God's Peace & Comfort - Part 1

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Alright, turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. This is one of four letters that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

Only two survived. This letter was probably written around the year 56 AD and most likely about a year after Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. And I've titled this morning's message, The God of All Comfort. As Paul will say, that the God of all comfort, he will comfort us in all our tribulations.

And the church that Paul is writing to, they needed comfort. This church needed encouragement. This was the, again, the second letter that has survived. But you remember the first letter, 1 Corinthians, there were so many corrections and rebukes and admonitions.

So Paul loved the people, but he kind of came down hard on them in the letter of 1 Corinthians. So the church was going through a lot. That's why he did that. False doctrine, sin, there were rivaling factions and divisions.

But here's the good news. The church fixed many of those things. And because of that, Paul has a different tone here in 2 Corinthians. And it's a very personal letter. In fact, this is probably the most personal letter Paul ever wrote.

And don't lose sight of this, that he loved the people. This is the church that he started, he founded, he had a deep love for the people there. And now he wants to encourage them because he knows that many of them were starting to suffer for their faith.

So he wants to encourage them to persevere, but also to be on guard because many of the false teachers and even false apostles were still around. So before we begin reading in verse 1, let's open in a word of prayer.

Our Father, we rejoice in this opportunity to once again be able to open up your word and begin another New Testament letter written by your servant, Paul. And Lord, may your Holy Spirit give power to this message as it goes forth.

Speak to us through your word, I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's begin reading 2 Corinthians 1, verses 1 -7. Let's begin reading 2 Corinthians 1, verses 1 -7. Now, if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer.

Or, if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

The Purpose of Comfort in Suffering

So this is the main thrust of the passage, Paul writing to them to comfort them and to console them. And they needed it, and I would say that the church today needs it, maybe for other reasons, but we still need it.

So let's start at the beginning. What does Paul say? How does he begin the letter? As he normally does, he will identify himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. And the Greek word translated apostle is apostolos, and it simply means one who is sent.

Paul was not only sent, though, he was chosen. He was handpicked by the Lord himself to be his official representative. Notice Paul says that he is an apostle by the will of man. I'm self-appointed. No, he's an apostle by the will of God.

And this is very important. He was not self-appointed. The false apostles that we're going to read about in chapter 11, they were self-appointed. And there's a lot of self-appointed people today in the church.

But Paul says, no, I am an apostle by the will of God. So he was chosen directly by Christ, and he wasn't voted into this position. He was chosen to speak on Christ's behalf as a type of official ambassador.

So we understand the concept of an ambassador. You think about today, an ambassador of the United States of America does what? They speak with the authority of the president. Or in another country, they speak with the authority of a prime minister or a king.

They are given a mission and a message, and they are officially appointed to carry out that task. Well, that's what the apostles were doing. They spoke with the authority of the king of kings, Jesus Christ.

Christ as the Apostles of God the Father

Now, I want to test the congregation here, sort of test the depth of your biblical knowledge. So I'll see a raise of a hand if any are brave enough to do this. Who is, according to the Bible, not your opinion, according to the Bible, who is the greatest apostle of all?

I don't see any hands. You suspect this might be a trick question. It is, but it isn't. Okay, nobody wants to. Paul. Yeah, the greatest of the apostles of Christ, I would say you're right, Paul. You know who the greatest apostle is, though?

Jesus is the greatest apostle. See, here's the thing. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter, James, and John were apostles of Jesus Christ. But Jesus was the apostle of God the Father. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1 says this, calls him an apostle.

Therefore, Hebrews 3, 1. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ. So you can try that on your Christian friends later on.

Who's the greatest apostle? Jesus is. And the greatest apostle of Christ, I guess that's a matter of debate. But yeah, most would agree it was Paul. All right, so a little bit of a trick question. But why do we say that?

Why was Jesus called an apostle? Because he, more than any other man, revealed the nature and the character of God. During Christ's earthly ministry, Jesus, the anointed of God, he spoke for God. And Jesus then, when he ascended into heaven, he appointed his apostles to speak for him.

And then when the apostles perished, when they died, actually I shouldn't use the word perish, but they died at the end of the first century. And now in the church, you have evangelists and pastors who speak on God's behalf.

So you can think of it, type of a hierarchy of authority that is just going down the line. God the Father gave all authority to his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his authority to the apostles. Now we have the apostles' doctrine in the holy scriptures.

And now you have evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Just one verse on this. You can make a note of this. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 says that he himself, Jesus Christ, gave some to be, number one, apostles.

Number two, prophets. And there were New Testament prophets. Then evangelists and pastors and teachers. So that's what we have in the church today. And hopefully pastors today are encouraging their people and comforting the church.

Because, as I said, we need it now more than we've needed it in a long, long time. So what's the main focus of these first few verses of 2 Corinthians? Again, what's the title of the message? What is Paul trying to communicate?

It is a message of comfort, consolation, and encouragement. And the people needed that because, as we said, 1 Corinthians was filled with many admonitions and rebukes. And I think this is something that the modern church either doesn't like or perhaps doesn't really accept or understand.

The Corinthians, they understood it. Not sure they always liked it. But here's the thing. If a man is faithful, if any Christian is faithful, handling the word of God, sometimes you're going to get the soothing that comes from the word.

Other times you get the stinging. We don't really like the stinging, do we? But anyone who's ever read the Bible, you know full well that there are times where reading the Bible kind of hurts. It convicts.

Makes you a little uncomfortable because you can see how you're falling short. But then other times you read the scripture and it just blesses you beyond words. So as children of God and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, yet at the same time we are still living in our flesh.

So simultaneously we are both what? Sinners and saints. So as sinners and saints, we need both the soothing and then once in a while the sting. But this message, Paul, begins at least with a message of comfort.

Grace and Peace in the Greeting

So he says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy, our brother. Most of us know that Timothy was a faithful companion. Paul won him to the Lord during, I believe, his second missionary journey.

And now Timothy is following Paul and does work for him. So he says, and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia. So Corinth is the city.

Achaia is the Roman province, and it's located today in modern day Greece. Here's the thing to know about the city of Corinth. Corinth and Ephesus, these two cities in particular, were very ungodly. Being a Christian in the city of Corinth is sort of like being a Christian in western Massachusetts maybe.

It might be somewhat similar. I don't know. I wasn't there. But it was a very, very ungodly place. So he says to them, and this is usually how Paul will begin his letters. Notice what he says in verse 2.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christians need grace and peace. The Corinthians needed grace and peace. And why does Paul begin the letter this way? Because he always, if you pay attention, the grace always comes before the peace.

And that's because you cannot have peace with God until you first experience the grace of God. So grace comes first. And what is grace? Well, grace is unmerited favor. You cannot earn it. You didn't do anything to deserve it.

Unmerited favor. So God gives Christians grace, and the result of that grace is peace. Peace with God. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.