“But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.”
Acts 14:3 (NLT)
After Paul and Barnabas are run out of town, they show up in Iconium. And the same thing happens there as it did in Antioch of Pisidia. Paul and Barnabas go to the synagogue and preach with power through Holy Spirit that enables many to become believers in Jesus Christ. Yet some of the Jews rejected God’s message again. They’re threatened by the Good News. They don’t like the message. They don’t want change. They don’t want salvation.
But in the midst of opposition, these apostles—Paul and Barnabas—stay in Iconium a long time. They spend their time speaking boldly about the grace of the Lord. Paul and Barnabas preached the manifestation of that which brings delight, joy, pleasure, and sweetness through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. The signs and wonders in this verse are a part of that manifestation. But Hebrews 2:4 reminds us that God confirms His message by giving signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts whenever He chooses. So Paul and Barnabas don’t have a power where they can do whatever they want. They’re a conduit of grace, which is God’s power.
Paul and Barnabas are inspired to share the Good News by the Holy Spirit. They’re equipped to share the Good News by the Holy Spirit. Their audience is enabled to receive the Good News by the Holy Spirit. And then the apostles are led to minister the benefits of the Good News to the believers through miraculous signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit. And at the center of all of it is the message: the grace of the Lord. The message of salvation through Jesus Christ—through belief in His sacrifice on the cross, His death, and resurrection. By believing in Him, we are made right in God’s sight.
A move of God requires that the grace of the Lord be the center, which is the empowerment by Holy Spirit for the preaching and for the signs and the wonders. If the center of the move of God is Paul and Barnabas (or whoever we’re listening to today), then there’s no true power for people to become believers in Jesus Christ, and there’s no true power for us to receive the proof of the message of Jesus Christ. Today, remember where the power comes from. There’s only one name that saves: Jesus Christ. There’s only one Person that can give gifts, signs, miracles, and wonders: God. And there’s only one name that enables those things to happen on earth through us: the Holy Spirit.