Intro: King Herod the Great built a porch—Solomon’s colonnade—as a way to improve his relationship with the Jews. It was beautiful with amazing columns and sheltering areas. Jesus taught there and performed many miracles on the porch. After Jesus died and ascended, the apostles began to teach in this area once again. However, the people were hesitant to align themselves with the apostles for fear of suffering the same persecution. Fear always comes to stop the gospel; for this reason, we must allow the love of God to rule in our hearts. As well, some of the people had heard about how the Holy Spirit dealt with the sins of Ananias and Sapphira—they died because they lied to God and other believers. This passage remains a great lesson for believers; being a Christ follower is a serious commitment to the gospel of Truth that requires integrity.
In spite of any danger of persecution, the apostles prayed and asked the Father to allow the Holy Spirit to use them to do amazing miracles in Jesus’ name—healing, deliverances, blessings to bring wholeness—in order to reveal Christ to the people. Don’t miss the apparent oneness—integrity—of the apostles’ faith and connection with the Spirit, because God answered that prayer. Through the righteous prayer of these believers, the Spirit brought joy to people through miracles and many were brought to salvation. These miracles of healing and deliverance worked to convince people of the power of Christ’s Spirit to change lives. Luke reports in our passage people were supernaturally healed. Luke was a doctor, so we can trust he knew when a person had been touched by God. These miraculous signs and wonders performed by the apostles drew multitudes of people into saving faith in Christ. Throughout the book of Acts, people are draw to Christ through miracles that reveal God’s love, forgiveness, and outstretched hand to them. Have you prayed and asked the Spirit to use you in miraculous ways in order to draw people toward salvation?
Acts 5:12-16 NLT The Apostles Heal Many
12 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
Prayer: Father, I pray for believers worldwide to have the ability to perform miraculous signs and wonders that lead others to saving faith in Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.