Governmental Apostles (6) Staying at the Centre

Jesus told his apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. Once they received the Holy Spirit, they were meant to go out into Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. By staying in Jerusalem after they had received the Holy Spirit, they gradually morphed in governmental apostles.

The Book of Acts shows the Holy Spirit guiding the church. Things went best, when Christians followed his voice. The apostles often got things wrong, and had to be corrected by the Holy Spirit. Here are just a few examples.

1. The Holy Spirit had a dreadful job getting Peter to go to Caesarea to share the gospel with Cornelius and his household. Luke takes a whole chapter to describe the incident. Peter had a vision. The Holy Spirit spoke to him. The prediction of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled (Acts 10:19-21). Even after all that, Peter launched into his sermon by saying that it was against his law for a Jew to associate with a gentile. While Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit interrupted and filled the people so they spoke in tongues.
   
   Peter did not have a clue about what the Holy Sprit was doing in Caesarea. If he had been in control of this situation, the gospel would not have gone their. However, the Holy Sprit worked with hard to get Peter on track. Holy Spirit guidance triumphed over the mistakes of a key apostle.

2. The apostles appointed Philip to be a deacon, but it soon became clear that the Holy Spirit has more important work in mind for him.

   Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there (Acts 8:4-5).

   Philip was called to be an evangelist.

3. Paul made Timothy get circumcised in a bout of people pleasing.

   Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area (Acts 16:3).

   The circumcision party soon became a thorn in Paul’s flesh, so this incident pleasing man not God was a serious mistake.

4. Two apostles, Barnabas and Paul, disagreed over Mark. The Holy Spirit got his way and both Mark and Timothy became key evangelists.

5. Paul wanted to go into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not allow him. The Holy Spirit had to send a vision to get him into Macedonia (Acts 16:7-9).

6. Paul planned to visit Spain. He intended to visit Rome on his way there.

   I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there (Rom 15:24)

   I will go to Spain and visit you on the way (Rom 15:28).

   The Holy Sprit had different plans. Paul ended up as a prisoner in Rome and never got to Rome. However, his desire to visit Spain cause him to write the letter to the Romans, which was what the Holy Sprit really wanted from him.

The Acts of the Apostles are really the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Things went well when people followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. Things did not go so well when the Apostles did their own thing. This shows the risks of apostolic government. The more power that is given to governing apostles, the more serious this risk will be.

When individual Christians ignore the Holy Spirit, they do not do much harm. When an apostle with governing authority misses the Holy Spirit’s leading, terrible harm could done. The good news of the gospel is that every believer can be taught and lead by the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit guidance is far safer than Apostolic leadership.