Truly the signs of an apostle were
accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty
deeds. (II Corinthians 12:12)
When Paul is addressing the church of
Corinth, he said that the “signs of an apostle” had been done among them and
that was part of the proof and their apostleship.
Of all of the things we have talked
about so far in the life and ministry of the apostolic, this trait of true apostles
may be the one of most overlooked in much of the church (along with the
sufferings of Christ aspect).
Part of the reason is that many people
rationalize away the power of the Spirit because of their lack of experience.
They have never seen it, and so they try to explain it away so that it is less
painful for them.
However, there should be a sting in our
hearts that there is such a lack in the true apostolic ministry in the body of
Christ. We cannot take only parts of the gospel and throw the rest away. We
should not take only the organizational aspect of the apostolic and throw away
the life, message, and power of the apostolic ministry.
In Paul’s first letter to the church in
Corinth, he said that, “…my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive
words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that
your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (I Cor.
2:4-5).
The reason that signs and wonders were
done among them was so that God was the one who received the glory for the
works done among them, because the power was not from men, but from God.
One time, Paul struck a man blind with
his words so that a governor could be saved (Acts 13:4-12). Another time, he
raised a guy from the dead who fell out of a window (Acts 20:7-12).
Another time, Peter spoke and two people fell
dead because they had lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). The next passage
says, “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done
among the people….so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them
on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on
some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to
Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits,
and they were all healed" (Acts 5:12, 15-16).
Even the shadow of Peter was healing
people! Talk about a sign and a wonder! It also says that many signs and
wonders were done by the apostles—implying that all of them were involved.
Many times in the modern church, we look
at someone with a lot of charisma and natural ability to lead and gather
people, and we say that they are an apostle and esteem them highly. Of course, giving
honor to leadership in an appropriate way is a good, godly practice, but many
times, we attribute the glory of God to a man instead of to God whom it
belongs. The flip-side to this coin is that many times if a man begins to move
in mighty signs and wonders, they are also placed on a pedestal and the glory
is attributed to them as well.
However contrary to both aspects, the
reason a sign of an apostle is signs, wonders, and demonstrations of power is
so that no man can receive the glory for what God has done. God alone deserves
all the glory, honor, and praise for the magnificent miracles that He performs
through His servants.
God, grant the signs and wonders of the
apostolic back to your Church again!
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