God WANTS to Give You a Sign

[Music] hello this is david dieger hernandez and you're watching spirit church here on the encounter tv network is it wrong to ask god for signs does believing for a miracle make you a shallow or immature christian some say it does but what does the bible actually teach stephen montezuma is here with me he's going to lead you in some anointed worship and then we're going to get into this message let's worship now [Music] seeking you as a precious jew lord to give up [Music] you are my own jesus [Music] [Music] jesus [Applause] you are my [Music] is [Music] jesus is your name jesus [Music] is your name [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] is your name [Music] so i want to begin this message by talking to you about the role of experience now we understand that god is alive and well and because god is alive and well he's interacting with his children and when god interacts with his children his children experience divine encounters there is nothing wrong with the believer having divine experiences experience results from understanding revelation experience results from worship experience results from obedient living the holy spirit will guide you into heavenly experiences but while experience has a place it is not a priority experience has a place but it's not a priority there are two extremes to these viewpoints on one side you have those who say the word of god is all you'll ever need and that's true but their conclusion is wrong and they'll say and therefore any experience you have with god are totally unnecessary and then there are those who don't have the foundation of the word and they rely totally upon experience but think about the fact that in knowing the word of god in understanding the truths of the revelations that are revealed i'm positioned for experience one time somebody asked me when talking about miracles signs wonders experiences in the presence of the holy spirit they asked me is the word of god not sufficient does the word of god not accomplish what it needs to accomplish and i would argue that it's because the word of god is sufficient that i have experiences with god because the word of god puts me in connection with god the word of god is the foundation upon which i build my relationship with god and in relating with god i'm bound to have experiences with god so there are those who will condemn others for wanting an experience or a sign from god and that's a religious way of thinking it's a dead dry powerless way of thinking and it's not biblical at all but just because you appreciate a holy experience just because you appreciate encounters with god it doesn't mean that that's your focus people have criticized me before saying well you teach miracles and that's all you teach and because you talk about miracles that shows that your focus is miracles well no my focus is jesus my focus is the preaching of the gospel telling people they need to repent of their sins and turn toward christ and be saved and believe on the lord jesus but miracles accompany that message so just because you appreciate miracles just because you appreciate encounters and experiences just because you appreciate signs from god does not mean that signs encounters experiences are your sole focus some believers will scold you stop seeking signs we shouldn't focus on signs or experiences and while it's true that signs should not become our priority this does not mean that signs don't have a place it's not sinful or wrong or shallow or materialistic or doubtful or unspiritual or immature to ask god for signs i'm going to show you from the scripture that in fact it is biblical to ask the lord for signs wonders and miracles first corinthians 2 4 let's start there and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power so our preaching is accompanied by demonstration our relationship with god is accompanied by experiences how can you come to know god and not have an encounter with god how can you walk in a relationship with god and not experience that divine connection so there are three simple rules biblically based rules that i want to give you for experiences and here's how you can filter your experiences through a biblical lens number one experience is valid when it's consistent with god's word yes experience has a place and especially if experience aligns with god's word it can be a healthy benefit to your spiritual growth so not all experiences are bad or distractions from the word of god in fact if they're in harmony with the word of god those experiences can be healthy for your spiritual growth so that's number one experience is valid and key point here when it's consistent with god's word number two interpret your experience through god's word not god's word through your experience if what my experience tells me contradicts the word or nature of god then i'm either misreading my experience or the experience is suspect there are some believers who will base everything on a dream they had they'll base everything about their lives on a prophetic word that they were given they'll base all of their theology about based upon some emotional response they had in one instance and they build everything they are everything they have all of their focus comes down upon experience and that's dangerous we must learn to interpret our experiences through god's word rather than god's word through our experiences and if my experience is telling me something or i believe something as a result of my experience that contradicts the word of god then either i miss reading my experience or my experience itself is suspect number three experience is a result of seeking god but not the purpose of seeking god we don't seek god to have an experience we seek him to have him and when we have him experiences will often result some are all flustered and stressed because they don't feel god but the point is not to feel god the point is to be in right relationship with god and in walking with god yes you will sometimes have experiences now didn't jesus say that a wicked generation asks for a sign and doesn't the scripture prove that signs wonders miracles and all of those things are anti-biblical or anti-christ or against god's nature or will by no means jesus did in very specific instances condemn those who ask for signs we'll look at one of them here matthew chapter 12 verses 38 through 40 say this one day some teachers of religious law and pharisees came to jesus and said teacher we want you to show us the miraculous sign to prove your authority but jesus replied only an evil adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign but the only sign i will give them is the sign of the prophet jonah for as jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights so will the son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights now here the pharisees weren't sincere seekers coming to jesus for answers they were trying to trap and challenge him this is a very different approach than would a believer approach jesus matthew 16 1-4 here's another instance one day the pharisees and sadducees came to test jesus demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority he replied you know the saying red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow red sky in the morning means foul weather all day you know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky but you don't know how to interpret the signs of the times only an evil adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign but the only sign i will give them is the sign of the prophet jonah then jesus left them and went away so there's a difference between demanding a sign from god and asking for a sign for his guidance the pharisees were coming from a place of cynicism not genuine seeking it's different to say prove your authority by showing us a sign than it is to say i believe in your authority and i'm asking for a sign to help guide me also think about this even after jesus said a wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign he still promised them a sign the sign of jonah namely his resurrection so even those who demanded a sign were given a sign even though he said you're asking out of a wicked place it was their heart that jesus was rebuking this cynical skeptical stubborn heart they were coming to him demanding the sign to challenge him not because they believed who he said he was not because they were sincerely seeking him they did it simply as a challenge now in fact in another instance jesus did give a sign to the unbelieving pharisees we see that in mark chapter 2 verse 10. he says so i will prove to you that the son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins then jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said take up your bed and walk so jesus heals the man when the pharisees were saying well he said your sins are forgiven but only god can forgive sins they thought that in their minds jesus knew their thoughts and he said i'm going to show you i'm going to give you a sign that i have the power to forgive sins and then he healed the paralyzed man so even the pharisees as stubborn as they were as cynical as they were as skeptical as they were even the pharisees received a sign from jesus he wasn't opposed to giving them one so again this idea that a wicked an adulterous generation wants a sign that idea is biblically true in these specific instances but this does not mean that anyone who believes in miracles that anyone who prays for miracles anyone who asks god for signs anyone who believes in the spiritual gifts it doesn't mean that they're wicked and adulterous for asking for those signs jesus specifically rebuked those pharisees in those specific instances because they were coming from the place of cynicism not sincere seeking in fact signs are from god if signs were evil unto themselves they wouldn't be a manifestation of gospel preaching and saving faith take for example mark chapter 16. reverses 15-20 and he told them go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved but anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned these miraculous signs will accompany those who believe they will cast out demons in my name and they will speak in new tongues they will be able to handle snakes with safety and if they drink anything poisonous it won't hurt them they will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will be healed when the lord jesus had finished talking with them he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at god's right hand and the disciples went everywhere and preached and the lord worked with them confirming what they said by many miraculous signs so god is not opposed to performing miraculous signs we see this as a part of the great commission god backs gospel preaching god backs saving faith with miraculous signs to confirm the message hezekiah asked for a sign from the lord to give him assurance that he would be healed you'll see that in second kings chapter 20 verses 8 through 11 the lord obliged hezekiah he didn't say no i'm not going to give you a sign just believe that i'm going to heal you in fact he gave him a sign that he would be healed gideon reverently asked the lord for two signs and the lord obliged he didn't rebuke him he didn't destroy him he didn't strike him dead he didn't call him rebellious or wicked or perverted or evil or stubborn he gave him what he asked for look at judges chapter 6. i'm going to read verses 33-40 soon afterwards the armies of midian amalek and the people of the east formed an alliance against israel and crossed the jordan camping in the valley of jezreel then the spirit of the lord clothed gideon with power he blew a ram's horn as a call to arms and the men of the clan of abeazer came to him he also sent messengers throughout manasseh asher zebulun and naphtali summoning their warriors and all of them responded then gideon said to god if you are truly going to use me to rescue israel as you promised prove it to me in this way i will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight if the fleece is wet with due in the morning but the ground is dry then i will know that you are going to help me rescue israel as you promised and that is just what happened so here god is responding to gideon's cry for signs and he doesn't rebuke him for it when gideon got up early the next morning he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowl full of water then gideon said to god please don't be angry with me but let me make one more request let me use the fleece for one more test this time let the fleece remain dry well the ground around it is wet with dew so that night god did as gideon asked the fleece was dry in the morning but the ground was covered with dew so here gideon comes to god humbly i need some guidance i want to make sure i want to make sure i'm hearing you correctly and god responds with signs jesus told us to believe him based on his works john 10 37-38 don't believe me unless i carry out my father's works but if i do his work believe in the evidence of the miraculous works i have done even if you don't believe me then you will know and understand that the father is in me and i am in the father there exists this misconception that god expects us to believe him on blind faith alone he expects from us faith yes but blind faith certainly not consider this if someone today were to claim to be god would you not be rightfully skeptical you see god understands that we are reasoning beings god is the one who gave us our abilities to reason so he doesn't expect blind faith from us but he does expect faith from us as he has proven himself again and again he has certainly given us enough reason to believe god gives us the signs of his very existence through nature and the conscience romans 1 19-20 says they know the truth about god because he has made it obvious to them for ever since the world was created people have seen the earth and sky through everything god made they can clearly see his invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature so they have no excuse for not knowing god after the death of lazarus jesus told his disciples i'm glad that you're about to see what you're about to see i'm glad that you're about to see a resurrection here's what he said john 11 15 and for your sakes i'm glad i wasn't there in other words i'm glad i wasn't there to heal lazarus i'm glad he died so that i can raise him again for now you will really believe come let's go see him so jesus is saying i'm glad you're about to see this sign of resurrection because it's going to inspire faith in you there are several instances in scripture where signs are not just tolerated by the lord but highlighted by him john 14 11 just believe that i am in the father and that the father is in me or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do john 15 24 if i hadn't done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do they would not be guilty but as it is they have seen everything i did yet they still hate me and my father so god's willingness to give signs didn't end after the ascension of jesus the signs continued into the church age acts 1 3 during the 40 days after he suffered and died he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive and he talked to them about the kingdom of god acts 2 22 people of israel listen god publicly endorsed jesus the nazarene by doing powerful miracles wonders and signs through him as you well know acts 13 12 when the governor saw what had happened he became a believer for he was astonished at the teaching about the lord acts 14 3 but the apostles stayed there for a long time preaching boldly about the grace of the lord and the lord proved their message was true by giving them the power to do miraculous signs and wonders god performed signs through paul even second corinthians 12 12 when i was with you i certainly gave you proof that i am an apostle for i patiently did many signs wonders and miracles among you all throughout scripture signs play a vital role in god's interaction with man in fact god's interaction with man is by the very nature a divine sign if god's interacting with us signs must result read isaiah 7 10-11 isaiah 37 20 isaiah 38 7-8 isaiah 41 20 isaiah 55 13 isaiah 66 19 hebrews 2 4 where the scripture says and god confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the holy spirit wherever he chose read romans 15 18-19 read first peter chapter 1 verse 21 where the bible says through christ you have come to trust in god and you have placed your faith and hope in god because he raised christ from the dead and gave him great glory now in second peter 1 19 the bible says something very powerful because of that experience we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets think about this here i'm going to read it again pay close attention second peter 1 19 because of that experience we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets do you realize here that experience didn't distract from what the prophets had said or the word of god experience strengthen their faith in the belief in what the prophets had said now had their experience contradicted what the prophets had said had their experience maybe distracted from what the prophets had said had their experience caused confusion about what the prophets had said it wouldn't have been a good thing but here we see that because of that experience we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets in other words that experience strengthened their belief in the word when your experience doesn't contradict the word when your experience is in harmony with the word it strengthens your belief in the word so then experience and the word work together the word grounds you experience inspires you now of course the word can also inspire you but when you experience god's power for yourself when you experience his presence when you experience his work in your life there's something that happens in you it transforms you psalm 86 17 genesis 15 8 and 9. genesis 24 14-15 acts 15 12 matthew 11 20 exodus 4 5 exodus 7 9 exodus 14 31 all of these scriptures i'm telling you from genesis to revelation there are hundreds of them that show us that god doesn't do signs reluctantly or he doesn't look at everyone who asked for a sign as evil or wicked or cynical or skeptical yes in those couple of verses in those very specific instances jesus rebuked those pharisees for wanting signs but then he performed signs for them anyway but god interacts with you and there's nothing wrong with you saying lord help guide me or lord i want an experience in your presence or lord i need a miracle perfectly biblical and don't let any religious person ever tell you otherwise because they can't prove it with scripture john chapter 20 we read of thomas who says i won't believe it unless i see the nail wounds in his hands put my fingers into them and place my hand into the wound in his side what does jesus do he says to thomas put your finger here and look at my hands and put your hand into the wound in my side don't be faithless any longer believe he'll meet you right where you are he'll meet you right where you are don't be afraid to ask god for miracles don't be afraid to ask him for signs don't be afraid to ask him for encounters in his presence that's perfectly biblical so long as those experiences so long as those signs strengthen your belief in the word and don't contradict the word or don't distract from the word or don't cause confusion about what you believe concerning the word and let them have their place without having priority ask them some things in your life you won't find chapter and verse what job you should have what school you should go to what state you should live in what house you should buy what path you should take can't always be found in chapter and verse we need an active living relationship with god and in an active living relationship with god there will always be encounters and in those encounters there will be signs don't pursue him for experience pursue him for him but when you're with him signs will follow father strengthen our faith we thank you that you interact with us we thank you that you guide us we thank you that you give us experiences and encounters in your presence and your power help us lord to be grounded in the word but also alive in you in the name of jesus we pray i want you to say because you believe it say amen well that is it for the lesson i want to welcome now the new members of spirit church there you are up on the screen we love you we're praying for you i always say it because i always mean it if you like information on how you can join the spirit family the spirit church online our online church go to davidhernandezministries.com spirit church and now to your comments these comments come from the video titled a powerful revelation about communion every believer should know you know not every believer completely understands the power of communion often we think that it's simply just a reminder of what the lord has done and it is in fact a reminder but it's so much more than that and when you understand what communion truly is you will be able to ignite the power of the covenant that we have with god it's a powerful powerful truth and i pray you're blessed by that truth make sure you go and watch that a powerful revelation about communion every believer should know you could find that among the rest of our content while you're looking for that make sure you're following us on all of our social media platforms and when you subscribe to us on youtube be sure to click that notification bell and now i'm going to read your comments from that teaching again the title a powerful revelation about communion every believer should know by the way leave a comment in the comment section right now and i may read your comment on one of the upcoming episodes of spirit church carmen gomez writes thank you so much brother david this was a very powerful lesson you helped me to understand the relationship between scriptures in the old testament and in the new testament also you help me to seek communion in a new way glory be to god glory to god indeed emily larimore writes well thank you for this deep teaching brother david i now understand and view communion in a whole new way i'm definitely going to take it much more seriously and i also love the correlation you made between the old and new testament god bless you brother david and the team mia writes you clarify and bring god's truths to us in such a way that it is so simple and piercing it is such a joy of a learning experience when i listen to you the teaching points were shared and deeply appreciated thank you so much and flash kaboom writes thank you for another inspiring and spirit-filled teaching truly god is so gracious and merciful that even while we were sinners he still made a covenant with us through jesus christ all glory and praise to god alone jojo writes thank you so much for this teaching pastor david i had many questions about holy communion cleared up praise god who has enabled you to bring this message online to reach me here in singapore thank you for those comments i want to encourage you for a moment matthew 6 25 i'm going to read a few verses here starting at matthew 6 25. that is why i tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear is it life more than food and your body more than clothing look at the birds they don't plant or harvest or store food in barns for your heavenly father feeds them and aren't you far more valuable to him than they are can all your worries add a single moment to your life and why worry about your clothing look at the lilies of the field and how they grow they don't work or make their clothing yet solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are and if god cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow he will certainly care for you why do you have so little faith so don't worry about these things saying what will we eat what will we drink what will we wear these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers but your heavenly father already knows all your needs seek the kingdom of god above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need you know the enemy tries to assault us with fear and if the enemy can keep you living in fear then he can keep you from fulfilling the potential of living in faith we live in faith knowing that god is going to take care of everything i want to remind you and i want you to hear me because this is important that you get this in your spirit god's going to take care of you you're going to be okay i know sometimes things seem uncertain people talk about inflation people talk about economic collapse people talk about future uncertainty the stock market this or that or this disaster causing trouble over here or the job market getting losses over there but you know what no matter what the situation god will take care of you why because you're his child he loves you so i want to encourage you to stop worrying the bible says these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers and then jesus asks why do you have so little faith has god ever let you down has god ever abandoned you no and he won't start doing it he's faithful to his word he's faithful to his nature and though others might be fearful you don't have to be why because god will take care of you your future is secure in him your future is bright in him he came that you might have life and life more abundantly and it is from this place of faith that we become people who put the kingdom of god first seek the kingdom of god above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need you want god's provision do two simple things live right and seek the kingdom of god first how do you seek the kingdom of god you put god's priorities before your priorities you put god's agenda into your life rather than your own agenda you put the kingdom of god first by participating in kingdom expansion and one of the ways that you can participate in kingdom expansion is through giving financially to this ministry and i want to challenge you to do that right now look all of this cost resources when we produce the content when we do the live streams when we make lessons available on the holy spirit school when we do live in person events all around the world all of that costs money the running cost of the ministry takes resources so we want you to get involved help us expand this ministry help us to continue going and growing strong as we spread the gospel of jesus christ all around the world in the power of the holy spirit help us do it we give the messages away for free the live streams are done for free the events we don't charge registration the holy spirit school doesn't have a fee to get into the school it's all free why because freely we receive so freely we give and we rely upon god touching the hearts of people like you who say i want to participate because i love god i love souls i'm blessed by this ministry i believe in the cause and i want to put the kingdom of god first i trust that god's going to take care of me i know he's going to provide i know my future is secure in him and that liberates me to in faith support ministries so i'm challenging you let god grow your faith jesus asked why do you have such little faith don't have little faith put your faith in god and do that by sowing into this ministry so i want to challenge you right now to give a one-time gift to help us continue doing this work or become a monthly ministry partner if you want to see all of the benefits to being a monthly partner go to davidhernandezministries.compartner there are lots of things we do to give back to our monthly supporters including a monthly zoom call where we interact with our partners give them information about the ministry their partners are the first to know any ministry announcements and those zoom calls are a lot of fun we pray we read the word we interact they ask questions i share about the future of the ministry it's a good time that we have and we want you to join in on that so if you want to become a partner that's just one of the many benefits plus knowing you're helping to win souls knowing you're pleasing god with your giving knowing that you're helping to expand the kingdom and all of that starting at ten dollars a month you can't beat that where your treasure is there will your heart be also so go to davidhernandezministries.com partner right now and see the different things that happen when you become a monthly supporter if you can't become a monthly supporter i encourage you to give a one-time gift or maybe you're not quite as familiar with the ministry as you want to be yet you want to help but maybe you're not ready to commit to monthly partnership well then you can give a one-time gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com donate but either way whether you're giving a one-time gift or whether you're becoming a monthly partner put the kingdom of god first right now by giving to this ministry live righteously seek the kingdom of god above all else and he will provide everything that you need you can trust him and that is it for this edition of spirit church here on the encounter tv network until next time remember nothing is impossible with god thank you for watching encounter tv don't forget to subscribe and click the notification bell also help us spread the gospel of jesus christ in the power of the holy spirit make a one-time donation or 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Channel: Encounter TV

Views: 31,585

Rating: 4.9633985 out of 5

Keywords: Encounter TV, The Holy Spirit, The Anointing, Signs from God, Asking God for Signs, A Wicked Generation Seeks For a Sign, Miracles, The Supernatural, asking god for a sign, signs from god, signs, asking god for signs, signs god is telling you to trust him, 5 signs god is asking you to trust him more, asking for signs from the universe, asking god for answers, asking for a sign from god, asking signs, asking signs from god, askig for a sign, asking god for confirmation

Id: UrVZ6au0dB8

Length: 36min 28sec (2188 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 28 2021