Tag Archives: signs and wonders

ACTS THE SEQUEL…SIGNS OF THE KINGDOM – 44

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“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭19‬:‭8-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Since Ephesus was an important city in the Roman province of Asia, and a hub of trade and commerce in Paul’s day…

“Ephesus was a major, strategic city in the New Testament, serving as a hub for early Christianity, a center for Paul’s missionary work, and the recipient of the Pauline epistle, Ephesians. Paul spent over two years there (Acts 19), and it is associated with the ministry of Timothy and the Apostle John, who is believed to have lived there later in life…”

(Source: Google AI)

Where was Ephesus?

“Ephesus was an ancient Greek city located on the Aegean coast of Ionia, in modern-day western Turkey, near the modern town of Selçuk in the Izmir Province. Situated at the mouth of the Cayster River, it was a major Roman port and trade hub, though the ruins are now located inland due to geological changes and silting…” (Source: Google AI)

…Ephesus also became an important centre of the church in Asia. The gospel message spread from Ephesus throughout the province of Asia as believers, both Jews and Greeks, moved around in the province. 

Now let’s zero in on another important factor in Paul’s ministry in the pagan world. Paul was given power to do extraordinary miracles in Ephesus.  What was the significance of these “signs and wonders” that accompanied both Peter and Paul’s ministries, and why is it important for us to understand this phenomenon in today’s church life?

First…

Jesus told His opponents, the Pharisees, that the purpose of His miracles was signs that God’s kingdom had come in power as He had declared. 

“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The apostle John, in his gospel,  specifically called Jesus’ miracles “signs”. Signs pointing to what? The presence of the kingdom of God! Every time Jesus did a miracle, He was revealing His power over the demonic realm…and the nature of God’s rule on earth. There would be restoration, healing, wholeness…no more sickness, demons, pain, death…in God’s realm. Jesus came to usher in that kingdom, in part now…and completely when He returns. 

Second…

…those who believe will have a part in the demonstration that God’s kingdom is here. Miracles are not just for the benefit of those who receive them. Miracles are still signs. They still point to the reality of Jesus’ reign on earth. 

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭

Third…

Both Peter and Paul’s preaching…Peter to the Jews and Paul to both Jews and Gentiles…was accompanied by unusual and spectacular miracles…

Peter in Jerusalem…

“Nevertheless, more and more men and women believe in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul in Iconium…

“So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭14‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…and in Ephesus…

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭19‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Fourth…

Paul explained the role of these unusual signs…they authenticated the ministry of the apostles. 

“I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬

…and the message they preached….

“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— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So we see, according to Scripture, that signs and wonders are not for  spiritual entertainment…as Herod thought…

“When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Signs and wonders are specifically tied to the message and demonstration of the kingdom. They are signs that God reigns. They are evidence that He is restoring what sin has destroyed. They are a foretaste of what life in His eternal realm will be like. 

“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Let us not be deceived by the many current ways of teaching and preaching. “Come and get your healing” is the draw card to great healing campaigns. What about healing and miracles being the evidence that God rules and that Jesus is Lord and supreme authority over all things and over our lives? 

So, the Holy Spirit and Paul were in partnership to propagate and establish God’s kingdom by the power of the Word, to give new life to those who believed and to heal those who were physically broken, as a sign and demonstration that God’s reign was present and real. 

Should this not be the real motive and practice of those who preach the message of the kingdom today?

To be continued

ACTS THE SEQUEL…MIXED FORTUNES – 31

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A“At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The deeper Paul and Barnabas penetrated into Asia Minor, the more the battle lines were drawn. Hell was not pleased with being disturbed by these two champions of truth. For too long, the powers of darkness had held sway in the religious arena. On the one hand, pagan religion with its focus on debauchery… drunkenness…sexual perversion…and all kinds of wickedness…had held the Gentiles captive…and the religious self-righteousness of the Jews on the other hand. 

Truth has a habit of stirring up trouble. Jesus had warned that He had not come to bring peace but a sword. His soldiers would be pitted against the powers of darkness… but they had the assurance that He had already overcome the world…and, what’s more, His peace within them would be a fortress against the world. Now was the time to put His promise to the test. 

The preaching of the gospel had a twofold effect on its audience. Some received the message gladly, believed…both Jews and Greeks…and joined the ranks of the redeemed. Others reacted violently against the truth. The unbelieving Jews led the charge…pouring poison into the minds of those who resisted. 

The influence of the Jewish faction was so powerful that the city was split down the middle. A coalition, formed between Jews and Gentiles who were normally hostile towards one another, turned violent. Satan is never content to fight with words alone. Force is his method to get his way.  Kill those who won’t bend. 

The people of the city of Iconium had made their choice. Some had found life and peace in Jesus. Others had chosen rebellion and violence as their hiding place against truth. Paul and Barnabas found themselves in the centre of the skirmish. They became the target of the hatred against God. 

“Discretion is the better part of valour.” These two pioneer missionaries still had an enormous task ahead. Now was not the time to be foolhardy. They had to beat a hasty retreat, leaving behind a group of new believers who had no background in the Scriptures…no prior knowledge of God or His dealings with people…nothing but a new-found faith in Jesus. 

What would happen to this infant church without mature leaders…without teachers who would guide them in these early days so crucial in cementing their faith? Paul and Barnabas left behind them, not people who had been taught another religious system. but a group of people who had been born of God and who were in His care, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit who, Jesus promised, would lead them into all truth. 

As always, the work of God is a partnership between the divine and the human. The role of the human is to sow the seed. God’s part is to cause the seed to grow…rooted in Jesus… and nurtured and protected by the Holy Spirit. Since the work of these two men was to sow seed in uncultivated soil, they had to trust the Lord  with the results. 

Once again, they were forced to move on…their time with the new believers cut short by persecution. Iconium had an infant church in the care of the Holy Spirit. A new lamp had been lit in the pagan darkness. There were still vast fields to cultivate…many people ensnared in darkness…waiting for coming of  the light. 

And so they left…trusting the Spirit to do His work as they had done theirs. 

To be continued

ACTS THE SEQUEL…ENTER STEPHEN – 14a

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“Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people…”

Stephen, one of the men selected to serve, rose to prominence among the Seven. Not only did he serve faithfully but he also served powerfully as the Holy Spirit worked through him to demonstrate the works of the kingdom of God among them. Signs and wonders…the very things Jesus promised would  happen through those who believe…

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…were multiplying through Stephen…

…and some didn’t like it. 

Well…that set the cat among the pigeons! Persecution! Some fanatical Jews from out of town…Hellenistic Jews who would feature big in this story…faced off with Stephen. Problem was…they had no answer for the powerful works of the Holy Spirit. 

“Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Some people didn’t like what Stephen was doing…so they told him, in no uncertain terms! 

Argue…yes, but even arguing with Stephen didn’t work. You see, Stephen had the weapon of truth in his heart, and it came out of his mouth…and truth in the Spirit’s power cannot be defeated!

The arguments were hot and fierce. The trouble was that arguing would never solve the problem. You see, the issue was not about who could win by a better argument. The real issue was a matter of the heart. Those who opposed Stephen had no intention of believing in the one who was doing the miracles through Stephen, or the message to which the signs were pointing. Like their leaders, their hearts were as hard as granite. 

So…they did what they did best to discredit Stephen…they lied. They did the devil’s work. Character assassination! If you can’t win the argument fairly, throw stones at your opponent! Of course, they had allies…friends in high places.  They falsely accused him of blasphemy…just like those who accused Jesus. They lined up and briefed false witnesses to testify against him. They did everything by the book! Two or three witnesses. They played to the gallery…the religious leaders who were only too willing to fall in with their scheme. 

“So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Hearsay is not evidence so, to conform to the law, these hypocrites produced their “witnesses”.  This sounds eerily familiar, doesn’t it?  Only a short while before, Stephen’s Lord had suffered the same treatment…and the same fate…but, his Lord’s promise was to be with him. 

As Stephen stood before his accusers, something strange, unusual, unearthly, even scary began to happen…

To be continued

“Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Stephen was arrested and hauled before the Sanhedrin…

To be continued

BRAGGING ON GOD

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BRAGGING ON GOD

“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 – by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written, ‘Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.'” Romans 15:17-21.

What place is there for boasting in the work of God’s kingdom? Was it right for Paul to boast about his accomplishments?

First of all, let’s look as Paul’s motive. What was he trying to prove? Was he, like the little boy in the nursery rhyme, patting himself on the back and saying, “What a good boy am I?” It could be if we do not take into account what it cost Paul to do what he was doing. The list of hardships he suffered for the sake of the gospel was far more that most of us have ever had to go through, including beatings, shipwreck, imprisonment and persecution at the hands of his own people. What sane person would choose to endure these things unless he were committed to something or Someone much bigger than himself?

Secondly, was Paul taking the credit for what he had done? How could he when he was just a man? His was a partnership with the Holy Spirit where he did the preaching and the Holy Spirit confirmed His word with the power of signs and wonders. Had Paul preached anything other than the truth, he would have been on his own. It was God’s word that was confirmed to be the truth by the miracles that happened.

Strange, isn’t it that Luke said very little in his story about miracles! They were happening, but he did not major on them because they had their place in a much bigger story. The Book of Acts is not primarily about what the apostles accomplished but about a much bigger miracle, the church, beginning and growing in hostile soil and yet flourishing against all odds because it was the work of God, not a new religion started by man.

Thirdly, Paul’s ambition was about serving God, not himself. Oh yes, he had ambitions, but they were not self-seeking, self-exalting plans to make a name for himself. His ambition was to go where no one else had to gone to make Christ known where He was unknown. That meant that Paul had to take risks and travel to the farthest ends of the Roman Empire, but always in the will and under the supervision of the Holy Spirit.

The story of Acts reveals that he was not only ambitious but obedient. He went where the Spirit directed him. On the other hand, he didn’t sit around waiting for detailed marching orders. He made his plans and got on with the job. The Holy Spirit was there to redirect him when He wanted him to move in another direction.

So Paul could brag about his accomplishments with confidence because he was not bragging about himself as much as he was bragging on God. He could take no credit to himself for what had been accomplished. Without the Holy Spirit he was nothing but an empty shell, a mere human with no engine and no GPS.

One thing Luke’s story makes very clear. Paul and his fellow apostles were not in it for what they could get out of it. They had an assignment to complete regardless of the hazards they encountered along the way. It was not about how easy they could make it for themselves, but how faithfully they would carry out their commission until it was completed.

Paul’s words to his young partner, Timothy, at the end of his life are testimony to a job well done, words of confidence and assurance because he had fulfilled his side of the bargain.

“For I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6, 7.

Another boast? Yes, but a boast based on a life of faithfulness and obedience. What boast is there in saying, “I have done what I was told to do”? He did his duty; that was all. As for him, so for us. We shall receive our full reward if we have done our duty.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – FALSE MESSIAHS AND FALSE PROPHETS ABOUND

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FALSE MESSIAHS AND FALSE PROPHETS ABOUND

21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. Mark 13:21-23

Once again Jesus clearly illustrates the difference between Himself and the false messiahs that will abound in the last days. He drew attention to His character as the evidence of who He was. “I am gentle and humble in heart.” He is the true shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. The false shepherd is a hireling who is in it for what he can get out of it. When danger threatens, he is the first to get out, abandoning the sheep to the wolves.

False messiahs will come in droves, calling attention to their impressive credentials and mighty acts as proof of their identity. Jesus warned, “This is Satan’s most potent and dangerous weapon; deception coats lies with enough truth to appear authentic but enough lies to draw people away from the truth.” What does deception play on?

  1. Leaders’ performance puts them on a pedestal so that anything they say or do is believed without being tested. They will often allow themselves to be hero-worshipped and accept glory without giving it back to God.
  2. Although their preaching may sound like the truth, there is a subtle shift away from God‑centred to man‑centred so that there is a pandering to man’s old nature e.g. the prosperity/faith message that subtly manipulates God through His word or the desire to be reverenced for our “holy” lives and powerful ministry.

These people may not necessarily claim messiahship but they accept a following and use it for their own ends. They often offer outstanding benefits for coming to their meetings as though God were obliged to reciprocate because He is advertised as doing certain things, e.g., healing, solving financial problems, marriage problems, family problems, business problems, without reference to the conditions which He clearly states in His word.

Jesus said, “Don’t be fooled. This is part of the end‑time strategy for Satan to lure as many people as possible away from the truth. If you want to be secure, stick with me and my way.”