Sunday Service | Mt. Zion Church | 15 July 2018 | Signs and Wonders Series
Signs, wonders, and miracles are always an eye-catching moment which everyone dare to see and behold! Sometimes people are waiting for miracle prayer more than the service itself. Miracle is awesome, miracle is wonderful, but the presence of Jesus must be more important rather than the miracles itself! However, Jesus also warned us about the fake miracles at the last days which performed by false Christ and false prophets! So, it is very important for believers to have a correct attitude toward miracles. We need to keep believing that God is more than able to do His miracles in our life, we need to keep obey and have a good response for whatever God will instruct us to do, while in the same time we need to always aware that God will only do His miracles for His divine purposes and bring us closer to Him and more believe in Him.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. Matthew 24:23-25
The devil always tries to imitate everything from Christ, so if possible, they want to deceive everyone including the elect one! That’s why it is very important to keep growing in Christ, so we are not easily being deceived and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting Eph.4:14. Back to the days of Moses when God performed lot of miracles in the land of Egypt, we can learn how the magicians of Egypt tried to do the same things with what Moses did Exo.7:22. They can imitate how Moses turned water into blood and it made Pharaoh’s heart grew hard as he thought that his god was equal to the God of Israel. When God brought thousands of frogs on the land of Egypt, the magicians did so with their enchantments. As Pharaoh’s heart grew harder and harder, God brought lice to the land of Egypt and at that point the magicians could not do the same things Ex.8:18. And from the fourth plague (flies) God began to show the differences between His people and Pharaoh’s people Exo.8:23.
The devil can try to imitate God’s work but there is always a limit for what he can do and what he can’t do. No matter what the devil always tries to imitate, we already known the result for sure: our God will be the winner and He is always be the winner! God wants us to be the winner as well, so we can sit together with God in His throne Rev.3:21. Our God is God above all god and no equal for our God! Our faith must be build in God alone and not merely in signs and wonders since people can try to imitate it in some levels. If anyone believe in God only because of miracles, we afraid that their faith is really thin and weak, and then will be easily deceived with the fake things from devil. When someone grow stronger and deeper in God, his faith will keep stand out even in the midst of strong wind of deception.
BEWARE! IMITATION ALSO LOOKS GOOD
Jesus told us beforehand that at the end times lot of false things will appear and they will try to catch more people and draw them far away from Jesus! The devil aware that his time is become shorter and shorter Rev.12:12. Since we are now approaching the end of times, we must be completely aware that the holy must be more holy while the bad will become more bad Rev.22:11. The devil will send more of false Christs and false prophets to get more attention from people and make more followers! That’s why it is very important for us to understand the importance of signs and wonders in Christianity life, so we can discern carefully between the real one and the fake one.
Back to the what the Bible told us, miracles happen not only for show off but there’s always a reason why God doing that! Jesus turned water into wine because they ran out of wine Jn.2:3. Jesus fed more than 5,000 peoples because it was a deserted place and the hour is already late Mat.14:15. Jesus walked on the sea because there was no other boat there, except the one that His disciples had used before Jn.6:22. Jesus never waste the miracles only for boast off the power of God.
The essence of the miracles is about God and never about the miracles itself! The book of Acts recorded something that very important about miracles. There was a person named Simon who previously practiced sorcery in the city of Samaria and people in that city always believe in Simon because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. However, after Philip came and preached in Samaria about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, lot of people believed and were baptized, including Simon. Simon was very amazed seeing the miracles and signs which were done by the hand of Philip. Somehow, Simon became more amazed when he saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, so he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perishes with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Ac.8:9-22. Simon wished for that power because he wants to be more famous than before. By the inspiration of God, Peter said that Simon was poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity! Bitterness is very dangerous and always cause trouble Heb.12:15. Unfortunately, the fake miracles always happen because of bitterness! Simon feel very bad as the people of Samaria no longer followed and believed in him. Even he tried to hide that root of bitterness at first, somehow that root is still alive and will pop out above the ground when he tried to buy the power of God with his money! The false Christ and false prophets will pop out at the end times because they have the root of bitterness which is the root from the devil as he always wants to replace the position of God Isa.14:12-14.
The book of Revelation also warns us about the first seal which are going to be released at the end times. This first seal represents the massive movement of false Christ and false prophets at the last days Rev.6:1-2. The first four of seven seals always use horse to emphasize the speed and the impact which will be happened Pro.21:31, Isa.30:16.
1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Revelations 6:1-2 NKJV
We must pay a serious attention that the white horse and its rider will go out to conquer the world with its fake bow, the bow without any arrow, the imitation of Christ, just like what Jesus already told us beforehand about false Christ and false prophets! We can learn that it is impossible for us to pray and asking God to destroy all of these fake things straightaway. Somehow God grant the devil doing these fake things, so we can learn and always get prepared. The real problem will make us become experienced, smarter, and grow up. The white horse, and also other horses in the first four of seven seals, will make very great trouble to the world in common and Christianity specifically. These four horses and its riders were granted to do harm to the earth, so there will be refining and purifying of the believers, according to the book of Daniel Dan.11:35. The true believers will not easily be offended with these fake miracles as they will keep rooted and grounded in Christ alone. The understanding will not be enough in the last days since we need the power of Holy Spirit to keep us alert and awake 1Thes.5:5-6.
The danger of the fake thing already happened from the day of Moses. Somehow God let this kind of thing happen, so we can double check the quality of our faith, if we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul. We must walk after the Lord and hold fast to Him! The false prophets will try to turn anyone away from the Lord with anything that they can do. While the Old Testaments told us to put that false prophets to death Deut.13:5, in the New Testament days we must also put that fake things into death and never let it keep alive in our heart and our mind! Don’t even think about following that fake things, don’t even admire it within your heart, don’t even give a place for that fake things in your heart. For the son of God, that kind of fake things is a dead thing that should not grab our focus from Christ. The Bible told us not to give place to the devil Eph.4:27, not even the smallest single foot-step!
1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. Deuteronomy 13:1-4 NKJV
CONCLUSION: HOLD FAST TO CHRIST ALONE
1 Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore, they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1John 4:1-6 NKJV
There were the spirit of truth and the spirit of error! In this modern and digital world, we will be flooded with tons of information and news every single day, including the signs and wonders from all around the world. The Bible remains clear and bold, DO NOT BELIEVE every spirit! Whatever already seen or may see, we must test the spirits if they are of God or not, if they are the Spirit of God OR the spirit of the Antichrist. Never give any place for the spirit of error, don’t even tremble with whatever the spirit of error will try to do as the spirit of God in us is greater than them! All glory is belonging to God and don’t let anything deceive us with their craftiness.
Keep believing that God is more than able to perform His miracles in our life, in our church, in our ministry. Jesus loves to do His miracles but He more loves to see us grow in faith and hold fast in Him! Whenever we find that more of false christs and more of false prophets appears in our world, we must know that IT IS NEAR, RIGHT AT THE DOOR Mat.24:33. Let’s keep fight a good fight, be patient and keep waiting for the real one and don’t bother yourself with the fake one. AMEN.