Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 61 – The essence of God – Omnipotence (miracles). Mat 9:27-31; 12:9-14; 22-23; 14:22-33; Luk 7:11-17; Joh 6:1-15
length: 65:09 - taught on Mar, 19 2013
Class Outline:
Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 61 - The essence of God - Omnipotence (miracles). MAT 9:27-31; 12:9-14; 22-23; 14:22-33; LUK 7:11-17; JOH 6:1-15.
14. Healing of the two blind men. Faith and persistence will find God’s power, MAT 9:27-31.
Christ healed six blind men that are recorded. We see [?], that in the East in that day that blindness was a problem, much more than it is today. And in that day blindness isolated you. But naturally [?] the real issue is spiritual blindness. Better to be blind and see the gospel than to have perfect sight and die without regeneration.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Satan is in the business of burying the truth about Christ and His word and blinding men. God is in the business of unburying the truth and giving sight to the soul.
"Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
In this case and the only other case where a blind person actually asks to be healed they call Him Son of David. There is no doubt that this term to them means Messiah and so they have revealed their faith, yet since they are assuredly Jews they also know the prophecy of the Messiah.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
This also reveals that He came to open the eyes of Israel first, but their lack of faith caused them to fall into more blindness.
For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them."
This is direct conquering of what satan has done and is doing to fallen man, blinding him to the truth and the truth has come, in fact grace and truth have come in the person of Christ.
MAT 9:27 [only here] And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
Here, He doesn’t stop. He has healed many this day. But they persist and follow Him into the house and reveal their faith in His position as Messiah as well as His power to make them see.
Perseverance is important in waiting for Christ’s deliverance in a situation as well as in pursuing where He is going.
'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
MAT 9:28 And after He had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able [powerful] to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
MAT 9:29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "Be it done to you according to your faith."
MAT 9:30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See here, let no one know about this!"
MAT 9:31 But they went out, and spread the news about Him in all that land.
15. Healing of the dumb demoniac. God’s power will cause you to speak while silencing all the critics in your own soul who attempt to explain away the miracles in your life, MAT 9:32-34.
MAT 9:32 And as they were going out, behold, a dumb man, demon-possessed, was brought to Him.
MAT 9:33 And after the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the multitudes marveled, saying, "Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel."
MAT 9:34 But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
Those who can’t speak the gospel or the truth will do so through the power of God. If you are ashamed of the Gospel, take courage, and learn more about the Gospel and the cross of Christ and the destiny of the elect and you will lose that shame. If you find yourself having a hard time explaining the truth or become argumentative or emotional and the witness of the truth is a dud, take courage, learn more and more doctrine and it will flow from you like light from a lamp. I see that as the obvious application here, and it is truly a miracle or mighty work or power by God in the life of the believer that enacts such a transformation.
But we also see the Pharisees spreading to the crowd the only other possible explanation for the miracles than the obvious one that this is the Messiah and that is the work of demons. Naturally demons would love to take credit for Christ’s mighty works.
And I see by application the power of God overcomes the lies and doubts that are spread to God’s people, in the form of “other explanations,” for the miraculous changes in their lives that are wrought by Christ.
You’ve only overcome that because you’re older now. You only think you know the one truth, all religions have these truths. You’re only isolating yourself in your little church and you don’t know what it’s like in the real world. You’re only ignoring the problem as you are opiate drenched by your imagination. On and on, satan and the KOD have a substitute reason for every good work that God has done and all are lies designed to bury the truth.
16. Healing the withered hand. God’s power will bring mercy even in the presence of man’s silly laws, MAT 12:9-14.
MAT 12:9 And departing from there, He went into their synagogue.
MAT 12:10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand [some kind of palsy or paralysis]. And they questioned Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" — in order that they might accuse Him.
The Mark and Luke account says that Jesus asked them this question right back. Instead of answering them He asks them to answer the question and they have no reply - per usual.
MAT 12:11 And He said to them, "What man shall there be among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out?
There were no such specifics in the Law because there didn’t have to be. The heart of the Sabbath was to cease from works so that they could reflect on the finished work of God. However, as men always do, picayune legalistic procedures were added to the laws of the Sabbath, however, a lost animal was a large loss of capital and so saving it was allowed.
MAT 12:12 "Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
MAT 12:13 Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" And he stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.
MAT 12:14 But the Pharisees went out, and counseled together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
17. Raising the widow’s son at Nain. God’s power can turn a hopeless situation into a joyous celebration, LUK 7:11-17.
The question is, will we wait and take courage instead of despair? In this case the widow did despair and the power of God brought her joy in any case. That is the grace of God.
LUK 7:11 And it came about soon afterwards, that He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large multitude.
LUK 7:12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.
LUK 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."
LUK 7:14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!"
LUK 7:15 And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
LUK 7:16 And fear [awe] gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
LUK 7:17 And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district.
18. Healing of the blind and dumb demoniac. The power of God can heal more than one problem, MAT 12:22-23.
MAT 12:22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.
MAT 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"
You can read on and see that the same lie is communicated by the religious crowd - that He heals be the power of Beelzebul and His beautiful reply - that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.
19. Feeding 5000. God’s power will fill all your needs while you rest, JOH 6:1-15.
JOH 6:1 After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias).
JOH 6:2 And a great multitude was following Him, because they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.
JOH 6:3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
JOH 6:4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
JOH 6:5 Jesus therefore lifting up His eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?"
JOH 6:6 And this He was saying to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
JOH 6:7 Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little."
One of the few failures of Moses occurred in the same way:
The people cry for meat and are sick and tired of manna from heaven. God grants the petition but not the desire. Check your cravings that don’t become insatiable, strong desires or lusts.
NUM 11:19 'You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
NUM 11:20 but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'"
NUM 11:21 But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet Thou hast said, 'I will give them meat in order that they may eat for a whole month.'
NUM 11:22 "Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?"
NUM 11:23 And the Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."
Moses saw a lot of miracles and even performed a lot of miracles and yet he still goes back to human viewpoint. There is no condemnation in the CWL. When you see thinking in yourself that is in opposition to God, you acknowledge it, stop it, and change it to God’s thinking.
In the same way Philip has also seen a lot of miracles and did some himself when Christ sent them out to spread the coming of the kingdom.
It doesn’t matter what dispensation you’re in, the believer at times will have extremely incomprehensible human viewpoint. Acknowledge, cease, and change [ACC].
JOH 6:8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,
JOH 6:9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?"
JOH 6:10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." [resting position] Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Plenty of room to sit = we can all rest in God’s plan; there isn’t a limited amount of resting space.
JOH 6:11 Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
John’s account [it is in all four] is the only one that intimates the distribution. Whether He told the disciples to do it or not, we don’t know, but could assume, but the text tells us He, the Lord, distributed their needs while they rested. This means no work, no long lines, nothing but rest and being served by the Lord.
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
JOH 6:12 And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost."
Yes they’re clean, but also God is not flippant about His logistical grace support. It is divine to Him and therefore it is wrong to devour it as someone leaving a mess. It is specific to your needs and with left over that He will use in His way.
JOH 6:13 And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.
God’s grace overflows.
JOH 6:14 When therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world."
JOH 6:15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
Still, amazingly, so many people just don’t get it. He can feed armies, He can heal the wounded, let’s make Him king and kick out the Romans!
20. Walking on the sea. The power of God is based on grace. We walk by courage and not fear, and when we lack faith Christ will pick us up and give us another opportunity, MAT 14:22-33.
MAT 14:22 And immediately [after feeding the 5000] He made the disciples get into the boat, and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
MAT 14:23 And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
MAT 14:24 But the boat was already many stadia away from the land [John - about 4 miles and since the lake is 8 miles wide they are right in the middle of it], battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary [against them].
Every positive believer is right in the middle of the AC. The wind is in opposition to their commanded course.
The negative believers or unbelievers are on the shore plotting to make Jesus their earthly king, but the positive believers obeyed the command to get into the boat and go across.
Where Christ told them to go the wind was against them. This is opposition to God’s plan (OSN, satan and KOD, cosmos).
This is a storm of testing. Their faith is getting tested so that more of God and the Christ can be revealed to them [they don’t have the HS yet]. In contrast, I remind you of the storm that Jonah was in. That was a storm of correction or discipline. Both of these types of storms are done out of the love of God. The disciples obeyed God and got in the boat and went where they were instructed. Jonah got on a boat going in the opposite direction from where he was instructed to go
Connect
Subscribe to our mailing list |
Grace and Truth Ministries 1900 Hines S.E. Salem, Oregon 97302 |
 |
letters@cgtruth.org |
|
© Grace and Truth Ministries All Rights Reserved. |