Many times, the question is asked, why don’t we see miracles like there were in the early church? Why aren’t people being miraculously healed, why aren’t demons being cast out, and why aren’t supernatural experiences of all kinds occurring?
Allow me to read to you some of the things that the early church was doing.
Acts 2:43-47
43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 5:12-16
12The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. 13No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
The church at this time was on fire for God. People didn’t believe because they were coaxed by miracles, they believed because of Jesus.
The miracles happened only after there was belief in Jesus, not before. Not to compel belief…
John 20:29
29Then Jesus told him (Thomas), “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Hebrews 11:1
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
We look for miracles to occur, begin to doubt God’s presence, but miss the point. It’s not about what God can do to impress you; it’s about whether or not you’re giving your all to allow God to use you.
Have you put everything else aside and adopted the same zeal and passion that the people in the first church had? You probably haven’t if you’re convinced you need to see something to believe.
That’s the problem with the church as a whole today. People have allowed their values to lax, their minds to wander, and an all encompassing desensitization in their lives.
It is our responsibility as the church to revitalize the faith and only then will amazing and extraordinary things occur. Consider miracles as evidence of life. The presence of evidence for life means that life produced it first, not the other way around.
6 comments:
I consider miracles as evidence of God's presence. He both creates life and responds to life.
And there's many many reasons why we see less miracles in America. But seeking after them (after you've got seeking after God's face in place) will allow you to start seeing them. Of course, it all starts with learning to listen to God (even Jesus said he could do nothing but what he saw the father doing).
I could probably right more, but I'm tired and will quickly become insensible (if I'm not already).
Another random tangent (from my previous comment).
Seeking God's hand (miracles) without seeking God's face (himself) is a form of witchcraft.
Seeking God's mind (understanding him) without seeking his face is mere religion.
Failing to seek his hand is powerlessness, which Bill Johnson describes as inexcusable (I'm pretty much in agreement with him).
Failing to seek his mind is to forgoe wisdom, and will lead to ruin (just check out proverbs to see that).
But when all three of those seekings come together...Oh yeah!
Ah, but our God is not a God who gives up. Isreal also spurned relationship with him for hundreds of years. So he punished them, they'd return for awhile, then slip away. The rest of humanity was in an even worse state. And yet he still sent Christ.
And you're right about miracles being rejected. Bu that didn't stop him from continuing them in OT times, nor when Christ was here, nor through the apostles. In fact, a study of church history (particularly of revivals) will show him continuing to do miracles up unto this very day (missionaries regularly reprot them, and I've witnessed several unmistakable ones).
Though God is ever unfolding, he doesn't change. We do. And his unfolding just means what we see of him will be different, never less. Remember, God is supernatural. Miracles are natural to him. But far too often, even if we believe him capable of doing miracles, we believe him unwilling, which is something I have yet to see the tiniest shred of evidence (biblical or not) for.
I truly know that God is faithful even when we are not, however, the point I was making is reiterated in Matthew 13 verses 53 through 58.
58And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
This lack of faith is what is overcoming "the church" today. Many people have no faith. They are Christians in name only. This void has not stopped God from doing miracles, but refused Him.
Oops. Off topic yet again! I'm bad about that. And you are completely right about that!
(the faith bit, that is)
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