Acts 15:12 “Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.”
There are not many accounts recorded in scripture of the miracles and healings done through the apostle’s ministries, even though we know that there were many such incidents that took place all the time. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see Barnabas and Paul recounting to the church at Jerusalem, just how many miracles and wonders the Lord had done during just one of their missionary journeys. And yet scripture only records two of those miracles that took place during that first missionary journey, i.e. the false prophet Elymas who was blinded (Acts 13:6-11), and the crippled man who was healed in Lystra (Acts 14:8-10). And so the fact that the Lord performed many miracles and wonders through His apostles on their first missionary trip and yet recorded only two, confirms the truth to us that the Holy Spirit, because of practicality, was limited in the amount of information that He recorded for us in scripture. This same truth can be applied to all the other miracles performed through the Lord’s saints at that time, which are recorded in heaven but not in the scriptures.
Acts 6:1-7 “Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. (2) Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. (3) Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; (4) but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." (5) And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, (6) whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. (7) Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
As we have seen thus far, when we examine what took place among the saints when the church first began we need to do so in light of the fact that only a very limited number of examples are recorded for us in scripture. Understanding that concept helps us to better understand the context of the above quoted passage of scripture. It was in the first few months of the church’s existence that the apostles called for seven disciples to be chosen from among the church to help with the daily distribution that was taking place. The growth in the church had exploded and the apostles were not able to cope with everything that was happening. The scriptures tell us that these seven men were full of the Holy Spirit and had a reputation among the saints. The reason that these men had a reputation among the saints is because they were all being mightily used by the Holy Spirit in the demonstration of His power. We know that this was the case because later we see recorded in scripture, accounts of how just two of these men were used by the Lord to heal the sick and do many wonders in His name (Acts 6:8 & Acts 8:4-7). And so we see that all seven of these men were already being used by the Holy Spirit to perform signs and wonders when the apostles prayed for them, and in this instance hands were laid on them for service as deacons, which we will discuss in another section. It is clearly evident that in the early church the Holy Spirit used every saint that was prepared to step out in faith and fulfil the Lord’s great commission of preaching the gospel to every creature, to cast out demons and to lay hands on the sick so that they could be healed.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments