Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000907
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01:01 "Where are all His miracles."
01:03 This is our fifth sitting together. 01:05 And I think you'll agree with me that 01:06 the Lord has been powerfully with us, has He not? 01:09 And we've been blessed through each of the messages 01:11 thus far and we know that, 01:13 that blessing is going to be with us again this evening 01:16 as we hear from our own Shelley Quinn. 01:18 But we want to move right to our theme song, 01:20 "It took a miracle." 01:22 It is found as 111 in the church hymn note 01:25 and we ask you to sing lustily and from your hearts 01:28 as we sing together "It took a miracle." 01:31 Let's go. 01:32 My father is omnipotent 01:36 And that you can't deny 01:40 A God of might and miracles 01:44 'Tis written in the sky 01:49 It took a miracle 01:53 To put the stars in place 01:58 It took a miracle 02:02 To hang the world in space 02:07 But when He saved my soul 02:12 Cleansed and made me whole 02:17 It took a miracle 02:21 Of love and grace 02:25 Very good. Stanza number two. 02:28 Though here His glory has been shown 02:32 We still can't fully see 02:35 The wonders of His might 02:39 His throne 'twill take eternity. 02:45 It took a miracle 02:49 To put the stars in place 02:53 It took a miracle 02:58 To hang the world in space 03:02 But when He saved my soul 03:07 Cleansed and made me whole 03:13 It took a miracle 03:17 Of love and grace 03:21 And now the last stanza. 03:24 The Bible tells us of His power 03:28 And wisdom all way through 03:32 And every little bird and flower 03:36 Are testimonies too 03:41 It took a miracle 03:46 To put the stars in place 03:50 And it took a miracle 03:55 To hang the world in space 03:59 But when He saved my soul 04:04 Cleansed and made me whole 04:11 It took a miracle 04:15 Of love and grace 04:22 Well done, well done. 04:24 We welcome you once again, our in-house audience, 04:28 our audience worldwide, those who are viewing, 04:30 and those who are listening to this particular broadcast. 04:34 God has been very, very good to us as we've talked about 04:37 and reaffirmed the fact 04:39 that we serve a miracle working God. 04:42 When you can't, He can. 04:46 And the same God who worked miracles 04:49 years and years ago still works miracles today. 04:53 I've got a pastor friend of mine who says, 04:54 "I've seen God do so much with so little, for so long, 04:57 I'm convinced that God can do anything with nothing." 05:00 And that's what miracles are all about. 05:02 It's God doing anything with nothing. 05:06 Changing our lives, changing our hearts. 05:09 Our speaker for this night 05:10 is our own Shelley Quinn, as we have said. 05:12 And we are waiting for and expecting 05:14 a miracle working message from her. 05:16 But before she comes to speak with us, 05:19 a couple things we need to do. 05:20 Our scripture reading is coming to us from. 05:23 J.D. Quinn, an elder in the Townsville 05:26 Seventh-day Adventist church. 05:27 He will be followed by our musical message 05:29 from John Lomacang, who will be singing 05:31 "Abide with me." 05:32 And then the next voice you will hear 05:34 will be that of Shelley Quinn. 05:42 God bless each one of you. 05:44 And I want to be reading 05:45 from the New King James Version. 05:48 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, 05:52 the works that I do he will do also, 05:55 and greater works than these he will do, 05:57 because I go to My Father." 06:00 May God add His blessing through the scripture. 06:18 Abide with me 06:23 Fast falls the eventide 06:31 The darkness deepens 06:38 Lord, with me abide 06:44 When other helpers 06:51 Fail and comforts flee 06:57 Help of the helpless 07:02 Lord, abide with me 07:11 I need Thy presence 07:17 Every passing hour 07:24 What but Thy grace 07:29 Can foil the tempter's power? 07:36 Who, like Thyself 07:41 My guide and stay can be? 07:49 Through clouds and sunshine 07:54 Lord, abide with me 08:15 I fear no foe 08:20 With Thee at hand to bless 08:28 Ills have no weight 08:33 And tears no bitterness 08:41 Where is death's sting? 08:45 Where, grave, thy victory? 08:53 I triumph still 08:58 If Thou abide 09:04 With me. 09:27 Thank you, John. Good evening. 09:30 Just want to thank all of you 09:31 for coming out in this nasty weather. 09:34 You know what, in Texas we call this- 09:36 and it is indeed. 09:38 And we want to welcome all of our international guests 09:41 from around the world, 09:43 all those who are viewing either by satellite 09:45 or cable or the internet, radio. 09:47 However you're hearing this program, we welcome you. 09:51 And you know, I want to start off by saying this, 09:54 in Ephesians 4, the Paul wrote and he said that 09:59 Jesus Christ gave some to be apostles, 10:02 some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, 10:05 some to be pastors, and some to be teachers. 10:08 Well, I am not an apostle, I'm not a prophet, 10:12 I am not a an evangelist or a pastor, I'm a teacher. 10:17 And because I'm a teacher, 10:18 I use a lot of Bible scriptures. 10:20 So we're going to have a good old fashioned 10:22 Bible study tonight. 10:24 And what we'd like to do first is 10:25 let's go before the Lord and ask Him 10:28 to send His Holy Spirit to be our teacher. 10:32 Loving Father God, we come before you tonight 10:35 and we thank You, Lord for Your word. 10:39 We thank You father, 10:40 that You did not leave us as orphans. 10:42 We thank You, Father God, for Your Holy Spirit. 10:45 We thank You, oh, Lord, that we know that 10:49 these are spiritual words, spiritually discerned 10:53 and we know how much we need Your Holy Spirit, 10:56 so we thank You for sending him now 10:58 to be our teacher. 11:01 Lord, we want to do all things for the glory of Your name, 11:04 so I ask in Jesus' name, you just get me out of the way. 11:08 And Lord, take these scriptures 11:11 and teach us in Jesus' name, amen, amen. 11:14 I wanted to ask and answer three questions 11:19 before we really get into the message. 11:21 And those three questions are this. 11:23 First of all, what is a miracle? 11:26 You know different people have different ideas 11:28 of what a miracle, what constitutes a miracle. 11:32 And this is the definition that I came up with, 11:35 "A miracle is an effect or an extraordinary event 11:41 in the physical world that surpasses all human powers, 11:46 all natural or known human powers 11:49 and it is ascribed to God." 11:53 In the most cases, those are the true miracles. 11:56 But there are another miracle, another type of miracle 11:59 that is ascribed to other supernatural powers, 12:03 and that's of the devil. 12:05 The lying wonders of the devil. 12:07 So we're going to try, I hope tonight 12:09 we'll have time to touch on both of those. 12:12 But why does God work miracles? 12:16 You know, we're talking about tonight, 12:18 "Where all His miracles?" 12:19 Why does God work miracles in the first place? 12:23 He does it so that He can show His power 12:27 and His love to mankind. 12:30 So the question is, where are all the miracles? 12:34 That's the title of this series. 12:37 And you know, that's a good question. 12:39 Now, for some people who are watching, 12:41 perhaps you haven't seen a miracle in your life. 12:45 I hope that I'll have time tonight 12:46 to share several miracles 12:48 that we have personally seen in our lives. 12:51 But I want you to know that at 3ABN 12:54 we see miracles every day, don't we? 12:57 We hear about miracles every day, 12:59 we witness miracles every day. 13:02 And we want to share some of those miracles 13:04 with you tonight. 13:06 "Where are all of His miracles?" 13:08 Where is the God of Moses who parted the Red Sea? 13:12 Where is the God of Joshua 13:14 who made the sun and the moon standstill? 13:17 Where is the God of Peter who actually let a shadow 13:24 that is being cast, be the agent of healing? 13:28 Do you ever think like that? 13:30 Have those questions ever kind of 13:32 rumbled around in your mind? 13:34 You know, when we think like that, 13:35 our thinking is upside down. 13:37 We've got to reverse the way we think 13:40 because God has not changed, He is not absent, 13:43 He says in Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I change not." 13:47 And in Hebrews 13:8, it says that 13:50 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever." 13:55 So it is not God who has changed. 13:58 I submit to you, it is His people 14:01 who have changed. 14:03 And when we think of this, 14:05 what we've got to ask ourselves are" 14:08 Where are the people who are trusting God 14:12 like Moses did for deliverance? 14:15 Where are the people 14:16 who believe that God can do the impossible, 14:21 that He can do things in the physical realm 14:24 that seem absolutely impossible to us, 14:28 just like Joshua did? 14:29 And where are the people like Peter 14:33 who walked so closely united with the Lord 14:36 that they were so in step with the Holy Spirit, 14:39 that when their shadow was cast 14:41 it was united with His? 14:43 It was the power of the Holy Spirit 14:45 that was doing this heeling. 14:47 So what we're going to talk about tonight, 14:49 if I had to give this a title, 14:51 and I'm not one to title my messages, you know, 14:53 C.A. always comes up with great titles. 14:55 But for me, what I would give this is as a title 14:59 for this message is "The Source, the Secret, 15:04 the Seed and the Surge of Miracles." 15:08 Those are the four points 15:09 we're going to try to cover tonight. 15:11 The source of all true miracles is God. 15:15 Goes without saying that Zechariah 4:6, he said, 15:19 "Not by power, not by might, not by any human agency, 15:24 but by my spirit," says the Lord. 15:28 The secret to experiencing the miracle is in abiding. 15:34 And we're going to spend some time on that. 15:36 The seed of the miracle is stored. 15:40 It's wrapped up inside of His word. 15:43 And the surge of miracles that Jesus promised would come 15:48 will only come when two things happen. 15:51 And that is, when His people are so closely united with Him, 15:57 abiding in Him that they are walking 15:59 in perfect unity with Him. 16:03 And number two is when they increase 16:07 the measure of their expectancy, 16:10 when they increase the measure of faith 16:13 and exercise greater faith. 16:15 Because you know, there is a biblical principle 16:17 that the measure you use will be measured back to you. 16:22 So now if you open your Bibles to John 5, John 5. 16:28 We're going to look at the source of all true miracles 16:32 from creation to recreation, and that is God. 16:37 In John 5, and we're going to begin with verse 19. 16:43 You know Joshua, Moses, Peter, the men of God 16:48 knew to look to God for all the answers. 16:53 No matter what their need was, 16:55 they look to the Lord for as their source, 16:59 they knew that from him emanated these miracles. 17:04 But did you know that even Jesus 17:07 looked to the Father for the miracle? 17:10 And He set a standard for us. 17:13 He set an example for us 17:15 of our absolute total dependence upon God. 17:20 Let's look at John 5:19. 17:24 It says, "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 17:27 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 17:30 the Son can do nothing of Himself." 17:34 Now that's interesting, isn't it? 17:36 Here is the Son of God, perfectly divine, 17:42 perfectly human but He laid down His powers 17:45 when He came here 17:47 because He had to live to be a perfect savior. 17:50 He had to live just like you and I have to live. 17:54 He had to deal with the same limitations 17:58 that you and I have to deal with. 18:00 And so what He did was He came and He said, 18:03 I can do nothing of myself. 18:05 "But only what he sees the Father do, 18:08 for whatever He does, whatever the Father does, 18:12 the Son also does in like manner." 18:17 Verse 20 says, "For the Father loves the Son, 18:20 and shows Him all things that He Himself does, 18:24 and He will show Him greater works than these, 18:28 that you may marvel." 18:31 Greater works than the things that I've already been doing, 18:34 that you've already seen me do, 18:36 that you may marvel that you may bring glory to God. 18:41 Now in John 14, flip over there and let's look at this. 18:46 Not only did Jesus do 18:50 only what the Father told him to do, 18:55 He also said only what the Father told Him to say. 19:00 Now isn't that amazing? 19:01 If we can get this in our mind 19:03 that this is the source of miracles, 19:07 He is the source of miracles, the Father. 19:10 And what we need to do is be like Moses, be like Joshua, 19:15 be like Peter, be like Jesus. 19:18 Learn to be totally dependent upon a God 19:23 that has infinite love for us. 19:26 Look at John 14:8. 19:30 "Philip said to Him, to Christ, 'Lord, show us the Father, 19:35 and it is sufficient for us.' 19:38 And Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, 19:43 and yet you have not known Me, Philip? 19:46 He who has seen Me has seen the Father, 19:51 so how can you say, 'Show us the Father?' 19:54 "Jesus here is claiming His divinity. 19:59 He says, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, 20:03 and the Father in Me?" 20:05 He says, I abide in the Father and the Father abides in me. 20:10 Now look at this one, this is verse 10. 20:12 "The words that I speak to you, 20:16 I do not speak on My own authority, 20:19 but the Father who dwells in Me does the works." 20:26 I want to pause just a second here. 20:28 Jesus as Son of Man was a man pf prayer. 20:34 He was a man who sought his Father's will. 20:39 You know, you've heard it said that prayer 20:42 is the breath of the soul, the breath of the spirit. 20:46 This is, this is how you and I breathe spiritually. 20:50 That's why Paul says, pray without ceasing. 20:54 When you cease to breathe what happens? 20:56 You suffocate. 20:58 And you know what, there's a lot of people 21:00 who are suffocating spiritually 21:03 because their prayer life is so sporadic 21:07 that they end up when they do go to prayer, 21:09 they're just gasping for spiritual life. 21:14 So he goes on in verse 11. 21:17 He says, "Believe Me that I am in the Father 21:22 and the Father in Me, 21:24 or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 21:27 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me." 21:32 Now get this, John 14:12, 21:39 "He who believes in Me, 21:41 the works that I do he will do also, 21:46 and greater works than these will he do, 21:50 because I go to My Father." 21:53 Now Jesus is not talking about greater miracles, 21:57 greater spiritual works 21:59 as far as the quality of the works 22:01 but the quantity of the works. 22:04 I have a question to pose to you. 22:06 Are we doing greater works in quantity than Jesus did? 22:13 Are we doing greater works in quantity 22:16 than the early church did? 22:19 We've got to learn how to go to the Lord 22:24 in absolute total dependence upon Him, 22:27 believing that nothing is impossible with Him, 22:30 and drawing on Him. 22:33 He goes on in verse 13, he says, 22:35 "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, 22:42 that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 22:46 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." 22:50 Now do you believe that? 22:52 Do you really? 22:54 Is it that we believe it up here 22:56 or do we believe it down here? 22:58 You know what I think? 23:00 I think we're still stuck up here. 23:02 I think it's mental assent. 23:05 You know why I believe that? 23:07 I mean, we believe it because it's the word of God 23:09 but it's not down here yet. 23:11 And I can tell you that 23:13 because of our little bitty prayers. 23:15 We pray such small prayers. 23:20 Jesus, if you want to turn now to John 10, 23:24 in setting this example for us, the standard that He only did 23:29 what the Father told him to do, 23:31 that He was this man of prayer. 23:33 He only spoke what the Father told him to speak. 23:37 He, in John 10:37, he tells us, he is one with God. 23:44 Let's look. 23:46 John 10:37, "If I do not do the works of My Father, 23:51 do not believe Me, but if I do, 23:55 though you do not believe Me, believe the works, 23:59 that you may know and believe 24:02 that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 24:07 Again, over and over we're getting this idea 24:11 that Jesus was abiding in the Father, 24:14 and the Father was abiding in him. 24:17 It's not just an idea Jesus said this. 24:20 And that's point number two. 24:23 Number one, God is the source of all miracles. 24:26 Number two, the secret to the miracle, 24:30 to experiencing miracles in our life 24:33 is abiding in Christ. 24:37 This is a secret that Moses knew to abiding God, 24:40 Joshua knew he was abiding in God. 24:43 Peter and the apostles were abiding. 24:46 Now what does the word abiding mean? 24:49 First of all, let me tell you, 24:50 it's not just dipping your toe into the spiritual waters, 24:55 it's diving in. 24:57 It's living, totally immersed to abide in something. 25:02 It's not a weekend Christian. 25:05 You don't take a vacation from God. 25:07 In the Greek, the word abide is meno, m-e-n-o. 25:13 And if I had to reduce it to just two words, 25:17 what I would say it means to abide 25:20 is to continue in and to comply with. 25:26 To continue in, to do well in God, to endure, 25:31 to persevere, to remain and to stand firm in God. 25:36 To comply with means to obey Him, 25:39 to observe what He's taught us to follow, 25:42 to conform to, to acknowledge, and adhere to. 25:46 Just as Jesus said, 25:49 "I am in the Father and the Father's in me. 25:52 I am the father and one." 25:55 Did you know that when we are in Christ, 25:59 the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:17, 26:03 that when we are united with Christ, 26:05 we are one in spirit with Him? 26:10 That's what abiding is, to be one in spirit. 26:15 Means to be one in purpose, in thought, and in action. 26:21 Oh, I think that 26:24 this is probably one of the most difficult things 26:27 when I'm doing life affirmations from scripture 26:30 and I quote 1 Corinthians 6:17, and I say, 26:33 Lord, thank you, 26:34 that because I'm united with Christ, 26:37 I'm one with you in spirit. 26:39 I know that I'm calling things 26:41 that are not as though they already were. 26:43 It's a confession of faith over my life 26:45 that this is what God's going to do 26:47 but this is where God wants to get us, 26:50 if we want to see the miracles that He has promised. 26:55 We've got to be abiding in Him. 26:58 The perfect illustration is John 15:4, 5. 27:04 Jesus said there that 27:07 He's talking about the vine and the branch. 27:11 And He says, abide in me. 27:14 Is that an option? 27:16 This is not an option, this is a command. 27:18 He says, abide in me and I in you, 27:22 as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself 27:25 unless it abides in the vine, 27:27 neither can you. 27:29 Unless you abide in me, you've got to continue in me, 27:33 you got to dwell in me. 27:35 You've got to adhere to me, 27:36 you got to comply with the doctrines 27:39 that I had taught you. 27:40 He says, I am the vine, you are the branches 27:45 and apart from me you can do what? 27:48 Nothing. 27:50 What does the vine give to the branch 27:52 when it's connected? 27:54 What flows from the vine into the branch? 27:57 The sap. 28:00 When we're connected to Jesus, the sap that flows from Him 28:05 is the spirit's anointing power. 28:09 And it flows into us. 28:12 And this is what empowers us to walk as Jesus walked. 28:18 So He's telling us that this is what 28:22 we are commanded to do. 28:24 Now, let me ask you, are you abiding? 28:27 How do we know if we're abiding in Christ? 28:31 I want to give you a little subset here, 28:33 I don't want to mess you up on your numbering. 28:35 But I want to give you five ways to know 28:38 that you are abiding in Christ. 28:40 And we'll go through these rather quickly. 28:42 John 14, and we won't look every one of these up, 28:46 just write these down and listen. 28:48 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word. 28:52 John 14:15-17. 28:56 If you are abiding in Christ, 28:59 you are going to be spirit filled 29:02 and commandment keeping. 29:05 He says in John 14:15, 29:07 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 29:12 And I will pray the Father, 29:13 and He will give you another helper, 29:15 that He may abide in you forever." 29:18 Who is that helper? 29:20 "The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, 29:24 because it neither sees him nor knows him, 29:26 but you know him, for he dwells with you 29:30 and he will be in you." 29:32 He abides in you. 29:34 He's going to continue in you unless you quench him 29:39 and send him away. 29:41 And that same vein of commandment keeping, 29:44 this is the first point of how you know if you're abiding. 29:47 Jesus said, "If you keep My commandments," 29:50 John 15:10, 29:51 "you will abide in my love 29:55 just as I have kept my Father's Commandments 29:59 and abide in His love." 30:01 So if you're of abiding, you got to be spirit filled 30:05 and keeping the commandments of God. 30:08 If you're not, you're not abiding. 30:10 And number two way to show that you know that you're abiding 30:14 is that you are continuing in the doctrines. 30:20 Let me give you two scriptures, 1 Timothy 4:16. 30:24 1 Timothy 4:16. 30:27 Paul writes and says, 30:28 "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. 30:31 Continue, abide in them," hold fast to them, 30:36 is what he's saying. 30:37 "For in doing this you will save both yourself 30:41 and those who hear you." 30:43 You know nowadays, 30:45 sometimes when we talk about doctrines, 30:47 people turn up their nose. 30:49 Have you noticed how people wrinkled their nose 30:51 sometimes when you're talking about doctrine 30:53 as if that's a bad thing? 30:54 Doctrine is simply the teaching of Christ. 30:57 And there should be no wrinkling of a nose. 30:59 There should be something that we want to learn the doctrines, 31:02 that we want to keep the doctrines, 31:04 that we want to be able to share and teach the doctrines 31:07 because this is where salvation begins. 31:12 He says in 2 John 1:9, John writes, 31:17 "Whoever transgresses 31:19 and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ 31:23 does not have God. 31:27 He who abides in the doctrine of Christ 31:30 has both the Father and the Son." 31:34 If you are not abiding in the doctrine of Christ, 31:39 you do not have salvation. 31:41 Because it says here, if you're not abiding, 31:44 you do not have the Father and the Son. 31:47 So that is an absolute prerequisite 31:52 to keeping this gift of salvation 31:55 that He gives us. 31:57 It is salvation by grace, 31:59 but Grace is more than just unearned, 32:03 unmerited favor. 32:05 It is the supernatural power for salvation. 32:09 It's God working in you to will and to act 32:12 according to His good purpose. 32:14 Now the third point to know if you are abiding in Christ. 32:19 Guess what? 32:20 You're going to be practicing righteousness. 32:22 1 John 2, just write this down. 32:26 1 John 2:28, 29, "And now, little children, 32:32 abide in Him, that when He appears, 32:36 we may have confidence 32:38 and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 32:41 If you know that He is righteous, 32:45 you know that everyone who practices righteousness 32:52 is born of Him." 32:54 Righteousness by faith 32:56 is the only kind of righteousness there is, 32:59 but when that righteousness of Jesus Christ 33:02 has been imparted to you and imputed to you, 33:05 you will walk in righteousness. 33:09 Now the fourth point of how to know if you're abiding? 33:12 In 1 John 3:9, 33:15 people who are abiding in Christ 33:18 don't make a habit of sinning. 33:21 Let me read this, 1 John 3:9, 33:24 "Whoever has been born of God does not sin." 33:28 Oh, boy, now that will make your knees knock. 33:30 Doesn't it? 33:32 I mean, that makes you question yourself and say, 33:33 am I born again because I know, 33:35 I fall short of the glory of God everyday. 33:38 But listen, this is a linear present active indicative. 33:43 In other words, what he is saying here 33:46 is that the child of God does not keep on sinning, 33:51 He's not a habitual sinner. 33:53 Yes, your feet may slip and fall occasionally. 33:56 You may trip upon something, 33:58 a snare that the devil's put out there. 34:00 But it is not your practice to sin. 34:03 You don't deliberately, knowingly sin. 34:07 So it says, "Whoever has been born of God 34:09 does not keep on sinning, 34:12 for His seed remains in him, his seed abides in him." 34:17 The seed of God, His word and His spirit, by that, 34:22 He gives us that divine life principle, 34:24 that's alive in us. 34:26 And he goes on and he says, "He cannot sin." 34:29 He cannot habitually practice sin 34:32 because he's been born of God. 34:36 Now, the fourth point to know how you're abiding. 34:39 1 John 3:6. 34:41 Oh, this is still part of the fourth point. 34:43 It talks about, does not continually sin. 34:46 He says, whoever abides in Him, does not sin. 34:49 If you're living in communion and union with the Lord, 34:53 you're complying with His teachings, 34:55 you're walking in obedience to Him. 34:57 So you cannot just continue on as a habit of sinning. 35:01 He says, whoever sins as a habit 35:04 has never seen Him nor known Him. 35:08 Now the fifth point, 35:09 how to know you're abiding in God, in Christ. 35:14 You will walk as Jesus walked. 35:17 1 John 2:3-6, 35:21 "Now by this we know that we know Him, 35:24 if we keep His commandments. 35:28 He who says, 'I know Him,' 35:30 and does not keep His commandments, 35:32 is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 35:35 But whoever keeps His word, 35:38 truly the love of God is perfected in him. 35:40 By this we know that we are in Him. 35:44 He who says he abides in Him 35:49 ought himself also to walk as Jesus walked." 35:55 Are we abiding in Christ? 35:58 Are we walking in that, 36:01 and living in that unconditional love, 36:04 that self-sacrificing love? 36:06 Let me give you one more scripture 36:08 that goes with that. 36:10 In 1 John 4:15-17, it says, 36:15 "Anyone who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, 36:18 God abides in him, and he abides in God. 36:22 And we have know and believed the love 36:24 that God cherishes for us. 36:25 God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love, 36:30 dwells and continues in God, 36:32 and God dwells and continues in him." 36:34 In this union and communion with Him, 36:37 love is brought to completion 36:40 and it attains perfection with us 36:42 that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment 36:46 because as He is in this world, so are we. 36:52 So the secret to attaining the miracle 36:57 is to abide in Him. 37:01 Now, the third point, 37:03 getting back to our three main points. 37:05 We've looked at the source of the miracle, 37:07 the secret of the miracle. 37:10 Now let's look at the third point, 37:13 the seed of the miracle is in the word of God. 37:19 You know, Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, 37:22 "Man shall not live by bread alone 37:24 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 37:28 Just as we talked about people 37:29 who were gasping for spiritual life 37:32 because they weren't as prayer is the breathing of the soul. 37:37 Then we have to look at the word 37:39 as being the food for the soul. 37:41 And there are a lot of 37:43 malnourished Christians out there. 37:45 People who know a lot up here, 37:49 but they're not abiding in the word. 37:51 We're going to look at that. 37:53 Jesus said in John 8:11 as He was interpreting 37:57 the Parable of the Sower. 38:00 He said, the seed is the, what? 38:04 The word of God. 38:06 Now that sentence structure in the Greek, 38:09 the article with both the subject 38:12 and the predicate as written here 38:15 means that it can be absolutely reverse. 38:17 The seed is the word of God, the word of God is the seed. 38:23 And the word of God contains the power, 38:26 He spoke and it came into existence, right? 38:30 So the seed of the miracle is in the word. 38:35 And if you and I know the word, 38:38 we'll be set free, right? 38:39 Know the truth and the truth shall set you free, right? 38:43 It's a trick question, 38:45 you think about this for a second. 38:47 It's a trick question. 38:49 You cannot separate John 8:32 from John 8:31. 38:56 John 8:32 says, "Then you'll know the truth, 38:59 and the truth will set you free." 39:01 But he starts off by saying, "If you abide in my word." 39:09 If you dwell in it, if you live in it, 39:12 if it is part of you and my way, he says, 39:16 if you abide in my word, you're my disciples indeed, 39:20 then you will know the truth 39:22 and the truth will set you free. 39:24 The Pharisees had it up here. 39:26 There was a mental assent 39:28 but they weren't abiding in Him. 39:30 What does it mean to abide in the word? 39:33 It means that you have to let it be the confession 39:36 over your life, the confession of faith. 39:38 You got to pray the word back to God. 39:40 You got to speak the word over your life. 39:42 You've got to be so much in the word 39:44 that the word becomes a part of you. 39:46 It can't just be that you're doing a Bible study, 39:50 it can't just be that you're doing, 39:52 you're studying to answer the Sabbath school questions. 39:55 You got to let the word be your spiritual nutrition. 39:59 And I want to tell you that I know for a fact 40:04 there is power in confessing the word of God over your life. 40:08 Every time that I quit praying the scriptures 40:11 back to the Lord and confessing them over my life, 40:14 if I just do it even, 40:16 if I take a break for a couple of months, 40:18 there's a lot of scripture in my heart 40:20 and I pray it automatically. 40:23 But there's something so powerful 40:25 about setting aside time every day 40:28 to overcome the identity crisis, 40:30 to get into the word of God. 40:32 And any time that I quit doing it, guess what? 40:34 My spiritual power is like the oil, you know, 40:37 when you check in the dip-stick in the car 40:40 and the oil is just kind of going down 40:41 and you're low on oil. 40:43 Every time that I quit doing it, 40:44 for even a short time, 40:46 my spiritual power is diminished, 40:48 that oil level is going down. 40:51 When we think of the word, 40:53 we know that we're born again of the word. 40:55 Wow, what power the word has. 40:58 But and to me, that's one of the greatest miracles 41:01 that there is. 41:02 But the greatest miracle is not just being born again, 41:09 it's not just how the word can convert you 41:14 but it is total transformation. 41:17 It is the changing of your spiritual DNA. 41:23 Did you know you've got spiritual DNA? 41:27 It is, everybody's got spiritual DNA. 41:29 It is either the Devil's Nature Acquired, DNA. 41:35 You're born with that, are you not? 41:39 But when you are transformed, 41:42 it is the Divine Nature Acquired. 41:47 That is your new spiritual DNA. 41:49 And 2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us how we get it. 41:54 He says in 2 Peter 1:3, 41:58 "His divine power has given to us 42:01 all things that pertain to life and godliness, 42:05 through the knowledge of Him 42:06 who called us by His glory and virtue, 42:09 by which by His glory and virtue 42:11 have been given to us exceedingly great 42:14 in precious promises." 42:16 How many of those promises are yours if you're in Christ? 42:19 All of them, 2 Corinthians 1:20 says. 42:22 He's given us these exceedingly 42:24 great and precious promises that through these, 42:28 through these promises you may partake 42:32 of the divine nature and escape the lust, 42:37 the corruption that's in the world through lust. 42:40 Do you want to have more of Jesus? 42:43 Do you want to be more like Jesus? 42:45 The seed of that transforming miracle 42:49 is wrapped inside His word. 42:52 You got to plant that seed in your heart. 42:55 And again, He says, if you abide in Me 42:58 and My words abide in you, ask what you want, 43:03 whatever you desire and it will be given to you. 43:06 That's John 15:7. 43:08 You know people get 43:10 so uptight about that scripture. 43:12 You know why? 43:14 They think that, that means you can ask for a Rolls Royce, 43:18 or you can ask for a million dollar home. 43:21 But that's not what's going to happen. 43:23 When you are abiding in the word 43:26 and the word's abiding in you, 43:27 God aligns your will up with His will. 43:31 His desires become your desires, 43:33 His thoughts become your thoughts. 43:35 And when you start praying, you're praying in agreement 43:39 with His word and His will, and you've got it. 43:43 Now, I'm going to skip over a couple of points 43:46 and I'll come back if we have time. 43:48 But I want to get to the fourth major point. 43:51 We've talked about the source of the miracle, 43:55 of all true miracles is God. 43:57 The Secret, number two, to experiencing the miracle 44:01 is to abide in Christ. 44:05 Number three was the seed of the miracle 44:08 is the word of God. 44:10 Now number four is the surge of miracles 44:14 that we should be expecting. 44:16 And it will only come when there's unity 44:20 and greater faith. 44:22 The surge of miracles that Jesus promised will be released 44:25 when His people are vitally united with Him. 44:28 And in the church, where there's no division, 44:33 and when we increase the measure of our expectancy, 44:36 when we have greater faith. 44:38 Turn with me to Acts 2. 44:41 Acts 2. 44:43 Because I want to show you what unity can bring. 44:48 It's more than just abiding with Christ. 44:51 It's you and I as God's people, 44:55 His true people being united with one another. 44:59 And in Acts 2, we're going to look at verse, 45:02 begin with verse 1. 45:04 "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, 45:08 they were all with one accord in one place." 45:14 What does that mean to be one accord? 45:16 That means they are being like minded, 45:19 they're all seeking the same thing, 45:21 they're studying the scriptures, 45:22 they're trying to find out what's going on. 45:25 Jesus has descended, we thought that once He resurrected, 45:28 that we still had this idea 45:30 that He was going to take over right now 45:32 and deliver us from the Romans. 45:35 So they're seeking to understand this better. 45:38 "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, 45:41 as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house 45:44 where they were sitting. 45:46 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, 45:50 and one sat upon each of them. 45:52 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit 45:56 and began to speak in other tongues, 45:58 other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance." 46:03 When was the Spirit poured out? 46:06 When they came together. 46:08 This miracle working spirit 46:11 was when they were abiding with Christ, 46:14 when they were in the work 46:15 where they've seen the miracle restored, 46:17 where they were united with one another. 46:19 They weren't arguing over 46:21 what color is the carpet going to be. 46:23 They're not arguing over 46:25 what kind of collection plate are we going to have, 46:27 the little bags or the gold plates. 46:30 They're coming together seeking what God wanted 46:33 for them to have. 46:34 Now I want to show you something 46:35 because this is so special. 46:37 Turn to Acts 4. 46:39 This same group of people 46:41 we're going to see them together again. 46:44 In Acts 4, let me set this up. 46:46 Peter and John had just healed a 40-year old man 46:49 that had been lying all of this life. 46:51 They were arrested, they were held overnight, 46:54 they went before the Sanhedrin. 46:55 The Sanhedrin recognize 46:57 that these men had been with Jesus, 46:59 because these uneducated men were speaking so boldly. 47:02 They knew that they had been with Jesus. 47:05 And then they warned them and commanded them, 47:07 they said, don't go out teach in His name anymore. 47:09 And then they released them. 47:11 And so what happened was then that Peter and John 47:14 went to meet with all the rest of the disciples. 47:17 And look at Acts 4:23, let's start there. 47:21 "And being let go, 47:23 they went to their own companions 47:26 and reported all that the chief priests 47:28 and elders had said to them. 47:30 So when they heard that, 47:33 they raised their voice to God with one accord." 47:36 These are the same disciples that were up in the upper room 47:39 that were filled with the Holy Spirit 47:42 on the day of Pentecost. 47:43 Once again, they are together in one accord 47:47 and they say, "Lord, You are God, 47:51 who made heaven and earth and the sea, 47:53 and all that is in them, who by the mouth 47:55 of Your servant David have said: 47:57 'Why did the nations rage, 47:58 and the people plot vain things? 48:01 The kings of the earth took their stand, 48:03 and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord 48:05 and against His Christ. 48:06 For truly against Your holy Servant 48:09 whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, 48:12 with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, 48:14 were gathered together to do whatever Your hand 48:17 and Your purpose determined before to be done.'" 48:21 Now, verse 29, "Now, Lord, look on their threats, 48:27 and grant to Your servants that with all boldness 48:31 they may speak Your word, 48:34 by stretching out Your hand to heal, 48:38 and that signs and wonders may be done 48:41 through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." 48:45 They're praying for God to do miracles. 48:50 They're praying for signs and wonders 48:53 for the glory of His name. 48:55 When was the last time we got together in one accord 48:58 and said, Lord, stretch out Your hand and perform signs 49:03 and wonders in Thompsonville, Illinois, 49:05 that people may know you are God. 49:09 He says, when they prayed, verse 31. 49:14 This is Acts 4:31, "When they had prayed, 49:18 the place where they were assembled together 49:20 was shaken, 49:22 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, 49:26 and they spoke the word of God with boldness." 49:30 Same people that had been together 49:32 on the day of Pentecost. 49:33 Do you see this? Do you see a pattern here? 49:36 It's unity, when we get together 49:39 and when we are united, praying with one mind, 49:43 like mindedness, 49:44 seeking God to asking Him to do something 49:48 for the glory of His name, the Holy Spirit is poured out. 49:52 Now, it takes that unity but it also takes faith. 49:55 We got to increase our faith, we got to pray. 49:58 Hebrews 11:6, says that, 50:01 "Without faith it is impossible to please God." 50:06 Because we must believe, anybody that comes to Him 50:08 must believe that He exists and that He rewards 50:11 those who earnestly seek Him. 50:15 We've got to be more earnest in our seeking. 50:18 We've got to come to the Lord and say, Lord, 50:21 increase our faith. 50:23 Why is it impossible to not please God without faith? 50:30 The answer is found, 1 John 5:10. 50:33 It says that anyone who disregards His testimony 50:37 is regarding God as a liar. 50:41 So when you don't accept what His word says about 50:44 who you are in Christ, as a new creation, 50:47 you're regarding God as a liar. 50:50 You know, what our job to do, 50:51 is to do is to get into the word 50:54 to pray it back to Him. 50:55 In Isaiah 55:11, it says, His world will not return void, 50:59 but will accomplish every purpose 51:01 for which he send Him. 51:02 Jeremiah 1:12 says, He's watching over His word 51:05 to perform it. 51:06 And Romans 4:17 say, that he calls things 51:09 that are not as though they already were. 51:12 He's the God who knows the end from the beginning, 51:14 but we can know it too. 51:16 How? 51:17 By getting into the word. 51:20 Now, I wanted to leave you with this one thought. 51:23 Luke 11:29, Jesus said, 51:26 an evil generation seeks a sign. 51:30 There are people out there who are seeking the sign 51:33 that God would prove Himself to them. 51:36 We've got to be so careful. 51:39 We've got to know the word of God so well 51:43 that we will not be deceived. 51:47 We started off by saying that God 51:49 is the source of all true miracles. 51:51 But there are lying signs and wonders out there 51:55 and the devil is going to do them. 51:58 Just going to give you a few scriptures. 52:00 In Matthew 7:22, 23, Jesus is saying, 52:05 there's going to be those who come to Him and say, 52:07 Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons 52:10 and heal in Your name, 52:11 and do many wonders in your name? 52:14 And he says, away from you, 52:16 you who practiced lawlessness, I never knew you. 52:20 They're going to be those who think 52:22 that they're doing miracles of God, 52:24 that God's working through them. 52:26 But they're not walking in obedience, 52:27 they're not abiding in Him. 52:29 And it's not true. 52:31 In Matthew 24:24, Jesus warns us 52:35 about the great signs and wonders that the false Christ 52:39 and the false prophets will perform. 52:42 In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10. 52:46 He talks about the coming of the lawless one, 52:49 and the power and the signs and the lying wonders. 52:52 In Revelation 13:11-14, he talks a beast that-- 52:57 about the beast that comes up from the earth 53:00 and he performs great signs 53:02 so that he even makes fire come down from heaven 53:04 and earth in the sight of men. 53:06 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth 53:09 by those signs which he was granted to do 53:12 in the sight of the beast. 53:15 We know in Revelation 16, it talks about 53:17 the three unclean spirits, the dragon, the beast, 53:21 and the false prophet. 53:23 And there's spirits of demons performing signs and wonders. 53:27 Is it important for us to know what a true miracle is. 53:32 Let me share real quickly. 53:34 We've experienced three physical healings, 53:38 more than that miraculous healing in our life. 53:41 The first was with me. 53:43 Actually, the first was with JD. 53:46 JD had open knee surgery, got an infection in his body, 53:51 he would have a raging fever. 53:53 And all of a sudden this man goes from being very ill to 53:57 at death's door. 53:59 And they, they couldn't figure out 54:02 what was going on. 54:03 His haematocrit was at zero. 54:05 They did a bone marrow test on him. 54:07 And when they did this bone marrow test, 54:09 they found out that his bone marrow 54:11 had totally shut down. 54:13 Four weeks they're saying to me, 54:15 now they think he's got acute leukemia. 54:17 Four weeks. 54:19 He's in the hospital couple of weeks, 54:20 I had him take, bring him home. 54:21 And I was given him his IVs and things 54:24 through a shunt they put in. 54:25 Four weeks. 54:26 And I've got him in home for a couple of weeks now, 54:29 in the home, health nurses come in all the time. 54:31 And one night I'm praying so hard and the Lord says, 54:34 call the elders and have them come, anoint him, 54:37 James 5. 54:39 I call the elders. 54:41 And it was a Wednesday night, they were all in church. 54:44 But they said, well, we'll come tomorrow night. 54:45 And I said, No God said, tonight. 54:47 They came over and we prayed for him. 54:50 And you know what? 54:51 When we prayed, I knew that I knew that he was healed. 54:54 And they all kept talking like nothing happened. 54:57 And I'm thinking, what's wrong with you folks? 54:59 And did you know the next day, it took an act of Congress 55:03 because the home health nurse had been out that morning. 55:06 It took an act of Congress to get him out again 55:09 because our insurance wasn't going to cover 55:11 and I said, I'll pay for it. 55:12 And the long story short, 55:15 God healed JD literally overnight. 55:18 His blood went from zero haematocrit 55:21 to dawning to being absolutely perfect. 55:24 And the doctor calls me and says 55:26 something wrong with this test, we got to do it again. 55:27 And I said, there's nothing wrong with this test, 55:29 it's my God. 55:31 And you know, it happened because 55:34 I was abiding in the council of the word of God. 55:38 And you've heard my testimony 55:39 of how God took me out of a year, 55:42 when they're getting ready, I had vertigo for year, 55:45 spinning like a top, 55:46 and they wanted to cut the nerves in my ears. 55:49 And God got me into His words 55:52 and I was claiming His word over my life, 55:55 and He miraculously healed me overnight. 55:58 So let's look at the four points. 56:01 The source of all true miracles is God. 56:06 The secret to experience the miracle is to abide in Him. 56:13 The seed of the miracle is the word of God. 56:16 And as Jesus said in John 14:12, 56:19 "Most assuredly I tell you, he who believes in me, 56:22 the works that I do, he will do also 56:25 and greater works than these will he do 56:27 because I go to my father." 56:30 The surge of miracles that He's promising right there 56:35 will only be released 56:37 when His people are vitally united to Him 56:40 and vitally united in one accord, likeminded. 56:45 And when we increase the measure of our expectancy, 56:50 when we operate with increased faith, 56:54 because the measure we use will be measured back to us. 56:59 I pray that you will learn to expect a miracle from God 57:04 and not to be deceived by the false miracles. 57:07 Thank you so much for joining us. |
Revised 2015-12-17