Signs-and-Wonder-part-1

Hey guys, we are getting to that place now where any more teaching will just keep making

us more knowledgeable and fatter.

Yeah, so we are getting to that place in the life of this church where more teaching will

add just information and make us knowledgeable but fatter. So hopefully we can start focusing

on repeating teachings or going over old stuff in the near future and having more and more

of us do the work of ministry, do the work that a pastor should do so that in a few years

there is hardly anyone who doesn't have the ability to do the work that a pastor should

do. So we are getting to that place where we can both plant a church and establish a

church with help. I think we are coming to that place where how much can you teach, right?

There is no end to teaching, the Bible says. There is no end to the publishing of books,

that's what the Bible says. Every revival comes with signs and wonders and I remember

talking about this in November last year but I just want to talk about signs and wonders.

Today I want to talk about the why of signs and wonders, tomorrow perhaps the how of signs

and wonders. The why of signs and wonders and the how of signs and wonders. There is

something on the side that I want to address. I might be a little pensive today, I don't

know. But the more easily you are offended, the more easily you give in to your sensitivities,

the more easy it is for the enemy to trip you up. I'm not saying become callous or

hard skinned or hard hearted but learn to recover from your offence, from your guilt,

sensitivities quickly. Don't sulk, don't distance people from you because they let

you down or because you feel hurt. Don't do stuff like that. It prevents you from going

further. It prevents you from being selected for training by the Holy Spirit because the

skin is so thin and the sensitivities are so acute and the childish responses are so

intense that the Spirit of God has to wait because once the battle starts, offence will

come easily and it will trip us up. I just need to say that and if the hat fits, wear

it. What we are entering into, what we are going into requires that we forgive offence

fast and we move together as a unit, not isolated, not separated, not...yeah, don't please.

Yeah. I mean if I'm someone who bruises easily, you would not be able to help me. I mean

you would have to have me play with you on a soccer field or a rugby field. Why? Because

I bruise easily. So if I bruise easily, you'll have to either put me in a position where

I do not bruise easily or you'll have to call me up when you're playing a team that's relatively

weak so that nobody pushes me around. That's okay when we start but a time comes when one

needs to learn how not to be someone who bruises easily. Keep that in mind, eh? It's

important because I really believe we are coming into that time where we have to move

together as a cohesive unit, not isolated, with less coping mechanisms, less coping mechanisms.

The greater our transparency, the less of the coping mechanisms. This has nothing to

do with the teaching. I'm just saying this on the side because it's for whatever reason

pressing on my heart. It applies to both guys and girls, eh? This is not a guy thing or

a girl thing. It applies to both of us. I remember someone saying this long ago. Your

back must be like a colander where lots of people have stabbed you. There are a lot of

holes but they're also sealed very quickly. Thank God we don't stab each other in this

church. And if we do, get healed anyways. I know that sounds terribly callous but I can

say that because we don't stab each other. Alright, I want the volume down a little because

now it's beginning to echo. Today I want to talk about signs and wonders because signs

and wonders are quite expected in a revival. So today we'll talk about the why of signs

and wonders. Why do we need signs and wonders? And then tomorrow we'll talk about how do

we go about then walking in signs and wonders. Another word for signs and wonders is miracles.

Miracles are basically miracles and miracles are things that violate or override natural

order. So all the things that Don was speaking about make sense because that's something

God wants us to walk in. God wants us to walk in the 17 year old's footstep. God wants us

to do again what he always likes doing. And so, the reason why we need signs and wonders

miracles are basically things that violate or overrule natural order. And they point

to God, they point to God and they also point to his presence amongst a people. They also

point to his presence amongst a people. I'd go so far as to say that a church that is

devoid of signs, miracles and wonders... Just one sec guys. Check, check, check. Okay.

Betty, what does it mean more transparency? Okay, this is going back to the previous

conversations. Betty is asking what does it mean to have more transparency? More transparency

is when people see Jesus more easily. Jesus isn't hidden. More and more when people see

me, they'll see more and more of Jesus's characteristics come out. One of the things that Jesus wasn't

sensitive though... Jesus wasn't offended easily though he was the ultimate sensitive

man. He could be moved by things so easily on heaven and in earth. And so, we think transparency

is the ability to see through a person. When it comes to Christianity, transparency is

the ability of people to see into you and see the one who lives in you. And therefore,

that's only possible as the veil of flesh becomes less and less obvious where pretense

and being someone at certain times of the day and being someone else at other times

of the day goes away. Where there's only one person and that person is so united with

Christ and that the Christ begins to show more because the person and Christ are becoming

so one. Transparency exposes Christ in a person. Transparency in a Christian's case is not

this is what you see is what you get. No. What you see is not what you get for the Christian.

What you see should be Jesus. And that only happens as pretense and being two people or

three people or four people disappears and the Christness comes out. I've said this before

but one of the things that really impressed me about Michael W. Smith was not his singing.

It was though I love the song. Hallelujah. But one of the things he said through the

year when he was interviewed and they asked him so what's your new year resolution and

he said my new year resolution is that at the end of the year I will no longer be offended

by people. I won't take offense. I thought what a statement. Man I wish I could get there.

Where you are. Where it's impossible for you to offend me. Not because you are not offensive

but because I'm not taking offense because of the Christ in me. If Jesus were to clam up

every time he's offended or is grieved my God man we'd have a shut heaven. Yeah. So

signs and wonders are miracles that violate or overrule natural order. Signs and miracles

point to God and it marks us as a distinct people that carry the presence of God. If

you look at Deuteronomy 434. Deuteronomy 434. Deuteronomy 434. Has any God reading from

verse 32. Deuteronomy 432 onwards. Ask now about the former days long before your time

from the day God created man on earth. Ask from one end of the heavens to the other.

Has anything so great as this ever happened or has anything like it ever been heard of?

Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire as you have and lived?

Has any God ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation by testings,

by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm or by

great and awesome deeds like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before

your eyes. You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God.

Besides him there is no other. Signs and wonders and miracles are supposed to help us show

people that we are a distinct people and carry the presence of God and a church that

does not walk in signs, wonders and miracles is a church that cannot display his presence

the way they are supposed to. Sure you can preach it but the thing is and I will say

this many times over later that the Holy Spirit never separates words and deeds. The

Holy Spirit comes with this double expression of word and deed is it's never separate,

never separate. Today we are just talking about the why of signs and wonders.

Guys sorry I am going back to the offense thing. Not to take offense doesn't mean you

don't hurt. Not to take offense is to hurt and not react to it childishly, not react

to it by building up defense mechanisms, not react to it by withdrawing and isolating

and saying alright I will keep a healthy distance so that I don't get hurt again. Not taking

the grief to a place of offense where now there is bitterness that has come out of the

hurt. It is the ability to hurt and then take the hurt to God and take the hurt to the person

if there are ways to take it to the person and then leap over it into a new place. That's

something that Jesus has the ability to do and you and I should learn to do because it's

an easy trip, easy tripper that the devil uses against Christians. Don't let it happen

to you because we must go to Romans 8 and become conquerors, overcomers. That's enough

said about that. Please don't ask me a question about that now. If you have a question you

can ask me later because otherwise I will never finish this. It's my fault but don't

add to it. So if I were to redefine signs and wonders of miracles I would redefine it

this way. I would redefine it as the works of God. I love this definition. I would redefine

miracles as the works of God, as the works of God that restore created order and ends

brokenness. That's why God does miracles. He does miracles. He does miracles. He does

miracles. God is continually in the business of trying to restore Eden. What had been broken

in Eden, what has been destroyed in Eden, what has been introduced in Eden in terms

of pain, tears, death. He wants to restore that and it won't be restored to Revelation

Revelation 21:4

21 verse 4 but while we are waiting for Revelation 21 verse 4 God does signs and wonders. God

Revelation 21:4

overrules natural order. God violates natural order. Why? Because he does these works so

that he can restore created order and undo brokenness. Just pause on that and you will

understand why God does signs and miracles. God doesn't do signs and miracles to impress

us. He's not a magician. He's got an intent that is so much deeper, so much more loving,

so much more plan A, so much more restorative. I'm doing signs and miracles and wonders

children because I want to restore that which was broken. I want to restore created order

to how I had dreamt it to be. I want to end brokenness by overruling what is happening

naturally in a world that is decaying. And this is why then you see Jesus using miracles

and miraculous powers to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to raise the dead. What's

he doing there? He's not trying to say okay I can produce food. He's not saying okay let

me show you how much power I have. Let me heal a few sick. No. He's doing it because

he wants to restore that which was destroyed, restore the order that he had planned initially.

He used his miraculous power to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to raise the dead and

that is part of the gospel. That is part of the gospel. We'll talk about the gospel

a little more tomorrow but that is part of the gospel. Signs and wonders are part of

the gospel. Signs, wonders and miracles are part of the gospel. What is the gospel? One

of the things we'll explore tomorrow. At the end of the day the gospel is announcing the

good news that God is restoring and making all things new. The gospel is announcing

the good news that God is restoring and making all things new. And this is part of it. Making

a crippled hand new. Making a dead life come back to new life. It is a shame that we have

confined God to regenerating the spirit and making us born again but not allowing him

to touch any other part of us. There is hardly an expectation. There is sometimes wishful

thinking, there is sometimes hope but there is hardly an expectation. We have such a sure

confidence in terms of heaven. We are so sure that because we are born again we will go

to heaven. But there isn't that sure confidence when it comes to other things with regard

to signs and wonders and miracles. And so we come up with such lousy theology like the

greatest miracle that God does is the miracle of getting one saved. While it may be true

it still just sucks when it is put that way and you dismiss a whole side of the gospel

then. In the gospel then the book of Acts miracles were part of Jesus' message. Miracles

were part of Jesus' message and then he would preach and explain it. Because many people

say oh the signs and wonders and miracles do not save us so we shouldn't focus on that.

I am saying to you that there were many times when Jesus actually used miracles, signs and

wonders as part of his message and after performing miracles, signs and wonders he would actually

preach on it. In Matthew 11 verse 4 John's disciples are sent to him and Jesus says to them,

Matthew 11:4

John's disciples ask are you the real Messiah? And he says to them go tell John that the dead

are being raised, the sick are being healed, lepers are being cleansed, the blind are seeing

and anyone who doesn't take offense at this and believes it, blessed are they. That's what he

tells them. That yeah you want to know if I am the Messiah tell John the Baptist that this is what

I am doing. And in a sense signs, miracles and wonders authenticated Jesus' Messiahship. How dare

we take it away? How dare we stop short of it? I want to walk in this. I don't have as many years

as many of you do. But if someone had helped me start much earlier in this and given me an understanding

of it, wouldn't the world have benefited more? In Acts chapter 3 verse 16 Peter and John have just

Acts 3:16

healed the paralytic at the beautiful gate and Peter says hey I know we've done the healing and

some of you are upset and some of you are wondering what's happening. I just want you to know that

this man has been healed in the name of Jesus and in no other name. Acts chapter 3 verse 16. He uses

Acts 3:16

a miracle sign of wonder to then begin, he first performs a miracle sign of wonder and then uses a

message or teach on what just happened in the name of Jesus. The same thing happens again in Acts chapter

Acts 14:15

14 verse 15 where I think he is in Lystra and in Lystra a cripple is healed and people begin to think

that Paul and Barnabas are the Greek gods Zeus and someone else and they begin to worship Paul

and Barnabas and again he takes the miracle sign of wonder and uses that to then begin to teach and

listen this is done again in the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit as I said earlier always presents

a double expression of words and deeds. A double expression. He's not saying oh just preach the word

and the power of God unto salvation is released in the word which is true. Which is true that the power

of God unto salvation is in the word of God. We can't deny that but at the same time the Holy Spirit

doesn't divide it like that. He always says words and deeds. It would never occur to Paul that the

miraculous would not accompany the proclamation of the gospel. It would never occur to Paul. And you

see it in his writings. We'll read that. Romans 15, 18, 19. It has never occurred to him that I've got to

separate words and deeds. It's the word that saves and deeds are not important. He always would talk

about it as if the proclamation of the gospel is accompanied by the miraculous. And the way he thought

was simply because that's the way the Holy Spirit works. The words would end up

accompanying. The words would end up being accompanied by the deeds and the deeds would authenticate

the word. The words would end up producing deeds and the deeds or the works. The words would produce

works and the works would authenticate the word. The words would produce works and the works would

authenticate the word. We have to struggle, grapple, wrestle into this.

Like everything else it may require practice. It may require effort. It may require a new way of thinking.

It may require persistence. It may require repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. But a day will come

like in so many other areas in our lives. Why is this church a church that hears God well? Why is this

church that has the ability to prophesy? Why is this church becoming less pastor-oriented and more

people-oriented? Why is it that clergy is not important in this church? Why is it that nations

are affected by this church? Because at some point we decided that this is worth pressing into. So press and press and press and press and

repeat, repeat, repeat, practice, practice, practice. And then one day it becomes very natural and nobody even thinks about it.

In most things Christian there's this thing called appropriation.

Where you have to appropriate what God is giving. And appropriation requires breaking out of our natural,

breaking out of our ways of thinking, breaking out of our set patterns, breaking out of our mindset, and appropriating

what God is giving and what he gives is so unhandleable because it's absolutely supernatural, it's illogical,

it defies the mind. But once you appropriate it, it becomes flesh. And once the word becomes flesh,

you begin to walk in it as if it's the most natural thing.

Guys, today's needs in the world are so great and the church is so weak to meet it that we must go the Acts

Acts 5:12–16

chapter 5 verse 12 to 16 route. Acts chapter 5 verse 12 to 16 route. I'm so glad for the book of Acts, man.

Acts 5:12–16

So glad we can use that as a pattern today. Acts chapter 5 verse 12 to 16.

Acts 5:12–16

It says that the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

Manoj, can you grab me a bottle of water? Thanks.

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade.

No one 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.

Let me read it properly. Let me read it as if I'm actually interested in what I'm reading.

The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

Many, not some. The apostles performed and performed

Oh, it's not a performance. I don't know what the word actually means in Greek, but they actually did.

It was visible for all. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

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 numbers.

As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that they could be buried in the ground.

Crowds gathered also from towns and around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits.

And all of them were healed.

This is in the Book of Acts. And I'm looking forward to this happening in our lifetime.

Guys, one of the cool things about life at the age that I met,

having been a Christian for 31 or 32 years,

is that I was able to see the world in a different light.

I was able to see the world in a different light.

The cool thing about that, having been a Christian for 31 or 32 years,

is that I see the faithfulness of God in what he has promised and what he has said he will do.

Many of the things that he told me 30 years ago has come to pass.

I've seen them.

You've seen them. That's the great thing about being old.

You get to see promises fulfilled.

I was the age of some of these guys here. God said, you'll see this.

I'm an engineer.

You think impossible. And then you think, are shucks possible?

How many people does it take to get a bottle of water from the kitchen?

At present it's two people, but let's see how many more join them.

olluti себhyao.

By the way, one is a doctor and one is an engineer.

They're both in there in the kitchen trying to get me a bottle of water.

I think they're trying to put hydrogen and oxygen together right now.

Today's needs are so...

So where's this from?

After all that I got tap water. Thank you guys.

A doctor and an engineer went into a kitchen. That's how most jokes start.

Today's needs are so great.

The present church is so weak to meet it that

we've got to go down this route. There's a desperate prayer

that the disciples pray in Acts

Acts 4:29

Chapter 4 verse 29 and 30, which we've seen many times.

And when you look at it, look at the things they cried for.

Acts Chapter 4 verse 29 and 30.

Acts 4:29

Look at what it says there. What fascinates me is

this was a church that had just seen Jesus Christ.

Many people in the church had actually seen the risen Christ.

Many of the people in that church had seen miracle signs and wonders

that Christ had done. Some of them, the risen Christ

had appeared to them. The preaching was phenomenal.

They were preaching pretty well. The first time Peter spoke, 3,000 got saved.

The second time they spoke, 5,000 got saved. So it was not like a church that

didn't have things happening. Despite that, look at their cry in Acts

Acts 4:29

Chapter 4 verse 29 and 30.

And so here's their desperate cry.

Their desperate cry is three pronged.

One, boldness to witness.

Two, boldness to witness.

Three, boldness to witness.

Four, boldness to witness.

Five, boldness to witness.

One, boldness to witness. That's where they start, eh?

I will probably touch on that tomorrow again. Boldness to witness.

Two,

God stretch out your hand to heal.

God stretch out your hand to heal.

God perform

signs and miracles.

Can we start crying out this for the next week?

Oh God, please Lord, please give me a boldness

to witness. That seems to be always a door opener.

Oh God, please stretch out your hand in healing. Oh God, please

perform signs and wonders. If a church

that had seen the risen Christ, that preached and had so many people

come in and become believers. If a church like that had this

desperate cry right off the bat early in their life,

they wanted it so badly. They wanted it so badly.

That's something that God really always responds to, eh? When you want something

badly for the, when you want something badly for good reason,

God responds. When you want something really badly for good reason,

God almost always responds.

Why did they want it so badly? Because they knew

that signs and wonders helped bring people to the Lord.

They knew that signs and wonders brought people to the Lord. Some of them had

seen it when they were walking with Jesus. Go to Acts chapter 9,

Acts 9:34–40

verse 34 to 40.

Acts chapter 9, verse 34 to 40.

Acts 9:34–40

As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.

There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for

eight years. Aeneas Peter said, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up,

take care of your mat. Immediately Aeneas got up. Peter had seen this before.

Peter had seen this before. He's actually using almost the exact same words that Jesus used.

Get up, pick up your mat.

Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda.

Look at that, eh? Let's assume Luke was exaggerating.

And that it was not all, it was 90%. He wasn't exaggerating,

but look what it says. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon, who saw him,

saw him and turned to the Lord. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon,

all. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon, two small towns,

saw him and turned to the Lord. In Joppa, there was a

disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas, who was always

doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died and her body

was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa, so when the disciples heard

that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged,

please come at once. Peter went with them and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to his room.

All the widows stood around him crying and showing him the robes and other clothing

that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room

when he got down on his knees and prayed. He had seen that before.

He was there that day when Jesus took Peter and John with him to pray for

the little girl and Jesus chased all the mourners out. And then

Peter and John were there. This is the other great thing with Science, Miracles and Wonders.

Once a church, once some people in the church or once a church

or once one or two people in the church start beginning to walk in this, others

will see it and they will know how to do it. It's not some kind of a

technique. It is the boldness,

the expectation, the methodology,

yes, but the technique is not what is important. It is

fascinating how in this religion called Christianity

you imitate who you associate with

and in you in the process Christ is formed. You imitate

who you associate with. And so you've got to be careful about your associations

because if you are associating with someone who does not believe in miracles,

science and wonders, who is able to explain them away, who pooh-poos them, and there

can be people like that at Acts 29. I'm not thinking of anybody. But if there are

people like that and you associate with them, that's exactly what you get. You imitate

those that you associate with most of the time.

And in the process something is formed in you. And if you imitate those

that are associated with Christ, Christ is formed in you.

And so Peter, and this is exactly why Jesus had

these guys hanging with him. If you go to Mark chapter 3,

Mark 3 · chapter mention

I think it's Mark chapter 3,

Mark 3 · chapter mention

I'm not sure.

Mark chapter 3 verse 14,

Mark 3:14

He appointed twelve,

designating them as apostles, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.

That they might be with him and that he may send them out to preach.

Why be with him? Because in being with him they would see how he does things.

And now after he's left the earth and after the Spirit of God has come,

in a few short verses we see Peter doing twice what Jesus

did when he used to walk with Peter. Now you can see why Jesus was taking Peter

and John with him into certain places he wouldn't take the rest of them.

And so continuing, verse

40, Peter sent them all out of the room,

then he got down on his knees and prayed, turning towards the dead woman he said,

Here is Tabitha get up. In Jesus' case he said,

Talitha kumi, little girl arise. Here is Tabitha get up.

She opened her eyes and seeing Peter she sat up.

He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called

the believers and widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa.

And many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some more time with

a tanner named Simon. In Joppa many people believed. In Lida and

Sharon all believed.

Signs and wonders helped people bring, helped

bring people to the Lord. In Acts, in the book of Acts there are 17

times when signs of miracles resulted in

conversion. 28 chapters

17 times where some sign of miracle performed by an apostle or a disciple

ended up leading to conversion.

This is critical for our existence.

I certainly intend to press

into this as a church. This is critical

at this particular phase in our life. More knowledge, more teaching

just gives us a whole lot of information that

is good but we have everything we need

for this present revival. There's nothing more you can teach about revival.

Ha ha ha

Signs and wonders are God's witness to His word.

Signs and wonders are God's witness to His word. I love that.

Signs and wonders are God's witness to His word. I want to give

evidence for my word. And so I am

giving you signs and wonders from me so that they witness

to the word that I preach. And there's no other passage that

perhaps explains it better than Mark 16

Mark 16:20

verse 20. Mark 16 verse 20

Mark 16:20

just sums it up so beautifully.

Mark 16 verse 20. Then the disciples

Mark 16:20

went out and preached everywhere.

And the Lord worked with them and confirmed His

word by signs that accompanied it.

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked

with them and confirmed His word by the signs that

accompanied it. Paul would describe His

mission as Christ working through Him. I love the phrase

that he uses in Romans chapter 15, 18 and 19.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

Paul described His mission as Christ working through Him by word

and deed

by word and deed.

And then he goes on to say that's one. In the power

of signs and wonders

by the power of the Spirit.

Beautiful, eh?

Wouldn't it be awesome if you

and I as a church could say this? That our mission

our work, our mission is

by word and deed. It's not just word

it's by word and deed. And then

the word and deed is by the power of

signs and wonders. And then it is by the power

of the Spirit. Go to Romans 15, 18 and 19.

Guys, the reason I'm going over the

why of signs and wonders is because

if I don't have the word of God to

stand on or to testify that this is how it works

then I don't have anything. Then all I have is wishful thinking. Then all I have

is I hope this happens. It's a 50-50 thing. Maybe

God will do it. Maybe He won't. He's sovereign. He can do whatever He

wants. Now, but once we see a pattern in the

word that holds consistently, now you

have something solid to stand on when things work and when

things don't work. Expectation is not dashed

when the word is solid. It is when

the word is not solid or when you are not solid on the word. One or the other.

When the word is not solid as in you do not have anything to stand on

or when you are not solid on the word as in it is there but you don't know how to stand

in it. Then expectations

flux because when things go well expectations are high. When things don't go well

you abandon the thought. But once we find a pattern that

is consistent you know that expectations can always remain on

a high because there's a pattern in here.

And so when things don't happen it doesn't be funnel you at all.

You just go back to the blueprint and say, okay, what do I need to do? Where do I need to

change? What do I need to adjust? Where do I need to go?

Romans 15 was 18 and

19.

Therefore I

glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture

to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me

in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done.

That's a word indeed. What I have said and done. It's not just

said. It's said and done.

By what I have said and done, by the power of

signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. What I have said and done

by the power of signs and miracles. What I have

said and done by the power of signs and miracles. Paul is literally

saying that listen I said things to you but I just didn't leave it at saying.

I demonstrated it through the power of signs and miracles. And the

power of signs and miracles wasn't mine but it came

through a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.

What a beautiful sequence of events man.

And this pattern is repeated again and again and again.

As I said earlier, Jesus authenticated

His messiahship through signs and wonders.

Go to Matthew 11. Matthew 11 verse 4 and 5.

Matthew 11:4

Matthew 11 verse 4 and 5.

Matthew 11:4

Jesus replied,

go back and report verse 2.

When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him,

are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?

As in are you the messiah? Jesus replied, go back and report to John what you hear

and what you see. Said and done. Word and deed.

What you hear and what you see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk,

those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised

and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away

on account of me. So here's a question I just want to ask right off the bat.

Have you seen any blind that have received sight?

I've seen partial sight. I've never seen a totally blind man receive sight. I have not.

Have you seen the lame walk? Yes. It was the first miracle I saw.

I was in a church in Bahrain and

Chantel's dad was a pastor then and a Muslim man came into the

church. Someone had brought him and there was a

guest speaker and this man came with a crutch and he was lame.

I used to lead worship and I'm standing there so it was not a second hand account.

The man came and the preacher prayed for him and then

gently took his crutch and took it away and told the man to walk.

The man started walking. It was the first time I'd seen the lame walk.

Until then I've seen the lame walk a few times. I've seen

the lame walk.

Once in a city called Bath in the UK

I prayed for a man who had a leg

that was short and he couldn't walk and he started walking.

My sister was there, my brother-in-law was there, a whole lot of other people were there.

I've seen the lame walk. I haven't seen the blind receive full sight.

Just partial sight. Leprosy cured?

No, I haven't. Skin disease cured? Yes.

Many times. The deaf hear?

Oh yes. Dead raised?

Once.

Good news reached to the poor? I wish it was happening

every day through my life but it isn't.

If I were to have a church that is full and ask the same questions

many of you would raise your hands.

Many others would raise their hands. What I'm trying to say is guys

this is not some pie in the sky thing for us.

This is real.

This is not some rah rah thing to make it happen.

This is very real.

Mike

you'll have to sing the song

I believe in Jesus, I believe you are the son of God

not the other song. So you can pull out the chords on that one.

Eric Reimer

I recall Jacob praying for... Thanks Eric!

Yeah you're right. I saw a blind person who

was blind see. It was Santosh's wife Sajni

she had gone totally blind for 10 days and I

remember praying for her and God showed us what the root was

and man right there and then it was like scales

falling off Paul's eyes and

80 to 90 percent of her sight was restored immediately

and the 10 to 20 percent was restored in 3 days. Thanks Eric!

Yeah man

Of course I forgot

Isn't it great when you forget miracles?

Like what I meant is it's not great but it's great because

you may have seen one or two more than you thought.

So

one of the things signs and wonders do is they

mightily demonstrate the power of God

and it compels people to look, it compels people to listen

it shatters cynicism, it shatters

disinterest. It's very hard man to see a miracle

and pretend disinterest or

cynicism perhaps may continue because people are skeptical about these things.

Part of the reason people are skeptical is because

of these authentic healings.

Like I used to share the story of a child in Mongolia

whose eyes were healed and I carried the picture

on my phone for quite a while

and then I went back to Mongolia and I found that the child's eyes

were still bad. What I had seen happen overnight and I would show those

pictures and I would show it to many people to see and you could see the difference

in the picture. When I went back and I found that the child's eyes hadn't recovered

and the child's eyesight was still bad, I deleted that photograph

from my phone and I haven't spoken about it since because one of the

things that happens in Christianity is we pray in faith

and then use our faith to now presume that everything is fine

when medically nothing may have changed. And that kind of

inauthenticity is hurting Christianity because people get

more and more skeptical.

I was watching someone pray for someone on TV and they prayed for the person and said your

pressure has gone down and your diabetes has disappeared and then the person fell and

the person moved on. And while I'm glad that the person had faith

to pray for it and perhaps it happened, that is sometimes

what raises skepticism.

Our prayer got that

we have a way to send people

to priest, to make sure that the leprosy is gone and a sacrifice

is offered. Because authentic miracles

can't deny them man. And that's the kind that Jesus wants to do

because he never did anything not authentic.

You know I don't think any of us

are not persuaded that God does miracles,

signs and wonders. It is just that we are not convinced that it is through us.

So I remember many years ago when Roland Tan first came to

Vancouver, I met a man who was in a wheelchair

and I pushed him to the side of the room

and I said, I'm going to pray for you.

And I pushed him for more than a kilometer

and a half but I didn't have the courage to pray

for him. But I wanted to take him to Roland because I knew

God heals, I knew God does miracles, I knew God

raises people out of wheelchairs. But I wasn't convinced that I could do it

but because Roland was in town I was taking him to Roland.

And I think many of us are in that boat

where we are convinced of miracles as long as we have someone else to take

people to. But I want us as a church, and when I say

church I mean anybody and everybody connected to us, I want us as a

church not as a person or two people

that has the confidence to walk in

signs, miracles and wonders. While I don't take away from the fact

that there are those amongst us that are gifted in the gifts of healings,

I'm talking about us as a church beginning to operate like this.

The other thing that really caught me is Jesus wouldn't

command us to go preach saying the kingdom of God is

at hand, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.

He wouldn't command us that if he didn't have intents of backing it.

That gave me a lot of confidence that okay, if God is saying

listen, go preach the good news, say that the kingdom of God is at hand,

heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons,

all ways of restoring

order back to the earth like he had so beautifully constructed it,

all ending brokenness. If he's telling me to go and do it, then I expect him to

back me up because he's giving a command. Really? He'd give me a command to do something and not

back me up in it?

I just don't see that Jesus.

When has he ever commanded something and said,

go now and do thus and I will be with you to the ends of the ages?

Not really. He doesn't do that, he backs you up.

Let me end.

Tomorrow we'll talk about the how. Hopefully we'll have

enough to be out on the

streets.

You know,

there are arguments that can be brought up against what I've just said. One of the arguments is

that most of these things Jesus commanded only the apostles.

And yes, signs, miracles and wonders are

evidence of

apostleship. You read about that in 2 Corinthians 12.12.

That's often used by people saying, all these

points you made were specific commands given to apostles.

Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12.12 where he says that

I'm not inferior to any of these super apostles. The things that mark an

apostle, signs, wonders and miracles, were done among you with great perseverance.

He says that in 2 Corinthians 12.12. So it's easy to then conclude

that since we are not called to be apostles, this is not exactly

acapetit. But then what would you say about the 70 in Luke

Luke 10:9

10 verse 9?

What would you say about the 70? The 70 were not apostles. They were sent out.

But isn't the church exactly supposed to do that?

Be sent out? No, but Jesus called the 70.

So are you saying Jesus hasn't called you to do things like this?

By the way, what do you do with Isaiah 61?

The Spirit of the Lord has upon me,

for he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor,

to open the eyes of the blind, to set the captives free, to release those that are in bondage.

What do you do with that?

Luke 10 verse 9.

Luke 10:9

Not 9, Luke 10 verse 9.

Luke 10:9

It's basically the 70. Where is it?

Yeah, it should be there.

After that the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of

him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them the harvest is

plentiful. I'm sending you out

like lambs among wolves. And then he goes on to say in verse 9,

Heal the sick who are there. Tell them the kingdom of God is near.

And so in the case of the 70, he had no problem sending

them. So it was not just the apostles. What about Stephen?

In Acts chapter 6 verse 8. Stephen, Acts chapter 6 verse 8.

Acts 6:8 Acts 6:8

He wasn't an apostle. He was a deacon but full of the Holy Spirit.

Acts chapter 6 verse 8.

Acts 6:8

Now Stephen was a man full of God's grace and power

and he did great wonders and miraculous signs amongst the people.

What about the church in Galatia?

Go to Galatians chapter 3 verse 5. I love it.

Galatians 3:5

We go from people to a whole blooming church. Galatians chapter 3 verse 5.

Galatians 3:5

He's actually rebuking them but in the process of the rebuke you see

something that the church actually had. Verse 4 and 5.

Have you suffered so much for nothing? If it really was for nothing, does God give you

miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard?

That was a church that was quite accustomed to miracles amongst them.

And through them. What about the

gift of healing in 1 Corinthians 12.9? Isn't that given to

the church at large? Different people, different gifts.

But one of the gifts given is the gift of healing. 1 Corinthians 12.9.

Where it says to one is given through the spirit the message of wisdom

to another the message of knowledge by the same spirit to another the

faith by the same spirit to another gifts of healing

by that one spirit to another miraculous powers

gifts of healing and miraculous powers

present in the church given by the spirit as he desires.

So we can't confirm that the

So we can't confine this to oh this was only to the

apostles. Naturally the apostles were the one he was training so that's

where he'll start. Unfortunately I know apostles who said this was

the commission given to them that Matthew 10 is only for apostles.

I just, what a way to undo the rest of the church.

So we don't have clergy lately, now we have apostles and the rest.

The other argument that is

very commonly heard is

and these are arguments we make so that we don't have to believe

for signs, miracles and wonders or because we have come to a place where we are no longer

we don't think the Holy Spirit uses

his gifts as in cessationists. So another argument that's often used is

only a wicked and adulterous generation looks for signs.

Matthew 16 verse 4, only a wicked and adulterous generation looks for signs.

Matthew 16:4

And the context is the Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus

and they say to him, give us evidence, we want to test you. Give us

evidence to show that you are who you say you are. And it is in that context

that Jesus says only a wicked and adulterous generation seeks

signs. And so yeah, it is true. If

you are demanding more evidence because

your heart is resistant and you are unbelieving, yes

Jesus is not going to jump off a steeple for you

nor am I.

That is when a wicked and adulterous generation asks for signs.

If your Jesus can't do this then I don't believe in. Jesus will still do it for you

because you are compassionate but don't try it a second time.

Guys,

we live in a fallen world where

suffering is there, pain is there, tears are there, death will continue

till Revelation 21,4. Revelation 21,4 is a consummation

but Jesus is working towards it. And one of the reasons he has a

church here on earth is so that he has a people through whom he can work towards it.

My God, man, what's one of the reasons the church exists? In the middle of decaying

earth, he's set apart for himself a colony of people

in whose midst he dwells and through whose midst he wants to show

that a kingdom that was supposed to be kept for the end has broken in right now

and through this people he wants to show that I'm already restoring.

That's what he's doing. And if the people that he's in the midst of

say that, nah, nah, nah, this is all for the future

then it's a shame, man.

Yes, there will come a time in Revelation 21,4

where it says that there will be, he will wipe every

tear from their eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain

for the old aura of things has passed away.

Right now, it is passing away.

It has not passed away fully but it is passing away. Why?

Because the day Jesus landed on earth, he was

a king of the world, because the day Jesus landed on earth and inaugurated the kingdom

and he opened the scroll and read out of it, a kingdom from the future

broke into the present and since then, restoration has begun.

We are the sample to the earth

saying taste and see, this is what it looks like. Taste and see

death becomes life. Taste and see, sickness becomes healing. Taste

and see, natural order being replaced, overridden

violated by a superior supernatural order. Taste and see

and so sometimes it doesn't matter

that you may be in the midst of suffering because even though

you are suffering, signs will flow through you for others.

If you read Paul's

condition as he does miracle signs and wonders, you read about

what's happening to him in 2 Corinthians 6, at times he says

wild negros are being attacked by wild beasts.

He says that famous song, right?

Persecuted, not abandoned, crushed

but not destroyed and so on. In the midst

of that, this man is flowing in signs, miracles and wonders.

Because we have a tendency to say, oh this world is a world of suffering

we just need to take this suffering and we shouldn't expect signs and miracles and wonders

because it's too triumphalistic or victorious. I'm not preaching this to

Axemanians, I'm preaching this to many who may think like this.

But in the midst of your suffering, let

healing, miracles, signs and wonders flow through you for the sake of someone else.

In 1999 when I was in Bahrain and my dad was dying

every evening I would go and preach in the church

and signs and wonders would happen. Healings would happen like

it was fascinating how many healings were happening. I'd go

back to the hospital and then sit the night with my dad because he was in a coma.

And I'd scratch my head thinking how come he's in a coma

while others are getting healed. And then one night I go and he dies.

And now he's dead. And the next day I was supposed to do the meeting and I went back to the meeting.

Not some stoic, heroic, Christian endeavor.

It was the most natural thing to do. My dad is dead.

I've wept for him for a while. Go for this meeting, finish the meeting. Guess what's happening in the meeting?

Again signs and wonders are flowing. How do I feel in my heart? Hurt.

How do I feel in my heart? Even bitter with God. How does God

feel? Hey, since you're here I might as well use you to let

continue the flow of signs, miracles and wonders so that people

that are gathered here can get a taste of what the kingdom of God that has broken

into the earth looks like right now even though you may be going through suffering.

So please guys, let's not think that our sufferings are going to stop Jesus

from using us in the midst of our suffering to bring healing to others.

That's the why. Tomorrow we'll talk about the how.

Cool. Any questions?

Somehow I'd rather drink out of a bottle. Couldn't you find

a bottle that you could put this water in?

It is good water?

Any questions guys? Anybody?

Okay, we'll have Mike come up and sing that song.

Really old song. I thought it would just fit his age.

And so he'll sing that one.

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