18/09/2011 - EVEN THE LORD GOD BEARS WITNESS

• 
• 
• 
• 

God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will

Hebrews 2:4

The Lord\’s work is not done deceitfully (Jeremiah 48:10), and it is not man who has the privilege of carrying it out. In fact, it is God who directs the fulfillment of His will, occupying the position of command. If we pay attention to what He teaches us, we shall do it the same way Jesus did. But if we decide for ourselves what to preach, how to pray and where to go, our work will undoubtedly be useless.

We cannot deny that man is able to draw crowds by himself, but whatever is done without God\’s guidance – even if it is something very successful – has no spiritual value. The Master taught that what is born of the flesh is flesh (John 3:6) and is of no avail. He who wants to do God’s work sloppily should seek guidance from the Lord in order not to work in vain. After all, the work is His and He knows how to conduct it.

Our Father bears witness with us when we are under His direction. On the other hand, if someone is doing what he sees fit and without the Lord\’s guiding hand, he will find out how hard and burdensome his endeavors will be. Poor results obtained in the exercise of the ministry mean that the person in charge is not following God\’s plan, but rather his own plan.

With the first Christian church, the Lord bore witness of the work by signs, miracles and wonders. Is it possible that He, in whom there is no variation, has changed? Could it be that He has other plans and other strategies? Is man different today, or is man the same old sinner with the same flaws, vices and sins? The truth is that we need not use the techniques of science or the help of marketers to attract people to church and gain adherents. What we need in order to achieve the same results of the time of the apostles is to do what they did, living at the feet of the Lord as they lived.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit were common among the early Christians. In churches where they do not occur it is difficult to have new converts. Only the spiritual operation of the Lord will cause people to go to God’s house and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Where there is no revelation, – the inspired Word of God – the people cast off restraint (Proverbs 29:18). Where God does not work, what prevails is the will of the flesh.

It is only with the anointing that we will see many conversions, as in the biblical times. The healing of Aeneas, for example, caused all the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon to turn to the Lord (Acts 9:35). The resurrection of Tabitha led many inhabitants of Joppa to believe in the Lord (Acts 9:40).

We should not do anything outside the divine will. The age of miracles is not over. Besides the fact that it is not a religion, the Gospel is alive and brings the message of redemption.

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares