Northern Comfort

Northern Comfort

John 14:15-18

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/NorthernComfort.html

Where do you find your comfort? I find mine in the one and only true and living God, named Jehovah, whose Son is Jesus Christ, whose Spirit is my Comforter, residing within me! I look up to find my comfort, from the One Who dwells in the sides of the north.

How do you medicate the pain of life? I choose to call the Great Physician, still practicing medicine in Spirit in those who believe! What do you reach for to pick you up when you are down?

Ephesians 5:18

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

I reach up on the shelf for northern comfort, the written Word of God ... which is the living Word, Jesus, translated in writing, interpreted by the Spirit of God Who gives me understanding and help.

This is the great comfort chapter. "Let not your heart be troubled..."

It speaks of heaven, and gives comfort. Jesus said, I'm going away, but one day you can follow me where I am going. They were comforted by this.

But still, He was going away, and knew they would need continuing comfort.

v. 16 'pray' is a rare Greek word, not the usual one used. It means ask. That's why it is not followed by 'to'. To 'pray to' would mean to pray from earth. Jesus knew that He would soon be seated on the right hand of the Father, and would simply turn and ask, and He knew that the answer would be yes!

This Comforter is the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.

v. 17a The trinity is one God, manifested in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Do you fully understand? Neither do I. But I believe in a lot of things that I don't fully understand:

Electricity-I don't comprehend how current can run thru wires and power electronics, but I believe enough to keep my fingers out of the sockets!

Wifi-How can the internet work even WITH cables, let alone without. And yet I'm known to get online once in a blue moon!

How does a brown cow eat green grass and give white milk and yellow butter? I dunno, but I'm gonna enjoy it!

1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

I believe in the trinity, and I will appreciate the fact that God is still on earth in the form of His Spirit, which by the way, is in my heart as a believer!

I hope you recognize and appreciate the Spirit of God! Most Christians are stuck somewhere between Calvary and the Day of Pentecost, some 3 months later.

In Bethlehem, where Jesus was born of a virgin, that was GOD WITH US. On the cross we see GOD FOR US. Then weeks later came the Day of Pentecost, which is GOD IN US.

So what does it mean when I say: Most Christians are stuck somewhere between Calvary and the Day of Pentecost?

I mean that they have been to Calvary for cleansing, and although the Spirit came to live inside of them immediately, they haven't comprehended the magnitude of the Spirit's indwelling phenomenon.

You see, the disciples walked with Jesus, and that must have been a tremendous thing to experience. But better than Him walking NEAR you is Him residing IN you!

Now, imagine those weeks in-between Jesus' departure from earth and the Spirit's coming to dwell in believers. Unlike us, they had a waiting period from their salvation to their indwelling. What might that time have been like? We don't know for sure, but I imagine it made them appreciate God's presence when it finally arrived, after being alone all that time!

Are you saved? Then the Holy Spirit dwells IN you!

v. 17b Understanding the role of the Spirit within you will transform your life!

Some of us are afraid of focusing on the Spirit since we see many in our world who major on it are quite different from us.

ill.--as a kid, the guys I saw on TV who talked about the Holy Spirit were either hitting people on the head, knocking them backward, handling snakes, or talking about God making me rich.

The ladies I saw who were big on the Holy Ghost either wore NO makeup, or way too much! [how 'bout them eyelashes!]

And let's be honest, we see more nonsense going on in the name of Spirit-fullness than anything. You'll see some weird stuff, like holy laughter, holy running, tongues that ignore the rules of I Cor. 14, faith healing and prosperity preaching, drinking of deadly poisons and snake handling. Weird stuff, and all in the name of the Spirit. Get to know some of them and you'll realize most of them are pretty weird people anyway...don't blame it on the Spirit, they would be weird without Him.