Comforted by God
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4a
That our infinitely holy God would condescend to our lowly estate to comfort us in our afflictions is an incomprehensible reality that should animate within us such profound humility that we fall on our face in breathless adoration. By His own testimony His very nature is defined as “goodness” that is manifested in His sovereign grace and compassion (Exod. 33:19). Indeed, “He delights in unchanging love” (Micah 7:18). He is the wellspring of all compassion and comfort. For this reason Christ is our great high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses; and because He delights in mercy and condescension, He invites us to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15-16).
But how does this work? As pastors and church leaders we must understand this and shepherd accordingly. To be sure, God comforts us through His indwelling Holy Spirit. In John 14:16 Jesus promised that He would ask the Father to send another “Helper” (parakletos: advocate, comforter, helper). But what is the primary way He helps? Answer: through the exhortation of His Word! This is why Jesus also described Him as “the Spirit of truth” (v. 16); “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (14:26). He went on to promise, “When the Helper comes . . . that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you willtestify also” (John 15:16).
As believers, we cannot experience the soul-satisfying comfort of God’s grace apart from the ministry of His Word in our lives through the ministry of the indwelling Spirit. He will bring it to our remembrance.
He will bring it to bear upon our soul, and He will use others, especially those with the gift of exhortation.
This is a fascinating concept! Describing spiritual gifts Paul says, “he who exhorts, in his exhortation” (Rom. 12:8). The terms “exhort” (parakaleō) and “exhortation” (paraklēsis) are both compounds of para (“alongside”) and kaleō(“to call”). Joined together they constitute the title paraklētos (“paraclete”) used to not only describe the Holy Spirit, but also the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1). Here we see that the Holy Spirit has uniquely gifted some with the gift of exhortation (paraklēsis); one who, on behalf of and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can come alongside others to minister to them in times of need through the proclamation and application of His Word which varies with each individual person and circumstance.
What an amazing privilege every believer has to admonish someone who has allowed themselves to be enslaved to some life-dominating sin, or to instruct and correct someone deceived by error, or to comfort someone who is hurting, or to strengthen someone who is collapsing under the weight of some great trial. But in every case, the agent of comfort is the “God of all comfort,” the instrument of comfort is the Word of God, and the messengers of comfort are each of us—especially those who themselves have been comforted and who have been given the gift of exhortation. May we all be devoted messengers of divine comfort, that in all things, Christ might have the preeminence.
© COPYRIGHT NOTICE 2023 BY DAVID HARRELL AND SHEPHERD’S FIRE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
