Miraculous Power - Resurrected

 
“For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind…” Jn 9:39

Even though Jesus did say in Jn 8:15b “…I pass judgement on no one.” Earlier, this statement in Jn 9:39 would seem to contradict what He had said – except that He had clearly also said in Jn 8:50 “I am not seeking glory for Myself, but there is one who seeks it, and He is the judge.” And again in Jn 12:47,48 “As for the person who hears My words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”

Jesus came to save the world – and in accomplishing that salvation through His finished work upon the cross, which has been testified to in its completeness by His resurrection from the dead – He also set the world up for judgement. Setting the world up for judgement was part of His work of salvation. - But He Himself will not be the judge, but the Father Himself, who seeks the glory will be the judge.

In order to prosecute a successful judgement – you need good, reliable eye witnesses to testify and to verify the evidence collected. And to this purpose, we were to be raised up as– “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world…” when “[we] you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” Acts 1:8

The witnesses that the Holy Spirit would raise up for Jesus, were not only to testify about Jesus and proclaim the Gospel throughout the earth – the purpose of these witnesses was so that judgement could be passed and prosecuted by the Father - witnesses who could be found to testify to the truth and goodness of the word of God and to the character of God Almighty – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. That’s right – witnesses not just to the works of God and His word – but to the character of God, in truth. That is also why the eternal life we receive is so “that they {we} may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” Jn 17:3

These witnesses would testify concerning the character of God, because they had come to know Him and had seen Him, lived with Him and seen – not just his form – but come to know him, even in His thoughts, desires, pleasures and delights – in His future plans and dreams – know Him so well that the motivation and justification of God in all of His actions can be defended – without apologies or exaggeration. A plaintiff who raises up unreliable witnesses testifies to the unreliability of his case and characters; but a plaintiff who raises up witnesses who are honest and true, testifies to his character, before a word needs to be said. That is why God looks for worshippers who would worship in spirit and in truth when they worship Him.

And so, you must be one who knows God as a witness – having seen and heard Him for yourself before you can testify to His word and His works – but to testify to His character you must know Him intimately and accurately. A witness who testifies with ½ truths, glossed up exaggerations and hyperbolic apologies will only cause the final summation of the judgement of God’s character to be flawed and discreditable – and so discredit and flaw the perfection that God is.

For example, it is commonly taught that God does not send sickness and disease, nor would He send an evil spirit to torment, or cause earth quakes and disasters – yet God Himself has clearly testified about Himself on these matters.

Jeremiah 27:8 If, however, any nations or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine, and plague.” And on a personal basis – take Miriam in Numbers 12:10, who was struck leprous for speaking up against Moses His servant; and King Saul who, when he disobeyed God, it is written in I Sam 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
And in Isaiah 45:7 “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the lord, do all these things.”

It is clear that the Lord Himself is not ashamed to declare these are the things that He would do to punish those who would not listen to Him or His anointed One - that is, those who would disobey. And since all have disobeyed through Adam, all can be subjected to the sword, famine, plague, diseases, evil spirits, darkness and disasters of God.

And if one only knew a little of God – one’s testimony would not be valid. A person who would say God would not send sicknesses, disasters and famines, does not know God and makes God out to be a liar. Just as a person who says God is angry and mean for doing these things, does not know God, for He has sent Jesus to redeem us – and so also makes God out to be a liar.

But the person who knows God can wound and destroy and heal and build up – knows Him, for that is the fullness of God. Isaiah 30:26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be 7 times brighter, like the light of 7 full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted.

It is the failure of people to come to know Him that brings up false testimonies about God – which is what every religion started by man and demons are filled with – and so for judgement – where “the blind will see and those who see will be made blind” – Jesus has set up the process to raise up for God true and reliable witnesses who can testify to the truth of the full nature of God and His character, because they have lived with God, have come to know Him and have seen Him. They are privy to His future plans, and they have seen the true nature of the grand plans of God in the empires of His dreams; and their testimony in truth declares – “God is Good!”

It is to this end that Jesus told the early disciples to “not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about…..you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be My witnesses..” Acts 1:4,8

The first and most important thing the Holy Spirit was to give us was power – miraculous power… Why? Because without miraculous power, nothing of God exists, nor can be maintained, or effected and brought into being – for God does all things through power -> His miraculous power. Without miraculous power even the words of Jesus would mean nothing, and be no different from any man’s words – but it is the miraculous power of God that brings to life every word of Jesus as it holds together every creation – from the greatest to the smallest.

Yet this is the one area that we have all shunned away from or have been deceived into thinking that Gods miraculous power could never be entrusted to anyone else, except those who have earned a special high calling in God through a life of devotion and sacrifice. Never realising that it is the power of God that allows us to begin a life of devotion and sacrifice in the 1st place – not a life of devotion and sacrifice that gives us a life of power. For the power of God had already been poured out to us when Jesus died for us on the cross, and to all who believed that power was made available – Power to live a life of devotion and sacrifice because we have been saved; and by that same power, to become a witness of the glorious goodness of God in all His fullness, in His kindness and in His severity, in His holiness and in His accessibility. And through that same power – experience the reality of the impossibilities of the words of Jesus in an incredulous life that man without God can only dream of, and dismiss as mere fantasy because, in their rejection of God, they had also thrown away the very power that would have allowed them to also live the impossible Life!

It is the gift of miraculous power that is needed to bring all other gifts – the other 11 gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are: the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. It is not faith and never was faith that was needed to operate the gifts of God - but power – God’s miraculous power. Just as it is not the wiring that is needed for operating electrical goods, but electrical power flowing through those wires. Faith is only needed for salvation, but once we are saved, we need power to exercise the life we have received.

The righteous may live by faith, but it is power that turns that life into a witness.
• Faith makes you a believer….
• Power makes you a witness, because with power you can see and hear and come to know God.

For all the gifts of God; from life through to death, from the Alpha to the Omega; are designed to help us come to know Him and none of these gifts operate without the power of God. It was the power of God that over-shadowed Mary, which allowed Jesus to be conceived. It was the power of God in Jesus that caused Jesus to walk on water, raise the dead, heal the sick; not faith of the believing kind. And if faith was ever present in Jesus, it is only the faithful, obedient ‘to the end kind’ faith that flows of love for someone you know and trust – not the believing kind that you have for someone you do not know.

It is only after you are clear on this point that the gifts of God will begin to operate properly to show you the true picture, so that you can be a witness. The gifts of God, if operated by faith, will give you a picture of God like a television using a wooden antennae – but the gifts of God, operated by the power of the Holy Spirit will give you a proper and clear picture.

It is little wonder that the devil has deceived the church into thinking that the miraculous powers of God will only manifest in certain people and at certain times – and certainly it is no longer available, as the church is now established.

As long as the church remains deceived and lulled into this falsehood that it should be powerless in the miraculous realms, it will always turn to the powers of the earth – its political, financial and intellectual power, which gratifies all who lust after self-righteousness and praises of men. – Then no reliable and true witnesses for God can be raised up. – And as long as no witnesses are available to collaborate the evidence – as to God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature Rm 1:20, then judgement cannot begin. The end cannot come. So the devil seeks to prolong his short term of pseudo-freedom to wreak more havoc and blasphemy against God and He can continue to distress our God more through deceived men and women who refuse to acknowledge the truth -> for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. .Rm 3:23

And who can testify concerning the glory of God; for who has ascended the heavens and previewed the thoughts of God in all that he has planned for men and women for the eternities that will follow. Who can ascend heavens that are too lofty for the most powerful rocket ships, except by the power of God.

So, the power of God has already been poured out through Jesus Christ our Saviour through the advent of the Holy Spirit, so that it is available to all who believe. The degree of its availability to each individual is safe guarded by the degree of love that individual has for the Father, and not the degree of faith. Thus God’s power was without limit in Jesus Christ and to those who seek to grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ. So the degree of God’s power will increase in them, allowing them to do all that Jesus did; first in secret, as Jesus did, and then when the proper time comes, to do it in public, as a testimony of God’s gracious generosity.

As you come to know the lord more, you will love Him more, as many of you are now coming to experience and testify to this truth. And as you come to love Him more, so more of the power of God manifests through you for His glory, bringing you to the place of even more love and knowledge of Him, until the Holy Spirit can see that you can be trusted with the full power of this age and the ages to come – and allows you to operate independently of His control.

It is at this juncture, where an individual is allowed full independence in the operations of the power of God, that he is truly an independent witness; not a witness that has been bribed or coddled into saying the right thing.

Satan accused God in Job 1:9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the works of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has and he will surely curse you to his face.”

And in the same way now Satan accuses God that we can not be trusted with His power – ever – to be as Christ in fullness of stature – and if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, we would definitely abuse any power that God gives us. If you look at the history of the Church, that would be the case, for we have abused the worthless political, financial and intellectual power that Satan tempted us with. How could we be trusted with real power and, even if we were, we would never be allowed to operate them except as children on a safety latch. So, how is God ever going to be able to raise up sons for Himself, in the fullness of the stature of Christ – sons who need no restraint except the love of God?

As long as there are no independent witnesses to be found – witnesses that can say: “unlimited power does not corrupt”, then there is no testimony available by which God can begin judgement against all who accuse Him.

It is now, with a clear understanding as to the purpose of God, that miraculous power has been poured out here and from here, given out freely, so that the Holy Spirit may begin to seek out those who would not be corrupted by availability of power – but be raised up in the power of God to love as He loves – first with safety latches on until the maturity process is truly complete and the fullness of daughters and sons of God in the fullness of the stature of Christ can stand with Jesus as independent witnesses – co-heirs – who can testify to the true goodness of God.

Our brother Paul tried to tell us how important miraculous power was by putting it in the middle of his list of the 9 gifts of the Spirit as he taught the rebellious Corinthian Church in his 1st letter.
1 Corinthians 12:8 the message of wisdom,… the message of knowledge… faith…. Healing… miraculous powers…. Prophecy…. Distinguishing between spirits…. Speaking in different kinds of tongues…. The interpretation of tongues

Just like John put The Resurrection in the centre of his list of “I am” in his Gospel
“I am the read of life” Jn 6:53
“I am the Gate” Jn 10:7
“I am the Resurrection” Jn 11:25
“I am the Way” Jn 14:6
“I am the Vine” Jn 15:5
“I am the light of the world” Jn 8:12
“I am the Good Shepherd" Jn 10:14
“and the Life” Jn 11:25
“the Truth” Jn 14:6

As the Resurrection is the central issue – the pinnacle issue of the life of Christ, without which Christ died for nothing; for a restored sinner will sin again, but a resurrected sinner can never sin again, for he is dead to sin; - so miraculous power is the pinnacle manifestation concerning the operation for the gifts of God. For miraculous power is what confirms godliness.… That is why when Paul was confronted with arrogant people who were speaking against the teachings of Christ as Paul was given, he did not seek to challenge them in wisdom or knowledge or faith or prophetic insight, but with a simple display of power.

1 Corinthians 4:19 I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing; and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of heaven is not a matter of talk but of power.

So shall we – God willing – find out what power these arrogant people have who refuse to face the truth that they are sinners, deserving God’s just and righteous wrath for the death of His Son. We will see what power they have when the power of God is unleashed in all its goodness – both in kindness and in severity.

We will see – and we will testify….COME, LORD JESUS. AMEN