The Acts of the Holy Spirit

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 28 June 2026
Sermon Series: “The Acts of the Apostles” (#35)
Sermon Text: Acts 19:20
Main Points:
Introduction
I. The Spirit proclaims the reign of Christ
II. The Spirit gathers the people of Christ
III. The Spirit preserves the witnesses of Christ
Conclusion

Today is the last Lord’s Day in the current financial year. Around this time, we become very familiar with a four-letter acronym – EOFY. It is a season of reviewing the past financial year, assessing what has been accomplished, and asking where we go from here.

This morning, I’d like us to do something similar – not with finances, but with God’s work among His people through the book of Acts.

I wonder how many of you remember when we began this sermon series. It was last October. Apart from our break in Dec, we’ve spent the past seven months, working our way through Acts, chapter by chapter. Before we go any further, let me thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your patience also. No one has complained that we’ve been in one book of the Bible for so long! I pray that the Lord will continue to bless us as we complete the remaining chapters in the months ahead.

As we pause to look back over Acts 1-21, one verse serves as an ideal summary: that is, 19:20 that says, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” It is a short sentence, but it tells a remarkable story. In just a few words, Luke captures what the Holy Spirit has been accomplishing ever since our Lord ascended into heaven and poured out His Spirit at Pentecost.

In fact, Acts contains a series of summary statements like this. After Pentecost, we read in 2:47, “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Later, in 6:7 we hear this: “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem ….” Then, come similar reports in 9:31, 12:24 and 16:5, before we arrive at out text in 19:20. Finally, the book closes, in 28:30-31, with Paul in Rome, “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

These are much more than progress reports. They’re Luke’s theological commentary on everything that has taken place. They tell us that, despite persecution, opposition, imprisonment, and hardship, God was faithfully accomplishing His saving purpose. Through the gospel of His Son, He was calling sinners to repentance, building His church, and extending His kingdom to the ends of the earth.

And that raises an important question – ‘Who is doing all this?’ When people think about the book of Acts, they often think of Peter preaching, Stephen dying, Philip evangelising, or Paul travelling throughout the Roman Empire. But, Luke wants us to look beyond these faithful servants. Behind every sermon preached, every sinner converted, every church planted, every prison endured, and every road travelled stands the quiet yet sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.

The book of Acts is not primarily the story of remarkable Christians. It is the story of the remarkable Spirit of God, who continues the work of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. That’s exactly what 19:20 summarises, saying, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He is advancing the kingdom of the exalted Christ.

So, as we look back over the first 21 chapters of Acts, we discover one great truth – that is, the Holy Spirit is advancing the kingdom of Christ. But how? Luke presents in Acts three answers. First, the Spirit does this by proclaiming the reign of Christ. Second, by gathering the people of Christ. And third, by preserving the witnesses of Christ.

I. The Spirit Proclaims the Reign of Christ

The first answer is this: the Spirit advances the kingdom of Christ by proclaiming the reign of Christ.

Christ’s kingdom is not extended by military power, diplomatic influence, or human ingenuity. It advances through the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the crucified, risen, and reigning Lord.

That’s precisely what Jesus promised before His ascension. In Acts 1:8, He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses.” Notice what Jesus promised. He did not promise that His disciples would become influential politicians or military leaders. He promised that they would become His witnesses. And from Pentecost onwards, that is exactly what we see. Peter proclaims Christ in Jerusalem, before the Sanhedrin, and later in the house of Cornelius, the Roman centurion at Caesarea. Stephen boldly bears witness to Christ even as stones are thrown at him. Philip proclaims Christ in Samaria and to the Ethiopian official. Paul spends the rest of Acts, travelling from city to city throughout Asia Minor and Greece, preaching that Jesus is the promised Messiah and exalted Lord. Everywhere the Spirit works, Christ is proclaimed.

Even the miracles are never the centre of the story. They authenticate the gospel, open doors for the gospel, and direct people’s attention to Christ – but they never replace the gospel itself.

As we read through Acts, we notice one great patten flowing through the entire book. The Spirit empowers; the gospel is proclaimed; people repent; churches are established; and the Word of the Lord spreads. Again and again, Luke records this same pattern until he reaches Acts 19 where he pauses and writes, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily”! This is not merely a report of what happened in Ephesus. It is Luke’s verdict on everything we’ve read so far. So, he answers to the question – ‘How has Christ’s kingdom advanced?’ – by saying that the Holy Spirit had done it by proclaiming Christ and His reign!

Sometimes people say, ‘Our church seems rather dull; I don’t really sense that the Holy Spirit is at work here.’ Often what they mean is that they do not see extraordinary experiences. There are no dramatic healings. No speaking in tongues. No prophetic revelations. Week after week, the service follows much the same pattern. We pray; we sing the same old hymns; we read the Scriptures; we hear the preaching; then, we go home. Everything seems ordinary. So people question, ‘Where is the Holy Spirit?’

The book of Acts gives us a wonderfully different perspective. Where Christ is faithfully proclaimed, the Holy Spirit is at work. Where the Scriptures are opened, the Holy Spirit is at work. Where sinners repent and believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit is at work. Through the ordinary preaching of the gospel, the Spirit brings spiritually dead sinners to life, gathers them into Christ’s church, and causes the Word of the Lord to prevail.

The Spirit’s greatest miracle is not creating religious excitement. His greatest miracle is making the risen Christ known. And whenever Christ is truly made known, the Holy Spirit advances the kingdom of Christ.

II. The Spirit Gathers the People of Christ

The Spirit not only proclaims Christ’s kingdom, He also gathers Christ’s people. This is the second great work of the Spirit revealed in Acts.

When we speak of the kingdom of God, we’re not speaking merely of a territory or an idea. A kingdom has a King, and it has a people. Christ did not come simply to save isolated individuals. He came to redeem a people for Himself. And throughout Acts, we see the Holy Spirit gathering that people.

Think back to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Jews from every nation under heaven hear the gospel in their own languages and are gathered into Christ’s church. Then, the Spirit moves into Samaria. For centuries, Jews and Samaritans had lived in hostility towards one another. But, the same Holy Spirit comes upon Samaritan believers, showing that they too belong to Christ.

Next, the Spirit leads Peter to the house of Cornelius the Gentile. For the first time, Gentiles are welcomed into the covenant people of God without becoming Jews. Then, in Antioch, Jews and Gentiles worship together as one church. Again and again, the Holy Spirit removes barriers that sinful humanity could never remove.

The climax comes at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The great question is asked – and this question has never been challenged or even questioned – and the question is, ‘Must Gentiles first become Jews in order to be saved?’ The answer is an emphatic ‘No.’ Salvation is by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. The same Spirit who came upon Peter comes upon Cornelius. The same Spirit creates one body. One Lord, one church, one people.

The book of Acts directs us to see that this unity is not man’s achievement. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is advancing the kingdom of Christ by gathering the people of Christ.

This remains one of the Spirit’s great works today. The church is not merely a collection of people with similar interests or personalities. It is God’s new covenant family. The Holy Spirit brings together people who, apart from Christ, would never belong together.

Every society has its own barriers. Some divide people by race; others by wealth; others by education, culture, language, or social status. Human effort may soften those divisions, but only the gospel can truly overcome them. When the Holy Spirit brings sinners to Christ, He gives them a new identity that is greater than every earthly identity. They become brothers and sisters in the family of God. The church is no longer defined by ethnicity, nor nationality, nor ceremonial law. It is defined by union with Christ.

So, whenever believers gather around Christ in faith and truth – young and old, rich and poor, from different cultures and backgrounds – we’re witnessing the great work of the Holy Spirit!

In a word, we see this great truth – the Holy Spirit is advancing the kingdom of Christ by gathering the people of Christ.

III. The Spirit Preserves the Witnesses of Christ

So far, we’ve seen that the Holy Spirit proclaims the reign of Christ. We’ve seen that He gathers Christ’s people. But, Christ’s kingdom cannot continue to advance unless Christ’s witnesses remain faithful. This brings us to the third great work of the Holy Spirit – that is, the Spirit advances the kingdom of Christ by preserving the witnesses of Christ.

One striking feature of Acts is that suffering never disappears. In fact, it increases. Stephen is martyred. James is executed. Peter is imprisoned. Paul is beaten, stoned, opposed, arrested, and eventually taken to Rome in chains – as we’ll see in the coming months. But, the mission never stops. The witnesses continue to proclaim Christ. Why? Because the Spirit preserves them, the witnesses of Christ.

One of the clearest examples comes in Acts 20. As the Apostle Paul prepares to leave the Ephesian elders for the last time, he says in v. 22, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit ….” There, notice what the Spirit does. He does not lead Paul away from suffering. Instead, He leads Paul through suffering.

That changes the way we read the whole book of Acts. Persecution never stops the mission. Again and again, God uses persecution to advance the mission. When believers are scattered, they preach wherever they go. When the apostles are imprisoned, they bear witness before rulers. When Paul is arrested, he receives opportunities to proclaim Christ before governors, kings, and eventually in Rome itself.

The enemies of Christ may imprison Christ’s servants, but they can never imprison Christ’s gospel. That is why Acts 19:20 pauses to conclude and say, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” The Word prevails because the Holy Spirit continues to preserve Christ’s witnesses, and by preserving them, He is advancing Christ’s kingdom!

This truth reshapes the way we think about the Christian life. We should never measure the presence of the Holy Spirit by the absence of hardship. The question is not, ‘Has the Spirit removed my trials?’ the better questions are, ‘Is the Holy Spirit making me more faithful?’, ‘Is He giving me courage to confess Christ?’, ‘Is He helping me endure?’, ‘Is He deepening my love for the Lord Jesus?’

The Spirit’s work is often seen most clearly not in extraordinary experiences, but in ordinary believers who continue trusting Christ, obeying His Word, and bearing faithful witness in the midst of suffering. Whenever that happens, we are seeing the same reality that Luke celebrates throughout Acts – the Holy Spirit is advancing the kingdom of Christ by preserving the witness of Christ!

Conclusion

This is the story we’ve been studying together over the past seven months as we’ve journeyed through the book of Acts. And, God willing, we shall continue that journey until we reach its final chapter.

Acts 19:20 is much more than a summary of what has already happened. It teaches us how to read the whole book. It tells us that behind every sermon preached, behind every sinner converted, behind every church planted, behind every trial endured, behind every victory won, stands the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit!

But this is not only the story of the early church. It is also the story of Christ’s church today. Behind every act of repentance and confession of faith, behind every trial we patiently endure, behind every prayer and every song of thanksgiving we offer, stands the same mighty yet gracious Holy Spirit! He is advancing Christ’s kingdom through us even now! So, let us go on with confidence, and take the words of Acts 19:20 as our confession: “So the word of the Lord [continues] to increase and prevail mightily”! ***