September 22, 2023 | Martin Luther – Day 30
“ Apart from the Word no comfort exists.”
Martin Luther
Further on in Luther’s explanation of this statement he says this, “Nowadays profane people who boast that they have the Spirit teach that the Spirit is attained in a way different from that of the Word. But this is very dangerous. For in temptation such men will either despair or do violence to themselves; for they are most exposed to Satan and are not tied to the external Word and to that rock which alone resists the force of the billows and the storms.”
We’ve only to listen to the whispers of society to understand that Martin Luther could have been speaking to our own time. As society gets further from the truth of God’s Word, it becomes more and more bogged down in the swamps of worldly wisdom. Scripture has become fantasy to many and, without its guidance, we see the world replacing right with wrong and wrong with right.
In this atmosphere, comfort becomes fleeting because there is no firm foundation in which we might plant our feet. Victimhood has replaced responsibility and tolerance has overcome sound judgement. Where there is no real truth, there can be no real comfort.
The Holy Spirit through the Prophet Isaiah tells us to “Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted” (Isaiah 49:13).
God’s wish is for us to find our comfort through Him and to do that we must allow Him to speak through the Word He has given us. Paul told the congregations in Corinth, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
He told them these Words because Corinth was a place of sin, filled with temples of gods throughout the world. Christian persecution there was real, and they needed the comfort that only God could give. Just like us they found it in Paul’s letters and in God’s Words of Scripture found elsewhere. When they needed comfort, they found it in God’s logos, God’s Word. So should we when we seek comfort from the world. Only in God’s Word will be found the truth that will set you free.
Today, dive into God’s Word’s of comfort. Let Him take you to places of peace.
Our Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us enough to give to us Your Word. May we find comfort in its pages and freedom as a reward. Amen.
