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ele of the loaves: for their heart was
hardened" (verse 52). In other
words, the disciples should not have
been so amazed at Jesus' walking on
tite water. They should have realized
the tremendous meaning of His other
fantastic miracles- that He really
was God in the flesh- able to use the
very power of the Creator to do His
work.
Not understanding this basic prin–
cipie, they were continually amazed
with each new miracle He per–
formed- never seeming to under–
stand the relationship of one to an–
other and the fact of Christ's office
and ability to exercise the divine
power.
How about you?
Will you learn from this article to
so conduct yourself-to walk with
God- that you may be constantly
aware of His reality and His power
and be yielded to His will so that you
can be a dynamic instrument in His
hands?
111. Exercise God's Power
The Gospel of Mark narrates a dra–
matic incident in the life of Jesus and
His disciples. A man brought his son
to Jesus' disciples. This son, accord–
ing to the account, was possessed by
a demon, which caused him to froth
at the mouth and throw himself on
the ground in convulsive fits. Jesus'
disciples had been unable to cast out
the demon, and the distraught father
turned to Jesus when He arrived and
cried out: "Have compassion on us,
and help us"! (Mark 9:22.)
Then Jesus said:
"If
thou canst
believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth.
"And straightway the father of the
child cried out, and said with tears,
Lord,
l
believe; help thou mine unbe–
lief."
Then Jesus, having merey, re–
buked the foul spirit and cast it out.
The disciples were sheepish and
dumbfounded. They didn't under–
stand what was lacking on their part.
The Son of God told them: "This
kind can come forth by nothing, but
by prayer and fasting" (verse 29).
Obviously, Jesus had been praying
and· fasting-getting really close to
and communing with His Father in
heaven, yielding His will to God's
The
PLAIN TRUTH October/ November 1979
and drinking in of His Spirit and
power. He expected the answer-and
He got it!
Why don't more of the professing
ministers of Christ have this kind of
power today?
Notice Jesus' instruction just after
His resurrection from the dead:
"And these signs shall follow them
that believe; In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with
new tongues; they shall take up ser–
pents; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18).
After giving this instruction,
Christ was received up into heaven to
sit at the right hand of God. Then
His disciples went forth and
preachéd everywhere, "the Lord
working with them, and confirming
the word with signs following"
(verses 19-20).
Christ had risen. He was alive and
active. He was intervening to back up
His ministers and their prayers to
God! This same power is active
among the true believers in Jesus
Christ today!
Not Emotionallsm
True Christianity is not connected
with unrestrained emotionalism.
It
is
simply believing that Jesus said what
He meant and meant what He said. It
is following His example of obeying
the commandments of God, trusting
God to keepHis promises, and private–
!
y-as Jesus instructed- praying,
meditating and fasting to get closer to
the God ofthe Bible, the Creator, and
seeking His power and intervention
according to what He has promised in
His Word, the Bible.
In
11
Kings 2:8-15, we find the
account where the great prophet Eli–
jah was taken up into heaven-turn–
ing his office and mantle over to Eli–
sha. Read this account carefully. No–
tice that Elisha expected to carry on
in the power of God as had Elijah.
For he asked for a "double portion"
of Elijah's spirit to be upon him. .
As Elijah ascended up to heaven,
his mantle fell on Elisha. Elisha then
went back to the bank of the Jordan
River where Elijah had just smitten
the waters so they could walk over on
dry ground. This time the young, new
prophet Elisha smote the waters, say–
ing in faith: "Where is the Lord God
of Elijah? And when he had also
smitten the waters, they parted hith–
er and thither: and Elisha went over"
(verse 14).
Today, you should personally
awake
to the fact that the mantle and
power
of Elijah
wi/1 be manifested
among God's true servants
in this
age.
For as John the Baptist carne in
the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke
1: 17), so God says of our day: "Be–
hold,
1
will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the
great and. dreadful day of the Lord:
and he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers, lest
r
come and smite the earth with a
curse" (Malachi 4:5-6). That com–
mission is bei ng accomplished
through this Work!
Through
The World Tomorrow
broadcast and
The Plain Truth
mag–
azine, every inhabited continent is
now being reached with the message
of God's coming government and His
rule over the earth.
It
is not being
preached with the thought of con–
verting everybody, but it is for a
"witness"- as J esus prophesied in
Matthew 24:14. That witness is to
proclaim the true God of power, to
announce His coming world-ruling
government, and to turn the hearts of
those who are willing back to the true
·ways of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
most of all, Jesus Christ. Power and
miracles are already being mani–
fested. You readers who are given
understanding need to realize that
you'.re living at the end of an age–
and will live into the new age of
God's government.
You need to become more deeply
aware and conscious of the spirit
· world of the living God and His
Christ~f
His archangels and an–
gels who serve His people, and of His
power to strengthen, to heal, to de–
liver and to bless in your life.
You need to ·know how to properly
fear and walk with this true God!
You need to understand and appre–
ciate the gigantic power He has
available to help us!
And we all need to humbly use
it- as He would, in His service. o
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