Good evening. That's right, it's actually Friday evening, which is when we have been recording these sermons each week so that they are ready to post up on Sunday morning. This week is different because we will actually be meeting in front of our church building for our first outdoor worship service this Sunday morning. Which means that if you are watching this, it is probably because you were unable to attend that service. I want you to know that we will be meeting outside on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for the next few weeks until we get the okay to resume meeting indoors again. Please come and join us on Sunday morning if you are able. I am blessed to be able to share God's Word with you today. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity for us to open your word. We are so blessed, Father God, that you have chosen to reveal yourself to us through your word. Father, I pray that you will help me to speak the message that you've laid on my heart for your church. I pray that you will give us ears to hear what you have to say to us and help us to apply it in our lives. Bless our time together now, we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I want to start off with a question. Can the children of God, the church, have peace in the midst of troubled times? Can our church, Christian Family Fellowship, have peace in these troubled times? Think about it. In the last three years, our church family has gone through some very troubling times. Three years ago, it was the Tubbs fire. Several church family members lost their homes, our neighborhood was hugely impacted, and our church building was threatened. Two years ago, more fires, more homes of members threatened, evacuations, power shutoffs, and economic challenges. This year, a pandemic with all that that entails. Jobs lost, economic struggle, churches and schools shut down, and we have not yet seen the end of it. Can we have peace through all of this and through all that is yet to come? Well, the answer is yes. When our peace is found in Jesus Christ, we can be at peace no matter what happens. We will see an example of this in our text for today. I would like you to open your Bible up to Acts chapter 9 and I would like you to turn to verse 31. So I'll be reading from Acts chapter 9 verse 31 in the English Standard Version. Listen to the word of God. 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. Luke here is giving us a concise report on the health of the Church at around the 10 year anniversary of the founding of the Church by Jesus Himself. Let's recap some of what the Church has been through up to this point as is recorded by Luke in the book of Acts. The book of Acts begins with Jesus appearing to his disciples in his glorified, resurrected body on numerous occasions. Luke records for us his final appearance to them in Acts 1 when he says this to them, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit and then to go and be his witnesses. and through their sharing the gospel of Christ, he will build his church. Then, as they are watching, Jesus bodily ascends up into heaven to take his rightful place at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Well, after this, the disciples obey Jesus' instructions and they wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Ten days later they receive the Holy Spirit and they go out in the power of the Spirit and they begin being witnesses for Christ. In the next few chapters we read about what happens over the next few months and years. First, thousands come to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord and they are added to the church. Second, The followers of Christ begin to experience persecution from the Jews. It starts with the apostles being arrested, imprisoned, and even beaten. Then one of the deacons, Stephen, is arrested, tried, and stoned to death. This opens a floodgate of persecution upon the entire church led by a man named Saul who was from the city of Tarsus. This intense persecution causes the church in Jerusalem to be scattered into Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. Luke records this for us in Acts chapter 8 verse 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. This period of intense persecution at the hands of the Jews went on for about two years, largely driven by the hatred of Saul for Christianity. This persecution would have continued until every Christian was arrested and either renounced their faith in Jesus or were killed. But God. Jesus himself appeared to Saul in his glorified form outside of Damascus and Saul surrendered to his Lord. Saul was received into the church in Damascus by Ananias and he spent three years in and around Damascus before escaping persecution by fleeing to Jerusalem and then once again escaping a plot to kill him by fleeing to his home city of Tarsus. Saul will remain in Tarsus for several years before we will hear of him again. Now I share this brief recap of the first 10 years in the life of the Church because I want to remind you that the Church has always faced challenges. The reality is we live in a sin-filled, fallen world in which Jesus himself promised that we would have trials and tribulations. That's not a promise that we like to quote often. You know, Jesus promises tribulations to his followers. But nevertheless, that's exactly what he said. This is nothing new. The church has experienced this and will continue. And it will even get worse before Christ himself returns to make all things new. Yet, in spite of all of these trials, Luke records in our text that the church, the church, throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria was experiencing peace. The word translated church here is the Greek word ekklesia which literally means the called out ones or those who are called out. So let's make this very clear. The church is not a building. It is not an organization. It is the people whom God has called out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. we have been transferred into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The word here is in the singular, the church, because no matter where a Christian lives, we are all a part of the one church of Jesus Christ. It is one church, whether it's in Jerusalem, or Judea, or Galilee, or Samaria, or Sonoma County. It is one church, the church of all true believers. It's interesting that here for the first time Luke tells us that Christianity had spread to all three of the regions of Israel. This is a result of the scattering of the church and of the individual Christians sharing Christ with others. Luke then tells us that the church had peace. Peace, Shalom in Hebrew, Irenae in the Greek, is more than an absence of conflict. This word indicates a sense of well-being, of blessing, of rest. And it is in the active tense, meaning that this was the ongoing state of the church. They were in an ongoing state of peace. Not temporary, but ongoing. And this is God's desire for his children, that in our lives and in our church, we would experience and live in peace. This peace takes at least three forms. The first being peace with God. And if we do not have peace with God, we cannot have peace at all. This is what Paul writes about in Romans 5. Verse one, listen to this. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Note this. Last Sunday, Pastor Don preached an amazing message on how it is that we can be confident in our salvation. And he quoted from Romans chapter 4, which leads into this very passage. So the therefore refers back to Romans chapter 4. Therefore, based on what God has done to provide salvation for us through his Son, Jesus Christ, therefore, since we have been justified through Christ by faith, we have peace with God. The only way we can have peace with God is through believing in and trusting in Jesus Christ for our salvation. And the result of that is peace with God. Let me read on, verse 2. through Him that is through Christ. We have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that sufferings produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts. through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. You see, for a Christian, suffering is just identifying with Christ who suffered on our behalf. Suffering is a part of our human existence. But we can rejoice in our sufferings knowing that it is producing what God wants to produce in us and through us. And we can rejoice in our sufferings because all the time God's love is being poured into us through His Holy Spirit. So the church had peace with God. The church also experienced the peace of God. Jesus promised this to his disciples in the upper room in John chapter 14 verse 27. Let me read that to you. John 14, 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Jesus promised that he would give to his disciples His peace. And remember, Jesus was and is God. So this is the peace of God that is given to us by Jesus himself. And then Paul writes about this peace in Philippians chapter 4 verse 7, one of my favorite verses in all of scripture, where Paul writes, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now note this, this promise, this promise of the peace of God is only for those who are in Christ Jesus. But for all of us who are, it is a peace that passes all human understanding, all human reasoning. We can have perfect peace in the midst of the most terrible storm of life. In the midst of the most heinous trials and tribulations, we can have the peace of God. And the church had that peace. And then there is the peace that we are able to have with others. Peace with others within the church, and even peace with others outside of the church. Paul writes about this in Romans chapter 12, verses 14 through 21. Let me read that to you. Romans 12, starting in verse 14. Paul writes these words. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Paul here is challenging us, challenging me. that we are to live at peace, even with those who persecute us. We are to live in harmony with one another. And we do this by humbling ourselves, recognizing that who we are and all that we have comes from God. All that we have is a gift from God. And especially that is true about our salvation and our relationship with God. Therefore, we should treat others as Jesus commanded, and that is to love them, even our enemies. I believe that the church is called to live in peace with those both within and without the church. And then, in Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 through 15, We read these very challenging words. Colossians 3 verse 12. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts. kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Again, the key to living in peace with others is that we put on the character of Christ. Let the fruit of the Spirit be evidenced in our lives. When we are going through difficult times, it's very, very easy to turn on others, especially now in this era of social media. Think twice about complaining against another and think hard and long about forgiving each other just as the Lord has forgiven us. Scripture tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. Well, if you've experienced the love of Christ, your sins have been covered by his blood. He died so that you could have eternal life. Can you not forgive the sins of others? Can you not overlook their sins, their weaknesses, cover them with love? That's what we're called to do. And I believe the church in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Galilee, in Samaria was living in peace with others. We as well can have peace with God. we as well can experience the peace of God and we can strive to be at peace with all people as much as it depends upon us. Luke tells us that the church was experiencing such peace and so should we. Now I want to just add that one of the other reasons why the church was experiencing peace at this time was because Jesus had dealt with the chief persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus. And so the persecution had lessened. In addition to that, during this period of time there had been a change in leadership of the Roman leadership over Israel. And the new Roman procreator was not the same as Pontius Pilate. He would not allow the Jews to go outside of Roman law. So this greatly tamped down their efforts to persecute the church. By the grace of God, there was peace that had come. The second thing that Luke tells us in his report on the condition of the church is that it was being built up or edified or strengthened. The church was being built up spiritually. Remember that Jesus said that he would build his church and even the forces of hell could not prevail against it. Well, Jesus was building his church then, and Jesus is building his church now. How does he do this? How does he build up and strengthen his church? I'm really glad you asked. He does so through the means of grace given to us by him. God works in us and through us by means of his word, prayer, fellowship, worship, the sacraments, all within the context of the local church. Let's look at what Paul writes about this in Ephesians 2, verses 18-22. Ephesians 2, 18-22. A letter written to the church describing how the church is being built up. Verse 18. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. What a beautiful picture this paints of the church being built up by Christ to be His temple in which He dwells. The place in which He is worshipped and served. And so the church was being built up spiritually during this time. to facilitate this building up of the church, Christ has given to the church men to equip the church. Look at Ephesians 4 verses 11 and 12. Paul goes on to write this, and he, that is Christ, gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. Note this. Christ does not leave his church to fend for themselves but he gives to his church pastors and teachers whose role is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Sometimes people will refer to me as a minister But all Christians are called to be ministers. I am a pastor. My role is to equip all in my church to be ministers. And the purpose of our ministry is to build up one another, for we are the church. As we minister to one another, we build up the church. And Luke tells us here that the church was being built up. This work is ongoing. In fact, it is never ending. Every one of us need to grow spiritually, and every one of us need to be helping others to grow spiritually. This involvement in ministry, in building up one another, greatly contributes to our ability to experience peace in troubled times. Note also that Luke tells us that the church was living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Look back at our text, Acts chapter 9 verse 31. and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They feared God and they were strengthened and comforted by the Spirit of God. Now, those may sound like opposites, but they are not. We are commanded to both fear God and to receive comfort from Him. Let's start with the fear of the Lord. The fear of God here is not a fear of God's wrath. but an awe and reverence for Him as the sovereign Lord of the universe. Remember, if we have trusted in Jesus Christ to be our Savior, if we have trusted in His sacrifice for us on the cross, if we trust in what the scripture tells us, that He who knew no sin became sin for us and paid the penalty for those sins, then we have no need to fear the wrath of God that is due for our sins for that penalty has already been paid. But that does not mean we do not reverence God, we do not honor God, we do not live in awe and respect of Him. Scripture tells us over and over again that we are to fear or reverence God. Let me give you a few examples. Psalms 147.11 tells us that the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who reverence Him. Proverbs 1.7, a very familiar passage, tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or wisdom, depending on your translation. The reverence of God is the beginning of knowledge or wisdom. No man is wise if he doesn't respect and honor God. And if you think this is just an Old Testament principle, you would be wrong, because Luke 150 tells us this. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. In other words, this will go on until Christ returns from generation to generation. We must live in reverence before our Maker. We must live to glorify Him in all that we say and do. We are to worship Him with all that we are and we are to do the things that will cause Him to be glorified. And so the church was living in this way. They were living in the fear of the Lord. But they were also living in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And as we do this, we will receive comfort through the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to be our comforter. That's right. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be a comforter, one who comes alongside his disciples. You might remember this when Jesus spoke in the upper room in John chapter 14, verses 16 and 17. Let me turn to that passage. John chapter 14 verses 16 and 17. Jesus says this, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. Jesus promised that he would send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit would be our helper or comforter depending on your translation there. Jesus assured them of this promise and the same is true for us that he would not leave them alone that he would send the Holy Spirit and he will not leave us alone he sends his Holy Spirit who indwells every believer to help us live to glorify God in this fallen sin-filled world and as we are comforted by Him. We are then able to comfort one another. There's a passage I want to share with you from 2 Corinthians 1. In fact, last Sunday my wife and I were visiting some friends in Medford, Oregon and we went to their outdoor worship service and the young man who was preaching that day was preaching from this passage. 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 and 4. Powerful, powerful passage. Now he covered down through verse 11. I will not do that with you this morning. But I want you to hear these words and think about how they apply to us. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. This is a powerful, powerful passage. Because again, we must understand that God loves His children. He has demonstrated that love for us by giving His Son. And let us not forget what His Son had to suffer in order to be able to comfort us. And so when we are suffering, and we do suffer some more than others, granted, but we all suffer in one way or another in this life, in this sinful, fallen world. And when we do, we know that God will and is able to comfort us. And some might ask, well, why doesn't God just alleviate all suffering? Well, one of the purposes for that suffering is that it draws us to Him. We are totally dependent upon Him for the strength to endure that suffering and for the comfort that comes as a result. But there's another very important thing to see here. We also suffer so that we then can comfort others when they suffer. And many of us have experienced this at one time or another in our lives. When we're going through something and another brother or sister comes alongside of us and says, I know what you're going through. I have been there. And they're able to come alongside and help and comfort us. And so this comfort is real. We can live in the fear of the Lord and we can live in the comfort of God. You and I as members of the church, the body of Christ, are to live in reverence of the Lord and in the comfort we receive through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And we then are able to comfort one another with the comfort that we receive. Luke closes this report on the condition of the church with a wonderful statement, short but important. Let me turn back to our text, Acts 9.31. It ends with two words. It multiplied. It being the church. The church multiplied. The verb here is in the passive tense. telling us that it was God who was causing the church to increase or to multiply. It was not their efforts alone, but God blessing their living out their faith in the power that He supplied as they were living in reverence before Him and receiving their comfort from Him. Listen to me. God is able to build His church. God is able to sustain His church and bless His church in the midst of any and all circumstances. And He has done so for the last 2,000 years. So we can trust that He will continue to do so Even in these very trying times, we can be confident that our God has a plan for His church, for our church, and we can trust that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. So let me talk a little bit about application. Application from this single verse out of Acts chapter 9. First of all, I think that we are being challenged here to live in peace. with all people as much as it depends upon us to do so. And of course we do this in the power of the Holy Spirit. And we do this in remembering the peace that we have been granted through the work of Jesus on the cross. We must strive to live in peace with our brothers and sisters. and even with those outside of the church as a testimony to the love that God has given to us. Secondly, we need to continue being built up in our faith and we need to continue to be equipped to build up others in their faith. All of us need to grow in grace and knowledge. None of us have yet arrived at absolute conformity to Jesus Christ. There is room for each and every one of us to grow. But just as importantly, we need to be used by God to promote that spiritual growth in our brothers and sisters as well. That is our responsibility. Third, we are to live in reverence before our Lord. Not all so-called Christian churches worship God in reverence. We need to remember who it is to whom we pray, who it is to whom we sing our praises. He is the God of the universe. He is our Lord, our Master, our King. We need to live in reverence before Him. We also need to seek our strength and comfort from Him through the Holy Spirit. And through the comfort that we receive from the Holy Spirit, we need to actively comfort others as well. If you've experienced pain and sorrow and suffering in your life, there's a purpose behind that. Nothing happens. just by accident to the children of God. God is in control. And if he has brought you through something, you can be sure that he will give you an opportunity to share that comfort with others when they go through similar things. I have seen that many, many times in my life, both being comforted by others and having an opportunity to comfort others as they go through difficult trials. And finally, we need to trust that Christ will continue to build his church here through us through his servants through our living our lives to please and glorify him he will use our feeble efforts to build his church here in Santa Rosa here in Sonoma County here in California here Wherever you are, that is where God wants to build His church. And He wants to use you, and He wants to use me to do it. Empowered by His Spirit, through His Word, through sharing the gospel of God's grace, through telling others about our Savior, Jesus Christ. God wants to use you. He wants to use me. And He will, no matter what the circumstances, Jesus Christ will build His church. And even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to be reminded of how you were at work in your church in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Galilee, in Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth 2,000 years ago and through all of those years to today. And Father God, we know that the work is not yet finished. We are here to do your will. to do your work, to be your witnesses, to share the hope that is within us, that there is salvation through no other name but the name of Jesus. And that invitation goes out to all men, all women, all boys, all girls. no matter their background, no matter their skin color, no matter their language, no matter where they were born, that salvation is offered to all. And Father, you know whom you will save and add to your church. Help us, each and every one of us, to live in the manner that you have called us to live, that we ourselves would live in reverence of you, and that we would be comforted by you, and that we would continue to do the work that you've called us to. Help us in this, we pray, and we give you the praise and glory for it, in Jesus' name, amen.