Greater
Signs and Wonders than The Lord Jesus
In the Old Testament, God made it clear how everything was
going to be accomplished on the earth. In Zechariah 4:6 it reads,
"6 So he answered and said to me:
This is the word of the Lord to fZerubbabel:
gNot by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,
Says the Lord of hosts.
In the New Testament, The Lord Jesus did not start do any miracles until after He was baptised by John the Baptist and received the Holy Spirit. In Luke 3:21-22 it reads,
"21 When all the people were baptized, uit came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am vwell pleased."
In Luke 4:14-15 it reads,
"14 mThen Jesus returned nin the power of the Spirit to oGalilee, and pnews of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He qtaught in their synagogues, rbeing glorified by all."
The Apostle Paul testifies to the power of The Holy Spirit in accomplishing signs and wonders for the promotion of the gospel. In Romans 15:18-19 it reads,
"18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things xwhich Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, yto make the Gentiles obedient 19 zin mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. "
The Holy Spirit is saying, the greater signs and wonders will only occur if the original biblical model for preaching the gospel is followed. The Holy Spirit is only obligated to watch over His Words to perform them. He is not obligated to any preacher, however, credible they are or great is their reputation.
What is the original model for preaching that produced signs and wonders?
1. There was compassion for the people which released the power of The Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 14:13-21 it reads,
"13 eWhen Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He fwas moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 gWhen it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.
16 But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.
17 And they said to Him, We have here only five loaves and two fish.
18 He said, Bring them here to Me. 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, hHe blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
In Matthew 20:29-34 it reads,
"29 aNow as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, btwo blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, cSon of David!
31 Then the multitude dwarned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!
32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, What do you want Me to do for you?
33 They said to Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. 34 So Jesus had ecompassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him."
2. There was no planned intention to extract financial gained from the signs and wonders
In Matthew 5:10-15 they were sent out with these instructions it reads,
"5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: eDo not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of fthe Samaritans. 6 gBut go rather to the hlost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 iAnd as you go, preach, saying, jThe kingdom of heaven 3is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, 4cleanse the lepers, 5raise the dead, cast out demons. kFreely you have received, freely give. 9 lProvide neither gold nor silver nor mcopper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; nfor a worker is worthy of his food.
11 oNow whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 pIf the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. qBut if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 rAnd whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, sshake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, tit will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
In Luke 10:17-20, the disciples returned after experience supernatural signs and wonders. It reads,
"17 Then wthe 5seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.
18 And He said to them, xI saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, yI give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but 6rather rejoice because zyour names are written in heaven."
In I Thessalonians 2:9, Paul testifies that their ministry was motivated by the need to ensure that the Gospel was free to all even at their own expense just like Christ preached without a price. It reads,
"9 For you remember, brethren, our qlabor and toil; for laboring night and day, rthat we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. "
3. There was no planned intention to gain personal political and/or religious power and/ or fame from the signs and wonders
In I Thessalonians 2:3-8, it reads,
"3 cFor our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.
4 But as dwe have been approved by God eto be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, fnot as pleasing men, but God gwho tests our hearts. 5 For hneither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a 2cloak for covetousness iGod is witness. 6 jNor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when kwe might have lmade demands mas apostles of Christ. 7 But nwe were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. 8 So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased oto impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also pour own lives, because you had become dear to us."
In Phillipians 2:5-8 it reads,
"5 iLet this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, jbeing in the form of God, did not consider it 2robbery to be equal with God, 7 kbut 3made Himself of no reputation, taking the form lof a bondservant, and mcoming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and nbecame oobedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. "
4. A genuine devotion to personal holiness and the cause of Christ through The Holy Spirit
In 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 it reads,
"10 sYou are witnesses, and God also, thow devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and 3charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 uthat you would walk worthy of God vwho calls you into His own kingdom and glory."
5. The Holy Spirit is revered as God and obeyed not used
In Ephesians 4:30-32 it reads,
"30 And ldo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 mLet all bitterness, wrath, anger, 9clamor, and nevil speaking be put away from you, owith all malice. 32 And pbe kind to one another, tenderhearted, qforgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
In 1 Thessalonians 5:19 it reads,
"19 yDo not quench the Spirit.
In 1 Peter 4:14 it reads,
"14 If you are 5reproached for the name of Christ, pblessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. "
6. A humble and repentance spirit
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. In James 4:1-6 it reads,
Where do 1wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure athat war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and 2war. 3Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 bYou ask and do not receive, cbecause you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that dfriendship with the world is enmity with God? eWhoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, fThe Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
gGod resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.
1 battlesa Rom. 7:23; [Gal. 5:17]; 1 Pet. 2:112 battleb Job 27:8, 9c [Ps. 66:18]d Rom. 8:7; 1 John 2:15e Gal. 1:4f Gen. 6:5g Job 22:29; Ps. 138:6; Prov. 3:34; Matt. 23:12; 1 Pet. 5:5The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 . Thomas Nelson: Nashville
God is raising up a new Generation of Preachers and Teachers who follow the original model.
The Holy Spirit is raising a new generation of preachers and teachers who will follow the model and produce the signs and wonders which will be greater than what The Lord Jesus did. They will share the devotion and conviction that was upon The Lord Jesus and the Apostles regarding the need to give the gospel and teaching of the word freely even at their own expense.
What will happen to the current generation of Preachers and Teachers and their models?
The current crop of preachers and teachers whose model are rejected by The Holy Spirit will not see the signs and wonders that they long to see in their ministries. The Holy Spirit will never lower His standards so that people's reputations are built or preserved on signs and wonders.
Those current preachers and teachers who change their models will also enter into the signs and wonders as The Holy Spirit Wills.
Published 2006
