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Greater works than these shall ye do

Some say miracles have ceased. They need to wake up.

By Ken Raggio

Jesus' foreknowledge and perception of the end-time church was very revealing. "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father," John 14:12

He saw a church doing greater works than He had done. That is very interesting. More miracles? More devils cast out? More dead raised? More sick healed?

Greater works!

That specifies something more spectacular than the relatively small scale, regional impact he made in little more than three years in Galilee.

He turned water into wine. Will we be able to duplicate that? More than that - if we believe his words. Some of our pioneer preachers from the first half of this century testified that the Lord turned water into gasoline, so they could get to their next preaching point!

Jesus miraculously retrieved gold coins from a fish's mouth.

Can we do greater than that? If we believe! Years ago, during a time of financial need, my wife prayed for God to provide some immediate cash for groceries. Only a few minutes later, our nine year old boy came rushing in the house with enough money for groceries in his hand. He had just found it laying in the grass in an open field!

The early church healed the sick, the blind, the deaf, the crippled.

Will this modern church do any greater than that? In a church we formerly pastored, a member of our congregation went to pray for a bedfast relative who was in the final stages of cancer. The relative had been Spirit-baptized, but had never been water-baptized in Jesus' name. At her request, the saint lifted her out of bed, and baptized her in a bathtub, in Jesus' name. A week later, a startled doctor examined her and informed her that the cancer had gone into complete remission. At this writing, every examination since then has confirmed it. In one act of obedient faith, her sins and her disease were washed away!

Which of Jesus' miracles will we fail to see? Blind eyes open?

A young lady visiting our church was legally blind. She was managing an acute case of glaucoma (pressure in the eyeballs) with medication. Severe astigmatism caused her eyes to twitch constantly, and vision in her best eye was 20/80. She and her family had never been to a Pentecostal church. The first time they visited, a relative asked us to pray for her eyes.

As she and her mother came down the aisle to have the minister pray for her, one of the saints ministered in the gift of tongues. Another interpreted, by the gift of the interpretation of tongues. The Spirit of the Lord said," I am Jehovah Rapha of the Old Testament - the Lord that Healeth. I am Jesus Christ of the New (Testament). I took thirty-nine stripes for your healing, and tonight I will heal you." Instantly, the girl cried out, "I can see!" Her mother tested her to see if it was so. It was. When her father, who was sitting on the back row, realized what had happened, he stood and began to worship the Lord. Immediately, he was baptized in the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in unknown tongues. Their doctor later confirmed that the glaucoma and astigmatism were gone. He discontinued the medication, and found the vision in her best eye was 20/20. She does not even wear corrective lenses. Within a few weeks of that miracle, about forty of her friends and relatives gave their lives to God, were baptized in Jesus' name, and received the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues.Greater works!

But Jesus healed the lepers! Can such a miracle happen today?

A young couple came visiting our church. Their infant son was covered with a skin abnormality that appeared as festered splotches from head to toe. The condition had persisted for months. Doctors in three hospitals had run extensive tests without identifying the cause. No treatment was helping. In a Sunday night service, the visiting minister, exercising the gift of prophecy, told the parents that the baby would be healed by the next morning. Around 8:30 a.m. the following day, the mother and grandmother brought the baby to the parsonage door. Overnight, the child had developed an entirely new layer of fresh, pink skin. There were no scars or marks remaining. It was healed.

Are these greater works than what the ancient church did?

You'd better believe it! All around the world, the church is experiencing this mighty manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ in greater numbers and with greater frequency than in ancient days.

Their demons kept men from leading "normal" lives.

Some unclean spirits oppressed their victims using bodily infirmities, and others oppressed their victims by filling their minds with confusion and chaos, rendering them mentally ill. Can this church deliver that kind?

A lady member of our congregation had experienced mental anguish for years, due to recurrent frightening nightmares, and unexplained night terrors which would frequently awaken all of her children simultaneously. The entire family testified of hearing footsteps on the floor and voices from nowhere. When we inquired, we found that in her childhood, and prior to her conversion, numerous members of her family had consulted or been exposed to various kinds of spiritualists and soothsayers. We identified the tormenting experiences as oppressions caused by unclean spirits which had "hounded" her for years.

Fasting and prayer brings victory.

We began to speak to the unclean spirits, rebuking them in Jesus' name, and commanding them to leave this family and their home. Directly, the night terrors and torments ceased. The oppressing spirits were driven out. This lady's entire countenance and state of mind improved profoundly.

In churches far and wide, the Holy Ghost is flowing as men and women fast, and pray, and believe God to do greater works. Reports abound of cripples walking away from wheelchairs, deaf ears unstopping, diseases disappearing, and miraculous occurrences of all kinds and categories. The principalities of darkness are being challenged and defeated by those who dare to move in the direction of faith.

Whether it is a simple prayer for God to revive a youth group, or to place conviction on a backslider, or to heal a friend's sickness, God still responds to the church in signs and wonders and miracles.

This is not only for a handful of specially gifted ministers.

The power of God is the same for the pastor of a tiny home missions work as he is for the nationally recognized evangelist, or the seasoned foreign missionary. Even the least significant person in our midst can witness the miraculous power of God by simply believing.  

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