I’ve had a number of difficult conversations recently, in one I quoted Adrian Rogers, “We’re just making the world a nicer place to go to Hell from!” and in another I yelled, “The problem here is you don’t believe Jesus saves people anymore!”
In Thessaly (Acts 17:6) the opposition to the gospel declared
that it was “turning the world upside down!” When is the last time your message
turned some-one's world upside down?
When we look at what most of the world considers to be a miracle,
we realize that Jesus has no limitations, here are some examples:
1. Raising people from the dead (Mark 5:35,41-42, John 11:43-44)
2. Healing birth defects (John 9:1,6-7)
3. Healing war wounds (Luke 22:50-51)
4. Feeding people (Mark 6:38-44)
5. Healing terminal illnesses (Luke 17:11-19)
6. Healing the mentally unstable and/or demon possessed (Luke
8:27,29,33)
7. Stopping natural disasters (Mark 4:39)
8. Language without Learning (Acts 2:6)
9. Alchemy (John 2:11)
10. Etc.
If our greatest need was food, he proved that he had that
covered. If our greatest need was physical health, it was as easy as a word
(Luke 5:23-24). If our greatest need was avoiding death, he proved that we don’t
have to die (Hebrews 11:5). When we run around praying (solely) for health,
wealth, prosperity, daily needs, and employment, we are forgetting that Jesus
could give any of those freely and often with a word, and he chooses not to.
Except in counterfeit versions of these, we do not see
miracles happening today in these ways. Why then did men like Elijah, Elisha,
Jesus, Paul, Peter, and a small spackling of others do them? To prove that they
are certainly possible, but they do not bring lasting joy, peace, fulfilment,
or life! Lazarus died again eventually, the water turned to wine was consumed
and exists no-more, seminaries and language institutes train missionaries
constantly to learn difficult languages, some war wounds will be carried to the
grave (2 Corinthians 12:10), and a miraculous meal doesn’t even satisfy for a
day (John 6:26).
Chaplain, do you believe Jesus saves people today or are you
just making the world a nicer place to go to Hell from?
The greatest miracle which Jesus does thousands of times
every day is transform his greatest enemies into his greatest friends through
the regenerative power of the gospel when he became sin for us so that we can
become the righteousness of God in him. If you’re enamored with miracles (and
you should be), don’t settle for piddly little events that don’t change peoples’
eternities. Look for the greatest miracle: the redemption of an eternal soul that is justified, washed, and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of our God! Have you seen one recently?
Hear him ye deaf
His praise ye dumb,
your loosened tongues employ
Ye blind, behold your Saviour come;
And leap, ye lame, for joy! ~ Charles Wesley
Key Verse: You, who once were alienated and hostile
in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his
death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before
him. ~ Colossians 1:21-22
More:
1. Leonard Ravenhill said, “The greatest miracle that God can
do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world and make him holy,
then put him back in that unholy world and keep him holy in it.” When people
aren’t truly saved, we often substitute all sorts of signs for a conversion
that isn’t there: baptism, church membership, decision cards, “spiritual-disciplines”
(aka works righteousness), and wishful thinking. Do you know any truly holy
(set-apart, sanctified) people according to God’s standards?
2. Who gets to decide if the miracle of regeneration has occurred?
The Deacon Philip baptized a man who would go on to be one of the first-century’s
antichrists (Acts 8:13, 20-24), but he did not let this one false-convert ruin
his ministry. Who is responsible for performing the miracle of regeneration?
3. Further Resources:
Comfort, Ray. True and False Conversion. Bartlett,
TN: Living Waters Publications, 2006.
Cottrell, Travis. “Just as I Am.” On When the Stars Burn
Down. Incite Media, 2011. (Improved version of Charlotte Elliott’s song)
Foote, Billy and Cindy Foote. “Rescue the Perishing.” On Not
a God. Independent Release, 2004. (Improved version of Fanny Crosby’s song)
Green, Keith. “Asleep in the Light.” On No Compromise.
Sparrow Records, 1978.
Mooring, Leland, “Tears of the Saints.” On Sound of
Melodies. Essential Records, 2006.
