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… I. WE ARE APT TO REGARD THESE TWO FORCES — FEAR AND CONSOLATION — AS CONTRADICTORY. 1. "The fear of the Lord" marks an abiding characteristic of the Christian life — i.e., the fear which dwelt in our Lord Himself must dwell in His disciples. Christ "was heard in that He feared." He was penetrated by a sense of religious awe and conscientiousness, and was delicately alive to the will of His Father; and thus He had power with God and prevailed. "The fear of the Lord," like the love or the glory of the Lord, is to be participated in by His disciples, and is altogether a noble thing. It is an anxious state of mind lest we should wound the love of God, violate the law of righteousness, or fail to reach the highest sanctification of character (1 Peter 1:16, 17). 2. "The comfort of the Holy Ghost" is also an indispensable element. As the name of "Comforter" as applied to the Spirit of God means also "Helper," "Advocate," so the idea of comfort implies that of efficient succour, and the idea of efficient succour that of comfort — the deep satisfaction imparted to the soul by the energy of the Spirit of God — "strong consolation," as we have it in Hebrews. The primitive Christians felt this, and walked in its power. Some praise ancient heathenism because, amid all its absurdities, it was a cheerful religion. Now, it must be acknowledged that Christianity is not a "cheerful religion" in the sense in which they were. Christ brought out the deeper meaning of life, and we have far deeper reasons for seriousness than men could possibly feel prior to the Advent. The superficial hilariousness of pagan worship was an impossibility to those who knew the Holy One of Israel, who had seen the awful beauty of Christ, and who were expecting the manifestation of that perfect universe into which nothing can enter that defileth. But, on the other hand, Christ has given us such reasons for bravery and hope in the moral life as men never knew before. Do we fear lest we fail to realise the wondrous love of God? "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." Do we tremble lest we fail to recognise the mind of God? "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." Do we shrink to contemplate the wide gulf which comes between us and the perfection of our Father in heaven? The Spirit assures us of sonship, and gives us the earnest of the promised inheritance, and urges us forward to share in God's everlasting glory and blessedness. II. SO FAR FROM THESE TWO PHASES BEING, INCOMPATIBLE, THEY ARE COMPLEMENTARY. In nature apparently contradictory forces blend, and in blending produce the grandest results. Widely as oxygen and nitrogen differ, they are complementary gases, and combined make the sweet and vital atmosphere. Attraction and repulsion are also complementary forces whose combined action preserves the universe in harmonic movement. So the resultant of the double action of the heart is life and health. Thus is it in Christian experience. 1. Fear is not inconsistent with — (1) Peace. "Then had the Churches rest,...walking in the fear of the Lord."(2) Love. The disciple of love fell at his Master's feet as dead. (3) Hope. Peter, who has so much to say about the terrible day of the Lord, is full of hope. (4) The highest world and the fullest felicity. Those who stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of gold, sing, "Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy." 2. And so "comfort" is not inconsistent with any grace of the Spirit. Thoughtfulness and a full assurance; a constant eye to the imperative ideal which is so far above us, and to the glorious grace dwelling so richly in us; a vivid sense of our high and holy calling, and of the dangerous path of pilgrimage which leads up to it; the recollection of "the jealous God," and of the God "keeping mercy for thousands"; the anticipation of judgment and glory, are coordinate and cooperative moods in the working out of our salvation. 3. The danger lies in the omission of either. (1) How faulty the piety in which fear has no place! in which there is no trembling before the holiness of God, no overwhelming sense of the gravity of our position, no gazing with awe into the dread eternity how surely mine! The brighter the star, the more it trembles; and the purest saints, the bravest heroes of all times, have stood "in fear and in much trembling."(2) Not less faulty is the piety in which comfort has no place — legal, tormenting, morbid religiousness! Pale sorrow must consort with blooming joy; weakness must lean on strength; sweet comfort must soothe awesome fear. Only in the equilibrium of these opposite forces do we attain the fulness of life and the fulness of its blessing. Our grandest moments arise in the union of two opposing emotions (Genesis 28:16, 17; Matthew 28:8). III. WHILST WE CULTIVATE BOTH SENTIMENTS, WE MUST MAINTAIN BOTH IN DUE PROPORTIONS. Most of us are under temptation to yield this or that undue preeminence, and the reason is found both in our constitution and our circumstances. 1. To exaggerate the sentiment of fear is the peril of some. An old writer tells us of a strange tribe which dwelt in caves because they were afraid of the sunshine; many devout people are afraid of the sunshine of the mind. Such are burdened with a sense of imperfection, condemnation, peril, and are slow to consider the gracious aspects of the Divine character, the inspiriting and mighty aid of the Comforter. Let those of a certain temperament watch against this danger. Let God lead you into green pastures. "Abound in hope," and you shall find yourself more than conqueror. 2. The peril of others lies in exaggerating the element of comfort. These chiefly ponder the element phases of religion, and remember that "like as a father pitieth his children," etc. They dwell more on the promises of Christ than on His requirements. Those need to be reminded of the sterner side of things. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," etc. All our austere thinking must be relieved by gracious hope, and our bounding joy chastened by the hallowed fear. "Rejoice with trembling." IV. THE TEXT EXHIBITS FEAR AND COMFORT, NOT AS ALTERNATIVE, BUT AS CO-EXISTENT AND CONCURRENT MOODS OF THE SOUL. At one and the same time they walked "in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost." 1. The two streams ought to mingle in one full tide of feeling. "Happy is the man that feareth alway," and blessed is he also who rejoices evermore, and in everything gives thanks. In the geologic world, for distinct and protracted periods, different gases prevailed; now you have the Carboniferous epoch, and then some other element predominates: but in the perfected earth the various gases mingle in due proportions, and the life and beauty of the whole orb are secured and perpetuated. In the cruder and more imperfect stages of our religious history, periods of anxiety are succeeded by periods of jubilation; but in the higher and riper development of the soul there is more simultaneousness in our moods, and they happily mingle in one deep and rich experience. In the Psalms we frequently find the most rapid transitions of thought, the mingling of most diverse emotion — gladness suddenly becoming thoughtful, and again, sorrow smiling through her tears. And the same comprehensive experience finds expression in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 4:8-10; 2 Corinthians 6:9, 10). So far from deprecating this, we must regard it as God's wonder-working order, and direct our self-culture accordingly. The artist ranges over the whole chromatic scale, and makes his picture so grand because the colours are so skilfully mixed; the musician rapidly passes from key to key, from stop to stop, and because he does so creates commanding music; thus in the believer's life it is the constant concurrent appeal to law and grace, to responsibility and privilege, to the God of righteousness and the God of love, to heaven near and heaven distant, that finally gives to the character that full and finished beauty of which all artistic perfection is but the coarse figure. 2. The concurrence of these two habits of feeling secures the highest welfare of the soul. It was whilst the first Churches walked in this fear and comfort that they were "edified" and "multiplied." The truest condition of Christian life is not found in the comparative absence of feeling. The text represents the soul as full of force and movement. A uniform experience is thought by some a satisfactory sign. The truth is far otherwise. How much grandeur would be lost to the world if the mountains were levelled; how much fruitfulness, and history, and poetry, and art! Somewhat thus is it with the soul. The true soul is full of great contending emotions, the upheavals and subsidences caused by the Spirit which worketh in us mightily; and in the exaltations and humiliations, the soaring hopes and lowly fears, the confidence which touches the heights and the apprehensions which reach the depths, lies the perfecting of the soul. The more life the more feeling, the more feeling the more life. 3. In an experience which contains the full measure and compass of feeling we secure the stability of the soul. The perfect lighthouse is a mighty column rising out of the rock, the very ideal of strength; yet it is a reed shaken with the wind, and because it bends it stands. It is thus with the highest and safest characters. There must be strength of mind, of principle, of faith, or it is impossible that we should bear the strain of life. And yet with all this there must be that sensitiveness which is ever the sign of sublimest strength. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." (W. L. Watkinson.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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