You and I live in a difficult world. Often you feel sadness and sorrow; and face difficulty and disappointment; obstacles to joy. We long for comfort and Someone to comfort us.

Jesus knows all about it. In love for you, He chose to limit Himself to a physical body, a geographical location and a time in history. He completely understands the difficulties of the human experience and He provides a solution.

Definitions

Comfort = relief in affliction; consolation; solace; a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily needs with freedom from pain and anxiety

Comforter = one that comforts

King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, wrote in the 10^th century B.C.:

Ecclesiastes 4:¹ So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

²Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

³Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

What do King Solomon’s words mean to you?

Do you feel oppressed? What do you think is the cause?

On the night Jesus was betrayed before He was executed, He gave these promises:

John 14:¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

¹⁷Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Jesus promises to ask your Father to send the Comforter

Jesus is confident the Father will send the Comforter

The Comforter comes from your Father

The Comforter is a gift, not deserved or earned

The Comforter is a Person

The Comforter will abide with you forever

The Comforter is the Spirit of truth

The Comforter is known to you; He is part of the Trinity

The Comforter will dwell with you and be in you

The Comforter cannot be received by the world

What do each of these statements mean to you?

That same night, Jesus explained why the world cannot receive the Comforter

John 15:²³ He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

²⁶But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

The Comforter will testify of Jesus

What do you know about Jesus that relates to your current situation?

How does one receive the Comforter? Jesus gave these isntructions.

John 3:¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

¹⁵That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Salvation was bought and paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are saved from the penalty of our sins. We are being saved from the pattern and habit of sin. One day we will be saved from the very presence of sin.

Paul told the church at Corinth the Comforter is the assurance of salvation, which is sealed as a done deed.

2 Corinthians 1:²¹ Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

²²Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Paul told the church at Ephesus the sealing occurs after you believe in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

⁶To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

⁷In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

⁸Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

⁹Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

¹⁰That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

¹²That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

¹³In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

¹⁴Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The Comforter is the Spirit of promise

The Comforter is the earnest of our inheritance

Earnest = full seriousness, as of intention or purpose:

Inheritance = property passing at the owner’s death to those entitled to receive

What does the Comforter mean to you?

What prevents you from fully embracing your Comforter?

Do you know this song?

The Comforter has Come –Frank Bottome, 1890

Oh, spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound: The Comforter has come!

refrain

The Comforter has come, The Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heav’n, The Lord’s dear promise giv’n; Oh, spread the tidings ’round, Wherever man is found— The Comforter has come!

The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last;
And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!  The Comforter has come!

Lo, the great King of kings, with healing in His wings,
To every captive soul a full deliv’rance brings;
And through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings: The Comforter has come!

O boundless love divine! how shall this tongue of mine
To wond’ring mortals tell the matchless grace divine—
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!  The Comforter has come!
Our focus = Hebrews 12:¹Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Our challenge = Dearly Beloved,

Run with your eyes on Jesus alone!

Run in faith that Jesus loves you, has uniquely designed and created only one you, has a good plan for your life, runs with you and will accomplish His purposes for you and through  you!

Run in His strength alone!

Run with your eyes on the prize!

Run with the desire to finish strong!

Run with the desire to finish with your lamp burning!

Run with the expectation of being in His physical presence when you cross your finish line!

Run to His glory alone!

Run and keep on running!

Coach Patti