The Growth of the Church
God inspired Luke to give us summary statements in the book of Acts that tell us how the church grew in the early days. We should take these statements and study them, so we can apply them to our churches today. God is still on the throne, and Christians still have all of His resources to do His will, so the church should be growing now. However, it is not growing as it should, because we, as believers, are not doing what God wants us to do. I pray we will hear God's Word today and do what God wants us to do as individuals and as church families. One such summary statement is given after the salvation of Saul or Paul. (Acts 9:31) The church had already scattered from Jerusalem because of the persecution, but there came a time of peace for the church in all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, so that the church was strengthened. They were living in the fear of the Lord and being encouraged by the Holy Spirit, so that the church increased in numbers. I pray we can all see what the Lord has told us here.
It is good to enjoy times of peace that are relatively free from conflict. Yes, the church can still grow well during persecution, but there are advantages to peaceful times, too. When there is no conflict in the church family that greatly helps the church, and when there are less conflicts with unbelievers in the community even more ministry can be done. We should pray for God to give us that kind of peace now, so the church can be strengthened. When we are able to concentrate on our worship, teaching, prayer, and discipleship, the church gains more and more power to do God's work. Also, we must live constantly in the fear of the Lord. We must take seriously all of His commands. We must strive for holiness and obedience daily. When we do that the Holy Spirit will encourage us. He will build us up and show us how much we can accomplish for the Lord. Then, we will see an increase in the number of people being saved and in the spiritual life of each believer.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Acts 10-12.