SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF CONSOLATION-COMFORT.
“Joses, by the
Apostles, was surnamed Barnabas, which is, being interpreted, the son of
consolation [comfort]”-Acts 4:36.
Comfort!
Consolation! What rest and refreshment and peace and joy these words imply!
That the name, “son of con-solation,” or comfort, should be given to any one of
mature years tells a whole volume in itself respecting the general char-acter
of the person. We know little about Barnabas, but if this one sentence of holy
writ comprised the sum of our knowl-edge we could not fail to love and
appreciate him.
In one sense of the word the Church is spoken of as a mother, Zion, and
all the true people of God are thus represented as her children-sons and daughters.
Some of these are sons of comfort and daughters of comfort, while others are
sons and daughters of pain, continually causing more or less of distress and
discomfort to others and to themselves. We want to see this subject in its true
light, in order that we may each act accord-ingly;-that a larger and an
increasing number of the children of Zion shall be sons and daughters of
comfort to all with whom they come in contact, and thus in a general way
comforters to the Church as a whole. Some may be inclined to query, Does the
true Church need comfort? Are not the majority too com-fortable already? Do
they not rather need to be stirred up, to be reminded of their sins, to be
chided and made generally as uncomfortable as possible, to the intent that they
may thus be helped onward and upward?
We would not ignore the fact that there are occasions when reproofs and
corrections in righteousness are proper, as the Apostle advised. But we have
no sympathy at all with the thought so common with some good people; viz., that
they should always be feeling miserable with themselves and mak-ing other
people miserable, by continually nagging and fault-finding, upbraiding and
terrorizing. We believe that such well meant but mistaken efforts have done
much harm, have driven away from the family circle of Zion many who could not,
with-out hypocrisy, claim that they were the vilest of sinners, nor properly
appreciate prayers in which they were represented as saying, “Lord, be merciful
unto us, miserable sinners!” when they realized divine favor and
forgiveness-justification from all things.
Those needing reproof, rebuke, etc., are such as are walking after the
flesh and not after the Spirit-in violation of their covenant. Those who
should be warned to flee from the wrath to come are such as have never yet fled
for refuge to the hope set before them in the Gospel,-such as are without God,
and have no hope in the world-no relationship to Christ, through faith and
obedience. But the true “wheat,” the true members of the body of Christ, the
consecrated, are, however imperfectly, continually seeking to walk after the
Spirit; though they are well aware that because of imperfections of the flesh
they do not and cannot walk up to the spirit. These, instead of needing reproofs
and rebukes and smitings and upbraidings for their shortcomings, which they
admit and deplore and strive against, need sympathy, assistance, comfort.
Few probably have noticed to what extent the Scriptures administer this
very “balm of Gilead” to the true children of Zion; but the Scriptures are full
of comfort, and there is great need that all who are truly the Lord’s people
should see to it that they are more and more sons and daughters of comfort in
the Church, administering to one another the helpfulness and encouragement and
refreshment which the Lord intended. Our Lord spoke of the holy Spirit as the
Comforter, and he mentions himself also as a Comforter, saying, “I will pray
the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.” (John 14:16) To
what extent our Lord Jesus was a comforter we may judge as we look back to the
three and a half years of his ministry, and at its close hear him say to his
faithful ones, “I will not leave you comfortless”-orphans, bereaved of a
caretaker. And as re-spects his care over the apostles while with them, we have
a suggestion from his prayer to the Father, “Of those whom thou has given me I
have lost none save the son of perdition,” as the Scriptures foretold-John
17:12.
It had been foretold of our Lord in advance through the prophets, that he
would be a Comforter, as we read, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the broken-hearted; … to comfort all that mourn; to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”-Isa. 61:1-3.
All this means that our Lord Jesus was a comforter in Zion above and
beyond all other comforters. He entered into sym-pathy with the meek and lowly
and right-intentioned in all of their weaknesses and trials and difficulties;
and this is the hold that the character and words of Jesus have today upon our
hearts, and also upon the hearts of many who are not his people in the full
consecrated sense. It was not by continually chiding the apostles, and
accusing them, but because, instead, our Lord sympathized with them, assisted
them, and inter-preted their heart-intentions liberally, generously, that they
became more and more his faithful followers, even unto death. Note the case of
the woman taken in sin, and our Lord’s failure to make any pharisaical tirade
against her. Mark his reproof to those who stood by: “He that is without sin,
let him cast the first stone.” Mark how, when they were all thus convicted of
imperfection in some particular themselves, our Lord said to the woman,
“Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.” (John 8:3-11) Notice his
dealing with the Apostle Peter, after he had denied him, cursing and swearing.
Many of the Lord’s followers, if in his stead, would have felt it their bounden
duty to rebuke Peter publicly before all the apostles, and to have required
public confession and some sort of penance; and on every possible occasion
afterward to have thrown in his face his weakness and disloyalty. Such have
not rightly interpreted and copied the Lord’s spirit, and hence are not sons
and daugh-ters of consolation in the Church. They are, on the contrary,
strife-breeders, vexatious hinderers of the work they desire to forward. They
should hear the Master’s voice, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” In
proportion as we learn of the Lord we become, not mouthpieces for the law
merely, but mouthpieces specially for mercy and love and helpfulness and
com-fort.
So far as the record shows, our Lord did not once mention to Peter either
his profanity or his disloyalty. Peter knew about these without being told; he
had already wept over them; a mere word from the Lord in chiding, reproof,
might have dis-couraged him,-perhaps hopelessly. The nearest thing to a
reproof in our Lord’s conduct and language was the inquiry, “Lovest thou me?”
Let all who would be true sons and daugh-ters of consolation in Zion learn this
lesson from the great Teacher-not to strive to punish and correct and reprove
and rebuke; but to avoid these so far as possible, and to inquire, not so much
about the past as about the present-What is the offender’s present attitude
toward the Lord and toward his flock?
COMFORT AND
COMFORTING NEEDFUL.
It was with
the full appreciation of the fact that the Church would need comfort rather
than chiding and reproof that our Lord said, “If I go not away the Comforter
[the holy Spirit] cannot come.” The ransom must be paid, must be presented in
the “Most Holy,” to the heavenly Father, before his blessing could be
bestowed. That blessing would yield the comfort of the begetting of the Spirit
and comfort of the exceeding great and precious promises to those who had accepted
Jesus,-and to those who would believe on him through their word. True, our
Lord spoke of the holy Spirit as reproving-but not as reprov-ing the Church; he
said, “He shall reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of a coming
judgment.” The nearest sugges-tion to reproof in respect to the holy Spirit’s
dealing with the Church is that given by the Apostle, when he says, “Grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” And
again he says, “Quench not the Spirit.”-Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19.
The grand provision made for the comfort of the Lord’s people clearly
indicates a necessity for such comfort; nor is this necessity difficult to
find. The Lord’s people are beset on every hand with adverse conditions-the world,
the flesh, the adversary-seeking to intimidate or discourage or entrap the new
creature, so as to hinder its development in grace, knowl-edge and love, and
ultimately to hinder it from the attainment of the perfection and glory to
follow, which God has promised to the faithful only. What we need, in order to
make us sons and daughters of consolation in the church, is a larger measure of
love and sympathy in our hearts. In proportion as sym-pathy and love come in,
they will crowd out the spirit of strife and contention and judging and
fault-finding; even as they crowded out at first the spirit of the flesh-anger,
malice, hatred, strife, vain-glory.
As a rule (there probably are exceptions to all rules) those who have the
spirit of helpfulness, of comfort, of consolation, and who are able to pour
this balm into the wounded hearts of others most liberally, are those who
themselves have passed through severe trials, difficulties, disciplines, and
who have thus been touched with a feeling of the infirmities of our race, and,
more than this, have been touched with a feeling of sym-pathy for the
weaknesses and oppositions which assail the “brethren” in their endeavor to
walk after the Spirit-not after the flesh. Those who have not “bowels of
compassion,” who have little of sympathy, little of desire to lend a helping
hand to the weak or the stumbling or those who are out of the way, have much
yet to learn respecting the real meaning of the word love, in its higher
senses-perfect love, love for the brethren, yea, love that extends to all
mankind, even to enemies, as it has opportunity, but “especially to the
household of faith.”
The holy Spirit comforts the Church in various ways. (1) It comforts us
by enabling us to come into such unity with the Truth and with the Lord that we
can to a considerable extent see matters not only from the divine standpoint
but also can appreciate and feel from the same standpoint. For although the
spirit of the Truth is in the Word of Truth, there is, never-theless, a necessity
that the eyes of our understanding should be opened, that we may be enabled to
comprehend the Word of Truth; and this double comfort is ours through the
possession of the holy Spirit,-in proportion as it abounds and is shed abroad
in our hearts. It, of course, abounds and is shed abroad in the Word, but this
is not sufficient. It must also be in our hearts a living power. Thus we read
of the early Church, “Walking in the fear [reverence] of the Lord, and in the
com-fort of the holy Spirit.”-Acts 9:31.
(2) It comforts us through the Scriptures, and through the promises of
God, the Truth-for is it not the spirit of the Truth? The Word of God, as the
channel of the Truth, is to comfort us in proportion as the holy Spirit guides
us into an understanding of it; as we read, “Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning [instruction], that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”-Rom. 15:4.
(3) The church, the brethren, in proportion as they be-come imbued with
the holy Spirit and with the knowledge of the truth, which it brings to their
appreciation and compre-hension, thereby become representatives of the holy
Spirit in the Church-comforters. This is the thought of the Apostle when he
says, “Now the God of patience and consolation [comfort] grant you to be
like-minded one toward another, accord-ing to Christ Jesus.”-Rom. 15:5.
COMFORTED AND
TAUGHT TO BE COMFORTERS.
Reversing
the foregoing order, and considering the way in which the brethren are to comfort
the Church, we note that it is as the channels of the holy Spirit, and as the
mouthpieces of the Word of God. No one is competent to be a comforter un-less
he already has received comfort from God. So to speak, the Lord’s people begin
receiving their comfort from the time they accept the assurances of God’s Word
respecting his love and mercy, as exhibited in Christ Jesus, in that he died
for our sins. In their appropriation of this divine favor to them-selves by
faith, they had their first taste of comfort-peace, joy, blessing. As they
then proceeded and learned the way of the Lord more perfectly, the door of
access into a still further grace was opened unto them-the grace of invitation
to joint-heirship with Christ in the Kingdom, and its glorious work of
comforting and uplifting mankind in general. (Rom. 5:2) And as this door of
favor was entered, additional comfort, ad-ditional joy, additional peace and
blessing were added and un-derstood and appreciated. And then, as the favored
ones pro-gressed under the ministries of the Truth, supplied by the holy
Spirit, and became more and more able to rightly divide the Word of Truth, and
to appreciate the different features of it, in the same proportion their faith
grew stronger, and their comforts and joys multiplied through increasing and
deepen-ing knowledge of the Lord and of his plan.
Furthermore, as they behold in the glass of the divine Word the glory of
the Lord, the reflected light of his glorious char-acter illuminating their
hearts and enabling them to compre-hend with all saints the lengths and
breadths and heights and depths of the divine love, it brings still increasing
confidence and comfort. And every one of these steps of progress, rightly
received, and every additional element of character developed prepares the
favored one for the exercise of his privilege of be-ing a comforter to
others. True, it was his duty and privilege to begin to comfort others as soon
as he received the first ele-ments of comfort himself, and to continue
distributing the comforts as they came to him. Indeed, we know both from
experi-ence and from the Word that unless he thus made use of the favors and
blessings, and showed his appreciation of the grace of God by shining it forth
upon others, his light thus being ob-scured would grow dim and eventually be
extinguished. But the point we wish to impress is that ability to be a
comforter depends upon growth in grace and knowledge, for none but those who
themselves are comforted can dispense this grace to others.
Notice the Apostle’s exhortation on this subject, and along the lines just
marked out. In his second letter to the Corinth-ians (1:3-7), he says,
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our
tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God. For as the suf-ferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation [comfort]
also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted it is for your
consolation [comfort] and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring
of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted,
it is for your consolation [comfort] and salvation. And our hope of you
is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be
also of the consolation [comfort].”
Ten times in these verses does the Apostle use this word “comfort.” He
evidently had a keen appreciation of how much the Church needed such
consolation, and how much the God of all comfort wished to have his faithful
ones comforted, and how even the strongest in the Church, the apostles, needed
comfort. What better evidence could we ask than that the spirit of com-fort
and of consolation, which the heavenly Father manifested, which the Lord Jesus
manifested, which the apostles mani-fested and which all the faithful in Christ
Jesus are called upon to exercise, is indeed the very spirit of the Truth, the
holy Spirit! Consequently, those who are making greatest progress in this
direction, as comforters in Zion, are growing most in grace; and so we may be
sure will be best able to grow also in knowledge, and to be helpful to the
Church in every sense of the word, and to be used of the Lord as mouthpieces in
the ministry of his Truth.
A little further along in the same epistle (7:4-13), the Apostle uses this
word, “comfort,” seven times, saying, “I am filled with comfort; I am
exceedingly joyful in all our tribula-tion. For when we came into Macedonia
our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were
fight-ings, within were fears. Nevertheless, God that comforteth those
that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his
coming only, but by the consolation [comfort] wherewith he was comforted
of you, when he told us your ear-nest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind
toward me; so that I rejoice the more. … Therefore, we were comforted
in your comfort.” Here we see illustrated, in the Apostle’s language,
the mutual helpfulness of the Church in this matter of comfort. Titus had a
part in it, Paul had a part in it, the Church at Corinth had a part in it-every
member possessing the holy Spirit and exercised by it had a share; and the
Apostle declares that all this comfort was of God. And he expresses it as
though this were God’s general disposition, in every such circumstance of his
people, when he speaks of him as “ the God of all comfort,” and “the God that
comforteth them that are cast down.” We may safely understand, therefore, that
wher-ever we find one of the Lord’s followers, however great his weakness,
however much cast down, we have in his case presented to us an opportunity of
serving the Lord, of being channels of his mercy, and carrying to the downcast
one something of comfort and consolation and helpfulness.
Speaking respecting his own course, the Apostle, in his first letter to
the Thessalonians (2:11), gives us a little insight to his methods, and shows
us that he neither domineered nor tyran-nized over the Church, nor continually
harassed, threatened and upbraided them. On the contrary, he says, “Ye know
how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a [proper] father
doth his children.” This familiar spirit in the apostles, which enabled them
as fathers and as brethren in the Church to comfort and assist, should be a
guide now to all who would be servants of the Lord and helpful children of comfort-sons
of consolation.
It is those who enter into this real Spirit of God, the real spirit of his
Truth, who are thereby proportionately prepared to comprehend the meaning of
the prophecies and revelations of the Lord which are hidden to the worldly wise,-hidden
to all who have not the spirit of Christ, the spirit of consolation, of
helpfulness, of sympathy, of love. Possibly this is one rea-son why so few of
the professed expounders of the Word of God meet with any success in
interpreting it; probably this is one reason why so many are in darkness. They
have not received the spirit of comfort and love, and therefore cannot
appreciate the loving, gracious plan which the Word of God upholds. It
probably was not by accident that the Apostle, when stating that we are to
“grow in grace and in knowledge,” put the grace first.
We have seen what it is to have the comfort of the brethren through the
holy Spirit; let us inquire now what it is to have “the comfort of the
Scriptures,” which we are enabled to com-prehend by the possession of the holy
Spirit of comfort. We note again the prophetic statement of Isaiah (61:1), and
that while this applied primarily to our Lord, the Head of the body, it must,
therefore, necessarily also apply to every member of the body of the anointed.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon all the members, coming down to them from
the Head, upon whom the holy oil of anointing was poured; and it must be true
of every member as of the Head,-“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach the good tidings; to bind up the broken-hearted
[not to break hearts, but to heal the broken ones]; to comfort all that mourn;
to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil
of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
As it is not our commission to break men’s hearts, even the worldly,
hard-hearted ones, but to leave them for the Lord to break through various
disciplines and judgments; so likewise it is not appointed unto us to comfort
those who do not mourn; nor is it our commission to specially cause mourning
that we may comfort it. Our commission is to seek out
the meek and the mourning ones, who have appreciated their own shortcom-ings
and weaknesses, and who are looking for refuge and deliv-erance. It is part of
our commission to point them to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the
world, to point them to the beauty of the resurrection for the ashes of death,
and the glories which the Lord has promised by and by to take the place of the
spirit of heaviness and disappointment and sorrow and trouble of this present
time. It is our commission to tell such that “Joy cometh in the morning,” and
to assist them to arise and at once put on the garments of praise, and begin to
walk in newness of life, with “a new song in their mouths-even the loving
kindness of our God.”
It is the wrong thought which some good people get, that the Lord’s
children in this present time should be gloomy, mo-rose, sad-mourners for sin.
Whoever has heard the Gospel message has cause for rejoicing. When the Lord
said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he said it in
the Jewish age-under the Law which condemned all imperfec-tion, on account of
which, therefore, all who were hungering and thirsting after righteousness and
seeking to walk uprightly were necessarily in mourning for their sins, because
of their inability to come up to the grand standard of the perfect law of God,
and hence their inability to gain everlasting life under the conditions of that
Law. The Apostle represented not only himself but all sincere Israelites,
groaning under the Law, when he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from this dead body?” (Rom. 7:24) He was mourning, and the
Lord appointed that all the mourners in Zion should be com-forted-comforted
with the assurance that, while they were sin-ners and imperfect and could never
justify themselves before God under the Law, nevertheless, God himself had
found a ran-som, had redeemed his people. It is in view of this comforting
assurance of the Gospel that the Apostle, after representing himself as the
Jew, under the Law, groaning and travailing, and crying for deliverance, in the
next breath represents himself as the Christian who has found the deliverance,
and exclaims, “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ!” Shall the victors mourn, even though the victory be not
entirely their own, but primarily bought with the precious blood of Christ?
Nay, verily. We neither sorrow nor mourn, as do others, because of the good
hope which is as an anchor to our souls, sure and steadfast-the hope of the
mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s people, having embraced the Truth, find themselves beset on
every hand with oppositions from the Evil One and his servants; and were it not
that they have the comfort and consolation of the Scriptures, and the joy and
peace which the world can neither give nor take away, theirs would be a sad lot
indeed. But under conditions, as the Lord has arranged them, it is their
privilege, even while suffering the loss of earthly things for righteousness’
sake, to rejoice in tribulation, and in everything give thanks.
What is the secret of this rejoicing in tribulation? Whence comes so
great comfort as this? We answer, it comes through the comfort of the
Scriptures, made luminous by the holy Spirit. For instance, take the inspired
prophecy respecting Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted,
because they are not,-because they are dead. (Jer. 31:15-17.) The Lord’s
message of comfort to Rachel, and thus to all who have suffered loss through
the great penalty of death, is, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes
from tears; for thy little ones shall come again from the land of the enemy.”
Does this speak peace and comfort to the wounded heart of the parent, thinking
of his child that is dead? Yes, verily; it brings a consolation, a comfort,
with which no error can compare. There are, indeed, various delusive fancies
which picture themselves before the minds of the bereaved, in which they fain
would trust and hope; but they are weak, they are intangible, they have no
foundation in the Word of God. Hence they cannot give real rest or peace in
such a time of trial.
But when we hear the voice of the Lord assuring us of the resurrection,
assuring us that the grave is indeed the land of the enemy, assuring us,-not
that our little ones are more alive than ever, but that, having gone to the
land of the enemy, they are secure, because Jesus has prevailed, has bought the
world with his own precious blood. Jesus has “the keys of death and of the
grave,” as he declares (Rev. 1:18), and will shortly open and bring forth all
the captive prisoners of death from the prison-house, the tomb. There is a
comfort, a consolation, in this message, which can be applied with profit to
every heart bleeding under such wounds.
All “the comfort of the Scriptures” is along this line. They show us that
the present reign of sin and death is not to be an everlasting one; that a new
dispensation is to be ushered in as the result of the great Redeemer’s
sacrifice, and that in this new dispensation a blessing shall come to all the
families of the earth, and a special blessing to the Church. Favored now with
a knowledge of the Lord, the faithful of this time shall be made heirs with
Jesus in the great Kingdom work of blessing the world. Unquestionably this is
a comforting assurance, not only for those who are striving to attain to the
great prize of our high calling, but also for them in respect to those-their
friends and neighbors-who shall be lifted up and blessed under that Millennial
Kingdom.
It is of this deliverance that the Apostle speaks, saying, that the Lord’s
people should not sorrow as others who have no hope, because if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, let us be-lieve also the record of the Scriptures,
that his death was a sac-rifice on our behalf, and on behalf of the sins of the
whole world,-so that them which sleep in Jesus will God bring from the dead by
and through him. (1 Thess. 4:13, 14) What a blessed, comforting
thought it is that the whole world of mankind, which went down into death in
Adam, has been bought, so that the death penalty shall be repealed, and thus
their death be turned into a sleep, from which all shall be awakened in the
Millennial morning, to have an opportunity to learn of the goodness of God,
and, if they will, to accept of his favor unto eternal life, by obedience.
Finally, we notice that the Apostle implies, in some of his statements,
that the comfort and peace of the Church are de-pendent largely upon unity of
the Spirit of the Lord in the various members: and that we from experience
should note that this is the case. He says, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be
perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love
and peace shall be with you.” (2 Cor. 13:11.) And again (Phil. 2:1, 2), “If
there be any consolation [comfort] in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be
likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” What exhortations these are to unity, peace, brotherly
kindness! How they suggest to us patience, forbearance, gentleness,
helpfulness and comfort one toward another in the Church; that thus the
Spirit of the Lord may abound in all, that each may make the greatest possible
progress in the right way. Dear brethren and sisters, let us more and more be
worthy of the name Barnabas-Comforter of the brethren. Let us have the holy
Spirit abounding in us more and more, for this is the Lord’s good pleasure;
that with it dwelling in us richly we may be all sons and daugh-ters of comfort
in Zion, representatives of our Father, and chan-nels of the holy Spirit, as
well as of the Truth.