Fear and Comfort

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."

Paul had his own thorn. (See Paul's Thorn in the Flesh). However, Paul had been the church's thorn! Now Jesus saved Paul and he became a great spokesman for Christ, whom he once persecuted. He went about obeying Jesus whom he had seen on the way to Damascus. At first the other apostle's didn't accept him, but thanks to the testimony of Barnabas things changed! They became of one accord!

Imagine, if you will, the change, not that Saul made, but all the apostles! This evil man Saul had the audacity to speak about Jesus whom they believed Saul had never met! "How dare him; this killer, speak on behalf of Jesus after he was the main one who persecuted him!  Jesus asked Saul "Why do you kick against the pricks?" (Acts 9:5; i.e, it's useless to continue to hurt yourself for things you can't change!). Saul changed! Now he was Paul. Now he was one of them!

Verse 31 above indicates after the dissension was dealt with they then were "walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost"

Why were they "walking in fear of the Lord"? I checked;"phobos" (Greek) does mean "fear" in English. It can't be misconstrued. The apostle's walked in fear of Jesus!

We find in Paul's First Epistle to Peter that we are the fear the Lord more than those who persecute because the Lord has more power (1 Peter 3:15). Why fear the Lord? He has a power which no other has!

Revelation 15:4 "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."

The Lord has sole authority to do something which nobody else can do! You will be judged and it is the Lord who will judge you!

Romans 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

We all will stand before God and be judged ("The Great White Throne Judgment").  All sinners will kneel before God and give an account of their lives. Because we fear this day we follow the Lord.

Now on a personal level: "Why did I (or must I) get salvation?" It is out of fear of the Lord! Even those who are Christians must still fear the Lord. We're never to deny him in the face of persecution (and we can do that), but magnify his name always. We seek salvation because we don't want to burn in hell. This is where we topple our own god and come to depend on God! We can't save ourselves, we know that our god is too weak; but all who care about their eternal destiny and are wise, must turn to Jesus Christ to take our lousy god out of  reprobation (not in a Calvinistic sense) and deliver it to salvation!

We fear God because he WILL judge us all!

However, judgement is twofold: innocent and guilty. None of us are innocent, but if we are born again of the Spirit, then God conveniently (for us) forgets our sin!

Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."

For doing one thing believers get to be judged innocent! That one thing is to believe (trust) in Jesus to do what he alone has the power to do: save you in the end!

Christians fear God because they believe in his power. They know that God will never leave them, but they don't want to disappoint the Father for whom they have reverence! Christians know that if we sin, there are consequences. God may allow Satan to test us. (read Job 1). Then if we fail, in the end, we will stand before Jesus with shame! That's where he will say "I forgot that sin because you have already been forgiven!"

On the other hand, sinners who failed to submit to Jesus will be on bent knee as well. They will beg to no avail because grace is given only to the living. Prayer to those who are dead is futile! They must have made their own decision to follow Christ.  We are all to fear God!

The very idea that there is a connection between love and fear is ancient:

Deuteronomy 10:12  "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,"

What did the apostle's do when they became in one accord? (Read this last  passage again and see the similarities!) They had a desire to walk with him, love him and to serve him. They put their "all" into serving the Lord! Part of the "fear of the Lord" is serving him because that's expected of us to show our love! Love and fear are twins because his power to save us or damn us is what drives us to love him. It's because he has the grace to save us and our obligation is to return that love by loving!

Now while the apostles were "walking in the fear of the Lord" (Acts 9:31 again), the Holy Spirit comforted them. That's his job! In the face of persecution they feared God, and trusted in him. The fear of God was more powerful than the fear of being persecuted because they knew God personally. The Holy Spirit (God) comforted them with spiritual help.  Not only does the Comforter comfort, but there is power in the Holy Spirit or else how could he comfort those in the face of persecution?

Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The apostle's feared the persecutors, but they revered God more. That reverence (fear) was honored by the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Through him God gave them the might and fortitude to face those who condemned them! Bravery in the truth of God is a sign that a Christian has the Holy Spirit! If a person fears ridicule, condemnation or even pain and fail to speak out, their faith is limited. With Jesus all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)!

The Holy Spirit dwells in Christians. However, it seems, that he chooses to remain dormant in the times of dissension. Here (Acts 9), he doesn't jump in with his power until the apostle's and Paul are of one accord!  Before that, the apostle's had a critical nature. They questioned Paul's legitimacy. They failed to understand and accept that Jesus had the power to change Saul. Barnabas vouched for his conversion. When they all came together, here came the power of the Holy Ghost!

Have you ever noticed that at times your church is dead and at others there is a lively spirit? It's when dissension exists that the Holy Spirit seems to hide out. He's there all the time urging each individual to reconcile, is active in that, but we know that his power is magnified when each person is in harmony with others. When a Christian hates a brother, the Holy Spirit works with each, but he doesn't amplify his power because there is disunity. When unity finally comes, he's there and ready in full force!

What is it which Christians are to do? Love each other! That means get along.