David Hathaway Ministry of David Hathaway

'During the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5.19-42, NIV)

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought those who were ill into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing those who were ill and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people all about this new life.’ (Acts 5.12-20, NIV)

I remember the day when the Lord challenged me to serve Him. I was 15, on holiday on the South Coast of England, walking on the sea-front with some young Christians and I couldn’t enter into the fun that they were having because God was speaking to me – and the devil was speaking to me. The devil was saying, ‘Don’t listen, it’s OK, things are fine. You’re doing well – you got saved when you were 8, and you got baptised in water when you were 12, you started preaching at 13, that’s enough,’ and God was saying, ‘I want more.’ God was not calling me to be a preacher or an evangelist at that time, God was asking me to give my whole life to Him. Simply to give everything to Him.
'All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
'For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.
'But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
'Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
'As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
'About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
'And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.' (Acts 4.32-5.11, NIV.)

Looking at that first revival in Acts 4 we see some tremendous things. It’s amazing what I read in verse 13: When the religious council in Jerusalem saw the boldness of Peter and John, they took note that they were unlearned and ignorant men, and marvelled at them, because they could see that what marked out Peter and John as different from anyone else – was that they had been with Jesus!
One of the purposes for which Jesus sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was very simply this: He said to His disciples, “Look, I’m going to go, I won’t remain with you, I won’t be here to deal with all the issues that you will have…” Remember how He’d had to rebuke His disciples and say, “How long shall I put up with you, how long will I be with you”?! He said this because He knew that His ministry with them was only for a short time… But He also said, “If I go, I will send the Comforter” – that’s the Holy Spirit, who was to be with them, to replace the very Person of Jesus Christ after He had been carried up into Heaven.
So when the religious leaders saw the healing of the crippled man at the Temple Gate, they saw that Peter and John had a boldness that did not come from any learning or education or from religion – but was a personal relation‐ ship with Jesus, so that they exclaimed, “These men have been with Jesus!”
But it wasn’t just that they had been with Jesus; now the risen Jesus was with them all through the Person of the Holy Spirit! Look at Acts 4:29‐31, where Peter and John lift up their voices to God and say, “Lord, behold their threatenings and grant that, with all boldness, we may speak Your Word, by stretching forth Your Hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done in the Name of Your Holy Child Jesus!” When they had prayed, the whole place where they were gathered together was shaken, and everyone there was filled with the Holy Spirit! And as a result, they began to speak the Word of God with boldness! Just as they had asked! And verse 33 says that with GREAT POWER the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and the grace of God was MIGHTY on them all!
So you can see here, the impact of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, attested by speaking in tongues and by healing. The more I read those early parts of the Acts of the Apostles, two signs of the Presence of the Holy Spirit become evident again and again: one, they spoke in tongues, and two, miracles of healing confirmed the Word they preached everywhere they went. Those two things ONLY came and ONLY come as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit!
So you can see that what we need today is a reviving of the Church. We need to see the reviving of the Power and the manifestation of God! And we need to see the same evidences that were present in the early Church: the speaking in tongues, and the miracles of healing that followed the apostles after they had received the Holy Spirit. 

This passage underscores the courage and determination of the early Christians in spreading the message of Jesus, even in the midst of persecution.
'On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’
'Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
'After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.' (Acts 4.23-31, NIV)

In Acts 4:1-13, Peter and John are brought before the Jewish religious leaders for teaching about Jesus and performing a miraculous healing. The leaders are disturbed by their actions and begin to question them. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly defends their actions, declaring that the healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ. He emphasises that salvation is found only in Jesus. The leaders, recognising the boldness of Peter and John, are astonished because they were uneducated men, yet they spoke with power and authority. They realise that they had been with Jesus.
'The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
'The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.' (Acts 4.1-13, NIV)