One Another Part II of III

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 19 Issue 17 May 24, 2009

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.We are looking at “Comforting One Another” which is part 2 of our Mini series on One Another.

There are two basic groups that come to church on any Sunday. You could put them in a ledger kind of column.
One side of the column is folks who need to be comforted.
Perhaps today you really could use some comfort from God or from other people. Life is tough and maybe you have made some mistakes. Maybe you are needing forgiveness and you need God's comfort. You may find yourself in that first category.
The other column is those who need to provide comfort. I’m sure you’ve learned by now that people need people! So today you may not need comforting, but you may be called by God to provide comfort for someone. Today the Lord may have a ministry opportunity for you, that being to encourage someone else.
Husbands and wives, must understand this is the most important thing we can do for one another. In fact for any relationship to prosper we need to be there for one another and comfort one other in the times of difficulties. We are called to comfort one another.
Perhaps this is the “missing link” in church today.
Far too often we expect the pastor to be the comforter for all who attend. Yet, I gotta tell you there are definitely times I as a pastor get great comfort from you. Each Sunday we come together to celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness…
but a byproduct of our gathering together is the awesome relationship of comforting one another.
The apostle Paul was a hand holder, and he was an encourager, and he encouraged other people to in turn encourage each other. Maybe my thinking isn’t too far off?
This is very important because there is a very real chance of becoming hardened, and or cynical, and we can forget that people need people.
Life has a way of hardening us.
I read about a mom who had eight kids, and she said that it was so different how she raised each of the eight. She said the first child, if the first child coughed or sneezed she would call the doctor. She said the eighth child swallowed a dime, and she said, "That's coming out of your allowance!"
Unfortunately we have to be reminded that God wants us to have soft hearts. So the apostle Paul in one of his earliest letters sought to comfort his friends and encourage them.
I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven ,with a loud command, and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
The KJV says comfort one another with these words.
Paul was saying, now you in turn provide comfort to others.
The Holy Spirit being a comforter… is described as one who comes along side.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Paul was saying that if we know we are forgiven of our past, and we have knowledge and assurance about the future, we are going to have hope and confidence in the presence.
Friends although it is said often, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance leads to despair. It is knowledge that leads to hope.
One time I went to KGH to visit a woman in a comma. I was harassed by the nurse for speaking to my friend as she lay in that hospital bed. But I kept at it. I prayed the Lord would show me that my visiting wasn’t in vain. I prayed He would show me that Mildred had believed our report of God’s salvation. You see, I had to know - I could of hoped and thought positively, but I had to know.
Suddenly she sat right up straight in her bed and then looking straight ahead sang the first lines to Jesus loves me and lay back down - back in her coma.
She could have sang anything… but she sang, “Jesus loves me, THIS I KNOW”
She went to be with the Lord shortly after… but I knew she “knew”. I could do her funeral with a confidence that Mildred would be with Jesus.
The only way to be really assured of our hope is to know the Word of God, not just theologically but personally through Jesus Christ Who is the Living Word.
To have an experience, an encounter with Him. We said last week that is to be the basis for our UNITY.
When we know and are assured that he lives in us, that his blood has covered our sins, that's where true hope comes from, and that when we die, it is not the end.
We will see Him. We will be gathered up in the air with the Lord. Those who have already died will be raised from the dead.
I Thessalonians 4:14-16 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.
Paul realized that his fellow Christians were going to grieve, but he didn’t want them to grieve as those who have no hope!
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
Do you see that? Comfort through the Word!
Consider, God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God.
God wants you to share what's comforted you with other people. God wants us to comfort one another with the way that He has spoken to us and touched our lives and share it with those who are struggling.
Not only to comfort people through the Word of God and through our own experiences, but also we must “be there” for one another.
We must be there for one another. One of the things that bugs Judi in our relationship is when she feels like I am not there for her. I’m a guy so I thought it meant sitting in the same room… but no - it actually means to be focused, listening, understanding, hearing… and you have to be present for that.
The greatest means of comfort humanly speaking is being there for someone else.

What's the greatest verse in the Bible, when it comes to comfort?
How about Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will come and he will guide you. He will nudge you gently to one side or to the other. So God's Word and God's Spirit becomes the source of greatest comfort to us.
Sharing God's words with others. And the power of the Holy Spirit. Being there for people is the greatest way that we can be of comfort to each other.