Miracles - Conclusion

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." [Ps 119:160]

Conclusion
There is one more thing I'd like to clear up regarding miracles before I wrap things up, and that is providence.  One might read these last few posts and think that I don't believe God works in our lives today at all, or that He doesn't answer prayers, and that's simply not true.  The root of the word "providence" is "provide", and Scripture makes it very clear that God will provide for us (Luke 12:22-34).  The difference is that today, God's providence is played out non-miraculously.  That is, He won't simply make bread manifest itself on our table, but through His guidance and involvement in the world He will ensure that it gets there.  Many things people claim as miracles today are actually the providence of God at work and there is nothing miraculous about it (ex, getting lost and still finding your way to your destination).

The passage I chose for today's post is Psalm 119:160.  The New King James translation reads "The entirety of Your word is truth..."  When trying to understand how God works in our lives and what His nature is, we must always take ALL of Scripture into account.  We can't just cherry pick one verse and say "Well the Bible says such-and-such" and think we're done, because while the Bible may say that, it also says many other things.  When taken as a whole, we can see that the purpose of miracles was to show that God was the force working behind them, thus the one doing the miracle spoke with the authority of God.  We see that miracles had a time and place, but that their purpose was fulfilled once the Word of God was completed because THAT is now our proof and authority to which we can turn.  We can also turn to God's Word to test what people claim to be miracles today to see that they simply don't hold up.  But like I said, this does not mean that God does not continue to work in our lives, only that He does so in a non-miraculous way.

Hopefully this series has been beneficial to you.  I'm sorry I can't cover everything I wanted to cover in such a short period of time, but I encourage you to study this topic more on your own.  Apologetics Press has an excellent article on the subject here, and of course the Bible has plenty to say on the matter as well. =)

Miracles - Part 3

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [I Thes. 5:21]

Comparison
So now the question becomes, do miracles still occur today?  In the first part of this series I made the argument that the purpose of miracles was to show with what authority the act was being done (God).  In the second part I argued that miracles were only necessary until the Word of God was completed, which happed about 1900 years ago.  But there still appear to be those performing and witnessing miracles today, so let's examine some of those and compare them to Biblical miracles.

Consider some of the more memorable miracles recorded in scripture.  Jesus, Paul, and others raised people from the dead.  Elijah called on God to rain down fire from heaven.  Thousands spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost.  Moses parted the Red Sea so that hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Jews crossed on dry land.  These were miracles that nobody could deny.  Even the enemies of Christ couldn't deny the acts that He did, so instead they tried to accuse Him of getting His power from Satan.  These things were also instantaneous. Moses didn't pray for six months until the sea dried up.  Elijah didn't dance around his altar all day like the prophets of Baal did.  Jesus didn't spend days making Lazarus "feel better".  They performed the act, and the results were immediate and undeniable.

Now consider the miracles observed today.  Just do a quick Google search of faith healers and you'll see that they've pretty much all been exposed.  But let's assume for a second that they haven't.  You have a woman walk up on stage claiming to have cancer.  The man slaps her on the forehead, declares her cancer gone, and she leaves, and we have only his word that she's healed.  Does that sound like the miracles we read in the Bible?  What about some others?  People have told me about dates changing on forms so that they have time to make their payments, or getting lost and "miraculously" ending up at their destination.  How about images of a man with long hair and a beard which somewhat resembles portraits of Jesus painted by European artists appearing on the side of a wall?  Do any of these sound like the miracles performed in Biblical times??  These can all be explained away as hoaxes, intuition, chance, or mistakes, and none can be proven to anywhere near the same level of confidence as those recorded in Scripture.  And none, save the exposed faith healing, satisfies the purpose of miracles explained earlier.  How does finding your way to the airport have anything to do with revealing the power of God?

This has gotten slightly longer than most of my posts, so I'll wrap it up here.  But hopefully I've made the point that modern day "miracles" don't hold a candle to those recorded in Scripture, not because we just don't have enough faith today, but because the miracles we see today are not in fact miracles.

Miracles - Part 2

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." [I Cor 13:9-10]

Duration
In part 1 of this series I talked about the purpose of miracles, that they were signs to point to the authority and power from which the one performing the miracle came.  This was necessary in times past because anyone could simply show up on the scene claiming to be from God and there was no way to test him.  So this begs the question, would miracles always be necessary?

In the book of I Corinthians, Paul talks a lot about miracles, and one thing that the reader can gleam is that miracles were not complete.  That is, just because someone had the ability to perform miracles didn't mean that had all of the power of God.  In the 14th chapter of I Corinthians, Paul addresses an issue the congregation was having with different people using their miraculous gifts inappropriately, and in verses 27-28 tells those who speak with tongues not to speak unless there is an interpreter.  The implication is that those who could speak in tongues could not also interpret those tongues, and needed someone else who could.

This brings me to the focus verse, I Cor 13:9-10.  Paul says that their knowledge and prophesy are in part (imperfect, not full), but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with.  What is that which is perfect?  Well Paul later tells Timothy in II Timothy 3:16-17 that ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God and goes on to talk about its value.  The Word of God is the complete revelation of God (that is, all that He wanted to reveal to us) and is that which is perfect which had not yet been completed in the day of miracles.  Now that we have the completed Word of God with which we may "be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," we have no more need of miracles to show the authority of God.  Scripture IS that authority, and unlike miracles that were only given to some to perform, the Word of God is freely available to all.

But don't miracles still continue today?  In the next part of this series we'll examine some modern day miracles and compare them to Biblical miracles to see how they hold up.

Miracles - Part 1

"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." [John 20:30-31]

Purpose
It is first important to understand what purpose miracles served; why miracles were performed.  John said that Jesus did many other "signs" in the presence of his disciples that were not written down, but the ones that were written were done so to prove that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah).  What does a "sign" do?  It points to something.  And the signs (miracles) that Jesus did pointed to His divinity as the Christ.  Anybody could have claimed to be the Christ (and indeed, some had), but the miracles Jesus performed PROVED that He was the Christ.  The proved the power that He had over nature, time, distance, and death; a power that could only come from God.

This is the purpose behind most of he miracles that are recorded in scripture, but in the Old and New Testaments (some were truly done out of compassion).  Not to prove that the one performing the miracle was the Messiah, but to prove that the power and authority that he displayed was from God.  Think about Elijah on Mt Carmel with the prophets of Baal when he challenged the prophets to a test to determine who the real God was.  What it truly boiled down to was a test to see who could do something miraculous.  The prophets of Baal did all they could to get their god to burn up their offering, but no amount of calling out or gesticulating or cutting themselves did any good.  Yet when Elijah simply called on God, immediately his sacrifice was licked up by fire along with the wood, stones, dust, and even the water he had poured around the alter.  The result was that this proved that Jehovah was the true God and the prophets of Baal were false prophets.

So the purpose of miracles was to prove that the one doing the miracle spoke with the authority of God, not himself, and should therefore be heeded.  So would this proof always be necessary?  Would those who were doing the will of God always need the power to perform miracles in order to show with whose authority they spoke?  That will be addressed in the next part of this series.

Miracles - Intro

I'm going to be doing a two part series on miracles, covering what the Bible has to say about them, their purpose, and comparing/contrasting miracles found in the Bible with modern day miracles (okay, so it may turn into a three or four part series =P).

I think this is an important topic today because of all the false teaching that exists regarding miracles. It's a popular topic among atheists to try attack Christianity with by saying that modern day "miracle workers" are liars and hypocrites just trying to get money out of people (which some of them are), and that those who believe them are gullible fools, thus "proving" that Christians are just superstitious children who are chasing a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

There are also differing beliefs on how miracles occur today, from those who believe that only God performs miracles and we are just the witnesses (ex, statues crying blood or the image of Mary on toast), to those who believe that individuals are capable of performing miracles, to those who believe that miracles don't occur at all today. Because these are "one minute" sermons, I won't really have time to go into a whole lot of detail, but hopefully by breaking it out into two or three parts I can cover the topic in sufficient detail to at least get people curious to study it more for themselves. So stay tuned!

Love One Another

"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." [I John 3:11]

Christ taught many things while on this earth. He taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, about salvation, about sin and compassion...but one thing He hit on more than once was love. This message continued in His apostles' writings as they took the Gospel out to the world and rebuked and encouraged congregations of the church in their letters.

We are told to speak the truth in love [Eph 4:15] as we preach the gospel of Christ to the world. What good would it do Christ or the church to take a message of hate and hot temper into the world? Nobody will respond to that, especially not in today's world.

It pains me to see "Christians" doing just that. Back in July of 2010 there were news stories about a congregation in Gainesville, Florida under the leadership of Terry Jones that was going to burn Qurans on September 11th, 2010 in protest of Islam. We are certainly to fight false doctrines and false religions such as Islam, but the Word tells us to do so with an attitude of Love. There's an expression that you hear a lot that says to "hate the sin but love the sinner", and that's exactly what we're supposed to do. After all, isn't that the reception we get from God who hates all sin, yet loved us enough to sacrifice His only son for our salvation?

Modern Day False Idols

"He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god." [Is 44:16-17]

An expression that has long bothered me is "Mother Nature". You hear it flung around everywhere, such as when describing fierce storms or the changing global environment (deforestation, "climate change", etc.) You also hear similar language from the evolutionist when he talks about the design of the human body (without a designer), or how nature "chose" such-and-such. This, in my opinion, deifies nature and gives it credit for creating, nurturing, and sustaining us. But these things are God's doings, not "Mother Nature's".

In the middle of Isaiah 44, the prophet talks about the silliness of some people's false idols. He describes how they will go out and cut down a tree with their own hands, take some of the wood from the tree and burn it to make a fire with which they cook their food and drinks, but then they will take some of the wood from the same tree, fashion it into a man (again, with their own hands), and then fall down before it calling it "god". How can something that you make yourself be your god? How can it have any power over you?

Our God resides in heaven. He does not depend on us for anything. He is our Creator, and we are His creation. The need within us to seek and worship Him is so great that even those who flat out reject the possibility of His existence have found their own gods in His creation. But let us not be led astray into such idol worship. Let us remember the God of the Bible and worship only Him.

For God So Loved

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [John 3:16]

I thought it appropriate, on this day that is specially designated to celebrate our love for each other, to talk about the greatest love that has ever been displayed. I mentioned in a previous post that God made all of creation for our benefit. He made us to seek Him and love Him and worship Him. But God cannot tolerate sin; it is simply against His nature. So when we sinned in the garden, God was forced to turn His back on us.

However, because He loved us, He didn't want us to be eternally lost and so set a plan in motion (a plan that He had established even before we were created) to bring about a means of eternal salvation. The initial phase of that plan was to establish a people from whom this great Redeemer would come, and thus the nation of Israel, chosen from the seed of Abraham, was established. To this nation were given laws and customs by which they could temporarily remove their sins, but it was not a permanent solution.

Finally, in the fullness of time, God demonstrated the fullness of His love by sending His only son to this earth to ultimately deliver us from sin. The necessary consequence of sin is death, so when we sin, someone has to die as a result. When Christ gave His life in our place, he was pure and without sin, and being the son of God was able to overcome death and conquer it so that we no longer had to be slaves to it. This was God's plan from the beginning, and THIS is the love of God, and the precious blood of Christ continues to cleanse us of our sins to this day. Praise be to God for His great love and mercy and for being our salvation!

Who is this Uncircumcised Philistine?

"for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" [I Sam. 17:26]

When David went to the camp of the armies of Israel to bring his brothers food, he came upon a very disturbing sight. Across the battlefield stood the giant, Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, challenging and mocking the armies of the children God. But the size of this champion and his armies was not what was disturbing, it was the reaction of the Israelites. They cowered in fear before this giant, sure of their imminent destruction.

But this boy saw a different picture. He saw a Gentile standing in the worst possible place: in defiance of God. This boy had more courage and faith than the entire armies of Israel, and says in I Samuel 17:26 "for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" The rest of the story is familiar to all of us, as young David goes out and defeats this great champion, not by any might of his own, but by the will of God. In fact, my favorite passage in this story is in verse 45 of I Samuel 17: "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." David didn't care how well armed the giant was, because David was armed with the living God of Israel, a force that could withstand any opponent.

We are equipped with that same God today and can overcome any enemy we're faced with if we'll only trust in that power as David did. When the world of unbelievers ridicules us for our beliefs, when temptation comes knocking at our door, when we're struck with tragedy in our lives, we must put our trust in God who will fight along side us and help us to overcome even the largest of giants this world has to offer.

Let Us Go Into the House of the LORD

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." [Ps. 122:1]

David loved the Lord. Despite his many sins, he was described as being a "man after God's own heart." [1 Sam 13:14] Throughout his years as king he wrote a number of psalms expressing his dependence on God, he love for God, his faith in God, and the comfort he found in God, among other things. In the 122 Psalm, David expresses his joy over the opportunity to worship God. Just the invitation to worship made him glad.

What is our reaction to this invitation? Some share David's sentiments and jump on every opportunity they have to enter the house of worship to spend time with God, while others see it has a chore. They see it as something that HAS to be done, but they'd rather be anywhere else but worship. They take advantage of the smallest opportunity to miss worship, such as a headache or going to bed too late, and delight in the opportunity to finally sleep in, but is that an appropriate attitude toward God?

Yes, faithful attendance in worship is something that is required of us [Heb 10:25], but that wasn't David's motivation for worship, and it shouldn't be ours. Do you spend time with your spouse because you "have" to (sadly, some might say yes...)? Do you watch the Super Bowl because you "have" to? We find time to do the things we love. We plan around them, reschedule smaller priorities, and overcome minor infirmities such as headaches to spend time doing the things we love, and worshiping God should be at the top of that list.

All Things Praise Him

"Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights..." [Ps. 148]

Psalm 148 sounds like it was written by a man that just couldn't contain himself anymore and simply had to shout to all creation "PRAISE THE LORD!!!" There have been times I've felt this way; the day I was baptized, the day I was married, the days my children were born. These are times in my life that I'm just so overcome by the goodness and richness of God's great blessings that I either have to shout to the Lord in songs of praise or else go mad!

God has been so incredibly good to us. All of Creation was made for our benefit. God could have simply made for us a utilitarian creation that simply had what we needed and that was it, but He went above and beyond that. Look at the beauty of Creation!! Look at the wonders in the universe, the beauties in the world around us, even the simple things like a warm Spring thaw after a cold winter, or a delicious ripe tomato fresh off the vine. These are all signs of how much God loves us and want what is good for us. I've heard it said before that these things were made as a preview of what heaven will be like. If that's true, then I can't wait to get there!

II Timothy 3:16-17

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." [II Timothy 3:16-17]

This has long been my favorite passage in all of Scripture. It eliminates any doubt one may have about the infallibility of God's Word. If ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God (literally: "God breathed"), and God is all knowing (Heb. 4:13) and all powerful (Matt. 19:26), then it makes sense that His Word should be perfect. People sometimes claim that the Bible was written by imperfect men (which it was) and is therefore full of contradictions, opinions, and biases. However, this passage tells us that even though it was the hands of men that put pen to paper, it was the Words of God that were spoken.

Furthermore, it tells us what purpose the Word of God serves. Scripture is profitable for:

• Doctrine: It is our source of spiritual authority. It tells us who God is and how to worship Him as well as what we must do to be saved.
• Reproof: It tells us what sin is and acts as our authority to rebuke someone (including ourselves) for committing it. Without scripture, right and wrong would simply be a matter of opinion.
• Correction: What good would reproof be without also a means to correct our wrongdoings? God’s Word instructs us in repentance for our sins.
• Instruction in Righteousness: God hasn't just told us what not to do, but has also revealed to us what we must do to be righteous and holy.

By allowing the Word of God to be our guide through this life, we may be "perfect", that is, complete. That doesn’t mean we will be all knowing like God, but that we will be "thoroughly furnish unto all good works." God’s Word reveals everything we need to be saved and to serve God in a manner that is pleasing to Him.

The World View Problem

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." [Psalm 19:1]

On many occasions, when asked about their belief in God, I've heard people respond along the lines of "I just can't believe in something for which there is no evidence." Yet we as Christians look around and see evidence of God everywhere: the design of creation, the complexity of life, morality, logic, love, etc. If some simply cannot see God in these things, does that mean there's a problem with the evidence?

No. Rather, there is a problem with their world view. Your world view is made up of your most basic beliefs and is what tells you how to interpret evidence. The atheist's world view assumes that God cannot exist, and so he interprets evidence with this presupposition. When he looks at the design of creation, he cannot see the evidence of God that is right before him because his world view has filtered it out. It's like wearing glasses with a big dark spot in the middle of the lenses. If you look directly at an object, say a book, you won't see it; not because it isn't there, but because what you're using to look at it prevents you from seeing it.

When debating the existence of God with someone, you must first examine their world view and try to correct that. Otherwise, no amount of evidence, no matter how powerful, will convince them of the truth that is before them.

(more information on this topic can be found in an excellent 4-part video found here.)