Sermon Title: Poised for Miracles; Prepared for Ministry.
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Theological Foundation for Miracles
To always be prepared for Christian Service is to be poised for God’s Miracles to happen to you; and through you.
For when the Lord Jesus comes “in the air to receive to Himself His own, both the living who shall be transformed, and the dead in Christ who shall be resurrected… Believers then will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged according to faithfulness in Christian service.”
If we are to be judged according to Christian Service, we must know what Christian Service entails; and a major expression of every aspect of Christian Service is the manifestation of God’s Presence through miracles, miracles and miracles.
Everything that God does through us is divine and supernatural; and every gift of the Holy Spirit will result in a miracle.
That is the nature of who we are; who we must be.
As Christians, who follow Jesus Christ – the Lord of Miracles – we must learn to expect miracles every moment of our lives simply because every moment we encounter our Lord Jesus Christ is an encounter with the divine, supernatural and miraculous.
We serve the God of miracles!
So when we do stand before our Lord Jesus Christ to be judged according to our faithfulness in Christian service – we will be judged according to our participation in His miracles while we are alive in the world.
Is your life centered on receiving the power of the Holy Spirit to be an authentic, and empowered witness for Jesus Christ? That He may freely flow and manifest in you – that His miracles may abound in, and happen through you?
Understand this very, very well.
If you profess to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, His miracles must abound in Your life; just like it was for the earliest disciples of Jesus.
Be very careful about distancing yourself from the miracles of Christ – by embracing false theologies that God’s miracles have ceased after the age of the Apostles.
Be very careful about avoiding his miracles.
Be very careful about the wickedness of disregarding, or be disbelieving, of His miracles.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forevermore.” (Hebrews 13:8)
He still works His miracles - even today!
Remember.
To think yourself unworthy of participation in God’s miracles is to think yourself unworthy of His Salvation. This is not humility at all, but an utter disregard and defiance for the Presence and Power of God in your life and in the world.
How do we poise ourselves for Christian Service; for God’s miracles and ministry to happen to us, and through us; so that we may be found more willing and more excited to participate in the miracles of Jesus Christ?
That come Judgement day, be judged , by our Lord Jesus Christ as unquestionably faithful for our Christian Service - simply because we lived as vessels of His glory, His love, His Salvation, His ministry and His miracles?
We need a reality check; and for some of us, a reality shift.
As Christians, we must be poised for God’s miracles to happen in us, and through us.
The earliest disciples were poised for miracles, and ministry – having seen and experienced Christ doing it firsthand.
They knew what to look for; knew what to expect; and what they had to do.
So, when our Lord Jesus send them out, they hardly seemed surprised at all – and at the end of their ministry stint, were excited at the outcome.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together,
he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2)
From this brief, but divine interaction, we are given three keys to be poised for miracles and ministry – the synonymous, twofold attributes of Christian Service.
(1) Recognize your sacred call to belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church;
(2) Recognize His Power and Authority upon you – to drive out all demons and cure diseases – including those that you would be faced with in your life;
(3) Recognize that He has sent You to proclaim the Kingdom of God; and to heal the sick.
“So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news (note: preaching the Kingdom) and healing people everywhere.” (Luke 9:6)
The disciples preached the Gospel and at the same time, performed miraculous works of healing in the Name of Jesus!
Christian Ministry and Christ’s miracles are synonymous.
Preaching the Gospel and the Power of God upon you to perform His miracles are a singular entity and enterprise.
To be poised for Christian Service is to live a life abounding in miracles; and that requires - SIMPLE OBEDIENCE and TRUST.
To proclaim the Good News is to preach the Kingdom - to declare to the world that there is a coming world; infinitely and immensely more glorious, more perfect, than this world – and that you are headed there because of God’s Salvation through Christ!
To keep sharing with the world – what the Kingdom of God is about, where it is, who it belongs to; the culture, and the eternal, glorious and perfect life there.
For those who enjoy travelling to different countries and experiencing different cultures, we return with fantastic accounts of our encounters and would hardly choose to keep quiet about it.
If you visited a wonderful place, or even a restaurant that served really good food - you naturally and intuitively evangelize it. You would proclaim that place, and experience. And you would know when people get interested.
How would you know?
They would ask you how they can get there and get for themselves the same awesome experience.
It is the same about preaching the Gospel.
The Good News does not start with the fact that you are lost, or sick, or that you are a sinner; it begins with “for God so loved the world” (John 3:16a)
The Gospel begins with the revelation of the loving God – who has a Kingdom that is coming; and – and that we - who profess unreserved and persevering faith in Christ and live in the Power of the Holy Spirit - are already part of that Kingdom.
We reveal to the world that, through Christ, we are a holy people belonging to God = living in His Kingdom culture right now - destined for an eternal Kingdom. We preach that.
In that process of preaching and living out the Kingdom of God, we wait upon the Lord.
When they are ready, when they get desperate for our reality, or excited because of our reality - because we are, ourselves, desperate for God and super-excited about God’s Kingdom - they will seek and ask about how they can get into this Kingdom.
They will begin to ask about what they must do, and they will do it - out of the desire of their hearts for God’s Salvation and Restoration through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour – a divine combination of desperation and excitement brought forth by the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon them.
That’s when we share with them – “that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16b)
So, trust God - that as long as you preach the Kingdom of God; His Holy Spirit will convict - in His Sovereign Time – and lead them to the saving knowledge of Christ; in the same exact manner we have been led to Christ.
To preach the Kingdom of God takes simple obedience and trust – as we can see from the disciple’s example.
To miraculously heal people everywhere also takes obedience and trust.
Christian Service is preaching the Kingdom through the miracles of God (recap: Testimony of who Christ is, Taste of God’s Kingdom, Tool of the Gospel) that will follow the act of obedience and trust in preaching.
Simple obedience requires wholehearted adherence, and compliance to the Lord’s Will.
Obedience to God requires that we follow his instructions perfectly, without deviating from it in the slightest… and definitely without inputting our two-cents, or our views – about what it means to be His disciple, or what His commands are.
You are the disciple of Christ, you discipline yourself to follow Him perfectly and precisely; and you subject yourself absolutely and completely to His discipline – to which He made clearly: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
This requires obedience and trust – in Christ.
To love and trust Christ is to obey Him. (Ref: John 14:15)
Our Lord Jesus tells us ever so clearly in John 15:10-13:
“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Indeed, the joy of Jesus is a powerful entity; so powerful that if we weld it in the face of all challenges, struggles, and adversities, it gives us absolute trust in His Power and authority, and in turn, gives us absolute authority and victory over darkness.
Obedience follows trust.
From the question of obedience comes the real question of trust.
The question, “Do you obey Jesus?” must follow the real question – “Do you trust Jesus?”
To be poised for a life of Christian Service – a life abounding in God’s miracles – is to absolutely trust Jesus.
Do you really trust Jesus?
The disciples had to absolutely trust Christ on their ministry stint; for He further instructed them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” (Luke 9:3)
When they returned, what followed indelibly stretched the imagination and faith of the disciples on the pivotal Christian attribute of trusting God for everything.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done.
Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him.
He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”
14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.
16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.
Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.
17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. (Luke 9:10-17)
Do you trust Jesus for His absolute, complete and eternal providence?
Do you have a problem today that you are facing where the real problem really is that you lack trust in Jesus and His Providence over all your needs – past, present and future?
What are your present needs, compared to your need to be saved from death; your need for your sins to be atoned for; to be forgiven; your need to be alive with God for all eternity?
Jesus took what little was offered (five small barley loaves and two tiny fish); looked to God; and instead of saying, “there’s nothing here”, gave thanks in saying, “this is definitely something You can use” – and broke them.
And the food miraculously multiplied; and after feeding the tens of thousands that day – they were left with 12 full baskets of broken pieces.
Such is the above and beyond nature of God’s Providence for your life and for His Call upon your life to participate in His ministry and the miracles.
But that was not the conclusion, nor the climax, of the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes.
Later in His ministry, more precisely on the night of His betrayal, Matthew 26:26 reports:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
When Jesus broke bread, and said “take and eat; this is my body” – He is saying to us:
“Trust me in everything… in your life, which is My touchpoint of ministry and miracles to the world.
My providence will be supernatural, divine and miraculous.
Are you prepared to accept my Providence? Are you prepared to accept my Providence of Salvation? Are you prepared to preach my Kingdom?
Or are you still trying to go at it with what you have instead of what I have given you?”
Recall the Words of Christ in John 6:53-55:
“53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
And in John 15:5, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, … bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
The supernatural feeding of the multitudes that day at Bethsaida was indeed miraculous; when our Lord Jesus took “the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them” – and the food multiplied.
But the true miracle and climax of the divine providence of Christ happened that night He was betrayed; when He took the bread, gave thanks, “broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body” – and when the disciples ate the bread, they multiplied.
On that night when the disciples took the bread and ate – in obedience and trust in Christ - it was not the bread that multiplied, but rather, it was the disciples who would now multiply.
To partake of the Lord’s Supper is our definitive and devoted declaration of the ongoing miracle of Christ’s multiplication of His disciples; a miracle that was not immediately evident, but nonetheless already fulfilled in the Will of God out of the simple obedience and trust of every disciple of Christ to His command to “preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15) in the Kingdom reality that the Lord works with us and confirms the Gospel by the miracles that follow. (Ref: Mark 16:20)
That’s the real and ongoing miracle of Jesus in the feeding of the multitudes.
When we join Christ in His Gospel Work – when we feed on Him; when we trust Him absolutely and completely – we become His divine agent of multiplication; of souls saved and lives born-again to become eternal citizens of His eternal Kingdom!
To be poised for Christian Service - a life abounding in His Ministry and Miracles – is to be obedient to His Commands and Kingdom reality; through trusting in His Providence to fulfill His Gospel work through you.
Our reality must be God’s Kingdom reality.
There is simply no other reality necessary, or permissible, for the true Christian.
“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)
To which we must ask – what is the outcome when our sins are forgiven?
We become God’s own, and inherit His Kingdom. (Ref: Luke 28:22-30, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
To the final point that requires a check and a shift in our reality – we look to the very first miracle of Jesus Christ – a miracle that involves wine.
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?”
Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:1-5)
A wedding celebration with no wine is a problem.
But we know that every crisis – big or small - is a divine opportunity to reveal who Christ is; a revelation that always follows a miracle.
When faced with crises, we must instinctively pray for miracles.
Our Lord’s address of His earthly mother ‘woman’ is actually a respectful term in the Jewish culture.
And it goes without saying that when He follows with, “why do you involve me?” – the Lord is beginning a very courteous discourse with Mary; for she truly knows all there is to know about Jesus, but more significantly, Mary knows that He can definitely do something about this ‘crisis’.
In silent, unspoken discourse between Jesus and Mary, this would have transpired.
“Woman, why do you involve me?
It is because you know that I have the Power to provide for the shortfall; to resolve this crisis; just as you have an idea that I am “the Son of the Most High” and the “Redemption” and Saviour of the world…” (Ref: Luke 1:28-38 – Gabriel’s Visit ; Luke 2:26-38 – Simeon and Anna’s prophetic revelation)
Though “My hour has not yet come” – this is the beginning of My ministry of Kingdom redemption and restoration.”
To this, John 2:6-10 recounts:
“ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:6-10)
To drink wine from jars used for “ceremonial washing” which is, ritual purification symbolized by external washing profoundly signifies that the drink Christ alone provides washes our souls, and purifies our spirits.
This significant revelation provides the basis for THE MAIN POINT of Christ’s ministry, in that:
“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)
Christ has the Power to change water into wine; He has the Power to change your temporal, broken life into the eternal, glorious life as God had originally intended.
Are you prepared to radically change your reality to accept only God’s Kingdom and reject all else?
Wine represents a life that is thriving as opposed to merely surviving; and of course, wine is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. (Ref: Ephesians 5:18–19)
Are you prepared to transform your reality to embrace not this life but the life to come in God’s Kingdom?
To be poised for Christian Service – a life abounding in miracles – requires your present reality to be Kingdom Reality – and it starts with simple obedience and trust in Jesus to begin living absolutely and completely in His Way, His Truth and His Life. (Reference: John 14:6)
It is to live in God’s Kingdom Culture – where His love is both immense and infinite within the family of God. It is to live today with so much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Ref: Galatians 5:22-23) – in bearing the fruit of the Spirit - as if we are already living in God’s Kingdom.
We already have eternal life in Christ.
What follows - must be our lives lived in the Power of His Resurrection, and lived according to the culture of His Coming Kingdom.
And it starts with being filled with the Holy Spirit – to speak in the language of God’s Kingdom – to pray in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives us utterance (Ref: Acts 2:4); for cultural immersion always begins with language immersion.
To live this day in God’s Kingdom culture is to begin learning and praying in the language of God’s Kingdom!
To live according to the culture of God’s Kingdom is to anticipate that his miracles will abound in your life – that your life will be filled with His miracles; and also to bring forth His miracles to people around you.
Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are partaking of God’s ongoing miracle of multiplying His faithful believers; and preparing ourselves for ministry alongside Christ Jesus our Lord, and allowing His miracles to happen in, and through us by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
To partake of the bread that represents the body of Christ must be our resolute commitment to absolutely and completely obey and trust Jesus; and to partake of the wine that represents Christ’s blood of the covenant poured out for the forgiveness of sins must be our resolute hope and unwavering reality that we will inherit the Kingdom of God.
The bread and fish has been multiplied; so will the disciples of Christ – we need only live in the miraculous Power of the Holy Spirit.
The water was turned to wine; so must our reality be radically transformed to become solely and wholly God’s Kingdom reality.
His Kingdom is foremost; and His Kingdom is here!
We are His Kingdom – and every of life’s crisis serves only to remind us – the Church – of who Christ is; and what He can do in us, and through us.
Be always poised for God’s miracles to happen in, and through you; be ever-prepared to preach the Gospel alongside Christ by the Spirit’s Power; and be judged by Christ to be absolutely faithful in your life of Christian service unto the living God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Holy Spirit, whenever I hold the emblems of Holy Communion in my hands – I ask that You would grant me courage, strength, resolve and wisdom to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ for all of life and ministry – solely and wholly.
Grant me Your Power – to believe and live daily in Your miracles; that through a radical transformation of my present reality into Your Kingdom reality, I will live for the sole purpose of preaching Your Kingdom in the fullest expectation that Lord Jesus, You are with me – that I am working alongside You; and that Your miracles will abound through my life into lives all around me; just as my life is filled with your miracles of healing, deliverance, redemption and restoration.
Thank You for convicting me of my transgressions against You, and for giving me the Spirit-gifts to embrace Christ’s Calling to be His disciple – that when I do stand before You, Lord Jesus, may I be judged as unreservedly faithful in preaching Your Gospel and in the miracles that You have brought forth through my life.
Prepare me – every time I partake in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper – to participate fully in Your ongoing miracle of multiplying and building Your Church; and for the ministry of preaching Your Gospel alongside You. May Your signs and wonders happen to me, and through me – by the Power of the Holy Spirit
I declare my faith in You, Lord Jesus – and I trust and obey You in Your command to “proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick”; by Your “Power and Authority to drive out demons and to cure diseases.” (Luke 9:1-2)
To this, Lord Jesus:
I fully recognize and embrace Your Sacred Call in my life to belong wholly to You; and to belong to Your body – the Church;
I fully recognize and embrace Your Power and Authority upon me to drive out demons and cure diseases – including those in my own life; and
I fully recognize and embrace Your divine assignment to be sent out to “proclaim the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”
May my life be exactly like that of Your earliest disciples, Lord Jesus; that I may unreservedly preach Your Gospel and heal people everywhere! (Ref: Luke 9:6)
Thank You for revealing to me that ministry and miracles are synonymous; that preaching the Gospel and the Power of God upon me to perform Your miracles are a singular entity and enterprise that must define my existence.
Holy Spirit, make me obedient to Your Commands and Kingdom reality; and grant me the simple, yet resolute faith and trust in Your Providence to fulfill the Gospel work through my life.
My eyes see, my ears hear and my heart believes – that just as the bread and fish was multiplied under Your hand; so will Your disciples; and that just as the water was turned into wine under Your hand, Your Spirit’s Power upon me has transformed my present reality to become Your Kingdom reality.
May I remain in You, Lord Jesus – as You remain in me; that I may bear much fruit.
Use me as Your divine agent of multiplication; of souls saved, and lives born-again – that they may too, become preachers of Your Gospel, participants in Your miraculous works, and eternal citizens of Your eternal Kingdom!
Use me in Your Power and Might, Lord Jesus!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Theological Foundation for Miracles
To always be prepared for Christian Service is to be poised for God’s Miracles to happen to you; and through you.
For when the Lord Jesus comes “in the air to receive to Himself His own, both the living who shall be transformed, and the dead in Christ who shall be resurrected… Believers then will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged according to faithfulness in Christian service.”
If we are to be judged according to Christian Service, we must know what Christian Service entails; and a major expression of every aspect of Christian Service is the manifestation of God’s Presence through miracles, miracles and miracles.
Everything that God does through us is divine and supernatural; and every gift of the Holy Spirit will result in a miracle.
That is the nature of who we are; who we must be.
As Christians, who follow Jesus Christ – the Lord of Miracles – we must learn to expect miracles every moment of our lives simply because every moment we encounter our Lord Jesus Christ is an encounter with the divine, supernatural and miraculous.
We serve the God of miracles!
So when we do stand before our Lord Jesus Christ to be judged according to our faithfulness in Christian service – we will be judged according to our participation in His miracles while we are alive in the world.
Is your life centered on receiving the power of the Holy Spirit to be an authentic, and empowered witness for Jesus Christ? That He may freely flow and manifest in you – that His miracles may abound in, and happen through you?
Understand this very, very well.
If you profess to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, His miracles must abound in Your life; just like it was for the earliest disciples of Jesus.
Be very careful about distancing yourself from the miracles of Christ – by embracing false theologies that God’s miracles have ceased after the age of the Apostles.
Be very careful about avoiding his miracles.
Be very careful about the wickedness of disregarding, or be disbelieving, of His miracles.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forevermore.” (Hebrews 13:8)
He still works His miracles - even today!
Remember.
To think yourself unworthy of participation in God’s miracles is to think yourself unworthy of His Salvation. This is not humility at all, but an utter disregard and defiance for the Presence and Power of God in your life and in the world.
How do we poise ourselves for Christian Service; for God’s miracles and ministry to happen to us, and through us; so that we may be found more willing and more excited to participate in the miracles of Jesus Christ?
That come Judgement day, be judged , by our Lord Jesus Christ as unquestionably faithful for our Christian Service - simply because we lived as vessels of His glory, His love, His Salvation, His ministry and His miracles?
We need a reality check; and for some of us, a reality shift.
As Christians, we must be poised for God’s miracles to happen in us, and through us.
The earliest disciples were poised for miracles, and ministry – having seen and experienced Christ doing it firsthand.
They knew what to look for; knew what to expect; and what they had to do.
So, when our Lord Jesus send them out, they hardly seemed surprised at all – and at the end of their ministry stint, were excited at the outcome.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together,
he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2)
From this brief, but divine interaction, we are given three keys to be poised for miracles and ministry – the synonymous, twofold attributes of Christian Service.
(1) Recognize your sacred call to belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church;
(2) Recognize His Power and Authority upon you – to drive out all demons and cure diseases – including those that you would be faced with in your life;
(3) Recognize that He has sent You to proclaim the Kingdom of God; and to heal the sick.
“So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news (note: preaching the Kingdom) and healing people everywhere.” (Luke 9:6)
The disciples preached the Gospel and at the same time, performed miraculous works of healing in the Name of Jesus!
Christian Ministry and Christ’s miracles are synonymous.
Preaching the Gospel and the Power of God upon you to perform His miracles are a singular entity and enterprise.
To be poised for Christian Service is to live a life abounding in miracles; and that requires - SIMPLE OBEDIENCE and TRUST.
To proclaim the Good News is to preach the Kingdom - to declare to the world that there is a coming world; infinitely and immensely more glorious, more perfect, than this world – and that you are headed there because of God’s Salvation through Christ!
To keep sharing with the world – what the Kingdom of God is about, where it is, who it belongs to; the culture, and the eternal, glorious and perfect life there.
For those who enjoy travelling to different countries and experiencing different cultures, we return with fantastic accounts of our encounters and would hardly choose to keep quiet about it.
If you visited a wonderful place, or even a restaurant that served really good food - you naturally and intuitively evangelize it. You would proclaim that place, and experience. And you would know when people get interested.
How would you know?
They would ask you how they can get there and get for themselves the same awesome experience.
It is the same about preaching the Gospel.
The Good News does not start with the fact that you are lost, or sick, or that you are a sinner; it begins with “for God so loved the world” (John 3:16a)
The Gospel begins with the revelation of the loving God – who has a Kingdom that is coming; and – and that we - who profess unreserved and persevering faith in Christ and live in the Power of the Holy Spirit - are already part of that Kingdom.
We reveal to the world that, through Christ, we are a holy people belonging to God = living in His Kingdom culture right now - destined for an eternal Kingdom. We preach that.
In that process of preaching and living out the Kingdom of God, we wait upon the Lord.
When they are ready, when they get desperate for our reality, or excited because of our reality - because we are, ourselves, desperate for God and super-excited about God’s Kingdom - they will seek and ask about how they can get into this Kingdom.
They will begin to ask about what they must do, and they will do it - out of the desire of their hearts for God’s Salvation and Restoration through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour – a divine combination of desperation and excitement brought forth by the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon them.
That’s when we share with them – “that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16b)
So, trust God - that as long as you preach the Kingdom of God; His Holy Spirit will convict - in His Sovereign Time – and lead them to the saving knowledge of Christ; in the same exact manner we have been led to Christ.
To preach the Kingdom of God takes simple obedience and trust – as we can see from the disciple’s example.
To miraculously heal people everywhere also takes obedience and trust.
Christian Service is preaching the Kingdom through the miracles of God (recap: Testimony of who Christ is, Taste of God’s Kingdom, Tool of the Gospel) that will follow the act of obedience and trust in preaching.
Simple obedience requires wholehearted adherence, and compliance to the Lord’s Will.
Obedience to God requires that we follow his instructions perfectly, without deviating from it in the slightest… and definitely without inputting our two-cents, or our views – about what it means to be His disciple, or what His commands are.
You are the disciple of Christ, you discipline yourself to follow Him perfectly and precisely; and you subject yourself absolutely and completely to His discipline – to which He made clearly: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
This requires obedience and trust – in Christ.
To love and trust Christ is to obey Him. (Ref: John 14:15)
Our Lord Jesus tells us ever so clearly in John 15:10-13:
“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Indeed, the joy of Jesus is a powerful entity; so powerful that if we weld it in the face of all challenges, struggles, and adversities, it gives us absolute trust in His Power and authority, and in turn, gives us absolute authority and victory over darkness.
Obedience follows trust.
From the question of obedience comes the real question of trust.
The question, “Do you obey Jesus?” must follow the real question – “Do you trust Jesus?”
To be poised for a life of Christian Service – a life abounding in God’s miracles – is to absolutely trust Jesus.
Do you really trust Jesus?
The disciples had to absolutely trust Christ on their ministry stint; for He further instructed them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” (Luke 9:3)
When they returned, what followed indelibly stretched the imagination and faith of the disciples on the pivotal Christian attribute of trusting God for everything.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done.
Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him.
He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”
14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.
16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.
Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.
17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. (Luke 9:10-17)
Do you trust Jesus for His absolute, complete and eternal providence?
Do you have a problem today that you are facing where the real problem really is that you lack trust in Jesus and His Providence over all your needs – past, present and future?
What are your present needs, compared to your need to be saved from death; your need for your sins to be atoned for; to be forgiven; your need to be alive with God for all eternity?
Jesus took what little was offered (five small barley loaves and two tiny fish); looked to God; and instead of saying, “there’s nothing here”, gave thanks in saying, “this is definitely something You can use” – and broke them.
And the food miraculously multiplied; and after feeding the tens of thousands that day – they were left with 12 full baskets of broken pieces.
Such is the above and beyond nature of God’s Providence for your life and for His Call upon your life to participate in His ministry and the miracles.
But that was not the conclusion, nor the climax, of the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes.
Later in His ministry, more precisely on the night of His betrayal, Matthew 26:26 reports:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
When Jesus broke bread, and said “take and eat; this is my body” – He is saying to us:
“Trust me in everything… in your life, which is My touchpoint of ministry and miracles to the world.
My providence will be supernatural, divine and miraculous.
Are you prepared to accept my Providence? Are you prepared to accept my Providence of Salvation? Are you prepared to preach my Kingdom?
Or are you still trying to go at it with what you have instead of what I have given you?”
Recall the Words of Christ in John 6:53-55:
“53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
And in John 15:5, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, … bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
The supernatural feeding of the multitudes that day at Bethsaida was indeed miraculous; when our Lord Jesus took “the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them” – and the food multiplied.
But the true miracle and climax of the divine providence of Christ happened that night He was betrayed; when He took the bread, gave thanks, “broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body” – and when the disciples ate the bread, they multiplied.
On that night when the disciples took the bread and ate – in obedience and trust in Christ - it was not the bread that multiplied, but rather, it was the disciples who would now multiply.
To partake of the Lord’s Supper is our definitive and devoted declaration of the ongoing miracle of Christ’s multiplication of His disciples; a miracle that was not immediately evident, but nonetheless already fulfilled in the Will of God out of the simple obedience and trust of every disciple of Christ to His command to “preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15) in the Kingdom reality that the Lord works with us and confirms the Gospel by the miracles that follow. (Ref: Mark 16:20)
That’s the real and ongoing miracle of Jesus in the feeding of the multitudes.
When we join Christ in His Gospel Work – when we feed on Him; when we trust Him absolutely and completely – we become His divine agent of multiplication; of souls saved and lives born-again to become eternal citizens of His eternal Kingdom!
To be poised for Christian Service - a life abounding in His Ministry and Miracles – is to be obedient to His Commands and Kingdom reality; through trusting in His Providence to fulfill His Gospel work through you.
Our reality must be God’s Kingdom reality.
There is simply no other reality necessary, or permissible, for the true Christian.
“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)
To which we must ask – what is the outcome when our sins are forgiven?
We become God’s own, and inherit His Kingdom. (Ref: Luke 28:22-30, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
To the final point that requires a check and a shift in our reality – we look to the very first miracle of Jesus Christ – a miracle that involves wine.
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?”
Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:1-5)
A wedding celebration with no wine is a problem.
But we know that every crisis – big or small - is a divine opportunity to reveal who Christ is; a revelation that always follows a miracle.
When faced with crises, we must instinctively pray for miracles.
Our Lord’s address of His earthly mother ‘woman’ is actually a respectful term in the Jewish culture.
And it goes without saying that when He follows with, “why do you involve me?” – the Lord is beginning a very courteous discourse with Mary; for she truly knows all there is to know about Jesus, but more significantly, Mary knows that He can definitely do something about this ‘crisis’.
In silent, unspoken discourse between Jesus and Mary, this would have transpired.
“Woman, why do you involve me?
It is because you know that I have the Power to provide for the shortfall; to resolve this crisis; just as you have an idea that I am “the Son of the Most High” and the “Redemption” and Saviour of the world…” (Ref: Luke 1:28-38 – Gabriel’s Visit ; Luke 2:26-38 – Simeon and Anna’s prophetic revelation)
Though “My hour has not yet come” – this is the beginning of My ministry of Kingdom redemption and restoration.”
To this, John 2:6-10 recounts:
“ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:6-10)
To drink wine from jars used for “ceremonial washing” which is, ritual purification symbolized by external washing profoundly signifies that the drink Christ alone provides washes our souls, and purifies our spirits.
This significant revelation provides the basis for THE MAIN POINT of Christ’s ministry, in that:
“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)
Christ has the Power to change water into wine; He has the Power to change your temporal, broken life into the eternal, glorious life as God had originally intended.
Are you prepared to radically change your reality to accept only God’s Kingdom and reject all else?
Wine represents a life that is thriving as opposed to merely surviving; and of course, wine is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. (Ref: Ephesians 5:18–19)
Are you prepared to transform your reality to embrace not this life but the life to come in God’s Kingdom?
To be poised for Christian Service – a life abounding in miracles – requires your present reality to be Kingdom Reality – and it starts with simple obedience and trust in Jesus to begin living absolutely and completely in His Way, His Truth and His Life. (Reference: John 14:6)
It is to live in God’s Kingdom Culture – where His love is both immense and infinite within the family of God. It is to live today with so much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Ref: Galatians 5:22-23) – in bearing the fruit of the Spirit - as if we are already living in God’s Kingdom.
We already have eternal life in Christ.
What follows - must be our lives lived in the Power of His Resurrection, and lived according to the culture of His Coming Kingdom.
And it starts with being filled with the Holy Spirit – to speak in the language of God’s Kingdom – to pray in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives us utterance (Ref: Acts 2:4); for cultural immersion always begins with language immersion.
To live this day in God’s Kingdom culture is to begin learning and praying in the language of God’s Kingdom!
To live according to the culture of God’s Kingdom is to anticipate that his miracles will abound in your life – that your life will be filled with His miracles; and also to bring forth His miracles to people around you.
Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are partaking of God’s ongoing miracle of multiplying His faithful believers; and preparing ourselves for ministry alongside Christ Jesus our Lord, and allowing His miracles to happen in, and through us by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
To partake of the bread that represents the body of Christ must be our resolute commitment to absolutely and completely obey and trust Jesus; and to partake of the wine that represents Christ’s blood of the covenant poured out for the forgiveness of sins must be our resolute hope and unwavering reality that we will inherit the Kingdom of God.
The bread and fish has been multiplied; so will the disciples of Christ – we need only live in the miraculous Power of the Holy Spirit.
The water was turned to wine; so must our reality be radically transformed to become solely and wholly God’s Kingdom reality.
His Kingdom is foremost; and His Kingdom is here!
We are His Kingdom – and every of life’s crisis serves only to remind us – the Church – of who Christ is; and what He can do in us, and through us.
Be always poised for God’s miracles to happen in, and through you; be ever-prepared to preach the Gospel alongside Christ by the Spirit’s Power; and be judged by Christ to be absolutely faithful in your life of Christian service unto the living God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Holy Spirit, whenever I hold the emblems of Holy Communion in my hands – I ask that You would grant me courage, strength, resolve and wisdom to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ for all of life and ministry – solely and wholly.
Grant me Your Power – to believe and live daily in Your miracles; that through a radical transformation of my present reality into Your Kingdom reality, I will live for the sole purpose of preaching Your Kingdom in the fullest expectation that Lord Jesus, You are with me – that I am working alongside You; and that Your miracles will abound through my life into lives all around me; just as my life is filled with your miracles of healing, deliverance, redemption and restoration.
Thank You for convicting me of my transgressions against You, and for giving me the Spirit-gifts to embrace Christ’s Calling to be His disciple – that when I do stand before You, Lord Jesus, may I be judged as unreservedly faithful in preaching Your Gospel and in the miracles that You have brought forth through my life.
Prepare me – every time I partake in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper – to participate fully in Your ongoing miracle of multiplying and building Your Church; and for the ministry of preaching Your Gospel alongside You. May Your signs and wonders happen to me, and through me – by the Power of the Holy Spirit
I declare my faith in You, Lord Jesus – and I trust and obey You in Your command to “proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick”; by Your “Power and Authority to drive out demons and to cure diseases.” (Luke 9:1-2)
To this, Lord Jesus:
I fully recognize and embrace Your Sacred Call in my life to belong wholly to You; and to belong to Your body – the Church;
I fully recognize and embrace Your Power and Authority upon me to drive out demons and cure diseases – including those in my own life; and
I fully recognize and embrace Your divine assignment to be sent out to “proclaim the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”
May my life be exactly like that of Your earliest disciples, Lord Jesus; that I may unreservedly preach Your Gospel and heal people everywhere! (Ref: Luke 9:6)
Thank You for revealing to me that ministry and miracles are synonymous; that preaching the Gospel and the Power of God upon me to perform Your miracles are a singular entity and enterprise that must define my existence.
Holy Spirit, make me obedient to Your Commands and Kingdom reality; and grant me the simple, yet resolute faith and trust in Your Providence to fulfill the Gospel work through my life.
My eyes see, my ears hear and my heart believes – that just as the bread and fish was multiplied under Your hand; so will Your disciples; and that just as the water was turned into wine under Your hand, Your Spirit’s Power upon me has transformed my present reality to become Your Kingdom reality.
May I remain in You, Lord Jesus – as You remain in me; that I may bear much fruit.
Use me as Your divine agent of multiplication; of souls saved, and lives born-again – that they may too, become preachers of Your Gospel, participants in Your miraculous works, and eternal citizens of Your eternal Kingdom!
Use me in Your Power and Might, Lord Jesus!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.