Matthew 28:20b - Comfort in Jesus!

Mat.28:20b; Comfort in Jesus!

I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Mat 28:20b (KJV)

I am with you alway. At first thought it seems strange that Jesus should
make such an announcement as this when He was about to ascend to heaven and
be parted, bodily, from His disciples until the day of His return in power
and glory. However, by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would be
closer to believers throughout the earth than would be possible had He
remained bodily present (see John 16:7). The Scriptures make the presence of
Christ real to every humble believer. Through the gift and guidance of the
Holy Spirit, every disciple of the Master may find fellowship with Christ as
did the disciples of old. [SDA Commentary]

Jesus is as surely with us now as he was with the disciples at the lake,
when they saw coals of fire, and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally,
but still in real truth, Jesus is with us. Of all the things in the world
that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus!
A glimpse of him so overcomes us, that we are ready to say, "Turn away thine
eyes from me, for they have overcome me." Even the smell of the aloes, and
the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from his perfumed garments, causes the
sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment's leaning of
the head upon that gracious bosom, and a reception of his divine love into
our poor cold hearts, and we are cold no longer, but glow like seraphs,
equal to every labour, and capable of every suffering. If we know that Jesus
is with us, every power will be developed, and every grace will be
strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord's service with
heart, and soul, and strength; therefore is the presence of Christ to be
desired above all things. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in
conformity to him. Bring yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union
with Christ's desires, and motives, and plans of action, and you are likely
to be favoured with his company. Remember his presence may be had. His
promise is as true as ever. He delights to be with us. If he doth not come,
it is because we hinder him by our indifference. He will reveal himself to
our earnest prayers, and graciously suffer himself to be detained by our
entreaties, and by our tears, for these are the golden chains which bind
Jesus to his people. [Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon]

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is
well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my
soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures,
but set thine heart upon him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not
thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy
hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall
stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the
only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put
thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in
his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy in his
presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember
that all the flowers in the world's garden fade by turns, and the day cometh
when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death's black
extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight
when the candle is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all
thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave thee; trust
thyself with him who will go with thee through the black and surging current
of death's stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and
make thee sit with him in heavenly places for ever. Go, sorrowing son of
affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a
brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken from thee,
who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave him, even
"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "Lo, I am with
you alway," is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.
[Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon]