Is your God big enough??

Acts 5.12-17 - The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed 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 evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

Good Morning.

Some of you are just joining our journey into the early Christian church, as captured by Luke, the physician, in the Acts of the Apostles. Welcome! Though only four full chapters in, much has happened that defines our Christian experience today. After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the fledgling Christians are left on their own to 'wait for the gift that had been promised them by Jesus.' That gift, of course, was the Holy Spirit, who came to them 10 days later--literally, blowing into the room where they had gathered to watch and pray. From that point on, the Holy Spirit would take up residence in believers of Jesus Christ. We have discussed the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that we are not to just be filled with the Spirit once, but refilled, renewed, refreshed again and again. For a while, the young body of believers had a community that was almost a utopia; that changed with the lies of Ananias and Sapphira, and God's rapid fire judgment of their sin.

Once the 'evil' was rooted out, God wrought the miraculous among them. . . the power of the Holy Spirit rested on the apostles, and people were radically healed! (How wild is it that Peter's shadow even brought healing?!) One cannot read about the miraculous signs and wonders without thinking what it must have been like. . . Remember, Peter and John and the disciples had prayed for this--that God would 'stretch out His hand to heal' and bring 'signs and wonders in the name of Jesus'. So, as they were faithful and obedient (despite being jailed for their Jesus preaching), to continue speaking the Gospel with boldness, God answered their prayers. The apostles healed all who came their way. . . amazing! The combination of the teaching of the Word of God coupled with miracles drew more and more believers to the Christian community.

"Are the miraculous signs and wonders for today?" Ah. . . not an easy answer--one that has divided people for centuries. We touched on it when we spoke of the gift of tongues, and the cessationist vs. the continuationist viewpoints. This might be a moderate cessationist viewpoint about healing and miracles: God miraculously heals people every day. God still speaks to us today, whether in an audible voice, in our minds, or through impressions and feelings. God still does amazing miracles, signs, and wonders and sometimes performs those miracles through a Christian. However, these things are not necessarily the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. The primary purpose of the miraculous gifts was to prove that the gospel was true and that the apostles were truly God’s messengers. The Bible does not say outright that the miraculous gifts have ceased, but it does lay the foundation for why they might no longer occur to the same extent as they did as recorded in the New Testament. Gotquestions.com. This angle seems to allow for the possibility of the miraculous today, but doesn't really endorse praying for the miraculous, now does it?

One might think the debate over whether God still does miraculous signs and wonders would fall neatly along denominational lines; it does not. I love what John Piper, Baptist minister from Minneapolis has to say: Signs and wonders are God's witness to His Word. . . (Yes, I said Baptist minister) Signs and wonders can't save the soul, but they can, if God pleases, shatter the shell of disinterest; they can shatter the shell of cynicism; they can shatter the shell of false religion. You may enjoy reading more from John Piper; I found his course of academic and religious study a unique trek, and him a courageous individual in his theological positions. "God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him," Piper said. Hmmm. . . And then, I love the emphatic summation of this by Englishman Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "It is perfectly clear that in New Testament times, the gospel was authenticated in this way by signs, wonders and miracles of various characters and descriptions. . . was it only meant to be true of the early church? . . . the Scriptures never anywhere say that these things were only temporary-----never! there is no such statement anywhere." http://www.desiringgod.org/AboutUs/JohnPiper/

And then there are those who are almost vociferous in their disapproval of any kind of miraculous sign or wonder today, equating them with false prophets in the 'last days', certainly not praying the prayer of Acts 4.30, 'God, give us boldness in our witness, stretch forth Your hand in healing, and perform signs and wonders amongst us'. But I believe that is a prayer we Christians ought be praying. "Lord God, give us boldness in our witness for You, stretch out Your hand and heal, walk among us performing signs and wonders."

What else do I think? I think we must arrive at our own positions through careful study. . . but then be ready lest the Spirit of God bowl us over with His own dangerous ways! Huh? I was raised Baptist, and never taught that God still does the miraculous. . . I was okay with that until. . . my son's life was ebbing out of him. The doctors weren't able to help my two-year-old, but someone who believed that God still hears the cry of His children's hearts to come and heal, boldly asked God for the miracle. Don't you see? That changed everything in the doctrine I had held since my youth. God can do that. We tend to put Him in a box with our limiting beliefs about how we are sure He acts. . . perhaps because of our finite ability to grasp the infinite, eternal, God with His mysterious, unfathomable ways. God's magnificent grace to you, my friend~ Christine