The Real Power at Work in Acts

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Author J.B. Phillips, after spending 14 years translating the New Testament, sat back and reflected on his most lasting impressions. He kept returning to the book of Acts and its portrait of an infant church. “The sick are not merely prayed about,” said Phillips. “They are healed, often suddenly and dramatically … Human nature is changed. The fresh air of Heaven blows gustily through these pages.

“The early church lived dangerously, but never before has such a handful of people exerted such widespread influence … To put it shortly, the lasting excitement which follows the reading of the book is this: The thing works!”

“The thing works.” indeed! And there is no guesswork as to how it did. The Scripture points directly and decisively to the power of God, through the Holy Spirit. The author of Acts noted that every major advancement and decision of the early church was made under the Spirit’s guidance. And as a matter of record, Luke mentioned the Holy Spirit 57 times in the book.  

The Spirit personally sent Philip into the desert to meet an Ethiopian [see 8.26-29], set apart missionaries in Antioch [see 13.1-2], guided the first church council [see 15.1-29], and helped plan Paul’s itinerary [see 13.4; 16.6]. 

As presented in Acts, the Spirit was no vague mist but a living person who spoke, guided in decisions and fueled the church with the energy of faith.

How is the Holy Spirit active in your life?

They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Acts 4,7