31 The assemblies then 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.
And Saul was consenting to his being killed. And on that day there arose a great persecution against the assembly which was in Jerusalem, and all were scattered into the countries of Judaea and Samaria except the apostles.
And I said, The thing that ye do is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies?
And unto man he said, Lo, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Teach me thy way, Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate.
Let not thy heart envy sinners, but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day;
And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him; but ye know him, for he abides with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you.
and hope does not make ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by [the] Holy Spirit which has been given to us:
In the fear of Jehovah is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, to turn away from the snares of death.
for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to [the] work of [the] ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
Let no corrupt word go out of your mouth, but if [there be] any good one for needful edification, that it may give grace to those that hear [it].
submitting yourselves to one another in [the] fear of Christ.
praying at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in [the] Spirit, and watching unto this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; and for me in order that utterance may be given to me in [the] opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the glad tidings,
If then [there be] any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of [the] Spirit, if any bowels and compassions,
[so as] to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God;
But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given [us] eternal consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts, and establish you in every good work and word.
nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which bring questionings rather than [further] God's dispensation, which [is] in faith.
But *ye*, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
in whom *ye* also [have trusted], having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is [the] earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to [the] praise of his glory.
And Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he had sworn unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them: Jehovah gave all their enemies into their hand.
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
Is not Jehovah your God with you? and has he [not] given you rest on every side? for he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before Jehovah, and before his people.
The Jews had light, and joy, and gladness, and honour. And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.
By loving-kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for; and by the fear of Jehovah [men] depart from evil. When a man's ways please Jehovah, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
and the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah. And his delight will be in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears;
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a banner of the peoples: the nations shall seek it; and his resting-place shall be glory.
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.
The assemblies therefore were confirmed in the faith, and increased in number every day.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in [the] Holy Spirit.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that ye should abound in hope by [the] power of [the] Holy Spirit.
For we are God's fellow-workmen; ye are God's husbandry, God's building. According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it. For other foundation can no man lay besides that which [is] laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one build upon [this] foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, the work of each shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare [it], because it is revealed in fire; and the fire shall try the work of each what it is. If the work of any one which he has built upon [the foundation] shall abide, he shall receive a reward. If the work of any one shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss, but *he* shall be saved, but so as through [the] fire.
He that speaks with a tongue edifies himself; but he that prophesies edifies [the] assembly. Now I desire that ye should all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy. But greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, unless he interpret, that the assembly may receive edification.
Thus *ye* also, since ye are desirous of spirits, seek that ye may abound for the edification of the assembly.
What is it then, brethren? whenever ye come together, each [of you] has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edification.
For and if I should boast even somewhat more abundantly of our authority, which the Lord has given [to us] for building up and not for your overthrowing, I shall not be put to shame;
Ye have long been supposing that we excuse ourselves to you: we speak before God in Christ; and all things, beloved, for your building up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 9
Commentary on Acts 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
In this chapter we have,
Act 9:1-9
We found mention made of Saul twice or thrice in the story of Stephen, for the sacred penman longed to come to his story; and now we are come to it, not quite taking leave of Peter but from henceforward being mostly taken up with Paul the apostle of the Gentiles, as Peter was of the circumcision. His name in Hebrew was Saul-desired, though as remarkably little in stature as his namesake king Saul was tall and stately; one of the ancients calls him, Homo tricubitalis-but four feet and a half in height; his Roman name which he went by among the citizens of Rome was Paul-little. He was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a free city of the Romans, and himself a freeman of that city. His father and mother were both native Jews; therefore he calls himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he was of the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered to Judah. His education was in the schools of Tarsus first, which was a little Athens for learning; there he acquainted himself with the philosophy and poetry of the Greeks. Thence he was sent to the university at Jerusalem, to study divinity and the Jewish law. His tutor was Gamaliel, an eminent Pharisee. He had extraordinary natural parts, and improved mightily in learning. He had likewise a handicraft trade (being bred to tent-making), which was common with those among the Jews who were bred scholars (as Dr. Lightfoot saith), for the earning of their maintenance, and the avoiding of idleness. This is the young man on whom the grace of God wrought this mighty change here recorded, about a year after the ascension of Christ, or little more. We are here told,
Act 9:10-22
As for God, his work is perfect; if he begin, he will make an end: a good work was begun in Saul, when he was brought to Christ's feet, in that word, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And never did Christ leave any that were brought to that. Though Saul was sadly mortified when he lay three days blind, yet he was not abandoned. Christ here takes care of the work of his own hands. He that hath torn will heal-that hath smitten will bind up-that hath convinced will comfort.
Act 9:23-31
Luke here makes no mention of Paul's journey into Arabia, which he tells us himself was immediately after his conversion, Gal. 1:16, 17. As soon as God had revealed his Son in him, that he might preach him, he went not up to Jerusalem, to receive instructions from the apostles (as any other convert would have done, that was designed for the ministry), but he went to Arabia, where there was new ground to break up, and where he would have opportunity of teaching, but not learning; thence he returned to Damascus, and there, three years after his conversion, this happened, which is here recorded.
Act 9:32-35
Here we have,
Act 9:36-43
Here we have another miracle wrought by Peter, for the confirming of the gospel, and which exceeded the former-the raising of Tabitha to life when she had been for some time dead. Here is,