BALM IN GILEAD

Is there anyone in my audience today who has not suffered some tragedy in his or her life? Maybe you have lost your spouse or a child or a parent or some other special person. Perhaps you have been seriously hurt in an automobile wreck or in an industrial accident. Recently I saw on television a man who had lost both legs in the Iraq war. I have lost both parents, three brothers and one sister to death. I have lost dozens of dear friends. The greatest tragedy in my life was the death of my dear Molly. We were married almost fifty-three and a half years. Her death has devastated me in many ways. The apostle Paul urged the Thessalonians and Christians in every age: "But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who have not hope" (1 Thess. 4:13). The Greek word lupeo (translated "sorrow") means to grieve, to be in pain or to be distressed. I grieve every day, but I do not grieve as one who has no hope.

In my opinion, the book of Lamentations is the saddest book in the entire Bible. It apparently describes the moral and spiritual condition that led to the Babylonian exile and the exile itself. Please listen to the disturbing wail of the prophet Jeremiah. "How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become a tributary! She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwells among the heathen, she finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her in the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because no one comes to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have become her masters, her enemies prosper; for the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty has departed: her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, and they are going without strength before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and no one helped her: he adversaries saw her and did mock at her Sabbaths. Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore she is removed; all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sighs and turns backward. Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembers not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she has no comforter. 0 Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy has magnified himself. The adversary has spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she has seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation. All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, 0 Lord, and consider; for I am become vile." I ask that you to pay special attention to the next verse. "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger" (Lam. 1: 1-12).

I need to repeat two verses from this reading. "She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her.... Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembers not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she has no comforter" (Lam. 1:2,9). Israel had made alliances with pagan nations. Those nations were not interested in the welfare of the Israelites. The Israelites had forsaken the Lord and lost the comfort that only he could provide for them. What a tragedy when a person or a nation abandons its only source of inspiration and comfort! That is precisely what the Israelites had done.

Sometimes preachers and others refer to the prophet Jeremiah as "the weeping prophet." It is generally believed that Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, although there is no definite way of proving it. But we should have no difficulty deciding whether the expression, "weeping prophet," aptly applies to Jeremiah. The word "weeping" does not mean that Jeremiah was weak in condemning the sins of the Israelites. If you have read his prophecy, you know how strongly he condemned the immorality of his own people, including the sins of the prophets, of the priests and of the kings. But you also learn of his deep concern for the welfare of the nation. Please listen to one passage from the book of Jeremiah. "When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them who dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered" (Jer. 8:18-22)? I shall base our study today on the question, "Is there no balm in Gilead?"

One of my favorite songs has the title, "There Is a Balm in Gilead." We are not sure who wrote the song, but it was published in 1907 in "Work's Folk's Songs of the American Negro." Please listen to the words of this beautiful song. "Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work's in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. If you cannot sing like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul, then tell the love of Jesus, and say he died for all. There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul."

One of the great blessings of a true biblical relationship with God almighty is the comfort we receive from knowing God and being obedient to his will. The Old Testament strongly emphasized God's comfort for his people. Psalm 23 may be the best known passage dealing with comfort. David praised God for the blessings he had so graciously given his people. He then said: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Psa. 23:4). God implored Isaiah: "Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she had received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Isa. 40: 1-2). There is much more about comfort in the Old Testament, but let us turn to the New Testament's teaching on the topic.

All serious Bible students know the strong criticisms Paul directed at the church at Corinth. He hoped and prayed that his words would lead them to repentance. And that this exactly what occurred, as you can confirm by reading 2 Corinthians 7:7-10. Paul explained the comfort he had experienced when he learned of the changes in the lives of the Corinthian Christians. "Nevertheless God, who comforts those who are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more" (2 Cor. 7:6-7).

The word "comfort" is almost always a translation of the Greek verb parakaleo or the noun paraklesis. I mention these Greek words for a purpose. The verb is composed of two other Greek words, para, meaning beside, and kaleo, to call. The word literally means to call someone to your side for comfort and encouragement. The Apostle John uses one form of the word, parakletos (usually translated "comforter") of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,26, for example). Incidentally, the word can also be rendered "consolation." With this brief background on the word "comfort," I invite you to listen to these words from 2 Corinthians. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them who are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: for whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so you shall be also of the consolation" (2 Cor. 1:3-4, 6-7).

I have already indicated that John quotes Jesus as calling Holy Spirit the "comforter." Please listen to some of those passages. When Christ was preparing to return to the Father, he promised his disciples: "But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). "But when the Comforter has come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26). "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). Incidentally, the same Greek word is translated "advocate" in reference to Christ (1 John 2:1).

I have two questions regarding the Bible's application of the word "comforter" to the Holy Spirit. Is it significant that Jesus called the Holy Spirit the "Comforter?" I seriously doubt that any genuine Bible believer would doubt that. Our Lord knew the work the Holy Spirit would perform. One phase of the Spirit's work was comforting the apostles after Christ returned to the Father. I know you remember the apostles' reaction when they learned that Christ was going the leave them. The Apostle John quotes Jesus as saying to his apostles: "But now I go my way to him who sent me; and none of you asks, Where are you going? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your hearts" (John 16:5-6). So the Holy Spirit was not only to bring to the remembrance of the apostles what Jesus had taught them and guide them into all truth; he was also to bring comfort to their hearts.

We know the Holy Spirit supernaturally guided the apostles and provided comfort for them in their time of sorrow. But how does he provide comfort for us? I am fully aware that Pentecostals and other Charismatics claim to have the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, that is, they pretend that the Holy Spirit miraculously guides and comforts them. Please understand that I am not questioning the sincerity of those who make such claims, but there is no biblical basis for such views. Based on the teaching of scripture, the ones who claim supernatural guidance and comfort are either deceived or they are deceiving others. In most cases, they are simply imagining that the Holy Spirit speaks to them outside the word of God.

There is nothing secret about the means by which the Holy Spirit guides and comforts men today. The Bible completely furnishes us with all the guidance and comfort we need to get through this world of sin, sickness and sorrow. I am sure that one person receives comfort from one biblical passage and another person is comforted by a different passage. But no passage in the Bible has been of greater comfort to me than these familiar words. "Let not your hearts be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas says unto him, Lord, we do not know where you are going; and how can we know the way? Jesus says unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:1-6). In that same chapter, Jesus promised: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

When we lose our loved ones to death, these words from the Son of God enable us to handle our sorrows with peace and tranquility. At least, that has been my case. Many times since my Molly died, I have read these words to be able to live with her death and to continue the work of preaching the gospel. Just weeks before she died of cancer, we were in the hospital in Nashville. She sat on the side of the bed and said: "I do not know what is going to happen to me. But you have to continue with your work." Whenever I think of her words, I often shed tears, but I am able to carry on with the work of the Lord because I believe in the gospel promises of life beyond the grave. I also take great comfort in John's inspired and inspiring words from the book of Revelation. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21: 1-4).

I have raised this question before, but I believe I need to ask it again in the context of our lesson today. How do unbelievers handle the death of a child or of a spouse or of a friend? Dr. Corliss Lamont, a secular humanist, expressed the views of many humanists in his book, A Humanist Funeral Service (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1977). A few statements from Dr. Lamont's book will have to suffice today. "The Humanist ... rejects the idea of personal immortality and interprets death as the final end of the individual personality." When our loved ones and friends die, according to Dr. Lamont, the ties we have experienced with them are severed forever. "A new relationship of memory alone must be established" (p. 8). If this view were correct - and it definitely is not - then, to use Paul's words, Christians of all men would be miserable (1 Cor. 15:19).

Dr. Lamont listed a number of poems that are appropriate to read at the funeral of a humanist. Oddly enough, he recommended the reading of Philippians 4:8. Dr. Lamont also recommended reading three verses from Algernon Charles Swinburne's poem, "The Garden of Proserpine." Swinburne was a Victorian English poet who rejected Christianity. Please listen to these verses. "We are not sure of sorrow, and joy was never sure; Today will die tomorrow, time stoops to no man's lure. And love, grown faint and fretful, with lips but half regretful sighs, and with eyes forgetful weeps that no love endures. From too much love of living, from hope and fear set free, we thank with brief thanksgiving whatever gods may be that no life lives forever; that dead men rise up never; that even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea. Then star nor sun shall weaken, nor any change of light: nor sound of waters shaken, nor any sound or sight: Nor wintry leaves nor vernal, nor days nor things diurnal; only the sleep eternal in an eternal night" (p. 38).

Will you contrast the dismal views of men like Corliss Lamont and Algernon Charles Swinburne with those of genuine Bible believers in every age since our Lord returned to the Father? Paul told a young preacher: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1: 12). The tense of the verb "know" means I have come to know and I still know. I have complete assurance. Do you remember what the author of Hebrews wrote about Abraham? "He looked for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10). Many of the Gentiles in Paul's day "were without Christ." They were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." But when they obeyed the Lord, they were forgiven of their sins and given the hope of eternal life (Eph. 2: 12-13). The author of Hebrews calls "hope ... the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast" (Heb. 6:19). The hope Christians enjoy through the death and resurrection of our Lord is the balm of Gilead for all who love God and obey the gospel. We can say with complete confidence: "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul."

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334