So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. (Acts 9:31)
What an amazing combination – the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit! How is it possible that these feelings go together?
Knowing a wholesome fear of God
The church who knows her God fears Him. He is holy, true and just. The church who knows her God loves holiness, truth and justice. God judges sin and hates hypocrisy and injustice. The church who knows her God also hates theses things and lays them aside to walk in purity and holiness. The church who knows her God is becoming more and more like Him. She is not afraid that He will punish her out of anger but definitely knows that God deals with us as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7). Discipline means that we will be corrected when we do wrong but the intention is to make us better and more like Jesus even as a good father will discipline his children – not out of anger but out of love!
Knowing the love of God
The church who knows her God and walks in holiness also knows her Lord as loving, kind and gentle. She knows His peace and acceptance. She finds comfort in all her trials, knowing His nearness and protection. She hides in His shelter and is protected from the destroyer by her all-powerful Savior. Even when she suffers loss, she rejoices that she is worthy to suffer for His sake, knowing that her reward is great in heaven. Her hope is fixed on the eternal life promised to her and she knows that all things, even the hard things, are working together for her eternal well-being.
Fear and comfort
The church’s fear of the Lord brings her comfort because she knows that one day her God of righteousness will serve justice on all her enemies. Even when being corrected for wrongdoing or falling short of God’s perfect will, she knows that all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)
The one who has personally come to know God as Father knows that willful disobedience will anger Him and lead to severe consequences. This is the fear of God. When Ananias and Sapphira willfully lied to the Holy Spirit they were struck dead and great fear came over the whole church (Acts 5:1-11). This fear taught them to take care and not casually fool themselves that God will allow overt wickedness in His church. However, the church of Jerusalem also knew and took great comfort in the fact that the LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. (Psalms 103:8)
