little vial that he keeps all your tears in he has a bottle the psalmist says that God keeps your tears in he knows your broken heart he knows your broken plans he knows how people have betrayed and hurt you he knows how you've been forsaken he knows all of that but he has said I will never never never leave you nor forsake you and Jesus one time said to his father now I'm alone and yet I'm not alone for you are with me and so a human being can only do so much for you thank God for loving compassionate people who are go out of their way to be there for you thank God but your true strength comes from knowing that the master the Lord the creator of the universe is your comforter he's the one who's beside you he's the one who walks with you through the Valley of the shadow of death and that's why when he's walking with you you fear no evil because he's with you you see and so Paul is simply speaking about the fact that he went through some very terrible times but God was there and God brought comfort to him he expresses his praise of God in verse 3 he's not filled with bitterness over his various trials he said I received God's mercy I I received mercy instead of that which I deserve he has given to me compassion and he's given to me comfort he's given to me rest he's shown me these things because that's what he does he says in verse 4 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 so your ability to give comfort is tied up with your experience in receiving it you can only ultimately give to others what you yourself have received and Paul has received great comfort and therefore Paul gives great comfort when I was a young man in Bible college my professor Dr. George Moore once said to the the students that he was teaching said to us and this is back in 1973 he said there's a there's something out that people are saying now which was actually a new phrase back in 73 at least it was new to me he said there's something that you young people are saying now you're saying this you're saying I want to be on fire for the Lord we used to use that phrase that was a common phrase that we use amongst ourselves we'd say how you doing man and we'd say on fire man I'm on fire for the Lord and that was a common thing going on at that time we weren't embarrassed about following Jesus Christ we wanted to glow we wanted our light to shine we wanted to be consumed with him and so it's that we'd say I'm on fire for Jesus well my my professor Dr. Moore said this he said you say you're on fire for the Lord never forget fire burns and fire consumes and I've never forgotten that phrase I've never forgotten what he said fire burns and fire consumes and he was making it very clear to us that if we're actually going to be on fire for the Lord there's a cost involved and sometimes people don't understand that sometimes they have this why me how come this is happening to me I was reading in Jeremiah just the other day chapter 12 how that Jeremiah starts to speak to the Lord and he says to God you know and I'm paraphrased and obviously but he says you're you're great and you're awesome but if you don't mind I'd like to talk to you a little bit about your judgments because things weren't going well for Jeremiah and he wanted to kind of have a discussion with him you see it in the book of Job where Job is going through so much pain first two chapters he loses everything and then here comes his friends with friends like that who needs enemies I mean these guys came and sat down with him and the best thing they did is when they sat quietly that was the best they could do because once they open their mouth they were jerks I mean they just kept on just piling on and pouring on and Job would defend himself and he defended himself for all the chapters in the early chapters into right around chapter 39 chapter 40 and he's defending himself and defending himself I haven't done these things I haven't been this way and he says oh that I only had a day's been I wish I had a lawyer who could plead my case for me who could stand to God and say God I'm defending this man here he's innocent oh that I had someone like that and then finally God begins to speak to Job we know the story of Job God says encourage yourself like a man I've got a few questions to ask you and I want you to give me the answers and God begins a series of questions with Job that to God are simple questions but as it goes through this where were you when I told the sea to stop here and go no further tell me if you know explain to me these very basic things Job I'd like to know these things and goes on and on with simple things to God that were beyond Job's ability to understand and finally what's Job's response Job says I cover myself with ashes I cover my mouth because I have spoken in a way they ought not to he said I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear but now I see you with the scene of my eye and because of that I humble myself before you who am I that darkens counsel who am I that should call into question your ways if you want to be deep with the Lord if you want to be deep with the Lord let me tell you the average Christian doesn't the average Christian doesn't if you want to be deep with the Lord you will go through deep things you will go through pain you will go through what I call and it's been called the dark seasons of the night where the seasons of the night seem to oppress you so deeply the pain can be so heavy the sorrow can be so severe the loneliness can be so painful and it gets to the point where you realize that there is just one thing I need and that is him and when you get to that point you've grown when you get to that point you're understanding because the Lord will reduce you to nothing so that he can build you into his image so he can transform you into the likeness of the one who has been referred to as our suffering savior our wounded healer if you want to be used by Jesus you will go through deep things now am I scaring you off I hope not someone says well I really don't want it that much I just want to go to heaven I'm gonna come on man bumming me out I came here after supper and you're making me want to puke I want to be deep in the Lord I've wanted to be deep in the Lord since the day I got saved that doesn't mean that I have become deep because I haven't it simply means I want to be and I'm only telling you what is true Paul said God is my comforter and he is the one who is merciful he's my merciful father he comforts me in all of my affliction no matter what it is I've gone through because that's what he does but it isn't just for me it's for you I went to see my pastor Chuck many years ago now going through something wanted to see my pastor Marie and I went and sat down with him I shared my heart with him my tears my sorrow of my heart at that moment and he's my pastor and I love him like a father and he just listened carefully and I finally finished and I said so what do you think Chuck and Chuck said to me well you're going through things so that you can help other people go through them you're learning lessons that you can give to other people and I said to Chuck can't I learn that by reading a book he said no that's why he's no longer my pastor no he said he said no David he said some things you learn by going through and I can say that to you too please don't run from God's hand please don't try and avoid the lessons God wants to teach you don't be afraid of sorrow don't be afraid of grief don't be afraid of sense of loss please because there's nothing you've ever lost that will last that will not be returned seven fold ten fold God has a way of one allowing things to be removed from us that we shouldn't have but to giving us the things that we need and some of the things I thought I needed were things I didn't need and some of the things that I thought I didn't need are the things that I most desperately needed that's how the Lord works and it works even in the simplest things I give an illustration when I first went into ministry I was an assistant I was 29 years old I didn't have any friends and I started praying and I asked the Lord could you give me a friend I don't have any friends it's not that my wife wasn't my friend of course she's my friend but I'd like a guy that I can hang around with laugh with a buddy could you give me a friend and so there was a fellow in the church I was assisting in who was one of the elders is around my age he used to make me laugh all the time he was the kind of guy that when we sat together we would laugh a lot and I enjoy laughing and so he'd make me laugh and I would make him laugh and I thought this guy would be a great friend because we enjoy ourselves together so much well there was another guy who is real quiet never really said anything just real quiet and and I didn't connect with him because he was just more quiet than I was comfortable with so I wanted this other guy to be my buddy and this quiet guy he's just a nice guy who's on the board one day I was in a meeting with all the board and the Lord spoke to my heart even as I was sharing recently out of Romans 8 how the spirit of the Lord leads you and there are times he communicates with you I was seated there in this meeting when this guy the quiet one began to talk and when he began to speak and shares his heart the spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said there's your friend and I looked and I said no he's not cool we don't laugh together it can't be my friend well within a short time after that meeting when the spirit of God said there's your friend the senior pastor told me you're not a pastor you're going to be removed from pastoral ministry we're cutting your salary you can go back to school because you are not called by God to pastor and there I am with several other men and I'm being told I'm not a pastor and I looked at the senior pastor and I said there's only one thing that I know that I am I've been called by God to pastor but it's obvious I haven't been called to pastor here so I said I resigned my position I give you two weeks notice I'll move on all the board and there were about 10 or so on the board all of them received my resignation fine except for one Dan the guy that the Lord said there's your friend and I cried I didn't cry in the meeting I know you find it hard to believe that I would cry but my heart was broken and I got up and I walked out the door and closed the door and I stood in the front porch and Dan went out with me Dan was the only member of the board who would not receive my resignation he said you're called by God I will not receive your resignation I will not he followed me out I fell into his arms and I wept like a child in his arms what am I going to do Dan became my first assistant pastor Dan pastors the church now in Washington and I was at the pastors conference just last at the beginning of this month and I was doing a workshop for Calvary pastors and I was just like this my voice hasn't been good for a long time and I said man I wish I had a cup of coffee to strengthen my throat and dry my throat hot coffee helps my vocal cords and I wish I had some and he says what do you want Dan who's a senior pastor who's got his own fellowship that he serves sitting in the front row in my workshop didn't have to be there what do you need I said I need a cup of coffee he goes and he brings me a cup and brings it back and I tell everybody I said he was my first assistant and he still serves me that meant something to me obviously I get emotional just remembering it because God has called us and God will work through tough times and he was there with me and he saw the pain but look at what God has done look at what God has done over the years just because you're walking through tough times doesn't mean you're walking alone God is with you he comforts you he strengthens you he never leaves you he never forsakes you he has his way in you and the comfort that he brings to you you are equipped to bring comfort to somebody else that's how it works and my pastor Chuck was so right when he said you don't learn these lessons in a book you learn them through life and Paul is simply saying I have a God of all comfort he has comforted me but not so that I can simply be comforted but that I can comfort you with the comfort that I have received from him I can speak he's saying with the experience of someone who knows the comfort of God and I can stand he can say this and I can tell you God will comfort you God will not forsake you God will be with you God loves you and God will do the work because that's what God does he loves you and he comforts you and Paul can say that and I can say that it's the absolute truth you have a God who comforts you absolutely absolutely the key to enduring is looking forward to the results because we know that whatever it is that we go through is conforming us into the image of Jesus in Romans 8 28 and 29 it says we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose for those God for new he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers he is conforming us into the image of Jesus Christ he says is verse 5 for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounds through Christ this equips us to encourage hurting people now he says in verse 6 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 it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the suffering so also you will partake of the consolation we are equipped to comfort others suffering is not mindless suffering is not useless there's a purpose in it it conforms us into the image of Christ that strengthens us it deepens us and equips us to give to others that which he has given to us our hope is steadfast this knowledge of God working in us and doing this work encourages us to hold on and as a result of that we're able to encourage other people because God is given encouragement to us our hope for you he said in verse 7 is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings so also you will partake of the consolation even as God has brought consolation into the life of the Apostle Paul and Paul knows that the things he's gone through no difficult we're not pointless even so the Corinthians who go through suffering will also reap the same benefits they will grow in their faith in Jesus Christ my encouragement to you hold on don't allow the enemy to remove your hand from the hand of the Lord hold on the enemy wants to undermine he wants to destroy he wants to cause you to believe it's all pointless he wants you to believe that you shouldn't have a single bad day in your life the moment you got saved from that day on he wants you to believe that everything is supposed to go so well that you never have another sorrow another tear another disappointment but the fact of the matter is that's just not true when I got saved I believe that everything was going to just be perfect immediately and I found out pretty quickly that instead of life getting a lot easier there were things that actually became a lot more difficult but over the years I have discovered one thing that nothing that I've ever gone through has ever been pointless that the Lord has been able to take all those broken things broken dreams my broken heart on occasion and he's been able to put it back together again and he's made me stronger and he's refined my faith and he's made me more compassionate and he's begun to teach me what it means to be loved and to love and that's all come through the times that we're not simply the easiest ones came through the times that they were most difficult the losses the disappointments the rejections the accusations God has been there through every one of them he's taught me lessons but the number one lesson I'm learning with the Lord is I've been sharing lately because it's important for me the number one lesson he's teaching me is he loves me he doesn't leave me he's walking with me and he's taking me to be with him that matters to me so no matter what it is you go through you're not going through it alone and not only are you not going through it alone you're being equipped to help somebody else because they're going to go through something too and there's no guide like one who's been there on that path you can tell you this is the way to step be careful for this but go this way and I can do that now to some degree I can say God is faithful God is faithful God will take you through God will have his way God will cause you to triumph you will be victorious you will see the great end that God has for you you will see this why because God loves you he's faithful and he will never forsake you I can say that it's the truth