keep hold of your your hymnal we're going to turn to page 872 considering lord's day one of the heidelberg catechism this is not meant to be a catechetical sermon but it will help frame the text that we're going to consider together for us so page 872 we will confess together question one what is your only comfort in life and in death that I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ he has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil he also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in Heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. Now let's turn to the book of 2 Corinthians. second corinthians page 1143 in the pew bible rather 1145 we're going to read the first seven verses hear the word of the lord paul an apostle of christ jesus by the will of god and timothy our brother to the church of God that is at Corinth with with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction 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 for as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too if we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation and if we are comforted it is for your comfort what you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer our hope for you is unshaken for we know that as you share in our sufferings you will also share in our comfort let's pray dear heavenly father i pray that you would help us to pay attention to stay awake to drink deeply of these waters of life that you have given to us all the distractions and all of the worries that we have set those aside father so that we may attend to your word we pray this in jesus name amen well when you've had a long and difficult week what do you like to do to unwind and decompress you know what it's like when you have one of those weeks where there's just no break at work you have all of these tasks and jobs you have to get done and they just keep stacking up and your boss is breathing down your neck or how about one of those weeks where you have at school just constant exams and assignments and papers that are due There's also all of those extracurricular activities that you have to be responsible for. And in the midst of all of this, there's a bunch of stuff going on at home. And there isn't any time for you to stop and catch your breath. So when you reach the end of one of these kinds of weeks, what do you like to do? Well, most of us, we probably just collapse on the couch in front of the TV with one of our favorite comfort foods. You may just have had that kind of week. You might already have in your mind what that TV show is and what that comfort food would be that you would indulge in. And we do these things because when things are difficult and when things are uncomfortable, we try to find ways to help ourselves feel better and move on past that crazy week. There are ways we comfort ourselves when things are hard. But what about when you've had one of those weeks where a beer or a glass of wine or a whole tub of ice cream just isn't enough? Where your week isn't characterized so much by one-off circumstances and the pressures of a single week. But one where your whole world has been rocked. You get a call that makes you nearly drop the phone. When someone sits across from you and delivers terrible news. When you feel a knot in your throat and your heart is just dropped into your stomach and everything around you is spinning and you feel like collapsing. In those times of intense pain and heartache or dread, what do you do? What kind of comfort can you hope for? you may try to escape through your creature comforts like watching your favorite show or eating your favorite food reading a favorite book listening to a song going on a run whatever it is that you do but even as you do those things that burden is still there in the back of your mind haunting you and you just can't escape as much as you try it follows you and it doesn't have to just be a single week maybe you are in a season of suffering like your whole life has just been this constant series of painful events like you're going through a fog and misery is your constant companion there's a sickness that never heals a family member who is constantly making bad decisions you're living paycheck to paycheck and you can barely keep your head above water tragedy after tragedy has plagued you or anxiety or worry press upon you or worse yet you're grieving the loss of a loved one and that loss has opened up a empty space in your heart well what comforts you in those times is there really anything that could provide any lasting comfort well paul tells us in this passage that in all of our affliction from our greatest pain to even our minor annoyances the father of mercies and the god of all comfort comforts us in all of our affliction. God is there when all other comforts fail. He is there consoling us, soothing our troubled minds, lifting us up and encouraging us and comforting us. Now we read that this letter is from the Apostle Paul. And Paul was very familiar with suffering. Indeed, it was one of those things that he was very well known for but this life of suffering had become a stumbling block for the corinthians at the instigation of a party whom paul would sarcastically call the super apostles the corinthians had begun to doubt paul's legitimacy as an apostle his office and his authority were being called into question because suffering seems to be so backward from what we would expect to happen to someone who has been faithful to god doesn't god bless his servants doesn't he bless the righteous and curse the wicked is that not something we read throughout deuteronomy psalm after psalm proverb after proverb we read that god blesses the righteous and curses the wicked well then why isn't paul experiencing god's blessings in fact by all accounts it seems like paul is undergoing god's curse so is paul really god's servant does god really love paul and many of us unwittingly fall into this way of thinking we look at our own suffering and we wonder what did i do to deserve this have i failed god in some way is god punishing me we think about how much good we've done in god's name how much work we've done for his glory and yet we don't seem to be experiencing the blessing god has promised god is not keeping up his end of the bargain if god blesses the righteous well then why hasn't god blessed me why does life keep hurting why is there so much disappointment where is he but notice paul's strategy in this passage his response here is actually very surprising while the corinthians doubted whether paul was a faithful servant of god paul points out that it is suffering that marks out god's people not prosperity but suffering after all jesus promised a cross jesus said in the world you will have trouble it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of god and as i said paul was very familiar with suffering but in his opposition to the super apostles paul provides us with his credentials in second corinthians 11 he lists his resume he was frequently in prison flogged and exposed to death five times paul says five times i received at the hands of the jews the 40 lashes less one three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned three times i was shipwrecked a night and a day i was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers danger from robbers danger for my own people danger from gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness danger danger at sea danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure and apart from other things there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches even the apostle paul suffered from anxiety anxiety for all the churches now if we read this if there's anything that we can say about paul it's that he suffered he really suffered but even if you aren't experiencing these intense sufferings, you have had to endure hardships. You are familiar with the pain of a fallen world. You know the heartache of loss. The absurdity of purposeless violence. But Paul says that this sorrow is not senseless. As we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, we share, Paul says in v. 5, We share in Christ's sufferings. We might think that Paul is saying that we are taking part in Christ's redemptive sufferings as if our own suffering redeems the world in some way. But we are utterly incapable and insufficient to produce salvation for anyone. Only Christ's suffering is sufficient to overcome the fall. And His suffering was perfect and complete. There is no other redemption to be won other than what Christ has already accomplished in His life and in His death. There is nothing our suffering can add to His. But we might also be tempted to think that this sharing in Christ's suffering is our suffering for Christ as we face persecutions for sharing the Gospel or living in holiness as we take a stand for christ and his kingdom and certainly paul is thinking of this but he also means more this suffering of christ was not simply his suffering as he confronted sin and satan but all the sufferings that come as a result of a fallen and creation. Earthquakes and hurricanes. Famines and droughts. Plague and disease and war. Sorrow and grief. Miscarriages and stillbirths. Financial ruin and death. This is what Paul has elsewhere called the groanings of creation. These are the sufferings which Christ confronted and endured and had overcome. And these are the sufferings that we share in. In fact, in the Greek, Paul literally says, the sufferings of Christ overflow to us. Now, this is amazing if we think about this. Paul is not saying that we have our suffering and Christ has his suffering, and that though they are separated in some way, our suffering is joined to Christ's. He's saying that the very suffering that we endure is the surplus or the overflowing of Christ's own sufferings the affliction that we face is the very affliction which christ had experienced and which we are now sharing in and communing with him in so even though our suffering may look the same as the suffering we may see around the world it's because we share in christ's suffering that our suffering is set apart from the rest of the world and is made to be a holy suffering just as we are united to christ by the spirit through faith so the sufferings that we endure are our participation of christ's own sufferings and as we share in his suffering we share in him becoming more and more conformed into his image becoming like him but it's not just the suffering that characterizes the people of god not just suffering more specifically it is the comfort which god gives to us as we suffer it is especially his comfort that tells us that we are christians as we share abundantly in christ's sufferings paul says so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too this is what strengthened Paul in his many afflictions as familiar as Paul was with suffering he knew even more deeply more profoundly more personally the comfort of God just as he had five times received the forty lashes minus one he also received the comfort of god three times he was beaten with rods and three times he was comforted his stoning at the hands of the jews was met with god's comfort three times shipwrecked comfort in constant danger everywhere he went from everyone he came across comfort. In his sleepless nights, in his hunger and thirst, in his cold and exposure. Divine comfort. And so also does God comfort you through Christ. In Christ, you have received divine comfort. The same comfort that sustained Paul through his many trials, Which supported him through his harrowing journeys into hostile lands. And when he was left for dead, is the same comfort with which God comforts you. But what does this comfort of God that comes through Christ actually look like? I mean, we can think abstractly and generally or theoretically about this comfort. but what concretely is this comfort that God gives to us well there's the comfort that we belong body and soul in life and in death to our faithful savior Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven and God has declared us righteous we have the comfort that we have been delivered from the tyranny of the devil as well as the comfort of adoption that God is our father and cares for us as a father ought to and that he has given us a heavenly inheritance we have the comfort that God providentially watches over us in such a way that not even a hair can fall from our head apart from his will and that he works all things together for our good we have the comfort that the spirit the holy spirit the third person of the trinity dwells within us and assures us of eternal life we have the comfort that christ will come again and that he will set all things right we have the comfort of the resurrection and that we will spend eternity with our savior in a new heavens and in a new earth so great will this time be that paul even says that the sufferings of this present time aren't worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us he says that these light momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory we can be comforted now because the glory that we will share with christ is so great that it makes the pain that you are right now suffering worth bearing and there are many more comforts beloved but the comfort that paul is specifically talking about here is a comfort that can only be known as we go through this pain this isn't a comfort that we can obtain simply through theological investigation that we can hold on to when trials come this is a comfort that comes only as we are going through this pain it is a comfort that god gives to us only as we go through that suffering and call upon him in the midst of that great affliction and this comfort is not that god will take the pain away and make us forget about it that is how many of us try to comfort those that we care about just take the pain away make them happy but that is not true comfort that's a pill that changes their mood but doesn't change the problem it doesn't have any lasting effect on how they endure the pain as they're going through it true comfort isn't taking the pain away but supporting and encouraging and building up in the midst of that pain and that is what god does for us of all the comforts that we can have there is none sweeter than that God Himself is with us in our pain. God comforts you with Himself with an indescribable, personal, and intimate comfort. He is our greatest comfort. And at the end of this deep and painful trial, as you reflect upon it all, you will find that God had sustained you through it all. And if you feel like this isn't really the case, that this all has just been an exercise in futility and for nothing, and all you got out of this was pain and loss, that might just be because you're not through it yet. There hasn't been enough time to separate you from that pain so that you might have the right perspective. But know this, God is with you through it all. In the midst of this pain, as we raise our prayers to God, begging Him to take the pain away, when it feels like we're shouting into a whirlwind and it feels like our prayers go unheard, it's in these times that we must be quiet and hear God's response. I'm not talking about an audible response like some still small voice, but a response that comes from the Spirit's illumination as he reminds us of the promises of God. When Paul was at the end of himself because of some great affliction or a malady that he had in his flesh, he cried out to God three times to heal him. God's response to Paul is the same response that he has for you when you cry out to him. my grace is sufficient for you. He may take the pain away and make everything better, or He might not. But whatever God does in His wisdom, we can know that He will comfort us because His grace is sufficient. Sufficient to sustain you as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Sufficient to deliver you from the storms that threaten you. Sufficient to provide for you when you feel like your life is in ruins. He is there. And even when you're in the midst of this pain and God feels very far from you, know that He hasn't abandoned you. He is with you in that pain. Regardless of whether or not you sense His presence, He is with you. Sustaining you. Loving you. Comforting you. His grace is sufficient for you. When darkness veils His lovely face, we rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, our anchor holds within the veil. Be still and know that He is God and that He is your Father and there is nothing that can stop Him from loving you and caring for you. Even when it feels like He is distant, He hasn't gone anywhere because if He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He also not with Him graciously give us all things, all the things that we need as we face life's difficulties and this is why we sang psalm 46 earlier god is our refuge and our strength a helper ever near us we will not fear though earth be moved for god is near to cheer us although the mountains quake and earth's foundations shake though angry billows roar and break against the shore our mighty god will hear us this is the comfort that god has given to us he is the father of mercies and the god of all comfort who comforts us in all of our affliction not in some of our affliction not in certain kinds of affliction he is the father of mercies and the God of all comforts who comforts us in all of our affliction and he does this Paul says in verse 4 so that we may be able to comfort those in any affliction now there's an implicit command here beloved God comforts you so that you can comfort others you are called to comfort by the very fact that god has comforted you you are to comfort others but how this is daunting isn't it how many times have you seen someone in distress and you were clueless about what to do what happens when it isn't you who receives the dreadful news but a friend of yours and you want to comfort them but you don't know how what will you say what will you do when you face that hospital curtain knowing that what lies behind it is more than you can manage how will you respond when you stare at your phone knowing that you have to pick it up and call your friend how will you comfort that person you care so much about when empty platitudes fall short and you can't conjure up the words to encourage them but just as god has comforted us in a personal and intimate way he also provide he also uses us to provide his comfort to those in need so great is the comfort with which god has comforted us through christ in fact that it overflows to others notice how paul puts this in verse 5 i'm going to put this a little bit more literally in the greek we would expect him to say that just as the sufferings of christ overflow to us so also do the comforts of christ overflow to us but he doesn't say that he says just as the sufferings of christ overflow to us so through christ our comfort overflows this comfort which god gives to us is so super abundant that it overflows into other people's lives and this is the beginning of the comfort that we can give people, a sharing in comfort that stems from a sharing in pain. And Paul says something surprising here. I mentioned it earlier. God comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. This suffering is for the sake of others. That's surprising because it sounds like Paul is saying that the reason why God makes us suffer is just so that we can comfort other people like we don't need to suffer but god brings suffering into our life just so we can comfort them and be with them in their affliction that makes god sound like a tyrant but that's not what paul is saying he's saying that even though we live life in a chaotic and fallen world a world that has descended into a valley of tears that tends toward death and decay and involves immense pain and senseless sorrow god never lets that misery be for nothing your pain and your loss and your fear and hardships they are not for nothing the god who comforts you in the midst of all of these trials uses that comforts and those trials so that you might be a comfort for others this is an investment in your life your affliction is an investment a work of god in you that enables you to bear fruit and love your neighbor and that is one of the ways in which god uses all things for his for our good so that we may be able to share in people's pain and if you have if you never had to endure pain not only would you not know the sweet comfort of god you would also be extremely ill-equipped to support others when they are in pain when you see someone going through something similar that you have already been through you can comfort them your sensitivity to that person's feelings have been honed by your own experiences you know what not what to say and you know what not to say but even when you haven't gone through that particular suffering you can still sympathize but this is the comfort of a friend who sits quietly by being present and available to provide silent support but is this the kind of comfort that paul is talking about here i mean this comfort is the kind of comfort that's common to humanity. Anyone can provide these kinds of comforts. But Paul is talking about a specifically Christian comfort. And so what does this look like? Well, it looks like the way God comforts us. Again, the comfort of God through Christ overflows from us to others. We remind them of the wonderful and precious promises of the gospel. We sit with them and read the scriptures and pray with them and remind them that God is with them in their pain and that we are also with them in their pain sitting with them weeping with them loving them now this particular form of comfort which we will probably most often provide it might look like the same kind of comfort we can see around the world but it is different because we provide this comfort and support as those who belong to one another as members of the body of Christ this is what Paul talks about in first Corinthians 12 we belong to one another as members of the body of Christ and when one member is ailing and hurting the rest of the body comes to support that one member we can share with them the ways that we have shared in Christ's sufferings as well as the ways that god has particularly and intimately comforted us in those times of affliction and when we sit sit in silence weeping with them and god is also there with us infusing that whole experience with his presence and his comfort so you don't need to worry about what you will say or do just be there and love them and place all of your confidence in the father of mercies and god of all comfort who comforts us in all of our affliction 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 now as we close we can see this comforting comfort in the life of horatio spafford this is a man who drank deeply of the bitterest pain he was a successful businessman in the 19th century but in the height of his success and happiness tragedy had suddenly descended upon him he had lost much of his finances in the great chicago fire of 1871 and in the wake of that great financial loss he decided that he would take his family on a trip to europe but just as they were leaving business had called horatio away and so his wife and his four daughters they boarded the ship and he told them that he would meet them in europe as soon as he had settled business. But as Horatio's wife Anna and their daughters were crossing the Atlantic, their ship collided with another and their ship sank. As Anna tried to keep her daughters in her arms, they were swept away by the strength of the water rushing in through the cracked hull of the ship and they were lost at sea. Anna made it to Europe and sent a telegram that simply said, Saved alone. The tragedy of losing so much in the fire suddenly seemed utterly insignificant in the face of this horror, this soul-destroying nightmare. And so boarding a ship in grief, Horatio made his way across the Atlantic to meet his wife in Europe. And as he was sailing over the Atlantic, he just happened to pass over the very spot that claimed the lives of his four little girls. And he wrote these words. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow, like sea billows, roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Now how could he have written those words? Just when everything was going so well, suddenly it was all lost and his life was shattered. But instead of being full of bitterness toward God, he could, and I imagine through tears and immensely deep grief, He could say, it is well. What was happening to Horatio that led him to pen those words? As deeply as he was suffering, he knew more deeply the comfort of God. He experienced firsthand that personal and indescribable and intimate comfort that God gives to His suffering children. That comfort that sustains them. The comfort that deeply consoles them in the midst of their tragedy. And as He shared in the afflictions of Christ, He also shared in comfort. And through that overflowing comfort, He wrote this song that has been a comfort for so many in the church. His great affliction enabled him to reach through history so that we could share in his affliction and so that we could also share in his comfort. Because his comfort and our comfort is in Christ, that man of sorrows. And our hope is in the day of his return when we will be with him and he with us as He wipes away all the tears from our eyes and all of that pain and loss and fear and sin that you are right now enduring will only be a distant memory. And that is our lasting comfort and hope. That is why we can sing with Horatio when we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. It is well. And in hope we can sing, O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. Amen. Our dear Heavenly Father, our God of all comfort, we call upon You asking You, Lord, to bless this Word to us. Apply it to our hearts so that we may know You to be the God of comfort who comforts us in all of our afflictions. Pray for those among us, Lord, who are knee-deep in the valley of the shadow of death where darkness has descended upon them and they cannot see through that darkness. Please, Lord, let Your grace pierce through that darkness so they may be able to glimpse the God of comfort. Help us, Lord, to call upon You in our times of need and to turn to one another for comfort. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.