Just the other day I saw an advertisement which was marketed
to women (and I think that women today have become very susceptible to this
marketing ploy in particular) and this ad was declaring that yes, women, you
can have it all. I’m not sure what they were selling, but I understood the
message they were conveying very well.
When I saw that ad I couldn’t help but think that Christians are
especially vulnerable to this type of thinking as well. The idea that somehow being a Christian
will bring about both spiritual and physical blessing in my life, and so I can
have the best of both worlds. I
can have the best of heaven, and the best of this world. Even as a pastor, I find myself falling
victim to this type of expectation.
But I am here to tell you today that while there is
definitely a physical as well as spiritual blessing that comes from being born
again, at the same time there is a
real cost to being a disciple of Christ. Paul said in Phil.3:7, that “whatever things were gain
to me, I have counted as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.”
He goes on to say in the next verse; “More than that, I
count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them
but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own
derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death; in order that I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead.”
Now of course Paul was the same as Saul who we looked last
week as we studied his conversion on the road to Damascus. His conversion meant that he left all
that he was as a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, his position of authority
in Judaism and his station in Jewish society. Once he realized who it was he was persecuting, none other
than the Messiah, the Son of God, he gladly left it all to serve Christ.
The church that Saul had been persecuting had counted the
cost of being disciples as well.
The whole reason that they ended up in Damascus and Lydda and Joppa and
such places was because Saul had hunted them like animals. Many of them had left their jobs, their
homes, and their families and fled to these cities to escape the persecution
which had started in Jerusalem, and then continued to follow them to other
regions. It’s important to realize
that the early church counted the cost of following Christ and many paid dearly
for that decision.
But an unusual thing happened as a result of Saul being
converted. Suddenly, the major
enemy of the church had been converted to it’s greatest ally. Saul had been the authority of the
Sanhedrin who had been hunting these early converts. So when he became a Christian, there suddenly was a peace
that enveloped the church from a lack of organized persecution.
And there is another thing which is helpful to realize. The emperor of Rome at that time was a
horrible ruler by the name of Caligula.
Right about the same time that Saul was converted, Caligula decided that
he would put his statue in the temple at Jerusalem. After all, the Romans believed that the emperor was to be
worshipped as deity. And so he
decided to set up his statue in the Jewish temple which would have effectively desecrated
the temple. To make sure this
happened, he sent an army to Jerusalem with orders to kill or enslave anyone
that opposed his orders.
Ultimately, Caligula did not achieve his goal of erecting
his statue in the temple. Josephus
records that Herod was able to dissuade Caligula from going through with that
plan. But not without throwing all
of Judaism into an uproar. If his
plan had gone through he whole system of Judaism would have been desecrated,
and consequently the power base of the Sanhedrin and the priesthood would have
been overthrown. And so there was
quite some time there when the Jewish religious leaders were too busy with Rome
to worry about the Christians. So
there ensued a period of peace in which the church now found itself after much
persecution.
Now that is the context which we come to in our text today. And we are going to be looking particularly at vs. 31 which
describes what the church did during this time of peace. The remainder of the chapter which we
read is really just illustrations of what is described in vs.31. But to start with, I want to spend some
time looking at this very important text in vs. 31, and to help us understand
it better, I am going to read it again, but this time using the NKJV which I
think employs some better word choices.
“Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and
Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in
the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.” This verse is really a key verse in all
of Acts that we have studied thus far.
It is like a vantage point on a mountain path where you are able to stop
and rest for a while and survey
the vista that falls away behind you. And as such, it sets forth some important doctrine in
regards to the church that we need to look closely at if we are going to
replicate the pattern of the first church of the apostles. It really gives us a simple outline for
success in the church, not according to what society might deem success, but
according to the Lord’s template for success as evidenced by the first church.
Someone was asking me the other day if I had other pastors
that I could talk to and fellowship with.
And I told him that though I really desired such fellowship, I rarely am
able to enjoy it, because I do not share many of the accoutrements of what is
considered to constitute church today.
I don’t have a permanent building. I don’t have any paid staff. And there are several other things that
seem to be lacking from what is considered “church” that seem to set me apart
from other pastors which serve to inhibit developing that kind of fellowship.
But I find myself encouraged in our study of Acts as we look
at the churches that are pictured there, because I feel that our church more
closely resembles their pattern than what is commonly considered church
today. These early churches met
outside, or in homes. They had
little external signs of organization, and yet according to scripture, they
were successful, vital, living temples of God that operated in the power of the
Spirit. And so I find comfort in
that association.
So we’re going to see in this verse an outline of God’s plan
for a successful church. First of
all, notice that the verse starts out by saying that they enjoyed peace. I’ve already explained how that
happened on a physical level, by the conversion of Saul and the aggression of
Rome against the temple. When Saul
is taken off the scene there is no one hunting the church anymore. They are able to meet openly in
relative peace. And since the Jews
are busy defending their own religion against the Romans, the church is able to
continue to enjoy that peace for some time.
But there is another type of peace that needs to be
understood that is more important than any sort of physical rest or the
cessation of hostilities. And that
is the peace that can be had with God.
Without knowing Christ, you cannot have peace with God. Last week I talked about Saul being an
enemy of the church, and by extension an enemy of God, and how we all as well
are considered enemies of God in our natural condition. But conversion means that we are made
friends of God. Just like Saul was
an enemy of God until he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and then he
became a friend of the church and a son of God, so we that were once considered
enemies now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom. 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What that is talking about is that
Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.
He took on Himself the penalty that was due us, and died in our place,
that we might be made righteous through His blood. We are justified by faith in what Christ did for us on the
cross. This is what conversion
means. This is what it means to be
born again. To call upon the name
of the Lord Jesus for the remission of your sins, and by faith in Him, as the
Son of God, receiving the adoption
as sons of God as a free gift.
When this happens in your life you automatically are born
into the church. You don’t have to
be baptized or circumcised or be voted in or anything but be born again and you
become part of Christ’s body.
Baptism does follow salvation, but each in it’s order. We are justified by faith alone and are
made part of Christ’s church by birth.
So as a result of salvation there is a peace that passes all
understanding. There is peace with
God that is better than world peace.
There is a peace with God that is better than the absence of wars. In fact, as a Christian, even in
persecution, even in wartime, we can be at peace because we know that we belong
to God, and God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, and has
promised us resurrection from the dead into eternal life with Him.
But oftentimes physical peace can be a mixed blessing. Times
of peace tend to be dangerous to the church. It is easy at those times to be lulled into a sense of
complacency. We have to guard against abusing whatever peace God gives by
idleness or serving ourselves, but use that time wisely to do the work of the
kingdom. I’m afraid that the
relative time of peace that the church has enjoyed in America has only served
to make it indolent and lazy, so that we are glutted on the fatness of the
church to our ruin, rather than using that time to be employed in service to
it.
But not so in the first churches. They were industrious in this time of peace, so that it
became a productive time for the church, rather than a time where they thought
they might relax now that hostilities were ended. You know, I have nothing against vacations or taking time
for a sabbatical. It can be very
beneficial. However, I am dismayed
to see Christians often only become zealous for the things of God when they are
in a crisis. And then as soon as
the heat lets up, they start to drift away. They use that time of peace to serve themselves and
basically reward themselves, often at the expense of the church or the things
of God. Consequently, a lot of
Christians live in a see saw state, going from crisis to crisis, interspersed
with periods of self indulgence and never grow into maturity and bear fruit.
So the first characteristic of these successful churches was
that they used this time of peace for the good of the kingdom. They showed their love for God and
their gratitude for His providence by responding in this time of peace with
greater industriousness for the things of God.
The second characteristic is described in the next phrase;
being edified. Edified is a Bible
word. And some think that we
should avoid Bible words. I don’t
subscribe to that view, obviously.
If God said it, I think we should learn what it means and use it. But
simply put, edified means to build up. The church was built up. It was strengthened, it matured. It grew up, if you will. Man, if there was ever a day when the
church needs to grow up, it is this day and age.
We’re going to look more fully at Ephesians 4 in a moment,
but for now look at vs.14. “As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are
to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
Edification then comes as a result of learning sound
doctrine so that we are not deceived by every false doctrine, but grow up into
maturity in Christ. Now how
is that maturity as a result of sound doctrine accomplished in a practical
way? Back up in Eph. 4 to vs. 11
and we see how Christ has gifted his church with pastors/teachers who will
teach the church, equipping them for service. Eph. 4:11-13 “And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors
and teachers, for the equipping of
the saints for the work of service, to the building up/edification of the body
of Christ; until we all attain to
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature
man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
The gifts Christ has given to edify the church are first of
all a firm foundation in the apostle’s doctrine. This is nothing less than the scriptures of the New
Testament. The apostles were given
the words of Christ and wrote them down through the agency of the Holy Spirit
for our edification. You cannot be
built up in your faith without a firm foundation of the Word of God. Our faith is not founded upon
experiences or feelings, but on the promises written in Christ’s blood.
And then Christ gave to the church pastors/teachers, that’s
really one office, not two, who teach the word to the church in order to equip
them to do what? The work of
service, for the edification of the body of Christ. Folks, one of the faults with the modern church today is the
attitude of consumerism that pervades it’s congregations. The attitude that somehow there is this
great divide between the clergy and the congregation. And so the congregation just shows up, gets a spoonful of
something resembling baby food stuck in their upturned mouths and then off they
go back to the world for another 6 ½ days. But that is not the way God designed the church. Peter says in 1Pet. 2:5 that God deigned the church to be
constituted by members who are “living stones, are being built up as a
spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The work of ministry is to be performed by the saints in the church
So edification then results in mature Christians who are
equipped through sound doctrine and teaching so that they might be the
instruments by which God builds the church, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices. They are the church,
not just going to church.
And how is this done, practically speaking? Well, as you are taught the word of
God, you then walk the word of God.
To walk means to live it out.
And that is the next point of our text; “walking in the fear of the
Lord.” I’ve mentioned the fear of
the Lord in a lot of sermons lately.
But what I want to make sure is not missed is the word “walking.” It means to live out in day to day life
what you have been taught. I
believe this is the greatest disconnect between the church and the watching
world today. The church is far too
often rightly accused by the world of being hypocrites. We claim the power of God to deliver,
and yet we live as if we are still in captivity to sin. We claim that Jesus is able to save,
and yet we seem powerless to be able to live godly lives. The fact is, I cannot believe that many
people who profess to be Christians are indeed born again. They obviously have not died to the old
man, to be raised to new life. That
is how the scripture defines being born again. But some seem to have not died to anything. But like the example I made at the
beginning, they think that Christianity is a means of great gain, that they can
gain the world and gain heaven as well.
But that is not the doctrine of Christ who said, “take up your cross and
follow Me.” We must die to sin, if
we are to live with Christ. We
must repent of our sin and call upon God to remake us, to give us a new heart,
and new desires. When that
happens, old things will then pass away, and all things become new.
We must walk in the fear of the Lord. If I am a child of God and walk
contrary to His commands, then I must expect that He will chasten me. Heb
12:6-8 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON
WHOM HE RECEIVES. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as
with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if
you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are
illegitimate children and not sons.”
But we aren’t supposed to remain children, remember? We are to grow up into maturity, after
the example of Christ. So then
what do we do? We do like Christ,
we do all things to please the Father.
We do His will. We don’t do
anything that He would be displeased with. As mature Christians, our fear of the Lord is not of
being punished, but of disappointing Him, or displeasing Him, or bringing shame
upon His name. And that becomes
our motivation.
When I was a child I feared the paddle of my dad when I did
wrong. But when I became older I
feared the shame that I might bring upon him. So it is with God, I love Him, and I know He loves me, and
yet I reverence Him so much that I dare do nothing to displease Him or bring
shame upon His name.
I’m afraid the church today in many circles cares nothing
about pleasing the Lord. The
consumer mentality is all about the Lord pleasing me, and pleasing myself. I’m not suggesting that we all go join
a monastery and wear long robes and take vows of silence. On the contrary, I am suggesting that
we all walk in this world circumspectly, reverently, living holy lives that
will be a testimony to the watching world and not bring shame upon the cause of
Christ.
And we do that by the power of the Holy Spirit. That brings
us to the next phrase in our text, “and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.”
Walking in or by the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Comfort may give the wrong idea, it is not speaking of
cushions, but the prodding or encouragement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit urges us on. Comfort is
translated from the Greek word paraklēsis, which means to come alongside. As we are taught the word and apply the
word in the fear of the Lord, then the Holy Spirit comes alongside of us to
help us, to encourage us, convict us, prod us, as He sees fit.
We have comfort in the Holy Spirit because we know that we
have the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do whatever God tells us to
do. That is the way we are able to
walk in the fear of the Lord. We
can walk according to God’s commands because He has given us the Helper, to
strengthen us, to empower us, and equip us with the gifts of the Spirit. That is our comfort, our encouragement,
that whatever God has called us to do, He will empower us to do if we but yield
to Him to walk in the power of the Spirit. It’s not talking about some mystical euphoric or
ecstatic feeling that may come and go, but it’s talking about the steady help
of the Holy Spirit as we yield to His urging, to do whatever it is that God
desires us to do.
Now when we are at peace with God, employing ourselves in
that peace to be about the things of God, when we are edified by the teaching
of the word of God, when we are walking in the fear of the Lord and in the
comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, then the church will be multiplied. The
last point of our text; multiplied. This is the pattern for church growth. It is not necessarily in some program,
or some church ministry, but it is one person at a time becoming built up, and
living out what they believe through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that
testimony multiplying to bring about the conversion of another person. I’ve said it many times before in
various ways, but the testimony of a transformed life is the greatest witness
of the gospel of all.
We are testaments to His grace. This is the answer to the rhetorical question I asked last
week, which was why does God choose frail and failing men to be His
ministers? Why not let angels
write upon the sky in flaming letters the merits of His gospel? And the answer is that angels have never
been redeemed. We have known the
depths of depravity, having been enslaved to sin, and now we have been
supernaturally exalted to become sons of God by the graciousness of God and the
atonement of Jesus Christ. That
transformation is what makes us much better witnesses of His grace than angels
could ever be. If God can save a
wretch like me and make me a minister of His kingdom, then there is hope for
anyone.
Now then in closing I will just mention the two miracles
that the author Luke includes in this passage by way of illustration of this
power of a transformed life. In
the first example, a man laid paralyzed for eight years in his bed. And the Apostle Peter comes by him and
calls out to him, “’Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.’
Immediately he got up. And
all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.”
This miracle simply illustrates what we have been
discussing. The power of God to
make a man that could not walk, walk once again, became the testimony of a
transformed life that turned everyone who lived in the towns of Lydda and
Sharon to the Lord. Don’t get so
enamored at the thought of a miracle that you miss the greater miracle
represented here. God is able to
make Christians to walk in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort and strength
of the Holy Spirit, so that He might cause many people to come to the
Lord. That is the power of a
transformed life. The miracle of
my salvation and your salvation is to make us walk in newness of life, and
those who see that transformation as old things pass away and all things become
new are encouraged to come to Christ themselves.
And the second miracle illustrates pretty much the same
thing. Peter is called to the
house of a believing woman that had died.
And Peter goes there, perhaps not knowing how God might use him, but
being willing to be used, he was available. Such an important principle by the way. That we might just be available and
show up when we are called. Don’t let the devil convince you that you have
nothing to offer to the service of the church. If God can use 2 fishes to feed 5000 then He can use you in
His service if you will just make yourself available.
So after Peter arrived, he put everyone out of the room, and
prayed, and said, “Tabitha arise.”
And she arose and Peter presented her alive. Once again a mighty miracle authenticating the doctrine of
the apostles. But I think the
point that Luke is making again is the power of God to transform a life. To take what is dead and make it
alive. That is what happens in
conversion, is it not? We who were
dead in our trespasses and sins have been made alive unto Christ. And what is the result of this
conversion? The testimony of this
woman’s new life caused many to believe in the Lord.
You may say, well do we have the power to raise the dead or
heal people? No, and neither did
Peter. God has the power to heal
and raise the dead. But we need to
realize that Peter was not sent to every home in Israel where someone
died. God used this miracle to
illustrate the power of God to save. Which is the greater miracle? To raise a person to life again only to have them die once
more in a few years time, or to raise a person to life again so that they may
never die? I would say the greater
miracle is the miracle of salvation.
And that miracle is available for you today if you have never received
it. Simply call out to God in
repentance and faith in Christ that you might be born again. Whoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
And then Christian, if you have experienced that miracle of
salvation, you’ve been transformed from death to life, then you need to walk in
the fear of the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit that you might multiply
that salvation to others. You do that by submitting yourself to
the preaching of the word by a Bible teaching pastor, and be edified, built up
in maturity, doing the your work of service as a part of the local body,
walking in the fear of the Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in so
doing make disciples. Multiply
yourself over and over again, by the testimony of the supernatural
transformation of your life.
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