When I hear the phrase “not for our day” thrown into a conversation or sermon, experientially I know it is a reference to the miraculous and supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit. The implications is that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit were for another period of history and no longer available for the modern Church. Those individuals who toss this phrase around really believe that miracles ended with the death of the original

12 Apostles. These same people would tell me that the purpose for the miracles was to confirm the word before the scriptures were canonized. After the canonization of the Bible there was no need for the outpouring and power demonstrations of the Holy Spirit. Again, I am told the miracles were designed to build faith in the early church and are no longer needed for the matured Church. This list of reasons as to why miracles and supernatural events are no longer in vogue goes on and on! Which brings me to the simple response: what happened to GOD? Did He go on vacation and just leave us to ourselves? Some say, God was the great clock maker who wound up his clock and tossed it into space, sitting back to watch passively as His creation winds itself down and expires. For years all of the above critiques regarding the legitimacy of miracles and power demonstrations of the Holy Spirit have plagued my mind with questions. “What am I to do in God’s Kingdom if He is that indifferent toward those created in His Image?” The Bible states implicitly that He loves me, but His lack of interest and personal involvement with me declares that He does not really care. If He has limited or even eliminated all that I need for a victorious life and relegates it to some past era of time, what conclusions is one left to deduce? Any belief system which rules out the present and relevant workings of the Holy Spirit through miraculous and powerful venues feasts on confusion and insecurity which in turn breeds unbelief.

So what am I to believe? What is the Church to believe with regard to the miraculous and powerful workings of the Holy Spirit in the 21^st century Church?

When I study scripture, there are so many exciting things going on in the supernatural realm. Blind eyes are opened , lepers are cleansed, a lame man is healed, running and leaping and praising God. Why do we not see these things happening today? When I posed that question to the ones who had listed off all of their well rehearsed reasons for the Holy Spirit no longer working and ministering powerfully and miraculously, I heard, “Oh all of these things have passed away with the death of the last apostle, and is no longer available for our day.” When I am told, “not for our day,” the obvious question in my mind has always been, “Why not?” We are in need of the miracles as much, if not more today than the first century Church. The condition of the church is not markedly different from that of the world - hopeless. If the miracles really were only for the first century, then what is left for me today -   not much, just crumbs from the Masters table?

In my quest for answers, I came to this conclusion, why did Jesus say in John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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.” When I study this verse what comes to mind is this: The work that Jesus did, He did to reveal the mind and work of the Father. All the miracles Jesus performed was through the power of the Holy Spirit in and upon Him. So in my thinking, He was setting an example for us to follow. His life and actions were templates for how a spirit filled Christian should operate in their daily lives. If this is true, and I believe it is, then it is not only possible for me to do the works He did, but I am mandated to live my life in the power and demonstration of God’s Spirit. How am I to do this? By the same power which was in Jesus the Christ, by that same power which resides in us today through the filling and anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Now consider this passage - John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” The Holy Spirit is going to teach me what Jesus thought and taught. This is going to give me the mind of Christ, and my focus is going to be on pleasing the Father.

Let’s examine a few things here. What do I mean by Non-Apostles? Just for illustration lets consider Stephen and Philip. In Acts 6 these two names appear in a list of seven men set aside to serve as deacons. They were selected by the people and appointed by the Apostles for work among the people - such as distribution of food and other needs for the people appointed not elected by popular vote - deacons. “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. . . .8. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” Acts 6:5-8 Now wait a minute, this man was not an Apostle but a deacon what’s the deal here, great wonders and miracles? According to what we’ve been taught, this man was not qualified for such a task. “Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” Acts 6:9-10 - This group of critics could not resist what he said because of the power of God in his life. Then in vs15 “And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Stephen, only a deacon, in the following chapter preached such a powerful sermon it caused a riot among this religious crowd and they dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death, calling on the name of the Lord. The first martyr of the church was A DEACON not an Apostle!!

Chapter 8 reveals another deacon doing the continued work of Jesus. “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” Acts 8:5-6. Miracles - this cannot be - Oh, I get it - he is working outside of his anointing just a Want-a-be Apostle. No! He was just a Christian working within the parameters of what all Christians throughout the ages should have been doing, and should still be doing.

From a sermon preached by Catherine Booth in London, December 1880, “Papers on Aggressive Christianity”. She was speaking to the needed power of the Holy Spirit in the Church and a Christian’s life as being a witness to the lost. “… everybody we can influence, and bring them to the feet of Jesus, and make them realize that He is their lawful King and lawgiver; that the Devil is a usurper, and that they are to come and serve Christ all the days of their lives. Dare any of us think of it without this equipment of power? Talk about ‘Can we have it?’ We are of no use without it. What can we do without it? This is the reason of the unaffectedness of so much professed Christianity; there is no Holy Ghost in it. It is all-rotten. It is like a very pretty corpse - you cannot say there is this wanting or the other wanting; it is a perfect form, but dead.”

Without the present day working of the Holy Spirit with manifestations of power and miracles – the Church in the 21^st century meets Ms. Booth’s description, “a pretty corpse, perfect in form – but dead.” That is not the description I desire for my life, nor for the Church of which I am a part! Come Holy Spirit, come!