Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are willing and yielded vessels, ready for the Holy Spirit’s use in supernatural ways for particular situations. The Holy Spirit comes upon these people, enabling them to be His instruments for accomplishing God’s will in immediate situations.
Often it was the demonstration of the Spirit’s power that got the attention of the crowds and drew them to hear and respond to the gospel of Christ. Take for example Paul’s and Barnabus’ ministry in Iconium (Acts 14:1–7) where the Lord “confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders” (14:3). The Lord used Peter in Acts 9:32–35 to heal a paralytic who had been in bed for eight years. The result: “All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.” Again, in Acts 9:36–42 we read of how God used Peter to raise Tabitha from the dead. The result: “many people believed in the Lord” (v 42). In these situations, and in many others recorded in the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit enabled Christ’s ministers to rise to the occasion and deal with demonic opposition, disease and physical afflictions (as in Acts 3, where God used Peter to heal the lame man), and in many other situations. We read so many accounts of these supernatural manifestations in the Book of Acts that it seems quite the normal occurrence.
Indeed, in our day, there are numerous stories of miracles and healings taking place around us. As a result, many come to faith in Christ. Missionaries doing pioneer work among spiritually pagan people groups report amazing signs and wonders done in the name of Jesus, resulting in numerous conversions to Christ. God is using Bill Johnson, Todd White, Robby Dawkins, Heidi and Roland Baker (Iris Ministries in Mozambique), Reinhard Bonnke, Randy Clark – just to name a few – to do astounding miracles of healings and conversions, demonstrating the compassion and healing power of Jesus Himself.
In one of my pastorates I was asked to go into an ICU to pray for a forty-eight year old friend of the son of one of my church members. “He is not a Christian,” my friend said, “and he may not let us pray for him. But doctors are calling in all the relatives, because his organs are shutting down and he may not last the day.” We asked God to activate the organs, and then led the man in prayer to receive Christ. I received word later that day that the man’s organs had suddenly activated, and the man went home well two days later. There are no doubt hundreds, even thousands of such miracles happening every day all across our country and throughout the world.
Many of the spiritual gifts operate like this (see 1 Corinthians 12:4–7), as “inspirations of the moment.” If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, He can use us in unexpected supernatural ways to meet people’s deepest needs. He can use us in the area of healing, or in sharing with people words of knowledge or words of wisdom from Him to help and encourage them. He can speak a prophetic message through us for a certain person or within a fellowship meeting or worship service that can touch and stir hearts. Of course, many spiritual gifts are not generally so spontaneous in their use; for example, administration, leadership, acts of mercy, generous giving, hospitality, and teaching. But they, too, by virtue of the fact that they are not just natural abilities but are Spirit-given and Spirit-anointed enablements, can give us the ability to respond to needs and circumstances far more spontaneously, powerfully, and effectively than we can with our own natural abilities.
This area of the spontaneous and supernatural scares some of us. We like the safety of being people of “the Book” (and rightly so). Of course, the authority of God’s Word should be non-negotiable to us. The problem is this: that very Word of God introduces us to these supernatural gifts, validates them, and encourages us to seek them! Paul urges us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “follow the way of love and eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy” (which, we must admit if we’re really honest with the testimonies of scripture, is more than simply anointed preaching).
Far from departing from God’s Word, it is precisely because we are people of “the Book” that we must open ourselves to what the Spirit did in the early church and what He can to do today if we stop blocking Him. We in no way betray the authority of the Bible when we appropriate the blessings, power, and gifts of the Spirit. The Bible urges us to desire them — eagerly! Let’s not forget that “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). Paul considered the “power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit” to be an essential part of the full proclamation of the gospel. (Romans 15:18–19).
Frankly, I don’t understand the reasoning of some who believe and teach that “these things don’t happen any more” when there is so much evidence to the contrary. Obviously, the need for God’s power is just as pronounced in our world today as it was in the first century. Multitudes of desperately needy people are all around us. Most are lost, confused, entangled in sins, and shaped by intellectual and spiritual forces that are hostile to Jesus Christ. Pagan religions and demonically empowered occult practices continue to proliferate. In this battle for souls, should we content ourselves with presenting cerebral doctrinal formulations of the gospel from spiritually anemic churches? Will that impress this generation? Of course not! Why would we content ourselves with powerlessness when the Holy Spirit can confirm our message with signs and wonders?
The powers of darkness are on the march, and they have a full arsenal for keeping the world in their pocket. In the face of such encroaching evil, trying to justify powerlessness is inexcusable. We must desire the power of God; and we must cry out for it: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!” The Biblical case for disbelieving in the modern day validity of the supernatural gifts is woefully unconvincing. At this crucial time in world history, not only is it unwise, it is downright dangerous to put the Holy Spirit in a theological straight-jacket.