A Healthy Church (Acts 9:31)

Acts 9 is well-known for its account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. His conversion helped bring to an end a period of persecution of the church, the beginning of which is described in Acts 8:1: ‘And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.’ The persecution that started in Jerusalem was not a disaster. It brought about the spread of the church in Judaea and Samaria. We are not told what happened in Galilee until our text, but we can see that churches there too had growth.

 

After Paul was converted, the church also grew in Damascus. He came back to Jerusalem after a few years and was introduced to the apostles by Barnabas. His preaching there in Jerusalem led to concerns for his safety and he was sent away to Tarsus. The church had been purified, perhaps chastened. God works in unusual ways sometimes to bring spiritual prosperity.

 

But would it continue? What does Luke say? He tells us in verse 31: ‘So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.’ 

I don’t know what you make of this verse. Lloyd-Jones said that it described the ideal state of the Christian church, what the church is meant to be like, and how we can measure ourselves. He pointed out that two things should appear in a church – they were edified and they were multiplied.

 

There are several features from that experiences that can be identified in order to help us today.

 

Three introductory points

The first detail that we can observe is that the blessings were common throughout the geographical area. I don’t mean by common that they were minor; rather I mean that they were enjoyed by all the churches in the area. 

 

The second detail is the significance of providence. Obviously, a church grows within the circumstances that God in his sovereignty arranges. Previously to this period in growth, the church had grown in times of opposition. Now it was growing in a time of peace. The obvious deduction that we can make from this is that the church can grow in all kinds of circumstances. Neither persecution or peace hindered the blessing at that time. So we can deduce from this that God can provide growth in all kinds of situations in his providence, which means that we cannot say that our circumstances will be a hindrance to growth. 

 

We are frequently told that it is harder to be a Christian today than at other times in our history. I suspect what we mean by that is that it is less comfortable to be a member of our society because most of our values are no longer accepted as relevant for most people. Yet the experiences of the church in this chapter is that circumstances in themselves are not barriers to growth. A church can grow in comfortable or in uncomfortable surroundings.

 

The third detail is that it looks as if the churches in that area engaged in the same kind of activities after the period of persecution was over, and it is likely that those activities were central in their ongoing growth. There was a kind of visible unity, which would have the benefit of consistency in saying to outsiders what the church was all about.

 

Three specific features

Luke identifies three features of the life of those churches. First, they were built up; second, they walked in a particular way; and third, they multiplied.

 

What is meant by being built up? Obviously, it was an ongoing process, indicated by the present tense of the participle. This has at least two consequences: (1) Nobody had reached the stage of being completely built up; (2) Everybody was not at the same stage of being built up (those just converted would not be as built up as those converted for a longer period).

 

To be built up means to be edified. The requirement to engage in edification is repeated often throughout the Bible. Sometimes it is described as an individual activity and at other times it is described as a corporate activity. How does it take place? The answer is by using the means of grace that God has provided.

 

The individual aspect is described in verses such as Romans 12:1-2 where believers are exhorted by Paul to present themselves as living sacrifices, an action that he describes as spiritual worship. We are also given examples of such activities in the prayer lives of individuals such as Paul himself and others like Epaphras who laboured in intercession for other believers, some whom they knew and some whom they had never met. Another practice in which individual believers participated was that of meditation, as illustrated in the example of the individual described in Psalm 1.

 

The corporate aspect is mentioned in the well-known passage describing the activities of the early church in Jerusalem when they met to listen to the apostles’ doctrine, to have fellowship together, to remember the Lord in his death, and to pray. Their manner of involvement is described when they devoted themselves to those activities as often as they could.

 

What comes to mind when we think of those activities? They are few in number, they are straightforward in design, they are to be repeated throughout life, they become increasingly important as life goes on, and they fit well together. The Bible instructs us what to do, prayer enables us to benefit from them, and the church grows to the degree in which they are done.

 

The evidence that people are being built up is seen in two consequences. First, together they walk in the fear of the Lord. As we know, this kind of fear is one of reverence, although we should not forget that they would have been influenced by what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. The word ‘walking’ obviously describes activity, and here it also describes walking together, which is a reminder of the importance of mutual participation in spiritual things.

 

Perhaps one way of thinking about it is this. Imagine coming home and meeting your neighbour and he asks you where you have been. You replay, ‘I was walking in the park.’ The word ‘in’ is very important. If you had said, ‘I walked alongside the park,’ it would have been a very different reply. Where were the Christians walking? They walked in two locations (the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit), and they were walking in them simultaneously. Did they walk elsewhere? Only if they would fit in with the two locations. They would not go somewhere where their fear of the Lord or their experience of the comfort of the Spirit would be adversely experienced.

 

So they knew the blessing of the Holy Spirit. The translators have used the word ‘comfort’, and no doubt that was part of his blessing. Yet as we know, the word so translated has a wider meaning, describing someone who draws alongside to help. Here, it indicates the nearness of the Spirit as they were being built up. After all, the spiritual activities in which they were engaged required his enabling, otherwise they would not take place. And does not our regular benediction indicate to us that we can know the fellowship, the communion, of the Holy Spirit?

 

What is it like to engage in these activities? What is required in order to persevere in them? First, we can only engage in them if we have a penitent heart. Second, we will only engage in them if we prize them above other activities. Third, we will only continue in them if we find pleasure in doing them. Fourth, we will only engage in them when we recognise that they are God’s plan for our lives. Fifth, we will only engage in them when we recognise that by doing them we give pleasure to the Lord.

 

Converts

The outcome of the edification was growth in numbers. There is an interesting feature here, and it occurs regularly in the Book of Acts, which is that the unconverted became Christians not when they saw how like them the Christians were, but when they saw how different they were. After all, it was not difficult for the unconverted to see the difference between them and those believers. Those believers were living for the Lord. Their lives were not like others except that they had added a bit of religion to it. Rather, they saw that the Christians were consumed with their relationship with the Lord and with one another.

 

It can be argued from this description of the church in Jerusalem that the barrier to conversions is not circumstances. That is often given as a reason today for why the gospel seems to make no headway in society. The culture is no longer Christian, we are told. So far in the Book of Acts, Luke has described what took place under persecution and under peace for the church – the outcome in both was numerical growth. The common feature as far as the Christians were concerned was consecration to God and his kingdom. I suspect that it tells us that the Holy Spirit was at work in the church as God’s people were built up and at work through the church to bring spiritual blessings to the unconverted. And is that not what the Bible indicates is normal church life?

 

So what is the message of this verse to us? Surely, it must be that we must engage in spiritual edification. We must ask ourselves if that is true of us, that we are growing in grace. But there are other questions to ask: Are we hindering people from seeing the beauty and the power of the gospel? What kind of Christians do we want the world to see in us? If God is going to bring blessings in conversion, with whom is he going to start – the church or the world? Are people asking us about the secret power that gives distinctiveness to our lives? Are we making a right use of the providence God has given us at this time? Are we walking in the fear of the Lord? Are we experiencing the gracious activity of the Holy Spirit? Do we need to be persecuted before we will live in this manner? Are we growing in the grace of God?