root@decwrl.UUCP (02/20/84)
Message-Id: <8402201240.AA14558@decwrl.arpa> Date: Monday, 20 Feb 1984 04:45:12-PST From: vax4::sander To: net.religion Subject: Requesting a miracle or two... If God did perform miracles for all mankind, how long do you suppose that he would have to do them? I would suspect that He would have to do them every hour of the day for every person. If God did perform miracles for you, does this mean that you would then follow Him and do all that he has asked? If so, for how long? The history of man has proven that it won't last for any length of time. The book of Genesis talks about God walking on earth with mankind, and talking with him/her. How much closer can you get? But as soon as the devil showed up on the scene, man disobeyed God. What about the miracles God performed in Egypt to force Pharaoh to let the Jewish people free? How many miracles did God perform for the Jewish people in the desert, and fighting their enemies in the promised land? Man didn't let these miracles get in the way of their things of this world. They threw aside God for their evil desires. "They [the Jewish people] steeled themselves against his love and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them. But God was patient with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to see. 'But,' God says, 'I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always looking somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow.'" (Hebrews 3:8-10).6 While Jesus walked on earth he performed many miracles; raising the dead; expelling demons; curing all types of sickness; and even making the limbs of people grow back. Did these people really believe in God? "But despite all the miracles he [Jesus] had done, most of the people would not believe he was the Messiah. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: 'Lord, who will believe us? Who will accept God's mighty miracles as proof?'" (John 12:37-39). What about the miracle of the sun when the Virgin Mary appeared at Fatima? How long did man have faith before throwing it away? God is well aware of the hard hearts of man, and is quite aware that any miracles performed will not keep the love of man. God has supplied man with all he needs for salvation. It's just that man listens better to things of this world, and it's not in these things where man will find salvation. Due to the first sin of mankind, we are unable to perceive and know God. We suffer from the defects of a basically rebellious nature. "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not." (Ezekiel 12:2). Man is spiritually blind, and miracles are not the cure. "You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him." (Hebrews 11:6). The Pharisees and Saducees also tried to put Jesus to the test and "asked him to show them some great demonstrations in the skies," beyond all the miracles he was performing. Jesus replied, "Certainly not. How many more miracles do you people need?" (Mark 8:11-12). In Matthew we find a similar request, but Jesus refers to them as an "evil, unbelieving nation" and that "no further proof will be given except the miracle that happened to Jonah." (Matthew 16:4). Just as Jonah was in the whale for three days, so shall Jesus lie in the earth for three days before God raises him from the dead. "Won't any of you believe in me unless I do more and more miracles?" (John 4:48). When Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil, "Jesus retorted, 'It also says not to put the Lord your God to a foolish test!'" (Matthew 4:7). The same applies here our time. Joe