“I Go to Church to See Miracles” — Is That Reason Legit?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Here's an email from the inbox.
00:00:06.560 | Good afternoon, Pastor John.
00:00:08.120 | I am Jane from South Africa, a born-again Christian.
00:00:11.400 | How do you respond when people who sit next to you in church
00:00:14.520 | who are attending church by their own admission
00:00:18.080 | because they want to experience miracles,
00:00:21.600 | what should we think of people who attend church
00:00:23.880 | for this express purpose of experiencing the miraculous?
00:00:28.200 | What would you say?
00:00:29.220 | - Well, before I can answer
00:00:32.320 | what I think about that person's motive
00:00:36.360 | or what's going on there,
00:00:37.600 | I need to number one, define miracle,
00:00:41.200 | and number two, distinguish kinds of miracles,
00:00:46.200 | and number three, get at the purpose,
00:00:49.200 | God's purpose in the Bible of what miracles are for.
00:00:52.720 | And then I think if we do that,
00:00:54.680 | we'll be close to our answer.
00:00:57.080 | A miracle is an event in the heart or the mind
00:01:02.080 | or the body or nature in the world
00:01:06.960 | that would not have come about
00:01:10.560 | if God had not supernaturally intervened
00:01:15.560 | in the ordinary process of natural cause and effect.
00:01:19.140 | And I realize as soon as I say that definition,
00:01:22.800 | it runs the risk of treating the natural world
00:01:27.800 | as though it were not sustained and guided
00:01:32.520 | by the hand of God in everything.
00:01:34.740 | It is sustained and guided by God in everything.
00:01:39.080 | Jesus said, "Not a bird falls to the ground
00:01:41.920 | "apart from your father," Matthew 10, 29.
00:01:44.960 | And what could be more natural than the fall of a bird,
00:01:48.040 | the death of a bird in the jungle or the forest?
00:01:51.600 | So when I define miracle as the supernatural intrusion
00:01:56.600 | into the ordinary course of natural cause and effect,
00:02:01.440 | I'm not denying that all natural cause and effect
00:02:05.520 | is in fact the work of God,
00:02:07.160 | is sustained and guided by God.
00:02:10.800 | Now, that definition means
00:02:13.880 | that there are different kinds of miracles,
00:02:16.800 | some of them more obvious than others.
00:02:18.720 | The new birth, the creation of a Christian is a miracle
00:02:23.720 | because the natural mind of the human being
00:02:27.320 | is hostile to God.
00:02:28.560 | It would never ever come to faith
00:02:31.220 | without the supernatural sovereign grace of God
00:02:33.400 | raising us spiritually from the dead
00:02:35.560 | and giving us new life in the heart,
00:02:37.800 | which then sees and embraces the beauty of Jesus.
00:02:41.480 | Every step of sanctification is a miracle by my definition.
00:02:46.280 | Every act of genuine Christ-exalting love is a miracle.
00:02:51.280 | None of these things would happen
00:02:53.920 | if we were left to ourselves
00:02:55.800 | and the natural course of cause and effect
00:02:57.800 | in the mind and in the heart.
00:02:59.880 | But also the removal of a cancerous tumor by God
00:03:05.760 | without any natural causes is a miracle.
00:03:11.040 | The splitting of the Red Sea, a miracle.
00:03:13.780 | The multiplying of the loaves and fishes, a miracle.
00:03:16.560 | The healing of a lame leg instantly by Jesus or today,
00:03:20.760 | a miracle.
00:03:22.560 | So there are miracles that happen in the spirit
00:03:26.140 | and in the mind and in the heart,
00:03:27.920 | and there are miracles that happen in the body
00:03:30.440 | and in nature.
00:03:33.140 | Now, what's the purpose of God in his supernatural
00:03:38.840 | breaking in to the natural flow of cause and effect?
00:03:43.840 | One way to answer that question
00:03:46.100 | is to cite 1 Corinthians 14, 26,
00:03:50.260 | where Paul expresses the goal, God's goal,
00:03:54.680 | in all of the supernatural spiritual gifts,
00:03:59.060 | like healing and others.
00:04:02.060 | Let all things be done for up building, or building up.
00:04:07.520 | Building up, that's the goal of these miracles.
00:04:10.600 | Building up means being built up in faith,
00:04:14.800 | built up in hope, built up in holiness.
00:04:18.200 | In other words, the aim of God's supernatural working
00:04:22.360 | in the people of God and in the world
00:04:25.040 | is that these miracles might be faith awakening,
00:04:30.040 | faith deepening, faith purifying,
00:04:33.680 | faith purifying, hope intensifying,
00:04:38.440 | and love empowering, and holiness refining,
00:04:42.180 | and therefore spirit dependent,
00:04:44.220 | and Christ exalting, and God glorifying.
00:04:47.220 | Those are the goals of God's miracle working in the world.
00:04:52.220 | So, should we come to church in search of miracles?
00:04:58.980 | That was the question.
00:05:00.340 | How should I feel about that?
00:05:02.340 | Now, I suspect that what was meant in the question
00:05:07.140 | is that someone hopes that coming to church
00:05:11.060 | in the hope of seeing a physical miracle,
00:05:13.540 | or a dramatic exorcism,
00:05:15.340 | or some amazing prophetic prediction,
00:05:18.940 | and there is certainly nothing wrong
00:05:22.760 | with hoping that God would display His power in these ways.
00:05:29.260 | I would love to see God move in these ways
00:05:34.260 | in the service of His glory, and our good, and our holiness.
00:05:39.780 | But there is nothing distinctly Christian,
00:05:45.180 | or Christ exalting, or holiness advancing in any of that.
00:05:50.180 | Supernatural things happen by the devil,
00:05:56.340 | or even by God to test His people.
00:05:59.060 | I was just reading recently Deuteronomy 13, one to three,
00:06:03.020 | where it says if a false prophet comes
00:06:05.700 | and predicts the future, really predicts the future,
00:06:10.380 | and tells you to follow another God,
00:06:12.060 | you shouldn't follow Him.
00:06:13.020 | Why?
00:06:13.860 | The Lord is testing you.
00:06:15.580 | Says, "Is the Lord behind this?"
00:06:18.180 | So that seeing the mere event of a external,
00:06:23.180 | physical miracle should never be the goal of the Christian.
00:06:29.100 | Never.
00:06:29.940 | But if we come to worship hoping and expecting
00:06:34.060 | to see God do the miracle of new birth
00:06:37.340 | through the preaching of the Word,
00:06:38.860 | see God supernaturally convict people of sin,
00:06:42.980 | fill despairing people with hope,
00:06:46.060 | the miracle of changing hatred into love,
00:06:49.600 | the miracle of having timid people made bold in the gospel,
00:06:55.980 | the supernatural work of reconciliation
00:06:59.380 | when people are alienated,
00:07:01.580 | a whole congregation supernaturally made radically holy
00:07:05.900 | and humble and courageous in witness,
00:07:09.000 | then we probably are coming for the very things
00:07:14.000 | that God counts most dear in and through
00:07:19.260 | any physical miracle or not.
00:07:25.020 | So that's the distinction I would want to make
00:07:28.260 | in answering the question,
00:07:29.780 | are we coming to worship with our hearts
00:07:34.060 | most intensely desirous of what God is pursuing
00:07:39.060 | in and through all His miracles,
00:07:43.300 | not just the dramatic physical ones,
00:07:46.420 | which in themselves are no sure sign of His saving presence?
00:07:54.060 | Yeah, so good, thank you, Pastor John.
00:07:56.260 | And for more details about this podcast,
00:07:58.420 | catch up on past episodes or subscribe to the audio feed
00:08:00.860 | or even send us a question of your own,
00:08:02.420 | go to our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:08:07.220 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast
00:08:09.380 | with longtime author, theologian and pastor John Piper.
00:08:12.140 | We are closing in on 1,000 episodes.
00:08:16.420 | My word, that's amazing.
00:08:17.820 | That's a lot of grace.
00:08:18.780 | That is a lot of kindness from the Lord.
00:08:20.600 | And as we march in that direction,
00:08:22.940 | I'm your host, Tony Reinhke, and we'll see you tomorrow.
00:08:25.700 | (upbeat music)
00:08:28.280 | (upbeat music)
00:08:30.860 | [BLANK_AUDIO]