Miracles through Apostles

Matthew 10:8-10

Matthew 10:5-15, These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. 11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! Matthew chapter ¹⁰ can be divided into three parts.

1. V 5-15, Tasks of the Apostles. 2. V 16-23, Response to their ministry. 3. V 24-42, Cost of being a disciple. 1. Divine commission. V 5, These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

2. Objective. V 6, But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 3. Clear Message.

What did Jesus say? V 7, And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 4. Miracles to confirm the Apostleship. Those who represent Christ must have a confirming credential. If you were to go out and preach Jesus Christ, what reason would people have to believe anything that you said was really from God?

Why should they believe that?

Why should they believe the Twelve when they went out and said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”? When they said, “The Messiah is here, and it’s none other than Jesus of Nazareth,” and when they preached the principles of the king, Maybe they would repeat much of the Sermon on the Mount, Why would the people want to believe that?

Because they had credentials. Because there was some confirmation. If you go to a doctor, and he gives you a diagnosis, why do you believe that? Because he is a doctor. He has got a degree certificate hanging on the wall that says he graduated from a medical school.

If you and your company are going to hire a man, he comes in and tells you he has got all these degrees and all this training, and he has got his Ph.D. in the field you want to use him for, you say, “Well, he must be able to do the job. He has been approved. He has credentials.”

These Apostles did not go to any seminary. They were ordinary people like us!

These Apostles were the very opposite of the existing religious establishment. They had not been educated in the right place. They were from Galilee, not Jerusalem. They didn’t belong to the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Essenes or the zealots or anybody else.

What was the reason to believe them? There wasn’t any New Testament to compare what they said was true! Nobody had a copy of the Sermon on the Mount.

Why believe them? There were credentials. V 8, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely ye have received, freely give.” These are the credentials of the Apostles. They had to have something that made them convincing.

We have already discussed the specifics of healing, and cleansing lepers, and raising the dead, and casting out demons. All of that’s gone on in chapters 8 and 9. We have seen the Lord do that already. The credentials were the key to marking them out as representatives of God.

2 Corinthians 12:12, Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

What is the sign of an apostle? Signs, wonders, and mighty deeds. Reversing those, mighty deeds were miracles. They created wonder, and the wonder was a sign that pointed to God as the source. How did you know I was an apostle and came behind not the chief apostle?

Because of the signs of an apostle. wonders, mighty deeds, miracles.” That was the proof. The Pharisee and Blind man.

John 9:13-16, They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

John 9:30-34, The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvellous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

The blind man affirmed that Jesus came from God. The ability to do these things points them out as from God. Nicodemus affirms the same.

John 3:2, This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” if that is all the miracles were intended to do, it was unnecessary to do these kinds of miracles.

It wasn’t necessary to do deliverance miracles, healing miracles, raising the dead miracles. It wasn’t necessary to do that.

Imagine they could have done anything.

• They could have leaped tall buildings at a single bound.
• They could have just stood in one spot and disappeared and then reappeared somewhere else and done invisible routines.
• They could have just rocketed up in space, flown around over the city, and come down with some swoops over some buildings and little deals like that and just come down and landed.
• They could have done some astounding stuff that wouldn’t have been related to any of these kinds of things.
• They could have read minds.
• They could have done all kinds of things.

Why did they do this? First credential: Signs and wonders. V 8, Heal the sick and cleanse the lepers.

What does that mean? The first credential they manifest was compassion and mercy on people in need. It didn’t have to be this.

They could have done all kinds of astounding, miraculous tricks that district make anybody any better. But they were revealing he great heart of God. God cares for people who are hurting.

• People who suffer,
• People who are poor, and
• People who are sick.

It dramatized the mercy of God. It showed them that whatever the kingdom of heaven was, when it was at hand, sick people got well. Lepers lost their leprosy. In other words, it would be an element of the coming kingdom that God would remove disease.

People got a little foretaste of what the kingdom was all about. The first credential was the compassion and mercy for people who suffer. Jesus always had great concern for the poor. Matthew chapter 11, John the Baptist asked the question.

Matthew 11:3-5, and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 4 Jesus answered and said to

them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Why tell him that? Because that will reveal that this is God’s Messiah, because He shows forth the compassionate, merciful heart of God. It wasn’t just a trick or a miracle for the sake of a miracle. It was a miracle for the sake of the true representation of the compassionate heart of God.

One who truly represents Jesus Christ gives Himself for the poor, and the hurting, and the needy, and the downtrodden. Whenever I see somebody who claims to represent Jesus Christ, and all they want to do is hang around the rich and the famous, I wonder about that.

They are under the illusion that the kingdom of God is advanced by money and the rich, and they are wrong. Nothing wrong with money itself. Most people need Christ, too. But there’s something wrong with the illusion.

It is characteristic of God’s representative that they are drawn to the hurting and the downcast and the sick and the poor and the needy. And that is the heart of God revealed. You find throughout the Old Testament about the compassionate heart of God towards the poor.

Psalm 9:18, For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

Psalm 12:5, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

Psalm 35:10, All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like You, Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”

Psalm 140:12, I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.

Isaiah 41:17, “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Now, in contrast to that, people who are representative of a wicked world, people who are representative of a false teaching do not manifest the compassion of God. That’s why the Old Testament says that wicked men oppress the poor.

Ezekiel 18:12, If he has oppressed the poor and needy, Robbed by violence, Not restored the pledge, Lifted his eyes to the idols, Or committed abomination; Wicked sell the poor

Amos 2:6, Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals. Wicked crush the poor

Amos 5:11, Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. Wicked grind the poor

Isaiah 3:15, What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor?” Says the Lord God of hosts.

Wicked devour the poor

Habakkuk 3:14, You thrust through with his own arrows The head of his villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret. Wicked persecute the poor

Psalm 10:2, The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. Wicked defraud the poor

Amos 8:5-6, Saying: “When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit, 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?” People who are of the world and wicked use the poor, and abuse the poor, and step on the poor, and want to eliminate the poor and the needy. On the contrary, God cares for them.

• He does not forget them.
• He hears their cry.
• He maintains their right.
• He delivers them.
• He protects them.

• He exalts them.
• He provides for them.

Psalm 14:6, You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge. “My poor” in one text of the Old Testament. False prophets and false teachers are merciless.

They are without compassion. They use and abuse people. Our Lord indicts the scribes and the leaders of Israel with a tremendously bitter indictment.

Mark 12:38-40, Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

They had a situation going where they extorted from the poor. There are people like that today even who name the name of Christ, and all they want is money, and they will take it from the widow if it’s her last mite. They have no thought for the needy. The one who represents our Lord is sympathetic, tender, and drawn to the sick and the poor.

What are the credentials? We can’t heal the sick. We can’t cleanse the lepers. We are not living in an apostolic era. God does heal people at their need and faith. But we do not have the power of the Apostolic rea. The evangelist one of the gift God dispenses even today is to heal the people. This is not uniformly God heals all the people.

God does heal the people who have been called to preach the Gospel. This is just to show that the message which preached about Jesus is authentic but not to lift the person as someone who is mighty. When you go to a meeting there will be one or two or many healings just to confirm the message not for everyone to get healed. But uniformly God does not heal everyone who comes for the meeting.

Take the case of Billy Graham, a man mightily used by God, there were lot of healings took place in their crusade, but they never took it the platform and make it known to all.

Why?

They never wanted to deviate from the plans and purposes of God. So please be aware that people get misguided and led astray when they were not healed and delivered. We all can show the compassion of God that was meant to be demonstrated through those things.

Those are the credentials. The second credential. Power V 8, Raising the dead and casting out demons. When we read that we can only think of one thing, and that’s power. The power to raise the dead and the power to invade the kingdom of darkness, the unseen world of the demons, and overcome that kingdom, that’s power.

We can’t go around raising the dead or casting out demons. Neither can anybody else today have the power and authority that our Lord and His apostles had over demons and over death.

We always see the power of God rest upon every true preacher of God to cast out demons. We have seen incredible amount demons fleeing in our ministry. Also, we witnessed many incidents in the mission field. The first mark in the mission field is that the deliverance from the demons. Missionaries and evangelist have been uniquely gifted by God to deliver the people out of darkness.

The mark of the apostles was power. You can tell a false prophet by looking at them.

Matthew 7:15-19, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. You don’t see any power. You don’t see any changed lives. You don’t see any dramatic transformations.

You don’t see the result of their ministry being the shattering of the kingdom of darkness. You don’t see someone who is dead come to life in Christ. So, you can tell a true preacher, a true representative of Christ, because wherever they go, there’s power.

False teachers and false apostles are impotent.

Jeremiah 5:13, And the prophets become wind, For the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.”

Matthew 22:29, Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. You can’t change anybody’s life, even your own. You are impotent.

But when you see one who really represents God, you are going to see power. Not the power to raise the physically dead, but power to raise the spiritually dead through the Gospel of Christ! To see people redeemed. Power to shatter the demons as souls are released into the kingdom of God.

When the 12 Apostles went forth, they had power. We can trace it through the Gospels, and through the book of Acts, we

will see tremendous power. Effective missionaries and effective representatives of Christ have power. They raise the spiritually dead, and they shatter the kingdom of darkness with the message of light. If you are going to go out and represent Jesus Christ and be believed, you better have some credentials.

Compassion and power. 5. Unselfishness. V 8, “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

• If you have compassion and mercy, it is not of the flesh but of God you have!
• If you have power in your ministry, it is not of the flesh but God that you have!

You didn’t earn that power. You didn’t gain that power. You didn’t get it by doing to seminary or Bible College. You didn’t get that power by being ordained. You got that power from God.

What did you pay for your power?

Nothing.

What should you charge you for your power? Nothing. That’s exactly what our Lord is saying to the apostles. You show me a person who represents Jesus Christ truly, and I will show you someone who’s not in it for anything he can gain.

The Jewish exorcists, who were in existence at the time of our Lord went around casting out demons charged people. When people got demons in them, and they were aware of the demon influence and the demon power, they wanted deliverance.

They would go to these exorcists, and these exorcists would go through all the routine, which, of course, ultimately had no result because demons have a place in the life because of sin in that life, not because of some exorcism or lack of it. But nonetheless, people would pay a great amount of money to get exorcised.

There were medical doctors in that period, however primitive their science may have been, and people would pay a great amount of money to get physically healed as well.

So, they would put prices on their services as doctors today do, and as psychiatrists and psychologists do today, who are the modern exorcists. People will pay a fortune to go to these kinds of people to get the kind of deliverance they think they need physically and emotionally or mentally.

Now, along come the apostles. Instantaneously, with a word, whenever they wish, always, in the power of God, they can cast out demons, and they can heal the sick of any disease and raise the dead.

How much do you think they could make? Inconceivable.

You got a dead person? Let’s see, for so much I will raise him. They could have made a fortune.

Acts 8:9-13, But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his [d]sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were

baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

Acts 8:18-23, And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Simon tried to buy it. He was willing to pay any price because he knew he could make it back a thousand times over. Jesus says, “You received it free you give it free. Don’t you ever charge anybody for your ministry. Do not ever put a price on your ministry or your power.”

This was the true law of the rabbis. A rabbi was bound by the law to give his teaching freely and for nothing. The rabbi was forbidden to take money for teaching the law which Moses had freely received from God. The only time the rabbi, said the Talmud, could ever take money for his teaching was if he

taught a small child, because that was the responsibility of the parents. And if they were shirking their responsibility in favour of having the rabbi, do it, they needed to pay him for it, because it was their job. But the Mishnah said that the rabbi was never to take money for his teaching any more than a judge was to take money for his judging. That would be bribery. Or a witness take money for witnessing in a law court.

Hillel said, “He who makes a worldly use of the crown of the law shall waste a way. Hence, thou mayest infer that whosoever desires a prophet for himself from the words of the law is helping his own destruction.” No Rabbi put a price on his ministry or his teaching.

But false apostles are always interested in their own personal exaggeration. They are always in it for their own gain. There’s always a price on their service. You find somebody who represents Jesus Christ and puts a price on his service, and I will tell you somebody who has just priced himself out of blessing from God.

1 Peter 5:2, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

Titus 1:5-9, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— 6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

This is not just in the New Testament but we can find this in the Old Testament too!

Isaiah 56:9-11, All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory.

If you are going to serve the Lord for gain, put a price on your ministry, you just priced yourself out of blessing. Through the years, I have been repeatedly asked this question, because so many people, I suppose, have a price.

What is your fee? We would like to have you come and speak.

How much do you charge?

How many people minimum should be there? I have been preaching nearly 18 years. I have travelled across the Globe and preached it in many countries never ever demanded anything including the flight ticket. Never once in my life of ministry have, I ever set a price or number for anything I ever did.

I never would.

Why? The Bible says I received it freely! I give it freely!! God is my provider! I should say this too! Never once God let me down! God is been so good in providing and meeting all my needs.

All the churches we have established so far, they all follow the same principle. None of them charge anything from their congregation. If you have learnt to enjoy getting it from the Lord, then you will never open your hands towards any man.

Our Lord can use anyone to bless you and provide for you. Why don’t we collect offering like any other church?

Why don’t we sing an offering song? Why don’t we let our needs known to others? Why we boldly say you give your offering wherever God asks you to give? Because the ministry belongs to God. God will take care of this ministry.

Church of Jesus Christ has been there you came before the scene, and it will stay open until the Lord comes and takes His bride back!

Why would I set a price? The credentials of a representative of Christ are compassion for the needy, power to change lives, unselfishness. No price. Contend faith.

V 9-10, Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. You are liable to go somewhere and spend a lot of money getting there, and what if they don’t give you anything?

Some time you get more than what you need. Some time you get nothing. But the issue is not to set a price.

Do you see? I received the power and the call and the gifts free. God gave them to me, and I can’t charge you for that. At the same time, I believe God will meet my needs. Different kinds of coinage.

• Gold,
• Silver, and
• Copper.

Simply put it across Jesus tells them don’t take any money. Don’t think that you are going to go, but first you have got to amass a fortunate to support this deal. If I am not going to charge anybody, Freely I have received, and freely I give,

then it’s obvious that I’ve got to support myself. So, as soon as I get all my money collected and stuffed into my purse, I will be on my way. No! Jesus says to them don’t take a thing. Don’t take any money at all. Don’t take a food bag.

Don’t take two coats. Don’t take an extra pair of shoes. Don’t take an extra staff. I can’t tell anybody my price. I can’t take anything with me. I am going out there naked. I got nothing. V 10, “The workman is worthy of his sustenance.”

Who made that principle? God says, I did. I will manage the resources. So, you go in confident faith. You don’t take anything. This is like survival training. You go out there without anything.

What our Lord trying to teach these people is to have confident faith. Do you know what the Jews realized in this time? They knew this. This is how the rabbis were. They were never to price anything, they were never to demand anything, they were never to ask a fee, but always the people were to supply their needs.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaacov said, “He who receives a rabbi into his house or as his guest and lets him have his enjoyment from his possessions, the Scripture ascribes to him as if he had offered the continual offerings. God’s going to bless him because he took care of God’s servant.

God’s man has never to be over concerned with material things. But the people of God must see it their duty to support him. I can’t put the price, but it’s your responsibility before God to support the one who serves, “For the worker is worthy of his sustenance.”

How should you do that?

1 Timothy 5:17-18, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the

word and doctrine. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The labourer is worthy of his wages.” If you want the animal to work, you have got to feed the animal.

1 Corinthians 9:14, Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. Paul means live by your preaching, be supported in it. If you never ask for anything, and you never seek anything, and you never put a price on anything, then whatever comes, you can accept as a gift from God.

There is no confusion in your mind at all because you didn’t seek to gain it. Apostle Paul goes to say how he did the ministry.

1 Corinthians 9:15-18, But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted

with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Acts 20:34, Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

1 Thessalonians 2:7, But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-11, For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil; for labouring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. If you are in full time ministry, then do not increase your lifestyle rather increase your giving to the Lord and poor. Those who are working in the main line churches treat them as a job which is totally wrong.

Those who are working as a pastor in independent churches thing that all the money received as their income, and they become so wealthy and abuse the system which is also wrong.