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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, December 31, 1867

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 3

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WORDS OF COMFORT.

By A. S. Hutchins

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” Those who believe in God and his beloved Son, and faithfully obey his word, find that sacred treasure, a never-failing source of “exceeding great and precious promises,” which through Jesus they may meekly claim as theirs, though passing through manifold temptations, and the dark night of discouragement and trial.
Says David, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness.” And again, “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Have any fallen under the power of the enemy, and done that which is wrong; have they grieved the Holy Spirit, wounded the cause of their Heavenly Master, or injured the church, or reproached their brethren, and for this now sincerely repent? Let such remember the precious promise, “Whoso confesseth and forsaketh” his sins “shall have mercy.” And again the words of the beloved disciple, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John ii, 1.
For us he now intercedes. May we all zealously repent of our sins, heed his counsel to fallen man, and make him a welcome guest to our hearts. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Infinitely rich, unspeakably precious repast! Come in, O come in, blessed Jesus! We long to feel thee near to us, and to commune with thee.
Earthly friends, perhaps, have no time to listen to our sorrow; but Jesus has. Or they may not know how to sympathize with us; but he does. And he knows how to “deliver the godly out of temptations.” “For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”
“In every pang that rends the heart, The Man of Sorrow has a part; He sympathizes with each grief, And to each sufferer sends relief.”
Oh how blessed the reflection that there is a true and constant Friend, Jesus, the Son of God, to whom we may ever appeal for help and comfort! Believer, he bids you be of good cheer. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Yes, and he will help you and me in the great work of overcoming. Then let hope revive, and we go forward with courage to meet the trials by the way.
Again the children of God may be comforted with the thought that he is their refuge. “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deut. xxxiii, 27. On this point David says, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour; thou savest me from violence.” 2 Sam. xxii, 2, 3. “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble.” Ps. ix, 9.
The prophet, looking forward to the time of trouble, but a brief space in the future, when the seven last plagues shall be poured out, and thousands and tens of thousands shall fall, when the “slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even unto the other end,” in view of the protection and safety of the people of God in that awfully solemn and eventful day, says, “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” Ps. xci.
Oh! how safe and secure the people who have God for their friend and refuge, when the storm of his wrath shall sweep over the earth.
How bright and glorious the prospect as we contemplate the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the sleeping saints of every age and nation, and the change of the righteous living to immortality, and their final deliverance as they are caught up to meet their Lord in the air, and are borne to the Holy City of the New Jerusalem, and enter the mansions of all the redeemed host, to suffer and die no more. There they shout their sufferings o’er.
“Hark! the choral strains are ringing, Wafted on the balmy air, See the millions, hear them singing, Soon the pilgrim will be there.”
In view of this soul-inspiring hope let us heed the apostle’s injunction, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. iv, 18.
A. S. HUTCHINS.
Health Institute, Dec., 1867.