ICO Nyanya

The power of the Holy Spirit in the early church

Joseph Moore

BIBL 364

Professor Don Fanning

Liberty University

15 November 2016

The power of the Holy Spirit in the early church

The risen Christ before ascension promised the Holy Spirit to the disciples. He told them not to live Jerusalem until they have received the power, which was the Holy Spirit in acts 1:4. Jesus had told the disciples that they would be able to do exceedingly abundant works and amazing one more than he did in his lifetime. However, this never happened to the disciples when they were with Christ. Therefore, they were lacking some power to perform these signs and wonders. It was not until the day of Pentecost that the disciples started doing these great works.

The early church was left in hard time after the passing away of Christ. During his early ministry day, Jesus faced stiff opposition from the Jews, who were opposed to his teaching and his stand. The persecution was increasing each day of his life up to his persecution. The remaining disciples needed massive spirituals, psychological and even social power to overcome this threat. They were going to face great tribulation, including threat to their own lives in their endeavor to spread the gospel. The Holy Spirit was very important to the lives of the disciples. Earlier when Jesus was predicting about his ascension and death, he told them that when gone, He would send the Holy Spirit, who will comfort, teach, and guide them. This was the role that the Holy Spirit was to asist the disciples and was what Jesus meant when he told them to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the power.

During the hard times, like being thrown into prisons, the Holy Spirit played a great role in giving the believers enough courage to face their accusers. This was a great way of ensuring the believers remained together and focused on the great mission. The Holy Spirit guided Peter, John, and Philip in hard times to withstand the persecution and to win new disciples. The leaders were all guided by the power of the Holy Spirit to guide the believers and win new converts. This was first witnessed in the day of Pentecost when the disciples witnessed in different tongues to the masses who were gathered around them. Philip was guided by the Holy Spirit to go and minister to Saul and convert him to Christianity. Therefore, the Holy Spirit was not only guided believers but also assisted them in the mission work by revealing the gospel, and in meeting new converts.

The Holy Spirit acted as a guide for the disciples to distinguish between the true believers and those who were not. This power acted as a way of guiding the community of believers into the right way of life. Such was expressly seen when Ananias and Sapphira tried to lie to peter concerning the money proceeds from the sale of their land. It also assisted Philip, peter and John to deal with Simon the Sorcerer. Without this power, it would have been difficult for the believers to deal with deceptions and other hardship in those treacherous times. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s power was the most influential force behind the spread of the early Christianity. Without it, the believers would not have overcome the hardships, tribulations and the persecutions that lay ahead of them. He revealed the scriptures to them, gave them the audacity to stand by the name of the Lord, proclaim his gospel without fearing death, as well as guide their course.

Bibliography

Bruce, Fredrick F. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.” Interpretation 27, no. 2 (1973): 166–183.

Course, N. T. “Biblical Theology (The Charismatic Theology of Luke-Acts)” (2016). Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.taylor-edu.ca/taylor/pdf/NT520_BiblicalTheologyLukeActs_2016Winter.pdf.

Gasque, W. Ward. “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.” Interpretation 42, no. 2 (1988): 117–131.

Hinings, CR Bob, V. George Shillington, and Mitchell Neubert. “Praise for MANAGEMENT AND THE GOSPEL” (n.d.). Accessed November 15, 2016. http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137315861.pdf.

Russell, Walt. “The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.” Trinity journal 7, no. 1 (1986): 47–63.

Turner, Max. “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.” Word and World 23, no. 2 (2003): 146–153.

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"GrwYCnRe","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf W. Ward Gasque, \\uc0\\u8220{}A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles,\\uc0\\u8221{} {\\i{}Interpretation} 42, no. 2 (1988): 117\\uc0\\u8211{}131.}","plainCitation":"W. Ward Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles,” Interpretation 42, no. 2 (1988): 117–131."},"citationItems":[{"id":3800,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"itemData":{"id":3800,"type":"article-journal","title":"A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"117–131","volume":"42","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Gasque","given":"W. Ward"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1988"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �W. Ward Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles,” Interpretation 42, no. 2 (1988): 117–131.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"hpgG0vfk","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Fredrick F. Bruce, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles,\\uc0\\u8221{} {\\i{}Interpretation} 27, no. 2 (1973): 166\\uc0\\u8211{}183.}","plainCitation":"Fredrick F. Bruce, “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles,” Interpretation 27, no. 2 (1973): 166–183."},"citationItems":[{"id":3799,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"itemData":{"id":3799,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"166–183","volume":"27","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Bruce","given":"Fredrick F."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1973"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Fredrick F. Bruce, “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles,” Interpretation 27, no. 2 (1973): 166–183.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"OGnKNiem","properties":{"formattedCitation":"Ibid.","plainCitation":"Ibid."},"citationItems":[{"id":3799,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"itemData":{"id":3799,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"166–183","volume":"27","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Bruce","given":"Fredrick F."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1973"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Ibid.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Kl5ucAt0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Gasque, \\uc0\\u8220{}A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.\\uc0\\u8221{}}","plainCitation":"Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.”"},"citationItems":[{"id":3800,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"itemData":{"id":3800,"type":"article-journal","title":"A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"117–131","volume":"42","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Gasque","given":"W. Ward"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1988"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.”�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"vAOcIvMu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Bruce, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.\\uc0\\u8221{}}","plainCitation":"Bruce, “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.”"},"citationItems":[{"id":3799,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/23QXPZX4"],"itemData":{"id":3799,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"166–183","volume":"27","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Bruce","given":"Fredrick F."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1973"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Bruce, “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.”�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"r9PDYebU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Max Turner, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,\\uc0\\u8221{} {\\i{}Word and World} 23, no. 2 (2003): 146\\uc0\\u8211{}153.}","plainCitation":"Max Turner, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,” Word and World 23, no. 2 (2003): 146–153."},"citationItems":[{"id":3802,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/U7TVMJEQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/U7TVMJEQ"],"itemData":{"id":3802,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts","container-title":"Word and World","page":"146–153","volume":"23","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Turner","given":"Max"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Max Turner, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,” Word and World 23, no. 2 (2003): 146–153.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"kyacQANI","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Walt Russell, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,\\uc0\\u8221{} {\\i{}Trinity journal} 7, no. 1 (1986): 47\\uc0\\u8211{}63.}","plainCitation":"Walt Russell, “The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,” Trinity journal 7, no. 1 (1986): 47–63."},"citationItems":[{"id":3801,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/HN8TEIBQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/HN8TEIBQ"],"itemData":{"id":3801,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts","container-title":"Trinity journal","page":"47–63","volume":"7","issue":"1","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Russell","given":"Walt"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1986"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Walt Russell, “The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts,” Trinity journal 7, no. 1 (1986): 47–63.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"spxytqbj","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Turner, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.\\uc0\\u8221{}}","plainCitation":"Turner, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.”"},"citationItems":[{"id":3802,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/U7TVMJEQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/U7TVMJEQ"],"itemData":{"id":3802,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts","container-title":"Word and World","page":"146–153","volume":"23","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Turner","given":"Max"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Turner, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.”�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"xpmqcXRZ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Russell, \\uc0\\u8220{}The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.\\uc0\\u8221{}}","plainCitation":"Russell, “The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.”"},"citationItems":[{"id":3801,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/HN8TEIBQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/HN8TEIBQ"],"itemData":{"id":3801,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts","container-title":"Trinity journal","page":"47–63","volume":"7","issue":"1","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Russell","given":"Walt"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1986"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Russell, “The Anointing with the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts.”�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"jG25Pvtg","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf Gasque, \\uc0\\u8220{}A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.\\uc0\\u8221{}}","plainCitation":"Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.”"},"citationItems":[{"id":3800,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/R2UZ7N9E"],"itemData":{"id":3800,"type":"article-journal","title":"A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles","container-title":"Interpretation","page":"117–131","volume":"42","issue":"2","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Gasque","given":"W. Ward"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1988"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �Gasque, “A Fruitful Field Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles.”�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"qYFMA4AL","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf CR Bob Hinings, V. George Shillington, and Mitchell Neubert, \\uc0\\u8220{}Praise for MANAGEMENT AND THE GOSPEL\\uc0\\u8221{} (n.d.), accessed November 15, 2016, http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137315861.pdf.}","plainCitation":"CR Bob Hinings, V. George Shillington, and Mitchell Neubert, “Praise for MANAGEMENT AND THE GOSPEL” (n.d.), accessed November 15, 2016, http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137315861.pdf."},"citationItems":[{"id":3803,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/ZA8H8KD4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/ZA8H8KD4"],"itemData":{"id":3803,"type":"article-journal","title":"Praise for MANAGEMENT AND THE GOSPEL","source":"Google Scholar","URL":"http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137315861.pdf","author":[{"family":"Hinings","given":"CR Bob"},{"family":"Shillington","given":"V. George"},{"family":"Neubert","given":"Mitchell"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2016",11,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �CR Bob Hinings, V. George Shillington, and Mitchell Neubert, “Praise for MANAGEMENT AND THE GOSPEL” (n.d.), accessed November 15, 2016, http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9781137315861.pdf.�

� � ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1RoEBBvD","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf N. T. Course, \\uc0\\u8220{}Biblical Theology (The Charismatic Theology of Luke-Acts)\\uc0\\u8221{} (2016), accessed November 15, 2016, http://www.taylor-edu.ca/taylor/pdf/NT520_BiblicalTheologyLukeActs_2016Winter.pdf.}","plainCitation":"N. T. Course, “Biblical Theology (The Charismatic Theology of Luke-Acts)” (2016), accessed November 15, 2016, http://www.taylor-edu.ca/taylor/pdf/NT520_BiblicalTheologyLukeActs_2016Winter.pdf."},"citationItems":[{"id":3804,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/RDC84QSC"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/1631260/items/RDC84QSC"],"itemData":{"id":3804,"type":"article-journal","title":"Biblical Theology (The Charismatic Theology of Luke-Acts)","source":"Google Scholar","URL":"http://www.taylor-edu.ca/taylor/pdf/NT520_BiblicalTheologyLukeActs_2016Winter.pdf","author":[{"family":"Course","given":"N. T."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2016",11,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} �N. T. Course, “Biblical Theology (The Charismatic Theology of Luke-Acts)” (2016), accessed November 15, 2016, http://www.taylor-edu.ca/taylor/pdf/NT520_BiblicalTheologyLukeActs_2016Winter.pdf.�