DOWNLOAD PDF MIRACLES (BIBLE STUDY GUIDES)

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1 Chapter 1 : Bible Study - Miracles This study is part of the LifeLight Bible study series of in-depth studies of Bible books. The goal of LifeLight is that through a regular program of in-depth personal and group study of Scripture, more and more Christian adults may grow in their personal faith in Jesus Christ. Can People Perform Miracles Today? Bible study on miracles. Many people believe they can do miracles, or their religious leaders can do miracles. Some of these miracle workers have been exposed as nothing more than magicians, while others have spent time in jail for various crimes. Others, no doubt, truly believe God has empowered them to do miracles. What does the Bible say about receiving miraculous power? Can people do miracles today? Prophesy from God Would Cease Zechariah prophesied that a time would come when all prophesy from God would cease, and all that would remain would be false prophets Zech. All prophesies from God have ceased, because miracles have ceased. Anyone claiming to prophesy of God is a false prophet. What was the Purpose of Miracles? God testified that Jesus, the apostles, and prophets were speaking His word, through miracles Mk. In this way, He confirmed His word Heb. Since Paul was the last apostle 1 Cor. Miracles Were Temporary Paul tells people doing miracles in the first century, there was a better way to live than with miraculous power. Love is better than miracles 1 Cor. Paul tells us that miracles were temporary, and that they would cease 1 Cor. Miracles would cease when the "perfect" came, then the "partial" miracles would be done away with 1 Cor. What is the "perfect" that would be present at the time miraculous power ceased? It is something that existed near the end of the first century, because the apostles died and people could no longer receive miraculous power Acts 8: The "perfect" is the "perfect" law of liberty Jas. Note that the "perfect" law of liberty is the doctrine and law of Christ revealed in the New Testament. Liberty and perfection are in Christ Gal. Jesus said that we will be judged by His word Jn. The "perfect" 1 Cor. At that time, man was fully equipped to live by faith, hope, and love 1 Cor. Today, Christians are blessed to live by a "more excellent way" 1 Cor. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles spoke in tongues Acts 2: These tongues were known human languages Acts 2: If someone spoke in Bible tongues today, it would be like a person who had never studied French immediately speaking fluent French. People claiming to speak in tongues today do not speak known human languages. They do not speak in the tongues we read about in the Bible. Fortunately, this is not the truth. Some People do Miracles to Deceive Others Simon the Sorcerer was a man who used magic, deceiving people into believing he was doing miracles Acts 8: Bar-Jesus was another one of these men Acts He was a false prophet who used magic to turn people away from the faith Acts Paul says he was "full of all deceit and fraud" and calls him a "son of the devil" and an "enemy of all righteousness" who would not "cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord" Acts In 2 Thessalonians 2: This lawlessness was already at work in the first century cf. Their work is the activity of Satan. They are doing signs and false wonders fake miracles. Their fake miracles are the deception of wickedness for those who perish. God allows them to do fake miracles, deceiving people who do not love the truth so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. Summary People cannot do miracles today. If a religious teacher claims to have miraculous power, we should be suspicious of what he teaches, knowing that some false teachers use fake miracles to deceive people. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Miracles Of Jesus Bible Study - Concordia publishing house Miracles (Bible Study Guides) [Robbie Castleman] on blog.quintoapp.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Bible is filled with stories of God's healing, provision, and guidance. This study of several miracle passages offers a fresh perspective on the purposes of miracles and reminds us of God's power and love available today. We are looking solely at those miracles worked by God through and by means of human agents. For example, when James tells us to pray for the healing of the sick, and God intervenes in response to our prayers for the sick, that is indeed miraculous healing. It is miracles of this latter kind, in which God miraculously works through a human agent, which we are looking at here. When we read through the New Testament it is quite evident that miracles were not commonplace, nor are they ever expected to be common place. In fact we find that the number of people through whom God is reported to have worked miracles is rather small â Jesus, the apostles and a very few associates of the apostles. We also find that their role and purpose in the New Testament is very limited, and very clearly defined. In the Analytical Studies you will find significant references to the different words the New Testament uses to refer to miracles: The word indicates that the miracle is a pointer to something beyond itself. The miracles of Jesus Christ The miracles Jesus did were: Rather than demonstrate an ability that every Christian ought to possess, they actually demonstrate that this particular human being, Jesus Christ, was, at the same time, God. He worked his miracles not as the perfect and ideal man, but as the incarnate God. Like Jesus Christ, the apostles were not focused on working miracles; they were focused on proclaiming the message entrusted to them. Their miracles, and other miraculous events reported in Acts, served to validate both them and the radical and revolutionary message they proclaimed. Without this miraculous validation accompanying them and their message it is clear from the Acts record that the gospel would have quickly been discredited and lost, or, at best, confined to the Jews and those who would become Jews. Even with this high and holy purpose of validation, and therefore preservation, of the message in its period of initial proclamation, there were actually very few people who are reported to have worked miracles in the early years of the church. This is all we find in Acts: Both were close associates of the apostles. In all honesty, this is a very small list. This ability to work miracles was obviously not part of the normal Christian life. Miracles were special works of God through this very few people, by which God testified to the validity of the message entrusted to them. To suppose that a broad spectrum of Christians should have the ability to perform miracles is to seriously undermine this clear and stated purpose of the miracles which God worked through the apostles. The second renders the first ineffective and meaningless. The miracles of false teachers The occurrence of a miracle is not an automatic indication that God did it. The New Testament makes it very clear that not every miracle has its source in God, and that not everyone who works miracles in the name of Jesus Christ, is actually a servant of Christ. Empowered and motivated by Satan there were those through whose miracles he sought to deceive the church and the world. If, on the other hand, the miracles confirmed the apostles and their message, then anyone doing miracles had the potential to be considered an apostle. Hence, the deceptive impact of those miracles empowered by Satan. Page 2

3 Chapter 3 : When is a Miracle, Miraculous? Bible study on miracles. With maps and pictures, outlines, key Scripture verses, discussion questions, plenty of room for note taking, and a personal five-day Bible study for each session, this participant's guide will help you get the most out of The Miracles of Jesus, both in your group and in applying what you learn to your life. Welcome to this exciting series on "What God Wants for You. These challenges mature and perfect us and prepare us to be all we can be in the Kingdom of God for eternity. This series of lessons examines the steps God has designed for us to take to move closer to Him and to become more like Him. We pray your study will help you realize more and more how much God loves you and will inspire you to take the steps God has laid out in the Bible. And remember, we would love to hear from you and serve you in any way we can. Is God Calling You? Are most people called today? Have you been called? Jewish people from all corners of the Roman Empire gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost, one of the three appointed pilgrimage festival seasons. This was always an exciting occasion as the crowds swelled through the streets and around the temple area. The followers of Jesus, who had seen Him risen from the dead seven weeks before, were all together to celebrate the festival as well. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages" Acts 2: These miracles quickly attracted a crowd of passersby who were amazed and perplexed. But others in the crowd were mocking. Peter recognized the opportunity God had provided, and invited the crowd to understand the true significance of all these events. God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him. However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip" Acts 2: Then Peter drove the truth home. We all have killed the Son of God by our sins! But Jesus the Messiah was raised from the dead just as their beloved King David had prophesied. The New Testament Church of God began with these 3, converts who respondedâ who believed and wanted to obey God. Is God Calling You Now? The Greek word kletos is often translated "called," but can also be translated as "invited. Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: God must act first to invite us and open our eyes to see the way to Christ. How does Jesus describe His called-out people? What are we called out of? Darkness and blindness are symbolic of this darkened and deceived world ruled by Satan Ephesians 2: But the Bible shows he will not succeed. God loves us all so much He gave His Son as a sacrifice to pay for all of our sins John 3: He has a plan that will eventually extend His invitation to everyone! This is explained in our lesson " The Second Resurrection: But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. God makes it clear that His Church has no reason to boast. To be called now is to be given a responsibility to help preach the gospel and prepare to serve more in the Kingdom of God Matthew This responsibility should humble and motivate us, not make us proud. Paul encourages us to "walk worthy of the calling" and Peter tells us to be "diligent to make your call" sure. Are you being called now? He is drawing you toward Him. Our loving, all-powerful God has great plans in store for usâ if only we will respond to His calling! It also tells us some of the steps to take to respond to that invitation. A key section is in verses 6 through 8: Examine your life for wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts to forsake. Questions about this lesson? Feedback about this lesson? Page 3

4 Chapter 4 : The Miracles of Christ Grace Bible Church Bible study on miracles. I know that this article is going to upset some people, but I would like to draw the distinction between a miracle and God's providence. The word "miracle" is often incorrectly used for an event that is merely luck, good fortune, or one which God accomplishes through His providence. It was not a true miracle. It was amazing, it was abnormal, etc. What is a miracle? He thinks everything can be explained scientifically. This is an attitude which at the least denies any intervention into our world by God, and more than likely means that scientist denies the existence of God. This is obviously a bad definition. The fact that anyone would take this guy seriously is a sad commentary on our society. This elevates almost everything to the status of being a miracle. I would have to go along with the idea that there is no such thing as coincidence or chance. If there is such a thing as chance, then God has an equal out there in the universe, against which He is competing. Think about that statement for a minute. If there is such a thing as chance, then God has an equal out there in the universe that He is competing against. In other words, God is not in control. So, although I think that God is control and is involved in our lives, does that mean that these events are miracles? These two illustrations represent opposite extremes. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The word dunamis has the idea of a supernatural power. It speaks primarily of the agent of the act. That power may be delegated to a human agent. There are two options - either from God or from Satan. Some suggest that Satan only imitates miracles. I think Satan can perform miracles. He does not have divine power, but he does have supernatural power. So the idea from the word dunamis is that there is supernatural power involved. A miracle is an unusual event. Terasa speaks of the wonderment of the event â as in signs and wonders. As a matter of fact, terasa is always used with semeion. A miracle is a significant event. Matthew, Mark and Luke uses the first two more. John uses the word semion, because he is focused on the purpose of Jesus in performing the miracles. A miracle is an unusual and significant event terasa which requires the working of a supernatural agent dunamis and is performed for the purpose of authenticating the message or the messenger semeion. But, examination of Old Testament and New Testament miracles shows that when a human is the agent performing a miracle, the purpose is authentication of the person and his message. Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Apostlesâ That is the norm. It is a little oxymoronic to use the words norm and miracles in the same sentence, but I think it is important to establish what the norm is if possible because of what various people teach concerning miracles. What do people teach concerning miracles? Hopefully in a few weeks we can take a break from the study of the miracles and study the arguments. For now we will begin our study of the miracles. First though, we need to learn how to study the miracles. Historically, Americans pastors and theologians have spent little time teaching or preaching the Gospels. Americans are practical, bottom line people and the Pauline and General epistles are easier to dig practical principles out of. They are really a collection of small stories arranged to tell a bigger story about the life of Christ. The accounts of the miracles Jesus performed are contained in stories, and stories have context, characters, plot, climax, etc. Stories are literature, and in order to understand them, we need to look at the miracles literarily. We will study the miracles following the usual steps of observation, interpretation and application, but since the miracles are stories, we will need to look at things like plot, character development, etc. Passage We need to determine which gospel or gospels record the miracle? Sometimes it is difficult to tell if two Gospels are telling the same miracle or if they are just similar miracles. If we decide that they are the same event, which is the longest account of the miracle? That is the one we will use primarily for the study and then pull in the extra details we learn from other parallel passages to supplement the longest passage. What you will notice is that different gospel writers stressed certain things because they were writing to different audiences or have a different theological point to make. Because of these differences, many critics point to the differences in the miracle accounts to show that the Bible is full of errors. We will discuss these differences and try to determine why they exist. Sometimes we will understand why, other times we may not. Progression One of the most helpful things in studying narrative literature stories, is learning to track the progression of thought in the narrative. The progression is the strongest thread that ties the story together as a creative whole. One might follow the Page 4

5 progression: Peter in the boat, out of the boat, on the shore, etc. For example, the theological principles explained in Eph. Historical context What we know from knowledge of the culture will affect our understanding and interpretation. If lepers are being healed now, then something out of the ordinary is going on! It should have been a clear sign that God was here! Literary context What do we know from the preceding or following context. What was Jesus talking about in His last conversation? Did He just preach a sermon? What was the point of that sermon? Perhaps the miracle illustrates the point. What statements is the author making about Jesus? Does this miracle relate to that? For example, when Jesus heals the blind man in two stages Mark 8: He healed the man in two stages to illustrate the partial understanding of the disciples as to whom Jesus really was. So, although the immediate literary context is important, sometimes the larger context is also very important. Interpretation What does it mean theologically? What was the meaning for the Jews who saw the miracle? What was the meaning for the disciples? What was the meaning for the person healed? I think that there is only one correct interpretation. There will be different subcategories of meaning for each question asked, but I think there is a right answer. By that, I mean that the author had some point in mind when he recorded the miracle. We will try to determine that. If we come to a different conclusion than someone else, then I think one of us is wrong. If we are wrong, then it is because we did poor observation or have some theological bias. In our age of relativism and no absolutes, this is not a popular concept. But I think it is a correct concept. Once we have determined the theological meaning we move to the next step. Application What does it mean to me? Although there may be only one interpretation, there can be many applications. Summary of the process: We need to study the events of the miracle observation, determine what truths it teaches interpretation and then determine how the truths apply to us application. Page 5

6 Chapter 5 : 10 Epic Miracles in the Bible - Beliefnet This study guide in the new revised format features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, as well as a 'Now or Later' section in each study. Miracles: Signs of God's Glory LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies () by Douglas Connelly. When is a Miracle, Miraculous? Bible study on miracles. The word "miracle" is often incorrectly used for an event that is merely luck, good fortune, or one which God accomplishes through His providence. Once there was a basketball player who made an incredible half-court shot and someone exclaimed: The fact is that the shot was no more a miracle than any other shot that day. Men have distorted the meaning of the word "miracle" to simply denote an incredible event. Because of this, some folks have confused the Bible meaning of miracle with the humanistic watered-down version of the word. When is a miracle really a miracle? Something is a miracle when God has intervened on a supernatural level - not merely a providential natural level. For example, a person may exhibit great skill, possibly with a little luck, or a person may rig an illusion to fool the great unwashed, but these are not miracles. We may pray to God for the sick and they may become well in time by the providential will of God, but this is not a miracle. An elderly person may rise from a wheel chair to be paraded around a stage for a moment in time and then return to the chair, but this is not a miracle. A person may escape an accident usually resulting in death, but this is not a miracle. A surgeon may perform a brain transplant, but this is not a miracle. God may be providentially working in these events, but they are not supernatural - they are not miracles. What are some Bible examples of miracles? Jesus turned water to wine Jn. Feeding five thousand men with five loaves and two fish having twelve baskets of left-overs Mk. Jesus walked on the sea Mk. Complete and immediate healing of the lame, infirmed, and blind. Jesus and the Apostles raised people from the dead who had been dead long enough that their body had time to begin decaying. And, first century miracles were such that there was no possible doubt that the event was supernatural - much different from "so called" miracles today. Frankly, I have never seen a miracle. And I have read about miracles in the Bible, but I have never seen one. Should I think this as odd? No, because Paul says that miracles would cease I Cor. Page 6

7 Chapter 6 : Miracles Of Jesus Series Bible study on miracles. Many people believe they can do miracles, or their religious leaders can do miracles. Some of these miracle workers have been exposed as nothing more than magicians, while others have spent time in jail for various crimes. What was the purpose of prophecy, tongues, revelation, and miraculous healings? How did people receive the power to do spiritual gifts? What about Holy Spirit baptism and laying on of hands? Does God approve of the modern charismatic, Pentecostal movement? What about faith healers, prophets, and those who claim direct guidance of the Holy Spirit? This material is also available for sale as part of our professionally printed book entitled The God of the Bible. For more information go to www. Much confusion exists about the work of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this study is to learn what the Bible says about prophecy, miracles, and spiritual gifts, especially in the New Testament age. What about tongues, faith healing, Holy Spirit baptism, and modern prophets? Does God guide people directly today apart from the Scriptures? What about the modern charismatic and Pentecostal movements? We begin our study of miracles and direct revelation with some important preliminary facts. The Holy Spirit has done various different works in history. This study concerns mainly His work in New Testament times. Prior to the birth of Jesus, He did the following things: They claim God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we say there are no miracles today, then we are told that we are denying that God has the power He used to have or that He loves us like He used to, etc. To admit there are any miracles he has done but is not doing today is to admit all such arguments are not valid. But here are a number of miracles He has done, which we must agree He is not doing today. The question then becomes whether He is doing any miracles at all today. In this study we will consider the following topics about miracles please click on the links to study the specific topics: Chapter 7 : Old Testament Miracles God's Word For You is a free Bible Study site committed to bringing you teaching and studies firmly grounded in the Bible, and the Bible's answers to your questions. Chapter 8 : Miracles of Jesus 30 Day Bible Reading Plan for Kids â A Day For Design The English word miracle is derived from the Latin word miraculum which literally means a marvelous blog.quintoapp.com Bible is filled with God's miracles, known variously as signs or wonders, as accomplished by many different people. Chapter 9 : Miracles of Jesus Hopefully in a few weeks we can take a break from the study of the miracles and study the arguments. For now we will begin our study of the miracles. First though, we need to learn how to study the miracles. Page 7