The Kingdom of God - Kingdom Miracles

Evening Service,  25 March 2001

I go through phases in life when I get really excited about the book of Acts!  I’m going through one now.  I keep going back to it and re-reading great chunks, looking at it in different versions, trying to picture what it would have been like.  In fact, to say I get excited is only part of the story.  I get excited, but also frustrated.  Excited, because I’m getting a picture of how life could be; frustrated, because it’s not like that at the moment.  I get caught up in yet another of those tensions that Joan was talking about last week. 

So much of what we’re learning about the kingdom of God seems to involve tensions, tensions of the now and not-yet variety, tensions of seemly contradictory things being true at the same time, tensions which exist in our lives as Christians because of the mystery of the kingdom which Nick talked about a few weeks ago – the fact that the kingdom is here, almost here, delayed, and still coming.  Jesus said all these things about the kingdom, and I for one find it a trifle complicated.  I mean, how can something be here, almost here, delayed, and still coming, simultaneously?  I heard someone say recently that we need to be released from the tyranny of the ‘either/or’ to live in the freedom of the ‘both/and’.   Perhaps that’s what we have to do here – let our minds be stretched a bit beyond what’s comfortable – to embrace these statements being true at the same time. 

Tonight in our series we’re going to look at the whole area of kingdom miracles.  As the kingdom of God is here, then I would suggest that miracles are part of the deal.  However, as the kingdom is both here, and not yet here, then maybe they aren’t … or perhaps they are some of time, but not others … almost here, delayed – the possibilities are endless, and, of course, have given theologians issues to wrestle with and disagree over for a couple of thousand years. 

Right from the outset I’m putting my cards on the table.  I wholeheartedly, unreservedly and unashamedly believe in miracles.  There are those who would teach that the sort of miracles we read about in the New Testament were limited to that period only, and that we cannot expect God to move in similar ways today.  My reading of Scripture, together with my own experience and that of countless others, leads me to believe that they are wrong, and that we can and should pray for miracles with great expectations of them happening. 

I am going to use the account we had read to us from Acts as my starting point to look at miracles in the early church.  As we review what happens in Acts 4, I’m going to look at the events from the perspectives of the different characters involved.  What’s going on for them?  What’s happened in their recent history that’s making them respond and act as they do?   What can we learn about the kingdom of God from them? 

If we come away from studying this topic excited – great!  If we come away frustrated – that’s great too – frustrated people who know what they’re missing out on usually pray more passionately for things to change.  I hope that whatever I say over the next 20 minutes or so, God will speak encouragement to you, through his word, which will increase your expectations of miracles happening where you are, of his kingdom breaking through amongst us in power. 

So, who are the characters in this story? 

Ø      Jesus – although no longer on the scene, his name keeps cropping up

Ø      The good guys: Peter, John and the other disciples

Ø      The bad guys: the rulers, elders and teachers of the law

Ø      The crowd, which seems to get bigger all the time (loads of extras, if this was a Hollywood production!)

Ø      The crippled beggar who gets healed. 

And the story so far, is that Peter and John, when asked by the crippled beggar at the temple gate for money, instead give him a bit more than he bargains for – complete healing!  The guy is well known – a regular fixture at this particular gate, and when he gets a tad excited about the whole thing, quite a crowd gathers.  Peter explains what’s happened, telling them it’s actually Jesus who’s done it.   As he goes on to teach about Jesus, the bad guys come and break it all up, and it seems that it’s the mention of Jesus that they’re most bothered about. 

Jesus

So let’s look first at Jesus.  What’s he been up to in the area of miracles so far, and What’s this one got to do with him?   Peter describes Jesus as “a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22).  The chief priests and Pharisees had in fact had to call a few meetings about Jesus a few months before.  In John 11 they’d been wondering what to do, saying, “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.”  They could see he was having an effect. 

I suspect if Jesus were around today, he wouldn’t be allowed to get away with half the miracles he performed then.  It wouldn’t just be today’s equivalent of the Sanhedrin having a go, there’d be loads of others too! 

Turning water into wine would provoke protests from the drinks industry, who would argue that it was unfair competition, amounting to a monopoly.  Serving bread and fish to thousands of people at an outdoor event would require the approval of government health inspectors, to ensure hygiene regulations were properly adhered to.  Walking on water could only be done if preceded by a disclaimer that nobody should try this at home, particularly not children without parental supervision.  The miraculous catch of fish would undoubtedly exceed quotas, leading to stiff penalties.  Healings, particularly those of blind people, would lead to problems with benefits agencies, who would immediately investigate for fraud, and as for raising the dead, well, the environmental health officers would be up in arms about this one, as there are very stringent rules governing the proper disposal of bodies, not to mention the difficulties which would arise when the recently deceased tried to use their credit cards! 

Jesus did all these miracles though, and we can read about them and many others.  John makes it clear when writing in his Gospel about the first miracle at Cana that the reason Jesus did it was in order to reveal his glory, and as he did so, his disciples put their faith in him.  Later (John 20:30-31) John comments, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 

So Jesus came, bringing in the kingdom, and miraculously bringing healing and wholeness and things of the age to come right into the immediate moment.  Wherever he went masses of people were healed and set free.  And as they saw signs of the kingdom, they believed and put their faith in the king. 

The good guys

So, Jesus, when he was around, had been doing lots of miracles, and he had given the disciples authority to do the same.  They’d already been getting involved in quite a bit of healing, casting out demons, and so on.   Jesus had promised them that they would be able to do even greater things, when the Holy Spirit came.  The story we’re looking at is pretty soon after this had happened.  We’re beginning to get a feel for what these even greater things might be. 

The good guys, Peter, John and the other disciples, are acting in a way that indicates something quite major has happened.  They’re acting in a way which is making the bad guys notice.  We read, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  

So what has life been like for the these guys and those they’ve gathered around them since the Holy Spirit came.  A quick overview of the day to day life of a Christian is given in Acts 2. 

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles (repeat). All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” 

So they were sharing meals, praising God, meeting together, learning – just like us really!.  They had their finances sorted – perhaps the similarity breaks down a bit here.  A little aside on this subject – I came across a list of great lines from church newsletters recently.  One of my favourites was, “The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.” 

The similarity between us and them is also less apparent when we read the line about ‘many wonders and miraculous signs’ being done by the apostles.  Miracles were very much part of the deal.  And I think there’s a link here with the last line I read, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” 

And it wasn’t just the apostles doing wonders and miraculous signs.  A bit later, another guy, Stephen, is given responsibility for the distribution of the food, as it was not right for the apostles to “neglect the ministry of the word in order to wait on tables”.  The apostles prayed, and laid their hands on him, then Stephen gets going too! 

We read “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.”  Stephen, who remember was not one whose job it was to preach and teach – he was the catering manager – does masses of miracles in Jesus’ name and then explains them when opposition arises.  Our man from the kitchens delivers to the leaders of the Jewish church a mightily powerful sermon, explaining how Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s promises to Abraham, Moses and David, and how they are blind not to see this.  He gets killed for it! 

The accounts in Acts continue.  Some more good guys, Paul and Barnabas, come on the scene. They “speak boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do (you’ve guessed it!) miraculous signs and wonders.”  The miracles continue.  Paul talks later in his letter to the Romans about how he lead the Gentiles to faith by what he said and did, “by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit” 

The healing of the crippled beggar was not a one-off, isolated event, it was increasingly becoming the norm when those who were filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in Jesus’ name were around. 

The bad guys

So back to some other characters, the bad guys.  What were the rulers, elders and teachers of the law making of all this?  Well we read in verse 2 that they were ‘greatly disturbed’.   They haul Peter and John before them and ask, “By what power or what name did you do this?”  It’s interesting to note that at no point do they question the authenticity of the miracle.  They must have been in quite a quandary really.  It would have been pretty bad form for them to forbid any more miracles.  I mean, every one likes to see people getting well.  So they decide that “to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”  They don’t warn them to stop doing the miracles, but to stop speaking and teaching in Jesus name – interesting! 

The good guys of course don’t agree to this, but after further threats the bad guys let them go.  Another interesting observation, “They could not decide how to punish them, (verse 21) because all the people were praising God for what had happened.  Even they can see that there’s something a bit out of the ordinary here.   The crowd are not praising and elevating Peter and John for the miracle, all the attention is on God, and they can’t really punish God for healing people, so they have to release them. 

The crowd

The bad guys comment that “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.”  Everyone knows about it.  Good news travel fast.  The miracle has drawn a crowd.  Already in these very early stages of the church’s life we see a pattern beginning to develop.  It happened when the Holy Spirit first came.  The miracle there was that tongues of fire fell on people and they began to speak in different languages.  This drew a crowd.  Peter explained what was happening, proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, and masses of people put their faith in Jesus.  Here it happens again.  The miracle draws the crowd, the disciple use the opportunity to explain about Jesus and proclaim the kingdom, and many who hear the message believe. 

This goes right back to what we said about Jesus and miracles earlier on.  Miracles have a revelatory purpose.  They point to Jesus’ glory, demonstrate kingdom power, in order that people might believe and put their faith in him. 

Isn’t that what we’re about too?  Drawing a crowd, attracting people in so that we can proclaim the good news about Jesus?   We’ll come back to that in a minute. 

The crippled beggar

The final character I want to look at briefly, before I apply some of this to us here and now, is the crippled beggar.  Well, in fact he’s no longer crippled, and probably won’t be a beggar any more as he’ll be able to work.  He sort of gets left out of the story a bit, as in a way, the consequences of the miracle which was done for him have been so far reaching.  Peter refers to what he did as “an act of kindness shown to a cripple”.  The man who was healed might have used slightly more expressive language.  He had been like that since birth, and was over 40.  His life has been changed big-time.  And it was so easy! 

I wonder what he felt!  There must have been a huge power surge going through his body to put enough muscle into unused legs for him to leap about with joy.  It’s the sort of power which is going to bring about the end of the world, surging through one man.   No wonder people sometimes shake a bit or are aware of other physical sensations, or fall to the ground, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.  They are experiencing a foretaste of apocalyptic power surging through a weak human body. 

And there were many others like this crippled beggar.  These people we read about in the Gospels, who Jesus healed; in Acts, who the disciples and others healed.  They get mentioned briefly, but they go on to live restored lives.  For them, it’s not just an event which can be summed up in a sentence, it’s the beginning of a whole new way of living.  I am certain, that whatever terminology he used, that man knew that the power of the future kingdom had broken into his life that day and brought about a miraculous healing which could not happen if he was still totally bound to the present age.  When miracles happen, the power of the kingdom breaks through.   We experience tomorrow’s blessing today. 

Conclusion

Miracles are all about the kingdom of God.  Miracles are events when things which will be common place in the age to come, when the kingdom is fully here, happen in the present age, when it’s not yet here.  In the new age there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will be gone completely (Revelation 21).  In the new age captives will be released, the oppressed set free, and the blind will see.  In the current age that only happens when the kingdom breaks through, which it does through the Holy Spirit.  This is the dimension the church now lives in., where elements of the kingdom are present as a foretaste or down payment of what is to come. 

When we get our heads around this it makes the whole issue of praying for miraculous healing, for example, a lot more straight forward.  Most churches pray for the sick.  Another of those church magazine bloopers read: “Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.”  And another classic – “Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.”  People get sick, and we pray.  Often they get healed.  Why? The kingdom is here!  Often we pray and people don’t get healed.  Why?  The kingdom is not yet here!  It takes all the pressure off really! 

The teaching of the Bible is quite clear that we should pray for one another to be healed, and that we should pray for the kingdom to come, to break through into our lives.  John Wimber talked of a principle that guided him in divine healing.   He said, 

“Obedience to God's word is the fundamental reason why I pray for the sick, even when I do not see healing as a result of my prayers.  I decided long ago that if I pray for a hundred people and only one is healed, it is better than if I never pray at all and no one is healed.” 

How many of us are prepared to pray for miracles?  What are our expectations when we pray? What do we really believe?  When we pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’ do we expect the dead to be raised?  I am certain that when the early church were regularly seeing their proclamation of the kingdom accompanied and demonstrated by signs and wonders they were prepared to pray bigger and bigger prayers! 

At the end of the passage we’re looking at, when Peter and John go back to their people and report in, they all raise their voices together in prayer to God, their king, their sovereign lord.  There is a sense of urgency and passion about their petition: 

“Now, Lord, (now, not next week, or whenever it suits you, but now!) consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” 

And then they go on to specify how this enabling to speak boldly might happen.  They pray  

“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 

And God answered!  “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken”. They knew he was doing something – the whole house shook!  It’s that end of the world power again!  “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” 

We are praying in this church that we will grow.  We have had promises from God that we will grow.  We know it is his will for people to become Christians.  The pattern we’ve seen as we’ve looked at miracles in the New Testament is that miracles are not something to desire for themselves, or to bring praise and glory to those who perform them, but as a sign, revealing Jesus.  The effect of miracles in enabling the announcement of  the kingdom of heaven and in leading people to Christ is given much more weight in all these accounts than the actual healings.  Wholeness and healing for those experiencing the miracles are almost just a side benefit.  The most important aspect comes across as having a relationship with the one in whose name the miracles are performed.  It’s all about Jesus, and leading people to him. 

In many parts of the world today there is massive church growth, and it is accompanied by signs and wonders.  We have seen glimpses in this country.  We’ve begun to see glimpses in this church.  But I am sure that there is so much more God wants to do amongst us.  That’s why I started off by saying I get frustrated by reading Acts.   I cry out to God and ask him why we’re not seeing many miracles here.  I don’t know the answer, but I think he’s beginning to teach us how to pray with increased expectation.  That’s what this series is all about.  Stephen will say more next week too, but all the way through we’ve been getting a grasp of how we can pray for the kingdom to break through here and now. 

I’m sure God wants us to pray, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus, here, at the Ascension, so that the people of this area will get to hear about it.”   I am sure he wants us to see healings in our midst, to taste the blessings of tomorrow today, to experience kingdom power setting us free physically, and also emotionally, from fears and addictions which hold us captive, from behaviour patterns which trap us and cause huge amounts of stress, from thought processes which restrict us. 

I’m sure he wants to do these things amongst us because he delights in bringing healing and wholeness to his people, and wants us to experience some of the not-yet of the kingdom now, but also because healed, whole people are rare in London, and if lots of us go out from this place testifying to what God has done in our lives, news will get around.  Your friends and colleagues and neighbours will want to come and find out what happens here if they see miraculous changes in your life.  People in the community will come in and investigate if they hear that miracles are happening.  Things could start to get to get a bit crowded!  This isn’t just a pipe dream.  This is scriptural.   And it’s part of God’s plan for us, I’m fairly sure of that.  I think we’ve only tasted the first fruits, and there is so much more to come. 

I want to challenge those of you who are regular members here to start to pray for Jesus to reveal himself to us, to reveal his glory and his power through signs and wonders in this church.  To pray that we might see the miracle of many coming to faith, and being healed, and set free. 

If you are in the prayer ministry team I want to challenge you to come and pray each week with increasingly bigger expectations that God will do miracles though you as you lay hands on others and pray for their healing. 

I want to challenge all of you to fast in some way and to come and pray with us into the night next Friday as we call out to God together.  We are hungry for more of him.  We want his kingdom to come here in greater measure, he has called us to pray for it. 

Let’s stand. 

“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 

Let your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.

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