Turning the world upside down - pt. 9

[PreacherE]

They walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost

Acts 9:31

'Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.'

In Acts 9 we see that the church is really beginning to suffer and face persecution for their faith. Beginning with Stephen in chapter 7 we are now seeing people martyred for following Christ. The persecution has become so great that the church has actually scattered away from Jerusalem. Saul is the main one responsible for much of the persecution at this time but we see in this chapter a wonderful change which takes place in his life. While on his way to Damascus to arrest some Christians, he meets the Lord and is converted to the very faith he has been persecuting. After some time Saul comes to Jerusalem and is brought before the apostles by Barnabas to tell them of his conversion. In our text verse we see that because of this the churches had some rest throughout the area. With Saul now on their side they did not have to worry about being persecuted to death as much.

We also see that the churches were now walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Because of these two things we see at the very end of the verse that the churches were multiplied. The early church had a healthy fear of the Lord. This does not mean that they were afraid of Him the way we might fear something today. Rather, they understood that God was the Creator of the universe and that it was only by His power that everything was allowed to exist. They realized it was by the grace and mercy of God that they were given a way of salvation when they did not deserve it. The early church had a very deep reverence for God which permeated their worship and service to Him. They also walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Many in the church at this time had suffered, and even did, for choosing to serve the Lord. They did not have anything guaranteeing their freedom and right to worship the way they wanted to. They did not have a court system that could help defend them and punish their persecutors. They also did not have the majority of the conveniences which we have today. They lived in a time where the comfort of the Holy Ghost was the only comfort they could get. These two things are part of what helped the early church to grow the way it did.

1. They walked in the fear of the Lord.

As we mentioned during our introduction the early church had a healthy fear of the Lord. Most Christians today do not have any fear of the Lord in their lives. This is evident in the way they treat God. Many people think of God as nothing more than a puppet. Whenever they need Him or want something from him they believe all they have to do is pull the right strings and God will do their bidding. To these people God is nothing more than a magic genie who's sole purpose is to grant their every request. Instead of being God's servants they treat Him as their servant/slave.

We can also see how much fear of the Lord is in a person's life by how they treat the man of God who stand up to preach the message of God. Those who have a fear of God will respect the man of God and the message he preaches. This is not to say we should just blindly follow any preacher, but we should check each message to see that it lines up with Scripture. Many "Christians," however, just want to flock after those preachers who will preach soft, easy, feel good messages that do not really condemn anyone or anything (i.e. Graham, Osteen, Warren, etc...). They do not want to hear a man of God who will get up and preach the Word of God because then they might just get some fear of God on their lives.

We need to have a healthy respect, reverence, and, yes, fear of God in our lives. When we have a proper fear of the Lord in our lives then it will drive us to want to live for him and to follow His Word more closely. As we walk in the fear of the Lord it will cause us to live closer to Him in our daily lives. Those who do not walk in the fear of the Lord will not have a true desire to live their lives for Him.

2. They walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.

The second things we see in our text verse is that the early church walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. The church had just suffered a time of intense persecution under the hands of Saul. While Saul was no longer persecuting the church, the effects of that persecution still lingered. Many Christians had no doubt lost their lives while others were still imprisoned. Also, the early church had to deal with the threat of more persecution, not only from the Jews but also from the Roman government. They lived in a time where it was life-threatening to be a Christian. The only comfort they had was the Holy Ghost living within them.

Many Christians today, especially in America, have no idea what it is to experience this level of persecution. They do not have to walk in the comfort of the Holy Ghost because they have never really experienced any suffering. They put their trust in material wealth and the things of this world. It would do America good spiritually to go through another Depression. Then Christians would have to turn to the Lord for comfort. Who knows but that might would lead to a revival which could sweep across this nation turning it back to its Christian heritage. We need to put our trust in God and turn to Him for comfort instead of trying to find it in the fleeting things of this world.

In Christ,

PreacherE