What Does It Take for the World to Believe?

What Does It Take for the World to Believe?

The usual understanding is that if there were signs and wonders, then the world would believe; especially if someone had the gift of healing great things could be done for God. This is a deception of colossal proportions that is grounded in people’s pride and vanity. Jesus teaches us to go a totally different way.

“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” V. 21.

There is no other way to get the world to believe than the way Jesus has taught us. This matter of being one is of such great importance that Jesus’ high priestly prayer is mainly concerned with it. Religious people have tried to explain this oneness in many ways, and through tolerance and ecumenism they have projected the appearance of unity. However this is all just a sham. Jesus has said how we should be one, namely, as the Father and the Son are one. Any other kind of oneness is just hypocrisy.

Sin has to be put away if this oneness is to be achieved. Only those who have forsaken everything and are following Jesus can be one. Paul has described this oneness by presenting the church as a body, with the less honorable members receiving the greater honor, and all the members rejoicing if one member is honored. 1 Cor. 12:21-27. Building such a church—such a body—is the work of Christ’s servants. For this purpose God gave to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . .” Eph. 4:11-16.

This unity is being achieved wherever there are true servants who have the full gospel. However, this unity will never be achieved wherever they have only hirelings and only a portion of the gospel. They can organize denominations and appoint servants according to their human preferences, but they will never attain to unity. There is always dissatisfaction and strife in such groups. Of course they have to evangelize so that the group’s membership increases. Then there will be ample esteem and plenty of money in the treasury.

There is much advertising and arranging of events on a human level during these evangelistic campaigns. Preachers use all their psychological tricks to get the world to believe. If there is a revival and many people come to believe that their sins are forgiven, they have to be baptized and added to the denomination. These new converts have the understanding that now times will be glorious, but instead they are added to a denomination where they fight to be great, greater, greatest. They did that in the world too, where they came from. In this so-called church to which they now belong they meet conceit, envy, insults, love of money, etc., just as they saw in the world from which they came.

After all the evangelizing and all the revivals one could think that the majority of the population would have become Christians, but they have fallen away because they were disappointed, or they live as nominal Christians and are a reproach to the name of Jesus. These preachers strive to re-invent the first church, trying to make it apostolic. They believe this can be done by means of signs and wonders so that the world might believe. This is a deception of Satan. There were signs and wonders long before Pentecost. That which is new (and which is written first) is: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul . . . .” Then we read further, “And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” Then we read on about fellowship while “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47.

Here we can see the emphasis which God and the apostles put on fellowship: “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” This tells us that then there was truly a home, a church, to which the Lord could add, and we read further: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:32-33.

Here we see the foundation for evangelism. The fact that they were of one heart and one soul was the foundation for witnessing with great power. This fellowship is also the basis for signs and wonders. Without this foundation evangelism and signs and wonders are only deception. The Pharisees also had all this trouble with gaining adherents, and when they had gained one, they made him twice as much the son of hell as themselves. Matt. 23:15.

Religious people do the same thing when they evangelize without this fellowship of the Spirit in the church. They make nominal Christians out of the ones they gain, who rely on grace to receive forgiveness for their sins, with the result that the world cannot believe. That is the same as begetting children without giving them a home. Therefore the Bible calls this kind of Christianity “the harlot.” The voice from heaven says, “Come out of her.” Rev. 18:4. Paul also writes about these people who have a form of godliness: “And from such people turn away!” 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

The task of the true servants of the Lord is to build the church so the members become one body—the body of Christ—“one as the Father and the Son are one,” that the world may believe. Then they avoid all this human commotion and psychological tricks to recruit members, but instead they will experience: “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”