2nd Corinthians 1:1-7 “ The God of ALL Comfort “

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 (NASB95)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

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.

5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

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;

7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

“ The God of ALL Comfort “

The Apostle Paul speaks openly & candidly about the attacks on his life

He speaks openly & candidly about the attacks he received

And when you look at

The anointing that was on his life

It did not stop the attacks that was against his life

One of the misnomers that’s in the body of Christ

Is that we feel because God has placed an assignment on our life

And also an anointing to complete the assignment

That we should not be experiencing the attacks that’s coming against us

Just the mere fact that God has given you a God-given assignment

You should expect an attack to come with the assignment

But remember the attacks that you are going to face

Is not so much a PERSONAL attack against you

But the attack is to stop God’s will through you

The Attack is not against Paul per se

But the Attack is against the WORK of God

1 Corinthians 16:9 (ESV)

9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

The Attack is from the Enemy

That uses people in the church

That don’t won’t to live

Holy — Righteously — Hear Truth — Accountable — Be Faithful — Obey God’s will — Don’t Give

Paul was attacked in three different areas of his life

1st He was Attacked Physically

2 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)

9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Paul talks about he had some type of physical challenge

Some type of physical abuse against him

It was so physical

That it pushed the apostle Paul of totally relying on God

For his deliverance

1st He was Attacked Physically

2nd He was Attacked Spiritually

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 (ESV)

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

4:8–9. The four sets of contrasts in the text—all maximized by the phrase in every way—illustrate the connection between suffering in ministry and divine strength to overcome:

(1) although afflicted (the verb is used of a crowd pressing against Jesus in Mk 3:9 and pictures being hard-pressed by opponents), never crushed in the sense of being backed into a corner with no escape;

(2) although perplexed in the sense of being at a loss to know how to respond to a difficult situation (cf. Mk 6:20), “never a loser” (BDAG, 345);

(3) although pursued by others, never forsaken by God; and

(4) although struck down by physical abuse, never destroyed by physical death (cf. Paul’s experience at Lystra in Ac 14:1–10).

1st He was Attacked Physically

2nd He was Attacked Spiritually

3rd He was Attacked Ministerially

2 Corinthians 10:7–12 (ESV)

7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.

8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.

9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters.

10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.

12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

Paul was challenge

And his apostle ship

And his authority has been challenged

Judaizers and other persons had crept into the church

And these persons that have crept into the church

Was trying to undermine Paul’s effectiveness

By trying to discredit him as an apostle of Jesus Christ

He was Attack Physically

He was Attacked Spiritually

We was Attacked Ministerially

But in spite of the attacks

That the apostle Paul had to continue with

He takes out his pen and paper

And he writes this letter to the church at Corinth

And he wanted them to know

That the combats against him

Could not compare to the comfort

That he have received from God

[ The Combating of The Enemy cannot compete with the Comforting from the Lord ]

He wanted them to know

That the Lord had a level of comfort

Available for you

And when God releases his comfort

It is greater than the combat against you

When you read the 1st chapter of 2nd Corinthians

Paul uses words like

Tribulation and trouble

Words like suffering and affliction

These words describe the severity

Of the attack against these believers

This word tribulation/Affliction and trouble

It’s “ Thlipsis “ in the Greek

“ Thlipsis “ cannot, the thought of a heavy object being placed up on you, is having the life squeezed out of you.

These individuals that Paul was writing to

Was going through a level of tribulation

Trouble, suffering, and affliction

But Paul writes this letter

To let them know in spite of what they’re going through

That God is the God of all comfort

And somebody here today

Has a level of pressure that placed upon you

It feels like the life and breath is being squeezed out of you

But you have to realize that you serve The God of ALL comforts

You’re being squeezed as a child of God

You are being squeezed on your job

You are being squeezed as a single parent

You are being squeezed by trying to be the glue for your family

You have been squeezed away from your peace

But whatever pressure you are under

You have to know today that God is

The God of ALL Comfort

Comfort is available !!!!!!

Paul says several things

About the God of all comfort

1st Recognize the PERSON of Comfort

I have to advise you today

That if you’re going to be the recipient of comfort

You have to recognize the person of comfort

Now I know that I’m talking to people

That think they are smarter than The Bible

And just like the apostle, Paul has to remind these Corinthians

That God is the God of all comfort

You have to be reminded of that same thing today

And the reason why you have to be reminded

That God is the God of all comfort

Is because in our Day & time

We run to everything and everybody to comfort us.

RECOGNIZE

Please know that Paul is very clear

Because he says several things about God

That He is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ

God is the father of Mercies

But what excited me about verse 3

It’s not just that God is the father of the Lord Jesus Christ

And not just that He’s the father of Mercies

But that He is the God of ALL comfort

If you need comfort today

You have to recognize that God

Is the God of all comfort

He is the person of comfort

People can console you

But God has to be the one that comforts you

Your husband can console you

Your wife can console you

Your pastor can console you

Your best friend can console you

But only God can comfort you

Comfort – in the Greek is “ paraklesis “

Comfort – it means to come close for the purposes of strengthening and all establishing in the faith

God is the one

That will come close to you

And strengthen you in the faith

Somebody in here really need to praise God

Because the only reason why

you are making it through

what you’re going through

And survive what you’ve been through

It’s because it was God

That came close to you

Even though you was too weak

To come close to God

Psalm 34:18 (NASB95)

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

God is CLOSE !!!!!!!

2 Timothy 4:16–17 (ESV)

16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

In 2nd Tim 4:16-17 – in those verses, Paul was testifying, and he was talking about a time in his life when he was going to trial

And judging by the tone of the text, he suggested that he needed somebody to be there for him

Because he’s on trial he’s going to court, and this was one of the lowest points in Paul’s life

And while he was there on trial and Paul looked around and everybody that said that they was gonna be there for him was not there

He noticed that friends was not there

He noticed that family was not there

He discovered that other colleagues

And other preachers was not there

And other associates was not there

2 Timothy 4:16–17 (ESV)

16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

Nobody stood with me

Everybody forsook me

People I helped didn’t help me

People that I was therefore they wasn’t there for me

People that are stood up for them they didn’t stand up for me

People I spoke up for they didn’t speak up for me

People I was a reference for they wasn’t a reference for me

People I went to bat for they didn’t go to bat for me

All of them forsook me

But thanks be to God

For verse 17 – says

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

What could’ve happened didn’t happen

It would have happened

But it didn’t happen

I would have thrown in the towel

But I didn’t throw in the towel

I would have lost my mind

But I didn’t lose my mind

I would have walked away

But I didn’t walked away

WHY

Because the Lord has been on my side

Psalm 124 ESV – That WOULD HAVE HAPPEN But DIDN’T HAPPEN

What could have

And what would have

Didn’t happen

Jesus on the Cross

2nd Remember The PURPOSE of Comfort

3rd Rely on The PROMISE of Comfort