The God of All Comfort

God of All Comfort

One of the most amazing things that we readliy notice as we glance at this passage is the many times Paul uses the term comfort.

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a song about all the bad things that can happen in life—called Somebody Ought to Testify: “There's been times in my life When I was down and in despair, I fell down on my knees And I called on God in prayer. I thanked Him for His blessings, And I named them one by one, But most of all I thank You, Lord, for all You've done.”

Truly God is a God of comfort and we all need that comfort from time to time.

A little girl came home from a neighbor’s house where her little friend had died. “Why did you go?” questioned her father. “To comfort her mother,” said the child. “What could you possibly do to comfort her?” “I climbed into her lap and cried with her.” [1]

The most remarkable thing about this brief passage at the beginning of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is the fact that comfort or consolation occurs no less than 10 times in these 5 verses. I believe our God is going to great lengths in order to impress upon our minds that He is a God of Mercy and Comfort.

The text begins “Blessed be God…” the word blessed used here means to praise God—Praise God for who He is and that He is a God of Comfort.

When a friend was comforting the Rev. Richard Baxter (1615–1691) on his deathbed with the remembrance of the good which many had received by his preaching and writings, Mr. Baxter replied, “I was but a pen in God’s hand, and what praise is due to a pen?” Works of Charles Buck, 1822[1]

That should be the very attitude that each of us have acquired—all praise is due to God. For every success I have ever achieved in this life has come from the gracious hand of my God. Praise His Holy Name. as so Paul begins this letter reminding the Corinthians that even in trial, tribulation, or blessing—give God praise.

Now this word translated comfort here in this passage is παράκλησις. The word basically means to encourage a person who is in sorrow or misery. And when applied to God’s mercy it is the comfort He gives his people under judgment, or individuals in temptation.

Now the phrase says that God the Father is “the God of all comfort.” With the article “the” and the word “all” we understand that this is the very nature of our God. Just as John the Revelator says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God,” ()—God is love; Paul is saying that “To Comfort” is inherent within our God’s nature.

Never does God revel in our sufferings—IT IS His nature to love and comfort us even when the pain is self-inflicted.

J. Veron McGee once said, “So much is being said today about love. It is sloppy theology to say that God saves us by His love. Now it is true that God loves us. Oh, how He loves us! We just don’t know how much He loves us. It would break our hearts if we could comprehend how much God loves us. But God does not save us by His love. The Scriptures teach that we are saved by God’s grace. Now what is grace? We call it unmerited favor, which means that God saves us on a different basis than merit. God loves us, but He does not save us by His love. He saves us by His grace. Why? Because He is also the God of all mercies—the Father of mercies. Mercy means that God so loved us that He provided a Savior for us because He couldn’t save us any other way. Anything that we have today is a mercy from God. He is the Father of mercy. In fact, He is said to be rich in grace and rich in mercy.[2]

Now according to , “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” If we have experienced the love, grace, and mercy of Holy God then we are new creations. Actually God has placed His Holy Spirit within us to eternally change us and save us, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption,” ().

Now amazingly, the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter by Jesus. Here are two descriptive verses from :

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”

“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.”

So if I am saved, I now have the Holy Spirit—The Comforter—now living in my being. It is His nature to be comforting. Now going back to the term comfort used in our text the very root of this idea of comfort it has as its basis the call to comfort. In other words—if you are saved it will be inherent within you to be a comfort to others.

Paul put it this way in verse 4, “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 the Christian, everything that happens to me in this life becomes a teachable moment in order that I might bring some relief to another in this life. To what ever proportion I have received grace and mercy in the form of comfort from My Father God—I have the calling on my life to bring as much comfort to others as the opportunity presents itself.

I read a story of a woman who had a 6-month old baby. One bright day, the mother was in the kitchen with the baby in her arms—the baby died there in her arms. Her husband, the pastor, and the funeral director all tried to take the dead baby away from the grasp of the mother. The mother would not give up her baby boy. Another grieving mother who lived down the street heard of this. She had lost her baby six months previously. She came over and sat with the woman. She didn’t try to take the baby, but began to tell of her experiences and how her baby was in Heaven with Jesus and she, too, would go there one day. Without saying a word, the woman handed her the baby. She took him in to the father, came back, and both on their knees were praying. She was able to comfort her because of her own suffering.[1]

It all starts with receiving the comfort of the Lord. The very word comfort implies that I have a great need to be comforted. If you are lost this morning God has provided a way for you to know the most important comfort of all—to be saved and know you are forgiven.

[1] Galaxie Software. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press, 2002. Print.

[1] Galaxie Software. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press, 2002. Print.

[2] McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible Commentary: The Epistles (2 Corinthians). electronic ed. Vol. 45. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991. Print.

[1] Galaxie Software. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press, 2002. Print.