In the last couple of weeks, we have been discussing suffering as a Christian, suffering as a child of God, and experiencing tribulation—all of the things that really do come along with the Christian life. For instance, we looked at Philippians 1:29 a couple of times. Let us read it again, where it says:
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
We saw how this is part of the package; this is part of the gift of God. Faith comes as a gift and God gives it to His elect, but also wrapped up in that package is suffering for the sake of Christ, suffering as a Christian. There are many verses, many verses, that we could look at that teach this. For instance, Acts 14:22 says:
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
This is just as Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” And there will be “much tribulation.” We know that this is even compounded more in our day because we are living in the time of Great Tribulation that the world has never known. Yet, this is the normal expectation of the Christian.
Or turn to 1 Peter 2:19-21:
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
This is similar to what we read in 1 Peter 4:12-14:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy (or blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
Also, 1 Peter 4:16:
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
I could keep going. I could keep going and finding verses that point this out—what our mindset ought to be. What our expectation really should be in living the Christian life is one of trouble, affliction, persecution, reproach, reviling, etc., etc.
This is the lot of the child of God, and God does not try to deceive us in any way. He does not hide this news. He does not sweep it under a rug, like many preachers might do. They do not want to scare anybody away.
You see, this is part of the whole problem with preaching a wrong gospel, a false gospel, one where you think people have to take the action. If this is what you are preaching then you have to present the Gospel in such a way so that it is appealing to the people in order to not drive them out. All of these types of verses are glossed over and avoided and ignored because they do not want to scare the new convert away. After he has matured in the faith, about five to ten years, then maybe these verses can be looked at.
Of course, they never get to that point. Rarely do they look at these kinds of verses, yet God is telling us to be prepared and to be ready. When you are going to be a witness in the world, “Marvel not…if the world hate you.” Jesus said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” If the world was so antagonistic and so against the Lord Jesus Christ, then what can we expect, those who are just simply servants of Christ?
This is what the Bible teaches, but God does not leave us here, and actually, if He did, that would be fine. But we also read about Lazarus. Lazarus was a beggar. He was full of sores, and he suffered and suffered and suffered throughout his life. We do not read of any particular blessings coming to Lazarus during his life in this world. It is after this world that God reveals that Lazarus was most blessed and that he was comforted being in “Abraham’s bosom.” Lazarus really had it made all the while, believe it or not.
So in a picture like this, God does not really emphasize the blessings of the Gospel, but in many other places He does—He does. For instance, in 2 Corinthians 1:1-7, we read:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia: grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
You can see how God is emphasizing suffering. You can not avoid it. You are going to experience this if you live as a child of God, if you are obedient to the Word of God. For the Word’s sake, suffering will come.
But notice what God is saying. There will be comfort and there will be consolation, which really means the same thing and is actually the same word. Again and again, ten times in these seven verses, God speaks of comfort, of consolation, and of He Himself comforting the child of God.
So we are not really left like a Lazarus, with all of our sores and all of our afflictions, with no help. We do have a helper. We do have someone who is going to come and apply the “balm” to our sores, someone who is going to be that Great Physician who comes and comforts us when we are afflicted.
Of course, we have to be careful when we are talking about being comforted by God, because we know that it really only applies to God’s elect. It only applies to true believers, because the Holy Ghost is the Comforter.
In John 14:16-17, it says:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
This is the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. It is another name for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Comforter.
“The world cannot receive” the Comforter, therefore the world will lack comforting, but the world will still comfort itself. People will comfort other people when there are tragedies. When there is illness, families comfort one another in the family. People go after things in the world for comfort, like drugs and alcohol—things that will kind of take away their aches and the problems that they have with their conscience and their anxieties.
When they are fearful, they go and try to find comfort in things that are out there in the world, but they lack the Comforter. The Comforter is real comfort, real Bible comfort, the only real comfort there is, because any other type of ointment or salve is just a temporary fix. Any other type of ointment or salve is not really going to correct the deep-down problem, which is our relationship with God and that we need a Saviour; we need salvation and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.
Also, look at John 14:26:
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Then John 16:26:
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
And John 16:7:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you…
In the same context, we read in John 16:13:
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…
You see, in three out of the four places, the Comforter is also called the “Spirit of truth.” In the one place, in John 14:26, it says that He will “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you,” referring to the Word of God. This is how God comforts. True Biblical comfort is truth, Truth, a faithful saying of the Word of God.
If someone goes into a church, they will hear the pastor trying to comfort the people with “God loves you. He cares about you. He has a wonderful plan for you.” These are very comforting words, “God is going to bring you into Heaven.” Yet, they are not true. They are not true; at least, he does not know whether or not they are true concerning the majority of the people in his church or even all of the people in his church. He does not know whom God has saved and whom He has not saved, so there really is not any comfort.
This is just like worldly comfort. It is just like someone who is living in the world and they just tell you, “Everything is going to be alright.” You have cancer, yet they say, “Do not worry about it. Everything is going to be alright.”
Well, that person is going to die in six months. What can the world say to comfort someone who is facing death and who is about to meet their God? For all intents and purposes, they have no words to say. This is why they are so awkward in this kind of situation. They do not know what to say, because they have no comfort for anyone who is about to leave this world.
In Ezekiel 13:22, God is speaking about those who would proclaim falsehood and who would tell people nice things, very nice things—smooth things, flattering things—but unfortunately, not true things. In Ezekiel 13:22, He says:
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad…
You see, this is the child of God. The child of God is not comforted when a lie is taught, when a lie is proclaimed.
Some of us have probably experienced this in the church. Someone says, “What a great message! What a great sermon! How wonderful that preaching was!” Yet, we were disturbed. We were disturbed in our souls, because it just did not comfort us at all to hear what the preacher was saying about accepting Christ and entering into the Kingdom of God. We just did not get it. How was that supposed to comfort us? We realized that there had to be something more. Even if we did not have a full knowledge of what the Bible taught, there was a disturbance in our heart. This is why God is saying:
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
So when they give that promise, “Come down the aisle; accept Christ; say the sinner’s prayer,” they just “strengthened the hands of the wicked.” Their will is now to the point where they believe, “I have salvation; do not try to hand me a tract that says, ‘Did God Die for You?’ or ‘Does God Love You?’ Save that for someone who needs it.”
You see, they are strengthened in the way that they are going. They have security in their salvation because on such and such a date, they pledged their allegiance to Christ and the Kingdom of God, and they accepted Him.
Yet, this is not comfort. Comfort from the Bible is truth, no matter what that truth is. It is comforting for the child of God to hear about the end of the Church Age. It is comforting for the child of God to hear about Hell. It is comforting for the child of God to hear about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us this. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Comfort one another. Comfort—to think that Christ is going to return and the world is going to be destroyed and that billions of people are going to be judged? Yes, because it is the truth. It is truth, and the believer does not shy away from truth. We love the truth. We do not resist the truth. We want to hear the truth; it comforts our hearts. So, yes, a child of God can talk about these things and be encouraged and strengthened in his soul by hearing these things, because they are true to the Word of God.
This is what God is saying. Yes, we are going to have affliction. There will be tribulation. There will be reproaches for the Word’s sake, for Christ’s sake. But on top of that, there will be comfort, great comfort.
If we turn to 2 Corinthians 1, I am going to try to quickly go through the first couple of verses and then get into verse 3 and following. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
Paul is a man whom God used to write many of the Epistles, much of the New Testament Scripture. However, there are some people who like to talk about Paul’s writings and try to make an accusation that they are somehow different than the rest of the Bible, that he was not really an Apostle. There are many who would like to say that the writings of Paul are not even Scripture. Of course, this is not true. We read in 2 Peter 3:15-16:
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
You can see how Peter, whom God is moving to write, is confirming that Paul was used of God as he has written his Epistles, just like the other Scriptures. It is all one Book, one Bible, and “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” So this is the Word of God; it comes forth from the mouth of God.
Then we read in 2 Corinthians 1:2:
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is very common. It is very common. We find this in just about every Epistle. In just about every Epistle, within the first two or three verses, we will find statements like, “grace to you,” “peace to you,” “mercy unto you,” or “mercy upon you,” and so forth.
We tend to just read these statements as if they are an opening address, and then we just move on. But actually, these statements reflect the heart of the Gospel. “Peace to you.” “Grace to you.” This is the Gospel, is it not? “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves.”
So the Apostle Paul is saying that this is the desire of the believers. The desire of God, of course, is to save His elect. The believers do not know who His elect are. “Grace to you” and “Peace to you” who read the Word of God. May the peace of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, enter into our lives and cause the warfare to cease between us and God. So this is a statement that has everything to do with salvation.
Continuing, we read in 2 Corinthians 1:3:
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
“The Father of mercies” is the name of God, another one of the names of God. He is the Father of mercies, so mercy originated with God. It comes forth from God. In John 8, in speaking of Satan, it says, “From the beginning…he is a liar, and the father of it.” Lies originated from Satan. They came forth from the devil. Yet mercies come forth from God. He is the Father of mercies and He is a merciful God. He delights in mercy. He intends to have mercy upon His people. He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy, but still, He is going to forgive a great multitude of their sins and their transgressions, and He is going to pay for those sins Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus. So He is “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort”—all comfort.
God is a God who actually, at first, troubles us. He troubles us. We are really disturbed when we hear the Gospel message and we learn about our sins. We learn that we are a sinner and that we are under the wrath of God. We learn that His wrath means eternal damnation, that we have to spend an eternity in Hell. We become sorry for our sin, and so forth. There are all kinds of things that begin to bother us once we hear the Gospel.
In other words, God breaks us. He gives us a broken and a contrite heart. He humbles us. He causes us to mourn over what the Word of God, what the Law of God is showing us about ourselves. Then He begins to comfort—if we are a true child of God.
If we are truly saved, the Holy Spirit has come into us and the Comforter is now present. Now God’s Word begins to apply the bandages and the medicine to the wounds. God’s Word begins to heal the brokenhearted. God begins to comfort His people; He is the God of all comfort.
Let us go to a few verses that point this out. The first is in Isaiah 40:1-2, where it says:
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned…
Here, God is really declaring to those who bring the Gospel that part of the Gospel message is to bring words of comfort. Of course, the Gospel itself is what is going to comfort God’s people. It is the Word of God that will help someone in their trouble.
Let us also turn to Psalm 23:4. This is a very familiar Psalm. It says:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
The “rod” and “staff” are referring again to the Bible.
Or turn to Psalm 119:49-50:
Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Repeatedly, repeatedly, God’s Word is spoken of as a comfort. If we go to Romans 15:4, it actually says this:
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
This verse says, “comfort of the Scriptures.” All Scripture, all Scripture is what the child of God can be comforted by.
There are particular verses; there are definite verses that we can go to. For example, if anyone is afraid, they can turn to the verse that says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Or if anyone is anxious, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
If anyone is in trouble, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Not only in eternity to come, of course, but presently, God is our help in trouble.
If any is weak, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The Bible is so comforting, no matter what it is.
If any is cast down in soul, what does the Bible tell us? “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God.”
You can see how the Word of God has the soothing ointment. I do not know how else to say this. I do not know how else to describe this. It has the perfect remedy for whatever our ailment is, whether it is spiritual, whether it is physical, whether we have cancer, whether we have a cold, whether we have stubbed our toe, or whether we have reproaches and reviling—no matter what. No matter what, the Bible strengthens us and encourages us and comforts us. It is the hope and it is the lifeblood for the child of God.
Let us also go to Isaiah 61. There are a couple of different passages in Isaiah that I would like to read. Isaiah 61:1-3:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
You can see how God is just wrapping it all up in the Gospel message, no matter what it is. No matter what it is, it really does not matter what problem you or I have. It could be financial or anything else. Whatever kind of problem that we may have in this world, God is the One that we have to go to. The Word of God is where we should be going. We should be reading and crying out to Him, because He is the God of all comfort.
Look at Isaiah 66:10-13. It says:
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
God is saying that He is like a mother. We have many examples of this. The child falls and really hits their head very hard, so they just begin to wail and cry. They are in pain. Soon comes the mother and wraps up the boy or girl in her arms and the child receives comforting, sweet comforting words that the mother gives to the child, “There, there.” This is what God is saying. He is like a mother who will comfort you. He will comfort you in your problems.
If we go back to 2 Corinthians 1, in those seven verses, the word “comfort” or “comforting” or “consolation” is found ten times. They are actually two different Greek words. In 2 Corinthians 1:3, where it says:
…the God of all comfort;
This is the Greek word # 3874, “paraklesis,” which is close to “parakletos,” the Comforter. So it is a related word to that. But in the next verse, in 2 Corinthians 1:4, where it says:
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble…
Those two words, “comforteth” and “comfort,” are a different Greek word. They are “parakaleo,” which means “to call near,” “to bring near.” You see, if you are in trouble, if you have heartache of any kind, God is calling you near. “Come to Me.” Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
He is telling us to come to Him. He can comfort our soul. He can comfort our heart. He is the One who can apply His Word to whatever it is that is troubling us. You can find true comfort in Him through the Word of God, the Bible.
Let us continue reading in 2 Corinthians 1:4:
…that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble…
Do you see what God is saying? He comforts us in our tribulation so that we may be able to comfort them. We are going out with the Gospel because there are people who are in deep trouble, in very deep trouble, and they need the Comforter; they need the comfort of the Word of God. God first saves the child of God. Then He equips them and calls them to go forth with the Word of God, and the child of God knows what I have been talking about. The child of God knows. There is no real need to explain what I am saying when I am talking about going to verses like “God is our refuge and strength.”
How many times have we found it necessary to go to verses like this when there just does not seem to be any other place that we can go? We can not go to man; they will not understand. We can not go to any other place but the Bible, and the Bible has comforted us. It has been a strength for us. It has been a joy for us. It has been a great hope for us. God then has strengthened us through His Word, so we can go out and we can share the Gospel with others with the hope that they might also be comforted, as it says in 2 Corinthians 1:4:
…by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Then we read in 2 Corinthians 1:5:
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
We do not have to worry about being so burdened and so troubled and experiencing such a great trial that we might not be able to make it. God will bring His people through and He will cause comfort to increase. If we are in a place where affliction has increased, then the comfort of the Word of God will even be more dear to us. It will be closer to us. It will be something that is a great blessing to us.
The next verse, 2 Corinthians 1:6, says:
And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation...
Again, God is laying out the Biblical principle of why we are here. The Biblical principle is that we are to partake in Christ’s sufferings because we are carrying the Gospel so that the elect might be saved. Just as Jesus died for the elect, we are experiencing trouble and tribulation on behalf of the elect as well.
Continuing in 2 Corinthians 1:6-7:
…which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
Of course, the great consolation, the great comfort is when we are brought into the Kingdom of God and we receive a new resurrected body; we are given the gift of eternal life. Now we have joy and peace and hope and love. There is no more sadness. There are no more tears. There are no more troubles. There are no more afflictions. There is only the wonderful comfort, for ever and ever, of being in the very presence of God and being in the very presence of the living Word of God, eternally.
This is our great comfort and this is why in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, God writes:
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
This is comforting. This is comforting, is it not? Is it not? No matter what problem in no matter what area, if we are a prisoner in a Muslim country because of our faith, or whatever it is, it is a “light affliction.” The Word of God applies the comfort to the situation, and the believer has to agree, “Yes, it is light. Even if I live to be 60 or 70 or 80, it is a ‘light affliction.’” But knowing that the “time is short,” it becomes an even much, much lighter load to bear and even less of a burden. So we find comfort everywhere that we turn in the Word of God.