Revelation 13
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Matthew 16:4
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
1 Timothy 5:23
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
There is a modern conception that if people see miracles they will come to know Jesus, some people use miracles as the testing ground to see whether something is of God or not
Even in the bible this is not true as you have the story of Lazarus and people still did not believe even thou they saw someone raised from the dead.
This is why the scriptures are so important as it has been documented in some cults that they have performed miracles such as Jannes and Jambres did before Moses.
To me the gospel shall be the main focus, as Jesus should get all the glory as the John and Peter state it was not through us but through Jesus of Nathareth who you crucified.
I find this focus just so wrong because it gets your eyes of Jesus and almost like the people who stood before Jesus and had the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand and then went away when jesus said unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood you have no part of me. A favourite verse on the part of the Mega Churches and the Purpose Driven Seeker Sensitive Churches because Jesus was not after a crowd but more because he is the Way, The Truth, the Life and a narrow path rather than a broad way.
To me the people who focus on miracles are so going to be fooled by the antichrist as he is going to call fire down from heaven and as it says elsewhere that the devil appears as an angel of light.
To me ignoring what Jesus has said already or ignoring the
Jude 1:3
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
To me the focus should be on Gods Word and the Bible, and to test everything according to the scriptures.
I know that in all the major true revivals, Bible sales went up. I wish I could say that it is true today in an illiterate church, I dont mean everyone as there are lots of people who do know there scriptures,
I am so hungry for the word of God, It is like Johnathan Edwards who said the Sermon "Sinners in the Hands of Angry God" the famous revival sermon with candle light and his voice was monotone and boring but the power of God caused a revival which is complelty against todays standards, I wonder how many churches that sermon would even be allowed to be read in Church
I. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands can't be strong when God rises up: the strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.
He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, that has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so 'tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that anything hangs by; thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
Is most of the church that looks after signs a wicked and perverse generation, I believe in prophecy in the bible?
are we after the miracles or the God of the Bible who we do not know because we do not know his bible?