Mims Chapel Church 

LESSON 12 • Third Week

Miracles, Signs and Wonders

Background Reading

Psalms 106:2; Job 9:10; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:31; Acts 4:16; 5:12; 15:12; 1 Corinthians 13:1

Devotional Reading

Psalm 145:1-12
 

Central Verse
"God also bearing them witness both with signs, wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His will?"
Hebrews 2:4, KJV

"And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and var­ious miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever He chose."
Hebrews 2:4, NLT


Key Terms
Signs—Something material or external that stands for or signifies some­thing spiritual.
Miracles—An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs: an extraordinary event taken as a sign of the supernatural power of God.
Wonders—A cause of astonishment or admiration: to feel surprise or amazement.

Introduction

Miracles don't happen every day. But sometimes believers are so accus­tomed to not expecting them that they miss them entirely when they do happen. In God's Word, the believer can see the divine power of Jesus Christ displayed in miracle after miracle. John takes care in calling Jesus' miracles "signs and wonders" because they point to a greater spiritual re­ality behind the person and purpose of God. When the believer sees the fantastic displays of God through miracles, signs, and wonders, they need to learn to grow bold in their requests to God to move in their life and in the world around them. Because he sees glimpses of God's power through miracles, signs, and wonders, he catches a glimpse of God's glory and goodness through answered prayer. Believers should never limit their ex­pectations of God. He should know that his God wants to save, heal, com­fort, and amaze the believers.

Discussion

A Spirit-filled believer can wake up every day to a day filled with miracles, signs, and wonders if they can know, believe, and practice God's Word. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that each believer can live with His miraculous power. He wants it to be evident in their daily lives, as this confirms that God is with them and that their trust is in God. Each miracle from Jesus reveals a unique aspect of Jesus' identity and His divine power. Encouraging the believer to deepen his faith and experience the fullness of life that the Holy Spirit offers the believer.

Many times, the believers live beneath their privilege because they fail to remember and recognize that the Holy Spirit is inside them, waiting to be called upon to guide, empower, and transform their life. To be completely fulfilled as Jesus desires, the believer must learn to cultivate a friendship with the Holy Spirit. The believer must also walk in divine power by faith and experience personal revival through the scripture, teaching, and reflection. He must discover that inner river of living water that causes the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to talk. Jesus calls be­lievers to be like Him, allowing them to tap into the resurrection power that raised Him from the dead, thereby resurrecting courage, power, and divine authority within them. The believer can have that bold faith, mighty works, and he can walk in the Spirit's power. "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people." (Acts 6:8).

Paul and the early church exemplified faith, commitment, boldness, and an understanding of their commission, while also recognizing God's role in the task. They knew that they were the people of God and God was the God of the people, for it was God who wrought extraordinary miracles by the hand of Paul. His ministry at Ephesus was marked by exceptional miracles of healing and deliverance from demons, sickness, and diseases accomplished directly or through handkerchiefs and aprons that had been in contact with his body.

Diseases disappeared and evil spirits left when the afflicted touched the cloths. When some of the itinerant Jews saw what God was doing through Paul, they undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high Priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil Spirit answered them, "Jesus, I know; Paul, I recognize, but who are you? And the man in whom was the evil Spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.

And the word spread throughout the area to the Jews and the Greeks, until great fear came upon all of them. Many of them came confessing and di­vulging their practices, and several of them who were practicing magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And God continued to bless, and the church continued to grow.

Many ministries today still use prayer cloths and anointing oil as points of contact, and God honors them with great miracles and great healings. These prayer cloths and anointing oil have been prayed over for many days and nights.

Conclusion

Jesus said, "If you can? Everything is possible for one who believes." (Mark 9:23). The believer must remember that during His earthlyministry, Jesus Christ performed many signs, and healed many who were sick and afflict­ed. It was recorded so that believers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. The believer doesn't have to possess the gifts of healing or those of miracles; they must have the three in one: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in John 14:12, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these."

God gave the believers signs, miracles, and wonders to strengthen their faith and to remind them that He is always there. Miracles are not only tes­timonies of God's power, but they are also in believers' lives to encourage them to trust, believe, and obey.

Questions

What is the main purpose that God honors signs, miracles, and wonders?
What signs did God use with Paul?
Who can be used by God to use signs, wonders, and miracles?
What happened to the sons of Sceva?

Essential Thought- "Only the righteous will stand the test against Satan. His kingdom must fail."

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