Acts 6:1
What awesome days those days in the book of Acts must have been. The Holy Spirit had been poured out on the day of Pentecost, 120 people were suddenly filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Peter preached the first New Testament sermon resulting in 3000 people being saved and baptised. There was a buzz and an atmosphere of the supernatural in Jerusalem. The church was growing, fellowshipping, thriving and the Lord was adding daily to the church those who should be saved. Those days were glorious days. Then in Acts 3 at the command of Peter, a paralysed man gets up and walks, Peter then preaches another sermon resulting in 5000 people getting saved. Now that’s church growth. In Acts 5 Peter’s shadow was healing people. Multitudes were being saved, healed and delivered as God was moving through His people with an explosion of His power. We need these days what they had in those days.
As a Pastor and a believer I long for the days we read about in the book of Acts to be a reality in the days we live in today.
There are three things which I call the three M’s that they had in those days that we need in these days if we are going to be an effective church in this generation.
- Message: They had a message, the Gospel. In Mark 16:15 Jesus said to his disciples “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”. He gave them the message to preach and that is what they did. They were not told to go and design their own message, or to come up with a new message, they were instructed on the message to preach. Romans 1:17 says “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the Power of God unto salvation”. There is supernatural power in the simplicity of the Gospel when preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The word Gospel is “Euaggelion” in Greek and it means a good message, good news, the faith and glad tidings.
The church of our day must have a clear message. We must be clear with what we proclaim and what we believe. This was the case with the church of Acts. The church needs to get back to the Gospel message and its simplicity.
Don’t always be looking for the spectacular that you miss out on the supernatural. This happens to those who are constantly seeking an experience and are caught up a looking for signs, wonders, and the new thing. The Bible teaches us that signs will follow the believer. So let’s not go seeking after signs, wonders and the spectacular, but let’s stay with God’s word. Keep the Gospel simple.
Unfortunately because so much of today’s church environment is guilty of changing the message, whether it is a seeker sensitive, user friendly message or an extra biblical message, or no message at all, we therefore have been left with a mess. Whenever the message is perverted and changed, it opens up the church to strange things and shallowness.
In those days they definitely had a message and in these days we need to get back to that message.
- Miracles: Another part of life in the days of the early church was that they experienced miracles. These were true, evident, city transforming Miracles.
A miracle is an event where the ability of man stops and the ability of God steps in with a supernatural act. When you have the right message being proclaimed you will see miracles being displayed.
Mark 16:20 says “And they (the disciples) went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following”. Miracles will follow the believer. We need to in these days expect God to perform Miracles among us. The days of Miracles are not over like some would suggest. Our God is a Miracle working God and He still desires to move among His people performing the Miraculous. Whenever there is a true move of God there will always be Miracles. In those days Miracles were happening with regularity, however in our days, Miracles happen sporadically. We need to once again believe and ask God to confirm His word with Miracles.
- Manifestation: In those days there was a visible manifestation of God’s presence, anointing and power not only residing upon the church of Acts but also flowing through the church of Acts. Wherever the disciples went there was a manifestation, and a visible, evident, obvious showing of who they were and in whom they believed.
Acts 17:6 says “These that have turned the world upside down have come here also”. The world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God. Now is the time for the church of these days to rise up and manifest who we are, what we believe and who our God is.
1 Kings 18:21 the Prophet Elijah says to the people of Israel “How long will you halt between two opinions, if God is God serve Him, if not serve Baal”. The Israelites were hopping and skipping between two opinions, two ways of thinking. Like so much of the church today, hopping between the world’s standards and the word’s standard. There needs to be a visible and obvious stand for righteousness, holiness and the ways of God. Far too many churches and preachers are afraid to manifest, and to say we will stand on God’s side. There is a desire to be relevant and cool and hip, that has caused much of the church to become weak. There is too much beating around the bush. Groups such as the greenies and the gay agenda ‘manifest’, they are not ashamed to go out and let it be known who they are. They manifest.
Where is the church manifesting in this generation? In the days of Acts, they manifested. It was clear who they were, what they believed in and what they preached and as a result God manifested His presence and power in a mighty way.
One preacher said “For far too long the church has been known for what we are against, it is time for us to be known for what we are for”. Exactly, it’s time that we shout out what we are for.
May the church of today experience what the church of Acts experienced and may we see many being saved, set free, delivered and healed. May God get all the glory. Now is the time for the church to rise up and have a clear message, believe for miracles and manifest.
Ps Esteban San Martin,