“Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”
Romans 15:18-19 NLT
Paul must have been an amazing man. He preached the Gospel throughout what we know as the Middle East, and in between times he wrote a large chunk of the New Testament and spent time in prison. He was often physically abused for his labours and was shipwrecked three times. And historical records seem to indicate that he finally died a violent death in Rome. But the one thing that stood out in his ministry was the “power of God’s Spirit”. His message to the Gentiles was supported and confirmed by “miraculous signs and wonders”. But we shouldn’t be surprised by this. We read in Mark 16:20, “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs”.
The early church was no stranger to the miraculous. As just one example, we read of the contact between Peter and a beggar in Acts 3:6-8, “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them”. As we read through the Book of Acts we see other times where the message of the Good News about Jesus was accompanied by miraculous events.
Some church groups and denominations today have no expectation for the work of the Holy Spirit being manifested through the miraculous. They think that these Holy Spirit works died away with the early Apostles, but in fact church history records miracles taking place throughout the first few centuries and at sporadic points ever since. In my lifetime I have observed at first hand some miraculous healings, including that of my own daughter, so nothing will convince me that the Holy Spirit is not alive and well in these times, and doing “miraculous signs and wonders”. The early disciples expected that when they preached there would be a confirmation by the Holy Spirit, giving their message authority. We read about Jesus’ preaching and teaching, and the miracles that accompanied Him, and see again how powerful the Holy Spirit can be. For example, in Matthew 9 we find the story of a paralysed man brought to Jesus on a stretcher by his friends. Jesus started by saying to the man that his sins were forgiven. This considerably upset the Jewish leaders who were there to keep an eye on this upstart itinerant preacher, and their theology stated that only God could forgive sins. Of course, they failed to accept that Jesus was the Messiah and had the authority to forgive sins. But then we read what Jesus said, “So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralysed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up and went home” (Matthew 9:6-7).
Jesus Himself said that His disciples (including us) would have the power through the Holy Spirit to do greater works than even He did. We read what Jesus said in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father“. How did Jesus perform such wonderful “works”? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He lives within us too. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“. We are only limited by our lack of faith.
What are we going to do today in the power of the Holy Spirit? A sobering thought, because we are uncomfortable when it comes to sticking our heads above the parapets of the societies in which we live. Societies where we can face much abuse and rejection just for daring to be counter-culturally different for God. But those around us need the power of God to make a difference in their lives. The lonely. The rejected. The sick. The poor and needy. In our societies today it is all about the survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle applies. In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus repeated the prophecy of Isaiah about His mission. We read in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come“. We too are anointed to continue that mission, proclaiming the Good News with the “Spirit of the Lord” upon us as well. Pew warming is not an option in the Kingdom of God.
Dear Father God. Please visit us again, bringing a Holy Spirit revival to Your people. We need more of Your power and presence in our lives. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 