Sermon "God of Comfort, God of Hope" by Rick Shabi, February 13, 2021

you know i think back on these the song it as well with my soul and those who have been in the church for a long time you remember that that was one of the songs we sang often in church and as i was growing up it's one of the songs that always stuck with me and i wondered what it meant when you would talk about all the trials that you would have in life and all the things that could come your way that you would be able to say it is well with my soul and over the years i've heard people say well that song doesn't make sense and you know what it dropped out of our hymnal somewhere happy with it but over the years i would even wake up some night singing that song to myself and i remembered all of the words and as i've grown older and been in the church a long time i understand i understand what it means to be able to say it is well with my soul when you go through the trials and tribulations of life you know a a few years ago i had never heard what the story behind that song was but a few years ago someone i don't know if i was listening or someone sent me what the what that song meant and the man who wrote it his name is horatio spafford and he he had had a series of uh unfortunate or not so good events in his life back in 1871 he lost his business in the chicago fire he had his only son die a scarlet fever and then as he they were planning with everything going on to go over to england he sent his wife and four daughters over ahead of him he had to stay back on a stay back on a business thing was going to join them a few days later and in route to england the ship they were on collided with another ship and the four daughters died and as the story goes as he came over to visit his wife who had cyclographed him and i can't even imagine the pain that people go through when he heard a when he got a telegraph just saying survived alone meaning all the daughters were gone but his wife survived that as they pointed it out to him the ship that was taking him over this is about where that ship sank and his daughters died is when he sat down and he wrote that song and as he wrote that and as i think about what he must have gone through and what people who have gone before us have gone through they've learned what that song means you know the bible study this past week we talked about the time of chastisement you know that we should not despise this chastising of god you know it's a training time that we're in the pie hodea that we're in and he doesn't promise us that everything is going to be great and wondrous and everything and but if we remember if we remember what he has us in and what the end result of it all is then then we could say as we go through it is well with my soul it's god's it's god's will that i'm going through this you know as we live in an age where we see things happening so quickly around us and as we can draw the line from here to there we see we see a road that doesn't look so very palatable for us to be on but we know we must we know we must traverse this and we know that you know god will be with us through it all and we know that we must cross that road and travel that road into god's kingdom and the return of jesus christ through it all we learn many things you know in life but one of the things that we learn among the many blessings the many many blessings that god give us is one that we find back in second corinthians let's turn back to second corinthians 1. and there in the opening verses of paul's second epistle at least second uh epistle to the corinthians that we have in the bible he says something to us excuse me something to us that we may not think of as a blessing as a blessing necessarily um we may not think of it so much today but we have all experienced it we may take it for granted we may not have even thought about it but in the years ahead it's going to be so very important to us second corinthians 1 and verse 3 it says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and the god of all comfort the god of all comfort when we see the word all in the bible god doesn't use words lightly like we might the god of all comfort it goes on in verse 4 and says who comforts us in all our tribulation not just in time of death sometimes we think of god's comfort when a loved one dies and we think of second thessalonians 4 verses 13 to 18 where paul reminds us they are sleeping but they will live again it's the ultimate hope and the ultimate comfort that we can have in in those times when we're feeling the the loss of someone and the emotion that goes along with it but here paul says he's the god of all comfort the god is there in all of our tribulations the one who will comfort us the one who will be there the one we can count on and no matter how tough things are and how how difficult they may be god is there to comfort he is there back in luke back in luke 2 we see something said about jesus christ as he was born you know recently we talked about some of the names of jesus christ you know so many of them savior lord messiah master we recently talked about captain forerunner mediator but in luke 2 and verse 25 as christ is born simeon gives us another name another aspect of jesus christ's life luke 2 in verse 25 says behold there was a man in jerusalem whose name was simeon and this man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of israel and the holy spirit was upon him waiting for the consolation of israel the word translated consolation there in verse 25 is exactly the same word that is there in first second corinthians 1 verses 3 and 4 and many other places the comfort of israel another name now we have for jesus christ another blessing that he gives us another thing that we can count on him for we may not even know that we need it or be consciously focused on it but today i do want to focus on it because where we are today and certainly as we move from here to the return of jesus christ that comfort of god is going to be so important to us that comfort of god that people have found and know the importance of it and have felt the benefit of it as they've gone through really difficult trials like the man who wrote that song that we we just heard people like job people like all those men and women in hebrews 11 who endured devastatingly tough times and yet they stood right through it all right to the end did they do it just because of their inner strength well we know we know they didn't just like if we rely on our inner strength and our determination only to see us through the times that we live in we'll fail they relied on god they came to experience and love the comfort that god gave them in all their tribulations he's the god of all comfort today i want to talk about jesus christ here he was born and simeon under the inspiration of the holy spirit says he's the consolation of israel he'll be the comfort of israel one of the names that we have for him and as he grew and he waxed strong in the spirit and grew up and began his ministry you remember he called of course the disciples to him and they walked with him and as they saw and walked with him day in and day out for those three and a half years there was a comfort that they derived from him no matter what came they weighed as long as jesus christ was there next to them things were going to be okay as long as jesus christ was there they learned to trust in him he was a comforting he was a comforting man to be around the spirit is a comforting thing to have with us and among us and in us and as jesus christ would begin to talk at the end of his physical life about it i'm going to be i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to be buried i'm going to be resurrected and i won't be with you day to day anymore you could sense the discomfort to them life had become so so good if i can use that word a very common word so good with jesus christ there with them how could they even fathom him not being there walking by them side by side because he was a comforting and as well as teaching as well as the captain as well as the forerunner as well as teaching them what they needed to know but he was a comforting person to be around and they knew they were going to miss him if we're not here for a sabbath service we don't see each other for a while they were going to miss him before he was even born because they knew something would be missing that night that he was going to be arrested i'm not you know it's good for you but i go away he told them that when he went away there would be the holy spirit that would become to them in john 14 verse 16 when he mentions it the first time and then five times more that night as you go to chapters 14 15 and 16 and john he says this verse 16 i will pray the father and he will give you another and it should truly be translated in the old king james says helper in the in the new king james but when you look up the word there it's the very same word that's comforter the consolation of israel the same every very same word that's there and for second corinthians 1 3 and 4 he will give you another comforter the holy spirit will comfort you christ would do if he when he was on as he was in person with them so god made provision that the holy spirit would provide this very necessary thing to his people that that would be a comforter to them and as we as god calls and as we repent and as we receive the holy spirit we begin to realize there is a comfort as we see the things going on in the world and as we as we look at situations change as we look at attitudes change as we look at the the climate and the world change around us and i don't mean atmospheric climate i mean political climate and governmental climate as we see things change we're comforted because we know that god is in control we know that he is there we know this is his plan we understand that and we we we experience that we live it we may not focus on what a blessing it is what a blessing it is to be able to have that with us you know in hebrews 13 verse 5. i'll be with you every step of the way he told the disciples i'm not you know i'm not going away you're going to have the comforter here with you every minute of every day as long as you want it there and as long as what you're doing would provide a place for that holy spirit to be and be engaged as long as you follow it and follow god he says the very same thing because god is a the same yesterday today and forever as is jesus christ back in deuteronomy 31 it says the very same thing to israel if you will to turn back to deuteronomy 31 deuteronomy 31 verse 6 you know as moses is preparing to depart israel they were they felt comforted by moses's presence as long as moses is here everything is okay we feel comfort when he's there we've been up against some hard things we've made some mistakes we've complained but you know with moses here there's comfort but now he's disappearing now he is going to die and there will be another leader in israel verse 31 or chapter 31 verse 6 he says be strong and of good courage don't fear don't be afraid of them for the lord your god he is the one who goes with you he will not leave or forsake you i've been with you these 40 years but god will always be here he is eternal he will always be there to comfort you he will always be there to see you through he will always be there to keep you straight on the path if you let him be there in hebrews we're told exactly the same thing in the in the new testament in the new covenant god will be there to comfort god is there to comfort he is the god of all comfort where do we find that comfort this is just something we feel if we kind of feel out of sorts one day we're kind of battered by something that we didn't expect you know in an age we live in today you might say the wrong thing at work and find yourself with a pink slip at the end of the day right if you look at listen to some of the things that are going on you know what what do we do where's the comfort in that you might feel out of sorts and and what what is happening we can always look to god for comfort he knows exactly what's going on in our lives everything that goes on in our lives he's well aware and everything is designed to make us better to make us stronger and as we follow him and as we work with him to solve the issues in our life to face the trials the difficulties as he leads us and we learn what he wants us to learn there's the comfort when we see the success but there's the comfort along the way when we remember after maybe an initial panic and initial fear god is there he knows what's going on it's tough it's difficult it hurts but god is there god is there let's turn back to first second kings no first kings i'm sorry first kings um it is second kings as we're on our way to second kings i'm going to mention a few people in the bible who experience this discomfort that god you know would send their way i want to take the time to turn to some of the stories of elijah there's many things that we can learn from elijah among what we can learn from him is the comfort of god you'll remember of course when he challenged the prophets of baal and to so who was the true god god showed that he was the true god the prophets of baal were were killed and you know as any of us would be elijah thought that the king and queen of israel would immediately choose god they didn't in fact jezebel set out after elijah and saying i will do to you what you did to them i will kill you surprised elijah you remember that and so he ran he ran it was it was and as you look at the as you look at the account there you see that elijah he told god it's enough it's too much he was human just like us an emotional thing that we thought this is the only answer they have to see it they can't deny it and yet they did you know when we look at some of those things in the old testament and stories that are there we think how you know how could a or how could jezebel have felt that way how could she just look at something that happened and just totally discount it and say i don't want to hear it i'm just after your head but when we look at the world today we can see a time that maybe that might befall us we might say something that seems so obvious that the facts all back up and yet there would people would say i don't want to hear it i don't believe it off with his head god did allow elijah to flee and you remember that as he was there god fed him and he said he said you need strength you need this time and then he had elijah supernaturally fed again you need this time you remember the time on another occasion where he was by the brook sheriff and the raven came every day and gave him food that had to be a comfort to elijah he knew god was there every day he knew god was there maybe you've seen signs in your life where you've prayed about something or you've been involved and you've seen something and you just know god is there how comforting is that when you know god is there and he does make us aware of that and we shouldn't discount it and say it's coincidence or whatever now we know when god is there and it's a tremendous blessing that he gives us now you're already there but i'm not you're in second kings i'll get there in a minute second kings 20. you know hezekiah he was a man who had things happened to him that he didn't count on one that's common to so many of us in second kings 20. and verse 1 he became sick he was a man who followed god appreciated followed him obeyed him implicitly chapter 20 verse one says in those days hezekiah was sick and near death well some of us have been to that situation we get a diagnosis we didn't count on and it's in some cases a death sentence if we look at it from the world's standpoint it could floor us it can stop us we can panic we need some time to get ourselves together and realize you know god is there what hezekiah did did he panic and did he run all the place it says in those days hezekiah was sick and near death and isaiah the prophet the son of amos went to him and said thus says the eternal set your house in order for you shall die and not live pretty final i dare say none of us have been told set your house in order you will die well maybe we have i know there's been some serious illnesses over the years with people that are here what did hezekiah do how did he handle it what he did was he turned his face verse 2 toward the wall he prayed to god saying remember o lord i pray how i have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart and have done what was good in your sight and hezekiah whipped bitterly he went right to god he didn't run to the nearest emergency room he didn't run to the nearest hospital the first thing he did was go to god i have this thing this trial this tribulation this thing that's come upon me i didn't count on i didn't know where to turn but the first thought in his mind was turn to god let him direct the paths get the comfort that god and only god can give us and he poured his heart out to god the way we communicate with god is through prayer and not just through you know general prayers but detailed prayers as you've heard me say a few times recently hezekiah didn't pray a detailed prayer he he poured his heart out to god he wept bitterly i've done i've done your will why is this coming upon me help me understand comfort me in this let me know your plan we can be detailed with god in the things that we need maybe sickness it may be financial problems it might be any other trial or tribulation that comes on us god can comfort god can lead and the first place we turn is to him in prayer hezekiah showed that god heard his prayer it happened before isaiah had gone out into the middle court that the word of the lord came to him saying return and tell hezekiah the leader of my people thus says the lord the god of david your father i've heard your prayer i've seen your tears surely i will heal you on the third day you'll go up to the house of the lord and i will add to your days 15 years i will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of assyria and i will defend the city for my own sake for the sake of my servant david and then isaiah gave him a physical order this is what you need to do to heal to heal that boil or whatever it was that would cause his death go to god first we want the comfort we need the comfort from god we need to remember he knows everything that's going on in our lives everything that happens is to build our character and to get us ready for the kingdom of god to be ready to be born into his kingdom there's comfort in that knowing he's there hezekiah knew god was there and that's where he turned that's where he turned first one chapter back in chapter 19 and verse 10. we kind of we we see hezekiah in another stressful situation the king of assyria is levying huge threats against hezekiah huge threats if you don't do what i say if your people don't bow down to me this is what's going to happen has any of these other people been able to stand against this great king of the syria and it troubled the people again we can look down the road for however long it is between now and see the same thing could happen to us what threats might be there if you don't do this if you don't stop saying this whatever it is this is what's going to happen to you anything to make you stop doing what you're doing and do what others want you to do and this is what hezekiah was faced with because satan has the same principles whether it's for a nation or whether it's for individuals his mission is disrupt the people of god get them to turn away from god look to their own devices and and follow his way okay verse 10. he um let's just read through it here are the threats that the king of assyria has so thus you shall speak to hezekiah the king of assyria says saying don't let your god in whom you trust deceive you saying jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of syria might we someday be saying don't trust in your god he's not going to get you out of this situation well that was what hezekiah was hearing look you've heard what the kings of assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them and shall you be delivered how the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed gozan heron and all these other people where is the king of hamath the king of our pad the king of the city of suffrageum henna and iva look at all these people before what's so different about you hezekiah you think you can stand you think your god is going to be able to stand against me verse 14 hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and he read it what did he do did he panic did he get on the phone and look for alliances how do we counter that i need people to work with me to fight against this king of assyria we've got to silence him somehow what do we do to counter this he didn't do any of those things he read the letter and hezekiah went up to the house of the lord and he spread it before him and hezekiah prayed before god and said o lord god of israel the one who dwells between the cherubim you are god you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth you have made heaven and earth incline your ear and hear open our eye your eyes o lord and see and hear the words of sennacherib which he has sent to reproach the living god truly the kings of assyria they've done what they said they have done they have laid waste the nations in their lands they've cast their gods into the fire for they were not gods but the work of men's hands verse 19 therefore o lord our god save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the lord god you alone he turned to him hezekiah learned even in times when the nation was at risk the threats and he knew he they didn't have the physical strength to stand against the nakarab in assyria and you read of the plights and the way of the assyrians it's a daunting thing they were a ferocious and a cruel people hezekiah went to god that prayer he found comfort in god he knew god was there he knew what was going on and he went to god and at the end of the prayer god answered i hear what you're saying they will not invade your city as strong as assyria is he will not and as you go through the rest of the chapter you see that sennacherib they lost men he went back and he was assassinated by people of his own by people of his own nation there's comfort in god there's answers in god the first place that we need to go is learn to go to god first and then he will guide where we may need to go do this do that follow these instructions every time you read of a king that god is answering god tells them what to do he shows them the way god will order our steps there is comfort in that if we seek him and we follow his lead there should be immense comfort in that if we go forward to the old testament or the new testament i'm sorry in acts 16 we find paul and silas and they've been out preaching the gospel they've been preaching the truth of jesus christ and they run into some people that didn't like what they were saying and they find themselves in quite a predicament if you will when you're looking at it physically again when we look at this incident we look at what happened to paul and silas it doesn't look so out of the question in our lives anymore does it that this could happen to some of us down the road if we're preaching the word of god if we're preaching the gospel of god if we're preaching the return of jesus christ which the church of god will do and do increasingly strongly we could find some of us in prison as the government's way of silencing it well it happened here to paul and silas let's pick it up in verse 20. acts 16 verse 20. you know they they what happened was they cast a demon out of a girl they saw their livelihood disappearing they didn't like what happened to them the people of the city and so verse 20 they brought them paul and silas to the magistration they said these men being jews exceedingly trouble our city the words they're saying we don't want to hear what they have to say we don't want to hear their message we don't want to hear anything about it we want it the way excuse me we want it the way we want it away with this message get it out of our system everyone needs to just do what we what we have always done these men being jews exceedingly trouble our city and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being romans to receive or observe and the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods simply because they didn't like what they did they didn't like their words they didn't like their message they don't want to hear it and when they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely having received such a charge he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet into stocks i dare say at the beginning of this neither paul nor silas saw that happening but all of a sudden they're in an untenable situation one that's difficult for us to imagine maybe one that one or more of us go through in the future simply for preaching the word of god simply for teaching the things that god said to a world that simply doesn't want to hear it so there they find themselves at midnight verse 25 paul and silas what did they do were they moaning were they complaining were they saying it's not fair do they get on the phone with their attorneys who's the best defense attorney in in the city here how are we going to file our case what are we going to do to get ourselves out of prison no the midnight paul and silas what were they doing they were praying and singing hymns to god and the prisoners were listening to them there was a calmness there was a comfort they knew god was right there with them god wasn't surprised by what happened they may have been surprised by what happened but god knew this would develop their character they would their faith and god would be stronger he will do things to have us become stronger in our commitment to him stronger in our faith to him what they did was they turned to god they prayed they sang hymns if it as well with my soul had been around at that time maybe they would have sung that maybe you sometimes when you're wake up in the middle of the night there's a hymn in your mind and you know when you hear that hymn something you've been thinking about that god wants you to know or to understand that's going on in your life don't try to put it out of your mind go with it god comforts us in many ways praying to him and having the deep deep relationship with him is one of the ways but we have to put the effort in jesus christ himself said if you have any whatever cares you have whatever burdens you have whatever trials you face whatever you need to be doing take it to him and he will bear your burdens and he will show the way whether it's through what he gives or whatever counseling or whatever you have he will show the way listen but be comforted he wants you to succeed you will succeed if you trust in him if you're comforted in him and you don't panic and you don't run in another direction but you run first to him and that takes time and commitment on our parts as we go through our lives to discipline ourselves go to god first seek his will it could be very difficult but he is the god of all comfort if all tribulations of all trials everything we need is there and it abounds as we'll read later on in second corinthians 1 it abounds through jesus christ who is our consolation we may just need to focus on that a little bit more well praying to god is one of the ways that we can be comforted in times of trial and stress times of depression times of anxiety times of loss what's another way that god comforts us now let's turn to psalm 119 david david certainly learned to be comforted by god through his time he went through many trials he had an eye-opening affair you know with the choice of words with a bathsheba and that whole incident had to see who he was and he was comforted knowing that god would grant him repentance when he truly repented of that and david became a different man after that a man after god's own heart in psalm 119 and verse 50 gives us one of the ways that he was comforted of course psalm 119 is a treatise if you will to god's law like david's love song to god's law and god's scriptures in psalm 119 and verse 50 he says this is my comfort this is my comfort in my affliction when i'm enduring a trial when i find myself in a difficult situation this is my comfort in my affliction your word has given me life the scriptures are also a source of comfort that come from god certainly prayer certainly our faith in him certainly building that faith in him certainly opening ourselves up to god and talking to him and asking him in detail but the scriptures are a comfort and we know that maybe we haven't thought about it but psalm 23 how many people turn to psalm 23 in a time of distress it's a very comforting set of scriptures and when we read that or psalm 91 or any of the others that you go to when you're feeling distressed or anxious and you don't know what to do you go to the bible and you find the comfort and the peace and the solace that's there when we read those words because we know they're the words of god it reminds us he's working with us he's dealing with us he knows exactly what's going on and if we trust in him follow him find the comfort and ask him to order our steps he will he will we learn it over time david says i find comfort in my affliction in your word certainly david prayed david also went to the scriptures he didn't run to complain to friends he didn't run to soothsayers he didn't go to anyone else he went to god he went to scriptures he kept it with god paul says the same thing in romans romans 15. romans 15 verse 4 verse 4 for whatever things he says whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope look what we've what we've talked about already this morning now afternoon we've already looked at the scriptures we've seen the examples of hezekiah we've seen the examples of elijah we've seen the examples of paul and silas people of god those things can encourage us if god did it for them he'd do it for us too they were certainly people who had grown very close to god and when it says in james in the book of james draw near to him and he'll draw near to you that's a lesson for us how do we draw near to god we obey him we seek him we yield ourselves to him we deny self we do the things that he said exactly the way he said he can fix the situation he can lead he can guide he can heal he can fix name it he is the god of comfort of all comfort in all trials and tribulations so we can even go back to the examples and say well god look what you did look what you did for hezekiah look what you did for paul and silas and we learn go to him first put your trust him train our minds that's where comfort lies not in anything of the world not in any of our own devices but in in what god has given us verse 5 now may the god of patience and comfort god of patience god of comfort god of hope may the god of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to christ jesus he'll provide his word can comfort second thessalonians second thessalonians nope first thessalonians first thessalonians 4 verse 13. maybe the first thing you thought of when i mentioned the word comfort were these set of verses where paul explicitly uses these verses to give us comfort in time on one of the more difficult times in life when a loved one dies when mom or dad die when spouse dies when a child dies when someone that we were very close to dies there are words in the bible because every situation we're in there is an example in the bible that we can turn to that can comfort us and can let us know god is there god cares he never leaves or forsakes us chapter 4 verse 13 i don't want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep lest you sorrow as others who have no hope for if we believe that jesus died and rose again even so god will bring with him those who sleep in jesus for this we say to you by the word of the lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will by no means precede those who are asleep for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel with a trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first there are words of comfort we grieve when people die it's right to grieve i mean that's part of who we are we will miss that person but we have words of comfort knowing that god has a plan for everyone that everyone will live again and we take comfort in that we who alive are and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we will always be with the lord verse 18 he says therefore comfort comfort one another with these words use the words of the bible to help each other be comforted the way you are comforted when you read those words maybe as you've gone through a trial someone has said look at this example in the bible look what happened here and we look at it and we find ourselves comforted drawing closer to god are recognizing the need to draw closer to god maybe as we go from 2021 to 2022 and 2023 we will really find the need to be comforted by god now is the time to do the things that you can find that comfort and that you understand that comfort and that it comes from him so paul says comfort one another with these words comfort comes through jesus christ prayer to god comforts the scriptures bring comfort it's another area paul hinsat what another area from which we can find comfort in our time of trials tribulations grief confusion whatever it might be he says it there in in first thessalonians 4 18 but let's go back to second corinthians again and see what paul has to say as he further discusses this blessing of god that is the comfort that he provides second corinthians 7 and let's look at verse 4. the same epistle that he opens with you know god is the god of all comfort of all our tribulations and trials and later on he says here in verse 4 of chapter 7 he says great is my boldness of speech toward you great is my boasting on your behalf well you'll remember the corinthian church is the one who the first corinthians 5 man that had to be put out of the church for a while that he might find god he did repent and right after these series of verses that i read are the verses that talk about what brings repentance what repentance brings the vindication the zeal the excitement the diligence leading up to that he says great is my boldness of speech i told you exactly what god said excuse me i told you exactly what god said you need to do and you did it what a novel idea god said do it do it foreign oh great is my boasting on your behalf i'm filled with comfort where did paul derive that comfort he drive that comfort because the people did what he said what god told him what god was giving them to do you know i know exactly what paul is talking about here it is a comfort should be a comfort to all of us when we come to sabbath services or to the wednesday bible studies and we see each other maybe we just see a name but it's comforting isn't it to know we're all there it's comforting to see each other and to know that we're still walking with god that we still have faith in him that we're growing stronger and stronger so paul is telling the corinthians i'm comforted in you i gave you some tough things to do and you did it that comforts me i see you growing i see you following god good for you corinthians you gave paul comfort the same comfort we can give each other the same comfort frankly that i get from you every time i see you at sabbath services every time i see you wednesday because i know you're walking with god and you're making the effort to be there you should have devised derived that same comfort from each other it says i'm filled with comfort i'm exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation god's working with us he's getting us ready for what he wants us to be indeed he says in verse five when we came to macedonia our bodies had no rest we were troubled on every side outside were conflicts inside were fears kind of sounds like the environment we live in today confusion conflicts outside the whole world changing falling apart uncertainty as to what lies ahead certainty as we look at the bible and know what lies ahead just how how does it happen and how long does it take to get there we were troubled on every side outside where conflicts inside were fears nevertheless god who comforts the downcast depressed discouraged feeling a little hopeless feeling a little uneasy about what's going on now what it means god comforts god will provide what we need nevertheless god who comforts the downcast comforted us how by the coming of titus it was really good to see titus come to us what a comfort that was to see a brother come to us maybe when we're having trials health trials whatever trial it might be maybe it's really comforting to that person to receive a phone call maybe it's really comforting to that person to receive an email maybe it's really comforting to that person to receive a visit god comforts us through each other is what paul is saying i felt comfort just knowing titus came it was so good to see him and no matter what i was going through and all the things that were going on in the world around me just having titus come was it comfort where does that leave our responsibility well we shall see and not only verse 7 by his coming but also by the consolation same greek word as comfort and not only by his company his coming but also by the consolation with his she was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire your mourning your zeal for me so that i rejoiced even more titus was comforted you when by you when you he when you talked to him about me and said that you were praying for me and that you were concerned about me and that your prayer that you were you were looking to god to guide and direct and comfort me that bolstered me that bolstered titus to know that you cared that you really were concerned about each other and it wasn't just well paul's off in prison god will take care of him who needs to talk to him old things all those things were comforting to paul comforting to titus just like it was comforting to the corinthian church to get that letter from paul that he cared enough about them that he would take the time to do that what we do and what we do what we do god has made us that we need each other we can't get away from it he's put us in a body because he wants us as we hear over and over again to become one and as we march closer and closer to the return of jesus christ we will understand what comfort that is that we're close to each other and we have each other to talk to to turn to to just pick up the phone and say i'm i'm with you in the trial you're going through jesus christ knew what that comfort was if we look back at matthew 26 when he was going through a trial that we can only imagine as he was about to be arrested and go through the agony that he was going to go through be crucified and die when he was going through that and he knew what was coming about where did he go did he think about how can i how can i do this how can i my disciples fight against these people that are going to come and arrest me now in matthew 26 matthew 26 he knew he was going to find comfort and he was going to find strength and going to god jesus came with them the disciples to a place called gethsemane and he said to the disciples sit here while i go and pray over there comfort strength come from god was jesus christ oblivious was he was he immune to the agony and the apprehension that he was going to go of what he was going to go through the next day no he was human tempted at all points like as we are he felt it he understood how difficult it was going to be where did he go go to god in prayer verse 37 he took with him peter and the two tons of zebedee and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed there they are you can imagine if you knew what was going to happen to you in the next several hours sorrowful and depressed it was gonna hurt it was a difficult thing to face if you're a human he took someone with him he took peter and the two sons of zebedee and he told them my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death just stay here and watch with me just be here from me just be there you are a comfort to me to have you near oh he was closer to god closer than any of us are to god but he still wanted that human comfort sit here and watch with me he went and he prayed to god and you can see he poured his heart out to god and verse 40 he came back to the disciples and he found them sleeping he said to peter what couldn't you watch with me one hour i wanted to come back and find you comforting it would have been comforting to see you praying for me praying to god but you're sleeping it didn't even really phase you what was going on with me and it happened again as you see in verse 42 and in verse 43 again he came back and they were tired they weren't giving him the comfort that he was looking for but we see that even jesus christ needed the comfort that god would want us to give each other let's go back to second corinthians 1 continue with what paul wrote in those opening verses we talked about in verse 4 we start with who comforts us in all our tribulation and then he gives us the reason for us to be comforted that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble we can be a help to them we can be a comfort to them god comforted us now we know how to comfort other people we should take the opportunity we shouldn't just stand back and say they can go through it on their own pick up the phone send an email do what needs to be done let them know you are with them and if you have had words that helped you share them with them not every one of us has been through every single situation in life but among us most situations we will find ourselves in someone in the congregation has been comforted has been through it that could offer words of consolation it doesn't mean the rest of us don't have to we can always express our prayers for others and and acknowledge what they're going through god comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by god verse 6 he says if we are afflicted it's for your consolation and salvation which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer or if we're comforted it's for your consolation and salvation what he's saying there is i understand when i'm comforted it's for your benefit because now i know how to comfort you i know the words to give i know where to direct you i know what i can do god will lead me to that he's shown me and i can share that with you and our hope verse 7 for you is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings so also you will partake of the consolation you will feel god's comfort you will feel the comfort from others that's a good thing that's a responsibility of all of us god is always there god will never leave or forsake god will comfort are we learning to do the same thing that god expects that we expect of him he is the god of all comfort thessalonians 5 nope must be first thessalonians first thessalonians 5 verse 11. first thessalonians 5 11. paul as he's giving this list of things for the thessal the church and thessalonica to do verse 11 he says therefore after everything that goes on before that talking about the coming of the lord jesus christ talking about the time of the end therefore comfort each other be there for each other when something happens be there god's always there if we're training to be like god and like jesus christ bond together be there therefore comfort each other and edify one another and he says just as you're also doing we all grow in that area he knew that they knew that that church would continue to grow in that they were already progressing as god's body around the world today and here in orlando in jacksonville wherever you go to church we need to be growing in that as well so when that time comes we can be there god will comfort us we need to learn how to comfort each other in hebrews 6 18 hebrews 6 and verse 18. you read this not too long ago in bible study i'll start in verse 17 where the sentence begins thus god determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise that's you and me determining to show more abundantly to the ears of promise the immutability of his counsel unchanging the same yesterday today and forever confirmed it by an oath that by two unchangeable and certain things in which it is impossible for god to lie we might have strong consolation god says he'll do it it's not going to change his mind we might change our mind god doesn't jesus christ the same yesterday is today ever the same yesterday today and forever i am the lord your god i change not those who change it's us who fail to draw close to god we might have strong consolation knowing he's in charge knowing when difficult times come in life whether it's be health issues whatever name the issue i i can't come up with any health issues tribulation issues trial issues things that happen to us do that that we might have strong consolation because we have hope in him who have fled for refuge laid hold of the hope set before us this hope we have is an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil finally let's let's conclude in 2nd thessalonians 2. ii thessalonians 2 verse 16. god is the god of all comfort in all our trials and all our tribulations and everything that faces us in life we need to know that we need to practice it we need to go to him first and all the things that we've talked about today we find the comfort in prayer to god we kind the comfort in the scriptures we find the comfort with each other that means we've got to be part of the body that god had put us in an active and a a steady part of the body that god has placed us in we can't do we can't do what god wants us to do or become what he wants us to become if we are just part-time in the body and have every other thing or many other things maybe keep us from where we need to be it's time it's time for us to prepare it's time for us to get ready it's time for us to learn what god wants us to do and let him build in us what he wants to build in us in second thessalonians 2 and verse 16 paul gives an apt wrap up to this message now may our lord jesus christ himself and our god and father who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation it's there forever not just one short time but for ever may god who has give loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace may he comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work draw close to our god the god of comfort the god of hope

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Length: 59min 49sec (3589 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 13 2021