Manifestations of the Spirit – Part Three

If you haven’t already, please read Part One and Part Two.

The Revelation Gifts

Gifts that reveal or show something. These gifts pass on information from God (who knows everything) to man supernaturally, from outside the bounds of our natural processes. Information that our minds did not conceive, our ears did not hear, our eyes did not see. Nothing that we learned on our own.

Two of the revelation gifts are the word of something. God possesses all knowledge and all wisdom.  He reveals to us a portion of the knowledge or wisdom, not the whole thing (our puny brains couldn’t handle it anyway). A word is a fragment of a sentence.

The Word of Knowledge

Definition: the supernatural revelation of facts concerning people, places, things, or events in the past or in the present.

The Word of Knowledge is NOT:

• Knowledge that you learned somewhere, through studying
• Profound knowledge of the Bible
• Knowledge you gain through fellowshipping with God

Learned knowledge comes into your mind through your physical senses.  The Word of Knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit revealing something to your spirit.

A Word of Knowledge can come in the form of

• A vision. You can “see” a “movie” of an event taking place
• A revelation in your spirit; just knowing about something
• Hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit tell you about something

Old Testament Examples

• 2 Kings 5:20-27  Elisha has a vision of Gehazi going out to Naaman to receive a gift.
• 2 Kings 6:8-12  Elisha tells the military plans of the king of Syria to the king of Israel.  He knows the words spoken in the king of Syria’s bedchamber.
• 1 Sam 10:21-22  Revealed that Saul was hiding “among the stuff”.

New Testament Examples

• John 4:16-18  The woman at the well.
• Acts 9:10-12 Ananais told of Saul’s location, that he was praying, and what he saw in a vision.
• John 1:47-51 The calling of Nathaniel as a disciple.

In 2017 at a conference at Bethel Church in Redding, my wife and I received a prophecy (in front of 2000 people!). It started out with a word of knowledge, where Lindsay called us out by name, that we had 5 sons, and named each of them. She also knew that our youngest son Timothy was into music and took voice lessons. It would be an understatement to say that we were in awe.  She then went on to prophecy over Timothy and us. You can read about it and see a video of the prophecy here.

That is one of the main uses of the word of knowledge – when someone knows things supernaturally, it is proof that they are hearing from God. That causes an immediate rise in faith to receive whatever it is that they are going to minister.

Word of Wisdom

Definition: a supernatural revelation of the plans and purposes of God.  Concerns the future.

This is what we traditionally think of as “prophecy” in the Old Testament – foretelling the future.

The Word of Wisdom is NOT:

• Natural wisdom – the ability to apply possessed knowledge
• A high degree of intellectuality
• A deep spiritual insight into the word and spiritual things
• Personal wisdom and guidance

The Word of Knowledge concerns knowledge of the past or present. The Word of Wisdom deals with knowledge of the future.  Very often they work together.

• John 16:13 The Holy Spirit will show us things to come.
• Acts 9:10-16  By the Word of Knowledge Ananais knew where Saul was at, that he was praying that he had seen a vision. By the Word of Wisdom Ananais knew that he was to lay hands on Saul to receive his sight, and that Saul was going to suffer in his ministry and that he was to be sent to the Gentiles.
• In Revelation 3 & 4, John knew the condition of the churches in Asia Minor. Jesus’ messages to the churches were by Word of Wisdom.

A comment on the last point of what a Word of Wisdom is not.  Knowing the plans and purposes of God sounds like guidance – and it is.  But not all guidance is the manifestation of a Word of Wisdom.

For example, James 1:2 says “if any of you lacks wisdom, let Him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him”.   Note that it says that wisdom will be given to any and to all.  That puts it outside the scope of a manifestation of the Spirit, which the Holy Spirit gives to whoever He wants as He wills. He could give you a Word of Wisdom in response to a prayer for wisdom, if He wanted to.

Here is an example that I believe illustrates both:

Acts 16:6-10 ⁶ Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
⁷ After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
⁸ So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
¹⁰ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul and his companions were forbidden by the Spirit to go into the region of Asia.  This was wisdom and guidance to them, but was not the Word of Wisdom.  Paul then has a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over here and help us”.  That was a Word of Wisdom.

We can count on God’s promise that He will give us wisdom when we ask in faith, but we should leave the how He will give us that wisdom to Him.  Whether He just gives us a check in our spirits – as it appears to be the case when Paul was forbidden to go to Asia – or a vision that shows us what to do, it doesn’t matter.  What counts is that you have heard from God.

Old Testament Examples

All the prophets in the Old Testament operated in the Word of Wisdom when they foretold future events.

• Noah – told of the coming flood, and to build an ark
• Daniel – saw the rise and fall of great empires
• Joseph and Pharoah – foretold the years of famine in Egypt, and what to do about it
• Psalm 22 David foretells details about the crucifixion
• Isaiah 53 – the Messiah’s death and substitutionary work

New Testament Examples

• Matthew 24 Jesus foretells events to come in the last days
• Acts 23:11 Paul was to go to Rome
• Acts 21:4-14  Several people warned Paul that He would be imprisoned in Jerusalem.  Note the difference between the “lay” people receiving the Word of Wisdom that Paul would be imprisoned, vs. Agabus the prophet.  All the other people told Paul he shouldn’t go to Jerusalem.  But Agabus had enough sense to only say what the Holy Spirit told him.
• Acts 27:21-25  Paul warned about the shipwreck. 
• The Revelation of John – darn near the whole thing was Word of Wisdom.

Uses of the Word of Wisdom

• To warn against future judgment or peril.  Noah’s flood, Joseph’s interpretation of dreams.  The three wise men warned not to return to Herod.
• To reveal God’s plan on how He is going to use someone.  Oral Roberts was told to build a university. Joseph’s dreams where he was exalted above his family. Saul of Tarsus to be minister to the Gentiles.
• To ensure a servant of God of his divine mission or call.   Exodus 3, Moses called from the burning bush.
• To ensure deliverance in time of calamity. 

Word of Wisdom can be Conditional

Some more on the last point – the Word of Wisdom, or any kind of guidance that has a future prediction in it, can be conditional.  Sometimes God reveals bad things to come so you can pray and avert it.  He searches for an intercessor, to stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:29-31).

We’ve already mentioned Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27:21-25. At first, there was going to be loss of the cargo and lives.  Paul prays and intercedes, and God grants him the lives of everyone on board. 

Judgment can be foretold, but if the parties involved repent, the judgment will not come.  A good example of this was Jonah.  Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh, which was an enemy of Israel.  Jonah understood that the purpose of a prophet was a call to repentance.  He ran from the presence of God because he wanted Nineveh to be judged.  And sure enough, when he preached, the whole city repented, and God did not bring the judgment He foretold, at least in that generation.

In 2 Kings 20, King Hezekiah is told by the prophet Isaiah to put his house in order for he was going to die.  Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, prayed and wept and repented, and before Isaiah got out of the courtyard, God sent him back to tell Hezekiah his prayers were heard and 15 years would be added to his life.

God can reveal to a person the plans and purposes for his life.  But whether they walk in it will depend on the obedience of the person.

Discerning of Spirits

Definition:  being able to see into the spirit realm.  This includes being able to see God (usually Jesus), angels, demons, or human spirits.

Discerning of spirits is NOT:

• The “gift of discernment”. There is a level of discernment that comes with maturity.  For example, Hebrews 5:14 where it says the mature can discern between good and evil through practice.  The gift is the discerning of spirits.
• A spiritual thought reading, or the power to discover faults in others.  That “gift” is of the flesh and forbidden by scripture.
• Psychological insight or keen mental penetration.
• The knowledge that a demon is in operation. The discerning of spirits is more of a perceiving that involves some sort of senses (seeing, hearing, etc.), rather than just knowledge.

The discerning of spirits usually manifests itself in the form of a vision.

Examples

Whenever someone has a vision, and sees Jesus (after He ascended to heaven), God, angels, or demons, that is the discerning of spirits.

• Isaiah 6:1-6 “I saw the Lord, high and lifted up! And His train filled the temple.”
• 2 Kings 6:13-17  Elisha’s servant’s eyes opened so he can see the host of angels – “there are more with us than be with them”.
• Matthew 17:1-9 Mount of Transfiguration, appearance of Moses and Elijah.
• Acts 7:55 Stephen sees into heaven, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
• Acts 9:3-6 Saul hears the audible voice of Jesus.  Vs. 7 others hear it also, although they probably didn’t understand the words.   Vs. 17 “… the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the way”. So apparently he saw Jesus also. This was the turning point in Saul’s life.  On more than one occasion it is recorded in Acts that Paul told his testimony.  He most certainly told it many times more than is recorded.  The testimony of a changed life is a very powerful thing.

Dawna DeSilva in her book Shifting Atmospheres talks about being able to sense the atmosphere of a place – what spirits are in operation – and then being able to change that atmosphere.  The sensing is like a thermometer which senses the temperature, but changing the atmosphere is like a thermostat.

The Power Gifts

Gifts that do something

Acts 1:8 “You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses…”

Power – strength, might, ability

Gifts of Healings

Notice the plurality of both words – gifts of healings.  Nobody has the “gift of healing” in that they own it. But it can operated regularly in a person’s ministry.  The gift is actually for the person who gets healed – we just deliver the package.

There are many kinds of sicknesses, so there are many types of healings.  One thing you will observe is that different ministers who operate in the gifts of healing “specialize” in what they can heal – there will be more successes and more instances of healing in their specialty area than others.

Acts 8:5-7 Philip the evangelist preaches in Samaria.  He didn’t get everybody healed of every kind of disease, like Jesus did.  But many who had demons were cast out, and many that were lame or paralyzed were healed.

Jesus when He walked the earth operated in all of the manifestations of the Spirit (except tongues and interpretation), and was able to heal every kind of disease.  He had “… the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34).  No one individual will be able to do all the things that Jesus did, but the Body of Christ taken together has the same anointing as the Head.

Gift of Healing vs. Faith for Healing

A gift of a healing should be differentiated from a person receiving healing by faith.  Whenever Jesus told a person, “your faith has made you whole” – that was not a gift of healing.  The best example of this is the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25-34.  Jesus was not even aware of the woman, His will was not involved – He only perceived when the healing power went out of Him.  In His words, her own faith healed her.  It was not a gift that was given to her, it was something she reached out and received and took for herself.

In contrast, we have the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:2-14.  There were a multitude of sick folk gathered around the pool, because at certain times an angel came down, disturbed the waters, and whoever got into the pool first was healed. This in and of itself was a manifestation of a gift of healing.

Jesus came to that place and went up to one man and asked Him if he wanted to be well.  The man’s answer – he told Jesus the reasons he couldn’t be healed – “I have no man…”  He did not have faith to be healed, but he did have enough hope to get him to the pool every day.  Jesus healed him, and then left – He didn’t stick around and heal all the others that were in that place (vs. 13). Why not? Because He was sent with a gift of healing for the one man.

Acts 3:1-10  Peter and John are walking into the temple, and they come upon a man lame from birth that was laid there daily at the gate to beg alms.  Peter and John had undoubtedly passed by this man before, and most like Jesus did also. Peter said, “Look on us”, and the man gave him his attention, expecting to receive something from him. What? A coin, but certainly not healing.  “Silver and gold I do not possess,” (side note – this does not mean that Peter was broke and destitute. It just means he didn’t have any change on him). “… but what I do have, I give to you”.  What did Peter have for the lame man? A gift of healing!

Acts 14:8-9  A man crippled from his mother’s womb was listening to Paul preach.  Paul saw he had faith to be healed.  Where did he get that faith? By hearing Paul preach.  Paul spoke to him and told him to get up.  Notice he didn’t lay hands on him or grab him by the hand and pull him up like Peter did to the beggar at the temple.   This was not a gift of healing.

You don’t have to wait for a Gift of Healing

A manifestation of a gift of healing, as the Holy Spirit wills, is not the only way a person can be healed.  For a born again believer, healing belongs to us, it is part of our covenant.  Like the woman with the issue of blood who reached out and took her healing, like Jairus who said, “Come lay Your hands on her, and she will live”,  like the centurion who said, “Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed” – we can appropriate the healing that Jesus purchased by the stripes on his back, by faith (2 Peter 2:24).

People who say, “Well, if it’s God’s will to heal me, He will” believe that the gift of healing is the only type of healing there is.   They have “leper theology”.  In Matthew 8:2 a leper came up to Jesus and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean”.  Jesus immediately reached out and said, “I am willing; be made whole.”

Mark 16:17-18 ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Notice it doesn’t say anything about if it is God’s will, people will be healed.  If you believe, you can lay hands on the sick and expect they will recover. “Recover” means to get better. So this isn’t necessarily an instantaneous miracle of healing.

Corporate Faith and Healing

When you get a group of people together with the expectation that God will heal, that creates an atmosphere for the gifts of healings to flow.  This was happening in Jesus’ ministry when the multitudes came to hear, and be healed of their diseases (Luke 16:17). 

Just as faith and expectation can create the atmosphere for healing to flow, unbelief can stop it dead in its tracks.  (Mark 6:1-6) Jesus in his hometown was unable to do any mighty works. Not that He was not willing to do mighty works of healing – He couldn’t. When it says that He healed a few sick folk, the Greek implies that they were minor ailments.  No blind eyes opened, nor deaf ears healed, no paralytics walking.

The reason is given in vs. 6 – their unbelief. 

Working of Miracles

We use the word “miracle” way too loosely, just as a figure of speech; “miracle” drugs, the birth of a baby a “miracle”.  We describe someone who can get things done that others can’t as a “miracle worker”, even though nothing of the supernatural is involved.

Miracle: a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature, temporarily setting aside or superseding the laws of physics.

Turning water into wine is a natural process; however if it occurs instantaneously (or without adding any ingredients), that’s a miracle.  God has set up the natural and physical laws that govern this universe. He can alter or suspend them at any time.  These things are miracles only to our eyes, because they are outside of our abilities. To God, they are just acts of God – He speaks, and it happens. The supernatural is natural to God.

In the Greek working of miracles is energemata dunameon.  Energema means to operate, and dumamis is power.  So it means the operation of power.

The working of miracles is when God gives a person supernatural power and ability to do something beyond the laws of nature.  In a real sense, it is the person doing the miracle, with the power that the Holy Spirit has provided.

Old Testament Examples

• Exodus 14:15-16 Moses parting the Red Sea. God tells Moses to lift his rod and divide the sea.
• Judges 13-16 Samson.  He was not some overly muscle bound creature, like the incredible Hulk.  When the Spirit came upon him, he was given supernatural strength beyond a human being’s.
• 1 Samuel 17  David kills Goliath.  God guided the stone and gave it extra velocity so it shot out like a bullet.
• 1 Kings 18:46 Elijah outruns Ahab’s chariots.
• 2 Kings 6:4-7 Elisha makes an ax head float

New Testament Examples

• John 2 Turning water into wine.  Mary gives the recipe for miracles: “Whatever he says for you to do, do it.”
• Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25  Jesus calms the storm.
• Mark 6:45-52; John 6:15-21  Jesus (and Peter) walk on water.  John 6:21 the boat was immediately at the land to which they were rowing.
• Mark 6:38-44  Multiplying the loaves and fishes.
• John 11  The raising of Lazarus.

The Gift of Faith

Also called special faith.

Defitinition:  a supernatural endowment of faith to an individual beyond their own level, by which they can believe for and receive a miracle.

When the gift of faith is in operation, you can’t doubt even if you wanted to. It is as if God pours some of His own faith inside of you. 

In the gift of faith you don’t actually do anything except believe.  God does the work, you receive the miracle. This is in contrast to the working of miracles where you actually perform the miracle.

In the gift of faith, you know ahead of time what God wants to do – it is revealed to you. You speak it forth, and there is an absolute knowing on the inside of you that it will come to pass.   At that time God will honor the words of a man as if they were his own.

The gift of faith is NOT:

• Saving faith; i.e., faith by which we get saved.  Ephesians 2:8  says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”,  but that is not the manifestational gift of faith.
• Faith that comes from hearing the word of God, as in Romans 10:17.
• The faith that grows in us as we mature in Christ.

General faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and is developed through use. You can use general faith for the things the Bible promises. When you get beyond what the Bible promises, you will need the gift of faith to bring it to pass.

As an analogy, think of physical strength. You can gain physical strength through eating the right things and working out.  But the gift of faith is like Samson, where a supernatural strength way beyond human ability was dropped upon him when the Spirit came upon him.

An excellent illustration of the gift of faith is taken from Smith Wigglesworth’s testimony of the first time he raised someone from the dead (there are reportedly 23 instances of Wigglesworth raising someone from the dead, including his own wife).  At the time, he was still a plumber and not in full time ministry.  One day when he came home from work he learned that a neighbor lady who had been sick had just died. He began to pray.

“I began to penetrate the heavens with my prayers with what faith I had”, Wigglesworth said. “All the time my wife was shaking me saying, ‘Stop praying, she is already dead. It is too late’.  But I just kept praying. Soon I came to the end of my faith, and when I did I was conscious of a faith which took hold of mine that could not be denied. While I was praying in my own faith it seemed as if God said, ‘No, no’. But when this other faith came over me, I looked right up into heaven and said, ‘Yes! Yes!’ The next thing I knew, without intending to do it, without realizing what I was doing, I got hold of that woman and pulled her out of bed. I stood her up against the wall and commanded her to walk in Jesus’ name, and she started breathing and started walking and was raised up.”

Taken from Concerning Spiritual Gifts by Kenneth E. Hagin.

Old Testament Examples

• Joshua 10:7-14 Joshua commands the sun to stand still.  There has not been a day since, where the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man.
• Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego delivered from the fiery furnace.
• Daniel 6  Daniel in the lion’s den.

Raising people from the dead

Raising people from the dead actually requires all 3 of the power gifts.  First, it requires direction from God. Jesus Himself only raised three people from the dead.  I believe it requires the gift of faith.

People raised from the dead actually die twice;  “It is appointed for man to die once, then comes the judgment.”  So they have their appointment “rescheduled”.

Secondly, it requires the working of miracles to call a person’s spirit back from the grave. In the case of Lazarus, he had been dead long enough that decay had set in, so his tissues had to be repaired.

Thirdly, the gifts of healing are in operation to cure the person of whatever killed them in the first place.

Satanic Counterfeit

Not everything that is supernatural is God.  Pretty much any one of the manifestations of the Spirit could be counterfeited by demonic forces.

Exodus 7:9-13  God anticipates that Pharoah would call for a miracle, and tells Moses to have Aaron cast down his staff and it would become a serpent.  This was a working of miracles. But then Pharoah calls for his magicians and sorcerers, and they are able to do the same thing!  However God demonstrates His superiority over the gods of Egypt when Moses’ snake swallows up the others.

The plagues of Egypt were actually judgments against the gods of Egypt.  The Egyptians worshipped the Nile, so it was turned to blood.  But Exodus 7:22 Jannes and Jambres (the two head magicians) were able to do the same.

Exodus 8:6 Frogs were brought up on the land.  Vs. 7 the magicians were able to do the same thing (just what they needed, more frogs).

The devil can make things worse and cause problems, be he can’t bring about solutions. If the magicians really wanted to demonstrate their superiority, they should have undone the things Moses did – like turn the blood back to water or cause the frogs to leave the land. But they were unable to do that.

Exodus 8:16-19 ¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ “
¹⁷ And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
¹⁸ Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.
¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

In this working of miracles, dust was turned into lice. That is a creative miracle, and Satan could not duplicate it (although I guess turning a rod into a snake is pretty creative).  But the devil ran into limitations, and the magicians recognized it.

Remember Miss Cloe and the Psychic Hotline (I’m dating myself here)?  She was able to tell people things about their lives that she couldn’t have known. That is a counterfeit of the word of knowledge. It works by familiar spirits – demons who are familiar with what is going on in people’s lives tell the psychic.  This is what is behind fortune tellers. Some of them are real, like the slave girl possessed by a spirit of divination in Acts 16.

Deceiving the Elect

Matthew 24:24 ²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

In particular, the Antichrist, when he is revealed, will do great wonders.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

So how do you tell the real from the counterfeit?  It’s pretty easy.  In whose name is the wonder performed, who gets the glory for it?  Does it bring freedom to someone, or does it just impress people?

When training tellers to detect counterfeit bills, they do not study the counterfeits.  They study the real thing. How it looks, how it feels, smells, etc.  They get to know the real so well, that when the fake comes, it is immediately recognizable.   If you become familiar with the working of the Spirit of God, you will be able to recognize Satan’s counterfeit.

The Best Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:31 ³¹ But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

This verse implies that some of the gifts are better, or greater than others.  Each of the three categories of gifts has one that is greater.

1 Corinthians 14:5 ⁵ I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

So we see that in the Utterance gifts, prophecy is the “greatest” because it takes the other two to be equivalent to it. And we are especially encouraged to desire to prophesy.

Now in the Revelation gifts, we have word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits.  What do you think would be the greatest of these – seeing into the spirit realm, having knowledge about people, places, and things in the past or present, or having knowledge about the plans and purposes of God in the future?  I think we could all agree that having knowledge about God’s plans and purposes – the word of wisdom – is the greatest.

Now for the Power gifts – gift of faith, working of miracles, and gifts of healings, I would say the gift of faith is the greatest because faith is required to operate in the other two. A close second would be the gifts of healings, because it so demonstrates God’s compassion. It was also the manifestation of the Spirit that Jesus operated in the most.

The Role of Signs and Wonders in Preaching the Gospel

Miracles, signs, and wonders should be an integral part of preaching the gospel, as they were in the gospels and the book of Acts.  They had two purposes:

• They attracted people
• The confirmed and gave credibility to the preachers, that what they spoke was from God

Jesus relied on the miracles He did to give credibility to His own ministry.  In several places He pointed the people to the works that He did as a witness that the Father was with Him.

John 10:37-38 ³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

John 14:10-13 ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Matthew 11:2-5 ² And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
³ and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
⁵ The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Jesus even used signs in calling some of His own disciples. In Luke 5:4-9, the miraculous draught of fishes convinced Simon and his two partners James and John that Jesus was from God.  In John 1:45-51, Jesus has a word of knowledge about seeing Nathanael under the fig tree, to which he declared, “You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!”. Jesus then in essence tells him, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

John 3:2 Nicodemus’ testimony that they knew He was from God, since no one could do the things He did unless God was with Him.

The testimony of the man born blind:

John 9:30-33 ³⁰ The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!
³¹ Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
³² Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
³³ If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

The biggest miracle that Jesus did, in its effect on the people, was the raising of Lazarus in John 11.  Even though Lazarus was the third person that Jesus had raised from the dead (the widow’s son, Luke 7:12-17; Jairus’ daughter Mark 5:22-43), the news spread much further – it went nationwide.

• Many that witnessed the miracle believed (John 11:45)
• News came back to the Jewish rulers.  There were afraid everyone would follow after Him (John 11:46-48)
• From that time on, the rulers plotted Jesus’ death (John 11:53).  They gave orders to report where He was so they could seize Him. Therefore Jesus could no longer travel openly amongst the Jews (John 11:54-57)
• The throw Jesus a party at Lazarus’ house. Many people came not only to see Jesus, but also Lazarus.  The chief priests start plotting to kill Lazarus also, since so many were believing in Jesus because of him (John12:1-11)
• The next day Jesus goes into Jerusalem, and they cry out Hosannas to Him (John 12:12-16).  Those that were at Lazarus’ raising bore witness.  The people had come out to meet Him on Palm Sunday because they had heard of this sign He performed (John 12:18).
• The Pharisees bewail that their efforts were ineffective since it looked like the whole world was going after Him (John 12:19)

We need the Power

After His resurrection, Jesus did not send His disciples out right away. He told them to wait in Jerusalem.

Luke 24:49 ⁴⁹ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They needed to be endued with power, through being baptized in the Holy Spirit, before they could become effective witnesses. Most people believe nowadays that the power to be a witness is a holy boldness; it is that, but look at what the apostles said gave them boldness:

Acts 4:29-31 ²⁹ Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

The major thing they attributed to their boldness was the signs and wonders that God did to confirm their words.

Miracles part of the Great Commission

Mark 16:15-20 ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Jesus tells the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world, and in the next breath He talks about the signs that will accompany them.  Then in vs. 20 it says that the way the Lord worked with them to preach the gospel was by confirming their word with accompanying signs.

Bibliography

The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit by Dr. Lester Sumrall, published by Harrison House, 1982

Concerning Spiritual Gifts, by Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin, published by Kenneth E. Hagin Evangelistic Association, 1976

Hungry for the Holy Spirit, a series of messages by Keith Moore given at Faith Life Church in Branson, MO. from Nov 2, 2007 through Jan 8, 2008. Available for download on the Moore Life Ministries website at http://www.moorelife.org under the “Word Supply” link.