Welcome to our new site!

Sermon
Bethlehem College & Seminary

The Strengthening Comfort of God

Listen on

August 17, 2025
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Boaz Prince

Suffering & Trials

The Love of God

Hope

Transcript

0:22Well, good morning everyone. My name is Boaz Prince. I'm a fourth year seminarian at Bethlehem College in Seminary, and I also serve as the ministry assistant for youth and families here at the North Church. Now, some of you know me as the guy who reads scripture on Sunday mornings. Um, I've also run into people at Aldi where they go, oh, you are the guy who reads scripture, right? Yeah. But it's my joy this morning to go a step ahead and unpack God's word for you this morning. So let's go to the Lord and prayer. Father, would you please grant us this morning the ability to see and know through your word the immeasurable spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus.

1:09I ask this for your glory and our joy. Amen. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word comfort? Sleeping on a fluffy mattress in a pillow, maybe spending a chilly evening on a cozy armchair by the fireplace with a hot cup of cocoa. And some of you may be saying, yeah, and that's because comfort in a modern sense in our culture means coziness and luxury. We all naturally desire comfort. A desire for comfort dictates where we live and what we do and what we buy. And the pursuit of comfort even drives innovation in our country, right? Someone somewhere in the world right now is inventing something to make our lives easier and comfortable, but the desire to simplify even the simplest aspects of our life can sometimes become really observed.

2:12Can you imagine that someone invented the electric toothbrush because how? Because of how strenuous it is to brush your teeth every morning, right? But comfort could also mean alleviation of pain. We have hospice care and nursing homes to provide comfort for people with terminal illnesses to help ease their pain. And all that to say, our mind naturally associates comfort with ease and luxury and success and security and prosperity parody. Our text this morning is all about comfort In the span of five verses, Paul talks about the comfort of God and the word comfort occurs 10 times in a span of just five verses.

3:03But the question is this, does the comfort of God in second Corinthians refer to cozy feelings? Does it refer to relaxation or luxury or freedom from hardship or consolation? Is it finding a positive perspective in the midst of a negative situation? Before we can understand what God's comfort is, we need to know the circumstances in which the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the second, uh, to the Corinthians, the second letter. Paul experienced severe afflictions before he wrote this letter. Because of his calling as an apostle, the affliction was so severe that Paul says, if you look at chapter one verse verse eight, he says, they were utterly burdened beyond their strength that they despaired of life itself.

3:58He says in verse nine, they felt that they received the sentence of death and he to it off, some false teachers in the church had accused Paul of being a false apostle and walking in the flesh because of his sufferings. The goal of the false apostles was to turn the Corinthians away from Paul and just as they had intended, they were able to deceive the Corinthians who embraced worldly ideas of sexes and comfort and strength and power, and these ideas were contrary to the gospel and they turned against Paul. The betrayal of the Corinthians deeply heard the apostle Paul, as you all know, he was indeed their father in the faith, right?

4:47But in the middle of such hardship, Paul also experienced the sweet comfort of God. We all know that suffering is a common experience for all of us. You don't need to go to seminary to learn that our struggles may not be as severe as Paul's, but they are still difficult to bear. In the year January, 2021, I planted a church in my hometown in Tamal Nado, which is the southernmost state in India. And this was born out of a great desire to plant a healthy reformed church in my town, and it cost me a great deal to do that. It put a lot of emotional stress and relational stress on my family. Later I had to move to Minneapolis to pursue formal theological training here, but I learned within a year that some in the church whom my deeply loved and trusted had turned against me and wrecked havoc in the church, and that was one of the most excruciating moments of my life.

5:53I felt deep pain in my soul, although it is nowhere near the pain that the apostle Paul felt with the Corinthians, it was a time that God used to dispense his sweet comfort to me, especially through this letter of Paul. And we need the comfort of God to walk through our trials with glad hearted joy. But what is discomfort that God gives to his people? How do we experience it in the midst of our afflictions? And what purpose does God intend to fulfill by comforting us? We'll answer these and some more from our text this morning. So the main point of our text is this, God comforts his people in the midst of afflictions.

6:44Let me say that again. God comforts his people in the midst of afflictions. We will look at this passage in three sections. First, in verses three and four, we look at God's purpose in afflictions and comfort. Second, in verse five, we look at God's promise of comfort, and finally in verses six and seven, we look at how partnering in the afflictions of Christ help us in our faith until the end. So Paul begins this letter by praising God. Look at uh, verse three with me. He writes, blessed be God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. The expression, blessed be God could either be an expression of a wish that God be praised, or it could be a declaration or an affirmation of the eternal blessedness of God.

7:45Either way, this is worship flowing deeply out of Paul. He's extolling God for who he is. Who is this God? He's the God of all comfort. He's the Father of mercies. While God has many divine attributes by drawing out our attention to God's mercies and comfort, Paul is setting the stage and the tone for what follows next in this passage, this way of identifying God with his mercy and compassion is not exclusive to the New Testament, right? God introduced himself, for example, to Moses as a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. On many occasions, the saints of the Old Testament turn to God for mercy and comfort in times of trouble.

8:43But look at the order in which Paul reveals God's identity. He's first and foremost the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then the God of all comfort. Why? Because you cannot know God as the God of all comfort without knowing him first as the God and Father of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Notice how Paul establishes our connection to God in this text. God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not your Lord, if he's not our Lord, then we have no relationship with God the Father whatsoever. Jesus is the revelation of the eternal and invisible God. In the flesh. God the Son is the means to be reconciled to God the Father.

9:42And while God was known for his mercy and compassion in the Old Testament, Jesus now is the means through whom the fullness of God's mercy and grace and compassion and comfort is given to his people. Paul in fact says in one Corinthians eight, six, he says, there is one God, the Father from whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things. If you do not come under the rule and reign of King Jesus, you cannot come to the Father or receive anything from the Father. Additionally, it is worth noting that God is the God of all comfort. The word all emphasizes the exclusiveness of God as the source of true comfort.

10:34If there is any sense of comfort we experience as the children of God, it is all from God. Paul then gives us the reason why he's praising God. Look at verse four. He says, who comforts us in all our affliction? Here is a man who knows suffering not only in theory and in the God of comfort, not only in theory, but who has personally experienced the sweet comfort of God. The word Paul uses for affliction refers to both external and internal pain and anguish. Paul has been afflicted in every possible way, and he has received God's comfort through those times of affliction and trials. But how does God comfort us in our afflictions?

11:28How did God comfort Paul in his afflictions? Well, I can think of two ways that God primarily comforts his people. The first is through his word and then through his presence. For example, the psalmist says in Psalm 119, verse 50, this is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life. The promise of God gives us life, and that's the comfort of the psalmist in his affliction. Again, in verse 52, he says, when I think of your rules from off old, I take comfort, oh Lord, the psalmist to great comfort in God's law and his promises during times of distress. And similarly, Paul who wrote about half of the books in the New Testament was never in short supply of God's promises, was he?

12:28He says, for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. He says that in this very letter or in Romans eight, he says, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not with all things, give us all things? Along with him graciously, Paul found comfort in the promises of God. Second, God's comfort comes to us through his presence. Again. In Psalm 23, David says, even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

13:22Why? Because you are with me, you Rod, and your staff, they comfort me. God's presence comforts us. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the paratas, the comforter who dwells inside us and comforts us in our times of trial and affliction. And Paul goes on to give us the purpose of why God afflicts us. The first one I think is implicit. He's, you know, in verse uh, one, sorry, chapter one, verse four. He says, who comforts us in all our affliction? And I think we can only experience the comfort of God when we are afflicted. If there is no affliction, then there is no comfort, right? This is a very straightforward principle to understand.

14:13You need to experience hunger, for example, in order to appreciate fully the satisfaction of a good meal. Unless you know what losses, you won't express gratitude for what you possess. Order doesn't mean anything unless there is chaos. And we see in the Bible that God's mercy toward us cannot be cherished unless it is seen against the backdrop of God's wrath and judgment. In a similar way, we will know and experience the sweet comfort of God unless we experience afflictions in our life. But is it really worth it? That's the question. Is the comfort of God we experience worth the afflictions we walk through?

15:06I always think about it this way. What would the apostle Paul say? We all have had our share of troubles, but none of us have suffered the way Paul has. And I'm not trying to minimize anyone's pain, but if we are honest, we will all agree that Paul's sufferings were on a totally different level, right? For example, in chapter 12, verse 24 through 28, he details his sufferings. He says, I received 39 lashes, five times, three times beaten with rods, one stoned three times, shipwrecked a night and a day adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, robbers his own people, Gentiles, false brothers, danger in the city, danger in wilderness at sea, in toil and hardship, many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst in cold and exposure.

16:13And then he says this, there is also the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Now, Paul was a very strong-willed man. Remember when Agabus prophesied how Paul would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles by the Jews? If we were in Paul's place, we would've thanked God for the prophecy and given the prophet and offering and then stayed home, but not Paul. He said he was not only willing to be tha to be imprisoned, but even die for the name of the Lord Jesus. But it is this very Paul who says, we despaired of life itself and felt as if we had received the sentence of death.

17:07That is some intense affliction. Would Paul say that it was all worth it to experience the comfort of God? I believe so, and here's why. What Paul means by comfort isn't that fluffy or cozy feeling we are used to in our culture. It is not the easing of pain. It is not merely some sympathy extended to us in times of pain. The English word comfort comes from the Latin word fortes, which means to strengthen greatly, to instill courage and to come along one side and aid them in their suffering. And the Greek word has a very similar meaning. So God's comfort is grace that encourages and strengthens our inner being, infusing us with joy in the face of adversity.

18:05God's comfort does not take away pain. I don't think so it does not make the situation any less painful, but it emboldens us to endure suffering while rejoicing in the God of all comfort. For example, in chapter seven, four, verse four, Paul says, I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I'm overflowing with joy. Paul would never trade God's comfort for anything else in this world. I may go so far as to say that God's comfort is power. It is power that instills courage and strength. It fortifies you enough to trust in God's ability to raise you from the dead, and that's why Paul says in Philippines three 10, he wants to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and share in his sufferings.

19:07Paul knew that without suffering, he would never know and experience the power of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead. Paul was not a masochist, but I'll tell you what he was. Paul was a Christian hedonist. He wanted to know Christ. He wanted to know the power of his resurrection. He wanted to know the fullness of joy that is found only in Jesus Christ, but he also knew that the path to that glory was through the sufferings of Christ. The second purpose of afflictions is this, Paul says the second half of verse four, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

20:02When God comforts us in our afflictions, it is not an end in itself. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. God does not desire for us to store up the comfort, but rather share it with other people. Paul is speaking of this comfort as a gift that is meant to be shared. John Dunn, an English poet famously said, no man is an island entire of itself, and this is ultimately true of believers in the body of Christ. We are a people called to share life together in Christ and God's comfort that we experience in our own suffering is an overflowing comfort meant to reach and touch others around us.

20:53And that is why we gather corporately as a church to mutually encourage and edify and comfort one another. We can clearly see God's wisdom in this. We can only comfort others when we ourselves have experienced suffering and comfort. When we suffer, it gives us an innate capacity to sympathize with others who suffer. And when we are comforted, we pass on the same divine comfort to those who suffer. But how does this practically play out in the life of the church? Paul doesn't leave us without an example. While Paul receives divine comfort and comforts the Corinthians in their affliction, we see in chapter seven that Paul also receives comfort from others.

21:45For example, in verse six, Paul says, God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me so that I rejoiced still more. Paul faces intense affliction in Macedonia. He's feeling pain externally. His body has had no rest, and he's feeling fear within his soul is turmoil. But God comforts this downcast Paul through the coming of Titus.

22:32He's first comforted by Titus, but this comfort doesn't stop. There you see Titus further comforts Paul with the same comfort with which he was comforted by the Corinthian church. The Corinthians received and treated tit as well. They expressed to him their longing and zeal for Paul and their grief over their ill treatment of him during his previous visit. And this news brought Paul great comfort, even greater comfort. Do you see how it all comes full circle? Paul comforts the Corinthians. The Corinthians Comfort Titus and Titus comforts Paul with the same comfort with which he was comforted, and this is a beautiful picture of how God's comfort flows and expands within the body of Christ.

23:28I don't think this comfort took away all of pulse afflictions or pain. It did. Don't take away the tiredness he was experiencing in his body, but I believe it did take away his fear. God used Titus and the Corinthian church to strengthen Paul's spiritually and encourage him to endure his hardships with joy. About a week ago, I attended the funeral service of Perpetua Broaden. It was so sobering, 12 years old with a whole life ahead of her, but God called her home. I cannot even imagine the pain the family must be going through. Hundreds of people had gathered to grieve with the family and to comfort them.

24:16We all worshiped God. Together, we sang. It is well with my soul. O we heard the word of God preached. It was a beautiful service. I saw firsthand how God was using the body of Christ to comfort a grieving family. But did it ease the overwhelming pain that the Broughton family was experiencing? I don't think so, but I believe it did bring them divine comfort, a comfort that will strengthen them to persevere in their faith and keep serving our great God with joy.

24:58Paul now further explains how he's comforted and enabled to comfort others in their afflictions. Look with me at verse five. He says, for as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too. I like how the NASB translates this verse for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. What Paul means by this sharing abundantly in the sufferings of Christ. I'll first tell you what it does not mean. These sufferings do not refer to the sufferings that Christ endured in order to redeem us from our sins and accomplish salvation for the elect.

25:53One Peter three 18 says, Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God. We often sing. It is done right. It is finished. No more debt I owe. There is no debt that remains to be paid. Christ paid it all. No other sacrifices needed. In what way then does Paul say that we need to share in the sufferings of Christ? In what way does he share in the sufferings of Christ? I think the best explanation is this. When we believe in Christ, we are united to him. We become one with him. We call this the doctrine of the union with Christ, and so we are united with Jesus in his life and death.

26:46That's why Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. And so as we share in the life of Christ, we also share in his sufferings too. We don't share in the same sofic way that Jesus did, but we associate ourselves with the sufferings of the Messiah. Jesus himself said, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Also, Peter also says in one Peter 2 21, for to this, you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

27:36It is in this sense that we share in the sufferings of Christ. These sufferings do not refer solely to persecutions that we face for the sake of the gospel. Paul otherwise would not have said Our outer self is wasting away. Our inner self is being renewed day by day. These sufferings include sickness, they include disease, death, and every other pain we experience as a result of the fall. So Paul's logic is this, if your sufferings are abundant, so will your comfort be. In other words, the amount of strengthening comfort we will receive from God is proportionate to our sufferings. The more sufferings, the more comfort.

28:27And Paul knew this truth. That is why he says in chapter 12 verse nine, I will boast all the more gladly of weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon mean. That is why he's content with weaknesses, with insults, with hardship, with persecutions, with cavities, because he knows that when he's weak, then he's strong. God's power is perfected in our weaknesses in trials and suffering. If God refuses to remove the thorn in your flesh, I'm sure, and please know this dear folks, that to the extent of your suffering, God will also give you comfort, a strengthening comfort that will help you to endure through your pain and affliction.

29:22My wife and I have longed for children for many years, but God has refused to grant our desire for the last nine years. That is a grief we carry every single day of our lives. To be quite honest, our longing has only grown exponentially since we started attending the North church. I still remember the first day three years ago when we came here, we were in the parking lot and I saw big family vans and children the size of a small village coming out of that, and it was beautiful. It was beautiful. We love that we desire that God would give us the gift of children too someday. We feel the pain every day, but God has not left us without help.

30:15We experience God's comfort in many different ways through his word, through his church, through his presence, And we experience it in proportion to the pain and grief in our lives. Now, our suffering is nothing compared to what many of you may be experiencing in your own lives. Some of you are battling severe illness, maybe the loss of a child, the loss of a spouse, singleness, maybe a son or a daughter who's walking away from the faith and it's tearing you down inside. But God promises that the extent of your suffering, he will give you his strengthening comfort and make known to you the power of his resurrection.

31:09Now, Paul further clarifies how this God ordained afflictions and comfort are serving the Corinthian church. For example, he writes in verse six, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort. How does Paul's affliction bring salvation to the Corinthians? We know that God is the author of salvation and that salvation comes to us through the redeeming work of Christ. But God chose Paul to carry this message off the cross to the Corinthians and Paul had to suffer intensely in order to bring the gospel to them. It is in this sense that his afflictions brought the Corinthians salvation, but Paul isn't merely talking about their initial experience of salvation.

32:02The second half of verse six clarifies and explains how his afflictions bring them comfort in the first half. His afflictions bring them a strengthening comfort that energizes their faith leading to their final salvation, not only the initial salvation. So when Paul is afflicted, he is comforted by God, and when he is comforted, he's able to comfort the Corinthians with the same comfort with which he is comforted. This strengthening comfort energizes the believers to persevere until the end in their faith. This however does not happen automatically. You know there is a condition that Paul emphasizes the Corinthians must meet that guarantees their salvation.

32:54He says, you will experience discomfort when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. So Paul shares in the sufferings of Christ and the Corinthians must share and endure the same sufferings as Paul. Only then will they experience the comfort of God that he himself experiences in his suffering. Now, this would've been a very hard pill to swallow for the Corinthians. False apostles and Corinth had deceived the Corinthians into rejecting Paul because of his sufferings and weaknesses. But Paul now flips the script and he says, if you do not participate in the sufferings of Christ that I suffer, then you have no part in Christ or his S or his comfort.

33:43The very sufferings, the Corinthians despise are what brought them salvation, and they are the very same sufferings that will bring them into final salvation that will accomplish their final salvation. Your sufferings are not in vain, folks. They're working to accomplish the salvation that God has begun in you. Having himself experienced God's comfort. Paul is confident that the Corinthians will too. He says, our hope for you is unshaken. It is a hope not based on sentiment or feelings. It is a hope based on the promise of God. Now, before I wrap up, I want to give you a few pointers on how to apply these truths in your own lives.

34:34First, if you are not trusting in Jesus, come to him. Embrace the free gift of the gospel. Why would you not come to the living bread, the living water, the one who has the words of eternal life. He came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. You will not only find eternal life in Jesus, but you will also find divine comfort in your suffering. We all live in world whether you are a believer or not, whether you like it or not, you will suffer because God has subjected what all creation to futility and corruption. If you are not in Christ, if suffering will be absolutely meaningless, but in Christ, you will find not only meaning in your suffering, but also comfort in the arms of your savior.

35:33So come to him. Second, if you are a believer, then lean into the sufferings that God ordains in your life. Just as the apostle does, do not despise them. They are the vehicle that God uses to pour out his divine comfort that energizes your faithful endurance until the end. Do not be like Job's wife, but be like Job who said, though he slay me, yet I will trust in him worship and bless God in your sufferings. There is a reason why job's wife remains nameless. There is a reason why Job is presented to us as an example of steadfastness. Third, as you lean into your sufferings, turn to God for comfort.

36:26Don't let suffering drive you away from God. Many turn to worldly comfort to ease their pain. They turn to things like alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, or entertainment to escape the reality of pain and suffering. Not only will that comfort not last, but it will also lead you down the path of destruction, turn to God and His word, the source of true comfort and hope, and finally be on the lookout for opportunities to comfort others. One theologian said, God does not comfort us to make us comfortable to but to make us comforters. You may not help minimize others' pain, but you surely will aid them in persevering in their faith.

37:19Just your physical presence can bring tremendous comfort to those who are suffering. Also be open to being comforted by others. Many believe they can cope with all the pain in their life alone. They are too self-reliant to seek any help at all. But the reason why God afflicts us is to break us out of our self-reliance. The reason why we come together as a church is to minister to others and to be ministered by others. There is. This is one of the reasons our elders constantly encourage you to become a member of this church. If you're being visiting us, but you haven't taken the first step to become a committed member of this church, I urge you this morning to meet with one of our elders and consider how you can become a part of this family and start serving others and be served by others.

38:18Remember that your participation in the suffering and comfort of others serves their eternal salvation and joy. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. You are the father of mercies and the God of all comfort, and we rejoice because you give us all the comfort we need through Jesus to weather the fiery trials and storms of our life. We leave this place this morning knowing that your comfort produces in us patient endurance leading us to our final salvation. So comfort us Lord, and make us comforters of others. We ask for your glory and our joy. In Jesus' name, amen.

Jump to live

Jump to live

Sermon Text

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Previous
NEXT
Phone
(612) 455-0800
Email
info@thenorthchurch.com
Address
5151 Program Ave,
Mounds View, MN 55112
AboutI'm NewBeliefsLeadershipSundaysWednesdays
ConnectMinistriesEventsNorth UpdateGroup Finder
ResourcesBusiness DirectoryLibrarySeminars & ConferencesWeddings & FuneralsJob Opportunities
AccountHouseholdGroupsGivingLog Out
Copyright © 2026 The North Church. All rights reserved.
Staff LoginPrivacy PolicyTerms & ConditionsSite by Volente

Connect

Submit

Thank you!
Your submission has been received.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.