The devil has stolen from the church
Unfortunately, there are few evangelical believers who can minister healing or deliverance, whether to other believers according to God's will or to unbelievers in an evangelistic context. The enemy, unable to snatch away our faith in God for salvation, has stolen from us the understanding of mountain-moving faith for ministering the gospel in power to the world. It is true that if we have mountain-moving faith, but not love, we are nothing. But this certainly does not mean that we should not seek this kind of faith with which to serve God.Unable to kill us spiritually, the enemy is content to render us powerless and not as fruitful as we would like to be for the Great Commission. In the area of the miraculous he has replaced Scripture with tradition, and the church has seemed satisfied with it.
Let us dare to say that raditional teaching on ministering healing is unchallenging and does not involve mountain-moving faith. Scriptural teaching on healing does require faith when obeyed, and risks are involved. The common objection to ministering to the sick is, "what happens if the person is not healed?" But I suspect this mantra is not so much a concern for presenting a poor witness for the gospel as it is for the embarrassment of the believers who are involved.
Whatever the case, Scripture promises that when we preach the gospel, the Lord will testify to His word with miraculous signs. When we boldly act upon His word, we will see the miracles. The miracles themselves do not guarantee the salvation of the listeners, but they do help to open their minds to the reality of Christ. When they accept Christ, blessing follows. If they reject Christ, judgment will come. The miracles at the very least give the Lord a clear mandate to judge.
- Matthew 11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
