“Overflowing Grace”
Sermon Title: Overflowing Comfort
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 ESV
Introduction
As you may know, 1 Corinthians was written in response to many problems and issues in the Corinthian church. 2 Corinthians is Paul’s response to other issues that later came up in the church—particularly regarding Paul himself and his authority and authenticity as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Their reasons for doubting his apostleship came from 2 reason: (1) false teachers were running amok in the church self claiming to be apostle; (2) the main reason is how the people of the Corinthian church were raised in the culture of the Roman Greco world.
Corinth was a major trade center of the Roman Empire, known for immorality and spiritual corruption. It welcomed many gods—the Greek and Roman pantheon, Egyptian deities, various cults, and emperor worship. This cultural and environment shaped their worldview regarding comfort and suffering.
Their worldview told them:
power equals legitimacy and authority
victory and success equal divine favor
suffering equals weakness, and weakness equals shame
So when Paul shows up looking weak, beaten, afflicted, and unimpressive—while false teachers present themselves as “super-apostles”—it created confusion. Paul did not fit their expectations of what an apostle should look like.
Paul begins his response in verse 1 by grounding everything in the will of God. He is “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” In the same breath, he reminds them that they are saints and the church of God by that same will. Nothing about their existence is self-made. Paul’s authority is not self-appointed; it is rooted in the sovereign will of God.
That is why Paul begins this letter by talking about comfort and suffering because their issue with Paul comes from their misunderstanding of comfort and suffering in relation to the grace, purposes, and will of God.
Worldly Comfort vs. Biblical Comfort
Verses 2 and 3 remind us that grace, peace, mercy, and comfort come from God. God is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (v. 3). God Himself is blessed, and because we are united to Him, we receive His blessings and comfort.
But what we call comfort is often different from what God calls comfort.
Worldly comfort is natural to us. We seek it instinctively. It is about escape, avoidance of pain, self-protection, relief, ease, and control. It says, “I want relief now.” It equates comfort with strength, health, wealth, and prosperity. It is the pursuit of these things, even worship of them.
Biblical comfort is different. God certainly has the power to remove suffering, but often He does not. Instead, His comfort is His presence in suffering. It is walking with you through the valley of the shadow of death. It is growth in faith, deeper dependence, increasing hope, and submission to His will. God’s comfort often sounds like this: “I will not remove this suffering yet—but I will be with you in it. I will strengthen you through it.”
What Does Paul Teach Us About God’s Comfort?
1. God’s Comfort Is Relational (vv. 3–4)
Paul calls God “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (vv. 3–4). The word “comfort” carries the idea of coming alongside someone. God’s comfort is relational. He does not abandon His people in suffering; He walks with them. For God to remove every hardship would rob us of the opportunity to experience His presence in deeper ways. His comfort strengthens us so that we may continue walking.
2. God’s Comfort Has a Purpose (vv. 4–7)
Paul says we are comforted “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (v. 4). There is purpose in suffering—not that God created evil, but that He transforms it. What the world intends for harm, God uses for ministry. As we share in Christ’s sufferings, we also share in His comfort (v. 5). Our suffering becomes a means of grace for others. God’s comfort is not merely individual; it is communal. It overflows into the body of Christ.
Paul speaks in a circular, Jewish manner in verses 6–7, but the point is clear: your suffering and your comfort are tied to the strengthening of others. Sharing life and testimony is part of how the church functions. That’s exactly what Paul does by sharing his life and testimony in the following verses.
3. The Power of Testimony (vv. 8–10)
Paul models this by sharing his own affliction in Asia: “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (v. 8). Paul admits weakness. He admits despair. He thought he was going to die. Was that weakness? Yes. And yet he boldly declares it. He shares his weakness openly to the Corinthian church who were doubting his apostleship. Why? Because his testimony is not about his strength—it is about God “who raises the dead” (v. 9). God allowed Paul to reach the end of himself “to make us rely not on ourselves but on God.” some may think this is a rather strange thing for God to do considering this is THE apostle Paul, but Scripture tells us of the human heart in Deuteronomy 8:17 warns us: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” Even apostles are tempted to rely on themselves. God uses suffering to strip away self-reliance.
Paul declares that God “delivered us… will deliver us… [and] on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (v. 10). His confidence is in the faithful God. When you share your testimony, you are not glorifying your weakness—you are glorifying God’s faithfulness.
Therefore, the church is a place where it is okay not to be okay. It is a place where it is okay to suffer. There is no shame or judgment. God uses our lives and testimonies to encourage each other to continue walking in the faith. This isn’t about licking each other’s wounds. This is about being sensitive to the power of the Holy Spirit working within us and around us. It is about allow the Holy Spirit to use the people around us to point out the things we may have missed. As we partake in this missional work of God, we are given the privilege to witness the power of God being manifest in the world, and we get to understand the heart of God.
4. The Power of Prayer (v. 11)
Paul asks them to help “by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf” (v. 11). Prayer is not manipulation. It is participation. When many pray and God answers, thanksgiving multiplies. The glory goes to Him. Prayer is central to receiving God’s comfort. Prayer is central to the life of a Christian, and it is like all things we do a way of glorifying God. It is God’s invitation to us to participate in His work and mission in the lives of His people. Therefore, prayer is not about manipulating God to get Him to do the things that we want. It is about exalting His power and faithfulness. Prayer is submitting to the will of God and trusting Him with the results. It centers us on His power, not ours.
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, God’s comfort will seem alien and counterintuitive as it says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”The comfort God offers is Christ Himself. It is strength to endure (Phil. 4:12). It is the Spirit helping us in weakness (Rom. 8:26). It is hope rooted in resurrection.
When the world mocks and says, “Where is your God?” we have nothing to be ashamed of. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered—not as failure, but as the fullness of God’s power and love. The fact and truth that Christ rose again from the dead, the fact that we share in his resurrection power gives us assurance and hope. It is the power of gospel.
God’s grace is enough for us as God says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). God is using your suffering to bring you to the end of yourself so that the life of Christ in you may flourish. God is putting your old self to death, so that Christ will live in you. And when we live out the gospel in our suffering, when we are able to smile, be joyful, and be thankful, people will ask us how it is we do that. Our answer will be that “Yet, it is not I, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20).
Brothers and sisters, may your life—and may we as a church—be a vehicle through which God pours out His grace and His comfort to one another and to those around us.
