Relative to spiritual guidance, let us venture into the realm of miracles, what are they and from whence do they come. Religious thought relative to the Lord’s power gifts–“gifts of the Spirit”–for His New Covenant Church range from “No, no healing, deliverance, prophecy, visions, signs, wonders, miracles, etc. in the church,” to “Yes, power gifts for all.” Those organizations comprising the first group claim that with the deaths of the original apostles the age of miracles came to an end, that God now depends on the intelligence of man to do physically what He once did spiritually. Those of the second group claim that the power gifts are an integral part of their normal church services. Between these two extremes lies a group of sects that profess to believe in the gifts of the Spirit but do not expect them. Let us examine the doctrines of the three groups relative to God’s Holy Word from which all spiritual Truth emanates.

In Matthew 10:7,8 we find Jesus giving His disciples their marching orders: “And as you go, preach …, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received (power to do miracles), freely give (perform those miracles).” Following His death and resurrection, in what is called the Great Commission, He told His apostles: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of (in) all nations … teaching them ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU … to the end of the age” (Mat. 28:18-20). Notice that He told the apostles to teach the disciples they would make throughout the world the same things He had commanded them (see Mat. 10:7,8). Nowhere are we told that His orders have changed. Only faithless man has the temerity to change His commands relative to ministry.

The spiritually dead churches that comprise the first group are far too intellectual and sophisticated to believe in a God Who operates exactly as He did thousands of years ago. These “high churches” reject the unchanging God Who said of Himself: “I am the Lord; I change not” (Mal. 3:6) and about Whom it is written: “Jesus Christ–the same yesterday, today and forever.” As the first openly homosexual priest said on international t.v., “God has changed.” While talking to a famous preacher on t.v. an equally famous lawyer said concerning the Lord’s Sabbath: “They changed it (from Saturday to Sunday).” No one asked the gay priest when God changed His attitude toward homosexuality and what proof did he have of such a change; the false prophet did not ask the lawyer who “they” were who changed the Sabbath and who gave “them” the right to do so. Why? Because HE AGREED WITH HIM. These two instances point up the fact that the Institutional Church, not God, has indeed changed and will be changing more radically and much more quickly in the Satan-dominated final days of this life. The God of the Scriptures is being rejected. He has become an embarrassment. I have found with rare exception that when the subject of the Biblical God comes up religious people immediately grow quiet. And if someone should dare utter such words as “God,” or “Jesus,” or the most egregious of all, “obedience,” a change of subject is immediately affected. Sports, the weather, politics–any subject is better than the God the embarrassed masses claim has saved them. When faced with having to refer to Him, some will point to the sky and grin sheepishly, others refer to Him as “the Big Guy” or “the Man upstairs.” HE IS THE LORD, THE GOD AND CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE GREAT “I AM.”

The middle group of sects simply play everything by ear, following whichever ministerial leading the organization advocates at the moment.

The third group, usually known as “Pentecostals,” are divided into two groups, both of which advocate the spiritual gifts as found in God’s Word–gifts He promises will be part of His New Covenant Church’s ongoing activities. One group, by far the smallest, has the gifts in operation as its members obey the Lord’s Word in faith. The other group talks about having the gifts in operation but lacks the obedience and faith necessary to affect them. I once heard the leader of such an organization proclaim that they were going on the offensive. They would bring people to the Lord in great numbers. And what would be the message by which they would change the world? Not obedience to God, but MIRACLES. They would heal, deliver, etc. and that would change the hearts of the masses. BUT NOT ONE WORD ABOUT DOING WHAT GOD COMMANDS RELATIVE TO HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GODLINESS. This in spite of His Words: “He that doeth righteousness is righteous” (1 Jn. 3:7). “Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God” (1 Jn. 3:10). “… ye know that every one that practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 Jn. 2:29).

Many world-famous ministries with open, verifiable healing, delivering, sign, wonder and miracle manifestations fill the airwaves and vast stadiums throughout the globe. The problem is that they are counterfeit ministries. Those who follow these ministries fail to obey God’s command to examine their fruit–obedience to God’s Word. Instead, it is assumed that their miracles equate to “good fruit.” Not so.  God never said that false prophets could not perform miracles, etc. Instead, He warned us to “Beware of false prophets” (Mat. 7:15;24:11,24). If false prophets were obvious, there would be no need to beware. We must beware of those who can fool us and convince us that they are legitimate by quoting Scripture and performing miracles. Remember, the False Prophet of Revelation 13:13 will call fire down from the sky to “prove” that the Antichrist is Jesus Christ. Jesus warned that some false prophets will be so covincing that “even the very elect” are subject to being deceived (Mat. 24:24). To be continued. L.J.