Miracles

Good morning.

This past week we had a as we all know, we had a change in leadership in our government. And as I was driving, I listened to some of the proceedings and something that jumped out at me was and.

You can rest that I'm not going to get into politics here, but it was it was more of the workings of the government. And during the proceedings, they somebody and I don't know who it was read the preamble of the Constitution.

Now, if I would have paid more attention in civics class in high school, I could be able to recite that, but I can't the whole thing. But the preamble of the Constitution, if you boil that thing down, it says, "We, the people, to form a more perfect union, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States."

And when I came across that in civics class, I thought, "There is no prouder statement that can be made." But what I didn't realize was that's not a that's not a proud statement.

What they're saying is that in order to form a more perfect union, not that I thought it was they were stating to form a more than perfect union. That's not what it says. It says that we're attempting to become closer to perfect than what we've been before.

That's why we're here this morning.

Now, Dale told us, you know, that we need to praise. We can do that at home. We don't have to come here to do that. We can sing at home. We don't have to come here to do that.

We can study our Bibles and learn about Jesus Christ. We don't have to come here to do that. But we come here to get a more perfect understanding and relationship with Jesus Christ, not more than perfect, but more perfect than what we were yesterday.

That's why we come here. That's why we gather together. And yeah, we can do all those things, but there's there's something about a collective meeting. You know, as we discussed in Sunday school, oh, I didn't didn't think about that angle. I think about that one. You know, that's what and we move closer.

Never going to get there. You know, we don't have to worry about we're going to finally get there and that's where we're going to stay. But we're moving that direction more. You know, we understand more perfectly about about Jesus and about God.

This morning we're going to look at at some miracles that Jesus did. And. So we're going to look at Mark chapter five. And I thought we'll look at some of the miracles that Jesus did, and then we'll have two more current miracles.

But you know what? There was another one added this morning or last night, and it's a miracle. If you think about it, it is a miracle. Every time that somebody yields to the to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we are not people who humble ourselves, who submit, who surrender. That's not the makeup of mankind.

And it is a miracle every time that somebody, young or old, yields, surrenders, submits. It's a miracle because we are not like that. We're not like that. Okay, so why did Jesus speak in parables? And why did he do miracles?

I think there's a couple of reasons.

Chapter five of Mark.

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was coming out of the ship immediately, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him, no, not even with chains, because that he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him.

Neither could any man tame him. Not only this man was wild, but he must have been of tremendous strength.

It apparently sounds like they had handcuffs and chains, and it didn't make any difference. And he went about as he always did. And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself the stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. Now, that's a that's a most unique thing. Why? How does a man with demons worship Jesus?

And cried with a loud cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. For he said for Jesus said unto the man, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.

And Jesus asked the man, What's your name? And he answered saying, My name is Legion, for we are many.

And the man besought Jesus much that he would not send them the demons in the man besought Jesus that he would not send them away into out of the country. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding, and all the demons besought him, saying, Send us into the swine that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea.

They were about 2000 and were choked. And them. The herdsmen that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country, and the people went out to see what was done. And when they came to Jesus and saw him, the man that was possessed with the devil, that had the Legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray Jesus to depart out of the coast.

Quite interesting. And this happened at different times that people with demon possession came and and and cried out, you know, to to and worship Jesus. But I think apparently it was some kind of a false worship. I don't know. I don't quite understand it, but Jesus would would cast out the the demon.

So the question is, why did he do this?

And I think it was because it was to. Prove to the people who Jesus was, to prove to him to the people that he was who he claimed he was.

Let's back up into and to chapter four. Starting at verse 35. In the same day when even was come, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's pass over to the other side of the sea. And when they went and he had sent away the multitude, the disciples took Jesus, even as he was in the ship, and there were also other little ships, and there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was thou full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow, and they awakened him and said, Master, don't you even care that we perish?

And Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you had no faith?

And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, What manner of man is this that even the wind in the bay and the sea obey him? Now, we would think that's a ridiculous question. There was Jesus right in the midst of them, and they ask, Who is he?

I think we need to remember that. His disciples were following not the Son of God, not the Christ, but rather they were they were following a good man, a good teacher, a rabbi who would teach them about God, and didn't realize that they had God right among them.

As I understand, the Jewish people believed that only God had control of the elements. You know, he made the winds and the sea and the storms and the calms and everything. And here, all of a sudden, right in among them was a person, a person, mind you, that could stand up and tell the sea to, You just calm down.

And immediately it happened. And they said, What's going on here? Here is a man. A teacher that knows, you know, some things. But all he has to say is to the wind in the sea, You calm down. And it happens.

Never saw anything like it before. Only God has the power to do that. And that's true. But they didn't realize that they had God right there, right beside them.

And they questioned, Who is this? And you see, if you look, if you read Mark, it's not until back in chapter eight that Jesus asks, you know, Who do men who who are the people say I am? And oh, well, you're some say you're Elijah or a prophet or somebody else, some great person that maybe rose from the dead. We're not sure.

And Jesus said, Well, who do you say I am? And that's when Peter made that, you know, great statement of confession. You're the Christ, you know, the Son of God. At this point, they didn't realize that. And so miracles were used by Jesus to prove to them, to his disciples and to others, that he was the Son of God.

There's another reason, I think, that he did that he did miracles.

Let's go on.

In chapter five, verse 21. And when Jesus was passed again, over again by ship to the other side, you know, he back over to the other side of the sea. Now, much people gathered unto him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue.

Jesus, by name. And when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live.

And Jesus went with him, and much people followed him and thronged him. So he's on his way to Jesus's house.

And there's inserted a little side story here. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many physicians, had spent all that she had and was not a bit better, but rather grew worse. When she heard of Jesus, came in the press behind the throng behind him and touched his clothes. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. Now, Jesus, immediately knowing within himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned about and said, Who touched me?

And his disciples, they just about, Oh, what do you mean? You know, all these people tight against around you, and you say, Who touched me? We've all been touching you. Who touched me? And he said, Yes, somebody touched me in a different way. In a different way. Somebody touched me. Who was it?

And he looked around to see who had done this thing. And the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, Your faith has made you whole.

The emphasis was on the faith. Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace and behold your plague.

It seems as though whatever happened, Jesus, I don't think ever got excited.

And he does wasn't ever. This was the closest, I think, that he ever came to showing surprise.

And I don't think that it was surprise that. That. Oh. I lost something there. Something happened. But rather, I think it was a bit of surprise that. That this lady had enough of faith that all I have to do is touch him. That's all it'll take.

And I'll be healed.

How many of us have felt the touch, have felt Jesus touch us? How many times have we reached out to touch Jesus, knowing of a certainty? That he's able to fulfill what I'm hoping is possible. I have to think about that sometimes.

How often do we have faith enough? Well, we're hoping it comes to pass. How many of us are certain?

That God will do for us what he wants, what what we are wanting.

Which brings me up to a miracle that we encountered one night in our house. Our girls were small and. And. One of them, two of them had problems with pneumonia and and congestion in their chests and everything. And one night, one of the girls was really, really sick. She could hardly breathe, and she called us over, and it was like 2 or 3:00 in the morning.

And she said, I can hardly breathe. You know, what should we do? You know, should we take her to the hospital? Should we take her to urgent care? And. Some time in the just recent past, we had an anointing at our church. Someone has to be anointed.

And she was. Somewhere between 6 and 10. And she said, Could I be anointed? Oh, boy. Yes, without a doubt you can be. But how are we going to what's the logistics of this thing?

It's supposed to call the elders of the church. If you're sick and want to be anointed.

Oh, boy. How are we going to do this?

She said, Dad, aren't you an elder? This was from a six, ten year old girl. She said, Aren't you one of the elders of our church? You know, you're one of the older men in our church. Does that make you an elder?

Whoo!

How do you say no to something like that? That girl had faith that if she was anointed by the elders, of which you, Dad, are one.

Oh, no, I can't do that, you know, because I'm not. I don't have the official title. This girl was so choked up that she could hardly breathe, and she was telling me what needed to be done.

Yes, indeed. We went downstairs and got the olive oil bottle. It's the only oil we had. You know, does it matter what kind of oil? I think not.

We anointed her that night, 2 or 3:00 in the morning.

We prayed with her. She went right to sleep, slept the rest of the night.

Amazing. Is that amazing? It's supposed to work. If it's supposed to work, why is it amazing? I mean, yeah, it's a it's a it is a miracle, but. It's supposed to work. So it's, you know, miracles aren't that. Why aren't miracles more common in the place?

So the next morning, it was really neat. It was great. At the breakfast table, she said, Now, how does this work? Did that oil somehow come down through my head into my throat and help?

See, this is a six, ten year old trying to understand this stuff. This is mighty deep stuff. And we said, No, it was the obedience. God's ways work, don't they? Now.

That's why it worked. Not because that oil oiled your throat. It was because obedience, according to God's work. You know, and we say, God said it. I believe it. And that settles it. Is that a true statement? No.

No. We've got it turned around. It's somehow because of our belief. You know, that's what settles it. This is the way it really is. God said it. That settles it. And I believe it. That's the way it works.

And when we get that thing straight, then, you know, we've learned, then we've become a move. We've made a move toward more perfection, closer to perfection.

Okay, so this lady was healed of her disease as. As they were going to. Jesus's house.

Where are we? Verse 35. And while he yet spoke, while Jesus was still. Doing this diversion here, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain people, which said, Your daughter's dead. There's no need to trouble the master any further.

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

And Jesus suffered no man to follow him, save Peter and James and John, the brother of James. And he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and he saw the two malt and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he said unto them, Why make this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

And they laughed him to scorn. Two verses before, they were weeping and wailing, and now they were laughing at him. This is so ridiculous. We know she's dead. We've seen it. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and mother and the damsel and them that were with him, the three disciples, and entered into the house where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, To litha cume, which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose and walked.

For she was of the age of 12 years, and they were astonished with a great astonishment. They apparently believed that he could heal the sick. But raising the dead was something different. Well, it is still today, isn't it? We can help people get sick, but we can't raise the dead. And he charged them straightly that no man should know it and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

So whenever they came from the from Jesus's house and told her, You know, it's it's too late. It's too late. She's all she already she's already dead. Jesus didn't get excited. Jesus didn't get excited.

It doesn't really say, but, you know, other times it says, And he knew their knew their thoughts. But I think he probably knew she was dead. That didn't excite him.

And so miracles were to prove to his disciples, to his followers, and to the unbelieving of who he really was. Another reason why I believe that that he did miracles. He does miracles, not did does. Another reason he does miracles is because Jesus is.

Not sure how to describe it. He is compassion. He's not just a compassionate person. He's not just full compassion. He is. He is compassion.

He had compassion on this lady that had this bleeding problem. And different times throughout the scriptures, especially whenever he like he was feeding the 4000 and the other times that he fed multitudes and seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them.

Jesus is a compassionate. Oh, being being. Yeah, that's right. Jesus is a compassionate being, not just a compassionate person. He was a compassionate person. He is a compassionate being. He is a compassionate God.

And even now we're told in Hebrews that he is fulfilling the position of our great high priest.

He's fulfilling the the position of high priest comparable to Melchizedek.

Because he lived in the flesh, he knows what we experience. He's not some far off, some far off deity that we have to attempt to appease. He's not a God of stone. But he's a God that that's compassionate, that cares about us.

Now, to present or current, not current, not quite. In the near past. Two miracles.

Years ago, I hold milk for Trickling Springs, and I'd get to different farms. And one pickup we did was Meyer and Martin Yarrosburg, which some of us know. Meyer and Martin. And one day after we got done pumping milk, he'd often come out to the milkhouse and talk to me while I was while the pump pumped the milk out of the tank. And one day he said, Do you believe in miracles? I said, You bet. I'm always in the market. He said, I want to show you something.

He said, Do you have time? I said, Yeah, you bet. I have time for miracles. You bet. So we walked over to a shed and he opened the door. And in there was the remains of a vehicle. And I don't think there was a smooth place on that vehicle.

Most of the windows were blown out. It was all crumpled up. He said, You see that? Well, yeah, I saw it. He said. My wife and two sons were in that vehicle.

He said they walked away from that vehicle.

He says, Is that a miracle? I said, I believe it is. He said they weren't hurt. He said, Let me tell you the story of it. He said they were not. They got in the vehicle the other morning and were going off. Mother was taking them to the boys to Bible school.

And just down the road, just a short distance. That they were going along and this car comes from the. Right side and hits them broadside.

And he said, It flipped that car up on its side and skidded down the road like 100 feet. He said, Janet looked out and he said, She's two inches from her face. She saw the road flying by rather than the car was flying down the road on its up on its side.

He said, Just before it stopped, it flipped up on its wheels.

So it was smashed from the right side and the left side was all crinkled. The windows were blown out. He said policemen came and.

Was interviewing the lady or the I don't know if man or lady, better not say lady that drove the car from the right side and was talking to that person. And Janet and her boys were just waiting there, you know, to tell the policemen their I guess their side of the story. And finally the policeman looked over at them and said, Who who are you?

And she said, Well, we were in the other car. The other car. Where's the other car? And Well, it's down the road there. So they walked down to the car and said.

Are you telling me that you were in that car? Yeah, we were.

And you're standing here talking to me? Yeah, we are.

So, you know, it was a miracle. He just had to agree. So why do why does God do miracles today? It was to show that policemen that we serve a God of miracles. Now, is a miracle that they weren't hurt, you know, it's more of a miracle that they weren't hurt because. When a person gets hit in the vehicle from the side. You know, it violently moves that vehicle and people to the left and hearts can't take that because hearts are attached at the top and they just kind of hang there in your chest and they can't move. A heart can't move fast enough. And so it is pretty much ripped.

From its moorings and you bleed to death in 2 or 3 minutes. That happened to a neighbor lady years years ago. That she wasn't hit very hard from the side, but her heart couldn't take that. And there was three people in that vehicle. And their hearts weren't touched.

That's a miracle.

That's a miracle. Now, do we call it such? Or is it just happenstance? I maintain that we need to call miracles, believe their miracles and tell people that was a miracle. That's how our God works in miraculously taking care of us.

One more. This is a story about my grandfather.

My grandfather was born in 1885, I think it was. And. So he saw some great upheavals in life. He lived through the Great Depression.

He had a. A son that was born would have been my uncle that was a little bit abnormal. But he had real problems with with. Real respiratory problems and he died at two years old. And. He lived through the Great Depression, two world wars, and.

A bank failure, the local bank, and he lost lost some money there. And for some reason, and it's again about choices.

He did did not or could not not could not did not accept the grace of God in his life. He lived his life without yielding to the Spirit of God.

He was a fierce.

Supporter of my grandmother, who was a Christian. Now, I can't it's it's it's really hard for me to understand, you know, how he lived his life. He was a supporter of the church, but didn't join the church.

Now, in those in days past in our circles in the River Brotherhood circles, their services were in in their homes. And my grandparents had services in their homes as a divided couple, which is. I just don't don't quite understand that, but.

I think there were some actions maybe less than. Maybe far from perfect in the church in years past. And I. As. As I look back on it, I think he probably took offense and harbored that in his heart. That's a.

Mean thing to harbor offense in your heart.

When he was 83. When he was 83. That didn't matter much as much as it did in the past. And at 83 years old. He became a Christian. He yielded his life to to God. And we always. We always chuckled at the fact that in six months time, he went from a man who was shaving all his life to a beard down to the middle of his stomach. In six months, no one ever saw any growth like it. It was amazing. It was it was we always chuckled about that. At any rate, at 83, he yielded his life to God. At 80.

I forget the numbers. At any rate, like a year later, he was baptized and he took place took part in one love feast and died at 86. Oh, joy. He told me one time, he said, I regret that I can't talk to grandmother.

She had died in 1968. He died in 1974. So she lived all of his her life without the support of a Christian husband.

But the miracle is.

That he did yield. That is not something that's advisable. He missed the joy, missed much joy. He was a very. Moral man. I mean. As grandchildren. We didn't get away with much. He would tell us in our hurry if we were stepped out of line.

He was a straight. Liver of morality. But morality doesn't cut it.

Morality is not good enough. If you could weigh in the balances, his good goodness probably would have outweighed his badness. From a natural standpoint.

But that doesn't cut it. And he finally came to the conclusion and we even as a 15 year old, you know, not a Christian, we all rejoiced, you know, that he finally found the peace that. He, I don't know, evaded or spurned, I guess you could say, all of his life.

That's that's one of the treasures that we treasure in our family. It's one of the miracles.

God does miracles for 6 to 10 years old. He does miracles for 83 year olds and everyone in between, all the rest of us in between.

Let's give him the praise for it. Let's see the miracles. Acknowledge them, tell about them. And live a more perfect life than we did yesterday.