What would it take for you to listen intently to someone? What do they have to do? Man’s problem from the beginning of time has been to hear the Word of God over the lies of Satan.
Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Christ was talking about himself. If they did not hear what God had told them, they wouldn’t even believe anyone brought back from the dead. Christ was victorious over the grave. He rose after being dead, walked among his disciples and after a period of time, ascended to heaven.
We, as Christians, have accepted this recorded truth as a major tacet of our Gospel. There are those that want to minimize it, some even deny it happened. But the old testament prophets, history, science and the recorded accounts in the Gospels say otherwise. Christians know it as we have experienced the saving grace that is brought about by this know it happened as well.
This gets one to thinking, what would you do if you saw someone who came back from the dead? The people of Ninevah certainly paid attention. The Apostles and other followers paid attention, but what would you do? If you met someone that beyond help that only prayer and the power of God could bring them back from the grave, what would you do, what would you say, how would you act?
There walks and lives among the masses that have been brought back from the edge of death, if not actually dead. There are those that walk and live among us that have been instrumental in interceding for these people that they be brought back from the edge of death.
In the past there are people like Smith Wigglesworth who have documented incidents of actually raising 23 individuals from the dead. We have Scriptural accounts of this phenomenon. I am one who believes that there are far more incidents of people interceding from the near dead and God’s power bringing them back to life than could ever be documented.
Healing is akin to raising the dead. We have seen from the time of Christ through the present day incidents of miraculous healing. We have people in our own congregations that have had healings done after all medical hope has been expired. Through ministers like Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen and many others, huge tent revivals were held where healings were done involving hundreds of people each night. There are many instances of smaller congregations having healings done at nearly every service. Many signs and wonders are being done among the people.
Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles (signs) among the people.
Miraculous healings, raising from the dead and many other actions are truly ‘wonders and signs’ performed by God through His people. These happen on a daily basis. I know of people that rely on God to heal every ailment. It is my understanding that doctors cannot heal you. All a doctor can do is keep you alive long enough for God to heal you in the best of circumstances. In other times, all they can do is fill out the paperwork and establish the time of death.
When you have a team of doctors basically doing a ‘clock watch’ so they can agree on the time of death, I would say the circumstances are dire. In other instances, doctors can remove problems that are causing the issue and hope it isn’t too late, that God would intervene and restore life to this person they are working on. Wouldn’t it be nice if this happened all the more often?
When do we get to be like the Apostles and Disciples and like Stephen? When do we start working many ‘wonders and signs’ among the people? When do we start to see the miraculous more regularly? It goes back to the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not able to preach like they did until they were full of the Holy Ghost. Stephen was ‘full of God’s grace and power’, that being filled with the Spirit. And we are not talking about having the Holy Ghost in you, we are talking about totally committed, totally sold out, totally submissive to Him.
Hang on.. there is a follow up coming on this very soon.
May God bless you in a special way as you read and take to heart what is said in this article.
Faith Studies 