Abundant Suffering, Abundant Comfort
January 4, 2026
Preached by Ron Smith
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
I am going to read you a list of seven common verses we quote or paraphrase often in church and I want you to try and see what they all have in common.
We are being transformed into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another. (3:18)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay (4:7)
We walk by faith, not by sight. (5:7)
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. (5:17)
We are ambassadors for Christ. (5:20)
God loves a cheerful giver. (9:7)
My grace is sufficient for you. (12:9)
All of those come from 2 Corinthians. You probably already know this letter better than you realize. There are even other verses you know that I left out for the sake of time.
Why am I starting off with a list of verses from 2 Corinthians? Well, this week we begin a new adventure as we discover what God’s Word has to say to us in 2 Corinthians. If you were with us last year when we did 1 Corinthians, you will be happy to know that this letter is not as harsh. 1 Corinthians deals with some pretty difficult issues of church discipline. 2 Corinthians, while it is not necessarily a happy letter, is at least less confrontational.
In the first 2 verses we learn some basic things that set us on our path. Paul is the author. He identifies himself as an apostle by the will of God. As we go through the letter we will see the importance of this statement. He will spend considerable time describing and defending his ministry. In this opening verse he establishes the authority, which the Corinthians have been questioning, that has been given to him by God. And notice that Paul includes Timothy as one of the authors. Paul is an example to us of what it means to disciple young believers and release them into ministry. He has developed Timothy and others and wants them to be actively engaged in the serious work in which he was involved.
He is obviously writing to the church that is in Corinth. Corinth was the capital of the Roman province called Achaia, which included most of modern-day Greece. Benjamin and I along with our wives had the privilege of visiting Corinth last summer.
It was obvious that it was strategically located as it sits close to two bodies of water and along major land routes. It attracted lots of people during the time of Paul and was a hub of commerce, government, and entertainment. And as we saw in 1 Corinthians, the church there found themselves in the crosshairs of a newfound faith in Jesus and the allure of the world. While progress has been made, there are still some problem areas they are dealing with.
We have titled this series “Power Made Perfect in Weakness.” That’s because one theme that we will see throughout the letter is how weakness is not to be avoided but embraced. It’s in our weakness that we experience the power of Christ and we are strengthened. This is exactly what Paul comes out of the gate with here in chapter 1 that we will consider today.
Pray
I am not sure what kind of year you had in 2025, whether it was a ‘good’ year or ‘bad.’ But one thing I know is that you have faced difficulties along the way even if it was the best year of your life.
We all face hardships in life. The problem is that in the face of the sufferings of this life we tend to rely on our own strength to pull ourselves through them and turn to anything besides God to find the healing our hearts long for.
Paul in this passage is pushing us to embrace the unique Christian approach to affliction and to look to God who brings supernatural resources that you cannot find anywhere else.
What I would like to do this morning is use verse 5 as a guide. Here’s the verse again: For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. We will organize our thoughts under two headings: Abundant Suffering and Abundant Comfort. In the process we will discover the unique Christian approach to affliction and the supernatural resources God gives us.
Abundant Suffering
we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings … Well, I guess you could say that this is bad news for us. We already don’t like suffering, but to see that suffering is abundant is terrifying. We need to come to grips with the fact that suffering is the way of Christ. We cannot avoid it.
Suffering is the way of Christ
In addition to the word suffering we also see the word affliction showing up in this passage. Let’s read through the passage again and note how many times you see the world suffering and the word affliction:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.
4x each. What are afflictions? Certainly, it can be suffering endured from our testimony of Jesus. Persecution. Afflictions can be the difficulties we face as we follow the way of Jesus which cuts against the way of the world. We don’t do certain business practices which may lead to being laid off. We don’t approve of certain behavior which may lead to being made fun of. When you are living in a society and among people (friends, colleagues, family members) that do not share your values, it invariably creates conflict. Afflictions could also be the sorrows of living in a fallen world – sickness and death come knocking on our door. Afflictions could even be inward afflictions – 2 Cor 7:4-5, fear within. We could be troubled for the way people we love refuse Jesus, how our kids walk away from the truth we taught them.
Afflictions will come for anyone who proclaims Christ. They are not abnormal for the Christian. The world stands against the Christian message and so, we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings.
Paul starting the letter this way is actually pretty astounding. The Corinthians were accusing Paul of being a weak person. He didn’t fit the mold of what made a good Christian according to the Corinthian way of thinking. In those days Roman gods were followed b/c the people thought they had something to get out of them. Their lives were made better. More money, more prosperity, better business dealings, higher status in society, more influence. Those who were honored were those who made a name for themselves. Those who could boast of great things and possessed great wealth. In that society there was an unquenchable desire for honor and distinction which required one to keep climbing up the social ladder. So, accordingly, turning to Christianity, they expected their lives to improve along these lines.
But Paul was the total opposite. His life was a mess. He was weak. He didn’t move up the social ladder, he fell off of it. He refused their money. He didn’t boast and make a name for himself. What they didn’t understand is that Christianity is different. Honor comes through and in the afflictions. It was in self-giving, the lowering of oneself, humility, that the blessings they sought would come. The only boasting that should be done is in our weakness.
Accordingly, what we see in these verses is that Paul embraces his afflictions. He doesn’t try to disown them. He doesn’t try to avoid them. For him they are a mark that he is following Christ. This is because this is the example of Christ himself. It was through suffering that Jesus brought our salvation. It was through suffering that Jesus established his kingdom. It was through suffering that we see the very power of God as he raised Jesus from the dead.
We can be honest about our suffering
So, Paul didn’t try to hide his suffering, he was open and honest about it. Look in verse 8.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
That’s some pretty rough affliction. He despaired of life; thought he was going to die. Have you ever been in such despair
We don’t know exactly what circumstance Paul is talking about. There are many times he suffered. But none the less, the transparency of what he was feeling is refreshing.
See, we don’t need to act tough. To act like the affliction doesn’t bother us. It is not more holy to not speak of suffering. Or to even downplay it. Your suffering is real. It is real to you. God cares for you. Denying you are suffering robs you from the comfort God wants to give. I have seen this firsthand. (Pastor in Italy whose wife was dying. Or dear Christians downplaying their own suffering because “so and so has it worse.”)
Being honest about our afflictions allows those around us to come beside us. To encourage us. To walk with us. Could it be that we have a little bit of the problem that we see in the Corinthians? Thinking that suffering and going through afflictions was wrong. That we need to put on a bold face and act tough.
The reason we can be honest is because our focus is on God. It is on what God is doing. We have full confidence, full faith that God will bring us through the afflictions we face. As Paul says in verse 10,
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
If abundant suffering is the way of following Christ for the Christian, the good news is that there is also abundant comfort.
2. Abundant Comfort
God meets us in our affliction
Look with me again at verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction
Notice first of all that God is the God of all comfort. He is the source of comfort. He is able to bring comfort – nothing can stop him; no affliction is too difficult; no darkness is thick that he cannot find you. Him being the God of comfort speaks of his intervention in our lives. He enters our suffering and gives us what we need. He meets us in our affliction. We experience his comfort and come to know him personally as a God who comfort us.
Let’s take a minute right now and just meditate on what it means that our God is the God of all comfort. What does it mean?
God of all comfort –
He is the source of comfort; all comfort comes from him.
He is able to comfort
He sees our afflictions
He knows our afflictions
There is hope
There is healing
Someone you can trust
Someone you want to talk to
He is good.
He is active in our lives.
He knows the why. We might not.
One little disclaimer. Comfort is not to be confused with the modern American idol of a tranquil life. A life of no pain. As if God was coming to give us anesthesia so that we are numb to life’s problems. Rather it is encouragement, help, and exhortation in our afflictions. His comfort enables us to endure whatever hardship we may face.
There are purposes in suffering
One of the ways we see God’s comfort in this passage is the fact that there are purposes that God has for our suffering. Christianity does not promise to immediately end suffering, but it does promise to use it.
Purpose #1: (vs 4).
Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
He comforts us so that we can comfort others. But it is with God’s comfort that we comfort others. Not just our experience, not because we have become experts, but because we are vessels, we are conduits. We pass along what has been given to us. God’s comfort.
Our experience can give us wisdom on when and how to give comfort. Jumping in right away with solutions is usually not the right move. Don’t jump to quickly to your experience. There may be a time for that. Might not either. It’s not about you. Ask questions. Listen. When you do open your mouth, point them to Christ. Pray, ask the Lord for a verse. Don’t be afraid to remind them of truths they already know. It is God’s comfort you are offering.
Purpose #2: vs 9.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Afflictions are to make us rely on God. They show us how bankrupt we truly are to help ourselves. We have to go to the one who can raise the dead.
When we face hardships, we all try to make sense of them. We all try to remedy them. The problem is that in the face of the sufferings of this life we tend to rely on our own strength to pull ourselves through them and ignore any meaning they may have. We look for comfort anywhere but from God. We turn to self-help gurus. We try to eliminate things from our life. We eliminate people from our life- those toxic people. We do things to make our life easy.
Afflictions do the opposite. They show us that we are not as strong as we think we are. Afflictions show us that we need supernatural help. Afflictions show us that we are incapable of controlling our lives. They push us to see that we serve a God who is powerful, who supplies the help we need and is capable because he controls everything. He is the God who raises the dead! What we need is a bigger vision of God. We need to stop asking why do bad things happen to us and ask who is God. (Job). Rely on him.
God is the God of all comfort. He meets us in our afflictions. He has good purposes for our afflictions.
Pray to God for deliverance
But how do we access God’s comfort? We pray. We pray for God’s deliverance. And we need to invite others to pray with us. Look again at verses 10 and 11.
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
Nothing wrong with praying to get out of the affliction. Part of the process of going through the affliction is looking to God to deliver you from it. Prayer by its very nature is submitted to the will of God. Prayer is a sign that you rely on God.
Of course, the deliverance might not happen the way we want it to. Again, look at the example we have in Paul. There were times God did mighty miracles to get Paul out of bad situations. But there were times when he was beaten and left for dead. No matter what, pray!
I love how he invites the Corinthians to pray along with him. He recognizes that we need each other. We are not going it alone. Asking others to join you in prayer is a sign that you rely on God. This is the importance of transparency. If I don’t share with others what I am going through, how can they pray.
Prayer for deliverance from affliction unites the church. The church is one way we see the God of all comfort in action.
Conclusion
Let me wrap everything up. I want to point out the tremendous good news we have in this passage. Look one more time at verse 5. “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” Christ was afflicted. He knows our afflictions. He offers true comfort. He offers true power and strength to endure afflictions. We don’t walk alone through our sufferings. Jesus is with us. He knows what it means to be afflicted. We don’t serve a God who is distant. Who simply holds us to a bunch of rules. Who just tells us what to do. He became one of us, walked in our shoes, went through the most horrendous suffering imaginable. But he was resurrected from the dead. In his weakness we find true supernatural comfort because power is made perfect in weakness.
Embrace your weaknesses. Embrace your afflictions. Embrace Jesus who comes to comfort and deliver you. We serve the God of all comfort who comforts us in our afflictions. Rely on him. He knows what he is doing!