I will comfort you !

2 Cor 1:3-7 I will comfort you.
In the book of Genesis, there was the man named 'Noah' that means 'comfort'. In those days God saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thought of his heart was only evil all the time.
God was grieved and his heart was filled with pain. But God was comforted only by Noah because he was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Like God, Noah was grieved and his heart was filled with pain because of the wickedness of the people. But God came to him and comforted him.
"Noah, I know you are very tired and your heart was hurt because of the wickedness of the people. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy them. But I will establish my covenant with you. You and your household will enter the ark to be kept alive." (Gen 6:17-18)
When Noah looked at the scene that the floodwaters came on the earth and people were killed, his heart was very heavy.
Then God comforted Noah again, "Noah, be fruitful and increase in number ; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." (Gen 9:7)
And God promised Noah, "Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. I have set my rainbow in the clouds. Whenever the rainbow appears in the cloud I will remember my covenant with you." (Gen 9:11-15)
And then the bible tells, "After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died." (Gen 9:28-29) It means Noah was comforted during his whole life, and he entered the kingdom of comfort.
Brothers and sisters, this wicked world sometimes hurts our heart and we sometimes feel heavy and tired. And we are grieved when we look at the people perished by their sins.
Furthermore when we live for the kingdom of God in this foreign country, and when my wife or husband or family do not comfort me, we absolutely need the comfort of God, we need the rainbow of the promise of God, we need the voice of comfort of God, saying, "Noah, do not fear. Be fruitful and increase in number ; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." (Gen 9:7)
Therefore the Psalmist prays like this, "God, though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again ; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again." (Psalms 71:20-21)
Brothers and sisters, have you ever cried in this foreign country because of loneliness. Have you ever shed tears because of sorrow.
And have you ever felt sad as you realized 'I am alone !' At that time haven't you ever felt the comfort of the Lord who touched you softly ? And haven't you ever confessed, "Lord, why do you love me like this ?"
Without the comfort of the Lord, how desolate this land is ! And how cold Calgary is ! And how wretched we are !
Furthermore without the comfort of the Lord, when we live for the kingdom of God in this foreign country, how can we stand up ? Don't you think it is the comfort of God that we can live in this foreign ?
God knows very well that we need comfort. So he says to us, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you ; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." (Isaiah 66:13)
"The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins ; he will make her desert like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." (Isaiah 51:3)
"May the God our Father who gave us eternal comfort and good hope comfort your heart !" (2 Thess 2:16-17) "O Lord, you have helped and comforted me." (Psalms 86:17)
Brothers and sisters, when we feel heavy and tired in this foreign country, we can rise again with the voice of the comfort of God, and we can continuously work for the kingdom of God.
One Sunday night, the apostle Paul spoke to the people and kept talking until midnight. A young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep fell to the ground from the third story as Paul talked on and on.
When the people picked him up, what a sadness ! He was dead ! Who on earth is responsible for this ? Is it Paul because he kept talking ? Or Can we blame the young man, "Why did you sleep during the meeting ? Or can we find fault with God, "God why did you let it happened ?"
What a big trouble to Paul, to all congregation and to the young man's family ! "Lord, why it has happened during the meeting ? Answer us !"
About this accident, the bible says like this, "Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him, 'Don't be alarmed !' he said. 'He's alive !' The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted." (Acts 20:10,12)
Brothers and sisters, did the Lord leave this accident as it was ? No, God restored the young man's life, so that all the congregation as well as Paul could be comforted greatly. That is, God is the God of comfort who comforts especially when we are in trouble.
Think ! The apostle Paul suffered lots of hardships. "He was imprisoned many times, flogged severely. Five times he received the forty lashes minus one. Three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was shipwrecked. He was in danger from rivers, from bandits, from his own countrymen, from Gentiles, from false brothers. He labored and toiled and experienced hunger, thirst, no food, coldness, nakedness." (2 Cor 11:23-27)
But Paul could go the way of evangelist without complaint because he was comforted and encouraged by the Lord.
Therefore Paul confessed, "I am greatly encouraged ; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn- conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus." (2 Cor 7:4-6)
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the suffering of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. Just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." (2 Cor 1:3-7)
Brothers and sisters, have you ever heard the voice of the comfort of the Lord in your life like this ?
"Our present suffering are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart ! I have overcame the world." (John 16:33)
"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance ; perseverance, character ; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)
"For God wounds, but he also binds up ; he injures, but his hand also heal. From six calamities he will rescue you ; in seven no harm will befall you." (Job 5:18-19)
"I love you, O Lord, my strength." (Psalms 18:1) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
Brothers and sisters, the Lord knows our troubles very well. He knows our problems very well. And he knows our heavy-burdened heart very well.
And he knows that we need the heavenly comfort. Today he says to us, "I will comfort you !" Amen !