God of Mercies, Comfort

	As we saw last time, God is the God of kindness, forbearance and patience.  What else can we learn about God?
	"Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 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.  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."
	Our God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Remember that God's mercy involves His willingness to not give us what we deserve: eternal condemnation.  This is the flip-side of His grace, which deals with His willingness to give us what we do not deserve: eternal salvation.
	"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;" Zacharias prophesies of his son, John the Baptist, in Luke 1:76-79. "For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people {the} knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
	This passage tells us four things about God's mercy.  It involves light, life, peace and salvation.
	According to verses 78 and 79, it is through God's mercy that the "Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness."  Notice that we are sitting in darkness.  That is where we deserve to be.  But, by His mercy, God causes the Light to shine upon us.
	"Let no one deceive you with empty words," Ephesians 5:6-14 cautions, "for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light {consists} in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.  And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.  For this reason it says, 'Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'"
	It is by God's mercy that we are not in darkness.  Luke 1:79 also points out that it is through God's mercy that we do not remain in the shadow of death.  We sit in death where we deserve to be.  But God gives us life.
	"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins," Paul notes in Ephesians 2:1-5, "in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."
	By God's mercy we do not remain in darkness.  By God's mercy we do not sit in the shadow of death.  Luke 1:79 also states that it is God's mercy which guides our feet into the way of peace.  Our sins place us at war with God.   But He offers us peace.
	"For it was the {Father's} good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him," Colossians 1:19-22 says of Jesus, "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, {I say}, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."
	We place ourselves in a position of darkness, death and hostility toward God.  Because of His mercy, He offers light, life and peace.  As the passage from Luke chapter one points out, all of this is related to the ultimate manifestation of God's mercy: salvation through the forgiveness of sins.
	"For while we were still helpless," Paul stresses in Romans 5:6-8, "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
	We walk in darkness.  So God offers us light.  We sit in the shadow of death.  So God offers us life.  We are hostile toward God.  So He offers us peace.  We are yet sinners.  So God sends Jesus to die for us so that we may have salvation.  God is truly the God of mercy.

	God is the God of mercy.  He replaces our darkness with light.  He exchanges life for death.  He reacts to our hostility with an offer of peace.  While we are still sinners, He extends salvation through the forgiveness of sins.  1 Corinthians 1:4 also informs us that God is the God of all comfort.
	"Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," we read from verses 3-7, "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 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.  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."
	In fact, this seems to be the primary message of the first part of Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth.  It is also the point of 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17.
	"So then, brethren," this passage instructs, "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word {of mouth} or by letter from us.  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."
	God wants us to be comforted.  We can find comfort if we are following God's instructions.  This comfort causes us to have strong hearts in every work and word.  If we are not following these instructions, we should feel very uncomfortable.   
	We should note that there is a desired result of God's comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says that God comforts us so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction.  If we are comforted when we know that we are following God's will, how can we comfort others?  Can we do it by simply assuring them that everything is O.K.?  Or does it require that we share with them the knowledge of God's will and encourage them to find their strength through obedience to Him?  Can we ever be comfortable without the assurance that we will spend eternity in heaven?  Can we have this assurance if we are not submitting to God's will?  The ultimate comfort is embodied in the knowledge that we are saved.  This is the comfort which we are to share with others.
	"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air," Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, "and thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words."
	What a wonderful God we have!  He is the God of mercy.  We live in darkness, death, hostility and sin.  He offers light, life, peace and salvation.  He is the God of all comfort.  We have no reason for any hope.  But He comforts in the knowledge that we are following His will.   In turn, we share this comfort with others.
	This is only possible, though, if we know and follow the truth. Let's do this so that we may be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."