Signs and Wonders 1981

The first couple lines of the gospel that Glenn has read to us already from John 11 So the chief priests and Pharisees gathered the council and said what are we to do? Well, this man performs many signs If we let him go on thus Everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation but one of them Campus who was high priest that year said to them, you know, nothing at all You do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people And we can see from this That the signs that Jesus performed Didn't exactly put him on top of the success list But they really got him in trouble Now Jesus Promises That those who believe in him Will do the works that he does and even greater works than these because he goes to the father They will do signs and wonders He also promises That as the end of the age draws near False Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders So both the false prophets and the true servants of the Lord Have some things in common Two things primarily that we're going to look at now one Their word is accompanied by signs and Two their lives are inspired by an unusual boldness Now the false prophets have a boldness Which is really rooted in arrogance and Has its source in a spirit of blasphemy Which defies God Whereas the servants of God have a boldness which is based on faith in God and Which pushes aside all fears of the authorities and powers of this world To do and say what it has to do Now The boldness of faith It's never arrogant But it is wonderfully free from fear And it is the lack of this boldness Which constitutes one of the the most serious deficiencies in our lives The boldness of arrogance and the boldness of faith both attended by signs How can you tell which is which Mark 16 Afterward he appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they sat at table and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart Because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen And he said to them go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be content condemned These signs will accompany those who believe in my name They will cast out demons. They will speak in new tongues They will pick up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover and And from Matthew 7 on that day Many will say to me Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name and Then I will declare it to them. I Never knew you depart from me you evil doers So When is our prophecy Our casting out of demons Our doing of mighty works in the name of Jesus When are these things truly signs of the kingdom and When our are our mighty utterances and deeds in the name of the Lord works that one day Will cause us to be banished from the face of the Lord Somebody says that I Don't want to get into that.

I Want to touch the issue of signs and wonders? If there are people around who have a witness that's so strong that signs come in behind and confirm it. That's beautiful And if there are charlatans who go around doing mighty things Looking like they're some kind of prophet but are underneath evil doers. God will get to them in time They'll be judged.

But as for me, I just want to go on serving washing feet taking care of needs Speaking the gospel as best I can and that sounds beautiful the only problem is if we Speak the gospel and live the gospel with any integrity at all Sooner or later We're gonna have to deal with signs and wonders because Signs will sooner or later find their way into our ministries whether we ask for them or not Moreover, if we have any compassion for the people who come to us begging for some evidence of the mercy of God We're gonna have to if we're at all concerned we're gonna have to be going to our father And crying out to him the same as the man in our Lord's parable in Luke 11 Bangs on his neighbor's door at midnight his friend's door and says give me three loaves Lend me three loaves friend of mine is coming a journey and I don't have anything to give him And as we beg for that bread the bread of the Holy Spirit will come and with that bread will come signs of God for those who seek it So what's a sign a Sign is something which happens in the experience of the hearers of the word Which gives them strong indication that the word they heard was really from God often It's some kind of healing maybe the healing of the mind Or the removal of an attitude or an obsession which been which has been eating at their soul the restoring of a family Renewing of a wasted body But whatever it is, it's not some kind of cure that we can now package and sell It's a sign that Jesus who died is alive and really cares about about this needy person Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer the ninth hour and A man lame from birth was being carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful To ask arms of those who entered the temple Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple. He asked for arms and Peter directed his gaze at him with John and said look at us and He fixed his attention upon them expecting to receive something from them But Peter said I have no silver and gold But I give you what I have In the name of Jesus of Nazareth Walk and he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong and Leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising God and all the people saw him walking and praising God and Recognized him as the one who sat for arms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement At what had happened to him Now this was not something Peter and John had all planned out it was a gift that came from God It was a sign that Jesus is indeed Lord of Lords that he didn't die for our sins and that he did rise from the grave and he did pour out his Holy Spirit and Signs from God are always in some way connected with a word from God. So here comes the word While he clung to Peter and John all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's astounded When Peter saw it, he addressed the people men of Israel.

Why do you wonder at this? Why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety? We made him to walk The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob the God of our fathers Glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered up in the presence of Pilate and denied in the presence of Pilate when he decided to release him but you Denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the author of of life whom God raised up to this we are witnesses and His name by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know And faith, which is through Jesus has given this man perfect health in the presence of you all now How can we be sure that this preaching and this healing are really a sign of the kingdom of God and That they are not just some other one of these works for which people are going to be cast out of the kingdom in the end Not everybody who says Lord is Lord Lord It is the kingdom of heaven and not everybody who does mighty works in the name of Jesus enters the kingdom of heaven Jesus makes that clear If the works we do in the name of the Lord Begin to tempt us and lure us To begin building our own kingdom So that we become the center And that we're on the pedestal Then these are no longer signs of the kingdom and we are no longer servants of the kingdom but if When we speak a word from God it is confirmed by healing and if when this healing Takes place. It puts us on a road that leads us to a cross Then we can be sure it's from God Every sign we perform in the name of Jesus in some way will lead us not on the road of great success Always on the road to a cross What are we going to do with this guy? There's no doubt that he's performing great signs and wonders and if we let him go on like this The whole nation will believe in him and then the romans will come and take our place in our nation As they were speaking to the people here we go again peter and john have been preaching after the guy was healed the man was healed As they were speaking to the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them Annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in jesus the resurrection of the dead And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day For it was already evening But many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to about 5 000 So the result of the healing was not An academy award for peter and john It was person it was persecution Jail 5 000 people are brought into the kingdom and these guys end up in jail As they sat on the cell block that night they could have been saying It's ridiculous You know, we're gonna have to be more cautious next time You know, what good is this going to do if every time we preach and heal in the name of jesus we end up locked up But no the next morning They go out there and do it again instead of pulling in their horns and playing it safe They go out there and they ask for more On the morrow, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in jerusalem With annis the high priest and caiphas the same one that len read about back in john And john and alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. These are the same people Who had put jesus on the cross These are the very fellows who one night just a few months before insisted that jesus is going to have to die while peter The same peter is warming himself by the fire in the courtyard of their house Insisting that he doesn't even know jesus So this time peter's not in the courtyard he's right up in front of him And when they had set them in the midst they inquired by what power or by what name did you do this? Then peter filled with the holy spirit said to them Rulers of the people and elders if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple By what means this man has been healed be it known to you all and to all the people of israel That by the name of jesus christ of nazareth whom you crucified Whom god raised from the dead by him this man is standing before you.

Well This is the stone which was rejected by you builders. He said to But he has become the head of the corner And there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved Now what we see here is boldness in the face of threats Boldness to say to the very people who had the authority to put jesus on the cross and did it And still had the authority to do the same thing now to peter To tell them that jesus is lord It's this kind of boldness which exercises itself in the face of threats That brings signs and wonders down from god into this world So after being threatened again, they're released and they're sent back To the brothers and sisters and pretty soon the whole church is at prayer Notice what they pray for they pray for one thing boldness And now lord look upon their threats and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness While thou stretchest out thy hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus and when they had prayed the place in which they were gathered together was shaken And they were all filled with the holy spirit and spoke the word of god with boldness Boldness They did not pray for power To perform signs and wonders lord. Give us power not in this instance They pray for boldness Lord Look upon their threats and grant us to speak your word with boldness While you stretch forth your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed in the name of your holy servant.

Jesus It's god who performs the signs really It's the hand of the lord that confirms the word and causes these things to happen while we go out Under the anointing of the spirit in boldness in the midst of threats and tell the world That jesus is the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world Now who of us can deny that we could use A few more signs and wonders to confirm our word To back it up and convince the people we talk to But the great need in our lives is not for signs and wonders The great lack the great lack Is boldness Boldness to say what needs to be said when we're away from the safety of brothers and sisters The courage to say what we have to say when it endangers our reputation or our very life Or our job The courage the boldness to live as people Who really are convinced that jesus is lord and that he is with us and that he is the only one in the world worth living for And dying for God help us to see our need of boldness God created us such a hunger For boldness That we take no rest and we give him no rest until he pours out his spirit upon us afresh And sends us forth into the world Under the anointing of his spirit in the face of threats To proclaim his word with all boldness While he stretches out his hand to heal And signs and wonders are performed In the name of his holy servant jesus Let's just take some time in silence i'll break it and then we'll get into prayer Thank you Well, you know how many of us are able to look back over our past and see Foolish things that we've done Unwise and stupid things that we've done That caused uh all kinds of fire to come out against us and it wasn't really we know it wasn't persecution It was our own stupidity And yet ever since we've been so timid So afraid to open our mouths and take a stand or say what needs to be said And we're just asking lord god that by the light of your spirit you would enable us to see ourselves as you see us Enable us lord god to to see today how timidity has really limited our vision of you and our ability to serve you And that you would just help us to stir up the gift that you long since have given us I ask it in jesus name