The God of Comfort — E.A. Johnston

Comfort for the Afflicted

The role of a preacher is often twofold, depending on the circumstances of his hearers, for he is either to comfort the afflicted or afflict the comfortable. My message tonight, friends, is a message of comfort to the afflicted.

The God of Comfort in 2 Corinthians

It is entitled The Guide of Comfort. Our text can be found in 2 Corinthians 1. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 3 through 7. Let me read us this wonderful passage to us at this time.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.

Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. I will stop there.

This is the Apostle Paul's edifying words to those believers at the church in Corinth, both to show them that there is both comfort in suffering, because God is a God of comfort, and that through their suffering, they will be able to minister to others who may be in likewise circumstances, that through their personal experience, they can be the means of bringing consolation to others.

Seasons of Suffering and Personal Loss

And that is the very aspect I want to draw out for us this evening, friends. As we pass through this sin-cursed world, we also pass through different seasons in life. There have been times in my own life where it was all sunshine and honey blossoms, where everything I touched seemed to turn to gold, and I lived, it seemed at times, a charmed life.

I remember being in a Sunday morning church service where Adrian Rogers made the following comment. He said, if you're sitting here today and you were living under a sky of all sunshine and happiness, just wait, for in due time you will be in a storm of adversity and black clouds will be all around you.

And at the time, my life was all sunshine. I had a lot of money. I had a beautiful wife. I had a fine home, and I had much of the world's material goods. But the seasons changed, and I lost my wife. I lost my money.

I lost my home and all my material goods, and I entered a chapter in my life where all I knew was suffering, trial, adversity, and affliction. Perhaps there's someone here tonight, within the sound of my voice, who's passing through a difficult time.

God's Comfort in Overwhelming Adversity

Perhaps it seems that the odds against you are so overwhelming that you wonder how you're even going to survive this crisis. Perhaps you can't handle the grief, the pain, the misery and trial that you find yourself suddenly in, which engulfs you like a flood of towering waves, which seemingly have no end.

And through this time, your faith is being challenged. Your faith is being tried. It even seems that God is a million miles away and heaven is brass and he has deaf ears. You really don't know how you're even going to come through such a time of trouble, and family and friends can only help so much, but it's not enough.

God's Miracles and Faithfulness

You need a miracle, and it looks like we live in a day where God has ceased doing miracles. Listen to me, dear friend. God is still a God of miracles. My God isn't deaf, and my God isn't dead. He is the God who delivers.

He is the God of all comfort. He is with you in your trouble, and he's the one who will bring you through your trouble. The God of the Bible has almighty power. The God of the Bible is the same God today as the one who delivered his children at the Red Sea.

He makes a path in the waters. He makes a way in the wilderness. He brings rivers in the desert. That's my God. And do you know what, friend? God's word is true, and he is true to his word. He won't let you down, and he won't desert you or disappoint you.

Trusting Christ as the Rock of Refuge

You can trust him, and you can lean on him, and when the waves are overwhelming you, there is a rock higher than I, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to take the next few moments to read you a poem, which has meant much to me.

A Poem of Comfort in the Valley

I did not write it. In fact, the author is unknown, but I can surely say that I have experienced every line in this little poem, and it has brought me much comfort. It is my prayer that it will be of some comfort and encouragement to you as well, dear friend.

It is entitled The God of Comfort, and I will close this message with the reading of this wonderful poem. May it speak to your own heart as it has spoken to mine. I have been through the valley of weeping, the valley of sorrow and pain, but the God of all comfort was with me at hand to uphold and sustain.

As the earth needs the clouds and the sunshine, our souls need both sorrow and joy, so he places us oft in the furnace that draws from the gold to destroy. When he leads through some valley of trouble, his omnipotent hand we can trace, for the trials and sorrows he sends us are part of his lessons of grace.

Off we shrink from the purging and pruning, forgetting the husbandman knows that the deeper the cutting and paring, the richer the cluster that grows. Well, he knows that affliction is needed. He has a wide purpose and view, and in the dark valley he whispers, Hereafter thou shalt know what I do.

As we travel through life's shadowed valley, fresh springs of his love ever rise, and we learn that our sorrow and losses are blessings just sent in disguise. So we'll follow wherever he leads us, let the path be dreary or bright, for we've proved that our God can give comfort, our God can give songs in the night.