Romans: Self-deceived Surfers of the Faith

I'd like to take a rabbit trail today, one that begins with the scripture used in the last posting; one that isn't actually in Romans but which still adds to what Paul is telling us in his letter to the Roman church. These are the words of Jesus Christ:

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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." (Mark 16:17-18)

There have been great men of God who have done the things listed in this scripture, in fact, done them for most of their lives: Paul, Peter and all of those apostles and disciples who gave their lives for the early church, George Muller, Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Reinhard Bonnke.…just to name a few who come first to my mind….all men who were led by the Holy Spirit of God to do all that Jesus said that they would do in His name.

I have heard some say that the Holy Spirit moves in "waves". There are "waves" of revival; meaning, I suppose, that there are periods of time when the Holy Spirit moves men to repentance such that hundreds and thousands become saved. Thus, they say, there are also "waves" of healing ministers; periods of time when hundreds and thousands get healed miraculously in the name of Jesus Christ.

Supposedly then, when the Holy Spirit is not moving in these "waves" we all must just sit around and…what? Wait for the next wave, like spiritual surfers?

The great men of God didn't WAIT for a wave. They WERE the wave, whether it was of revival or of miracles and healings. They were the wave, because they submitted themselves fully to the Holy Spirit who was the wave of God in them. It changed their lives, and then they changed the lives of others.

They were able to do all that they did BY THEIR BELIEF in a God who NEVER CHANGES: who is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same Jesus Christ who spoke the words of the scripture listed above over two thousand years ago is the same Jesus Christ of today. He has not changed. Neither have His commands to us. These great men of God knew He never changes. They took His Word as just as true and complete for us today as it was for those in the early church days. They BELIEVED what God wrote and spoke. And their actions showed it!

He has given us power and authority, but we are not picking them up and using them. We are still "begging" God to MAKE something happen: "Please God, if it is your will, please heal this person."

Jesus DID what the Father told Him to do! He didn't ask, He commanded the demons to flee from the infirm and the demon-possessed. He took authority over the enemy.

And He is still waiting on US to DO what He has told us WE would DO!

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that BELIEVETH on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do…" (John 14:2)

"Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22)

Ahh…self-deception. We have convinced ourselves that just going to church every Sunday, and reading a few lines of scripture each day are OK. Oh! And the prayers that we mutter from time to time are all ok too.

And nothing changes in our life. And nothing changes in our family. And nothing changes in our church. Or in our neighborhood. Or in our cities. Or in our country.

But still we think we are OK; partly because that's all that we see going on all around us. I want to see something different.

Listen to what George Muller wrote in his journal:

"It had pleased God, in His abundant mercy, to bring my mind into such a state, that I was willing to carry out into my life whatever I should find in the Scriptures concerning [His] ordinance…I could say, 'I will do His will.' And I would observe here, by the way, that the passage to which I have just now alluded, John 7:17, has been a most remarkable comment to me on many doctrines and precepts of our most holy faith. For instance: 'Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.' (Matthew 5:39-44) 'Sell all that ye have, and give alms.' Luke 12:33. 'Owe no man anything, but to love one another.' Romans 13:8.

It may be said, surely these passages cannot be taken literally, for how then would the people of God be able to pass through the world. The state of mind enjoined in John 7:17 will cause such objections to vanish. Whosoever is WILLING TO ACT OUT these commandments of the Lord LITERALLY, will, I believe, be led with me to see that, to take them LITERALLY is the will of God. Those who do so take them will doubtless often be brought into difficulties, hard to the flesh to bear, but these will have a tendency to make then constantly feel that they are strangers and pilgrims here, that this world is not their home, and thus to throw them more upon God, who will assuredly help us through any difficulty into which we may be brought by seeking to act in obedience to His Word.

…About the same time also my wife and I had grace given to us to take the Lord's commandment, 'Sell that ye have, and give alms' Luke 12:33, literally, and to carry it out. Our staff and support in this matter were Matthew 6:19-34, John 14:13-14. We leaned on the arm of the Lord Jesus. It is now fifty-one years, since we set out in this way, and we do not in the least regret the step we then took. Our God also has, in His tender mercy, given us grace to abide in the same mind concerning the above points, both as it regards principle and practice; and this has been the means of letting us see the tender love and care of our God over His children, even in the most minute things, in a way in which we never experimentally knew them before…"

George Muller never took a salary, never asked a person for help, never borrowed money, never took money from someone who was willing to give to his orphanages if they had not first paid their own bills and covered their own responsibilities. All his requests went to God and God alone. By faith in God alone, he built many orphanages and saved thousands of homeless boys from the streets of England, bringing them to the Lord on the way.

And as he says in his own words: "Whosoever is WILLING TO ACT OUT these commandments of the Lord LITERALLY will, I believe, be led with me to see that, to take them LITERALLY is the will of God."

Do we TRUST God's Word enough to do that? Do we trust God enough to do that?

Or are we content to just go to church every Sunday?

I, personally, am not content.