Acts 4:33 “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.”

There is a scene in the movie Dead Poets Society in which Prof. John Keating, played by Robin Williams, is asking his class at this boys’ school why language was invented. They struggle to give him an answer, one student finally weakly proposing, “To communicate?” To which Professor Keating replies, “No. To woo women.” Which, of course, is only partially true. But it illustrates inherent power of words.

For four long years of a long distance relationship I faithfully wrote letters to my wife every other day, and look at where we are today. Words change people. They mold us. They change our minds and change our wills. They inspire us to love and sacrifice, or to fight and destroy. They start wars. They win elections. And yes, they woo women and get them to say, “I do.”

It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul later wrote, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Words are the tool God gives us for creating faith in people, building it, and passing it along to others. But now we are talking about something more than the natural power language and communication has to change people. Now we are talking about the supernatural power of the Word of God.

A message about a man executed as a criminal and then raised to life again isn’t a likely candidate to demonstrate the natural power of words to change people. Torture, execution, and death are not appealing or popular topics, except for a few morbid people with an unnatural interest in that sort of thing. Resurrection from the dead isn’t a rationally convincing claim given the experience of most people with death. I do funerals. Every dead person I ever buried is still dead.

But this was the powerful witness of the apostles. “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Their power wasn’t the delivery method, loud voices or bold assertions, though it may have involved them at times. Their power wasn’t funny stories or emotional appeals. Some of them may not have been very good public speakers by most standards. The Apostle Paul says that he was not.

The power lay in the supernatural power of the gospel to convince hordes of people to believe words people might otherwise consider foolish. On the first official day the apostles had on the job, the day of Pentecost, the words convinced 3000 people to be baptized. A short time later this new religion counted 5000 men, besides women and children. Then we hear of a large number of priests, previously the sworn enemies of this faith, joining their cause. The apostles had the faith to keep on talking about Jesus’ resurrection in the face of threats, jail, beatings, even death, and this powerful witness was the quintessential face of their faith.

The message hasn’t changed. Neither has its power. Maybe we fear that people won’t believe us if we tell them what we really believe. The Bible appears so unscientific. It is ancient, counter-cultural, unfamiliar to more and more people. But it worked on you. Something still happens when God’s word of grace is unleashed on human ears, regardless of race, culture, or previous beliefs. Hearts change. People believe. Souls are saved. Let’s not be afraid to put God’s word into play where we live, and let its powerful witness work its wonders.