Expect a Miracle, NOT a Miracle Worker
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Our Scripture lesson this morning is taken from 2 Cor 12:1-12:
I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.
May God bless the reading of this, His holy and infallible Word.
They are calling it the “Great Resignation”, in August and September between 4 to 5 million Americans resigned from their jobs. Some out of fear of COVID-19, some in protest to vaccine mandates, others because they are content with public aid, still others as they move to better paying jobs, but some because of resignation itself. A growing number of Americans have lost hope as the reality of our situation has sunk in. COVID-19 will not go away, and herd immunity will never be reached. We are now in an endemic, not a pandemic. In the foreseeable future we can expect one outbreak after another, and with-it thousands of deaths and long-term side effects. Our economy is in ruins, store-shelfs are empty and prices are soaring. People are with-out hope, and they are giving up. People feel that they need a miracle.
If that is how you are feeling, I have good news. In Christ Jesus, you can expect a miracle! That is right, you can expect a miracle, but NOT a miracle worker.
This morning we turn our attention to the Sign Gifts of Healing and Miracles. I am going to show you through Scripture that the sign gifts are given by the Holy Spirit not to meet people’s need for a miracle, but to attest to the authority of the Apostolic message. This does not mean that we cannot expect a miracle. God has made provision for that through prayer. Finally, I am going to address the question of “unanswered prayer” and show you through Scripture that it is not a “no”, but a “better yes”!
Let us begin with the purpose of sign gifts.
The Purpose of Sign Gifts is to Attest to the Authority of the Apostolic Message
The Purpose of Sign Gifts is to Attest to the Authority of the Apostolic Message
Without question, when we see in Scripture a person with on of the sign gifts using their gift people’s need for a miracle are met, but this is only a secondary purpose, the main purpose of sign gifts it to attest to the authority of the Apostolic message. In our text today, we have Paul having to defend his apostolic ministry from a group of false teachers who claimed to be “super-apostles”. In the closing verse he says this:
The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.
As I surveyed both the Old and New Testaments, this was true in every single case. It was also the case in every one of Jesus’ miracles. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter said this:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—
The reason the sign gifts were so prevalent in the first century is because the church was being established and the whole world was a pioneer mission field. Once the church was established in a region, the need for sign gifts was no longer there. Take Israel for example. There has always been a remnant of true believers in Israel. Other than to establish the authority of individual prophets, there was not need for sign gifts to establish the authority of God’s Word. In fact, to seek sign gifts according to Jesus is a sign a wicked and evil heart:
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Moreover, a fascination with signs and wonders opens us up to spiritual deception:
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Therefore, I say NOT to expect a miracle worker, there is no need for one in the context of America. The authority of the Apostolic message has been firmly established in our society for generations. If a person in America does not believe the gospel it is not because of a lack of evidence, it is because of a wicked and hard heart.
Does this mean that we cannot expect a miracle? Absolutely not! God has made other provisions to miraculously intervene in our lives—it is called prayer!
God’s Provision for a Miraculous Intervention is Prayer
God’s Provision for a Miraculous Intervention is Prayer
The believer does not need to seek a person with the gift of healing to be miraculously healed. God has already made provision for this prayer. James does not tell Christians to seek a faith healer, rather he tells us to call the elders and pray.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
In other words, the presence of a person with a sign gift brings nothing more to the table, all you need for a miracle in your life is the prayer of a righteous person.
I can already hear the objections, “What about all the unanswered prayers?”
My response is this, “How do you know that God did not answer your prayer? Is it because you did not get what you asked for?”
This does not prove that the prayer of a righteous man is not powerful and effectual, it only proves that our God is a wise and loving heavenly Father. Did not Jesus encourage us to pray saying:
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
What we call “unanswered prayer” is really a “better yes”!
The Unexpected Miracle of “Unanswered” Prayer
The Unexpected Miracle of “Unanswered” Prayer
In our text this morning, find Paul asking for a good thing, but not the best thing. Paul was beset by what he called a “thorn in the flesh” and a “messenger of Satan”. There is much debate over what this was, but we can safely say it was a bad thing, and it was causing Paul to suffer. Three times Paul asked God to take it away and God’s answer was always the same, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
We know that this was not the answer Paul wanted to hear, because three times he went back to God in prayer after hearing God’s answer. After the third time, Paul must have reflected more upon what was going on and writes:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
Then he adds:
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I ask you, what would have been the greater miracle? For God to have taken the thorn away or to make Paul more like Christ?
I think you know the answer: Miraculously freeing us from temporal suffering is small potatoes compared to conforming us to the image of Christ. In Romans 8, we learn what God’s plan is for all of us:
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Suffering is the necessary price we must pay for glorification. It is the price that Jesus paid:
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
I realize that God’s “better yes’s” are hard to accept. We want our suffering and the suffering of those we love to go away. It was hard for Paul to accept, even after directly hearing God’s voice! It takes a miracle to accept God’s “better yes”, and that is exactly what we can expect. Listen to how Paul prayers for the church:
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
Let us join Paul and pray for a miracle!