The Comfort of Christ’s Love
Philippians 2.1-4
As we said in the Bible Studies this week, this is akin to saying, “If the sky is blue…”
There is great comfort in the love of Jesus Christ. This is part of God’s unspeakable gift for which we all are giving thanks for. In fact in many ways the comfort of His love is unspeakable! Like an old Irish pastor once said, “It is better felt than telt.” You have to experience it.
There are some areas that we know of and can speak about when it comes to this wonderful experience of being comforted by the love of Jesus. Yes Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!
1. The Comfort of His Love When I Have Failed Him.
We fall short. The more we read the Bible the more the places where we fall short is evident.
I John 1.7-9
We are to confess our sins and He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus doesn’t condemn us.
He picks us up.
He speaks to us gently.
Psalm 131.2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
The word comfort literally means “a persuasive speech”. It is rooted in a word that means to arouse or stimulate, to calm or console.
Jesus spurs us on through the Spirit within our hearts.
He calms us when we are in trouble. Psalm 46.1
His Word calms us.
He calmed the storm in the Gospels. He calms the storms in our lives. He calms the storms for his child or He calms His child in the storm… more often it is the latter.
Again this week I heard someone say, “God will never give us more than we can handle.” Obviously they don’t know their Bible very well. Just look at those disciples out on the Sea of Galilee that night when the storm blew up. They cried out, “LORD, save us! We are going to drown!” More than they could handle these fishermen were bailing water out but couldn’t keep up with it and finally woke Jesus up as the ship appeared to be sinking. They were looking for another hand on deck but He calmed the storm immediately. What a comfort.
Keep your heart tender.
2. The Comfort of His Love In the Death of a Family Member or Friend.
Difficult when it is both.
There is nothing like this comfort because there is nothing like this pain. There is something about the LORD you don’t know about until death comes.
What are His persuasive words here? I am the Resurrection and the Life.
Calming words. He will come again and take us to be with Him.
Having been on both sides of death- comforting people and needing to comforted myself, I know there is a comfort that only Jesus can bring. When it is there people go on with hope, when it not people go on but without hope.
We are approaching the holy days- days of worship for us as believers. Thanksgiving and the celebration of Jesus’ birth are some of favorite parts of the year. I really in many ways am a kid at heart. I think that is one of the reasons I am enjoying being a Poppa. I get to do things with my grandkids that I love.
Losses of loved ones are augmented during this time of the year. Going through these holidays with many memories and then the cold reality that someone is missing is difficult to say the least. Jesus will come to you who are grieving today and will be close by you as you walk through these next 2 months.
We’ll have my brother’s kids here with us. I love having them. Yet I told my daughter that it is a reminder of our loss. God has been with us and He will be with you in blessed ways.
3. The Comfort of his Love When Thinking About Time and Eternity.
We live in a time of stress. The LORD is with us. Jesus comforts us with His love as we walk.
For those who know the LORD, His return does not frighten us but we long for Him to come. Several people have expressed that desire this week. One of our comforts in death is the LORD is coming back and we will be with all those who died believing. His Word gives us hope-Psalm 130.5
4. The Comfort of His Love All the Time.
Have the same love for others.
v. 3-4 Jesus is like this, being Christlike.
This is perfect love.
In fact nearly this whole chapter is becoming like Jesus, following His example. It is interesting to me how the LORD throughout the history of the church beginning in Revelation, has been calling it back to Him, to reflect Him, to be His representation to the world. He did it in the1600’s with Luther, the 1700’s with Wesley, the 1800’s with Finney and Moody, in the 1920’s with Billy Sunday, in the 1940’s with Youth for Christ, in the 1960’s with the Jesus Movement. He is calling the church back to Himself today. He wants His Church to be like Him.
This is our goal… to be like Jesus. As we are comforted by His love, we are to look to share that love with others.
Jesus was the most selfless human being who ever lived. He had no selfishness or sin like us. He lived for the glory of the Father and for others. When I was a kid in Sunday School they taught us this acrostic the was to have joy is to out things in this order:
Jesus
Others
Yourself
That is the way we ultimately experience the comfort of His love- by sharing it with others. He comforts us- we comfort others and we are moving toward becoming more like Jesus!
5. The Comfort of His Love For All Time and Into Eternity.
When We All Get to Heaven! What a day of rejoicing that will be!
Revelation 21.1-7
Today, let the comfort of His love come to you and comfort others with it!
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