2 Corinthians - Lesson 1D

• Last week, after a two-week introduction into 2 Corinthians, we finally made our way into the actual Book or letter itself. Of course, we didn’t make it very far, only made it through four verses. But who cares. It’s all about quality not quantity.

  • So, this morning, as a segway into this week’s teaching, I want us to back up and re-read those verses one more time for context. Listen closely to what the Apostle Paul has to say:

2 Cor. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2 Cor. 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

• Right out of the gate, Paul lets this church (and by extension you and I) know that their God and our God is the God of “all” comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction. And He does so that we will be able to comfort those who find themselves in any affliction. Specifically, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Very interesting concept here and one we will explore in depth this morning.

  • Now, I want you to follow Paul’s logic here. The God who comforts us, who brings about comfort in “all” our afflictions, equips us to comfort others in the same way He (being God) comforts us.

  • At the end of last week’s teaching, I told you that if you came back this week, you were going to learn just exactly how this process happens. How it could be that you and I as humans, and more specifically believers, could possibly comfort others in the same way God comforts us. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Not really, when you see how God does it.

• Now, before delving too deep into this concept this morning, I want to back up and revisit this word comfort one more time. Because as I stated last week, this word “comfort” is going to show up all throughout this Epistle. As a matter of fact, it will occur 18 times as a verb (an action) and 11 times as a noun in various forms, so, it’s significant to Paul’s writings.

  • The word comfort, as we use the term, comes from two words in the Latin - the word Con - which means “together” and Fortis - which means “strong”. Most of the time when we think of the word comfort, we tend to think of it in an emotional sense, as in comforting someone or consoling someone with our words.

  • But as I previously stated, that’s not the definition of the word Paul is using here. The word comfort here actually means to strengthen someone. To strengthen them. The Greek word is Parakleesis (Pars-Klee -sis), which means “called alongside to help”. It means when you hurt, I hurt, and when you’re down, I’m down.

    • And this definition or meaning lines up perfectly with the entire testimony of scripture, not just what Paul wrote. I want to read from James 2:14-17 as further proof of what I am saying. James 2:14-17 is going to speak about our faith in relation to our works. Another way to say it would be, our words lining up with our actions.

    • See if you can follow the progression of logic here as we read what James wrote:

James 2:14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 
James 2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 
James 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 
James 2:17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

• Now the concept here is a simple one, but it’s been over-complicated throughout the years. Any veteran Christian should know that works do not save us. James says faith without works is dead.

  • In other words, doing a work, or works, is not going to save you, but if you are saved you should be doing works. Another way to say it is, if you are saved, you should be bearing fruit in your life. It’s the equivalent of someone saying one thing but doing another.

  • If you are saved, fruit should be manifest in your life. Pretty simple to understand, and the same applies to Paul’s definition of comfort. Meaning, it works on the same premises. Comforting someone is not just saying, “I’ll pray for you” or “We will pray for you”.

    • It’s literally coming along side someone and strengthening them. Just like your faith, it must carry with it an element of action. So must the Biblical process of comforting someone.

    • But how? With words. But not in the way we think of it. So, if it’s words, but not in the way we think of it, then what is it? You’ll soon see, there is a supernatural design that is opposite to what we’ve been classically taught.

• First, it requires an investment of time into that individual, which is tough, especially in the world we live in. Whether you realize it or not, time is the most valuable thing you possess, and it supersedes any other type of wealth or possession you may have.

  • It’s also limited, and what’s interesting is, regardless of socio-economic class, we all get the same amount of it. And so, what you do with your time matters. If you are a believer, what should you be doing with most of your time? The work of ministry!

    • I didn’t say going to Church. I said the work of ministry, which is “Something you do as you go”, not “something you go do”. That means it’s what you do when you’re working and moving about in your everyday life. That’s where real ministry takes place. Very little ministry takes place at church.

• Anyway, back to this valuable possession we call time. As I said, it’s so valuable because we are so busy, busier than we have ever been. But what’s interesting is we aren’t really getting any more accomplished than we ever did. Primarily because of what I call the “Fill in the Gap Law”.

  • Now, if you have never heard of this law, that’s alright, because I made it up. The Fill in the Gap Law says, “When my life becomes more efficient, through the reduction of time, through technology or a quicker system or process, when my time is freed up, I just fill it in with something else”.

    • I can prove what I am saying. Does anyone order their groceries online? What a wonderful time saver. You order them and then go pick them up in the parking lot. They bring them to you. Does it save time? It’s supposed to. Let’s say for this exercise it does.

    • Can you tell me what you did with that extra time? Probably not. No one can. And why? Because you “Filled in The Gap” with something else. Time is our most valuable possession, and how we manage it (as it relates to ministry) matters. You get the point.

• Last week, when speaking of comforting someone, I used my brother-in-law as an example of what this type of comfort looked like in an individual, and I won’t re-tell the story. But if you haven’t heard it, I encourage you to go back and listen to last week’s teaching.

  • Because, through my niece’s death, my sister’s friend at the time (now her husband) comforted her in the same way Paul wrote about comfort in 2 Corinthians. So, this concept of comfort is a heavy one. It’s weighty, because as I said, it’s a coming along side and strengthening of the individual. And it requires your time.

  • But the question remains, how do we accomplish this? And furthermore, is it even possible for us to do this as humans? If it is, can we possibly do it in the same way God does it for us?

    • Also, are we supposed to take on everyone’s burdens? Are we supposed to come along side everyone we meet and strengthen them? If you are concerned about this, you can take a deep breath, because the answer is No.

    • Even if we wanted to, there is no way you and I could come alongside everyone we meet and strengthen them.

  • But what about the ones we do feel led to come alongside? Is it possible to comfort them the way God comforts us? I would tell you in a physical sense the answer is no. Meaning, there is no way to take on someone’s burdens, someone’s pain to the point that you feel the same way they feel. That’s simply not possible.

  • And why? Because the stakes are not the same for you as they are for them. I kind of relate it to playing poker with your own money versus someone else’s. If I were a good poker player, which means I won more than I lost, and you came to me one day and said, “Hey Greg, I know you are a good poker player, and you win more than you lose. I would like to give you all my money”.

    • “Everything my wife and I have saved for a lifetime, and I want you to play poker with it and try and double it for us. If you do that, I will give you a percentage of what you win for us”. The question is, would it be possible for me to mentally approach that game of poker the same way I would approach it using my own money?

  • The answer is no. Psychologically it’s simply not possible. The same holds true when it comes to taking on someone else’s burden. But that’s not what God is asking us to do. He is asking us to come alongside and comfort people by strengthening them, in the same way that God comforts us.

• But once again, this begs the question how does that work? Meaning, how does God comfort us? We have many examples in scripture of God comforting someone, but this morning I want to focus on that process, and not simply the result.

  • Specifically, the process that God puts us through so that we are equipped to bring comfort to others. And to do this, I want to use the Greatest Commentary on the Bible, which is none other than The Bible itself.

  • And we will start out with Philippians 4. Listen to what Paul says:

Phil. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 
Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

• So, God’s directive to us is not to be anxious about anything. But the problem is that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? So just exactly how does that work? If I am anxious and worried or stressed, how do I simply not be those things?

  • You could say, “well just do it”, but this isn’t Nike, and so that doesn’t work. We can’t simply say the words, “I am now not anxious”, and there it is. You are now not anxious. Obviously, that doesn’t work, and lucky for us that’s not what God meant.

  • The key to not being anxious shows up in the rest of the verse, where it says, but, in everything by prayer, and pleading, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

• Notice first, it said in everything, which means all things. Anything that makes you worry. And the first step is to be prayerful. Pray. That’s step 1. Start out with prayer. And then what’s next? Step 2 is with pleading.

  • And the final step is to be thankful. With thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. So, it’s Pray, Plead/Pleadings (this is in a legal sense) not a begging sense. In other words, put forth your position in the request. And don’t forget to do it in a state of thankfulness. Be thankful in all things (which means even in the bad things). It’s then, and only then, that your request be made known to God.

• So, there’s the process. This is God’s prescription for processing your request and if you do that, what’s the result? Verse 7 is the result:

Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

• This directive is an objective directive (absolute). Meaning, it’s not subjective (open ended). And it’s laid out in a very clear cut and precise way. Another way to say it is, if this, then this. So, there’s the process for not being anxious.

• But there’s another verse I want us to look at for further insight into this fact. It shows up in the Psalms, where the Psalmist says, in what is (probably) the most famous Psalm of all - the 23rd Psalm. In this Psalm God goes out of His way to paint for us a picture of the type of comfort that He has made available to us, and how it’s achieved.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I will not be in need.

• Let me just pause here for a minute. I love how God gives us this empirical statement. God is our shepherd. If you are saved (accepted Jesus Christ as Lord), He is your Shepherd - and that’s a fact. Which means, this truth is a truth that you can count on.

  • And in a world of uncertainty, that means something. It’s extremely important you understand this, because if He is our Shepherd then we are what? “His Sheep”. If you are a believer, you’re a sheep.

    • So, if believers are sheep, then what are non-believers? “Goats”. That’s the Bible’s description of a non-believer. And that does not mean “The greatest of all time”. So, if you are a believer, you are a sheep. And as a sheep, you have the attributes and qualities, and you operate and live in the environment of sheep.

    • Meaning, you have enemies and predators, namely the enemy of God, Satan and his demons, and they are out to get you. So, you are under constant threat, just like a sheep.

  • This is important, and if you understand this fact and relate your life to that of a sheep, then you understand that the Shepherd takes care of His sheep. Which is why God says through the Psalmist; You will not be in need, because He’s always taking care of you.

• Now as I said, understanding this concept is very important. Think about it like sheep grazing in the field. As they graze, they know there are predators among them, and yet they have comfort knowing the Shepherd is watching over them.

  • Simply knowing they are protected, no matter what, allows them to eat in peace. That is the sense here. Believers are sheep, and God is our Shepherd, and it’s for that reason we can rest easy, knowing He has got us!

    • Next, the Psalmist says:

Psalm 23:2 He lets (or the Hebrew says - “makes” - which is a better word in my opinion)
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul;
He guides (Hebrew says - “Leads”) me in the paths of righteousness.

• By the way, when someone is righteous in scripture what are they? They are saved, because they’ve been made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s how we are made righteous.

• Now, there are two important aspects I want us to note about verses 2 & 3, and both are important, but one is even more important. First, we have the word “He”:

  • He makes

  • He leads

  • He restores

  • He guides

    • Who’s doing it? He is. God is in charge. He is doing it. Which means, you and I aren’t doing it (Really important for us to understand). We are not in control. The second aspect (and the more important of the two), is the phrase “For the sake of His name.”

    • “For whose name’s sake”? For His. God does all that He does for a specific reason, and not for the reason most of us have been taught. We have been taught that God does all that He does because He loves us. But that’s not true.

    • He does love us, but that’s not why He does what He does. He does it for His name’s sake. Not yours and not mine. For His name’s Sake!

  • These are important words for us to understand. But why? Because wouldn’t you rather have God do something for His benefit rather than yours? Think about it, what means more, His benefit, or ours?

• Now this concept might rub us the wrong way at first, because it might make us feel as if the Lord is selfish, or self-centered, or self-absorbed. And if you think that, or feel that, you would be wrong. I’ll tell you why.

  • At the end of the day, if it benefits Him, it automatically benefits you, right?  Which one would give you more confidence, Him doing something for you, or Him doing something for Him? Something that you know automatically benefits you.   

• Another way to say it is, in the “hierarchy” of creation, who’s more important, you or Him? “The Creator” or “The Created”? You get the point. You see, because He is watching over us, for His namesake, we can have the utmost confidence knowing that we are taken care of! And if that’s the case, then the natural byproduct of this reality (in your mind and heart) is what? Comfort and peace!

  • And so, that’s how it works. Now moving on to verse 4 - the Psalmist says:

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…

• Once again, let me pause for just a second, and I’m not going to make too big a deal about this. But I do want to point something out. Something I think is interesting with the Psalmist word progression.

  • Notice that He (God) does all the good stuff and “I” when left up to me, I end up in the bad stuff. In other words, He makes me, He leads me, He guides me, and then, He restores me, but I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

  • You can kind of get the sense that the Psalmist is saying here, “I walked into trouble. I went the wrong direction. I walked into something I shouldn’t have. But God was with me, and He guides me through it. He restores me.

  • This theory is confirmed in the second half of the verse when he says,

…“I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

• In other words, I got myself into a mess, but you brought me through it, and because I know that you are there, that you are in control, that you protect and guide me.

  • And you do so, both with your rod and a staff. The rod was used by the Shepherd to beat off attacking animals, and the staff (the walking stick) kept the sheep away from physical dangers. God uses both these instruments (as our Shepherd) to guide us and to ward off our enemies. The word comfort here is once again used as a verb, which means God is active in your life, guiding you and protecting you, and if you understand this, both in your heart and mind, that brings you the comfort of God.

  • Next, in verse 5:

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil, My cup overflows.
Psalm 23:6 Certainly goodness and faithfulness (mercy in the Hebrew) will follow me all the days of my life, and my dwelling will be in the house of the LORD forever.

• By now you should understand one thing. God is in control - period! Even in “the valley of the shadow of death (i.e., the worst of times of your life)”. And because you can count on this very fact you will be Comforted. Let me give you a real-life analogy that might drive this point home a little more.

  • In life there are people you can depend on and there are people you cannot depend on and unfortunately this is the truth of life. Daffney and I have found this to be true, especially in our business. There are people we can give important things to and rest easy knowing it’s handled, and there are those who we cannot give important things to, because we know they won’t get it done.

  • When I hand something off to someone I trust to handle it, I no longer worry about it anymore because I know they will handle it. And in a world of uncertainty, those people are a Godsend. Now, before getting too far into this topic let me be clear on something.

    • This is not an all-or-nothing proposition as it relates to people. Meaning, all non-dependable “per se” people are not necessarily non-dependable in all categories. I’ll use myself as a real-life example.

    • If my wife asks me to stop at the store and pick something up, she almost always must worry about it getting done because she knows I will forget it. Which makes her worry, and rightly so, because my track record isn’t very good when it comes to stopping off at the store, because I always forget.

    • As a result, she must constantly remind me, and follow up, which leaves her feeling uneasy and unsure, and honestly causes her to worry even more. It makes her worry so much that she probably says to herself, forget it, I’ll just do it myself.

    • But having said that, that’s not the way I am in all categories. For example, when it comes to protecting our family, in that category she can lay her head down at night and know that I will always protect her and the kids. And because she knows this, she sleeps easily at night. She doesn’t worry or stress over being protected. You get the point.

• When it comes to God, that feeling of dependability and security should always be present in your life because He is rock solid in all categories. Now the question is, do you feel that way about Him? Are you comforted when things are uncertain, while you’re in the storm or the “Valley of the Shadow of death”?

  • If not, there is a reason for that; it’s because you haven’t gotten to know Him in a deeply intimate way. But how do we get intimate with Him? By studying and ingesting His Memoirs. Through His word. It is always through His word.

  • When you’ve studied His word for an extended period of time, it will begin to become truth, and once it becomes a truth in our life, when we believe His word (which by the way - is simply God in word form), that’s when you begin to develop the “Comfort” of God, and along with it comes “A peace that passes all understanding”.

• So, if we are sheep, and He is our Shephard, then by knowing Him more intimately that’s how we are comforted. So, if you don’t feel comforted, delve into His Word.

  • Back to 2 Corinthians. Let me re-read verse 4 one more time for context and I promise we are closing in on the end.

 2 Cor. 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

• God comforts us, and for that reason we should comfort others in the same way He comforts us. But, once again, how do we do it? I mean, seriously. As I stated earlier, is it even possible for me to comfort someone in the way God comforts me? The answer is Yes.

  • Paul wouldn’t have mentioned it the way he did if it wasn’t possible. God said we were comforted so we could comfort others with the same comfort He gave us. So, how does that work? Not in the way you might think.

• By now, we understand that the comfort Paul is referring to is not just consoling, it’s coming along side and strengthening. But how is that even possible really? Remember, when we are comforted by God, it’s through our minds. When it registers in our minds that He is who He says he is, “That He is our Savior, and that He died for us, gave His life for us”, and ultimately, that He suffered for us so that we could one day be with Him in Heaven.

  • But how could we invoke that type of confidence in someone to the point that they felt comforted? As I said, the answer is not what you might expect. So, what is it?

  • It’s found in verses 5-7:

2 Cor. 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
2 Cor. 1:6  But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 
2 Cor. 1:7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

• Guys, in these verses we get the answer to two of our questions:

  • 1) How “we” comfort others in the same way God comforts us, and

  • 2) How we know which people we are best suited to comfort, to invest in (given our limited time).

    • In these verses God gives us the answer to both questions. And the prescription comes through a combination of two words - “Suffering and Comfort”. One is necessary for the other to take place.

• Look at what Paul says, “Just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ”. Paul is speaking of himself and his fellow workers in the faith, men like Timothy, Titus, and other Apostles, disciples, and church leaders. Men who suffered for Christ, and men who counted it as an honor to do so.

  • But why? Because through suffering we draw closer to Him. Suffering never comes by accident (just so you know), because God is always in control. Suffering is by God’s design. And as I said, it does two things:

    • First, it builds your spiritual immune system, because accompanying any suffering is an applied question. Do you trust Him? According to the testimony of scripture, suffering is the prerequisite for God’s comfort. And it’s through suffering that you learn to trust God.

• This morning are you suffering or are you hurting? Are you going through something? Whatever it is you are going through in your life, whatever it is that has brought pain and suffering to your life, at the core of your suffering is an underlying question. One that God is asking. Do you trust him?

  • And if you don’t completely trust Him in the moment, it’s okay. Because eventually, with the benefit of hindsight, you will. We will always suffer, because it’s through suffering that we learn to trust God. It’s the ole “Footprints in the Sand” analogy.

• But there’s a second thing that Suffering does. It equips us to “Comfort” others. It’s simple. “Your suffering created your Credentials”. Earned you the right to comfort someone.

  • Many years ago, I came to work one day, and my bookkeeper was nowhere to be found. I called her and finally got her on the phone. She was distraught, and really in a malaise, a haze, a fog. She wasn’t speaking clearly.

  • She told me she couldn’t come to work because she had just received news that her son, who was in college at the time, committed suicide the previous afternoon. I was immediately shocked, but obviously not near as shocked as she was.

  • When she shared the news, I remember scrambling, trying to think of the words to say. But try as I may, there were no words I could say. I felt totally ill equipped for that conversation. There was nothing I could say that would bring her comfort.

  • Eventually, she resigned her job with us. She said the stress was just too much. Throughout the years I lost touch with her. A few years later, I caught up with her and asked her how she was doing. She was noticeably doing much better. She began telling me about this support group she had joined. It was a group of people who had a similar tragedy in their life.

    • They had lost a child or loved one to suicide. She told me how they all would get together and take trips; go hiking and camping and Horseback riding. They were able to connect with one another on a level that only a person who had lost a loved one to suicide could connect.

    • You see, through the suffering of another person, she found comfort, solace, and peace. Through their suffering she began the healing process. This is exactly what Paul is writing about here.

  • How do you strengthen someone? You suffer. How do you bring the “comfort” of God into someone’s life? Through the recounting of your own suffering. And the type of suffering you go through matters, because it’s through that suffering that you know whom you are best suited to comfort.

• This gives us the answer to whom we are to focus our individual efforts on. Whom we should invest in. Remember, as a believer you are a minister, and as a minister you are to participate in the work of ministry, and it’s through your “Sorrows that you earn your Credentials”.

  • You lost a child - minister to those who have lost children. You lost a spouse - minister to those who have lost spouses. You’ve been fired from a job - minister to those who have just been fired from a job. You’re broke - minister to someone who is broke. You have been divorced, minister to those who have been divorced.

• Just remember, there can never be comfort without suffering, and it’s through your suffering that you earn the right to minister to those in similar need.