Nevertheless, God that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only.
Comfort for the careworn
1. This barometrical subjection to the depressions and upliftings in life is the token of a noble nature and a big human heart. A cold, selfish man, of narrow views and no sympathies, goes on the calm and even tenor of his way. There is a miserable monotony about him. But wherever there is a generous and manly soul, there is a proportionate capacity for grief and for joy.
2. There is never a rose without a thorn, never a sky without a cloud, so there is never a gladness without a “but,” and never a record of enjoyment without a “nevertheless.” Oh, those “buts,” they are flies in our most fragrant pot of ointment, skeletons at our rarest banquets, cloud-spots in our brightest sky. But that is a matter we can turn round. Suppose we read it thus--There is no thorn without flower or fruit, nor sky without star or rift of blue; so there is never a sadness without an ameliorating “but,” and no sorrow without a compensating “nevertheless.” This latter is quite as true as the former, and whatever thing we have to carry that has two handles, let us take hold of the easiest and the handiest, for our neighbours’ sake as well as for our own.
I. There were many things that conspired to cast Paul down. He had temporal trials of no ordinary magnitude and strength. His own people hated him, the heathen persecuted him; and, worst of all, there were those in the Churches whose conduct caused him sharp and constant pain. Then, too, he had a grievous disappointment. Titus did not turn up until long after he was expected, and in those perilous times Paul was anxious about the young man’s safety and about the news he had to bring. He was a good man and true, yet he was “cast down.” You don’t think that his Lord loved him any less, or had withdrawn from him. The sun shines, whatever be the density of the November fog. Nature’s vital machinery is moving, though nature be bare; and so, despite appearances, all through your course, O Christian, be sure that God ruleth all things well. He has but poor confidence in the captain who thinks he isn’t on the ship because he can’t see him on the bridge.
II. Note the distinctive title the apostle gives to God: “God that comforteth,” etc.
1. I cannot find any god that mortals worship who is at all given that way. The worshippers of Baal were cast down low enough, but it was cold comfort they got from him. The gods of money, of honour, of show, of pleasure, may delude their worshippers with fancied joys while their devotees are up and about; but I have never heard that any of them are of much use when their worshippers are cast down. Oh no, it’s down you go, and down you stay.
2. Neither does the character which Paul gives his God belong to the world. Men as a rule do not trouble themselves with people who are cast down. “All men will speak well of thee when thou doest well by thyself”; that is when thou art lifted up. Nothing succeeds, they say, like success. But let a man be “cast down,” he’s likely to lie there. Besides, if the world had the best intentions it cannot minister to a mind diseased, cannot comfort the souls that are cast down.
3. There is but one hand that can lift up those that are cast down--God can, will, does. He will not break a bruised reed.
III. Those that are “cast down” is a very inclusive description. He does not ask who or what we are; nor how far we are down, nor what has cast us down, nor how often we have been down and lifted up before; nor how far we deserve to lie just where we have fallen, nor whether we are likely to be cast down again. No, our prostration is our certificate, and if we will but present that before Him He will lift us up and comfort us.
IV. While the comforts of God come to us direct, they also come through many a medium. At times the angels have been made the messengers of His mercy, the almoners of His bounty, the comforters of His saints. On errands of comfort ravens were sent to Elijah, a little flower to Mungo Park in an African desert, a little singing-bird to Martin Luther, and the sweet tones of David’s harp to the sad and moody Saul. But God specially comforts man by man. So Jethro cheered the heart of Moses; so old Eli gave comfort to sad-hearted Hannah; so the dejected David’s soul was strengthened by Jonathan; and here Paul was “comforted by the coming of Titus.” (J. J. Wray.)
God cheering the dejected
What dissimilar things God executes! He telleth the number of the stars and healeth the broken in heart; He has created and controls every living thing; He “comforteth those that are cast down.” We wonder not that a good man should be known as “the son of consolation,” but God Almighty desires to be known as the Consoler of men. Our notions of God are too stiff and earthly-grand. Note--
I. This ailment.
1. Not being cast down as when a building is rased or a tree is felled, or as when one is slain--“cast down, but not destroyed”; only cast down as withered grass, which may be revived by rain, or as a man who is sick, but has every prospect of recovery.
2. In this state of depression--
(1) The soul has lost all its elasticity. Time was when it was like spring, or like a palm-tree whose growth pressure is said to promote; but now it is like a broken spring, or like a palm whose power is sinking away.
(2) The soul has also lost its buoyancy. The day was when it was like the light sea-bird floating upon the stormy waters; but now upon those very waters it floats half submerged. All that makes the heart light has gone, and all that renders it heavy dominates. Where is hope? Fear has mastered it. Where is joy? Sorrow has quenched it.
3. This is a common state of soul. Many more suffer from it than appear. Those who are cast down will try to appear joyous, in order to quiet the suspicions or evade the inquiries of their Companions. Even great and strong men are liable to be cast down. The hero of a hundred battles, the statesman who presents himself to the criticism of Parliament with the appearance of a statue, and the monarch whose face in public appears full of satisfaction--even these are often cast down. The musician cannot drive depression hence by music; the wit cannot dispel it by the laughter he evokes. Even believers in Christ are subject to it.
4. Yet it is not a desirable state--it is not a state that you must cherish or even allow. You must deal with it as with a disease, as something to be got rid of. It is not the normal state of human nature nor of redeemed man, but a low estate to which our sinfulness has brought us, and in which our infirmities and unbelief often keep us.
II. Its causes. Men are cast down--
1. By grievous circumstances, sickness, bereavement, poverty, and approaching death.
2. By fears--useless, groundless, foolish, sinful fears.
3. The same causes do not, however, operate upon all persons alike. One man smiles at a storm of outward sorrow or of inward distress, which is more than enough to cast another down into the lowest depths.
III. The patient. Paul, a constitutionally strong, fearless, sanguine, enterprising man; a man full of life, not a languid man, whose blood circulates like molten lead, an educated man, not an ignorant man full of silly superstitions; a disciple of Christ at peace with God; a wondrously successful preacher of Christ’s gospel; an apostle, perhaps the greatest that God ever commissioned; a man who had been the comforter of men--and yet cast down. Can you wonder at your being sometimes cast down? you, with your feeble constitution and imperfect training, at the distance you stand from your Divine Master, with the little spiritual exercise that you take, who scarcely know what it is for the air of heaven to play upon your spirits? If depression attack the strong, are the weak likely to escape?
IV. The physician--God.
1. What a wonderful word is this of three letters! To some it is only a name to take in vain; to others it represents a foolish belief; to others it is the centre merely of a creed; to others it is a terror. God, saith Paul, is a comforter. The Eternal God, who never has been cast down--the all-knowing One, who is acquainted with all who are cast down--the Almighty, who is able, the merciful and gracious One, who is ever ready to lift them up. He is the Physician of the depressed. There are men, you know, who assume to be great and strong who would not stoop to this; but what man is too proud to do God delights to do.
2. Note the means by which God comforts.
(1) By things temporal as well as things eternal--by a gleam of sunshine, a shower of rain, a sunny morning, the advent of spring, the blooming of a flower, the singing of the birds, the success of an enterprise, the service of a benefactor, the visit of a friend, a smile of approbation, a tear of sympathy, good news in a letter, etc.
(2) By the Bible--the Psalms, with their complainings, their rejoicings and triumphings; the Gospels, with their exhibition of our loving Redeemer; and the Epistles with their doctrines and promises!
(3) By the Sabbath, with its holy calm, sweet rest, and sacred assemblings!
(4) By prayer, when desire is relieved by supplication, and oppressive care is cast upon God.
(5) By the Church, with her ordinances of instruction, devotion, and communion I
(6) By the Holy Ghost, the Comforter!
(7) By the medium of all comfort--the Son of God--Jesus--our Saviour.
V. The remedy. Comfort. Now if you would be comforted you must allow God to comfort you. David was cast down, and God set him inquiring about it. “Why art thou cast down?” And He comforted the man by bidding him look into the causes of his depression. When a man of God begins to look into the causes of his depression, he sees that there is far more to lift him up than to cast him down. Why art thou cast down?
1. Is it the burden of guilt? “If we confess our sins He is faithful,” etc.
2. Is it sorrow following sorrow? “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
3. You have said, “All things are against me.” Listen! “All things work together for good to them that love God.”
4. Is it fear of death? “Death! where is thy sting? Grave! where is thy victory?”
5. Is it some blighted hope--some disappointment?” Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him.” Your hopes have fallen; and why? Because they were built on sand. Now build on rock, and you shall never be disappointed.
6. Are you weary? Weary of pleasure, of everybody and everything, weary of life? “There remaineth a rest for the people of God,” and every weary step leads you toit.
Conclusion:
1. Yield to comfort and not to depression. Some, when they find themselves sinking in the slough of despond, allow themselves to sink. Do you rather lay hold of any of those good things which will hold you up. Lay hold of the Almighty arm. It is always within reach. Put off your sackcloth when He offers you beautiful garments.
2. Lift up each other. Wear a cheerful countenance--do not look gloomy. And you who are seldom dejected give special attention to those who are cast down. Depression will be contagious if you go to the dejected unaccompanied by Christ. It is no small thing to make a heart now shivering with fear glow with hope. (S. Martin.)
The depression of good men
I. Good men are often greatly cast down in soul. Paul had been disappointed at not meeting with Titus at Troas.
1. Why was he so anxious? Paul had met with perils by sea and by land, etc. These things tried him greatly, but it was suspense of mind concerning the state of the Corinthian Church that cast him down. It is not temporal trials, toils, or perils that break down the spirit of a man, so much as cankering cares and anxiety.
2. There are many things that “cast down” the spirits of good men.
(1) The prosperity of the wicked.
(2) The triumphs of wrong--fraud in trade, corruption in politics, errors in science, moral filth in popular literature.
(3) The non-success of Christly labour.
II. God sometimes comforts a good man by the visits of a friend. “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”
1. God does comfort His depressed servants.
2. God sometimes comforts by the instrumentality of good men. David, dejected in the wood, had his heart strengthened by Jonathan (1Sa_23:16).
Conclusion:
1. Christliness does not remove the constitutional infirmities of human nature.
2. That the vicarious sufferings of love are amongst the most depressing.
3. A genuine Christian carries comfort into the house of his distressed friend--Titus to Paul. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
