supernatural christianity

ARTICLE BY REV. KOLA Ewuosho

This study was inspired by the message Pastor Funke, my wife, preached on, ‘The Kingdom, the Power and, the Glory’. The power indeed belongs to God!

The early church embraced a supernatural Christianity, and we can see the changes that have taken place since the gradual restoration of the church after the dark ages. God has been restoring His truth and power since the dark ages. The dark ages represent a period in the history of the church when almost everything was lost.

This present church is in the age wherein God has restored the truth about His power. So we need to build into our consciousness that God has restored the truth about His power and He wants to demonstrate that power on our behalf. The question on many minds has been this: “why don’t we see miracles that we read about in the book of Acts?”. This article will attempt to give some answers.

We shall look at some miracles and study how the Apostles operated and received the help of the Holy Spirit and experienced His power flowing in and through them.

Acts 3:1-10 (NKJV)

A Lame Man Healed

“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Peter explained to them what made the man whole:

Acts 3:11-16 (NKJV)

Preaching in Solomon’s Portico

“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

So we see that faith in the Name of Jesus played a major role in this supernatural event. Other things include: boldness to step out; and confidence that the power of God will be made manifest to heal the man. There is the corporate side to things as well as the personal side to these things. That they all recognised the hour of prayer is a corporate dimension to this miracle; they were all going to attend to their prayer time. A climate of expectation followed this corporate prayer time, so that it was not just another religious activity. The personal side was Peter knowing that he had the Name of Jesus and the power behind that Name was available to him as he stepped out in faith to operate in that Name, helped by the Holy Spirit.

We see some of these ingredients in the various miracles recorded in the scriptures.

Acts 8:4-8 (NKJV)

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

“Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.”

From the case of the miracles done through Philip, we can see vivid miracles; people heeded the things spoken by him when they heard and saw the miracles he did! Words were spoken, faith was involved, and healings took place as demons obeyed the instructions Philip gave. So the anointing (the presence and power of the Holy Spirit) was very visible in the ministry of Philip.

This same Philip started out as one of those who served at the tables but later grew to become a fully-fledged Evangelist.

Some foundations need to be laid. We want to see how the first 12 disciples of Jesus positioned themselves for the supernatural to keep happening through them. We see they needed to be focused.

Read Acts 6:2-7

Prayer and the Ministry of the Word

We see that the Apostles gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. So without distractions from other legitimate things to do in their sphere of influence, they chose prayer and the ministry of the Word as priorities. Fresh dimensions of the Spirit of God are possible through prayer. A lot of spiritual ground can be covered when we give ourselves to prayer and the study, meditation, and ministry of the Word of God. There is nothing too small or too big to pray about: from miracles to salvation of people, to how lives will be impacted, to personal needs. God answers prayers! Prayers should precede every step we take in our Christian faith.

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