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The concept of “comfort” is a noticeable and dominant theme in the Scriptures. This should not really be a surprise if one thinks about the state of the universe from a broad perspective. Humanity has been deceived, tricked into a legacy of sin, suffering, and death, and while each individual has made choices leading to judgment, it is not a coincidence that, as Paul writes, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of Yah.” (Rom 3:23)
In our flesh, we have a predisposition to sin. It is not a compulsion to sin, or else there could be no judgment, nor a need for redemption. Forgiveness is only necessary where there is guilt, and if it were impossible to avoid sin, there could be no responsibility placed on individual souls. The predisposition has universally led humanity to make choices to transgress Yahweh’s Law, however; therefore, our Creator has extended mercy, pity, and patience toward us. I do not say we deserve these expressions of love, but we certainly need them, and would be entirely without hope in their absence.
Despite our race-wide rebellion against the principles of His Kingdom, Yahweh has loved us anyway. He has sent His very own Son to die in our place, and He has inspired His messengers to provide for us many promises of His care and providence. Let’s read a few of these to set the tone:
“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mat 28:20b)
“For Yahweh shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” (Isa 51:3)
“Blessed be Yahweh, even the Father of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” (2Cor 1:3)
Paul concludes this same letter to the Corinthians with the following: “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.” (2Cor 13:11)
Let us not gloss over or bypass any of the apostle’s words. Those who read the Bible merely for support, and not for sanctification, may see only, “Finally, brethren, be of good comfort,” and think, “Oh, good, Yahweh wants me to be comforted.” That is true, and worthy of our grateful thanksgiving… but we cannot expect to receive a divine blessing if we ignore the full thought that the Scriptures convey.
“Be perfect,” this Scripture instructs us. That is an interesting word. It is not either of the words found in Philippians 3, teleios or teleioo. It is not talking about perfect maturity, or being at the expected level of development, at least it is not using these terms directly. This is a third word that means “fixed,” or “mended.” Paul tells the saints to let Yahweh “repair” us, so that we shall be as if we had never been broken. You may recall a study some time ago, in which I described conversion as CSDAs understand it to be the restoration of a people to who they would have been, had sin never entered the human experience. A CSDA is an individual who has been “perfected” according to this specific meaning: repaired, restored to what he or she would have been in character had there never been sin.
Be of good comfort, and be perfectly repaired. Those go together. Then, “be of one mind,” the apostle says. Let there be “no divisions among you,” as he writes in another place. (1Cor 1:10) And this was back before there were any denominations and ministries with contrasting agendas. Imagine what Paul would say about the state of the Christian world today. But this unity is also an inseparable part of the blessing – comfort is not intended, ideally, for the solitary Christian, but for the Christian in community with fellow believers. Of course, there are times that the believer must be alone, and comfort is more valuable at that time than others, but we are often agents of one another’s comfort, and that is as our Father intends.
“Live in peace.” Again, comfort is not a blessing provided in a vacuum. It comes with associated gifts – restoration of a Christ-like character, unity of faith, and peace. Those who follow the Gospel, the Three Angels’ Message, in these last days will receive all of these precious promises.
The God of all comfort, as Paul describes Him, addresses His people with endearing terms across the various books of the New Testament:
“The elder unto the Elect Lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth…” (2John 1:1)
Here are the first three verses of James’ letter to the Church: “James, a servant of Yahweh and of the Lord Yahshua the Messiah, to the twelve Tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:1-3) This is a very comforting message that James is expressing to the Twelve Tribes of Spiritual Israel… and just as a side-issue, you know that there are some Christians who believe that the Church is not the same as Israel… that the Law and the 10 Commandments, which James discusses in his Book, apply only to the Nation of Israel, and not the New Testament Church. But this is very easily disproven. We see that James begins by addressing His letter to “the twelve Tribes,” and near the very end he writes, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14)
This is the same organization, the Twelve Tribes, Spiritual Israel, and the Church of Christ. There is no separation between the believers, Jews or Gentiles, and as Paul writes – to the Ephesian Gentiles specifically – we are all now members of “the commonwealth of Israel.” (Eph 2:12)
Yahweh is the God of all comfort; He comforts His People. Yahweh comforts His Israel, those who are Christ’s, and therefore the recipients of the promises given of old to Abraham. In fact, the Holy Spirit of Yahweh, the subject of so much speculation and debate, is the means by which our Father accomplishes this act of love.
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” (John 14:16)
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16:7)
In His earthly form with its familiar limitations, Yahshua could not be with His disciples in all places and at all times. By returning to His glory, however, the Son of Yahweh promised to send His Spirit, His perfect, invisible, omni-present representative, to be the means by which He and the Father would dwell with us and within us. He makes this clear by referring to the Spirit as Himself, and also as the comforting presence, here: “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
The spiritual mechanics of how this works is not the subject of this study. It is the idea that the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit, its first and most important function, is to be a Comforter. Remember that in the Bible, names are very important; they are representative of character. While we do not believe the Holy Spirit has a proper name, because it does not have a person-hood separate from the Son, it is significant that on many occasions it is called, it is titled, “the Comforter.” That is the result of divine wisdom.
The Holy Spirit could have been called anything else related to its role. It could have been called “the Convictor,” and that would be correct; the Holy Spirit convicts of sin in order to lead sinners to repentance. The Holy Spirit could have rightly been called “the Predictor,” because the Holy Spirit, that which produces the Testimony of Christ, is called “the Spirit of Prophecy” in that familiar SDA verse Revelation 19:10. The Holy Spirit might even be called “the Condemner,” because, after all, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit leads to condemnation, and the second death. (Mat 12:31) But no, it was important to our Father and Yahshua that the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Father and Son in our lives and hearts, be thought of as a Comforter, as a warm, loving, calming, peaceful manifestation of Themselves.
Every prophet, everyone who speaks by the inspiration of this Holy Spirit, is sent to comfort Yahweh’s faithful people. Have you considered that? It might not be immediately obvious, considering that some prophets have spoken of warnings, of judgment, of destruction, of the consequences of disobedience. But even these, even the straightest testimonies, and the sternest of warnings, were sent out of a desire – a consuming desire – that Yahweh has to restore the covenant bond with His children, and bring them under His perfect and everlasting protection. Isn’t that the very essence of comfort?
Consider the most severe warning in the Bible, the Third Angel’s Message: “And the Third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of The Almighty, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.’” (Rev 14:9-11)
Then look at the verse right afterwards: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Yahweh, and the faith of Yahshua.” (Rev 14:12) The saints are patient, they are calm, they are comforted, even before the beast, its image, and its mark.
The Bible says this of our Father in Heaven: “With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with the froward [perverse, crooked] Thou wilt shew Thyself froward.” (Psalm 18:26)
The way that we see Yahweh in the Scriptures is a reflection of our own character. We were created in Yahweh’s image, and when we seek Him we perceive a reflection of ourselves. The loving see Him as loving. The angry see Him as wrathful. The fearful see Him as threatened, and therefore threatening. The legalistic see Him as exacting. The merciful see Him as merciful, and so on. The “image” works both ways, and for the saints, even in His sternest warnings, and His most sobering predictions, they see His love. In His judgment they see His promise to end all sin, and restore perfect peace and harmony to a suffering universe. They see His Holy Spirit, His Comforter.
One of the “sternest” of all the prophets in the Bible was a man named Elijah. Even his clothing was “rough,” for we are told, “He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.” (2Kings 1:8) That’s right… leather underwear. When he spoke, even to the King of Israel, he did not season his speech to excess. He said to Ahab, “I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and thou hast followed Ba’alim.” (1Kings 18:18)
When Elijah’s sacrifice was consumed, and the priests of Ba’al received no answer from their impotent god, Elijah took them all down to a river and executed them in public. (1Kings 18:40) When Ahab’s son became King years later, and sent soldiers to arrest this servant of Yahweh, we read of the consequences: “And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, ‘If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from Heaven and consume thee and thy fifty.’ And there came down fire from Heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.” (2Kings 1:10)
That happened twice, and then the third captain that was sent realized what was going on and begged the prophet to spare his life, which he did.
So this Elijah was all those things that the Holy Spirit represents: a convicter of sin, a predictor of the future, and one against whom you act at your own mortal peril. In other words, Elijah was the perfect agent of the Holy Spirit, a prophet par excellence, as they say. But what did Elijah do concerning the People of Israel, the people to whom He was sent?
We read what happened at Elijah’s confrontation with the priests of Ba’al: “And Elijah said unto all the people, ‘Come near unto me.’ And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Yahweh came, saying, ‘Israel shall be thy name,’ and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.” (1Kings 18:30-32)
We know how the rest of that day went. Elijah’s mighty demonstration, his powerful rebuke against the pagan priests, his reproof of the king and his wife Jezebel, his repairing of Yahweh’s altar with twelve stones… these were all done for the People of Israel. These were all done for their restoration, ultimately for their comfort, and I imagine it was a rather tender scene, a rather moving view from the sight of Heaven, when the prophet said to the doubting, uncommitted people: “Come near unto me.” That was the voice of Yahweh through His servant, lovingly calling His people home.
Listen to the voice of Yahweh’s prophets, and you will hear the voice of the Father and Son. You will hear Their Spirit calling you to repentance, to faith, and to unity. You will hear Them calling you to victory, to purity, to baptism into the one Body of the Messiah. The prophets, who come in the spirit and power of Elijah, call Israel to judgment without fear. They call on the people to turn their hearts to the Father, as His is turned toward them, and to see the blessings, the promises, even the warnings, as expressions of love.
The Bible says, “Believe in Yahweh your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2Chron 20:20b) This is a principle, and a divine promise without exception or contradiction.
To those who read these words: Are you not established? Are you not standing before Yahweh in confidence while His judgment concludes? Let us handle a straight testimony. If you are not, it is because you do not “believe in Yahweh your God.” Isn’t that the obvious and necessary conclusion?
Are you failing, not prospering, in your spiritual life? Are you not excelling in everything of everlasting importance pertaining to life and godliness? If you are not, it is because you do not “believe His prophets.” So says the Word of God. If only all mysteries were so easily solved. The Scriptures explicitly tell us the reason for a lack of success in divine matters.
Identifying the problem is easy… Yahweh has told you what it is. But identifying it within one’s self? Admitting to it and repenting? That takes a death of self. That takes a sacrifice of the being, so that the sinner may die, and Yahshua may live in the saint. But that is what is necessary so that comfort may be experienced… to let the carnal man with its unlawful passions, its perverse desires, its unfulfilled ambitions, sink into the darkness of the grave in which it knows not anything, and holds not any power.
There are people, even professed Christians, even professed Christian ministers, who do not accept the Scripture that we have just read. Not with genuine acceptance. Rather than hearing the voice of Yahweh, and His messengers, they believe that a certain set of doctrinal positions will save them from destruction. They believe that if they accept the right teachings, their hearts will automatically change and turn toward Yahweh. Their faith is backwards – reversed. They are to hear the voice of Yahweh and turn to Him first… then, and only then, can they meaningfully believe and apply true doctrines, and perhaps, in some cases, be qualified to teach them to others.
A perfect modern example concerns the Godhead, a topic I’ve touched on several times in my last few studies. A rejection of the Trinity doctrine will form, I believe, a part of the “education” that the 144,000 undergo before the close of probation. Can Trinitarians enter the Heavenly Kingdom? Absolutely. This was never, within genuine Adventism, a test of fellowship or a measure of conversion. That does not mean, however, that truth does not matter… every error has been created and cultivated for a reason, and those who believe that the Holy Spirit exists as a third, co-equal, co-eternal element, mode, or person of the Godhead are in error. They will have a harder time properly understanding the idea of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27) Consequently, they will have more to overcome concerning righteousness by faith, and are unlikely to be able to teach the Gospel as powerfully as Yahweh would desire.
But merely knowing this truth is not the same thing as having the “mind of Christ.” We have recently received a report of a well-known teacher within the independent Adventist community. He has been a Sabbath-keeper for many years. He believes in the Sanctuary doctrine, which is a key teaching of historical Adventism. He believes in the One True God doctrine, rightly concluding that the Trinity paradigm of the Godhead is incorrect. And yet the testimony he gives of righteousness, of victory over sin, of living the resurrected life of Christ, is that he is not there yet. By his own admission, he has yet to kill sin in his heart, and cease from all known transgression of the Divine Law. He is still trying to grow towards the righteousness of Christ, rather than resting and growing within the righteousness of Christ, which is already ours as a blessing to freely claim and apply. I am thinking of a particular individual’s recent testimony at this moment, but the fact of the matter is that this very description matches almost every, if not actually every, independent Adventist minister in the world today.
What does it say to you, if the keeping of the Sabbath does not give you a better testimony of faith than that of a Sunday-keeper? What does it say to you, if belief in the One True God does not give you a better testimony than that of a Trinitarian? What does it say to you, if holding all these good and true doctrinal viewpoints results only in a testimony of struggle, of war within one’s self, against one’s still living flesh? They, who have received so much light, and are accountable for so much more godliness than the “heretics” they judge, are the first to be weighed in the Sanctuary.
To men such as these we ask, what good has your knowledge done? What security has your Scriptural familiarity provided, if you cannot testify, “I am dead to sin and self; Satan has no power over me, and I have ceased from sin?” If you cannot testify to that, nothing else matters. We say that it is Yahweh that saves, and not doctrine, but for many people, they may acknowledge the concept on paper, but it is not written on their hearts. They have not believed in Yahweh, so they have not been established. They have not believed His prophets, they have refused to speak with and listen to His prophets, so they do not prosper in anything that really matters. They have ignored the promptings of the Holy Spirit, which has directed them to victory over sin, to purity of understanding our Father’s character in those true doctrines, to unity with the Bride of Christ; and so, they are without comfort.
To such people we must say, repent, repent! Return to Yahweh, return to faith in the One True God, not faith about Him. Do not lean on your own understanding of beliefs about His nature, which we cannot know; instead, lean on your belief in His promises, to save you from – out of – sin, (Mat 1:21) to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, (1John 1:9) to abide in your heart, (John 14:23) and to keep you from falling. (Jude 1:24) Without this, without the strength of these convictions, we are nothing, unworthy to stand on the surface of the earth, much less behind the sacred desk, professing to be a teacher of the Word of God. In the day when you number those who have followed your example into destruction, you will look down, and see that your hands are covered in blood. You have not been comforted by Yahweh; therefore, you were never an agent of comfort yourself to the Tribes of Israel.
To the Church I say, take them down to the river, Elijah, these prophets of Ba’al. Let not one of them escape. (1Kings 18:40) Slay them before the people with your rebuke, with the Sword of the Spirit. Repair the Altar of Yahweh by your faith, and your testimony. Let the unconverted be reborn after their death, if they are willing, so that they will understand the purpose of the truth about the One True God, and other genuine doctrines: so that we may know the Father and Son, so that They may dwell in our hearts, killing sin there, and giving us the testimony that we have the mind of Christ and do always those things that please the Father. Then they will no longer be priests of Ba’al, but rather will come and go in the spirit and power of Elijah, preparing the way for the soon coming of the Son of Yahweh. Then they will be genuine heralds of the Son of Yahweh, true Seventh-day Adventists… Creation Seventh Day Adventists.
Then they will be comforted, because they will be perfectly repaired, they will be of one mind with the Bride, and they will live in peace. They will then become comforters themselves, prophets as we are. They shall be agents of the Holy Spirit, faithful keepers of the true doctrines, with a testimony better than those of sinners. We are shepherds of a scattered flock, comforters of a scattered flock, speaking to them lovingly, even with warnings, as we finish the work of gathering them into a settled place, a secure field untroubled by sin, a Sabbath more fully, as we await the Master’s soon return. Blessed be the name of Yahweh, who has called us all to this incredible privilege.
David.