The primary basis of our belief in the Lord Jesus
ought to be His Word, not miracles done in His name. The Lord Jesus started His
ministry with preaching, not miracles (Mark 1:14-15). When the Lord Jesus chose
twelve of His disciples, empowered them and sent them out on their first
mission as His emissaries, the Lord’s primary instruction to them was to go and
preach that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand; to perform miracles was the
secondary instruction (Matthew 10:1, 5-8; Mark 3:14-15). Here it is also important
to note that although nothing is said against those who would be skeptical
about the miracles, but those who rejected the Word had a terrible fate
awaiting them (Matthew 10:14-15). Another important thing to note here is what
the Lord said to those disciples in the event of their being brought before
high ranking officials because of their ministry for the Lord Jesus. The Lord
assured them that for their defense in such a situation, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, they will told what to ‘say’, rather than being given a
miracle to ‘do’ (Matthew 10:18-20).
Read John 17, the High Priestly prayer of the Lord, which He
prayed before His being taken captive for crucifixion. See in this prayer how
He repeatedly emphasizes upon the Word that He gave to His disciples, which
they were to pass on to others in their ministry. At the time of His ascension
to heaven, The Great Commission that the Lord gave to His disciples, was to go
and preach the Word He had given them (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). The first
Church was born by the preaching of Peter in Acts 2, not by any miracles – the
miracle of ‘tongues’ brought consternation amongst those present and witnessing
the miracle, not faith; it was the preaching of the Word that brought
repentance, faith and salvation. We see later, that those Christian
Believers who were being persecuted and chased out of Jerusalem, went
out preaching the Word (Acts 8:1-4). Paul emphasizes to Timothy that it is the
Word of God that is to be judiciously taught (2 Timothy 2:2, 15) for it is the
Word that is able to make wise for salvation through faith (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
The Lord Jesus is the Word; the Word with God; the Word was God;
the Word that became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:1, 14) – He, the Living
Word is the object and basis of the Christian faith. Miracles are not the basis
of faith, rather they are meant to be signs to affirm the Word or Gospel that
is preached to the people (Mark 16:15-20); it is the Word of God that has
always been the basis of the Christian faith. Therefore
Satan always tries to draw us away from God’s Word, and to this end using miraculous signs and wonders as the basis of
faith serve his purpose to beguile and deceive quite well. People, instead of being involved in studying
God’s Word and being obedient to the word, get caught up either in the desire to
be those who perform miracles, or in the expectations of being benefited through miracles, or to gain a name and fame through performing miracles.
Even Satan, his angels, and his followers can perform miracles (Exodus
7:11-12, 22; 8:7; Acts 16:16-18; 2 Thessalonians
2:9-10; Revelations 13:11-15), and unless one is firmly established in the Word
of God – “the Truth”, people are prone to get carried away to their destruction
by these satanic deceptions and lying wonders, just as those who perform these
deceiving signs and wonders will eventually perish (Revelation 19:20; 20:10).
Therefore it is essential to see that the basis of our belief and
faith in God and Lord Jesus is not on the basis of any signs and miracles etc. but
through believing and trusting in His Word – which is infallible and inerrant. We
need to spend time prayerfully reading, and meditating upon the Word of God –
the Bible, and seeking the Lord’s guidance through it (1 Samuel 3:21; Psalms 119:105). Being established in God’s Word is our only
sure-shot safety and security against being deceived by Satan – ponder over
Colossians 2 for this.
