“And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)” (KJV, Acts 5:12-14).
“And by the hands of the apostles”
After Jesus left the earth, He entrusted the furtherance of His church, first and foremost, into the hands of the apostles. At this point, the Christian must learn to make a distinction. There are different ways in which the Bible uses the word apostle.
In the strict sense of the word, the twelve disciples, minus Judas, with the addition of Matthias, were the twelve apostles after Jesus’ ascension. However, the Bible tells us that Paul was untimely born into the apostleship ministry.
An apostle had walked with Christ during Jesus’ earthly ministry, had witnessed the resurrection of Christ, and was one whose ministry was accompanied by signs and wonders. We can see that Paul was uniquely chosen as an apostle because He did not accompany Jesus during Jesus’ ministry. Nevertheless, Paul did witness the resurrected Christ on His way to Damascus.
In the broad sense of the word, an apostle is one who has been sent out. In this sense, many have been deemed apostles. In the book of Galatians, we can see that the Lord’s brother, James, was considered an apostle. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, we read of Jesus appearing to Peter and the twelve disciples but also of Jesus appearing to the apostles. We can deduce from this statement that there was a difference between the twelve disciples and the apostles to whom Jesus appeared since Paul uses the word apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 in the broad sense.
Therefore the apostles in our passage today are the twelve apostles, as Paul had not been converted yet.
“were many signs and wonders wrought”
The Bible tells us that many signs and wonders were done at the hands of the apostles. When someone drives down the road, he will notice that he encounters many road signs along the way. When driving on the highway, he may see signs telling him a particular city is 5o miles away or to take the next exit for a certain town. This is because signs are meant to point us in the proper direction.
The same can be said about the signs and wonders that the apostles performed. When God sent His prophet Moses in front of Pharaoh, God told Moses that He would perform a number of miraculous signs through Moses and that this would validate Moses’ message and ministry.
The same was true of the apostles. The signs and wonders the apostles performed were to prove the validity of the message and ministry to which they were sent.
“among the people”
As a result, the apostles were to perform miracles in front of the people. While the ministry of Jesus was somewhat secluded, the ministry of the apostles was not to be so. Jesus would not cry out in the streets, and He ceased talking in front of the mocking crowds. But the apostles would be commissioned to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. Slightly before Pentecost, Jesus told them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Thus, the apostles would be thrown before a watching world in which God would bless them with the ability to perform miraculous signs and wonders.
“and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch”
However, the ministry of the apostles would be much like the ministry of Jesus. First, the ministry of the apostles would bring about a sense of unity. Here we see that the people were all in Solomon’s porch, and they were there in one accord.
Solomon’s porch had already been a gathering place for the Jews to witness the signs and wonders that accompanied the ministry of the apostles. In Acts 3, John and Peter are said to have traveled to the temple to pray. Upon reaching the temple, a lame man asked for money from Peter and John.
When Peter saw the lame man, Peter told the lame man that he did not have money to give. Instead, Peter commanded the man to rise to his feet in the name of Jesus. Peter then grabbed the man by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and the man could walk.
Many Jews witnessed this event, and there would likely have been many of the same Jews at the temple in Acts 5:12-14. The working of God through the apostles was said to have brought unity. We can see this in Acts 2:42-47. In this passage, we can read of the signs and wonders that were done through the apostles and the unity in the early church.
“And of the rest durst no man join himself to them”
Previously it had been said that the ministry of the apostles was like that of Jesus Christ in that it brought about unity. But like the ministry of Jesus Christ, the ministry of the apostles also brought about separation.
Here we see that while the people in Solomon’s porch were of one accord, another group chose not to join the apostles. When Jesus walked the earth, He performed many signs and wonders. Nevertheless, the Pharisees attributed the miraculous signs of Christ to Satan.
Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace but a sword. Jesus knew that not everyone would accept Him but that His coming would cause great division upon the earth.
“but the people magnified them”
Still, we can see another way in which the ministry of the apostles manifested itself. While some chose to be opposed to the apostle’s teaching, we can gather that another group was scared to be seen with the apostles.
People were intrigued by Jesus but were scared to be associated with Christ for fear of the Jews. Nicodemus likely sought to uphold his reputation as “the teacher” of the Jews by seeking out Jesus at night, when he would not be detected. When the religious leaders questioned the blind man’s parents in the Gospel of John, the parents did not speak out for Christ, likely for fear of the Jews.
When it is said that the people magnified the apostles, it could also be said that the people exalted the apostles. In Acts 2:47, we can read that the apostles grew in favor among the people. Thus, the people grew to magnify the apostle’s ministry.
“And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women”
As a result, believers were added to the Lord in great measure during the early church. Therefore, it is said that multitudes were added to the church. The Greek word that translated as multitudes is plethos. Plethos denotes a large number, throng, or populace.
When the angel of the Lord announced the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds, the announcement was soon accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host. Thus, when Jesus came to the earth, there was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. In Acts 5, we can see that when the apostles announced the Messiahs coming, there was yet again a multitude of those who praised God. However, we can see that the message had moved from the heavens to the earth and that the kingdom of God was making its advance.
But did you catch the wording in our passage? The Bible tells us that the believers were added to the Lord. The Bible does not say that the believers were added to the apostles. So while the church was built upon the foundation of the apostles, who were also prophets, Jesus Christ was still the church’s founder and head.
Believers are added to Christ, which is why believers are said to be “in Him.” To be added to the Lord is to enter into an indissoluble union of which the gates of hell will not prevail.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the ministry of the apostles. Please help me to be faithful like them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.