Will you take your Bibles and turn to Second Corinthians chapter one. This is the second part of a little series on "God of All Comfort." And we will read verses one through 11 here in a moment. I must say, my heart is increasingly burdened for you, and certainly for our children, as I watch what's happening to our country, as I just witness the vile nature of so many of our presidential candidates and people in government. And as I watch just the tsunami of satanic sewage that is engulfing our nation. I found myself weeping over this this morning, as I prayed for my children, as I prayed for yours. And so it's important that we prepare ourselves for the mounting persecution that is coming. I'm confident that it is mounting, and we're so thankful that God has given us his Word, to comfort us, to teach us, to prepare us and how thankful we can be that our God reigns, amen? And in the end, he reigns victoriously. You know, unless you've been in pastoral ministry, or you've been in some kind of mission work, or you've been in some ministry, where you have really gotten into the lives of people and experienced the hostility that most people have towards the gospel, you would never be able to know the level of trauma that the apostle Paul endured in his ministry, especially in Ephesus, a place where he said it was filled with many adversaries; First Corinthians 6:9. He warned Timothy of an exceedingly wicked man named Alexander the coppersmith. In Second Timothy four, he said that he had severely opposed him and as he says, in verse 14, through 17, he says, "Alexander the Coppersmith, did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching." As he dealt with men and women that were infuriated with him, he said that it was like being torn to pieces, the opposition so violent that he referred to it as, quote, "fighting with wild beasts" in first Corinthians 15:32. He likened his work as an apostle as those condemned to die in a Roman arena; "as men condemned to death," he said, "because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men," First Corinthians four nine. Second Corinthians one where we will be in a minute, he was quite certain that he would ultimately lose his life because of his faith and his message, which he considered frankly a wonderful deliverance from a merciful God. In Romans 16 five he said that Priscilla and Aquila, quote, "risked their own next for his life," which probably occurred either in Ephesus or perhaps in Corinth. And later in Second Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 23, you will recall he, he catalogues the the horrific forms of physical and, and mental torture that he endured. As you think about it, the 39 lashes administered by the unlawful Jewish ecclesiastical court, which was probably in Laodicea would have been a flogging that would have almost killed him, and that's what happened; almost took his life. Add to this, all of his imprisonments, his stonings, his illnesses, false apostles slandering him, the bitter humiliation of the painful visit, as you will recall that he had to the Corinthian believers who had bought into the lies told about him by the false apostles; their disloyalty. Add to that friends and colleagues that abandoned him, all of the pressures from all of the churches that he had planted. And he was trying to shepherd the persecution from the legalist as well as the libertines, it just goes on and on. It's hard to even fathom the sorrow that he experienced and the anguish of soul. Yet he acknowledged that by the grace of God, he was able to find strength in weakness. And he was able to be comforted even in his sorrow.

And that brings us to the passage here, the beginning of Second Corinthians, beginning in verse one, he says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, To the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout a Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also, you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction, which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf, for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many."

Last week in our introduction, we were reminded of several things from this passage and from other passages. First of all, we were reminded that God has ordained our afflictions, for our good and for His glory, we were reminded that every trial is an opportunity for us to experience strength and to have our faith strengthened, as well as to experience the power in the presence of Christ. We also were reminded that every trial is an opportunity for us to grow in obedience to the Lord Jesus through His Word, and also that the great distresses of our life are short lived. And when we embrace them with the confident assurance that God is in them, they will bring even joy to our soul. But there are three important concepts that emerged from these 11 verses. We're only going to be able to look at the first one this morning. But let me give all three of them to you. First of all, we're going to see that God comforts the afflicted. Secondly, believers are comforted to comfort others and finally, prayer unleashes the power of God. Now, I trust that this will be both instructive as well as comforting to each one of you, to prepare you for whatever might come in the days of head.

So first of all, look at verse one, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of Godt." Now mind you, he begins with a very clear refutation of those who denied his apostolic credentials and authority. Right out of the gate, he starts with that. He also says, "and Timothy, our brother. Of course, Timothy was his protege, and personal emissary who was with Paul when the Church was founded. He goes on to say, "To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." By the way, the syntax is very important here, that single preposition the word "from," which can mean, "that comes from" belongs to both grace and peace, which indicates that God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, together, form the singular source of divine grace that is offered to us, and in this we can rejoice. Obviously, this is also another affirmation of the deity of the Lord Jesus.

He goes on in verse three, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort." It could be translated "the compassionate father" and "the God who always gives comfort." Boy, we can all say amen to that who have experienced it. Right? Absolutely. Verse four, "who comforts us in all our affliction, for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also, our comfort is abundant through Christ."

And so here we come to this first point in my little outline, that God comforts the afflicted. I want you to notice, dear ones, that Paul begins with something very interesting. He begins this whole epistle, by bursting forth from his heart, with a doxology of praise. Here we see that Paul, like Job was not crushed by his afflictions. He was not tempted "to curse God and die" like Job's wife told him to do. That didn't happen. Instead, with Job he could say "the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Job even went on to say, "though he slay me, I will hope in Him." So think about it, despite the violent schemes of the adversary, his faith was not shaken. Nor was his spirit vanquished, there is no hint of bitterness, no white flag of surrender, there is no agony of defeat. Instead, he offers testimony to the comforting power of God who sustained him and strengthened him in the battle, and I hope this is your testimony as well. If you're engaged in the battle for the gospel, you experience a real fight, right? You experienced persecution. But those who seek their own comfort will know little of God's comfort. In fact, when the self-centered coward is afflicted his heart will be filled with bitterness and anger, rather than praise and confidence. I remember a woman not too long ago who lost an adult son in an untimely way. She said something like this, I cannot bring myself to forgive God for this. And then she rehearsed all the good things that she had done and all the good things that he had done. And basically was saying, Where is the fairness in this? So sad to see that? By the way, folks, we don't want fair. We want mercy. While we must never deny the real pain, that we suffer when there is a great loss, we must also never deny the goodness and the grace of God in the midst of it, knowing that he's accomplishing his purposes in ways that we can't even understand. In fact, I have learned over the years that those who nurse their grief will give rise to the monster of contempt and will not find comfort that God offers so freely. And haven't we all marveled at how God responds to our deepest praise with deepest blessing, especially when that praise is offered in the midst of our pain, and in our sorrow. Charles Spurgeon said, quote, "When a man blesses God for the bitter, the Lord often sends him the sweet." He went on to say "if he can praise God in the night, the daylight is not far off. There never was a heart that waited and wanted to praise God, but the Lord soon gave it opportunities of lifting up psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to Him. It shall never be said that we were ready to praise God but that God was not ready to bless us."

Now, notice more closely how the apostle begins his doxology verse three, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Folks, this is a magnificent summary description of our glorious Redeemer and King. The term "Lord" denotes his sovereign rule over all of his creation. The term "Jesus" which is actually the Greek version of the Hebrew Yeshua. Yeshua is a term that means God saves. And this is what we see in Jesus, a name of his humanity, that he is the substitute who died on our behalf. And then Christ, of course, means Messiah or the "Anointed One." And he is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the one that is coming, the one that will rule over his redeemed and renovated earth, and eventually over a recreated heavens and earth in the eternal state. And so folks, this is the one that brings comfort to the afflicted. That is Paul's point. In fact, you will recall that there was the symbol of the fish that was given the ichthus; and I've provided a little of that for you here. In Greek, it was an acrostic, that spelled "fish" that became the sacred symbol of Christianity. "Lesous" is for Jesus, "Christos" for Christ, "Theos" is for God, we get our word theology from that, "Huios" is Son, and "Soter is Savior, we get our word soteriology. From that, and the first letter of each of those, the Iota, the Chi, the Theta, the Upsilon, and the Sigma put together in Greek spell fish. What a magnificent summary of our glorious Redeemer and King. And that was the symbol that they used in those days, and we still see it today. And it's a good symbol.

So Paul, praises "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort," literally, the compassionate father and the God who always gives comfort. And what a magnificent reality this is, knowing that is like having a lighthouse on a distant shore when you're in a ship, and the storm is blowing you all over the place and suddenly you see the hope that is there that can guide you to a safe harbor. And it does bring comfort to every sinner who is struggling with guilt, desperate for undeserved mercy. Psalm 103, verse eight. The psalmist says "the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness." Verse 14, "just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." Then beginning in verse 17, through 18, he really describes three kinds of believers, recipients of God's unfailing love, he says, "but the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him," a reference to believers, "and His righteousness to children's children. To those who keep His covenant," there's a reference to faithful believers. And then finally, "and remember His precepts to do them," there's obedient believers. And the prophet Micah speaks of God's mercy, and his compassion as well. Chapter Seven, beginning of verse 18, he says, "Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

Well, Paul continues in verse four in his description, he says, "He is the God who comforts us in all our affliction." "Affliction," a Greek term "thlipsis," it means pressing or pressure. It speaks of trouble that inflicts, great distress, and oppression, and tribulation. And some of you might be experiencing that right now. But be comforted knowing that God is the God of all comfort, who meets us in the midst of that pressure. If you fear him, and if you are faithful and obedient to him, the writer of Hebrews reminds us of this promise in Hebrews 13 five, he says, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you." So that we confidently say "the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid what will man do to me?"

Every one of you here today, who has rendered praise to God in the midst of some anguish of soul, can attest to the inexplicable comfort that comes often in unexpected ways. A passage of scripture that suddenly leaps off the page at you that maybe you've read 100 times before, or perhaps a forgotten picture that you stumble across, and it ignites your heart once again, with memories of God's faithfulness in your life. Or maybe it's the lyrics of a familiar hymn that suddenly grips your soul like never before. Or maybe it's something that said in a sermon that transports your heart into the very presence of the lover of your soul. Who knows how it happens? Indeed, we never know from where or when the wind of the Spirit might blow. It might blow in a comforting breeze in the midst of our pain, but he does that. And we never know how long a trial might last. Nor do we know what he's up to and all of it, but we trust in Him. But have you noticed that the very act of heartfelt praise in the midst of a storm lifts your spirit and it causes you to just soar far above it? I was meditating upon this and suddenly it came to my mind, an illustration. I was hunting in the Kluane Lake region in southwest Yukon on the Alaskan border. I was riding one of my favorite little horses, his name was Banjo. I guess it was because he was tightly strong, I'm not sure. Black stout mountain horse. And we'd been riding a high mountain ridge for a couple of hours and, and I was able to look down and those of you from the mountains, you know that sometimes you can look down and see a thunderstorm beneath you, below you. It's an amazing experience. And so I was looking at this thunderstorm and enjoying the sunny skies. And it was exhilarating. But I could see that it was kind of coming up. And lightning is very dangerous in the mountains, especially when you're on a top ridge. So I thought I better take cover. But as I was looking at the foreboding clouds, and I could see lightning, all of a sudden my eye caught a little black speck. And as I watched it, it started coming towards me and then I could make it out. It was a magnificent bald eagle who had set his wings and the updrafts were taking him out of the storm. And suddenly, within about 50 yards, I saw him and I could tell he saw me and he just kept on going up into the clouds. And you know, I believe that the Lord wanted me to witness that. To prepare me for the difficult storms that I would experience someday in ministry. That I didn't know at the time, I had no idea I would ever be in ministry. I thought I would just be a cowboy, I guess. But you know, folks, I've learned that there's always a divine updraft in every storm that will lift us high into the tranquil presence of our God. And when we set our wings in faith, believing, than the updrafts of his promises will lift us up into His very presence.

And of course, the words of the prophet Isaiah, ring true with this illustration, remember in Isaiah 40, beginning of verse 29, actually, he says, "He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young man shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and faint not." Beloved, if you're here today, and you're struggling with some dark cloud in your life, if the fierce winds and rain is pelting you, and you don't know which way to turn, I would encourage you to just set your wings in faith and thanksgiving and say, "Father, thank you, that you have saved me by your grace, even though I don't understand all that's going on. And even though I'm pleading with you to give me relief, nevertheless, I will trust you. I will honor you, I will serve you, I will bless you. Because I know that ultimately you are working things in my life, for my good and ultimately for your glory. And therein I will rejoice." And folks, I assure you if that's the attitude of your heart, you will experience comfort in ways that you cannot imagine. Hebrews chapter four, verse 15, the writer says "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Well, the apostle Paul describes such a storm in his life, one in which he experienced divine comfort. And as a result of that, it ignited his heart with this doxology of gratitude and praise. Notice verse eight, he describes the storm. "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction, which came to us in Asia that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope, and He will yet deliver us." Here he is undoubtedly making a reference to the afflictions that he experienced in Asia. And the incapacitating trauma that he experienced in Troas and Macedonia, especially at Ephesus, as we read in chapter two and chapter seven. You will recall there he waited anxiously for the news as to whether or not the Corinthians had repented and had finally turned back to him in loyalty. Again, folks, remember enduring slander is hard enough, but when those you love, embrace those lies, and turn against you, the pain can be unbearable. Verse eight, he says, "we despaired of life." The term despair is interesting in the original language, "exaporeo." We get our word porous from that, "ex" means without any, it literally means without any pores. It's not porous, something that's not permeable, not penetrable. In other words, there was no passage, there was no way through, there was no way out, no exit. So to be in despair means to be in utter loss, as to a way of escape. This is how he felt. He thought the only escape was going to be death. You will recall later on Second Corinthians four eight he says we "are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing." There's the same word. We're not despairing. We're not without the understanding that there is a way through. Though at times, it may not seem like there is. Don't we find comfort in what he said in First Corinthians 10, verse 13, that "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." And I think of when Jesus promised to pray for his father to send the Holy Spirit to take his place as he ascended into glory. Remember, he told his disciples in John 14:18, very precious statement, he says, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." What a magnificent promise. And every faithful believer who has ever experienced the sole exhilarating joy of God's presence, especially in their pain, will attest to this truth.

Well, we see this in Paul's testimony, for example of how Alexander the coppersmith, who was one of the idol makers in Ephesus; viciously attacked him and had him arrested, remember, and he records this in Second Timothy 4:16, he says "At my first defense no one supported me." Well, that's comforting, right? You're falsely accused, and you come in, nobody's there to support you. You're all alone; "but all deserted me." And then he says, "May it not be counted against them." But notice this "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." Dear friends, we must all hold to these promises. That's why I'm rehearsing them for you once again, especially as we see the increased hatred mounting against Christians in our country. You know, as persecution comes, many people say, oh my what's going to happen to all of the churches? I'll tell you what will happen, most of them will thrive like they never have before. Because our greatest enemies are not people outside the church, but people inside the church; it will be other churches. And that's what we're seeing today. And especially if any of the Marxist socialists get elected, they seek to impose a government run utopia that creates a classless, homogeneous society, where wealth is distributed equally and everyone gives selflessly to the collective whole.

By the way, I hope you understand, and I'm going to digress just for a moment, I usually don't get too political. But folks, this is absolutely terrifying. What we're seeing happening, wherever this type of governmental model has been implemented, and I've been in these countries, economies have collapsed, societies have turned into war zones, and Christians had been persecuted, because you must understand that socialism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. Marxism is an atheistic philosophy, the s- called democratic socialism of Bernie Sanders and a lot of these other leftists...it's just utterly incompatible with biblical Christianity. Cultural Christianity, oh, it's fine, it'll work great. But it won't work great with people who really know and love Christ.

If I can digress for a moment, in this model, it is the state, not God that becomes the provider, the sustainer, the protector and the law giver. In fact, Karl Marx said, quote, "The first requites of the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion." End quote. You see, for the socialists, there can be no higher authority than the state. The state will tell you what to believe, what to think, what to teach your kids, how to live. It denies the depravity of man, who is in desperate need of reconciliation to a holy God, through faith in Christ. To the socialists, you must understand, man is deprived, he is not depraved. They will tell you to depend upon the state we will take care of you. And yet as Christians we are commanded not to, quote "worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food,'" Jesus said, "'and the body more than clothes... Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,'" Matthew six.

Socialism is not just wealth redistribution, it is wealth confiscation. That violates the eighth commandment where we are told "Thou shalt not steal." It destroys accountability to the biblical work ethic where we are told in Scripture that if a man doesn't work he doesn't eat. It prohibits our responsibility to serve God with our resources, as Jesus taught in the Matthew, or in Matthew 25, and the parable of the talents, and it foolishly believes that it can bring about a man-made Utopia on Earth; which obviously makes the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom, a ridiculous dream. And yet, this satanic philosophy is gaining strength, gaining strength, and it's soon going to overtake even our country I fear as the world is being prepared for the rule of the Antichrist.

Now, my purpose is not to promote any kind of political agenda, but to simply warn you of what's coming. Folks, this is the city of man as Augustine called it. This is not the City of God and regardless of political party, most all of the people in authority over us are unregenerate men and women--they know know nothing of who Christ is. They have no fear of God, no love for Christ, no longing for his return, no understanding of the word of God. They need our love, and they need the gospel. But by grace, God's grace alone, we are citizens of another kingdom. And so a lot of all of the hubbub that goes on, I just kind of ignore, I'm kind of like, hopefully you're the same way--like the eagle, you just kind of set your wings and rise above it all. Because I know that our God reigns. And our King is the King of kings and Lord of lords and he will one day put all of his enemies under his feet.

But until he returns, things are going to get worse and worse, not better and better. Second Timothy three verse one "that in the last days, difficult times will come literally." Savage, perilous times will come. "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these." Again, I care little about politics other than to vote my conscience for the unregenerate candidate who is the closest to biblical truth. But other than that, the priority has to be the gospel, not politics. And I refuse to even listen to, especially the leftist politicians and the media pundits who advocate the killing of unwanted babies, and all of the gross immoralities that they applaud, I will love them, I will, I will pray for them. I will proclaim the gospel boldly to them, but I refuse to debate with the spiritually dead. For them, two plus two is always going to be five, they have no capacity to understand divine truth.

My mind goes to Proverbs 14 seven where it says, "Leave the presence of a fool, or you will not discern words of knowledge." Beloved, think of this, as Paul said, in Colossians, three one, since you "have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the Father. Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth." In other words, be preoccupied with his purposes, be preoccupied with his plan, his provisions, his power. At some level, I don't really care who Satan puts in next as the next president, or the next Congress, man or woman or any of that type of thing. Because once again, I know that my God reigns. And Jesus is coming again. And in this we find great comfort, like Abraham, as we read in Hebrews 11:10, I'm looking "for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." I desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called My God, for He has prepared a city for me and for you. O, dear Christian, hold on to the great promises that we've been given in His Word.

As we see the forces of Satan being amassed against the kingdom of God. And for too many Christians today, I feel, they have been lulled to sleep in the cradle of American prosperity. And they're dreaming this American dream of material wealth, and prosperity and pleasure. And dear friend, if that is the preoccupation of your heart, you're going to be so sorely disappointed someday. You are on a fool's errand and you are living in a fool's paradise. So I would plead with you as a messenger of the gospel. Wake up. Be on the alert, be vigilant. Don't be people of the night, be people of the day, set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth, live for Christ. All that really matters is what you do for Christ. Life is short, make the best of it. Because Jesus is coming again.

So Paul lived in a season of enormous persecution against Christians. And he confessed in verse eight, the end he said, "we despaired even of life." Again, he saw no way through. In verse nine, "indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead." The term "sentence" in the original language refers to an official, authoritative sentence or judgment, a legal judgment. And what we see here is that his suffering was so severe that he had a subjective awareness of the sentence of death upon him, that that would be his fate. So all he could do and all he should do was to cast himself upon the mercies of a good and faithful and loving God. And this needs to be our perspective as well. He knew also that, that trial, utterly obliterated every hint of self-reliance he harbored in his heart. And folks, you must remember that the roots of self-sufficiency grow deep, and they are not easily uprooted. Reflecting upon this reality, John Calvin said, quote, "We are not brought to real submission until we have been laid low by the crushing hand of God." Now, I would submit to you if you're a believer, and you have no real walk with Christ, you just kind of play church, the cultural Christianity that's typical of our culture; if you're a believer that can go for days without being in the word to find nourishment for your soul, if you have no appetite for the Word of God, if you have no personal pursuit of holiness, no desire to honor Christ in your life. Let me go even further. If you have no disciplined prayer life, if you have no desire to be in intimate communion with God, the God you claim to love, then you have no real love for Christ, no real desire to know Him. And one day, you're going to be brought low. Because the father disciplines those that he loves. And even as tobacco produces disease, arrogance produces idolatry. And what happens is, when we find greater joy and greater fulfillment and greater satisfaction for our soul in things other than Christ, it's not long that before we will begin to see and taste those forbidden fruits that are all around us in this world, and like Eve they will be pleasant to our eyes. And we will crave them like a junkie craves dope. And like eating a dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts before supper, you will ruin your appetite for God and His Word and for his people. And imperceptibly you will forsake your first love, and you will pursue other things you will embrace other lovers that will eventually destroy you.

I think of Eve, remember Eve there in the garden, who in her pride and self-sufficiency, she left her husband's protection. She usurped his leadership, his headship; she was deceived by the cunning serpent, to partake the forbidden fruit that she believed would provide her for something more than what God had already provided. That somehow God was not really being totally fair. And that she needed more. Folks, like her, we too can be deceived into believing that God is not enough and that we must have something more and that we can find it on our own. And then the day will come when you realize that you are out of resources. What a blessing a gift that is when that day comes. But oh, it can be painful. Paul had learned this lesson well, and he was prepared. And I find it interesting that God in His mercy kept reminding Paul of his inadequacies, and boy, can I see myself here. Remember in Second Corinthians three five, he says, Paul says, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything is coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from what is from God."

So Paul's crushing affliction served a divine purpose, namely, to remove every vestige of hope in his own resources and help him to realize that he had to depend solely upon the one who could raise the dead. And in this context, and in particularly, especially at this particular time in his life, God came to his rescue. Notice verse 10. He said that he "delivered us from so great a peril, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us." Oh, what confidence we have in the God of all comfort. To know that we have a loving Heavenly Father. And what loving father would not come to the aid of his child? None. No wonder Paul would say, "He will deliver us he on whom we have set our hope." O dear friends, I pray that this is the attitude of your heart this morning. If not, you will forfeit divine comfort when that day comes when you need it most.

Charles Spurgeon once again, said something that struck a real note in my heart, he said, "Do you not think dear friends, that sometimes when you are very heavy of heart, it would be the best possible thing, if you were to say with Martin Luther, 'Come, let us sing a song and startle the devil.'" He went on to say, "If you sit down and groan and complain against God, your groans will be music to Satan's malevolent heart, but you will vex and grieve Him if instead of doing so, you say 'no foul fiend!' You shall never persuade me to rob God of his glory, He shall have his full revenue of praise from me whether I am on my bed, sick or able to be up and actively engaged in the duties of my calling, whether I stand well with my fellow men, or my name has an ill savor to them. God's name has not an ill savor. And therefore I will praise and bless him, even though nobody will praise me."

Friends, again, if you're here today, without Christ, I plead with you, to examine your heart and trust in Him. Ask God to save you and commit yourself to Him. And for those of us who know and love Christ, I want to leave you with the words of Jeremiah in Lamentations three, beginning in verse 21. Remember, he was the weeping prophet, and he said this, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." And here's what he recalled. "The Lord's loving kindness is indeed never cease, for his compassion is never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul. Therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord." Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the comforting truths of your word that brings such solace to our souls, especially in times of difficulty, and even though we experience persecution in various ways, we, we see how it is mounting. And we know it's already there in full force in other parts of the world. But Lord, our confidence is in you. Because you are the God of all comfort, you are the God of all hope. And we trust in you. So meet us, even now, by preparing our hearts for whatever you bring our way that we might remain faithful, steadfast, immovable. We thank you for your word. Thank you for this time. Grow us in the grace in the knowledge of Christ I pray. Amen.