2Corinthians 7:4-7
Borrowed Comfort
Notice how Paul described his life.
In \\#5\\, there were troubles on every side. That was no
exaggeration. Everywhere Paul went, Paul was met with hostility.
The nicer people wanted him beaten and gone, but the not so nice
People wanted him dead.
That is just the outside. On the inside was fear. I do not believe
Paul was afraid of what man might do to him. If he was, he would have
quit. I believe he had fears for what was going on inside the
churches and lives of those in which he had influence. He spoke
specifically of this again later:
2Cor 11:28 Beside those things that are without,
that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all
the churches.
So we find in \\#5\\ that Paul had a difficult life, but we find out
in \\#6\\, that God comforted him. How? Well, the reference here is
to borrowed comfort. It came with Titus from Titus’ last visit with
the Corinthians. Paul said in \\#7\\ that Titus got the comfort from
the Corinthians. So Paul was comforted with the comfort Titus had
gotten while there.
So this was not Paul’s comfort. It was Titus’ comfort. Titus has been
encouraged by the repentance and obedience that the shown while Titus
was there, but Paul was going to borrow it—and by the way—that is
all right! You can tell in this letter that Paul’s spirit was
lighter and his heart was merrier.
Interestingly, this borrowed comfort did not actually change much in
Paul’s life. The people that wanted Paul to move along still wanted
him to move along and the people that wanted Paul did still wanted
Paul did. And Paul still had the responsibilities of the other
churches and Christians who depended upon him. Comfort is not
solution. It is a spirit-lifter.
Some people use the fact that comfort doesn’t change their
circumstances as an excuse to reject. It is obvious. They not only
want their problems, but they want to be miserable in them. I hope
that isn’t you. I think it is better if I must have problems to also
have comfort with them. I believe I would rather feel better in
whatever problems I have than to wallow in self-pity
Tonight, I warn you that I probably can’t solve of problems, but
maybe I can give you some comfort.
Tonight, I want to talk to you about how to Borrowed Comfort.
I. Quit carry another’s troubles.
A. Some people look for other people’s burdens, troubles—even
anger—to carry.
1. By that, I mean someone else got hurt and they are going
to be offended either with them or, in some cases, for
them.
2. Or someone else is mad at so-and-so, and they are going to
get bitter with them.
3. Don’t do that.
B. Carrying someone else’s troubles does not help anyone and it
makes everyone worse off.
C. I see five ways you carrying another person’s troubles hurts.
1. When you take someone else’s troubles like that, you
duplicate their load.
a. It would be wonderful if by you carrying someone
else’s troubles, you lessened their load; but you
don’t.
b. Now instead of one person being angry, there are two.
c. Instead of one person being sad, there are two.
d. Instead of one person being hurt, there are two.
e. Instead of one person lying awake at night, there are
two.
2. Even worse, when you take someone else’s troubles like
that, most of the time you ADD to their load.
a. When two people carry the same unrighteous load, they
end up feeding off of each other’s anger, hurt, or
trouble.
b. I don’t care what you feed, feed makes it grow.
c. So instead of helping your friend to heal, you wind up
keeping it going!
3. When carrying someone else’s hurt, you can’t get their
grace.
a. God gives grace for every burden, trouble, sorrow,
problem, hurt—even anger; but He only gives it to the
person whose trouble it is.
1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God
which is given unto ME….
b. Grace is personal and personalized.
c. God will give a friend the grace to help; but He will
only give the person who is supposed to bear the
burden the grace to bear the burden.
4. Your carrying their trouble without God’s grace may
actually give them the illusion that they can carry their
problem without God’s grace.
a. They can’t!
b. God’s grace does two things:
(1) It strengthens them to carry the load.
(2) It teaches them how to carry the load so they
don’t hurt themselves.
c. If they don’t take God’s grace, they won’t be able to
carry the burden and they won’t know how to carry it.
d. Again, while you may think you are helping them by
being angry, hurt, bitter, worried, despondent,
and whatever; you are actually hurting them!
5. You just made yourself miserable for nothing. You did not
help anyone and you probably hurt in ways that only God
will understand.
D. Understand, I am not saying to ignore or forsake those with
troubles, burdens, or hurts.
1. We are Christians. We want to comfort those who are
hurting, but you do not comfort people by carrying their
troubles.
2. How do you comfort? It is a three step process:
a. First you care.
(1) That involves getting involved.
(2) It involves listening. Crying with them.
Putting your arm around them. Being with them.
b. Then you pray.
(1) This is always the next step.
(2) You pray for them and you pray for those involved
in the situation and you pray for you to have
wisdom and to know what to do.
c. Then you help.
(1) You do what the Holy Ghost tells you to do.
(2) The Holy Ghost will never tell you to get mad at
whoever they are mad at or to get hurt over
whatever is hurting them or worry about whatever
they are worrying about.
(3) The Holy Ghost will NEVER do that. He will never
tell you to carry their trouble, hurt, or worry
with you.
E. So if you need comfort tonight, you need to ask yourself, "Are
the hurts, troubles, and burdens that I am carrying actually
mine to carry?"
1. If they are not, go back to CPH, Care, Pray, and Help as
God leads you to help.
2. But I do not want to talk about how you can help someone
else tonight.
3. I want to talk about what else you can do to help
yourself.
II. Let God comfort you.
1Cor 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those
that are cast down….
A. The greatest Source of comfort for a Christian is God. That
is true no matter what troubles you are carrying.
B. This is another of the many ministries of the Holy Ghost.
1. If the Holy Ghost does not comfort, our whole Bible is a
lie.
a. Jesus promised us a Comforter.
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever;
b. Jesus told us who the Comforter would be.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.
c. Jesus excused Himself so that the Comforter could
come.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It
is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
2. Either the Comforter came or He did not.
a. If He did not, you cannot be saved because it is His
ministry to draw you.
b. If He did, then the same Holy Ghost who brought you to
a saving knowledge in Jesus Christ can comfort you.
C. For anyone else to comfort you, you must let them.
1. The same is true of the Holy Spirit.
2. Another list of five things to do if you want His comfort.
a. Sacrifice your own desires.
b. Don’t dwell on the hurt.
c. Look for a God’s purpose.
d. Seek God’s presence.
e. No matter how bad things are, practice praise and
thanksgiving.
III. Let God comfort you through others.
A. First, God knows we are humans and we need a physical touch.
1. Even Jesus needed to hear the voice of God (3x)
\\#Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, John 12:28\\.
2. He had angels come down to strengthen Him (2x)
\\#Matt 4:11, Luke 22:43\\.
3. On one occasion Moses and Elijah came down to see Jesus.
\\#Matt 17:1-13\\
B. God does not JUST give us the Holy Ghost.
1. He sends people to help us.
2. Titus was the one that God sent for Paul.
3. The problem is not that God does not send people to
comfort us. The problem is we don’t let them.
(a) Example - There is no reason for anyone living within
8 to 10 miles of a good Bible-believing church not
being comforted.
(1) I know some churches are better at it than
others, but I believe inside of every Bible-
believing, Bible-practicing church there will
be at least one who would comfort and help
people if they came.
(2) I am praying that there are far more than that
in this church.
(b) There should be, and I believe there are, comforting
Christians at work, in the community, even walking
around the stores that would comfort if people would
give them a chance.
(c) May God help us to make it so.
IV. Live through the Victories of Others
A. While it is wrong to borrow other people’s troubles, it is
right and good to borrow other people’s victories.
B. This is what Paul did with Titus.
1. Titus went to Corinth, a very difficult city and church,
and God used him to accomplish a revival.
2. Paul had been several times and the problems of that
church did not get better.
3. Paul was not jealous over Titus’ success. Paul was
thankful and rejoiced in it.
C. Every Christian is living through the victory of Jesus Christ.
1. We did not defeat sin.
2. We did not defeat the devil.
3. We did not pay sin’s debt.
4. We did not defeat the grave.
5. Yet, the Bible tells us to think of ourselves as if we
did.
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin.
D. To live in Jesus’ victory means to say, "Yes, that may be the
way it is today; but one day, I will be like completely Him."
1. sickness
2. pain
3. regret
4. abandonment
E. However, even on a lesser scale, we can live through the
victories and joys of others.
1. When a soul comes to Christ…
2. When a Christian gets their heart right with God…
3. When a ministry is successful…
4. When a smile is given…
V. Find the Purpose of God for Your Problems
A. I am no expert on anything. At best, I am but a student of
a few things.
B. Even so, I rest much in:
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his
purpose.
1. No matter what we are going through, there must be a
purpose.
2. In the message I preached this morning, I mentioned three:
\\See 2019Sermons on "Mark 4:35"\\
a. That God might be glorified.
b. That the gospel might be known.
c. That my faith might be shine.
3. In observing others, I am convinced that oftentimes God
is still trying to teach us some personal lessons through
the trials we walk through.
a. Maybe it’s patience.
b. Maybe it’s to turn loose of control.
c. Maybe it’s to learn humility, love, or appreciation.
4. What I have seen is that God NEVER quits trying to shape
people into what He wants them to be.
a. Many of our adulthood sins lead to the same place:
loneliness and dependence.
b. Sometimes they come with poverty and a weak body too.
c. My point - Learn some lessons today so God may be able
to spare you in the school of hard knocks in the
future.
d. If you are going through a hard time today, ask God if
there is something you can learn through it. I’d be
surprised if there is not.
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