The practice of praise as a daily lifestyle requires power
More power than we possess.
'Where can we find the urge to surge to new plateaus of praise?
We find it in the miracles of Christ and the Christ of Miracles
Beginning with the water turned into wine,
and Consummating in the raising of Lazarus from the dead,
each succeeding sign points to a new plateau of praise.
We need not be mired in murmuring.
We can turn our mumbling into melodies,
our gripes into gratitude, our pessimism into praise.
The Christ who turned water into wine is in our lives today,
reduplicating the spiritual significance
of these physical manifestations.
ISBN 1-7818816-90-5 |
The Christ of Miracles and the Power of Praise
By
Rev. Dr. Marshall L. Hoffman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1 The Beginning of Praise
A Power that Transforms Water into Wine
John 2:1-11…………………………………………………………........ 5
2 The Continuation of Praise
A Power that Transcends Time and Space
John 4:46-54…………………………………………………………… 21
3 A New Level of Praise
A Power that Troubles the Water
John 5:1-16…………………………………………………………….. 55
4 The Endless Resources of Praise
A Power that Multiplies our Meagerness
John 6:1-14…………………………………………………………….. 49
5 Praise that Lives Above Circumstances
A Power that Walks on Water
John 6:15-21…………………………………………………………… 63
6 Praise that Knows What it Knows
A Power that Drives away Darkness and Inspires Testimony
John 9:1-25…………………………………………………………….. 75
7 The Seventh Sign
A Power that Raises the Dead
John 11:1-44…………………………………………………………… 85
8 The Consummation of Praise
A Power that Transforms Mortality into Immortality
John 20:1-9…………………………………………………………….. 95
9 Post-Resurrection Postscript
A Power that Turns Failure and Frustration into Fulfillment
John2l:1-14 ……………………………………………………………111
Sidelights, Insights and Highlight of a Power that Produces Praise
John 21:1.-25 ………………………………………………………… 121
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………. 131
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………..133
NOTES ……………………………………………………………………...135
All the biblical quotations are from the New International Version (NIV)
unless otherwise cited.
INTRODUCTION
In our first book, we sought to turn our problems into praise with the parables of Matthew Thirteen. In these eight kingdom parables, we found identified so many of the problems that confront us in our practice of praise. The path of praise is like an obstacle course. Every little turn presents new problems that may temporarily defeat us in our quest. We need not be permanently defeated because of our miracle-working Savior.
As we struggled through the parables, it became increasingly clear that the daily practice of praise requires power; more power than we possess in our own natural capacities. How do we obtain such power? This second book suggests that there is sufficient power in the miracles of Christ and the Christ of miracles to enable us to live in the spirit of praise.
In the first book, we limited ourselves to the eight kingdom parables of Matthew Thirteen. In this second book, we are narrowing our attention to the seven signs of the Gospel of John. They are like signposts, pointing beyond themselves to the Fountain from which all praise flows and the Source to which it returns. In addition to the seven signs, we are considering the resurrection as the sign of signs and the consummation of our praise. For good measure, we are including the postscript John provides in chapter twenty-one. Scholars think that it may have been added later, as an appendix, to clarify a misunderstanding that had arisen in the early church. It provides a fascinating way for us to bring our study of praise to a fitting climax.
A miracle may exist for its own sake and for the startling impact it may create upon the minds of those who witness it. A sign is never intended to point to itself but to something beyond itself.
Throughout the New Testament the word ‘wonders’. . . is never used without the word ‘signs’; it is as though the New Testament writers were unwilling to emphasize the miracles as mere wonders but desire rather to point to their meaning, their significance as signs. They are not interested in Jesus as wonder-worker, but as the expected Messiah of God.”
Throughout this book we have no interest in the miracles for their own sake. Our consistent aim will be to go beyond each miracle to its underlying message. We will discover a pattern. The significance of each sign is to point away from itself to the Lord of glory who is working in our lives. As we follow each sign to its ultimate destination, an unveiling of the glory of Jesus at work within us; we will encounter a power that will lift our hearts in praise.
Obviously, these seven signs were not intended to beautify the path or call attention to their own qualities. They were intended to lead us safely to our destination. Our purpose is not to look to them but through them to the greater reality standing behind them. Thus, as we come to the first sign, we are not concerned for the wine itself. Was it unfermented grape juice or what? All such questions lead us far astray. The important thing is to see the power of God taking the thin and watery elements of our lives and transforming them into the wine of joy.
Traveling the highways, one of the road signs we may look for is the one that says, “Scenic route.” We like to follow that sign because it promises beautiful scenery as we travel along. Each one of the signs in John’s Gospel is a scenic route, which opens up vistas of the glory of Christ and the majesty of his being. Many of the signs can be read, “Merge to the right.” They challenge us to merge our thinking with mainstream Christianity. We serve a Living Savior, a Christ of miracles, who isworking in our world and in our lives as he worked in these ancient wonders. They point to his never failing ability to take our propensity for pessimism and transform it into overflowing praise. Beginning with the water turned to wine, each miracle will take us to the next level in our quest. So, buckle up; let’s follow the signs to our ultimate destination.
CONCLUSION
Throughout this book we have tried to let all the signs point to the person of Christ, who has the power to enable us to turn our problems into praise. We cannot do that in our own strength, as we have discovered. “How to” programs and self help exercises are not sufficient. We need the power of his resurrection to create a lifestyle of praise. By faith we can tap into the Christ of miracles and the miracles of Christ and find them sufficient for our needs.
If such power is available to believers, why can’t we resolve to appropriate that power in turning our propensity for pessimism into the positive of praise? We can. As someone said, “I cannot do everything, but I can do something.” The something I can do, I should, and if I should, I will. We can certainly be more intentional in this area of praise. After all, if praise is the priority of heaven, we are going to be praising the Holy One for all eternity. Practicing praise in this life can only prepare us to function in the life to come. We can hit the golden streets running, with umption in our gumption, so we can function at our highest efficiency.
How many of you would like to check out of time in a blaze of glory with a plenitude of praise in your heart and on your lips? Most people die the way they live. So, the sooner we begin to live the way we would like to die, the better. May God, the Holy Spirit, use this book to motivate us toward this divine destiny.
I leave you with the lame man, who sat begging at “the temple gate called Beautiful” (Acts 3:1-10). We see ourselves reflected in that man. He was sitting outside, not able to pass through the Beautiful gate into the temple and render his praise to God. His feet and ankle bones could not support the weight of his body. But, in an act of faith, Peter reached down and took him by the right hand, “He helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.” No wonder the people were “filled with wonder and amazement.” By faith in the Risen One, we can receive miraculous power to rise from our pallets of pessimism and walk the path of praise, at times leaping for joy with the precious privilege of making our incomparable Jesus the subject of our exultation.
CLOSING PRAYER
O Living Lord we remember that you were not born in a cathedral between two candles. Nor were you placed in a palace on a gilded pillow. 0 Christ of the common place and the common people, you were laid in a manger between two sheep, which nuzzled you with their cold noses. As our Eternal contemporary, we ask you to find your common people and give them an uncommon faith to be lifted on wings of praise into the glory of your grace.
Amen
Alan Richardson,
The Miracle-Stories of the Gospels (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1941), 46.
