Miracle workers and the Remnant Church

“Sight to the blind, lame able to walk, speech to the dumb.
Bring along your sick to our meeting and we will heal them. “

These types of slogans. advertisements, and handbills are very common these days. These public meetings are so popular that they have attracted thousands of people from all walks of life. In the past we did not find such meetings, but now like mushrooms, we see and hear both local and international miracle workers and healers.

Different groups under different teachings have organized themselves and present themselves under various names. They preach, heal the sick. sing, make a big noise, drive om devils and scream as in a state of trance. The}’ do all these in the name of Jesus.

The Holy Bible gives a warning about these types of activities, which took place during the time of the Apostles. This same warning applies to us today, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1.

It is our desire to moth-ate you to test the many groups and individuals who appear in the name of God. Let us accept this warning which comes to us from the Scriptures with great responsibility. Only the Bible can reveal to us that which is right.
How did Jesus build His church ?

Many miracle workers state that the Lord organi/.cd (or gathered crowds) His church by performing miracles. If we carefully read the warnings Jesus has given regarding this, we would realize how wrong they are. Quite often when Jesus performed a miracle.

He commanded that it should be told to no man. Jesus did not want the news of miracles to be spread abroad, instead He wanted the news of miracles to be suppressed. Let us consider two examples out of many.

When Jesus said. Talitha Cumi” and raised Jairus” daughter from the dead. what was His advice to the people who were gathered? “And He charged them straightly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should he given her to eat.” Mark 5:43.

In another incident when Jesus hailed a deaf and dumb person. He charged them that they should tell no man. Mark 7:36.It is true that this news was spread abroad by many. It is also true that great multitudes gathered around Jesus for worldly and physical blessings. Jesus disapproved of those who drew towards Him because He performed miracle. And so today He disapproves of those who gather or organize a church based on miracles.

Jesus organized His church not by attracting the crowds with His miracles, but by every life giving word of Truth that proceeded out of His mouth. Concluding the Sermon on the Mount, what did Jesus say9
“Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” Matthew 7:24.

We ought to build our belief and faith not on healings and miracles, but upon the Rock which is the sure Word of Truth.
The Bible warns us regarding the last days.
Through the prophecies, the Holy Scriptures warn us of the miracle workers in the last days. “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:11.”For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:24.

“And i saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Aimighty.” Revelation 16:13, 14.
These miracle workers become so powerful, so much so thai she scriptures speak of the Antichrist’s power I “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” Revelation 13:13.

The scriptures speak further of the Antichrist’s power. “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivcableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10.

What is the end for such people?
“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12.

Having witnessed these miracles and wondrous works, how many people have shunned the Truth that is revealed in the Scriptures? They have been deceived by these miracles and they walk in eternal darkness. They failed to look for Truth in the word of God, which is the only source of Truth, instead, they looked to the miracle worker and his wondrous works. There would be no turning back for such people; they would be left believing a lie.

Regarding these groups of miracle workers, Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount of an unmistakable prophecy, which is taking place right now. Let us read the book of Matthew 7: 21,22,23, very carefully.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” v. 21.

People may shout out “Lord, Lord,” but they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of the Father will enter in. Verse 22: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?”

If you read v.22 carefully you will see that this is not a simple saying, but a prophecy. Through this prophecy Jesus said that the people who are doing wonders and miracles would come to Him in the last day and recite to Him everything that they have done. This prophecy also says that they worked miracles in the name of Jesus and not hi the name of any other god.
If this is a prophecy then it must be fulfilled. Those who are going to say to the Lord “We did many wonders and miracles hi your name” have to be existing these days (hi these last days) performing these miracles right now. Actually if we look around we can see many miracle workers performing in the name of “Jesus”. What is the end of them?

Verse 23. “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me ye • that work iniquity.”
When Jesus says here “I never knew you” what does He mean? In any day, even in the day when you were performing the miracles, “I was not with you and I didn’t know you at all.” That is what He meant. In that case when they shouted, “Jesus, Jesus,” and performed those miracles, with whose power did they do them? Dear reader, this is something for you to think about.

In that day when they tell Jesus of the wonderful things they have done, it is the truth and not a lie. They worked miracles, shouting the name of the Lord. But Jesus rejects them saying He never knew them. Why is that? Jesus gives His reason hi Verse 21.
These words of Jesus “But he that doeth the will of my Father,” proves that they did not do the will of the Father. Now what does the will of the Father mean? I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy Law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8.

The law of God was not active hi their hearts. They despised it. They provided wrong interpretations from the books of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Colossians stating that the law is null and void. They connected the ceremonial law (Law of Moses) to the moral law, (Law of love) and abolished the law of love (the Ten Commandments). As if hi a trance they begin shivering and speaking hi tongues that no man understands and say that the Holy Spirit is hi them the -law is not necessary.

Read Proverbs 28:9, “He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer is abomination.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. (The law of love, the Ten Commandments).

Jesus was crucified because we transgressed His law of love. “For the wages of sin is death;” (eternal death) Romans 6:23. But Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. Through faith hi Jesus’ sacrifice, we received forgiveness of sins and the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit. Why did we receive the Holy Spirit? The main reason for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant is clearly seen in the prophecy of Ezekiel.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26,27.

Why does He give His Spirit (The Holy Spirit)? “So that ye shall keep my commandments, and do them.”
Now, all these workers say they do these wondrous things under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, whereas they go against the law of God. Jesus Himself says hi Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” But these people say that this law is null and void.

It is true that individually, man breaks the law of God. No man is perfect. If man looks back at the past week of his life, undoubtedly he would see that he has broken the law of God. But the question is, as churches, do they accept the law of God? Before a law is obeyed, it should be accepted. There is no church today among the miracle workers that will accept the fact that the law of God is still valid. They give theh- own interpretations quoting various Bible texts and say that the law is not valid to those who believe. But what does the Apostle Paul say?

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law.” Romans 3:31.
Satan wants to trample, pull down and destroy God’s heavenly law. He has his agents around the world to do this very work. These are the churches that conduct meetings for miraculous healing. They despise the law of God. Due to this very fact, it is clearly understood that the Holy Spirit is not with this class of people and hi the last day the Lord says, “I never knew you.”
Who are they who really know the Lord?

“And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:3,4.

They do not know Him. The Lord also says, He does not know them. Since, by faith they opened not their hearts for the Holy Spirit to lead them to the law of love which is the righteousness of Christ, in the last day the Lord will drive them from His presence.
Dear friends, we are now living in the last days. The Second Coming of Jesus is at hand. How do we recognize God’s church (as mentioned in the Scriptures, the Remnant Church) in these last days? Not by working miracles or screaming in tongues. God has given two distinct signs in which to recognize His remnant church in the last days. These two signs are signs of identification proving that they are the remnant people of God. Let us search from the scriptures as to what these signs are.

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

The dragon is the symbol of Satan. The woman symbolizes the church of God. (or the people of God.) Two signs denote the remnant of her seed.
1. Those who keep the law of God.
2. Those who have the testimony of Jesus.

What is the testimony of Jesus? Thus saith the Scriptures, “The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10. (last sentence)
The Holy Spirit has bestowed many special gifts upon God’s people. The spirit of healing, spirit of speaking in tongues, spirit of working of miracles and several other gifts. Different people received different gifts according to God’s will. 1 Corinthians 12:8-12.
But in the last days what type of “spirit” shall be given to the remnant people of God?

In the Bible we find two special books of prophecy. They are the books of “Daniel and Revelation.” These two books are full of prophecies. God has separated these two books for those who are living in the end time, for them to read and understand the prophecies written there. (Daniel 2:4,9,10, Revelation 1:3.) The remnant people will reveal to the world its right explanations and they will live according to the prophecies.

The remnant people will also be accepting and keeping the law of God. Not by their own power or might but by the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given them. They did not touch the law or try to change it (James 2:10, Ezekiel 22:26.) They accept the whole law including the fourth commandment, (Exodus 20:8-11). Obedience through their faith reveals that the Holy Spirit is with them, (James 2:17,18)

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the apostles with great power. They received special gifts and they did mighty works.
In the same way before the great and dreadful day of the Lord is come, for the last time, this power will be poured out again to bring the truths of God’s Word to the whole earth. Joel 2:28,29.

In that day, the remnant people of God, who have received the Holy Spirit through faith, will perform mighty miracles and do wonderful works.
But before that day comes, Satan will deceive the people with his wonderful works through them that do not have the Law of God or His Spirit. He will cause them to disbelieve the Truth, saying the Holy Spirit has been poured out. These are the people Jesus referred to in His Sermon on the Mount when He said, in the last days, He would drive them away. Matthew 7:23. While these classes of people are already around us working miracles, are we going to be one of them, or partakers of their works?

Dear friends, Satan knows that he has but a short while more, so he is busy deceiving the maximum amount of people. His agents, (those through whom he works) are all around us today. Before your very eyes they will carry out their wonderful works. They are surrounded by many. As the remnant people of God, let us turn to the unfailing word of God. Let us question as to where these spirits came from; let us study the prophecies. Let the warnings of our Lord be ever in our minds. Awake and in prayer, let us wait for the Second Coming of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. While the investigative judgment is taking place hi heaven, let us not live according to our will but let us surrender our lives to the law of God which is the law of love. Let us pray and ask the Lord for that great promise given through the prophet Ezekiel, saying the Holy Spirit will establish in our hearts the law of love which is the measure of the righteousness of Christ. Let us flee from all satanic powers. Let us lift up our hearts and look above.

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
All praise and glory be to the Lord forever and ever!