Should We Pursue Signs & Wonders

This message was preached by Colin D on the 28th of June 2020 via zoom for Word of Grace. For the audio please click here. To listen to the worship click here

Pursuing Signs and WondersActs 5 Message 12-16 - 

12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 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. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

INTRODUCTION

What an amazing time it must have been. 1000's coming to faith. Mighty signs and wonders - that Peter's shadow falling on a sick person was enough to heal them. Those tormented by evil spirit are delivered.

The world has not changed much in the area of sickness since 2000 years. We still have people being afflicted with all kinds of diseases. 

What I would like to put forward is that the early church advanced thru the preaching of the gospel with signs and wonders. We too must desire for the same.

• Acts is a HISTORY (of what happened in the first century) but it is also a BLUEPRINT (for what God wants to see happen in the church today).

THE BIG IDEA: We will consider today: Why does God want us to contend for signs and wonders and healings and miracles in the church, and how do we see more of them in our lives?

• “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2).

• “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease… And as you go, preach, saying, ’The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:1,7-8).

WHY SHOULD WE PURSUE SIGNS AND WONDERS?

1 . GOD IS GLORIFIED WHEN PEOPLE ARE HEALED

Luke 7:11-1611 Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.Matt 15:30-3130 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;  they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.Acts 3: 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

2 . PEOPLE ARE SAVED WHEN WHEN MIRACLES ARE PRESENT

On the day of Pentecost - 3000Peter and John heal the lame man - 2000 Acts 5 - v14   14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.Book of Acts 17 instances when signs and wonders take place and people are saved.In Act 5 - Peters shadow, crowds gathered from around Jerusalem. All of them were healed.However, there is a vast difference between our experience and theirs. We are not seeing the kinds of signs and wonders that the early church saw. However, we are seeing some healings happening in some places and at some times. You may have met people who had a sickness where doctors had given up hope and medicines were not working. But they came for prayer and in Jesus name the person was healed and the whole family came to faith.

That would be wonderful if it happened today again on a much larger scale.
What we must not do is make our experience of not seeing signs and wonders and say this is normal. The normal is what Jesus says it is. 

QUOTE: “It is perfectly clear that in New Testament times, the gospel was authenticated in this way by signs, wonders and miracles. . . 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.” (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sovereign Spirit).

The signs and wonders open the door for the gospel to be preached.Mark 16:20 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

3, YOU CAN BE USED BY GOD

(1) Spend time with JesusJohn 15:5, 7 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.v7  7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

(2) Ask for Signs and WondersActs 4 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
John 14:12 New International Version (NIV)12 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.

(3) Ask for Jesus to help you to be compassionate“And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.” (Matt. 14:14).When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. (Matt. 14:14 NASB)

(4) Look for an opportunity to pray for the sickJam 5:1313 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

What Power! What Name!

This message was preached by Abhishek Bansode on the 21st of June 2020 via zoom for Word of Grace. For the audio please click here.

What Power! What Name!

Acts 4: 1-21

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands-on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be 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 stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a [a]notable miracle has been done through them is evident[b] to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.

We continue our journey into Acts, last week we heard about how Peter and John looked at a lame man and said to him: “Silver and gold I have none but as I have I give to thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk” and the lame man was healed.

In this passage of scripture, we see, after the man has been healed, Peter and John are taken into custody and then questioned by them. When I read this scripture the thing that jumped at me from this was the question the Sadducees asked the apostles: by what power or by what name have you done this? And my thought was it should not have been a question at all, it should have been an Exclamation!

WHAT POWER! WHAT NAME!!

And that is what I have titled my sermon today. The Undeniable Power in the Name of Jesus Christ which brings Salvation to Man. It is about the Undeniability of the Power of the  Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Name of Jesus of Christ which has brought Salvation, in this case to that lame man but in general to the entire humanity.

The 3 points I want to concentrate on are:

1. Power

2. Name

3. Undeniability

  

1. Power

We see at the beginning of the chapter in verse 2 it is mentioned that soon after the miracle which has happened, Peter and John are preaching about the resurrection, and that's the word that people are believing.

Resurrection Power - Peter and John were preaching in Jesus the resurrection, that was the concentration of their message to the people and that was what had made the lame man whole again, and it was the resurrection power which was saving people.

Paul speaks in Phil 3:10 says he wants to know the power of the resurrection of Christ, that's the power which brings life to people, similarly, we should aspire to experience the resurrection of Christ.

In 1 Cor 15: 17, it says that the whole basis of our faith will be futile if we don’t believe that Christ is risen, the resurrection power and resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith. It is an amazing power and amazing knowledge to rejoice, in the same chapter in verse 21 and 22 we see that as death came through one man, through Christ and his resurrection we have a new life, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. Amazing isn't it?

Salvation: Now when Peter and John were preaching about the resurrection, it was the Sadducees who arrested them, this the same group of people who had asked Jesus the question about the woman who had multiple husbands, whose wife she would be post resurrection, that was a question designed to entrap Jesus. 

This group within the Jewish community had a major difference/disagreement with the other group that of Pharisees, on the resurrection, Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. But these people had now nothing to say, they could not deny that the resurrection power had just made a lame man whole again. In Roman 8:11 it says - the same Spirit which raised Jesus is work in our mortal bodies to give life, and here in front of the eyes of the Sadducees were seeing the same power work in front of their eyes to give life to this lame man’s body. So really instead of them questioning “By what power? And what name?” they should have been saying WOW! What Power! What Name!.

Peter goes on to answer them and he says to them there is no other name which brings “salavation” to man but the Name of Jesus Christ (Verse 12). The word used in Greek for salvation here is Soterio which is a Noun, (Noun describes: a person, place, thing etc) what it does for us is the verb form of it which is Sozo, which as we recently heard Pastor Robert Morris preach of is a very rich and loaded word, it means:

-To save

-To keep safe and sound

-To rescue from danger and destruction

-To save a suffering one from perishing

-To deliver from the penalties of judgement

-To make one whole: Body,Soul and Spirit

The Power brings all this, verb an action, the Resurrection power brings us this amazing amazing action, to-- as in to be saved, to be rescued, etc. And we see this power in action here in this passage- a man 40 years lame, made whole again, Salvation for him meant something so tangible and amazing.

Peter tells the Sadducees, you rejected the stone which God has made into the chief cornerstone, we should be mindful not make the same mistake, and reject this amazing amazing gift of God, and amazing person of Jesus Christ and make Him the Cornerstone of our lives to experience the resurrection power in our lives which brings Salvation- both in the here and now (tangible) and our eternity.

In our lives we might be going to through many problems, strife, sickness the good news is that this same Resurrection Power is available to us in the Name of Jesus Christ to bring us Salvation, to save us , to rescue us, to save from suffering and to make us whole in body, soul and mind.

Which brings us to the next point:

2. Name

Historically, for anything to be done, it needed and authority to give you the right to do it, like the Romans, did whatever in the name of Caesar, and so the Sadducees were asking Peter and John whose authority they were functioning in.

The Exaltation of the Name of Jesus above every other name: The Name of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us is Exalted above all other names, in Phil 2:9-11 it says that God has HIGHLY exalted Him and has given Him Name above every name, so at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, those in Heaven, those on earth, those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Awesome Name! And We can see that Name in action here, that a man who was held by a sickness for 40 years was made whole in the Name of Jesus Christ. At the Name of Jesus the sickness had to bow. Awesome!

That is the Name of Jesus Christ, the Name of our Lord and Saviour! There is nothing which can supersede the Name of Jesus Christ.

In Rom 10:13 it says whoever calls on the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved. This word saved is the same word Sozo, which we saw. So whoever calls on His name can have the same things which we heard now for himself or herself. (to be save, to be rescued,to be made whole etc)

Now what does the Name of Jesus mean for us today, Jesus in John 14: 14 says, ask in My Name and it shall be done. What does it mean when we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ. Bill Berry taught us one thing in the IDT on Prayer, when we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ we step into the Authority of the Name of Jesus Christ, its like a union which happens between us and Jesus and it is in that The union that we pray. When we say “in the Name of Jesus Christ”, we cannot take it lightly, it is the Name which is exalted above all power and authority when we pray in His Name we can be assured that it is heard. When we step into gap to pray for our Country, or people who are suffering or anyother thing, we have the assurance that we are praying in the Name of the Exalted One and we can pray His heart for these situations.

In Acts 4:30, Peter prays that when we pray, signs and wonders may be done through the Name of Jesus Christ, when we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ “signs and wonders” will follow, that is our Heritage in Christ!. What Name!

3. Undeniability

In this passage, when the Sadducees are questioning the apostles, you can see that they had nothing to bring against the apostles, Peter asks them “are we being questioned for doing something good?” and they had no answer to give him, because the power of the name of the resurrected Jesus was in front of them and they could NOT deny it.

When it is in the Name of Jesus Christ and the resurrection power, the same Power which raised Jesus from the dead, that we pray in and preach in, we can be Bold, that same power gives us the boldness to stand for the Name of Jesus Christ and preach the Good news.

In those days to be excommunicated was a big deal, but Peter John were bold, they said in their own words, we cannot but preach about Jesus Christ, it was Undeniable.

It is the compelling power of the Name of Jesus Christ and his resurrection which was so evident, that when Peter and John were severely threatened, their answer was so simple: you tell us, should we listen to God or you?

When we are talking about the Name exalted above all power and authority isnt it just logical to listen to Him than anyone else?

So the Resurrection Power and the Exalted Name of Jesus Christ really gives us today the Boldness to stand and proclaim the gospel in face of opposition, persecution and ridicule. We cannot help but Preach: WHAT POWER! WHAT NAME!

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

When The Holy Spirit Moves

This message was preached by Manesh Peter on the 21st of June 2020 via zoom at Word of Grace Church. For the audio please click here

When Holy Spirit moves…

Introduction

When you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we receive power (Acts 1:8). But most Christians don’t operate in the power because we limit the work of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 3, Peter heals a man lame from birth by the power Holy Spirit and by the name of Jesus Christ. People are astonished by the supernatural healing. Peter uses the opportunity to share the Gospel with the people.

Scripture for the message

Acts 4:1-22

Message

Peter who was baptised with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, got filled with Holy Spirit again before he spoke before the council (Acts 4:8). We should also seek the continual filling of Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

In Acts 4, we can see that

-        Holy Spirit empowered Peter.

-        Holy Spirit glorified Jesus through Peter.

-        Holy Spirit did a Supernatural healing.

Point 1 - Holy Spirit empowers us.

Holy Spirit gave unschooled ordinary fisherman Peter the boldness to speak and taught him what to speak. (Acts 4:13)

1.1   Holy Spirit gives boldness.

Holy Spirit gave boldness to speak the word of God, when Peter and other believers prayed after Peter and John were released (Acts 4:29, 31).

1.2   Holy Spirit teaches what to speak.

Jesus said to the disciples that when they would be arrested, Holy Spirit will teach at that time what they should speak (Luke 12:11-12).

Application - Pray and seek the filling of Holy Spirit daily.

Point 2 - Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.

What Holy Spirit spoke through Peter glorified Jesus. Peter proclaimed that the lame man was healed by the name of Jesus, that Jesus is the cornerstone and that salvation is found only in Jesus (Acts 4:10-12).

-        Name of Jesus is above every name (Philippians 2:9).

-        Jesus is the cornerstone for a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16).

-        No one can come to Father except through Jesus (John 14:6).

Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus (John 16:14).

Application - Always be ready to let Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus to the world through you. Look for opportunities to share the Gospel.

Point 3 - Holy Spirit does the Supernatural.

The sign of healing that Holy Spirit did through Peter was so supernatural that, it acquitted Peter and John (Acts 4 :16).

God used signs and wonders to confirm the message of salvation (Hebrews 2:3-4).

Should we desire for the Supernatural?

In Matthew 12, Jesus heals a blind and mute. After this supernatural healing, some teachers of the law ask for a sign.

In Matthew 21:39, Jesus refuses to give them a sign saying ‘An evil and adulterous generation ask for signs. The motive of these teachers was wrong when they asked for a sign. They had just seen a sign and were asking for a sign to test Jesus.

If we desire Supernatural to bless people and glorify Jesus, Supernatural is good.

Application - Desire for more of Holy Spirit and be expectant of the supernatural daily.

Response

1) Repent - If you have grieved (Ephesians 4:30) or quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) Holy Spirit in anything.

2) Surrender - Make the decision to follow Jesus in everything (Matthew 16:24).

3) Desire - Desire and pray for more of Holy Spirit (Isaiah 44:3).

Conclusion

Rivers of living water (Holy Spirit) should flow from within believers (John 7:37-39).

Be thirsty for more of Holy Spirit.

When He comes upon you, He empowers you, He glorifies Jesus and He does the Supernatural.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.