“Comfort All the Mourning Ones” “Jehovah has anointed me . . . to comfort all the mourning ones.”—ISA. 61:1, 2. JESUS CHRIST said: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34) In carrying out his God-given assignment, Jesus reflected his Father’s magnificent qualities. Among these is Jehovah’s great love for people. (1 John 4:7-10) The apostle Paul noted one manifestation of that love when he described Jehovah as “the God of all comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3) Jesus demonstrated such love when he did what was foretold in Isaiah’s prophecy. (Read Isaiah 61:1, 2.) Jesus read from that prophecy in the synagogue at Nazareth and applied its words to himself. (Luke 4:16-21) During his entire ministry, Jesus lovingly comforted mourning ones, bringing them encouragement and peace of mind. 2 All followers of Jesus need to imitate him by comforting those who mourn. (1 Cor. 11:1) Paul said: “Keep comforting one another and building one another up.” (1 Thess. 5:11) Especially do we need to comfort others, since mankind now faces “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Tim. 3:1) More and more, honesthearted people throughout the world are being confronted by some whose words and actions cause grief, heartache, and sadness. 3 As Bible prophecy foretold, in these last days of this wicked system of things, many are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” Such attitudes are now worse than ever, for ‘wicked men and impostors have advanced from bad to worse.’—2 Tim. 3:2-4, 13. 4 All of this should not surprise us, since God’s Word makes it clear that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) “The whole world” includes political, religious, and commercial elements, as well as propaganda channels. Without question, Satan the Devil is properly called “the ruler of the world” and “the god of this system of things.” (John 14:30; 2 Cor. 4:4) Conditions throughout the earth continue to deteriorate because Satan now has great anger, knowing he has only a short period of time left before Jehovah takes him out of the way. (Rev. 12:12) How comforting it is to know that God’s toleration of Satan and his evil system will soon end, and the issue Satan raised regarding Jehovah’s sovereignty will be settled!—Gen., chap. 3; Job, chap. 2.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 23:30:06 +0000
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