Today we will discover that “the Church as it was meant to be” was miracle-embracing and, as a consequence of that, they were miracle-experiencing. The experience of the supernatural was common among the early believers. Peter asked people why they were surprised at the miraclous. Acts 3:12 Some examples from Acts of the supernatural experience can be seen in the following references:
1. Speaking in tongues: 2:6-11; 10:46; 18:6
2. Power, signs, and wonders: 2:43; 4:33; 5:1-11, 12; 6:8; 8:6-13; 10:44-46; 13:8-12; 14:3; 15:12;16:16-18; 19:11-12; 28:3-6
3. Healing: 3:2-10; 5:15-16; 9:34, 40-42; 14:8-10; 20:7-12; 28:8-9
4. Feelings of awe, wonder, amazement: 2:43; 3:10-12; 12:16
5. Prophesying: 11:28; 13:1; 15:32; 18:6; 21:4, 10-11; 27:21-26
6. Guidance by visions: 10:1-48; 16:10; 18:9-11; 27:22-26
Our aim, in these teachings about “how church is meant to be,” is to revisit what God reveals in Acts about how His church was originally designed to function, and seek to do church the way God meant it to be.
Just as culture, denominational teaching and personal preference can influence the way we follow or don’t follow leaders or preach the good news, those factors can also influence how we embrace the miraculous.
Culture will accept the supernatural in occult practices such as tarot card, fortune tellers or ouija boards, but mock the church for believing in healings and miracles.
Some denominational influences are sceptical about miracles, even denying the supernatural power of God at work today.
Often, because someone has asked for a miracle and it has not happened, they no longer embrace the miraculous.
I have heard the following questions/statements so many times:
Does God really heal today?
If God is willing to heal us, why do we need doctors?
I’ve prayed for healing, but why has nothing happened?
Don’t I have enough faith to be healed?
I believe God healed me, but why didn’t it last?
If God heals people, why are churches full of sick people?
Approaching God, and biblical teaching about God, with our personal disappointments only leads to doubt and more discouragement. We must approach God with God’s revelation of Himself in our mind and heart, so as to encourage and increase faith in our God, for whom nothing is impossible.
As a local church we are most certainly a miracle-embracing community of believers, believing the revelation that for God nothing is impossible.
The question we need to ask is “are we a miracle-experiencing community of believers?”
A Definition
What is a miracle? Well, it’s not good fortune, such as finding £5. Miracles are not something unlikely, such as Barrow winning the FA Cup.
To begin answering the question, “what is a miracle?” we need to define what the Bible means by a miracle. “ ...a miracle, then, is an unusual event (wonder) that conveys and confirms an unusual (divine) message (sign) by means of unusual power (power). From God’s perspective a miracle is an act of God (power) to attract the attention of the people of God (wonder) to the Word of God (sign).” (Miracles and Modern Thought, p.116. Norman L. Geisler)
In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally used to designate miracles:
1. Semeion, a “sign”, i.e., an evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine message (Matt. 12:38,39; 16:1, 4; Mk. 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11,18, 23; Acts 6:8, etc.); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power.
2. Terata, “wonders;” wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).
3. Dunameis, “might works;” works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Rom.15:19; 2Thess.2:9); of a new and higher power.
4. Erga, “works;” the works of Him who is “wonderful in working” (John 5:20, 36).
Reasons for miracles:
1. To Glorify God. John. 2:11; 11:40.
2. To accredit certain persons as messengers of God. The miracle authenticates the message and the messenger. Heb. 2:3-4.
3. To meet human need. Feeding the 5000.
4. As evidence for the deity of Christ. John. 6:2,14; 20:30-31.
5. Summary: Miracles get our attention. They instruct us. They are theological in nature (God-centred). They are moral and they have a distinct purpose.
Beware
Not all supernatural acts originate from God. Satan apparently has the power to cause events which cannot be explained on a purely natural basis. In other words, they are not just deceptive acts, i.e. sleight of hand tricks. See 2 Thess. 2:9, Rev.13:14; 16:14. The same Greek words are used to describe these events. They are, however, of a noticeably different calibre. Satan’s power is finite. His acts are meant to deceive. They are supernatural events but not miracles in the biblical sense.
Attraction to the Spectacular
Simon the Sorcerer was attracted to the spectacular of the supernatural when he saw people being filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 8.
When we are only attracted to the spectacular of the supernatural, which is so common among Christians today, we are no different to the spiritually-blind, ungodly people who followed Simon the Sorcerer.
Our attraction must always be to the God of the Supernatural. If we are to embrace and experience the miraculous then we must remain God-chasers not miracle-chasers.
Nowhere do I see in the Acts that the early believers chased after miracles. Non-believers came because of miracles, that is why they are called “signs.” They are evidence of the Divine seal or presence with those delivering the Word of God. Acts 9:32-43
Here is a key statement if the church today is to embrace and experience the miraculous. Awe preceded the miraculous. Acts 2:43 “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”
Repeatedly, the servants of the Lord said, “I stand in awe of the Lord,” because they grasped something of the awesome majesty of God. Psalm 119:120; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Isaiah 29:23 Jer. 2:19, 33:9; Malachi 2:5; Matt. 9:8; Luke 5:26,7:16; Hebrews 12:28
Approach to Miracles
The approach of early believers was not to ask for a sign and then obey, it was obey and signs followed. We must be careful not to fall into the enemy’s trap of reversing biblical principles. The enemy can halt us in our journey because we will not move until God proves himself, or until we have some supernatural sign. John 4:48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
The biblical approach is simply “trust and obey for there’s no other way,” believe and have faith that God can do it.
So when we look at early believers and their embracing and experiencing of the miraculous it is clear, and this is my second key statement, “miracles followed faithfulness.”
1. They stayed until power came because Jesus told them to stay. Acts 1:8
2. Then they preached the Good news because Jesus told them to go and preach, then signs and wonders followed.
God wants His church to remain faithful to the mission and He will do the miraculous. God’s order is preach and signs and wonders will follow. Acts 14:3
An example of miracles following faithfulness is found in Acts 5:12-16, the key point being in verse 15, “AS A RESULT.” Their faithfulness required Courage to Confess the Gospel and Courage to Connect in Fellowship. The early believers had to deny the lies about God and disassociate themselves from unbelievers. The consequence of their faithfulness was many signs and wonders, many people followed Jesus, (Acts 9:32-43) but also jealously and persecution.
Application of the Miraculous
When the apostles were confronted with what the natural order of God’s creation could not deal with, they turned to the supernatural power of God.
God can and does heal any illness. But perhaps God has not healed your cold or toothache because he has made it possible for you to be cured in other ways.
The following are three methods of healing that God has provided:
Spontaneous Healing; this is the natural order of God’s creation where He has pre-programmed our bodies with the capacity to heal themselves, e.g. when you cut yourself your blood begin to congeal and begin the healing; when you have an infection your white cells begin to fight back to aid the healing. Spontaneous healing proves the wonder of God’s creation.
Stimulated Healing when you go to the doctor and they give you medication or an operation to assist the healing process. It is not a sin or a lack of faith to go to the doctor!
Supernatural Healing when the natural order of God’s creation is unable to heal, e.g. those who have died, are blind, deaf or lame and many other sicknesses for which there is no spontaneous or stimulated cure.
The early church embraced and experienced the miraculous because they consulted the God of the impossible and exercised faith when confronted with the impossible.
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INDIVIDUAL MIRACULOUS PHENOMENA
A. Resuscitations from the Dead
1.Peter raises the disciple, Tabitha Acts 9:36-42
2.Paul raises the young man, Eutychus 20:9-12
B. Miraculous Cures and Exorcisms
1. Peter heals the lame man at the Temple gate 3:1-16
2. Ananias cures Saul of his blindness 9:17-18
3. Peter heals the paralytic, Aeneas 9:33-35
4. Paul cures the lame man of Lystra 14:7-9
5. Paul stoned and miraculously healed at Lystra 14:19
6. Paul exorcises the girl possessed of divining spirit 16:16-18
7. Paul heals Publius’ father of dysentery 28:7-8
C. Miraculous Penalties or Afflictions
1. Ananias and Saphira struck dead at Peter’s feet 5:5-11
2. Saul struck blind on the road to Damascus 9:8-9
3. Herod suddenly slain by an angel 12:23
4. Paul temporarily blinds the sorcerer, Elymas 13:9-12
D. Nature or Cosmic Miracles
1. Violent wind at the Cenacle in Jerusalem 2:2-6
2. Shaking of the assembly building in Jerusalem 4:31
3. Prison doors open for the Apostles 5:17-25
4. Philip snatched by the Spirit of the Lord 8:39
5. Peter liberated from prison by an angel 12:5-11
6. Chains fall from Paul and Silas 16:25-30
7. Paul shakes off viper from his arm 28:3-6
COLLECTIVE MIRACULOUS PHENOMENA
1. Many signs and wonders done by the Apostles in Jerusalem 2:43
2. Apostles perform signs and wonders among the people 5:12
3. Peter’s shadow cures many in the streets 5:15
4. Multitudes from outside Jerusalem are healed 5:16
5. Stephen works great signs and wonders 6:8
6. Philip cures crippled and possessed in Samaria 8:6-8,13
7. Miracles worked by Paul and Barnabas on mission journey 14:3
8. Great signs and wonders done among the Gentiles 15:12
9. Miracles worked through objects touched by Paul 19:11-12
10. Paul heals all the sick brought to him on Malta 28:9
TONGUES
Acts 2:2-4; Acts 2:3-5; Acts 2:10-12; Acts 10:45-47; Acts 19:5-7
