Category Archives: Miracles

Humiliation, Humility, Miracles, Power, fasting

On Fasting (Part Two)

Posted by admin on April 13, 2010 at 5:04 pm.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust (Acts 14:23).

                In my last blog I noted several examples of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people (and others) in response to the fasting of the people. When they were willing to humble themselves (and fasting is an act of self-humiliation), God responded in fantastic ways to deliver them.

                There is another example of national humiliation, fasting and deliverance as Samuel became the leader of Israel in first Samuel 7. The crisis was precipitated because the foolish sons of Eli had taken the Ark of the Covenant into a battle with the Philistines as a talisman, or a good luck charm. It was captured, the sons of Eli were killed, and, upon receiving the news, Eli the Priest died. Israel was plunged into a state of panic and confusion. Samuel heard of the events and called the people to meet him at a certain location where they would fast and seek God.

                The Philistines decided to be opportunistic, and take advantage of the situation, so they attacked. When we fast, we tend to have less energy and strength, so the Philistines tried to capitalize on the circumstances. However, I Samuel 7 records that God Himself routed the Philistines (see v. 10) and delivered Israel.

                Fast forward now about 3000 years. The year is 1973 and the Jewish people stopped everything for their national holiday of Yom Kippur. This is a day observed by Jews around the world with fasting. It is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

                While the nation was shut down, the Arab nations in the Middle East (possibly the descendants of the ancient Philistines) launched a collective attack on Israel (the descendants of the Israelites in I Samuel) from several fronts, seeking to catch the nation off guard. Remarkably, though, just as in I Samuel 7, the heavily outmanned Israeli army routed the Arab nations in what historians now call the Yom Kippur War.

I guess the lesson here is “Don’t mess with God’s people when they are seeking Him through fasting.”

Church Today, Humiliation, Miracles, Power, fasting, hardship

On Fasting (Part One)

Posted by admin on April 13, 2010 at 5:00 pm.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust (Acts 14:23).

                This is the third reference in two chapters that spoke of Paul and Barnabas fasting. In chapter 13, while they were serving the Church as teachers in the city of Antioch, they were fasting during a time of worship with the other teachers/leaders of that church. In the midst of those circumstances, the Holy Spirit spoke clearly to those assembled and said, “Set apart Paul and Barnabas…” to take the Gospel where it had not yet been proclaimed. It is clear from the text that followed that before they actually left, the church – or at least the leaders – fasted again, most likely to appeal to God for His provision for their journey. Then in chapter 14 when they were about to appoint leaders in a newly formed church, they fasted again.

                Fasting is an ancient practice that involves abstaining from food (or certain foods) for a period of time in order to appeal to God for some purpose. During Isaiah’s time it was understood that when we fast, we “make our voice heard on high” (see Isaiah 58). Apparently they wrestled with unanswered prayer as we do in our day. Ancient believers saw fasting as a way of intensifying their prayers before God. It is like a kid that uses a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays on some kindling to ignite a fire.

                This discipline was practiced in times of personal crisis as well as in times of national emergency. Paul and Barnabas practiced it here to ask God to either direct or confirm their choices for leadership in the fledgling church. Daniel practiced fasting at a time of personal crisis of conscience when he and his friends were being required to eat the ceremonially unclean food in the court of Nebachudnezzar (see Dan. 1).

                Probably the most famous instance of fasting in a national emergency was the fast called by the king of Nineveh after the preaching of Jonah. This act of humiliation prompted God to spare their city, to Jonah’s dismay. It was also part of the appeal of Queen Esther on behalf of the Jewish people who were threatened with extermination by Haman (Esther 4) and was called by King Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20:3 when his nation was threatened by an alliance of several nations with a vast army. In the latter situation God ordered them to approach the battlefield with priests singing praise to God and by the time they arrived, the various nations had turned on themselves and wiped each other out.

                With such wonderful testimonies of the responses of God to the discipline of fasting, why don’t we practice it in the Church in this era? There is a small resurgence of the discipline, and I am grateful, but it is far from the norm. But then, real earnest seeking of God through prayer and Scripture is far from the norm also. Although far from complete, the answer to my question likely is that we are too comfortable. We are not faced with such perilous situations that would warrant the disruption of our comfortable lifestyles by something as radical as fasting. But perhaps this is changing in our era.

Disciples, Faith, Messiah, Miracles, Resurrection

Coming to Jesus Step By Step

Posted by admin on March 20, 2010 at 10:35 pm.

 

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him (John 11:45).

                Whatever happened to these Jews who believed in Jesus following the raising of Lazarus? We don’t know and won’t know for sure until we get to heaven, but there are some likely scenarios for these people.

                Undoubtedly, many of these formed the throngs that lined the road at Jesus’ Triumphal Entry. They would have waved palm branches and laid out their cloaks before Him as He rode into Jerusalem. They probably WEREN’T among the crowds that were incited by the religious leadership to call for Him to be crucified.

                Acts 6:7 records that the disciples increased greatly after the Day of Pentecost, and that even a number of priests became Christians. We are not told that the Jews who believed following Lazarus’ resurrection were priests, but some may have been and certainly many of the people who came to Christ in the early chapters of Acts were likely ones who witnessed the miracles of Jesus – including this significant event.

                Most of us forget that those who came to Christ in the book of Acts were not hearing about Jesus for the first time. It is likely that many had been among the crowds that followed Jesus, that ate the bread that He miraculously provided, that knew someone who knew someone who had been healed. Finally the news of the Resurrection of Jesus reached them and convinced them the He really was Messiah.

                People in our day don’t usually come to know Christ the first time they hear the Gospel message either. The vast majority of people need to hear, think about the claims of Christ and finally become convinced that He really is God before they will trust Him. This reality should make us re-think what real evangelism is, and help us to recognize that when we stand for Christ in our neighborhoods or work places, someone may be there who will later recall that testimony as a step toward his decision for Christ.

AB Simpson, Heaven, Miracles, Resurrection, Scripture, Suffering

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Posted by admin on March 1, 2010 at 3:33 pm.

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:27-31)

The text here comes from the story about the rich man and Lazarus. (Traditionally, the rich man’s name has been “Divies” because it is the term used in the Vulgate, the Latin Bible, for the rich man, but the name is not in Scripture.) Lazarus was a poor beggar who often would sit at the gate of the rich man’s home and beg. But he believed (apparently) and was rewarded with heaven while the rich man suffered in Hades. Jewish legend suggested that when a believer died he would go to Abraham’s bosom, so Jesus was using this idea to make His point, not necessarily condoning any truth to the legend.

The rich man, while in agony, called upon Father Abraham to soothe his agony by sending Lazarus and when that was not possible, he asked him to send Lazarus back to his family that was still living so that they could be warned. Abraham explained that they had the Scriptures, but the rich man thought that someone coming back to life would more clearly convince them. But Jesus put the main point of His story in the words of Abraham, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they won’t be convinced if someone rises from the dead.”

There is a specific and a general application to this. The specific application is that the skeptical religious leaders would not be convinced when Jesus Himself rose from the dead. This is, at least in part, because to believe in Him would likely doom their careers within the Jewish Sanhedrin. These positions were acquired at great cost of time and effort. We might compare them to political careers in our day. Very few men are willing to risk their careers to believe in Jesus – then or now. Truth just isn’t that important to most men in our day.

The general application is that no matter how many or how stupendous the miracles, they will not convince the skeptic, unless they are convinced by the Scriptures. If a person will believe it will be because he chooses to listen to “Moses and the Prophets” (aka, the Scripture).

This principle is really a major factor in the decline of the Church in our day. People have things backward – they want the miracles rather than the Scripture. It’s too hard and time-consuming for many to dig into the Scripture; we’d rather just have a quick, easy miracle, or some other “feel-good” entertainment. And there are always churches that will try to accommodate them. But Dr. A.B. Simpson had it right when he penned the verse, “Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word; Once the gift I wanted, Now the Giver own; Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.”