Led by the Spirit: Journey Through the Book of Acts Part 2Sample

Day 2: The Miraculous Work of the Spirit

Jonathan Edwards, one of America’s most influential preachers once wrote this about the gifts of the Spirit: Spiritual gifts “are like a beautiful garment, which does not alter the nature of the man that wears it. They are like precious jewels, with which the body may be adorned," but does not alter the body’s form.

The highlight of today’s passage are the miracles demonstrated by Peter where he healed Aeneas and shortly after, raised Dorcas from the dead. After performing these miraculous works, Peter was sure to attribute it to Jesus Christ. This is especially so after the healing of Aeneas (v34). As a result of witnessing these miraculous works, many in Lydda and Joppa subsequently believed in the Lord (v42).

Miracles can impress and inspire awe and wonder. However, its purpose is not simply to evoke an emotional response. It is to attest that God is real and present and that His ultimate purpose is to bring restoration to a broken world.

When we see an evangelist lead hundreds of people to be healed, we can’t help but be amazed, and think of him or her as a spiritual giant. When God uses us to lead someone to Christ or minister to someone in need, we assume that it is because we are walking right with God. Without paying close attention, we could easily mistake that ministry success is the sure mark of a mature Christian.

But as Jonathan Edwards puts it, spiritual gifts are like jewels or a beautiful garment. They adorn and beautify, but they do not alter the nature of the man that wears it. We should not use our ministry or our spiritual gifts as a substitute for our relationship with God. We should not assume that our ministry success is a reliable indicator of our spiritual health.

As we are accustomed to seeing gifted people serve in Church, there is a subtle danger of focusing on the accomplishments of the ministry or person or the lack thereof. It is easy to mistake our spiritual gifts as our identity instead of Jesus Christ. But that only makes us stray away further from the Gospel – that we are only who we are because of God’s grace. Instead, we should look for spiritual fruits such as holiness, love, peace in our life and ministry. Ultimately, any good work we do must be attributed to Christ’s work in our lives.

Reflect:

• As we commit ourselves to serving people and the church, let the Holy Spirit reveal our motivations and remind us that the gospel is our redeeming grace.
• Pray that the ministries that we serve in will bear fruits of the Spirit and be instruments of life transformation.