2 Corinthians 1:3-4 AMP Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement), Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God. This wonderful description of God should lead us to join in his praise. He is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” - “the light of the knowledge of his glory” is given us in “the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Compassion is his nature. He is the source of all comfort for his people. “Comfort,” comments R.V.G. Tasker, “conveys the double meaning of “encouragement” and “consolation” inherent in the Greek word.” “In all our troubles” we too experience the comfort of the Lord. “In times of affliction,” remarks John Bunyan, “we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.” We are blessed if we have seen that part of God’s purpose in comforting us is to make us comforters. This is the deepest explanation of many of the troubles which the Lord permits us to experience. “When you are in the dark,” says Oswald Chambers, “listen and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.” The most effective comforters are those who have themselves been comforted by “the God of all comfort.“ Those who want to have such a ministry need to realize that the Lord teaches us how to comfort by way of “great pressure” and sometimes even through “a deadly peril” (2 Cor. 1:8-11).
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 08:01:53 +0000
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