your power in the Holy Spirit
The Miraculous Mind of Christ
Jesus’ mental
processes were miraculous. Ourlibraries are full of books written by
great thinkerslike Thomas Edison and others who were incessantthinkers.
With Jesus there is something different. Hespoke out from the Spirit
that dominated Hisspiritual faculties. The Spirit of Christ ruled
Hisintellect. Gems of divine truth dripped from His lipsas honey from
the honeycomb. The Sermon on theMount and great portions in Luke and
John are asuntouched as when they dropped from the lips of Jesus. Men’s
writings grow old and out of date. God’struth is ever fresh. Yes,
Jesus’ words and life andcontact with men were miraculous; they are
still miraculous.His death on the cross, His three days in the tomb,His
dramatic and startling resurrection, were allmiracles. His presence
among the disciples ondifferent occasions and, finally, His ascension in
thepresence of five hundred witnesses were miracles.
They do not belong to
the reason realm; they belongto the miracle realm. Jesus was in the
realm of theSpirit, the realm of faith, the realm where God acts,the
realm where the real child of God lives. You see,Christians have been
translated out of the realm of human thought and reason into the kingdom
of theSon of His love, the realm of the Spirit.
It would be uncharitable if we were to criticize aman of reason who knows nothing about thespiritual realm.
Christianity is not the
product of human reasoning. Christianity is a divineintervention.
Christians are those who have beenborn from above. They have been
re-created. Thislife of God that comes into their spirit naturedominates
the reason so that they have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
to think God’s thoughtsand live in God’s realm of miracles.
Friends, when a Christian tries to live by reason, he is moving out of God’s country into the enemy’s land.
We belong in the miraculous or supernatural realm.
Christ was a miracle. Every Christian is a miracle.
Every answer to prayer is a miracle.
Every divine illumination is a miracle.
The power of Christianityin the world is a miraculous power.
God, help us torealize that ours is a high and holy calling.
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Miracles Are For Today
I want to talk to you
on the subject of miracles thisafternoon. From the year 400 until now,
by and large,the church has assumed the attitude that the days
of miracles are passed—without any scripturalevidence whatever. They
have taught that miracleswere to demonstrate the divinity of Jesus and
that, therefore, the divinity of Jesus having beendemonstrated, there
was no longer any need formiracles.
We had a local incident
that demonstrates the effectof this teaching. I think my conviction on
the matteris that it has done more damage to the Christian faiththan any
other teaching that has been promulgated.
There is a gentleman
who works at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, O. A. Risdon, who is one of
theengineers there. He had a son with a deformed head.The top of the
head raised up like the ridge of a roof; the forehead and back of the
head also were forcedout in similar manner, giving the head the
appearance of the hull of an upside-down yacht. He was born with what
the physicians call a closed head. The boy was always slobbering. The
pressure on the brain caused the right side to become paralyzed, and the
boy was dumb. He was five yearsold at this time.
The physicians said
there was nothing they could do.Then, in desperation, he appealed to his
pastor. The pastor told him that the days of miracles were past, that
the Lord did not heal now, and that miracles were given to demonstrate
the divinity of Jesus. The father replied, “If Jesus would heal my son, I
would be convinced that He is divine now. If He is divine,He could lift
this damnation from our house.
“Finally, he came to us
seeking help. We began tominister to the child. In a few days, we
observed that the paralysis began to depart. Instead of walking onone
side of his ankles, he began to walk on the foot, and that indicated
that the pressure was relieved onthe brain. In seven weeks, the child
was perfectly well. The bones of the head softened and came downto
normal. The paralysis disappeared, and the child began to talk. In three
months, he was in the publicschool. He is a young married man now.
Dear friends, if we had
continued to believe that the days of miracles were past, that boy
would be in the insane asylum. But we believed that Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever, and the boy was healed.
It is a delight to
believe the words of Jesus. I have used this rule in my study of the
Scriptures. If there is any question on any Scripture, I settle it with
the words of Jesus. I consider all the Scriptures are a common court of
the gospel, but the words of Jesus are the Supreme Court of the gospel.
When I want a Supreme Court decision, I appeal to the words of Jesus.
You can read all the
words of Jesus in two hours or less in a red-letter New Testament. Make a
practice of reading the words of Jesus on any subject that troubles
you, and make a compilation of what He says.
He ought to be
sufficient authority on any question, for the heavenly Father called
attention to the fact that He is the Son of God and that we are to hear
Him. God declared:
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am wellpleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5)
