ae ce er Vou. XXV ALLEGHENY, PA., OCTOBER 1, 1904 No. 19 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 consolation,” or comfort, should be given to any one of mature years tells a whole volume in itself respecting the general character of the person. We know little about Barnabas, but if this one sentence of holy writ comprised the sum of our knowledge 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 veomfort 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 accordiigly ;—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 comfortable 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 making other people miserable, by continually nagging and faultfinding, 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, without 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 respects 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 Seriptures foretold——John 17:12. Tt 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 sympathy with the meek and lowly and right-intentioned in all of their weaknesses and trials and difficulties; and this is the (291-292) 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 interpreted 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 J 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 daughters of consolation in the church. They are, in 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 comort. 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 discouraged 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 daughters 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 ock? 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 reproving the church; he said, “He shall reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of a coming judgment.” The nearest suggestion 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, know]edge and love, and ultimately to hinder it from the attainment of the perfection and gory to follow, which God has promised to the faithful only. hat 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 sympathy 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 [34384]
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