When we come to Christ looking for comfort, we come with confidence knowing that God’s Son, the One who perfected our faith, King Jesus, is perfectly capable and wanting to give His people comfort. We can easily see all throughout Scripture the beauty of how sinful men and women who have turned their backs on God in sinful and selfish ways, and a loving Father stands beckoning them to return to Him because He’s the supplier of true and never-ending satisfaction. Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-31:
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In this article, I will explain that essential importance of a biblical standpoint of the Christian life and comforts to which followers of Christ should and should not be growing. Before you check out here, I want to make a clear that this idea of comfort doesn’t minimize the trials or sufferings that take place in the Christian life, or the cost of discipleship, and in no way does it compromise with the often-taught prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all. However, when one sets eyes on the cross and lives only to magnify the name of Christ and glorify the Father, the Christian can grow into a life of enjoyment found in Christ alone. This article uses the story of The Rich Young Man in the Gospel of Mark to elaborate further on the concepts of a Christian’s comfort.
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31, ESV)
- Don’t grow too easily pleased and comforted.
“Our desire for pleasure is not too strong, but too weak. We’ve settled for a home, a family, a few friends, a job, a television, a microwave, an occasional night out, a yearly vacation, and perhaps a new laptop.”
– John Piper Desiring God
It’s easier to see than we should want it to be in our 21st century, American lives that we are typically known for our overindulging and plenteous lifestyles. Not that all of us are this way or can afford to live this way, but for the most part, it’s one of the things we’re commonly known for in other places around the world. I heard a story recently about how astonished a classroom of Southeast Asian students were when they heard that most rooms in America had some form of air-conditioning in the summers. So, using this example, is air-conditioning in rooms a bad thing? Of course not, and if one should think that, he should probably throw away his razor and start applying for the nearest Amish communities. Resources aren’t always bad things, however; if these ordinary comforts of our everyday lives begin to shadow out and take the place of our greatest need for satisfaction and comfort, then that is where the problem begins to occur. So this begs the question: What is our greatest need to satisfy our souls?
The rich man in this story seemed to have a lot going for him. Not only does he have many possessions that are valuable, but a judging from his answer when Jesus reminds him of the commandments, he appears to actually be very religious when he says,
“Teacher, all of these things I have kept since my youth.” (v. 20)
If what he said were true, he would have been a very excellent man. If he were alive today, well, surely he’d be in church every Sunday morning and night, an honest man with good character, and certainly wouldn’t be a murderer, thief, or adulterer. However, in this story, when Christ says to this man,
“Follow me, give all that you have, and gain your treasure in heaven,”
this man was delighting himself in his earthly treasures, and missed out on the One true treasure, which is Christ. As these temporary comforts that we fill our lives with fade, the person who does surrender all for the sake of knowing Christ regardless of conditions will have eternal life and rest for their desperate souls. Never be too easily satisfied with things that will fade, but only rest in the abounding grace of the finished work of Jesus.
- Don’t grow comfortable in just being saved for yourself.
Is it actually possible to be saved from sin and to think that you’ve absolutely done your part?
If our only job while being on this earth is to receive the grace offered through faith in the gospel, and we’ve done that, then why are we still here? Wouldn’t God have taken us strait up to heaven at the moment of conversion where we wouldn’t have to bear this world of pain and sin? Why would he leave us hear to stay any longer than we have to be here if that’s our only goal?
We’re still here, not because God needs us, but because He revealed in His word that He chooses to work through us to spread His gospel throughout our community, cities, country, and nations! If you’ve been born again as a follower of Christ, not only does He want to use and work through you, but He will! This is a beautiful and humbling reality that we as sinners are allowed to carry such good news to a lost and hopeless world. Of course, Christ loves His church, and we would be worthless without a body of believers around us to lean on and to help uplift, push, and train each other to grow towards holiness in Christ, however; be extremely careful not to surround yourself with only other Christians and that’s it.
Break free from your holy huddle and seek the lost! It is absolutely not biblical to get saved and stay in a comfort zone because it shouldn’t be at all comforting to know that some have rejected the gospel, but even more so, that 2.91 billion people around the globe have never even heard the gospel. All of us are constantly talking about seeking God’s plans and will for our lives, but can we honestly say that in seeking His will, that we’ve asked Him if it is His will that we should pick up and move to a different context or place for the sake of the Father’s glory being made known? Never grow simply comfortable in the bible belt of America because we think we can afford to. Paul Washer says it well when he says it like this:
“We are either the one holding the rope at the top of the well, or the one down in the well. The rope burns on our hands are the exact same.”
The call to the Christian life has never been a call to be saved and to be complacent in the church, but to magnify the cross and to uphold and value the mission for why the church even exist, to be like Paul in saying,
“I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22 ESV)
- Grow absolutely comfortable and confident that God is completely sovereign over all things, and the impossible is possible.
And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:26,27
If God weren’t completely in charge of this task of getting out of our comfort zones to tell others the gospel, our mission would be hopeless. When the gospel is proclaimed and is met by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit does something that the proclaimer hasn’t or can, He creates faith that convicts and saves. We can proclaim this gospel in obedience knowing that we ourselves can’t save anyone, but that God is faithful of opening the eyes of some that hear. God isn’t concerned with our success; He’s after our obedience to Him. Though we might not always be the ones to see or pick the fruit, we go with the attitude of what Jesus said to Paul in Acts 26:18,
“I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and come from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
So, we rest comfortably and securely in knowing that God is a sovereign Father and the only means of salvation. To think that there is no hope for the Hindus, Muslims, animist, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic person is to completely limit the power of this cross. For this reason, we can be comfortable that there is much power in the blood. And with us, it is impossible, but with Christ, the impossible is very possible.
- Grow comfortable in assurance of your salvation by faith through His grace.
“Salvation does indeed happen in a moment and once you are saved, you are always saved. The mark, however, of someone who is saved is that they maintain their confession of faith until the end of their lives. Salvation is not a prayer you pray in a one-time ceremony and then move on; salvation is a posture of repentance and faith that you begin in a moment and maintain for the rest of your life.” - J.D. Greear Stop Asking Jesus Into your Heart
Salvation is often thought of as experience. And true, it most truly is an experience. I’ve heard and seen many testimonies of God’s grace rescuing someone from addictions and sinful former ways of life where sin has built up, and then the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of his hell-bound state, and in a moment he or she understands that he or she has sinned against a holy God and that his or her righteousness is as filthy rags, and for the first time, he or she believes in the gospel and turns from sin. Actually, this is the exact case for anyone who has ever decided to put his or her faith in Christ. And what an experience it is to be a partaker in the body and blood of Jesus!
However, I urge you not to completely bank your comforts on an experience or emotional rush in the past, but to have a present trust in Christ for salvation. To many times in hearing the gospel, people think back to a time in the past, a conversation with a pastor, a VBS prayer, or a youth retreat. Instead of leaning on the past, look for the fruits of the Spirit in your life in the present. Is there evidence of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in your heart? John tells us in his first Epistle: “Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” The greatest comfort anyone can ever find is the comfort of knowing that a risen Savior and king is seated at the right hand of the Father, and knowing that he or she has been washed from head to toe in the blood of the Lamb, and knowing that he’s coming back for His bride. This biblical comfort is held out to all of those who would believe in His gospel and turn from sin to trust completely in Him, and to rest completely in the finished work of his life, death, rising again, and returning for His church.
Jordan Hoge
jordanhoge@gmail.com