by E.W. Kenyon
Man and Miracles
Jesus -- the very Name has within it miracle working Power, even to this day, though nearly two thousand years have rolled away since He walked with men.
Jesus, the Galilean, was a miracle worker.
Jesus' Life was a miracle.
His wisdom and teachings were miraculous.
He made miracles common.
His death was a miracle.
His Resurrection was a miracle.
His appearances were miraculous.
His ascension was a staggering miracle.
But perhaps the most outstanding miracle of all those wonder days was the event of Pentecost.
From the upper room, went forth men and women boldly to testify of Jesus' Name, who fifty days before shrank in fear from the very names of the High Priest and his associates.
Peter, the trembling, fearful Peter, is now clothed with a Power and fearlessness that is inexplicable; he goes out and faces the Sanhedrin, senate, and High Priesthood with a courage that amazes us.
A stream of miracles flowed from the hands of the apostles that upset Judaism and shook the Roman government to its foundation.
They made a discovery -- the Name of the Man Whom they had loved, Whom they had nailed to that cross in nakedness, now has Power equal to the Power that He, Himself exercised when He was among them.
The sick were healed, the dead were raised, demons were cast out by simply breathing that Name over the afflicted ones.
What a stream of miraculous love, life, hope, and joy showered from the ministry of those humble Galileans.
Those first thirty-three years of early history as seen in Acts, were sample years of the acts of the Church until the return of Her Lord and Master.
Man is the offspring of the Miracle Worker.
The miracle working desire is embedded deep in the consciousness of man.
Christianity is based on a series of miracles culminating in Pentecost.
Miracles Normal
Mark 16:17 "And these signs shall follow them that believe."
Christianity began in miracles; it is propagated by miracles.
Every New Birth is a miracle; every answer to prayer is a miracle; every victory over temptation is a miracle.
When Reason takes the place of the miraculous, Christianity loses its virility, fascination, and fruitfulness.
- Christianity is not a religion.
- Christianity is the Life of God in man.
- Christianity was the unveiling of the heart and nature of the Great Father-God in the Man Jesus
There could not be a religion that would appeal to humanity that was not founded upon miracles and propagated by miracles.
Man craves a miracle working God today. Whenever there arises a man or woman whose prayers are heard and answered, the multitudes flock to them.
- Man wants a Living God.
- Man craves a miracle.
- The deep seated hunger in the human heart for God is the reason for all religions.
The Soul Cry for Miracles
The curiosity for the miraculous is deep seated in man.
Man was brought into being by a miracle working God, and man will ever yearn for miracles.
The Supernatural realm is really man's realm.
Sin has blinded us and has kept us from finding the secret door that will lead us back to our lost estate.
But the hunger is there, and the miracle is the way to bring man to God.
Is there a miracle element in Christianity today?
Did miracles end with the death of the disciples?
Are the so-called miracles that men claim to perform today fraudulent or purely psychic?
These are questions that we cannot ignore.
There has come a falling away on the part of the churches.
Modernism dominates the great religious forces of Christendom; its denial of the Supernatural element in Christianity makes it simply an ethical religion.
On the other hand, we have those who are contending for an original, miraculous, element in Christianity, but declaring that miracles ceased with the death of the apostles; that Christianity does not need the miraculous today to convince men of the Deity of Jesus.
Then we have a third group who claim miracles are still being performed; that the sick are healed, that prayers are answered, and that God is a Living Reality in the daily life of the believer.
We cannot ignore the amazing growth of Christian Science, Unity, New Thought, and Spiritism.
The people who are flocking to them are not the ignorant masses, but the most cultured and wealthy of the land, and their strongest appeal is the supernatural element of their so-called religions -- the testimonies of healings by their followers are their strongest asset.
We cannot close our eyes to the fact that in many of our cities on the Pacific Coast, Mrs. Eddy has a stronger following today and a larger attendance at her churches than have the old line denominations; and the largest percentage of her followers have at one time been worshippers in the denominations -- they have left them because they believe they are receiving more help from Mrs. Eddy's teaching than from the preachers.
They will tell you how they were healed and how they were helped in their spiritual life by this strange cult.
This is a libel upon the modern church -- it is not only a LIBEL but a CHALLENGE.
What We Need
We have lost the Supernatural element out of Christianity and we are clinging with trembling hands to a historical Christ that has no power to heal the sick and no ability to meet your daily needs.
The spirit of real evangelism is almost a thing of the past.
We have driven the miracle working Christ out of the Church; now we are driving the believers in miracles out of the Church.
We cannot blame the missions and non-conformist cults that are rising everywhere.
It is a protest of the people against the modern theological thought that dominates the Church.
Christian Science could not have grown to the place where it is dominating many of our large cities unless there had been a demand in the heart of the people for a Supernatural religion.
The Pentecostal movement could not have risen with the Power that it has, had not the heart of the people been craving a new, fresh vision of Christ.
A dead orthodoxy has no Resurrection Power within it -- no Miracle Working Force back of it.
The people are putting up with extravagances and fanaticism in order that they may get a little touch of the Supernatural God.
Cultured men and women will listen to uneducated preachers because the uneducated preacher in the dingy mission has faith in a Living God.
When men tell us that we do not need miracles today -- that education will take their place -- they have not thought through on this subject.
No man can actually live and walk with the Man of Galilee without living in the realm of the miraculous.
Jesus is as much a miracle now as ever.
Man needs His Miraculous Touch now, more than ever. Nothing but a return to this God of Miracles will save our land and nation.
Is This True?
If a preacher has the reputation of acting on James 5:14 or Mark 16:18 he is disqualified for most of the denominational pulpits.
The Church is no longer in the grip of God, but under the sway of scholastic intolerance.
Our slogan should be -- "Back to the Living, Miracle Working Christ."
People want Him, so they crowd the building where He is allowed to act.
- Jesus attracted the multitude by miracles.
- Jesus will attract them today.
- "He is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews.13:8).
How Faith Talks
Isaiah 55:8,9, "For My Thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways, and My Thoughts than your thoughts."
Faith talks in the language of God. Doubt talks in the language of man.
When I dare to say that I am what He says I am, then I am what He says I am.
The Word says that, "I am complete in Him."
Well, God is the Author of the Word.
He is the Author of my Redemption, so if He says I am complete in Him, then I must be complete in Him.
It is barely possible that I do not understand His standards of perfection. But I rest in what He says.
What He says is what He sees in us by Grace, and what He sees in us is what we really are.
It is not what we believe, or what the church has taught us, but when He says, "We are the fullness of Him that filleth all things," we are.
When He says that "He has blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in the heavenlies," then we are blessed. Whether we have enjoyed it or not, that is not the issue.
He has blessed us.
When He declares that, "we are seated together with Him in the heavenlies," we are.
Now, you go about your work, today, and every idle moment that you have, repeat some of these great Facts over and over again.
After a while they will become a part of you as the multiplication table is a part of you.
Just so will the Divine-consciousness of Jesus-consciousness become a part of you.
You cannot think God's Thoughts after Him without God following His Thoughts into your life; and changing your thoughts into Reality.
You think weakness and you are weak. You think strength and you are strong.
You think about God indwelling you, and God will rise up and fill your body, His temple, with His Glory.
Just as He over-shadowed Solomon's Temple with the Cloud of His Glory, so will He over-shadow you.
Just as He filled the Temple with His Glory so that the priests could not stay to minister, because of the wonder of His Presence, so will He fill you today, so that the world thoughts will be unable to minister in you because of the ineffable Glory of His Presence.
Let Faith speak through your lips today. Don't talk doubts any more. Just talk faith!
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