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| THE SECRET TO THE EARLY CHURCH |
| The real power at work in Acts. |
| "Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." 5:38-39 |
| Author J.B. Phillips, after spending 14 years translating the New Testament, sat back and reflected on his most lasting impressions. He kept returning to the book of Acts and its portrait of an infant churth. "The sick are not merely prayed about," said Phillips, "they are healed, often suddenly and dramatically . . . Human nature is changed. The fresh air of Heaven blows gustily through these pages. "The early church lived dangerously, but never before has such a handful of people exerted such widespread influence. . . . To put it shortly, the lasting excitement which follows the reading of the book is this: the thing works!" Who Was Behind the Success? Why did it work? Acts points decisively to the power of God, through his Holy Spirit. Luke carefully notes that every major decision of the young church was made under his guidance. Indeed, some have suggested Acts should really be titled Acts of the Holy Spirit because of his dominant role. Luke mentions the Holy Spirit 57 times in Acts. The disciples waited on the Spirit in Jerusalem before beginning to preach (2:4). According to Luke, the Holy Spirit fell on each new group of believers: on Jews (4:31), then on Samaritans (8:17), then Gentiles (10:44), and finally John the Baptist's disciples (19:6). For Their Good As the church grew, the disciples gradually began to |