" Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but -the Father that dwelleth in me, -he doeth the works-.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me --for the very works' sake.-- Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."

- John 14:10-12 (KJV)

" Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

- Matt 11:20-24

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, --a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs--, which --God did-- --by him-- in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."

- Acts 2:21-23 (KJV)

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

- 2 Thess 2: 8-10
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BIBLICAL LIVING 101 - The Holy Spirit - Part 7
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Miracles! ... it's a word that always deserves an exclamation point after it ... and it's our topic for this week, continuing our ongoing study on the gifts of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 is where you can find the full list of gifts, (and so far we have already covered, Tongues, Prophecy, and Faith in our weekly posts)...

When it comes to miracles - the specific term used for the Gift that is granted is.. "and to another the working of miracles" ... (1 Cor 12:10) ...the ABILITY or POWER to make miracles happen... now why would the Lord need us to have something like that , how do we know we have it, what kinds of miracles are in view, how do we use this gift if we do.... these are the questions we will explore this week!

THIS WEEKS TAKEAWAY : Miracles are a means to an end, and not desirable in and of themself. The power to do miracles must be viewed as one that coexists, and aligns with, the Holy Spirits mission of testifying of Christ, edifying and empowering the church.

Miracles authenticate a message and a messenger, they were used by God to let the people know that the person doing them was a genuine prophet. In the Last Days, the enemy will be allowed to fake things only God has done in the past, to delude those who do not want to receive the truth.
Lets look deeper...

1. WHAT IS A MIRACLE?

This is easy, and we hope we don't have to consult a dictionary for this one. We are going to exclude anything that "looks like" a miracle, but is based on physical laws (modern inventions, magic tricks, sleight of hand etc.) . An "according to Hoyle" miracle is one that transcends the Laws of physics and the universe, and is the exclusive prerogative of God, who is the one who made these Laws in the first place.

In the OT -"impossible" examples are of course - the Exodus - sticks dont -truly- become snakes, water doesn't turn into blood, plagues of locusts, lice, frogs etc. don't appear on demand ... the sea has never parted for a people in human history since Egypt!!! ... Manna from heaven.... healing from snakebites by looking on the serpent on a pole..., miracles of Elisha, Elijah etc.. you get the idea.

In the NT, the miracles that Christ did were of the same category. People who were deaf, dumb, lame, and blind from birth were not only healed, but were functional immediately! This is very impressive considering that their brains, were NEVER equipped to perform these functions all their life, but once healed miraculously connected all the dots, enabling these people to do things that they NEVER could have done! In addition, there were miracles like quieting storms, feeding the multitudes, resurrecting the dead!

All these miracles dealt with impossibilities - dead kids don't usually come back to life, pots of oil don't automatically replenish themselves in a famine, fire doesn't usually descend from heaven on command to a very specific spot! .... So when we say miracle we are talking truly un-faked supernatural events/happening!

2. WHY DO WE HAVE MIRACLES

We summarized it on our takeaway, but it's also clearly demonstrated in our texts this week.

In our first text, and second text, we have it from Yashuah's lips directly. The Works He did were to convince His people that He was indeed THE PROPHET sent by the Father. He is almost pleading with them to look at the vast evidence in front of them - saying the evidence should lead you to believe in Me... if you don't believe Me/My Words, at least believe the evidence that tells you that the Father is alive and active in Me, DOING THE WORKS!

This is a HUGE TAKEAWAY for us, when we think that as disciples of Christ, we are INDWELT by God the Holy Spirit. Its why Christ says, His disciples will do GREATER Things.... not because of what they are (normal human beings), but because of Whom they are aligned with.. God Himself who does the works on our behalf (recall our post on Faith last week and advice on moving mountains...)

Our second text adds a note of warning. God, the Spirit, and Christ, testifying to the people of Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida - and indicting their disbelief in view of the miraculous works done in front of their eyes. He goes so far as to say, if Sodom and Gomorrah had had an opportunity to witness or be warned via similar mechanisms, they would have repented long ago, and been spared the awful judgment.

The really chilling words follow that... it will be more tolerable for people from Sodom in the final judgment, than those that were Christ's contemporaries in these named towns. Brrrr.................

So why do we need miracles in this modern day and age? Well, we need less of them to be sure... (a) because we have the Word (b) we have advanced in technology.

Healing is one area that comes to mind. We will talk more about this as a specific Gift of the Spirit later, but suffice it to say that when Christ says "greater works than this shall he do".. He is not kidding.

Man today can replace almost every organ and bone in the body, has invented numerous drugs and procedures. ALL OF THEM - either help the body's natural processes of healing or AUGMENT them. Now, they do things that Jesus never did - so in one sense - they are greater - but as per our definition - we will not classify this as "miraculous"....

Miraculous is when a doctor looks at CT scan and sees the impossible tumour gone, the declared barren conceives, the dead revives....

- so a quick note on Healing is that regular - modern medicine-based healing is strongly recommended for regular maladies, because it rests on Truth (Science/Biology/Laws of the universe) and Faith (that what Science says will usually hold true). We should pray that the medical procedures effectively supplement and augment our God-given ability to heal naturally.

There is miraculous healing which scientists CANNOT explain... we should seek that in cases where the medical community has raised their hands in despair - however let's be a little careful to make sure that we are aligned with the will of God...

e.g.. If we are praying to extend the life of a loved one, we may be holding them back from heaven.... :-) ... but like Hezekiah - who knows if the Lord will be merciful to let us selfishly have them with us here on earth for a while longer! ....

Sometimes sickness and disease are trials designed to drive us into His arms. In that case, our prayers for healing may be at cross purposes with His will. ALL Prayers are answered, but sometimes the answer is NO and we have to learn to trust Him even then.

3. CAN WE DO MIRACLES BY OURSELVES?
The answer is NO.

Even Christ Himself, in His human incarnation, tells us (as a Human) - " the Father that dwelleth in Me, He does the works" & Christ is the pattern for us to follow.

In all circumstances, when asked by what Power He did this miracles either answered the question directly ("I cast Spirits out with the finger of God" Lk 11:20) , or refused point-blank ("if you aren't willing to tell me that Johns Baptism was from heaven, I am not willing to tell you by what authority I do these miracles" - Mt 21:27) - but we ALWAYS see Him praying to God (e.g. over loaves and fishes) and making His requests known.

All prophets etc. even in the OT, "worked miracles" by simply praying to God. Elijah prayed with his head to the ground, asking his servant to go 7 times to check on rain (a small cloud was seen at the 7th time.. 1 Kings 18:41-). Moses stretched out His stick at God's command, but it was God that parted the sea.

Takeway : If God is with you, you can part a sea with a stick and a prayer! :-)

4. HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THIS POWER?

Our answer is in the form of a question - Why do you need it?

God did the Exodus miracles to glorify Himself as He delivered His people.Christ needed them to make a impact in the 3 short years He ministered and to authenticate His witness. The Spirit gifted the early church with these powers so that they could spread the Gospel.

What are you lacking here in this country that you need miracles to authenticate the gospel and testimony of the Lord? Switch to a country or a continent where people are being martyred or killed for their faith... the amount of genuine prayer and genuine miracles in that country will definitely be more than in countries where they are not necessary.

Peter, Paul and Silas were miraculously delivered from prison. We did not see that happen all that much during -for example-. the early Christian Martyrs, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust. Yes - certain people might have been miraculously delivered, but by no means the large number we would expect if all the prayers had been answered....

And this is why, as we learn to work in tandem with His Will, knowing Miracles are a need based gift is so important!

They are NOT an EASY BUTTON, an ESCAPE HATCH or parlor tricks to be performed for entertainment. They are a tool for the servants of the LORD and are given to be used for His purposes, @ His timing.

Gideon prayed for a impossible miracle (Let the fleece be dry while the ground all around is wet). He didn't do it just to be funny. He wanted to be sure he was hearing from God... and God honored that, because it was in line with His mission to deliver the Israelites.

So, if the Spirit sees a need, He will grant the power as appropriate.

5. BEWARE OF AN EXCLUSIVE DEPENDENCE ON MIRACLES FOR YOUR FAITH

Humans are very easily conned by charlatans. Our last text this week brings us face to face with a startling fact. In the very last days, (times of the Antichrist, 7th trumpet), he and the false prophet will be -allowed- to conjure 'miracles'. This is the final judgment of almighty God against people that have remained stubborn till this point.

Christ warns against looking for signs and wonders -

"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."

The One Sign and Wonder He DID give was His Resurrection- and again Peter tells us in our text above - "God raised Him from the dead".

We have the complete and inerrant Word & the indwelling power of the Spirit. We do not NEED miracles, except where we gratefully accept Gods intervention in our affairs to authenticate, protect, and uphold the words of His servants.

Hallelujah!