28.01.20 - Surprise! You Don't Do The Miracle.

Over the last few weeks, we have been talking about the book “You Were Born For This” by Bruce Wilkinson. Wilkinson says that God is compassionate and wants to demonstrate His love and power in people’s lives all of the time. All around us are people in need and people who don’t know Jesus but God wants to do supernatural things in their lives that make them aware of His very real love.

That is all very well, but how does God get access to those lives? What is the bridge between God and people? Generally, other people. And we can be those people. We can work with God to deliver miracles into people’s lives. In fact, Wilkinson says this is what we were born for.

He talks about 4 keys to a life of experiencing everyday miracles. We have already looked at two:
• The Master Key: Make yourself available. Eagerly ask to be used.
• The People Key: God’s agenda is people. We need God’s heart for people and a willingness to go to whomever God chooses without just following our own preferences.

Today we come to the third key. Here is a question: Would you rather have Jesus living as your next-door neighbour or have the Holy Spirit living in you?

People sometime say, “Wouldn’t it be amazing to have Jesus physically with us. Imagine being able to watch Him and talk to Him. Imagine being in the presence of God. Imagine seeing those miracles.”

But Jesus said a very surprising thing. Before He died, Jesus spent a lot of time preparing the disciples for His departure. It was all about the fact that Jesus would no longer be with them. READ John 15:26-16:15.

It was all about the fact that Jesus was not going to be with them. He told them a lot of things so that they would not fall away. They were going to face hardships and persecution and Jesus wouldn’t be there. Under such pressure and without the encouragement and inspiration of Jesus’ presence, they could easily fall away. “Now I am going to the One Who sent me,” He said and they were filled with grief.

Then comes the surprising bit. Jesus said it would be better for them that He was going away. How could that possibly be? How could it be better not to have Jesus present? Let’s look again at v.7
John 16:7 It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away the Advocate will not come to you; but, if I go, I will send Him to you.

15:26 told us that the Advocate is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said we would be better off without Him because, if He went away, He could send the Holy Spirit. According to Jesus, we are better off without Him and with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God just as much as Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is not some poor substitute for Jesus. He is God. In His earthly form Jesus was limited to a physical body and to a particular location. By contrast, the Holy Spirit is living in every Christian. God is not just with us sometimes; He is in us always.

Were the disciples actually better off when they received the Holy Spirit than they had been when Jesus was present? I am sure they loved being with Jesus. There is no doubt about that. I can understand their grief when they heard He was leaving them. But what did they discover when the Holy Spirit came? They had supernatural power. They saw miracles regularly. The Holy Spirit guided them and spoke to them. They were never on their own. Jesus had said they would never be left alone like orphans. He would come to them. That was their experience. Jesus was still with them but without the limitations.

Very early in the book of Acts, soon after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit, Peter and John, on the way into the temple, came across a crippled man begging. Peter said to him, “Silver or gold I do not have but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” And he did!

An amazed crowd gathered. Peter said to them, “People of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness, we had made this man walk?”

People must have thought that Peter and John were supernatural. Peter very quickly pointed out that they were not gods. It was not by their power or godliness. It was by their faith in Jesus that the man had been healed. It was the power of Jesus that healed the man.

Jesus had said in John 16 that the Holy Spirit would guide us into truth. The disciples experienced the guiding of the Holy Spirit. We read about them being led by the Spirit or guided by the Spirit or, occasionally, prevented by the Spirit from doing something. Peter was presumably led by the Spirit in knowing how to respond to this man.

Secondly, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would speak to Christians, words that He received from Jesus Himself and tell them what was yet to come. We can hear Jesus speaking as we listen to the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would glorify Jesus. Who got the glory when the lame man was healed? Jesus did. The Holy Spirit worked a miracle to bring glory to Jesus.

But as Peter said, “It wasn’t us. It was Jesus aka the Holy Spirit.” We can be in that same position – miracles happening that clearly are not us but are the Holy Spirit at work. We don’t have to do the miracle. All we have to do is deliver it. But we must be willing to partner with the Holy Spirit.

That is the third key: The Holy Spirit key: partnering with the Holy Spirit to deliver a miracle by God’s supernatural power. Pre-committing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit at every opportunity.

You don’t have to do the miracle! Like Peter, it is important we believe, and we make sure others understand, “It wasn’t us! It wasn’t our power!” But this key is about cooperating with the Holy Spirit so that God’s power can flow through us. By the power of God we can do what we can’t do.

Here’s another story from the book. Bruce Wilkinson was ministering one summer on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The small local church, which was built on stilts to catch the ocean breeze, came up with the plan of showing a Billy Graham feature film one night. They publicised it and each night leading up to it church members gathered to pray. Each night one of the newest converts, a teenager named Radha, told them that his father would never come. His father was the village drunk and known to despise followers of Jesus. Radha kept saying, “Jesus is not strong enough to bring my father.”

The night arrived and people filed into the church until it was almost full. Then they heard Radha’s father down below swearing and yelling abuse. A 14-year old girl stood to pray and begged God to help Radha’s father get through the door. No sooner had she finished praying that they heard someone noisily climbing the stairs and Radha’s father came in, scowled at everyone and took a back row seat.

Bruce Wilkinson smiled at Radha, introduced the film and then flipped the projector switch. Nothing happened. Only minutes before the projector had been working perfectly.

Wilkinson began sweating profusely and praying to God for help. Several people gathered around to try to fix the projector. As they fiddled with it, Radha’s father stood, swore profusely and stomped into the night. Soon, his distraught son left too.

Wilkinson was caught between continuing with the projector for the sake of all the other people gathered and going after Radha. The Holy Spirit’s nudge was to go and see Radha. He left others fiddling with the projector and went outside.

Underneath the church he found Radha leaning against a stilt, sobbing. “I knew it! I knew my father would never find out the truth about Jesus. Now he’s gone forever!”

Wilkinson’s mind was in a turmoil but he felt the Holy Spirit’s leading to take a bold step. He said, “Radha, God was powerful enough to bring your father to the church the first time. He is powerful enough to bring him back. We are going to pray right now and ask the God of the universe to bring your father back, not only to watch the movie, but to meet Jesus tonight.”

His throat tightened with emotion as he prayed a simple prayer of faith for Radha’s father, then they both went back into the church. It was obvious the projector was still dead and people were preparing to leave.

Wilkinson walked to the front and apologised for the disappointment. He then felt God nudge him again – to pray one more time. “God, it’s your turn. We can’t fix the projector but you can!” Then feeling foolish and afraid, he reached for the On switch. The projector whirred into life. Everyone raised a shout. God had demonstrated His power in a way people wouldn’t forget.

But God hadn’t finished. A few minutes into the film, Radha’s father returned and without a word took his seat again. When the movie finished an hour later, Wilkinson gave an invitation for anyone who wanted to put their faith in Jesus, as Billy Graham had explained, to stand and come forward.

Radha’s father was the first to move. With tears streaming down his face, he walked into the outstretched arms of his son. People that night witnessed God at work in the projector but, more, in the heart of an angry man bringing him to new life on Christ. People watched as they saw God show His love and power to a doubting young man named Radha.

People couldn’t have persuaded Radha’s father to attend. It was the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who nudged Bruce Wilkinson to follow Radha outside and to pray for the miracles of his father’s return and his conversion. It was the Holy Spirit who nudged Wilkinson to pray one more time for the projector and to flick the switch again. It was the Holy Spirit who made the projector go. It was the Holy Spirit who brought Radha’s father back and who brought him to faith.

It was all God but God used Bruce Wilkinson to bring about those miracles. We are not supernatural but we can partner with the supernatural. We can’t do miracles but God can and He can use us. As I have said before, it is not about good works. It is about partnering with God for the miraculous. Wilkinson had to take the risk of praying that Radha’s father would return. He had to risk flicking that switch one more time. If God hadn’t turned up, he would have looked very silly. But he risked it.

We might not know the other person and almost certainly won’t know what they are thinking and what has been happening in their lives and what troubles them. But the Holy Spirit knows that person perfectly and knows how to best meet their need.

The Holy Spirit also knows us perfectly – our strengths and weaknesses, fears and limitations. He knows everything about us, loves us perfectly and can perfectly match us with the right person at the right time to deliver the right message.

The Holy Spirit guides just as Jesus said. All those nudges.

The Holy Spirit speaks words that come directly from Jesus. He can give us understanding or He can say the perfect thing, through us, that will speak to the other person’s need. Wilkinson says, “One of the most thrilling moments of a miracle delivery is when you look into the face of a person and realise, “God is here! He is at work. I am witnessing His work before my eyes!”

The Holy Spirit empowers. The New Testament Christians are often described as being bold, yet they had been timid.

The Holy Spirit does the miracle. But we must do the work. We must follow those nudges. We must speak out even when we are not quite sure what God is doing. While everyone watches, we must flick that switch again. Do you want to work in partnership with the Holy Spirit?