Church and the miraculous

LITURGY and creeds of many denominations and ministries contain Scripture that attests to the reality of divine miracles.

As far back as before the reformation era bishops and priests taught the miracles of Jesus and biblical miracles in general.

They did not dispute the miracles of the Apostles of the Lamb.

We know that the early church functioned in the supernatural just as Jesus did. Hebrews 2:4 records: “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”

We are also biblically taught to do the same. The church cannot be separated from the supernatural or the miraculous.

A miracle is an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is, therefore, attributed to a divine agency. That is Who God is.

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Jesus spoke in Mark 16:17-18: “[17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

The church is divided on this subject. Please remember that we are still dealing with evolution of the church.

During the missionary period there were preponderant mainline denominations as the charismatic church rose a bit later.

Some believed the Scriptures in the creeds of the earlier church on the miraculous and miracles such as healing and the blind eyes were opening up during services, congregants coming out of wheelchairs and those with crutches being made whole. Indeed the miracles were following believers.

We cannot deny that some within the universal church started following the denominations or ministries operating in the miraculous and the supernatural. Debate started on the authenticity of the miracles.

The earlier church started saying that such miracles ended with Jesus thereby ignoring the Scriptures they had in their creeds of the miraculous.

We cannot say that they were afraid of false apostles, prophets and teachers or they did not expect or were not prepared to have attendees believe what they taught in their prayer books that God has power to heal which Jesus gave to the church.

Unfortunately, today we don’t have time to differentiate between false and fake miracles with justice but we shall teach on that in coming instalments.

When glossolalia burst out, the fore-bearers were quick to say speaking in tongues ended on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

They of course chose selective amnesia by choosing to not remember Mark 16 quoted above which is in their creeds and constitutions.

However some mainline denominations had the charismatic wing emerging, but outside normal order of service.

This was a major move and personally I think this has to be maintained because not everyone will be comfortable with moving over to the charismatic church.

There are members who may need the full package of gifts of the Holy Spirit. They benefit within their walls.

Some critics within the mainline church ended up being proponents of the charismatic wing of their own assemblies after Jesus healed them.

Documented evidence shows some of the times when the traditional of conservative church groups invited ministers from the charismatic ministries.

I like it so much when some with wisdom ask congregants to pray for themselves instead of the usual prayer book prayer.

Many were and are being filled with the Holy Spirit and try to suppress speaking in tongues but they cannot overpower the expression.

Real spiritual growth is, therefore, happening across the board.

I have my friends priests and bishops inviting me and I usually pray short prayers after sessions for wholeness and have heard many testimonies of people who are healed by Jesus.

In general I don’t ask for testimonies because I know that if Jesus touches someone in a special way, they won’t be able to downplay it.

I have seen blind eyes open, withered arms straitened and terminal conditions disappearing.

Word of knowledge and prophecies have been given out. I would be back to my base and leave it to them to talk to God for themselves.

It is encouraging as the whole body of Christ benefits from the gifts freely given.

There is real spiritual growth and this leads to the church going out to the yet unsaved world to witness and soul winning and mass evangelism take place.

It helps to recover from possible closing occasioned by mass exodus of members who followed miracles instead of being taught correctly that miracles follow believers.

The church is supernatural and functions in the miraculous.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

Amen. Grace and peace be multiplied to you through knowledge.

• All Bible quotations are from the King James Version unless otherwise stated.
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