I have been extensively studying the book of Acts for a class I am participating in and one of our assignments was to identify “keys” to the establishment and expansion of the first-century church. That is, what recurring themes do we find in the book of Acts that helped the church become grounded and grow “to the ends of the earth”? And what of those things that occurred in the first century church a few thousand years ago are still applicable today? Over the next six weeks I would like to share some of the things I found in my study of Acts that if we were to take seriously and adopt as a church we may see the amazing power of God unfold in our lives and ministries.
Common patterns that seemed to arise in the book of Acts that contributed to the establishment and expansion of the First-Century Church are centered around the following themes: Leadership, Prayer, Witnessing, Unity, Holy Spirit Empowerment, and Persecution. Many of these areas overlap (i.e., praying in one accord is both prayer/unity) but it was helpful for me to compartmentalize the keys into these general categories.
Today we’ll talk about HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERMENT
We must acknowledge that every good work, every miraculous sign and wonder, every instance of tongues and prophecy, of supernatural wisdom and discernment and all other spiritual gifts are the result of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those yielded to Him. The apostles were quick to acknowledge that signs and wonders were not of human origin, but done by the Holy Spirit.
I invite you to check out some (by no means a full list!) of these keys pertaining to Holy Spirit empowerment I identified, along with their scripture references from the book of Acts. As you read through these, decide what of these we can apply to our lives today to be in alignment with God’s design for His church.
The Holy Spirit empowered the apostles with gifts of the Spirit (tongues, miracles, faith, wisdom and revelation of the word, etc.) to be a bold witness of Jesus to those gathered from nations (2:1-4, 2:43, 3:1-12, 4:31, 5:12-17, 6:8-10)
Peter was used by the Holy Spirit to heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate as a sign to those near the temple and gives credit to the Holy Spirit for the miracle (3:1-12)
Peter, John and companions were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness (4:31)
Signs and wonders including healing and deliverance were performed by Holy Spirit through the hands of the apostles to demonstrate power and to increase in believers’ numbers (2:43, 5:12-17)
Stephen, full of the Spirit, did great wonders and signs among the people (6:8-10)
Philip preached Christ, and combined with miracles of healing and deliverance were done to the amazement and joy of the people of Samaria (8:5-8)
Peter performed key miracles that lead to people turning to the Lord in Lydda, Sharon and Joppa (9:32-43)
The Holy Spirit fell upon the gentiles of Cornelius’ household who believed and also gifted them with tongues, that it might be confirmed to both Peter and his companions that the gentiles were to be included in God’s plan for salvation (10:44-48)
Agabus prophesied that a great famine would come upon the world and the disciples heeded this prophecy with action to send relief to Judea by way of Barnabas and Saul (11:27-30)
Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit to discern the nature of Elymas’ deceit and struck him blind, causing the proconsul in Paphos to believe (13:4-12)
Signs and wonders were done by the hands of Paul and Barnabas to assist in credibility to their witness of Lord and Living God (14:3, 8-17)
Paul was given a vision and a command to stay in Corinth and speak the word, and he continued there for a year and a half and longer seeing many hear, believe and be baptized despite opposition from the Jews (18:5-11)
As Paul witnessed to a group of disciples that did not have the full story of Christ Jesus, he laid hands on them and the Holy Spirit fell upon them giving them the gifts of tongues and prophecy (19:1-7)
God continued to work unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, who was healing and casting out of evil spirits among the people of Ephesus in stark contrast to the seven sons of Sceva, who attempted to drive out an evil spirit in the name of Jesus, but who did not know Him and therefore did not have the authority to do so (19:11-20)
The life of Eutychus was restored after Paul fell upon him and prophesied life into his body (20:9-12)
Agabus and other disciples prophesy of Paul’s imprisonment in Jerusalem (21:4, 9-11)
God sovereignly protected Paul and those with whom he was travelling so that he would make it to his destination to Rome (27:1-44)
Paul miraculously survived a viper bite and performed miracles of healing on the island of Malta (28:1-10)
As I reflect upon how we do ministry today, I am encouraged that when we as disciples employ these same principles within the context of our lives and ministries we should hope to see the same power, signs and wonders the apostles experienced. After all, the same Spirit that worked in each of the men and women during the establishment and expansion of the First-Century Church is the same Spirit that was in Jesus, and continues to dwell in us today. As we seek to turn our ministries to become realigned with the Way of Christ and His Apostles I am confident we shall continually move to see the Church unfold in power and in great works in the world, as well as transform the hearts and lives of His people to a greater degree.