As was pointed out in the previous posting, the Almighty does bless sinners at various times and in various situations.  He answers sinners’ prayers and performs miracles for those who knowingly sin against Him.  This proves that He is always calling out to man and using various means to gain his attention.  The answer as to why He blesses those who reject His Word and rebel against Him by sinning is multi-facited.  In my series titled The Message of the Miracles (key word-Miracles) I point out that God loves all people because they are His creation and He is concerned about their welfare.  Even those who reject Him have a place in His heart, though not the same place as His Very Elect who obey His Law and seek only to please Him.  Because of His great love He will sometimes answer the prayer of even the most evil person.  Basically speaking, His kindness toward even the basest of human beings is an attention-getting act.  Jesus once said that if people could not believe He was who He said He was, then they should believe because of the miracles He did in their sight.

As is always the case when God does something for someone, the immediate assumption is that the person is a true Christian and in right standing with Him, otherwise why would He bless him/her?  This is a throwback to Biblical times when it was believed that people who were rich were favored by God, and that the poor were cursed by Him.  Recall that the disciples were astonished when Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat. 19:24).  The assumption was that one’s wealth proved one’s high standing with God.  Mini-lesson: the word “camel” also referred to rope.  The “eye of a needle” was also the title given to the opening at the side of a city gate where a lone traveler could enter the city after the gates had been closed for the day.  The opening was barely large enough for a loaded camel to enter.  This made entrance through the “eye” difficult, but not impossible.  If Jesus had been referring to an animal (camel) going through the eye of a sewing needle, then no rich person could be saved.  Note that Jesus told the rich man who had asked about salvation that he could receive eternal life only if he willingly gave away his wealth (Mat. 19:21).  Even then there was another step the man had to take.  Jesus told him that he must, “come, follow Me.”  Eventual salvation is a process, not an act; it is a journey, not a step, a marathon, not a sprint.  Read The Process of Salvation.  Key word: “Process.”  God does nothing without a purpose.  The salvation process CAN begin with an answered prayer or a miracle designed to open a sinners’ eyes to the Lord’s power and His attitude toward His most precious creation.  It is His will that all be saved.  However, there is another purpose for which He performs miracles and answers prayers for religious people.

In Deuteronomy 13:1-4 we find Moses, writing under the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:14-16), addressing the subject of miracles.  “If there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, who gives you a sign or wonder.  And the sign or wonder comes to pass, and he says to you, ‘Let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them.’  You must not listen to the words of that prophet, FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD PROVES (TESTS) YOU TO SEE IF YOU LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART (MIND) AND SOUL (BODY).  You must WALK AFTER the Lord your God and FEAR HIM and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and OBEY HIS VOICE and SERVE HIM and CLING TO HIM.”  Note that God is testing these people to see if they will follow Him (obey His Law) or follow the miracle worker in worshipping other gods, which is usually what happens.

The expression “serve other gods” can be misleading if one does not study the Scriptures “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” as the Lord twice commands us to do in Isaiah 28:9-13.  God tests those who profess Him to see whether they will search for more of His Truth through increased Bible study and prayer, or if they will follow the religion of the one who performs miracles.  The Lord also wants to know if bystanders, upon witnessing His act, will search His Word more deeply, or join the miracle worker in his/her religion.  It is in this way that the Lord tests church people.  I am saddened to report that the vast majority assume that the blessed one and the group he/she belongs to are in right standing with God.  Rarely does one break away from Satan’s religious system and follow the Lord exclusively.

Concerning the expression, “serve other gods” in the Deuteronomy passage, the Lord is referring to gods of the denominations, sects, cults, etc. into which religious people tend to divide themselves.  When asked if one is a Christian, the typical response is, “Yes, I belong to ____________ church (fill in the blank).  One will not hear, “Yes, I believe and obey God’s Word.”  Each religious group has its own version of “truth.”  Spiritual truth is dictated by God only.  Therefore, each group has its own god.  The members of each group worship and serve their particular god.  There is only one church, which the Lord calls the “Church of God” in Scripture.  This is God the Father’s only church of which Jesus Christ is the Chief Priest.  All other so-called “churches” are parts of Satan’s dual religious system known as Catholicism and Protestantism respectively.  They, along with all other religions, form the “wild olive tree” discussed in Romans 11:7-25.  In order to receive salvation, one must be “broken off” from the wild olive tree and grafted into the Lord’s “good olive tree.”  Answered prayers and miracles are God’s way of calling people to turn away from the ways of the devil (wild olive tree–Gentile religions) and to the way of God (good olive tree–Israelite religion).

It is quite normal for the person who has received an answer to prayer or experienced a miracle to assume that this is God’s way of showing His approval of him/her.  It is also normal for those who hear about the event to believe the same thing.  However, nothing could be further from Bible Truth.  It is true that God answers the prayers of His true saints and performs miracles in their lives because they obey Him.  But those who truly obey Him are minutely few in number (Mat. 7:13,14).  They are also rejected by the church world and the society in general and are dismissed as heretics.  The world pays no attention to them.  Read Persecution.  The other 99% of those who are blessed by God are not His people and do not obey Him.  As a result, those who know or know about the miracle or answered prayer tend to look up to them and follow them spiritually.  Assuming that the group the blessed one is involved in is right with the Lord, people will often gravitate to that group and believe and practice its teachings, doctrines and customs.  This is a deadly mistake.  I would estimate that 99.99% of known miracles and answered prayers are received by Satan’s parishioners who are part of his Catholic/Protestant Church System.  Occasionally, members of anti-Christian groups receive miracles from God.  I have heard of Muslims who have turned from their original religions, only to become entrapped in Catholicism or Protestantism.  NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF SATAN.  Read Bait and Switch.  Key term–“Bait.”

Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9).  One of those deceptions involves the truth behind the kindness of God toward those who know about Him but do not believe and obey His Words, who know about Christ but refuse to follow His example.  The Lord’s kindness toward these deceived people is mistaken for His approval of them.  It is my commission to alert those with eyes to see and ears to hear to the devil’s agenda.  He cannot prevent human beings from seeking God, but he can and does divert them from following God by showing them an “easier, more socially acceptable way.”  This is the way of traditional Christianity.  God only has one track that, if followed until the end, will lead to His kingdom (Mat. 10:21,22).  Satan has many side tracks that, to the Biblically ignorant, looks like the Lord’s track.  Because the forbidden fruit looked good to Adam and Eve, they believed that it had the same qualities as the Tree of Life sitting beside it.  Read All That Glitters.  Key word–“Glitters.”  L.J.