Regarding Being A Comforter Series

The occasion for these words of instruction and comfort from the Apostle Paul grew out of the pain that the early believers were experiencing when their friends and loved ones died prior to the return of Jesus. Paul affirms to them as well as to us today that when Christ comes again to claim His own, believers who have experienced death prior to His coming will be with Christ on that wonderful day. They will be raised to be with Him!

b. Those who are alive at the 2nd coming of Christ will NOT have precedent over those who have died prior to his coming: Some people interpret this passage in terms of a detailed explanation of the return of Jesus.

We will get closer to the truth if we interpret them in terms of instruction and comfort for the distressed believers a short 2 or 3 decades after the ascension of Jesus.

Here Paul is doing nothing more than comforting ALL believers that both the living and those who have died in Christ will share equally in the wonderful victory of the return of Jesus Christ!

He is affirming that “…we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord…” v17.

Here Paul is dealing with the pain that is experienced when death separates the living from the dead. He is affirming that the day will come when we will be together in and through what Christ has done in His death and resurrection!

However, we know that all of us will need the ministry of being comforted at some point in our lives and now we also know the basis for the Christian’s comfort and why Paul tells us to react the way he does. But finally I want us to look at what we must do to…

Becoming a comforter…

Each of us will need comfort that comes from the God of all comfort and from the Father of all mercy (2 Cor 1:3-4)

Each of us is encouraged, even commanded, to be a source of comfort to one another. To comfort means to encourage, to impart assurance of victory, to help others know that death will not have the final victory over us or our loved ones, or any others that believe and accept that Christ is Lord and Savior because of what Jesus Christ has done for us!

a. We must study our Bibles! If we are going to be obedient to this imperative of being a comforter, and if we want to be a source of comfort to help those who are in need of comfort, we must know, we need to know what the Scripture teaches about God’s provisions for those who place their faith and trust in Him.

b. We need to claim the promises of God as well! The NT contains many promises to those who trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. However, we must claim those promises for us to experience the comfort and encouragement that comes with those promises!

c. We can also be a channel through which God can and will help others. Our presence and our words of assurance and sympathy will bless others in their times of grief. We must realize that our presence means so much more than our words at a time of grief like this. There is really NOTHING that we can say, but being there for them means everything!

Finally in conclusion – Determine that with God’s assistance you will be a source of comfort and help to others in their times of grief and sorrow!