Miracles in the Last Days

 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2.17 NKJV

When did that happen? ‘In the last days.’ What does that mean? In the last days of the old Jewish nation.

But this expression also has another meaning. We now live in the end times, shortly before the return of the Lord Jesus, the time when the last of all terrible world rulers will appear.

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Acts 2:20 NIV

But Peter’s message is also a message of hope.

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapour of smoke. Acts 2:17–19 NKJV

Some Reformed Christians believe that prophecy, signs and wonders were only for Bible times, but Martin Luther and John Knox shared prophecies that were fulfilled.

In 1909, some conservative Christians in Berlin declared that the signs and wonders in the Charismatic Movement came from below.

The Pharisees made exactly the same mistake when they declared the miracles of Jesus to be demonic.

I know a woman in Australia who visited heaven during an operation.

I spoke to a Persian woman in Germany who saw Jesus in a dream when she was a Muslim. Eight years later, she converted to Jesus.

A woman I know very well escaped certain death when God saved her from a collision.
It was too late for the brakes. She couldn't avoid a collision. Then she felt a terrible heat. The vehicle went right through her car, without noise, without causing any damage. It was like something out of a fantasy film.

The sensation of heat lasted for a few days.

The extreme multiplication of signs and wonders in our time is a problem for many conservative Christians.

Not all stories are true and not all supernatural phenomena come from God.

We have to test revelations, but if we condemn all strange events as counterfeit, we will also reject the miracles of God.
Maybe you come from a conservative background. You find these dramatic testimonies doubtful, but you are not sure.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Jas 1:5 NIV

Don't stay where you are. A true disciple is one who always wants to learn from God Himself.

C. Peter Wagner was a conservative lecturer at a Bible school in America. He heard amazing testimonies of miracles in Argentina and Brazil.
He attended meetings in which poor people received new teeth or gold fillings. He was then convinced that it was not a deception.

Too Good to be True?

 A woman had lost her sight. Her eyes were badly injured, and no doctor could help her. She attended a church service where the preacher prayed for healing.

She began to see again and was thrilled, but when she shared her miraculous news with her family, they didn't want to believe, even though they clearly observed how she could see.
Then she began to doubt herself and after a short time she could no longer see.

God wants to bless us beyond comprehension, but often we don't want to believe it. A negative thought is firmly rooted in our mindset.

‘It's too good to be true.’ With this thought, we often block the wonderful gifts that God wants to give us.

After Jesus died on the cross, the disciples were traumatised. They had believed that Jesus, as the Messiah, would free Israel from Roman occupation, and then he died.

It was supposedly too good to be true. The time for Israel had not yet come, but God had even better plans for his disciples.

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:6–8 NLT

Thank God the disciples believed. We read in the Acts of the Apostles how the disciples ministered with the same miracle-working power as Jesus himself before his death on the cross.

Then, in the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus authorising and empowering his disciples to continue his miracle-working ministry. Was this only for the apostles? No. It was for all who believed.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17–18 NRSV

But some Christians do not want to believe that this promise still applies to our time.
Some doubt whether this passage really belongs to the Gospel of Mark because it may not have been written by Mark himself.

It is possible that Mark did not write this last passage. So what!

The first five books of the Bible are attributed to the authorship of Moses himself, but the last chapter of Deuteronomy 5 was obviously not written by Moses.

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. Dt 34:5–6 NASB95

When I read this verse, I burst into tears. This is not normal for me. The Holy Spirit communicated to me in this way how God himself felt when Moses had to die. He wanted to bless Moses even more.

Then I heard the voice of God as a clear but inaudible thought.

‘Please don't limit God.’

Please open your heart to many more blessings and miracles from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph 3:20 NLT