Friday, August 24,
2012, 7:45 a.m. – the Lord woke me with this song in mind:
My Jesus, I Love Thee / William R. Featherstone / Adoniram J.
Gordon
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art
mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I
resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art
thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I love thee because thou hast first
loved me,
and purchased my pardon on Calvary's
tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on
thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 (NIV 1984):
Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God
in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
Grace and peace to you
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those
in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just
as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ
our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and
salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you
patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is
firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you
share in our comfort.
We do not want you to
be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of
Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that
we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.
But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises
the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.
On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us
by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious
favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The Father of Jesus
Christ
There are several titles here given to God the Father of
Jesus Christ, one of which is the Father of compassion, and another, the God of
all comfort. God is also referred to as one who raises the dead, and who
delivers from deadly peril, as well as one who grants gracious favor in
response to the prayers of the saints on behalf of his suffering servants. God
exercises divine comfort, compassion, sympathy and encouragement on the behalf
of his children who are suffering for the cause of Christ and for the sake of
the gospel. And, in turn, we, who have experienced his divine compassion and
encouragement (during our times of suffering for the sake of Christ and his
gospel), can offer the same type of comfort to other suffering servants for
Christ as what God has provided for us.
Suffering
If we want to understand God’s comfort, compassion and
encouragement toward us so that we can offer to others the same encouragement
as what Christ has done for us, then first of all we need to have a basic
understanding of the subject of suffering. We learn in Romans that suffering
produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope. So, it is
for our good and for our spiritual maturity that we go through times of
suffering. We also learn that we share in Christ’s sufferings (the same types
for the same kinds of reasons) in order that we might share in his glory. Jesus
Christ, who was God-man, had to learn obedience through the things he suffered,
and the Bible is quite clear when it teaches that obedience to Christ (God) and
his commands is essential for our salvation (glory).
We learn in Philippians that there is fellowship with Christ
in sharing in his sufferings, so that we might become like him in his death, so
that we might attain the resurrection from the dead (spiritual life in Christ; eternal
life with God). Suffering draws us to Christ and to our knees when we respond
correctly to the suffering, which then humbles us and causes us to call upon
God for help, which then produces in us death to our self-life and a desire to
live for God in all holiness, if we choose to respond to the suffering as God
intended. Paul talked about that when he stated that his extreme suffering, to
the point to where he thought he was going to die, happened “that we might not
rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” Suffering humbles us and
brings us to our knees, if we let it.
In 1 Peter we learn that it is commendable if a person bears
up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, i.e.
because of his faith, witness, and testimony for Christ, and/or because of moral
decisions made for his own life due to his faith in Christ. Yet, it is not to
our credit if we suffer for doing wrong and then endure it. So, there is
suffering in our lives that is just part of the curse of sin (another subject),
and there is suffering in our lives because we are doing what is wrong
(sinning), and there is suffering because we are following Christ and his
example and teachings, and so we are being persecuted and treated much the same
as he was treated. It is this third kind of suffering that is being spoken
about in this passage in 2 Corinthians, and it is this kind of suffering to
which Paul is referring when he states that, because of his own suffering, he
is able to offer encouragement and comfort to his brothers and sisters in
Christ going through similar trials.
So, how did God the Father show compassion, comfort and
encouragement?
Compassion
When I think of God’s compassion, the first thing that comes
to mind is how he had compassion on us sinners to the point that he sent his
One and Only Son (God the Son), Jesus Christ to earth to take on human flesh,
to suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, to be
persecuted, abandoned, denied, betrayed, beaten, mocked and crucified on a
cross, as though he was a common criminal, although he had done no wrong. But,
that was not the worst of his suffering. When he died he took upon himself the
sins of the entire world, crucified them with him, buried them with him, and
left our sins in the grave while he rose triumphantly over death, hell, Satan
and sin. He did all of this so we could go free from the ultimate penalty of
sin (eternal damnation), and so we would be free of the control of (bondage to)
sin over our day-to-day lives, and free to walk in faithful obedience to our
Lord (master) and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So, if we want to offer the same kind of compassion to
others as what God the Father demonstrated to us, we will willingly give up our
lives (time, talents, energies, etc.) to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with
those who don’t know the Savior, so that they can come to know him, too. We
will be willing to give up our popularity and acceptance from people in order
to speak the truth in love and tell our brothers and sisters in Christ and those
outside of Christ the truths of God’s word, and the whole of the gospel
message, not watering it down to make it more palatable to the listener or more
acceptable so people will like us.
We will see beyond people’s wants and human desires to their
true needs and we will reach out in love to meet those needs. We won’t give out
false praise or placate sin in order to make people feel better about their
lives when they are living in sin or are willfully giving in to sin. We will
always tell the truth, and will offer the same kinds of words of comfort as did
God and Jesus in scripture, and in the correct context, too. Jesus Christ died
so we would be free from sin, and true compassion gives of our lives to see
others go free, too, as well as it offers words of encouragement to those who
are truly suffering for righteousness’ sake.
Comfort
There are many ways in which the Father offers comfort to
his children who are suffering for his sake. I know that when I am suffering
unjustly due to my faith and testimony for Jesus Christ, or because of my
witness for the gospel and my stand for what is right, the Lord will often
bring scriptures to mind or songs of encouragement that offer hope and healing
for my emotions, mind and spirit. He always speaks the truth to my heart,
though. He never offers false flattery or false praise just to make me feel
better about myself. He convicts me of sin if the suffering is a result of wrong
that I am doing, and he offers words of correction and spurs me on toward
continuing in my faith, in being his witness, and in his calling upon my life. He
uses songs with me a lot!
So, when we want to comfort others with the comfort we have
received from God, we need to know that God does not lie, and we should not lie
to others, even a little bit. A lie is still a lie, even if it is half true.
False flattery and false praise are lies. We should always speak the truth in
love and with kindness, not blunt words intended only to hurt and that are not
necessary. We don’t have to tell everything we know if it is not beneficial to
the listener, unless of course we have sinned against that person and we need
to confess that sin, or unless in withholding information we are purposefully
trying to deceive the other person. We should be wise in how we speak, and I am
always growing and learning in how to better communicate with people. But true
comfort speaks the truth, and true comfort looks beyond the wants to the true
needs of the people, and it reaches out to meet those needs.
Encouragement
A lot of people have this idea that encouragement means
saying only things people like to hear or that edification and building people
up means only saying socially acceptable things that make people feel better
about themselves, even though they may be living in sin or giving in to willful
sin. Yet, true encouragement does more than just offer words of consolation and
reassurance, cheer or praise. True encouragement helps to motivate the person
toward some type of behavior, action, attitude or change. It urges, inspires, assists,
nurtures, persuades, pushes and advances people toward the right kind of
thinking, attitudes and behavior. And, it always speaks the truth in love and
does not lie to its listeners just to make them feel better.
The truth offers hope for change, healing, and a new future,
whereas false praise can leave us right where we are. If we are sinning, we are
not helping each other by not telling each other the truth. If we are suffering
for righteousness’ sake, we are still not helping each other if we do not speak
the truth and let others know what the Bible teaches concerning suffering, so
that they may have hope.
A word that has similar meaning to encourage is edify. The
scriptures talk much of encouraging and edifying the body of Christ. To edify
means to inform, educate, instruct, improve and teach. Paul was doing that in
this passage of scripture. He was teaching us how we should encourage and give
comfort to others as Christ gave to him, and as he will give to us. Jesus
Christ always spoke the truth. Paul spoke the truth. We need to speak the
truth.
Jesus laid down his life so we would be free from sin. True
comfort and encouragement help others to be free from sin or they tell the
truth concerning our suffering so that we don’t have false notions about why we
are suffering so that we give up hope. True comfort, encouragement and
compassion always offer hope and change and growth and maturity, which is why
we go through suffering. So, let’s make sure we demonstrate the kind of
compassion, comfort and encouragement that God demonstrated to his people
throughout history, and that we don’t follow the patterns of men in offering
false praise or false hope.
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art
mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I
resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art
thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I love thee because thou hast first
loved me,
and purchased my pardon on Calvary's
tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on
thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
