Re born for Signs and Wonders
Notes
Transcript
Song - Instrumental - I believe in miracles.
We often use the term “miracle” as the answer to an experience we can’t easily explain. Whether it’s walking away from a car accident unharmed or when our car keys appear on the table after we’ve spent 20 minutes looking for them, we are quick to dub the result a miracle.
And while there’s some truth to this, A miracle is an event where God is circumventing the natural order in order to do something extraordinary. Miracles have a greater purpose than allowing you to find your keys. Miracles are are one of the Sings and Wonders that Jesus promised would accompany those who believed and are associated with the Holy Spirits presence in our live.
Mark 16:16-18
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
Miracles and the other signs and wonders are demonstrations of the spirit of God that can’t be explained (designed to bring glory to God.) – VITAL!!!!
Signs and wonders Validates God’s power and ability
Some people have more faith in touching wood than you do in what God can do in and through us.
and yet scripture is filled with signs and wonders
• Acts 8:39-40 Philip was Transported
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
• Water into Wine John 4
• Manifestation of God’s glory – Numbers 20:6
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
• Rushing wind and fire
• Shaking of buildings Act 4:31 Acts 16:26
• Falling Down – Dan. 8:18 Acts 9:4
18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,
4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Peter walked on water (Matthew 14:28-31)
All believers spoke in foreign languages (Acts 2:4)
Many signs and wonders performed (Acts 2:43; 5:12)
Peter & John healed the lame man (Acts 3:1-11; 3:16)
Peter's shadow fell on the sick, healing them (Acts 5:15-16)
Stephen performed amazing miracles and signs (Acts 6:8)
Philip cast out demons and healed the lame (Acts 8:7; 8:13)
Peter heals lame Aeneas in Lydda (Acts 9:32-35)
Peter raised Tabitha, aka Dorcas, from the dead (Acts 9:36-43)
Paul & Barnabas performed signs and wonders in Iconium (Acts 14:3)
Paul & Barnabas healed the crippled man who had faith (Acts 14:8-10)
Paul & Silas cast a demon out of a fortune telling slave girl (Acts 16:16-18)
Paul given extreme power for many unusual miracles. (Acts 19:11-12)
Paul raised Eutychus from the dead after a terrible accident (Acts 20:9-12)
Paul unharmed by poisonous snake bite in Malta (Acts 28:3-6)
Paul healed Publius' father of fever and dysentery (Acts 28:7-8)
Paul healed all sick people on the island of Malta (Acts 28:9-10)
Not to mention SALVATION Possibly the biggest sign and wonder of all.
Why are signs and wonders important?
Why are signs and wonders important?
You know my view, when a topic keeps cropping up in scripture is probably important . So why are signs and wonders so important.
1. People will know that God is real.
46 He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.
2. People’s faith won’t be in man.
4 My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.
Reasons we don’t see signs and wonders today.
Reasons we don’t see signs and wonders today.
1. We don’t believe even though we know it to be true.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
The greek word for Believe is pisteuō - it means not only to believe to have faith to have faith in God – to commit (to trust) to accept.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
There is an inherent idea in the word and the concept of faith that it results not in belief alone but is an action, in an event
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
James is saying that a faith that merely affirms correct belief without producing a changed life is lifeless.
On of the areas I feel we as 21C Christians need to let our lives change is in out expectations of seeing God move. Our expectations of seeing people reached with the Gospel, our expectations that people will come to know jesus, our expecations that prayer will be effective our expectations that we will see healings, miracles, signs and wonders.
We don’t like to expect Signs and wonders because of the culture we are in.
We are shaped by culture to conform to not being noticed, not looking-out of place, not moving from the normal - The British way.
I am British but above that I am citizen of heaven
20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
As citizens of heaven we should expect the Holy Spirit to bring signs and wonders through us.
The bible tells us that “signs and wonders shall follow them that believe in His name.” Mark 16:17
Now either we believe it or we don’t. To believe it is to act on it, to disbelieve it is to not act on it.
When signs and wonders break our they do tend to draw attention - but that attention is on God for God.
Another reason we don’t expect to see signs and wonders is we are shapped by culture to conform by science - I love science but God created it, God is bigger than it
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him" - Louis Pasteur.
We don’t expect signs and wonders because we are focused on the natural and not the spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:14
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Some may thing that the word natural refers to the unsaved. No it is referring to those Christians who have their senses are focused upon the things of this world.
How often do we pray for Drs to help and appointments to be made. - We should do this but we should also ask God to move in power. We have the balance wrong. We place our faith in ourself, and in medicine and science first, and in God if that does not work. I am not saying that we should not use medicine - that would be wrong - but we need to give God room we need both intellectual intelligence and also spiritual intelligence
“Intellectual Intelligence w/out Spiritual Intelligence = Emptiness it promotes.
• Goal Setting - God serving
• Self Promotion over servant hood
• Bettering our present life over our eternal future
• Our way over Gods Purpose/Plan
The verse in one corinthians goes on..
1 For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,
Paul is telling us that as immature Christians, when we base our decisions and direction in life upon what we see in the natural we cannot have the faith for the supernatural.
Let me be clear maturity is nothing to do with age The HS can you you what ever you age....
JC Video
Miracles from HS
Miracles from HS
Miracles is a Gift of the Holy Spirit
Why should we be so keen to see signs and wonder, to expericen miracles? After all Miracles are secondary to the Gospel and secondary to seeking God.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Having said that Jesus never admonished anyone who came seeking a miracle. He didn’t turn to the blind man and say not I won’t heal you until you get to know me. He didn’t say don’t seek the hand of God, seek his face.
Jesus knew that if you find he hand of God you only have to look up, the face is not far away.
Jesus new that signs and wonders were away of drawing people to notice the message of God
2. Miracles draw a crowd
2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick.
and
3. Miracles reinforce the message of the Gospel
we think that we live in a sceptical culture, it was no different in Jesus day.
23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.
I do wonder though if in Jesus day if the un believers were more skeptical than the believers.
I don’t want to give the view that signs and wonders are only shows though..
4. Miracles demonstrate God’s compassion
41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.”
5. Miracles are for today
1 Corinthians 12:28
28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues.
Miracle proof
Miracle proof
One thing I know, I was blind and now I see.
We can talk about healings
Amazing provision of resources.
but one of the greatest miracles we see is Salvation.
All those who repent and believe in his name will be saved
This is not diminish God's miracles, but the most important thing to grasp is God's gospel of love and forgiveness and the miracle that happens when people accept this.
The dead become alice
The orphaned become sons and daughters
The most desirable and unclean become sanctified
The supernatural phenomenon of signs wonders and miracles is spectacular and glorifies the Lord; however, the salvation of a spiritually dead sinner by God's grace is his greatest miracle, which Jesus' Apostles would wholeheartedly affirm.
Salvation is what all of the other things point to ..
Conclusion Why Miracles
Conclusion Why Miracles
Miracles have a purpose, which is ultimately glorify God,
They glorify God by putting His power on display. Think about the way that people responded to the Acts of the apostles as they proclaimed the gospel. The result was that people believed and glorified God. The same is true of the miracles we see in the Old Testament, such as the parting of the Red Sea.
They glorify God by confirming the truth of His message and the trustworthiness of His messengers. God worked miracles through Moses, and Peter in order to confirm their message. Jesus also performed miracles to confirm the truthfulness of His message and His identity as the Messiah, God’s Promised Rescuer.
God still works the miraculously today?
I believe all of the miracles we see in the bible still happen including the biggest miracle of all - Salvation.By faith in Christ, the One who miraculously rose from the dead, God does the impossible and raises the spiritually dead to life!
That, by definition is a miracle—the greatest miracle that any of us can experience. And it is a miracle that God gladly and joyfully continues to work in people all over the world, in every nation and people group, as they put their trust in Jesus.
With that one decision, the Holy Spirit dwells within you, within me. Opening up the possibilities of signs and wonders as we tell the world about our own miracle, Saved by grace - loved by God.
Hebrews 2:1-4
1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
Pray
Faith
Expectation
Opportunity
Generally cloudy throughout the outlook period with sunny spells mainly late afternoon. Outbreaks of light rain or drizzle possible most mornings, with a chance of heavy rain during Wednesday.