"The Pharisees said, 'What are we doing? For this man is performing many miracles'. From that day on they planned together to kill Him" (John 11:47, 53).
Here, in John 11, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. The Pharisees should have been excited about it. But they were not - because the Man who did the miracle was not from their group!! Jesus belonged to another denomination!! The Pharisees were green with jealousy over this. Jealousy is such an obvious thing, that even a worldly person like Pilate could recognise it in the Pharisees (Matthew 27:18). Beware of jealousy.
Pharisees are jealous of those who do miracles. I am not talking now about the counterfeit "miracles" being done by television evangelists today that fool many believers. We have all seen plenty of those. I am talking about real miracles that are taking place even today. But you don't see those on television or at the so-called "healing crusades". The real miracles taking place today (exactly as in the Acts of the Apostles) are in places where the gospel is being preached for the very first time - for example, in some places in North India. Many don't realise the fact that in the Acts of the Apostles, the miracles God performed were in places where the gospel was going for the first time. The people through whom God is doing such miracles today are ordinary, unknown believers; and just like Jesus, they also do not advertise the miracles they have seen.
God is a God of miracles, and if you cannot trust Him to do a miracle for you, then you are a Pharisee. When you are sick you must pray to God for healing, and not just accept the sickness. We have some privileges as God's children that others do not have. We can "taste the powers of the age to come" (Hebrews 6:5). And if it is not God's will to heal you (for any reason), then you can ask Him to give you "something better than healing", as He gave Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). If you are an elder in a church and some sick person comes to you for prayer, you must pray (with whatever faith you have) that God will heal him and draw him closer to Himself thereby. And when God answers your prayer, be careful to give Him the glory and not to boast about it - or else you will end up as a greater Pharisee.
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Zac Poonen ( - Present)
God called brother Zac Poonen to a new work early on in his Christian experience. The movement is now called Christian Fellowship Churches where the New Covenant of New Testament Christianity is clearly preached.Brother Zac Poonen has written 25 books most of them being on the deeper Christian life. Many of these have been translated into a number of languages and have been circulated widely around the world. He clearly and passionately shares the narrow way of Christian discipleship that is neglected by so many modern preachers.
Recommends these books by Zac Poonen:
Through The Bible by Zac Poonen
The Final Triumph-A verse by verse study of the book of Revelation by Zac Poonen
Beauty for Ashes by Zac Poonen
Zac Poonen is a former Indian Naval Officer who has been in full time ministry in India for nearly 50 years as a Bible teacher and preacher. He holds responsibility for a number of churches in India and abroad. He currently pastors the Christian Fellowship Church in Bangalore, Karnataka.
He has written more than 25 books and numerous articles in English - which have been translated into many Indian and foreign languages. His messages are available on audio and video format.
Like the other elders in his church, Zac Poonen also supports himself and his family through what he describes as "tent-making" and does not receive any salary for his services. He does not receive any royalties for any of his books, CDs or DVDs, that are published by Christian Fellowship Centre, Bangalore.