Acts 9
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. (Acts 9:31 ESV)
What does it mean that the church “had peace and was being built up”? In the verses immediately prior, we read of the newly converted Saul fleeing from a vengeful mob! Would we use “peace” to describe such a situation?
The record of the early church has no shortage of dangerous encounters. Leaders were imprisoned and believers were stoned to death! And yet, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
There is a significant lesson to be learned in this simple verse: For the church to live as she was made to live, she must fear the Lord and take comfort in the Holy Spirit.
First, we must be characterized by a fear of the Lord. Proverbs describes such a fear as the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Jesus warns us not to fear man who can harm our bodies but to fear God who can harm our eternal souls (Matt. 10:28). The fear that should characterize our relationship with God is not a fear that leaves us cowering away from His presence – He has in fact invited us to draw near by the blood of Jesus! No, we are to be characterized by a reverence that believes and obeys His every word – no matter the cost.
It was this fear that led Ananias to preach the gospel to Saul. This was a suicide mission by all accounts. Saul was roaming the land, hunting out believers for prosecution. He served as the coat check while Stephen was murdered by an angry mob. Humanly speaking, Ananias should not have accepted this mission. His fear of God, however, was greater than his fear of man and this resulted in the conversion of Saul who would go on to become the greatest missionary in the history of the church.
Finally, we must take our comfort from the Holy Spirit. Beginning with the Pentecost event, the early church was well aware of the source of her power. The Holy Spirit transformed the disciples from fearful men camping out in an upper room to powerful preachers proclaiming the gospel in the streets. The Holy Spirit transformed the hearts of 3000 men after the preaching of Peter’s first gospel sermon.
If the church seeks comfort from any other source, she inevitably falls. History is littered with stories of Christians seeking political power, financial gain, or strategic partnerships with the world. The promise of growth and security has always been an attractive draw. Yet, the seasons of growth – the kind of growth described in the book of Acts – always seem to come at times when the church appears to be out of her depth.
From where do you draw your comfort? On what do you place your confidence? Strength of will? Nest eggs in the bank? We must be a people who find our strength in prayer – we must find our comfort in the presence and help of the Holy Spirit.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7 ESV)
Assistant Pastor Levi denBok
Ezra 9
Introduction
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. (Proverbs 26:11 ESV)
The people of God in Ezra 9, like the proverbial returning dog, have yet again repeated their folly. Regardless of past discipline, the sinful heart so prone to wander, seems to always find its way back to disobedience and idolatry.
The Situation (verses 1-2)
Ezra receives heartbreaking news about the covenant unfaithfulness of the people. In spite of having nearly been destroyed by God’s wrath because of their idolatry, and having just returned from a 70-year exile, they again are breaking God’s law by intermarrying with the pagan peoples of the land (see Deuteronomy 7:3-4). We do well to remember that Solomon loved many foreign women who turned his heart away from the Lord (1 Kings 11:1-3). This faithlessness was an abomination to the Lord for God’s holy name was being profaned. It was bad enough that the people were involved, but worse still that the leaders were the chief offenders.
And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost. (Ezra 9:2b ESV)
The Reaction (verses 3-5)
Ezra trembled before God’s Word and his holiness. He was filled with grief, sorrow and anger. He sat appalled. His reaction to this blatant, flagrant sin showed that he understood the seriousness of this communal sin; in a spirit of deep repentance he fasted, and tore his clothes, and pulled out his hair and beard. After a period of silence he fell to his knees in humble prayer before the Lord.
The Prayer (verses 6-15)
This is one of the Bible’s great prayers. Ezra knew the people were released from captivity and back in the land only because of the favour and mercy of God. Yet, in spite of God’s reviving and steadfast love, rebellion was the response of the people towards him. So, Ezra prays and confesses.
He was not simply speaking on behalf of the people, he included his own sinfulness. This prayer of confession acknowledged the sinfulness of sin and the total depravity of the human heart.
O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. (Ezra 9:6 ESV)
A true biblical confession of sin doesn’t rationalize. It doesn’t minimize sin or our guilt. We are without excuse. Rather, it confesses sin’s affront to God and the ensuing shame we bear before him because of it.
Ezra recognizes that even with all they’ve suffered in the exile, they still did not get all their sins fully deserved. God, the righteous Judge was perfectly just in pouring out his anger, yet he spared them.
And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved… (Ezra 9:13 ESV)
Each of us stands before the Lord in our guilt and without excuse. Each deserves no mercy, but finds a merciful God reaching out in Christ, offering a complete exchange, righteousness for unrighteousness, pardon for guilt, and freedom for slavery.
Let the redeemed of the Lord, return again and again, not to sin, but to the warnings of scripture as found in Ezra 9. Let us not sin, but when we do, let us live in the shadow of the cross and find mercy again and again.
Associate Pastor Jody Cross