Acts 8:31b “And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it [the Church] multiplied.”

Last week we, the first part of this verse challenged us to live like the early church - to live in the midst of the peace of Christ despite the turmoil the world puts us through. We saw an example of the drastic change that Christ works in our lives, Saul, the great oppressor of the early believers became one of the staunchest defenders of the Faith. This week, we look at the rest of the verse to see why the early church grew in the leaps and bounds that it did despite the oppression, and then we will look to see how it applies in our lives as individuals.

Every church now has become worried about numbers. Every church is worried about the growing lack of interest, and the void caused by it, by the 18 to 30 year olds. The modern church wonders what it can do to draw in more people, to grow. There are books and books and books on this subject. Individual churches can plan out their activities and they have statistics and examples of what would draw in more people. The big questions though are; are these churches drawing in believers from other churches, and are these churches drawing in new believers or making an impact in non-believers? We see today the key points of church and personal growth. Today's scripture passage reads that the Church multiplied. Why did it multiply? It multiplied firstly because all the early believers like their lives in the fear of the Lord. Secondly these believers walked with the full assurance and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, the church grew drastically, crossing all ethnic, language, social, and even political barriers.

But what does it mean to walk in the fear of the Lord? Fear here is not just shaking in your boots because you are afraid, but rather the observation and the challenge to one's life of the might, the awesomeness, the total control that God has in our world and our lives. The fear of the Lord is being in a constant state of awe and wonder over His works. Walking in the fear of the Lord is living a daily life built on the works, the awe, the wonder, the might, the power, and the evidences of God almighty. When the church returns to the place of living in the fear of the Lord, God takes a great delight in revealing even more of His self. The Church then voluntarily lives a life that pleases God and attracts the attention of others.

Living in the comfort of the Holy spirit is not easy either. For us to walk in comfort means that we need to recognize that there is discomfort. We cannot be comforted for things that have not bothered, affected, or afflicted us. When we as the body of believers walk in the fear of the Lord, we are going to be laughed at, we are going to be ridiculed, we are going to become a target for everyone. Despite it all, the gentle arms of the Lord wrap themselves around us and hug us closely to Him. He says to us “Hush now, don't worry, I am here. If they did all this to me, of course they are going to do it to you!” Living a life walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit requires living our lives totally open and vulnerable to everyone, giving the world the capability to hurt us.

When we, as the church and as individual believers, are vulnerable and yet at the same time totally captivated by God and enthralled by His works then it challenges the world and the very fundamentals that nonbelievers hold dear. It challenges the status quo and shakes our perceptions of reality to the very core of our beings. No longer are we capable of just going on the way we were. We have to learn to live a new life, a life that lines up with what we see of God's desires. The hardest part of all this is not becoming jaded to the wonders of God, to the grace He has for us and the mercy He shows us daily.

Now before we go this week, lets think about these questions: How close are you, am I, are we to walking in the Fear of the Lord? Are we ready to walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit yet or are there things in our lives which are holding us back? What can we do to change this?