THE COMFORT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

W. McKay

Acts 9: 31; 2 Chronicles 14: 2–13; 15: 1–2; 7–15

I want to speak of what is said here in Acts 9 “The assemblies... were increased through the comfort of the Holy Spirit”. I feel the time has come to experience this in an increasing way.

It is in John’s gospel that the Spirit is referred to as the Comforter. That is a very significant fact. It means that the Spirit should be known in that character in the last days, because John is writing in view of the last days. I do not mean to say that it has not applied to the presence of the Holy Spirit right through—it certainly has—but the fact that John is the only writer who refers to the Holy Spirit under that designation would suggest that as we are near to the end and get to the close of things, that particular service of the Holy Spirit will come into evidence in a greater way. So that, dear brethren, I think we need to know as together what the comfort of the Holy Spirit really is.

There is another feature attached to it in this verse, and that is the fear of the Lord. It says, “The assemblies throughout the whole of Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and were increased through the comfort of the Holy Spirit”. It is a very remarkable thing that the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit should be brought together in this one verse.

I feel, dear brethren, that the fear of the Lord is a very important feature at the present time. In the world around us it is almost completely set aside. Older brethren, who can go back 40 or 50 years, would tell us that the fear of God was more prevalent then, but things are reaching such a state in the world that it is now almost unknown—and not only in the world as such, but in professing christian bodies around us. Even much of what has happened amongst ourselves has shown a lack in this very feature. It is a very humbling matter that in our own experience we have seen persons who professed to be in relation to God but who have been marked by anything but the fear of God. It is a very, very solemn thing that. I believe that what God is looking for is the recovery of this feature amongst the saints at the close of the dispensation.

You will remember that it is in the book of Malachi, that is, the last book in the Old Testament, that we are told that “they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written ... And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure” (Malachi 3: 16, 17). It shows the great value God places upon this feature. It is something to be thought about. “They shall be unto me a peculiar treasure … in the day that I prepare”. That is at the close of that dispensation. “They that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another”; it is not those that made profession, or those who could say great things, but those that feared Jehovah. What characterised the closing moments of the dispensation was peculiarly the fear of God.

Peter says, “If ye invoke as Father him who, without regard of persons, judges according to the work of each, pass your time of sojourn in fear” (1 Peter 1: 17). Peter had the truth of the kingdom, and he is stressing that side. He says, “Pass the time of your sojourn in fear, knowing that ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible things, as silver or gold, from your vain conversation”. So that the fear of God is to mark us. You will remember, too, that Joseph in his dealings with his brethren said, “I fear God” (Genesis 42: 18). This feature is very important, and what gives it more importance than anything else is the fact that it characterised the Lord Jesus in His holy manhood here. Perhaps you had not thought of that, but it is an amazing fact that He who had equal part in the Deity with the Father and the Spirit, as here in manhood was marked in His humanity by the fear of God. That is a remarkable thing. Hebrews 5 tells us that in the days of His flesh He “offered up both supplications and entreaties to him who was able to save him out of death, with strong crying and tears” (Hebrews 5: 7). The Lord Jesus felt all that was coming upon Him in regard to His death and the sin question, the forsaking of God—how the Lord felt that! And then the scripture in Hebrews tells us that He was heard in that He feared. Surely it is deeply affecting to think of that.

Now that gives this feature a value that nothing else could. The Lord Jesus was perfect in it. He was the Leader in it, as in everything else; but we have to learn from that and take on this matter of the fear of God.

So in this section of the book of the Acts these beloved brethren had been through much. They had seen the way God had acted in relation to Ananias and Sapphira, and the result was that the fear of God was with them. They had seen the way God had allowed Stephen to be put to death, and James to be put to death; and they saw the way that the Lord came out to deal with Saul of Tarsus. The result was that they were walking in the fear of the Lord. O, dear brethren, I would like to press that; it is so important—“the fear of the Lord”, and then “the comfort of the Holy Spirit”. I think the two go together.

I have the impression that the comfort of the Holy Spirit comes to us in the ministry. I am not overlooking in any sense the actual presence here of the Holy Spirit, and that He can convey to any individual saint, at any time, a sense of comfort and encouragement. I am not overlooking at all our individual relations with the Holy Spirit, for that is a wonderful thing, and a very real thing—and I believe it is open to us to prove the comfort of the Holy Spirit every day of our lives; I might say, every hour of the day. We can thus prove individually the comfort that the Holy Spirit would afford us.

But then, when we think of our assembly relations, think in the main it would be right to say that the comfort of the Holy Spirit is conveyed to us in ministry. That is another reason why we should be so thankful for the liberation amongst us of the ministry. It brings in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

I want to illustrate that from the account we have in 2 Chronicles of Asa’s reign. Asa was a good man, a very good man. We are told that “Asa’s heart was perfect all his days” (2 Chronicles 15: 17). At the end of his time he had a disease in his feet, but the Spirit of God comments that his heart was perfect towards God all his days.

Now the account of Asa’s reign begins by telling us that God gave him rest. It is a very remarkable thing that in his time they were free from war. It says that Asa did what was good; he took away the altars and the strange gods; he removed idolatry from Judah and he turned the hearts of the people to God. It says that the land had rest and they were without war for ten years. I think there is a link between that and the scripture that we read in Acts 9, that the assemblies had peace. In Asa’s reign there were ten years with no war, and the land had rest.

Well, what is Asa going to do? Is it a time of inaction with him? It certainly was not. And it is not to be a time of inactivity with us either. If God has given a time of peace and rest, there is work to be done. It is to be a time of action. So during this time of peace Asa says to Judah,

“Let us build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us; for we have sought Jehovah our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. And they built and prospered” (2 Chronicles 14: 7).

It is the idea of what is constructive. God is giving Asa and the people with him an opportunity to build up the position and to strengthen it. Asa says, “Let us build these cities”.

I believe the local assemblies of the saints are very precious at the present time in the eyes of God. We want to see what these cities are to God. Asa says, ‘Let us build them up’. Dear brethren, let us occupy the time God is giving to us. If we are in a time of peace—and we are, in measure at least—if God gives us a time of rest, it is to be a time of construction. Let us be on that line. Asa is not looking backward; he is not bemoaning the time that was lost before he became king; what Asa is doing is building up these cities. They mean so much to God; it is the fortifying of the position, and the strengthening of it, because, sure enough, sooner or later the enemy will come up against it.

Now Asa did not only fortify the cities, he also had an army, and he equipped it with armour (2 Chronicles 14: 8). The panoply of God, in figure, was there. He had this army, ready to go out and do conflict with any adversary. It was not long before this king of Ethiopia, Zerah, came out against him with a thousand thousand. Think of an army like that! It would appear overwhelming. Even by present-day calculations it is an overwhelming host. Zerah, the Ethiopian, came against Asa with that, and Asa had to meet him with about half the number.

But he met him, dear brethren, in the fear of God, and he met him in the name of Jehovah. It says, “And Asa cried unto Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, it maketh no difference to thee to help, whether there be much or no power—help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name have we come against this multitude. Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee” (2 Chronicles 14: 11). If you look at the note to “man” you will find that it refers to Enosh; frail, mortal man. That is what man is, frail and mortal. And if you multiply that by a million it is still frail, mortal man. So Asa says, “Let not man prevail against thee”.

What does it matter what their numbers are? Multiply them by any figure you like and it is still frail, mortal man. And Asa is crying to God about it, and God comes in and scatters the Ethiopians so that not one of them is left—not one of the million men; they are all destroyed.

It was the intervention of God, and the victory was complete. I tell you, dear brethren, I feel it myself, that we are to be prepared for great things. There is no limit to what God can do. I think we have to strengthen ourselves in our faith, and strengthen ourselves in our localities, and see what God can do for us. Asa did that. He strengthened those cities; he built up his army, and God acted for him.

What I want to come to is this, that, after the victory, it says in chapter 15: 1, “And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah is with you while ye are with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him he will forsake you”. Now, dear brethren, I believe, subject to correction, that that is the way the comfort of the Holy Spirit comes in. You think of this prophet; it says that the Spirit of God came upon him, and he went out to meet Asa coming back from his victory. It reminds us immediately of Melchisedec going out to meet Abraham returning from his victory. The point of victory is a very dangerous one, because the enemy can very soon, and very easily, get an advantage.

The Spirit of God comes upon this prophet and he goes out to meet Asa. Now, he says, you listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. God is with you as you are with Him. Is not that a word for us? Is it not a word from the Holy Spirit? Would it not contain the comfort of the Holy Spirit? Asa had said, “We have sought Jehovah our God... and he has given us rest” (2 Chronicles 14: 7), and now the Holy Spirit is coming in—“Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin—Jehovah is with you while ye are with him”.

Well, dear brethren, if we do not get anything else today, let us get that! It is the word of the prophet, and we ought soberly to thank God for what comes to us in our localities through the prophetic ministry. I am sure that the Lord is speaking to us in more ways than one, and the prophetic ministry is going on. Let us humbly thank God for it. And the word is that God will be with us as we are with Him. What a word that is! Now I think that is the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It comes in this way.

So this prophet goes on. He tells Asa, going over the history, of a period when Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest. O, dear brethren, we have known conditions like that; when our relations with the true God were not what they ought to have been, and we were without the teaching priest. Our young ones have missed the teaching; the priestly teaching that is so necessary to build the saints up. Azariah reminds Asa of all that. But, he says, now He has given you rest; God has answered you, and “Jehovah is with you while ye are with him”.

The result of this is that Asa and all those with him, Judah and Benjamin, come together at Jerusalem and commit themselves in a full and whole-hearted way to God on the principle of an oath. They commit themselves irrevocably to the defence of what is for God. Well, that is, I believe, what the comfort of the Holy Spirit would result in as we experience it—and one would trust that there is some element of comfort entering into the meetings today. What are these meetings if they are not in line with what the Holy Spirit is doing? What we are learning, dear brethren, is not to trust in the flesh; not to trust in any ability that we may think we have, but to cast ourselves upon the Spirit of God, and see that, along with the fear of God that is to characterise the saints, there is this wonderful feature of the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

That is about all I have to say. I think it will be seen what I am aiming at. I think we ought to appreciate more fully the way that the ministry has been released among us—an authoritative ministry. This prophet is not speaking out of any position of weakness. He is speaking as the representative of God, and he has moral power. He says, “Jehovah is with you while ye are with him ... but if ye forsake him he will forsake you”. The word of authority is in it, and God is looking for subjection on the part of us all—not just on the part of some, but on the part of us all.

It is a remarkable thing, too, and this is perhaps what led me to think this way, that in the end of the epistle to the Romans Paul asks for the prayers of the saints. He says, “But I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in prayers for me to God; that I may be saved from those that do not believe in Judaea; and that my ministry which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints (Romans 15: 30, 31). You can see how the apostle in that passage is connecting the love of the Spirit with the ministry that God had given him for the saints, and the prayers of the saints are to be that the ministry may be acceptable.

Well, dear brethren, I trust there is something in this for us, as to the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I believe the time has come for it. We are in the last days, remnant times maybe publicly, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit is something that we are to experience increasingly amongst us.

May it be so, for His name’s sake!

Southend-on-Sea
30th December 1972