Signs and Wonders

The death and resurrection of Gods only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man, Who is the Messiah or Christ, has justified all who asked to be healed by His stripes. This is THE justification, a gift from God. Father, let this justification be made known to all men by stretching out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the Name of Your Holy Child and Servant Jesus.

FOREWORD
I am a Christian beginning to realize that God is my loving Father in heaven as proven by the death of His only Beloved Son as Jesus the Christ. In the unfolding pages, all negative connotations have been made in reference to me. I do not speak for or of others. This is a result of personal experiences and observations. This is by no means a sermon of any sort nor does it serve to generalize the Christian experience. I am no Bible teacher or pastor. I am the beloved child of God getting to know (as a privilege) Him as a loving Father. If you have been blessed by this e-book, let all the glory and praise redound to my loving Father in heaven in Jesus Name. If you find anything amiss, let God judge my heart.

Thanks-giving
Thank You Lord Jesus for blessing my youngest daughter with a Silver award in the International Friendship Day Penmanship Competition. Thank You Father God for loving her as proven by Christ crucified. Just this morning, after hearing Pastor Joel Osteen's sermon on "Signs of God's Favour", I asked for a sign to confirm that sermon. That sign was to bless my youngest daughter with an award. Lo and behold, I was pleasantly shocked to see her with that Silver Trophy in the afternoon. My eldest daughter was blessed with a silver award in a contest. It saddened my youngest one that she did not win any award. I asked our Lord Jesus to not leave her out and to bless her with an award. He did! God is good all the time! It is not because of the awards but the great love He has for my household as proven by Christ crucified.

Problem Child
I was never an advocate of signs and wonders as I was unable to reconcile Matthew 12:38-39 to Acts 4:29-31 and Hebrews 2:4. Matthew 12:38-39, Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, Teacher, we desire to see a sign or miracle from You [proving that You are what You claim to be]. But He replied to them, An evil and adulterous generation (a generation morally unfaithful to God) seeks and demands a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Acts 4:29-31, And now, Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your bond servants [full freedom] to declare Your message fearlessly, While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage. Hebrews 2:4, [Besides this evidence] it was also established and plainly endorsed by God, Who showed His approval of it by signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of [His] power and by imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit [to the believers] according to His own will.

I could not understand the reason for the Lord to not give any signs and wonders in the account of Matthew 12:3839. I was under the impression that asking for signs and wonders meant being evil and adulterous. Yet the accounts of Acts 4:29-31 and Hebrews 2:4 recorded that God granted signs, wonders and miraculous manifestations of His power. I was baffled. I simply caught no balls!

Discipline
God grants signs and wonders as well as manifestations of His power to establish, endorse or confirm the salvation through Christ crucified In Matthew 12:38-39, the scribes and Pharisees were asking for a sign or miracle to prove that Jesus the Man is the Messiah or Christ. Yet, Jesus the Man was fulfilling every single thing that each scripture said He would be doing. Gods only Beloved Son Who came in the flesh to fulfil the scriptures was the very sign or miracle to confirm His identity as the Promised Messiah. The sign or miracle that the scribes and Pharisees sought was standing right before them in the flesh. Yet they recognized Him not. Our Lord Jesus made reference to the prophet Jonah who was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights [Matthew 12:40, Jonah 1:17]. I believe He was pointing to His death and resurrection as the ultimate sign and miracle to establish or confirm His identity as the Promised Messiah.

The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees in John 5:35-40, John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to delight (sun) yourselves in his light. But I have as My witness something greater (weightier, higher, better) than that of John; for the works that the Father has appointed Me to accomplish and finish, the very same works that I am now doing, are a witness and proof that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me. Not one of you has ever given ear to His voice or seen His form (His facewhat He is like). [You have always been deaf to His voice and blind to the vision of Him.] And you have not His word (His thought) living in your hearts, because you do not believe and adhere to and trust in and rely on Him Whom He has sent. [That is why you do not keep His message living in you, because you do not believe in the Messenger Whom He has sent.] You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me! And still you are not willing [but refuse] to come to Me, so that you might have life.

He tried to open their eyes based on what the scriptures said He would be doing. John 10:37-38, If I am not doing the works [performing the deeds] of My Father, then do not believe Me [do not adhere to Me and trust Me and rely on Me]. But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works and have faith in what I do, in order that you may know and understand [clearly] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [One with Him]. Even after that had happened, the Pharisees still refused to believe. Matthew 28:11-13, While they were on their way, behold, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had occurred. And when they [the chief priests] had gathered with the elders and had consulted together, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers, And said, Tell people, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we were sleeping. In Acts 4:29-31, God granted Peter the signs and wonders to establish or confirm the Lords Commission in Mark 16:15, 20: Mark 16:15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]. Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it).

Hebrews 2:3-4 refers to the great salvation wrought by the death and resurrection of the only Beloved Son of God as Jesus the Man, Who is the Messiah or Christ. This salvation was first declared by the Lord Jesus Himself. Then that same salvation was confirmed and proved genuine by witnesses who heard Him speak. The signs and wonders and various manifestations of His power was to establish and plainly endorse the message of salvation by Christ crucified.

Authenticity
The next question ensues. Does it mean that all messages of that same salvation must be accompanied by some spectacular signs and wonders to be authenticated? As I read Acts 13:38-39, I do not see any phenomenal physical miracles. What I do see is the change in the hearts of the people to pine for more of the Word of God concerning the attainment of salvation through Christ crucified. [Acts 13:44]. In and of itself, that is the greatest sign and wonder! To appreciate that change of hearts to receive salvation as a miracle, return to Matthew 28:11-13. The experts of scriptures could not be moved to receive free salvation even when the Saviour was standing before them. They blatantly ignored the impelling and irrefutable proof of this wonderful salvation by His death and resurrection. They were so wicked to even fabricate evidence to the contrary. This has been somewhat foretold in Luke 16:31, .neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead. Jesus the Man was raised from the dead, that is, resurrected. Yet the experts of scriptures did not believe.

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I thank my Father God for the miraculous change of my heart to receive the gift of salvation through Christ crucified. This is the miracle that accompanies the message of salvation through Jesus the Christ.

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Petition
Father in Heaven, Your Word says that we do not have because we do not ask. [James 4:2]. Based on this, I now approach Your throne of grace to boldly ask You [Hebrews 4:16] for a sign to accompany the declaration of Your great love for the world [John 3:16]. I am asking that whosoever seeks healing on account of Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 be granted instant healing and wholeness. This is to magnify the irrefutable proof of Your great love, that is, Christ crucified and to glorify You. The grounds of my petition are as follows: 1. When You sent Your only Beloved Son to reveal You as our loving Father [John 16:27], He instantly healed all who went to Him [Luke 6:19, Matthew 9:35]. It is by His stripes that all who ask of You be already healed and made whole. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. [Hebrews 13:8]. Since You did it then, You are able and willing to do the same today. [Matthew 8:2-3]. You are good all the time. [Psalm 100:5]. 2. Your Beloved Son said in Mark 16:15, 20 that attesting signs and wonders will accompany the declaration of the Gospel. 3. It is not your desire that any should perish. [2 Peter 3:9].

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5. It is Your goodness and kindness that will lead men to accept Your salvation. [Romans 2:4]. Your will is that everyone who believes in Christ crucified be saved. [John 6:40]. It was Your goodness that led Peter to receive salvation [Luke 5:8-9]. May You do the same to and for all those who seek healing in Christ crucified. 6. Most importantly, You sent Your only Beloved Son to be crucified as the show and proof of your everlasting love for the world. [Romans 5:8]; Your great love that spans from before antiquity all through to eternity [John 3:16]. 7. The death and resurrection of Your only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man has justified complete healing and wholeness for all who asked to be healed by His stripes. [Acts 13:38-39, Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24]. Father in Heaven, let this justification be made known to all men by stretching out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the Name of Your Holy Child and Servant Jesus. [Acts 4:30]. Let it be known to all mankind that through this Man Jesus is declared to them Your justification which cannot be attained by mere works of men. [Acts 13:38-39]. Philippians 4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ([a]definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

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Father in Heaven I thank You for: 1. Healing me of my heart problem; 2. Preserving the foot of my youngest daughter that was caught in the escalator; 3. Blessing my two daughters with academic awards; 4. Showering divine favours over my mother and wife; and 5. Protecting and providing for my household every day. In Jesus Name. Amen!

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Note from Author

Anyone can interpret the scriptures in favour of an adopted stand [2 Peter 3:16]. I find that the only constant in the Bible is Gods love for me. I find the love of God is beyond any doubt the crimson thread running through the Bible from cover to cover. Therefore, I have chosen to read and interpret the Bible in the greater context of His love for me. God is love [1 John 4:8]. His Spirit is therefore love. To read the Bible in the Spirit is to read it in His love for me. This is my personal conviction. This is how I enjoy my Bible. This is my stand. When the Lord returns, He will weigh my stand according to my heart [1 Samuel 16:7]. I am the beloved child of God that Jesus the Christ has made me to be [2 Corinthians 5:21] in the process of getting to know Gods love for me. If you have been blessed by this literature, let all the glory and praise redound to our loving Father God. If there is anything you find amiss, let God judge my heart. If you would like to support the declaration of Gods great love, you can do so HERE. This has been brought to you by Enjoying the Bible. 1 Timothy 4:13, AMP, Till I come, devote yourself to [public and private] reading, to exhortation (preaching and personal appeals), and to teaching and instilling doctrine.

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