You are hearing my words today, because somewhere, somehow, somebody told you about a person named Jesus Christ. You heard of his birth, his life, his teachings, and his death. You heard of his resurrection and ascension to glory. You heard of his summons to all the word, Come unto me and I will give you rest. And you are still considering his claims—or else you wouldn't be here—or you have actually made up your mind and believed in him.

And when you believed, in that very moment, everything changed. God saved you, forgave you, washed you, joined you to Jesus, adopted you, secured you forever, justified you, redeemed you, liberated you, regenerated you, indwelt you, renamed you, renewed you, empowered you, blessed you, and predestined you for heaven, where he will glorify you, unveil you, honor you, embrace you, dignify you, reward you and enjoy you forever and ever.

Until that day, he is sanctifying you, empowering you, motivating you, purifying you, perfecting you, standing beside you, with you, in you, guiding you, protecting you, maturing you, growing you, and in all the best ways, using you for purposes far beyond yourself.

A man woke up one morning to find a sick old dog in his backyard. The poor thing was just skin and bones, shivering in the cold air. He brought the dog in and fed him. Warmed him by the fireplace. Talked to him and comforted him. Day after day, he took care of the dog, and slowly that old mongrel put on weight, and the life came back into his eyes.

The man grew fond of the dog, and the dog grew fond of him. They grew a bond, and an affection... and the dog was truly man's best friend.

One day, the man woke up, and the dog was gone. At first, he was heartbroken. But then he was angry. He thought This is the thanks I get after all I've done for you? Such an ingrate. I should have never taken you in.

So the man went through his day, heartbroken that his canine friend was gone and angry at the ingratitude.

But that night, as he was getting ready for bed, the man's heart skipped a beat when he heard a scratch at the door.

He debated on whether to answer. Maybe he should teach the dog a lesson. Finally, his soft heart got the better of him.

He swung upon the door, and sure enough, there was his old friend, bright eyed and bushy tailed, that tail wagging so hard he almost turned himself inside out. But there was something else too.

His dog had brought another dog with him. The poor thing was just skin and bones, shivering in the cold air. He brought him in and fed him, and warmed him by the fireplace.

 

Evangelism is one dog telling another dog where to find comfort forever.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and 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 comforted by God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

My message today is part three in our series Comfort from Above. If you have Jesus Christ, you have a place to turn that the world can never know. You have an omnipotent, omnipresent, compassionate, supernatural, and transcendent source of comfort and peace far beyond the reach of the ragings of earth and the powers of hell. In part one of this series, we considered The God of Comfort. In part two, we considered The Promise of Comfort. And today, in Part Three, please think with me about The Mission of Comfort.