Paul wrote this letter to show that true Christianity embraces Christ’s apostles and embodies Christ’s sufferings while trusting God’s power in weakness. Our passage today will develop those themes further. Not only does it mention our share in Christ’s sufferings; it also mentions God’s power to encourage those who suffer. I’ll read verses 3-7; and then we’ll see how these words are meant to encourage us. Verse 3…

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.

We’ll spend the bulk of our time on the God of all encouragement. But a few things to note up front—one is the unity cultivated by Paul’s opening words. Last Sunday, I mentioned how the church in Corinth had, at one point, distanced themselves from Paul. They caused Paul great pain by questioning his integrity and toying with another gospel (2 Cor 11:4). But look here in verse 3—he writes, “our Lord Jesus Christ.” “He’s my Lord and yours; we both belong to him,” he’s saying. He also speaks of how they share in the same sufferings; they also share in the same comforts.

I point this out because Paul’s letter will eventually get personally intense. He’s got to say some hard things. He’s going to rebuke and correct and exhort. But from the outset you see that his heart is for their unity in Christ and in mission. He starts from the gracious bonds God has already created between them in Christ our Lord.

We’ll also encounter a couple different words describing the hardships both Paul and the church were facing. One is “affliction” in verse 4: “who comforts us in all our affliction.” The word covers a broad range of troubling circumstances that cause physical distress or emotional anguish. Later in verse 8, Paul describes one occasion of affliction where he says, “we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” Later in 11:23-27 he illustrates various afflictions: imprisonment, beatings, shipwreck, stranded at sea, frequent journeys, various dangers, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, the daily pressure on him from his concern for all the churches.

The other phrase starts in verse 5 and clarifies the afflictions in view: “the sufferings of Christ.” These are hardships that Paul or the church experience because of their identification with Jesus. So, while there may be broader points about suffering to consider, the primary sufferings in view are the various afflictions we face in the path of obedience to Jesus. We speak about Christ, and the world hates us for it; they persecute us. Or we take risks in loving someone, and that person hurts us—whether physically or emotionally. Or we choose to obey Christ, and it puts us in a hard place with family or friends. Or we invest in a difficult relationship to bring healing, and we lose sleep because our hearts are in anguish for them. Maybe somebody travels to share the gospel, and they end up with malaria or typhoid in the process. Or maybe they moved overseas but now they can’t get back in time to say final goodbyes to a dying family member; and it makes the grieving process even harder—all in service of Jesus.

That’s the hardships Paul has in view. Not just all suffering in general but suffering in the path of obedience to Jesus—when that path of obedience leads to affliction, grief, pain, fatigue, emotional distress, persecution. Sufferings like these often expose us as very weak people. We can’t handle the mounting pressures of suffering on our own. Like Paul, we too can despair of life itself. If we’re going to make it, we desperately need the God of all encouragement. So, let’s turn our attention to him.

God’s Identity

I have five observations about the God of all encouragement; and then we’ll seek to apply what we learn. The first observation is his identity in verse 3. He is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Paul’s day, Jews at the synagogue would’ve been content with the first half. From the Scriptures, they knew God was a Father to their people. When he rescued them from Egypt, he treated Israel as his firstborn son. When they praise God in the Psalms, he is “Father to the fatherless.”

But the second half of Paul’s blessing furthers the story of the Father’s redemption, and it distinguishes the God of Christianity. Not only does Paul affirm how God personally relates to Jesus as Father; he also attributes to Jesus a title normally reserved for God in the Old Testament. He calls him “Lord.” And by calling Jesus Lord, Paul is also acknowledging Jesus’ present state of existence. He is not dead but risen and reigning as the Christ, the Messiah, God’s truly anointed King.

So, to know God the Father truly, one must also confess that Jesus Christ is his Son and that Jesus Christ is Lord. Of course, these titles serve more than a polemical purpose that sets Christianity apart from Judaism. Paul includes them mainly for the purpose of praise, wonder: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God is worthy of praise for who he is and for the way he has acted in Jesus Christ; and he’s worthy of our praise even when we face suffering. Paul writes this in one of the hardest times of his ministry. By blessing God in suffering, Paul teaches us to do the same. But don’t misunderstand. This isn’t the power of positive thinking. His blessing is not pretending as if the painful realities of suffering don’t exist. This isn’t Pollyanna’s “Glad Game,” pretending that all is sunshine and rainbows.

No, Paul knows the depths of pain and suffering—he readily admits them in verse 8 and later in this letter. His praise grows from a real, tangible experience of God’s sufficient grace in suffering. In and through his sufferings for Christ, God meets him in ways that move him to praise. He learns that God is a Father of countless mercies.

God’s Merciful Character

Which is where Paul moves next: God’s merciful character. In verse 3, he calls him “the Father of mercies.” Mercy has to do with showing concern over another’s misfortune.[i] In other passages, the same word gets translated “pity” or “compassion.” Abbi was at climbing practice last Tuesday, and a younger boy was off playing to the side. He stumbled and knocked his head against a shelf. Several folks gasp and rush to check on him. You could see the heartfelt concern for the boy.

That’s like the image here. But God’s mercy is far greater. He has full knowledge of the circumstances we’re facing. He understands our deepest needs. His ability to meet them is perfect because he is perfect. You probably noticed the plural: “Father of mercies.” He’s the type of Father who multiplies mercies. For every need they encounter, new mercies unfold. Throughout the Scriptures, God is known for his merciful character. Exodus 34:6 becomes a steady refrain: “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Some might object to that picture of God’s mercy: “Are you sure we’re talking about the same God, the God who wipes out rebels with a flood? And what about conquering the Canaanites? Was that merciful?” But many of these objections fail to consider the holiness of God; and they fail to see that in our sinful state no sinner deserves anything. But when the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man become your starting place, you can’t help but see that mercy belongs to the main stuff of who God is. The accusations get swallowed up by wonder that sinners get any good thing at all.

Sinners don’t acknowledge or give thanks to God, yet he keeps giving them good gifts—life, breath, rains, sunshine, food, drink, everything. And certainly, one of the clearest showcases of his merciful character is in the saving work of Christ. We were slaves to sin, spiritually dead, hardened against truth, living in darkness, helpless to change ourselves. We all deserved hell. But God looks on us with mercy, compassion, tenderness; and then he acted by sending his Son to free us and save us and regenerate us. If the Father has acted with mercy to meet our greatest need in sin, we can trust that he will act with mercy to meet our lesser needs in suffering.

God’s Action to Encourage

Which leads to a third observation: God’s action to encourage. As the Father of mercies, he is also “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.” That word, “comfort,” could use some clarity—especially since much of our culture operates on guaranteeing people’s comfort. But the comfort often in view is physical ease, easy living, freedom from anything that might inconvenience us.

Paul has something different in mind. The Greek is paraklēsis. Sometimes it conveys the “lifting of a person’s spirit,”[ii] like when Paul tells Philemon, “I have derived much joy and comfort from your love” (Phlm 7). Or when later in 2 Corinthians 7:6, Paul was feeling depressed/downcast and he says, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” Isaiah 66:13 also illustrates God’s comfort with how a mother consoles her child as she carries him on her hip.

But this lifting of a person’s spirit often encompasses another idea as well, that of “instilling someone with courage.” Here, at the end of verse 6, and in Romans 15:4-5, it’s set alongside this word “endurance.” God gives us the inner fortitude to take that next step in the path of obedience. David Garland calls this notion of comfort “a stiffening agent that fortifies one in heart, mind, and soul…God’s comfort strengthens weak knees and sustains sagging spirits so that one faces the troubles of life with unbending resolve and unending assurance.”[iii] Isaiah 51:12 illustrates this well, I think. God’s people are wavering due to ruthless enemies intimidating them. But God says, “I, I am he who comforts you.” “Are you afraid of man who dies, who’s made like grass?” “What is man next to your Maker, the one who stretches out the heavens?” He gives them a Godward perspective that fortifies the heart to be faithful in the face of suffering.

Or Psalm 94:19. The author is stumped, staggered—like many of you might be staggered—by wicked people getting away with their injustice. They crush the innocent. They pour out arrogant words. They take advantage of the helpless. But he’s then reminded that God sees. God knows. He will act. “Justice will return to the righteous.” And it causes him to say, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations [comforts] cheer my soul.” The promise of God’s justice gives reason to endure.

In that sense, our English word “encouragement” is a good translation here as well. Comfort, encouragement—the point is that God is the type who doesn’t leave his children in suffering. He looks on us with compassion and then gives us whatever encouragement we need to keep going. Whether that’s related to a future hope, or an assurance of his presence, or a Godward perspective on present circumstances—he does it in any number of ways depending on the sort of encouragement we need.

In fact, notice the sweeping vocabulary: he’s the “God of all comfort [or encouragement].” He comforts in “all our affliction.” The second “all” matches the first “all.” Meaning, whatever affliction Paul faced, it never stretched beyond God’s ability to comfort him. His comfort matched Paul’s needs in suffering point for point. Upon every occasion of his affliction, God met him there and provided what he needed to endure. And that total provision for Paul also served a larger purpose beyond Paul.

God’s Purpose in the Sufferings

Which leads us to a fourth observation: God’s purpose in the sufferings. Consider the words of verse 4: “so that” or “for this purpose that we may be able to comfort/encourage those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” The encouragement that Paul receives from God does not terminate on Paul. God designs that his encouragement in suffering extend through Paul to these other Christians who are also experiencing suffering.

Verses 5-6 flesh things out a bit further. “For as we [Paul and Timothy, presumably] share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in encouragement too.” Paul is saying that suffering is part of our union with Christ. Not everyone will suffer the same ways. Nor will everyone suffer the same amount. But when Jesus lives his life of love through you, you can count on suffering of some kind. For Paul, those sufferings came in abundance. 11:23, “with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked…,” and on he goes.

But notice what he says: “as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ [through the one risen from the dead, who is reigning Lord!] we share abundantly in encouragement too.” God matches his sufferings point by point. And some of the encouragement Paul experiences is how his sufferings and encouragement are working for the good of the church.

Listen to it in verse 6: “If we are afflicted, it’s for your encouragement and salvation; and if we’re encouraged, it’s for your encouragement, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.” It’s a win-win situation. Whether Paul suffers or whether he’s encouraged in the suffering—both are working for the good of the church. The suffering isn’t frustrating the purpose of God; it’s part of it. God is working in and through the suffering to save and encourage; and he’s working in and through the encouragement to pass on more encouragement beyond Paul.

God’s Faithfulness in Suffering

And this gives Paul an unshakable hope. Which is our final observation: God’s faithfulness in suffering. At the end of verse 6, Paul shows how encouragement works itself out in those who choose to identify with Christ’s sufferings. When they endure the sufferings of Christ, the same encouragement from God works in them like it did with Paul. That gives Paul great hope in verse 7: “Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our encouragement.”

Fellowship in Christ’s sufferings means there will be a fellowship in God’s encouragement. God doesn’t require the one without promising the other. The cross comes with the crown. Death comes with resurrection. The sufferings come with encouragement. It’s all of one piece in our union with Jesus. That’s why Paul’s hope for them is unshakable. He has hope because God will be faithful to encourage those who identify with Christ’s sufferings.

If God sustained Jesus through his sufferings—sufferings greater than we’ll ever experience—he will sustain those united to Jesus. God is absolutely committed to Jesus. When you’re united to Jesus by faith, God is absolutely committed to you. This hope isn’t wishful thinking. Paul is not saying, “Well, I hope it works out for you guys in suffering like it did for me”—with a tinge of uncertainty in his voice. No, the hope he has for them is unshakable, reliable, guaranteed, because it’s grounded in the God of all encouragement and his future grace to supply all we need in Christ.

How do Paul’s words encourage us?

What, then, does all this mean for us? If you’re not a Christian, if you don’t know God as your Father—perhaps you’ve been running from God in fear, or you’ve created a worldview in which you can pretend he doesn’t exist, yet your conscience tells you he does—you don’t have to run anymore. The Father is full of mercies; and in his mercy, he has provided a way for you to come and know him as Father. In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against him. If you want to know the comfort of a compassionate Father, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the same time, consider the cost. We’re reminded here that to belong to Christ is also to share in his sufferings. The Christian life won’t be easy. It includes taking up your own cross daily, serving sacrificially, loving your enemies. But you won’t be alone in it. You won’t be suffering without hope. The Father of mercies will be at your side; he will become your perfect Comforter.

If you are a Christian, let Paul’s words re-center your trust in the Lord. When we suffer, it’s sometimes the case that we start looking for other things in the world to comfort us: food, drink, escape, maybe it’s something money can buy. Or maybe you’re the sort who asks a thousand questions to protect yourself from being hurt again. You’ve risked serving people before and they’ve hurt you. So, now comfort comes only within the walls you build and maintain—or so you think. But these approaches shift our trust away from the God of all comfort. At worst, they hold God with suspicion and doubt his ability to provide when we suffer in the path of obedience.

We, too, need to be reminded that God is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Upon every occasion of affliction, he will be faithful to comfort us. As we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, we will also share abundantly in Christ’s comforts. When you believe that, it frees you to take risks in love. It frees you to speak truth not knowing whether you might be ridiculed or imprisoned. It frees you to invest in relationships without the assurance that you won’t get hurt again. It frees you to choose the path of obedience even when you know that heartache is likely. How? Because you have a faithful Father who’s committed to your encouragement.

John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides—nowadays Vanuatu, a group of islands east of Australia. At the time, the natives were cannibals. One night, Paton hides in a tree while an angry mob seeks his life. This is what he wrote: “I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the [people]. Yet I sat there among the branches as safe in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among these chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone…I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior’s spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship.”

Brothers and sisters, when you suffer in the path of obedience, God will match every pain with the encouragement necessary to keep you faithful. In this way, you have an unshakable hope. Don’t lose sight of this hope. Some of you might be hesitant to make yet another sacrifice in the path of love. Maybe you’re facing a hard relationship or a career choice or a ministry opportunity, and you’re gauging how much obedience to Jesus is going to cost you. Relationally, physically, emotionally, financially—you know it’s going to take a toll; and it leads you to say, “I don’t know if I want to do this.”

Let this passage give you hope: union with Christ in suffering also means union with Christ in the Father’s comforts. If the Father’s comforts strengthened Jesus to endure the sufferings of his cross, the Father’s comforts can strengthen you when you take up your cross. Hope is not found in everything going comfortably in life; it’s found in God himself who is a Comforter to his people.

Paul’s words also teach us how to view our sufferings in light of God’s purpose. When we suffer because of our union with Jesus, it’s not an accident. God works in and through the suffering to bring others salvation and encouragement. In his sovereign wisdom, God works in the suffering to comfort us in order that we might then extend God’s comfort to others who are also sharing in Christ’s sufferings.

Suffering can sometimes turn us inward. All we can see is our own weakness, our own problems, our own pain. We need texts like this to give us God’s perspective—that he’s doing something both in us and beyond us. Hear the purpose statement again from verse 4: “that we may be able to comfort/encourage those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” That forces us to ask an important question when we suffer for Christ’s sake: Lord, how might you be preparing me to bring your comfort to others? That’s not the only question to ask. That’s not all that God might be doing in our sufferings. But it is the purpose mentioned here.

Now, this could play out in several ways. We can spread God’s encouragement to others through prayer—Paul will get to that in verse 11. We can also spread God’s encouragement by sharing God’s promises. Perhaps God’s word fortified your heart when facing a particular trial, and you then share that truth with a brother or sister facing a similar trial. Encouragement can also spread through your presence—just being there together as a fellow sufferer. Even when you don’t know what to say, your presence becomes a comfort and a tangible reminder that we are not alone. It could also come by your example of perseverance—others see God’s grace enabling you to keep holding on to Jesus despite the pain, and it gives them courage to keep holding on as well.

However it plays out, the point is that our sufferings have a design built into them. And while we don’t always understand the fullness of that design, we can know that any comfort we might experience from God is meant to be passed along to others.

Amy Carmichael served in India. She started an orphanage. She rescued girls from sexual exploitation. The last twenty years of her life, she was largely bedridden due to chronic pain and neuralgia. About four years into her suffering, she wrote a book called Gold by Moonlight. In the Preface, she says, “[this book] has been written, not by the well to the ill to do them good, but by a fellow-toad under the harrow.” She wrote as one in pain to help others in pain. But one biographical sketch says that Amy’s “suffering was so intense and isolating that at times she longed for death. Yet she asked God not to spare her any pain if it meant helping others.”[iv] May the Lord give us the same perspective.

Finally, let us not forget how Paul began: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul’s focus remains God-centered in suffering. He meditates on who God is and what he’s like in mercy. He considers how God acts to comfort, and he reflects on God’s purpose in suffering. Comfort in suffering comes from knowing God and rehearsing his worth and sufficient care. And all of it leads Paul to praise.

Some in Corinth had considered Paul’s sufferings, and they used them as reason to divide from Paul. But far from being an occasion for division, Paul makes his sufferings an occasion for doxology. Others might face suffering and, over time, grow very bitter toward God and others. But far from making an excuse for bitterness, Paul crafts a benediction. He blesses God—because in and through Paul’s sufferings, God has provided remarkable comfort for Paul and the church.

Beloved, when you’ve shared in the sufferings of Christ, how has the Father comforted you directly? Or in what ways has he brought you encouragement indirectly through the prayers or presence of other Christians? I know it happens. You make the hard ethical choice at work and the Father encourages you with moral resolve despite the ridicule from coworkers. You give yourself to adoption or foster care, and in the heartaches the Father comforts you to love even more. Or parenting—the sacrifices you make to help your children love Jesus can be hard, especially when they might not want to follow Jesus—yet I have parents come and share how the Lord encouraged them in a sermon or by something they read earlier in the week…

So, here’s some homework. As a family, or a care group, or one-on-one, or just in a journal by yourself—consider the various ways God has encouraged you the last few months. Share them or write them down. Then, spend time praising him. Give thanks for his faithfulness. If you find yourself downcast and struggling to answer, ask God to meet you in your affliction and to encourage you. Then praise him for being a compassionate Father, for taking away your sins, and for giving you himself, the greatest comfort of all.

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[i] BDAG, s.v. “oiktrimos.”

[ii] BDAG, s.v. “paraklēsis.”

[iii] David Garland, 2 Corinthians, CSC (Nashville: Holman, 2021), 60.

[iv] Vaneetha Risner, “The Enduring Legacy of Amy Carmichael: A Life of Surrender,” Vaneetha Risner (Juky 24, 2025), accessed at https://www.vaneetha.com/journal/the-enduring-legacy-of-amy-carmichael-a-life-of-surrender.