Signs

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel with one of the apostles on their missionary trips? Can you image the incredible experiences you would have had, the amazing miracles you would have seen. We can get a taste of this reading through the book of Acts, but you get the impression that Luke is only recording a sample of some of the things the apostles and early disciples did.

Do you ever wonder why don’t we see miracles today like then? For sure, there are parts of the world when it appears that miracles are still common, but not here. Why is that?

I came of age in a church that didn’t believe those things happened anymore. God wasn’t healing people - at least not supernaturally. And we had no framework at all for evil Spirits. Let me just gently suggest, if you think God is out of the miracle business then you’re probably at the wrong church.

So casting aside the idea that God “just doesn’t do that anymore”, why don’t we see these kinds of miracles today? I think there are probably several reasons:

Naturalism - even if we intellectually buy into the possibility of miracles, we have been formed in post-Christian Western culture that elevates naturalism above supernaturalism. We swim in a stream of skepticism.

Self-sufficiency - we have come to rely on modern medicine to fix most of our issues, whether physical or mental. Obviously, science and medicine are a gift. But an unintended consequence can be that we tend to trust more to it and leave prayer as a last resort.

Low (no) expectation - I think in churches like ours where there is at least an openness to the idea of miracles, we really don’t have a lot of expectation. Sure, they can happen, but they probably won’t happen to me or through me.

I think all of these factors can affect whether or not we experience the kinds of signs and wonders that accompanied the spread of the gospel in the NT. But I think there is another reason that is probably more problematic. The truth is that the Bible is full of stories of God using broken, skeptical, and even unbelieving people to accomplish some of his greatest miracles. While those things aren’t good, they alone don’t account for the lack of the supernatural in the church today.

We began a series last week called Jesus is Here. We are looking at the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus as a template for where and how we can expect to encounter him today. Today’s passage gets to perhaps the heart of why there is a lack of miracles and the supernatural in the church today. As you will see, the expectation of the Bible is that the miraculous would be an ongoing activity in the church. Our problem is not that God has gotten out of the miracle business. Our problem is not primarily that we are skeptical or lack expectation - though those things don’t help. I think the answer to the big problem we face today in the church regarding supernatural ministry is perhaps found in one primary reason. But before we get to the answer, I want us to start with the promise that Jesus is here through his miraculous signs.

————————————————————————————————————-

Mark 16:14–20 “Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.”

This is Mark’s version of the great commission, Jesus’ commission for his followers to take his message and the news of his resurrection to the ends of the earth. I’d like to pull out a few things in the passage.

He upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness...

First, I just want to remind us of what I said last week - Jesus only calls normal people. People who struggle with doubt. People who are stubborn. And he uses them anyway. So if that’s you, be encouraged! You are not disqualified from kingdom ministry.

The one who believes and is baptized will be saved…

I’m only addressing this bc it’s in the text and I know it might cause questions. Is Mark saying that you must be baptized to be saved? No. We know from the example of the thief on the cross that baptism isn’t a requirement for salvation. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus.

However, in the Bible, belief and action are rarely separated. To say you “believe” something means there will be a corresponding action. Baptism is the outward act of inward belief. To say you’ve believed in Jesus and yet not been baptized is to leave salvation incomplete in some ways. It is to miss out on part of the grace that God offers you in salvation. If you have believed then you certainly should be baptized. Now we get to the heart of the message.

These signs will accompany those who believe…

Right off the bat, the expectation of the NT is that Jesus’ miraculous presence will still accompany the faithful in their mission. The word “signs” is the Greek word semeion. This is not just a word for miracles but a specific kind of miracle. It is a miracle that contains a message. It is a miracle that points beyond itself. One commentary called them “God’s finger-marks”. The value of this kind of sign is not so much for what they are as for what they indicate of the grace and power of the giver.

Illustr: I-70 to Denver sign. Wimber - we don’t rejoice over the sign but over who it points to. This is that kind of sign. It points beyond itself to the sign-giver.

And Jesus said these signs WILL accompany those who believe. I won’t try to pronounce the Greek word here for “accompany”, but it means to follow closely or walk side by side with. It is describing a hand in hand partnership between the believer and God himself. Because Jesus is here, we can and should still expect confirming miracles to walk side by side with us in kingdom ministry. What are the signs of Jesus ongoing presence? Mark gives some broad categories...

Exorcism

Demonization is just an accepted reality in the Bible. There are supernatural evil spirits, and in large and small ways they attach themselves to human beings. More than any other supernatural reality in the Bible, this one probably tweaks our Western skepticism the most. After all, aren’t demons just superstitions ancient ppl had bc they didn’t have scientific explanations for various illnesses and diseases?

On top of that, Hollywood has caused us to see demons as something make-believe. They are good for a scare at the movies, but in the end we all know it’s only pretend.

But Jesus treats demons, not just as a rational phenomenon, but as supernatural forces for evil. The Bible depicts them as having will, autonomy, and personality. They are still active in their mission to bring misery to humans. Brady shared with us a couple of weeks ago about an encounter on a bus with a demonized man during his mission trip to Nicaragua.

The point is that demons are real, and we should carry both an expectation to occasionally encounter them during supernatural ministry AND the expectation that they will flee at the power of Jesus’ name. Jesus is here to release captives from the power of darkness.

Tongues

It’s hard to always know in the NT when tongues are mentioned if they are referring to they ability to speak in an unlearned language or to a prayer language. The best answer is probably “both/and”. There are stories throughout the history of the church of missionaries being given the supernatural ability to speak to people of another language. This actually happened here several months ago when I invited my friend Steve Marquez to preach. After the service someone prayed over him in tongues. Steve, who can understand Hebrew, heard this person praying some things in Hebrew. He was astonished to discover they did not know any Hebrew - they had just been praying over him in tongues.

There are also stories throughout the NT and church history of people given the ability to speak in a heavenly language - one that must have supernatural translation in order to understand. And the apostle Paul says in the first letter to the Corinthians that this is another sign of God’s presence among us. Jesus is here through the release of supernatural language and communication.

Miracles

The passage specifically addresses picking up snakes and drinking poison - neither of which the Bible advocates. The point is that miracles will accompany those who believe. You may have read the story of the apostle Paul, while on his way to Rome, is shipwrecked on the Island of Malta. While putting wood on a fire, a poisonous viper bit him and attached himself to his hand. Paul just shakes it off into the fire. The islanders are all waiting for him to swell up and die. When he doesn’t they decide he must be a god. In the end, Paul uses this miracle to proclaim the gospel and convert the island to Christianity.

As we go in Jesus’ name, we should expect to occasionally encounter miracles. A miracle, by definition, is any event that suspends natural law or human capability. It is a broad category that encompasses healing, raising the dead, or power over nature, such as when Jesus calmed a storm. Jesus is here to confirm his message through supernatural manifestations.

Healing

When the apostle Paul wrote about the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, he spoke of healing in the plural. There are various kinds of healings - mental and physical, illness or infirmity. These are the various healings the Spirit works. And again, the testimony of the church is that miraculous healing didn’t end with the apostles. One of my favorite accounts of a supernatural healing comes from Saint Augustine in his 5th century book The City of God. He tells of a man who was “being treated by medical men for fistula, of which he had a large number intricately seated in the rectum.” He’d already undergone one painful surgery and they were unsure if he could survive another. But he was finally convinced only a surgery could help him. The night before the surgery he gathered the ppl of God around him to pray. Then he writes:

The dreaded day dawned… The surgeons arrived… The frightful instruments are produced… The part is bared. The surgeon examines it, and, with knife in hand, eagerly looks for the sinus that is to be cut. He searches for it with his eyes, he feels for it with his finger, he applies every kind of scrutiny: he finds a perfectly healed wound! No words of mine can describe the joy, and praise, and thanksgiving to the merciful and almighty God which was poured from the lips of all, with tears of gladness. Let the scene be imagined rather than described!

Let it be imagined, indeed! The point is that anytime we see or experience a healing, we’re seeing the future kingdom of God made present. It is tomorrow being pulling into today. And because Jesus is here, because his kingdom has come, we can and should expect to see the future kingdom become a present reality.

Was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God…

This last piece is essential, for it explains “why” miracles and healings are possible. The full gospel is not only that Jesus died and rose on the third day. It also includes that he ascended. This is the language of royalty. Mark is not explaining why Jesus isn’t here bodily or how he got back into heaven; it is the proclamation that the world now has a new king seating in the place of ultimate authority at the right hand of God! The ascension is the capstone on the whole gospel event.

And because Jesus is the reigning king, the gifts of the HS are poured out upon his church. Jesus is with us still through the indwelling Spirit, and through the power of the Spirit enables us to continue his work.

——————————————————————————————————— So we are back to our original question: Why don’t we see miracles today? Is it:

Unbelief?

Lack of need?

Lack of expectation?

Maybe it’s a combination of all of those things at times. But I think the answer to the big problem we face today in the church regarding supernatural ministry is found in one primary reason: we simply don’t try. It’s a failure to “go for it”. Jesus has promised his presence in a very specific way. He will accompany those who believe as they do the work of ministry - including at times with signs and wonders.

Here is our chief danger in the church regarding supernatural ministry. With everything else, we carry an expectation that we have to do something and that God will empower us as we do it. But when it comes to the miraculous, we become completely passive. “Well, I guess I’ll get healed if God wills it.” Or we pray, “God please heal so and so” when NO WHERE in the NT are we told to do healing that way. We don’t ask God to do - we do it.

Let me give a silly example. Who here likes fresh garden veg? Any tomato lovers? If you want to have garden tomatoes, how do you go about getting them? Do you just pray and ask God to give you some? And if none grow, do you just consign yourself that it must not be God’s will for you to have tomatoes?

Of course not. We know that’s ridiculous, right? We know that if we want fresh garden tomatoes we have to buy seeds or plants. That we have to prepare a bed for them. That we have to plant them and nurture them. Who grows tomatoes? We do. But we do it in expectation and partnership with how God made the natural world work. The power for growing tomatoes is already there, but we have to do our part to activate it.

Think of “normal” ministry. Every week I prepare a message. I pray, but I don’t expect that God will drop a manuscript out of heaven. I spend time studying the scripture, reading commentaries, looking things up. I apply myself to the ministry of preaching. Who preaches? Me! But I do it with the expectation that God is the one who empowers it.

Why do we think supernatural ministry is any different? If I asked you to serve in the food pantry, I hope you wouldn’t just spend you time waiting for God to drop a task in your lap. I hope you will roll up your sleeves and apply yourself to the work, trusting that God will empower and direct you as you go. You do it; God empowers it.

If we’re not seeing supernatural ministry today, maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten how it works. That God has given his authority to us to call upon his power. We want God to do it all. God says “you do it” and I’ll back you.

I think I heard God tell me this week that “we need to re-infect the church with Vineyard DNA”. I think part of what that means is that we need to recommit ourselves to a “culture of try”. Just try. Even if you’re not sure what you’re doing. Even if you do it wrong. Just try. My dad used to tell me, “Do something, even if it’s wrong”. He wasn’t telling me to do wrong things. He was telling me to try things, and if it turns out I’m doing it wrong I can correct it. But you can’t do anything if you never try. It’s impossible to steer a car that’s not moving.

John Wimber put it plainly: “You can’t learn how to heal the sick by reading a book or mastering a technique. You believe what Jesus promised and then you get out and do it .” Or as another Vineyard pastor, Jordan Seng, has said, “Faith is spelled T-R-Y”.

Jesus is here. We just need to try, and trust that he will accompany us with his signs and wonders.

———————————————————————————————————————-

What would it be like if you could lay your hands on people and expect them to get better? What would it be like if, as a church, we developed a reputation for seeing God move in miraculous ways? Not for our own benefit. Not so we can have fun supernatural experiences. But as a witness to the message of Jesus? I think this is the vision the NT, and today’s passage in particular, is offering.

But it means you and I must commit ourselves to try. We must decide in our hearts that this is for today, that this is for us, that God still wants to pour out his supernatural gifts through his faithful people.

I know right now I’m speaking to a room of people who are experiencing various emotions. Some of you are totally stoked right now. You’re like - “Let’s go!”. Some of you are unsure but you’re open and willing. And some of you are still skeptical. Regardless of where you are, I think there is only one response to today’s message. Try.

Break them into groups and spend a few minutes praying for anyone in their group that has an illness or infirmity.