Great Power
The church of the book of Acts was a church that with Great Power gave witness of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the church of Acts was a church that saw so many souls saved, bodies healed, souls delivered, people baptized with the Holy Spirit and the miraculous on a regular basis. They were a church that did not have all the resources that the church of today has, they did not have microphones, sound systems, musical bands, carpeted and air conditioned buildings, Christian book Stores, how to do church books, conferences every month, TV, radio, internet, media etc. Without all these resources that the church of today has in abundance, they had what we so desperately need, GREAT POWER that as a result produced great things in their midst.
Sadly the church of today, boasts in its richness, influence, numbers, buildings, revelation etc and in many ways mocks the early church and the church of the last century because they did not have what we have, with regards to these things, when in reality what they had was all they needed to do the work of God effectively. I praise God for all the resources and technological advancements that the church can take advantage of and we must, but it is when the church puts its trust in these earthly things and replace the divine for the natural that we begin to fall away from flowing with Great Power as the early church did.
We must study the book of Acts and see how it was that they ministered with Great Power the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church today, needs more than ever before in its history, to come back to relying and trusting in the Great Power of God.
Here are a few points to consider that are evident in the book of Acts as to why the church of Acts had Great Power.
1. Prayer: The church of Acts was a praying church. Sadly, today, the church no longer prays as our forefathers prayed. Gone are the meetings where the saints assembled together to pray with urgency and intercession that touched the throne of God. As I have travelled preaching the Gospel in different parts of the world the number one frustration of many Pastors is that the people in the congregation do not want to pray. The mid week prayer service they say is the service with the least amount of people in attendance. They have said, we have a concert and the people flock to the church, we have a drama production and the church gets packed, we have a BBQ picnic and you do not even have to announce it, but you call them to a prayer meeting and few are those who come. The church of Acts and the church of the last centuries was a church of prayer, the church of today needs to come back to prayer.
2. Anointing: The church of Acts was an anointed church. God’s supernatural was evident upon them. The anointing equipped them to do what they did; they relied totally upon this power. The church today relies on entertainment, buildings, conferences, money, education, human gifting and talents, and the anointing has been pushed back as secondary to these things. All these things are not bad in themselves and we must take full advantage of them in order to expand the Gospel, but none of these things can ever replace the anointing, they will never equip us as the anointing does, for it is the anointing that breaks the yoke of bondage, it is the anointing that gives us the ability to do the supernatural and to do it effectively. The church today needs the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon everything that we do. Leonard Ravenhill in his powerful book, Why Revival tarries has a chapter in it titled “In all thy getting, Get Unction”. That is a powerful statement and so true for the church of today.
3. Boldness: These men of Acts were so bold that they cared not for the opinions of man; their only concern was what God had to say about the issue. They were bold in the preaching of the Gospel, bold in praying for the sick, bold in casting out demons, bold against sin etc. The church needs boldness in the face of so much that is going on around us, when we are bold the Lord by His Spirit gives us the authority to conquer over all attack of the enemy. They were not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for they knew that is was the power of God unto salvation.
4. Convictions: The church of Acts had great convictions. They where not moved by no one from what they had received and from what they believed. They knew in whom they had believed and in no way were they going to lower their standards for the sake of being relevant and accepted. They took a stand against sin, apostasy, the devil, the spirit of the world etc. Their convictions where determined by what God said not man. Today the church must come back to having standards and convictions. Sadly we have lowered the standard of Gods word and His way. I believe one of the reasons the church of Acts moved with great power is because they where a church of convictions, this is what we need today in the church. The world system and culture is in the church from the pulpit down and it is time to take back what the devil has stolen from us as a church.
They were also a holy church, they were a united church, they were a giving church, they were a church that was not afraid of martyrdom, and they preached the Gospel etc.
This church was a church of Great Power and how the church of today must once again come back to these truths and take up with our hands what we have replaced and once again be the church that with Great Power gives witness of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will see and experience what they saw and lived.