Sharing the Consolation of Christ

Notes

1. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." We must accept perfect belief on the Lord Jesus Christ as the all-sufficient means of salvation. We are saved by faith, not by works. The reason so many speak disparagingly of simple belief; saying, "It is all right to believe; but we must do something, as well," is because they fail to realize the wonderful comprehensiveness of Bible belief. Believing, in the Bible sense, includes doing. When Christ was asked by the Jews what they should do in order to work the works of God, He replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John 6:29. This shows that there is no danger of antinomianism in real faith. Paul says that faith establishes the law. Rom. 3:31. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. That is, everything good that we desire, we may have through faith. It is faith which brings strength out of weakness, and light out of darkness, and works of righteousness in the place of disobedience. Let no one decry faith in Christ, but let all seek to know what it is in truth.

2. "Paul and Silas felt that to maintain the dignity of Christ's church, they must not submit to the illegal course proposed by the Roman magistrates. The apostles were Roman citizens, and it was unlawful to scourge a Roman, save for the most flagrant crime, or to deprive him of his liberty without a fair trial and condemnation. They had been publicly thrust into prison, and now refused to be privately released, without proper acknowledgments on the part of the magistrates.

"When this word was brought to the authorities, they were alarmed for fear the apostles would make complaint of their unlawful treatment to the emperor, and cause the magistrates to lose their positions. They accordingly visited the prison, apologized to the apostles for their injustice and cruelty, and themselves conducted them out of the prison, and entreated them to depart out of the city. Thus the Lord wrought for His servants in their extremity."—"Sketches from the Life of Paul," page 79.

3. "And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed." What a wonderful lesson these words contain! One would naturally think that Paul and Silas, after the shameful and cruel treatment that they had received, were the ones to be comforted. But no; they had received their comfort already. They had been sharers in the sufferings of Christ, and He had borne their sorrow for them. As God had given them comfort, they, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10), ministered the same comfort to others. From this we may learn that the proper way to use trials is not to mourn over them, burdening others in our efforts to obtain sympathy, but to take the increase of grace which God always gives in tribulation, to those who will receive it, and thereby be able to testify to others with greater confidence, of the goodness of God.