The
image of one child comforting another depicts what should be the
divine process within the church where every member supports the
others.
Today,
reply is on divinity as the comforter of Christian believers who are
continuing in the human predicament. Christians do not have direct
and immediate physical access to Jesus Christ as the Head of the
church. Therefore, the comfort we speak of as divinity drying all
our tears as we continue to meet life challenges and conditions on
the earth are imparted to mankind through gifts and operations by the
Holy Spirit (also called, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit
of Prophecy, the Spirit of Truth). Included are higher levels of
faith, healing, praise, prayer, prophecy, thanksgiving, and visions
from the ministries of Jesus Christ that otherwise could not appear.
The present provisions where believers are to display forbearance,
forgiveness, mercy and spirit content from GOD to one another are not
the same as those that will appear following the Second Coming of
Jesus, when Christ will meet in the air those who are members of his
body on the earth. Thus, it is written: Revelation 21: 1-5, King
James Version (KJV): 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former
things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these
words are true and faithful. A writer in the “Yahoo! Answers”
forum using the ID “Peter” (Level 3 with 1,225 points, a member
since May 14, 2019) posted the following:
What
does it mean in Christianity when they say the Holy Spirit is the
comforter?
I
picture comforter is like a mother comforting her kid when he’s
been bullied at school. Is this the Holy Spirit’s role? My religion
is Christianity, Roman Catholic.
THE
GOLDEN ARROW: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us
to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; (2nd Corinthians 5: 17-18 King James
Version, KJV)
THE
DOUBLE DAGGER: The Holy Spirit Comforts? (05/30/2019); Believers
Must Receive Gifts (09/30/2018); Christian “Thoughts and Prayers”
(03/01/2018); A Response For Survivors... (02/15/2018); Bereavement,
Death and Suffering (11/10/2017); The Comfort Through Christ?
(01/13/2017); Sacred Knowledge and Christ (05/16/2016); A Fool of the
Church? (01/26/2016)
“Peter”,
here are some expressions of Christian faith that, at first, may not
seem familiar to you. The comfort believers are to receive from
Jesus Christ while he is attending to duties as the High Priest of
the Temple in heaven (even the cleansing of the Sanctuary), requires
that the Lord be acknowledged in the earth by his use of appointed
agents (e.g., apostles; prophets; priests; lay members of the sacred
body, the church), and such devices as gifts from the Holy Spirit who
is also an aspect of divine fullness (we say, divinity; the Godhead;
the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit). Where believers receive a
fresh endowment of the same life essence (breath; spirit;
word) that was imparted to Adam, we may say they are “born again”
and must “grow up again” while living on the earth. Their
transformation to exist as eternal, immortal companions to divinity
will be completed as they are instantly made mature/ripe for harvest
by the Lord at his coming.
The
comfort the church receives must go beyond the day-to-day elements of
our lives that focus in things carnal, emotional, material, physical,
and social. For Christians, having to be accountable to others is
not to be regarded as suffering; nor are being required to pay ones
debts, or providing food, meaningful activity, rest, and shelter for
ourselves, or others. Believers are to display Christ-likeness (the
image of GOD) bestowed on them through inseparable aspects of spirit
substance imparted from the makeup of divinity. Included are faith,
holiness, joy, longsuffering, lovingkindness, personhood,
righteousness, wisdom, and wrath against sin. Increasingly, ones
lifestyle and daily routine will be permanently changed by the Holy
Spirit through experiences of discovery, gradual growth, study,
unselfish service, and suffering.
The
comfort to mankind must address the human predicament that includes
man being finite and mortal; man being subject to the operations of
sin; man being powerless to correctly recognize, resist, and respond
to sin; and man being unable to establish separation from sin by
relying on self-will (human willpower). The tools for sharing divine
comfort, therefore, are such things as commitment, faithfulness,
hope, and integrity. Consider again the following that uses language
from the Bible:
1.
2nd Corinthians 1: 3-7, King James Version (KJV): 3
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us
in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are
in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted
of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation 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 and
salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that
as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of
the consolation.
2.
Romans 6: 3-5, KJV: 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection:
3.
1st Thessalonians 4: 13-18, KJV: 13 But I would not
have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
4.
Colossians 3: 9-15, KJV: 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye
have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new
man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision
nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but
Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and
forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even
as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these
things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye
are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
There
is far more that should be said, correctly examined, and spiritually
apprehended. (For example, 5. Romans 8: 5-9, KJV: 5 For they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that
are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it
unto you according to your faith.
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Washington,
DC
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