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Darvin Pruitt

Comfort Food

1 Thessalonians 4:18
Darvin Pruitt December, 18 2022 Audio
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The sermon titled "Comfort Food," preached by Darvin Pruitt, addresses the crucial theological topic of comfort derived from the gospel of Christ, centered in 1 Thessalonians 4:18, which exhorts believers to "comfort one another with these words." Pruitt articulates the argument that true comfort comes not from worldly thoughts or sentiments but from the promises of God revealed in Scripture, specifically focusing on the resurrection hope articulated by Paul. Key Scripture references include 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, which speaks to the resurrection of believers and the return of Christ, emphasizing that these truths provide assurance and solace in times of sorrow. The significance of this sermon lies in its attempt to instill the Reformed understanding of election and grace, explaining that the comfort of the gospel is a necessary sustenance for believers, much like "comfort food" addresses physical hunger.

Key Quotes

“Preaching is no less than feeding the sheep of Christ.”

“Comfort one another with these words. ... He that heareth you, heareth me.”

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

“Oh, I want to preach that so bad. I want to be able to set it out there to where it just goes straight to your heart and comfort you.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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For a Scripture reading, turn
with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. If you have a bookmark, you can
put it there. I'll come back to this chapter
in a few minutes. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, beginning
with verse 3, and this is the will of God. even your sanctification,
that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of
you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification
and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles
which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother
in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such,
as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not
called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that
despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given
unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love
you need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. And indeed you do it toward all
the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you,
brethren, that you increase more and more, and that you study
to be quiet, and to do your own business." Oh, how we like to
get in everybody's business, don't we? Study to be quiet,
he says, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands
as we commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward them
that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing. But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus
shall God bring with him. For this we say unto you, by
the word of the Lord, that those which are alive and
remain under the coming of our Lord should not prevent them
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, here's my text, wherefore,
comfort one another with these words. I invite you to turn with me now
back to 1 Thessalonians 4. And although we're going to be
looking at some things in chapters 1 through 4, My text will be in 1 Thessalonians
4, in the very last verse, verse 18. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. I titled the message this morning,
Comfort Food. When it gets cold, it got cold
the other night, and I was just kind of shivering, and boy, the
first thing that come to my mind was a big hot bowl of chili.
Comfort food. Comfort food. Preaching is no
less than feeding the sheep of Christ. I come here and I stand
before you on Sundays and I bring the lesson and then we have our
worship service. What's going on? What's going
on? Is he just up there throwing
things? No. No. Preaching is no less than
feeding God's sheep. Hungry sinners. Hungry sinners. That's what I look for. Somebody
comes in, I don't care if they got earrings or they don't have
them. I don't care if they're tattooed from head to foot. The
only thing I'm looking at when somebody comes through that door
is, do they have an appetite? If God gives them an appetite,
you'll never have to say a word. You just stand up and feed God's
sheep. Eat his sheep, and his sheep
will come and eat it. They'll eat it. Three times our
Lord asked Peter if he loved him. Peter had forsaken him. He went back to his boats, went
back to the nets, and the rest of them followed him. And in
fact, the resurrected Christ was standing on the shore with
a fire going, and had fish laid out on the fire, and called to
him. And he said, what? Come and dine. And Peter remembered forsaking
him, and the Lord turned and looked Peter right in the face,
and he said, do you love me? Oh, how his heart must have broken. Do you love me? Feed my lambs. And he asked him a second time,
he said, Peter, do you love me? Yeah, Lord, thou knowest I love
thee. Feed my sheep. And the third time when he asked,
it grieved Peter's heart because he asked him three times. And
Peter said, thou knowest all things, Lord. You know that I
love you. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Upon each answer, Through the
affirmative, our Lord said, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. And
when we gather together in this place, we're sitting down to
the king's table. We're not just coming in here
and sitting down on some cues and going through some motions.
If that's all you're doing, you've been a lot better off to stay
home. We're sitting down at the king's table. We hear the voice of our Lord,
as did Mephibosheth of old, saying to us, I will restore unto you
all that was lost of your father. Can you imagine? Here's this
man who was, Brother Henry said he was ruined by the fall. He
was dropped at his birth, and he couldn't walk. Crippled for
life. And on top of all that, Saul
was his daddy. Well, Jonathan was his daddy,
but Saul was the head of that family. And all the other children
were gone. They'd all been killed. All been
killed. All the rebels killed. Nobody
left but Mephibosheth. And when they brought him in,
they carried him in in front of David. And can you imagine
what this little boy was thinking in his mind when they brought
him in? And what David looked him in
the eye, and he said, I will restore unto thee all that was
lost of thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. Continually. Laying from the
fall, he carried to the king's table, wearing the king's robe.
The king sent servants down to wash him. He wasn't fit to sit
at the king's table, but he had to be washed. Don't we have to
be washed? You didn't go into God's tabernacle
until you went past the labor and washed. He was carried in and the servants
came in and washed him. He couldn't wash himself, he
had to be washed. He couldn't clothe himself, he
had to be clothed. And now he's in the king's, in
the royal garments. And the servants come and pick
him up because he can't get there, he don't know how to get there,
he's got no ability. And God's servants picks him
up and he carries him in and sits him at the king's table. Oh my soul. And as he sat there
in wonder, he said to his lord, what is thy servant? that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am." Do you think about
that when we gather here on Sundays? Man, think about where God found
you and what He's done for you and what He's going to do for
you. I wonder if you and I this morning,
being carried to His table by the Spirit of the living God,
by the very providence of God, might ask our Lord the same thing. Well, if preaching is serving
the king's table, shouldn't it demand some preparation? What's the last thing we do before
we come to worship? We don't prepare. We're busy
about things of the house and things of the world and things
for this afternoon and all that. Brethren, we're coming to eat
at the king's table. All right, so preacher, if you're
going to feed God's sheep, what do I have from God to put on
his table? That ought to be the prayer on
your lips, God give him words for me. I tell you what he give me, comfort
food. That's what he give me, comfort
food. Oh, that the Lord would give me the grace and ability
this morning to pull the cover off of that dish and show you
what's inside. This is the end now of four Holy
Spirit-inspired chapters, and as it draws to a close, God moves
Paul's hand to write these lines to comfort one another with these
words. What words? Well, some say verses
13 through 17 concerning the resurrection of Christ, and surely
that's it. Surely that's what he's talking
about, or it's inclusive in it. But I believe this, wherefore,
draws from a deeper well than just a few verses. I think this
thing goes all the way back to the beginning of Paul's letter. So let me give you five things
that ought to comfort the hearts of chosen sinners. And the first
thing Paul tells us about comforting chosen sinners is words. Words. Comfort one another with
these words. Now if a friend or a loved one's
sick and you go to their home and they're running a fever and
you put your hand on their brow, that's comforting for them. Comforting. Somebody that loves
them is seeing about them and that comforts them. If somebody
close to you is ailing inside, you might even offer an encouraging
hug or an embrace. But when a soul is fearful of
death, Frightened by the reality of indwelling sin. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? This death goes with me everywhere
I go. It goes into my thoughts. It
goes into my worship. It goes into my song. It goes
into my preaching. Oh, wretched man that I am. You
see what I'm talking about? when a soul is fearful of death
or frightened by the reality of indwelling sin, when a soul
is disturbed by the impending judgment of a holy God. Judgment's
coming. It's coming. Oh, I wish I could get that across
to men and women. Judgment's coming. He could take
you out in a second. I'll never forget going in that
Armenian church. I don't know why I was still...
I guess I thought I could minister to them. And I was there, and
I played my songs and put my guitar up, and I was sitting
down, and this old pastor comes in. Old man, he's in his 90s.
And he comes in, and the pastor recognizes him, and he says,
How's things between you and the Lord? And the old man went
to throw up two fingers like this. Oh, God killed him. He was dead before his head hit
the fuse. You talk about shocking somebody
back in reality. I never went back. Never went
back. Judgment's coming. And it might
be today. It might be in just a moment
or two. Oh, my soul. When a soul is disturbed by the
impending judgment of a holy God, they need more than just
an embrace. They need more than a loving
handshake. They need an assuring word from
God. They need to hear a message from
the very heart of God. Comfort, he said, one another
with these words. Silly sermons about pie in the
sky and the sweet by and by. That ain't going to get you done.
I ain't gonna get it done. Vain sermons urging you to make
yourself acceptable to God. Turn over a new leaf. Do this,
do that. Sensual sermons geared to excite
the emotions of fallen men. That's not what he's talking
about. Well, what words is he talking about? Words of faith. That's what he's talking about.
Faith begins with words. How are you going to call on
Him in whom you have not believed? And how are you going to believe
in Him of whom you have not heard? There are going to be words.
Faith begins with words. It's born of words. It lives
on words. It's evidenced by words. And
it perseveres by words. The Lord said, will you go away?
Everybody else did. There were thousands there that
day. And he started talking about eating his flesh and drinking
his blood, and boy, the crowd turned and walked away. Gee,
he's nuts. He's talking about cannibalism,
and they all started walking away. And the Lord didn't say
one word to his close disciples, those he'd made apostles. He
didn't say anything to them. Finally, he turned and looked
at them. They're still standing there. He said, will you go too?
Doors open. Nothing out there but air. Will
you go too? Where are we going to go? Thou
hast the words, the words of eternal life. Where are we going
to go? I don't like that guy. I don't like his attitude. I
don't like how he talks. I'll just leave. Where are you
going to go? Huh? Is there some words out
there somewhere? I haven't found them. Maybe there
is. I ain't found Him. Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And Paul tells them here in the
very first chapter, he said, I know your election of God,
for our gospel came not unto you in word only. It came in
word, but it wasn't word only. But it come in power. Heart moving
power. Mind convicting, heart convicting
power. It came in power and it came
in the Holy Ghost. And it came with much assurance. What kind of assurance? That
that man Christ Jesus did all he said he could do. Assurance. Listen to this. I have begotten you, he told
the Corinthians through the Gospel. You've got a lot of instructors
in Christ, but you've just got one Father, and I have begotten
you through the Gospel. What a statement! Faith is born
of words, words sent from God to His elect, and faith lives
on words. God spoke to Israel after 40
years of wandering in the wilderness, and He said, I humbled you, I
humbled you, and I suffered thee to hunger. And when you got hungry,
I fed you with manna, which thou knewest not. You didn't know
what it was, you just saw it coming down. And your fathers
didn't know what it was either. Why? That I might make thee to
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That's what he told them. Our Savior said, my words are
spirit and they are life. And he turned to his disciples
while others were mocking and chiding against him and rejecting
everything that he said. And he turned to his disciples,
and man, they were smiling from ear to ear. And he said, blessed
are your ears. They hear. Comfort one another with these
words. And faith has words. Paul said
in Romans 10.6 that the righteousness which is by faith speaketh. Speaketh
on this wise, it has something to say. Faith speaking. What's it say? Well, that's what
he asked in verse 8, Romans 10. What sayeth it? What's it got
to say? He said the word is nigh thee
even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith
which we preach. That's what it is. There's zero comfort apart from
the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. You can talk about things
and it's just like putting a little salve on the wound. That's all
it's doing. And this gospel is served to
you by chosen servants of God and I'm not the chef that prepares
the meal. The Holy Ghost takes care of
that. Boy, it'd be a mess if I prepared it. Or you. The Holy Ghost takes care of
that. I'm not the artisan that arranges the plate. You ever
notice when a chef does a plate, it has to be just so-so. Man,
when you look at that plate, that's the most enticing thing,
just to look at it. Get the juices running. But I'm
not the artisan that arranges the plate and makes it appealing
to the heart. I'm just the guy who brings what
God has prepared to you. And it's a covered dish and I
bring it to you and I set it down on the Lord's table and
I pull off the lid. Pull off the lid. That's what
preaching is. It's pulling off the lid. God's already, the message
is already here. It's already there. But it's
covered. That's all preaching. We just
pull off the lid. Here it is. Oh, my soul. What does this gospel say? Romans
10 verse 8, the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in
thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach, that if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, or Jesus to be
Lord. This preaching that's in your
mouth and in your heart, that's nigh you, it's right here, you're
receiving it today. I can say exactly to you what
He said to them. It's neither, it's right, it's
in your mouth, it's in your heart. What happens when you taste it? You begin to confess the Lord. The Lord, not poor little Jesus
boy. The Lord. The Lord. Is that my confession? Is that
your confession from your heart in the reality of true faith,
the Lord Jesus? Not that poor defeated reformer
that religion tries to pass off on unsuspecting souls. I'm talking
about the Lord Jesus. Lord of what? Everything that
is. Won't you make Jesus your Lord?
He's already your Lord. You can't make him anything. The Lord of what? Well, He's
the Lord of creation. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? Without Him was not anything
created that was created. He is before all things. That's what the Scripture says. And He created all things, whether
they be things in heaven, things in the earth, or things under
the earth. He created everything that is. And it was made by Him,
and listen, for Him. And by Him, it has a continuance. Sounds to me like He's Lord over
creation, don't it to you? Oh, we've got to save the planet.
You can't save yourself. What are you going to do with
a planet? He's Lord of Providence. You
believe that? Everything that's got... I mean,
it's mind-boggling to think about. Everything out there has a path.
the mosquitoes, the germs, the birds, the animals, everything
out there has a path and it's moving and it's working to one
end. Well, who's working all that?
Our Lord. Our Lord. He's Lord over Providence. He said, not a sparrow could
fall to the ground without your Father. A sparrow while a sparrow can fall, he
can't do it unless God causes him to do it. And he's the Lord of salvation.
He prays in John 17 and tells us that his Father gave him power,
authority, dominion, reign and control over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. He is the Lord of salvation.
The fact is, providence and creation, they're here to accomplish this
other. They're here to serve that end.
All creation groans and waits. Huh? What are they waiting on?
Waiting on this thing called salvation. He's Lord, He said, of the dead
and the living. Fallen dead sinners and living
saints, dead men and women under the ground, and living souls
resting in His bosom. Spiritually dead, spiritually
living. He's Lord of the dead and the
living in any way you want to look at it. He's Lord. He's Lord. Lord of what? He's Lord of Lords.
There is no power but of God. He's Lord of Lords, King of Kings. But why are you saying all this,
preacher? To comfort your heart. Our Lord, His Father put His
King on His holy hill in Zion. Our Lord sits over His kingdom. You better believe this, nothing's
gonna get into that kingdom. Nothing's gonna bring you any
harm. He created a whole race of beings
called angels to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. He said, you be careful how you
talk to one another because their angels, T-H-E-I-R, possessive,
their angels do always stand before their father. You better curb that mouth. Better
just keep it silent. Keep it silent. We love to lash
out. We love to say this. We love
to say, you better be careful. You better be careful. That bunch
of kids got property going up on the mountain. He didn't have
any hair. I understand that. Boy, sometimes I want to pull
mine out. But here he goes, and they come out chiding. Go ye
up, you old bald head. God sent a bunch of bears down
there and swallowed them up. Better be careful. Better be
careful. His eyes are over the righteous. Mmm. And the good news, the gist,
the comfort of the message to you is this when we're talking
about His Lordship. What is trouble to God? I know what trouble is to me,
but if God be for us, who can be against us? What's trouble
to Him? God is our Savior. Did you know
that? He's God our Savior. Almighty
God, unchangeable God, eternal God, all-wise God, God is our
Savior. God come into the flesh, God
walking among men, God dying on a cross. God ascending back into glory
and a God-man and all His glorious person sitting on the throne
of omnipotent grace. Is there some trouble that threatens
God's throne? Is there some power to stay his
hand? Is there some unforeseen circumstance
that's going to blindside God? Oh, I wasn't expecting that.
Huh? How silly is that? Oh, beloved, if God be for us,
who can be against us? Words of faith, foundational
words, godly words, gracious words, words of comfort. And
then secondly, God comforts chosen sinners, he said, with these
words. Not all words, these words. What's he talking about? He's
talking about God's words. I can sit up here and brag on
you all day. It don't amount to a hillbilly. But boy, if God
says something, I can take that home. I can lay my head on that. I can rest on that in the day
of trouble, if God says it. Listen to this, 1 Thessalonians
2 verse 13. Paul said, For this cause also
thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the
word of God, which you heard of us. Had to hear it? God spoke. God spoke, but how'd
they hear it? Which you heard of us, you received
it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of
God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. You
didn't hear a man's word, you heard God speak. God speak. You believe that? I'm asking
you, do you believe that? Do you believe that God speaks
through a man? Do you believe that God sends his
ambassador to chosen sinners and speaks a heavenly word to
their souls? Do you believe that this one standing
here this morning is a man sent from God? My life ordered and arranged
to bring His words to you, carrying in this earthen vessel the very
treasure of heaven. Well, I'll tell you what the
Lord said to those 70. He said, now you go out here
and preach. And I'll be behind you. I'm going
to send you to every place where I go and come. I'm going to send
you out there. Same thing He told me. Same thing
He told me. Boy, if He ain't going, I don't
want to go. No, no, but here's what he said. He that heareth
you, heareth me. Boy, you let that sink in. Let
that sink in. He that heareth you, heareth
me. That's what Christ said to him. Oh, preacher, what confirmation
from God do you have for such a statement? Well, you want to
hear it? I'll give it to you. 2 Corinthians
3 verse 1. Paul said, do we begin again
to commend ourselves? Do I need to commend myself to
you? Or need we, as some others, letters
of commendation to you or from you? Ye are our letter of confirmation, written in our hearts and known
and read of all men. We had a conference. We had a
little over 100 people here. Rejoicing, great messages. I
don't know that I've ever heard six messages in a row as good
as those. Just a fantastic conference.
And I got a call from somebody that attended the conference.
I won't say who. But here's what they told me.
Your people love you. Your people love you. Do you
need more confirmation than that? That's what Paul's telling these
people. I don't need a letter. My soul,
if God connects my heart to yours, the letter's written right here.
And I didn't write it. The Holy Spirit of God wrote
it. He wrote it. That's the confirmation of God.
For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the letter of
Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly
tables of the heart. And he says, such trust have
we through Christ to God. I've read that a hundred times.
And each time, I thought what that was talking about was Paul
trusting. He was trusting in that, trusting
in the means that God, that's not what he, of course that's
included in it, but that's not what this is talking about. That
word trust there has to do with that of a steward. He was put
in trust. The master said, I'm trusting
you with this. And you're going to look over
my household. You're my bond servant. You stood by the door,
you had your ear bored through with an awe, you're my bondservant.
You told everybody there, I love my master, I don't want to go
out. Now I'm going to give some trust
to you. I'm going to trust you to this task. And that's what
Paul's saying, such trust have we to God, with such stewardship. Not about just moving somewhere
and teaching some things and going about your business. It's
a trust. It's a stewardship. God has given
those things to me and I could no more leave this than I could
fly. You believe that this man, this
poor ignorant man, this man who can barely get a sentence put
together speaks a word to you from God? Carries the very manner of God
and sets it before you at God's table. God's words for you, that's
comforting. That's comforting. And then thirdly,
he gives us some words of confidence. What's our confidence? Well here
it is, Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. Paul writes to this beloved
church and he said, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. Oh, I'm just confident. I tell
you, I've studied for years and that ain't my confidence. Sometimes
I feel like I'm growing backwards. I think my confidence is that
if God begins that work, he's going to continue. He ain't going
to quit. He's not going to quit. Words
of confidence. Our confidence is that there
is a throne in glory and one sits upon that throne ruling
in the ease of omnipotence with a heart set on his beloved bride. Listen to how Paul speaks to
this beloved church in 1 Thessalonians 3. In verse 11, he said, Now
God Himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct
our way to you. Help me to come to you. Help
prepare my heart. Give me the will. Give me the
desire. Give me the message. God Himself
and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you
to increase and abound in love one to another and toward all
men, even as we do toward you. Confidence in our God, while
God's omnipotence offends and frightens some, it's the very
thing that comforts chosen sinners. In the day of trouble, boy, I
tell you, that's where you want to lay your head. Those disciples
ran down, man, they were experienced seamen and they were getting
ready to go down with the ship. It was just mass breaking and
stuff going over the side. They woke him up and said, Lord,
don't you care that we perish? He was asleep. He wasn't worried. What'd he do? Peace, be still. Everything perfect calm. God will have all his children. Are you listening? God will have
all his children cared for. Peter said, casting all your
care on him, for he cares for you. Can you even imagine? God cares for me. He cares for me. He said, are not sparrows sold
for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows. God has ordained the means, arranged
his providence in his spirit and his preacher, and he makes
even the wicked in this world serve his elect. God will have
all his children cared for. And though sometimes we're thoughtless
and ill-prepared to care for ourselves, yet God watches over
us and cares for us. Listen to this. David said, Thou
hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high. I can't attain
it. Whither shall I go from thy presence?
Whither shall I flee from thy spirit? If I take the wings of
the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, there thou
art. I'm going to find you when I get there. He was already there,
wasn't he? Oh, as God himself watches over
us and cares for us and provides for us all that we need, even
so we ought to be comforted in his provisions. And then, fourthly,
he comforts this church with a word of instruction. 1 Thessalonians
4, 3. He said, for this is the will
of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from
fornication, sex out of wedlock. That's what he's talking about.
Seems to be the thing today. Just try it out and see how it's
going to work. No. No, that's fornication. That's what that is. You can
call it whatever you want to. And he's not just talking about
the physical here. He's talking about spiritual
fornication. Go down there to that ungodly
Armenian church and sit there and sing the song. That's fornication. That's what that is. And he said, every one of you
ought to know how to possess his vessel in sanctification
and honor. We're not our own. We're not our own. We're bought
with a price. Chosen vessels, a chosen generation,
a holy nation. Now listen, a peculiar people.
I did some study on that word, peculiar. It means belonging
exclusively to God. That's what it means. It means
particular. In the late middle English it
meant private property. No trespassing, private property. What, he said, know you not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which
you have of God and you are not your own? Therefore glorify God
in your body and in your spirit which are God's. Hard to think of your body as
the temple of the Holy Ghost, ain't it? Huh? We know what we
are. And we look at these spiritual
things. The only way you can really swallow
these things is to see yourself as God sees you. And what He
sees is what really is. Our body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost. And then lastly, He comforts
us with a word of hope. This hope is that all of God's
elect shall be with Him where He is and be 100% saved from
sin. No sin. No thought of sin. No sin. 100% saved, standing
in His presence. The angels looked down and Christ
had stepped onto a cloud. He was ascending up to glory.
And I would have been with him. To see that wonder, I would have
just been standing there with my mouth open watching this happening.
Angels, and he just stepped up on the cloud and ascended up
into glory, and the angels said, hey, what are you looking at? Why stand you gazing into the
head? This same Jesus that was taken
up shall so come in like manner as you see Him go up. He's coming
back. And when he does, he's coming
in all the glory of his father. He's not going to have just a
few angels on cloud. He's coming in all the glory
of his father's house. I rewrote the lines to an old
Negro spiritual. I really liked it. Ain't no grave
gonna hold this body down. There was a time when Christ
my Savior hung suffering, bleeding on the ground. Then he died and
he was buried, and in the linen garments bound. There he lay,
the word fulfilling, till at last the day came round. Then
in power, proclaimed forever, ain't no grave gonna hold this
body down." That's a comfort, isn't it? Oh my soul, it's comfort
to me. Now in that time, that appointed
time, when our flesh lies in that mound,
then the Lord will come and take me by the hand. Ain't no grave
gonna hold this body down. The dead in Christ shall rise
first. Those which are alive and remain
should be caught up to meet him in the air. Boy, I tell you,
if that can't comfort you, you can't be comforted. That's comfort
food. Oh, I want to preach that so
bad. I want to be able to set it out
there to where it just goes straight to your heart and comfort you,
comfort you. We need comfort.
Darvin Pruitt
About Darvin Pruitt
Darvin Pruitt is pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Lewisville Arkansas.
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