Signs
Pt. 1
I. Introduction
34 times in 3 ½ years. There were 34 different occasions where signs were a part of Jesus’ life. It seems that everywhere Jesus went He did miracles. I have no issue with that. He is the Son of God He should do miracles, right? That is what deity does! My issue with Jesus’ signs or miracles is not the signs themselves but the following two statements that Jesus made concerning signs.
John 14:11-14
11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Mark 16:14-20
14Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
(And the disciples went everywhere preaching, the Master working right with them, validating the Message with indisputable evidence.)
So my issues is not the fact that Jesus worked miracles and utilized signs while He was here it is that upon departure He states that we will do greater things than He did and that signs will be a significant and daily part of our lives as believers. The reason this is an issue for me is that I don’t see this. I see sickness as a part of our daily walk. I see stress and depression. I see anger and bondage. I see struggle and weakness. I just don’t see many, and in most cases, any signs. Something is wrong and something must change!
The power of God is released into the Church only when she is doing something that demands it. By the word "doing" I do not mean mere activity. The Church has plenty of "hustle" as it is, but in all her activities she is very careful to leave her fallow ground mostly untouched. She is careful to confine her hustling within the fear-marked boundaries of complete safety. That is why she is fruitless; she is safe, but fallow. Look around today and see where the miracles of power are taking place. Never in the Seminary where each thought is prepared for the student, to be received painlessly and at second hand; never in the religious institution where tradition and habit have long ago made faith unnecessary; never in the old church where memorial tablets plastered over the furniture bear silent testimony to a glory that once was. Invariably where daring faith is struggling to advance against hopeless odds, there is God sending "help from the sanctuary." Miracles have accompanied our advances and have ceased when and where we allowed ourselves to become satisfied and ceased to advance. The creed of power cannot save a movement from barrenness. There must be also the work of power. A little self-examination will reveal that it and its members have become fallow. It has lived through its early travails and has now come to accept an easier way of life. It is content to carry on its painless program with enough money to pay its bills and a membership large enough to assure its future. Its members now look to it for security rather than for guidance in the battle between good and evil It has become a school instead of a barracks. Its members are students, not soldiers. They study the experiences of others instead of seeking new experiences of their own. The only way to get power for such a church is to come out of hiding and once more take the danger-encircled path of obedience. Its security is its deadliest foe. The church that fears the plow writes its own epitaph: the church that uses the plow walks in the way of revival. – AW Tozer
And so I want us to begin to talk about signs, learn about signs, believe for signs, and ultimately see signs. I want us to come out of hiding and take on obedience. I want to talk to you about signs and lay some ground work for us so that we will deal with signs correctly.
II. Sign Stops – What is causing us to stop signs. Signs will stop if we:
a. Chase what is supposed to be chasing you.
A resurrected Jesus very precisely states that signs will follow us! He did not state that we would follow signs. We are sign hungry because we are sign deprived. And because we are sign deprived we get to where we will chase after signs and never recognize that we have the equation backwards. Signs should be chasing us! We fall prey to every scam, charlatan or scheme because we think to see or experience signs we must go find them. If you want to see a sign let a sign find you! How many of you consider yourself a believer? Then according to Jesus signs are coming behind you! Don’t be a sign chaser! Become sign chased! If you must chase then chase His face – His hands will follow closely behind! What is following you?
b. We suffer from Signaphobia.
We are afraid of miracles. They are too extreme. If we become sign chasers we become like the Pharisees who incurred Jesus wrath because they saw sign after sign and wanted more. But most of the time I think we are on the opposite end of the spectrum. We don’t see signs, want to see less and so we are scared signless.
What took place in Luke 8:37 happens too often today.
37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
Jesus has just set “Legion” free. They just witnessed the breaking of what may have been the worst recorded case of bondage in Scripture and rather than rejoicing over the miracle the people beg Jesus to leave them alone.
For some reason if we are not careful signs will scare the Jesus out of us! And if we are not careful we dismiss Jesus from our lives and our services because we are afraid! I am convinced we are more afraid of lack of control than the lack of miracles. It seems safer and more comfortable to live and worship without signs!
Miracles require danger. Miracles require resistance. Miracles are messy. You cannot get a front row seat for God’s miracles without also taking a front row seat to the danger and opposition that coincides with the need for the miracle in the first place. The people who get to experience the power of God are those who are actually in need of seeing that power manifested on their behalf.
We need to deal with the fear of the supernatural. What if God interrupted our lives or our services? Would you rather just see the natural or the supernatural?
c. We assign signs to superstars.
Most Christians believe that God did the miraculous, and did it through incredible men and women of God. But that was for the special people whom God had infused with special DNA that they don’t have. Most Christians wonder at the past deeds of God without realizing that God desires to do the same kinds of wonders through them today.
We relegate signs to the superstars of old and of today. If they have their name or face on a television screen or on the cover of a magazine we think that they are promoted to the front of the line of sign worker. You may never grace Charisma or be a sought after guest for televised events, but you have the same access to the miracle working power of Christ that any New Testament believer or modern day oil slinger ever had! If the same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, then you are more than qualified and more than adequately empowered to pray for sick and expect them to get healed, pray for the depressed and expect joy to overcome their soul, pray for the stressed out and expect peace to infiltrate their heart and life. News flash – you don’t have to drive a Bentley, live in a mansion, or wear a white suit to have signs follow you! You just have to be prayed up and filled with faith! Jesus declares this clearly . . . 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. Anyone . . . no qualifications other than faith!
III. Sign Show
Why do we need signs? Why can’t we just do life and church without them? It is safer. It is more comfortable. It requires less from us to just live without them. I believe it is very apparent from the two things that Jesus said that signs are important because they:
a. Show the lost!
We always tend to focus on the “GO” element of Mark 16:15! We will amen that portion of the text. We will fund that portion of the text (we do that every week as we support Jackie Davis, Brandon & Jenn, and the outreach ministries of this church with 1% of everything). We will even participate in that portion of the text. However, we tend to stop reading what Jesus said and we selectively leave out verse 17-18 which states that the signs will follow us. Then in verse 20 it reveals why these signs are so crucial for us. These signs validated the “going” of the disciples. The truth is that no one believes what we say because we have nothing validating it as truth. Our witness is being affected by the lack of signs that follow us. It is much easier to argue with truth until it is proven by a sign. I have seen the sick argue that Jesus can’t heal until He does. I have seen the broken argue that God doesn’t care until He shows up miraculously and repairs their heart and their relationships.
Signs validate God to us! But the real purpose of signs is that they validate us to sinners! Most of the churches and Christians I know have perverted this and made signs about validating to one another. My sign is better than your sign. My sign is more impressive than your sign. My sign gets me a bigger stage than your sign. My sign makes for better TV than your sign. And so we have perverted the signs that should follow us as a testimony to believers. So it becomes nothing more than a gift show. The signs that follow you are not there to impress other believers. They are there to gain you an audience of unbelievers who cannot deny what you are saying! In fact, if we use Jesus’ experience with signs as a model, the signs actually caused the “believers” to get angry, but they drew the “unbeliever”.
If we would ever get this element into our lives our movers would be flocking to Jesus. We only have an argument and no authentication. We have to beg people because they don’t see anything more powerful or productive in us than they already have in their own lives. In the New Testament, no one had to beg anyone to come to Christ. Signs convinced sinners that the message was true.
b. Shows lack.
The absence of signs reveals the lack of faith in us.
Jesus proclaims that anyone that has faith will do what He has been doing! So if we aren’t leaving a trail of signs behind us doesn’t that mean that we apparently have no faith?
How is that we have faith enough to believe for salvation, but not enough faith to believe for power/miracles? Salvation is the biggest miracle of all. The idea that God would want anything to do with us and then that He not only wants to, but also made the access possible by sacrificing His very own Son. All of that for us? If you believed enough for salvation, then it is time to elevate your faith to believe for miracles.
I want us to begin to expect signs when we are together. Stir up your faith before you get here. Enter every service with anticipation that at any moment bodies could be healed, lives transformed, and relationships rescued . . . miracles in our midst! However, I also want you to expect signs to show up in your daily life! It isn’t enough to just have those things happen in here. Signs followed the disciples outside the church! In fact, upon further review I believe there were more signs outside of church than inside the church! I want to send you out as miracle workers into your school, job, and community! I don’t want you to relegate miracles to me or to this building. It is our heritage and our promise.
I want us to begin to pray prayers worthy of the God we’re praying to. After all, we’re praying to a God whose capability always exceeds our audacity. You don’t have to worry about ever putting God in an awkward or embarrassing position. You’re not going to back him into a corner. You won’t ever challenge Him to do something beyond His ability.
I am firmly convinced that the atmosphere of expectancy is the breeding ground of miracles. Let’s examine our expectancy level in life!
I didn’t come to encourage you this morning. I came to challenge you. What is following you? When was the last time you ever did anything greater than Jesus? When was the last time that your witness was validated by miracles? I don’t want us to chase miracles or manufacture them. However, I do want us to expect them, believe for them and practice them!
