August 5, 2007 sermon given by Rev. Paul Nulton
Rom. 15: 18-19
John 20:30
Matthew 12: 38-40
Mark 11: 22-25
My brother, Randall Nulton had a vision. I spoke of it a few weeks ago. He was in Virginia Beach, and had a vision of Manhattan KS. He’d never been there, but he went to see what his vision was about and found a job in a ministry that needed his skills and experience.
I spoke about appearances of loved ones after death, of angels, of lights in a closed room and messages of comfort and peace from God. Paranormal experiences.
Jesus appeared to his disciples after death and it increased their faith and confidence that God was always with them.
While Jesus was alive, he did some miraculous things. He healed and walked on water and multiplied loaves and fishes and turned water to wine and drove out demons. The Bible says it was all to show God’s power. John 20:30 says “the disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
That’s what miracles do for us when we get to see them. Miracles can increase confidence in God’s power.
Paul tells in Romans 15 (18-19) that people believed in Christ by his message and the way he conducts himself. They were convinced by the power of the miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.
(Tell story of Asbury Revival) (show video tape)
This miraculous event has increased my faith that God can heal, comfort, reconcile and do other mighty things instantly and spectacularly. People who have confidence in that spiritual power can see past many obstacles on God’s path, and see great ministry happen.
Miracles are exciting. So maybe we should concentrate more than we do on miracles. Pray for them, seek them, tell about them.
There are churches that emphasize the spectacular signs and wonders. They pray for visions and predictions of future events and ecstatic experiences. They seek them, expect them, tell about them. “Expect a miracle” they say. We call them the “power churches” or the prophetic/charismatic movement. One of those churches went out of business here on our block this year. God may not heal, comfort and reconcile people that way. God does not always do what we want. People who believe God will heal them sometimes die anyway. My brother believed God would heal him of cancer. He died anyway. Tammy Faye Baker Messner and her husband prayed believing God would heal her of cancer. She died anyway.
People who seek a sign about who they should marry or what job to pursue, sometimes don’t get a sign. People who expect a windfall of money sometimes don’t get it. People go away from the power churches because they can’t handle the disappointment.
After that revival at Asbury there were people that wanted that to happen again. And they prayed for it to happen again. They felt if they prayed and fasted and confessed hard enough, God would do it again. But just because they prayed, didn’t make it happen again. They found they couldn’t control God by following a formula. They couldn’t program the Holy Spirit by singing the right songs, saying the right prayers, confessing their sins, conjuring the right mood.
There are problems with chasing miracles. The Bible warns us against it.
There are people who care more about a miracle than they care about God. That’s weak faith. If belief is based only on miracles, it won’t last.
Another unhealthy reaction to miracles is expecting God to bail you out of trouble so you don’t have to do what’s necessary to get out yourself. Expecting God to fix you miraculously without you having to do any work. It’s dodging responsibility.
Paul reluctantly tells us about a vision where he or someone was allowed into heaven to see things that can’t be explained. (2 Cor. 12: 1-4) Why does he hesitate to tell us? He was afraid it would make him proud and set him apart from those who hadn’t had a vision. He feared it might lead to boasting, to bragging, to spiritual pride. That’s the danger in putting faith in miracles instead of Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to speak of the physical ailment he has that keeps him humble. He spends more of his 2nd Corinthians letter talking about that “thorn in the flesh” than in the vision of heaven.
Philip performed miracles and a man named Simon believed in Jesus and was baptized. He was so attracted to Philip because of the miracles, that he followed him wherever he went. Acts 8 When Simon saw that people received the Holy Spirit when the disciples laid hands on them, he wanted that power. He offered them money to be able to do that. They turned him down, saying his heart was not in the right place.
Just because we don’t get the miracle we want doesn’t mean God is not faithful. It doesn’t mean there is something wrong with our faith.
If we do get a miracle, it is not because we are more worthy, or more spiritual, than someone who didn’t get it. Miracles happen to non-Christians as well as strong believers.
So what’s the right response to miracles? Look for them. Be open to them. But don’t count on them. Don’t base your faith on them.
Miracles are a wonderful gift of God. But the effect depends on what we do with them. So the good thing about miracles is when they build confidence in God. The bad thing about miracles is when they add to spiritual pride.
Paul says that some have the gift of miracles, but not all do. He tells us to sincerely seek the most helpful gifts. And then he says, I’ll tell you about the greatest gift and writes 1 Corinthians 13. “If I speak in the tongues of angels and have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have enough faith to move mountains, (like Jesus told the disciples in Mark) If I have the gift of prophecy or secret knowledge, and don’t have love” it is worthless. The greatest of these is love, he says.