The God of All Comfort

I think usually if I had envisioned that in the future, it's hard to think of anybody other than my mom being called Mrs. Dunkle. But I'm sure many of you have gone through that experience.

Now, brethren, an important and serious topic I want to discuss today, because we've been going through some difficult times, and we've had some sad times. And I think about some of the things that makes us sad, even, well, we could go back a long ways, but if I look back a couple of years, it was sad for me to see many people that I respected, some even close friends, leave our fellowship because they believed accusations and what I thought were outright lies. If we watch the news, it's sad. You see people that grow up in this country start wanting to kill other people.

Within the last couple of weeks, we've heard a great deal about the bombing in Massachusetts, and we hear about the explosion in Texas near Waco and many people being hurt. And, of course, there's war in the Middle East. There's suffering. There's sickness. I'm also very sad, and sometimes even more than I am by the news, to hear of just the concerted effort by certain groups in this country to undermine the values and the standards on which the country was founded, the values that helped make it great.

But those are all somewhat general and a little bit at a distance. Recently, grief and sadness have hit some of us for much more personal reasons. We've lost some good people, and people we wanted to spend more time with and that we really miss. And it's sad if we look around us, we know not only here, but throughout the church, we have a great many people who are older and some who are suffering health problems, and we just know that there's going to be times of grief and sadness still ahead.

And when things like that happen, it's not uncommon. As a matter of fact, it's actually natural for people to say, God, why are you letting this happen? Why don't you answer my prayers? I'm begging you for healing, for deliverance, for relief. At times like that, even some people might question, is there really a God? Has our faith been unfounded all this time? Now, I'm not suggesting that that's a thought that many or anybody here has. As I said, I think that's a doubt, but I think many of us have those thoughts that flick through our minds, especially when we were younger and perhaps when some of the suffering and sadness were new to us.

So I want to spend some time on this subject today. It's been forced upon us, but it is a subject we should think about from time to time. During times of grief and sorrow, we need to draw closer to God, not allow our emotions and our hurt to start pulling us away from Him. And when I say that, I'm not at all implying that emotions, even strong feelings, are a bad thing. But we want to have our faith and our reason direct those emotions into proper channels so they accomplish more good than bad.

And so I want to consider, first of all, why there's suffering in the world, and then bring it closer to home. Why do we suffer? But also, how does God comfort us when we need it? Now, the general question first, it's one that's been common to mankind. People wonder, they say, if there's a God, and if He is all-powerful, why does He allow the world to be the way it is? Why all this misery? Why would God allow innocent children to suffer and die? Now, I think most of us in this room could answer that question reasonably well off the tops of our heads without even having to search into our Bibles. And that's largely because we've done so already on a personal basis.

And of course, that's one of the questions people have of God if they want to have a relationship. And the Church has worked to answer that question. I looked through my personal library. I found a couple of things.

One, of course, our current Bible study has a lesson entitled exactly that. Why does God allow suffering? And it has the very poignant picture on the front of a woman grieving before a grave. I went back a little further to our worldwide days, and we have the Big Eye, which, if it weren't for the tear, it would almost make you laugh. But why does God allow suffering? And as I said, as a church, we understand we have a responsibility to answer these questions. And in essence, it's not that hard to answer. The Bible teaches us that God created mankind with free moral agency. People have the ability to make choices, and God allows them to experience the consequences of those choices, whether good or bad.

Proverbs 22.8 says it very succinctly, so much so I'm not going to turn there, but you might want to make a note of it. But it says, He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow. You sow iniquity, you'll reap sorrow. Not just pain, but also sorrow. As I was reading that, even this morning, I pulled out my pen, because I thought of something I've heard my brother-in-law has been known to say. You could make this as a quote by Steve Ward, although I think he got it from somewhere else, but he's been known to say, if you mess with a bull, you're going to get the horns.

And we understand that. We sometimes bring suffering on ourselves. That's easier, not too hard to grasp, but it's much easier for us to accept when we also understand the concept of what we usually call the plan of God. The plan of God. Why did he put us here? What's going on? Why does he allow it to be that way? And of course, one thing we know is the annual Holy Day cycle explains that fairly well.

But we start off, and actually, the first part of this is something, if we've been around in the church very long, we know very well, because Mr. Armstrong addressed it very regularly. This morning we had a conversation about how sometimes some things come up over and over again in sermons.

And I said, well, that's okay. If Herbert Armstrong could give the same sermon for two years straight, it's okay if I read some of the same scriptures over again. But we know after Adam and Eve, the very first humans chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God left mankind to its own devices. Now, they could have taken the tree of life, but that tree of life also meant accepting God's definition of what is right and wrong and how to live. By choosing the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were in essence saying to God, we want to choose our own way. And God said, okay, I'm going to let you do it.

You devise your own codes of morality, set up your own religions, your own governments, and you'll reap the reward of doing that. Now, the Bible shows us, and I'm summarizing here, rather than going to a lot of scriptures, He reserved to Himself the right to at times call individuals, choose people out of the world and reveal Himself and put His Holy Spirit in them.

And He did this so He could work out a plan. God also, at one point, decided to work with an entire nation. The descendants of one of those people that He chose, of course He chose Abraham, and then worked with his son and grandson. And generations later, He called out the nation of Israel, and He revealed His law to them.

He gave them a code of conduct, a government. He gave them everything they needed except His Holy Spirit. And He did that for a very special purpose. And His great plan, eventually, all mankind would be able to look at this and say, you know, with everything else but lacking God's Spirit, we can't do it. We can't find the way to happiness. We can't govern ourselves. This was part of God's great plan. All mankind lives under the simple truths that are stated in Romans 3, 23, and 6, 23.

You should know these by heart by now. All have sinned, and the wages of sin is death. All have sinned, the wages of sin is death. So we could say, in short, suffering and death exist because mankind brings it on himself. We all sin, and we all earn the penalty from it. And so anything better than that is an extra benefit. You know, sometimes they say anything more than that is gravy. That's implying that you like gravy. Now, fortunately, our understanding does not stop there.

Because if it just stopped there and said, well, we suffer and we hurt for it, then that makes life seem pretty empty. As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. But we know it doesn't stop there. This life and the world we see around us is not all there is, not by a long shot. God does allow bad things to happen in the world now. And most people are getting to experience what it's like to live in a world led astray by Satan, which we heard in the earlier sermon.

He's called the God of this world. And 2 Corinthians 4, 4, if I remember correctly, I've got it noted here somewhere. And so most people are experiencing that. But we know that everyone will, at some time, have a chance to experience the exact opposite. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We call 1 Corinthians 15 the resurrection chapter, because it provides more information in one place about the resurrection than anywhere else.

And it helps us to understand this fact that I've just been saying, that the world is dominated by Satan now, but in the future it's going to be different, and everyone will have their opportunity. 1 Corinthians 15, and we'll begin in verse 19. And we express the point that I was just saying, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. I kind of prefer the original King James Version that says, We are of all men are most miserable if this life is all there is. But now Christ is risen from the dead, has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, which is a euphemism for those who have died.

For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection from the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ that is coming.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule, all authority and power, that is, all other than God's. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

And that's important. That enemy will be destroyed. And it occurred to me as I was preparing this, and it hadn't quite struck in my mind before in quite the same way, but these, the simple set of verses, summarizes the meaning of all the holy days. If you think of it, Christ paid the penalty for sin so that resurrection from death is possible, which we commemorate with the Passover every year. God then calls a few people now, some of those that he calls out of the world, and he gives them his Holy Spirit so that they can wrestle with and overcome sin and prepare to be in his kingdom.

And we picture this by the spring holy days of unleavened bread and of Pentecost. In due time, Christ will return to this earth and raise up all those saints who had the Holy Spirit when they died. They'll reign on earth for a thousand years with Satan bound and no longer able to exert any influence. And this is symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

And it's interesting, then, that last holy day pictures what happens next, and that's the one thing that seems to be lost to almost all of professing Christianity, which is the greatest truth that we have.

After the millennium, in a general resurrection, all who have ever lived will be brought back to life. And they will then have the opportunity to understand their former way of life and learn the better way of life. They'll be able to have God's Holy Spirit. They'll be able to have happy lives. And as I said, that's the astounding meaning of what we call the last great day, or the eighth day of the feast.

Let's read a picture of this in Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37 symbolizes this happening to the descendants of Israel. Ezekiel 37 will begin in verse 12. As I said, we could read the entire chapter, but I'm coming through this fairly quickly today, because I know you understand this, and I want to move on to the more important part to come.

In verse 12, he says, And that's when people will know him, because he'll put his spirit in them. Now, you might say, well, he's talking about the children of Israel. What about everybody else? And if we turn to the book of Revelation, we'll see that everyone's included in this. Revelation 20. Revelation 20, and we'll begin in verse 11. This is a wonderful time we look forward to.

Revelation 20, in verse 11, John in the Spirit has this vision. He says, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven, fled away. There was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, all of them standing before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in the books.

So there's a standard. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades, or the grave, delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. That's the second death. What this means, this is describing a time of judgment in the future, which means that those people who are not called now, those people without God's Spirit now, are not now being judged.

We believe that they'll be raised to life again, a physical life, and that when it says the books that'll be opened, these are the books of the Bible. And they'll be opened not only as opening a book, but the understanding of them will be opened. People will be able to understand what this says, and then live by it. And they'll have a period of judgment, living by this, and a chance to change their ways. There's indication that it will be probably a hundred years. And of course, that'll be a chance to develop holy righteous character and then be born into God's family.

But we could say, in some essence, understanding this plan and this timeframe explains much of why there's so much suffering in the world now. Because God is not working with most people. He's subject to time and chance, and to Satan's deception and manipulation. Here's where I had it in my notes, in 2 Corinthians 4, 4. Satan is the God of this age. In Ephesians, he's called the Prince of the Power of the Air. As we see, remember that part of the glass is half empty. The Prince of the Power of the Air affects the air part.

And of course, we have the chance to have our glasses filled with water. But we know there's coming a time, though, when God will take away that suffering. He'll give everyone the blessings that he intended all along. From the time that Adam and Eve were put in the garden, people are going to have the chance to choose the Tree of Life then. And most people will then be very ready to accept those blessings, because they'll have experienced the alternative. Now, that makes sense, and as I said, I think we know this. That's why I kind of breeze through this quickly.

Obviously, covering the whole plan of God is something you could spend many sermons on. But let's look at a different question. Since we are the called-out ones, we do have God's Spirit. We're not left to Satan's deception. Why do we Christians suffer? And we do suffer. Sometimes it seems more so because of that. And couldn't God have made it differently?

Couldn't He have said, you've repented, you have my Spirit? You don't have to go through that anymore. Well, actually, if you remember during the Days of Unleavened Bread, I don't think I used quite the same words, but I asked that question. Couldn't God have made it differently? And I tried to answer it in a way that made sense, but the short answer is, no. Apparently, He can't. God made it so we do have to overcome sin and experience the suffering that it causes. And I'm saying not only our own sin, because much of the suffering we experience doesn't come from anything we've done.

And that's something we want to keep in mind. If we know someone's suffering or sorrowful, it doesn't mean they've done anything wrong. Often not at all, but somebody somewhere has done something wrong. Even if we have to go all the way back to Adam and Eve. But God made mankind not to be his pets, not to be robots. He made us to be his family. And because of that, we have to suffer to develop that character, and know what it means. Let's turn to Romans 5.

This is one of those, as I said, I'm going to cite the Herbert W. Armstrong precedent. As I said, if he could give a sermon on two trees for five years, it's okay if I read Romans 5 a number of times. Because this is a very important principle that we want to never forget, especially when we're hurting. Romans 5 and verse 2. And it's referring to Jesus Christ.

Through whom we also have access by faith under this grace, and which we stand and rejoice in hope. I want to emphasize that hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character hope. And hope doesn't disappoint, because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which was given to us.

Brethren, when it says hope, remember, we're not just saying that like when you say, I hope it doesn't rain, and you're saying, I wish it doesn't rain. Hope in this context means we have a sure confidence of that thing that we're looking to. We know, and we know that we know, that we're looking forward to something better. Something ahead that is the greatest blessing we could ever have.

And that's ahead not only for us, but if we've lost loved ones, it's ahead for them, too. And actually, if you look ahead far enough in the plan, that's what lies ahead for everyone. Not only those of us who are called now, but I want to focus on that now. As our experience in this life of the result of sin, our experience of suffering and even of death makes us learn deep down.

We don't want that way. We want to choose God's way. And we're not following blindly. We know the difference, and we know we don't want Satan's way. And it's interesting, Jesus Christ never earned any result of sin, but He set an example for us. He suffered. Let's turn to Hebrews 2, and we'll read verse 10. And I said, we want to be like our older brother, Jesus Christ, and as I said, He had no reason to suffer other than what we're about to read.

It was fitting for Him, that is God the Father, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, that's us, to make the captain of their salvation, that's Jesus Christ, perfect through sufferings. Why did Jesus Christ have to be made perfect? He was already God. Well, He was going through a process for the first time that all of us hope to be going through, that of eventually being born as spirit beings.

Jesus Christ, when He was the Word, He gave up being God and became human flesh, and He went through a process of being born into God's family. So He went through the process of being completed or maturing, and that process includes suffering. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. We often refer to the book of John or the apostle. John is the apostle of love. In his gospel, he refers to love quite a bit.

In his three epistles, John speaks of love. Peter is often called the apostle of hope. He described hope. And remember, Peter wrote knowing that he had a death sentence. When he spoke to Jesus Christ that last time, he said, you know, follow me. And we believe that's an indication that Jesus was telling Peter, you're going to get to be crucified, same as I was crucified. But even knowing the suffering that lay ahead of him, Peter looked at the hope that he had of eternal life in God's kingdom.

1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. He also looked at that example. He said, for Christ also suffered once for sins. Christ didn't deserve to suffer, but He did suffer the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.

Let's also, I'd like to move back now to chapter 2. Still in 1 Peter, but 1 Peter 2 and verse 19.

Show us some of the suffering we go through and what happens because of it. This is commendable. If because of conscious towards God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. It's funny, it's not a question of if you're going to suffer or not. You're going to suffer. But are you going to suffer because you deserve it and brought it on yourself? Or suffer wrongfully? So what credit is it if when you're beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called. Then this is the reason you're called. It's part of God's purpose for you to suffer. But, He says, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His footsteps.

We want to follow in those footsteps of being perfected, becoming like Christ, so we can become like Him and being spirit beings. Let's now turn to chapter 4 in 1 Peter.

1 Peter 4, and we'll read verse 12. As I said, Peter wrote of hope, but he also wrote of suffering. Beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange things happen to you.

But rejoice! That's not easy to do, and I don't think Peter intended for us to say yet. It's easy to rejoice when I'm suffering, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you also may be glad with exceeding joy.

We're going to be glad, we're going to be sharing in that glory that Jesus Christ has. When we look at all this, we should perhaps be more concerned if we look at our life, and it seems that we're not suffering. We don't experience grief and sorrow. Because there are a lot of passages in the Bible that tell us this is the part of the process of developing godly character, and we have to have it. And it will be worth it. Let's turn to Romans chapter 8, just to verify, cement that in our minds one more time. Romans 8, and we'll read in verse 16.

Because that hope is that looking and that firm understanding and belief in the good things to come.

And when we're suffering, and I want to focus on sorrow, but sorrow and grief are part of that suffering, so I wanted to talk about that first. Romans 8 and verse 16.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God. And if children, then heirs.

Joint heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with Him. So we suffer with Christ that we also may be glorified together.

I consider the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.

Whatever we're going through now, when we're down at our lowest, that can't even compare with how high God will lift us up, how good it's going to be.

Now again, I hope this makes sense. We've been taught this. We understand it. Many of you went through this in your process of coming into God's Church and understanding the truth.

But understanding it up here doesn't make it easy, does it? No, it's tough. It hurts. Sometimes it hurts a lot.

So I'm pretty sure I haven't told you so far anything new here today, unless you haven't been attending very long. I think most of us have been. But I do think it's good for us to remind ourselves of these things.

But we also, and I really want to focus on this more, at times like that we want to remind ourselves that God's not off at a distance. When we're suffering, when we're sad, He's not off there saying, Well, of course you have to go through this. It's okay. I've been going through this idea in a pretty academic way, describing it almost as a process of manufacturing character through suffering. And it does sort of work like that. But we're not machines, as I said. So I don't want to say manufacturing, because when it comes down to it, we're people. We hurt. We ache emotionally. I'm not talking about physically, although we do hurt physically sometimes. But there's times when we go through some heart-wrenching emotional experience and, Oh, it just digs you deep down. And when you're suffering like that, when you're grieving, oftentimes we don't just need an explanation. We need help. We need something to lift us up in our spirit.

And I wanted to remind us all that God knows that, and He'll provide that. And especially the fact that we shouldn't think that God doesn't know what it's like. We have these feelings. Why do we get angry? Why do we laugh? Why do we cry sometimes? Because we're made in the image of God. We're made in God's image. He has those feelings. And we can read in the Bible and show where God laughs. God gets angry. God grieves in sorrows. He made us to be like Him. So He knows that we need comfort.

Ah, I just found an announcement. I'll try to remember this for the end afterwards.

I know there have been times in my life when I was sad and hurting. And oftentimes, I might have, maybe I needed this, but I didn't want someone to come up and say, Buck up! This is good for you. You might need that sometimes, but sometimes when you're crying, you need someone to just console you. Say, it's going to be okay. God understands that, and He will console us. Let's turn to Isaiah, chapter 61.

Isaiah 61. Now, this is a passage of scripture that I didn't originally have in my notes, as I was putting this together. And we turned to it a couple of times during the In-Home Bible studies this week. And I said, Boy, that fits the sermon better than some of the other scriptures I had. I'm going to put this in.

Now, you should recognize this from the New Testament. I didn't look to see where it is. I believe in the book of Luke, early in Christ's ministry, it describes Him going into the synagogue. It says, As was His custom, and they handed Him the scroll. And so He turned to it in the book of Isaiah, and He turned to right here. And famously, He read the first part and stopped short of where it says the day of vengeance, because it wasn't the time for Him to bring God's vengeance. But if we read the whole passage, we'll see a lot of what God's intent is for us and for all mankind. Isaiah 61, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, that is on Jesus Christ, because the Eternal has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He's going to bring good news to the poor and spirit. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted. We've all been brokenhearted at times. God knows that, and He wants to provide healing, to proclaim liberty to the captives, opening of the prison to those who are abound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Eternal and the day of vengeance of our God. As I said, Christ stopped short of that, but I want to go on. To comfort all who mourn, to comfort those who mourn. God will be the one, at least symbolically or spiritually, to put His arm around you, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. So they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Eternal, that He may be glorified. God wants to do this. And I've said several times, I love that phrase, beauty for ashes. Because when we're really sad, doesn't it feel like ashes inside? God knows that. He wants to replace it with beauty. And He can do it in a way no one else can. Now, I'll say, recently, I think I've gained some more insight into this than I ever had before. And I was talking to Stephen Warren coming up, saying, boy, I hope Connor doesn't listen to recordings of these sermons later. He might get tired of me using him as an example. But I've learned a little bit about how grief and sorrow can affect a father, and how much he wants to offer consolation. You all know Connor is a little more verbal than is normal for someone his age. And that's allowed us to gain a little insight into what's going on in his head that sometimes kids his age don't express. But I've noticed he's not more mature than someone his age. So being able to say the words doesn't make him more mature. And so sometimes, like any toddler, he gets very upset over small things. You know, when you're that age, something can be devastating.

You know, of course, other things are exhilarating. He gets very excited about things like bubble guppies and such. But he can be very devastated. And like most kids, he'll start to cry. He wants something, he can't have it, the crying comes out. Well, when he was young, I wanted to teach him not to do that. But I didn't want to give him the impression that, you know, we always say, Boys don't cry. Real men don't cry. Well, you know, that's not true. I didn't want to teach him that it's wrong to ever cry. I said, Okay, now, Connor, it's not okay to cry when you don't get your way. It's okay to cry if you're hurt. It's okay to cry if you're sad, but not when you don't get your way. Well, he is fairly smart. So early on, he started developing a habit. If he wanted something and didn't get it, he'd start to cry and he'd say, I'm so, so sad.

Now, that'll make you stop in your tracks. Now, I suspect at times, and especially he's gotten older, that he's maybe working to manipulate us a little bit, you know? But then again, he has those two-year-old emotions, so I think a lot of times he is really sad. And it's heartbreaking to me to hear, My little boy is sad. I want to help him. I don't reprimand him and say, No, you don't deserve to be sad. I'll usually put my arms around him. I want to console him. And it occurred to me as I was thinking through this, you know, probably many times, most times, God looks down at me and sees me similarly to the way I do Connor. Only I'm probably less mature by comparison. So perhaps when I get sad, when God doesn't answer my prayers in the way I want, perhaps my emotions strike God in the same way Connor's due to me. Now, God knows I'm sad over not getting something I don't need or shouldn't have right now.

And, you know, he doesn't necessarily give me those things, but I don't think he's mad at me or upset, but certainly he's not mad, that I get sad. I'm not trying to rhyme here. I think Connor has discovered ice cream. And boy, he likes ice cream. But he'll ask for it, and sometimes I have to say, No, we don't have ice cream for breakfast. But you can have some later.

Now, what does he hear out of all that? He hears, No, and starts crying. You know, the No, you can have some later when the time is right. He's not mature enough to understand. He's asking for something that's not good for him right now. But when the time is right, I'm all for having ice cream. I'm going to eat some myself. I think in my life, I prayed fervently that God would heal Dennis Luecker of cancer. I prayed when Wanda Howell was in that hospital in a coma.

I prayed, God, please cause her to wake up. Let her wake up and know who she is and her husband. And when God said, No, and I perhaps, the whole answer was, No, this is not the right time. All I got out of it right now is the No. And like Connor, I said, God, I'm so sad. I'm, this is heartbreaking to me. But that's not a wrong thing to feel. There's nothing wrong with letting God know that you're sad. And there's where I'm glad Connor tells me. Part of the healing process might be verbalizing it, telling our father, I am sad about this. Because he knows that's good.

He sees his feelings in us. And so, just in the same way, I don't necessarily reprimand Connor for saying he's sad. Now, there have been times when I say, you need to stop crying. As a matter of fact, I've said something that my mom used to tell to me, and I said, I'll never say this to my kid because I hated it.

You know when she says, if you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about. Because when I was a little boy, when she said that, I thought, I have something to be crying about. I wasn't mature enough to see. But I don't reprimand him for saying he's sad or upset. You know, I give him a hug, I try to comfort him. And I think God wants to do that with us, and he does do that with us.

God, he has many ways of comforting us. He gives us each other. He doesn't physically put an arm around us, but he has brethren who can come and put an arm around us. He gives us his Holy Spirit, and he puts passages of his word in the Bible that we can read to help understand.

And I just read one of those in Isaiah. That's one that I could turn to and say, yes, that's God wants to comfort those who mourn. Another one is the... Actually, you have to read through all of it to really get it, but the book of Job is very good at that. Now, I'm actually looking at a sermon ahead that I want to get into the book of Job, so I'm not going to look at Job today. That's for another time. Instead, though, I would like you to turn to the book of Lamentations.

Lamentations is a book we don't read very often. Jeremiah wrote this, and a lament is an expression of sadness. It's an expression of mourning. Jeremiah wrote this book to mourn and grieve over the fall of Jerusalem and the country of Judah. Now, if we study the book of Jeremiah, which we did at some length here a year or so ago, we realize that Jerusalem and Judah deserved their conquest. They disobeyed God. They went astray.

And we also know from our understanding of prophecy that it was part of God's plan for all of the children of Israel to go into captive. And for most of them to lose understanding of who they were, and of course also part of his plan to bring some back. But still to say that, okay, it was part of God's plan and they deserved to be conquered, didn't stop Jeremiah from mourning.

And we could say the same. I've drawn the parallel with our country. Our country is doomed to go down and lose its power, but that doesn't stop us from mourning. And Jeremiah put it in words and God inspired those words to be part of his Bible. It wasn't wrong for Jeremiah to mourn and to grieve. It was right. And God wants us to be able to share in that. So that shows it's not wrong for us to have those feelings. Sometimes hearing, especially something like a sad song, can pick you up. And not because it makes the sadness go away, but it helps you know it's shared.

This morning, it's funny, I didn't have it in my notes, but I remembered there was a time in college when a girl I really liked decided we wouldn't date anymore. And I deserved it. That's another story. But I just about wore out my Gordon Lightfoot tape because it had some sad songs that made me feel better.

And I thought, you know, Elton John wrote a song about this very concept. I don't remember the title of it, but it's the one that says, turn them on, turn them on, turn on those sad songs. When our hope is gone, sad songs say so much. That's all of it I know. And it's funny, it's a happy song. It's real upbeat. But it's about the fact that the sad songs are sometimes what you need. And sometimes sad scriptures are what we need, but with the hope. Remember, the song is saying they say so much and they can lift us up. Let's look at Lamentations chapter 3. Most of the book looks at the experience of the whole nation.

But the third chapter focuses in on the experience of the individual. And we don't know if Jeremiah was writing it just about himself or representative of the every man who went through this. But we'll pick it up in the first few verses. He says, I am the man who has seen afflictions by the rod of his wrath. God has led his wrath on us. He has led me and made me to walk into darkness and not in light. Surely he's turned his hand against me time and time again throughout the day. So there's suffering here and at the hand of God. There are no pulling punches there. But let's go to verse 20.

I'm going to read several verses now. Verse 20, My soul still remembers and sinks within me. You know, when you're grieving, sometimes it feels like your soul is sinking within you. But then, this I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. I bring this back to mind and I still have hope. Though through the Lord's mercies, we're not consumed.

We're not consumed because God is merciful, because his compassion fails not. They're new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. We heard that recently. The eternal, the Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Now, it's good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the eternal. It's good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. And it's interesting, it's good when you're young to have some of that suffering.

Because, as it says in Ecclesiastes, it makes you a better person. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust. You can't get much lower than that. But then he says, there may yet be hope. You might be putting your mouth down in the dust. You feel like your ashes, but there may yet be hope. God's mercies are new every morning.

And when you're really sad, sometimes you're just fighting to get through to the morning. But when the sun comes up, there's a renewal, in a sense. And if you get through enough of those mornings, you're ready to carry on with your life. Whenever we're devastated, and whether or not we brought it on ourselves, our Heavenly Father does want to comfort us. Just like a little child might be devastated. Perhaps he's crying and says, I'm so upset. Maybe because Daddy wouldn't let him go outside and play with that pretty black kitty that has the white stripe going all the way down its back.

Maybe Daddy can't make him understand that it's really not in his best interest to go play with what he thinks as a kitten. But Dad still does want to comfort him. I haven't had that experience with Connor, but I understand my father-in-law had that once when he was young.

So our God wants to comfort us, even if we don't understand why he's allowing the suffering. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 1. The beginning of this book, this is sort of an aside, but it's very important to note as Paul's addressing who our God is. 2 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 3, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort. Just think, one of God's titles are perhaps two of his titles here, or you could even say God's names. One of God's things he wants to be called by is God of all comfort. That's the God we worship. He's the God of all comfort. Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are coming. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. And that's important to realize. One of the reasons we're allowed to suffer is so we can help others who will be suffering in the future. And we can say, I know what it's like. And many of us have done that already in our lives, and probably will. I mentioned, I remember, I was only 22 years old when I lost my mother, and I was going to college. And I came back, you know, after having a funeral and all, and I was sad. And my resident assistant came out one morning, and he just sat down and talked with me. And he explained some of the sad things he'd had in his life. They weren't the exact same, but it did help. He'd been comforted in the past, and he was comforting me just by being there and sharing some of the hurt. Another way that God comforts us is by His very essence being in us. Let's turn to John 14. God's Holy Spirit is a source of comfort, that we, of all the people in the world, we can access that in a way that they can't, because they're not called yet. That time will come. John 14, in verse 16, this is what Jesus Christ is introducing these concepts to the apostles. And He says, I'll pray the Father, and He'll give you another comforter. The original King James uses the word comforter. My new King James says, help her.

The Greek was paraclete, but either translation is accurate, but I like it. He'll send another comforter, that it may abide with you forever, and it's the Spirit of truth, who the world can't receive, because it doesn't know Him or see Him, but you know it, and it dwells with you, it will be in you. When that Spirit is in you, it's going to provide comfort. If you look across the page at verse 26, the helper, the comforter, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, it will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace. And peace of mind sometimes we desperately need when we're sad and troubled. And I give it to you not as the world gives. He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I'm going to stop there. He goes on, but it's interesting. Notice, being troubled and being afraid are two separate things, and He wants to give us relief from both. Lately, many of us have had our hearts troubled. We've lost loved ones, and we see the potential in the future. It's going to go on as long as mankind exists, and it always has. But God's Spirit in us can help us to find comfort. And that's important. Remember, call on that. Tell God, I'm so sad. Please help me. Comfort me. He will.

I want to take a little bit of time to turn to another passage of Scripture that's really helped me at times that I've been sad and down. That's Psalm 27. The 27th Psalm is one that reminds us of God's power and His ability and His willingness to comfort us.

And I'm going back. As I said, it's good for a young man to suffer in his youth, and I don't think I ever suffered terribly.

But I went through times when I was sad and was introduced to some of these Scriptures, and they're ones that I go back to whenever the time comes. And many of you are already acquainted with them, I imagine. And after I went through this Psalm this morning in Pressenburg, Raleigh-Collins, this is one of my favorite Psalms. I read this all the time. I thought, well, you've been around long enough to know the value.

Let's begin at the start of the chapter.

It says, Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? That's keep your focus there. Everything else is small by comparison. When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell, because God made that happen. Though an enemy may camp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, and this I'll be confident.

One thing I've desired of the Eternal, that I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Eternal, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Eternal and inquire in His temple. Now, we don't have a physical building, but the Church is the temple of God. That's where His Spirit dwells. That's one thing we should desire. I want to be in that temple. I want to be there, and we should call out to God to bring us into it.

It says, For in the time of trouble He'll hide me in His pavilion, He'll bring us in there. In the secret place of His tabernacle He'll hide me and set me high on a rock. And that's not high up in the exposed place to get struck by lightning, but it's high out of reach of any danger. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies, all around me. Therefore I'll offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle. I'll sing. Yes, I'll sing praises to God.

And that's important. Sometimes when you're down and you think, I never want to hear happy music again, but you know it's going to happen in the future.

God gives us an instruction to seek Him, and we have to say, okay, I'm going to do it. Don't hide your face from me. Now I'm seeking you. Don't hide it from me. Don't turn your servant away from anger. You've been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake you, O God of my salvation. When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord, the Eternal, will take me up. And I think one of the reasons this has been so poignant for me, I just described earlier that my mother passed away at a relatively young age. And my parents divorced when I was only three years old. I hadn't seen my father in twelve years or so at that time. So when she died, I said, I'm all alone. And I looked, I said, well, when my father and mother, not that they forsake me, but they weren't there, but God promises He'll be there. When everyone else that you look to or need might leave you or not be around, God will take you up. Spiritually, He'll take you in His arms, like He's your mother or father, and cradle you and help you through that time.

Teach me your way, O eternal. Lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such has breathed out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed. If you're about to lose heart, remember what you believe. I believed that I would see the goodness of the eternal in the land of the living. And I love the close of this. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He'll strengthen your heart. Are you about to lose heart? He'll strengthen it. Wait, I say, on the Lord. So I said, these words don't make grief or sorrow just disappear, but I think they can make it easier to cope and to carry on. We know that suffering in the world does not mean that there's no God. God's plan includes that suffering, and He requires that it be possible.

But we know that there's a time coming when He'll take it all away. Not only for those of us that know Him now, but He's going to take away everyone's suffering and sorrow. But in the meantime, we have sadness. We grieve. We mourn. And we call out to our Heavenly Father at times like these, and we don't need to pretend that we aren't hurting. I'm fairly certain that He hears us, and He feels it deep down, the same way when my little boy tells me, I'm so, so sad. As I said, that really gets to my heart. And how much more will our Heavenly Father feel that way when we tell Him about our sadness? Our God is the God of all comfort. That's Him. He's there for us. His Holy Spirit is the Comforter. His words promise relief and comfort when we need it.

Therefore, I call on us. Let's patiently do what we just read in Psalm 27. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He'll strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.