"Beyond The Book of Acts"

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Acts 1:8

The Church is established in power. Power is so essential to the function of the church that Jesus told the disciples they were not to leave Jerusalem without it. The word power in Acts 1:8 comes from the Greek word dunamis which means ability, might, strength and miraculous power. Although the disciples were already operating in a sphere of delegated authority or power, Jesus told them to prepare for the next level. Remember His promise in John 14:12 - "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." The disciples were on the doorstep of the fulfillment of that promise. They would be clothed with the very ability of God. The might and power that produces the miraculous - operating directly out of the Kingdom of God, bringing the realities of His Kingdom to the earth. The answer to their prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What is the will of God for the earth? To do what Jesus did when He was on the earth. He was the will of God in action. He showed us what a man who walks in harmony with heaven can do. Acts 2:22 says "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:" Just as Jesus was approved by God, those who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus have also been approved by God to walk in His power. The Church has been given the power to pull in the authority of His Kingdom to the earth. Undoing the works of the devil and establishing the Rulership of Jesus. The Church is walking in the same purpose Jesus had when He walked the earth. 1 John 3:8 "...for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." The fulfillment of that verse was accomplished at the finished work of Calvary, and we as the corporate body of Christ have the authority to enforce what Jesus has done. Matthew 10:8 says "heal he sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!"

The purpose of this power is not to overcome sin. That has been dealt with on the cross. We are dead to sin and have been made alive to God (Romans 6:11). To many are praying for power to break habits, sin and other forms of darkness. There is no special endowment of power for that. Full deliverance comes by recognizing that freedom is provided through the Blood of Jesus and embracing that liberty by transformed thinking - obedience to the Word of God. This power is to be a witness, or to re-present Jesus on the earth. Through the power of the Holy Spirit upon us, we are to give proof and evidence that Jesus is alive. How? Paul gives us the key, he said to the Corinthian church "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. It's not just talking about it, its demonstrating it. The power is for demonstrating what we talk about. It's not enough to say Jesus heals today and offer no proof. We must lay hands on the sick and see them recover!

There is only one Church. For the sake of history we have divided the church in two categories. The early church (what we read in the scriptures) and the latter church (where we are today) but in reality there is just one church. Separating the church into categories has created a mindset that what the "early" church did is unattainable or unrealistic for us today. That's why some are teaching there are no more apostles or prophets, there are no more miracles as if God created another Church for this millennium. The Book of Acts was just the beginning, the foundation of what God wants to do in the earth. As the church in its infancy labored to established the Kingdom of God in the earth, how much more should we labor to do the same and more! The church started with apostles and prophets, then we should have a multiplication of those ministry offices in operation today. The church was established with the miraculous power and ability of God resting upon it, how much more should we carry the dunamis of God! Haggai prophesied the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former. We are to build upon what was established by our spiritual fathers and bring it to the next level. Their ceiling must be our floor. The testimonies in the Bible are not for bedtime stories or for us to build monuments around, but to challenge our faith to believe for the same and greater as we go from glory to glory (2 Co. 3:18).

To even think that today we can go beyond what was recorded in the book of Acts to some may seem heretical. I say why stay in the first grade? We quote the scripture in Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus hasn't changed in His Lordship and Love; nor has the Church hasn't changed in purpose or destiny. What God started with His Church in the Book of Acts will be completed by the believers who compose His Church of this generation. A body of believers who are bold to believe what God says, walking in fellowship with God, developing in Christian character by obedience to His Word and are producing Kingdom realities in the earth through the power of the Holy Spirit.