Imagine driving down the road to enjoy your long-awaited beach vacation with your family and friends, now imagine that the people who are with you in the car, when they see the sign indicating the way to the beach, are so happy and motivated to ask you to stop the car so they can take pictures , but not only that. They also take the umbrella, stick it to the side of the road, place chairs, apply sunscreen, come out of polystyrene food and drinks, start talking to each other and are completely satisfied to be next to the sign which is just a sign of where you wanted to go.
Such a situation would be incomprehensible and embarrassing, wouldn’t anyone prefer a signal to the actual object it indicates?Well, that’s exactly what we see often in some churches. There are believers who seek blessings, miracles, emotions, and abandon God and His Word, which must be why they will worship, in the background. It is not uncommon to see Christian meetings where the Bible is not read, much less preached. The most amazing thing is that people are satisfied, having enjoyed only the things that are mere signs, which literally makes them their ultimate motivation.
- The Gospel of Mark 16:17-18 informs that Jesus.
- In proclaiming the great commission and before being received in heaven.
- Seated at the right hand of God.
- Said to his disciples: These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name.
- He will cast out the demons; They will speak new languages; they will pick up snakes; And if they drink something deadly.
- It will not hurt them; if they lay their hands on the sick.
- Will they be healed?Make sure that all these supernatural events are classified by Jesus as signs.
The Greek word translated for signs is ??????? (se?meon), for which we find the following definition:?Seonon a sign (usually miraculous) given especially to confirm, corroborate or authenticate. S? The mention, then, emphasizes the ultimate end that exalts the one who bestows it, as a result, is used dozens of times in the New Testament for what authenticates the Lord and his eternal purpose, especially to do what simple man cannot reproduce or reproduce. Why can’t he take credit? Indications of something bigger and more important executed by someone bigger and more important.
If the merit of the discussion about the continuity or not of spiritual gifts is left unanswered, the fact is that every Christian has testimonies of answers to prayer, deliveries, and events in his life that can only be explained by God’s supernatural action. These are signs. Miracles are part of the story of redemption in the Bible, and also of our own personal redemption, beginning with our new birth and conversion, and then we can see them in our walk with God every time we see him acting on our behalf. are spectacular or not. What should always be emphasized and remembered, however, is that, above all, these signs point to Jesus and give authenticity to his Word, so they are not ends in themselves, but as signs of transit that point to a destiny and indicate spiritual realities beyond. .
To demonstrate the most clear point, we bring four biblical examples: one from the Old Testament, one from the Gospels, and two from the book of Acts of the Apostles.
II Kings 5 tells the story of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, powerful and respected man of his time and owner of an Israeli slave, who suffered from leprosy, and the captive daughter, whose name we do not know. You even know, talk to the wife of the prophet’s commander who could cure him. After searching for Elisha through the King of Israel, and after following the counsel, he was invited to bathe seven times in Jordan, although he had initially resisted. Naaman was healed and his skin restored as a child. Returning to Elisha, he said, “Here I recognize now that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. “
Luke 17:11-19 tells us of the ten lepers healed on the way to present the priest, as Jesus commanded them. It turns out that only one has returned to give glory to God, to whom Christ spoke: ‘Isn’ Ten who have been healed?Wasn’t there anyone who came back to give glory to God, but this stranger?And he said unto him, “Get up and go; Did your faith save you?
The book of Acts recounts some miracles performed by the Apostles, two of which are quite illustrative: chapter 13 tells the story of the conversion of Sérgio Paulo, governor of the island of Cyprus, when Paul and Barnabas arrived to explain the gospel to him, one of his wizards, Barjesus, opposed preaching, and by Paul’s rebuke he was immediately blinded. Finally, “the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, marveling at the doctrine of the Lord. “
In Acts 20: 7-12, we have the story of the young man named Eutico, who fell asleep during Paul’s prolonged speech and fell out of the third floor window from where he sat, dying. Paulo came down, leaned over the boy and brought him in. came back to life, and? I went up, broke bread, ate and continued to speak to them greatly until dawn. “
What do all these biblical accounts have in common if not how little importance is given to miracles by those who received them rather than the God who gave them? The only ones who were satisfied with nothing but miracles were the nine lepers who did not return to Jesus, and who, if they did not repent later in life, everything suggests that they are in hell today. . The others looked for more than blessings and celebrated the one who operated them. Naaman recognized that “in all the earth there is no God, but in Israel. ” The strange leper who returned to give glory to God was declared saved by faith by Jesus: “Get up and go! Has your faith saved you? Sérgio Paulo was not amazed at the miracle he saw, but at the teaching he heard: “Seeing what happened, he thought he was amazed at the doctrine of the Lord. ” And those of the house where Eutychus was resurrected, did not start a meeting of signs and wonders, but went up to the third floor to benefit even more from the means of grace: they broke bread and continued to hear the Word of God through their mouths. . of Paulo, who “still spoke to them aloud until dawn”, that is, at midnight, when the boy fell and got up again, until dawn.
Returning to the analogy at the beginning of this text, some prefer the traffic signals to the destination they indicate; They are people who love blessings more than God; however, true and spiritually mature Christians yearn for Christ and His Word, and are not busy. looking for extraordinary events, even if they celebrate them when they are witnessed or experienced. The fact is that where the Holy Spirit works, He uses the extraordinary to authenticate preaching before the unbeliever, to strengthen the faith of those who already believe, and above all to designate Christ, as Jesus himself said in John 5:36:?the works that the Father confided in me, the works I do bear witness to me that the Father sent me ?; and as John also pointed out in 20. 30-31, already coming to the conclusion of his Gospel: “In fact, Jesus made many other signs before the disciples that are not written in this book. These, however, were recorded so that you believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you can have life in His name?
Thus, those who settle only for the signs make it their final destiny and, forgetting to rejoice in the God who grants them, do not grow in understanding the will given to them by His Word, the Bible. be in their way. They will not reach their destination and therefore will never benefit from the greater reality to which the signs point, eternal life in Christ Jesus.
[i] Word-studies, 4592. Help Ministry Inc. My Translation.