Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.

Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. We may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. We pray that you may be able to be pure, consolation, and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.

Let's pray. Lord, we love you. Thank you for all that you've done. And Lord, thank you for our people and thank you for their desire to be at your house.

Lord, we have folks watching online. Lord, I pray you'd bless them, that you'd keep them, and Lord, sometimes just through situations and circumstances, being somewhat isolated from other believers, many times for good reason, that Lord, I know it can become kind of a battlefield for the mind, so I pray you'd bless our folks watching and listening, some of which are dealing with health issues and things, pray that you'd help them. Help them to know that they're loved, and Lord, I pray that you'd bless your word, as Lord, I endeavor just to kind of sit and share my heart with our people this morning, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Today, we wanna talk about God's comfort a little bit, and this is a little different, because I'll be honest with you, when you learn just kind of the process of preaching, and even though I learned that in college, kinda you grow up hearing preaching every night of your life, in a sense, in evangelism, there was just some things that I understood, that in preaching, there is what we call a mission statement, in other words, what we're getting ready to share, there is a purpose, there is something, some kind of action that this will call you to, some kind of purpose that this will lead you to, a decision that it will lead you to make, but I'll be honest with you, I really don't know the mission statement of this morning. I probably went back and forth four or five times in the past two or three days, of what God wanted me to share. But let me ask you this, this passage that I've just read, blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribute. Can I ask you something, how many of you have heard that read at a funeral?

Okay, how many of you have ever been to a funeral that I've done? You heard it, okay? This is, wow, did something happen last week? I don't know what's going on here.

Did I wake you up, I'm sorry. Here, you will always hear this passage, read at funerals, and to be honest with you, that pretty much runs the gamut of when you're gonna hear this. The God of all comforts, who comforts us in all our tribulation and all these things, I've used this, I used it last Sunday. And for some reason, God continued to lay this passage on my heart in a sense to show me that, wait a minute, this is not just for funerals. This is not something just for that occasion. That is just one of many occasions that this passage fits into. And we need to look at this a little closer. So I wanna look at this today.

So we wanna talk about God's comfort, and you're gonna understand why, hopefully, by the time we're done. Have you ever had a bad day? Speaking of, it's good to be here today. Have you ever had a bad day?

I saw this, I thought this was interesting. It says, you'll know it will be a bad day. You know you're having a bad day when, and I thought this was kind of funny. It says, you'll know you're having a bad day when your wife says, good morning, Bill, and your name is George. You know that you're having a bad day when you call suicide prevention and they put you on hold. You'll know you're having a bad day when on the news you find out your pacemaker is being recalled by the manufacturers.

It's not funny. You know you're having a bad day when your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles. You know you're having a bad day when you jump out of bed in the morning and miss the floor. That's a bad day, I don't know how that. You know you're having a bad day when your twin sister forgets your birthday. You know you're having a bad day when your boss tells you not to bother taking your coat off. You know you're having a bad day when the bird singing outside your window is a buzzard. You know you're having a bad day when you call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business. I thought that was funny. You know you're having a bad day when your income tax check from the government bounces. Oh Lord, I'm not even gonna read the last one.

It's a waste of time. I thought this was funny. I said this doctor came to a patient and said I got bad news and worse news. And the patient says, well let me have it. And the doctor said, well the bad news is you only have 24 hours to live. And the patient said, I can't imagine anything worse than that. He said, well I forgot to tell you yesterday.

Anyway, have you ever had a bad day? Bible says the God of all comfort. Do you know that gold is one of the most valuable materials on earth? And it's been used obviously for centuries as money and things, decoration.

We think of Solomon's temple. And one of the traits of gold that makes it so valuable and useful is the fact that it can be shaped so easily. You wouldn't have as many gold rings and things if it wasn't so easy to form those rings and things. In fact, and I didn't know this, a single ounce of gold, just one ounce of gold can be flattened to cover 400 square feet.

Imagine that, just one ounce. But gold that is dug out of the ground contains many other elements in it that are not valuable. And those elements have to be removed in order for that gold to be moldable and valuable and useful.

So it has to be heated and gold just begins to melt at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. And you say, well thanks for the science lesson here preacher, what is the whole point of this? Well, you know it means this, that when you are tried and tested as a Christian, that's really a compliment to you.

It's good news because it means there's gold in there somewhere. You know, if God never tested you and tried you, if that never happened, then it might be a sign that there's really not a lot valuable there. But when you're God's child, the Bible says that we shall come forth as gold. It means that God has to sometimes put the heat on and put us through things in order for what is valuable on the inside that is mixed with all those invaluable things or invaluable things that are in our life that prevents us from being useful that has to be removed through a process of trials and testings and all these different things.

It means that we're valuable. I want you to notice in verse four before I get started, just gonna give you some principles out of this passage. But I want you to notice in verse four that it gives us this statement that the Lord comforts us in all our tribulation, notice this statement, that we may be able, that we may be able.

Now listen, let's just put our thinking caps on. That means one of the main purposes of the entire process of trials and comfort and tribulation and consolation, one of the main purposes of this entire process is for God to spiritually insert into our lives an ability to do something that we didn't have before that. Is everybody with me even at 905 on a Sunday morning? So part of the process is to insert into our lives an ability of some kind that we would not have if God did not do this. So he says here that we may be able. So that's the title of what we're talking about today and I think you and I ought to look at our trials and tribulations and testings and all these things.

Hopefully a little different today. So we've gotta start from scratch. Look at verse three. And I just wanna give you these introduction statements. It's really, really Jesus is addressed here. The Lord is addressed in his greatness.

And so before we even get on to the whole trials and consolation and comfort and trouble and all these things, there's some principles we've got to establish. So look at verse three. Notice first he says this, and this is Paul by the way. He says, blessed be God.

Before we go any further, blessed be God. You see in verse one and two as this book is introduced, Paul has given some introduction. But after Paul is introduced, Paul first off introduces Christ.

He introduces the Lord. He says, before I even get into the purpose of what I'm writing, and by the way, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in the process of telling them he was coming to minister in Corinth. But because of things unexpected, because of trials, he didn't make it yet. So he had to write 2 Corinthians here to this church at Corinth.

And there are things that always come up in our life that are unexpected. And really in verse eight of this passage, Paul explains some of the things that they were going through. But in verse three, before we go any further, he says, blessed be God.

Now let me say why this is important. It is important to acknowledge right from the start that God is to be blessed in every step of this process. And God is to be blessed in any process.

Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Job said, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That means this, no matter the outcome, no matter the experience, no matter the trial, no matter the tribulation, no matter the gain, or no matter the loss, God should be blessed. Why? Because God has blessed you. You're like, well, wait a minute, if I have loss, then he didn't, no, no, no, no, no.

That's the whole point. Whatever happens next should have no bearing on the fact that God is blessed by you. It's God, I bless your name. God, I bless you for who you are. God, you are who you are, not because of what you do for me and not because of what happens in the next 24 or 48 hours or in the next 40 years. You're God, so I bless your name.

This is a tough sell this morning a little bit. Blessed be God. May I ask you this, no matter what's gone on in your life the past few months, have you been able to bless the Lord? Can you say, blessed be God, no matter what happens? So Paul says, before I even talk about trials, I'm gonna bless God's name. Notice secondly, he says this, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you're just reading, you might just read right over that.

It's like, okay, we know who that is. We know that that's a description, obviously, that God is the Father of Jesus, the Son, and we understand, but you might miss it, as I have many, many times. You see, in the Old Testament, God is referred to differently. In the Old Testament, you'll find often that God is kind of ascribed, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. How many of you know what I'm talking about? All through the Old Testament, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will read it over and over again.

Why is that? He is referred to that in the Old Testament because of the covenant that God had made with these men and their physical offspring. Everybody got me so far? God made a covenant with them and their future seed, so he is referred to by that covenant. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but in the New Testament, he is referred to as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because in the New Testament, he has made a covenant not with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for their physical seed. He has made a covenant with Jesus for his spiritual seed. He is the Father of, listen, our Lord Jesus Christ. See, this Jesus Christ is our Lord, and he's the Father, and he's the Father.

Everybody got that? So Paul is saying, hey, let's, before we even get into what's gonna go on, we gotta establish who he is. First, we bless his name no matter what. Second, we've gotta understand that he made a covenant with Jesus, and Jesus is our Lord, and so we are indebted to God, and God doesn't hold a debt against us, don't understand, but you and I would have no hope if it wasn't for God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice he says this, the Father of mercies. The Father of mercies.

Now, there's no mistakes. The Father of mercy. So what are we saying here? Isn't this interesting that this phrase means that there is a multitude of tender mercies in God. It's part of who he is essentially.

It's in his nature, and not just that. It means this, that mercy is literally the offspring of God. God gave birth to mercy. Mercy didn't even exist until God birthed it. Can you imagine a world without mercy? Can you imagine there would be no salvation without mercy? There would be no relationship with anyone without mercy because at some point, somebody's gonna have to show mercy in a relationship for it to continue, right? There would be no marriages still left. There barely are, but there would be no marriages left if it wasn't for mercy, and mercy is literally the offspring, the child of God. Now listen, here's an interesting verse. Write it down for your study later on. Micah chapter seven verse 18 says that God delighteth in mercy.

What do you mean? Do you know what? You know some things that I delight in? I delight in my boys. I love watching my boys. I love having my boys. I love doing things with my sons. If they play sports or play, I love to go watch them. I delight in them.

Why? Because they're my child. You know why God delights in mercy? Because mercy's his child. He's the father of mercy. So before you and I get caught up in verses four through eight and begin to think that maybe God is not merciful because of the trials we face, we must remember mercy didn't even exist until God birthed it. He is mercy.

Notice what he says last. He's the God of all comfort. Just so you know, before we talk about trials, he is the God of all comfort.

What does that mean? It means from God proceedeth comfort. John 15, 26 says this. But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father. That means this, that literally the God of all comfort, comfort, the Holy Spirit, the comforter in our life came to us from God the father. So we owe him a great amount of gratitude, don't we? So before we even start complaining about what's going on, let's remember that any comfort we have in our life, we only have because God gave us the Holy Spirit generously. In fact, in verse 22 of this chapter, it says that literally we were given the Holy Spirit as earnest.

We were sealed with it. He is the God of all comfort. All of our comforts come from God. You say, all right, preachers, so far, nothing earth-shattering. Let's look at verse four.

Who, who are we talking about here, who? Verse three. Blessed be God.

Obviously, all the things that we've talked about. This is God, this is who he is. He is literally, he's the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the father of mercies, he's the God of all comfort who, notice, comforteth 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. Now that's a long sentence and it's a mouthful. So let's break it down.

I don't mean it to sound like an 80s rap song, but let's break it down, okay? Principle number one, as we dig into now verses four through eight, and it'll go very quickly, principle number one is this, write them down. Number one, there will be tribulation.

Remember, first thing you should see, there will be tribulation. But remember, blessed be his name. Remember, he's the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, he's the father of mercy.

Remember, he's the God of all comfort. But there will, he doesn't say who comforteth us in case we face tribulation. He said who comforteth us in all our tribulation. Notice that, all our tribulation.

There will be, now this word tribulation is the Greek word flipsis. It means pressure. It means afflicted, it means anguish, it means burdened, it means persecuted, it literally means trouble. That means this, this verse is not just for funerals. Yes, we do need the God of all comfort when we're looking at a casket that holds the earthly temple of a person that we loved and cherished and it's hard and we feel that loss.

But may I say something? We need the God of all comfort when daily burdens bear upon us. We need the father of mercies when we have blown it and when we have gone astray and we've messed up. That's part of life too. Any of you messed up lately?

Yes, not. I don't know about you, we need the relief of God's compassion when the pressure of life and the demands of life weigh upon us. I need the God of all comfort when one of my children has gone astray because there will be bad reports at the doctor's office and there will be heartbreaking phone call at some point in your life. There will be dreams that are dashed on some occasion.

There will be trust in a person that was close to you that will be broken because of what they've done. Yes, there will be tribulation. Notice number two, number one, there will be tribulation. Notice number two, there are some things that can only be learned through trials.

I want you to know that. There are some things that will only be learned through trials. You see, the point of tribulation might not be just to be mean to you.

The point of tribulation is probably for us to learn something. You see, Oswald Chambers who wrote a lot of good books, he had a statement here and I wrote this down. I wanted to read this to you.

I thought it was really good. Listen real close. He said, faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. In other words, if faith means that I just will have faith if I'm delivered, he said that's not faith in God. Faith just for my deliverance is not faith in God.

Faith means whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God loves me. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace. Psalm 119 says it this way.

It is good that I have been afflicted. For then have I learned thy statutes. There will be tribulation. Number two, there are some things that can only be learned through trials.

Number three, write her down. There will be comfort available. Look at verse four. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation?

It's not just the fact that we're gonna have all our tribulation. The principle of this verse is the fact that he will comfort us. There is comfort available and I want you to know that. Whatever you might be going through in your life right now, be it a funeral or a thousand other things.

It's not just funeral. God will comfort. There will be testing. There will be tribulation.

There will be trials. There will be storms. There will be bad days, but there also will be comfort available. Notice what Paul is saying here is that Paul himself and his companions had received from God comfort when they needed it. The Bible says in verse four that God had comforted them in all their tribulation. By the way, do you understand verse three and verse four? Look at it. The God of all comfort and in verse four, who comforteth us in all our tribulation.

Are you looking at me? The only way possible for God to be able to comfort all of our tribulation is for him to be the God of all comfort. All kinds of tribulations needs all kinds of comfort. And if we're gonna face all tribulation and he's gonna comfort us in all tribulation, thank God he is the God of all comfort.

Whatever's needed, he's got it. Wake up, anybody here? Anybody here? Notice this.

Please get this. In the world, Paul had found trouble, but in Christ he had found peace. In trials, Paul had found confusion, but in trust he found confidence. Now listen, Matthew Henry said this, and I want you to get this. You and I are qualified to receive the comfort of God's mercies when we decide to give him the glory for them. Soon as you and I decide we're gonna give God the glory for this, we got it. Isn't that wonderful?

By the way, let me say this. As Paul says, hey, he looks to this church at Corinth and he's writing to them and he says, hey, God comforted us in all of our tribulation. Do you know that we speak best of God and his goodness when we speak from our own experience? Do you know it's a little bit different when somebody's been through it? Paul is not saying, hey, listen, I've not been through trials, and I've not been through tribulation, but from what I understand, God will comfort you through all that.

No, no, no, no. Paul is speaking from experience. He says, hey, let me tell you something. God comforted us in all of our tribulation, in all of our trials. So that's my experience, Paul says. Notice this. He is Jehovah.

He is, he was, and he always will be. You and I need to understand something. Notice the verse, who comforted past, who comforts present, who will comfort future. And I'm gonna show you a verse here at the end in verse eight and nine that's just absolutely fantastic, the lessons that Paul has learned. There will be comfort available, and I want you to know that today. There will be comfort for you. I don't know how, where, how God's gonna do it, but it's gonna be available. Principle number four, there will always be others that need comfort. You see, look at verse four.

Look at the whole purpose of this. Now I know you might not be interested in this, but this is what God's laid on my heart, so hey, we need this for some reason. Look at verse four. Who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them, notice, which are in any trouble. There will always be others that need comfort. There will always be them which are in any trouble.

Now we're starting to understand something. You see, God comforting us in our trials is not all about us. Part of God comforting us in our trials is for the benefit of others. There will always be other people who have need.

There will always be others that need comfort besides you. George Truitt was a pastor, and many of you have heard his name. He wrote books, kind of well-known, George Truitt. I don't know if you've heard of him, but I didn't know this about his life.

I was reading recently just a little bit about great men of God. George Truitt pastored in Texas, and he was a wonderful pastor, pastor at a large church, had a daily radio broadcast that ended up kind of going all over the world, but there was a bad day in George Truitt's life. He decided he loved to go hunting and fishing, and he took his best friend hunting with him one day, and something happened.

It was an accident, but George Truitt accidentally killed his best friend in a hunting accident. George Truitt's daughter said that she never heard him laugh again after that day, but he had to keep going. He had to keep pastoring.

He had to keep living, and from that day forward, when George Truitt came back on the radio, he would always close his radio broadcast with this phrase. Be good to everybody today because everybody is having a tough time. He knew what it was to have a tough time every day.

You see, you and I sometimes, we don't understand. We're so consumed with our tribulation, our trouble, our trial that we don't even see right next to us are people that need comfort too, but we're so mad at God wondering why this has happened. God, you owe me comfort that we overlook those all around us every day that need the same comfort that we are comforted with.

There will always be others that need comfort. Principle number five, look at verse four. We are comforted by God so we can comfort others.

Look at verse four. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, and here's our phrase, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. We are comforted by God, listen, so that we can comfort others through God.

Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. We'll see you in the next episode of The Kerwin Baptist Church.