John 14:18-19 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.… I. CONSISTS IN MORAL SEPARATION FROM GOD. 1. Not local, for God is everywhere, and no spirit can flee from His presence. 2. Not physical; for in God we live and move, etc. 3. But, morally, the unregenerate are ever distant from Him — alienated in sympathy, purpose and pursuit: "without God." The ungodly world is a world of orphans, without a father's fellowship and guidance. II. IS AN EVIL OF STUPENDOUS MAGNITUDE. 1. Orphanism, so far as human parentage is concerned, is a calamity, but this is a crime. The soul has broken away from its Father, not its Father from it. 2. Orphanism in the one case may have its loss supplied, but not in the other. Thank God, society in this age has loving hearts, and good homes for orphans. But nothing on earth can take the place of God in relation to a soul: such a soul is benighted, perishing, lost. III. IS REMOVED BY THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST. He brings the soul into a loving, blessed fellowship with God. The deep cry of humanity is the cry of an orphan for the Father. The response is the advent of Christ. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. |
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