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WHY MARVEL YE AT THIS?

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, Cal. · Jul 18, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 29.

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WHY MARVEL YE AT THIS?

By A. F. Ballenger

BEFORE the Lord can restore the gifts of healing to His servants to-day, they must reach the place in their experience where they will not get excited at the manifestation of signs and wonders which are wrought to confirm the Word. And the only man or woman who will be calm in the presence of miracles of healing is the man or woman who is in possession of the power of God to save from sinning. The reason for this is that he who is kept by the power of God unto salvation is perpetually in the presence of the crowning miracle of the Gospel. All other miracles are inferior to this miracle. All other miracles are the servants of this miracle. All the miraculous gifts of the Spirit will fail "when that which is perfect is come," but this miracle will never fail. 1 Cor. 13:1-10. This crowning miracle will be exhibited by our Lord to be admired by all the universe, in all "the ages to come," as the glorious manifestation of the exceeding riches of His grace.
"And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:1-7.
How can that man or that woman who is in possession of such an experience as this, who has thus been resurrected from the dead, and who is constantly kept alive by the "power of His resurrection,"—how can such an one who is constantly experiencing this miracle of all miracles, get excited at beholding another miracle which is only the handmaid of this one?
This point is sometimes made, to dodge the demand for the lesser miracles. But be assured it is not so made here. It is presented here to clear the King's highway for the manifestation of all the miracles and wonders and signs, which followed to confirm the Word in the apostolic days of purity and power.
This running away from the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, after the less important signs and wonders, is a sad but certain witness that all who do it have not yet been anointed with the Holy Ghost, whereby they are able to rightly compare spiritual things with spiritual.
Before the day of Pentecost, the Lord sent out seventy disciples with the commission to "heal the sick, saying unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." From the report which they gave when they returned, it was apparent that they were in danger of losing sight of the Gospel of the kingdom, and running away after miracles of less importance. They said nothing of the progress of the Gospel of the kingdom, but spake only of the miracles they were able to perform.
"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name."
To which the Lord answered in gentle reproof:—
"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:17-20.
The climax by which this crowning miracle is reached is presented thus by Jesus in the sign to John the Baptist, that Christ was "He that should come." "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached." Luke 7:22.
After Pentecost, the apostles never failed to give to these miracles their proper importance. All the miracles of that day but opened the way for the cry, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38. And when the cripple was healed at the Beautiful Gate, and all the people were "amazed" and "ran together unto them, greatly wondering," Peter said: "Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this?" "Repent ye therefore, and be converted." Acts 3:1-19. And to the rulers he said: "Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand before you whole. . . . Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:8, 12.
Notwithstanding "God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul," we do not find either in his Epistles or sermons as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, any attempt to make prominent these miracles of healing. He did refer to them in a general way, but even then it was done largely to confirm his apostleship, which was questioned by certain "false brethren," and then he did it reluctantly. "Christ and Him crucified" was his message everywhere, to which he oft added, as his personal testimony, the story of the miracle of his conversion.
From all this it is clear that before God can work with us, confirming the word with signs following, we must experience the miracle of all miracles, salvation from sin and sinning, and hold that miracle in our hearts and in the hearing of the multitude, high above all the miracles which are granted to confirm this the chief of miracles. Then this great barrier to the coming of the confirming miracles will be cleared away.
To this I wish to bear personal witness by relating an experience which came under my observation. A young minister was associated with others in Gospel labor at a large religious gathering. A few sick people were healed in connection with the preaching of the Word. He had never seen it on this wise before, and he was much stirred by this manifestation of God's healing power. He preceded the other ministers to the next appointment, and immediately began to call attention to the miracles of healing which he had witnessed. Soon the great congregation was all absorbed with the theme of physical healing. At this point he visited a barber shop and contracted the barber's itch, which soon manifested itself in large sores on his neck, so located as to be in plain view. "How can I preach healing, and pray with the sick, while thus afflicted myself?" he reasoned. "Will not the people say, 'Physician, heal thyself'? I must be healed." Prayer was offered, and altho one person present was instantly healed, he was not. This was the situation when the other ministers arrived. The young man, with great concern, related this experience, and asked why he was not healed. Not being acquainted with the course he had pursued, they could not explain his disappointment. The next day he came to them, his face beaming with the light of a new truth which had dawned upon him. He said, in substance: "Now I understand. Now the Lord can heal. I made the mistake of calling the attention of the people to miracles of healing when they needed first to be healed of their sinning." Not only did he make this private acknowledgment of his error, but he made a voluntary public confession to the same effect. Prayer was again offered, and he was healed, and made happy with the truth thus emphasized, that the healing of the soul from sin is the first great miracle, which the Lord would have impressed upon His sinning people.
This grand truth, if experienced by ministers and people in the church of God, will not only clear the King's highway for the manifestation of the fulness of the promised power, but it will save all who believe it from being deceived by the "all power and signs and lying wonders" which are predicted, and which are already appearing to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect.
Who that reads these lines will yield himself to experience the miracle of God's saving and keeping power? and then in the joyful possession of this miracle, and with it an unquenchable longing to bear it to others, who will continue to pray for those "mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God," which were wrought in the early days of purity and power, "to make the Gentiles obedient" to the Gospel? Rom. 15:18, 19. To this end these lines are penned.
A. F. BALLENGER.