Concerning miracles, signs, wonders and the spiritual capacity to know which are from God and which are from Satan, I will not place God in a box. I have been the purveyor of, as well as the recipient of what is called “divine healing” as well as other types of miracles–all of which took place with neither I nor the other people involved having been converted. In each case all of us believed ourselves to be “saved” and “born again.” But in reality we were merely religious, being deeply involved in one or more of Satan’s wide door-broad path church systems. Some may ask how this is possible. Let us remember that Jesus healed, delivered, fed and wined hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who never accepted Him as their Savior. Recall that there were only 120 or so believers in the upper room at Pentecost in 31 A.D. Recall that the 12 disciples, including Judas, went about preaching, healing and delivering. They returned to Jesus exclaiming that even the demons were subject to them in His name (Lk. 10:17). Scripture reveals that these things happened before any one of them had been converted. Recall that Jesus told them: “Except ye be converted … ye cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat. 18:3). He told Peter: “When ye are converted, strengthen (help) your brethren (to become converted) (Lk. 22:32). Note it: THE PREACHING, TEACHING, HEALING, DELIVERING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST HAD NOT YET BEEN CONVERTED. And unless they were converted, THEY WOULD NOT SIT WITH HIM IN HIS FATHER’S KINGDOM. I have prayed for healing and deliverance for people I had never seen before. I have had visions involving people which came true–in three cases the visions involved the death of the person–though I was a Christian in name only. God’s ways are not our ways; He sends rain and sunshine on the righteous and the unrighteous. Let us always remember that He is sovereign–He does what He wants, if He wants, why He wants, when He wants and does it the way He wants. Now for a slight change of subject.

God is often given credit or blame when neither are due Him. Often when an individual or an organization does something notable and good it is assumed that the people involved are Christians and that God has arranged everything because of His relationship with them. However, as we see in the building of the Tower of Babel, this is not always the case. In fact, as was the case of the tower, the people involved in highly publicized charitable undertakings are often among the most wicked of mankind. If ever there was an undertaking for the benefit of mankind it was the building of the Tower of Babel. After seeing the tower God said that MAN would be able to do whatever HE could imagine, that NOTHING WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO HIM (Gen. 11:6). In this case, as has been the case numerous times, those who do the most stupendous things are among the most evil of mankind. Unregenerate people, organizations and nations do incredible things, even “miraculous” things–the U.S. Government being a prime example. Great humanitarian undertakings which feed, medicate, house and clothe the masses are often generated by self-professed “Christian” organizations which give God credit for being behind their work. But is He? Are these “church” organizations teaching His Truth to those they serve? Or do they broadcast heathenistic doctrines, practices and customs every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc? Do they tell the people that the Law was nailed to the cross? or that, if they will perform an orchestrated ritual and say the right words they will go to heaven when they die? or that they should attend the church of their choice every Sunday? or that the Messiah is actually Tammuz? or that only those parts of the Bible that have been approved by the organization are acceptable, that the other 90% can be ignored, edited or done away with altogether? or that good social deeds substitute for obedience to God’s Word? The answer to all of the above is YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY TELL THE PEOPLE. Their religious systems and the social endeavors they are involved in have no relationship with the God of the Bible. They are on their own, which is why they must continually beg for money to keep themselves afloat.

Nowhere in His Word did God tell His people to go into the world and feed the hungry, medicate the sick, house the homeless, etc. When asked about the signs that will indicate the end of the age, Jesus replied: “… this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, then the end will come.” (Mat. 24:14). Notice that not one Word involved feeding, clothing, medicating, etc. the world. In other places Jesus told His ministers to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. Notice that without exception these acts involve the WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, not the provision of physical food, medicine, lumber, etc. As the postings on Church Generosity reveal, God’s people are to feed, cloth, house, etc. HIS PEOPLE, not the world. Relative to the world, He commanded His people to let the dead bury the dead–let the worldly take care of the worldly. Our job is to “follow Me” (Mat. 8:19-22). To be continued. L.J.