Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.
jmfcst
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« on: April 11, 2011, 02:01:16 PM » |
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summary of the sermon from yesterday, still no video, though.
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The Greatest Comfort of All
Jesus told His disciples that the "Comforter" would come after His departure. "The Holy Ghost" would come. In John 14 He makes so many references to this unique gift that it causes theologians some despair. He says things like: "the Father will send you another Comforter..."
"I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you..."
"we (the Father and I) will come to you, and make our abode with you..."
So much for those who like to explain the godhead with their superior knowledge. The lines between Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are blurred. It is Christ's way of putting us at ease. No matter how many "theologies" we ministers and our churches can come up with, there is still only one God, and if you have Christ in you, you must also have the Father and the Spirit. Or if you have the Spirit, you must also have the Father and Christ. Rest easy and stop worrying about whether you have Christ or the Holy Spirit. You can't have one or the other, exclusive of the other.
But Jesus wasn't trying to give debaters and theologians something to argue about. Quite the contrary, He sandwiched all of His statements about the coming Comforter, the presence of the Spirit of God which dwells in us, with the same phrase. In verses 1 and 27 He says, "Let not your heart be troubled."
"Let not your heart be troubled!" Then the promise of a coming Comforter, a 24-hour a day presence of God, Christ in you, your hope. Then, "Let not your heart be troubled."
Do you see that the Holy Spirit is supposed to take away all your stress and anxiety?
Christ knew we would be troubled on every hand. Life is full of troubling news. Sicknesses threaten us. We worry about our country, our economy. We worry about marriages. Will they last? We fret over our children. Are we preparing them for independence? Are we doing our best to save them? We worry about retirement years. Will we have enough income to survive? Will we make it? Wars and rumors of wars. Debt. Taxes. Death. Jobs. Losses. Failures. We worry about so many things.
And then Christ says, "Don't let your heart be troubled."
How can we help it?
"I'm sending you a Comforter."
The Holy Spirit has been hijacked by religious fanatics. It was never meant to be something we had to go seeking for, never supposed to be a weapon like a sword or a lightning rod. It was our comforter, our assurance, our ever-present help in any time of trouble.
He began His discourse so simply: "You believe in God. Believe also in me."
Are you troubled? Can you believe in Jesus? Will you? If you'll trust Him, He'll send you a Comforter. His Spirit will take away your anxiety, help you through your stress, relieve you of your fears.
Believe in Him. Accept His gift. Let not your heart be troubled.
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