July 25
Bible Reading: Acts 9:26-31
Acts 9:31, “And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, (the church) multiplied.”
John MacArthur, who has faithfully served for 55 years as senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, has said, “You take care of the depth of your ministry, and let God take care of the breadth.” That’s the dynamic that is evidenced here.
Our text lays out the simple formula for church growth, and it’s not as we might expect. Despite continual opposition and intense persecution, the church multiplied! It didn’t just survive; it thrived. Having burst forth from the confines of Jerusalem, it expanded throughout “all Judea and Galilee and Samaria” (Acts 9:31). It did so “in the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31).
As previously noted, the church did not grow or expand because of any earthbound planning or effort. It prospered because of the working of the Spirit. Jesus had foretold of such things, saying: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper” (John 14:16). The term translated “Helper” (akin to the term “comfort” found here) means literally “one called alongside to help.” He is the enabler; the One who supernaturally enables us to do any of that to which we are called. Without Jesus, we have no ability to do anything, but with the Spirit, who is responsible for mediating the presence of Jesus in and through us (John 16:14), we are empowered to go beyond the boundaries of what we believe is possible (Ephesians 3:20).
The same principle that worked to grow and expand the church is at work in the life of every believer, for the Spirit indwells every believer. Spiritual prosperity, in whatever way we choose to measure it, is a heaven-borne reality for those yielded to the Spirit, thus allowing Him the freedom to work in our lives in supernatural fashion.
Take care of the depth of your walk with Jesus, and God will take care of the breadth of its influence.
THE COMFORTER HAS COME
O spread the tidings ‘round
Wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!
Refrain:
The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father’s promise given;
O spread the tidings ‘round wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!
The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last,
And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
Lo, the great King of kings with healing in His wings,
To every captive soul a full deliverance brings;
And through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings;
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
O boundless Love divine! how shall this tongue of mine
To wondering mortals tell the matchless grace divine:
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
LookingtoJesus 