HOW TO RELEASE THE MIRACULOUS?
KEY TEXT
Romans 15:18-20 (RSV)- For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit…..thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another men’s foundation.
What is your ambition after Christ has wrought a powerful work in your heart during the Ignite and the Encounter or even during the move of God at the altar of every service?
As for Paul, after he encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus, he ventured not to speak of anything except what Christ had done in his heart through that one encounter and he made it his ambition to win the Gentiles by:
1) Word
2) Deed
3) The power of signs and wonders
4) The power of the Holy Spirit.
For 25 years, Evangel has been winning the lost by preaching, teaching and doing good deeds to members and unbelievers and it is high time that we step into the realm of the Spirit or the realm of the miraculous – by the power of signs and wonders and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the Ignite, Encounter and the revival that is ongoing in our Church is to touch you so that you in turn can go and win the Gentiles (unbelievers) to Christ. The healing, the deliverance, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the endowment of spiritual gifts and the anointing are not for yourselves but for the task of soul winning. All these touch is to release you into the spiritual realm where you dare to attempt the miraculous so that people can see the authenticity of your gospel, the love of the Father, the reality of the Son of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Prophet Elijah raised the dead son of the widow of Zarephath back to life, she exclaimed to Elijah: “Now I know you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” (1 King 17:24)
When we move into the realm of the miraculous and perform the healing and miracles to the needy unbelievers, they will know that we are the children of God and that the word of the Lord in our mouth (gospel) is truth.
We talk so much about the power encounter we had with the Holy Spirit but have you released the power that you have received into the miraculous for others? Don’t just talk about the kingdom of God. Show it to the unbelievers with power. Paul says, “The kingdom of God does not consist of talk but of power.”
Evangelites, it is time for us to enter into the realm of the miraculous and see the salvation of the Lord upon many unsaved.
This morning, I would like to share a message entitled, ‘HOW TO RELEASE THE MIRACULOUS?”
How to release the miraculous?
(1) “WHAT HAVE YOU IN YOUR HOUSE?”
2 Kings 4:2- And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your maid servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.”
Here the story is about a particular young prophet who had to borrow money for some purpose and died before he could pay back the debt. Credit life insurance had not yet been invented, so the creditor had a right to make a claim against the family. The Mosaic law allowed the creditor to take the debtor’s children as slaves in payment for the debt. They would have to work for the creditor until the year of jubilee when the law required him to free them.
The young prophet whose family was in trouble is unnamed and in this text that we are reading, his wife was in danger of being sold into slavery with her children.
Then came Elisha. He asked her what she wanted and what she had in her house and she replied, “A single jar of oil.”
The Hebrew word for “jar” in verse 2 comes from a verb meaning “anoint” and therefore refers to a small container like those used to hold ceremonial oil. Some translators use the phrase as, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a single anointing of olive oil.”
Elisha then instructed her in verse 3, “Go outside, borrow vessels of all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.” Later it becomes clear that the amount of miraculous oil she received was limited only by the number of vessels she was willing to collect (verse 6). So the extent of the resolution of her crisis was directly proportionate to the degree of her faith.
“So she went from him and shut the door upon herself and her sons; and as she poured they brought the vessels to her” (verse 5).
Application: The spiritual lesson of the miracle seems to focus on the limited number of jars she collected thereby showing what little faith she had. If only she had gathered more vessels, she would have had more oil. One remembers the words of our Lord, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:31).
Then Elisha further instructed her in verse 8 to sell the oil she had collected and use the money to pay their debts. After that, there would still be enough money left for an endowment on which she and her family could live. The number of jars she and her sons borrowed must have been significant! It might be, in fact, that the family had borrowed all the jars in the village and ran out simply because there were no more vessels available. If so, then this passage is a spiritual example of great faith.
Application: Certainly one lesson is that God keeps giving Himself to us as long as we bring to Him that into which He can pour Himself. When we stop bringing, He stops giving. Of course God can give many things whether we want them or not, but His best gift can only be given if we desire it. That gift is Himself, His saving presence within us. God will not force Himself on anyone who will not in earnest faith open his heart like an empty vessel to Him. So the lesson here is that we have as much of God as we are willing to take in. He will not make us wise or holy or powerful unless we really desire these gifts and bring Him our empty lives for His filling. “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Feeble wishing for things is one thing, but the intense, steadfast desire of faith is another. Wish for anything else and you may or may not get it, but come to God with empty vessels of expectant faith, earnestly desiring His gifts, and He will fill them.
Remember, though, spiritual vessels are not fixed in shape and capacity like those in this story. They are flexible and elastic. They can expand and contract. Therefore, the more we allow God to pour into them, the bigger they expand and the more they can hold. When it comes to receiving God’s gifts, there are no bounds or capacities except our faith. He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Of course the vessel must be empty if we are to receive the fullness of God. If our hearts are already crowded with lesser concerns or sinful values when we bring them to the source of supply, there will be no room for the oil. So the miracle not only teaches the importance of desire, expectation and faith; it teaches obedience too.
E.g. As for me, when God asked me, “What have you in your house?”, I have my two kids and the house itself- my only earthly inheritance. God told me to tell Joy and Jan to return to Iloilo and lead them to the Encounter. I thank God Joy came back and she attended the Encounter. For 7 years, the many setbacks and trials in Singapore have dampened her faith and self-worth and during the Encounter, God really filled her up again and as a mother, I was so happy to see she was back to doing her devotion. The day of our departure to Manila, I opened her room early in the morning and there cuddled at one corner of the side table, she was writing out her devo format as was taught during the Encounter. Even in the Hotel in Manila, before we did any touring or excursion or shopping, my whole family would be doing our devotion first. She even shared about the Encounter to Ben who wished that he could attend one too. But the best part of “what do I have in my house” is the sale of my house for the construction of the church building. It is a tough decision to let go of my literal house to the Lord but I thanked God I gave my literal house to him. Two weeks after I signed the contract on the Agreement of the Sale of my house, a miracle happened to my family. The Ministry of Education called up Jan and offered her full four-year scholarship in France leading to a Master’s degree. Pas Toh Nee and me after having to return to the government our SSS money which we loaned for the ownership of the house, will be giving P5 million to the construction of the church (which is about S$150,000/-). As we were calculating all the financial benefits Jan would be receiving from MOE, we were shocked that it amounts to about S$200,000/- for the 4 years of scholarship.
Truly, when we gave what we have in our house, miracle happens to our family. But the way miracles happen AFTER we give to God what we have in our house shows that obedience and faith is important if we want to see the miraculous.
Maybe what you have in your house is a single anointing of the Holy Spirit. Do not be content with a single portion of anointing your family has. Press in for more. Do not be happy that only one of your children is serving God. Press in to bring all you have in your house to be filled and touched by God. Then your family will have no carnal problems or carnal needs. They will be richly supplied and anointed by God. Miracles of God will flow into your family finance when you dare to give what you have in your house.
(2) “WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?”
Exodus 4:2- The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”
V3- And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
V4- But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand, and take it by the tail”- so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
The miraculous happens when Moses gave to God what was in his hand, a rod and it turned into a serpent. With that rod, Moses used it to call down plagues, to open the Red Sea, to cause water to come forth from the rock and to win over the Amalekites.
Another incident that resonates with Moses’ example is found in 1 King 17:8-16 where in the midst of drought and famine, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. God also told Elijah that he directed a widow in that place to supply him with food. Widows were marginalized in ancient society, the first to suffer in times of drought and famine. This was hardly the place a person would look for help.
In spite of the strangeness of this command and promise, Elijah obeyed. He went to Zarephath and he saw the widow gathering sticks. This was hardly the person with significant resources that could be placed at Elijah’s disposal. Still, Elijah said to her, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread IN YOUR HAND.” (verse 10-11)
The prophet’s request had trapped the woman between the demands of hospitality and her own desperate condition: “I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it- and die” (verse 12).
The woman was to make a small cake of bread, first for Elijah and then for herself and her son. She was to give all that she had in her hand – which is a handful of flour and a little oil to the man of God first. This was an audacious request for a stranger to make but it was followed by an even more remarkable promise: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land” (verse 14).
Something about Elijah stirred a remarkable faith in the widow. She had been called to risk her last meal and to rely on the promise of a “foreign God.” But “she went away and did as Elijah had told her”(verse 15). As a result, she experienced God’s supernatural provision, not just on that occasion but for an extended period of time.
Application: God often begins with what we already have. Moses had a rod in his hand, and God used that to accomplish great things (Exo 4:2). Peter and his partners had fishing nets in their hands (Luke 5), and the lad had a few loaves and fishes (John 6). All that the poor widow had was a handful of flour and a little oil in a jar but “little is much when God is in it.” When these people turned to God what is in their hands, miracles happen.
E.g. We just heard a powerful testimony of Nancy Cuaresma, who after the sermon on Finance during the Women’s Encounter, decided to give to the Lord. She didn’t have small notes and she gave all that was in her hand to the Lord, leaving no transport money to go home after the Women’s Encounter. But it was after she dared to give to God first what was in her hand, that a financial miracle happened the very next day.
Application: What is in your hand? Is it the rod of authority God has given you like Moses? Is it few loaves and 2 fishes that you have – your limited resources? Is it the humble occupation you have in your hands – fishing nets? Give them all to God first then a miracle will happen.
What is in your hand? Authority? Anointing? Healing power? Go and use that hand to perform the miracles in the name of Christ. Go heal the sick. Go touch the floundering business. Go and raise the dead. Go bless the dysfunctional families and you will see the miracle of supply, healing, restoration and blessing happen right before your eyes.
3. ‘I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU’
2 Kings 4:30- Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her.
The son of the rich Shunamite woman died. Out of desperation, she went to see Elisha. It was Elisha who prayed for that miracle child to be conceived by the Shunamite lady despite her old age. Now he’s dead. She sought the Prophet. Elisha sent his servant, Gehazi to raise the dead child. But the woman would not settle for a delegated authority. She would not leave Elisha’s side until the prophet arose and followed her and of course, Elisha managed to raise her dead son to life.
If you want to see miracles in your lives, you must not leave the side of the Holy Spirit until He arises and goes with you. Persistency is the key to seeing a miracle. Miracles do not always happen on our first petition.
Look at how Elijah had to bow his and put his face between his knees 7 times before the rain came to end the three and the half year drought (I Kings 18:41-46).
Look again and see how Elijah how to stretched himself upon the dead son of the widow of Zarephath three times and cried to the Lord before God raised him from the dead (1 Kings 17:21).
See again the persistency of Elisha when the son of the rich Shunamite lady died and he stretched himself two times on the dead boy till the breath came back to him and he sneezed 7 times (2 Kings 4:32-37).
We are told to pray and not faint. How many of us are persistent in our prayer? Jesus after commanding us to pray and not lose heart in Luke 18:1, concludes with an admonition, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”(verse 8).
We have a tendency to give up. I almost gave up on the Women’s Encounter. But I thank God for the Holy Spirit that whispered to me during the 3 days, “Press in, Press in. I am greater than the hardness of these women’s heart.” Thank God the breakthrough came on the 3rd day and I deemed it a successful Women’s Encounter. Glory to the Holy Spirit!
E.g. God told Pas Toh Nee to kneel before the altar and hold the horns of the altar like Elijah bowed his knee seven times if he wants to see the rain of revival come at every altar call. Pas Toh Nee obeys God and each time when there is a block at the altar, Pas Toh Nee presses in by holding the altar of God.
What Pas Toh Nee is doing reminds me of one portion of the Bible in Joel 2:17-29: “Between the vestibule and the altar [LB- between the people and the altar], let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare thy people, O Lord, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, “Where is their God?” Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain [God’s Word], wine [Joy of the Holy Ghost] and oil [Anointing of the Holy Ghost], and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.”
Hold on to the horns of the altar of God. You may have to pray 3 days to raise the dead or 7 days to see the rain. In other words, persist till you see the miracle. Tell God, “I will not leave you till you arise and come with me.” Elisha did not leave the side of Elijah when they came to Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan. At every stop of every place, Elijah kept telling Elisha, “Tarry her, I pray you.” But at every stop, Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU.” (2 Kings 2). By the persistency of Elisha not to leave Elijah, Elijah left him a double portion of anointing.
Tell the Holy Spirit, I will not leave you, this altar or this prayer closet until you arise and go with me and anoint me double!
(4) ‘GO WASH IN THE JORDAN SEVEN TIMES’
2 Kings 5:10-And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”
V11- But Naaman was angry, and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.
V12- Are not Abana, and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
V13- But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
V14- So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
The account here is about the leprous commander of Syria, Naaman, who came to see Prophet Elisha for healing in his large entourage of horses and chariots. Elisha was not impressed by the pompous elegance of Naaman’s caravan. He casually sent his messenger to meet the guests with his instructions- go dip in the River Jordan seven times.
Naaman had his own idea of how the cure should be handled. So by sending the servant with simple instruction, Elisha was making it clear that Naaman could not design his own cure. Even though it required only a few dips in the Jordan, the amazing miracle happened.
Application: Today, people like Naaman will do anything spectacular to ensure their salvation. They will suffer, build churches, give money, sacrifice privileges. But the simple plan of God is for sinners to wash in the blood of Jesus Christ and receive by faith the eternal life He offers. And, because the plan is so simple, many turn away as Naaman did and refuse the greatest of all gifts.
If you want to see a miracle, you cannot despise the simple and humble command of God.
Christianity is not complicating. The way of salvation is simple- Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31).
If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, open wide your mouth and He will fill it; raise your hands and just worship God and His manifest presence will come upon you. It is that simple. No formula. Just dipping and soaking yourself in the river of the Holy Spirit and your inner filth and spiritual leprosy will be washed away and you will be healed internally and even physically.
What are the simple and humbling command God is asking you to do? Just obey and do it and you will see the miraculous.
Are you tired of predictable natural realm? I am hungry to be released by my miraculous God into the miraculous realm. I want to see the miracles of God wroughting through me and through all of you to the many people you are in touch with in your cells. God wants to win the Gentiles today not only by word and deeds but also by the demonstration of signs and wonders and by the Holy Spirit. Do you want to release the miraculous into your family and your ministry?
Then give what you have to the Lord in your house. Give him also that which is in your hand. Do not leave the Holy Spirit. Press in until you see the miracle. Do not despise the simply and humble command God gives you.
END
SERMON OF PAS LILY –PREACHED
AT EFC 1st SERVICE ON 26 JUN 2011
