For Jews require a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks , foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1st Cor 1:22-24)
Madam Guyon writes…………….I am deeply grieved that so many in this day(she lived 300 years ago, people never change)even some good people, allow themselves to be led astray by the enemy. Has not God warned us against false prophets and lying wonders of the last days? All true prophets have spoken in the name of the Lord-”Thus says the Lord.” The enemy gains great advantage because people love extraordinary manifestations, signs and wonders. I believe the inordinate love of external signs is used of the enemy to draw people away from the Word of God and from the inward way of faith.The signs that come from God encourage you to die to yourself. (Intimacy with Christ..p21)
Madam Guyon spoke prophetically when she said that "the inordinate love of external signs is used of the enemy to draw people away from the word of God.” According to Barna , this generation is the most Biblically illiterate generation for almost 300 years.
You see, what the Jewish people wanted, much like Christianity of today, was signs and wonders that would enhance their lives. Their illnesses would be healed, they would be fed, but most of all that it would lead to the destruction of their enemies and position them in a place of power and influence. They needed outward signs that would not only prove God was who He said He was, but that He served their worldly interests. If they could not have God serve them, then they would not believe or follow Him. This is actually the opposite of faith. They wanted the substance of things seen. The Greeks wanted wisdom, they wanted to fully understand and master a philosophy. If they could not understand the subject, in this case God, then He would be rejected. They only wanted to follow what they could understand in their own minds. They were in effect their own little gods. Again, the opposite of faith. What they both got was Calvary. And by being focused on outward signs and philosophies, they missed the greatest event in the history of the planet.
God Himself had stepped into time and space. Not as a rich man, not a highly educated man, but as a poor working man. The Lord Jesus was born amongst the filth and stench of a manger, not in a palace or in a temple, but in the very lowest reaches of the earth. If you are a religious man or a worldly man, Jesus is going to disappoint you every time. He will not perform at the whim of men, He came to die and to bid others to do the same. To the Jews and much of Christendom today, a stumbling block, to the Greeks and the educated class of today, foolishness. Let no one doubt this though, Jesus had come to conquer, and conquer He did. He conquered doubts, He conquered fears, He conquered death He conquered pride and He conquered sin.
So for most people Calvary is offensive. They want, no demand victory over their circumstances. They want to follow a God that will give them their best lives now. Yet the way of the cross is the same today as it was then. It signifies death, death to ourselves and the things of this world. It signifies victory in the midst of our circumstances. We see in the cross the perfect example of obedience which followed Gethsemane. When we embrace the circumstances of our lives, that the steps of a righteous man are ordered of God, this is the beginning of faith. When we surrender to the Lord in the very midst of the most difficult circumstances, then a whole other world opens up before us as we willingly take up our cross, this is the narrow road that leads to life and ironically the road that leads to the miraculous. This is a life that leads us to embracing and moving in the unconditional love of God that casts out all fear and fear is the deadliest enemy of faith.
Many times circumstances were overcome by the Apostles, just as many times they were not. Yet the Apostles discovered true faith in the very midst of their trials and tribulations. The Apostle Paul learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself in. It is worth remembering that all of the Apostles and a good many of the early church were eventually tortured and killed, were they abandoned by God? Did they lack faith or a good confession? The truth is that we are not called to live our best lives now enhanced by miracles that elevate us above the rest and prove that God is God. We are called to the battle. God elevates Himself in us in the midst of our infirmities and trials. He is glorified in the saint that is dead to this world and alive to the next.
Regardless of your circumstances today, know that Jesus is in the midst of the storm with you. The fact that you are in a storm does not mean He has abandoned you, in fact quite the opposite. All who live Godly in Christ Jesus will encounter one battle after another as they move along the narrow path of life with their cross that signifies death to this world. If you are trying desperately to live your best life now and require God to move miraculously on your behalf to establish that, you will face a life of disappointment and fear and lack of true faith. You will have a leanness in your soul and walk in very shallow waters, you will certainly not walk in the overcoming power of Christ. If you would walk in His wisdom and power you must cast yourself into the deepest part of the river of life where you cannot stand upon your own two feet but where you are taken by the current of God to whoever or wherever He chooses. This takes obedience and surrender, this takes actual faith, not the ” faith,” that requires a sign which is no faith at all.