Comfort in Times of Trouble

August 3, 2014 Background Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11 Lesson Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11 I don’t know any sane person who wants to suffer whether it is physical or emotional pain. In fact, many of the people I know will seek to get along with everybody in order to avoid confusion and disagreement. Most will quickly assert: I don’t like mess or confusion! The saying is true that “You don’t have to trouble trouble for trouble to trouble you.” This is all too familiar for Christians. When we are saved, we are recreated spiritually and are made enemies of the world. When we seek to walk or live as we once did, we become carnal Christians and weaken the witness of Christ which is in us. However, when we seek to walk as God has called us to walk, then we become enemies of the world. The evil forces of the world do not avoid Christians. We face constant attack when we dare to minister to the spiritual needs of others. Sometimes these attacks cause great pain and suffering. The Apostle Paul had much to say about suffering for the sake of Christ and his information was not based on hearsay but it was experiential. In one of Jesus’ most noted teachings, The Sermon on the Mount, he said “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” We mourn because we suffer pain whether it is emotional or physical. Knowing the promises of Jesus, we seek to be comforted in our times of trouble. In our lesson today, the Apostle Paul speaks of comfort as a progressive grace. Put another way, comfort is not given to anyone as a final resting place for it. No Christian will always be in a state of comfort in this world. We don’t receive comfort that we might always have it on tap to access at our convenience. But rather, comfort is given to us that it might be multiplied in the recipient and then passed on to others who are in need of comforting. Ultimately all comfort comes from the Holy Ghost who is our Comforter. The Holy Ghost often uses people in the process as agents of comfort. Those who receive comfort are then enlisted as agents of comfort by God. When Christians suffer for the cause of Christ, Jesus provides an abounding comfort to help us bear the tribulation. Sometimes affliction and comfort occur in the servants of God for the sake of consoling others who we minister to. When Paul and Timothy suffered in Asia to the point of death, then God’s deliverance of them strengthened their faith. They had no other options if they were to live except to depend totally upon the Lord to sustain them. Paul’s ministry work in Asia—especially in Ephesus—had placed the sentence of death upon him and the other followers of Christ who were there. The evil forces of this world seek to destroy or severely punish those who engage in the work of Jesus Christ. The work of Jesus Christ is in direct opposition to the world’s systems. The world responds by inflicting pain in an attempt to stop or discourage Christians. We are not always in comfort but we do always have the Comforter with us. We give thanks to God that Jesus promised that he would send the Comforter that He might abide with us forever. Therefore, having the witness in us, let us receive comfort in our time of need and in turn comfort others with the same comfort whereby we have been comforted of God. Robert C. Hudson July 28, 2014

Seek the Good of Others

July 27, 2014 Background Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:13 – 26 Lesson Passage: 1 Corinthians 14:13 – 26 The Holy Ghost provides many gifts to the body of Christ by giving those gifts to the individual members of the body. This should be evident within local churches where born-again people have joined themselves together for the sake of the gospel. This “should be” evident within our local churches but it is not always so. Spiritual gifts are there to build up the body by building up the individual members. We are not forced to use these gifts but we feel the unction or movement of the Holy Ghost within us urging us to exercise those gifts when they are needed the most. It is unfortunate but we don’t always seek the Lord’s desire for us but instead we ask the Lord to fulfill what we desire of Him. When spiritual gifts are not used to build up the body, then the body suffers from that lack. The greatest gifts are those that benefit other people rather than the person who has the gift. When the individual members are exercising their gifts to benefit others and being benefitted by the free exercise of gifts by the other members, then the local church walks in obedience to God. It is a constant refrain within the New Testament writings that Christians should seek to help others. It is evident, because of these writings, that salvation does not take away our selfishness. We are encouraged to grow in grace by serving others. We have been given spiritual gifts to equip us for greater service than was previously possible. So where is the problem? Christians are consumed too often with self-serving activities. We sometimes employ the spiritual gifts we have received to benefit ourselves and minimize the use of those gifts we have that will build up others. It was because of a similar attitude within the church at Corinth that Paul addressed the issue of speaking in tongues during gatherings of the congregation. It seems obvious today that some of the Corinthians felt enthusiastic about having the gift of speaking in tongues and esteemed it above the other spiritual gifts. They were freely exercising the gift within the congregation while they met. The problem with this was threefold. First, in the absence of a person with the gift to interpret the tongues, the congregation could hear the speaker but not understand what was being said. The speaker might have felt good because of the presence of the gift within him but the congregation was not being helped by listening and not understanding. The second problem would occur if a stranger came in among them while members were speaking in tongues with no interpreter. The stranger would think that they were unlearned foreigners rather than purveyors of the gospel. The third problem appears to have been that those with the gift of speaking in tongues felt that they were superior because of it. Paul did not instruct the church to cease allowing the display of this gift but rather ensure that someone was present who could interpret the tongues that the congregation could benefit from the revelation knowledge being made available by the Spirit of God. If no interpreter was present, then Paul’s instruction was for the speaker to keep silent so that no confusion would result. Paul boasted about the gift of speaking in tongues because he had it himself. On the other hand, he encouraged them to seek to build up each other by exercising the gift of prophesy which needed no interpreter for the congregation to benefit. Robert C. Hudson July 5, 2014