Miracles

Why Miracles?

1. Not all illness is a result of sin.

2. God has power over sickness and death. He and the apostles worked miracles to confirm the message and the messenger (Heb. 2:3-4; 2 Cor. 12:12). Jesus performed miracles to prove He was the Messiah.

3. The purpose of miracles was to produce faith in the Lord's word. God never did a miracle without a purpose.

Miracle "mighty work or deed" was a supernatural work by God and "signs" means it pointed people to faith or a spiritual truth as in the 7 sign miracles in John. "wonder" spoke of the human reaction. There are 121 recorded miracles in the bible.

Q- What about faith healers today?

I believe in divine healing thru the prayers of the saints (James 5) but not faith healers after the last apostle.

Many were healed in the Bible who expressed no faith or even asked for a healing. Of the 35 healings in the gospels only 10 expressed faith or asked to be healed.

1. Jesus healed the multitudes who did not express faith (Luke 6:19; 9:11; Matt. 14:14; 15:30).

2. Malchus did not ask Jesus to put his ear back on and did not express faith (John 18:10).

3. The demoniac was incapable of expressing faith (Luke 8:26).

4. The blind man in John 9 expressed no faith.

5. Nine of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11 expressed no faith.

6. Paul had great faith yet God chose not to heal him for God's divine purpose.

7. Paul did not heal Timothy of his stomach ailments and I am sure he had faith.

8. Paul did not heal Trophimus but left him at Miletum sick (2 Tim. 4:20).

Con: God heals at his sovereign will and for His sovereign purposes to bring someone to faith or convey a spiritual truth. We can't demand or claim a healing by positive words of confession.

Flip Sides of Salvation

John 6:37-40, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.  (38)  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  (39)  And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  (40)  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

In this passage we see God's sovereignty in salvation and man's human responsibility. Both doctrines co-exist in Scripture and run parallel to heaven and you can't try to intersect them without nullifying both.

1. God's Sovereignty [v. 37a]. "All that the Father giveth me"

Believers are the Father's love gift to his son and will come to Christ. Seven times in John 17 believers are referred to as "those given to the Son by the Father."

This transaction took place in eternity past when we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world [Eph 1:4-5; 2 Tim. 1:9; Rev. 13:8; 17:8].

No man can come to the Father unless the Spirit draws him.

2. Human Responsibility [v. 37b]. "shall come to me; and him that cometh to me" v. 40 that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.”

This is the human side of salvation- Man the sinner is commanded to repent of his sins and believe only in Jesus...

Salvation is by grace alone thru faith alone in Christ alone, but not a faith that is alone. Works demonstrate that faith is real.

Harry Ironside said the gate approaching heaven will say, "Whosoever Will," and as we past the gate it will say, "Chosen in Him."

Again, these two doctrines co-exist and please don't diminish both by denying either- Other examples in Scripture...

Matt. 11:27-28, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.  (28)  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."

3. Eternal Security [v. 37c]. "I will in no wise cast out." v. 39, all which he hath given me I should lose nothing.”

Believers are eternally secure and kept by the power of God in His salvation [v. 37c; 39-40].

The Presence of God in Preaching

Three Greek words describe what goes into effective preaching- Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. These three are necessary for means of persuasion.

1. Logos could mean the Word or content. When we stand to preach we have fully went through the exegetical process of the passage and have the author's intent and outline.

We preach God's Word (logos) and not our human thoughts. So content of the Word is fundamental.

2. Ethos is character or who we are. We could use the word ethics. When the preacher's ethos backs up his logos, there will be Spirit-filled communication and the presence of God.

3. Pathos is passion. We must believe the truths we are communication and feel a deep passion for them and desire to share them. This does not mean hollering and fuming but a deep passion as we preach.

Let me use these three words a different way. Ethos- who we are; Logos- what we say; and Pathos- how we say it.

Experience over Scripture?

Colossians 2:18-19, "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,  (19)  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

v. 18: Mysticism may be defined as the pursuit of a deeper or higher subjective experience. It looks for truth internally, thru feelings, intuition, and external sensations.

Experience trumps Scripture. Scripture is not the authority but one's experience.

They said you weren't saved or growing if you did not have some mystical experience. The false teachers were defrauding them of their prize or reward making them feel inferior.

The disguised their pride as false humility and worshipped angels. What's wrong with this kind of worship?

1. There is only one mediator between God and man.

2. We are called to worship God alone.

3. Angels worship God.

They also claimed to have visions. This is prevalent in the charismatic movement. These visions are a source of new revelation outside the closed canon of Scripture.

v. 18: We are not to be intimidated by their false experiences because they come from fleshly minds void of the Holy Spirit. There is a tendency in human nature to move from the objectivity of Scripture to the subjectivity of experience.

Note the Holy Spirit writes that these are visions they have not seen.

v. 19: They were not holding fast to Christ from whom salvation and spiritual growth comes from.

Hid with Christ in God

Colossians 3:3, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

What does “with Christ in God” mean? 3 truths:

1. The Christian life is hidden to the world because they know not Christ and can’t understand spiritual things. The full revelation of who we are is in the next world.

2. We are eternally secure [1 Pet. 1:4; John 10:28; Heb. 7:25;

     Rom 8:30-39].

3. The things that attract us and excite us belong in heaven, not earth.

Living Above This Life

Colossians 3:1-4, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  (2)  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3)  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  (4)  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Scriptures teach us as believers, that we are to live above this life, that we are to live the resurrected life setting our minds on heaven.

Our hearts and minds are not to be set on things below, but things above. We are to be heavenly minded, glorify God in all we do, and occupy down here, till we go up there, by death or his coming.

We are in the world but not of the world. We are pilgrims, strangers and passer-bys on this earth. We are not to love the things of this world, and we are to set our hearts on heaven.

Our Lord is in heaven, our names are in heaven, our saved loved ones who died are in heaven, and our eternal home is in heaven, and our affections should be in heaven.

Having said all this, the danger for the Christian is to set their heart on the earthly and temporal, or this present world. To think more about things below more than the things above.

To be so entangled in the world that our growth, our joy, and our fruitfulness is hindered.

Paul says we are to set our minds on things above, which means to think heaven. How do we do that?

First, we must think of our union in Christ. Second, we must think of our belonging to Christ. Third, we must think of our glory that awaits us in Christ.

The Christian and the OT Sabbath

Colossians 2:16-17, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:  (17)  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Christians are not required to worship on the Sabbath Day.  

Why?

1. The Sabbath was a sign to Israel of the Old Covenant.

2. The NT nowhere commands Christians to observe the

    Sabbath. Commandment not repeated in the NT.

3. The early church worshipped of Sunday, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).

4. OT plainly states the Sabbath was for Israel only.

5. The Jerusalem council did not impose the Sabbath on Gentile believers.

6. Paul in his epistles to the church never warned the church about breaking the Sabbath.

7. Paul taught that keeping the Sabbath was a matter of Christian liberty (Rom. 14:5).