Signs and wonders
Acts 5:11-16; 4/23/2023; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
What are signs and wonders? If we take the name literally, it is the trace left by God, which makes people feel curious. So why does the concept of signs and wonders appear here? Among the many combined messages, what does God want to say to us? Let’s look at the first point:
Be in awe
The basic background here is that just after Ananias and his wife died, the Bible mentions the miracles here. First, the church should be in awe. When the early church was founded, awe was important. Ananias and his wife thought they had money, they could at least be proud in their hearts before the apostles. They are full of lies, gossip, and judgments, so that they deceive the Holy Spirit. The husband, Ananias, came to deceive the apostles, and God didn’t even give him a chance to repent, so directly “He fell down and died!” When his wife came, Peter really gave the opportunity to ask. As a result, the wife still refused to repent, so God dealt with the couple together. Peter asked: “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?” The bible says, “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Do people in our church today have a heart of fear? The words spoken are flamboyant, domineering, and even arrogant. Are you really not afraid of God?
Second, reverence for unity. When a man is not afraid of God, it is because he does not love God. Ananias and his wife did not come to the church to seek God. They came to find people, seek their applause, and satisfy their emotional and sensual desires. Since the whole church is afraid, it means that loving God is the goal to grow for the whole church. From fear to awe is the process of transformation from humanism to God. These things come in pairs, the Bible says that the apostles performed many miracles among the people, not just one. The purpose of God’s signs and wonders is for the church to be in one accord under the porch of Solomon. The Portico of Solomon was built in 37 BC by King Herod to please the Jews. Starting with Jesus, this place is a good place to spread the gospel and bear witness.
Finally, be of one heart without losing respect. God’s mercy, love, holiness and righteousness also determine that all of us who believe in Him cannot only bear easy burdens. It is a good thing for us to preach the gospel, but it may not be rewarded. May be persecuted, tea-drinked, arrested, tortured, killed. People who serve in the church, including pastors, ministers, and co-workers, are not just about listening to good words, but also bear with each other when there is pressure. Otherwise, all the burdens will be passed on to the pastor, and the pastor may be changed soon. The early church learned the lesson of respect in an environment of fearing God and fearing man. Ever wonder why, because respect is the foundation of love. Talking about love without respect is like deceiving yourself and others, and you will eventually be deceiving the Holy Spirit. If you can’t even respect parents, bosses, spouses, teachers, pastors, preachers, etc. that you can see with your eyes, but you say you respect God, do you believe it yourself? Let’s look at the second point:
People who believed in the Lord
Paul said, you should have the mind of Jesus Christ, and the heart of God is to save all people. Therefore, the heart of the gospel should be our heart. First, believing and being saved is a mission. The Bible says that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Paul’s explanation said: To the one who does not work, but only believes in God who justifies sinners, his faith is counted as righteousness. We are saved by grace through faith, so we are justified by faith. This is the mission of our life, which is to bring people to the Lord so that they may have the grace of being justified freely by faith. In fact, this is the purpose of miracles, and no other purpose. In other words, if signs and wonders are not aligned with the Gospel and do not make people believe in the Lord, then the so-called signs and wonders do not come from God. Especially those who manifest personality worship and idol worship through signs and wonders are from Satan.
Second, into Christ as the ultimate. Luke’s language is terse, and the combination of faith and conversion into Christ may lead people to overlook the difference between the two. Especially in the context of Chinese, I believe it may be misinterpreted as knowing. Then it is even more likely that you will fall into the trap of the devil, as James said: You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. Therefore, the core of faith is to ultimately into Christ, belong to Christ, and follow Christ. This is actually the relationship between the Savior and the Lord. We might all be quickly ready to accept Christ as our Savior, right? He died for us, rose for us, and bore our burdens. We don’t have to do anything, just believe it, it’s free, how wonderful! But the ultimate concern of faith is to accept Him as our Lord! He is the Lord, I am the servant, everything about me belongs to Him, will you?
Finally, believer growth is the goal. The more and more increase in the scriptures refers to the gift of God, not the ability of manpower. Moreover, the increase of believers must include the growth in both quality and quantity. The “into” mentioned here refers to the completion of the process of belonging to Christ through incorporation into the church, the body of Christ. No one can separate Christ from His body, the Church, nor is there a space for submission to Christ without submission to the Church. What Satan likes most is to separate God from His words. Even though God has already said it, Satan deliberately asks Eve: Did God really say it? God’s creation is already perfect, but Satan added the confusion of “your eyes will be opened.” Obviously the church has made a decision, but some people who seem to express their belonging to Christ by belonging to the church run counter to the church. Therefore, in addition to quantitative growth, God values our essential growth more. Let’s look at the third point:
All healed
The order of signs and wonders, the writer of the Bible deliberately put them at the bottom, that is, after life and the gospel. First, the testimony of bringing into the streets. Since Adam and Eve sinned, death and sickness have been the curse of mankind. Death devours the ultimate meaning of life, and disease binds the quality of life. Especially for leprosy, which was prevalent at that time, death was certainly its final outcome. However, after getting leprosy, people were isolated and sent to a leprosy village, and the social function and value of life also disappeared, and life was worse than death. It’s a bit like the lockdown in the city of Shanghai, and people are almost crazy, that’s what it feels like. After finally hearing that there was a chance to be healed, of course he went to the street desperately, wanting to be healed. Mass movements are often blind, but God takes this opportunity to manifest and testify to the name of Christ.
Secondly, the anticipation that comes from hearing the news. The blind flow of people follows people’s suffering and needs, by hearing the news, and expecting to be healed. Maybe some of them have heard the story of Jesus, and imitated the people who carried the paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda and lowered the paralyzed man from the house. In addition to medical healing, of course, it is inevitable to encounter the service of casting out demons. This kind of excitement comes from all directions, every age has this kind of people who are healed in a daze. There are also many lost people among them, for example, hoping that when Peter comes over, or that his shadow will shine on someone. This is already idolatry, as if a great man, even the shadow of a great man, had the function of miracles. Just like today’s believers, they don’t just listen to the sermon quietly in the church, but they ask around to see if there are any great people with great achievements. After inquiring, no matter how far away, you just have to go, even if you are caught by the shadow of a great man, it is a wish come true.
Lastly, all were healed. God is merciful. Even so, God’s healing will come to all who seek Him. This is also the reason why in some nonsensical healing conferences, we can still see people who are healed. Our God is a God of healing, and the key is, God is willing to heal us! As long as we are willing to receive His healing, and pray in faith, it will be answered. Jesus said: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? If your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Our Heavenly Father is an omnipotent God who is greater than all and loves us with an everlasting love. Does He give more than just physical healing? Will He not even give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
Conclusion
Well, dear brothers and sisters, the heavens and earth are full of signs and wonders. God has given the miracles of knowing the Son of God to all who believe in Him, so that we can be in awe, believe in Him, and belong to His body, which is the church. And in His body to receive the whole person healing!
Let us pray……
Acts 5:11-16
11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
