God Doing Miraculous Things - Canaan Fellowship

Canaan Fellowship

God Doing Miraculous Things

00:00 / 00:37:23

Bruce opens by surveying the miraculous throughout redemptive history, noting that God has always acted miraculously but also allowed long stretches where His works were less visible, and that skepticism about the miraculous is not new.

[00:00:00] The first miracle in the Bible is creation, and after the flood God’s preservation of Noah’s family involved both human effort and divine revelation.
[00:02:30] Abraham’s life was mostly ordinary travel and altar-building, but included miracles like hearing God and having Isaac in old age.
[00:03:48] Through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, God preserved His people, though the descent into Egypt looked tragic rather than miraculous.
[00:04:33] After 400 years of slavery came Moses, the burning bush, the ten plagues, the exodus, and the Red Sea — all miraculous.
[00:05:25] Miracles continued through Joshua’s conquest, the judges, and the kings, but with long natural periods in between.
[00:06:07] After the exile and the prophets, there were 400 silent years, expressed in the Psalms’ cry, “How long, O Lord?”
[00:07:03] Then came John the Baptist and Jesus with a wave of miracles, yet many today reject the record because they don’t see such things now.
[00:08:56] Skepticism is not new: the Sadducees denied angels and the afterlife; deists said God withdrew from human affairs; today materialist atheism rises and is itself facing backlash.
[00:10:25] In the early church, Jesus’ disciples were sent out (the twelve, then the seventy-two) to do miracles as signs to help people believe.
[00:11:11] In Acts, healings and signs continued, beginning with the Day of Pentecost miracle of tongues understood by foreign-language speakers.
[00:12:01] Miracles continued through the first and second centuries but gradually diminished; by the fourth century Augustine claimed the gifts had ceased, a view later pushed hard by John MacArthur (cessationism).
[00:12:30] The body of Christ divides into continuationists (gifts continue) and cessationists (gifts ceased); both accept the biblical record but differ on whether such things happen today.
[00:13:56] In Acts 2, Peter quotes Joel’s prophecy of the Spirit poured out on sons and daughters, servants, and handmaidens.
[00:15:11] Prophecy often has a near fulfillment and a far-off completion — Pentecost fulfilled part of Joel 2-3, but the blood, fire, and darkened moon await the Lord’s return.
[00:16:18] After Peter’s sermon, 3,000 were converted and great fear came upon them; the early believers expected history to end soon, showing we often get the timing wrong though the content of Scripture will be fulfilled.
[00:17:36] The rationalist period (about 400 years ago) built in a skepticism against the miraculous, and fake miracles have also provoked reaction against genuine ones.
[00:19:29] Continuationists are wrongly thought to have begun around 1900 with the Pentecostal revival; in fact miracles have continued in parts of the body throughout church history.
[00:20:00] Gifts died out where the church removed freedom for the Spirit to move; many churches today leave no room for the gifts, insisting everything be “decently and in order.”
[00:21:09] This church has experienced more of the gifts when it expected them more, and Bruce warns that becoming programmed quenches the Spirit; we must leave space for the Spirit to move.
[00:22:16] Scripture says not to despise prophesying — dismissing a word because “that’s just Joe” is despising prophecy; likewise judge interpretations of tongues against Scripture and keep what is good.
[00:24:20] The Christian Missionary Alliance began as an alliance, not a denomination; founder A.B. Simpson reversed his cessationist theology after being healed and became a healing minister.
[00:26:22] A.W. Tozer and the CMA faced the tongues question around 1940 and adopted the compromise “seek not, forbid not,” which functionally produced the same result as cessationism and was unbiblical since the Bible says to seek the gifts.
[00:27:42] The Pentecostal revival came largely from the Methodist/holiness fold; denominational stands against tongues gave rise to the Assemblies of God and Church of God in Christ, split along racial lines though Azusa Street was originally integrated.
[00:30:14] The Charismatic movement of the 1960s brought the gifts into Baptist, Catholic, and Episcopal churches (e.g., Dennis Bennett; First Baptist in Kingston).
[00:31:47] The Third Wave (1980s, Vineyard, John Wimber) tends to be non-denominational churches that accept the gifts while rejecting Pentecostal errors such as requiring tongues for salvation.
[00:33:04] 1 Corinthians 12 lists varieties of gifts — wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing spirits, tongues, interpretation — given by the same Spirit for the common good, not for personal glory.
[00:34:08] Gifts like healing are for others (many who heal have themselves been unhealed), and gifts also serve as a witness to unbelievers, as when a tongue was understood by someone present and led to salvation.
[00:35:33] 1 Corinthians 14:26 describes the gathered church where each brings a hymn, lesson, revelation, tongue, or interpretation, all for edification — we should leave that freedom so the Spirit can move, coming to give as well as receive.
[00:36:56] Bruce closes in prayer that these things would be fulfilled in the body of Christ for blessing, God’s glory, and people coming to know Him.

Scripture References

Acts 2
Joel 2-3
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
1 Corinthians 14:21
1 Corinthians 14:26

Generated by AI model deepseek-chat