“Lord Jesus, thank You that as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, there will be signs, miracles and wonders that would accompany. Lord, we need to have the right understanding so that we are Your effective witnesses. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
This is a crucial verse as we understand our task to be His witnesses. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We are witnesses to Jesus for it is in Christ, people and all creation are reconciled back with God. We are reconciled with God so that we will once again be His vice-regents over all His creation, in His image. To be effective witnesses the Lord has commanded us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit will often be accompanied by signs, miracles and wonders.
I’m using the word, ‘often’, deliberately, because God’s ways need not always be with signs. God will draw people to Himself and His ways are beyond ours. We cannot limit the ways of God to signs. John 10:41-42 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” (42) And many believed in Him there.
The Lord’s ministry was powerful. Signs and wonders took place as the Lord ministered to the people, reconciling people back into His kingdom. Matthew 4:23-25 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. (24) Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. (25) Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
The Lord preached the Gospel of His kingdom. In the kingdom of Jesus, there is wholeness and goodness. This was what the Lord gave to the people. This is the same ministry that the Lord is entrusting to us, His disciples. We must keep before us, the Lord, as our model for ministry, of being His witnesses. Matthew 9:35-38 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (36) But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. (37) Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. (38) Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.”
The Lord saw the desperate situation of the people and the Lord was moved with compassion for them. He longed to restore them to Himself, to the fullness of life, to life in His kingdom. The signs and wonders took place because these signs were an outworking of the compassionate heart of God. We must always see signs, miracles and wonders as a part of the process of the reconciling work of God. God is reconciling a broken world of man and creation, back to Himself and to the fullness of life, in Him.
This is very important to keep in mind because the danger is that we can over-emphasise the matter of signs, miracles and wonders and not see these as part of the overall task of reconciling people and creation back to God. People too will be running after signs and wonders, but forget that the Lord is restoring people and creation to the relationship of His kingdom, where we live in submission to His will.
As disciples of Jesus, the Lord wants us to be labourers in the harvest. He wants us to have His eyes, to see the state of sadness of people and bring them to the fullness of life. In fulfilling this task, the Holy Spirit will work out miracles and wonders through us. John 14:12-14 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (13) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. We must not take verses such as these, out of their context, and say that the Lord has told us to ask anything in His name and He will give it to us.
The Lord is calling us to be witnesses and it is while in the process of witnessing, that we are to ask for miracles and signs from the Lord, in order to reconcile people back to God. Jesus did miracles and signs and He has said that when we have His concern for the lost, we will do greater miracles. When God has called us to be His witnesses, we must be open, conscious and expect miracles and signs to take place, as we minister to people.
My availability
“Lord, I’m available and open to be an instrument in Your hand to reconcile people back to You.”