Expecting the Miraculous!

by Lex Loizides

Jubilee Community Church, South Africa.

David, who could barely see, miraculously regains his sight!

Ken amazes us by saying that as he was listening something adjusted in his back and a 50-year-long back condition was healed!

Peter, a man with three severed ligaments, leaves a telephone message saying that what doctors had told him would take surgery has been healed in seconds!

Supernatural healings like these are happening regularly! We need to understand from Scripture that they are wonderful expressions of God’s grace that authenticate the gospel message.

Sometimes people label you ‘charismatic’ because you have a certain personality type: You’re an extrovert; you’re someone who enjoys the volume on ‘LOUD’; you don’t appreciate the hallowed ground of centuries of tradition. However, I’m convinced that I am a charismatic not because of my nature, but because of the nature of God! I believe in miracles because I believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity!

The word ‘Trinity’ does not appear in the Bible. It is theological shorthand to describe that the One true God consists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The reality of the Trinity pulsates through the whole Bible like the heart beating. You’re not always conscious of your heart beating but when you check for a pulse you are immediately aware of its consistency. So it is with the Trinity in Scripture. The Holy Spirit is to be obeyed, trusted, loved and worshipped because he is God. He is no less God than the Father or the Son. It is through him that great acts of God take place.

Those who have been converted in churches like ours may be puzzled as to why ‘non-charismatic’ brothers and sisters struggle with the presence of supernatural phenomena in Christian ministry when it is so prominent in the Bible. Our openness to the supernatural is not emotionalism; our understanding and our expectation of God acting supernaturally is rooted in the being and character of God – not in us!

Even aside from manifestations like healing, every revelation is essentially supernatural. In every conversion there is a divine interaction; as Spurgeon said, ‘a putting forth of divine power’. So, as we consider the nature of Christian ministry, the question really is, ‘How does God authenticate His Word?’ or, perhaps even to ask, ‘How does God establish orthodoxy?’

Moses

God’s commissioning of Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt was overtly supernatural. The first sign was fire in a bush that wouldn’t burn out (Exod. 3 and 4). Then God audibly spoke to him. In a stunning piece of biographical realism, the Bible records that Moses resisted God’s call five times! So don’t be discouraged if, on the threshold of a new season of ministry, you feel that you need convincing! Look at how God deals with him:

Objection 1: ‘But … who am I?’
God’s Answer: ‘But I will be with you!’ (Isn’t this surely God’s best promise to us?)

Objection 2: ‘But … if they ask, “What is His name?” what shall I say?’
God’s Answer: ‘I am Who I am! I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’
God reminded Moses of His dealings with Abraham and the fathers – so He pinned His Name to previous (historical) experience.

Objection 3: ‘But … they won’t believe me! They’ll say, “God didn’t appear to you!’’’
God’s Answer: ‘Throw your stick on the ground!’ And it turned into a snake ‘that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers … has appeared to you’. Then his hand also became leprous! Then, just in case they still wouldn’t believe, God gave Moses a back-up promise that if he took some water from the Nile it would turn to blood. All unashamedly supernatural.

Objection 4: ‘But … I’m not a very good speaker!’
God’s Answer: ‘Who made the mouth?’

Objection 5: ‘Oh … can’t you just please send somebody else?’
God’s Answer: The text says that ‘the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses’, yet He graciously offered Aaron to him as the primary speaker. So Moses finally feels he has enough assurance to attempt what God has asked him to do.

Note three things:

1. The incredible patience of God in the way He deals with Moses’ reluctance. Stunning! Similarly, God doesn’t accept our reluctance to step out in faith either! Fears, vulnerability, nerves – none of these seem to deter Him from leading us into more of the supernatural. There’s a world to be reached and suffering to be relieved.

2. Moses’ reluctance should encourage everyone who feels he is an unlikely candidate to minister the miraculous. But if God is speaking to you, turn aside to Him and hear His voice.

3. When God desired to ‘authorise’ His purpose, He decided (not Moses) to use supernatural means. Who thought of a stick becoming a snake? Why the leprous hand? Or water becoming blood? Why a demonstration of the Spirit’s power rather than wise and persuasive words? God’s desire is that our faith rests not on men’s wisdom but on His power (see 1 Cor. 2:4-5).

Elijah

One of many miracles in Elijah’s life was his triumph over the alternative religion of his day, the worship of Baal (1 Kings 18).

The people and the prophets of Baal gathered at Mount Carmel. Elijah challenged them, ‘If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him.’ So again the issue is, ‘Is the God of the Bible really God?’ Elijah is seeking to bring Israel back to the true God. The prophets of Baal have a bull that needs to be supernaturally ignited and sacrificed. So does Elijah. The prophets of Baal were unable to produce supernatural fire. ‘No one answered; no one paid attention’ (v29).

Then Elijah took twelve stones and built an altar ‘in the Name of the Lord’. He was saying, ‘This is the God of our fathers. I am re-establishing orthodoxy this day!’ Then ‘the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering … And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord He is God!”’ (vv38-39).

It may not be as dramatic as Mount Carmel but it is undeniably Biblical to say that God authenticates His word by supernatural means. Even the non-charismatic preacher goes home thrilled when he learns that as he preached God worked in the heart of a hearer and brought him to Christ!

Some New Testament encouragements

1. Jesus regularly performed miracles. Jesus granted sight to the blind and healed the sick. He even raised the dead. ‘Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness …’ (Matt. 4:23-24). The encouragement as we consider moving in the miraculous and, frankly, the challenge, comes as he tells us to continue in the same style of ministry. He said, ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing’ (John 14:12). In certain situations, the answer to the question ‘What would Jesus do?’ could well be, ‘Cast it out!’ ‘Take authority over it!’ ‘Lay hands on the sick and they will recover!’ Remember, God’s desire to act supernaturally is often a clear manifestation of His grace. No wonder He wants to lead us forward in desiring the greater gifts! (1 Cor. 12:31).

2. The early church followed in Jesus’ pattern of ministry. No one could have doubted that a major feature of Christian ministry was the miraculous. The book of Acts was not written by any denomination or faction within the church. It is an objective description of the church’s growth and ministry.

Acts 5:12 says, ‘Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people’ (ESV). In fact, the church in Jerusalem, in addition to other roles, became a kind of healing centre (see Acts 5:15-16).

A key passage that helps me as I approach healing meetings is Hebrews 2:3-4, ‘This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.’ Certain persons who had actually heard Jesus, were able to say, ‘This is the real gospel,’ when it was preached by others. We love testimonies in our meetings because they communicate authenticity. Those verses also show me that God is eager to testify through ‘signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit’. Our desire for Him to testify in this manner is not a departure from Biblical evangelism.

It is in His nature to do the miraculous. We cannot change Him – we must change to become more like Him. In fact, because we are made in His image, there is, in that sense, something in our nature (not personality type but likeness to God) that makes us long for Him to move in power. But He promises to move in power because of who He is.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, ‘The great and constant danger is that we should be content with something which is altogether less than that intended for us.’ Let’s not make that mistake. Feed your mind and heart with promises from His Word that will increase your faith and press on to more adventures in the Spirit!
If you need a healing in your body right now, why don’t you pray this prayer?
‘Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you in faith, believing that you are the God of the Bible; a mighty wonder-working God. Come to me now and release a gift of healing into my body. Come upon me, Holy Spirit. Send your power, say the word, and I will be healed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.’
These Scriptures demonstrate the Holy Spirit’s crucial role in God’s purposes:

in creation (Gen 1:2, Job 33:4, Ps 104:30)

in redemption history (Num 11:17, Judges 6:34,
1 Sam 16:13, Isa 42:1, Zec 4:6, Matt 1:18, 12:28,
Luke 4:14, 18, Acts 1:8, 10:45, Eph 3:5, Rev 22:17)

in the recording of God’s Word (2 Sam 23:2,
Zech 7:12, John 14:26, Acts 28:25, 1 Cor 2:12-13,
2 Tim 3:16)

in prophecy (Ezek 11:5,24, Luke 1:67, Acts 1:16,
2:17-18, 4:25, 11:28, 19:6, 1 Pet 1:11, 2 Pet 1:21)

in conversion (John 3:6-8, Acts 11:24, Rom 2:29, 8:15-16, 1 Cor 6:11, 2 Cor 3:6, 1 Thess 1:5, Titus 3:5,
1 Pet 1:12)

in miraculous healing (Acts 10:38, Rom 15:19,
1 Cor 12:9-10, Gal 3:5, Heb 2:4)