Trained to Comfort
The sermon teaches that our personal sufferings are essential for equipping us to comfort others in their times of need.
Charles E. Cowman preaches on the importance of comforting others as a response to God's comfort. He emphasizes that our own experiences of affliction and comfort are meant to equip us to bring comfort to those around us. Through our trials and wounds, God trains us to be compassionate and empathetic towards others who are suffering, allowing us to share our stories of comfort and hope with them.
Text
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" (Isa. 40:1).
Store up comfort. This was the prophet's mission. The world is full of comfortless hearts, and ere thou art sufficient for this lofty ministry, thou must be trained. And thy training is costly in the extreme; for, to render it perfect, thou too must pass through the same afflictions as are wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Thus thy own life becomes the hospital ward where thou art taught the Divine art of comfort. Thou art wounded, that in the binding up of thy wounds by the Great Physician, thou mayest learn how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere. Dost thou wonder why thou art passing through some special sorrow? Wait till ten years are passed, and thou wilt find many others afflicted as thou art. Thou wilt tell them how thou hast suffered and hast been comforted; then as the tale is unfolded, and the anodynes applied which once thy God wrapped around thee, in the eager look and the gleam of hope that shall chase the shadow of despair across the soul, thou shalt know why thou wast afflicted, and bless God for the discipline that stored thy life with such a fund of experience and helpfulness. --Selected
God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters. --Dr. Jowett
"They tell me I must bruise
The rose's leaf,
Ere I can keep and use
Its fragrance brief.
"They tell me I must break
The skylark's heart,
Ere her cage song will make
The silence start.
"They tell me love must bleed,
And friendship weep,
Ere in my deepest need
I touch that deep.
"Must it be always so
With precious things?
Must they be bruised and go
With beaten wings?
"Ah, yes! by crushing days,
By caging nights, by scar
Of thorn and stony ways,
These blessings are!"
Sermon Outline
- I points: - The call to comfort others - Understanding the mission of the prophet - The importance of preparation
- II points: - The necessity of personal affliction - Learning through suffering - The role of the Great Physician
- III points: - The purpose of our trials - Sharing our experiences - The transformation of pain into comfort
- IV points: - God's intention behind comfort - Becoming comforters ourselves - The cycle of healing and helping
Key Quotes
“God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Thy own life becomes the hospital ward where thou art taught the Divine art of comfort.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Ah, yes! by crushing days, by caging nights, by scar of thorn and stony ways, these blessings are!” — Charles E. Cowman
Application Points
- Reflect on your own experiences of suffering and how they can help others.
- Seek to be a source of comfort for those around you who are in pain.
- Understand that your trials have a purpose in God's greater plan for your life and the lives of others.