The Comforter Has Come

Another great name that we are blessed to know is that of Comforter.  As Jesus is our Advocate, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter.  Jesus did not want His followers to be left alone.  He told them before His crucifixion that He would ask of the Father that He would send them another Comforter.  Jesus knew all that His Church would confront in the centuries between His ascension and His second coming.  He knew that they would face trials of faith that would test them to the core of their being.  He knew that in a world that was hurting they would need to be effective witnesses of His grace though they were hurting as well.  Jesus knew that we would need a Comforter. 

What would this Comforter do for the Church?  Jesus said that He would abide with the believers forever.  We would not be alone. God would be present in us every day.  That is indeed a great comfort.  When things go wrong in life, from little calamities of the ordinary every day variety to the greater trials that confront saved and lost alike in financial distress, job loss, tragedy and more, God is there!  He is there to give us patience to endure, hope to go on, faith to overcome.  When we do these things we can then bring comfort to the world that confronts the same situations without hope.  Paul told the Corinthians that we are comforted that we might be comforters.  The Holy Spirit will work in His Church to strengthen them to minister to a lost world that still lives as sheep without a shepherd.

The Comforter does more.  He teaches us about our dear Savior Jesus Christ.  He takes the word of God and explains it to us so that we might know God the Father and God the Son better.  Then He takes that word and speaks it through the Church so that the world may know God as well.  He goes with each word of witness that we share to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.  We are not alone when we tell others of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace.  The Comforter is undergirding us and working through us all the time.

It is no wonder that Frank Bottome could write such an uplifting song of promise as “The Comforter Has Come.”  Just consider the words that should encourage and energize the Church.  “O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found, wherever human hearts and human woes abound; let ev’ry Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound: the Comforter has come!”  He has come indeed!  Rejoice in His presence!  Rejoice in the great gift of God’s grace that has not left us comfortless.  Spread the tidings to all believers.  There is hope!  Spread the tidings to all the lost.  Spread the glad tidings to all who believe.  There is hope!  The Comforter has come!  

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