Many Signs and Wonders
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What the defines a healthy church.
Fellowship
Purity
Life in the word
Generosity
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
These weren’t your typical healings you would see on TV.
Maybe from a televangelist.
This kind of healing back in the apostles day was far beyond the occasional and selective healings you see on tv.
People would lay there beds and couches. Which could had been hospital beds and stretchers.
Just so Peter can walk pass so they can get healed by his shadow.
This was very intense and liberal healing.
The kind of healing that would empty hospitals.
The Apostles did many signs and wonders. We seen when they healed the man who was lame.
We also seen when Ananias and Sapphire lied to The Holy Spirit about giving all they had to the church and both died because of it.
What is a miracle?
Lexham Survey of Theology Providence and Miracles
A miracle is an unexpected outpouring of God’s power in an event that defies ordinary explanation, which occurs for the purpose of advancing God’s kingdom.
Lexham Survey of Theology Providence and Miracles
God builds regularity into his creative design, but he is not bound by that regularity and is free to intervene in unexpected ways in order to reverse, redirect, or otherwise alter the course of historical or cosmic events.
In other words God is God!
We hear about the virgin birth, the resurrection, the feeding of the 5,000, and we ask how can these things be but God is God He intervenes according to His purpose.
He can operate outside of the regularities of the natural laws if He wants.
Miracles are so miraculous to us because its outside of our naturalistic way of viewing life. But God can intervene how ever He sees fit and when ever He sees fit.
Sometime we fail to see the miracle which is you. And the one sitting next to you.
Psalm 139:14 “14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
Who can gaze at the human anatomy without wonder and awe.
Psalm 92:4-5 “4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep.”
Psalm 104:24 “24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions—”
Psalm 111:2 “2 The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.”
Gen 1:26-27 “26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
But God has put natural laws into the cosmos but the cosmos itself is a miracle.
We can become in awe about how a blind man is able to see or a lame man being able to walk because its outside of the regularity of how things are consistently. But we should be in awe about the goodness of God on the day to day and His miraculous power is all around us.
Charles Talbert argues that in Jewish and Christian literature, miracle accounts have three functions: legitimation, evangelization, and an opportunity for behavioral instruction.
Charles Talbert argues that in Jewish and Christian literature, miracle accounts have three functions: legitimation (who He is), evangelization (to reveal the Messiah has come) , and an opportunity for behavioral instruction.
Legitimation - In the book of Exodus there was physical and political abuse against Gods chosen people the Jews. So God sent Moses and the plagues to legitimize that He is as the true King of the world. Then delivered the Jewish people. So the plagues legitimized Gods Kingship
Evangelization - Throughout the book of Acts we see the apostles being Christ representatives by performing all kind of signs and wonders so that the nations will believe that Christ is the Messiah. All of the miracles are designed to point us to the cross.
Behavioral instruction
For Augustine, the greatest miracle was the renovation of the heart, the healing of human desire from its corruption so that God is loved above all and one’s neighbor as oneself.
While not denying “physical miracles,” Augustine wrote in Expositions of the Psalms that these “miracles of the soul” were the premier evidence of God’s ongoing creative work in the world.
How the world sees miracles.
David Hume suggest miracles are arbitrary violations of natural laws
He defines a miracle as “a violation of the laws of nature,” or “a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity.
They are a fresh and surprising in-breaking of God’s creative power for specific purposes.
He suggest that the laws of nature is greater then the Law Giver which is Christ.
Miracles, then, are not arbitrary violations of natural laws, as Hume suggested.
Mark 6:5 “5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.”
Hebrews 2:4 “4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”
13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.
None of the rest dared join them
After seen the Death of Ananias and his wife Sapphire there was great fear.
Acts 5:5 “5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.”
Acts 5:11 “11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”
The church was for commited members only. It wasn’t something to be taken lightly of half heartedly.
This display rooted out hypocrites in the early church.
Only serious converts dared to identify with Christianity at this time.
Theres going to be people who think highly of you but won’t join you.
They respect your walk with God and everything you are able to accomplish as a believer. Everything that God
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
When there was unity The Holy Spirit came. Acts 2
When there is unity theres fellowship Acts 2:46 “46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,”