Why do you think Luke called Acts, Acts? You already know, but more than likely, you've been armored against it. The last thing all of hell wants is the church in 2024 to be operating like the first century church in Acts. They were storming the very Gates of Hell with the Gospel, and demonstrations of the power of the Kingdom that made them unstoppable. They turned the world upside down, while the world is now, turning us, upside down.
Reversing course is going to hurt. We're going to have to chuck what we've been taught overboard, tear ourselves down to the studs, and allow the truth of what original scripture says, and then reacquire what first century theology and worldview actually is. We must put aside the drivel and worthlessness of the last seventeen centuries of men telling us what they think Christ and Christianity is. Church creeds, traditions, doctrines, and dogmas must be temporarily dismantled, and then rebuilt. Courage is required. Backbone and honesty must prevail. Failure is not an option.
First century Christians
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Read the bolded and blue text in the passage above. Read it closely and carefully. Consider it. Ponder. Read it several times if you must. Let it sink in. The apostles were doing precisely what Jesus had demonstrated to them, taught them, and sent them to do. They were 1000% dedicated and loyal servants of the King, who had laid down all other authorities and even their own wills like Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11) to model themselves after Jesus as they were endowed with power from on High, being baptized not just in water, but in the power of the Spirit of God.
They preached and proclaimed that the King and Kingdom of God was there, present in themselves and then proved and validated that fact by obeying the Lord's leading within them through the Holy Spirit to perform signs, miracles, and wonders of healing and deliverance.
The apostles did not use apologetics in some endless sparring match with pagan intellectuals in an effort to win them to Christ by mere mental ascent and "the-better-argument". Paul stated it well. These are his words.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
What is the testimony of God?
First, it is to proclaim King, and Kingdom has come, and that the Kingdom of God is in us, as the loyal servants of God. Like Jesus laid down his authority and will, taking up the delegated power of his father, through the Spirit of God in him, to deliver the words, and works of his father to humanity, we, in like manner, are so called. This is how the apostles, disciples, and believers of the first century church operated. Period. They submitted all to the Lord as servants, filled with the Spirit, and endowed with gifts of power, they went about preaching, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
Second, they backed that message up, at the direction of the Lord within themselves, by the Spirit of God in a demonstration of the Lord's power as King through themselves to heal, help, provide, and deliver the people from the afflictions of the dark forces of the gods, who ruled and reigned over them. Jesus, as King, operating in his dedicated servants, whom he called, redeemed, cleansed, and empowered, is the reversal of the damage done by the fallen sons of God, that is, Watchers, fallen angels, gods, and so on.
The result of this was the unstoppable church that Jesus was building. Look back at the text from Acts 5 above. The signs and wonders were a continual flow from the Lord, through the Spirit, and through those men and women he inhabited as the Name, that is, Jesus, Christ, King, Lord, and Messiah! People responded in such deep measure that in Acts 5:13 we are told that the same Jewish leaders who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus were stymied and "None of the rest dared join them ...". Instead, the "... people held them in high esteem." Moreover, "... more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men, and women, ...". And what was the motive to join?
The bottom line is simple. When we announce that the King of all kings has sent us in his Name, imbued us with his power and that we have and exercise the authority from him, by his will to use it, and then we demonstrate that power by grinding his, and humanities enemies into dust. It is then that pagans sit up, and pay attention. They join the winning side. They happily reverse course, disavow the gods, as the losers they are, and come into the Kingdom of God, and ally themselves, as loyal to the Name of God, who is Jesus, the Christ, and the King.
One doesn't need the endless gyrations of intellectual-argument, and skilled oratory. One does not need human colleges, universities, degrees, and great numbers. Your religion doesn't have to own the social landscape, which then makes the laws and government "play nice". In such a state of proclaiming the Kingdom, and demonstrating it in the shock-and-awe of signs and wonders, the people will flock to the winner. This is what humans do without endless begging, trying the endlessly beat them to death with government and laws.
Literally, one hundred and twenty people, led by twelve guys, called by Jesus, and endowed with his power, stood up to the entire Roman Empire, and conquered it. They ground the gods into powder as obedient submitted servants of Christ by the indwelling power of God operating in them, and through them. They loved, and healed, and delivered their way to victory over the gods in every nation in their known world. Even the vile persecutions of Nero, and others did not stop them. The reality, and demonstration of the power of God crushed the gods, and rescued the people!
Summing Up
The first century church is the model. Westernized churches built on "miracles-were-only-for-the-early-church" thinking is bunk, twaddle, hokum, and hogwash. The pathetic tools that we are given to win the lost are losing the battle. The gods are winning once more. Don't be foolish to think otherwise. We need to open our eyes, and get back to the model, and mode of operating that Jesus demonstrated, and then passed the baton to the disciples, and their disciples after them. Those who cannot see that, are a part of the problem, and not a part of God's solution. It's his way, or the highway. Pick one!