What to do in Days of Peace – Acts 9:31

What would our lives be like, if suddenly it became illegal once again to worship the Lord as Baptists?

This is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

There were days in American history when it was illegal to believe as we do today.

And in many countries around the world at this very moment the people of God are being persecuted.

Why couldn’t it happen once again, and to us?

Do you suppose that it was against the divine decree that the early churches were so severely persecuted?

It was sin on the part of Saul and the Jews, but it was also by the permissive will of the Lord.

God permitted the beatings, the arrests, the incarcerations and even the deaths.

What happened to Stephen was not a surprise to the Lord, and He certainly could have stopped or prevented it.

That may bother a lot of people, but it would be a lot more bothersome to think that God had in some way lost His omnipotence or even His deity in this situation.

But what do you suppose that the Lord wanted to accomplish in permitting that persecution?

Ultimately it was meant for the glorification of the Lord.

It might be impossible to outline in detail, but there were probably untold blessings to the people of God.

Yes, some of the saints of the Lord were hurt and some even died.

But these things are not necessarily as evil as a lot of people think.

Even the children of God mourn and sorrow over death even as others which have no hope.

Stephen brought great glory to the Lord through his death – even in his very painful death.

What did that persecution do?

In some ways it DEEPENED the saints who endured it.

Since they had no other place to turn, it brought them closer to the Lord.

They were forced to lean hard upon God, strengthening their faith.

And it probably deepened the bonds between the brethren.

Knowing that they could loose one of their fellow-church members at any time, it probably made them appreciate every hour that they could spend together.

Do we really appreciate our Christian brethren?

The persecution probably deepened the churches, and it PURIFIED them too.

Those who were not truly children of God, were not going to stand very close to this fire.

Each and every professing Christian was forced to re-evaluate his heart and his commitment.

Those who stood by the stuff and manned their battle stations did so because of conviction.

And those who lacked that conviction quickly said “adieu.”

So that persecution TOUGHENED the churches and their members.

As the trials of their faith continued, many of the saints grew in their resolve.

With more and more wisdom and savvy, they became more and more hardened against the onslaught of the enemy.

And we are told that the persecution played a role in the SPREADING of the gospel and those churches.

“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria.”

The persecution which reached it pinnacle under Saul, was ultimately a good thing for those churches.

Would it be a bad thing if the Lord chose to open the flood-gates and permit the wrath of man to be poured out against His churches here in America?

Would it awaken the saints from their lethargy?

Would it eliminate the dead wood and make people think twice about superficially joining with the Lord?

Would it make the children of God appreciate the opportunities that they have to fellowship and worship together?

Would it strengthen our faith?

But why should it require persecution to do these things?

Why can’t these things be true anyway, without the necessity of persecution?

Verse 31 describes a period when the eye of the hurricane passed over the churches of Israel and Samaria.

The horrific winds of persecution died down for a while

We have a summary here of a few months between the first organized persecution by the Jews and the Greco-Roman persecution that is described in chapter 12.

And this verse describes five things that the churches enjoyed during this time:

They had rest, edification, a different kind of fear, comfort and multiplication.

It was a period of rest.

The Greek word here is “eirene” ( i-ray’-nay ) and only once is it translated “rest.”

89 times it is translated “peace.”

Then had the churches peace throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria.

Notice that it doesn’t say that the saints had rest, although that was certainly true.

But if that was what the scripture said, it might lead to the wrong conclusion.

The saints of God, no matter what the world, the flesh and the devil might throw at them, have access to the soulish peace of God.

In John 14, the Lord Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

By the very way that He worded that, the Lord was saying that “in the world we shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

In another place he said that he had not come to bring peace, but rather a sword.

Clearly the peace that Christ was talking about was the spiritual and heartful variety.

There will be cycles of hatred and persecution against the people of God until the day that the Lord establishes His physical kingdom upon the earth.

But in the middle of that firestorm of Satanic and human wrath, the people of God have access to a peace which passeth understanding.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace” even in the midst of physical persecution.

“Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them;”

Not death, not disease, not disaster.

Or to paraphrase Romans 8: “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the [ peace ] of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But Acts 9:31 isn’t talking about spiritual rest, but rather ecclesiastical rest.

The persecution had slowed to a trickle for a while.

We aren’t given any specifics about the timetable involved in this.

We aren’t told exactly when it started, and when it ended.

We aren’t told how long the persecution had been raging.

But assuming that the word “then” means that the period of peace began right then, what does it tell us?

At first glance it might seem that the persecution ended with the salvation of the chief persecutor,

But if we take the word “then” to be literal, then the period of peace began about three years after the salvation of Saul.

Does that make any sense? Actually it makes a great deal of sense.

When Saul made his first appearance in Jerusalem, the disciples were very reluctant to receive him.

At first they were fearful and unsure about his conversion.

It was only with the help of Barnabas that he was eventually introduced to the saints there.

As we have seen a couple of times, Saul was there in the church at Jerusalem for less than two weeks before they put him on a ship bound for Tarsus.

It appears that it was because of the hatred of the Jews against Saul that he was whisked away.

But could it be that the presence of the former persecutor incited and stirred the old hatred of the rest of the Jews against all the Lord’s people?

Yes, the leadership of the synagogue of the Libertines and the Grecians wanted to kill Saul

And yes, the Sanhedrin wanted to silence him,

But might not the presence of Saul have stirred anew the hatred of the Jews against all the saints?

It appears that the churches had rest from the persecution,

Not only because of the salvation of Saul, but also because he was forced out of the country.

“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.”

With that time of rest came a time of EDIFICATION.

The word “edification” refers to “building.”

Churches are built in two different ways,

And it’s difficult to say which of the two the Holy Spirit means in this particular case.

Churches are built as they receive new working and serving members.

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

When a new tithing family joins a church, it means that there will be more money to pay the bills, send to missionaries and to start new local ministries.

When new families join, there may be more people to teach the children’s Sunday School classes.

When new families join there ought to be more people to go out into the highways and hedges inviting the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind to come to the feast of the Lord.

When there are new members, there are more people to pray for the Lord’s blessings on the services.

There are few things that bless the heart of a pastor more than a church that is physically growing.

And there are few things more discouraging to him than a church that isn’t growing.

Generally speaking the pastor feels directly responsible when his church doesn’t grow.

But there is another way, and possibly even a better way, for churches to be edified,

And the fact is, when we use the word “edify” its usually taken in this second sense.

“To edify” is to build from the inside out; from the heart to the hands, from the soul to the sole of the feet.

The fifth chapter of I Thessalonians is all about edification:

“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Those days of rest and peace in Judea were also days of the edification of the saints and their churches.

What would it take for us to see this kind of edification?

It also gave the churches opportunity to openly WALK IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

This is a phrase which is so often misunderstood by the untaught.

It sounds like the poor churches were jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

First they were in fear for their lives from the wrath of the unbelieving Jews,

But now they were in fear for their lives from the wrathful and omnipotent God.

They were walking in constant fear of the Lord.

But “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

To walk in the fear of the Lord is actually a very good thing.

It is to behave the way that Christians ought to behave, and therefore to enjoy the blessings of Jehovah.

Proverbs 14:27 says that “the fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”

And Proverbs 8:13 tells us that “the fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth…”

“By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” – Prov. 16:6.

What were the members of the Lord’s churches doing when they walked in the fear of the Lord?

They were putting the will of the Lord and the Word of God first in their lives.

And in contrast to the days when they were being persecuted,

now they were openly living before the world in the fashion that God meant for them to live.

They were outwardly and openly worshipping the Lord, and living in reverence and awe of God.

Perhaps they were once again they went back in the temple teaching and preaching Christ Jesus.

And when the wicked enticed them to sin, they respectfully told them that their Christian consciences wouldn’t permit it.

The saints of God in those churches of God, were walking and enjoying walking in the fear of the Lord.

A fourth characteristic of this time of peace was their enjoyment of the God’s COMFORT.

Think about this:

How often has the sun come up since we were last here on Sunday? Seven times you say?

Okay, how often have you enjoyed the rising of the sun?

How often did you praise God for it’s beauty and its warmth during these past seven days?

Some of you might have grumbled because you had to painfully drive right into it’s rays,

But what would the alternative be, if the sun didn’t rise?

Aren’t there hundreds of things with which the Lord blesses us day after day;

Things that we need and use regularly; but things that we never give a second thought?

The Lord is so faithful in these things that we take Him and His gifts without thanks or consideration.

But then something happens which takes that special gift away for a moment or a day;

Or something happens which awakens us to the blessing.

Did the saints in Judea and Samaria have access to the comfort of God even when their enemies were making them very uncomfortable?

Some of them, like Lady Joan Boucher of Kent, England, may have died with their hearts filled with miraculous comfort.

Didn’t Stephen enjoy the comfort of God as he passed away?

Wasn’t that comfort part of the conviction which plagued Saul for the next few months?

The word “comfort” here is a Greek word which I’ve brought to your attention several times in the past.

It’s “paraklesis” ( par-ak’-lay-sis ) and it’s a rather complicated word.

Of course the Holy Spirit is often called the “Paraklete” or the “Comforter” and that is undoubtedly what Luke is thinking of here.

Literally the word is talking about calling the Holy Spirit to come beside us and so to comfort us.

This word is talking about the presence of the Lord to bless and to strengthen.

But it’s interesting that the word “paraklesis” ( par-ak’-lay-sis ) is twice as often translated “consolation” as it is “comfort,”

And “consolation” leaves us with a completely different taste.

This peace involves filling up the emptiness which the persecution and the murders have left in their wake.

These people possessed the Comforter throughout their trials, but now there is a little respite when they have time to actually consider the pain of their losses.

The fact that they have lost some of the men of the church, spouses, parents and children begins to really hit home.

But at the same time, the comfort and the consolation of the Holy Spirit also rises to the challenge

For every loss there is an equal or greater blessing from God to offset that loss.

Oh, that we had the hearts to receive and believe.

I fear that the great majority of our Christian lives are spent without the enjoyment of this great comfort.

Perhaps a period of severe trial would help us to enjoy it more.

The fifth thing that occurred during this calm in the storm was that the CHURCHES MULTIPLIED.

Maybe the days of persecution actually helped the evangelism of the lost.

Maybe there were thinking people who saw their fat and arrogant priests so filled with hate, that these thinkers had to wonder if there wasn’t some truth in the doctrines that they hated.

But then on the other hand the persecution stifled an honest consideration of the Christian’s doctrines.

But now that there is a period of calm, those unbelievers got an opportunity to look at the truth.

And because of the persecution, the churches had become lean and hungry.

They had burned off the fat, and every sinew was muscular and ready for action.

Immediately, those churches took the opportunity to organize some of their missions into churches,

And those missionaries too the opportunity to move to other cities to start more missions,

And the churches multiplied.

It was not just a matter of new Christians but new churches in which those new Christians could serve the Lord.

This little lull between storms was a period of great prosperity.

But here is my question this evening:

Aren’t we in days of rest?

Why aren’t we characterized by these same words and ideas?

Was it necessary that persecution be the catalyst for these blessings?

Shouldn’t we be edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, comforted by the Spirit and multiplying?

Because we don’t have to fear arrest and incarceration, have we become lazy, selfish and sinful?

Our grandparents who endured the depression and the wars, responded to the days of prosperity differently than those of us who never really wanted much of anything.

We who have had the opportunity to attend or not attend the Lord’s church, often don’t have the same love and desire for the house of God as those who didn’t have that same privilege.

Are you walking in the fear of the Lord?

Are you growing in Christ?

Are you a fearful Christian or is the comfort of the Holy Spirit filling your heart?

These are things that should characterized days of peace and prosperity.

And we are living in days of peace and prosperity unlike anything that the world has ever known.

So shouldn’t these things be seen in us?