In verse 3 Paul speaks of God as the Father of compassions and the God of all encouragement. The Greek word rendered “compassions” also means mercies, pity, sympathy. The word rendered “encouragement” is different from the word for comfort or consolation and has the sense of cheer. Such a title as the Father of compassions and the God of all encouragement is ascribed here to God because this Epistle is one of comfort and encouragement. First we must experience the encouragement of God. Then we shall be able to encourage others with the encouragement we have experienced of God.
For many years I did not understand what Paul meant by encouragement in this chapter. Some versions render the Greek word for encouragement here as comfort. According to this translation, when we suffer persecution, God comforts us.
In our reading of the Bible, we should not take verses such as 1:3 and 4 for granted, assuming that we understand them. We need to ask ourselves what these verses mean. In particular, we need to ask what it means to say that God encourages us in all our affliction. How does God comfort us when we are suffering because of the name of the Lord Jesus?
I did not have a proper understanding of encouragement as described in this chapter until I came to realize that it is related to God’s dispensing. We are comforted by God, encouraged by Him, through His dispensing. God is dispensing Himself into us, and this dispensing is His encouraging, His comforting.
I can testify from experience that the Triune God comforts and encourages us by dispensing Himself into us. During the years of the occupation of China by the invading Japanese army, I was imprisoned by the Japanese on two occasions. The first time was in 1938, when I was in prison for one night; the second was in 1943, when I was held in prison for one month. During my second imprisonment, twice a day I was subjected to a lengthy trial. I was threatened and severely ill-treated, and I was exhausted physically and mentally. Although I had done nothing wrong, I was being persecuted by the Japanese army. I was persecuted simply because I was a preacher who was bringing people to Christ, and the Japanese army did not like such a thing.
Out of fear that I would have contact with others who would spread information, I was kept in solitary confinement whenever I was not being tried. One night, after having suffered for days, as I was praying to the Lord, I said to Him, “Lord, You know I’m here. I’m suffering not because I have done anything wrong, but because of You and Your gospel.” I certainly would not say that I saw or touched the Lord physically. But I can testify that I experienced the Lord’s presence in a remarkable way. It seemed to me that when I told the Lord that I was suffering for Him and His gospel, the atmosphere in the room changed. The Lord’s presence was so real and intimate that I wept before Him. I knew that He was there with me. At that time I did not have the term “divine dispensing,” a term we have recently begun to use. Nevertheless, I truly experienced the divine dispensing. Through the Lord’s dispensing, I was encouraged, comforted, and cheered. I was deeply at peace.
When I was in prison, I experienced the dispensing of the Lord into my being. That dispensing was His comforting. Therefore, I can testify that this comforting, this encouraging, is not a mere doctrine. The real encouragement is the dispensing of the divine riches into our being. Through that experience I eventually came to realize that the Lord’s comforting is actually the dispensing of Himself into us to become our inward sustenance and support.
The divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity can be compared to the flow of electricity from the power plant into our homes. As the current of electricity flows, the appliances in our homes receive the power for their operation. As the appliances operate, they continually receive the flowing, the dispensing, of electrical power into them. This is an illustration of the dispensing of the riches of the Triune God into us.