Witnesses Of These Things

I was reading in Acts 5 a few days ago and I had a thought that I have been mulling over since then.  I wanted to take some time this morning to prayerfully reflect and examine this idea.  I find that often the Lord will connect things I had not thought of previously, and this always is so encouraging.  

After I was reading these verses, I realized that the issue that they were bearing witness to, was that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. All the signs  and miracles, and works of the Holy Spirit pointed to this fact!

Today I will start with the following verses - Acts 5:29-32,40-42 NIV:

[29] "Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! [30] The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead---whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. [31] God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. [32] We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

(There is a big speech by Gamaliel in between - but I will skip it for brevity)

[40] "His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. [41] The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. [42] Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah."

The message was that the Messiah was Jesus, and salvation was available, not from the Romans, but from sin and death!  The proof that this was true was seen in the signs and miracles being worked, in Jesus' name, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I have always understand this, but it just hit differently.  

I was just thinking about the Gospel we proclaim, and while we say many of the same words, we don't often expect the Holy Spirit to bear witness to our message with signs and wonders, miracles, etc. I started wondering if maybe our message was slightly off, or focusd on other things.

How often do we proclaim the good news that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is our Savior?

How often do we proclaim that He was raised from the dead, and has broken the bonds of sin and death, and set us free?

How often do we allow Holy Spirit to witness to these truths, through working sings and miracles in our midst?

I think the proclamation and demonstration must go together, for the demonstration proves the proclamation to be true.  Only God can radically heal people, wipe away years of suffering and pain in a moment!  The people knew that these signs were proof that what Peter and the other apostles were saying was true!  As a result we see the following - Acts 5:15-17 NIV:

[15] "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. [16] Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. 

[17] Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

There was resistance to the word of Truth, to this testimony about Jesus especially among the religious leaders!  They were jealous for the converts, jealous for the power, jealous for the finances that flowed.  Is it any different today?

I was looking back through the first 5 chapters of Acts and reading the different proclamations of Peter and the Apostles, and it is clear that their message was about Jesus as Messiah, as the Son of God, as the one in whose name people were healed. Peter's proclamation following the healing of the lame beggar is a great example - Acts 3:6-13a NIV:

[6] "Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” [7] Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. [8] He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. [9] When all the people saw him walking and praising God, [10] they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him."

[11] "While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. [12] When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? [13] The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus." 

Peter made it clear, it wasn't about them, or their holiness or power, rather it was God (Holy Spirit) glorifying Jesus, and His name!  

Oh that we might glorify Jesus!  Oh that we would see the lame walking, the blind and deaf healed, the dead raised, all to honor the name of Jesus, to bear witness to the Truth that He is the Messiah, our Savior!  God is the only one who can do such works!  I pray that we could say once again, "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit!"

Amen and Amen!