Governmental Apostles (5) Big Ministries

Whereas Jesus dispersed his authority widely, the apostles in Jerusalem soon slipped into a mode of gathering authority to themselves.

An interesting feature of the Jerusalem church was that most of the miracles were worked by the apostles.

Many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles (Acts 2:43).

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade (Acts 5:12)

With the massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, many people should have been preaching the gospel and healing, but instead they seem to be gathering to watch the Apostles.

As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by (Acts 5:15).

These miracles were marvellous, but the entire movement in Jerusalem was becoming centred round the key apostles. Their ministries were built up, not multiplied. The rapid growth of the Church in Jerusalem depended on a few big apostles drawing lots of people into the church.

Because the number of apostles did not grow, the rate at which the church grew outside Jerusalem was slowed. It took serious persecution to get believers apostled out to places like Antioch for the real multiplication got underway.

The apostles quite quickly took financial control of the church. In the beginning those, those giving away their possessions distributed their money themselves.

Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need (Acts 2:45).

Within a short period of time, the giving was all going through the apostles.

Those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. (Acts 4:34-35).

This was a significant change that increased the power of the apostles.