Recalibration: Supernatural is super normal

Big Idea:

Spiritually mature people experience supernatural living leading to gospel love.

Intro:

Christmas is coming. Some of you hate me for saying that because it’s still September! But just a friendly reminder you...

Hate is murder in God’s eyes!

Time moves so fast that it really will be here before no time.

Now, those of you who have been with The River Church for at least a year know I love Christmas. One of my favorite things to do during Christmas is watch Hallmark movies.

And, yes, I know they all have the same plot. They all end: Happily ever after. I like that! I mean… what’s wrong with that?

Sure, it’s not NORMAL for us to always experience that in real life, but here’s the thing… if you read this book (the Bible), you will see that God promises one day, for His people, those who have turned from their sin and put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, there WILL be an eternal happily ever after.

Therefore, I think it’s okay to be a fan of Hallmark movies that NORMALIZE “happily ever after.” Because truthfully, it speaks to something God says will be NORMAL in the future.

Well, my intention for starting off that way wasn’t to speak about Santa, but rather to warm us up for a conversation on “spiritual things.” We are currently in a series on “recalibration.” It’s based on our 2023 vision of spiritual maturity - we believe God is calling our church to grow up. And, as I’ve said many times already, sometimes in order to grow up, we need to get back to the basics. We need to recalibrate; in other words, we need to care about the things that Christ cares about.

And today, I’m going to talk about the supernatural; and how it needs to be a NORMAL part of our Christian lives. And to prove this, I’d like to take you on a journey through the Scriptures, specifically the book of Acts (the story of the early church and a good place for the modern church to examine ourselves against to determine if we need recalibration). And warning… we’re going to read a lot of Scripture today - that’s a good thing!

Body:

First, we’re going to read about miracles like signs, wonders, and healings. Then, we’ll look at visions and supernatural knowledge (prophecy) Finally, we’ll discuss spiritual warfare.

And we will only scratch the surface on these subjects, but don’t worry… if this interests you, we’ll discuss this more in-depth later this month during the “Gifts of the Spirit” series. That being said, let’s dive in...

1) Miracles: Signs, wonders, healings

I admit, this is a difficult subject. Considering miraculous things in a very scientific culture seems silly. Even within the church, there is disagreement over the miraculous.

Sometimes this disagreement is sourced from an improper affection for miracles, which Jesus Himself warned about.

And some disagreement comes from solid Christians who believe miraculous things aren’t for today.

Obviously, I believe miracles ARE for today. I believe they should be NORMAL (which is why I’m talking about them). But I also believe there is room for disagreement. Some of you may not agree with what I say today. And let me say… that’s okay.

Here at The River Church, there are certain biblical stances that are firm… things like Jesus is God, inerrancy of Scripture, Jesus as the only way to be saved. As I’ve been saying, “We care about what Christ cares about.”

However, there are “secondary biblical issues” that are open to different interpretations and disagreement. And differences (in my mind) are okay! Even on our leadership team, there are differences on secondary beliefs, yet we still exist in unity and love. I think that’s healthy. And if it’s not clear, your perspective on miracles can fall into the category of secondary beliefs… so again, if you disagree with me today, as long as what you believe is biblical, that’s okay!

So, here’s what I have to share about miracles, based on my studies. Again, I believe miracles are for today. And I believe when they are experienced, it accomplishes the following...

It displays God’s power. It reminds us that Someone greater than us exists. Someone who is not subject to the natural laws He created and we are limited by as created beings.

It also reminds us that God is present. There is a Someone who has greater authority with us, and He is in control even when we don’t comprehend.

Finally, it gets our attention and confirms things God wants revealed. It says, “This is true! This is real.” Or, it supernaturally shakes us up saying, “Pay attention! Be careful. Be warned!”

So, let’s look at some examples...

Acts 3:1–3 ESV

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 that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

The beggar is hopeless. He needs daily help just to survive - just to beg. We’re not even talking about thriving or living with a joyful purpose. That seemed impossible. But then...

Acts 3:4–10 ESV

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and 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 began to walk, 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 at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

A miracle happens. The impossible happens. He is supernaturally healed! Let’s read another story...

Acts 5:12 ESV

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

Look at that word “regular.” The sense is… these signs and wonders (miracles) were NORMAL...

Acts 5:13–16 ESV

None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Okay, let’s be honest… for many of us, this seems crazy. Miracles being so NORMAL that people even thought Peter’s shadow change their lives! Whether or not that was true, the sense is… IT WAS NORMAL FOR EVERYONE TO EXPERIENCE MIRACLES...

Let’s jump forward into the book of Acts...

Acts 19:11–12 ESV

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Now, I’m not saying this passage is prescriptive, meaning, I’m recommending we start a handkerchief ministry. But what I am saying is miracles occured often in the early church...

In the Book of Acts, miracles (signs, wonders, and supernatural healings) were NORMAL!

Let’s move to another supernatural subject...

2) Visions and prophetic knowledge

Again, this is a tricky subject. There is complexity to this. People have often discounted visions and prophecy because they are somewhat subjective and not scientific. Other times, because people treated them unbiblically, abusing them to manipulate people, it caused a polarizing reaction resulting results in discounting or discontinuing these supernatural things.

Wherever you currently stand, let’s take a moment to just look at the Scriptures and see how the Holy Spirit speaks...

In Acts 16, Paul is on his second missionary journey. He’s visiting churches he helped start on his first journey. He goes to Derbe and Lystra. And, upon deciding where to go next, it says...

Acts 16:6–8 ESV

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

How many of us would still be with Paul at this point?

“Hey let’s go this way… oh wait, the Holy Spirit said we’re forbidden to go there.”

“Let’s go this way instead… travel 200 miles, stop, wait… uh guys… the Spirit of Jesus said no again.”

“Instead, lets go 200 miles in this direction...”

Most of us today would’ve gone home. “Oh, the Holy Spirit said no again… sure Paul, just admit you’re lost… but more likely crazy.”

It goes onto say...

Acts 16:9–10 ESV

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Apparently, now Paul is saying, “Guys, I had a vision last night. A guy (who probably looked like this) said “Come over here and help us!” Let’s jump on a boat for another 150 miles!”

We would’ve been like, “I’m out!”

But they didn’t…

They followed Paul who had been supernaturally directed by a vision...

Now, earlier in Acts, we come across this story… the church was flourishing, people were sharing everything as they lived in biblical community. One man named Barnabas even sold his field and gave all the money to the church...

...btw, if anyone has it on their heart to do that today, let’s talk!

But his generosity was celebrated! The story continues...

Acts 5:1–2 ESV

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

[Somebody say, “Shady.”]

Acts 5:3–5 ESV

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

This couple could’ve kept their land.

They could have given as much or as little as they wanted.

The problem was they lied because they wanted the personal recognition.

Their gift had nothing to do with loving God or His people.

...And while that is a sermon by itself… here’s what I want to ask, “How did Peter know they did this?”

The answer is, “The Holy Spirit told him.” He got supernatural knowledge. Some call this “prophecy.”

That might be confusing because the Bible uses words like “prophets” or “prophecy” in a variety of ways… some of them with overlapping functions or uses. When hearing “prophecy,” some think of...

Elijah or one of the prophets who authoritatively spoke for God. Some of their words became part of God’s eternal Word.

Others think of predicting the future… like accurately foretelling what will happen.

While both are part of prophecy, prophecy also includes a forthtelling… a “making public” of knowledge that was only acquired supernaturally by divine revelation - by God’s wisdom.

And in Acts 5, as the church is getting started, God isn’t playing. He wasn’t gonna have the foundation of His church built on lies. So, He supernaturally gave Peter knowledge, which resulted in leading him to make very serious decisions that produced extreme consequences.

Here’s what we can consider...

Are we willing to be led supernaturally?

Will we receive instruction and discipline that came about supernaturally?

Because this appears to be NORMAL in Scripture. Why not now? Why are we more willing to be led by Siri than the Spirit of Jesus?

Finally, let’s discuss this...

Spiritual warfare

In all the best ways, I have been ridiculously busy the past year. Needless to say, I don’t have much free time. I usually don’t watch a lot of movies or shows. However, recently, I have begun watching Survivor.

Survivor is currently in it’s 44th season. The first show came out in 2000. Yet, I’ve never watched a single episode. But, recently, I decided to check it out and am hooked.

One aspect of the show involves voting people off the tribe - they don’t “survive.” And sometimes a “blindside” happens. That’s when someone gets voted off, but they are completely surprised by it. They had no idea. And all of a sudden, they are out of the game!

Unfortunately, “blindsides” happen to us in the church too. Many times because we forget about, or don’t consider, spiritual warfare...

In a nutshell, spiritual warfare involves remembering there is a spiritual realm in our world, that is completely real, even though it’s unseen. And for our modern culture - one hyper-focused on what we can see - ignoring spiritual things is NORMAL! But that’s not the case in Scripture. Check it out...

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Notice three things:

The devil is just as real as God.

Many times we fight battles with physical resources when they are actually sourced from spiritual problems.

There is spiritual darkness trying to destroy us.

We see this reality in the book of Acts...

Acts 16:16 ESV

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

Pause… for whatever reason, this kind of stuff is both popular and acceptable in our community. Like, we won’t believe in the spiritual or miraculous when it comes to biblical faith, but we will participate with divination, spirit gardens, and fortune-telling. Just so you know… these things are real, dangerous, and demonic. Don’t play with that stuff… it’ll destroy you...

Acts 16:17–18 ESV

She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

As the book of Ephesians teaches, Paul’s problem with another person was something deeper - it was sourced from spiritual darkness. So, he cast the demonic spirit out.

A couple chapters later, we read this story...

Acts 19:13–16 ESV

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

I share these stories to show us something… according to the Scriptures... spiritual warfare was a NORMAL thing. And it needs to be part of our NORMAL reality. Because...

Sometimes the depression or anxiety we feel is really spiritual darkness.

Sometimes the hurtful or broken relationships we experience are because of spiritual darkness.

Sometimes the circumstances that keep us busy and distracted, so much so that we stop drawing close to God, whether they are boyfriends, girlfriends, work, sports, or any other “normal” pursuit, is sometimes connected to spiritual darkness.

The only way to fight spiritual warfare is use spiritual solutions. And one reason why many of us continue to live spiritually defeated is because we keep trying to fix spiritual problems with physical solutions. We don’t consider spiritual warfare!

...And the devil just laughs at us...

2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT

so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

In this passage, Paul is specifically talking about unforgiveness. When we don’t forgive people, that is actually a scheme of the devil to keep us and other people in spiritual bondage. But unforgiveness isn’t his only scheme. The devil has many schemes.

And as part of The River Church family, think of it this way… Anything that keeps you from...

Loving Jesus

Building community

And bringing gospel joy

… is likely a scheme of the devil. And the only way you’re going to realize that is to make it a NORMAL practice to consider the impact of spiritual warfare on your life!

So, the question for us is: Do we consider spiritual warfare a NORMAL part of our life?

…because the people in the book of Acts did...

Miracles were NORMAL.

Visions and prophecy were NORMAL.

Spiritual warfare was NORMAL.

… and I’d suggest, if they are NOT for us, we need to RECALIBRATE!

What’s the purpose of experiencing the supernatural?

Before we begin to close, I want to add this... There is very SPECIAL PURPOSE behind these SUPERNATURAL things. And, believe it or not, it has NOTHING to do with making people more special than others or acquiring secret knowledge.

Look at what the Scriptures say...

1 Corinthians 13:1–2 NLT

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

Acts 5:12–14 NLT

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.

Here are two primary reasons why God cares about the supernatural being NORMAL in His church… when used biblically

They strategically promote love in His church.

They strategically further gospel salvation.

Jesus made two extreme important statements while on earth. One is called the Great Commandment. And basically it says, “Love God and love people.” The other statement is called the Great Commission. And that says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.”

The supernatural part of our faith is supposed to be NORMAL because it helps us care about the two most important things that Christ cares about!

Therefore, if the supernatural is NOT NORMAL, maybe we need to RECALIBRATE!

Response:

As we close, I want to give you 5 potential reasons why the supernatural is NOT NORMAL in our lives:

You didn’t know it was supposed to be NORMAL. Well, now you do, so that excuse doesn’t work anymore.

You’re lacking faith. Faith can impact our experience. Unbelief can limit the supernatural. Matt 13:58, “Jesus did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.” Now, if you want to change this, here’s one way to increase faith: Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Do what we did today... if you want to increase your faith, read the Bible!

You don’t pray. As we discussed last week, prayer changes things. And many biblical miracles were attached to prayer. If you want the supernatural, you must pray.

You’re scared. It’s normal to be scared of what we don’t understand. Here’s my encouragement: Don’t be scared of what’s normal to God.

Finally, you don’t have access to supernatural power. You need the Holy Spirit in your life.

If you would like Holy Spirit power in your life today, pray this with me...

Father, forgive us for our sins. We have wronged you. We have not cared about what you care about. Today, we repent. And we put our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We thank you for the salvation that was won for us on the cross. And we thank you for the promise of the Holy Spirit. That when we put our faith in You, You change us and fill us with your power. Please change us today. And let us see Your supernatural power, so we can love you, love others, and preach the gospel to all people. In Jesus name, amen.