So Much More: Moving Beyond Kingdom Principles to Kingdom Power (17 page)

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

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2:14–21

In Old Testament times, God would occasionally pour out His Spirit on specific people for specific purposes and for a limited time. Usually the Spirit would come upon prophets, priests, and kings. When the Spirit would come upon them they would prophesy, they would dream dreams, they would have incredible power of some kind; but the filling was only temporary and then the Spirit would leave. In the last days, which began at Pentecost and continues to this day, God said “I will pour out my Spirit on all men.” Not just prophets and priests and kings will have the Holy Spirit and not just for specific times and purposes; but He will come upon all men and women, old and young, and they will prophesy, dream dreams, speak in tongues, heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead because the Holy Spirit has come upon them and they have been baptized in Holy Spirit and fire.

After this experience Peter preached an incredible sermon about how Jesus was the Son of God who had been crucified but God raised Him from the dead. He wrapped up his message with these words:

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

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2:36–39

This promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not just for the disciples but they promised it was for everyone else gathered there that day and for all believers from that day forward. Peter said it was for their children and their children’s children and all who were far off. He’s saying, “Do you see what is going on here? Do you see this power of the Spirit displayed? It can be yours.”

As we look at the church in the Book of Acts, we see this baptism in the Holy Spirit allowed the followers of Jesus to fulfill their assignment to destroy the works of the devil. The primary message they preached was the same message they had learned from Jesus. It was the message of the kingdom
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But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

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8:12

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

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19:8

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

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28:31

But they not only preached the message about the kingdom, they demonstrated the reality that the kingdom had come through the ministry they did. Just a quick sampling of the next chapters clearly shows how the works of the kingdom were predominant in the ministry of the early church.

In Acts 3, we read about Peter and John going to the temple to pray. On their way they encountered a lame man begging outside the temple. He wanted money. They told him they had no money but what they did have they would freely give Him. They told him to rise and walk! And he did. Where did they get the power to do that? They had been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 4 they asked God to stretch out his hand and heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Jesus (v. 30). After they prayed, the place where they were all meeting was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (v. 31). It was evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira lied about giving all the proceeds from the sale of their property to the church. Peter said they lied to the Holy Spirit and they both dropped dead (vv. 1–11). The next verses read,

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

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5:12–16

Notice they did the ministry that demonstrated the kingdom. The same ministry Jesus did. They cast out demons and healed the sick. How? They were empowered by the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 6 Stephen was preaching and doing miraculous signs and wonders among the people and they arrested him.

In chapter 8 Philip, an evangelist, not only preached the message of the kingdom but did miraculous signs that demonstrated the kingdom and the people paid close attention to Him (vv 4–8). He was casting out evil spirits and the sick were being healed. In Samaria, the apostles laid their hands on new believers who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit (vv. 14–17). They needed that to preach the message of the kingdom and do the ministry of the kingdom.

Also in chapter 8 Philip had a word of knowledge about a eunuch from Ethiopia and he went and shared the good news with him (vv. 26–35).

In chapter 9, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter raised a woman from the dead (vv. 36–41).

In chapter 10 Peter had a vision and went to Cornelius’ house and preached (vv. 9–43).

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

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10:44-46

In chapter 11 Agabus went to Paul and prophesied about future events (v. 28).

In chapter 12 the church gathered to pray for Peter who had been thrown in prison. Miraculously, an angel came and freed him from prison and Peter showed up at their prayer meeting (vv. 1–18).

In chapter 13 Paul met up with a sorcerer and told him he was a child of the devil. He prophesied that the man would go blind and it happened, so more people put their faith in Jesus (vv. 6–12).

In chapter 14 another lame man was healed (vv. 8–10). I think you get the point. They were preaching the message of the kingdom and doing the ministry of the kingdom. Jesus had promised them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses” and that is exactly what happened. When people are baptized in the Holy Spirit, He comes upon them in power and signs and wonders follow.

I heard someone say one time, “I’m not sure we should expect miracles. Miracles shouldn’t be ordinary.” Yet when we look at the early church, we see over and over again that when people were baptized in the Holy Spirit, power followed that allowed them to perform signs and wonders demonstrating the message of the kingdom. The power to operate in the kingdom is found in the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That’s the power He wants to bring into our lives to allow us to be His witnesses.

The same thing is true today. The kingdom is still both a message and a ministry. In most churches today we have ignored the gospel of the kingdom and instead have preached a gospel of salvation. We have simply preached Jesus as Savior who forgives our sins and makes it possible for us to go to heaven someday, but we have missed Jesus as Lord who empowers people to live and operate in kingdom power today.

But the kingdom is not just a message. It is a ministry. Ministry in most churches looks like programs and classes and it’s all pretty institutional. It doesn’t look anything like the ministry of the kingdom we see in the New Testament church.

In my conservative church background and training, I was taught a whole lot more about what the Holy Spirit doesn’t do today than what He does do. For years I would read these things in the Book of Acts and the way the Holy Spirit empowered those early believers to do the same things Jesus did that demonstrated the reality of the kingdom and I would wonder deep down inside, “Am I missing something? Is there more? There has to be more.” Finally I came to the point where I was tired of talking about what the Holy Spirit did in the past and doesn’t do today and decided I was going to start trusting the Holy Spirit—the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from dead, the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus to demonstrate the kingdom, the same Holy Spirit who empowered that early church—to empower me to advance the kingdom of God and take authority over the works of the devil. And I found there really is so much more!

Much of what is happening in American churches today makes sense with or without the help of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what I mean. I believe that I have been given leadership gifts which have allowed me to be successful in leading a church, but I also believe that some of the same leadership abilities I’ve been given would allow me to be successful in leading in the marketplace. I believe I could lead a business and be pretty successful using a lot of the same leadership abilities I use in the church. But when I see what happens when the Holy Spirit takes over a church and His power consumes the life of an individual, it goes way beyond talent or natural abilities. When the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, things happen that can only be explained by the power of the Holy Spirit. Things start to happen that cannot be mimicked, faked, or explained on the basis of raw talent or human ability. When the Holy Spirit comes into the life of a person and He empowers them, the evidence of that is signs and wonders that demonstrate the kingdom.

Sometimes we go to one of two extremes in churches. Some fundamental, conservative evangelical churches want to deny the power of the Holy Spirit exists today because of a lack of personal experience. So they have developed a teaching to validate their lack of experience by saying the supernatural gifts of the Spirit died out with the apostles. But Jesus didn’t say His followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them for just a limited period of time. In fact, Peter made it clear on Pentecost this promise was for all generations.

On the other hand, many charismatic churches believe in the power of the Spirit to do miraculous things today yet they want to use that power to have a private party every weekend at church. Jesus didn’t say we would receive power to build ourselves up when the Holy Spirit comes on us. He said we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us to be His witnesses. What is amazing is that when you think through almost all the miraculous signs and wonders that were done by the apostles and others empowered by the Holy Spirit and recorded in Acts, almost none of these healings or resurrections or deliverances were done in a church service. Why? Because the power was given to be witnesses, to demonstrate God’s power to those who do not yet believe.

When we preach the message of the kingdom without a demonstration of the kingdom, it just reduces it to another good idea, another philosophy, another set of values and ideals that can be compared to any other philosophy. But when we preach the message of the kingdom along with a demonstration of the kingdom, with signs and wonders and healing and deliverance, that demonstration of the power of God produces the desired effect—people come to God. That’s the kingdom. It is a spontaneous, Spirit-inspired, empowered, presentation of the gospel.

Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses.” When you think of the kingdom mission Jesus has assigned to us, why would He not want to empower us with the same Holy Spirit—the same power that anointed Jesus, the same power that Jesus told His disciples they needed before they were ready to advance the kingdom, and the same power that He said would allow His followers to do the same things and even greater things than He did? Why would He not want to give you and me that same power to advance His kingdom? The truth is, not only does He desire to give it to us, we too, just like the apostles, cannot really be effective in fulfilling our assignment without it. The promise that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you was not just for the apostles and the early church but for you and your children and your children’s children.