Jesus The Comforter: Finding Peace in Philippians 2

Jesus is the Comforter, bringing peace and love to those who need it.

The comforter is the Holy Spirit, who unites us with God and gives us fellowship.

Paul's experiences in prison and physical ailments show the need for a comforter.

Fulfilling God's joy and living in harmony with Him is the greatest joy.

This morning we sang the song, The Comforter Has Come, and we're kind of dealing with the comforter this morning a little bit. We've been talking the last couple of weeks about Jesus and what he is to us, and today we're talking about Jesus, the Comforter. Isn't that lovely? I love it. Jesus, the Comforter. You know, that beautiful song always reminds me, the Comforter has come. And it reminds me because sometimes when we're going through troubles and trials, when we feel lonely, when we feel that no one cares, there's another beautiful song that says that when the world seems cold and your friends seem few, There is someone that cares for you. And his name is Jesus. He is the Comforter. This morning we're going to look at Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. If you'd like to follow along you can do so. Philippians chapter 2. Jesus the Comforter. Now I love the book of Philippians. Philippians was written by Paul. Paul is probably one of my favorite writers in the Bible. Paul had such a simplicity about his writing. It was an everyday man's writing, if you will. He just wrote out of his heart. And the interesting thing about Paul was the fact that he had a lot of experience to pull from. Because Paul understood what it was to be against God and knew what it was to do that. And then he knew what it was to have the blessing of being for God. See, Paul met God on the Damascus Road and his life was never the same again. Such a transformation came over him that he even had to change his own name. Because he knew he was not the same man that he once was. I love the fact of that story and the fact that he went from Saul, meaning big, to Paul, meaning little. And I love that because Paul understood That I'm just a servant That's what we are We're just servants of the Most High That's what we are Paul knew that So I love Paul's writings for that They come from a very humbleness When you think of where he was And where he is at this time You say, wow, what a difference God makes in a person's life. You go from thinking you are this big, huge, important person to meeting God on the Damascus road. And then saying, wow, I'm just little in comparison to God. I'm just small in comparison to him. I just want to be a servant. See, Paul also knew what it was to need a comforter Paul, bless his heart Paul found himself in prison more often than not For preaching the gospel Paul had troubles with some sort of physical ailment We don't know exactly what it was Paul never really disclosed that in his writings Many people have speculated that it could have been some sort of a back or leg issue that made it hard for him to get around? It could be. Paul was a very, very active person. You read his writings, you can see that. He was always talking about athletic contests in his writings. So that's why many people believe that Paul was some sort of an athlete in some way, shape, or form. So that's why many people feel that the thorn in his flesh that he had talked about could have been that his body was rejected. To where he was no longer able to get around like he once was. He prayed to God, Lord take this thorn from my flesh. Lord heal me. Some people say that it could have been his eyes failing. And that's even understandable too because Paul loved to write. So it could have even been that. But whatever the case may be, Paul prayed, God, heal me. And God said, no, my grace is sufficient for you. So what did Paul need? He needed the comforter. That's what he needed. And God said, the comforter has come. this is where Paul writes to the church at Philippi starting in verse 1 and he says these words if there be therefore any consolation I like that if there's any kind of encouragement in Christ if any comfort of love I like that, comfort of love the supreme love, the greatest love ever given was given by God to man in Jesus. John 3.16, the greatest verse ever written. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the greatest show of love. If there be any comforting love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, I like that. Fellowship of the Spirit. God unites us with Him through the Holy Spirit. Through that Comforter. Sometimes when we're going through those tough situations, when we feel like no one cares, we can reach out and touch God through the Holy Spirit. And sometimes that's all we can do. You know? When we're going through tough situations, We just sit there and reach out and touch the Lord. I love that beautiful chorus that says, Reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by. You will find He's not too busy to hear your hearts cry. He is passing by this moment, your needs to supply. So reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by. And that is so true. Sometimes we think God only walks by once in a while. But that's not really true. God is always walking around us. All we got to do is reach out and he's there. Reach out and touch the Lord. He's always there. Hallelujah. I love that. If there be any fellowship of the spirit. If any bow bells and mercy. Or literally meaning tender heartedness and compassion. If there be any tenderness or compassion. I love what he says in verse 2 Fulfill ye my joy I like that fulfill ye my joy the greatest joy for God would be for us to show love to others. And I look in this world sometimes and I see a lot of hatred. and I sometimes think that the church of the living God has missed out in a lot of ways because we don't show love as much as we used to we don't show compassion as much as we used to and we need to show that love we need to show that compassion we need to be loving on other people and say you know what I'm here for you I'm concerned about you I'm praying for you we need to be doing that when we do that we bring a sense of joy to God literally I like to say it this way we make God smile and that's what I want to do I want to be someone that makes God smile I want what I do in my life to make God say I'm proud of Him I'm proud of Him, that's what I want to be I don't care about people Well, I mean, I care about people, but I don't care what people think of me. You know what I'm saying? I care what God thinks of me. That's the only one that I have to please. Now, I want to please man, too. I want to make people happy, too, of course. But I'm saying the most important one that is important to me is whether God is pleased with me. That's the only one I have to really please. because I know if I'm pleasing God then that's all that matters. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded. I like that. I like that. Like-minded. Living in a state of harmony, if you will. I'm going to tell you something. There is nothing better than living in a state of harmony with God. When you live in a state of harmony with God when you've got God on your side and you're living hand in hand with God and you've got that kind of relationship with God, there ain't nothing better in the world. There is nothing better in the world than when you know that God is by your side, He's got you by the hand and He's loving on you. There ain't nothing better than that in the world. I love that. I love that. Let that you be like-minded. There should be a oneness of spirit also in the church. I'm thankful for our church For the simple fact that We seem to have a one-ness of spirit I have been in churches Where we Where there has been nothing but fights And let me tell you There is nothing worse in the world Than being in a church Where you have people bickering back and forth And back and forth And it's like a state of flux all the time Just continuously There is nothing worse in the world than that It just makes you where you go. You know, I don't want to be here, you know. I'd rather be somewhere else. Right? And I am thankful that we seem to love each other here. Because that's what the church should be. We should love one another. We should care for one another. We should be concerned for one another. We should pray for one another. That is what the church is. It's a family. I love that. I love what he says here. Having the same love. Love others as you love yourself. Now, what does that mean? Well, we know we want the best for ourselves, right? So we should also want what? The best for others. That's what we should want. We shouldn't sit there and say, because sometimes what we do is we see somebody get a blessing, and we go, well, why did they get a blessing? Why did not? Well, that's not the way we should be. We see somebody get a blessing, we should say, well, that's awesome. I'm glad they got that. Maybe my turn will come next. Right? Don't look jealous and be jealous about somebody getting a blessing. Praise the Lord for their blessing. And then pray, Lord, give me mine next. You know? That's the way we should be. That's the way we should be. Having the same love. Being of one accord and one mind. I like that. One accord and one mind. Literally meaning that we have a fellowship. I love this. You may have heard this before, but it is so true. The definition, someone said the definition of fellowship is two fellows in the same ship rowing in the same direction. And I love that. That is so true. See, because literally meaning that can we live together, can we work together except we be in one accord? No. The church cannot function if we don't have the same love and the same mindset. So we have to have the mindset of God first, His kingdom first, and our desires after that. everything that comes from the church everything that we put into the church should be God first is God pleased with what I'm saying is God pleased with what I'm doing is God pleased with me the words I say are for his glory the things that I do are for his glory everything that I do is to worship him to lift his name up to make him greater to make him happy. That is what we should do. God first and ourselves after that. That's so true. Having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Verse 3 says, let nothing be done through strife or jealousy, if you will, or vainglory. That's a word you don't hear too much. vainglory. Vainglory literally means pride. And let me tell you something. You want something that will destroy you fast and destroy your relationship with God real fast? Pride. That'll do it. That'll do it. Have pride. And there's nothing wrong with having pride in a job well done. That's not what I'm talking about. But sitting here, sitting here, patting yourself on the back all the time, sitting there saying, well, I did very good there. that's pridefulness and you gotta watch that right, you gotta watch that pride what? goeth before destruction that's what the Bible says right, so we've gotta be careful about that vainglory, but in lowliness I like that, or lowness or humbleness if you will, of mind I like that Let each esteem others better than themselves Wow So what does that come down to That comes to someone else before me Now that hard to do Let be honest That hard to do Because human nature is to be self right It us first That human nature I've got to take care of me and my family first before I even think of somebody else. Right? That's our mindset. But that goes against what Paul is saying here. We should seem others better than us. We should say, hey, I've got this and a little more. I can give something to somebody else. I can give of myself to help somebody else. Jesus was that example because if you look at Jesus' life, Jesus was always giving of himself. Jesus had no place to lay his head. He had no home. And yet Jesus was always giving of himself to try to make someone else happy, to try to do something for someone else. See, that's how we get a blessing from God. given it shall be given unto you. Why? Because you can't out give God. Amen. That's the point. I've seen it so many times. You can't out give God. Oh you can try but you ain't going to do it. Because every time you give of a humble heart to God's kingdom or to someone in need God will always bless you back. Maybe it's not monetarily Maybe it's not that way. But if you give of yourself to someone that is in need, God will always bless you back. Maybe it's just a good feeling. Maybe it's a good day. Maybe it's whatever the case may be. But God will always give you back something and bless you. It is so, so true. I like that. To esteem others better than themselves. Verse 4 says, look not to every man on his own things or don't be interested in other people's affairs or literally meaning don't mind somebody else's business sometimes that's what we like to do right we like to mind somebody else's business sometimes we've got to just learn to take care of our own stuff right that's what he's saying here but every man also the things of others. Literally meaning that don't mind somebody's business, but if you see somebody in need, help them out. That's what it comes down to. Okay? And then he says in verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. See, Jesus always catered to the needs of other people. Continuously. You look at Jesus, look at Jesus. I love the fact, Jesus was preaching to the multitudes. You remember that story, Jesus preached into the multitudes. It was getting a little late, and they were getting a little hungry. And Jesus said, well, I can't send them away without letting them have something to eat. So he said to his disciples, he said, what do we got in the place? We got anything to eat? And the disciples said, no, there ain't nothing here. We got to send them away. Let them go to McDonald's. I know there's no McDonald's. But I'm saying, let them go somewhere and get something for themselves, man. We ain't got nothing Jesus, we ain't got enough money. I love the fact that they came to Jesus and said, Jesus, we ain't got enough money to pay for all these people. Jesus wasn't asking them for money. Jesus wasn't asking for anything like that. He was saying, what do we got? Because Jesus knew if he just had a little bit, he could do something miraculous. What would I like to say? Little is much when God is in it. Amen. That is so true. Little is much when God is in it. So Jesus said, what do we have? Go search the crowd. See if there's something in the crowd. They brought a little boy to Jesus. Little boy had a little brown bag lunch. Just a little lunch. Nothing major. His mom packed him a little lunch. Five little crackers. That's what it came down to. It says five loaves and two fish, but it was actually crackers, if you will. Unleavened bread, little crackers. Leaven is when you put something in and make bread rise, right? So it was unleavened, so it was like little crackers. So five little crackers and two little, if you will, sardines, okay? Some people love sardines. I could not eat a sardine if my life depended on it. I can't have something look back at me and eat it. I just can't do that. But that's what he had. five little crackers and two little sardines. And they brought him to Jesus. And they said, this is the only thing we found in the crowd, Jesus. And he looked at it and he said, that's enough. Why? Because little is much when God is in it. Amen. Okay, so Jesus looked and he said, I've got to take care of the people here. I've got to feed the people. I fed their souls with the word. Now it's time to fill their belly with some food. Hallelujah. So then he took the two little fish and the five little crackers. And he lifted them up before God himself, the Father. And he began to pray. And then he began to break the crackers and the little fish. And began to spread it throughout the multitude. And everyone was satisfied. Everyone ate to their full And there was Baskets left over So what happened Jesus fed the multitude 5,000 men Not including the women and the children And they had some left over So that they could go And feed somebody else That might be hungry See God was always Looking out for the needs of others. Hallelujah. Isn't that beautiful? I love that. I love that. That is so good. Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. Six. Who being in the form of God, literally meaning he was God in flesh, okay, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Now he was equal to God because he was God in flesh, but he was equal to man because he came not as a king, but as a pauper. Jesus, when you look at it, was the stepson of a carpenter. His mother was just an average, ordinary little lady. He was not born to kings and queens. He was born to ordinary people Or marry everyday working people That what Jesus was born into And he willingly did so See, the Israeli people When they heard of the coming Messiah They were looking for a mighty warrior A king Something that was going to come of royal line And Jesus was of royal line but they were thinking someone that was going to be born in a palace. Someone that was going to lead by example a strong warrior that would take out evil armies. But that's not why Jesus came. Jesus came first to be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. after that then Jesus would go away and will come again someday and be that conquering king that strong warrior but first he must come as a sacrifice and they were not expecting that see they weren't expecting it Jesus came as part God but part man I love this but made himself of no reputation. As we said, he was of heaven, but he made himself as a pauper. Taking on the form of a servant. And he was made in the likeness of man. Verse 8 says, And being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He humbled himself so far that as we said earlier, he had no hope. He had no place to lay his head. He continuously went from place to place. Maybe staying with friends. Maybe staying with people. Just to get out of the sun sometimes. That's a horrible way to live. But that's the way Jesus lived. Sometimes we don't like to think of that as Jesus. But that is exactly the way Jesus lived. Jesus lived as a pauper. Going from one place to the next. maybe being taken in for a meal. Something to think about when you think about that. That is just hard to believe. And he became obedient, willing, if you will, to become the ultimate sacrifice unto death, even the death of the cross. He went from a lowly carpenter's son basically to a slave or a servant, if you will, to die a criminal's death. Why? So that he could be the comforter to us. See, when Jesus was saying, I've got to go. I've got to die. I've got to die. I've got to leave this world. His disciples said, Jesus, don't go. Master, don't go. We won't be able to make it without you. Jesus said, you don't understand. If I don't go away, I cannot send the comforter. That's why Jesus went away so that we can have the comforter. The comforter lives within us. Hallelujah. He lives within us. And in those days when things are so tough, we feel the presence of the comforter. I love the term the comforter. Every time I hear the term the comforter I think of a cold winter day when we get one of those big comforters and we wrap ourselves in and just sit down and get warm. That's exactly word Jesus of what the comforter is to us. He's like a warm, big, thick blanket that just wraps around us and keeps us warm in his presence. Jesus is the comforter. Maybe today as you look on your life and you say, you know what? I'm having troubles in my life. I need the comforter today I'm going to pray for you and as we go before the Lord I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand you know whether you're having that kind of problem and as I pray for you today if you're having that kind of problem just reach out to the Lord and say Lord help me today as we pray Father God today in this house Those that may be watching this video today. Father God, these ones that are listening to this message. Father, maybe there's someone that is saying, you know what? I need the comforter. I need someone to reach. I need God to reach down and just wrap me in his arms. To give me that strong, strong hug of his love. That I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he cares for me. Father God I pray today That you will wrap your arms Around those that need you today Father God touch those ones That need you today Father God those ones that are going through trials Those ones that are going through loneliness Those ones that are going through the times When they just don't know if they can make it Father God I pray that you will touch them That you will help them That Father God they will feel The very presence of God I pray Father God For that today in Jesus name. I pray Father God that the loving arms of Jesus will wrap around your servants today. Father God in this house, those ones that need you. Father those ones that are watching the video that need you. I pray that your loving arms will wrap around them and they will feel your mighty touch. And in the days ahead Father God, when those times come, when trials come when tribulations come when loneliness comes when sadness arises that Father God we would feel the touch of hands so kind and tender we will know that it is your hands the hands of the comforter and we will just squeeze your hands and we will feel the squeeze of your hands I pray that right now in Jesus' name and we say a heart Amen

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