The Requirements for a Miracle

Let us turn to the Word of God, Acts, Chapter 3. We are continuing our study of the book of Acts, and I want to take this time now. I am going to try to cover Chapter 3 in its entirety, if God gives me the wisdom to be concise and get straight to the key points of this chapter, which is so eloquent in many, many different ways.

Let me remind the brothers and sisters that we are making our way through the book of Acts, with all its very profound, very powerful teachings. But I am simply going to read a few verses. Chapter 3, verse 1, says:

“...Peter and John went up together to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful...”

The temple had various very large doors or gates through which worshipers entered the different sections of the temple. And this gate was called the Beautiful Gate. And this man sat there to ask alms from those who entered the temple.

“...When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he begged them to give him alms. And Peter, along with John, fixing his eyes on him, said, ‘Look at us.’ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have’—famous words. How many have heard that expression from the Apostle Peter?—‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles became strong. And leaping up, he stood and walked, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the man who sat begging for alms at the temple gate called Beautiful; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him....”

May the Lord bless His holy Word. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, here in this passage and throughout Chapter 3, I would say that although there have been other miraculous moments, such as the baptism at Pentecost and other things of that kind, this is like the first formal, clear miracle recorded by the Bible in the book of Acts. It is like the first miracle to take place within this new era, after Christ has ascended, in the age of the church, this church that is being formed. It is the first miracle.

Here we see another aspect of the church’s life that the evangelist Luke wants to present to us. He has spoken to us about the life of the first disciples, as we saw last week, I believe it was—or the week before last, yes, the week before last. And we have seen various things that have happened, because they are like key moments in the development of the church. And now he wants to show us something that we are going to see several times: healings and deliverances of people from demonic oppression.

Here we see the miraculous, powerful movement of the Holy Spirit in a very graphic way: healing. Here they call him a lame man, but he was probably paralyzed, because he is a man who cannot move in any way. So here we see this miraculous movement of God. Jesus had, in fact, said of His followers that “they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” The evangelist Mark records that in Mark 16:18. It was a promise from the Lord that those who followed Him would do powerful things and that God would bring healing through them.

And so here we see that word, that promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, being fulfilled for the first time through the prayer and intervention of Peter and John. Notice something here, a few interesting details. It says that Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour. The disciples still worship according to Jewish custom; they go to the temple. The gradual separation between Judaism and Christianity that we see in the book of Acts has not yet begun to occur. These Christians still consider themselves Jews, with the sole qualification that they are Jews who have found their Messiah and recognize Him in the person of Jesus Christ. That is what distinguishes them, but in reality they see themselves as Hebrews, Jews, connected to the ancient Scripture of the prophets and everything we now call the Old Testament; and they go, as is customary, to the prayers attended by a devout Jew.

And it seems that all the first Christians also gathered there together to converse and talk about the things of God. But Peter and John go to the temple in accordance with a kind of religious custom followed by devout Jews, at the ninth hour. That is about three in the afternoon; it is a specific hour when prayer took place in Jewish ritual.

Surely, as I say, they were going to meet with other believers. Here, however, we see that God is preparing something like a divine encounter. At the same time that they are going toward the temple, a man is being brought there, as usual—a paralyzed man. It says that they laid him every day at the Beautiful Gate. It is something repetitive; up to this point, everything is proceeding quite normally. Some men are going to worship as always; another man is brought, perhaps by his parents or by a relative who carries him, and they always place him in the same spot so that he can collect his alms. Everything is as usual, except that God is preparing a divine encounter, a divine appointment. It is something God wants to demonstrate. God is involved in the matter; there is power in the air. That is the difference: when the Holy Spirit is moving in the midst of a church, a congregation, in the life of a believer, ordinary, everyday things become extraordinary things. And God is always providing opportunities to manifest His power.

So we see this encounter taking place between these two elements, and the presence of the Holy Spirit transforms it. Who knows what would have happened if Peter and John had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Or who knows whether they had passed by this man many times, but nothing happened? But when the presence of the Spirit was in their lives, then they were able to transform that everyday moment into something spectacular, something dramatic.

That is what happens when there is an anointing in the air, brothers and sisters, when there is a person filled with the Spirit: ordinary, everyday things become extraordinary. I remember, for example, when the Lord Jesus Christ goes to the synagogue and is there preaching a sermon as a guest, and the Bible says that a person, a woman who had a demon, manifests it, and the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes the demon. And the demon itself reveals its presence, and the Lord confronts it, and that person is healed. That person went to church; she was there all the time. There was no power in the air; it was dead Judaism. But when the Lord was present there, that demon that had been hiding had to come to light; it had to manifest itself so that it could be exposed and cast out.

How important it is, brothers and sisters, for us to fill our lives each day with that presence of the Spirit, for us to cultivate the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must ask the Lord to fill us more and more each day with His power, because that is what makes the difference. So many things happen in our ordinary, everyday lives—sometimes illnesses, oppression, family difficulties, many things—and who knows whether, if the presence of God were manifested in the home, with more prayer and more of the Word of God, God could clarify for us many spiritual things that are hidden beneath the surface, and we could then confront them and live more powerful lives, freer from all the oppressions of life.

So it is important. That is why we preach these sermons about the book of Acts, because here we can see the importance of this supernatural dimension. Now, the dynamics of this miracle are very interesting. Number one: Peter comes up to this man and says, “Look at us.” Why does Peter tell him to look at them? I believe Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, understands that there is something like a transfer of power that he wants to take place through that gaze. Sometimes we lay hands on a person to invoke healing. In this case, Peter senses that it is important for this man to look them in the eyes. And it says that this man also looks intently at them, but what happens? What he is expecting is for Peter to give him a coin. He looks at him with material interest. He says, well, perhaps this man is going to give me twenty dollars—who knows? He is telling me to look at him, or perhaps he is going to send me to a hospital to be cured, or whatever. He is also expecting something extraordinary, but he is not expecting what Peter has in mind, which is to invoke the power of God.

But in any event, it was important to gain this person’s attention. And to me, it is interesting and ironic that this man is not truly in tune with what Peter wants to do spiritually, and yet God heals him anyway. His faith is imperfect; it is like the woman with the issue of blood who touches Jesus Christ at the hem of His garment. Perhaps she is simply thinking, well, it is something a little superstitious, but in any event, that faith—what God seeks, brothers and sisters, is that contact, that connection in some way.

Our faith does not have to be perfect. Many times our faith is not everything it ought to be, but do you know what? We have a merciful God. What God wants is that contact; what God wants is that seeking, that desire, that act of putting ourselves in tune with His person. He supplies the rest. Our faith does not have to be perfect. We do not have to be perfect for God to move in our lives, but there does have to be some kind of connection.

And I see in this that God sometimes uses a gaze to transfer power. When the angel appears to Gideon in the Old Testament to call him to become Israel’s deliverer from the Midianites, he looks at him; it says that this gaze, as it were, commissions Gideon and transfers power to him. From there Gideon goes forth as a deliverer of his people.

There is something there; these are mysteries. I strongly believe in these prophetic elements, these physical symbols of the transfer of God’s power. The Lord Jesus Christ often touched people. In His promise in Mark 16, He says that they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Once, in one case, He took dirt from the ground, spat on it, made a strange mixture, and put it on a person’s eyes to heal him.

There are many ways. I believe it is important for us as Christians to learn to discern from the Lord those symbols, those outward forms of the movement of God. We Pentecostal charismatics believe that there is a blessing in coming forward, raising our hands, kneeling, dancing, and stepping outside the ordinary and everyday, because through all those symbols God often does wonderful things.

But the point is that, in this case, God uses Peter’s gaze as a way of channeling His power into this man’s life, even though the man has a very imperfect understanding of what is happening here. But God is sovereign; God wanted to perform a miracle; God wanted to bless this man. And Peter also—look at all the dynamics of this miracle—Peter gives a verbal command. Notice, incidentally, the fact that it is Peter who takes the lead in this, not John. John is with him, but what is happening here? One very interesting thing in the book of Acts is that Peter’s spiritual leadership is beginning to take shape in the church. The Lord Jesus Christ had told Peter that He would make him a pillar of His church, remember? Peter became the principal leader of the Apostles. He was recognized as number one, and on many occasions in the book of Acts we see Peter taking the lead. Later, the ministry of the Apostle Paul emerges, but in Jerusalem Peter was the principal head, the number-one leader of all the Apostles.

And it is interesting, of course, that from this the Catholic Church, for example, has derived this idea of the transfer of apostolic authority. The Catholic pope is supposedly part of a direct line of Apostles, or of people who descend from the first bishop, who was Peter—that lineage down through the centuries—because it is recognized that Peter had a very important role over the church at its very beginning.

Here Peter gives a verbal command and says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be healed.” Notice that this healing takes place in the name of Jesus Christ. In one sense, this is the first time this idea of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth appears. Before this, Jesus Himself gave the commands in His own person, by His own power; now the disciples use the name of Jesus.

Do you not see here a slight implication of the deity of Jesus Christ as well? The fact that it is in the name of Jesus? Peter does not say, “In the name of the Father, our almighty God,” or “In the name of the Lord,” referring to Jehovah. No, he says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” And that “Jesus Christ of Nazareth” gives a kind of importance and weight to the person of Jesus. The name of Jesus is the key—the power, the authority.

The Bible says that God gave Jesus a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. The name of Jesus has great power. I have seen demons tremble and flee from a person when the name of Jesus is used. I do not know of any other name that does that, you know? I have never seen—and forgive me for this—I have never seen a demon come out in the name of Mary, although glory to God for Mary; I do not mean by that to show any disrespect, understand? But speak to the demon in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and you will see the difference, right? Glory to God for that. That is to say, how Christ-centered the believer must be.

So, another very interesting thing here is that when Peter touches the paralytic, look at what it says; verse 7 says:

“…and taking him by the right hand…” Now, I think the same thing would have happened if it had been the left hand too, so let us not turn this into a ritual in which you have to take people by the right hand for God to do something, right?

But the important thing here is that he took him by the hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles became strong. I dwell on this because the fact that… is very interesting. Notice, perhaps when Peter said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, receive healing, this man received his healing. But what if Peter had just stayed there—okay, son, God bless you, and fend for yourself as best you can over there, may God… who knows whether that man might have remained there paralyzed his entire life.

Peter had to take a sort of risk, and sometimes I tell people, don’t try this at home, but he took him by the hand. It is as though sometimes divine interventions need a physical component too. Sometimes we ask, Lord, heal me, and, oh God, send Your Spirit and raise me up. But we continue with the same sick-person mentality, you understand? And I believe that sometimes God also requires a movement of faith.

Lord, get up. But, dummy, get up; I already gave you the strength to do it. Get going, move. It is important that we cooperate, so to speak, with the Holy Spirit too. I am depressed there at home—Lord, take this depression away from me—but then a person stays there, pulls the sheet even more tightly around his neck, burrows deeper into the bed, and barricades himself in even further. Well, I believe that if I asked the Lord to heal me of depression or discouragement, I have to grab that sheet, throw it aside, take a good shower, put on some cologne, dress in my best clothes, and say, in the name of the Lord, I believe. And when you do that, God’s blessing begins to flow.

That is something very interesting. The other day I was running through Somerville—I run in the mornings when I can—and I got a pain in one knee. It was nothing; it was because one runs on pavement, and once you are 35, well, things are… not as easy as when I was 20. But I felt something; my knee was giving me a stabbing pain, and I was almost tempted to stop and go back home. But you know what? God seemed to put enough faith in me, because that very same thing had happened to me before, and I said, Lord, in the name of Jesus, I am going to keep going, and You are going to anoint, because once I had… well, over the years one always has different kinds of… and I have seen how, truly, when someone believes the Lord, prays to Him, and claims God’s blessing, God does incredible things. God restores muscles, restores joints, things like that. You know what? I kept running. I am not going to give you all the details, but I kept crying out to the Lord, kept praying and declaring anointing and healing, and that little pain kept persisting. And about three times in the process… but I kept going because I felt as though this was a test God was giving me so that I could learn something about healing.

The bottom line is that, brothers and sisters, after a while that pain disappeared, and I did it—you know, I am going to run more than ever so that it does not happen again—and I continued, and glory to God, that has never affected me again… and that particular pain had already been stabbing me for several days. I believe in a God who heals, brothers and sisters.

But I also believe that when we ask for healing and cry out to the Lord for healing, we have to do things that support what we are declaring over our lives. We have to put what we declare into practice. We Pentecostals are very good at saying this and that, but when the moment of testing comes, and the time to do things in the Lord, that is where we chicken out, as the Mexicans say.

So Peter says, in the name of Jesus, rise and walk, but he does not leave him there; instead, he takes him by the hand and raises him up, and it is there, in that act of faith, that the powerful move of God is unleashed. I believe there is a lesson there. Meditate on that. It will not necessarily always happen that way, but there are occasions when God will say to you, you know what? You have asked Me for something, so get moving.

When Peter says, Lord, if it is You, help me walk on the water, as You have done. And what does Jesus Christ say to him? Well, get out of the boat; take the risk, if you are man enough, then jump out and let us see what happens. And Peter gets out and walked on the water, but his faith failed him. It says that when the noise of the waves, the rain, and the thunder began, he began to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus.

Many times the Lord’s miracles require us to persist, to remain there, to wage war. Fight for your miracle. Take risks, move, activate the power of God in your life, in other words. To me, one of the most revealing things is that it was at the moment when Peter took him by the hand and pulled him up from his place that the power already declared over him was activated. Brother and sister, meditate on that. I do not have all the time I would like to squeeze everything I can out of that, but there is much there that we can learn.

So, another interesting thing about this miracle is that the healing is complete. When God does things, brothers and sisters, He does them from A to Z, perfectly. This is a tremendous healing. The lame man leaps, walks, praises; he was just short of doing a few somersaults in the air. This is a total, radical healing. And later in Chapter 3, in verse 16, Peter refers to that fact; it says here:

“…and through faith in His name, Jesus, His name has strengthened this man whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Him has given this man this complete healing in the presence of you all…”

How beautiful it is when God performs one of those radical healings, right? It is precious. Sometimes God’s healings are gradual; sometimes they are not total. Why? Do not ask me. But it is beautiful to see a total healing like that, because God can do that; God does it when He chooses to work that way.

Now, another thing about this miracle is that God chooses a strategic person through whom to carry it out: someone known for a long time as a paralytic. There was no doubt that a miracle had taken place. This man was known on the streets. Oh, look, there is so-and-so. They had seen him for years and years; he had been paralyzed since childhood. In other words, there was no way to say that this was a trick, that they had brought him from somewhere else. No, this man was known, and the miracle God had performed was incontrovertible.

One last thing about the miracle: note Peter’s comment: I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you. The power of God will always be much more useful for the advancement of the Gospel than money or the physical trappings of power. That is what I learn from it.

How many churches have huge speakers and buildings and PhDs among all their pastors, but there is no power of God. They have a vast amount of money, but a theology and teaching that are completely bankrupt. There is no power. But quite the opposite happens when the power of God is in a little church, one of those tiny ones over there, when the presence of God is manifested in worship, where there are people who cry out to God, where there are people seeking the power of God who know how to unleash the presence of God—things happen.

Brothers and sisters, at any time I would rather be poor but have the grace of God in my life than have a great deal of money and be graceless. I mean, to have no grace—that is what I mean.

How beautiful it is, brothers and sisters. We always have… well, we thank God for His provisions, we thank God for all the things He provides, but let us not forget that the church of Jesus Christ runs on spiritual fuel. It is not by sword or by army, but by My Spirit, says the Lord. We must first cultivate the presence of God, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Before you seek anything else, make sure that your sack is full of gifts of the Holy Spirit and of the power of God in your life. Be a person who hungers for the grace and power of God. That is number 1.

Everything else is very good, very nice—a beautiful, lovely building; a good bank account, tremendous; good electronic equipment, wonderful—but if I do not have the power of God, do not even get dressed, because you are not going anywhere. The power of God is paramount. How wonderful that Peter could say, look, brother, I am broke, I have nothing in my pocket, but you know what? I have a little something that is going to be better. How much would that man have given to receive what he received from Peter? The power of God is more powerful than any amount of money or any material thing.

Let us ask the Lord that we too may say, as Peter did, what I have I give you. Many times the devil asks Christians, well, what do you have? Let us see. Hopefully you will say, I have the power of the Holy Spirit with me. I have the presence of God in my life—and may you be able to use that to carry out the tasks God has for you.

Let us look a little further ahead; I still have a few minutes left. It says here:

“…as this man held on to Peter and John—he was clinging to them—what had happened was truly extraordinary, and a great commotion arose. The people knew this man, saw that he was leaping; before, they had seen him completely disabled. And Peter, as on the first occasion in his first sermon, what does he do? He seizes the moment to preach another evangelistic sermon. He rubs his hands together and says, here is my opportunity, fresh meat. The people gathered around him, and once again, brothers and sisters, it is important to seize the moments. God opens moments for us to preach to people; do not be slow or lazy either. Preach the Gospel in season and out of season. You are an evangelist. Peter took advantage of this opportunity. The people were astonished, and he immediately seized the opportunity. Look at what Peter does in this sermon.

Number 1, he takes their eyes off himself and John and places them squarely on Jesus. He says, why are you looking at us? Who are we? We are nobody. Look at Jesus, the One who has performed this miracle. That is what every servant of God should do: he should take people’s eyes off himself and place them on the Lord.

We are simply a finger pointing toward Jesus Christ. How many believe that? Amen. Today I see a great deal of this on television, in all these evangelistic systems. What happens? The person is glorified so much. Nowadays preachers are like movie stars: big houses, private airplanes everywhere, hotels costing $5,000 a night, a $400 tie, and so-and-so, so-and-so—they are like movie stars, brothers and sisters.

Now, I believe it is fine for the importance of a name to be recognized, because nowadays everything is driven by publicity and all these things. I see, for example, the difference in someone like Billy Graham. People spoke of the Billy Graham crusades, amen, but I always saw in Billy Graham a man who always pointed toward Jesus Christ. Always sober, never drawing so much attention to himself. His name was important, yes, because people knew that when Billy Graham was there, they were going to receive a good word, good teaching, from a man anointed by God; but there was none of that cult of personality which exists in many cases today.

Brother, please do not worship any man. Do not fix your eyes on any person. We are very, very flawed pillars. Do not put your faith in any pastor, or in any church either; put it in Jesus Christ, because any man will fail you, you know? Put it in Jesus. A church may fail you, but Christ will never fail you.

Peter says, “…why do you marvel at this? Why do you fix your eyes on us? As though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus…” You see? It is Christ who has performed this miracle through the Father, who has glorified Him.

You also see here, in this interaction, the principle of the Trinity, the outline of the Trinity: the Father glorifies the Son by performing miracles in the Son’s name so that it may be known that the Son is the Son and that He is the Messiah whom He has sent.

So Peter says, do not look at us, do not worship us, do not now turn us into a cult of personality. No, God, using His Son Jesus Christ, has done this to glorify His Son. This is very important. And He has glorified His Son Jesus—edocsasen—it is a word that means, from which the word doxology comes, He has made Him glorious, exalted Him, adorned Him, given special glory to His Son by doing what you see here. This is to Jesus’ credit, not ours.

Another thing: in the way Peter speaks, there is a clear and direct confrontation. The Jews have crucified the Author of life. Ironically, they have killed the One who is the Author of life. Now, who is the Author of life but God? Is that not true? There is something interesting there too, right? It is an implication that Jesus Christ is God, because only God creates life, yes or no? And it says that Christ is the Creator of life, He is the Author of life, so there is an implication there.

Do you see why the church has always believed that Jesus Christ is God? Because in the biblical mind there is, as it were, no separation between the Son and the Father in their divinity. God is the Creator of life; He is the Author of life. It says in verse 14:

“… you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be given to you, and you killed the Author of life…”

So the people are confronted. Brothers and sisters, Peter does not do it in a cruel or hurtful way. He is simply pointing out: you killed the One who gives life—it is ironic. I have always said that we have to speak to people about their sins, but not with an air of being holier than they are or anything like that, but simply by telling them that we are all sinners and need repentance and healing through Jesus Christ.

We cannot overlook that; we cannot remove the importance of sin, holiness, and repentance from the Christian repertoire. So Peter confronts them and lets them know that they have done something terrible and that they killed the One whom God Himself authorized as the Son of God, as the Messiah, and that they need to repent.

Then comes mercy. It says:

“… yet now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers—verse 17—”

In other words, do not worry, it is all right, do not go shoot yourselves; there is still hope, right? Take it easy, right? Yes, you made a mistake, but there is a possible solution. Verse 19:

“… therefore repent and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…”

What is the call? All right, you committed a sin, but hope remains. Repent and turn to the Lord. Change your mind. Do you remember what repentance was? Changing your mind, changing direction, changing your behavior. That is the answer.

There is something interesting here. I do not have time for so many things, but notice that in his first sermon Peter says, “Repent, be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Because in that context, what caught the people’s attention was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Here, notice that he omits that part about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Just a little note there, simply a detail. Interesting, right? It is as though on this occasion that part does not seem as relevant. It is not that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is unimportant, but he does not mention it.

And so, on different occasions in the Bible, there is no complete consistency about this having to come after that, and then after something else. But it simply seems interesting to me, right? Because in this case he does not mention the matter of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as he did in the first one.

And finally, a verse that captivated me greatly, verse 21, says:

“… that He may send Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you before—verse 20—and then 21: whom heaven must indeed receive until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets…”

That is, speaking of Jesus Christ, it says, “whom heaven must indeed receive.” In other words, it is as though heaven is holding Him back, as though heaven is keeping Jesus there, so that He remains up there, as He still does. For 2,000 years heaven has been receiving Him, holding Him up there. He is there waiting for His moment. It is important for that Jesus to remain up there until what time? Until the times of the restoration of all things.

The word restoration is apocatastaceo, from which the word apocalypse comes—apocatastaceo; it is the end times. Now, what is this restoration of the times? The Apostle Peter does not explain, nor does the Bible explain, what Peter means. But it is interesting in light of what we have been saying. I believe, brothers and sisters, that Jesus Christ will not come—I made sure to read some commentaries, such as John Wexley’s, who is one of the great men of God, and what he says is exactly what I think this means—I do not believe that Jesus Christ will come until certain corrections that must take place in this world have occurred, until God has fulfilled His purpose.

The Lord Jesus Christ told the church, “Go and make disciples of the nations.” The Lord gave the church authority. I do not believe the Lord will necessarily come until the church has done everything it must do here on earth. I do not believe Jesus will come until Israel reaches the point of knowing something of the Lord. I believe certain corrections and certain things must take place in this world. I do not believe Christ will come to a completely chaotic and shattered world. I believe the church still has to establish a great deal of order in this world, and not everything the church must accomplish on this earth has happened yet.

I do not believe Jesus Christ will come until there has been—at least, I do not know exactly what it means—but until there has been a restoration of this world. And that is why I am always saying, “Lord, what do You have in mind? What are You still going to do?” Because there is still much left to do. I do not believe this world has yet been restored as God wants it to be, and that is my signal that my time is coming to an end. As you can see, I am trying to be more considerate of you, especially in the summer, when people’s patience is a little lower.

But no, I am also training myself to be a little more concise in my teachings, because otherwise it is impossible to cover everything. But it is important, brothers and sisters, that we ask the Lord for clarity about that. Lord, what do You still have left to do before Christ comes?

It also says elsewhere that it will be when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled; when the time of the Gentiles has been fulfilled, then Jesus Christ will come. That is, God has a clock. At the very least, that means God knows the precise moment. There are things that must happen in this world; there are restorations and corrections that must take place in this world before the Lord comes. And as for what we must do, at least I know that much; I do not know exactly everything. It speaks here of what the ancient prophets spoke about. Well, go to the prophets. This summer, while I was on vacation, I went through all the prophetic books. I am preparing a summary; I am extracting all the prophetic texts, and there I clearly see the restoration of Israel, the judgment of the nations, changes in nature, and many things that must happen, which the prophets speak about: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi, and Joel. Many things must happen before Christ comes, and not all of them have happened yet.

So do not buy your parachute yet, because who knows whether there is still some time before you go up. Many people say, “Well, it could be tomorrow; who knows? Christ could come at any moment.” But do not be in such a hurry yet. There is a lot of work to do here on earth, you know? And there are many blessings God still wants to give His people. Amen.

So keep your seat belts fastened, my brother, my sister, because good things are going to happen. Amen. Glory to the name of the Lord.

Let us stand and thank God for His Word. Later, during the week, go and meditate on this miracle. Ask Him, “Lord, I want to live that miraculous life of those first disciples.” Goodness, how the Lord moved! I live hungering and thirsting to see that move of God in the life of His church. We need a new Pentecost, a baptism of the Holy Spirit, a move of God in the church so that those moments may occur. Because then people will be interested in listening, and God will open opportunities for us to preach the Gospel to them.

Nowadays the church moves and not even a fly notices, and that is why we have to keep banging on people’s doors so they will let us come in and speak about the Gospel. If the Spirit of God is moving, if the anointing of God is in the air, people will come, and we will have to take advantage of the opportunities God will open in our lives. I want God to give us a radioactive church; I want to be a magnetic person for God. I have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I have to live a life… there is a price to pay. These people had paid a price; they had received the anointing of the Spirit.

Ask God to make you interesting; ask God to make you intriguing. Ask God to make you magnetic, so that others will come and ask you, “What is it that you have? Tell me. What makes the difference in your life?” And then we can tell them about that Christ whom we know.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask this morning, Lord, for a fresh anointing of Your Spirit. Thank You because You recorded these miracles in Your Word, Lord, which remind us above all that You have not finished with us. You want this very thing to happen in our times, in Your church, in this place, Lord, in this congregation. Send Your Spirit, Father. Make us evangelistic people; make us restless people; make us people, Father, around whom God moves in such a way that it is impossible to hide the fact that Christ lives and that God has glorified Him through the power of His Spirit, in His name.

I bless my brothers and sisters, Lord, this morning, and I ask that Your grace rest upon each one of them. Bless their lives, Lord; send them from this place with Your blessing and with the powerful presence of Your Spirit, Lord. Their concerns, their struggles, their difficulties, their challenges, their jobs, lack of work, housing, lack of housing, marital or family situations, Father, their emotions—I declare that powerful move of Jesus Christ in their lives, and that as we leave here, Lord, we may go out like Peter and John to be witnesses of a Christ who still lives, a risen Christ, a Christ of power, a Christ of miracles and healings, Lord. Fill us with Your Spirit again, Father, because without Your Spirit we can do nothing. To You we give all the glory and all the praise, Lord, and we point to You, Lord Jesus, the only wise God, the only One who deserves all glory, all praise, and all honor forever and ever. We worship You, Lord; blessed be Your name. Amen and amen. Glory to the name of the Lord, brothers and sisters. I bless you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.