God’s Power not Horse Power

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

Notice the words “them” and “they” in the above scriptures. All of the signs that previously followed Jesus are now PROMISED to all who will believe. Look at the following verse which explicitly reveals the Lord’s will in the transference of an anointing to do the same works he did.

John 14:12 (KJV)
¹² 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; because I go unto my Father.

Now the the word “he” replaces the words “them” and “they” in Mark. Wow! What an opportunity to change the world and even the culture. However, we in the American church, seemingly have exchanged this glorious power and it’s Divine solutions to human problems for a reliance on human ability.

Recently someone said:

• When a sick person enters the church we send them to a doctor.
• When a poor person enters we send them to the welfare office.
• When someone is depressed, troubled or oppressed we send them to a psychiatrist to get a drug.

Then we gather in our old half empty buildings and wonder why the world thinks the church is irrelevant.

Most of the church today believes relevancy is achieved by dissolving itself into as many similarities with the world. Melting ourselves into obscurity when we should be shining standouts is a travesty of our Christian design.

The one-two punch of our influence is

1. living holy
2. our being empowered to do the works of Christ

Strip away these two vital influences and we become like what Samson said if he was stripped of the anointing “I will become as any other man.”

What distinguishes us is God’s supernatural power operating through us to change others while convincing them of his own existence. It is mind-blowing when I consider the privilege we as God’s people have been given. Why in the world would I want to exchange this for a cheap substitute that is severely limited by human ingenuity?

Let’s be honest, what method won

• 3000 on the Day of Pentecost?
• 5000 in Acts 4?
• multitudes in Acts 5?
• Cornelius and his household in Acts 10

Was it the result of a local hospital, medicine, psychiatry, motivational speaking, sports, youth programs… No, it was the result of one thing – miracles!! God’s power exercised and it working in tandem with the preaching of the Word of God. It really is that simple to be truly effective for the Lord. Let us massage our hunger into a fever pitch of yieldedness to this power of God and we WILL see and experience the same results.