Signs, Wonders, And Miracles
When Peter healed the crippled man in Acts 3, the religious leaders demanded of him, “How can faith in the Name of Jesus Christ raise anybody from a crippled, hopeless condition? This man has been a cripple from his mother's womb. Don't you know that Jesus is dead? We not only killed Him but we buried Him in a grave.”
Peter said, “You killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses…” (Acts 3:15).
Peter and the other disciples became what I call proof producers. When they went into a city, it was not all talk. It is easy to teach. Anybody can instruct somebody else. To face the power of the enemy and produce the proof that Jesus Christ is alive is another matter.
That was the task the Early Church had to perform. They had to convince a world that had seen Jesus in the flesh. They had to convince a world that although they had seen Jesus act like a man — hungry, tired, weary, thirsty, sleepy — that inside that house of muscle and bone dwelt the Son of the living God.
- They produced the proof.
- They turned cities upside down, but they did not do it by just preaching.
- They turned nations upside down, but they did not do it by just preaching.
They did this by the signs and wonders that took place in their ministries when they first went into a community. Each time a notable miracle would take place that shook the entire region.
The first such recorded incident was the healing of the lame man at the Gate of the Temple as is written in the third chapter of the Book of Acts. The man had been lame from the time of his birth, yet:
…Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee; In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. (Act 3:6-9)
After this tremendous message a living demonstration of Christ took place!
Make this declaration:
I have the same power resident within me as the Apostle Peter. God will work through me in the same way. I will produce the proof.