SNT 0222 Acts 11-17
Acts 11-17 April 14, 1968
The gift of holy spirit.
Format: audio, pdf
Publication Date: 08-14-1968
Victor Paul Wierwille was a Bible scholar and teacher for over four decades.
By means of Dr. Wierwille's dynamic teaching of the accuracy and integrity of God's Word, foundational class and advanced class graduates of Power for Abundant Living have learned that the one great requirement for every student of the Bible is to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Thus, his presentation of the Word of God was designed for students who desire the in-depth-accuracy of God’s Word.
In his many years of research, Dr. Wierwille studied with such men as Karl Barth, E. Stanley Jones, Glenn Clark, Bishop K.C. Pillai, and George M. Lamsa. His formal training included Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees from Mission House (Lakeland) College and Seminary. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Princeton Theological Seminary from which he received a Master of Theology degree in Practical Theology. Later he completed his work for the Doctor of Theology degree.
Dr. Wierwille taught the first class on Power for Abundant Living in 1953.
Books by Dr. Wierwille include: Are the Dead Alive Now? published in 1971; Receiving the Holy Spirit Today published in 1972; five volumes of Studies in Abundant Living— The Bible Tells Me So (1971), The New, Dynamic Church (1971), The Word's Way (1971), God's Magnified Word (1977), Order My Steps in Thy Word (1985); Jesus Christ Is Not God (1975); Jesus Christ Our Passover (1980); and Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed (1982).
Dr. Wierwille researched God's Word, taught, wrote, and traveled worldwide, holding forth the accuracy of God's "wonderful, matchless" Word.
Four Different Healings
Act 11:19-26
Act 11:26; 12:1-16
Act 12:16-18; 2Pe 1:13, 14; Eph 3:20; Act 3:6; 5:12; 6:8; Mat 9:8; Act 8
Poem - God Has No Hands But Our Hands
Acts 11-17
Victor Paul Wierwille
– Sunday Night Teaching 222 Transcript –
I said to the people in the Advanced class that signs, miracles and wonders should be commonplace among the Christian believer.
When I turn to the Book of Acts and I read the records in the Book of Acts of the Early Church as they moved out across the world, and as our friend Dr. Williams told us that in the first century, by 55 A.D., Bartholomew was in the Bombay area teaching the Word of God. When I read the records of these men, the march of 12 men, how they’d walked with great boldness, with great power, signs, miracles and wonders were commonplace.
Today, to have signs, miracles and wonders is almost uncommon, except in the spiritualist field where you…they get it from the wrong source. There they are producing what the church should legitimately have been doing all along.
I think, for those of us who have been in this Way ministry for any length of time, because of the way we feel regarding testimonies and talking about the things that God does for us individually, perhaps this is the reason why very little is said from time to time about the greatness of the signs, the miracles and the wonders that God does in our midst. Because it seems like every time The Way people are together, there’s always one thing predominant in our heart and in our life, and that is that we can get to the Word. Because men’s illustrations, they will come and go. You cannot always trust a man, or a testimony, or a sharing. You can't always trust it because you're not always sure if it's the Word of God.
But upon this Book, the Bible, this I can say to my people and declare boldly that this is The Word of God. And when a story is told in here of a miracle of healing, or of a sign, or by a wonder that was wrought under the hands of the men and the women of God, then we can again say, “Thus saith the Lord.” And yet we have had many signs, miracles and wonders among our people again this summer, as we always expect to have. We expect God to meet the needs of people who come here. We expect our God to be living and real and alive for the people.
We have had real opportunities in here this summer, from time to time. Opportunities where we really had to believe God or go down with the ship. But there’s one thing sure, that when we believe and when this Word has preeminence, then God's wonderful matchless power is made known to His people.
In the Advanced class, we take up basically six of the nine manifestations of that spirit. Before people ever get into the Advanced class, one of the requirements, of course, is they are supposed to have had the Foundational class twice, and among other things and so forth. But in the Foundational class we handle and in the first camp we handle three of the manifestations of the spirit. While in the Advanced class, I specifically deal with the operation of the manifestation of the Word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, the manifestation of faith, miracles and healing.
We closed on Friday night of this week, this past week, dealing with the manifestation of healing. And I showed the people in the class how that the Bible sets before us four different kinds or types of healing. To heal is to restore to health. You could not restore anyone to health had they not had health to begin with. To restore to health, biblically speaking, indicates that there is no cause to remove. But there is also healing in the Bible called to do a cure. To heal is not only to restore, but secondly it is to do a cure.
To do a cure goes a step further than recovery or restoration. It goes a step further than restoration, because to do a cure you must remove the cause. When the cause is removed, the symptom will disappear.
The third phase of Christian healing – and I do not believe in faith healing or any of that kind of stuff. I believe in what the Word teaches; Christian healing. Well, someone will come and say, “Well, isn't that faith healing?” The answer is definitely, no. This is Christian healing. It talks about in the Word of God.
And another method of healing in the Bible that I set before the class was that the Bible says, to heal is to make sound or to make whole. In Acts chapter three, I have the record – which we're not going to be dealing with tonight. But there I read to them the record of the man who was placed at the temple gate Beautiful ever since he was a child. And he was there all the time, and yet he was never healed. Jesus walked by that man when Jesus went into a temple. Why did Jesus not heal that man? Did he not love him? Certainly he loved him. Then why did he not heal him?
You see, these are the questions we deal with in the Word…in the Advanced class. And until you understand the answers to some of those questions, you do not know how God operates or what God's plan is in the life of an individual. Certainly Jesus loved him, but why did he not heal him?
And another record we discussed in the Advanced class the past two, three nights was the record of an area outside of the temple. In a pool area. Wherein there lay a whole multitude of sick and impotent folk, the Bible says. They all believed in healing. Every one of them was there to believe in… believed in healing. Every one.
Not everyone in this great auditorium tonight believes in healing, Christian healing. You believe, some of you, that if it's God's will He might be able to do it. But, in that day that is written in the Bible, everyone at that place believes in healing. They were all there to be healed. Every one of them. And yet Jesus healed how many? Only one. Why? There has to be a reason. Did he not love all of them? Were they not all there because they had a need and they needed to be healed, and they believed in healing? Then why did he heal one?
You see, this is why you must understand the operation of the Word of knowledge, the Word of wisdom, discerning of spirits. Until you understand that, the Bible is a closed book to you. Oh, you’ll hit it here, you’ll hit it there, but you’ll miss it 67½ times – or six and three-quarter times. Oh, I don't know which than anything else. You just will not be able to make it jell.
Now, another way of healing… By the way, I did not finish this one, did I? To make whole. To make sound. Like the cripple at the temple gate Beautiful. They had to put ankle bones in. They had to put those parts into his body that were not in his body when he was born. That's what the Bible talks about when it says to heal is to make sound or to make whole, W-H-O-L-E.
And the fourth way that the Bible gives as Christian healing is to reconcile. To reconcile is to bring back, together that which has been separated. If, for instance, bones have been separated, if those bones are brought back together, that means to reconcile.
Now, these are the four different kinds of healing that are mentioned in the Bible. I believe that every honest medical man understands what I'm talking about. Because the medical man knows that if he is to restore to health, he could not restore to health had they not had health to begin with. He knows what it is to do a cure, to remove the cause. And he knows that if that cause is satisfactorily removed, that the symptoms will disappear. He also knows what it is to make sound or to make whole. What it is to replace sections of the eye or of the body at other places. He knows what it is to put in when it has never been before. And he also knows what it is to reconcile, to bring back together that which has been separated.
In this ministry that The Way represents in the Advanced class and in the teaching classes here, I would like to say very plainly, again, as I've said to other people across all the places where I've taught the Word, that we as Christian believers never diagnose. We never diagnose. Never. The medical profession, the scientists, that is their category. That's their field. The doctor, the specialist. These are the men who diagnose cases. This is what they're trained to do. This is what they must do. We who are born again of God's spirit, filled with the power of the holy spirit and know how to operate the manifestations of the spirit – the Word of knowledge, the Word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles and healing – we do not diagnose, we must ascertain.
To ascertain is for God to give revelation. We do not diagnose. Not at all.
We had a gentleman come in here all the way from Fort Myers, Florida, for one week of camp. He didn't come for camp. He just came because he needed to be healed. Am I right? Shoot, yes. He didn't really come for camp. He came because he had such a tremendous need. And he knew that, unless he got that need met, his life was absolutely hopeless. And some of you in this auditorium tonight in the Advanced class and some of you that were here at that time or in the auditorium, you know whom I'm speaking of. And you were here the night he was delivered.
This past week. I think it was… What night was Mrs. Harvey in here? I see you walked back in there. What night? I didn't hear that, Ruben. Stand up. Come up here. Come up here. Come up here. My goodness. Are you still walking? Hallelujah. Come up here. What night was it you called? What day? Tuesday evening. Well, you remember the time. Turn around here. Your name is Mrs. Harvey. {Mary Harvey.} Mary Harvey. And your husband, sitting back there with you? {Russell.} Russell. And you're from? {Pickaway.) Pickaway, Ohio.
I believe she called Tuesday afternoon. Now, she knows the time. I forget these things; they roll on. But you told me on…, or you told somebody on the phone – Emma Jean Allen. I didn't answer the phone. I think it was Emma Jean you talked to. And she said that she'd have to go in the hospital within a few days unless she was healed. Is this right? {Yes} And you came down Tuesday night, and after the close of this class on Tuesday night, Mr. and Mrs. [Darsen 00:13:45] from Columbus, Ohio, and Mrs. Wierwille and I… Did God heal you? {Yes, He did. I haven’t had a bit of trouble.} That's wonderful. And how do they feel? {Fine.} Can I still blow on your head? {Yes} [Dr. Wierwille chuckles]
Here is a lady... Here is the lady. She could not stand any draft whatsoever. This is what she and her husband told me. As a matter of fact, your husband told me that all summer long – and I thought we had a hot summer a few weeks – this lady had the furnace on. {That’s right.} And she never opened a window in the house because she could not stand any air moving over her hair, over her head. And all of these glands in here were just swollen and just tight. And the night we ministered to her, as soon as I had ministered to her what had happened to your glands? {They didn’t hurt any more.} And did they go down? {Yes, they did.}The swelling, everything gone? {I can breathe better. Remember you said there was something in my lungs…[inaudible].} Oh, I forgot that, but good deal. {I can take breaths now.} Wonderful. And you feel wonderful? {Mm-hmm.} And you're a lot happier. {Yes.}
You know what I told her? I said, throw your shoulders back and be the girl you were at 16. {That would be kinda hard to do} Ohhh. [Dr. Wierwille chuckles] But what I was trying to say to her is, we breathe and we learn to live and then we just have to walk.
Now, we could go on here. This was a tremendous miracle. But these things, why should they not be normal? Why should they not just be the pattern in life? Why do we always have to believe that if somebody got healed that's the extraordinary? Our God is able to meet needs. Right? {Yes.} Are you praising the Lord? {Yes.} And I am too, girl. Run along. Thank you.
You know, I believe that as Christians we ought to try to build this Word within us. And when we have a need, I think the first place we ought to go is our heavenly Father. I think we ought to endeavor to go to Him and believe with everything we have for He to set us free. And then if it is not done because we're not believing, then if you want to go these other places that’s your business.
You know, the night we ministered to her, and this was very unusual as far as a lot of our people know because when I'm teaching a class usually God just keeps me hemmed in. He doesn't even let me go out for an ice cream cone once in a while and this kind of thing. And He just keeps me sort of closed in. And when this telephone call came in, this urgent telephone call from them in Pickaway, it was delivered to me in this back office that I enter from every night when I teach, as well as on Sunday night. And I did not remember exactly whether I immediately told Emma Jean to call, or whether I laid it there for a minute or two. Is Emma Jean here in the auditorium? She’s down… There she is.
What happened, Emma Jean? Did you immediately go back and telephone, or what did I tell you? About two minutes. You know what I was doing for two minutes? Trying to figure out which way we were to go. Father said, okay. But then I said, well, Father, okay what? And what I was hoping for, what I was pushing for, you know… I don't know if you people ever push a little. But what I was pushing for is that God would let me bring her in here and do it in front of the class. And Father said, no deal. He said, you can have Emma Jean just call. Bring her in. Put her back there in the office and keep her there ‘till the class is over with. And that's exactly what we did.
You see, she being here tonight, I was just inspired to bring her up. But I could go through this class. I could talk about my friend Christine Sharp, who knows that she would not be alive today if it wasn't for this ministry. Right? Amen. You see, I could go across this auditorium tonight, not only in this class but out across the area. And, if I remember correctly, you were the one that had the cancer. Am I right? And she's just as healthy as a silver dollar tonight.
You see, people, our God is still alive. He isn’t dead, as Dave Anderson said he wasn’t. When Dave says he isn’t, he isn’t. [Dr. Wierwille and audience laughter] That settles it, or something. Because he said what the Word says. Right? And when a man says what the Word says he’s got to be right.
Oh my people, this is a great day and a great hour. And here in the 11th chapter of the Book of Acts is a tremendous record that ought to just bless your heart. Verse 19.
Acts 11:19-21:
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
Would they have ever turned to the Lord if these men hadn't gone and really set forth the Word of God? No. It's their teaching of the Word of God that made it possible for these men and women to turn to the Lord.
Verse 22.
Acts 11:22-23:
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.[this is in Syria]
Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God,…
And people, it’s grace and nothing but grace. This class, this international headquarters of The Way, you being here tonight, I being here, the ministry that stems out from here through our tapes, our broadcasts and everything else, this all by the grace of God.
Acts 11:23-26:
… was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they [should] would cleave unto the Lord.
For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people [were] was added unto the Lord.
Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: [Saul was his Hebrew name, Paul was his Greek name]
And when he had found him [in Tarsus], he [Barnabas] brought [Paul or Saul] unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church [with the believers], and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first [at]Antioch.
The word Christian means Christ in. And they were called Christians first in Antioch. Before they were called Christians in Antioch, they were called followers of the way. Jesus said, I am what? The way. And those who followed the Lord Jesus Christ were followers of the way.
But in Antioch, where Barnabas and Saul ministered among the people, the people began to call those believers, the followers of the way, they called them Christ in, Christians because they were teaching that it is Christ in you. Christ in you. And therefore they said because Christ is in us, therefore, they call them Christians.
In the 12th chapter of this tremendous Book of Acts,
Acts 12:1-6:
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
And because he saw [Herod saw that] it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
And when he had apprehended [Peter], he put him in prison, [when Herod had taken Peter, he put him in prison] and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; [that Peter must have been a bad criminal, putting this many men to watch him] intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
[verse 5] Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night [in other words, the night before the following morning when Herod would have brought him forth before the people, that same night] Peter was [what?] sleeping [he was sleeping] between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
Isn’t that something? He just couldn't get out of that. There’s not much in that verse that disturbs me except one truth; how in the world can a man sleep. Everything else real clear, almost. Here was Peter, one arm here is shackled to a soldier, another arm shackled to another one. And they was he was lying on the floor, sound asleep, knowing that tomorrow morning he was scheduled to have his head chopped off. Tomorrow morning he was going to be executed. Yet he was having a good night's sleep.
Why some of us can't sleep when we think about going fishing {audience chuckles}. Or, if you're thinking about going to the hospital, they can't sleep. Or if they're thinking of something else, they can’t sleep. Here was a man who was scheduled for execution. He was scheduled for execution at sunrise the next morning and there he was, sound asleep, chained between two soldiers.
Ladies and gentlemen, a man either has something that most of us haven't got, or there's something we ought to learn about this thing. One way or the other. Well, I'm going to show you a little later on from the Word, God had already told Peter by Word of knowledge and Word of wisdom that this wasn't the hour and this wasn't the time. And so his God had, by revelation told him, had by Word of knowledge told him that this wasn't the time. This wasn't the day. This wasn't the hour. Old Peter decided, well, I might as well have a good night's rest. And so he did.
It's like Daniel in the lion's den. He said, “Leo, get over.” [chuckles] And old Leo went over to the corner, he laid down, and Daniel walks over and puts his head on him and goes to sleep. Had a good pillow; lion hair instead of down or something. That’s right.
Why? All because of the operation of revelation manifestation. Word of knowledge. Word of wisdom. And here Peter is scheduled for execution, but he's sound asleep, bound with two chains and so forth.
Verse 7.
Acts 12:7:
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came [about midnight. And when this angel of the Lord came]…, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side,…
[Dr. Wierwille knocks on desk three times.] He said, “Pete, get up. come on.” [chuckles] Can you get that picture? Maybe since he was lying down the angel didn’t stoop; he just took his toe and pushed him in the ribs a little bit or something. Arise, saying, get up quickly.
I've always enjoyed that because there are two ways of getting up. Like we do it here at the headquarters at seven o'clock in the morning, and this one [chuckles].
Acts 12:7:
… Arise up [what?] quickly. [And when he rose up] …his chains fell off from his [what?] {hands}.
That's right. People say today, well, that doesn't happen today. Do you know why it doesn’t happen? Because we're not believing and we're not walking. We're expecting the arm of man to set us free. And if he doesn't, we're expecting some aspirin to help, or a little Bufferin maybe. That's right. You're not trusting the Lord, we're trusting on the arm of man. That's why we're not seeing anything.
These men are just as human as we are. They were bound in prison between two chains. He was scheduled for execution. Well, people, I want to tell you, either God's gotten weaker or man believing has gone underground or some place. But the Bible says God does not change. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and how long? That's right. Therefore, it's man’s unbelief that produces the consequences which we are so acclimatized to seeing today.
Well, read what the Word says. Ha-ha.
Acts 12:8-10:
And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
And he went out, and followed him; and [Peter did not know] that it was true which was done by the angel; but [Peter] thought [man, this must be] he saw a vision. [I must be having a big, good old dream.]
[And] When they were past the [now watch it – Past the ] first and the second ward,…
They were four deep, these fellas that were keeping him in prison. They had placed him in the inner prison, and then outside they'd set these guards four different sections.
Acts 12:10:
… they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed…
Left him standing out in the cold.
Verse 11.
Acts 12:11:
And when Peter was come to himself,…
Ha-ha-ha. You know what that means. Got his coat off his shirt, his tie, his undershirt and came to himself finally, or something. That's what they say about the prodigal, when he came to himself. Well…[chuckles]
Acts 12:11-13:
And when Peter was come to himself, [verse 11] he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.
And as Peter knocked at the door…
The text reads, technically, as Peter knocked at the door. To knock at the door means he stood outside and called. To knock at the door in the Bible is to call, because they don't have a door, so you can't knock on anything you haven’t got. But they stood outside the gate and they called,…
Acts 12:13-14:
… Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. [She’s here.]
[verse 14] And when she knew Peter's voice, [she knew Peter’s voice] she opened not the gate for gladness…
Ha-ha. She was so tickled to death to see him that she left him to stand outside the gate. Isn't that great? So…
Acts 12:14-15:
…she opened not the gate for gladness, but [she] ran in [the house where they were all praying], and told how Peter [was standing out in front of] the gate.
And they said unto her…
…from that prayer meeting group, Rhoda, Rhoda, you’re off your rocker. You’re out in left field. You’re a little [inaudible 00:30:43]. You’re mad.
Acts 12:15:
...Thou art mad. [It can’t be] But she constantly affirmed…
She says, but fellas, ladies, it is true. Peter is standing out… It can’t be he’s down there in jail. Tomorrow morning he’s scheduled for execution. That's what we're praying for. Not his execution, but praying for him. Yeah. Can’t be.
Acts 12:15-16:
But she constantly [confirmed] that it was…so. Then said they, [well, it must be]…his angel.
But Peter continued knocking: [He kept standing outside and he said, hey, fellas, let me in. Come on, open the door. I'm here] and when they had [finally] opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.
Flabbergasted. Well, what in the world were they praying for? If you’re praying for something and then get an answer and it astonishes you, you better become more acclimatized to praying. But anyway, Peter knocked and when they finally opened the door and saw him, they were flabbergasted.
Acts 12:17:
But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison….
Who brought him out? The Lord brought him out. The Lord brought him out. And, people, except the Lord battle for us, except the Lord, stand in our stead, except the Lord continue His grace upon us, you and I have no life and no ministry and no voice to share.
I said this to you this morning, that the only existence, purposeful existence, for The Way ministry is the accuracy of the research of God's Word which we are teaching to our people across the nations of the world. Otherwise, we’ll just be another organization, another institutionalized institute or something. And we've got oodles of those. We have to have the Lord standing in our place.
As for Peter, he said the Lord hath done this.
Acts 12:17-18:
… And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and [he] went into another place.
[verse 18 says] Now as soon as it was day [break], there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.
They couldn't find him. And I tell you, when you had him chained to two soldiers, what do you think those soldiers felt like when they woke up in the morning and old Peter was gone? [chuckles] That must have been a shocker. And having gone through four sections of soldiers, and the gate still locked. Man, no wonder this was no small stir. Ha-ha-ha. They had him in the stir, but he stirred them good, didn't he? When he came out.
2 Peter, class, chapter one. Hebrews, James. 1, 2 Peter. Chapter 1, verse 13.
2 Peter 1:13:
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle,…
And the word tabernacle always refers to the individual believer. The body of believers like those gathered here tonight make up what the Bible calls the temple. You are not a temple of the holy ghost, you are a tabernacle. But the whole body of believers make up the temple of the holy spirit.
2 Peter 1:13-14:
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up [and to put] you in remembrance;
[verse 14, carefully] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath [what?] shewed me.
This he wrote many years after that experience recorded in the Book of Acts. And writing this, writing this many years later… It was written, of course, but this occurred many years later. And occurring many years later. This is how I know that the night when he was in that prison, scheduled for execution, the next morning according to Herod, God had talked to him and said, tonight is not the night.
Because, many years later, one night, God showed him that he must shortly lay off to this what? Tabernacle. That very soon now his life would come to an end. God by revelation told him this. By word of knowledge, by word of wisdom. You see why that man could sleep in that jail that night? You see why he could walk with believing faith? Because he was operating manifestations of the spirit.
God, by word of knowledge told him he would not die. By word of wisdom, he told him how he was going to do it. The angel came and brought him forth and marched him down that city street.
People, we should not be concerned how God does it, we should be concerned about the reality that God does it. How he does it is His business. But you and I ought to be concerned that He does it. And He can only do it when you and I use the tools which God has given us for the job. God has given us tools with which to operate. He has given us abilities wherewith to walk in this life. The doing is our task, our responsibility according to our believing faith.
In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 it says,
Ephesians 3:20:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we [can] ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
In Acts chapter 3, verse 6 the Word says,
Acts 3:6:
…Peter said [to the man]…such as I have [I do what?] give [unto] thee:…
In Acts chapter 5, verse 12 it says,
Acts 5:12:
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;…
By the hands of what? The apostles. By the hands of the Apostles.
Peter says, such as I have I give unto thee.
In Acts chapter 6, verse 8 it said they…
Acts 6:8:
…did great wonders and miracles among the people.
And in Matthew chapter 9, verse 8 it says,
Matthew 9:8:
… the multitudes saw [what had occurred]…they…glorified God, [who] had given such power unto men.
And in Acts chapter 8, you may recall when Phillip was preaching in Samaria, that the miracles and the signs and the wonders which he, what? God has given you ability. God has set His power within you. What you do with it is your opportunity.
And God cannot move until you move. When you and I know what we have in Christ, when we know how these manifestations operate – the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles and healing. When we know how these things operate, then we can believe and once again bring God's blessing to God's people. The tremendous opportunity.
Remember that little old poem,
Christ has no hands but our hands
With which to give them bread;
He has no feet but our feet
With which to move among the almost dead;
We say that we are his and he is ours,
But deeds are the proof of that, not words,
And [ladies and gentlemen,] these are the proving hours.
There has never been a time, in the history of civilization since the first century, when men and women once again needed to hear the greatness of God’s Word like they need it today. This is the greatest privilege we have ever had. We sit right at the crossroads of the greatest opportunities of all time because of the media, of radio, television and other avenues that can be utilized to take the greatness of God’s Word to the multitudes in a short period of time.
And so, my people, it is God who has set us to be light. He has said that we are the salt of the earth. He has said that we are to let our light shine. He has given us the ministry. He has equipped us. He says that we are ambassadors. We are workmen. We are messengers. We are His. And as we carry the greatness of God’s Word, men and women will again be blessed.
And people, to that I've dedicated my life and everything I have or ever hope to be. To help men and women who really are concerned about knowing the answers. There are a lot of things in life that I do not know, a lot of things I cannot do, but there’s one thing God calls me to and that is to teach men and women the Word who really want to know the Word. And that I can do. I can help any boy or girl or young person or adults.
As you certainly must have seen again in the Advanced class, all the way from Cindy Allen all the way through the…All the way from children, young people, college students, grads and adults, all in the same class. But our God is no respecter of age. He is no respecter of persons. Right? Our God is interested in the children, the young people, the adults. Our God is interested in every segment, every facet of our life. Because our God is not only able, but he is willing to share His abundance with His people.
And this is why we ought to rise up as a mighty army of God and really stand together on the greatness of God’s Word, and stand with the people across the world who are concerned about making that Word known. Amen.
Our God and our Father, I thank thee tonight for the greatness of thy Word, and for this tremendous Sunday night with our people, and for the greatness of the Word that dwells in. Father, I thank thee for thy divine benediction and blessing upon them, and for thy goodness unto them. Through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.