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God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

 

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Releasing Spiritual Gifts: Workings of Miracles 


 
The God we worship is a miracle working God. And we His children, through faith in the Lord Jesus, are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. In this Study we consider another manifestation of the Holy Spirit, described in 1 Cor 12:10 as "the working of miracles." Right through Scripture, we see God revealing Himself to mankind in miraculous deeds. One challenge we often face is not consigning such ways of God to the pages of history. Miracles represent the displacement of the rule of Satan by the Kingdom of God, whether in the realm of the physical, emotional, moral or spiritual. 
 


Questions
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1. As a kid, what did you do to make a little money? 

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2. Read 2 Kings 4:1-7. Why would this widow turn to Elisha?
3. What does Elisha's response to the widow tell you about him?
4. Read Acts 19:1-12. Why do you think Paul went to Ephesus on his next trip (see 18:19-21)?  
5. In v11, the miracles that God wrought through Paul are described as 'extraordinary.' What does that description reveal to us? Reflect on the significance of the varying descriptions of miracles in Heb 2:4; Acts 4:36, 16. 

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6. If your faith was a jar of oil, how would you describe it: bone dry, running low, just enough for eve, being replenished, full and overflowing?
7. In what way(s) can you relate to the Elisha story? 
8. Why are miracles integral to the coming of, and extension of, the Kingdom of God (see 1 Cor 4:20)? Why is this 'dunamis power' necessary (see 1 John 3:8)? If a believer or a church has a low priority for eagerly desiring the manifestation of the Spirit in the 'workings of miracles' (1 Cor 12:10), what might that reveal? 
9. In the sermon, a number of possible 'handbrakes' were identified that can cause us to be less than fully open to the Spirit miraculously working through us. Do you relate to any of those? Can you identify other 'handbrakes'? Spend some time in prayer, confess any hurdles to being fully open to the Spirit, and ask the Lord to increase your faithful obedience. 


10. What factors have led to the discounted view of present day miracles in segments of the Church? On the other hand, how do we avoid chasing miracles rather than God Himself? What has the Spirit been teaching and directing you in this Study? 




 

Listen to the sermon

2 Kings 4:1-7, Acts 19:1-12

2 Kings 4:1 Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.” 3 He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. 4 Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” 5 So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

Acts 19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— 7 altogether there were about twelve of them.

8 He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 When some stubbornly refused to believe and spoke evil of the Way before the congregation, he left them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

 

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