God's POWER in Action!
The miraculous healing of the beggar aroused the antagonism of the priests and Sadducees until they seized Peter and John and threw them in prison for the night. The next day, these religious leaders threatened them, commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Then these true Christians went immediately to their own group of believers. And here is a point I want you to get. They were human. They had none of this power inherent within themselves. They, themselves, were not the source of this dynamic power. It had come from God.
And the important point is this: WE DO NOT RECEIVE ENOUGH OF THIS DIVINE POWER ALL AT ONCE TO LAST FOREVER.
Remember, Jesus said this power of God SHALL FLOW OUT from our innermost being! (John 7:38) This POWER of God is active — dynamic! It is not static. You cannot get a supply of God's Spirit, and then bottle it up within you. This power comes into you from God daily! It circulates — from God, into YOU — and then on out from you in love, in faith, in joy, in patience — even in performing miracles.
You might have been imbued with this power yesterday and depleted of it today!
A re-filling of Power
The threatenings of these chief priests and elders, after a night in prison, apparently left Peter and John a little depleted of faith and the confident POWER of God. Yes, they were human!
They went to their brethren in Christ. When they reported what had happened, all their brethren were shaken. They, too, being human, must have felt a sudden sense of spiritual inadequacy — a lack of power! But they sensed and knew their NEED. They knew the SOURCE of constant refilling of this POWER OF GOD within them! They didn't delay! They went immediately to the SOURCE of their divine power!
"And when they had heard that, they lifted up their voice to GOD with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is . . . and now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy Word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus" (Acts 4:24, 29-30).
Yes, suddenly this company realized their own human inadequacy — realized their need of renewed POWER FROM GOD. They didn't run from their difficulty! They didn't cower and tremble in fear. They didn't give up in their Great Commission. They went directly to the SOURCE of their power. They yielded themselves into God's hands, as His servants, anew. They urgently, intensively, cried to God to FILL THEM with His power — to give them boldness, faith, power of speech. They asked God fervently and believingly to heal and perform miracles.
Was there any God listening? Was there any response? Listen!
"And when they had prayed, the PLACE WAS SHAKEN where they were assembled together; and they were all FILLED with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness! . . . And with GREAT POWER gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:31, 33).
We Need It Today
Do you, today, have the SAME POWER the original Christians had? They were just as human as YOU! The real question, then, is this: Do you yield yourself as fully — surrender your will as unconditionally to God — pray as often, as earnestly and intensively, as they? If you do you will be filled with as much of the divine POWER as they — for God is no respecter of persons!
This same POWER OF GOD operated, actively, in those early original Christians continually. They actually did do greater works than Jesus — until even the shadow of Peter passing over the sick healed them! THEY DID THE VERY WORK OF GOD!
The Work of God, which God started in the individual body of Jesus, was carried on through the collective body of disciples, now becoming the BODY OF CHRIST — the true CHURCH of God!
The same POWER of God's Spirit that worked in the human body of Jesus worked in the collective body of God's Church in the days of the original apostles. That same power works in the collective BODY OF CHRIST — His Church — today!
The Great Commission is this: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel!" Not some other Gospel, as Paul prophesied would be preached (II Cor. 11). That true first century Church, empowered by GOD, carried on this true WORK OF GOD!
Then the great apostasy set in. The apostate false church (Rev. 17:1-5) rose up in 33 A. D., two years after Christ started His true Church. It professed to be Christian, taking on Christ's name.
This professing Christian church turned away its ears from the TRUTH, and turned to FABLES (II Tim. 4:4). Pagans flocked in, embracing what they called "Christianity" wholesale — bringing in with them their pagan beliefs and practices! The ancient Babylonian "mysteries" came to be labeled, falsely, "Christianity"! The WHOLE WORLD, TODAY, IS DECEIVED! (Rev. 17:1, 2, 5; 12:9)
But there continued, also, God's true Church, pictured in Revelation 12 — persecuted by Satan and his great false church of Revelation 17. No longer was this persecuted Church able to proclaim the true Gospel to all nations — to the whole world — in great power.
But Jesus had said, prophetically, that just before the END of this world — right NOW — "This gospel of the KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto ALL NATIONS; and then shall the end come!" (Matt. 24:14)
Today that prophecy is being fulfilled, right before your eyes this very second! Today the dynamic broadcast, The WORLD TOMORROW, is going out in the POWER OF GOD, reaching the millions around the world!
Today God is opening gigantic DOORS — the doors of radio, television, and the printing press. Doors of MASS COMMUNICATIONS. The original, true Gospel of Jesus Christ — the same Gospel HE brought from GOD and taught — is broadcast into EVERY CONTINENT around the world! It is hitting this world with terrific IMPACT — with tremendous POWER!
This very WORK OF GOD for our day is foretold in the prophecy of Revelation 3:7-13. But there it is revealed that we, today, are a people of but little strength — little power! (Verse 8) — within ourselves — though we have faithfully KEPT GOD'S WORD! The impact of this WORK OF GOD today is going out only through the power of God! Are you having your part in this very WORK OF GOD?
But — let's face it! — WE DO NOT HAVE WITHIN OURSELVES, AS GOD'S INSTRUMENTS FOR HIS WORK TODAY, ANYWHERE NEAR THE POWER OF GOD THAT ACTIVATED THAT ORIGINAL FIRST CENTURY CHURCH!
For that very reason, the living Christ says (Revelation 3:8), He has opened to us the gigantic door of MASS COMMUNICATION! The magnified power of the microphone and the printing press. Yet that is only physical mechanical power! The REAL POWER that makes God's Work vital and alive is the Holy Spirit of God!
We need to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God! (Rom. 12:1) We need to receive a greater TRANSFORMING — and to be LESS CONFORMED to this present evil world! We need to REPENT! We need to more earnestly SEEK GOD! We need to put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, as we are admonished in Ephesians 6:10-18! Perhaps some of us need to FAST and PRAY — as Jesus did!
Have YOU enough of the POWER OF GOD flowing dynamically into, and out from you! YOU need to seek a much closer contact with your God!