CK has asked God (and me) about signs and wonders. He is a mature Christian and a faithful street preacher who has led a lot of people to the Lord. He took a team of young Christians to the "Burning Man" gathering in Nevada. CK talks, sings, and prays for anybody who will listen. As a result he has been tested and has suffered bodily persecution for his faith. He has come to a place in his life where he would like to understand some of the more spectacular things the Lord does from time to time. He writes a news letter about his adventures so friends can pray for him. This is an excerpt from one of his letters.
Ted
Hi,
Last Saturday night while we were witnessing on the Square, Ann,(former gang girl) went over to speak to another young woman about the Lord. She brought JD over to where we were sitting. We prayed for her. Gold dust appeared as a sign for her. We all saw it. It confirmed the Word of God that we preached to her! The Lord gave me specific words of knowledge. Intimate details (I would have rather not known, these were not vague but very specific down to a name, age etc) the fragrance of the Lord came off of her hands. The fragrance of fresh flowers, etc. She gave her life to Jesus that night! She was filled with the Spirit and straightway began to pray in tongues! She was delivered of a number of evil spirits. JD gave her testimony at church on Sunday. Jesus appeared to her in her room at 4:30 am Sunday morning in a "bright mist", as she describe it!
CK
My answer:
Dear CK,
As part of what you seem to want to know please watch for what I believe will happen with JD. She will have a few more remarkable experiences, perhaps even say that see has seen angels and describe them. She will report having been healed of various disorders that, without exception, will be impossible to confirm.
She will find fault with you or anyone who attempts to teach her that she should consider what Jesus said about the seating arraignments at His wedding feast, "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:10-11).
Then comes the saddest part, she will move on and you will hear that she no longer seeks out Christians and has never become part of a local body of believers. She will fail to enter the "rest" that is described in the letter to the Hebrews "Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it." (Hebrews 4:1).
CK, coming short of that "rest" is what happens to the majority of those who respond to the Gospel. The true Church has always been a remanent community. We believe that the pews are filled with folks who do not walk in the Holy Spirit, but we hope and pray for them to keep coming because every now and then one of them finally hears Jesus calling.
In no way do I wish to imply that your experience with JD was not from God. You have asked to understand "signs and wonders". Your encounter with JD and how it has moved me is part of our ongoing education in the Lord. When Peter took his stand with the eleven and said, "...but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel..." (Acts 2:16). He was pointing out one of the most significant signs in the Bible. But what was it a sign of?
Was it only a sign that they had received the Holy Spirit? If that was they case why would the crowd in agony plead, "Brethren, what shall we do?" The tongues they heard were the sign that they had killed their own savior and God was going to do that thing they dreaded in Joel's prophesy, "And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." They knew the hated Romans along with other pagan nations were going to become God's children and even receive His most coveted gift; The Holy Spirit.
Only a believing Jew would know what that or any other sign meant. This is why I say only Christians and Jews know what signs are. To the rest, they may indeed "wonder" but the deep rich meaning escapes their comprehension. CK, let us make JD a sign for you so that you will go all the way and not stop short of your objective. However, pursue your goal as God has taught you, "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His." (Hebrews 4:9-10). Study CK, study the Word.
I would love to be wrong about JD.
In Jesus Name, Ted Wise (tedwise@shafafa.com)
Added April 15, 1999.