What The Church Can Learn From The First Five Chapters of The Book of Acts
It is in the book of Acts that we witness the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the power that came with it. Before ascending to heaven Yahshua asked His disciples not to "depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father and they would be "baptized with the Holy Spirit" Acts 1: 4-5.
It is also in this book of Acts that we witness the foundation and growth of the church. The apostles now speak with boldness and conviction something they could not do before. Peter who had previously denied Christ out of fear, (Luke 22:57-62) now stands before the Sanhedrin and boldly proclaim to them that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" Acts 4 :12.
It is also amazing that Peter and John actually celebrate being beaten for preaching in the name of Yahshua because they were "counted worthy to suffer shame" for the name of Yahshua, Acts 5:40-42. The Holy Spirit had transformed them into bold men who knew they were favored to be associated and called to preach in that precious name.
As instructed by Yahshua, the apostles started preaching in Jerusalem with signs and wonders following them. John the Baptist had stated that he baptized with water but there would come another after him who would baptize with the "Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16) and thus his prophecy was fulfilled.
The day of Pentecost also known as the feast of weeks, was a time that Jews from all nations congregated in Jerusalem to give thanks offering to God in line with the Old Testament command in Deuteronomy 16:16-17. A multitude of Jews from all nations were therefore congregating in Jerusalem at this time.
It makes sense then that the Holy Spirit would be released at this time and make available the gospel to an international community, resulting in a world wide harvest of new believers who were visiting Jerusalem, Acts 2:1. Those who were present at the release of the Holy Spirit "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" Acts 2:2-4.
These events prepared the ground through which Peter was able to preach the gospel by explaining through scripture what those present had witnessed. Yahshua had assured the disciples that "signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; --- they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover", Mark 16: 17-18. And as promised, these things came to pass making it easy for the apostles to introduce the gospel of the kingdom of God.
Peter spoke healing in the name of Yahshua to a man lame "from his mother's womb" and he was healed to the amazement of those present. On seeing the people's amazement of the miracle, Peter took the opportunity to show them how Yahshua was the Christ "and many who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about five thousand" Acts 3,4:4.
Another important lesson observed from this first church is the unity of the believers which was important for the growth of the church. This unity can be attributed to The Holy Spirit. Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the disciples were waiting in one accord, Acts 2:1. After the conversion of the 3,000, the believers "with one accord" ate food with "gladness and simplicity of heart" and the "Lord added to the church those who were being saved" Acts 2: 46.
Later, we are informed that the multitude of those who believed were of "one heart and one soul.—nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessor of land sold them —-and distributed to each as anyone had need." Acts 4:32-35.
Today, the Church seems to have lost its focus and in the process forgotten its mandate. One would be excused to say that the world seems to have come to the church and neutralised it making it like a "toothless bulldog". The church is not united because of doctrinal issues. In fact there are churches that believe that signs and wonders are no longer available to the modern church, in effect suggesting that the Holy Spirit is no longer functioning in our lives.
The devil is out there manifesting his counterfeit "signs and wonders" through magic and the occult to all sundry while the church debates on whether the Holy Spirit still empowers Christ followers. From the chapters above, it is manifest that it is the Holy Spirit who prepares the ground for preaching the gospel and the hearts of men to receive it. When we overlook the relevance of the Holy Spirit in the work of the ministry, then the church loses its power to influence and change lives.
Peter preached that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved"( Acts 4:12) yet today this is a very rare message in church. There are in fact churches that advocate that Yahshua is just one of "the ways" because they want to be politically correct. There is also too much intellectualizing of the gospel thereby complicating it just like the Pharisees complicated the law.
In churches where the full gospel is still being preached, there is evidence of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as manifested by signs and wonder. In such places many are being saved and delivered just like it was in the first church. This proves that the gospel has not changed even if the context or times have changed.
Written by serowa
Advocate, freelance writer, mentor, counselor, Christian
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