The different ways we do this, reminds me of three elderly men who were passing the time discussing the ideal way of leaving this world.
• The first man, age seventy-five, said he would prefer to go to sleep one night and not wake up the next day.
• The second man, age eighty-five, said he would rather be killed in an airplane crash.
• The third man, age ninety-five, said he would rather be shot by a jealous husband.
We all have different ideas about different things.
We all have different ideas about HOW TO COMFORT OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WHEN THEY NEED COMFORTING.
We all try to:
• Sympathize with them
• Put an arm around them
• Speak hopeful words to them
• Bring them some food
• Send flowers and cards
Most of the time our efforts are well received, but at best they fall short, and we leave feeling we have not achieved our goal.
One thing we all will agree on is this; there are times in our life when we need comforting.
For example, let me ask you something. Suppose you got the most devastating news that you could get. Perhaps a family member was killed in a car accident. Who would you turn to for comfort at a time like this?
WHERE THEN CAN WE TURN TO FOR COMFORT?
Let me show you from the scriptures where we can turn to in times of trouble in our lives. We can certainly turn to-
I. THE COMFORT OF GOD
2 Cor. 1:3 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT…”
Aren’t you glad that He is a God of Comfort.
Illus: Have you ever seen some of these grandchildren at play? They can bump their head on a table, and they will immediately come running and crying to their mom or dad, wanting them to kiss the new knot on their head.
We are all like that. When we start hurting, we immediately run to God the Father for the comfort that we need.
He doesn’t scold us. He comforts us!
HOW DOES THE GOD OF COMFORT, COMFORT US?
Look at 2 Cor. 7:6. “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are CAST DOWN…”
God is a God of Comfort, and some people have never discovered that.
Illus: Have you ever been so “Cast down” that you went into a place of prayer, and in tears, you poured your heart out to God? After you poured your heart out to Him, all of a sudden you felt it was going to be all right.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The God of comfort came down and comforted you. He spoke to your heart in a soft voice, and let you know the things that had “Cast you down” were going to be all right.
Look at verse 4, we read, “Who comforteth us IN ALL OUR TRIBULATION,”
• This lets us know that there is NO AFFLICTION that God is not concerned with. If it disturbs us, it disturbs Him.
• This lets us know that NO AFFLICTION can come our way that is so great, that it can prevent God from being able to bring comfort in the midst of it!
Temptations, testings and afflictions will certainly come our way, but God will COMFORT US in them, and deliver us from them.
In times of distress He is THE GOD OF COMFORT. But also in times of distress we have-
II. THE COMFORT OF THE HOLY GHOST
Jesus described the Holy Ghost as “ANOTHER COMFORTER.”
The Holy Spirit’s position in the church has been improperly taught by a lot of ministers and preachers. Many have not done it because of evil in their hearts, but simply because they do not know what His scriptural position in the church is.
You can go into some churches and all you will hear is
• Sermon after sermon,
• Testimony after testimony,
• Conversation after conversation,
that deals with the Holy Spirit, and very little about the Lord Jesus who came and died for our sins.
The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit did not come to exalt Himself, He came to exalt the Savior.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”
Notice that the Bible clearly teaches us that His mission is not to teach of Himself, but to guide the Believer into all truth.
He has come to do two things for us as Believers.
(1) Guide us into all truth
(2) Comfort us
Look at Acts 9:31, we read, “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and IN THE COMFORT OF THE HOLY GHOST, were multiplied.”
When the lost world faces problems, they have to turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with life.
We have the COMFORT OF GOD, and the COMFORT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY!
Also, we have-
III. THE COMFORT OF JESUS CHRIST
You can follow some folks, and their life is like a person carrying trash to a dumpster. That is, as they travel to the dumpster, there is a trail of trash being left behind them.
They will try to turn our ears into trash-cans, and when we leave them, we feel like trash.
But if you look at the life of Christ, you will see that wherever He went He brought COMFORT to those He encountered.
The fact that Christ is a Comforter is spoken about in prophesy.
Isa. 61:1-2, “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; TO COMFORT ALL THAT MOURN.
Illus: The songwriter had this in mind when he wrote that beautiful hymn, “Till The Storm Passes By”. The words of the song go like this, “In the dark of the midnight have I often hid my face. While the storms howls above me, and there’s no hiding place; ‘mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry, keep me safe till the storm passes by.”
He is always there for us in the midst of the storm!
Illus: Let me ask you something: can you imagine how those disciples felt, as they stood on that ship thinking they were going to perish? And they looked across the waves and saw the Lord walking on water. MY WHAT A COMFORT THAT MUST HAVE BEEN!
Peter was so inspired by His presence that He wanted to get out and walk on water also!
HOW COMFORTING IT IS, WHEN WE FACE THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE THAT HE SAYS TO US, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE OR FORSAKE THEE!
We have the COMFORT OF GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT, and the comfort of THE LORD JESUS.
But also we have-
IV. THE COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES
Did you know that the lost world does not have any hope whatsoever? Every lost person on the face of the earth today is only one heartbeat away from an everlasting burning hell. For eternity they will be in this place that the Bible describes as a place of gnashing of teeth.
Illus: Have you ever seen anyone that was in such horrible pain that they gnashed their teeth together?
The lost person had better enjoy all the pleasures they can enjoy in this life, because when they leave this life they are going to a place of eternal torment.
But you know what makes us different from them? It is this Bible that I hold in my hands.
We have never had a friend or a loved one die and come back and tell us what is on the other side. But praise the Lord for the COMFORT of the Word of God.
Look at 2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
The people of this world are lost, because they will not follow the instructions of how to be saved.
But because we have obeyed those instructions, the Word of God provides us COMFORT, telling us that WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM, WILL NOT HAPPEN TO US.
This is why Bible-believers get angry when the liberals start taking words, sentences and complete passages of scripture out of the Bible, and say that we no long need them anymore.
This Bible provides us with the ONLY HOPE WE HAVE of not going to a devil’s hell.
• Rom. 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES might have hope.”
• 1 Cor. 14:3 “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, AND COMFORT.”
But I am happy to tell you:
• The pastor’s ministry is not only that of preaching the Gospel so some will be saved
• It is not only exhorting the careless to a closer walk with the Lord
• It is also the ministry of God’s Word to those in distress
The WORD OF GOD comforts men who are:
• TROUBLED IN MIND - John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”
• DESERTED BY FRIENDS - Heb. 13:5, “…He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
• PERSECUTED - Deut. 33:27, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and HE SHALL THRUST OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE THEE; and shall say, Destroy them.”
• SICK - Psa. 41:3, “The LORD will strengthen him upon THE BED OF LANGUISHING…”
• AFFLICTED BY AGE - Psa. 71:9, “Cast me not off IN THE TIME OF OLD AGE; forsake me not when my strength faileth.”
• DYING - Every minister of the gospel has had to stand beside a casket, and a grieving family. What possibly could he say to them to give comfort? The only thing he can do is turn to the Word of God, and read 1 Thess. 4:16-18, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.”
We have the COMFORT OF GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE LORD JESUS, and of the SCRIPTURES.
But before we close I would like to show you one more comfort we have.
V. THE COMFORT OF THE BELIEVERS
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger, was called upon to preach a graveside funeral of a man who died. His son was a very wealthy businessman who had earned a lot of his money through shady deals. However, wherever this man went, his so-called friends always surrounded him. He could go to a nightclub and sit at a table, and many of his so-called friends would gather around him, as he bought them beer to drink.
Dr. Belger assumed that because he had many friends, this would be a large graveside service. The assumption was that his friends would be there for him to show their respects, in this time of grief.
But at the appointed time, the funeral home came with the deceased. Behind the deceased were three family cars. But what was so shocking, was that there were only a few cars in the entire funeral procession. This affluent man sat with his family on the front row by his father’s casket, and with only a few friends. It was pitiful as he looked around and all those drinking buddies were nowhere in sight.
There are times when we need the COMFORT of our friends. Sometimes there is nothing in this world that can take place of a dear friend who hurts when we hurt.
Illus: Another successful business was going sour. He went to a friend for comfort, because it looked like he might lose everything that he had. His friend put his arm on his shoulder and said, “You have been there before, you will come out of it,” and walked away, leaving him standing there alone. He later told his pastor how sad he was that his best friend seemed like he really did not care about this major concern in his life.
One of the great things about the Christian life is that, as a church, we are not an organization, we are not a club, and we are not a political gathering. We are BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. And what hurts you also hurts me.
Illus: A lost man has a successful business in Columbia, SC, rebuilding washing machines. He also has some serious health problems with arthritis. One day he was talking to his preacher, and said, “Preacher, your profession is like mine. Some people who claim to love you will not contact you for six months. Then they will call you on the telephone one night, and ask you how you feel.” He said, “Before you can tell them how you feel, they are asking you for a favor. You are hurting all over, and you know they do not care how you feel.”
We can all be thankful that there are some people who do care how we feel.
A. PAUL SPOKE OF CHRISTIANS WHO HAD COMFORTED HIM
Look at Col. 4:10,11. “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;) And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. THESE ONLY ARE MY FELLOW WORKERS UNTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WHICH HAVE BEEN A COMFORT UNTO ME.”
Stop and look back in your own life, and see how many times Christians have ministered to you in your distress, and brought comfort to your troubled heart.
It is when we go through the tough times in our life that we really discover who our friends that truly love us are.
There are people who say they love you and care about you. But they remind us of some of the gangs we see on television. The gangs conspire about how they can beat up on someone. They finally come up with their strategy. One of the gang members sneaks up on the victim and knocks him down. Once he is down, the whole gang jumps in while he is down, and tries to beat him almost to death.
We see a great deal of this behavior in the lost world, but also sad to say, we see a great deal of it in God’s church.
Praise the Lord for compassionate Christians who care enough to try to comfort the afflicted.
B. PAUL SPOKE OF THE NEED FOR US TO COMFORT ONE ANOTHER
Paul knew that comfort was such an important thing, that if he could not go he would send someone who could.
Look at 1 Thess. 3;2. “And SENT TIMOTHEUS, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and TO COMFORT YOU CONCERNING YOUR FAITH.”
Why did he send Timothy to them? He says, “…To comfort you concerning your faith.”
Conclusion:
We live in a world where people are surrounded by people, but they feel alone.
Why? Because the fact is, they know that no one really cares for them.
But listen, this should not be the case when it comes to the family of God. As we walk with the Lord, we can have comfort that the world does not understand.
I. WE HAVE THE COMFORT OF GOD
II. WE HAVE THE COMFORT OF THE HOLY GHOST
III. WE HAVE THE COMFORT OF THE LORD
IV. WE HAVE THE COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES
V. WE HAVE THE COMFORT OF OUR FRIENDS
