(Chap. 1:3-11)
The Lord’s people are continually passing through suffering and trial; if the servant of the Lord is going to minister to them effectively, he must have a heart like God’s—filled with compassion. God is “the Father of mercies [compassions],” and He wants that very characteristic in His ministers. This, then, is the first great feature that should mark every Christian minister—a heart full of the compassions of God.
This was something that characterized the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ—our Model Servant. It says that when He saw the multitudes, "He was moved with compassion" (Matt. 9:36; 14:14; Mark 1:41). Without this important personal quality, the servant of the Lord will lack power and effectiveness in reaching the hearts of people who are passing through trial and affliction.
This important quality, however, is not acquired by studying books; we cannot get it by going through seminary, or by studying J. N. Darby's "Synopsis of the Books of the Bible." It is a trait that does not come to the human heart naturally, for we are naturally more concerned with ourselves than we are with the welfare of others. God Himself forms this important quality in our souls in the school of affliction. He prepares His servants (ministers) morally and spiritually by passing them through trying circumstances (trials) whereby they learn valuable lessons and obtain grace from Him in the path of life. If we scan the Scriptures, we will see that virtually every servant that God called and used, He first educated Him in secret, in what we might call "secret history with God in the wilderness." By it the servant is enabled by God to minister effectively to others by entering into their trials and genuinely sympathizing with them in their difficulties.
Experiencing trials in life is God’s appointed way of training His servants in His school; it is how His compassions are formed in them. The Lord makes no mistakes in His lessons. Everything that He allows in our lives is for our moral and spiritual development. Elihu rightly said, “Who teacheth like Him?” (Job 36:22). The purpose of the teaching in His school is that He would have a larger place in our affections and that we would have no confidence in the flesh. Scripture speaks about being “emptied from vessel to vessel” in describing these exercises (Jer. 48:11). It has been said that no servant has been used of God who hasn’t suffered. This being the case, many may envy a servant’s ministry, but none will envy his discipline. Much of the work of God in His school is occupied with whittling us down to a useful size in which He can use in His service. With all of us, this is a work in progress. The amazing thing about this is that God uses vessels that He hasn’t finished with, as far as their personal development is concerned.
Vss. 3-11—Paul blessed God for the divine comfort he received in his personal trials and afflictions (vss. 3-7), and for the divine deliverance he received when God brought him out of those trials (vss. 8-11). Understanding that these things all work together for the glory of God and for the ultimate comfort of His people, Paul speaks with praise of “the mercies [compassions] of God” in times of affliction. He exults: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies [compassions], and the God of all comfort [encouragement]; who comforteth [encourages] us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort [encourage] them which are in any trouble [tribulation], by the comfort [encouragement] wherewith we ourselves are comforted [encouraged] of God.” In this short blessing, he traced true comfort to its divine source—God Himself. Satan is the god of all discouragement, but our Father is “the God of all comfort [encouragement].” Paul could bless God for all that had come to pass in his life because he knew that it was working something in him that would ultimately help him to encourage the saints.
Hence, Paul gloried in “tribulations” (Rom. 5:3-5). It takes faith to be able to honestly thank God for every trying situation that He puts us into, yet this is what the Apostle did. It is easy to bless the Lord in good times, but faith blesses Him at all times—even when times are tough. David could say, “I will bless the Lord at all times” (Psa. 34:1). Likewise, Paul said, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:18).
It is significant that the word “comfort [encourage]” occurs ten times in five short verses (vss. 3-7). This repetition tells us that the Lord’s people need much encouragement. God, therefore, had a definite purpose in imparting His consolation to the Apostle. He wanted him to “comfort [encourage] them which are in any trouble [tribulation], by the comfort [encouragement]” that he had received from the Lord (vs. 4).
He calls the sufferings which he endured, “the sufferings of Christ” (vs. 5). He meant that the persecution and the hostilities that he endured were of the same character as those that the Lord Himself endured when He ministered on earth. These are part of the Lord’s martyrdom sufferings. If we are faithful, we will share in these sufferings of the Lord (Mark 10:39), but we can never share in His atoning sufferings (Mark 10:38).
As mentioned, the comforts that Paul received from God in his afflictions were ultimately for the good of the Corinthians. He said, “Whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation [encouragement] and salvation” (vs. 6). They were the ones who would benefit from his afflictions, because he was able to minister the comfort of God to them more effectively. Paul added, “Our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation [encouragement]” (vs. 7). His “hope” for them was that they would profit from his sufferings by receiving his ministry.
The experiences which Paul passed through in trials produced in him a three-fold effect:
It gave him a fresh cause to bless God (vs. 3).
He gained an understanding of how God gives consolation to His people in times of trial (vs. 4a).
It enabled him to comfort and encourage others who were passing through trial (vss. 4b-7). His “hope” was that the saints would profit from the results of his trials in his ministry.
Vs. 8—He goes on to give them an example of the affliction he passed through by pointing to the trouble he endured “in Asia,” which was well known among the saints generally (Acts 19:22-41). He says that they were “pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.” In his first epistle, he referred to this same conflict, saying that he “fought with beasts at Ephesus” (1 Cor. 15:32). Men in that region were so vehement against the truth of the gospel that they behaved like wild beasts.
Paul had a definite reason for telling the Corinthians this; there were some among them who had been saying that he was a troublesome fellow and that he stirred up trouble and controversy everywhere he went. They accused him of constantly getting into trouble with the authorities and of being a public nuisance, and this particular incident was used to make their point. But this was not the case. The afflictions that he passed through in Asia were legitimate sufferings for the gospel’s sake and were not because of any personal wrong doing. Some of the Corinthians were criticizing the Apostle for the troubles he had gotten into, but in reality, God had ordered it so that they would ultimately get a blessing out of it! They would be the recipients of the grace and comfort that Paul received from God in those troubles through his ministry of comfort to them. Learning this must have taken the Corinthians aback.
Vs. 9—Suffering affliction in this way was obviously not a pleasant thing. Paul says, “We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” He and his co-workers had come close to death (martyrdom) on that occasion, but they fully understood that they were men who had a rendezvous with death for the Christ’s sake; it was just a matter of time before it happened.
Regardless of the misunderstandings of his detractors (wilful or otherwise), this particular trial had taught Paul some valuable lessons that we all need to learn. They were:
Not to trust in himself, but in God (vs. 9). One of the great lessons in the school of God that the servant of the Lord must learn thoroughly is to not trust in himself (Jer. 17:9; Prov. 28:26; Isa. 2:22). The Lord knows how to take self-confidence out of us by placing us in difficult circumstances in life where we are pressed out of measure. The result is that we lean more fully on Him, and thus our ministry is more sincere and effective.
To have an experimental knowledge of God’s preserving care in real life situations (vs. 10).
To experience the fellowship and comfort of the saints’ prayers in times of need, whereby there develops a deeper bond of love and appreciation for our brethren in the Lord (vs. 11).
Vs. 10—Paul then speaks of the faithfulness of God in delivering him and his co-workers from their near-death experience. He says, “ ... who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.” They had a deep sense of God’s preserving care, having learned to trust Him in such difficult circumstances.
Some have thought that this verse is referring to the three aspects of God’s complete salvation—salvation from the penalty of our sins, salvation from the power of sin in our lives, and salvation from the presence of sin, as presented in the epistle to the Romans. However, the context of this passage shows clearly that Paul was speaking about a temporal deliverance, not soul deliverance. He was actually speaking of three different tenses of temporal deliverance. That is, deliverance in a literal sense, akin to what Israel knew in Old Testament times when they were delivered (physically) from the Egyptians and the Philistines, etc. God had delivered Paul and his co-workers from the danger of martyrdom, and He was continuing to deliver them from that danger presently, and Paul was trusting that God would do so in the days to come, as they preached the gospel among hostile people.
Vs. 11—Paul gave the Corinthians credit for their part in the present deliverance that he and his fellow servants were experiencing from God. He assumes that the compassion, of which he has been speaking, was in their hearts toward him, and that they were praying for him in his labours. He uses a little irony here, for they had been critical of him and it was questionable whether they even remembered him before the throne of grace.
We can learn from this that we shouldn't despise the trials and tribulations that we pass through because God has a definite design in them. He is forming something valuable in us, which He can use to help His people. Every one of us is in His school; if we gain from the things that we pass through, we will be a help and a blessing to others who are passing through difficulties. The greater the suffering that we are called on to endure, the greater the opportunity we have in learning the comfort of God. He wants to fill us with His compassion, and there is no better way than to be placed in trying situations where we need compassion ourselves, and have Him tenderly minister it to us. If such is the case, what will come from our hearts in ministry will have power with those to whom we minister. They will see that we genuinely care about them and are interested in their blessing. Consequently, they will receive our ministry.