POWER AND DEMONSTRATION.
WRITTEN BY CHARISSA MROWKA
In 1 Corinthians 1,
Paul writes that he thanks God for the way the saints (not just the apostles) were enriched in every way -
in utterances, knowledge and the gifts (of the Spirit) - and by these things, the testimony of Jesus is confirmed in them.
He says these things have been given to them as a grace from God
as they wait for the appearing of Jesus, who will keep them blameless until the Day of the Lord.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14 Paul goes on to expand on and boast in the gifts of the Spirit
and how we should eagerly desire them and that we should not say we don’t need some (or any) of them (12:14-26,31).
How is it then, that many use Paul’s writings to say the gifts were only for a short time
and only for the “super apostles” of that short time?? How can some say the gifts have died out??
These gifts are not just “things” from God
but are expressions of His grace and of the Holy Spirit Himself -
given to and released in the body of Christ that we might be strengthened to the end!
How can we say we don’t have need of the things of our God?
How can we say we no longer need or want His gifts that are meant to strengthen and build up the body?
How can we say the early church needed them but we do not?
How can we say they needed to be strengthened and built up by the gifts but we have no need for such strengthening?
How self reliant have we become? How proud have we become?
Can we compensate for the gifts of the Holy Spirit with acts of the flesh?
Can we substitute the power of God with the wisdom of man?
Having begun in the Spirit are we now being perfected by the flesh?
How can we say He gave the gifts for a time but has now changed the design of the Church and pulled from His body the grace He once filled them with?
How can we say that God changed the terms of the grace in which He gives by the indwelling Spirit?
Do we have no need of the riches of the Spirit? Have we lost all poverty of spirit and need for Him?
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!
Furthermore, these signs and wonders and gifts and expressions are meant
to testify and point to something: the reality of the Gospel and its coming fulfillment.
This is not just the gospel of personal salvation,
but the gospel of the Kingdom.
Jesus says the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all nations and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).
Well, that Kingdom has not fully come yet.
We eagerly wait for the reign of the faithful King who will bring His government and Kingdom fully to the earth!
We long for the day His government uproots and overthrows every other government and ushers in the redemption of all things!
These gifts of the Spirit Paul speaks of are meant to confirm the apostolic gospel and point to the Kingdom that is coming!
They are meant to strengthen the Church to the end, that the saints may be sustained and endure,
but they are also meant to testify to the world “He truly is coming soon!”.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5
I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.”
We need the demonstration of the Spirit to assist the preaching of Christ & Him crucified.
We need the power of God flowing through weak vessels.
Power looks like something!
These demonstrations testify that He is risen indeed and living and active in His body still-
living in them, filling them with power and ready to confirm every word He spoke.
The kingdom is coming and so is the King.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
MARK 16:14-20
He chose us as His ambassadors and representatives that the world might see us and be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5).
His design was to raise up new creation forerunners-
who are full of Himself, full of His substance- to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and demonstrate that that Kingdom surely is coming.
His reign looks like tears being wiped away, sickness and death being swallowed up, wholeness and restoration coming to earth.
The signs of that Kingdom should confirm that those things really are coming soon!
We have the anointing of the One who says He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61!
Good news to the poor! Liberty to the captives! Sight to the blind! Freedom to those oppressed!
His body demonstrating His power testifies to the people of the world that He is true; and this demonstration puts demonic powers and principalities on notice!
The active signs and gifts of the Spirit alert the earth and the heavens with the proclamation, “Surely the King is coming!”.
“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:7-8 | NASB2020
