[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 23rd of September, 2018 at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Please note there was no service on Sunday the 16th due to Hurricane Florence's passage. Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
It’s been a few weeks since we last looked at our series concerning statements Jesus made where He prefaced each by assuring us, “I tell you the solemn truth”. I want to return to that this morning, and specifically to where Jesus commented directly on the miracles He had been performing. He did so many while He walked the earth, and all without great fanfare – He was not looking for praise. But He made a very profound statement regarding miracles that we need to keep in mind.
Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 14, verses 8 through 14, and I’ll be returning to the New English Translation of our Holy Bible for this reading…
Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 14, verses 8 through 14, and I’ll be returning to the New English Translation of our Holy Bible for this reading…
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known Me, Philip? The person who has seen Me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father residing in Me performs His miraculous deeds. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me, but if you do not believe Me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. 12 I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in Me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."
--John 14:8-14 (NET)
Let us pray… Father God, it is only human nature to think there are some things we simply cannot do. We think that performing miracles is above our paygrade, outside our wheelhouse, not within our realm of capability. Your Son Jesus tried to tell us otherwise. Speak to us this morning, Father, with the message You need us to hear. Help us understand what You would have us do. Help us trust in Your power and strength. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
David Yarbrough of Sermon Central once contributed this little story: A man was putting a tin roof on his barn when all a sudden he slipped and began to slide down the roof. He cried out to God to save him. No sooner had he got the words out of his mouth when a nail caught his pants and stopped his fall. When he had caught his breath, the man said, “Never mind, God. I took care of it”.
Mr. Yarbrough noted that, "The problem isn’t that God doesn’t perform miracles anymore. The problem is we’re not looking for God to perform miracles."
Theologian and author C.S. Lewis had such a wonderful insight into the workings of God. In his book, Studies in Theology, Mr. Lewis wrote: "God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye."
We know that God can do anything, and in the twinkling of an eye, if it so pleases Him, if it is in His will and in His time. But if we stop to think about it, we might see where He performs a lot of His miracles through us. Yes, we go about it slowly and blunderingly, as Mr. Lewis said, making errors and missteps along the way. But aren’t we sometimes the tool God uses to accomplish His mighty works?
Maybe we just don’t see them because, like the man sliding down the roof, we just aren’t looking for God to do a miracle. Maybe we just don’t believe He still performs them. But family, every time a child is born, every time a doctor diagnoses a problem and fixes it, every time the raging storm passes and we suffer no damages from it, God has performed a miracle.
During His short ministry on earth, Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits. He made the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak. He even brought the dead back to life. So why did people have so much trouble believing that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, sent from God? In our scripture reading, He implored even His disciples to believe in Him, if not for the words He spoke then for the miracles He was able to perform, miracles that only God could do.
But the most amazing part of that reading is in verse 12, the solemn truth He leaves us with. Those who believe in Jesus will be able to not only perform miraculous deeds just like Jesus did, but even greater deeds than those! We believers can perform miracles, even greater ones than Jesus Himself did! All we have to do us ask in His name and He’ll make it happen so that His Father God will be glorified! But do we believe it? If we have trouble believing that God still does miracles, how in the world are we going to believe that we can do them, too?!?
I want you to think for a moment about a miracle that a believer might have performed. One that quickly came to my mind was when Peter walked on the water. He saw Jesus doing it and wanted to do it too, so Jesus told him to step out of the boat and walk to Him. And sure enough, Peter climbed out of the boat and started walking across the surface of the sea toward Jesus.
But Peter lost his focus and started doubting that he could actually do what he was in fact doing, and he started to sink beneath the waves. Jesus had to save him. Peter doubted he could do a miracle. Don’t we doubt it too?
Peter’s doubt soon vanished, though, after Jesus had returned to heaven. Maybe he remembered the words Jesus spoke in our scripture reading, for he and John healed a man who had been lame from birth and let him walk for the very first time in his life. The people saw it and were amazed. The Jewish leaders saw it, and had Peter and John arrested. Listen as they admit what these two believers had done, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4, verses 13 through 16…
Believers, mortal men, performing miracles, just like Jesus said. And that wasn’t the only incident of such that Luke shares with us. Hear what he recorded about Philip, who fled Jerusalem shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, from Acts chapter 8 verses 5 through 7…
A believer, performing miracles on his own. And let me give you one more instance of Luke verifying that believers can indeed perform God-like miracles, from Acts chapter 15 verse 12…
I could go on, but here’s just one more example of what we can accomplish when we ask in Jesus’ name. This one occurred while Jesus still walked the earth, and was saved for us by the Apostle Mark in his Gospel account, chapter 9 verses 38 and 39…
We know nothing about this man, other than he was not one of those who walked with Jesus. Perhaps he heard Jesus preaching, or saw Him perform a miracle, or was healed himself. All we know is that he believed in Jesus and in what He could do. He believed enough to be able to do mighty works in the name of Jesus.
How strong is our belief? We’re believers in Jesus. If we ask for something in Jesus’ name, do we really, deep down in our hearts, believe that He will do it for us? Or do nagging doubts linger and lie hidden just beneath the surface, pulling us under the waves?
A couple of weeks ago I prayed for God to turn Florence back out to sea. For His own reasons He did not do so. But weren’t we, this Pilgrim family, spared from major damage from the storm? To my knowledge, none of us lost a loved one to the storm. Things can be replaced, but life is precious and ours were spared. Was this not a miracle?
“I believe in miracles. I’ve seen a soul set free. Miraculous the change in one redeemed through Calvary. I’ve seen the lily push its way up through the stubborn sod. Yes, I believe in miracles. For I believe in God.” [From the hymn, “I Believe In Miracles”.]
God still works miracles, and so can we. Cast out all doubt. Make a miracle happen. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we know You still work miracles, even though we don’t always see them. Forgive us, Father, when we think the miracle You just performed is something we did. Forgive us when we fail to recognize and acknowledge Your mighty hand at work. Please help us see the miracles in our lives each and every day. May You received all the glory.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You did so many great and wonderful things while You walked among us. The signs You showed of Your divine nature should have been obvious to everyone, not just the few who would believe. Thank You, Jesus, for letting us be counted as Your believers. Please help us, Lord, to call upon Your sweet name and make miracles happen through the power of God’s Holy Spirit living within us. Help us to push even the little doubts out of our hearts so we can do great things in Your name and in Your service.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
David Yarbrough of Sermon Central once contributed this little story: A man was putting a tin roof on his barn when all a sudden he slipped and began to slide down the roof. He cried out to God to save him. No sooner had he got the words out of his mouth when a nail caught his pants and stopped his fall. When he had caught his breath, the man said, “Never mind, God. I took care of it”.
Mr. Yarbrough noted that, "The problem isn’t that God doesn’t perform miracles anymore. The problem is we’re not looking for God to perform miracles."
Theologian and author C.S. Lewis had such a wonderful insight into the workings of God. In his book, Studies in Theology, Mr. Lewis wrote: "God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye."
We know that God can do anything, and in the twinkling of an eye, if it so pleases Him, if it is in His will and in His time. But if we stop to think about it, we might see where He performs a lot of His miracles through us. Yes, we go about it slowly and blunderingly, as Mr. Lewis said, making errors and missteps along the way. But aren’t we sometimes the tool God uses to accomplish His mighty works?
Maybe we just don’t see them because, like the man sliding down the roof, we just aren’t looking for God to do a miracle. Maybe we just don’t believe He still performs them. But family, every time a child is born, every time a doctor diagnoses a problem and fixes it, every time the raging storm passes and we suffer no damages from it, God has performed a miracle.
During His short ministry on earth, Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits. He made the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak. He even brought the dead back to life. So why did people have so much trouble believing that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, sent from God? In our scripture reading, He implored even His disciples to believe in Him, if not for the words He spoke then for the miracles He was able to perform, miracles that only God could do.
But the most amazing part of that reading is in verse 12, the solemn truth He leaves us with. Those who believe in Jesus will be able to not only perform miraculous deeds just like Jesus did, but even greater deeds than those! We believers can perform miracles, even greater ones than Jesus Himself did! All we have to do us ask in His name and He’ll make it happen so that His Father God will be glorified! But do we believe it? If we have trouble believing that God still does miracles, how in the world are we going to believe that we can do them, too?!?
I want you to think for a moment about a miracle that a believer might have performed. One that quickly came to my mind was when Peter walked on the water. He saw Jesus doing it and wanted to do it too, so Jesus told him to step out of the boat and walk to Him. And sure enough, Peter climbed out of the boat and started walking across the surface of the sea toward Jesus.
But Peter lost his focus and started doubting that he could actually do what he was in fact doing, and he started to sink beneath the waves. Jesus had to save him. Peter doubted he could do a miracle. Don’t we doubt it too?
Peter’s doubt soon vanished, though, after Jesus had returned to heaven. Maybe he remembered the words Jesus spoke in our scripture reading, for he and John healed a man who had been lame from birth and let him walk for the very first time in his life. The people saw it and were amazed. The Jewish leaders saw it, and had Peter and John arrested. Listen as they admit what these two believers had done, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4, verses 13 through 16…
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. 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 notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it."
--Acts 4:13-16 (NKJV)
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
--Acts 8:5-7 (NKJV)
12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
--Acts 15:12 (NKJV)
38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”
39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me."
--Mark 9:38-39 (NKJV)
How strong is our belief? We’re believers in Jesus. If we ask for something in Jesus’ name, do we really, deep down in our hearts, believe that He will do it for us? Or do nagging doubts linger and lie hidden just beneath the surface, pulling us under the waves?
A couple of weeks ago I prayed for God to turn Florence back out to sea. For His own reasons He did not do so. But weren’t we, this Pilgrim family, spared from major damage from the storm? To my knowledge, none of us lost a loved one to the storm. Things can be replaced, but life is precious and ours were spared. Was this not a miracle?
“I believe in miracles. I’ve seen a soul set free. Miraculous the change in one redeemed through Calvary. I’ve seen the lily push its way up through the stubborn sod. Yes, I believe in miracles. For I believe in God.” [From the hymn, “I Believe In Miracles”.]
God still works miracles, and so can we. Cast out all doubt. Make a miracle happen. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we know You still work miracles, even though we don’t always see them. Forgive us, Father, when we think the miracle You just performed is something we did. Forgive us when we fail to recognize and acknowledge Your mighty hand at work. Please help us see the miracles in our lives each and every day. May You received all the glory.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You did so many great and wonderful things while You walked among us. The signs You showed of Your divine nature should have been obvious to everyone, not just the few who would believe. Thank You, Jesus, for letting us be counted as Your believers. Please help us, Lord, to call upon Your sweet name and make miracles happen through the power of God’s Holy Spirit living within us. Help us to push even the little doubts out of our hearts so we can do great things in Your name and in Your service.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
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