The Church God Blesses with Peace
Acts.9:31
Introduction: Recap
- 1, Jesus Preps His Disciples 4 their Spirit-filled Witness
- 2, The Spirit Comes; Peter preaches, Church Grows-> 3000+
- 3. Lame man: healed; Pete & John bear Witness to Jesus
- 4, Peter/John are Arrested, Tried, Warned, & Released
- 5-6, There is Opposition fr within:
- Ananias & Sapphira lie to God/Apostles,
- The Greek Widows are overlooked,
- The Apostles risk being Overworked, but…
- Wisdom prevails & Deacons R appointed & Church grows!
- 7, Steph. is tried, then martyred for His Witness to Christ
- 8, Saul leads 1st Persecution against the Church.
- The Disciples is scattered while Apostles remain
- Samaria is evangelised by Philip,
- Simon-false-convert is rebuked
- Ethiopian Eunuch is saved & the gospel goes to Africa
- 9, God deals with Saul’s Persecution…. How?
- By Jesus meeting him on Damascus Rd.
- He saves Saul & calls him to be his Suff-Serv/Apostle
- So, 1st persecution ends & in 9:31, we read:
- So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria 1enjoyed peace, 2being built up; and 3going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it 4continued to increase.
The state of the church is enjoying, having & experiencing: Peace
- God chose for this time period to bless His church with Peace for a period of months, perhaps even years,
- There’s peace being enjoyed within the entire global church.
- The statement of our text sets an example for us, for what we can do to have/enjoy Peace, the absence of disputes-divisions
- We certainly won’t have peace on the level of the entire church
- But, it is possible within each local church.
- 1st, we must recognise: Peace within: church is a gift of God
- God blesses His church with Peace
- 2nd, we must recognise peace within: church happen as a co-operative work involving both God & church membership.
- It’s the result of God’s work in us, both individually & corporately… and, our individual lives lived in response to God.
- I want us to see from this text, and a collection of others…
- The State of this Church at Peace:
- 1st) Its Being Built-up by God
- 2nd) Its Going-on in the Fear of the Lord
- 3rd) Its Going-on in the Comfort of the Holy Spirit
- 4th) Its Being Increased by God – wont consider 4 time
- I want us to see, and be challenged to do our part to Contribute to Peace within the church.
First Pt. Notice: They were Being Built-up by God
- {read again 9:31}
- The Peace they enjoyed was in: circumstances of being built-up
- What does it mean that they were being built up
- The word for “built-up” is elsewhere translated as:
- It means to be built (as in a house being constructed)
- to be strengthened, encouraged, developed.
- Notice: verb: “being built-up” is in: passive form, meaning that the church was being built-up by someone from outside of it.
- It reminds us of what we considered last week, that while we may do the work of ministry, it is God that builds-up
- 3:6, Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God caused growth
- But notice: God did not cause growth without Paul’s planting, nor Apollos’ watering, all three are involved…
- So, when we look thru the NT we can see that the building-up of the church is a co-operative effort….
- God uses… He works thru each/all of us, to build-up his church.
- Let’s see what the scriptures say about it:
- In Romans 14:19, in the context of practices, where what one eats or drinks, may cause another to stumble, Paul urges us as Believers, to “…pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”
- So, our attitude towards one another, must be that of building each other up, not carelessly stumbling/tearing each. oth. Down
- It’s to put aside one’s own preferences and desires, for the sake of the other.
- Building-up begins with our attitude toward each other.
- In 8:1, Paul says that knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies – it’s the same word, edifies = builds-up
- Paul is describing our motive in building each other up: Love.
- Love that is sacrificial,
- Love that puts the others first, not ourselves, not our agenda.
- In fact as we look at other texts, this one element of the motive of Love is absolutely crucial, for Paul says in:
- 1 Cor.13:1–2 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
- But Building each other up in our faith also involves a specific actions/practices in addition to the those attitudes & motives.
- Notice building-up the church req. both builders & materials
- Paul also says in Ephesians 4:11, And He (Christ) gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…
- Why did our Lord Jesus Christ do that? 12 “…for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…”
- Preachers/Teachers/Pastors/Saints = are all God’s Builders
- Christ gave those ministry gifts, for the purpose of building-up, edifying the Body of Christ, the local church.
- 14, Paul writes, comparing speaking in tongues to preaching & says, in vs.3 the “…one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
- Prophesying or Preaching is not merely
- to inform us or
- to leave us in awe of the preacher’s Oratory Skills…
- Ministry is to build-up, to exhort-encourage, and to console…
- Sitting under the preaching of God’s word, must never become like going to a theatre production…
- we enjoy the play,
- we’re moved by the music,
- we approve of the props, costumes and sets, and yet
- we leave utterly un
- In the old days, church-goers would leave asking each other
- How did you get on, under the sermon… i.e….
- How did you/your soul fair under: preaching of Word
- What effect has the sermon had on you, and your life?
- Today we ask: Did you like sermon, Did you like the preaching?
- Perhaps, if preachers were less concerned with being liked, and more concerned with being sharpened tools in God’s hands, faithfully proclaiming what God would have us to say, we would see more building-up in the churches…. Or maybe Im a radical!
- Preaching the Word of God is to build-up, to exhort, to encourage, to console, to stir-up each other:
- to love God and love each other,
- to be spotless and blameless.
- to live in godly conduct & holiness,
- As 4:12 says: to equip us-all for: work of ministry…
- So Christ gave pastors, elders, teachers to equip church for work. of ministry, which is to build-up the church to maturity
- 9:31, The Church was enjoying peace as a gift from God, and was being built-up, by God who causes growth, as the preachers, teachers & elders taught God’s word…
- Acts 2:42, they devoted themselves to apostle’s doctrine,
- And, I have no doubt in my mind, that they functioned similar to Jewish Synagogues, which included expositional preaching of the OT texts.
- So, How is it, that God Builds-up of the church thru the ministry of the word?
- When the Spirit of God compels the man of God, to take in hand the Word of God and, in love for God and His people, with a desiring to build-up the Church, that man proclaims to the People of God: “thus says the Lord our God….” – Then God is building up His Church….
- And, How is it that being built-up contributes to Peace?
- God Builds-Up His Church thru the Ministry of the Word
- Which clarifies & distinguishes truth from error, and…
- Which prescribes correct practice for church/believer
- These things happen when the ministry of the Word is received and lived-out in the fear of the Lord & the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Second Point: They were Going-on in the Comfort of God
- Apologies, I’m going to look at these out of textual order
- Read again: Acts 9:31,
- Notice: ‘going-on’, its means living, walking, conducting one’s life
- They were living, walking, going-on in the New Life in Christ
- So, How were they… How do we do that?
2Corinthians.5:7 , Paul says “for we walk by faith, not by sight”
- The New Life in Christ is lived/going-on by Faith, Trusting always in God, for everything…
- We hear the ministry of the Word and we combine what we hear with faith, and we obey it at the same time trusting God for the strength to do so, trusting God to keep His Promises…
Galatians.5:16, Paul commands us to:
- “walk by the Spirit, & you’ll not carry out: desire of the flesh”
- We’ll talk more about what this means in just a few moments.
Eph.5:2, Paul again says that we’re to
- “walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
- we are to live, to go on, with that same motive of love for one another, that Christ had
- Paul says ‘just as’ meaning in the same way that Christ loved us, being willing to, and actually giving Himself up for us, as an offering to God….
Eph.5:15, we’re 2B careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise
- And of course we all know the scripture in Psalm 111:10, that teaches us that the beginning of the wisdom is the Fear of the Lord – and we’ll look at that in detail as we close.
- Notice, Acts.9:31 they were going-on in the Comfort of the Holy Spirit
- That word comfort is not so much the idea of relief from sorrow or pain, but rather it contains the ideas of The Spirit’s
- Encouragement and support
- Of His Help and Exhortation and Consolation
- Not too long ago I saw words to this effect:
- “I can go for miles and miles more, through difficulty and trouble, on just a few words of Encouragement”
- And the Spirit’s ministry of comfort-encouragement is not to merely stand beside us, saying:
- “you can do it, yes you can, yes you can!”
- The ministry of the H. Spirit is to remain, abide within us and say, “I can do it thru you, so Yes, we can do it together”
- How great and How kind is our God to us, that we have – indwelling each of us – the Spirit of the Living God.
- Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the very beginning of Acts repeated to His 11 Apostles, His great promise of: indwelling Holy Spirit.
- In John’s gospel Jesus gave us details of just how the Holy Spirit would minister that comfort, encouragement & support
- Beloved, if you’re feeling the discouragement… the weight of walking-living, going on as one of Christ’s disciples…
- Then listen to How the Holy Spirit works to encourage you…
- Listen to How we can all Go-On in the Comfort of the H.Spirit
- John 14:16, Jesus promised: “…another Helper, that He may be with you forever; and in John 16:7, he said: I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
- What an Encouragement, to know that it is to our advantage, not the Christ remain, but that God’s Holy Spirit would come; He will never leave us, nor forsake us, there will never come a moment that He will depart, leaving us to our devices & enabling
- He is the fulfilment of Jesus promise to never leave-forsake
- Bros & Sis, we can go-on living-walking this Christian Life for Christ is with us, in the person of His Holy Spirit.
- John 14:26, Jesus said that same “Holy Spirit… will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
- In John 16:13 Jesus said: “He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; & He will disclose to you what is to come.
- What an Encouragement to know that He indwells each of us, forever to teach us, to remind us of Jesus’ words, to guide us into all truth, the truth that comes from the Father and Son
- Discouragement often comes from misunderstanding our situation, and our circumstances,
- It comes from forgetting the Great truths of scripture,
- It comes from forgetting the Promises of scripture…
- But the Spirit of God abides within, to encourage, to exhort, to console us with the truths that shift out focus
- from self to God…
- from our circumstances to God who is Sover’n over them
- from worldly distractions to Godly occupations…
- from seeing thru our own eyes and understanding…
- to seeing our circumstances thru God’s eyes
- The Spirit of God ministers that comfort by exhorting us
- to go on living the New Life in Christ
- He abides within to comfort us, to encourage, to support, to exhort us, to rebuke us, to lead us, to empower us….
But, Beloved are we listening to Him?
- How do we listen to the Spirit of God?
- We cry out to Him, in prayer, to speak to us
- as we sit under the preaching of God’s Word
- as we open God’s Word to read-study-meditate
- as we spend time in prayer with God.
- Going on in the comfort of the Holy Spirit requires Listening to His Ministry of His Word to our own hearts
- How does going-on in the comfort of the Holy Spirit contribute to Peace in the Church?
- When we are all listening to the Spirit’s ministry of the Word to our own hearts, and responding in obedience & faith, we will be drawn together into that Unity of the Spirit, in the bond of Peace….
Third Point: Notice They were Going-on in the Fear of the Lord
- Luke says these Christians, in the Churches who were enjoying peace, were “going on in the Fear of the Lord”
- Why should we live in the Fear of the Lord?
- Scripture commands us to live, to go-on in the Fear of the Lord
- Solomon, wisest man who ever lived, at the end of a somewhat wasted life, he wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “…when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
- Jesus, H-self said: Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
- But living in Fear of God comes w/ promises of Great Blessing:
- Psalm 25:12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
- Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You…”
- What great blessing to know the blessing of God’s instruction and great goodness to those who fear the Lord!
- So, then, How do we: Go-on in the Fear of the Lord
- Walking in the Fear of the Lord involves, 3 ‘A’s
- 1) Living with a reverential Awe of God’s Person
- 2) Living in continual Amazement at God’s Works
- 3) Living in Submission to God’s Authority
- So going-on, as these Christians were, is not to live in a slavish fear… or dread… the fear of pain-punishment…
- but rather, it’s like small a child who lives in loving, hopeful, respectful fear of their father…. {Perhaps like in 1950s family}
- The child see their Father
- as tall & strong, kind & gentle,
- able to do almost anything,
- disciplining when necessary,
- the child fears doing anything that will brings their father’s anger and his discipline against them,
- that’s the type of “Fear” in Fearing the Lord
So, Let’s take the 3 A’s again – consider them in relation to Building-up
- As God’s word, is ministered by God’s man, the whole church is brought to see, thru the eyes of faith, who: Person of God is
- We see the Glory of God’s Unchanging Omnipotence and His Goodness, and His Holiness, and…
- It produces in us an Awe of God… An Awe for God
- That Awe of God will change how we think & speak & behave
- That Awe of God will draws fr our hearts worship & obedience
- To live, going-on in the fear of the Lord is to live in continual Awe of God’s Person, simply being wowed by who He is
- Again, as God’s Word is ministered, the whole church is Built-up & brought to see & understand the Works of God
- We see: the Glory of God’s Creative Master-craftsmanship
- His Work of Providential Care over all His Creation
- His Work of Salvation, accomplished by Christ
- And we are brought to Speechless amazement
- That Amazement of God will changes how we think-act-speak
- And Becoz we’re in Amazement of God’s Salvation…
- we have a new desire/drive to know God,
- to sit at His feet and listen to Him,
- to sit in quiet prayer and commune with God…
- To go-on in the Fear of the Lord, is to live life, continually amazed at God’s Works, and in Awe of God’s person…
Once Again, as God’s man ministers God’s Word to God’s People,
- the church is brought to see the Authority of God over all.
- We see thru: eyes of faith, that God is Sovereign over all
- He is: Lord of Hosts; the Lord, Master & Owner of everything
- Seeing God’s Unassailable Authority, we’re brought to recognise that we’re either in respectful submission to Him,
- or… we’re in open rebellion against Him…
Listen, Beloved…
- Living in the Fear of the Lord, as these Christians were, is to live with a Massive View… an Immense Perspective of God
- We said last week, that one of the greatest problems facing the Church & Society is Biblical Illiteracy… Ignor. of Script.
- And that problem, feeds is an equally great problem
- So, Being Ignorant of the Bible, we simply don’t know…
- Who God is and What God has done.
- Being ignorant of who God is, and what He has done…
- We don’t… we cant truly understand Our-selves,
- Our-place, Our-responsibility, Our relationships
- I would suggest that one of consistent underlying causes of divisions & disputes, dissensions & troubles within local churches is the absence of going on in Fear of the Lord,
- That’s produced by ignorance of
- who God is, and what God has done.
- Being ignorant of the Bible, Our view of God is too Small
- To add to that, Our view of God is continually blinded by
- an overly high view of Ourselves,
- an unbalanced view of Our work-vocation
- a misplaced priority in Trivial pursuits….
Do we want to live the life that’s truly worth living,
- at the highest, greatest possible level of existence?
- We won’t find it in sports, or beauty, or education, or business, or entertainment,
- We will only find it, as we live, going on in the Fear of the Lord
If we would be such a people going-on in the Fear of the Lord,
- our View of God simply Must Increase!
- Our view of God must increase thru the preaching, teaching, thru one-on-one ministry of the Word thru which God will Build-Up His Church, and hopefully bring Peace….
Brothers and sisters, the church in Acts.9:31,
- enjoyed peace from God, it was a gift of God to them.
- The circumstances of that peace were
- that they were being built-up by God.
- They were going-on in the comfort of the Holy Spirit
- They were going-on in the fear of the Lord
- The result of those circumstances was that the church was being increased – God was causing it to grow.
Brother and Sisters in Christ…
- Be striving, in the power of Holy Spirit, to Build-up one another thru preaching, teaching sharing, texting, emailing of God’s Word to each other
- Be striving in the power of the Holy Spirit, to listen to His comforting, encouraging, exhorting ministry that you might be living, walking Going-on in the Comfort of the Holy Spirit
- Be striving in the power of the Holy Spirit, to live, to walk, the New Life in Christ, to be Going-on in the Fear of the Lord,
{Communion Meditation}
- As we come to remember Christ by partaking of Bread & Juice
- And you see that little piece of bread, and the cup of Juice…
Brother & Sister,
- Be in Awe of Who God is, in the Person of Christ.
- He who was eternally the Son of the Living God, without beginning or end, took on Human flesh and blood,
- …that He might become Man: truly Man -Truly God
- …that He might taste death for every one of us,
- on our behalf to reconcile us to God…
- Be in Amazement at the Works of God
- Christ, who created all things by His spoken Word
- Christ, who sustains all things by the Word of His Power
- Christ, who entered into His own creation, has achieved the greatest work of all… He has
- by His own shed blood,
- by His body given for us,
- by His Suffering, Death & Resurrection,
- He has saved us, to be His own people
- Be in Submission to His Authority over us…
- Christ, as our Lord & Saviour, called & commanded us
- To Believe on Him
- To Repent of Sin
- To Live in Spirit-filled Obedience
- To worship Him in Spirit & in Truth
- And To Remember Him….
