Therefore - we were comforted - My afflictions and persecutions seemed trifles when I heard of your perseverance in the faith.
We were comforted over you - See the notes, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; 2 Corinthians 7:6-7. The sense here is, that their steadfastness was a great source of comfort to him in his trials. It was an instance where the holy lives and the fidelity of a people did much, as will always be the case, to lighten the burdens and cheer the heart of a minister of the gospel. In the inevitable trials of the ministerial office there is no source of comfort more rich and pure than this.
This chapter is based on the Epistles to the Thessalonians.
The arrival of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, during Paul's sojourn in Corinth, had greatly cheered the apostle. They brought him “good tidings” of the “faith and charity” of those who had accepted the truth during the first visit of the gospel messengers to Thessalonica. Paul's heart went out in tender sympathy toward these believers, who, in the midst of trial and adversity, had remained true to God. He longed to visit them in person, but as this was not then possible, he wrote to them. AA 255.1
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