More than ever...

Rev. Andrew Hunt, III

Walking through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Acts 5:12–16

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More than ever...

More then ever…

“Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

We have learned that the Spirit-filled church is a unified, magnified, and multiplied, living organism. We also have seen in the last passage that Satan wants divide the church, disgrace the church, disrupt, and decrease the church; and he will do it if we are not definitely on our guard.

What does the Bible say about protection?" There are many promises and examples of physical protection in the Word of God, both the Old Testament and New Testament. God promised protection to the Israelites against the nations who would come against them as they entered the Promised Land. “I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you” (). Here we see God protecting those whose actions were in accordance to His foreordained plans and purpose. The Psalms of David are filled with praise for God as He protected His chosen one against his enemies,

, “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

, “For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah.”

No matter the amount of power or wrath that David’s enemies brought against him, they were no match for the protection of God. God’s protection in Job’s life was evident as well. Even though Job suffered through many trials as a result of the attacks of Satan, it was God who drew the line in the sand, over which Satan could not cross. Satan was limited to doing exactly what God allowed him to do, and nothing more (). Even through all the misery and afflictions Job endured, God was protecting him from greater harm. God also protected Job’s faith, allowing Job to be tested only so far before He stepped in and spoke to Job (). Even though Job could not see God working behind the scenes, he came to understand that God’s protection is sure and faithful because He promises to His people: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” Understand, however, that although God has the ability to deliver us out of every physical calamity or trouble, it may not be His will to do so. Sometimes He uses these trials to purify us. At these times, we should “count it pure joy” because by allowing such trials, God tests our faith to develop more faith so that we persevere and grow to maturity and Christ-likeness,

, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Protecting us from such trials would not be beneficial to us. God made Solomon extremely wealthy because his attitude toward wealth was much less than his desire for God’s wisdom and knowledge. As Solomon walked in sin and adultery, his wealth was destroyed. Ultimately, God uses wealth to lift up some and bring down others, all of which is part of His protection of His own. Again we learn from the Psalms to “Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever” (, ).

“The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts” (). The true essence of God’s protection is the eternal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We believers are sealed for the day of final glorification. We are protected in all things. We have the ability, though, by allowing our sin nature to rule us, to depart from the will of God. A shield can only protect if it is picked up and used. We cannot sit back and say, “God will protect me!” if we have not done the things we ought to be doing. It is only through prayer and the study of God’s Word that we are assured of God’s protection in our lives.

Let us pray…

More than ever… signs and wonders we being done.

, “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.”

But the church we see here is is described as a church that has God’s hand of protection upon it and that has completely triumphed over the attacks of Satan! The people were still unified, still magnifying the glory of their God, and still multiplying in their numbers. In fact multitudes were being added to the Lord church daily.

Our text tells us that many “…signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.”

God gave the apostles power to perform great miracles.

While it is true that some of the ordinary members exercised miraculous powers,

, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”

But the text emphasizes it was primarily the apostles who did the miracles. These “signs and wonders” were God’s way of authenticating the ministry of the apostles.

, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.”

Here we see a reference to the work of the Spirit through Paul’s ministry as seen in the conversion and gifting of the Corinthians we see it Paul’s Christlike behavior, we see it in his utmost patience with the people, and we see it characterized by his endurance in adversity by the power of God. Paul ministered through signs and wonders and mighty works given to him from God. This threefold description of miraculous acts was to accompanied and accredited the ministry of an apostle.

This triad ties God’s saving work under the new covenant to the signs and wonders at the exodus, thus showing the continuity within God’s redemptive history

, “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.”

Paul summarizes his entire ministry up to this point by saying that Christ accomplished his work through him by word and deed, that is, both by Paul’s preaching about Christ and by Paul’s actions (lifestyle, with mighty works) that accompanied those words.

By the power of the signs and wonders refers to the miracles that accompanied Paul’s gospel proclamation throughout his entire ministry. Such miracles gave a “sign” of (or pointed to) the power of God, the divine origin and truth of the gospel, and God’s mercy and love for people. What were the “wonders”? They were “wonders” were that the people were amazed by them that God could be so tangible in their every day lives, that God was only just a prayer away. Paul has fulfilled his mandate to preach the gospel among the Gentile from Jerusalem to Illyricum (roughly comprising what is now Albania and also what was formerly Yugoslavia). How can Paul say that his work has been complete when many still have not heard the gospel in this area? It can be seen from the following verses that churches have been planted in key centers, and from there Paul’s coworkers will bring the gospel to outlying areas.

Just as there were special judgments at the beginning of a new era, so there were also special miracles. In the Book of Genesis, we do not find God’s people performing miracles. But at the beginning of the age of the law, Moses performed great signs and wonders. Elijah and Elisha were miracle workers at the beginning of the great era of the prophets, and Jesus and the apostles performed signs and wonders when the Gospel age was inaugurated. Each time God opened a new door, He called man’s attention to it. It was His way of saying, “Follow these leaders, because I have sent them.”

The mighty wonders, performed by the apostles were the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that they would do “greater works”, in answer to the prayers of believers.

, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

When Jesus performed miracles during His ministry on earth, He had three purposes in mind: (1) to show compassion and meet human need; (2) to present His credentials as the Son of God; and (3) to convey spiritual truth.

For example, when He fed 5,000, the miracle met their physical need, revealed Him as the Son of God, and gave Him opportunity to preach a sermon about being the Bread of Life.

The apostolic miracles followed a similar pattern. Peter and John healed the crippled beggar and met his need, but Peter used the miracle to preach a salvation sermon and to prove to the people and the council that he and John were indeed the servants of the living Christ.

One of the qualifications for an apostle was that he had seen the risen Christ and, since nobody can make that claim today, there are no apostles in the church. The apostles and prophets laid the foundation for the church.

, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Our pastors, teachers, and evangelists are still building upon that foundation. If there are no apostles, there can be no “signs of an apostle” as are found in the Book of Acts today.

This certainly does not mean that God is limited and can no longer performed miracles for His people! But it does mean that the need for confirming miracles has passed away. We now have the completed Word of God and we test teachers by their message, not by their miracles.

, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

At the end of verse 13, after earlier speaking about the great growth of the church Luke now presents us with paradoxical truth when he says, “None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” Here Luke is speaking of none of the unbelievers left join them in the church, they had great respect for the followers of Jesus and their devotion to Jesus and their beliefs. Surely they also respected the power of God displayed through them. But to balance out the respect that might lead them to join was also the fear that sin would be severely judged. The swift judgment of Ananias and Sapphira kept the half-hearted and uncommitted from joining the Christian church. The practice of sternly dealing with sin helps maintain a pure church. People do not rush to join a church that will expose their sin. Church discipline is thus essential key to evangelism, because it purifies the church and keeps the shallow and merely curious away. We are starting to see today churches that purposely will not make sin an issue so as to attract the shadow and the curious.

Even many pastors fear that the practice of church discipline will drive people away and ruin their churches. Church discipline will drive away those who love their sin, but it will attract those who hate sin and are seeking repentance and righteousness.

, “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

We see this clearly in the text, despite the strict discipline imposed by God so that unbelievers feared to associate with the church, all the more believers in the Lord were constantly added. Men may build their churches with a tolerance for sin, but the Lord builds His church among people who love holiness and hate and expose sin.

And we must keep in mind that Satan is a counterfeiter and as well one who is able to deceive the unwary. In the Old Testament, any prophet who performed miracles but, at the same time, led the people away form God’s Word, was considered a false prophet and was killed. The important thing was not the miracles, but whether his message was true to the Word of God. So we see that more than ever… signs and wonders were be performed by the apostles that God has sent who were true to His Word.

More than ever… believers were being added the Lord’s church.

, “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

The text here tells us that the church was growing by leaps and bounds and at the same time the church was staying pure and abiding in God’s Word. But what does the Bible teach about church growth?

What does the Bible say about church growth?" Although the Bible does not specifically address church growth, the principle of church growth is the understanding that Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Paul confirmed that the church has its foundation in Jesus Christ,

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, “which is Jesus Christ” ().

Jesus Christ is also the head of the church.

, “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Having said that, it should be remembered that “growth” could be a relative term. There are different kinds of growth, some of which have nothing to do with numbers. A church can be alive and growing even though the number of members /attendees is not changing. If those in the church are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, submitting to His will for their lives, both individually and corporately, that is a church that is experiencing true growth. At the same time, a church can be adding to its rolls weekly, have huge numbers, and still be spiritually stagnant. Growth of any kind follows a typical pattern. As with a growing organism, the local church has those who plant the seed (evangelists), those who water the seed (pastor/teachers), and others who use their spiritual gifts for the growth of those in the local church. But note that it is God who gives the increase.

, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”

There has to be a balance between planting and watering for a local church to grow, which means that in a healthy church each person must know what his/her spiritual gift, so that he/she can best function within the body of Christ. If the planting and watering get out of balance, the church will not prosper as God intended.

Of course, there has to be daily dependence upon and obedience to the Holy Spirit so His power can be released in those who plant and water in order for God's increase to come. Finally, the description of a living and growing church is found in

, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

We see in this passage where the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” They were serving one another and reaching out to those who needed to know the Lord, for the Lord “added to their number daily those who were being saved.” When these things are present, the church will experience spiritual growth, whether or not there is a numerical increase. But eventually you will see numerical growth as well.

We also for the first time Luke mentioning the salvation of women as well. Both in his Gospel and in Acts, Luke has a great deal to say about women and their relationship to Christ and the church. There are at least a dozen references in Acts to women, as Luke shows the key role women played in the apostolic church. This is a remarkable thing when you consider the general position of women in the culture of that day.

, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This is plain to see in this passage, because of the purity of the church, because of the purpose and focus of this church, and because of the plan of God for this church more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

More than ever… the sick and those with unclean spirits were healed.

, “ So that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

Peter and John found themselves ministering as their Lord had ministered, with people coming from all over, bringing their sick and afflicted, those with unclean spirits as well.

There healings we not unlike those of their leader Jesus Christ, in , Jesus heals a paralytic. In , Peter and John heal a paralytic.

, Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

The Twelve must have found it very difficult to walk down the street, for people must have crowed around them and many must have laid before their sick people on their pallets. Some of the people even had the superstitious belief that was healing in Peter’ shadow. It is significant that all of these people were healed.

There were no failures and nobody was sent away because he or she “ did not have enough faith to be healed.” These were days of mighty power when God was speaking to Israel and telling them that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed their Messiah and Savior.

, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

God gave “signs and wonders” to them through the apostles’ ministry. The important thing was not the healing of the afflicted, but the winning of lost souls, as multitudes were added to the fellowship. The Spirit gave them power for signs and wonders, power for witness, and power for miracles apart from God’s Word cannot save the lost.

The greatest miracle of all is the transformation of a lost sinner into a child of God by the grace of God. That is the miracle that meets the greatest need, lasts the longest, and costs the greatest price- the blood of God’s Son. And that is one miracle we can all participate in as we share the message of the Gospel, “ the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.”

"What are unclean spirits? Are unclean spirits demons?"

An unclean spirit is simply a New Testament synonym, a more descriptive Jewish term, for a demon. The terms unclean spirit and demon seem to be interchangeable in Scripture. There is no clear difference in their definitions. Some translations refer to them as “impure spirits.” Throughout the New Testament, the term unclean spirits (akathartos in the Greek language) is mentioned over twenty times. Throughout those passages we read that unclean spirits can possess people and cause them sickness and harm,

, “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”

, “And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.” Unclean spirits are searching for someone to possess if they do not currently possess someone.

, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless place seeking rest, but finds none.

Demons were often associated with waterless places, apparently because deserts were thought of as being devoid of the blessing of God that came with rainfall and abundant crops. Demons are persistent in seeking ownership of a person’s entire material and immaterial self.

But always remember that unclean spirits are under God’s authority and must submit to Him. , “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

An unclean spirit or demon is “unclean” in that it is wicked.

Evil spirits are not only wicked themselves, but they delight in wickedness and promote wickedness in humans.

They are spiritually polluted and impure, and they seek to contaminate all of God’s creation with their filth. Their foul, putrid nature is in direct contrast to the purity and incorruption of the Holy Spirit’s nature. When an unclean spirit defiles a person, he takes pleasure in corrupt thoughts and actions; when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, his thoughts and actions are heavenly. Some people hold the idea that unclean spirits or demons are deceased humans who may or may not have been evil while alive. However, we know the unclean spirits mentioned in the Bible are not referring to the dead, for several reasons. One, humans are never called “spirits” when the word spirit is used as a stand-alone term, without a possessive. In Scripture, men are said to have a spirit/soul (saying “his spirit” in and ), but men are not called “spirits.” Another reason is that, once a person dies, he immediately goes either to eternal life with the Lord or to eternal darkness in hell (; ; ). Human spirits, therefore, do not and cannot wander on earth in their spirit bodies. Any unclean spirit that wanders around, taking up residence in places or people or interacting with people in any way, is a fallen angel—a demon).

All unclean spirits mentioned in Scripture are demons, and all demons are definitely unclean, unholy, impure, evil spirits doomed to an eternity in hell.

, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

So, here Luke gives us yet another assurance of God’s power to heal the sick, those who are afflicted and those with unclean spirits. For our God is an awesome God!

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