Workings Of Miracles Series

Intro

Have you ever tried to work a miracle, and it did not work? When I first started operating in the supernatural, I was alone at a lake for a time of prayer. After extended prayer, I was feeling very spiritual. I looked at that lake and thought, Jesus walked on water, even Peter walked on water; I am going to walk on water. As I stood at the banks of that lake, I worked up all the spirituality I could muster. Then I stepped out on the lake, and I went straight down. As I crawled out of that muddy water, I thought there must be some things about working miracles that I don’t know. And there is still much I don’t know about working miracles. At least Peter had the good sense to first ask Jesus to command him to come. Only after Jesus said, “come”i did he walk on water. Even then, he did not do it perfectly.

Our subject today is the workings of miracles, and our text is 1 Corinthians 12:10. To get the context, let’s begin reading in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 12.

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:”ii How important is it that we not be ignorant of spiritual gifts? This is not something we can take it or leave it at our own whim. It is commanded in Scripture. In 1 Cor. 14:1 we are told to “desire spiritual gifts….” We are to be zealous in our pursuit of these gifts according to 1 Cor. 12:31. Apathy toward the gifts is actually disobedience to the command God has given us. What are the consequences of the church’s ignorance of this subject? Well, there are people dying of cancer and other diseases who could be healed by the power of God. There are souls slipping into hell who could be saved if the church were preaching the gospel with power and demonstration of the Spirit.iii There are people bound by habits and addiction who could be free if the gifts of the Spirit were flowing freely in the church. The stakes are extremely high, as high as it gets. Yet the church at large is ignorant of spiritual gifts. Some have never heard about the gifts. Many are misinformed concerning the gifts. Many are told they are not available to the church, and that God’s plan was to give power to the early church; but then take that power away and let the church pursue its mission without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It’s such a strange concoction, yet millions of sincere Christians think that is what God has done. They are ignorant concerning spiritual gifts. What a tragedy for everyone concerned. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:”

Verse 2 “You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles…”

WHAT is Paul talking about when he lists “working of miracles”? It’s easy to make a premature assumption that we know even before we examine the text.

Webster’s defines a miracle as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.”iv Miracles are events that transcend and supersede the normal laws of nature. For our purposes, if the event follows the normal course of nature, it is not a miracle. It may be inspiring. It may be wonderful to behold. But we are not considering events that follow the laws of nature as miracles. A beautiful sunset is not a miracle, by our definition. It is inspiring and may invoke a sense of wonder, but it happens according to the laws of nature. The birth of a child is not a miracle according to our definition because, again, this is something that happens in the course of nature. We should be amazed and appreciative of all the wonderful capacities God has established in His creation. But miracles transcend natural laws.

The Bible opens with the miraculous. Gen. 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, we see miracles happening in response to God’s spoken word. “Let there be light, and there was light.” Gen. 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” That was a miracle with profound implications. Those were miracles God did on His own. There was no partnership with man in the accomplishment of those miracles. This is what I want us to see, those kind of miracles are not what Paul has in mind in our text. Paul is talking about miracles in which God involves His people in the process. How do I know that? I look closely at the text. 1 Cor. 12:10 “to another the working of miracles.…” Who is the “another” in that verse? It refers to a believer that God uses in the process. In these miracles, the Holy Spirit is manifesting Himself through a believer. “to another the working of miracles.…” In Gen. 1:1, God sovereignly created the heavens and the earth. No human being was involved. In fact, humans had not even been created at that time. But, in 1 Cor. 12, Paul is talking about manifestations of the Holy Spirit that God does with believers.