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."
This morning, one only has to
briefly look in a
passing glance at the world to
see war, tribulation,
and suffering. Paul said that
the works of the flesh
are manifest, and one with any
vision can clearly spot
some or all of them. This world
is full of
wickedness, and it has no
soundness in it - much like
our flesh. However, it is indeed
a blessing to have a
little Bethel spot to come into
to shut out those
trying things of the world. The
Lord gave the
children of Israel cities of
refuge to take solace in.
He has given us the same today.
Here, we find that the churches
are at rest
throughout all the lands. The
biggest threat to them
(Saul of Tarsus) is now one of
the brethren, and he is
beginning to preach the gospel
boldly that once he
persecuted. So, the brethren are
dwelling together in
unity, and the peace of God is
abounding throughout
all the churches with love
flowing from breast to
breast. This is a condition that
should be precious
to the saints of
God, for we do not always have such.
Many churches are
not at peace. Many churches do not
have rest. Sometimes, this
unrest is due to an error
that has filtered into the
ranks, and as such, there
can be no peace until the matter
is resolved and the
leaven purged from the lump.
However, sometimes the
unrest comes from personal
squabbles and preeminence
issues. If one looks at the
pages of history, many
times the biggest splits in
churches, associations,
and families did not come over
issues of doctrine or
practice. They came as a result
of power struggles
and giving man more glory than
God. This unrest is
not from above, but it is
earthly, sensual, devilish. (James 3:15)
Whenever my home
church has conference, the first item
of conference is to call for the
peace of the church.
Thank the Lord that she has
always answered in peace.
When she does, I try to always
comment that we should
be thankful to God for our peace
and unity that we
have. Indeed, man can lay his
hand on the church to
try to guide and steer her into
the ways of death.
But, true peace comes from the
Prince of Peace. True
unity comes from brethren
walking together (agreed) in
Spirit and in truth. When this
happens, the churches
have peace and rest. Notice the
keys to having rest
from this verse, "walking in the
fear of the Lord, and
in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost, and were
multiplied."
True rest and
peace comes from fearing
the Lord and being comforted by
the Holy Ghost. That
is how we grow spiritually and
are multiplied. One
final point, if we have peace
and rest, we should NOT
seek war. Errors will come, for
we are but flesh.
However, some like to be in a
constant state of war,
even when the Lord has blessed
His people with peace.
Therefore, if we have been
blessed with peace and
rest, may we rejoice in it and
thank God for His
mercy and grace.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
|