There is Power in the Gospel of Christ
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took
the road through the interior and arrived
at Ephesus. There he found
some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive
the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered,
“No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy
Spirit.”. . . When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing
persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate;
they refused to believe and publicly maligned
the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples
with him and had discussions daily in the lecture
hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so
that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province
of Asia heard the word of the Lord. God did extraordinary
miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs
and aprons that had touched him were taken
to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Sometimes the power in my life is weak. Nevertheless, there have
been times in my life when Jesus has used that weakness. He has used it to heal
and to bring others to Christ. He has used my weakness to pray for the healing
of others and see Him work through my prayers.
We have access to a
power that is denied by us on a daily basis. We deny that power in our lack of
faith and lack of trust in what God has promised us. We do not believe that we
can do what has been done in the past because the men and women of the Bible
had power. We are told by some that power has died after the first century and
is still dead in the 21st century. We cannot expect to do the
miraculous works that have been done by apostles. The absurdity of that type of
thinking dwells in the following passage.
Jesus said in John
14:10-14:
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say
to you are not just my own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in me,
who is doing His work. Believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe
on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith
in me will do what I have been doing. He will
do even greater things than these, because I am
going to the Father. And I will do whatever you
ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory
to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my
name, and I will do it.
I have seen God do miraculous things in my life,
perhaps because I was ignorant to the fact that they were not supposed to
happen. Now, since I have heard that they are not supposed to happen any
longer, God can still work in my life because I have past experiences to prove
that He still works just as He has done for centuries.
Even though you may have
heard that God is not in miracle business anymore, I can tell you that is 100%
wrong! God’s power is the same today as it was 2000 years ago. God’s power is
the same as it was when He created the universe.
Not every time the
apostles prayed did someone get healed or miraculous things happen. Sometimes
we pray for someone to be healed and God chooses not to do it. I do not know
how to distinguish why and when God will heal. In fact, it is not necessary for
me to know, because God is the healer not me.
The Spirit that dwells
in us today is the same as it has always been. Jesus is the same yesterday,
today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans
8:11)
God is waiting for us to discover the faith
and trust that will put His Spirit into action.
The narrative from Acts
19:1-12 explains that Apollos was a disciple of John. Even though he accurately
taught about Jesus, he did not understand about baptism. He was still teaching
a baptism of repentance. Evidently disciples of John knew about Jesus, but did
not understand the fullness of His message.
Matthew
11:1 - 4 says:
After Jesus had finished instructing His
twelve disciples, He went on from
there to teach and preach in the
towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his
disciples to ask Him, “Are you the
one who was to come, or should we
expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: . . .
Acts 19:1-2 implies, even though this was many
years after Jesus’ crucifixion, these men had not been evangelized. These men
did not even know there was a Holy Spirit.
There
is a question, “were they saved?” Maybe they had not even heard the Gospel, and
they were still looking for a Messiah. Some say, No! They had not accepted
Christ as their Lord. They believed in a Messiah, but had not made Jesus Lord
of their life because they did not know that they needed to.
Others
use this passage to prove that there is an additional “something” that comes
after one is saved. They call it a Baptism of the Holy Spirit and this is an
example of said baptism. However, at the moment we are saved, Jesus’ Spirit
comes into us. Possibly, as Paul lays his hands on them, he explains the power
of the Holy Spirit and his purpose.
We
will not discuss the gifts at this juncture other than to say that our focus
should never be on the gifts. Our main focus must always be Christ. Our focus
is on Christ and the power of His Gospel. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes: . . . (Romans 1:16).”
Possibly,
they did not know about the power within them to proclaim the
Gospel. God tells us that we have the power of the Gospel indwelled in us (Romans 8:9 – 11). Paul refers to the
Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ synonymously. So, the Spirit that dwells
within us is the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, when you accept Jesus, you also
are filled with the Spirit. Possibly Paul had to ask the question because he
did not see the fruit of the Spirit in them. Or, possibly they had not been
told of what they had access to in the Spirit.
Acts 19:6 says when Paul
placed his hands on them they received the power of the Holy Spirit as
evidenced in Acts 1:8. The knowledge of the Holy Spirit was awakened.
As new converts come
into this church, they need to be told that they have been cleansed by the sacrifice
of Jesus. They need to understand that it is the Holy Spirit that gives them
the power to change. That in fact, it is the Spirit of Jesus that will change them
from the inside out if He is allowed to do so.
Romans
1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of
God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile.”
The
power is in the Gospel. Too many want to have the power themselves. It becomes
an issue of pride. Some say, “I have the gift of healing, or miraculous powers
or tongues, etc.” When in fact the greatest gift we have is the gift that
changes lives. That gift is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This discussion is not to belittle the power of tongues or any
other gifts. Unfortunately, many focus on the tongues part of Acts 19. However,
it is more important to focus on the power that one receives when one comes to
Christ. That is not to say that I do not believe in any of the gifts. I DO!
Mark 16:18 says:
“. . . they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will
not hurt them at all; they
will place their hands on sick
people, and they will get well.”
In one of my previous
books I told the story of Eva, but it is worth repeating just in case you have
not read The Power We Leave On the Table.
In the weeks prior to Eva’s incident I had been preaching on the
power of God. The power that is still available to us. The week before Eva’s
incident I had been preaching specifically on Mark 16:18. I was communicating
the literal interpretation I believe that is in Mark 16:18. (Perhaps it should
be stated that I do not believe one should tempt God by seeking out poisonous
snakes and handling them. God is stating that we should not fear poisonous
snakes over the power of God).
A few days later, Eva came running into the house proclaiming to
her mother that she had been bitten by a snake. Her mother, Meaux, could
already visually see the swelling that had encompassed Eva’s ankle and foot.
Meaux quickly gathered her other three children, picked up some oil, placed
them in the car and started for the hospital. Meaux and her children anointed
Eva with oil and prayed the prayer of faith over her. Approximately half way to
the hospital, Eva told her mother the swelling was subsiding.
By the time they arrived at the hospital the swelling was gone.
When the doctor inquired as to the time frame of the actual bite to their
arrival at the hospital, Meaux informed him that it was about thirty minutes.
The doctor told her that it was impossible. She must have been mistaken. Does
the Scripture still apply in the twenty-first century? Absolutely!
1 Corinthians 12 tells
of the gifts that He gives to those who will have faith in Him. They are still
alive and well today; operating in all who will allow the Holy Spirit to use
them for the glory of God. I have witnessed many of the gifts myself through my
hands and the hands of others.
In verse eight, Paul
preached in the synagogue, but some refused to believe. However, the power of
the Gospel changed the lives of many and the church grew. In verse eleven
through twelve God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. The Lord has
blessed me in so many ways in my life I have a hard time remembering all of the
blessings.
I was talking to a
friend of mine the other day. I was explaining how I had sprained my knee by
playing with kids at our AWANA (Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed) program. I
told him that I had done the same thing when I was about twenty three. I was
playing baseball and while trying to catch the ball in right field the first
baseman was coming toward me with the same goal. When I realized that he was
not going to stop I had to. Unfortunately, we collided and he fell directly
down on my knee.
The pain was excruciating.
A believing friend was on the field with me. I couldn’t move my leg. While someone
was going to call 911 (Being pre-cell phone days) he prayed that the Lord would
heal my leg. In a few seconds the relief started at the top of my knee and
followed to the bottom of my foot. The pain went away. I told the one running
for help to wait a moment. I stood to my feet and was able to play the rest of
the game. Until I sprained the other knee, I had forgotten what God had
miraculously done for me years prior. You have the same power of the Gospel
that Peter, Paul and the other disciples had. Jesus is the same yesterday,
today and forever.
Romans
8:11 says:
And
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit, who lives in you.
If the same Spirit that
raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you, why would you not have access
to what the apostles themselves had?
James 5:13 - 16 says:
Is any one of you in trouble? He should
pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing
songs of praise. Is any one of you
sick? He should call the elders of the
church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the
prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each
other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous
man is powerful and effective.
The above passage says that we can pray and
expect God to answer our prayers.
In
other words, Elijah was one of the most powerful Prophets of the Bible.
Nevertheless, he was a man just like us. What was the power of Elijah? The
power of God! God made His power available to Elijah and to James: why not us?
Mark Kelly writes in SBC Life:
The motivation and power for evangelism arises out of spiritual awakening,’ said Paige
[Patterson], who is completing
His second term as SBC president. ‘I keep going
back to Acts 1:8, which says, you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you. And when
we have been stirred by God’s Spirit, we reach out
to the lost and God draws people to Himself.
There is power in the Gospel of Christ to
change lives. I have heard it said that only a wicked and perverse people need
a sign. Is there any more wicked times than we see today. The Greek and Roman
debauchery had nothing on what we see in western civilization today. 1
Corinthians 14:22 says that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. Why then would
they have stopped? Do we have no unbelievers today? 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 is
used as an argument that there are no more miraculous gifts today.
1 Corinthians 1:22 – 24 says:
The argument, at
least in part, is since the Jews have rejected Christ as a nation, signs are no
longer needed. Nevertheless, God still cares for the Jews and it is not His
will that any should perish but all have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9). That would
include the individual Jew. Would that not predicate the need for signs to
continue if only to convince the chosen people of God?
Paul, James and Peter were ordinary people, just like us. God will
use us if we will let Him. If we don’t, He will use the next person who has the
faith to know that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! If we will
recognize the power that God has given us we will be able to build our
relationships, live in unity, encourage one another, exude the fruit of the
Spirit and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world in power
and great glory.
When we take the focus
off of us and place it on Christ, we will be able to do a great and mighty
work. We will walk in victory and the abundant life as outlined in John 10:10, “The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.”
