Latest / Reformed Thinking / The God of All Comfort: Suffering, Providence, and Union with Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3–5)

Transcript

The God of All Comfort: Suffering, Providence, and Union with Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3–5) · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're digging into a
• 0:02
  really dense set of verses. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3
• 0:06
  to 5. Right.
• 0:07
  And these verses, they really tackle one of the oldest and
• 0:12
  most difficult questions for any believer.
• 0:15
  Which is what happens when things get really bad.
• 0:16
  I mean when you are just crushed.
• 0:18
  Is God actually near? Does he care or is he just
• 0:22
  distinct? Exactly.
• 0:23
  And Paul writes this to the church in Corinth, which was
• 0:26
  already a mess, and he puts this right before he talks about a
• 0:28
  trial in Asia where he literally despaired of life itself.
• 0:31
  The sheer nerve of it is what gets me.
• 0:33
  He's about to describe total desolation, but he starts with
• 0:36
  praise. Our mission today is pretty
• 0:39
  clear. We want to pull apart the
• 0:40
  theological structure Paul is using here to understand
• 0:43
  suffering. Because he shows that God isn't
• 0:46
  just in control of the pain, but is also overflowing with mercy
• 0:49
  in it. And that this mercy, this
• 0:51
  comfort is meant to flow through you to other people.
• 0:54
  This is our starting segment, what we call reformed thinking.
• 0:57
  It really is the only place you can start.
• 0:59
  The text immediately sets up this tension between two ideas
• 1:03
  affliction. The Greek is filipsis, which
• 1:06
  means this feeling of being crushed.
• 1:09
  Like a heavyweight. Yes, a heavyweight and then
• 1:11
  comfort or paraclesis. Paul doesn't pretend the
• 1:14
  pressure isn't real, no. He doesn't ease into it.
• 1:17
  Not at all. He doesn't start with a defense
• 1:19
  of his ministry or complain about his circumstances.
• 1:22
  He starts by actively blessing God, and that choice, that
• 1:26
  priority, is the entire point. It sets the stage for everything
• 1:30
  else. It does.
• 1:31
  It's the framework for how a Christian is supposed to respond
• 1:33
  to any kind of pressure. OK, so let's unpack that.
• 1:36
  Then the strategy in verse 3. Why start with doxology with
• 1:41
  worship? It seems so counterintuitive
• 1:44
  when you're in pain. Because what Paul is teaching is
• 1:46
  that having a correct understanding of who God is,
• 1:49
  well, it's the non negotiable first step to interpreting your
• 1:53
  suffering correctly. What happens if you don't start
• 1:55
  there? If you start with your feelings.
• 1:57
  You're lost if you begin by looking inward at the pain, the
• 2:02
  confusion, your own weakness. Your whole interpretation is
• 2:06
  going to be chaotic. It'll lead to self pity.
• 2:09
  Or, you know, just navel gazing. It's a guaranteed way to lose
• 2:12
  perspective. And for a believer, what does
• 2:15
  that self-centered view look like in practice?
• 2:18
  Well, it usually shows up in one of three ways.
• 2:20
  First, you get tempted to think God is punishing you for some
• 2:23
  specific sin. Second, you might think he's
• 2:26
  just forgotten about you, that it's all random and meaningless.
• 2:29
  Or third, and this is a big one, you think it's up to you to
• 2:32
  generate the strength to cope, which just leads to burnout.
• 2:36
  So by starting with Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
• 2:39
  Jesus Christ, Yeah, Paul basically short circuits that
• 2:42
  whole process. He does.
• 2:43
  He prevents us from putting ourselves at the center of the
• 2:45
  story. There was a really helpful
• 2:46
  analogy for this in our sources. It's like a hiker who has to
• 2:50
  calibrate their compass before they walk into a dark, confusing
• 2:54
  forest. That's a perfect analogy.
• 2:55
  If you just start walking guided by your anxiety about the trees
• 2:58
  closing in, you'll just end up going in circles.
• 3:00
  Paul refuses to do that. He absolutely refuses.
• 3:03
  He doesn't let the darkness of the situation define his
• 3:06
  direction. He first finds true north, which
• 3:09
  is the revealed character of God, and only then does he
• 3:12
  describe the weight of the affliction.
• 3:15
  The starting point for reality, then, is God's character, not
• 3:19
  our circumstances. Exactly.
• 3:20
  And it's not just any God, not some generic higher power.
• 3:24
  That would be like a compass that just spins.
• 3:26
  He's very specific, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 3:30
  And that phrase is the anchor for everything.
• 3:33
  It grounds the entire letter and all Christian comfort right in
• 3:37
  the middle of redemptive history.
• 3:39
  So why is that so critical? Why can't we get comfort from
• 3:42
  just a general idea of a benevolent God?
• 3:45
  Because the implication is huge, it means there is no real
• 3:48
  saving, sustaining knowledge of God apart from Jesus Christ.
• 3:53
  The comfort and mercy Paul is talking about are only available
• 3:55
  because we are united to the sun.
• 3:57
  Our union with Christ is the entire context for our
• 4:00
  suffering. It is so if you try to find real
• 4:02
  comfort anywhere else through philosophy, self help, whatever,
• 4:06
  you're basically talking to the wrong source.
• 4:07
  You're knocking on the wrong door.
• 4:09
  You really are. The access to the Father's mercy
• 4:12
  is opened exclusively by the finished work of the Son, and
• 4:15
  that provides this baseline of objective comfort before the
• 4:19
  trial even starts. That's the bedrock.
• 4:21
  It is. The fact that you're standing
• 4:22
  with God doesn't depend on how you're feeling today, but on the
• 4:25
  unchangeable work of Christ. And that truth, that has to be
• 4:29
  the cornerstone. It means that no matter how
• 4:32
  intense the pressure the flipsist gets, it's not God's
• 4:36
  wrath. Never.
• 4:37
  Christ took all of that on the cross, so any suffering we face
• 4:40
  has to be something else. Fatherly discipline maybe, or
• 4:43
  training for ministry, but never, ever condemnation.
• 4:47
  And you have to have that settled in your mind before you
• 4:49
  can even begin to process the pain itself.
• 4:51
  OK, so from that big picture strategy, Paul then zooms in on
• 4:54
  God's character using 2 very specific titles in verse three.
• 4:58
  The first one is the father of mercies.
• 5:01
  Right. And this gets at what we could
• 5:02
  call his internal disposition. The phrase itself feels deeper
• 5:06
  than just saying he is merciful. Yeah, it is.
• 5:09
  It suggests God is the actual bigotter, the source of mercy
• 5:13
  itself. Mercy in Greek.
• 5:15
  Which Turmos is this tender compassion towards someone in
• 5:18
  distress for God? It flows naturally from his
• 5:21
  identity as a father to his people.
• 5:23
  It's not something he has to work up, it's just who he is.
• 5:26
  Exactly. And notice it's plural mercies.
• 5:30
  Why is that detail so important? Because the plural points to an
• 5:34
  abundance, but also a variety of compassionate acts.
• 5:37
  It's not one-size-fits-all pity. It means God meets our different
• 5:41
  needs with specific kindnesses. He gives comfort for guilt,
• 5:44
  strength for weakness, clarity for confusion.
• 5:47
  It pushes back against that common fear you have having a
• 5:49
  trial, that feeling that God has just gotten tired of you, that
• 5:52
  his patience has run out. Yes.
• 5:54
  Paul is assuring us that these mercies are always flowing and
• 5:57
  they are varied and active. Which leads right into the
• 6:00
  second title, which is more about his function, the God of
• 6:02
  all comfort. And here the language is
• 6:05
  absolute. There are no exceptions.
• 6:06
  It's a. Pretty bold claim.
• 6:08
  It's the strongest claim possible.
• 6:10
  It means that every single bit of true, lasting consolation
• 6:14
  that builds your faith, it all originates in Him.
• 6:17
  So every encouraging word from a friend, every promise from
• 6:20
  scripture that comes to mind. Every moment of assurance and
• 6:23
  prayer, it all traces back to Him as the single fountainhead.
• 6:28
  This acts as a theological redirect.
• 6:31
  Then it points the believer away from false sources.
• 6:34
  It does. It immediately dismisses trying
• 6:36
  to cope through sheer willpower or trying to find relief in
• 6:40
  worldly distractions or escapism.
• 6:42
  Or even chasing some kind of novel spiritual high.
• 6:45
  Right. Real, lasting faith building
• 6:47
  relief comes only from the God of all comfort.
• 6:50
  The test is simple. If the comfort you're getting
• 6:53
  strengthens your devotion to Christ, it's from God.
• 6:56
  If it doesn't, it's just a temporary painkiller.
• 6:59
  That brings us to the word itself.
• 7:00
  Paraclesis, our English word comfort, can sound a little
• 7:04
  passive, like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
• 7:06
  It can, but the Greek is much more active, much more robust.
• 7:09
  What's the root mean? It means to be called alongside.
• 7:12
  So it's not just about soothing, it's about active encouragement,
• 7:16
  support, spiritual strengthening.
• 7:19
  Like a coach on the sidelines or a lawyer standing with you in
• 7:22
  court. Exactly, it's active help.
• 7:24
  The goal is to make you able to stand firm under the pressure.
• 7:28
  So if keratlypsis is that crushing weight, then paraclysis
• 7:32
  is like a spiritual adrenaline shot that lets you bear that
• 7:36
  weight without collapsing. That's a great way to put it.
• 7:38
  The goal is endurance, not just feeling better.
• 7:41
  It's totally different from just trying to get back to your
• 7:43
  private equilibrium, which is what a lot of secular self help
• 7:46
  aims for. And this idea of active help
• 7:49
  connects directly back to the Trinity, specifically to the
• 7:52
  Holy Spirit. Yes, you.
• 7:53
  Can't miss the link. The word for comfort,
• 7:55
  paraclesis, is directly related to the title Jesus gives the
• 7:59
  Holy Spirit in John's Gospel. The Paraclete, the Helper, the
• 8:02
  Helper, the one sent by the risen Christ to apply all the
• 8:05
  benefits of redemption right to the believer's heart, to help us
• 8:08
  in our weakness. When we feel that comfort,
• 8:10
  that's the Spirit doing his work.
• 8:12
  So you have the Father is the source, the Son is the mediator
• 8:15
  who gives us access, and the Spirit as the agent who actually
• 8:19
  delivers that comfort in the moment of pain.
• 8:22
  It's a complete Trinitarian operation, all focused on the
• 8:25
  suffering believer. Which brings up a critical
• 8:27
  point, especially from a reformed view.
• 8:30
  How does this comfort usually get delivered?
• 8:33
  That's a great question because the Spirit is the agent some
• 8:37
  people might be tempted to look for, you know, something
• 8:39
  dramatic, a new revelation, an audible voice.
• 8:42
  But the Westminster perspective would say that God works through
• 8:46
  what we call the ordinary means of grace.
• 8:48
  That's right, The comfort is ministered primarily through the
• 8:51
  Word, through prayer, and through the fellowship of other
• 8:54
  believers. It doesn't usually come through
• 8:55
  some brand new extra biblical experience.
• 8:59
  And why is that distinction so crucial?
• 9:01
  It guards US against subjectivism.
• 9:03
  If your comfort depends on a special feeling or a private
• 9:06
  revelation, what happens when that feeling goes?
• 9:09
  You're left with nothing. You're adrift, but the spirits
• 9:12
  work is to take the objective, fixed promises of Scripture and
• 9:16
  apply them to your heart. He uses the truth that Christ
• 9:20
  died, that God is sovereign, to hold you up.
• 9:24
  The comfort is anchored in the gospel, not in your shifting
• 9:27
  emotions. OK, let's try to pull these
• 9:29
  titles together with that physician's credentials analogy
• 9:32
  we talked about, because they're not just words of praise,
• 9:34
  they're like a guarantee for the person who's suffering.
• 9:37
  Right. Imagine you're in a scary
• 9:39
  medical situation. In that room of affliction.
• 9:41
  You look at the wall and see the doctor's credentials.
• 9:43
  They give you confidence. So first, the God and Father of
• 9:47
  our Lord Jesus Christ that proves His authority.
• 9:49
  He has the right to intervene because of what the Son did.
• 9:52
  He's the specialist in charge. Then you have Father of Mercies
• 9:56
  that proves his bedside manner, his desire to heal.
• 9:59
  It tells you his default disposition towards you is
• 10:02
  tender compassion, not irritation.
• 10:05
  And finally, God of all comfort that proves he has the resources
• 10:09
  to actually bring about the cure.
• 10:10
  He's not working from a limited supply.
• 10:12
  He has everything needed to get you through.
• 10:14
  It's this incredible picture of God.
• 10:16
  He's absolutely sovereign and in control, but that control is
• 10:20
  filled with intentional, compassionate care, the tender
• 10:24
  Lord over everything. So after Paul establishes God as
• 10:27
  this exclusive source, he immediately turns to our role in
• 10:31
  all this. And it's a very specific one.
• 10:33
  It is. He makes this critical
• 10:34
  theological point. Believers are conduits, not the
• 10:38
  original sources of comfort. The comfort we give to others
• 10:42
  isn't something we just invent or, you know, manufacture on our
• 10:45
  own. And that's such a protection,
• 10:47
  isn't it? It keeps our focus vertical.
• 10:49
  When you're suffering, the last thing you need is more pressure
• 10:52
  to somehow cheer yourself. Up exactly.
• 10:54
  We're designed to receive it from Him.
• 10:56
  First. We talked about this vertical
• 10:58
  horizontal flow. We get the paracelesis from God,
• 11:00
  that's the vertical part, so that we can then pass it on to
• 11:03
  others. That's the horizontal part.
• 11:05
  The comfort we give is just the overflow of the comfort we first
• 11:08
  received. It's entirely derivative.
• 11:10
  So what's the danger then, if we try to be the source, If we try
• 11:14
  to comfort someone out of our own strength?
• 11:16
  The danger is twofold burnout for you and shallow comfort for
• 11:21
  them. If you're relying on your own
• 11:24
  emotional reserves or wisdom, that's a finite resource.
• 11:28
  It will run out. And the comfort you offer won't
• 11:30
  last. Right, because it's not
• 11:32
  theological. It might make someone feel
• 11:34
  better for a moment, but it won't strengthen their faith
• 11:36
  because it's disconnected from the inexhaustible source.
• 11:39
  The hydroelectric dam analogy really makes this clear.
• 11:42
  It does if you picture God, the God of all comfort, as the
• 11:46
  massive dam, then the electricity, the comfort is
• 11:50
  generated there. And we, the believers are the
• 11:52
  power lines. Exactly.
• 11:54
  The lines are essential to transmit the power, but they
• 11:56
  don't generate a single Volt. They have to stay connected to
• 11:59
  the dam. And if you got the wire from the
• 12:01
  dam, it's just a dead piece of metal.
• 12:04
  It has no power of its own. And that forces us to admit our
• 12:07
  own weakness and our total dependence.
• 12:10
  When you go to comfort someone, you're not saying, listen to me,
• 12:12
  I'm so strong and wise. You're saying the very same
• 12:15
  comfort from the source that held me up is now available to
• 12:18
  you and I'm just the messenger? It guards against pride.
• 12:21
  But I could see someone asking, does this minimize my personal
• 12:25
  story? If I'm just a conduit, does my
• 12:27
  own unique, painful experience even matter?
• 12:31
  That's a really important question, and the answer is your
• 12:34
  story matters immensely, but not as the source of the comfort.
• 12:38
  It matters as the proof that the source is faithful.
• 12:41
  So my experience validates that the power line actually works.
• 12:45
  Yes, you have to receive the comfort yourself, process it,
• 12:49
  let the spirit apply it. That experience turns you from
• 12:53
  someone who just knows the theory into a credible witness.
• 12:57
  The content you deliver is still theological.
• 12:59
  It's God's promises, but it's being delivered through a tested
• 13:02
  vessel. The content is divine, but the
• 13:04
  delivery system is human and has been through the fire.
• 13:07
  And that vertical priority has to shape the content of the
• 13:09
  comfort we give. It has to be about God, who he
• 13:12
  is, what Christ has done. Otherwise we're just offering
• 13:15
  empty sentiment. Which brings us to the why the
• 13:18
  divine purpose behind this whole system.
• 13:20
  Verse 4 is so explicit. God comforts us so that we may
• 13:23
  be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.
• 13:25
  That so that clause is everything.
• 13:28
  It's goal oriented. The comfort that comes down from
• 13:31
  God has a required horizontal destination.
• 13:35
  It's primary goal is what you call equipment for ministry.
• 13:38
  Yes, the phrase so that we may be able suggests that God's
• 13:43
  comfort creates a brand new capacity in us that wasn't there
• 13:46
  before the trial. It's a spiritual qualification
• 13:49
  for ministry. So suffering and the comfort
• 13:52
  that follows is basically a training program.
• 13:55
  It moves you from being a passive victim to an active
• 13:58
  instrument of God's mercy. That's the transformation.
• 14:00
  It's a call to see your suffering as a stewardship.
• 14:03
  Your pain isn't just your private problem to get over.
• 14:05
  In time, it becomes the platform from which you bear witness to
• 14:09
  God's grace. For the sake of the Church,
• 14:11
  We're. Going to find so striking is the
• 14:12
  scope, he says. We're equipped to comfort those
• 14:15
  in any affliction. That little word any is huge.
• 14:19
  It pushes back hard against what you would call an experience
• 14:22
  locked view of ministry. You mean the idea that you can
• 14:25
  only help someone if you've been through the exact same thing?
• 14:27
  Precisely the idea that only someone who's lost a child can
• 14:30
  comfort someone who's lost a child.
• 14:32
  Paul blows that up. So how does that work?
• 14:34
  How can someone who was comforted through, say, a
• 14:36
  financial crisis have anything to say to someone with a chronic
• 14:40
  illness? Because the comfort being shared
• 14:43
  isn't just human empathy, it's theological truth.
• 14:47
  The common ground isn't the specific circumstance.
• 14:50
  The common ground is the God of comfort.
• 14:53
  The person who learned God is a faithful provider in their
• 14:56
  poverty can point the person in physical pain to that very same
• 15:00
  faithful God who gives grace. The comfort we transmit is
• 15:04
  always Christ and his promises. So that's the horizontal
• 15:09
  purpose, but there's also a vertical one, right?
• 15:12
  How affliction changes our relationship with God Himself.
• 15:14
  Oh, absolutely. The vertical purpose is all
• 15:17
  about deepening dependence. Our afflictions are not random.
• 15:20
  They are divinely designed tools to wean us from our
• 15:23
  self-reliance. Paul says that later, doesn't
• 15:25
  he? That he despaired of life, so
• 15:27
  that he would learn to rely not on himself, but on the God who
• 15:30
  raises the dead. That's the heart of it.
• 15:31
  But that can sound a little harsh.
• 15:33
  Why does God, the Father of mercies, have to push us to the
• 15:35
  brink just to teach us to rely on Him?
• 15:37
  Because honestly, our default setting is self-sufficiency.
• 15:41
  Comfort and ease make us spiritually lazy and proud.
• 15:44
  So in His mercy, God sometimes has to remove all our props, our
• 15:48
  health, our security, our plans to create a vacuum that only He
• 15:52
  can fill. He lets the pressure reveal just
• 15:54
  how weak we really are on our. Own Yes, affliction becomes this
• 15:58
  dark yet real theater where God's character isn't just a
• 16:02
  doctrine we know, but a reality we experience.
• 16:05
  You move from knowing it in your head to knowing it in your
• 16:07
  bones. You do, and that experiential
• 16:09
  knowledge is what makes for authentic ministry.
• 16:12
  Let's use that teaching hospital analogy to really nail this
• 16:15
  down. OK, so contrast a guest in a
• 16:17
  hotel with a in a teaching hospital.
• 16:20
  The hotel guest gets comfort, a clean bed, nice food, just for
• 16:24
  their own private enjoyment. They check out and go back to
• 16:26
  their easy life. Their comfort ends with them,
• 16:28
  right? But the medical resident, they
• 16:31
  go through intense pressure, stress, long hours.
• 16:34
  They receive training and support not just to survive, but
• 16:37
  for the purpose of treating other people.
• 16:39
  God doesn't comfort us just to discharge us back into a life of
• 16:42
  ease like a hotel guest. No, He comforts and strengthens
• 16:46
  us so we can turn around and apply that same salve, the
• 16:50
  comfort of God, to the wounds of others in the community.
• 16:54
  Our healing is meant for the whole hospital, the whole
• 16:56
  church. So our trials are residency,
• 16:59
  it's our certification for ministry.
• 17:01
  That's an excellent way to put it.
• 17:03
  And all of this is held together by the final piece in verse 5,
• 17:06
  the Christological axis. For as we share abundantly in
• 17:09
  Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in
• 17:13
  comfort too. This is what grounds everything.
• 17:15
  The whole dynamic of phlepsis and paraclysis is rooted in our
• 17:19
  union with Christ. OK, let's start with shared
• 17:21
  suffering. This is a phrase we have to be
• 17:23
  really precise about, especially for our audience.
• 17:26
  We do. It's critical to say what it is
• 17:28
  not. It is not under any
• 17:30
  circumstances, participation in His atoning work on the cross.
• 17:34
  That was a one time substitutionary act.
• 17:36
  It is finished. We add nothing to it.
• 17:38
  So what does it mean for us to participate in his sufferings?
• 17:41
  It means we participate in the pattern of his earthly life, a
• 17:46
  life of humiliation, of rejection, of hostility from a
• 17:50
  world that is opposed to God. Because we're identified with
• 17:54
  him, the hostility that was aimed at him is now often aimed
• 17:57
  at us. So suffering for the Gospel is
• 17:59
  the clearest example of this. It's part of the cost of
• 18:02
  discipleship. It is.
• 18:04
  It proves we're on the same path he walked.
• 18:06
  But the beautiful part is the symmetry.
• 18:09
  Just as so also. There's a direct parallel, the
• 18:11
  word he uses as a bound or overflow.
• 18:14
  Yes, as the sufferings of Christ overflow in our lives, the
• 18:18
  comfort also overflows through Christ.
• 18:20
  So it's not that we get a little bit of comfort for a lot of
• 18:23
  suffering. No, it's the opposite.
• 18:24
  The promise is that overwhelming affliction is met with super
• 18:27
  abundant consolation. The comfort is proportional to
• 18:31
  and often even exceeds the level of distress.
• 18:34
  Which makes that union with Christ feel very real right now.
• 18:37
  What are the main benefits of that union over suffering?
• 18:40
  Well, the first is the most important, freedom from wrath.
• 18:44
  Because Christ took the curse for us.
• 18:45
  No suffering we ever face is punishment from God.
• 18:48
  It can be disciplined, it can be training, but it is never, ever
• 18:52
  condemnation. And knowing that changes
• 18:54
  everything. It's the difference between a
• 18:56
  loving father's discipline and an enemy's attack.
• 18:59
  All the difference in the world and 2nd all of our spiritual
• 19:02
  comfort comes from our connection to the risen Lord.
• 19:05
  The comfort isn't something we generate.
• 19:07
  We receive it from the ascended Christ who is interceding for us
• 19:10
  and pouring out His Spirit, the Paraclete.
• 19:13
  Our hope is secure because the one who suffered is now
• 19:16
  glorified and we are hidden in Him.
• 19:18
  Exactly. And that gives us our future
• 19:20
  hope too. Sharing His sufferings now is a
• 19:23
  guarantee that we will share His glory later.
• 19:26
  The comfort we get now is a down payment, a foretaste of that
• 19:29
  perfect, unbroken consolation to come.
• 19:32
  OK, let's use one last analogy to visualize this relationship
• 19:35
  between suffering and comfort, the aqueduct.
• 19:38
  Right. Think of suffering as the
• 19:40
  painful process of carving out a channel, a deep trench.
• 19:43
  The more intense the suffering, the deeper the trench gets
• 19:46
  caused. Yes, and comfort is the living
• 19:49
  water that God pours into that Channel.
• 19:51
  The deeper the trench of suffering, the greater the
• 19:54
  volume of comfort that can flow into it and.
• 19:56
  Crucially, that greater volume isn't meant to just sit there
• 20:00
  like a private pond. Not at all.
• 20:02
  It's designed to flow through that Channel, through the
• 20:04
  believer, to refresh the entire community.
• 20:07
  The channel is deepened not for you, but for the sake of a
• 20:11
  greater flow of grace to others. So the unique and agonizing
• 20:14
  depth of eurythropsis is actually preparing the way for a
• 20:18
  greater volume of paraclesis designed not just for your
• 20:22
  survival, but for the strengthening of the entire body
• 20:25
  of Christ. It mandates that we depend on
• 20:27
  each other. It transforms our private pain
• 20:29
  into a public resource for the whole church.
• 20:31
  So to pull it all together, what Paul gives us in these 3 verses
• 20:35
  is this coherent integrated vision.
• 20:37
  He does. It brings together God's
• 20:39
  sovereignty. He's in charge of the trial,
• 20:40
  with his character as the Father of mercies, and with the
• 20:43
  Church's purpose, which is mutual consolation.
• 20:45
  It gives pain a ideological meaning.
• 20:48
  And this requires you, the listener, to completely
• 20:51
  reinterpret your own suffering, to see it not as random bad luck
• 20:55
  or a sign of God's neglect, but as the very specific place where
• 20:59
  the God of all comfort is choosing to make himself known
• 21:03
  to you more deeply. It's a call to worship, even
• 21:06
  when it feels like everything is crushing you.
• 21:09
  The fixed point of comfort isn't in our feelings, but in the
• 21:12
  identity of the Triune God. Which leads us to our final
• 21:16
  thought for you to think about this week.
• 21:18
  If God's comfort is designed to overflow, not to end with you,
• 21:22
  what specific affliction have you experienced where God
• 21:25
  sustained you? And having received that
• 21:27
  consolation, how are you now uniquely positioned to be a
• 21:30
  conduit of that same comfort to someone else this week?
• 21:32
  What pain has qualified your voice?
• 21:34
  Consider that trench that was carved out in your life.
• 21:37
  How can the comfort now flowing through you become a source of
• 21:39
  life for someone else who is in desperate need?
• 21:42
  Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the Second
• 21:44
  Corinthians 1.3 to 5. We hope this is a crypt to you
• 21:47
  to see your trials through the lens of God's purposeful grace.
• 21:50
  We'll see you next time.